The Yangcheng Medicine King Festival came as scheduled, but the Qingyang County Lord, who had promised to come, did not appear.

The news spread quickly: it is said that the county lord of Qingyang originally came, but he met a bandit on the road, and His Royal Highness King Li was seriously injured and had to be delayed in the inn in Liuxian Town.

So the people of Yangcheng were indignant and began to organize spontaneously to catch the bandits to avenge His Royal Highness King Li.

After two days of searching for nothing, some even more terrifying speculations gradually spread: there had never been a real bandit near Shangjing! The so-called bandits must be officers and soldiers pretending!

But why did the bandits pretending to be officers and soldiers attack and kill King Li and the county lord of Qingyang? The inside story of this is intriguing.

All kinds of rumors, centered on Yangcheng, spread rapidly to all around, and in just a few days, they have spread to the whole world.

Of course, Shangjing also heard the news.

Moreover, due to the previous Miss Ruan Er's selling paintings on the street and the liveliness of the Chunyue class for several days, King Li and the county lord of Qingyang were already characters who had to be discussed hundreds of times every day in the streets and alleys. Now that such a thing has happened again, the discussion of the people in Beijing will inevitably be more lively than elsewhere.

People are boiling.

When the news reached the palace, the emperor's gloomy face became a little darker, and the little eunuch who came in was so frightened that he almost collapsed.

"What else do they say?" The Emperor asked, sitting down.

The little eunuch didn't dare to open his mouth, so he stammered for a long time: "No, nothing, that is, His Royal Highness King Li has many disasters and difficulties, and it is not easy." ”

"Do you want to bully even the king?" The Emperor asked sharply.

The little eunuch was so frightened that he fell to the ground, and he didn't dare to hide it anymore: "The people said that there are no bandits near Shangjing, and this matter must have been done by the people of the imperial court, either the revenge of King Rui, or the Yin damage of King Jin, or else Your Majesty is afraid of the Lord of Gong Gaozhen......"

His voice lowered, and the emperor still refused to let him go, and asked, "What else?" ”

"Also," the little eunuch thought for a while and said, "For a while, the people were talking about the Qingyang County Lord only caring about pleasure and not caring about the life or death of the Northwest Army, but then they all changed their words and said that the county lord treats the people very well, and he will definitely not care about the life and death of the Northwest Army, unless someone puts pressure on her." ”

The emperor slammed the paperweight in his hand and shouted angrily: "Who put pressure on her?" Do they want to say that I bullied that little girl and forced her to dare not take action to help the Northwest Army?! ”

The little eunuch hurriedly kowtowed: "Your Majesty is angry, and the people are ignorant......"

The emperor grabbed the corner of the table anxiously and asked in a deep voice: "The people are ignorant, so who taught them these words?" ”

The little eunuch touched the ground with his head and did not dare to speak.

The emperor's face was pale, he held back his anger, and sat in silence for a long time before he spoke in a deep voice: "Li Ze, is there any news?" ”

The little eunuch didn't dare to raise his head, and replied tremblingly: "No." ”

"No, still nothing!" The emperor slapped the table again, "Forty Jin Wuwei, who can last for a while on the battlefield, just disappear out of thin air?" You, go to Liuxian Town to spread my message, and let King Li Linghan return to Beijing to speak! ”

The little eunuch was agreeing, and suddenly someone outside the door said: "Your Majesty, someone from Liuxian Town has come to claim to be the guard of His Royal Highness King Li, and he is asking to see him outside!" ”

The emperor slowly sat up straight, full of majesty: "Biography! ”

The guard was soon brought in, and as soon as he entered the door, he fell to the ground and wailed, without the slightest demeanor of a soldier of the Northwest Army.

The emperor was a little dazed by his crying, and waited for a while before asking: "There is something to say, why are you crying?!" ”

The visitor looked up, but he was a thin boy of fourteen or fifteen years old, his eyes were red and swollen, and his face was full of scabies.

This is, the guards? The emperor's brow furrowed.

The young man raised his arm and wiped it on his face, then fell down again and kowtowed three times, crying, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty, help! Someone is trying to kill His Royal Highness, and His Highness is seriously injured and almost can't come back to see you! ”

"Serious injury, how heavy?" The emperor asked.

