In the winter moon of that year, Shen Kuang and his family had just celebrated Shen Yun's twelfth birthday on the first day, and the next day, an attendant came to announce the edict of Emperor Shu, saying that he would invite his family to the palace for a banquet, and specifically mentioned that he must bring Qingqing.

When his family heard this, they had mixed feelings in their hearts, but they didn't dare to show anything in front of Shen Yun, so they only said to her and took her into the palace to see the world. Shen Yun is still a little girl after all, so she is naturally very excited, and when she enters the Forbidden Palace, she is still whispering to Chang Song, who is walking beside her, and exclaims: "This palace wall is really high." When they heard this, they all felt a pain in their hearts, poor Qingqing, I am afraid that in a few years, they will be besieged within this high wall and spend the rest of their lives in waste.

When she saw Cao Chan, Shen Yun was stared at by him and felt uncomfortable, so she felt very bad about the palace, but during the banquet, she was spilled with some vegetable soup by a little palace lady, which made her very embarrassed, and she had to go to the side hall to change.

Who knew that she had just changed her dress behind the screen, and then heard the sound of the door opening outside, followed by a burst of footsteps from far and near, the movement was not like the Gong'e who had just gone out, so she looked out and saw that it was Cao Chan, and her heart was a little flustered, and she hurriedly knelt down on the ground and said: "Your Majesty." ”

When Cao Chan saw it, he smiled and came over to help her up and said, "Qingqing doesn't have to be so polite. ”

Shen Yun thought to herself, am I very familiar with you? That's what you call me. So he withdrew his hand and held it in front of him, took a step back, and bowed his head silently.

Cao Chan didn't care, but took out a jade Ruyi in his sleeve, handed it to her and said: "Qingqing, when we meet for the first time, there is nothing to give you, this Ruyi, you can take it and play with it." ”

Shen Yun raised his eyes and looked at Na Ruyi, but he really didn't want to pick it up, so he knelt down again and said, "The courtiers are ugly and don't dare to accept it." ”

Then Cao Chan squinted his eyes and smiled again, while coming over to pull her up, while stuffing the Ruyi into her hand, Shen Yun naturally didn't dare to ask for it, the two were pulling, and they heard Gong E and the attendants outside the door exclaiming: "General Shen, what are you doing, Your Majesty is inside." Before the words fell, Chang Song said: "Open it for me." While pushing the door in, seeing this scene, he was even more angry, and he didn't salute, he pulled up Shen Yun with a calm face and walked out, the waiter was dumbfounded, and stammered: "Little... Shen Changsong... Your Majesty... In front of Your Majesty, how can you... How can you be so rude. ”

Shen Changsong ignored them, and took Shen Yun to leave, but he didn't expect Cao Chan to be annoyed, he played with the jade Ruyi in his hand that could not be given away, squinted and smiled: "It's okay, it's okay, sooner or later it's a family, when the time comes, I have to call him an uncle." ”

But said that Changsong pulled Shen Yun and walked all the way out of the palace, Shen Yun didn't know why he was so angry, and he didn't dare to speak, and when he walked to the side gate of the palace, he almost crashed into a board car.

The cart was originally pushed by an attendant, he looked at Chang Song's clothes, he knew that he had collided with the nobleman, hurriedly stopped the car, knelt down to confess, who knew that he stopped, the car lost its balance, and it toppled over, and rolled down a big lump of bloody stuff from the car, when the two looked fixedly, they saw that it was a female corpse that was beaten to a disfigured appearance, Chang Song hurriedly covered Shen Yun's eyes with his hand, and said sharply: "It's not about to clean up." ”

Shen Yun had already seen it clearly, so he pulled away Chang Song's hand and said in horror: "This is... What's going on. ”

The chamberlain shuddered and cleaned up the corpse, and stammered and explained: "Your honor, this is Feng Jieyu, because she collided with Mrs. Xi today, she was ordered to strip her clothes and take two hundred court staffs, and she was already angry before she reached a hundred..."

