At the end of the drill meeting of the military department yamen, it was not yet noon. Shang Yuan thought that he would return to Zhuangzi on the same day, but suddenly Tang Xing, on behalf of the Prime Minister's Office, asked him in person about the candidate for the governor of Yanshan, so he changed his mind and was not busy going back. He felt that it was very likely that he had only entered Zhuangzi on the front foot, and he would receive a notice to return to Beijing for a meeting on the back foot. Because of such a major personnel adjustment as the replacement of the governor of Yanshan, it is impossible for the prime minister's office to bypass a few Shangzhuguo in Beijing to advocate without authorization, and will definitely convene everyone to hold a meeting once or twice to talk about the "good deeds" done by the prefaces, and then emphasize the grim situation that Yanshanwei is currently facing, and finally Tang Xing or Zhang Pu will propose two or three new candidates for the governor of Yanshan, and let everyone decide who is more suitable; Even if the two prime ministers take a fancy to Zhang Shao, they will inevitably fully support Zhang Shao as the governor of Yanshan, but this meeting will still be held; This is because this is the normal procedure for appointing and dismissing officials. He believes that this meeting will be held in the near future. Instead of tossing back and forth, he might as well stay in the county mansion and wait for the meeting.

However, he stayed in the city for two days, but he was never notified to go to the meeting of the Prime Minister's Office.

At this time, he realized that he was too concerned about Yan Shanwei's situation, so he ignored other things. Zhu Xuan is no longer suitable to continue to stay in Yanshan, and he must not let this person continue to serve as the governor of Yanshan, there is no doubt about this! But for the two prime ministers, the matter of Yanshan is not the most important thing to pay attention to at the moment. What they are most concerned about is, first, the impeachment of the Ministry of Industry by the government and the opposition, and second, the resolution made at the just-concluded meeting of the Ministry of War. Only after these two things are resolved will they set their sights on Yanshan. The second thing, in particular, is even more important. This decision made in the main hall of the military department involves not only the victory or defeat of Yang Du and Yan Gu, nor the ups and downs of the two factions; Its sphere of influence cannot be confined to the barracks! Next, there is no telling how many people will be affected by it! Until now, Shang Cheng didn't understand why Tang Xing did this, let alone what kind of situation this matter would lead to in the end. He guessed that perhaps even Tang Xing and Zhang Pu themselves were not very clear about the final result. The only thing he can be sure of is the reason why Tang Xing suddenly came out to preside over the Prime Minister's Mansion again after recuperating for more than half a year......

Since it was impossible for the Prime Minister's Office to hold a meeting on the issue of the order in a short period of time, Shang Cheng was not willing to stay in the city any longer. There was a gust of wind and rain in the city immediately, and he was impatient to see these things, so it was better to be quiet and comfortable in the Zhuangzi.

Just go. The next day, he got up, took advantage of the cool weather, and left the county mansion with a few guards.

When he went out of the city, he saw Chen Pu and Nanyang. Both sisters were dressed as a gentleman, riding horses, and carrying maids and servants; It looks like he's going to an invitation.

He restrained the green horse and approached the past, first said hello to Nanyang, and casually asked Chen Pu, "Where are you going?" ”

Chen Pu didn't answer his words, just looked at him in surprise, and was stunned for a moment before asking, "Why haven't you gone back yet?" ”

Shang Cheng suddenly had nothing to say. What a surprising question; If he doesn't go back, do he have to report to her first? He said vaguely: "I encountered something temporarily and was delayed for two days. Then he asked her, "Where are you and your sister going with these people?" ”

“…… Nuwa Mountain. ”

Shang Cheng immediately said with emotion: "Ah, that's a good place." He had heard of this place, about fifty miles away from the capital, because there was a big cave in the mountain that was dug through and attached to the place where Nuwa made people out of earth, so it had such a name. However, the reason why this place has become famous is because of an old incident from decades ago. During the reign of Gaozong, a man surnamed Liu went to Beijing to take the exam, and when he walked to the place of Nuwa Mountain, it happened to be dark, and he couldn't find a place to stay, so he slept in the Nuwa Cave on the mountain. When he was asleep, Nuwa Niangniang gave him a dream and told him about the topic of the Dabiri's strategy, and as a result, he won the championship in one fell swoop in the big test of the Ministry of Rites that year, and also became the son-in-law of Emperor Gaozong as a concubine, and finally went to Wenyingdian University to worship the prince and young master, becoming a successful example that countless scholars yearn for. The cave on Nuwa Mountain, because of this lucky guy, has become a place where people who enter Beijing to take the exam must go to worship sincerely. There are many people who move around there, and many wealthy families have built manor courtyards up and down the mountain, on the one hand, it is convenient for their families to spend summer and escape the heat, and on the other hand, they can form a good fate with the lifters. Even if it's not the champion, Jinshi is not bad. And because there is a two-acre square pond in front of Nuwa Cave, the green waves and clear water do not dry up all year round, and some people compare this place with the Biluo Lake of another scenic spot in Shangjing, "Bihu Jinbang Guiche Chooses a Son-in-law", and call this place Xiaobiluo, and many unmarried daughters of large families will also come here first to secretly choose a son-in-law who meets their hearts. Over time, this also developed a custom. Therefore, every three years, in the autumn of the first year of the Ministry of Rites, Nuwa Mountain is always bustling......