The young man cried, straightened up and raised his hand to show him: "There are injuries here and here, and the left arm is almost cut off!" The scariest thing is the neck...... The doctor said that if the blade was a little more off, even the gods would not be able to save it! ”

The expression on the emperor's face remained unchanged, and he asked in a deep voice, "At this moment, where is he?" ”

"At the inn!" The boy cried, "I can't go anywhere, and I don't dare to move!" The county lord of Qingyang cried and fainted several times, and he also fell ill, but he was still taken care of by a local langzhong......"

The emperor apparently didn't believe it, and quietly watched him perform with a sneer.

The young man cried enough, and seeing that the emperor still didn't intend to pay attention to him, he had to kowtow again: "Your Highness has been practicing martial arts since he was a child, and he can fight well, and he will never be so embarrassed by ordinary bandits, there must be something strange about this matter!" His Royal Highness said that the other party is familiar with the formation and extremely brave, and he must be a well-trained soldier, please let Your Majesty call the shots! ”

The more he cried, the more the emperor sat steadily, and the dragon's eyes narrowed and his voice mocked: "The Northwest Army is known to be brave and invincible, and now it can't even deal with a few bandits of unknown origin, and it still has the face to beg me to call the shots?" ”

The young man was stunned for a moment, and then cried again: "Your Royal Highness, my Royal Highness didn't bring back the real soldiers of the Northwest Army!" Most of the people who returned to Beijing with His Highness this time were old, weak, sick and disabled like us who couldn't go to the battlefield, and our bodies were only slightly stronger than ordinary people, how could we compare with real soldiers! And...... And even the Jin Wuwei sent by His Majesty was all lost in the hands of the thieves, how can he blame His Highness for being incompetent! ”

"What did you say!" The emperor's face finally changed, "You say, Jin Wuwei?!" ”

"Yes, yes!" The boy cried even louder, "It's Jin Wuwei!" At first, His Royal Highness was still happy, saying that Jin Wuwei came, it must be that His Majesty was not at ease, and sent Jin Wuwei to reinforce us, but I didn't expect the thieves to be very brave, and the Jin Wuwei soldiers fought with them for half a night, and the whole army was annihilated! ”

The emperor clenched his fists against the corner of the table and slowly stood up: "Forty Jin Wuwei, the whole army is annihilated?" How many thieves are there? ”

The young man hurriedly said: "I can't see clearly in the heavy snow, there are always more than a hundred people!" ”

"Your people, how much do you lose?" The Emperor asked again.

The young man wiped his tears and puffed up his chest: "Our Northwest Army has a formation, and unless the army is defeated when fighting, there will usually be no casualties." Coupled with the fact that His Highness desperately returned to protect him, this time only two people were seriously injured and six people were slightly injured, and he did not sacrifice. ”

The emperor's face suddenly sank.

The young man trembled in fright, and hurriedly added: "Your Majesty, it's not that we don't want to protect our fellow Jinwuwei, it's really that they are proud of their high martial arts and refuse to form a formation and refuse to obey the command......"

"Where is it buried?" The Emperor interrupted him, and his expression was very unkind.

The young man kept crying, but he didn't redouble his fear at this time, just wiped a handful of tears again, and said, "At that time, there were only seven or eight people in our team who could move, and we had to take care of the wounded, so ...... So before the corpses could be hauled away, they were all piled up in the ditch on the side of the road, presumably buried by heavy snow...... Sixty or seventy miles outside the city, behind a grove of trees. ”

"Herald, search!" The emperor immediately issued an order to Jin Wuwei.

The word "search" clearly expresses his attitude of not believing half of this matter.

The young man didn't panic at all, and immediately volunteered: "I remember that place, Your Majesty, I can take Jin Wuwei there!" ”

The emperor waved his hand heavily, not knowing whether it was accurate or not, and the young man had already taken matters into his own hands and ran out.

……

The brigade Jin Wuwei went out of the city, and all kinds of rumors in the capital exploded again.

Even the most ignorant of the world now knows that the situation in this world is not right.

The burning of King Qi's mansion is a clear announcement of a signal of "fighting for the world"; King Li was intercepted and seriously injured, which was a blatant provocation by the people in the shadows.

The emperor was still sitting on the throne, but the competition for the chair among the princes had reached a fever pitch.

No matter what suspicions the emperor had in his heart, the people were sympathetic to the weak. No one has ever seen Li Wang Linghan fighting for power and profit, and the world has only seen him innocently injured and implicated again and again, and at this time he has already had twelve more sympathies for him.

