Jincheng, the border of Dasheng and Liang.

Zi Li looked at the opposite side with some anxiety, the Great Holy Army who was waiting for the battle, he led the troops out this time, it was ordered by the prince, and it only took two months to assemble the main force of the 150,000 army, without the early deployment, and the original defenders of Jincheng were also a little incompatible, and the biggest problem was the problem of grain and grass.

In the past year, the main grain-producing state capital of Liang State had disasters one after another, and several cities that were originally dead Yan countries also took the opportunity to make trouble, and refused to pay grain, which made matters worse.

And he has been stationed here for almost a month, and the Great Holy Army on the opposite side is impregnable, confronting the Zijia Army, which is known as the army of tigers and wolves, without the slightest panic, but in an orderly manner, because there is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in the army, it seems that the morale is high and the discipline is strict. Zili remembered that when he came, the prince's confession made him shout and curse in front of the battle, causing the forward to enter alone, and after the group surrounded him, let the Jincheng defenders sneak attack from the north side, so that the reinforcements who rushed to the front would be greatly discounted, no matter who came to help...

Zi Li thought of the prince's expression, and his expressionless face suddenly hardened, and he said to himself, "No matter who comes to help, with all the main force, not a single horse is allowed to be released." ”

When Zili came, he thought for a moment about how to provoke the forward general of the Great Sage, but looking at the prince's intentions, he must have already arranged the striker to break off the meeting, thinking about it, Zili smiled proudly, it must be the Xu family, the kid who has a deep blood feud with him. In this way, Zili also specially brought the head of General Xu.

Who knew that when the second army began to rub the first formation, Zili saw a big "Jiang" character on the forward flag. Zili thought that he was wrong for a while, but after a careful look, he determined that not only was the vanguard of the Jiang family's little marquis, but also Jiang Wan, who was the head of the heroes of the Yan eradication, which made Zili, in the face of the situation of his own troops, a little uncertain whether to fight or retreat.

Five days ago, he had already sent a letter to the prince, presumably the prince would come to the front in person soon.

While he was planning, the outer tent handed over a message, saying that His Highness had come down.

Zi Li's heart was cold, and he immediately ordered someone to open the big tent, and he personally went to the door to greet him, just went out, and saw Liang Weizheng dressed in military uniform, dismounted from the front of the tent, and the Pisces scimitar on his waist lit up, which made Zi Li's heart even more frightened, and immediately stepped forward and knelt down, "See the prince." ”

"Come in and talk again" Liang Wei did not stop, strode into the big tent, and when he entered the door, he saw that Zili was ordering the soldiers to invite other lieutenants, he frowned and said, "Come in"

Zili understood that Liang Wei wanted to talk to him alone, so he waved his hand to let the soldiers retreat and entered the tent by himself.

Entering the tent, Zili picked up the front armor and knelt on the ground, "The minister is incompetent and has failed to meet His Highness's requirements, please punish His Highness." ”

Liang Wei took off his cloak and paused, then sneered, "Don't blame you, blame me"

Zili was so frightened that he didn't dare to say anything and attached himself to the ground, only muttering "Your Highness spares your life"

"Zili, are you really old? He bowed his head and begged for forgiveness for a young man like me. Damn it's not you, fool me, that kid dares to trick me. Liang Wei looked at the first fierce general of Liang Guo who was kneeling under his knees, his hair was gray, and then said, "You get up first." ”

Zili trembled and stood up, looked at Liang Wei and said, "Your Highness, please command." ”

"This is, I can't blame you" Liang Wei sat on the right seat of the big tent, frowned and said for a moment, "What is the situation with Marquis Jiang?" ”

On the way to Liang Weilai, he generally understood a lot, the little Marquis Jiang in front and the great holy prince Rong Zhao in the middle road were not the most tricky, the most difficult to deal with, it was Jiang Wan. In his discussion with Rong Ying, there was no such thing as Jiang Gala fighting.