Nanyang said: "Uncle Ying, if you have time, you might as well go with us." He also said, "Tomorrow is a literary meeting, and the day after tomorrow there will be a poetry meeting." After speaking, he looked at Shang Cheng with a blank eye. She really hoped that Shang Cheng would agree. She believes that whether it is a literary society or a poetry club, it is impossible to stump Shang Cheng!

By this time, the group had already left the city and came outside the city. Soon the roads became less congested than at the city gates. Shang Cheng and Chen Pu surrounded Nanyang on the left and right, and the three of them rode in front. Shang Cheng said, "I can't go." He didn't explain why he couldn't go. I think Nanyang will never break the casserole and ask the end, right?

Nanyang had a disappointed look on his face. She bowed her head and stopped talking.

Chen Pu said to Shang Cheng across her sister: "Hey! One by one, I asked you, but you haven't said it yet! Why haven't you gone back until now? ”

"There's a bit of a delay."

"What's the matter?" Chen Pu looked very patient and continued to ask. It seems that she is ready to take the casserole that her sister did not break, and follow the question to the end.

"Well, it's just a small thing. Nothing! Shang Cheng said vaguely. He hadn't figured out what kind of nonsense to make up to fool Chen Pu.

"Is it related to what Old Tang Xiangguo left behind for you that day?" Chen Pu seemed to be pretentiously clever.

“…… Well? One by one, no, it doesn't matter. Where do you want to go, how can it be? Shang Cheng deliberately tried to cover it up. In fact, he just wanted Chen Pu's thinking to go in this direction. Tang Lao Xiangguo said at the time that it was a private matter; Since it's a private matter, it's hard for you to continue to ask, right?

"Oh." Chen Pu nodded. She seemed to give up. Unfortunately, immediately after that, she said categorically, "I don't believe it! She said to Nanyang, "Sister, did you see it?" I've said it all, these people, their minds are all in their belly, and they all have a great ability to take fiction as reality and reality as fiction, and they can't distinguish between truth and falsehood, if you want to hear an honest word from their mouths, don't be delusional at all! Believe it or not, he deliberately talked to me like this just now, it seems that he was helping Tang Lao Xiangguo cover up, but in fact, I wish I could think like this, I can't ask Tang Lao Xiangguo about his private affairs, right? As she spoke, she slowed the horse down by half a step, turned her face sideways, and stared at Shang Cheng. Uncle Ying," she deliberately called Shang Cheng's knighthood to express her dissatisfaction. "Uncle Ying, what I said is not wrong, right?"

Shang Cheng laughed, not taking his tricks exposed to his face at all.

"What the hell is going on?" Chen Pu still didn't give up.

Shang Cheng pondered for a moment and asked her, "You really want to know?" ”

"I don't want to!" Chen Pu said very simply, "When I should know, I will know sooner or later; If I shouldn't know it, there are reasons why I shouldn't know it. ”

Shang Cheng smiled and said nothing.

"By the way, I have something to tell you." Chen Pu bound his horse and walked around to Shang Cheng's side, and whispered, "When I was at the meeting of the Ministry of War that day, Zhang Xiang said that the Right Shenwei Army would try out the new drill code, and I saw that several people had different expressions. Yang Guogong's negative anger is certain, because Zhang Xiang and they pulled a biased hand; However, why is Yan Guogong's face so ugly? Isn't he satisfied? Although there is a gap between him and Xiao Laoshuai, the Right God Mighty Army also has his hard work after all. I don't understand, what is it that makes him dissatisfied? ”

Shang Cheng glanced at Nanyang on the other side. The friendship between him and Chen Pu is extraordinary, and he has the responsibility and obligation to guide his comrades-in-arms at critical times; Moreover, judging from the situation of the four discipline meetings, she has also gradually emerged among the military, and has received more and more attention, and now she is a peer with Shangguan Rui and others, and he can already discuss many things with her. It's just that there is a Nanyang by his side, and he can't make up his mind, whether to say these words or not? If so, to what extent?

