More than a dozen scholars stood at the entrance of the valley, looking at the lush weeds, did not dare to go further, whispered to each other, and after a long time, finally someone said loudly: "It seems that the rumors are true, and I have thought that the valley fruit is strange." ”

A carriage arrived, and the scholars gave way.

The carriage had long been unable to enter the valley, so it stopped on the side of the road, and out of the carriage came the two women of master and servant.

Feng Juniang frowned slightly, "Why are you here again?" Want to argue again? ”

The scholars recognized this woman, and someone stepped forward and said: "Mrs. Feng, I kindly advise you: stay away from here, stay away from Xu Ji, this place is a demonic appearance, it is ......"

"Phew, you're the demon, look at your thief's eyebrows, you're a rat demon."

The scholar blushed and whispered, "I don't know the hearts of good people." ”

Feng Juniang took Yahuan into the valley, and suddenly another scholar shouted behind her: "This woman and Xu Ji are the same raccoon dogs, specializing in bewitching the world with their beauty, and they are also one of the monsters in this valley!" ”

Feng Juniang turned around, smiled, and said to the indignant scholar: "I don't seem to have bewitched you—you're not happy because of this?" ”

Feng Juniang walked away, but the scholar was dumbfounded, and was pushed a few times by his companions before he came back to his senses, and saw that everyone had ridicule in their eyes, and his face couldn't help but turn red, "See?" This woman performed witchcraft in public, and fortunately I survived. Yecheng has been in full bloom and yang in recent times, and this woman is one of the proof......"

The nearby coachman coughed and interjected: "We are from the Xiangdong Palace, what do you call Your Excellency?" ”

The scholar looked down on the coachman, but when he heard the words "Xiangdong Wangfu", his face turned white with fright, he only cared about his mouth, and actually said the words "Yin is prosperous and Yang is declining", and he forgot that the most famous "Yin Sheng" in Yecheng is the daughter of the King of Xiangdong, the county lord Huanyan.

"I ...... I didn't call ......" The scholar walked quickly, reminding his companions who followed him all the way not to reveal his name.

But there was one thing they were sure of, and that was what it must mean if there was really an unusual change in Siguo Valley.

Feng Juniang specially came to see Xu Ji, "What does Childe think?" ”

"What?" Xu Ji had just finished mowing the grass and was reading a book.

"Childe actually asked the little county lord to take Lou Ji to meet the big county lord."

"This is the little princess's own idea." Xu Jidao is also accustomed to calling Zhang Shiqing "the little county lord".

"Childe can at least stop it, right?"

Xu Ji smiled: "The little county lord has his own ideas, which is a good thing, and why can I stop her?" ”

"Just ...... Forget it, Childe doesn't care about anything now, everything is 'wait', even if someone starts a fire nearby, he has to 'wait' to put out the fire. ”

"Haha, it's not that exaggerated, the fire must be extinguished quickly, but we have been setting fires lately. The little princess is in trouble? ”

"The little county lord didn't cause trouble, and she was protected by her father and brother, so she wasn't afraid of causing trouble. At the beginning, I persuaded Gongzi to go into the city to reunite with the little county lord, and it was for this reason that the little county lord stayed in Siguo Valley, and I was greatly relieved, but I didn't expect Gongzi not to cherish it. ”

She didn't say she wouldn't come back, but she stayed in the city, which was a good thing for her. The little lord is not very accustomed to life in the valley. ”

"Now it doesn't matter if the little county lord comes back or not."

"You mean I'm in trouble?"

Feng Juniang sighed, "How could such a smart person as Childe not understand?" Lou Ji didn't have a good heart when he came to you, he must have the intention of planting blame, and the prince did not defend himself, but also asked the little county lord to take him back to the city......"

"It's not me who 'lets.'"

"In the eyes of outsiders, this is Childe's idea. Well, now there are rumors in the city that Gongzi and King Ning secretly communicated with him to help him deceive Yecheng. ”

"Hey, the people in the city haven't forgotten me?" Xu Ji said with a smile.

"Don't laugh, Childe, the situation is really dangerous right now, Kou Dao is hiding in the dark, just waiting for Childe to show his flaws, and he will bite it down."

"You said him like a snake."

"He is the serpent, the viper."

Xu Ji thought for a while, and said: "I still think that Lou Ji is really scared, and he really came to me for help, not hiding evil intentions." ”

"When did Childe become so gullible? Soon after Lou Ji returned to the city, he befriended Kou Daogu, and what these two people thought of Childe, Childe should understand. ”

Xu Ji thought for a while, "We still have to wait." ”

"What are you waiting for?"

"Wait for the truth."

"The truth is clear, King Ning saw through the big county lord's thoughts and schemes, and tricked her into making a way, so that King Ning could go straight to Stone City. Later, he did not keep his promise, not only did he not kill the emperor, but he was willing to be the emperor's minions, no, he was clearly coercing the Son of Heaven to order the princes, first to dominate Jiangdong, and then to fight for the world. ”

"What did Lord Huanyan say?"

"What can she say? You can't admit that you were deceived and designed to kill the emperor of Jiangdong, right? I can only pretend to be surprised, but I can see that she is very angry, especially very disappointed in Lou Ji. ”

"It's like two people playing against each other, one side falls, and before the other party responds, it's best not to say who wins and who loses, who is strong and who is weak."

"What else can the Grand County Lord do? Send troops to kill Ning Baoguan? There is neither a name nor a force, and there is a Huaizhou in between. Feng Juniang shook her head, "This all stems from one thing - when the son was soft-hearted, he let Ning take the pass back to the city." ”

Xu Ji was silent, and Feng Juniang also felt that her words were a little heavy, "That's not Childe's fault, Childe ......"

