Liu Xiu stood outside the hall, a little dazzled by the dazzling sunlight for a while, he knew that everything was irreparable, the disaster would come as scheduled, and what he didn't know now was just time. Dongqiang is just a loose tribe, and it took two years to use Duan Chengzhi's ability, and more than 4 billion military expenditures were leveled out, and it took a year to get rid of the Xianbei people? He felt it was a joke, a cruel joke.

"General Kitakaro, what's wrong with you?" Zhao Zhong walked over with a smile and bowed to Liu Xiu very politely. Liu Xiu put down the hand that was blocking his eyebrows, naturally wiped the moisture from the corners of his eyes, and returned the salute with a smile: "Zhao Changshi's complexion is very good." ”

Zhao Zhong looked down at his body and laughed softly: "Thank you Bei Zhonglang for your concern, the old slave's body has always been reasonable." I heard that Beizhong Lang will soon be Princess Shang, and the old slave is here to congratulate Beizhong Lang General. ”

"Thank you for your kindness." Liu Xiu said without humility or arrogance: "If the regular attendant is free at that time, you might as well come and drink a glass of water and wine." ”

Zhao Zhong's sparse eyebrows were raised, as if he was a little surprised. Except for the people in the palace like him, other people gave gifts and bribed him, but few invited him to the banquet, and a eunuch like him sat there enough to spoil the atmosphere of the whole banquet, and no one who wanted to pat him on the back would dare to do such a thing, unless he was invited alone.

And he generally doesn't give people such face.

"Then thank you for the invitation, if I have time, I will definitely go and ask for a glass of water and wine." Although Zhao Zhong didn't dare to take it seriously, he was still very happy in his heart, and he bowed to Liu Xiu again and hurriedly walked away, took two steps, and turned back: "General Beizhong Lang, the old slave wants to say more, I don't know if it's okay?" ”

"Waiter, please."

"Does General Kitakaro really owe 300 million money to the people of Bingzhou?"

Liu Xiu's eyebrows raised, and then he nodded again: "It's just more, no less." ”

Zhao Zhong suddenly sighed, thanked him again, and turned to leave. Liu Xiu looked at his back, his face was calm as usual, but he was very surprised in his heart, Zhao Zhong suddenly told him what was he doing here? While thinking, he walked along the long palace wall towards Lantai, until he stood in front of the stone waterway of Lantai, he still didn't think clearly.

When Yuan Hui heard the news, he hurriedly greeted him in person, and politely greeted Liu Xiu as a disciple. Liu Xiu accepted it calmly, slowly walked into Lantai, walked into a room that had been cleaned up, and sat in the center of the position. Yuan Hui visited him again, and gave a heavy gift with both hands, and then said softly: "Please Mr. teach the disciple the magic of painting things." ”

Liu Xiu played with the jade Ruyi without any flaws, and said in his heart that the Yuan family was really rich, and with the mood of the Son of Heaven towards the Yuan family, he would definitely not take out such a high-quality jade Ruyi to Yuan Hui as an apprentice. Not to mention anything else, he pouted Yuan Hui's face, but the Son of Heaven still didn't blame him for this matter, and Yuan Hui's attitude is becoming more and more respectful, which can only show that Yuan Hui's favor is just a fake appearance guessed by outsiders, and this is definitely not the case.

He held Yu Ruyi in his arms, looking like he had become an immortal, and looked at Yuan Hui expressionlessly. Yuan Hui was very embarrassed by him, ashamed and angry, but he didn't dare to attack. Last time Liu Xiu embarrassed her, she went to cry to the Son of Heaven, but the Son of Heaven was very unhappy and said, that is my Beizhong Lang General, not the painter in the palace, if I didn't come forward in person, do you think he would pay attention to you? If you really want to learn, you can be a disciple honestly, if you don't want to learn, don't do too much, I'm annoying enough.

In one sentence, Yuan Hui was embarrassed.

With this experience at the bottom, Yuan Hui was doubly careful at the moment, endured Liu Xiu's rude gaze, and listened to Liu Xiu respectfully with the attitude that a disciple should have.

