In the middle of the night, the oil lamp in the south city of Qingdu, Xiangguo Mansion, and the old Xiangguo Xue Ruo's house was still not extinguished. In the past few days, due to the affairs in the north, Qingguo's internal affairs have increased dramatically, and Lao Xiangguo has to move many official documents that need to be approved and processed to his own house, which saves a lot of labor.

A gust of night wind blew through the window, and the flames in the house trembled, and the old Xiangguo just wanted to tell the little guy to close the window, but when he looked up, he saw that the little guy who was serving was already leaning on the table and sleeping soundly, Lao Xiangguo couldn't help but smile bitterly and shook his head, it was time for him to get up and move his muscles. Thinking of this, he didn't wake up the little girl, but stood up by himself, straightened his clothes, and walked to the window.

"How dare you come!" Before Lao Xiangguo walked to the window, he saw a person, dressed in a night walk, leaning against the window and looking at himself in the house, hurriedly walked over and drank softly.

"The old general said that the matter is urgent, please make a decision quickly." The night pedestrian bowed and replied.

"This is not the place to talk, come with the old man." , Xue Ruotong looked at the sides a little nervously, and motioned for the night walker to come with him.

The pedestrians didn't bother that night, they went through the window in the depths, and followed Xue Ruotong to the inner room. The two of them bypassed the sleeping little girl, came to the screen in front of the table, and came to a bookshelf covered with walls, Xue Ruotong first groped and buttoned the mechanism hidden in the bookshelf, and then tapped a partition three times, only to see that the bookshelf flipped softly, and a secret door opened softly, which was a downward secret passage.

The two glanced at each other, and walked in one after the other without saying a word, and then the secret door automatically reversed and closed, and the two of them disappeared into the darkness as if they had disappeared out of thin air.

"What's the matter with me in such a hurry?" , Xue Ruotong lit the lamp and sat down at the table in the dark room.

"The old Xiangguo forgive me, the family teacher ordered me to send a book, and I have a secret matter to ask the old Xiangguo for approval." The night walker took off his mask at this moment, revealing a delicate face. This person is the commander of the garrison in the palace, Qin Wuyue.

"What good can your master do to me? Isn't what happened last time enough to embarrass the old man! Xue Ruotong took the secret letter, but he didn't open it, but said with some resentment.

"The family teacher is no longer an official in the court, and it is really not convenient to do some things by himself, the old Xiangguo is a close friend of the family teacher, so I have to ask each other hard, and ask the old Xiangguo to complete it." , Qin Wuyue saw that Xue Ruo had anger on his face, so he had to bow down and beg each other.

"You are the king's garrison, but now you are in a foreign country, I haven't exposed your behavior is already good, I just ask you and your master can spend the rest of your life in peace, the last time I helped you save people has been my biggest compromise, what else do you need, can the old man live up to your master and apprentice?!".

"Old Xiangguo, it is the king who bears my teacher first...."

"Be careful!" , Xue Ruotong said angrily.

"The villain knows it's wrong!" , Qin Wuyue's face was shocked, and she hurriedly knelt on the ground.

"You get up....", after a while, Xue Ruotong slightly retracted his anger and said to Qin Wuyue, he naturally knew in his heart that there was no evidence in the tragedy of the year, and there was no way to trace what was going on, only a few old men in the court and the central government could probably guess how the old general of the Shen family was killed back then.

Although he Xue Ruotong did not participate in it back then, he quietly investigated in private for many years, and finally let him uncover the truth, but this truth is indeed not accessible to outsiders, if this matter is exposed, it may lead to the destruction of the country, and Shanyang Pass is still guarded by the Shen family.

"Don't do anything." , Xue Ruotong finally unfolded the secret letter, and there were only five words "don't do anything" on the secret letter, and the fire shone on Xue Ruotong's face, flickering bright and dark, cloudy and uncertain.

Qin Wuyue just stood up and didn't say anything.

"Didn't your master tell you anything else?" , Xue Ruotong thought for a while, handed the secret letter to the candle flame, and burned it.

"The master said that the old Xiangguo is dedicated to the country and will be able to make decisions." , Qin Wuyue said slowly, but her voice trembled a little.

"Hahaha, he Shendian fled to the wild country, which is a land where cattle and sheep are eaten, why is his temperament softer than before?" , Xue Ruotong said jokingly.

"The old minister is serious, and the master is an old man, and he is also for the country and the people." , Qin Wuyue lowered her head.

