Inside the Ming Palace.

Mo Bai sat at the top, Ah Jiu and Lu Xunyi sat below, and the faces of the three of them were heavy.

The two have been informed of today's situation, and it is fortunate that they will be able to stabilize the situation again next year, and it also makes them feel uneasy.

Lu Xunyi pondered for a long time, and then said, "Your Highness still decided to let Lao Jiu ascend the throne?" ”

Mo Bai glanced at him and only nodded.

Ah Jiu also frowned and said: "This is too risky, Lao Jiu really can't figure it out, at the enthronement ceremony, he really turned his face with His Highness, what should I do?" ”

"I know what I know." Mo Bai shook his head and no longer mentioned it, but asked, "Did Chu Ruocai send Lin Dingyu back?" ”

"Not yet." Lu Xunyi shook his head.

As he was talking, a black-clothed guard came to report, and Chu Ruo came.

The three of them glanced at each other, and Ah Jiu said: "They know that His Highness has returned home, and they are stuck here." ”

Lu Xunyi nodded and asked Mo Baidao, "Do you want Your Highness to see him?" ”

"I'm afraid I have to see each other now......" Mo Bai's eyes suddenly flickered.

When Lu Xunyi and Ah Jiu heard this, they both frowned and thought thoughtfully.

After a while, Chu Ruocai and Lin Dingyu were brought to the main hall together.

Lin Dingyu still looked cautious, Mo Bai didn't pay attention to him, only fixed on Chu Ruocai's face, and then ordered someone to send Lin Dingyu down to rest.

"Sit!" Mo Bai retreated from the others and gestured to Chu Ruocai.

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Chu Ruocai sat down after returning the salute, and did not beat around the bush, and said directly: "Yesterday, I have already contacted the marshal, and the marshal agreed to leave the third prince in the house, but the marshal asked him to convey that he hoped that His Royal Highness could protect the safety of the third prince, the third prince and the princess have been close since childhood, if something happens to the third prince, not only the marshal, but also the princess will be difficult to accept." ”

"During his time in the Ming Palace, his safety was naturally the responsibility of this king. Out of this door, the king will not make a guarantee. Mo Bai replied lightly.

"Of course!" When Chu Ruocai heard this, his face changed slightly, which was clearly a warning to them to be honest in the capital.

"Okay, this king is still busy, if there is nothing else to do, then I won't send it." Mo Bai picked up the teacup.

Seeing this, Chu Ruocai hurriedly said: "Regarding the cooperation mentioned yesterday, I don't know what His Highness thinks about it?" ”

Mo Bai heard this, thought about it, and put down the cup again: "Cooperation? Speaking of cooperation, I really thought about it last night. ”

"Oh, I don't know what Your Highness means?" When Chu Ruocai heard this, his spirit was suddenly shocked.

Mo Bai glanced at him: "Regarding the matter of the six cities in Xijiang, we really want to talk about it again." ”

"Xijiang Six Cities......" Chu Ruocai was stunned when he heard this, why did he suddenly mention this stubble again

"What did you tell this king about forcibly occupying the six cities of Xijiang and not paying them back? This king has a bad memory lately, can you say it again? Mo Bai raised his eyes and said.

Chu Ruocai frowned, he had a faint feeling of something bad in his heart, but he still repeated the words of that day: "Your Highness, I already said yesterday that we are not going to forcibly occupy Xijiang, but ......"

After listening to this, Mo Bai nodded and said, "If I heard correctly, you don't withdraw from the army, mainly for three reasons." ”

"First, the rebellion in the six cities of Xijiang is secretly manipulated by the banner barbarians, out of the righteousness of joint resistance against the barbarians, since it is a matter of the flag barbarians, then you have the responsibility to help the country and the dynasty quell the chaos, so it is just to send troops."

"Second, Xijiang and Nanyue are adjacent to each other, and if there is a problem in the six cities of Xijiang, it will directly affect your Nanyue, so you can't sit idly by, so whether you send troops or withdraw troops, you must take into account the stability of these six cities."

"Three, in view of the above two points, you feel that the dynasty is not capable of ensuring the stability of the six cities now, so for the sake of the overall situation of resisting the barbarians and your own safety, you can only temporarily station troops in the six cities."

Speaking of this, Mo Bai asked softly, "That's basically it, right?" ”

Chu Ruocai thought about it, and after making sure that there were no traps in it, he nodded and said, "What Your Highness said is that it is true that we are indeed in a difficult situation now......

Mo Bai raised his hand and interrupted him: "Don't worry, after listening to your words yesterday, this king was shocked to realize that he had neglected a major problem. ”

"Important question?" Chu Ruocai looked at Mo Bai with a wary look.