When Chang Song heard this, he saw Shen Yun trembling all over, as if he was a little unsteady on his feet, and said in a deep voice: "Don't say it." Yan Bi put her on his back and comforted her softly: "Qingqing, don't be afraid, my brother is here." ”

Despite this, Shen Yun had a high fever on the night he went back, and then he had nightmares every night, procrastinating and being sick for a long time, so anxious that the whole family invited Langzhong and looked for a witch doctor, and Emperor Shu also hurriedly sent an imperial doctor to guard her every day. When she recovered easily, the puppet dynasty also began to continue to provoke outside the Jianmen Pass, Shen Kuang's father and son had no choice but to lead the army to help, everyone said that the Houshu regime was already in turmoil, and even Wei Wenweng's disciples were successively picked up by the family, so Cao Chan also panicked, and tried to test Shen Kuang many times in secret, wanting to set up Shen Yun as soon as possible to feed the middle palace, but Shen Kuang refused, only said that she was still young, I am afraid that I can't serve the emperor well, and said that the matter of Yingli, but after he triumphed, he would discuss it, although Cao Chan was anxious, But when they thought that they would have to rely on their father and son in the war, they didn't dare to go too far.

However, she said that after Shen Yun recovered, Mrs. Zhong no longer let her learn how to deal with the world, and she only told her about the harem battles of the past dynasties, and gave her how to avoid those unbearable things. Hearing this, Shen Yun was shocked and suspicious, and said in his heart, what do they mean, are they really planning to send me to that terrible wall?

Old Madam Zhong probably saw her doubts, and one day she took her hand and said: "Qingqing, some things are caused by fate, and we don't have a choice, but you always remember that even if there is no way out, until the last moment, you must not give up lightly, no matter when, you must first save your life, and then look for a chance to turn over." ”

Seeing that Shen Yun nodded as if she didn't understand, she said again: "Life is unsatisfactory, nine times out of ten, but there are no two or three, no matter how difficult and bumpy the road ahead, you must learn to make fun in suffering." Moreover, the children of our family must not do those treacherous things, but must stand up to the heavens and the earth, and be able to say everything with a clear conscience. You know? ”

At that time, Shen Yun didn't really understand the meaning of these words, but when he heard it, he only felt sad, and many tears rolled down his eyes.

However, what really broke her heart was still to come.

Less than a year after that, Mrs. Zhong died of illness, Wei Wenweng turned white overnight, and went with her a few months later, at that time his disciples had all left, leaving only one Su Huaijin to stay until the end, helping Shen Changsong and Shen Yun, who had temporarily returned from the battlefield, to take care of their teacher's afterlife.

After Wei Wenweng's July 77 day passed, Su Huaijin was also ready to leave, and on the eve of leaving, he had a heart-to-heart talk with Chang Song, and Chang Song asked, "What are Brother Huaijin's plans in the future?" ”

Su Huaijin said: "I want to go to Zhaoguo to see." ”

Changsong listened, nodded and said: "Well, Emperor Shu is not a Ming monarch, the group of northern barbarians of the puppet dynasty, it will not last long, they all say that the general trend of the world will be united for a long time, according to my brother's humble opinion, in the end, I can dominate the world, and the Central Plains will be the only one who is afraid that there is only Zhaoguo, and I heard that their prince is still a rare perfect person." Presumably, this is the so-called image of the return of the people. ”

Su Huaijin didn't expect him to be so frank, so he couldn't help but ask: "Changsong, you know in your heart, why are you still..."

Shen Changsong sighed and said with a smile: "Brother Huaijin, if even my Shen family's sons and daughters escape, who can still defend this side of the country?" ”

Su Huaijin knew that he had his own responsibility, but he couldn't help but ask, "That... What about Qingqing? ”

Chang Song's eyes suddenly appeared blank, and he muttered, "Qingqing... also has her own destiny. ”

Su Huaijin frowned, "Changsong, I know that I don't have anything now, and I don't dare to promise Qingqing a good future, but as far as the current situation is concerned, it is the best choice for you to let her go with me..."

Before he could finish speaking, Chang Song interrupted him and said, "Brother Huaijin, it's not that I can't look down on you, and it's not that I can't see the situation clearly, it's just that Qingqing she... There are some things that I can't say explicitly, so please forgive me. ”

Su Huaijin sighed and said no more. He didn't have a deep affection for Shen Yun, but he admired her character and talent, and he thought he could foresee her future, so he pitied her very much, but since everything was said about this, he couldn't insist on anything, so he packed his bags that night, and the next morning, he bought a boat to cross east.

