Wenxiang Hou Huo Cong, from a humble background, Taizu Wuwei for twenty-five years, rescued Sima Jiangzhe of Yongwangfu into the palace. At the beginning, he was not blindfolded, and he was a servant in the cold garden. Later, Taizong gave the princess of Changle of Ningguo to Qiandi, Cong was still in charge of the cold garden, and often secretly read the philosophical manuscript books, which were inspected by the county lord of Zhaohua, and the county lord took pity on him, and told the Marquis of Chu about it. Later, Zhe returned from the army, tried his article and was happy, and he was accepted under the door.

Although the philosopher is known as a talented man, the article is splendid, the crown is the best in the world, but he dabbles in more, the surname Cong is strict, only read the scriptures and history, the blue is out of the blue, and then he becomes a literary sect, and then he will end the rest of his life, and the philosopher is like a father.

- "Yongshi; Biography of Wenxiang Hou Lie

At the end of December of the twenty-seventh year of Dayong Wuwei, the Zezhou camp was full of joy, and finally achieved a victory after several years of stalemate, and the officers and soldiers in the army were all smiling, not to mention that the emperor issued a decree to reward the three armies, and all the sergeants' purses were full, and the victory plus the reward made the Zezhou soldiers raise their eyebrows.

After Long Tingfei withdrew from Zezhou, Li Xian, the king of Qi, ordered to camp on the border of Qinzhou before the snow fell, and after 300,000 Yongjun and 200,000 people requisitioned from Zezhou fought in January, and built a hundred miles of camp, this time, the Yongjun army would never allow the Northern Han army to enter Zezhou again. Approaching the New Year, although the defense of the camp in Zezhou is strict, but the sergeants are still allowed to take turns out of the camp, although there is no town nearby, but the profit-seeking merchants have long been in the establishment of a temporary market, although the temporary houses are simple, but they are very warm, hotels, green buildings, casinos are all available, and there are all kinds of goods for sale, the king of Qi is not against the emergence of the market, after all, without these, the winter will be sad, but for the sake of safety, the army is still sent to control the market, so as not to take the opportunity to spy on the military situation of the Northern Han Dynasty. Although no military order was issued, everyone knew that it was already a sure thing to attack the Northern Han Dynasty in the spring of tomorrow.

The Chinese army camp, I leaned on the soft couch and looked at the family letter, this time the emperor sent someone to pass the decree and reward, and by the way, he also brought a letter from home, Changle and Roulan both have letters, although I really want to see what Roulan writes, but the thoughts of Changle have been full of heart. So I still opened Princess Changle's letter first.

Princess Changle's letter was very long, and it was actually full of seven silk silks, which did not seem to be written at one time from the old and new ink, but probably as she thought, and wrote a few lines of words every time, and then came with the messenger.

"The concubine's journey is quite smooth, only Shen'er is occupied by Master Cizhen, the concubine finally said that it is difficult to see several faces, Shen'er has been able to walk, but not for a long time, the husband returned and said, should be able to see Shen'er walking alone.

……

The three royal brothers were quite cold to Lin'er, although the concubine was dissatisfied, but the brother and sister had not seen each other for many years, and the royal brother was ordered to take the concubine back to Beijing, and it was inconvenient to persuade him, so he had to make Lin'er and Roulan stay around. The concubine was worried in her heart, the three royal brothers are now powerful, but they hate the six royal brothers, and the concubine is afraid that the brothers' wall incident will happen again.

……

Got the emperor's secret book, there were rumors in Beijing that Zezhou was defeated, and the concubine knew that there was a husband in Zezhou, so it would not be so, but the rumors were everywhere, and people were panicked, so the concubine had to slow down the journey and meet the families of local officials along the way.

……

The prince welcomes the suburbs, and the courtesy is so serious. The concubine is physically and mentally ashamed, although the prince is young, he is smart and benevolent, Roulan and the prince are childhood sweethearts, and they are still as close as in the past, although Lin'er is arrogant, the prince treats each other with sincerity, and Lin'er has been a brother to the prince. The emperor's brother ordered Lin'er to accompany the prince, and there was quite a lot of criticism in Beijing.