"My sister already knows. I told her. Chen Pu said. She pursed her lips and was silent for a moment, looking up at the official road that was swaying and dazzling by the sun, as if she was explaining to Shang Cheng, and as if she was talking to herself, she said slowly in a low voice: "Although my mind is slow, and I can't react to many things at all for a while, but I can understand what it means to be able to participate in the meeting this time." It's because I know my responsibility, and I can't understand why Zhang Xiang and the others did this, and I can't find anyone to discuss for the time being, so I thought of my sister. She paused, tilted her head, and raised her face to look up at Shang Cheng. She believed that Shang Cheng could understand what she was saying.

Of course Shang Cheng understood. Chen Pu "couldn't find someone to negotiate with temporarily", so she went to find her sister Nanyang. Although he didn't know exactly who this "negotiable person" was, there was no doubt that he should be one of them; Otherwise, Chen Pu wouldn't have repeatedly asked him what he had been doing in the past two days. At the same time, he also understood that the person Chen Pu trusted the most should be Nanyang.

He turned his face, glanced at Nanyang with some apologies, and then asked Chen Pu: "Then, what result did you discuss?" ”

Chen Pu strained his face, as if he was making a lot of determination, or trying to muster up courage, before he said: "Tang Xiang and Zhang Xiang, they are not doing this because they are not dissatisfied with Yang Du. What displeased them seemed to be a strict ......" Her words were stupefied and studied, apparently with no confidence in her own judgment. But that doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense! Since Zhang Xiang and the others were dissatisfied with the strictness, why did they hand over the new drill code to the Right Shenwei Army for trial? When Xiao Laoshuai left the Right Shenwei Army, it was Yan Gu who took over as the military commander......"

Shang Cheng interrupted her and said, "Why do you say that Zhang Pu and they are not satisfied with Yan Gu? Why? ”

"I didn't say it. It's my sister who said it! Chen Pu said dejectedly. She also felt that her sister was right, but she just couldn't find a reason that stood up to scrutiny.

Shang Cheng turned his head to look at Nanyang, eager to hear her explanation. He didn't expect that Nanyang, who was obsessed with calligraphy, would be able to make such a judgment.

“…… Hmm, that's what I thought," Nanyang became slurred as he spoke, "What, hasn't An Guogong been staying in Longxi all the time?" He shouldn't have any special self-care in the Liyuan camp; Even if there were, those people would definitely be closer to General Xiao. But he has only been back for more than half a year, and he has collected these people and forced the Fuguo Gong to such an embarrassing situation, obviously, even without Zhang Pu's help, he will be able to clean up the forbidden army in the Liyuan camp sooner or later. Since this is the case, then why did Zhang Pu and them go to offend Fu Guogong? They can learn from the stabbing tiger Guan Zhuangzi and watch the tiger fight, isn't it much easier than now? But they just went to pull a hand, and helped An Guogong, who didn't need help at all. What is this for? ”

Shang Cheng laughed immediately. It was he who was waiting for Nanyang's explanation, but it turned out that Nanyang was looking for him to explain.

He was silent for a long time, until the green horse walked a long way and then gently spit out three words: "King of Chengdu." ”

Chen Pu frowned, no matter what, she couldn't figure out what this matter had to do with her imperial brother Chengdu Wang. Nanyang's eyes flashed with light, and he slapped his palms with a "snap", nodded and said, "I understand!" ”

Chen Pu first looked at Shang Cheng, and when he saw that Shang Cheng had named the king of Chengdu, he closed his mouth and refused to speak, so he immediately went around to her sister and anxiously asked what the truth was.

Nanyang asked her sister: "Let me ask you, is An Guogong getting closer and closer to the sixth brother?" ”

Chen Pu nodded confusedly. Yan Gu and Zeng Ao are the sixth brother who supports them, the king of Chengdu, who is the master of Ganquan Palace, who else in the sect doesn't know about this matter, so why don't you ask it again now?

"The sixth brother has the support of An Guogong, and he has the upper hand compared to the seventh brother, so Zhang Xiang and the others stood up and handed over the drill code to the Right God Weijun."

Chen Pu twisted his brows and thought carefully for a long time, and finally shook his head. She still didn't understand what that meant. Yan Gu, Yang Du, Sixth Brother, Seventh Brother, as well as the Right God Weijun and the new "Drill Code", the intricate relationship between them is like a mess, so that she can't figure it out at all.

