In the inner hall of Tao Ran's residence, the honeycomb coal in the copper basin is still burning, and the smell of the pine paste from the East China Sea in the incense burner makes people more and more calm.

Every word Guo Wuwei heard from the eighth child made him more and more shocked, Guo Wuwei didn't expect that what he was talking about today was a major secret, so after he listened to it, after careful consideration, he agreed to the other party.

Since they are all serving the Great Song Dynasty, how can they divide father and son, on Zhao Kuangyin's side, Zhou Quan and Hui Xuan of the Privy Council Staff Pavilion contacted him, and on the side of Changchun Hall, he took the line of King Wei, not to mention that King Wei was originally a very outstanding prince, and it is very possible to become the emperor in the future.

However, as soon as Guo Wuwei thought of his son, he immediately said: "Eighth Master, my son has studied martial arts in Kaifeng, can I let my son serve Changchun Hall and serve the Lord?" ”

"This ......" Lao Bayi heard that Guo Wuwei wanted his son to join Changchun Hall and serve the Lord, he was still very shocked in his heart, and after thinking for a while, Lao Ba said, "I think the Lord will be very happy to hear it, since Guo Xianggong is like this, I will now send a letter to the Lord to send a flying pigeon." ”

Guo Wuwei arched his hand and said: "There is Lao Baye." ”

The eighth said to Guo Wuwei: "Guo Xianggong, the next matter of the Han court will be handed over to Guo Xianggong." ”

Guo Wuwei: "Just leave this matter to Wuwuwei, the Lord and the Eighth Master can rest assured." ”

After Guo Wuwei and Hu Kangxi discussed for a long time, seeing that it was almost noon, Guo Wuwei saw that the time was almost up, and if it continued like this, it would make people suspicious, so he immediately got up and said goodbye and went back to his mansion.

……

At this moment, in the Jinyang Imperial City, Liu Jiyuan was in the Qinglou all night, he was anxiously waiting for the news of the palace, he bought it from the Qinglou and returned to his mansion.

It was very windy outside, and the charcoal brazier had been lit inside the house, and it was warm inside. He took off the outermost brocade mink and remembered that the coffin of his deceased wife Duan was parked in the hall.

He called the servant in the house again, changed into a plain robe, and went to the coffin.

The whole mansion was solemn, the servants were busy with funerals, he slowly walked to the side of Duan's coffin in the hall, and the maid who served Duan's next to the coffin was crying, wiping her tears and burning incense and other things into the basin.

Liu Jiyuan saw that the maid Wan'er was crying with pear blossoms and rain, and he was very bored when he heard it, so he stepped forward and slapped him directly.

The maid Wan'er covered her mouth and cried more and more.

", why are you crying?"

The maid didn't dare to answer, she couldn't help crying.

"Get out—"

Wan'er didn't dare to offend her master, so she immediately ran away.

Liu Jiyuan was the only one left in the mourning hall, and he stared at the mourning hall in a daze. Duan's mourning hall was very magnificently arranged, which matched the snowflakes of the outside world very well, but as soon as Liu Jiyuan remembered that Liu Jun had asked him to handle the funeral simply, a nameless fire arose in his heart.

Liu Jiyuan smirked, he patted the coffin and said to himself: "Su Niang, you died too unjustly, who killed you, is it that Empress Guo, I don't think it's a good thing when I look at her, and when I ascend the throne and become the emperor of the Han Dynasty in the future, I must personally strangle her." ”

"Haha, Su Niang, I did a bad thing yesterday, haha, when the old emperor dies, this throne must be mine, Su Niang, you died too early, after I ascend the throne, no, I will make you the queen after I ascend the throne. Hahaha. ”

Liu Jiyuan talked to himself and said crazy for a long time as if he had a demonic barrier, until a long time passed, and he didn't hear a single bit of news from the palace.