……

There is one thing, the concubine is uneasy, Sima Xiu, the former Shu noblewoman, killed the pregnant talent, although the queen prevented, but the talent died after giving birth, the second prince is pitiful, the biological mother is humble, innocent victim, fortunately Cheng Chongrong rescued each other, and the imperial sister-in-law has made the second prince worship Cheng Chongrong as a mother. However, Sima Xiu's murder of the prince and the death of the prince's biological mother is not a light crime, and according to the rules of the national law and palace, he should be killed with a rod.

However, the three princes and brothers came to intercede, saying that they needed the help of the Shu family to guard Dongchuan, and Sima's achievements were remarkable, if he killed his daughter, he was afraid that Dongchuan would be in turmoil, and the imperial sister-in-law had to pardon his death penalty. However, everyone hates the queen mother, and the emperor's brother and heir are not prosperous, if it is so tolerated, I am afraid that there will be more incidents in the future. The concubine went to Beijing, the queen mother entrusted each other, the imperial sister-in-law secretly passed on the holy will, and the concubine body was killed and repaired in the cold palace that night. I am afraid that the three kings and brothers will hate the concubine, and the concubine will be loved by her father and brother, and she will be unharmed.

……

The concubine heard that the Southern Chu army pressed Jia Meng Pass, the imperial brother had sent the three royal brothers back to Dongchuan, but the concubine was uneasy, the husband's previous letter mentioned Lu Can's desperation, this son has been the door for generations, and the husband himself taught the art of war, the concubine is afraid that Dongchuan is invincible, and the rift between the three royal brothers and the royal family is like this, the concubine sees that her mind is deep, afraid that Dongchuan will change, military affairs, the concubine should not be asked, but if Dongchuan is chaotic, the war in the Northern Han Dynasty is difficult to stop, and the concubine can't bear to fight for a long time, so she is really worried.

……

Today, Hai Zhongying secretly entered Beijing, asked to see the concubine, and was willing to ask Zhou Shangyi to be his wife, the concubine had already heard that the two had fallen in love, but Shangyi's name was still in the palace register, and the Hai family went to sea all the year round, the businessman valued profit and parted, and the concubine hesitated physically and mentally, so he did not pick out this matter. However, the concubine didn't know what her husband wanted, so she didn't dare to agree.

……”

After reading the letter, I sighed softly, Changle was a little overthinking, she was worried that the emperor wanted to arrange personal surveillance around me, in fact, there were at least hundreds of maids in the princess's mansion, and they were all arranged by the queen herself before entering Beijing. It doesn't matter if this person is responsible for surveillance, I don't have anything to hide, besides, judging from Sima Xiu's matter, the emperor and the queen regard Changle as their right-hand man, so it is inevitable that there will be some secret message transmission, and there is such a person who can leave a channel to pass on the news, which is even more unwanted.

I raised my pen and wrote a reply, asking Changle to preside over the marriage of Hai Zhongying and Zhou Shangyi on my behalf, and the queen's kindness must be accepted, as for the matter of King Qing, I didn't mention it, I don't want Changle to worry about military affairs, these things naturally have the emperor's heart, and I won't go to Dongchuan, just kidding, my reputation there is estimated to be very bad, I haven't forgotten the matter of the King of Shu, but the Splendid Alliance has developed well in Dongchuan Shu, but there is no special information some time ago, it seems that I should urge Chen Zhi.

After writing the reply to Changle, I picked up the soft blue letter again, and after opening it, I almost crooked my nose when I read a few lines, this little girl actually said proudly in the letter, she has complained to the queen, saying that I don't allow her to write to the prince, and the queen promised her to teach me a good lesson after I return to Beijing.

