"A month ago, Emperor Yuan sent someone to Anzhou to assassinate Duke Mugta of Hosto, but he was captured, and everyone got all the stolen goods, so there is no way to deny it. Huo Sidu's side demanded that Emperor Yuan personally come forward to explain and apologize, if he could not achieve his goal, war was inevitable. ”

In the chic design of the palace water pavilion, the middle-aged man who is described as withered and Yan Beixuan sits opposite each other, wearing a red red dragon embroidered python robe on a black background to show the noble imperial identity.

No matter how poor and weak a country is, the majesty of the emperor is still indispensable.

Yan Beixuan was a little absent-minded, and his tone was quite gloomy: "Emperor Yuan is not an impulsive and brainless person, it is impossible to do such a thing as sending someone to assassinate Huo Sidu's envoys. The Hostus Empire was not very peaceful before the envoy to the Yuan Kingdom, otherwise Mugta Ryqiluo would not have met and talked privately with the envoys of various countries three times or twice during the mission, and the woman had just inherited her father's title, and it was extremely bold to dare to make such a move. ”

"What kind of turmoil can she make with just one woman?" The Fox Hill Monarch snorted coldly, "After the death of the old king of Hosdu, his second son Baishan succeeded to the throne, and Nabaishan was only a year old, and he was full of ambition and ambition, and he was worried about the forcible occupation of the eastern territory of Hosdu by the Yuan Kingdom a few decades ago. Didn't you say that during the mission, the woman of the Mugeta family repeatedly asked Emperor Yuan about the return of the land, but she was repeatedly hit by a wall, in this case, Baishan naturally will not continue to endure, and it is a matter of time before the two countries go to war. ”

In terms of experience and old calculations, Yan Beixuan thinks that he is not as good as his father, who has been on the throne for decades, but he is still unwilling in his heart: "The battle between Huo Sidu and the Yuan Kingdom is an accumulation of old grudges, and what the sons don't understand is, why do we also want to participate in it?" Over the years, the wind and rain in my fox hill have not been smooth, and the people's livelihood has withered not in a day or two, and now I can't take care of appeasing the people, so why bother to mix in the disputes between their two countries? Whether it's the Mugta family, or the new emperor of Hosdu, they just use my fox mound as a pawn, maybe they will kick it away at some point, and won't we still suffer at that time? ”

Behind Yan Beixuan, Nan Rin coughed lightly, which could be regarded as aborting the conversation that could not be fruitful at all.

Although Nan Rin is just a guard in terms of identity, people who often go in and out of the Fox Hill King's Palace know that this is not an ordinary guard, except for a large part of the Heavenly Blessing Soldiers in the capital of the Fox Hill Country who are personally taught by him, the cooking skills of the cooks in the palace, and the willfulness of the water mandarin duck are all taught by this guard who wears many hats, not to mention the protection of Yan Beixuan.

"It's almost time for the mandarin duck to wake up." Nanrin said leisurely.

Yan Beixuan looked up at the sky, and smiled helplessly: "Yes, the two of them will have trouble again in a little later." Getting up and saluting respectfully to the king of Fox Hill, Yan Beixuan hid his slight disappointment: "The son will retire first, and the father and emperor will rest early, and it is the most important thing to take care of your body." ”

"I haven't figured out the question I want to ask, so why rush back?"

A clear and flat male voice burst in and interrupted, but it wasn't from Foxhill Monarch or Nanrin. Hearing that voice, Yan Beixuan was so surprised that he hurriedly turned around half delighted and half excited.

"Excuse me!"

At the gate of the unguarded garden, a handsome boy in a blue brocade dress has a long and jade body, light eyebrows, deep eyes, and a handsome face that dwarfs Yan Beixuan, who was originally good-looking, is Chu Ci who has just arrived from the Yuan Kingdom.

The Fox Hill Monarch was old and frail, and he turned back slowly, but the look of surprise on his face was several times more than that of Yan Beixuan, and there was panic and deep fear hidden in the old man's voice: "Chu Ci...... You—How did you come back! ”

"I'm also the heir of the royal family, why can't I come back? If Your Majesty is disgusted, call the guards and drive me away. ”

Chu Ci's words were very ironic, and he was not moved to reunite with his relatives after a long absence, Yan Beixuan saw that his face was not good, and hurriedly went to the middle to play a round: "Father, I called Xiao Ci back, I didn't have time to tell you before, and I asked my father to forgive me." Xiao Ci, my father is not feeling well at this time, you go to Xiaozhu with me to rest first, and then talk in detail when you have time. ”

The country of Huqiu has always been stable, the people are simple and generous, the road is not left behind, and there has never been any people who break into the palace to make trouble, so there is no habit of setting up guards everywhere in the palace, and Chu Ci and Chunqiu walked in one after the other without stopping them. Nan Rin quietly observed the movements of a few people in the corner, and when he saw that the King of Fox Hill reacted from surprise and glared at Chu Ci angrily and shouted loudly for the guards to come, his sword eyebrows furrowed, and his figure swept lightly, blocking Chu Ci safely.