Even the discussions caused by Miss Ruan Er's sale of paintings to raise funds have now been explained by the smart people themselves: the Northwest Army has won the hearts of the people, and Miss Ruan Er's admiration for them is the same as that of people in the world, so what is so unusual about selling paintings to raise funds? As for Miss Ruan, everyone is inseparable from His Royal Highness King Li's life and death, what are the suspicions of others?

So, two days later, when King Li and the lord of Qingyang were picked up by Jin Wuwei, they were warmly welcomed by the people of Shangjing, and all the way from the south gate to Miyagi were the people who came to greet Ankang.

Yehan did not enter the palace, but was escorted back to the Golden Chestnut Garden by Jin Wuwei, and immediately summoned the imperial doctor to see the injury.

Ruan Qingzhi was not injured, but his face was just as pale, and he would only cry next to him, and he didn't care about anything.

It was easy to wait for the imperial doctor to leave and return to the palace to restore his life, and the little maid outside the door immediately reported that Miss Ruan Er was here.

Ruan Qingzhi looked around and had nowhere to hide, so he simply kicked his shoes off and threw them under the bed, and jumped on the bed quickly to put down half of the tent.

Ye Han sat down against the head of the bed, and only then did he say the word "please", Ruan Biyun had already rushed in, turned the screen and broke into the inner room, and asked, "Why are you injured again?" Have you found out who the other party is? ”

"Second Miss Ruan," Ye Han frowned and looked at her, "Please go outside for tea, your sister will come in a while." ”

Ruan Biyun stood still, her expression resolute: "I'm not looking for my sister." Your Royal Highness, I have come to see you. ”

"It's not in order." Ye Han looked away, groaned slightly, and simply put down the other half of the tent: "Miss Ruan Er, reputation matters. ”

Ruan Biyun moved under her feet, but instead of withdrawing from the screen, she took two steps forward: "At the moment of the Northwest Army's catastrophe, what reputation do I care!" His Royal Highness has been at the border for a long time, has he also learned to be like these pedantic people in Shangjing, and he values red tape more than human life? ”

At this time, Banyue was coming in from outside with a bowl of medicine, and immediately answered when she heard the words: "Second Miss can't help but look down on yourself too much when she says this!" The lives of the officers and men of the Northwest Army, even if they go around eighty bends, have nothing to do with you, right? ”

"You!" Ruan Biyun's face turned red, then she gritted her teeth again, and sneered at each other: "I really want to do something for the Northwest Army, even if I don't do it well enough, that's my intention, why should you ...... Did my sister ask you to scold me? ”

Banyue opened the tent and handed the medicine bowl to Ye Han, and said "Be careful of scalding", before turning around and saying coldly: "Second Miss forgot again, you don't have a sister." ”

Ruan Biyun was so angry that her eyes were red, but Ye Han only focused on drinking the medicine and didn't look up at her.

It's white-red.

After drinking a bowl of medicine, Banyue took the empty bowl, put down the tent again, and stood by the bed and refused to leave.

There were some sounds in the tent, as if it was lying down in the cold.

A seriously injured patient should be supported to make such a big move, but Banyue obviously has no intention of doing so. Ruan Biyun hesitated a few times, but finally couldn't bear it anymore and stepped forward: "Your Highness, I'll ...... it."

"What are you doing?!" Banyue jumped up with a snort, "Don't you know how badly injured Your Highness is?" If you want to climb the bed, you have to pick the right time, right? Besides, you don't want a reputation, my Royal Highness still needs it! Second Miss, will you spare us? ”

In the tent, Ruan Qingzhi couldn't help but laugh, and hurriedly patted the quilt and motioned for Ye Han to help her cover the past.

Ye Han had no choice but to cough and reprimand: "With the moon, Hugh is talking nonsense!" ”

Banyue stopped her mouth aggrievedly, and Ruan Biyun's tears had fallen: "You girl, how can you be so ...... Such shameless! ”

"No more shameless, no shameless things you did!" Banyue didn't give her a good face at all, and still stood by the bed with her waist crossed, like a god.

Ruan Biyun couldn't really quarrel with a girl, she was so angry that she wanted to jump to her feet several times and endured it, and finally couldn't control her crying: "Your Highness, I have a good intention, thinking that the soldiers of the Northwest Army have suffered a snow disaster, and now I am only afraid of lack of food and clothing...... I'm not afraid of ridicule, I'm not afraid of malicious speculation, I'm just afraid that I won't be able to help...... Am I doing something wrong? ”

"Yes." Night Chill.