"Spy report, originally Jiang Wan did not fight, Zhou Da was originally pressed from the back, Xu Xintai was the vanguard in the front, and Jiang Rongdong, the little marquis of Jiang who is now in front, is from the rear. Who knew that the war horse that had followed Zhou Da for many years fell to the ground in a good manner, and Zhou Da, who was riding on it, fell off the horse defenselessly, broke his right arm and right ribs, and when he was carried back to the house, he still had a breath, so he naturally couldn't go out again. ”

"What about Xu Xintai? That's a thorn, and he can obediently escort the baggage behind. ”

The spies around King Jin said that on the day of Princess Jin's funeral, Xu Xintai's sister saw her brother going out on the expedition and was not allowed to go crazy. The national teacher Yu He divined the hexagram again, saying that if Xu Xintai went on the expedition, he would encounter a hard battle and it would be difficult to save his life. Xu Xintai fought hard, and finally sent him an errand to escort the baggage. Zili said hatefully.

"That Xu Xintai's sister Xu... Xu..."Liang Wei thought for a long time, but he didn't remember what Xu Xintai's sister's name was, and continued, "What does her madness have to do with Yu He's divination? ”

"It seems that it was because she suddenly went crazy, and then she was fine, that Yu He set up a hexagram platform, saying that the reason why the Xu family prevented her brother from going on the expedition was because of the foreshadowing of the gods, and Xu Xintai's loved ones said it." After Zili finished speaking, I have to say that if Xu Xintai is the vanguard, this battle will be much smoother.

"Hmph" Liang Wei sneered, "Pretending to be a ghost, but this Xu family..."

Zili saw that Liang Wei was silent, and after a while, Liang Wei asked, "Xu Xinyue?" ”

"What?" Zili didn't figure out what Liang Wei wanted to ask for a while.

"Xu Xintai's sister, is it called Xu Xinyue?"

"Exactly" Zi Li saw that there was some excitement in Liang Wei's eyes.

"Ming" Liang Wei shouted in a low voice, and immediately a man in black clothes with the appearance of a secret guard came in from outside the tent and knelt on the ground, "Your Highness"

"Go..."Liang Wei paused when he said this, Zili immediately understood and retreated.

Seeing Zili go out, Liang Weicai said to Ming, "You send... No, you go to the Great Sage in person to tie up Xu Xintai's own sister. ”

"Yes" Saying that, Ming turned around and wanted to leave, Liang Wei spoke again, "No, send a message to Rong Ying, let him personally deliver Xu Xinyue to you, you don't have to enter the city, just wait for him outside the city, and tell him that if you don't hand over Xu Xinyue, our side will withdraw our troops immediately." If Rong Zhao goes back this time, he will be the one who will die. ”

"Yes" Ming saw that Liang Wei had no other instructions, so he turned around and left.

After Ming went out, Zi Li came in again, and saw that Liang Wei was thoughtful, and he didn't dare to ask anything more and stood aside, and after a while, Liang Wei said, "Spread the news of me in the camp over there." Then he ordered the nearest north to send enough food and grass for the army to eat for a month. ”

"Can the minister ask His Highness's intentions?" Zili naturally didn't dare to disobey, but he couldn't figure out why this was so.

Liang Wei tapped the chair handle at hand with his finger and said, "The originally planned battle needs to be postponed for a while, but the purpose is the same, as long as the reinforcements show up, no matter who they are, there will be no armor left." ”

"Yes" After Zili received the order, he arranged it without hesitation.

It has been two months since Rong Zhao went on the expedition, and it has been a few days since the day when he received the news of Rong Zhao's death in the Xinyue dream, and the new moon is a little in a trance, is he taking the things in the dream too seriously, Rong Zhao is now in Jincheng, and has not participated in a decent battle. On the Liang side, there are a lot of situations, and there has already happened that the troops of the Liang State have crossed the river outside Jincheng and grabbed food. Xu Xintai responded properly, and responded to each other with Marquis Jiang, and in the newspaper written by the prince, he said that Xu Xintai tried to ensure that not a grain of rice fell into the hands of Liang Jun.

In the middle of this month, the Queen Mother had summoned Xinyue into the palace once, and the queen and the crown princess were also there, and they actually discussed with Xinyue again about the marriage with Rong Zhao.

"The new moon to the Queen Mother, the Queen, and the Crown Princess, please say goodbye." The crescent moon knelt on the ground and saluted one by one.