Nanyang knew that Shang Cheng would never be able to talk about the rights and wrongs of the Heavenly Family and the clan, and Chen Pu's mind was slow to see things, so he patiently told his sister the key to it: "When An Guogong and the sixth brother get closer, the sixth brother's chance is much greater than that of the seventh brother; But Zhang Xiang didn't want to be the sixth brother, so he handed over the drill to the Right Shenwei Army, and made it clear that he wanted to support An Guogong in the matter of the Liyuan camp. The Auxiliary Guogong was already a little inferior to An Guogong, and it could only be regarded as evenly matched, and now that An Guogong has the support of the Prime Minister's office, it will inevitably become even worse. In this way, the lonely Fu Guogong must seek the help of others. But who else can help him now? ”

"Gu Poyang," Chen Pu said, while setting his sights on Shang Cheng.

"Poyang Hou has been helping him all along, but hasn't things come to this point?" Nanyang said. She also saw Chen Pu's gaze, smiled, and said, "Uncle Ying? Ying Bo is not successful. He is an idle Shangzhu country, and he can't reach into the Liyuan camp, and it is impossible for others to let him put his hand in, so when the auxiliary prince is not exhausted, he will not ask for his door when he even wants to grab the straw to save his life. And Zhang Pu's intentions are obvious, as long as Fu Guogong does what they want him to do, they can't be as partial as now, so the only thing Fu Guogong can do now is to go to Seventh Brother! In this way, the sixth brother has An Guogong, and the seventh brother has Fuguo Gong, and the two sides are evenly matched, in the future, in the future...... No one can say in the future. ”

Chen Pu opened his mouth and stared hard at him. She couldn't imagine how many twists and turns were going on in these people's hearts! The trial trial of a drill code not only calculated the two founding princes of the Shangzhu Kingdom, but also dragged her two imperial brothers in together!

Nanyang ignored her astonishment, turned his head and asked Shang Cheng, "Sir, I still don't understand something very well. Does this mean that Zhang Pu and they don't want to be my sixth brother or my seventh brother? Then they ......"

Shang Cheng shook his head. According to the current political system of Da Zhao, the prime minister's office is the center of the country, and the prime minister's jurisdiction is very large, and the emperor is just a symbol of the country, more often than a rubber stamp, so Tang Xing and Zhang Pu actually don't care much about whether the king of Chengdu is the prince or the king of Jinan is in Ganquan Palace. The reason why they want to push Yang Du to the side of the King of Jinan is just that they don't want this competition for the crown prince to end so soon. Of course, to push Yang Du to the king of Jinan, it is very likely that Zhang Pu and the king of Jinan have achieved some tacit understanding. This is very possible! Because the more fierce the two princes fight, the more important their positions as prime ministers can be, their words will be more convincing and influential, and they will have more time to realize their ideals and ambitions...... Of course, he wouldn't say this to Nanyang, but said very briefly: "As long as the Son of Heaven appoints the crown prince, this matter will be over." ”

Nanyang's expression shrank, and he also shook his head. The affairs of the heavenly family are far more complicated than outsiders know. Although her father is the emperor, it is impossible for such a major matter as the crown prince to be arbitrary, and the opinions of the clan cannot be ignored. At least she knew that there was a lot of discussion in the clan about the choice of the crown prince. Someone else handed her a message and asked her to help say a few good words in front of her father; She refused at the time.

Chen Pu still couldn't figure it out. She asked, "Zhang Xiang, what is their purpose in doing this?" ”

"Investigate the hidden household of the tricky field!" Shang Cheng and Nanyang replied in unison.

At this time, Chen Pu finally understood. When people's attention was attracted by the fierce battle for the crown prince, Zhang Pu and the others just took the opportunity to vigorously promote the "Notice to the Nuclear Land and Acres". She even thought that maybe Zhang Pu would make a fuss about this proclamation, and whoever supported the investigation of the hidden households in the hidden fields would support whom!

Shang Cheng couldn't help but feel sorry for her naïve thoughts. How is this possible? The people around the King of Chengdu and the King of Jinan were all victims of the policy of clearing the hidden household of the Hidden Households, and as long as the two princes were not so stupid as to the point of anger and resentment, they would never abandon these supporters and run to support Zhang Pu and them. Because, if they do that, they will be the first to be abandoned! Without these supporters, they would have no mass base; Without a mass base, the opportunity to win the championship will naturally be lost.

After walking for a few more miles, at a fork in the official road, he and the two sisters separated. His reason was that he had a friend he hadn't seen for more than a year, and he happened to come to the capital to see him in the past few days, so he couldn't go to any literary and poetry meetings.