Guin, Miyagi.

Xuanwu Black Temple.

Among the four palaces built according to the four seasons, the Xuanwu Black Hall is located in the north and is specially used in winter.

At this time, in the hall, under the floor tiles and in the sandwich wall, there are fire dragons, which roast the entire hall warmly.

The Queen Mother of Dingxi, Zuo, and the King of Dingxi, Linghule, had just arrived in the palace not long ago.

The two sit side by side.

Linghu happily twisted left and right on the couch, looking out of the hall from time to time.

But each time, all he saw was the pavilions and pavilions far and near, and the eunuchs and guards standing at the gate of the temple and on the steps.

He couldn't wait a little longer, asked Zuo, and said, "Mother, when will Agua arrive?" ”

Zuo said: "Didn't the eunuch just report it? The general had arrived outside the gate of Zhongcheng, where Chen Sun, Lu Shuang, Sun Yan, Cao Fei, and others were greeting him. It shouldn't be long before he's in town. You'll be able to see him soon! ”

Ling Hule let out an "oh", barely sat for a moment, and squirmed his ass again.

He simply jumped off the couch, put his hands behind his back, like a little adult, walked back and forth on the Danqi for a while, suddenly remembered something, stopped in front of Zuo's couch, raised his face and asked: "Mother, Ah Gua killed Ling Hujing and imprisoned Ling Huqu, did he do it right?" ”

Zuo asked in surprise, "How do you know these two things?" Who are you listening to? ”

Ling Hule said: "When I was studying yesterday, I listened to Master Zhao. Meng Shi said, Ling Hu Qu, Ling Hu Jing and Ah Gua are all my courtiers, and they are both ministers with Ling Hu Qu and Ling Hu Jing, but Ah Gua did not ask me, so he killed Ling Hu Jing and imprisoned Ling Hu Qu without permission, which shows that he has a heart of disobedience. Zhao Shi rebuked him, saying that he was arrogant. Mother, is Master Zhao right? ”

This "Zhao Shi", Zuo is known.

His family is from Jiuquan County. This person is good at calligraphy, quite famous in Dingxi, Pan Dan in Jiuquan as too punctual, once appointed him as a county government official, in the last year, because of the recommendation of Fan Dan, he was able to enter the palace, teaching Linghu music to learn books.

But unintentionally, he was talking about state affairs behind his back, and criticized Xin Er in front of Ling Hule.

Zuo's expression changed slightly, and he said, "Don't listen to his nonsense!" Agua and Linghu Qu and Ling Hujing are indeed my courtiers in Dingxi, but Lingbao, have you forgotten? When Agua sent out the army, we gave him a king's festival. What is King's Day? It's you! The general led his troops out to fight, and he could not be without majesty in the army, so we gave the king's festival and Agua. Agua kills Linghu Jing and imprisons Linghu Qu, how can it be said that it is 'good'? These are the powers given to him by the king's day! ”

Ling Hule seemed to understand or not, and said: "In other words, the power of Ah Gua to kill Ling Hujing and imprison Hu Qu was given to him by me?" ”

"Exactly."

Ling Hule lowered his head, thought for a while, and said: "Master Zhao also said to me, Ah Gua wrote to the court, Chen said that the reason for killing Ling Hujing was that Ling Hujing was prostituted by the army, and the reason for imprisoning Hu Qu was that Ling Hu Qu was cowardly, so if someone else accuses Ah Gua of rebellion, should Ah Gua also be punished?" Mother, what do these words of Master Zhao mean? I seem to understand a little, but I don't seem to understand it very well. ”

These words of "Zhao Shi" are actually not difficult to understand.

To put it bluntly, his implication is to say: The death of Ling Hujing and the imprisonment of Ling Huqu, the superficial reasons seem to be those stated by Xin Er, but what is the real situation? None of the people in the court know. It's all made up by Xin Er's mouth. How is this different from false accusation? By analogy, if someone reports Xin Er's bad intentions, can he also be punished?