"Get up, get up" The Queen Mother beckoned to the crescent moon to "sit down"

"Empress Dowager Xie" got up in the new moon, and Xue Cui supported the new moon and sat next to the Queen Mother, opposite the crown princess.

"You. I have been suffocating in Zhuangzi all day long, and everyone is suffocated, it's okay, come to the palace to see the mourning family and the queen. The Queen Mother said as she ordered someone to go to the inner room to get something, "Take out all the things."

Xinyue smiled and replied, "I was supposed to go into the palace more often to accompany you and the queen mother, but I just moved to Beizhuang, and many places need to be cleaned up and taken care of, so I don't have time to enter the palace to accompany the queen mother, and please don't mind the queen mother and the queen mother." ”

"Are you all packed up now?" The queen asked thoughtfully.

Xinyue smiled, "Back to Niangniang's words, it's almost cleaned up." ”

"Come, take a look" The Queen Mother pointed to the cloth, gems and other things that the palace maid had brought her.

"What is this?" Xinyue looked at the patterns of the cloth and the patterns of the gemstones, all of which were used by young women, and asked casually, "Are you going to make clothes and jewelry for the crown princess and sister Jue'er?" ”

The crown princess smiled unnaturally and said, "This is what the imperial grandmother prepared for your sister." ”

Hearing this, Xinyue glanced at the pearl ruby in her hand, as well as the magenta silk that she kept in her hand, and the silk cloth embroidered with flying birds, these were indeed the specifications available to the crown prince's side concubine.

Xinyue held the gem in his hand and handed it to the Queen Mother, "Queen Mother, you see that this stone is as red as blood, and it is as big as a palm, it is a pity to cut it into jewelry, it is better to ask a skilled craftsman to make an ornament, so as to live up to it." ”

The Queen Mother took the heavy stone from Xinyue's hand, nodded after playing with it carefully, and said to Xuecui in the house, "Go to the Inner Court Division and call two jade workers." ”

"Yes, you guys should go out with me too" Xue Cui called out all the maids in the house, she was a clear-eyed person, there were so many maids in the house, the queen mother didn't command, called her, just to ask her to take these people out.

"Okay, girl Yue, if you have something to say, just say it" The Queen Mother looked at Xinyue, and she could see at a glance that Xinyue had something to say.

Xinyue stood up and said to the three people, "When Xinyue sees these things, she knows the intention of the three mothers and called Xinyue." The new moon was terrified and ashamed. But after all, it is Your Majesty, the crown prince and the three mothers, who lift up the new moon, and the new moon cannot help it. ”

"It's good if you understand, what the prince meant before leaving..."The queen saw that Xinyue was really a smart woman, and she could use her second marriage as the prince's side concubine, as long as her brain was not broken, she would definitely not dare to refuse.

"You listen to her finish speaking" The Queen Mother has always known that Xinyue's temperament is the same stubbornness as her mother, if she doesn't want to do something, even if she dies, she can't force her to bow her head.

"Yes" The queen was reprimanded by the Queen Mother, and had to listen to Xinyue continue.

Xinyue looked at the queen's face, there was nothing, Xinyue continued to speak, "It's just that Xinyue has just reconciled with Yu Xiaowangye, and I don't want to change for the time being, Xinyue knows that the queen mother and the queen mother hope that Xinyue can rely on it for life, Xinyue thinks, maybe you can wait a year or two to discuss such a thing." ”

"But His Highness means that he hopes that when he returns, he will be able to marry you." Wang said the reason why they did this.

Crescent Moon laughs: "What does this mean?" ”

Wang looked at the curvature of the corners of Xinyue's mouth, and the puzzled and humble look in her eyes, which meant something completely different. How could she not know what the prince meant, if the prince returned to the court, he must have won a big victory, and the court and the people must have a good situation to praise the prince, and if he married Xinyue, the daughter of the second marriage, he would have less criticism of her. All this is for the sake of Xinyue, but if she wants Wang to say these words herself, she will definitely not be able to do it.

Xinyue just made up her mind, Wang couldn't say it, knelt down and said, "Three Niangniang, now, the previous dynasty is fighting, and we, as women in the harem and backhouse, are really..."

