Chapter 51: Nightmare

Dai Yun said: "Say it." ”

Li Jishen said in a low voice: "Gongzi is negotiating with the secret envoy of the Tang State, and he has some eyebrows, and when the marshal and Gongzi raise troops, the Tang State will not move, and the price is that after the war is settled, we will give them one city and four counties on the border." But they put forward very harsh conditions for trustworthiness. ”

Dai Yun already knew about this, and said: "They want the tiger talisman seal of the marshal as a token, this is a condition that cannot be agreed to at all, once the marshal raises troops, this tiger talisman seal will also be transferred to send generals, contact the soldiers and horses of various states to raise major events, how can they make a token for the Tang State?" And they don't want anything else, they have to ask for this tiger talisman seal, I feel that there is fraud in it, maybe they want to take advantage of the chaos to destroy Wu Yueguo. After all, pretending to be my Dai family's soldiers and horses, plus the Tiger Talisman Seal, I am afraid that the garrisons of various states will not suspect them. ”

Li Jishen said: "It's better to use this seven-star sword as a token, it is a capital crime to give the national treasure of the former dynasty canonized as the lord of Wu Yue to another country." Therefore, this token shows integrity and can dispel Tang Guo's doubts about us. At the same time, it does not have the role of dispatching troops, and it will not be used by the Tang State to command troops and horses. If Tang Guo is indeed sincere, this seven-star sword is enough to rely on faith. If they still have to be the Tiger Talisman Soldier Seal, it means that they don't want that city and four counties, but have other plans. ”

Dai Yun pondered for a while and said, "This matter is confidential, you must rush to the eldest prince in the starry night and hand over the Seven Star Sword to him personally." I will send a master to accompany me to protect it. If the Tang envoy still insists, as long as the Tiger Fu Soldier Seal is used as a letter, you will immediately bring the Seven Star Sword back to the mansion. Don't lose it! ”

After that, he handed the seven-star sword to Li Jishen.

Li Jishen took the seven-star sword with both hands and said, "Marshal, please rest assured, the people are in the sword, unless the prince comes in handy." Otherwise, I'll take it back to Fuchu! ”

Dai Yun told again: "You tell your son, be careful in everything, if you are not careful, you will lose everything." ”

Li Jishen respectfully said yes.

On the day that Zhen Fu's coffin was escorted by the forbidden army and set off to his hometown for burial, Zhen Jinshu and his mother took a few personal slaves and maids and moved into the palace of heroes. The palace of meritorious heroes is unique to the palace of Wuyue, located between the former dynasty and the inner court, the entry and exit is more free than the inner court, but it is also in the protection of the Luocheng forbidden army around the royal city, if you like to watch the lord of the country go to court, as long as you wait at the door of the main hall, you can see the sedan chair of the lord and the queen mother.

At that time, Wu Yue gave generous bounties to the orphans of soldiers who died on the battlefield, which was commonly known as pensions in later generations, in order to support the lives of orphans and widows. However, according to the tradition of Wu Yueguo, only those who have a male in the family can live alone, while orphans and widows can only go to their parents' families. This has led to a situation where the bounty is embezzled by the mother's family, and the orphan has no life. In order to prevent this situation, if a soldier who has made meritorious contributions in battle dies in battle, only orphan daughters and widowed mothers are left, and those who are unwilling to go to their mother's family can live in the Hall of Meritorious Heroes. Girls have special people to teach reading, martial arts, or female red embroidery, etc., and they are raised like ladies. When they grow up, the royal family will choose a good mate for them, and after their daughters are married, the widowed mother will buy a house to live in and take care of each other next to her son-in-law.

The area of the palace of meritorious heroes is larger, although the name is called the palace, but it is actually a courtyard set of courtyards, and a large courtyard that is connected with each other. There are relatively tall reading halls, golden needle workshops and other buildings, as well as small scenery such as stacked spring waterfalls and flower beds. There is no oppression in the deep palace, but there is the wealth and elegance of the royal family.

When Zhen Jinshu moved in, because there had been no war for several years, many orphan girls had grown up and married, and the Hall of Heroes was relatively deserted. The arrival of Zhen Jinshu made the palace maids and chamberlains here busy again.