"Yuan beauty, if you want to know about painting, the prophet is beautiful and ugly." Liu Xiu said unhurriedly: "Let me ask you, do you know what is beautiful and what is ugly?" ”

Yuan Huiman said, "Please give me advice." ”

"The avenue is beautiful in harmony, and all things have their own beauty and ugliness, and there is a Buddha in the West, and a flower enters ten thousand eyes, that is, there are ten thousand meanings, that is, the clouds." Liu Xiu paused, "Have you read Buddhist scriptures?" ”

Yuan Hui thought nervously for a moment, but still couldn't remember the source of this sentence, so he had to ask again: "Although the disciple knows a little about the Buddhist scriptures, he has never heard of this saying. Please also ask the gentleman to dial. ”

Liu Xiu frowned, and sighed with some disappointment: "I haven't read it, it's a little difficult." Painting and Buddhist scriptures have the same magic, all focus on a comprehension of words. If the qualifications are too poor to understand the truth, even if the gentleman is familiar with it, you can't understand it, and it is a waste of my work. ”

Yuan Hui was speechless with anger, so he had to grit his teeth and endure it. "Please sir show me the way."

Liu Xiu held his chin, thought for a while with a sad face, and suddenly slapped his thigh, "Yuan Meiren, let me ask you, who is the beauty of Your Majesty or Yuan Benchu?" What's the beauty? ”

Yuan Hui was taken aback by him, and when she heard this question again, she was even more ridiculous, she even felt that Liu Xiu had deliberately come to make her happy today, was this teaching painting?

"Sir, this ...... Does it help to draw things? ”

"Of course, as I said earlier, if you want to draw the most beautiful people, you should first know what kind of people are the most beautiful, otherwise what is the use of your brush and ink no matter how exquisite it is? Do you want to be a painter just to paint the face of people truthfully? ”

Yuan Hui looked at Liu Xiu in surprise, she vaguely felt that Liu Xiu's words made sense, he was talking about painting, but he obviously didn't think that the painting painted by the painter was not enough to be called painting. She quickly thought for a moment: "What does Mr. mean is that the pen and ink chapters are all branches, and only the beauty and ugliness that you understand in your heart is the true meaning of painting things?" ”

Liu Xiu knocked on the case with the jade ruyi in his hand and praised it: "Yes!" Then he regretted it again, for fear that he would smash Yu Ruyi with too much strength, and wanted to check it, but he was a little embarrassed, but he just coughed dryly, and then said: "You have a lot of wisdom and a good foundation, so don't start from a low place." Let's talk about it, who is beautiful between Your Majesty and your eldest brother Yuan Shao, and where is the beauty, and after figuring out this question, I will teach you the next step. ”

After speaking, he stood up, tugged the jade Ruyi around his waist, and went to the library where the secretaries were kept. Although Yuan Hui suspected that he was perfunctory to her, he didn't dare to say anything, so he hurriedly took the key, opened the cabinet, and let Liu Xiu flip through it by himself.

Liu Xiu honestly and unceremoniously asked for the catalog, and checked it from the above items. Yuan Hui probably didn't have anything to do when he stayed in Lantai, and he spent a lot of effort sorting out the secretaries and all kinds of strange things in Lantai's collection, and the accounts were very organized. Liu Xiu's eyes were opened, not only did he see all kinds of ancient books on it that he had never even heard of, but also saw things such as meteorites, as for the auspicious or calamitous objects collected from all over the world, there were not a few.

Liu Xiu saw the record about the ring, as Cai Yong said, the record was very brief, and it was difficult to tell whether it was the ring in his hand. He looked at it for a long time before he began to browse through the treasures that Lantai had.

Lantai is the royal library, not only contains the edict, the song, the law, but also the collection of classics from all over the world, auspicious and calamity, including meteorites and other things are hidden here, Bangu once did the history of the Lantai order, here wrote the first history of the dynasty "Hanshu", later with the increase in the number, many related documents are changed to the Dongguan, only this kind of mysterious and difficult to understand things are still hidden in Lantai.

Lantai originally belonged to the Imperial History Mansion, and was in charge of the Imperial History Zhongcheng under the Imperial History Doctor, and the Lantai Lingshi was specifically managed, and later the power of the eunuchs increased, and the various offices in the palace were gradually occupied by the eunuchs, and Lantai was no exception. Because of his good learning, Yuan Hui came here to be a waitress after entering the palace, and he never left here after being named a beauty. However, the things in this place are all rare, but most of them are not interested in these things except for the curiosity hunters, so few people come here.