Xinyue didn't say it, because if she said it again, it would be an act of transgression, and the queen mother and queen, who were the heads of women in the world, didn't say anything, and if she mentioned it herself, it was really a bit unruly.

Saying that, Xinyue knelt up straight, and the Queen Mother said indifferently, "Get up"

"Yes," Crescent Moon replied, standing up and sitting back in her original position.

"What you said makes sense, this matter, when the prince returns to the court and His Majesty makes a reward, a decision will be made." The Queen Mother made the final decision, and at this time, Xue Cui found the opportunity to come in from the outside, "Queen Mother, the jade craftsman is already waiting outside." ”

"No need, this ruby will be given to the new moon." As she spoke, the Queen Mother picked up the gem and put it in the original brocade box. The face of the new moon when she finally saw the queen mother was cold. Xinyue's heart was dark, this was the second time she had refuted the Queen Mother like this.

After returning from the palace, the new moon has been very dull, and this kind of difficult thing to solve, maybe only one major event, burying the past, is the solution.

"Girl, it's late at night, so don't sit here." Feng'er added oil to the lamp in front of Crescent Moon, and Crescent Moon looked at the flickering candlelight and felt a sigh of relief in her stomach.

"I have an upset stomach, you boil a dose of tangerine peel water for me to drink." With that, Crescent Moon covered her appetite and slowly walked to the bedside.

"Yes" Feng'er took off her shoes for Xinyue, turned around and went out to boil tangerine peel water for her.

Leaning on the bed, the new moon felt that her long hair was scattered on the pillow, and her mind relaxed for a moment, looking at the dim light, the new moon slowly calmed down.

"Girl, tangerine peel..."After a while, when Feng'er came in with steaming tangerine peel water, Xinyue was already asleep, and she was very sleepy, and she looked tired, but she had been sitting all day today, and it seemed that thinking about things was also very exhausting.

It was very late at night, Rong Ying came back from outside, and was about to change her clothes and rest, when she found that by the half-open window, there was a black, red-footed pigeon standing all over. Rong Ying knew that this pigeon called Black King Kong was a messenger pigeon dedicated to Liang Wei's secret guards, Rong Ying stretched out his hand, and the pigeon immediately flew up his arm, allowing him to take off the letter on his foot.

Rong Ying opened the letter, only read the first line of words, and his eyebrows wrinkled, only to see that it read, "For three days, send Xu Xinyue immediately, and meet us at the river branch outside Jinling City." The prince said, if you don't do it, you will withdraw your troops, and it will be you, the prince, who will be eliminated at that time. ”

After Rong Ying finished reading it, he instinctively went to get the shelf, the dark cloak, he knew the meaning of the letter, if he didn't hand over Xu Xinyue, Rong Zhao would return to the dynasty alive, and when the time came, Rong Zhao would have enough time to find out who led him to the front line. Rong Zhao is not a good prince with a benevolent face, naturally, it is not easy to become a prince, but Rong Ying has accumulated savings for many years, but he has not been able to cause any damage to the prince's power in the court, which is why he will choose this policy in the end. If he can't hit it with one hit, Rong Zhao will come back to his senses, and of course he will die. And Liang Guo wanted Xinyue on his side, just to use her to blackmail Rong Zhao, so that Rong Zhao rashly sent troops, and finally achieved the goal of killing Rong Zhao. If Rong Zhao does not send troops again, the army of Liang State will collapse from the inside due to insufficient supply.

But Rong Ying's hand had already touched the cloak, but he didn't seem to have any strength at all, he couldn't pick up the clothes, he looked at his sword next to the hanger, this is the sword that has followed Prince Lian all his life, and what he regrets the most is that this sword, in his hand, failed to kill an opponent. Rong Ying stretched out his hand, but he didn't have the strength to pick up the cloak, let alone this sword, which weighed as much as a thousand catties to him.

Just as he hesitated, there was a noise outside, the sound of water, the wind, the cries for help, and then the smell of smoke.

"What's going on?" Rong Ying shouted to the guards outside the door.

"Lord Wang, the north courtyard is out of the water." The guards were reporting outside, and Rong Ying opened the door to see, and sure enough, the north courtyard of his palace was on fire.

"Where's Lian'er?" The north courtyard is the courtyard where Lian'er lives, Rong Ying asked while mentioning light work and going to the north courtyard.