"You're back on order, aren't you?" Xu Ji asked, not caring about Feng Juniang's words at all.

Feng Juniang's eyes widened, as if she was misunderstood and unhappy, she only insisted for a while, she smiled, "This is like the Xu Gongzi I know, I can see through the truth at a glance, how do you see it?" ”

"Come back by yourself, you are a person from this valley, you are ordered to come back, you are the person of the county lord of Huanyan, and the demeanor and tone of the two are different."

"Am I too arrogant in front of Childe?"

Xu Ji nodded.

"Even though I came on the orders of the lord of the county, what I did was still for the sake of my son."

"I believe it."

"I'll be straightforward, the big county lord wants to hear the opinion of the childe, didn't you just say that the big county lord hasn't made a move yet? She wondered how Childe would respond in such a situation. ”

"Is this a request for my advice?"

"The lord said that this is at most a consultation, she consults many people at the same time, and she already has an idea in her heart, she just wants to hear if others have a better idea."

"But there are many things I don't know."

"You can ask me, of course, I don't know much, Jiangdong is too far away, and what happens there usually takes days or even ten days to get here."

Xu Ji suddenly found that he had nothing to ask, the truth was very simple, Ning Baoguan did not kill the emperor, but prepared to conquer the Quartet in the name of the emperor, what Yecheng needed was a general plan.

"The best strategy is to wait, wait for others to respond first."

"The lord of the county asked, and I answered like this? An equal word? ”

"Yes, tell Lord Huanyan that no matter what her decision is, wait a few more days and don't be the first to come out."

"But ......"

"You tell her that." Xu Ji picked up the book and continued to read.

Feng Juniang was stunned for a while, and was about to leave, "I'll go back to the city, no matter what, I will keep an eye on Kou Daogu for Gongzi to prevent him from secretly doing evil." ”

Xu Ji smiled slightly and didn't say anything.

Before dark, Zhang Shiqing came back from the city, looking very happy, and she also brought many gifts to distribute to everyone, as well as two maids, both middle-aged women in their forties and fifties.

The two women looked stricter than the other, and the division of labor was clear, one stared at the man in the valley like a thief, and did not allow them to make any slightly rude actions, not even smiling at the county lord's little maid, and the other followed the county lord closely, reminding the county lord to pay attention to his manners from time to time.

The gifts and maids are all arranged by the princess, and the Jibei Wang family thinks it is better to let the county lord of Fangde live outside the city temporarily, Xu Ji is the nominal husband of the county lord after all, and it is justifiable to live in him, and the princess and wife claim that the sister-in-law was taken away.

Zhang Shiqing accepted the gift, but did not accept the surveillance, only endured it for one night, and said to the two women early the next morning: "You two go back to the city by car, and tell the princess that everything is fine with me, so that she does not have to worry." ”

"County Lord, the two of us have been ordered to come and serve......"

"Yes, I now command you to leave, and if you refuse to obey and stay here, I will have you carried out of the valley. And you have seen who are in the valley. ”

Chang Yanzhi and the others were used to being casual, dressing, manners, and language were all casual, and they were like savages in the eyes of the two women, and they were really afraid of being carried out by a group of men, so they had to leave in a huff, begging the county lord to write a letter to explain the situation to the princess.

Zhang Shiqing regained his freedom and immediately ran to Xu Zhu's house, "Do you want to carry water again?" ”

"Hmm."

"I'll go together."

Xu Ji carried the burden, Zhang Shiqing followed him, gnawed a peach hard, walked to the foot of the mountain, and had already eaten the third peach, only then did he remember to take out another one from the small bag on his waist and hand it to Xu Ji.

Xu Ji took it, and the two of them ate peaches, climbed over the ridge, and came to the stream in the back mountain.

After eating all the peaches, Zhang Shiqing said, "Don't you ask me about my entry into the city?" ”

"How?" Xu Ji filled a bucket of water and went to get another bucket.

"Everything went well, Huan Yan didn't get angry, for my sake, he comforted Lou Ji a few words. To tell you the truth, the same son of a great general, he is not as bold as you, at least I haven't seen you show cowardice in front of anyone. Of course, you dare to assassinate the emperor and lead troops to rebel, and there should be nothing to make you afraid. ”

Xu Ji smiled, the two buckets of water were already filled, picked up the flat burden, and prepared to go back to the valley.

Zhang Shiqing was familiar with the path, and did not want to follow behind, but ran in front, first to the ridge, and waited for Xu Ji to catch up, she said: "I also persuaded Huan Yan not to use He Rong's cavalry, I didn't mention the matter of the little barbarian, only said that He Rong's wolf ambitions, it was easy to invite and it was difficult to send away, and they were all cavalry, and they didn't have to show it when they arrived in Jiangdong." ”

"You actually know that Jiangdong is not good for cavalry?" Xu Ji said with a smile.

"Of course, I already knew, did you think we would only eat, drink and have fun when we were in the Eastern Capital? There is also a lot to learn. In short, Huan Yan agreed not to borrow troops from He Rong's department, but persuaded Huai and Jing Prefectures to send troops from the north and west, and took advantage of the unstable foothold of Ningbaoguan to extinguish it. ”

Xu Ji stopped, "You said that the county lord of Huanyan comforted Lou Ji?" ”

"I've said a lot, and you've noticed this?"

"Huanyan County mainly does a big thing." Xu Ji said with a smile.