Ling Hule was still young and couldn't understand the meaning of the words of "Master Zhao", but Zuo understood it as soon as he heard it.

Zuo became serious and said, "Lingbao! You remember, there are loyal ministers in the court, and there will also be traitors. Agua has offended a lot of courtiers for our sake and for you, and it is inevitable that there will be traitors, spreading rumors and slandering Agua. You must not listen to these things, and you must not believe them! ”

Linghu Le responded: "Yes." ”

Zuo saw that he was absent-minded, and he thought that he should still be pondering the words of "Master Zhao", so he opened his arms and called him to sit on his lap.

Hugging Ling Hule, Zuo smiled and said: "Lingbao, you have grown up, you are taller, and you are much stronger, I can't even hold you anymore." ”

Ling Hule rubbed Zuo's arm, a little embarrassed, and said: "It's too cold, I haven't ridden horses or practiced martial arts much for more than half a month, because I've eaten fat!" I'll continue to practice martial arts tomorrow! ”

Zuo Shi rubbed his head, sighed, and said, "Lingbao, your father, it's been two years in a blink of an eye. When your father was born, you were only five or six years old. I am a woman, and I have never foreseen political affairs, let alone military affairs. Thinking about the past two years, our mother and son have been able to live unharmed until now,...... Lingbao, it's all thanks to Agua! If there is no Agua, where would you be today? ”

"Yes, Mother."

"You're still young, and there's a lot of things to tell you. When you are older and know all these many things that have happened in the past two years, you should be able to know who has been loyal and wise in these two years to keep your country! ”

"I know, it's Agua!"

Zuo smiled with satisfaction and thought, "Zhao Rong can't stay in the palace, and he will be demoted out of the palace tomorrow!" From this, she remembered another thing, and she thought, "A few days ago, Fen Kuan entered the palace and said to me, that he was also saying that Agua was a monk, and he was worried that Agua would be disobedient; What to say, today you can kill Ling Hujing without an edict, and there may be something unbearable to say. It's exactly the same as Zhao Rong's slander! It's ridiculous!

"Not to mention that Agua goes to the court and enters the palace every day, and he has always adhered to the courtesy of Lingbao, so he only uses Agua's mind, how can Agua do anything rebellious? Also, it is no wonder that they slander Ah Gua, Ah Gua is a great hero in the world, and all his generation is mediocre, just like Ah Gua said, limited to the view of the portal, the family is just a sparrow, how can you understand Ah Gua's ambition?

"Before Agua sent out the army, I set up a family banquet and summoned him to the palace with Shenai, and at the banquet that day, Agua was drunk, and he said......"

The scene at the banquet in the Lingjuntai dormitory that day reappeared in front of Zuo's eyes.

Zuo gave wine to Xin Er, and Xin Er left the table to salute as a thanksgiving.

He had already drunk a lot, holding the jade bowl, his steps were vain, and he looked drunk.

After thanking him, he drank the wine in the bowl in one gulp, stood up in the banquet, faced the Zuo clan in the main seat, and said generously: "The minister led the army to attack Shu this time, not only for me Dingxi, not only for the Jiangzuo court, but also for my Tang Shengmin in Shudi!" The Lord of Shu is brutal, and the Shu people are suffering! Today, our army hangs the people and kills the crime, so as to live up to the name of the king!

"After the destruction of Shu Qin, if I can follow my expectations, Hanzhong belongs to me, and the Queen Mother will be of great help to me Dingxi to fight against Pu Qin in the future, and even to attack Guanzhong! Fang Jinhai is late, Guanzhong, the Central Plains Hu Di is all over, driving tigers and shepherds, leading beasts to eat people, the people's sorrow, and those who hear it are compassionate! I Xin Agua, also Kanto men, one day, if you can lead 100,000 elite soldiers, drive to advance, first take Guanzhong, restore the Central Plains, return to my hometown Zilang clear sky, wash thousands of miles of fishy, solve the inversion of the people, this I will also! ”

Especially because after being drunk, Xin Er's self-expression of self-determination became more and more passionate and frustrated.

