As soon as Yun Yan's words fell, the ministers in the hall were surprised, and they exchanged glances with each other in a turbulent manner.

On the main seat, Mu Chen's eyes were deep and dark, and he couldn't see joy or anger, but the hands placed on both sides had already been clenched into fists, and a trace of fierceness suddenly appeared in his upright figure.

Before he could speak, behind a curtain on the side of the hall, a woman's voice slowly sounded: "King Lieyang's wishful thinking is good, and marrying me to Beilu is not equivalent to controlling the Qingyun Sword, and then also controlling the Xianxia Pass?" ”

Yun Yan was stunned when he heard this.

The curtain slowly rolled up, revealing the green spirit sitting upright.

She hadn't appeared in front of the courtiers for a long time, and she looked much weaker than ever. In the dark eyes, there is less agility and enthusiasm when he led the New Deal in the past, replaced by a deeper coldness and a faint ridicule.

Yun Yan stared at Qingling for a while, and said with a smile: "It turned out to be Qingling Emperor." ”

He saluted casually, "The emperor may not despise my brother too much. What my brother Wang wants is an eternal reconciliation between the two countries, and things like the Qingyun Sword can be handed over directly to the heirs, and there is no need to take them to our Lieyang! ”

Qing Ling glanced at Yun Yan and turned his gaze to Mu Chen.

The two of them looked at each other.

Mu Chen suddenly realized Qing Ling's plan, and quickly turned around and said a few words to the attendant next to him.

Soon, the curtain in front of Qing Ling was lowered again, and the accompanying palace maid stepped forward to help her up and respectfully invited her to go back to the dormitory to rest.

Qing Ling curled the corners of his mouth mockingly, and slowly stood up.

She followed the palace maid to leave from the inner door on the side of the hall, and just crossed the threshold, when she suddenly heard Yun Yan's voice sound, as if she was saying to Mu Chen:

"In order to show his sincerity, Lieyang is willing to take Zhu Xia's Divine Sword as an appointment and marry Emperor Chaoyan as the queen."

As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere in the hall suddenly boiled, and the courtiers who had previously been afraid of etiquette and did not dare to discuss it out loud could not hold back any longer, and they exchanged their heads and ears.

Qing Ling's steps were also stunned, and his figure froze.

The four great swords of the ancients, Qingyun, Baihong, Zhu Xia, and Xuanting, were all cast by the ancient gods, each with its own strengths.

Among them, Qingyun passed to the Zhang Gu clan of the Heavenly Emperor's side clan, and Bai Hong also remained in the Eastern Continent, and finally became the exclusive blade used by the Chongwu Holy Monarch in the past dynasties.

The Xuanting Sword was lost to the Western Continent, and was finally accidentally obtained by the Baili Clan, who controlled the sea routes between the East and the West.

As for the last remaining Zhu Xia, she has been in the dark for a long time and does not know where she will end.

Before the death of the Ancient Heavenly Emperor, he was worried that the four continents would conquer each other and cause the souls to suffer, so he built a barrier between the Eastern Continent and the Northern Continent, once the Qingyun Sword activated the formation of Xianxia Pass, the forces of both sides would be isolated at both ends of the invisible barrier, unable to cross.

Between the eastern and western continents, there is the vast and vast West Sea, and between the western continent and the northern continent, there is a year-round ice blade forest and a sealed moat.

Further south, between the Eastern Continent and the Southern Continent, there is a sea of hatred that is heavily covered with demonic mist.

It is not wide from the sea of hatred, but it is extremely dangerous. It is almost impossible for the people of the Eastern Continent to cross the sea of hatred on their own.

At present, the Zhu Xia Divine Sword mentioned by Yun Yan, among the rumors left by ancient times, is said to be an artifact that can open the sea of hatred and connect the two continents in the southeast. But the rumors are very old, and Zhu Xia has been in the dark for a long time, and most people have long forgotten about this matter. At this moment, listening to Yun Yanyan and Zhu Xia, he knew that he had fallen into the hands of the people of Lieyang. For a while, everyone couldn't help but be surprised and alert.