"Xiao Shizi is fine. Before lighting the fire, the arsonist reminded the nurse to take the little son out. The guard handed over a strip of cloth and an arrow.

"Bold, bold" Rong Ying had already run to the north courtyard at this time, and saw Lian'er, who had been placed in the wing, and the entire north courtyard, almost in the blink of an eye, was ignited by the fire, it turned out that the arsonist had already put the paint oil barrel in the north courtyard, and then shot through the wooden barrel with an arrow that led the fire, and the fire rose instantly.

"Lord Wang, the arson is..."The one who spoke to Rong Ying in a low voice was his most trusted Nagaru, and when he saw that there was no one around Rong Ying, he whispered, "But the people of Liang Kingdom?" ”

"You, order five people to go with me."

"It's curfew outside, where are you going?"

"Don't ask, change into night clothes, and we'll go out of town from the gravel hill to the south."

"Yes" Nagatharu didn't delay any longer, turned around and immediately complied.

From her dream, Crescent Moon smelled a sweet smell, which went from far to near, and finally inhaled it all into her nose, and after a while she felt that she was in a deep dream, and there was no chance to wake up again.

"Lord Wang, it's dawn." Nagaru came in from outside and said to Rong Ying, who was sitting in the raft and couldn't see the outside.

Rong Ying stared at the crescent moon lying on the side of the half-bunk, and nodded, "Keep walking." ”

"Yes" Nagatharu got the order, and after going out, there was only a motionless crescent moon and a complicated mood in the cabin.

Rong Ying knew very well what would happen to her if he handed over the new moon. She'll ... was taken to the Liang State military camp outside Jincheng, and after Rong Zhao was brought out, she lost her value, she would be beaten, and in the end, she would either be killed, or tortured to death, in short, this should be the last time he saw Xinyue.

Rong Ying stretched out her hand and wanted to touch Xinyue's face, but when she saw the scar on her face, she sneered and said to herself, "Xu Xinyue, your fate is really bumpy, if you continue to stay in Yuwangfu, you may not have the difficulty you have today." ”

"Lord Wang, someone is coming." Rong Ying heard the sound of Nagatu drawing his sword, and it was obvious that the person who came also had a weapon in his hand.

"But Ming?" Rong Ying asked.

After a moment, Nagatharu replied "yes"

"Tell him that we will follow him and go out of the river to cross and then hand over people."

"Yes," Nagatu said, and when he saw the boat he was in turn around, he withdrew the sword in his hand.

Rong Ying calculated that in another hour, Xinyue would wake up, and it was just about to go out of the river, and he couldn't let Xinyue be taken away by those people who didn't know anything.

"Lord Wang, further on, there will be a command camp, what if they come on board to inspect?"

"If someone wants to board the ship, let me show my identity, let's say that I drank and cruised yesterday, and now I am asleep on the boat."

Ships like them, which have no flags, are the easiest to be targeted by the soldiers, and they dare not come in only when their own identity is outside.

"Yes" Nagatu wanted to say something, but Rong Ying was not the one who would be convinced, and he could only do it.

Crescent Moon dreamed again, this time not about the future, but about the past, something that seemed to have never appeared in her memory a long, long time ago.

"Ning'er" Xinyue saw a tall man walking over, his skin was tanned, but it was difficult to stop his delicate facial features, he held a brocade box in his hand and handed it to the woman he called Ning'er.

Ning'er opened the brocade box, and there was a delicate rattle inside, the handle and skeleton of the rattle were made of jade, and on the drum surface made of calfskin, a crescent moon that had just emerged from the clouds was drawn, and Ning'er touched her stomach.

Crescent Moon also felt herself being touched by a warm hand on her cheek.

"O Xinyue, look, your father gave you a drum, he, for fear that others will not know, you are his heart, the pearl in your palm, and the gadgets that coax you like this are so luxurious and chic." Crescent Moon felt someone whispering these words in her ear.

Xinyue had no way to respond, she could only listen to this voice, she felt joy and warmth in her heart, and then a voice dragged her into the endless abyss, "This is aconitum water, if you can't stand it, bite a little, you can see blood to seal your throat." ”