Fortunately, the next thing is to boast to me that the Emperor Taishang took her micro-clothes out to have fun, it seems that the Emperor Taishang is not an ordinary favor for Roulan. The joy is described as if it were in person, and in addition to that, it is the joy of waiting for the prince to return from the south study, and the three children go to play together. I feel a little sour in my heart, this little girl is always like a fish in water everywhere, and she seems to be born to restrain me, and she has so much fun that she hasn't forgotten to complain.

The last one is a bit of a strange thing, and Roulan mentions that she slipped away to play in the Cold Garden, where many documents and precious books are still preserved in it, so it has been protected and sorted out for several years. Because Li Lin actually laughed at her for not knowing poetry after listening to a few lectures, Roulan was angry and wanted to find a rare book in my study to embarrass Li Lin, because I haven't returned to Beijing yet, so the ban on the cold garden is still in effect, and Rou Lan sneaked in, after all, the defense of the cold garden cannot be as tight as before. But Roulan found something interesting, a little boy secretly looked at my anthology and collection while no one was looking. Roulan wanted to send this little guy to Changle, but after checking it, she knew that this little boy was called Huo Cong, who I brought into the Yongwang Mansion, and had been sorting out flowers and trees in the cold garden for the past two or three years, Roulan thought about it, if this matter was known, Huo Cong would definitely be kicked out, although she was naughty, she was soft-hearted and unwilling to tell the truth, so she forced Huo Cong to explain the article to him, according to Roulan, Huo Cong spoke better than me, because she could understand.

Seeing this, I couldn't help but fall into deep thought, when I met the subordinates of the East China Sea and King Qing, rescued an orphan, this child has a pair of stubborn eyes, but I was wholeheartedly to take the heir, I didn't pay attention to this child at all, I remember that later this child became a servant of the Yongwang Mansion, and because he was very good at cooking flowers and trees, once I saw it, I casually let him enter the cold garden to serve the flowers and trees. But I haven't paid attention to this child, I can't imagine that he is still in the cold garden, and listening to Roulan, he is a studious and motivated child.

I think I Jiang Zhe has the reputation of a talented man, but several of my registered disciples are military generals, Roulan doesn't need to mention, if she is interested in reading, will I not teach her, Shen'er, although she is young, but no matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like the seed of reading, now worship under Master Cizhen, there should be no problem to be a martial arts master in the future, if it comes to articles, I don't have any extravagant hopes. Thinking about it, I don't have a successor who is full of economic wealth, thinking of this, my heart moved, took out the letter to the princess, and asked her to ask Xixi to teach that Huo Cong first, and thought in my heart, if Huo Cong is really good, I will accept this disciple, if I don't like it, there is nothing wrong with cultivating a talent, right?

Put down the family letter, I took out the emperor's secret letter, what is said above is the current situation, Nanchu sent troops this time without warning in advance, thanks to the emperor's looting of Jianye, although the courtiers of Nanchu are very jealous of Dayong, but they are more afraid than hate, in fact, now Nanchu's government affairs are in the hands of Shang Weijun, this person is afraid that he can't wait to buy peace with gold and silver treasures, in recent years, in addition to the routine payment of five million taels of silver indemnity every year, Nanchu also has to send a variety of precious tributes, women's gold silk, In my business in Nanchu in recent years, the taxes collected by the government have been three times the original, although there are generals like Lu Can and Rong Yuan, but the military strength has hardly increased, which is also a helpless thing, the army needs a lot of baggage, food and salary, no money don't want to raise soldiers, but I still have to admire Lu Can, he has been in Shuzhong Tuntian for the past two years, and through the Yangtze River water transport and sea transportation to do smuggling business, the gold and silver obtained a lot, not only trained a fine army, but also can support Rong Yuan, who guarded Jingxiang. Of course, not many people know about this matter, Lu Can does it very strictly, even Shang Weijun, the minister of power who covers the sky with one hand in Nanchu, is not very clear, after all, now the army of Southern Chu can be said to be the world of the Lu family, if Shang Weijun is forced too tightly, I am afraid that before Dayong goes south, Nanchu will already have civil strife. As for I know about this matter, it is really because Tianji Pavilion and the Splendid Alliance are involved, but I don't want to stop this matter, not to mention that this business brings me millions of silver every year, and I am already very proud to be able to control the financial resources of the Southern Chu army, as long as necessary, I can cut off the smuggling route of Southern Chu at any time, in this way, the Southern Chu army without money and food is overstretched, but such a sharp weapon is naturally to be used at a critical time, even if the Southern Chu army presses Dongchuan this time, I don't want to use it, After all, it is impossible for Dayong to fight on both sides, and before the Northern Han Dynasty is pacified, the hope of Southern Chu cannot be cut off.