"For the country and for the people? It's really worthy of what you say! I Daqing military and civilian soldiers are bloody, do you know how many people have been shrouded in horse leather over the years, and they have died at the border! You guys! You actually want the old man to be my own personal vendetta of the Shen family, and to commit treason to the enemy! Xue Ruotong was excited again!

"The tutor never meant that! The family teacher will never let Lao Xiangguo do that treasonous thing! Qin Wuyue hurriedly replied.

"Humph! I don't know exactly how you're deployed, but you want me to do nothing? What if I don't say yes?! Xue Ruotong's sudden upsurge, the tiger's eyes widened!

"The family teacher said that the old minister has a high position in the country, and he has kindness to the family teacher, and the two families have been friends for decades, and it is not a last resort...", Qin Wuyue said slowly, lying behind him with one hand, as if there was a sharp weapon hiding.

"Oh? Now is the last resort. Xue Ruotong understood that Shen Dian must have a big plan, and he might become a stumbling block for him in this matter.

When Shen Dian returned to the capital to report on his work, he was intercepted and killed by the bandit Yefu of unknown origin halfway, and the incident happened suddenly, and there was an uproar in the court, and even the son of Shen Dian, who was supervising the construction of Shanyang Pass, was sentenced to death, and they all flew back after receiving the news.

For this reason, the imperial court sent the king's personal guards to encircle and suppress the bandits for half a year, and finally beheaded more than 100 people, but they didn't even find out where the general's body was..! There are only rumors that the old general died in the valley, and the bones of the bandits burned by the bandits are gone.

Then Xue Ruotong secretly investigated with many parties, and what shocked him was that the suspicious evidence he found pointed to the person in the palace.

Xue Ruotong didn't dare to collect evidence in depth when he found out about this, but he just kept the matter firmly on the table, which was no longer something that he could control.

A few years later, he had just returned home from the court, but on the way he was blocked by a heroic palace guard who stretched out his hand to block the way, that was the closed disciple Qin Wuyue accepted by Shendian, he did not follow Shendian around that year, and the king did not further rush to kill, Qin Wuyue was lucky to avoid this disaster, Qin Wuyue told Xue Ruotong that when Shendian struggled to resist the enemy, he was seriously injured and fell off the cliff, but he did not die of anger, he escaped from Ascension in one breath, and went to the Northland Wild Country that no one could imagine, and since then he has hidden his whereabouts, Even his own son Shen Xing did not tell him secretly. Qin Wuyue found himself like this, and Xue Ruotong knew that he could no longer be alone.

Xue Ruotong was facing the corner of the dark room at this moment, closing his eyes, he knew that he knew too much, in the eyes of Shen Dian, he was a person who had the ability to prevent some things from happening, so Qin Wuyue came to visit late at night today, if he didn't agree to his request, then he might be greeted with a cold dagger, he was an old and crippled body, and it was impossible to struggle too much with Qin Wuyue.

"Why don't you do it yet? Do you want the old man to come by himself? After a while, Xue Ruotong was shocked that there was no movement behind his back, so he looked back, where else was there anyone? In the empty secret room, only his old body flickered and swayed with the candle flame. "Shen Lao.... Are you loyal or traitor? Xue Ruotong muttered.

Sleepless nights. The little guy who slept like a pig finally woke up, and saw that his master was still sitting in front of the case, sorting out the public cases that had been dealt with in the past few days, and hurriedly got up and waited. Unexpectedly, Lao Xiangguo just ordered to let the kitchen get some soup and have breakfast.

If the little guy in the amnesty is busy and rushes to the kitchen to prepare, he secretly says in his heart that the old Xiangguo has changed his temperament? Or are you in a good mood today? Xue Ruotong saw that the little girl had gone out, so he got up and walked outside the house, at this time it was already white in the east, and even the sound of morning dew dripping on the banana leaves could be heard outside the house.

Big things are coming, quiet and deep! Xue Ruo was hiding things in his heart, and he inevitably felt a little when he saw anything, Qin Wuyue didn't do anything to himself last night, and he could be said to be surviving from death. Now that he has finally calmed down completely, what does "don't do anything" mean? Shen Dian must have a plan, and this plan may be inextricably linked to his next decision, but now he can't figure it out at all.

"Old Xiangguo, old Xiangguo!" , Xue Ruotong just wanted to go back to the house to rest, but saw a person rushing to the corridor in the courtyard, it was the public who specially delivered the official report to him.