Ruan Biyun was stunned, and it took a while to muster up the courage to confirm: "Your Highness, you say...... Be? ”

"Yes," Yahan repeated again good-naturedly, "you're doing something wrong. ”

Ruan Biyun was almost about to cry, but she covered her mouth with the only remaining pride and refused to cry.

It's just that Banyue is a rectum without eyes, and when she saw this, she immediately turned back to the bed and said, "Your Highness, the second young lady is crying!" Cover your mouth, tears streaming down your face! ”

At this moment, Ruan Biyun couldn't stand it anymore, covered her face and cried, turned around and ran.

Banyue raised her voice and shouted, "Second Miss, go slowly!" Welcome back next time! ”

Ruan Biyun, who had already run to the door, paused, gritted her teeth and turned back after a while, her tears had been contained, and her voice was hoarse but firm: "I don't understand!" Your Royal Highness, I don't think I've done anything wrong! ”

"You're doing something wrong." Ye Han's tone was cold and hard, and he was ruthless: "You keep saying that you are raising funds for the Northwest Army, but what the Northwest Army needs is not money, but food, charcoal, and quilts. Now, 10 days have passed since the snowstorm in the northwest, and the price of grain in all provinces of the world has already soared, and in some places there is even no market. Moreover, now that the heavy snow has completely blocked the route, if the grain is purchased from today and sent to the northwest, it will take at least two months before it can be sent to the border pass. If the officers and men of the Northwest Army were waiting for the money you raised to save their lives, they would have been buried under the snow at this time, and there would be no trace to be found. ”

Ruan Biyun had already forgotten to cry, and when she heard this, she hurriedly wiped away her tears and said hurriedly: "But my original intention is good, even if I can't help in time, these silver coins can be used for post-disaster resettlement...... It always works. ”

"Indeed," Ye Han's voice remained flat, "no one is afraid of money. ”

Ruan Bijun was overjoyed: "So I'm still not wrong!" I raised more than 20,000 taels, plus my private silver, a total of 30,000 taels, and I brought ...... today."

Before she could finish speaking, Ye Han had already interrupted: "Miss Ruan Er, this king doesn't dare to accept your silver." ”

Ruan Biyun was stunned.

Ye Han didn't wait for her to cry, and continued: "Not only can I not accept your money, but this king doesn't want to accept your affection. Miss Ruan Er, what you did deceived the people and moved yourself, but it was harmful to our Northwest Army. This king doesn't want to use his reputation and the reputation of the Northwest Army to fulfill your good name. ”

Ruan Biyun hurriedly raised her sleeves to wipe her tears, and her tone changed in anger: "I don't understand!" I'm obviously helping you, where is the 'harmful'? You might as well tell me the truth, is it because my sister that you refuse to accept this money? You are afraid that your sister will be jealous and jealous, so you would rather let the soldiers work harder than dare to ......"

"Second Miss!" Banyue couldn't help but interject again, "You better wake up, your little tricks are also worthy of my young lady's jealousy?" Or is it that you did these things to make the young lady jealous? ”

Ruan Biyun ignored her, still calling the night cold through the tent: "Your Highness! ”

"It's not." Ye Han replied to her seriously, "It's only 30,000 taels, and it's not worth Qingzhi's jealousy." The king will not accept it because you and your money have caused trouble for the king, and this trouble will only get worse. Miss Ruan Er, I should have been able to get a grant from the imperial court seven days ago, but the imperial court rejected me on the grounds that 'Miss Ruan Er is raising funds for the Northwest Army in the people'. Who should I go to to settle this account? ”

Ruan Biyun opened her mouth and couldn't answer.