Zhen Fu's tragic death was like the sky had fallen for Zhen Jinshu's mother and daughter, and they suddenly lost their support. Zhen Jinshu dreamed of his father almost every night, and after being awakened by a nightmare, he often sat in the dark until dawn. 's mother is sick again, and she relies on Zhen Jinshu for everything, but she herself is about to collapse.

Moving into the Hall of Heroes has become a turning point for Zhen Jinshu. The sisters who are connected by the same fate here seem to know how to comfort and accompany her and help her take care of her mother. What's more, she can no longer indulge in grief, as a princess Ruyi who was accepted under the name of the queen mother, and a descendant of the famous minister Confucian, Zhen Jinshu is very worried that she will be rude. After settling down, he began to meet the elders in the palace one by one, such as Empress Dowager Xu and Concubine Tian, these elders sympathized with Zhen Jinshu's experience, and saw that she was well-behaved and polite, all of them took special care and treated her well-mannered, and the feeling of helplessness began to slowly disappear in the gentle comfort.

On this day, Zhen Jinshu sent a message to Wen Minghui, the commander of the forbidden army, after Zhen Fu's death, the courtiers were afraid of the ferocity of the Yaksha Gate, and rarely worshiped Zhen Fu, except for the soldiers of the forbidden army, Zhen Jinshu wanted to thank Wen Minghui for coming to the door.

Wen Minghui specially brought his wife and two daughters to entertain Zhen Jinshu, and after the small gathering, Zhen Jinshu proposed to visit Xie Xiangcun, who was "recuperating from his injuries in the yamen of the commander of the forbidden army". and talked about his father Zhen Fu, who once asked himself to give Xie Xiangcun the lecture volume, until now, only one book has been given, and the rest of the volumes have not had time to be gifted. I wanted to take the opportunity of the visit, but my father's wish was fulfilled.

Wen Minghui hesitated for a moment, then took Zhen Jinshu to the courtyard where Xie Xiangcun was said to live, and walked in the corridor of the passage, Wen Minghui saw that there was no one in front of him, so he whispered to Zhen Jinshu: "Shaoqing, princess, the person you see is not Xie Xiangcun, please don't make a noise, just treat it as a real Xie Xiangcun." ”

Zhen Jinshu was stunned and said, "Why is this? Where did he go? ”

Wen Minghui said: "I don't know where he went. I only know that if he doesn't recuperate with me and leaks it out, I'm afraid that Brother Xie will worry about his life. If a princess understands righteousness, I believe that you will keep this secret. ”

Zhen Jinshu said solemnly: "My lord, please rest assured, Jinshu knows what to do." Master Xie and his father are old friends, and they have been very kind to the Zhen family, and if it is not good for him, Jinshu will never say half a sentence. ”

Zhen Jin Shuli visited the fake Xie Xiangcun lying on the sickbed several times, and there was no flaw on the surface. But since then, she began to fall into deep worry, and nightmares began to haunt her again, but in those blood-drenched images, in addition to her father, the victim also appeared with a young man's blurred face and figure, although it was not real, but Zhen Jinshu knew that the person was Xie Xiangcun even if he was in a dream.

On the border between Wu Yue and the Southern Tang Dynasty, on the side of Wu Yue Kingdom, there is a very famous town called Sifang Town. Originally, it was a major transportation route and an important commercial town, but because of the continuous hostility between Wu Yue and the Southern Tang Dynasty, the prosperity here became yesterday's yellow flower. There are fewer and fewer shops, but there are more and more shops. Because of the nearby gathering of Wu Yueguo's largest troops, the border army, the soldiers were far away from their wives all the year round, which prompted the trade in skin and meat to quietly prevail. The commander Qian Hongyu (Dai Yun's parent-child Dai Feng) has always turned one eye open and one eye closed to the soldiers and prostitutes, pretending to be confused and pretending not to know. The ** of Sifang Town, so it transcends all kinds of buying and selling, and leads the way. From a small portal with only one secret prostitute to a palatial gold cave, there are all kinds of grades. It became almost an open secret, but it was not. None of the clients used their real names.