"There is an urgent report of military affairs, and the king asks the old minister to take a look." , the duke ran to Xue Ruotong and respectfully handed over the military report in his hand. Xue Ruotong untied it in court, took a rough look, frowned, and said to the duke.

"Report to the king, and I will enter the palace immediately." Xue Ruotong knew that something big was about to happen, but he didn't expect it to be so fast! immediately called someone to change his court clothes for himself, and hurried out.

"Old Xiangguo, old Xiangguo, your soup! Your soup! The little guy who ran to the kitchen was rushing back with the hot meat soup at the moment, and he saw that Lao Xiangguo and his party were walking out, and he didn't catch up with him after two steps, and Xue Ruotong didn't even reply.

In the inner courtyard of Qing Palace, before the old Qing Wang's bedroom, Xue Ruotong saw that a group of princes and nobles with heads and faces had gathered in front of the palace, and he even saw Taizi Qingyun and the second prince Qingdan also discussing something nervously with the courtiers in the crowd.

"Old Xiangguo, you're here." , Prince Qingyun saw that Xue Ruotong had arrived, and took the lead in leading the ministers to see Lao Xiangguo.

"Well, the prince is here too." , Xue Ruotong had no waves on his face, and returned the salute to the prince.

"Shanyang Pass is urgent, the wild king's army is moving, and it is approaching Shanyang Pass, old Xiangguo, do you see?" , Prince Yun saluted again and asked humbly.

Xue Ruotong's status in the court is as important as Pingchangjun's punishment in Shanyang Pass, and his judgment is likely to determine the policy of a country.

"The prince and the rank are a little restless, although the military is urgent this time, our defense is stable, you can rest assured, and let me see the king first, and then we have a complete strategy." , Xue Ruotong bowed and said to Qingyun and the ministers.

Although the king summoned his ministers to the palace early in the morning, he only said that they were all waiting outside, and he only wanted to see the old minister first. Xue Ruotong also felt a little strange in his heart at this moment, he belonged to internal affairs and was not good at military affairs, why did the king name him to see him first?

"Old Xiangguo, you're here, sit down." , Xue Ruo entered the dormitory together, Lao Qingwang was half-leaning in front of the collapse, obviously just got up, and he didn't even remember to change his bedclothes.

Xue Ruotong thanked the king, and sat down without hypocrisy.

"Old Xiangguo, the wild king is rampant, I don't know what to do, Shen Xingjun reported that at least 200,000 rabble barbarian troops have been closed towards Shanyang. Do you think this Shanyang Pass can be guarded? King Qing said lightly, there was some contempt in his words.

"There are 100,000 troops stationed in Shanyang, even if the Yewang has twice the military strength of our army, as long as he holds on, with the 200,000 troops of the Yewang, he will definitely not be the opponent of our army." Although Xue Ruotong is not familiar with military affairs, he is still very insightful about the economy, Jinshi armaments and other related important matters, and he pointed out sharply that if the armaments are excellent and the supply of grain and grass is to give Yewang another 100,000 troops, it may not be able to capture today's Shanyang Pass.

"Then Lao Xiangguo is also optimistic about this battle?" , Qing Wang Yi asked. “

The old minister thinks that Shanyang Pass must be guarded! Xue Ruotong returned firmly.

"Look at this." , King Qing ordered his close attendants to hand over a scroll of notes before his collapse to Lao Xiangguo.

"This....", Xue Ruotong took a closer look at the scroll, this was actually the joint name of the second prince Dan and a group of courtiers, Xue Ruotong has always been a friend but not a party, and now this long joint name is unexpected to him, although someone has also mentioned it to him before, but he has objected, why they still insist on the book.

"How about the old minister's intentions? Sounds good. Seeing this, Xue Ruotong hurriedly got up, but he didn't expect King Qing to reach out to hold him up, and gently pushed him back to the chair.

"Old Xiangguo, you and I are old, this time I plan to fulfill everyone's wishes and personally recruit the barbarian army." , Lao Qingwang looked at Xue Ruotong with a smile, with confidence in his eyes, and even more domineering spirit.

He immediately understood that Lao Qingwang was not asking for his own opinion, he just wanted himself, an old guy, to support him in a complete sense. Do nothing, do nothing, do nothing....... Xue Ruotong repeatedly flashed the words on last night's secret letter in his mind, could it be that it was not a request, but a warning? Could it be that Shen Dian had anticipated all this, and was he warning himself not to make unnecessary admonitions? Shendian, you old fellow! Is it loyalty or treachery?