At that time, Shen Yun and Chang Song saw him off at the ferry, and he was on the boat, but he still came down again, took Shen Yun's hand and said, "Qingqing, come with me." ”

Shen Yun was a little at a loss by his sudden move, and couldn't help but turn his head to look at Chang Song beside him, but Chang Song closed his eyes and shook his head slightly. Su Huaijin laughed at herself, let go of her hand, boarded the boat, and never looked back.

What he didn't know was that in the forest by the dock, the guards of the Shu Emperor did not insert the narrow knife in their hands back into the sheath until they saw that his ship was far away.

Chang Song sighed, came over and took Shen Yun's hand and said, "Go back." With that, he turned over and got on the horse, pulled Shen Yun onto the horse, and the two rode together and slowly returned home. At the same time, in the forest not far away, some birds were suddenly startled, wailing in the morning glow.

Within two days, Changsong was about to leave for the border pass, and when he was leaving, it was raining lightly, and Shen Yun cried into tears, pulling his sleeves and not letting him go, as if he had expected that he would go and never return. Changsong hugged her tightly in his arms, stroked her soft hair, and choked up: "Qingqing, don't be like this, don't you say goodbye to your brother?" ”

"Brother, don't go, don't leave Qingqing alone."

"Qingqing, you heard my brother say that everyone has their own mission that must be completed, and my mission is to defend this side of the country, to defend it, and to guard you, do you understand?"

Shen Yun was already crying faintly at this time, and he couldn't listen to his words at all, he just grabbed his clothes tightly and didn't let go, he couldn't, so he had to hold her face and say: "Qingqing, if you go here, I'm afraid it will be nine deaths, but no matter what happens in the future, you have to live well, even if we are gone, you yourself must be well." Promise my brother, promise my brother. ”

Shen Yun listened, screamed twice, leaned on his chest, and responded in a muffled voice: "Okay, good." ”

When Chang Song heard this, he was ruthless, broke her hand, turned over the horse, and galloped away, Shen Yun chased after him and ran, but where could she catch up? It didn't take a few steps before he fell into the mud.

Changsong's tears had already been blown away in the wind, and he only heard the heart-rending "brother" behind him getting farther and farther away, and finally, only the whirring wind was left in his ears.

Soon after, there was news that Jianmen Pass was in an emergency, and it was ridiculous that Emperor Shu refused to send troops to help, on the grounds that he didn't know who he had listened to, saying that he wanted to keep his troops and defend the capital. In fact, anyone with a discerning eye can see that he has long felt that Shen Kuanggong is a great master, and he always suspects that he will rebel one day, so he does not dare to deliver all the troops. It's a pity that the Shen father and son held on for more than a month without waiting for reinforcements, and finally ran out of food, and the head was different, and the Jianmen Pass was also conquered by Zhao Da and his son.

Shen Yun himself didn't expect that after a few months, what he would see again would be the beheaded head of his father and brother.

At that time, she got the news, and when she rushed into the barracks, Cao Chan was holding them on a tray and shouting with tears in his eyes: "That Zhao Da father and son, it is really hateful, they actually cut off the heads of two Shen generals and hung them high in the city for three days, demonstrating to us, we must avenge this revenge." ”

When those sergeants heard this, General Shen, who was usually beloved, was still humiliated after his death, and they all had red eyes and shouted "Kill!" Kill! Kill! ”

Ordinary sergeants are still like this, Shen Yun's state of mind can be imagined.

At that time, she felt that the heavens and the earth had lost color, and she couldn't hear any sound in her ears, so she just stared blankly at the two heads in Cao Chan's hands, with no thoughts in her head, and she didn't know how she walked in front of Cao Chan, how she took the tray, and how she came to their corpses, and thought for a long time before muttering: "Bring a needle and thread... I'm going to sew it on..."

At that time, someone had already handed over the needle and thread, and she really sewed their heads to the body by stitch, and when she was done, she stroked the stitch and laughed at herself, "It's really ugly." ”

Before the words fell, his eyes went dark, and he lost consciousness.

When she woke up, there was a mourning hall in her home, and she sat on her knees on the ground, numbly bowing to the people who had come to pay her respects, and when they were gone, she wept blankly at the coffin of her father and brother.