Zuo's eyes clearly saw that Linghu Yan's eyes when he looked at Xin Er revealed a deep admiration, and Zuo's was also infected by Xin Er's heroic spirit at that time, and he couldn't help but feel emotional.

Xuanwu Black Temple.

Lingering at the banquet that day, the heroic Zuo family, who couldn't extricate himself, felt the feelings of that day again.

Thinking that she will be able to see Xin Er soon, and thinking of Ling Hule's birthday party, Xin Er's heartbeat when she touched her arm, especially the peaceful feeling she had after falling into Xin Er's arms due to fright on the night when Ling Hule was suddenly sick, and the nervousness when she looked at Xin Er later that night, Zuo, who was sitting on the couch, once again felt like a deer, and inexplicably, only to feel that the whole body was numb.

Ling Hule felt Zuo's abnormality, looked up and saw Zuo's cheeks flushing, and asked, "Mother, what's wrong with you?" ”

Zuo hurriedly retracted his thoughts, took a deep breath, covered his sleeves and wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said, "It's so hot in the hall. ”

Ling Hule was a filial child, so he taught the eunuch to burn the fire dragon smaller.

After waiting for about half an hour, the eunuch came in and reported: "The scattered cavalry attendant, the general of the conquest, and the Yongzhou assassin ask to see the king and the queen mother." ”

Zuo pretended to be calm and said, "Please come in, General Zheng." ”

Xin Er alone, climbed the stairs and entered the temple.

Xin Er bowed down and said, "Minister, meet the king and the queen mother." ”

Zuo said softly: "General, please get up." ”

Xin Er stood up and stood respectfully.

The utensils used in the Xuanwu Black Temple, including the color of the temple walls, pillars, and floor tiles, are all black. Xin Er was wearing a red uniform, standing in the middle, and fell into Zuo's eyes, but it was a feeling that Xin Er was in Chengdu before, and when he first saw Huanmeng, he also felt that Xin Er seemed to be a fire in the palace. However, this fire, unlike the stinging of Huanmeng's fire, gave Zuo a sense of warmth.

Zuo said: "The general returned with a great victory, and I am gratifying to be congratulated on the prestige of the West!" After receiving the good news that the general conquered Hanzhong and then captured Sword Pavilion and other places, I don't know how happy I was! The king also liked it so much that he couldn't sleep for two nights in a row! ”

Xin Er said modestly: "This is not the work of the minister. Relying on the virtue of the king, and relying on the lives of the soldiers, he had to show his victory. ”

Ling Hule asked: "Ah Gua, in your letter to Gu, you said that you brought back a lot of gifts to Gu, what are they?" ”

A group of eunuchs carried several large or small cages, held several bamboo products with gold plates, as well as some fruits and foods that were special products of Shudi, and the fish entered the hall and presented them to Linghule.

In that cage, there are golden monkeys, iron-eating beasts, that is, giant pandas and other animals; The bamboo products are bamboo weaving from the hands of craftsmen.

Linghu Le has never seen golden monkeys and giant pandas?

These two animals, one with golden hair, shines brightly; A round, naïve and cute one, which suddenly attracted his attention. He ran down the hall, went round and round the cage, tentatively reached out and touched the monkey, and the monkey bared his teeth, not frightening him, but causing him to giggle, and then he reached into the cage and stroked the giant panda, which was quite docile, and he smiled.

Xin Er and Zuo said: "Queen Mother, I have brought back a few famous local doctors in Shu this time, and I will send someone to send them into the palace tomorrow." If the queen mother agrees, the minister's foolish opinion may as well keep them. Some of these healers have learned the Tao of the Heavenly Master, and the Tao is not credible, but the Taoists are quite good at the art of health preservation, and when the king is growing his body, it can be used. ”

Zuo knew that Xin Er would not offer these healers for other reasons, but only because of Ling Hule's sudden illness that night. If there are a few more famous doctors in the palace, if something similar happens again, there will be a few more treatment methods, which will always be useful.