People with a mean heart are even thinking that in the past, they thought that the Emperor of Heaven favored the Eastern Continent and left all the good things here, and the Xianxia Guan Qingyun Sword or something was also to block the invasion of the Northern Continent barbarians. But I didn't expect that the Emperor of Heaven was the lord of all things after all, and the Grand Duke was selfless, putting others before himself, leaving a Qingyun Sword for the Eastern Continent, and then secretly leaving a Zhu Xia for the Northern Continent. If people come to fight in the East Continent, you can block the road, so if you go to the East Continent to fight the North Continent, wouldn't it be appropriate to block the people in the corner and beat them to death? It's not fair! Therefore, the Emperor of Heaven left such a backhand and gave a Zhuxia sword to the Beilu people. In case the Eastern Continent is not honest one day, the people of the Northern Continent will open the Sea of Hatred and recruit the group of people from the Southern Continent to beat you......

Everyone in the hall had their own thoughts. Although no one knows how Zhu Xiajian fell into the hands of the people of Lieyang, the impact of this matter and the possible political shocks cannot be underestimated!

Mu Chen also realized the complexity of the situation, and after a moment of silence, he suddenly got up and announced his retreat from the court, and ordered someone to invite the Lieyang envoys and his party into the side hall, while he discussed politics alone with the close ministers' henchmen.

This discussion is most of the day.

Qing Ling returned to the dormitory under the "escort" of the maid, but the thoughts flying in his mind did not stop for a moment.

She sat alone in the room, waiting for Mu Chen to appear, silently calculating the bargaining chips with him in her heart.

During these days, people were under house arrest in the Chengji Palace, and the people who served around them were all Mu Chen's henchmen, and they couldn't spread the word or bring in the news. She didn't want her entanglement with Mu Chen to affect Yuxiu, so she tried her best to pretend to be casual on the surface, so that the child would not see any clues. However, she knew in her heart that if she continued to live like this, her and her child's lives would be ruined sooner or later......

It was very late at night that Mu Chen returned to the Chengji Palace.

He entered the side hall where Qing Ling lived from the main entrance, and several attendants of the Chengji Hall followed by him, according to the custom, and followed the practice of the show boy for a day.

Mu Chen walked to the corridor leading to the inner hall, stopped, and waved his hand to let everyone who followed him retreat. The leading attendant glanced at His Majesty's face, and hurriedly motioned for the other palace maids standing in the corridor to also leave.

It seems that His Majesty and the Elder Emperor Ji are going to quarrel again tonight.

Since the eldest emperor moved into the Chengji Palace, it was okay in front of the young man, but once he was alone with His Majesty, although the attendants were usually rejected and never heard any big movements, there were a lot of broken things that had been cleaned up......

Mu Chen stepped into the inner sanctum.

Qing Ling sat on the beauty couch, holding a cup of tea that had already been cooled in his hand, and raised his eyes to look at him.

She was ready for his wrath.

Mu Chen sat down slowly, not looking at her, his eyes fell on the void somewhere, deep and unfocused.

After a while, he finally said coldly: "You want to leave me so much? ”

He knew her too well.

On the surface, he attacked Lie Yang's "calculation", but in fact, it gave Yun Yan a chance to explain.

As long as Lie Yang cleared the charge of coveting the Qingyun Sword, then for the sake of reconciliation between the two countries, she, the widowed eldest emperor, would no longer have any strong excuse to refuse to marry.

Mu Chen even guessed that if she hadn't asked people to send Qingling back to the palace earlier, she would probably stand up in front of the officials of the Manchu Dynasty and take the initiative to ask for a distant marriage!

Qing Ling didn't want to argue with Mu Chen right now.

She was silent for a moment, then turned her head to look at him, and said in a calm tone: "Then will you agree to make peace with Lieyang?" ”

Seeing that Mu Chen didn't speak, she put down the teacup in her hand, took another one and poured it, and pushed it in front of Mu Chen.

"The tea was a bit cold, but it tasted ok. Do you taste it? ”

Mu Chen remained motionless for a long time, and smiled mockingly.

"Now, have you used the trick you deliberately flattered your father to me?"