At that time, Cao Chan asked people to send the relics of her father and brother, and she saw the same green pendant as the one she wore on her chest, so she took off her own piece and put it in Changsong's arms, and hung Changsong's piece around her neck, and murmured: "Brother, I promised you to live well and do what you say." ”

When her father and brother were buried, she still cried and fainted, and when she woke up, she was already in the forbidden palace. ”

When she heard this, she was even more confused, and she didn't understand what was going on after thinking about it for a long time, when she was wondering, Cao Chan came, sat on her side as soon as she came, took her hand and said, "Qingqing, you are awake, great." As he spoke, he instructed the attendants beside him: "Go and inform the ceremonial officer, and the canonization ceremony will be carried out later." ”

Shen Yun instinctively withdrew his hand and shrank back, but Cao Chan smiled, squinted his eyes and said, "Alas, don't be afraid, when you salute, you will be the queen of the Middle Palace." ”

As he was talking, he heard a general outside running in in a panic and said, "Your Majesty, it's not good, the imperial city has been breached, and we only have the palace city as a line of defense, please Rong Chen and others escort Your Majesty to leave first." ”

When Cao Chan heard this, he trembled, looked back at Shen Yun and said, "Nonsense, nonsense, isn't it enough to win the world." It's all nonsense, nonsense. ”

When the people saw that he was almost insane, they couldn't care about anything else, so they hurriedly dragged him and fled.

Shen Yun sat on the couch and was stunned for a while, then he reacted, hurriedly found an ordinary dress to wear, and also mixed into the crowd and fled outside the palace.

And the attack on the border of the puppet DPRK by the Jokhang has officially begun.

Not long ago, Empress Bo Lingyi of Dazhao died of illness, Zhao Da felt that it was the best time to attack Shu, so he took his eldest son Zhao Yong and personally led the whole country to attack Jianmen Pass.

First, he thought that he could quickly capture Jianmen Pass by bribing the greedy ministers around Emperor Shu early in the morning and coaxing that suspicious fool not to send reinforcements, but he didn't want the Shen family and his son to be in vain, and they could still hold them back for so long with just a few troops.

The second is that he doesn't know the strength of the Xiao father and son's will. The emperor of Zhaoguo, did not ignore this precious opportunity because of the loss of the queen, but looked at their border air defense weakness, and quickly attacked, as for their East Palace, it was even more remarkable, wearing linen and filial piety to go to the battlefield, conquering their ten states in a row, pushing the border to the north of Huaishui in one fell swoop, and also killed the generalissimo of the puppet dynasty in front of the battle, Oliya, if he hadn't led the troops to help in time, then Xiao Cong had to drive straight into the Central Plains. At that time, he listened to the detailed battle report, and he was also shocked, Xiao Cong had such a smart plan at a young age, and his edge was not inferior to the champion Hou of the year, if it took time, they didn't know what they were in front of him. But fortunately, he is still young and has a little lack of battlefield experience, so he can barely deal with him.

But they have been going around for a year or two.

During this period, the puppet emperor did not try to recall Zhao Da back to Kyoto, but Zhao Da is a cunning person, knowing that there must be no good fruit to eat here, at least to treat a trumped-up crime such as a reckless sword soldier, so he refused in the name of "the general is outside, the monarch's order is not subject to it", at that time, the whole country did his best, and the puppet emperor was helpless, so he had to let him be arrogant, but he also knew very well in his heart that this was not a long-term solution, and when he was worried, Xiao Cong suddenly hung out the war exemption card, and also set up a banquet, saying that he wanted to entertain their father and son.

Zhao Yong read the invitation and said to him: "Dad, this Zhaoguo East Palace is set up for us, I'm afraid it's a Hongmen banquet." ”

Zhao Da pondered for a moment, but said with a smile: "He has calculated correctly, it is the Hongmen banquet, and we can only go to the banquet happily." ”

Zhao Yong scratched his head, a little unclear.

Zhao Da shook his head with a wry smile and sighed, "This Zhaoguo East Palace is not simple. ”

So on the day of the banquet, his father and son really drove Jane and ran to the military camp of Zhaoguo to go to the banquet.

At that time, Xiao Cong was already wearing a complicated dress, smiling, waiting outside the barracks, Zhao Da saw it, and bowed down and said: "Your Highness is so polite, I am really flattered here." ”

Xiao Cong smiled and said loudly: "The Great Sima who is waiting for me in the future of Zhao should be like this. ”

When Zhao Da heard this, his face changed a few times, and finally he said calmly: "Your Highness said that you laughed." ”

Xiao Cong listened, was noncommittal, only raised his hand and made a gesture of invitation, and led them into the camp first.