Ye Leng snorted and said, "Moreover, what you did consumed was the reputation earned by the lives and blood of my Northwest Army. If the people donate money from you, their affection for our Northwest Army will be somewhat reduced, and at the same time, your reputation is rapidly improving, from a 'fake phoenix who deceives the world and steals fame' to a 'living bodhisattva with the world in mind'. Miss Ruan Er, you are drinking the blood of my Northwest Army to feed yourself, should I be grateful to Dade for accepting your 'reward' of 30,000 taels of silver? ”

Ruan Biyun was forced to retreat again and again by his unceremonious words, and her expression was hasty: "I'm not, I don't have ...... I didn't want to buy hearts for myself, I didn't expect it to be like this! ”

Ban Yue said coldly: "Second Miss, 'I didn't expect' and 'I don't know' are not the reasons for you to act arbitrarily and hurt my young lady and His Royal Highness King Li!" You did something wrong in this matter, Your Highness and my young lady are very angry, so don't salivate and ask for credit here, okay? ”

Ruan Bijun had the heart to argue, but she cried so much that she couldn't speak. At first, she still had a glimmer of hope, hoping that Ye Han would be able to scold Banyue in the face of her feelings, but this glimmer of hope was soon dashed.

Ye Han refused to scold, which meant that Banyue's words just spoke his heart.

The fact that a servant can be close to him in his room, and that he can speak in his place, is enough to prove that he and the master of the servant are no longer separated from each other, and there is no longer a gap for others to squeeze in.

Ruan Biyun felt a chill in her heart, a trance, and a moment of confusion.

At this time, Ye Han suddenly asked again: "How do you know that the Northwest Army has suffered a snow disaster?" ”

"It's Lu...... The people on the road are saying, I, I want to help you, so I fell in love with ......" Ruan Biyun stammered and spoke almost incoherently.

Fortunately, Ye Han didn't delve into it, and after a moment of silence, he ordered: "Accompany the moon, send off guests." ”

Ban Yue stepped forward and made a "please" gesture to Ruan Biyun without saying a word.

This time, Ruan Biyun didn't even have the slightest bit of toughness, so she had to wipe her tears and say "retire", and took two steps and asked unwillingly: "The people's wishes, can Your Highness really not accept them?" ”

There was silence in the tent, and there was a mocking smile on the corner of the moon's lips: "Second Miss, please!" It's getting dark now, you have to cherish your reputation! ”

Ruan Bijun couldn't stand it anymore, and ran away crying with her sleeves over her face.

After the footsteps were far away, Ruan Qingzhi laughed out loud: "His Royal Highness King Li, you are really ruthless!" I don't have any pity for the little girl, and I scolded everyone and cried! ”

"Can I do it if I don't scold?" Ye Han raised his arm, "You're about to tear my wounds open!" ”

"Huh?!" Ruan Qingzhi retracted his hand in a daze, touched his arm again, and smiled: "No! The hurt is in your body and the pain is in my heart, how can I be willing to work hard! ”

Ye Han glanced at her, helpless.

Ruan Qingzhi was only embarrassed for a moment, and then pounced over and asked, "Ruan Biyun's sale of paintings to raise funds had such a bad impact on the Northwest Army, why did you never tell me?" Now what? Shall we suffer this loss in vain? ”

"Of course not," Ye Han narrowed his eyes and smiled, "I have already asked someone to post a notice outside the city: the northwest is bitterly cold, snow disasters are common, and the imperial court has already earmarked funds for disaster relief after the snow, so the soldiers will not accept any private donations." ”

Ruan Qingzhi thought for a while, stroked his palms and said, "You're too bad, aren't you?" Isn't this a clear slap in the face of Ruan Biyun? ”

Ye Han pulled her to her side and lay down, sneering slightly: "She wanted to slap us in the face from the beginning, why can't we slap her in the face?" ”

Ruan Qingzhi didn't quite understand this sentence.

Ye Han stretched out his hand and rubbed her face and explained, "I asked her where she heard the news of the snow disaster just now, and she said the word 'Lu'. Contacting the news we got earlier, it is conceivable that what she has done recently must have been instructed by Lu Hanwen. ”

Ruan Qingzhi also thought of this. She nodded.

Ye Leng said coldly: "What good things can Lu Hanwen instruct?" He just wants to charge the Northwest Army with a few crimes, or to make his father hate me even more, or to separate you and me...... In short, she must be trying to play tricks on me with the lives of my Northwest Army soldiers, and I have no reason to be merciful to her. ”

Ruan Qingzhi nodded heavily: "Yes!" Slap her in the face! The harder the better! If you can't do it, I'll do it! ”

When Banzuki, who had returned from the send-off, heard this at the door, he tripped over the threshold in fright and nearly fell.

She felt the need to remind her young lady: you really don't have to think too kindly about Yehan! We haven't seen his bullying methods!