This year's spring seems to have come exceptionally late. The solar term of the second dragon raising its head in February has passed, the snow on the palace of Qi has not yet frozen, and there is a thin layer of frost hanging on the edge of the gilded copper cylinder, although the water in the jar is changed every day, it is still full of spider silk.

The weather was very dry and cold. Fang Fei, the hidden guard and personal maid, waited for Xiao Zhi's breakfast, and was ordered to go to the West Pavilion of the Taihe Palace to exchange for the recital box that Xiao Zhi had reviewed at night, and she couldn't be idle - before Su Wan married Shen Lian, she specially told Xiao Zhi to ask Fang Fei to take over her place, saying that this was so that she could feel at ease. Since then, the responsibility of taking care of Xiao Zhi has fallen on Fang Fei's shoulders, time has proved that Su Wan's vision is good, Fang Fei is ingenious, and she is very attentive to Xiao Zhi, and it didn't take long for her to be as clean and neat as Su Wan, but Su Wan's strict appearance towards Xiao Zhi can't learn anything.

Probably because he couldn't be ruthless, after all, in his eyes, whatever the king did was very good, Fang Fei thought about it when she walked back, and couldn't help but sigh.

When he turned back after leaving the Taihe Palace, Xiao Zhi had already gone out. I saw that Li Hui, the eunuch of the Six Palaces, was directing a group of eunuchs to sweep the floor, dust it, and wipe the table, so he rolled up his sleeves to help clean it up, and asked Li Hui with a smile: "Gonggong Li, where is the king?" ”

"Eh! Girl, you are back, and the king is looking for you! Li Hui smiled and waved her hand and said, "Su Wan, Miss Shen, they are back, the king is so happy, he ran away without waiting for the sedan chair, saying that he asked you to hurry over." Li Hui took a side of the inkstone, grinded the ink and replied, "This is where the old queen mother is, you should go over quickly!" ”

Not long after Sister Awan agreed to marry Mr. Shen Lian, the two left Qi and went to other countries, on the one hand, Rashomon's business still needed to move, and on the other hand, it was for the king to secretly inquire about the news of the gentleman who wanted to harm the king. After leaving for more than a year, he suddenly returned to Qi State, and it can be seen that he must have obtained useful information.

Fang Fei thought about it carefully, and felt that it was a good thing to have new information, and at first she listened with a smile, but when she looked back, the needle on the bell had pointed to the beginning of the afternoon, and it was time for Xiao Zhi to read the recital, so she hurriedly went there.

At this moment, the old queen mother's Kunning Palace is very lively, the old queen mother sits on the soft chair used by Queen Sima Qing's home, and there are maidservants and a few grandmothers, eunuchs, and a few personal maids with heads and faces holding scarves and waiting behind, Xiao Zhi stands behind the old queen mother and gently beats the old man's back, and Sima Qing sits on the side and laughs. Shen Lian was an outsider and a man, so he was given a seat by the old queen mother through a screen, and replied respectfully through the screen. Only Su Wan liked the old queen mother and hadn't seen her for a long time, so she sat opposite the old queen mother, holding a teacup, and listened to the old queen mother.

"You've been gone for more than a year, and others don't know how, but I see that my temper and temperament haven't changed at all! It looks better than before! The old queen mother looked Su Wan up and down for a while, she hadn't seen her for a long time, Su Wan was a little fatter than before she left the palace, although she still looked quiet and indifferent, and she had a little less cold look. Between the gestures, he unconsciously became a little more gentle and charming, which showed that his life was very satisfactory, so he nodded with satisfaction and smiled, "It seems that Shen Lian is not bad to you and did not let you be bullied." ”

"Don't dare, don't dare." Shen Lian replied with a wry smile.

"Sister Awan is so powerful, if you marry this past, it may not be who bullies whom." Xiao Zhi joked on the side, laughing as he spoke. "Ancestor don't have to worry."