Everyone drank a round of wine, and Zhao Yong saw that his father and Xiao Cong were just drinking frequently and didn't speak, so he couldn't sit still, raised his glass and said to Xiao Cong: "What is the matter with Your Highness summoning foreign ministers today?" ”

Zhao Da rolled his eyes in his heart when he heard this, and secretly said that his son, who usually looks very good, but compared with this Zhaoguo East Palace, it is really not a star and a half.

Xiao Cong smiled slightly and said, "This palace just said, today is the great Sima who entertains me in the future." ”

Zhao Yong was stunned for a moment, stood up suddenly, pressed his hand on the sword, and said with a sinking face: "Your Highness, is this trying to trap my father and son in injustice?" ”

Xiao Cong took another sip of wine without changing his face, and then raised his head and looked directly into his eyes and said, "What did General Xiao Zhao say this?" ”

Zhao Yong said angrily: "Your Highness made this statement in front of so many people, this will reach the ears of my court..."

Xiao Cong interrupted him with a smile: "Do you still need to wait for this word to reach his ears?" The lord of your family, suspicious and fickle, does not lose to Emperor Hou Shu, the two generals are here today, are you still afraid that he will not be suspicious? ”

When Zhao Yong heard this, he was stunned for a moment, and then stroked his palms and sighed: "Alas, father, I said that I shouldn't have come today." ”

Zhao Da laughed at himself: "I'm afraid that since we received His Highness's invitation, that person has already been suspicious." In other words, His Highness has patiently dealt with us for so long, in fact, just for this day. ”

Xiao Cong didn't answer, just raised his glass to him and drank the wine.

Zhao Da put down the cup and said lightly: "It's just that Your Highness forgot, the disloyal ministers have never had any good results, but the ministers dare not forget." So I'm afraid your efforts have been in vain. ”

Xiao Cong raised his eyebrows, put down the cup and said, "Isn't the result of the official to the Great Sima good enough?" ”

Zhao Da laughed and said, "That's just an empty word from His Highness." ”

Xiao Cong hooked his lips and smiled: "Empty words? The general can know that you have no jokes. ”

Zhao Da continued: "What kind of prince is Your Highness?" ”

Xiao Cong raised his chin slightly, "The prince is also a king, since this palace dares to promise you, he will definitely promise it." "It really looks like it's a bit of a domination of the world.

Zhao Da listened to it and was silent, Xiao Cong poured himself another glass of wine, covered it with his sleeve and took a sip, and said slowly: "General Zhao, after the death of Oliya, whether it is ranked according to seniority or rewarded for meritorious deeds, the position of the generalissimo of your country should be yours, but as a result, the lord of your family would rather hand over the military power to a hairy boy, why, it's not because you are Hanchen, he doesn't trust you from the bottom of his bones." As he spoke, he sighed again and said in a deep voice: "General Zhao, are you waiting for your family's life-urging talisman to give you twelve gold medals, waiting for the head to be in a different place in the Fengbo Pavilion, and finally your wife will be scattered and wiped out by the family, or are you waiting for me to raise the army of the whole country to fight against the puppet dynasty, and end up with the same fate as the Shen family of Houshu?"

When Zhao Da and his son heard this, they felt empowered and broke out in a cold sweat.

Xiao Cong took his look, and knew that the big thing had been accomplished, so he regained his smile and softened his tone: "As the saying goes, good birds choose trees to perch, and they were previously secretly invested by the two generals, but now it seems that it is a great opportunity for the two to abandon the darkness and turn to the light, if the two of you want to understand, this palace can be allied with you today." ”

As he spoke, he took out the dagger in his sleeve and swiped it lightly in his palm, and the blood slowly flowed out.

On the way back to the camp, Zhao Yong said to his father: "Dad, this Zhaoguo East Palace is really powerful, playing these conspiracies and tricks is like playing." ”

"Intrigues?" Zhao Da smiled, "What kind of conspiracy are people playing?" People can win properly just by using yang schemes. ”

With the defection of Zhao's father and son, the Zhao army drove straight in, less than half a year, the remnants of the puppet dynasty were expelled to the north, a year later, the Zhao Emperor smoothly moved the capital, Dingding Central Plains, since then the world is unified, all people return to their hearts.