Of course, Liu Xiu doesn't believe much in those Shinto things, but with the ring on his hand, he can't take it completely lightly, if this ring is really lost in the palace, then it has been put in the palace as a waste for decades, who knows that it has such a function. Even if it is just a data repository, it can be regarded as an artifact not only in this era, but also in the 21st century, when science and technology are prosperous, it can definitely be regarded as advanced and trendy.

In this case, who can deny that what is hidden in this Lantai is the product of deception?

Liu Xiu looked at the meteorites, stroking the strange patterns and bubbles on them, as if wandering in the antique market, and returning to the time when he was Taobao in front of the mixed stalls. He picked up the pieces and guessed the possible uses, looking at the patterns on them, wondering if they were runes.

Yuan Hui stood in the distance, narrowed his eyes, and looked at Liu Xiu, who was lingering, with hatred. Although she did not deny that what Liu Xiu said may be the real truth, Liu Xiu refused to start teaching from the brush and ink technique, and as soon as she opened her mouth, it was a mysterious and difficult truth, obviously there was a deliberate intention to embarrass her. However, Yuan Hui is not worried about this, she believes that with her intelligence, she will soon be able to analyze Liu Xiu's techniques, and she does not intend to surpass Liu Xiu in painting, but it is easy to surpass others, such as Empress Song.

Thinking of the Queen Song who lost the favor of the Son of Heaven after giving birth to a child, Yuan Hui couldn't help but want to express his disdain, that woman thought she was a descendant of the Fufeng Song family, and her ancestors had a noble person and a princess, but she was too stupid and obviously not worthy of the once prominent family. If it weren't for the fact that she had given birth to an imperial concubine now, God knows if she would have been demoted to the court.

However, Yuan Hui did not dare to take it lightly, in order to seize the military power of the state, the Yuan family should cooperate with the outside and transfer Liu Xiu back from the state, and the military power of the state will soon be in hand, but Liu Xiu's return to Luoyang is not entirely a good thing for the Yuan family - especially Yuan Hui, and the Empress Song, who was about to completely lose the favor of the Son of Heaven, seems to have signs of resurrection.

Two days ago, Empress Song's elder brother Jinwu Song Qi entered the palace and asked the Son of Heaven to go to Jiaozhou to sell rice again, this time not for a short time, but to prepare for one or two trips a year as a routine. The Son of Heaven was very happy and greatly rewarded Song Qi, not only agreeing to Song Qi's request, but also retaining Song Qi's position as the ruling Jinwu.

This is a very bad sign, Yuan Hui knows what kind of person Song Qi is, he can't think of this method on his own, there must be Liu Xiu's influence in this.

Jiaozhou selling rice can not only share the worries of the Son of Heaven and gain the favor of the Son of Heaven, but also get huge benefits from it. Yuan Hui had seen this a long time ago, but the Yuan family had a big business, and he claimed to be the head of Shilin, so he was unwilling to do business with such fanfare. Yuan Hui mentioned it a few times, but the Yuan Feng brothers ambiguously did not agree, and now as soon as Liu Xiu came back, the Song family seized this opportunity.

Yuan Hui had a sense of frustration, which was a feeling of being defeated by Liu Xiu again and humiliated by him.

The more Yuan Hui thought about it, the more he looked at Liu Xiu, the more fierce his eyes became, his teeth were clenched tightly together, and his hand holding the pen was a little stiff. Suddenly, she felt a pang of nervousness, and a very dangerous aura enveloped her, making her involuntarily hold her breath.

In front of him was Liu Xiu's cold eyes.

"Yuan Meiren, why are you looking at me with such eyes?"

Yuan Hui was flustered for a while, and hurriedly said in disguise: "How can the disciple ever look at Mr., the disciple is consulting Mr. Wu's guidance." ”

"Really, then why do I feel a feeling of being targeted by a vicious dog?" Liu Xiu shivered exaggeratedly and shrunk his shoulders: "Could it be that there is something hidden here?" Yuan Meiren, do you usually feel this way? ”

Yuan Hui gritted his teeth and said in his heart, I am being stared at by your vicious dog now.