How can it be? Liu Jiyuan realized that his conspiracy had not succeeded, he smiled bitterly for a long time, and slapped it directly on the coffin, "Haha, the old immortal is not dead yet." Then he suddenly felt that his conspiracy had been seen through, or something else, and when Liu Jien thought of this, his heart became more and more uneasy.

"No, the throne must be Lao Tzu, and he Liu Jien doesn't want to get it. The surname Xue is really not a good thing, Lao Tzu Xue. Leigh is a scourge, assassinating my mother, and my son is definitely not a good thing. ”

"I must kill Empress Guo after I ascend the throne." Liu Jiyuan secretly swore in his heart, slamming the coffin heavily, although his right hand was swollen, he was still unaware, and the pain would only inspire him to kill more.

He saw his wife's coffin lying in the coffin, and suddenly he had an idea, and immediately summoned a few servants to open the coffin.

As soon as the servants heard Liu Jiyuan's order, they were immediately stunned, and hurriedly said, "The prince can't help it?" ”

"What's this, I want to see what happened to the dead inside?"

"Prince, death is great, it's better not to disturb."

Liu Jiyuan scolded: "Open the coffin quickly, otherwise you will be the one who will die." ”

"Yes." The servants in the house knew Liu Jiyuan's temper, as long as they were angry, he would not end well, and they had to start taking the tools to open the coffin according to Liu Jiyuan's order at this moment.

The coffin has been pried open, because of the cold weather, there is no smell of corpses, but there is still an indescribable smell of corpses, and the corpses inside have been lying for more than half a month.

Liu Jiyuan said impatiently: "You guys stand down." ”

"Yes." The servants did not dare to disobey Liu Jiyuan's order, and withdrew immediately after doing everything.

After Liu Jiyuan finished speaking, he coldly leaned into the coffin, only to see that it was covered with a brocade satin quilt, and his deceased wife Duan was lying underneath.

Liu Jiyuan lifted the corner of the quilt and saw that Duan's face was completely white, with faint corpse spots...... Liu Jiyuan looked at it for a while, almost vomited, he hurriedly didn't look at the side, and after a while, he couldn't help but look up again, after a series of repetitions, Liu Jiyuan's courage has gradually grown.

"But what is there to fear from the dead?" After Liu Jiyuan finished speaking, he brought a stool, and then raised his feet and stepped into the coffin.

There was only a rough pant in the mourning hall.

Liu Jiyuan's strength had been withdrawn, he lay down on his back, and he had to think about the road he wanted to take in the future.

If he wants to make friends with the ministers of the imperial court, the first thing he has to make friends with is Guo Wuwei in the imperial court, and according to the palace attendant, the emperor once complained in front of Guo Wuwei that Liu Jien, who was Taiyuan Yin, had mediocre qualifications and had no experience in governing the court.

Guo Wuwei did not say good things about him in front of his father, and Liu Jien often resented Guo Wuwei in private, because the two of them could not go together, and when he thought about it, he felt that his hope of ascending to the throne was much greater.

"Guo Wuwei, I don't know if you can help me ascend to the throne?" As soon as Liu Jiyuan thought of this, he began to think about everything about Guo Wuwei in his mind, and after thinking about it for a long time, he felt that he must visit Guo's mansion another day.

……

On the other hand, in Liu Jien's mansion, Liu Jien is not as savage as his younger brother, he is much calmer, but he has no good impression of Liu Jiyuan, although they are compatriots of the same mother, but their father is not the same, one is surnamed Xue, the other is surnamed He, but the two are like natural enemies, and they can't wait for each other to die.

Liu Jiyuan's temperament he has been accustomed to seeing since he was a child, this person is a tyrannical and irritable person in his bones, if he wasn't his younger brother, Liu Jien would not take care of him so much, but in front of the throne, Liu Jien was also afraid that his father would snub him, and chose his younger brother Liu Jiyuan.

