Dunhuang, the snow in the garden of the inner garden is beginning to melt. A few sparrows are bouncing around, foraging in the dead grass.

In the warm sunshine, Chen Xuan's three grandsons played in the garden, and they enthusiastically set up a basket with dead branches, sprinkled a little wheat, and then hid in the bushes not far away, waiting for the sparrows to throw themselves into the net. If you have enough patience and luck, you can catch several sparrows at once. Catching birds, riding sheep, throwing stone bullets, these are the children's favorite games, and when they get older, the boys will start shooting arrows, riding horses, and throwing stone locks. At that time, sparrows were also good targets for archery.

In front of Hanguang Palace, Chen Xuan and Liu Yi stood on the steps, smiling and watching the children play with great interest, in order to protect the carrier pigeons, the sparrowhawks near Dunhuang were almost caught, and the sparrows had no natural enemies. However, the sparrow's meat is delicious, and the folk have a saying that "I would rather eat half a catty in the sky than eight taels in the ground". The people don't think the sparrows are noisy, but they should be wary of pecking at the crops during the harvest season.

"The domestic situation in the Song Kingdom is like the end of chess, there is no place to settle down, and you can still survive if you stick to the old ways, but those who play chess are unwilling, you make a move, I make a move, and finally fill all the eyes to death, and lose all the games. The development of the South China Sea is extremely difficult to implement, but Zhao Ke is using the right person. He was just inheriting the national policy set by Zhao You, counting on all countries to come to the court, and he supported the scene after he ascended the throne. However, Chen Dong and Yue Fei actually emigrated to the cantonment and did a solid job. ”

"The large area of the South China Sea colonization has played a piece of external momentum outside the chessboard out of thin air, and the game is full of life all of a sudden. It has alleviated the chronic disease of too many people, the poor people have a way to live, the industry and commerce in the southeast and Quang Nam have flourished, and the redundant officials and redundant soldiers have a place to go. If there are no major twists and turns in the Song Kingdom, the country's prosperity is already inevitable. ”

Chen Dong just saw this, so he put down Luoyang and Fangzhou not to talk about it, and only mentioned that we should withdraw from Xiangyang, he has this confidence. The conditions offered, I will not suffer a loss. We need a sailor to cut off the sea route between the Sultan and the Great Food Princes, and the Song State also needs a sailor to protect the reclamation land in the South China Sea, so this deal is beneficial to both sides. Zhao Xingde is also the only commander-in-chief who is acceptable to both countries. ”

"It's rare for the prime minister to praise a junior so much." Chen Xuan smiled, "Then it is terrifying." However, Xiangyang is a battleground for soldiers, so I will return it to the Song Kingdom, but I am not reconciled. ”

"Your Majesty, you might as well think about it from another angle, what the Song State did for us in this transaction was to help us end the balance of power on the battlefield with the Great Eclipse, and we have always tried our best to maintain the balance of power, whether between the Liao and Song Kingdoms or within the Song Kingdom. When the war between us and Da Shi is over, we will be able to free up our hands and calmly deal with the exhausted Liao Song. From this point of view, we actually took a big advantage, compared with the unification of the world, only half of Xiangyang is enough! ”

Chen Xuan listened to Liu Yi's words, nodded slightly, clasped his fists, and stacked the cocoons left by holding swords and arrows all year round. Although Chen Xuan has not been on the battlefield for a long time, Jiang Gui's temperament is old and spicy, and he sighed: "It seems that I can only flatten the western Zhuyi order, and the Liaoxia in the east can only be left to the crown prince." ”

"He asked Feng Yanlun to bring me a message," the appreciation in Liu Yi's eyes gradually cooled, and he said in a low voice, "I think I can agree to these two conditions." Chen Dong's abacus may not be as good as he wants. I'd like to see who gets the last laugh. Not far away, several children shouted with joy, for many families in Dunhuang, it was a sunny morning, however, in the distant river, there were many families praying for their loved ones. The snow melted, and another year of spring ploughing was imminent, and everyone hoped that the war would end as soon as possible and that their relatives would return as soon as possible.