Qing Ling's heart was uncomfortable, but she tried her best to hold back her emotions and said as indifferently as possible: "I have always been good to you, but you want too much for yourself." ”

Mu Chen was silent, his gaze that had been cast into the void slowly retracted, and he looked sideways at Qing Ling.

"Did You Know?"

He gritted his teeth unnoticed, and slowly asked, "The people of Lieyang have always been in contact with the merchants of the Western Continent?" ”

He measured the subtle changes in her expression, and the sarcasm on his lips grew bitter.

"I only learned today that someone helped Qianzhong set up a formation in the Ice Blade Forest and the Sealed Stream Heavenly Trench, so that Lieyang's army could clear the customs and go south and invade the Eastern Continent from the West Sea. The ships provided by the Western Continent merchant Dunderu were also the ones who threaded the needle and helped them make a deal. After Chiju withdrew from the West Sea, he used these channels to trade with the West Continent for mutual benefit. ”

Mu Chen stared at Qing Ling, "You tell me, did you know these things before?" ”

Qing Ling half-lowered his eyes and pursed his lips, recalling the words that Luo Yao had said to him in the floating island.

After a while, she took a slight breath and met Mu Chen's gaze fearlessly, "I know." ”

After a pause, he said: "The North Continent has a harsh environment and scarce products, and has repeatedly invaded the East Continent in order to plunder our resources. Now they have a passage to seal off the moat, and they can barter goods with the people of the Western Continent by sea, so that the people can live a life of abundant food and clothing, which is beneficial to the Eastern Continent and harmless. ”

Mu Chen's eyes were gloomy, "These words were all said to you by Baili Fuyao, right?" ”

He held the teacup pushed by Qing Ling and twinked it between his fingers, as if he wanted to soothe his emotions through boring and repetitive movements.

"The so-called trade reciprocity, emphasizing the word mutual benefit, the fur and medicinal materials produced in the north are scarce in the Western Continent, so in the past hundred years, Qianzhong has relied on these special products to exchange food and cloth with the merchants of the Western Continent, and the life is indeed good. But the demand for things like fur and medicinal herbs is not endless. A hundred years have passed, and the people of Xilu have bought enough and hoarded enough, and they don't plan to ask for any more, so now the people of Lieyang have found us and asked us to solve this problem. ”

After Mu Chen finished speaking, he looked at Qing Ling, waiting for her response.

Qing Ling thought about it for a while, and said matter-of-factly: "But it is not good for us to help them. ”

"Yes, there is no benefit. But if you don't help, you may also be in trouble. ”

Mu Chen's mind finally calmed down a little, and he said slowly: "Lieyang's forces are not weak, and now they have a passage to seal the Heavenly Moat, and they can invade the Eastern Continent from the West Sea at any time. Although Xianxia Pass has a barrier set by the ancient formation, it needs the Qingyun Sword to open it. With your current physical condition, it is not realistic to take out the Qingyun Sword for a long time. ”

Qing Ling moved his lips when he heard this, but finally held back.

It was not impossible to unseal the Qingyun Sword from her body. It's a big deal that she can move to Xianxia Pass, and once the enemy army attacks, she will take out the sword in a short time and activate the formation.

But she knew very well that Mu Chen would not let her leave Lingxiao City for half a step.

He even refused to stop letting her take Xuanxin Lu, nor did he allow her to leave the Chengji Hall without permission......

He asked her to be his caged bird.

An obedient, obedient caged bird......

Mu Chen continued: "What worries me the most is not the invasion of the Eastern Continent by Lieyang's army, but the Zhuxia Divine Sword in their hands. ”

Zhu Xia manipulated the saying of hating the sea, although it is an old saying handed down from ancient times and no one has ever seen it with their own eyes, but once it comes true, it may lead to a situation in which the north and south are flanked by Chaoyan. Especially now that Mu Han is also in Nanlu, he may have gathered a lot of strength through marriage. In other words, no one can easily refuse the conditions offered by the Lieyang people and push them in the direction of an alliance with the Southern Continent.

Qing Ling pondered Mu Chen's tone, "Then you, are you going to agree to them?" ”