"This marriage is the most important thing for a woman, how can you not worry about it." The old queen mother sighed, and said to Su Wan again, "This time I finally came back, it's good to stay in the capital for a little longer, and talk to me." ”

"It's natural." Xiao Zhi readily agreed, glanced at Shen Lian again, and the two nodded tacitly.

The old queen mother was really happy at this time, and when she turned around and saw Fang Fei coming in, her pretty face was full of beads of sweat and she couldn't care about wiping it, and she couldn't help but quip, "You want to make the master suffer again?" ”

As soon as Fang Fei entered the door, she heard this, and hurriedly knelt down to say goodbye, and said with a smile: "How dare the slave?" These are the king's charters! ”

"I'm here today!" The old queen mother greeted and pointed to the seat next to Su Wan, "It's rare that Sister Wan is back, let's have a little more fun, you and her may not have seen each other for a long time, come over and have fun!" ”

"Grandson also wants to joke for a while, but it's also time," Xiao Zhi was anxious to know the news that Shen Lian had inquired about, so he hurriedly turned to the front with a smile, and said to the old queen mother, "Grandson is going to the Taihe Hall in front, there are a few letters, and they must be approved today." I was originally scheduled to see Wang Sirui, the governor of Shaanxi, today, and I also have some things to discuss with Shen Lian......"

"It's better for Sun Er and Shen Lian to go and get busy first, and let Qing'er, Fang Fei, and Sister A Wan stay to talk to the old ancestor.........

Before the words were finished, I heard the sound of a cow roaring faintly from the southwest outside the palace, and several people in the hall were stunned for a moment, and then there was a louder cry that spread closer and closer, the palace began to tremble slightly, and a few palace lamps hanging in the corners of the palace swayed like a swing, and the doors and windows of the couch also shook like a pendulum.

"Oh my God!" The palace people shouted, "What's the matter?" Fang Fei's face turned pale, she staggered a step, and her body shook and almost fell. Earthquake! Sima Qing stood up in shock, calmed down, and commanded the palace people in a loud voice, "A few of you protect the old ancestor and the king, go out quickly!" As he spoke, seeing that the maidservants were frightened, they hurriedly stepped over a few steps, and Fang Fei took the old queen mother one by one, and ran to the yard without a foot.

Two violent earthquakes came from the center of the earth, and the people present jumped, and the houses in the distance collapsed, raising a yellow mist in the sky, and the capital of Qi was suddenly shrouded in darkness, and the beams and pillars of the palace made a creaking and groaning sound.

The body is trembling! It's not because of the feeling that my legs are weak because of the earthquake, but because my heart is about to be sucked away by something, and I want to break free from it.

Shen Lian, Su Wan had kung fu in her body, and her reaction was faster than that of the rest of the palace people, and she rushed Xiao Zhi out first. Sima Qing commanded the eunuchs and palace maids to carry a few chairs together and follow them out, placing the chairs on a piece of blue brick ground that was not against the wall.

It's almost uncontrollable, and my heart is about to beat out...... Xiao Zhi desperately clutched his chest, closed his eyes and inhaled heavily.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! "The strong earthquake gradually passed, only the aftershocks remained, and the abnormal changes in the heart gradually subsided. Xiao Zhi opened her eyes, only to see Fang Fei standing in the distance screaming loudly, and in a panic, she saw Xiao Zhi's strange appearance at a glance. "You're alright?"

"It's okay! Okay! Xiao Zhi came back to his senses at this time, paced two steps forward, and suddenly smiled at Su Wan, who was trembling nervously beside him, and said to Shen Lian: "What are you guys called?" Escaping from the famine is not like escaping from the famine, and begging for food is not like begging for food! ”

"This earthquake is very evil, and I feel a little uncomfortable." Su Wan said to the two of them uneasily, "You have to be careful. ”

"Probably caused by the instability of the Dao Qi and the chaos, and I am the same." Shen Lian nodded and said.