............

In the southern city of Ezhou, Shi Tingjian was standing outside a big mansion, he was cold and hungry, and when he was resting against the wall, he suddenly heard an exclamation: "Robber! "There are traitors!" In an instant, someone rang the gong, and the sound of "bang", "bang" and "bang" was very loud, and the dogs in the whole alley barked together.

Immediately afterward, more shouts were heard not far away: "Where are the robbers?" "Catch the robbers."

Shi Tingjian suddenly panicked, mustered up his last strength, ran desperately, I don't know how far he ran, and finally no one chased him, cold sweat oozed from his head, covered his wounds, leaned on the mottled wall, and staggered towards the depths of the alley, but it was dark in front of him and fell to the ground.

When he woke up, he only felt a splitting headache, and as soon as he opened his eyes, he heard a sound of surprise before he could see the figure clearly.

"Finally woke up!" He vaguely saw a small face.

"You saved me?" Shi Tingjian nodded, and said hoarsely: "Thank you, thank you." Looking around, he found that it was a boudoir, the pillow and futon had a faint fragrance, a little girl with a double maid, looking at it with wide eyes, Shi Tingjian was a little embarrassed, and asked, "Did I faint?" What is this place? ”

"This is Dongqu Xichun Building, the son fell next to my door, in the morning when the slave and maid poured the toilet and saw it, Miss Ji asked the slave and maid to save the son first, and found Lang Zhong to treat the injury, and fed some clear porridge, let the slave wait here, God and Buddha bless, three days and three nights, the son can be regarded as waking up!" "Cherish the Spring Building, do you regret it?" "It's good that Childe knows." The girl's face was beaming, and it could be seen that she was happy from the bottom of her heart, Shi Tingjian asked again, but he turned around and said with a smile, "I'll tell the girl to go first." "A gust of wind went out.

"Dongqu Xichun Building?" Shi Tingjian said silently, "Is it Ji Xi's pity?" ”

The gentry lingered in the square song, recruited prostitutes, and in modern times, there was a "flower list" move, the so-called flower list, the host and the subject were mostly famous and talented, often the song was selected, and the prostitutes were ranked in the name of the imperial examination, and wrote poems or comments one by one, and then made it public, thinking that it was a happy affair. The reason why Shi Tingjian knew Ji Xixi was because she was a famous prostitute on the flower list, and Xichun Lou was worth a lot, and she usually hid in the pavilion, and if the scholars didn't spend much money on banquets, they couldn't greet her. But among the scholars, they often talked about Ji Xixi, guessing who could be her guest at the scene, thinking of this, Shi Tingjian couldn't help but shake his head.

He looked left and right, the room was elegantly furnished, the carved bed was hung with a blue gauze tent, a few flowers and birds on the wall, all of them were not handwritten by famous artists, although the case was clean, there were no luxurious utensils, and I wanted to come here where the girl lived by herself, and there was no need to decorate it too gorgeously, embellishing the atmosphere of drunkenness. When Shi Tingjian was involved in the Shuzhou Xuezheng case, he had a lot of dealings with prostitutes, and knew that the so-called famous prostitutes were only glamorous on the surface, and most of them were good women who bought and sold in the tooth shop. Whether it is piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, or natural beauty, they are just tools to make money, and it is impossible for prostitutes to live the life of a rich and noble lady. The prostitutes just used them to make as much money as possible from their benefactors.

"Childe woke up?" Shi Ting followed the prestige, only to see a woman with a peach face and cherry lips standing at the door.