Mo Bai's eyes suddenly fixed on his face, and he asked, "What do you think about Shangqing Mountain?" ”

Chu Ruocai suddenly cheered up his spirits, and said with vigilance: "Shangqing Mountain? I don't know what His Highness means? ”

"When Shangqing Mountain went to Mingzhu to collude with Qiman, this is a well-known thing. This group of people had a deep collusion with Qiman at the beginning, although Mei Qingfeng died, this king has reason to suspect, or even affirm, that there must be many people who are secretly communicating with Qiman in the Shangqing Mountain family. For this group of traitors, this king, like your southern army, has always hated it. ”

Speaking of this, Chu Ruocai's face had already begun to change drastically, and he had already thought of what Mo Bai was going to say.

Sure enough, I only heard Mo Bai say slowly: "Just as you are worried about Xijiang, this king is also very worried about the Shangqing Mountain line. These people are just like the people who caused rebellion in the six cities of Tay Giang Province, and in terms of the overall situation, they may cause chaos at any critical time and affect the great cause of resisting barbarism. For this king, it is also a matter of great concern. As the master of the Daomen, these people have been lurking in the Daomen for many years, which can be described as intricate, and the slightest carelessness will affect the entire Daomen. ”

Speaking of this, Mo Bai's voice intensified: "Just as you asked this king to understand your worries about Xijiang, this king also hopes that you can understand this king's worries about Daomen. The southern army will hand over the Shangqingshan lineage, and the king will personally suppress it. ”

Chu Ruocai's face became more and more difficult to look at as the words became white.

My mind was racing fast, but for a while, I found that I couldn't find a reason to refute it at all.

He Chu Ruocai is not a fool, and the current dialogue between the two of them represents not only between the two of them, but what can really be said on the table.

King Ming can use the reason of their control of Xijiang to directly and publicly declare to the outside world, and use the same reason to let the southern army hand over Shangqing Mountain, and the southern army will be very passive at that time.

If you don't agree, you will be slapping yourself in the mouth.

"Your Highness, this matter should indeed be cautious, but Your Highness can rest assured, our southern army is absolutely strictly guarded, and it also has absolute strength to ensure that there will be no problems in Shangqing Mountain." Chu Ruocai's forehead was sweating, and his voice was a little dry.

These words can refute Mo Bai, and if he can, Chu Ruocai will not have to sweat on his forehead.

Sure enough, this was completely to put his face up and hit King Ming, only to hear Mo Bai say softly: "The dynasty also said that they can control the Xijiang, and the strength of your southern army is still far from the strength of the dynasty, but you still don't believe that the strength of the dynasty can control the Xijiang." As the lord of the Daomen, when it comes to controlling the Daomen, you are always inferior to the king, what do you say? ”

Chu Ruocai lowered his head and couldn't reply for a long time, he racked his brains, but he couldn't find the slightest reason to refute.

At this moment, he realized that the reason for forcibly occupying Xijiang had a huge loophole, and the reason they found in order to deal with the dynasty had put themselves into it, and they couldn't jump out at all.

Chu Ruocai was soaked in sweat and couldn't sit still, he had to contact the marshal immediately and quickly take countermeasures against the Ming Palace.

"Your Highness, you can't be the master of this matter, you have to be handsome!" Chu Ruocai didn't want to stay any longer, so he got up and said goodbye directly.

"Don't worry, this king is going to announce the world tomorrow and let the southern army hand over Shangqing Mountain, you can discuss it slowly after you go back, don't worry." Mo Bai smiled and picked up the teacup as he spoke.

Chu Ruocai couldn't hear it, King Ming was obviously coercing them, taking a deep breath, Chu Ruocai sat down again, bowed his head and muttered for a moment, and suddenly said: "Your Highness, to tell the truth about Shangqing Mountain, if you really want to make trouble, my southern army is not afraid." ”

"Oh, tell me what you're going to do?" Mo Bai nodded.

"We must be concerned about the six cities of Xijiang Province, out of the overall situation of the Southern Army, even if we give up Shangqing Mountain, we must insist, if His Royal Highness must let the Southern Army hand over Shangqing Mountain, we have no choice but to agree to His Highness's request, but Shangqing Mountain has gone through several twists and turns, and now it is in name only, and there are not a few people left." Chu Ruocai said in a deep voice.

"Understood, to put it simply, it is to pick a few crooked melons and cracked dates to this king, and then say to the outside world, this is the full strength of the Shangqing Mountain family, right?" Mo Bai smiled.

But after speaking, before Chu Ruocai could answer, Mo Bai's face suddenly closed: "Chu Ruocai, do you really think that only the people in your Southern Army are smart people, and everyone else is stupid?" ”

"Why did Your Highness say this?" When Chu Ruocai saw Mo Bai's expression, he thought he was angry, but he made up his mind.