"Agua, you have a heart!"

"It is the duty of a minister to be loyal to the queen mother and the king."

Maybe it's because Xin Er Fang has returned from the front line and has not yet completely come out of the war, or maybe it's just Zuo's illusion born of thought, for some reason, Xin Er's mouth said "loyalty", and his unscrupulous gaze on Zuo's beautiful face made Zuo feel full of aggression.

Zuo Shi would not be angry about this, she turned her head, and saw that the eunuchs and palace maids were all looking at Ling Hule, so she called Xin Er to come forward alone, bit her lip, and whispered to him: "The general has been away from the capital for nearly two months, I, I,...... I really miss it. ”

"Missing" Yunyun, she said inaudibly.

Then, her voice was slightly higher, and she said: "I wanted to hold a banquet in the palace tonight to celebrate the general's achievements, but the general must be very tired when he returns from afar, so that it can be changed the day after tomorrow." At the banquet the day after tomorrow, I will personally toast the general! ”

Xin Er said: "The queen mother's wine is like a sweet spring. ”

After staying in the temple for more than an hour, twilight was approaching, and Xin Er bowed and came out.

When they arrived at home, Ling Huyan, Liu Jialuo and others had already prepared a banquet for Xin Er.

Xin Er called Liu Zhuang to come too, and told Liu Zhuang and Liu Jialuo that they had sent people to their hometown to look for their relatives, but they didn't find any close relatives, only found his two distant relatives, and they had already brought them to the royal capital.

Liu Jialuo was born in Dingxi, and her hometown is just a place name for her, so there are no surprises; Liu Zhuang is not, he is grateful for Xin Er's thoughtfulness, and he is excited to meet his clan relatives in his lifetime, as if he can't wait to see the two distant relatives immediately.

Xin Er smiled and said to him: "Your two distant relatives, who dragged their families with their mouths, put together a full of thirty or forty people, so I didn't bring them home." They are now living in the barracks of Xiyuan City. Tomorrow you will take some money, find a house to buy, and settle them down. Now that they have come to Guyin, they must make a living, you see whether they want to do business, or they want to farm, if they do business, give some capital, and if they farm, they will give them our land. I don't want them to pay back the money they gave them; I don't want the land for them, but there is only one thing, and you give them a clear explanation, and you are not allowed to bully others. ”

Liu Zhuang was so moved that he promised repeatedly.

When the wine was drunk, Liu Jialuo stroked the qin, and the ugly sang, so that Huyan supported her cheeks, heard the rise, and danced a Hu dance learned from the maid in the Western Regions. This family banquet for Xin Er to wash the dust and bring congratulations will end in the middle of the night.

Xin Er first went to Liu Jialuo's house, hugged his daughter for a while, and then came to Ling Huyan's room.

Pushed the door and entered the room, but seeing that Ling Huyan didn't know when, she changed into a pleated hakama uniform, held a horsewhip in one hand, crossed her waist majestically in the other, raised her pretty face, looked at Xin, and said defiantly: "Xin Agua!" At the banquet, I saw you proud, quite untamed! I poured wine with you, and you dare to be cold? Don't think that you will be able to raise your eyebrows in our house if you defeat Hanzhong! If it weren't for me being a daughter, would you have your share in this work in Hanzhong? Come on, let's try to compete, I'll let you know what it means not to have an eyebrow! ”

As he spoke, Ling Huyan whipped and beat him.

Xin Er couldn't cry or laugh, grabbed the horsewhip she drawn, easily snatched it, put it in his hand, pushed her to the couch, and asked, "Do you want to compete?" ”

Ling Huyan bent her arms as a pillow, looked at the horsewhip, and then looked at Xin'er, her eyes were like silk, and said, "Why not?" ”