I flipped through the emperor's secret book and the military information transferred by the military department again, and I suddenly had a strange feeling in my heart, how could it be so coincidental, the new defeat of the Northern Han Dynasty, the Xingbing of Southern Chu, and the behavior of King Qing is so strange, as far as I know, this King Qing has the ability to operate in Dongchuan for many years, even when Fengyi Gate is like Zhongtian, he can't do anything to him, such a person, how can he easily reveal differences with the royal family, it doesn't matter if he hates King Qi, but it shouldn't change when King Qi uses troops in the Northern Han Dynasty, a Sima Xiu, although she is a former Shu noblewoman, But after all, after the death of the country, he made such a big mistake, it stands to reason, not to mention that it is a death rod to kill, it is a matter of course to ask the Sima clan to blame, King Qing only needs to ask the clansmen who do not ask Sima Xiu's concubine, it is already a rare favor, a daughter should not let the Sima clan make a decision to break with the Dayong court, why do I think King Qing's approach is a bit too arrogant? There must be a connection between these three things, but I can't think of it for a while.

After thinking for a long time, I still felt that I had no clue, so I put down the paperwork and walked out of the tent, at this time it was almost dusk, the air outside was very cold, the cold air was blowing in my face, I had a cold war, the climate of the north is really difficult, although I have been away from Nanchu for many years, but I am still not used to the cold of the north. The cold wind cleared my mind a lot, and I didn't think about anything, just walked around aimlessly. Walking and walking, I suddenly saw Xiao Shunzi bowing his head into a small camp, and suddenly I was curious, these days he is always missing, I thought he was practicing some new moves, but I didn't expect to be here, looked around, but it turned out that I walked to the place where important prisoners were held, but what did Xiao Shunzi do here?

Although I knew that I should not look at the indecent manners, I was really curious, and deliberately walked not far from the camp, although this distance was still quite far, at least the guards around me could not hear the words inside, but I could hear it clearly, and put on a deep thinking look, as if I was still thinking about the battle strategy, but my mind was all on my ears, and I listened carefully to the situation inside.

Ling Duan was lying on the bed, his eyes were full of coldness and sorrow, he was the only survivor of the ghost horse next to the ghost face general, he still clearly remembers that at the last moment, the war horse had been lost, only a few ghost horsemen were left to protect the general against countless horse lances and sabers, and the colleagues around him lost their lives one by one, and finally only the general and himself were left on the battlefield, in fact, Ling Duan still can't believe that he can live to that time. Yongjun shouted "Capture Tan Ji alive" and surrounded him. The general protected himself behind him, although he was able to temporarily protect the general's back, but the general clearly took over most of the offensive, at that moment, Ling Duan found that the general was desperately protecting himself, and Ling Duan, who was grateful and ashamed in his heart, could only defend desperately, unless I died, I couldn't let anyone hurt the general's back, this was Ling Duan's only thought. The last of Dayong's generals seemed to see his weakness as a general, and turned to attack himself, and just as his horse was about to stab himself in the throat, the general actually blocked the fatal blow for himself with his arm. But in this way, the situation is even more sinister, in the midst of the siege of ten thousand armies, there are no horses with serious injuries, how can there be any hope of survival. But in a moment, he was stabbed to the ground, and the general stood there without moving, Changge turned into an iron wall, protecting himself from those red-eyed Yongjun who took his surname. Even after he died, he still used his body to protect him under him. Ling Duan, who couldn't move, watched him fly so closely, collecting countless lives, watching him being surrounded and killed, from beginning to end, the general didn't say a word, but Ling Duan clearly saw that the general's eyes were full of encouragement, and it was a look to take care of himself. When Tan Ji fell to the ground, Ling Duan fainted.