Ji Xixi's eyes were flowing, weak and delicate, as her name suggests, Shi Tingjian knew that she was a prostitute, and couldn't help but feel pity, his eyes turned to the side, the maid followed behind Ji Xixi, made a grimace at Shi Tingjian, and said happily: "Girl, this son also knows your name." Ji Xixi's eyes dimmed slightly, approached and sat on the edge of the bed, lowered his head and asked: "The injury on the child's body, the concubine did not dare to delay, so she invited Lang Zhong to do the treatment without authorization, and the son felt better?" ”

The aroma at the end of his nose was a little stronger than that on the bed, and Shi Tingjian's heart fluttered, and he secretly scolded himself for being a brute.

"It's okay," he sat up and arched his hand, "Yuhang Shi Tingjian, Miss Ji's life-saving grace will be rewarded." ”

"You," Ji Xixi's face was surprised, "Shi Gongzi? ”

She once heard from her benefactor that Shi Tingjian was Wu Shangshu's most valued protégé, who took the lead in beating the second minister, taking the lead in overthrowing Shuzhou Xuezheng, and taking the lead in encouraging the students of various states to go to school. Now it seems that Shi Tingjian's face is pale, except that his eyes are sharper and his appearance is more gentle, he is no different from an ordinary scholar. Yesterday, it was also said that he was one of the masterminds of the rebellion. didn't ask the scholar's name, just because he was worried that he would have a taboo, and he didn't expect anything in return, but I didn't expect him to tell him frankly.

"The girl knows Shi?" Shi Tingjian frowned slightly, and his tone was a little bitter, "Thank you girl for saving me, but I'm afraid I'm going to affect the girl." He guessed that Ji Xixi knew about it from the sea fishing notice, and then thought about it slightly, that day the Xiangfu guards actually opened fire on the crowd, and then mobilized a large army into the city. This harboring the court is a serious crime, and a prostitute can't afford it, Shi Tingjian said with an awe-inspiring face: "The girl can bow to the court, let Chen Dong send someone to arrest me, and then you can get rid of it." As soon as the words were spoken, the little maid was frightened.

Ji Xixi glanced at him deeply, lightly opened his lips, and said in a low voice: "Gongzi's words are serious, the Prime Minister's Mansion has already issued a clear decree the day before yesterday, except for those murderers who are robbing, injuring people, setting fires, and committing rape in Ezhou, the people who wrote and said things will not be investigated." It's just that the Criminal Department was asked to investigate the mastermind behind the siege of the Prime Minister's Mansion, and the government didn't say anything about arresting people except for curfews. With that, she let out a low sigh. The curfew has affected a lot of business in Xichun Building, and the bustard's face has been very stinky these days, but fortunately, the maid's mouth is tight, and no one in the courtyard knows that Ji Xixi is hiding a man in the inner room.

Shi Tingjian was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect Chen Dong to let go of Di Sheng, and after breathing a sigh of relief, he was a little stunned, he thought of Zhang Wei, and many people who died at the gate of the Prime Minister's Mansion, did these people all die in vain? How should their families be grief-stricken? How will the academic politicians who jointly impeach the prime minister react? How will the mentor respond to Chen Dong's retaliation?

Shi Tingjian was stunned, Ji Xixi sighed, told the maid Shuang'er to take care of Shi Gongzi, and withdrew by himself.

"Girl, isn't Chen Xianggong a good person?" Shuang'er sent it to the door, pouted and said, "Shi Gongzi asked Chen Xianggong to send someone to arrest him, is he a big bad person?" Because Chen Dong married Master Li, although the world has mixed reviews, in the minds of the Qinglou woman, Chen Dong's reputation is excellent, and even the unconnected Shuang'er is looking towards him. Looking at the appearance, he really wanted to denounce Shi Tingjian for the first time.

Ji Xixi frowned slightly, shook his head and said, "Don't talk nonsense, Shi Gongzi is also a good person." ”

"Chen Xianggong is a good person, and Shi Gongzi is also a good person," Shuang'er looked puzzled and muttered, "Why do good people want to catch people?" ”