The throne of the Han State, there is only one hand, Liu Jien thinks that among their heirs, he is the eldest son, and he is also Taiyuan Yin, presiding over the affairs of Jinyang, and the throne must belong to him when the emperor dies in the future, but in today's Han State, the power of the government is in the hands of Guo Wuwei's minister, Liu Jien feels that if he wants to ascend the throne, he must eradicate Guo Wuwei's party in the court, so that he can be safe and sound, otherwise the Han only knows Guo Wuwei and does not know that there is him.

As soon as Liu Jien thought of Guo Wuwei, he hated it so much, he wanted to kill Guo Wuwei, but he couldn't do anything about it.

……

The sky has fallen into twilight, and in the northern Jinyang City, the temperature has reached below zero, and there is no one on the streets, only the soldiers who defend the city, and they are still performing their duties, guarding this strong city in the ice and snow.

At the head of the city, countless torches have been illuminated in the air, and there are several soldiers standing guard every few steps, and on the city wall, the Chinese character banner is blazing in the wind, at this moment a young general wearing bright light armor and a red tasseled hat and helmet is looking at everything around him, his face is very heroic and extraordinary, and the surrounding soldiers saw this general, and they arched their hands and said: "I have seen General Liu." ”

"Don't be restrained, I, Liu Jiye, am just a puppet." This person's original surname was Yang, his name was noble, and his father Yang Xin was the (later) Han Dynasty's Linzhou Assassin History. Now he calls Liu Jiye, because he followed Liu Chong when he was weak, and was famous for his bravery, and was named by Liu. This person has repeatedly made military exploits, promoted to the Jianxiong Army, and has made many military exploits, and each time he can win, the (Northern) Han people gave him a nickname called "invincible".

Liu Jiye looked at the generals in front of him and said a few words of greeting, and then he continued to patrol the city tower, and only after patrolling the eastern, southern, western, and northern city gates of the Beijing division would he return to his house to rest.

After midnight, Liu Jiye was finally busy with everything, and he returned home in time. After returning home, Zhe Shi was telling his son Liu Yanlang (Yang Yanzhao, real name Yanlang, later changed to Yan) some stories of the war ahead, this nine-year-old little guy kept begging his mother to tell the story of his father's heroic battle, and the eldest son Liu Yanyu was still guarding the city tower.

After listening, Liu Yanlang said: "Daddy is really invincible." ”

Suddenly, the door of Liu Yanlang's room was pushed open, and then Liu Jiye said: "What is invincible, how is your father invincible, it is your mother who arranges your father to be invincible." ”

Liu Yanlang looked surprised: "Daddy, you're back." Zhe Shi said happily: "Yo, Invincible is back." ”

Liu Jiye said: "It's funny." ”

Liu Jiye looked at the Zhe family in front of him, he was very excited, happy to marry such a wife, and Zhe is the daughter of Zhe Deran, in Liu Jiye's mind, Zhe Shi is sensitive, although he is a woman, he can try to make his own military exploits, and he is worthy of being a virtuous helper and a female general.

Zhe Shi smiled slightly, and then said to his son: "Lang'er, it's better to rest early, and continue to study martial arts and the art of war early tomorrow morning." ”

Liu Yanlang said: "Yes, Niangniang." ”

Although Liu Jiye was happy on his face, he could still know what was going on in the heart of the pillow person.

Zhe said: "Are the officials worried about the southern country? ”

"If a wife is like this, what more can a husband ask for." Liu Jiye sighed, "Now that the Song State controls the north and south, it will soon send troops to the Han State." ”

Zhe asked rhetorically: "In the first battle between the Han and Song Dynasty, what do the officials think of the chances of victory?" ”

Liu Jiye said: "This ...... As long as the Han Kingdom works together, the Great Song Dynasty will be helpless. ”

"Official, I don't think so......", "......" Zhe Shi said his thoughts, and Liu Jiye's eyes on the side were as wide as copper bells.

"Official, that's the case, it's just that some things can't be changed by manpower."