Liu Xiu ignored her and shook a roll of bamboo slips in his hand: "When Yuan Meiren was in Lantai, she must be familiar with the situation here, can I ask you a question?" ”

"Don't dare to ask for advice, the gentleman has his own business, and the disciple obeys his work, which is within his duty." Yuan Hui said respectfully.

Liu Xiu showed his first smile since seeing Yuan Hui: "Then thank you Yuan Meiren." He opened the bamboo slip and blew the dust on it, "Yuan Meiren must also know that I am a martial artist, I like all kinds of weapons, and I often hear people say that there are all kinds of divine weapons in ancient times, but I don't think about it for a while." I can't take the books out here, I want to ask Yuan Meiren to help me transcribe and sort out the weapons mentioned in the classics when I have time, I don't know if it's possible? ”

Yuan Hui glanced at the overlapping shelves in the room, and couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, this workload is not small.

"This matter is not in a hurry, Yuan Meiren can do it when it is convenient." Liu Xiu saw that she was embarrassed, and explained: "There are so many magical things hidden here, but I don't know that there are no treasures handed down from ancient times, so it's a pity to leave it like this." Now that His Majesty is about to conquer Xianbei, if he can find one or two killing weapons, it will also be for His Majesty's worries. ”

"Ancient treasures?" Yuan Hui wanted to laugh but was embarrassed to laugh, "Mr. mean that the general, Mo Ye and the like?" ”

"Of course, but that's not all." Liu Xiu pointed to the incomplete bamboo slip in his hand and said, "This mentioned a method of refining soldiers with cold fire, saying that it can make the weapon ten times sharper and stainless for many years, but the specific method behind it is gone, if you can find the missing bamboo slip and test the method mentioned above, you will know the truth or falsehood." If there really is such a miracle effect, wouldn't it be a great achievement? ”

Yuan Hui glanced at the bamboo slip and pouted secretly: "It turns out that it is the immortal classics of the Battle of Zhuolu, most of these books are vain and not worth mentioning." But since Mr. has this interest, then the disciple will reluctantly work for him. ”

Liu Xiu was surprised, how could Yuan Hui know at a glance that he was talking about the Battle of Zhuolu? He watched it for a long time just now, and he only knew that it was about a very high-tech war, not only the storyline was full of twists and turns, but also there were robots with copper heads and iron arms, and immortals who called for wind and rain, anyway, it was enough science fiction, but he didn't expect that it was not science fiction, but mythology.

"This story is very bizarre, in fact, it is just the product of the transformation of the Battle of Zhuolu, if Mr. does not believe it, and wait for the disciple to take the "Taishi Gongshu" and similar records to corroborate."

After getting Liu Xiu's consent, Yuan Hui walked into a study room, quickly took out some bamboo slips and silk books, and spread them out in front of Liu Xiu one by one. These are all different versions of war stories, but after careful analysis, it can be found that these seemingly very different stories are actually about the same thing: the Battle of Zhuolu, and the protagonists are both the Yellow Emperor and Chiyou.

Liu Xiu opened his eyes and admired Yuan Hui's erudition and strong memory very much, and blurted out: "Miss Yuan's knowledge really doesn't make her eyebrows." ”

Yuan Hui didn't think about it at first, but after a while, he suddenly found that Liu Xiu called her not Yuan Meiren, but Yuan girl, and was stunned for a while. Fortunately, Liu Xiu only cared about comparing the similarities and differences of those stories, but didn't notice her gaffe. Yuan Hui quickly calmed down and continued to explain the relevant ancient records to Liu Xiu.

Liu Xiu was amazed, and praised Yuan Hui for his good surname and knowledge, he was a female doctor, he had always praised people, and he didn't feel that his attitude had changed too abruptly, which was unacceptable, and this touting made Yuan Hui a little embarrassed in the end, blushing, and standing aside at a loss.

The Battle of Zhuolu was a great battle that had to be mentioned in ancient Chinese history. On that occasion, Emperor Yan and Emperor Huang joined forces to defeat Chiyou and his allies in Zhuolu County, Shanggu County, and this battle and the subsequent Battle of Hanquan finally established the Yanhuang Alliance, from which the name of the descendants of Yan and Huang began. On the one hand, the defeated Chiyou became the representative of evil, and on the other hand, he became the god of war and the master of the soldiers. And legends such as Chiyou Banner and Chiyou Blood add to his mystery.