In fact, when Ling Duan woke up in Dayong's barracks, there was also a trace of joy in his heart in the grief and humiliation, he had not fully appreciated the beauty of life, death was not what he hoped for after all, but what would be the fate after being captured? He will not hold a grudge against those Dayong soldiers, because the general has long said that murderers will always kill them, when he is a ghost horseman, under the long ge, there are countless souls, although the general and his comrades died in the hands of the Yongjun, and even his two brothers died on the battlefield, but Ling Duan will not resent the Yongjun, he only hates the sky, why should the world be in turmoil, and let the surnames of these small people be as cheap as ants. Of course, Ling Duan doesn't hate Yongjun, but he won't be grateful to Yongjun for saving him, if there is a chance, Ling Duan still hopes to go back to the battlefield to kill the enemy, but the general said that if there is any hatred, it will be over on the battlefield. But how can it be so easy to escape, if you become a prisoner of war, you will be sent to hard labor if you are not executed, how can you go back to the Northern Han?

Not to mention what Ling Duan thought in his heart, this camp tent was not lived by him alone, all the captives were imprisoned in the barracks, regardless of dignity, they were all twelve people in a camp, there was no bed light, only a few prisoners with special identities had higher treatment, and Ling Duan got such treatment mostly because he was a ghost rider beside Tan Ji, but the other prisoner who lived with him was a little strange, that person was a chief of the quartz camp, called Li Hu, although this person was brave, but his surname was reckless, and his position was low, How can he be specially imprisoned? But this person is Quartz's subordinate, Tan Ji and Quartz are the most incompatible, so Ling Duan is reluctant to pay attention to him, until this person turned around and said triumphantly, his Dayong's supervisor Chu Xianghou was knocked into the water, although he did not succeed in taking the man's surname, but Li Hu was still very proud, now Ling Duan understood, looking at this stupid man with sympathetic eyes, although he didn't know very well what kind of character this Chu Xianghou was, but it was clear that treating this kid's injuries was going to give him a good look, just like always fattening up before killing a pig, But after thinking about it, he still didn't tell this guy with little roots about his bleak future, after all, his people's lives were no longer his own, and it was useless to know earlier, so let him be comfortable for a few more days.

was thinking wildly, at this time someone walked in, this person is a young man in green clothes, elegant appearance, with a little feminine, but his expression is like frost, as lonely as the cold sky and snow, Ling Duan only glanced at it and lay down again, that person often comes over, it is strange to say, this person only asks how the two of them are injured every time, and then says a few words of gossip and leaves, although the attitude is cold, but there is no trace of contempt, every time he comes, he will bring good wound medicine, and some exquisite food, Ling Duan found, Since this man came often, the number of sergeants who had imprisoned him seemed to have increased, and their attitude was very respectful. From these Ling Duan, he could sense that this person's identity must be extraordinary, but when he asked the sergeants outside, they were all chilling, and no one would talk about that person. However, although this person was kind, Ling Duan was not willing to approach him at all, perhaps because of many years of battlefield battles, Ling Duan was very sensitive to danger, he could feel that although that person had an elegant appearance and no murderous expression in his expression, he was a person who did not care about human life in his bones. As for Li Hu, he doesn't seem to like to see this person, it's not that he is so smart, once Ling Duan heard Li Hu muttering something like "sissy", it seems that his rude surname is guilty, and he can't see the existence of this kind of person. Today, this person came in but it was a little different from the previous one, his hands were empty, and he didn't bring anything, although he didn't speak, but Ling Duan could find that his body exuded a coldness from his bones. couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart, presumably this person was ready to tear off his mask, and glanced at Li Hu sympathetically, Ling Duan could feel that this person's target was not himself.

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