Outside the Kunning Palace, Sima Qing and the hidden guards who rushed to escort stood silently in the violently shaking courtyard, the palace people were busy on the side, the old queen mother calmly sat with her palms closed, muttering Buddha in her mouth, only Xiao Zhi sat quietly in the middle and looked up at the sky.

"Your Majesty!" Sima Ni's loud voice came from the door of the hanging flowers of Kunning Palace, "Minister Sima Ni, Xue Bilong, Xiao Jie are here to serve!" ”

"Come in!" Xiao Zhi said loudly. The three ministers bowed in, and seeing that Xiao Zhi was safe, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and knelt down in turn.

At this time, just after noon, the earthquake came more violently. Towering buildings, large and small houses, one street and two rows of shops, palaces and pavilions dance with the earth; The yellow dust and dark red clouds in the sky tumbled together, enveloping the universe in a dark cloud; After a while, the wind, hail, thunder and lightning all worked, and the purple-blue lightning shone on the frightened and terrifying faces on the street. From Yongdingmen, Hade Gate to Dongzhimen, people support the old and the young to snuggle together, the children struggle and cry in the arms of their mothers, but the adults look up at the sky with dull eyes one by one, praying for peace. From time to time, there was the sound of high-rise and dangerous buildings collapsing, and the whole Qidu City was panicked like chickens and dogs barking, foxes and wolves howling.

In the basement of the teahouse outside the palace, a series of instruments such as earthquake detectors and energy detectors "tick di" sound one after another, messy and harsh, the sound echoes in the empty basement from time to time to make people upset, these dusty equipment was moved out one by one by Wu Haoze and Zhou Chen, Bai Chenxuan was supported by the woman and Yang Qianqian was intently observing the results of the instrument survey.

"It's from the northwest, it's not wrong." After repeated confirmations, Yang Qianqian came to the final conclusion, "The earthquake occurred near the Jungar Basin in the northwest. ”

"Looks like that gentleman has started a new crazy experiment again." Zhou Chen shrugged, "Well, believe what we said this time, the earthquake in that place is not an accidental phenomenon." ”

"I have never questioned what you say, after all, I know that man's past better than you, and therefore his essence." Song Qinglian lowered his head, and there was a little more loss in his eyes, "This is, even if we join forces now, we will only hit the stone with an egg." He turned his head and looked at Bai Chenxuan, "You should know this best." ”

"Then we ......"

"Wait." Song Qinglian said firmly, "Only wait, as long as Xu Zi'an is in our hands, there is a possibility of a turnaround." ”

"If Xu Zi'an is really the target of that gentleman, everything makes sense - he is so eager to solve the Qi State, and even does not hesitate to threaten Xingchen Company and my brother." Bai Chenxuan nodded, looking at Song Qinglian with clear eyes, but his words were full of joy, "Uncle Song, I believe in you." I also believe in Xu Zi'an. ”

The guy at the center of the maelstrom may have realized something, but the smile and the look as if nothing had happened made one want to ask.

What is really on your mind?

Is it really good not to care, not afraid at all?

"Where you come, you are safe."

"Everything will be fine."

My brother is also such a person, maybe he doesn't know his true thoughts when he starts over, and when he says that he wants to keep his life, he brings himself to this world without hesitation, even if there is a 90% chance of death, and when he says that he wants to give himself a new life, he does not hesitate to swing his knife and gather his qi to slash at himself, and let the collapsed self flee in all directions.

Brother and Xu Zi'an are both such people who can't see through no matter how hard they try, but maybe only when they are clear about their own purpose will they not care about other people's opinions at all, and they will not argue for themselves, just bury their heads in things.

In contrast, the self who only hides in the corner and thinks nonsense and does nothing is the worst. Bai Chenxuan lowered his head with a gloomy expression.

"Don't think about it, it's important to take care of your body." Wu Haoze was concise and put on his robe, "I'll go to the palace." ”