Judging from various legends, it seems that everyone feels a little sorry for this defeated evil god.

In his opinion, Chi You's three-headed and six-armed, copper-headed and iron-fronted, invulnerable image is more like a terminator robot, very high-tech, and the Yellow Emperor's Fenghou and Drought are like wizards with vast powers, very mysterious. If you don't admit that these descriptions are real history, then Liu Xiu thinks this is a very good story, to have gimmicks and gimmicks, to have stories to have stories, and to imagine and imagine.

Compared to Greco-Roman Western mythology, Liu Xiu finds this more appealing, because these characters are a mixture of humans and gods, rather than high, ethereal and invisible gods. In fact, Eastern mythology has always had this characteristic, and it is difficult to distinguish the characters in mythology from those in history, not as clear as Western mythology.

In other words, the gods and goddesses of Eastern mythology are likely to be historical figures. However, the reasoning can only go so far, and if you continue to push it forward, you have to admit that there were robots and spells in that distant era.

Liu Xiu listened to the story with relish for a while, glanced at the silent Lantai again, and the more he looked at it, the more he felt as if he had crossed through again. He said unsatisfactorily: "Hearing Dr. Yuan's words is better than reading a book for ten years." Today, it's not too early, so I won't bother Dr. Yuan, and I'll come back to listen to Dr. Yuan's talk about the past when I have time. ”

Yuan Hui was a little overwhelmed by his title, and his face turned red, "When will Mr. come to guide the disciples again?" ”

Liu Xiu thought about it and said very seriously: "I have read your calligraphy, in terms of pen and ink and chapters, your foundation is very good, you don't need to start from the most basic truth, you understand more of what I said to you, and when your eyesight improves, you can understand all the techniques again." ”

Yuan Hui looked at Liu Xiu's eyes, hoping to tell from his expression whether he was perfunctory or sincere, but unfortunately she couldn't see anything from Liu Xiu's smiling eyes, if there was, it was only a trace of ...... Bemoan.

What did he regret? Yuan Hui couldn't understand, was he regretting that he didn't agree to the marriage at the beginning, or was he regretting that such a good person was actually an opponent? Or is it ...... Thinking of the humiliating situation now, Yuan Hui's heart suddenly felt sour, and tears almost fell, and she immediately turned her grief into hidden anger, and felt ashamed of the weakness she had shown.

Liu Xiu said goodbye and left the palace, sat on the horse with a calm face, and walked south along Tonghuo Street as if no one was around, and Hao Zhao followed closely with a few guards. When passing by the huge copper camel, Liu Xiu suddenly remembered something, reined in the big red horse, looked at the copper camel that was smooth as a mirror, and said: "Bo Dao, do you know that the camel was once called a swollen horse? ”

Hao Zhao thought for a moment and shook his head: "This name is also interesting. ”

"Hehe, it's so easy to be funny." Liu Xiu glanced at him, didn't say anything more, and continued to walk forward.

…… The Son of Heaven stood on top of the compound road and watched the figure of Liu Xiu and his party gradually disappear into the distance, melting into the sunset. The two clasped hands were behind the backs of their backs, beating non-stop. Zongzheng Liu Yu stood behind him respectfully, bowing his head slightly.

"Have you read Zang Min's strategy for the Northern Expedition?" The Son of Heaven turned around and squinted at Liu Yu.

Liu Yu nodded slightly: "Back to Your Majesty, the minister has seen it." ”

"How?" There was a slight displeasure in the voice of the Son of Heaven.

Liu Yu hesitated for a moment: "Zang Min's strategy, although it is not bold enough, it can be seen that it is serious. The Xianbei people are powerful, and the strength of the state alone is indeed insufficient. And he ......"

The Son of Heaven snorted and interrupted Liu Yu's words: "A capable minister who has been fighting for many years actually thinks that he is not capable enough, and he wants to be virtuous to Yuan Shao, this is probably not to be serious, but to curry favor with someone." ”

Liu Yu closed his mouth tightly and didn't say a word.

(To be continued)