But he didn't want to, Mo Bai stretched out his hand and nodded: "Your Southern Army can come up with a way to make the six cities chaotic, so that the dynasty does not dare to guarantee that the six cities will not have problems, is this king more stupid than you?" When the time comes, this king will take the list to receive the Shangqing Mountain series, and you just have to underreport and conceal it. But have you ever thought about it, no matter if you underreport or conceal it, those who are gone, you still have to use it. ”

"If others are afraid that there is really nothing to do with you, but is this rare to live in this king? Just like the third son of your family, he has to bring guards when he goes out, this king can send someone to keep an eye on him at any time, as long as he shows up, this king will take action, as long as the guard master around him dares to take his head, this king will take his head. When the time comes, this king will send this head to you, and you will not only knock out your teeth and swallow your blood, but you will also have to give this king an explanation by slapping yourself. ”

Speaking of this, Mo Bai looked at Chu Ruocai's pale face and shook his head: "Be honest, if you lose, bow your head, don't always think of some crooked ways, don't get to the end and lose face, there is still bitterness that you can't say, why bother." Of course, you can disfigure them all and make it impossible for people to distinguish their identities, but these high-ranking Taoist masters may not be willing to make such sacrifices for you. Or simply don't need them anymore, in which case the king really can't help it.

Chu Ruocai's posture completely lowered: "Your Highness, you have something to say." ”

"I don't have much to say, but sometimes I think it's naïve to watch some of the tricks you play. Let's take you saying that there are banner barbarians lurking in the Six Cities, and you can use this as a reason, and this king can't use this as a reason? This king can send the whole army of Daomen to the six cities, and kill your generals when they see them, and after killing him, I will carry his head and say that he is a secret son of the banner. Do you want proof? Sorry, not really. When the army of the country and the dynasty went to ask you to withdraw from the army, didn't you also say that there were secret sons of the generals of the dynasty, so they did not withdraw the army? You can play without having to, but others can't? ”

Mo Bai's words made Chu Ruocai's heart frightened.

But this is not over, Mo Bai continued: "Besides, you said that Xijiang is adjacent to Nanyue, so you can't ignore it, okay, I also said that your Nanyue is adjacent to the dynasty, I now suspect that your southern army is cultivated by the banner barbarians to disturb the country, in order to resist the barbarians can be carried out smoothly, we must first clear you lackeys of the banner barbarians, and the country can directly wave troops to the south and wipe you out, you tell me, where will you cry when the time comes, can you still force the country to stop the civil war under the banner of resisting barbarians?" ”

"Your Highness!" Chu Ruocai really couldn't sit still, stood up, and said sharply: "Does Your Highness really ignore the overall situation?" If this is a child's play, when the civil war resumes, it can only be cheaper. ”

"Child's play, you know it's child's play? This kind of child's play, you haven't resorted to it, and you are still complacent, even if the king ignores you, you actually run to the king to show off. Mo Bai said lightly: "I really don't understand, how much ability do you have, and you dare to send you to threaten this king in a grand manner?" Let this king hand over the control of the Dao Gate in his hand, and beg you to use my Ming Wangfu. ”

Speaking of this, Mo Bai's eyes flashed with anger, and he shot directly at Chu Ruocai: "Is it that after the first emperor leaves, there are no tigers in the mountains, and he Lin Huayao can be a monkey to be the overlord, is it a little inflated?" ”

Chu Ruocai was shocked by Mo Bai's momentum, especially by Mo Bai's previous words, and he didn't dare to fight back at this moment.

The hall was quiet, and Chu Ruo took a few deep breaths before calming down.

In fact, he knew very well that what Mo Bai just said about letting the national dynasty wave troops to fight the Lin clan and the like was actually impossible to happen, this was not a matter of reason, but the national dynasty did not have the spare strength at all now.

The current relationship between Mobai and the dynasty will not listen to the advice of the dynasty.

But the Daomen is indeed in Mo Bai's hands, and he does have the ability to go to the six cities to make trouble and kill people, these Chu Ruocai have no bottom in his heart, King Ming, who dares to bet on his guts.

Chu Ruocai calmed down and thought about it, and finally realized a problem, if Mo Bai wanted to do this, there was no need to say it in front of him, since he said it, there must be a plan.

Let's talk about the problem of the six cities, King Ming obviously has a way to take Qingshan and make it difficult for the southern army, but he can't bear it, it should also be related to his current relationship with the country, since this is the case, then King Ming said these things today, in the end, it was for the cooperation he proposed before.

"Your Highness is dissatisfied with the demands of several other warlords?" Chu Ruocai asked.

"If you take a detour, then you can go." Mo Bai picked up the teacup again.

Chu Ruocai hurriedly said: "We can coordinate this matter in the middle, and no longer ask His Highness to pay any conditions, and we will cooperate directly and equally." ”

Mo Bai smiled, put down the teacup again, and said slowly: "The content of the cooperation, I'm afraid it has to be changed again." ”

"Huh?" Chu Ruocai became vigilant again.

"Qu Guochang!" Mo Bai's eyes drooped slightly, and he raised his eyes to look directly at Chu Ruocai: "I want his life." ”

"What?" Chu Ruocai's face was shocked.

"Don't worry, you don't have to do it, as long as you help me lure him out." Mo Bai didn't care.