"Stand down."

The sound was not loud, it was quite impatient, but the guards who rushed to hear the sound froze and did not dare to get any closer, you look at me, I look at you, and finally turned their eyes to the monarch of Fox Hill, it seems that compared to their own lord, Nan Rin, a low-status guard, makes them more awe-inspiring and afraid.

Yan Beixuan waved his hand and retreated from the guards, stopping the iron-faced Fox Hill monarch and begging bitterly: "Father, Xiao Ci is from our Yan family after all, he has been adrift all these years and has been bitter enough, why does my father suffer for him?" With a little excuse here, maybe we can do more-"

"A little mongrel, how can he insult my Yan family's bloodline?" The merciless insult poured out of the mouth of the Fox Hill Monarch, and fell into Chu Ci's ears, but he couldn't even get the slightest ripple, but the Spring and Autumn behind him and the immovable Nan Rin in front of him were annoyed and angry, and the other looked cold, and they all cast their disdain on the Fox Hill Monarch.

Chu Ci remained silent, and his elegance was still the same: "This time I came as a Dayuan strategist for negotiation, not to recognize relatives, whether it is bloodline or identity, I will not mention it, Your Majesty can be a stranger to me." ”

"Traitor! Traitor! What face do you have to go back to Fox Hill again? My Yan family will never admit that you are a bastard born out of filthy bones and blood! Chu Ci's indifference and calmness made the Fox Hill monarch even more excited, and he scolded a few words in a row, completely ignoring his noble image, and Yan Beixuan sighed helplessly.

Gui is the son of the eldest princess but was expelled from the house by his own uncle, and after suffering countless hardships, he is still not recognized, is it because Chu Ci is the child of the former Yuan Emperor and is an unhonorable illegitimate child? Yan Beixuan didn't understand why his father was so angry, but he knew that if this continued, Chu Ci's heart would never be towards the Fox Hill Country again.

"Didn't the prince want to know why His Majesty wanted to unite with Hosto? Since Your Majesty is embarrassed to say it clearly, then I will tell you on my behalf. "With the protection of Nan Rin and Chunqiu, Chu Ci didn't worry about safety at all, lifted the corner of his clothes and stepped into the water pavilion, so he sat opposite the monarch of Fox Hill, "Fox Hill has been suffering from natural disasters for many years, poverty and weakness, and the dissatisfaction among the people is becoming more and more intense, and His Majesty chose to deliberately launch a war against Dayuan at this time, in order to divert the focus of the people's attention and use the war with the Yuan Kingdom to temporarily dilute the urgent problems in the country. As for why it is necessary to unite with the Hothus Empire...... I have to say that Your Majesty is making a clever move, and it is also a dangerous move. ”

Yan Beixuan shook his head: "I don't know what's so good about this move." For a hundred years, Fox Hill has not violated the river water with the well water of the Yuan country, and even if the people's livelihood is withered, it has never been bullied by the Yuan country; And the Hosdu Empire is obviously a wolf ambition, vainly trying to attack the Yuan State by forming an alliance with the Nanqing States and occupying the land of Zhongzhou, even if we are allies, who knows if it will be three years, five years, ten years later, or not? If the Hosdu Empire bites back after entering Zhongzhou and sweeps away the Zhongzhou allies with its powerful forces, won't we become outcasts who squeeze out the use value? No matter how you think about it, we can't do it. ”

Chu Ci glanced at Yan Beixuan's young face lightly, without any expression on his face: "The prince should have gone down to negotiate an alliance with the Hosdu Empire at the behest of His Majesty, right?" ”

Hesitantly looking at the Fox Hill Monarch, Yan Beixuan nodded lightly.

"As far as I know, the only countries that have announced the news confirming the alliance with Hostur are the Nanqing Kingdom and the Fox Hill Kingdom, and the Duo Kingdom has not expressed its position, but when I went to Monan some time ago, I was stopped by the soldiers of the Duo Kingdom. The area around the Demon Mountain in Monan is the territory of the Yuan Kingdom, how could the soldiers of the Duo Kingdom appear there? After thinking about it, I suddenly had a guess, has the Duo Kingdom, which has been silent and seems to be standing on the outside, has also become an accomplice of the Hosdu Empire's invasion of Zhongzhou? If the Duo Kingdom is really secretly helping the Horstus Empire, then who is acting as the intermediary between the Horstus and the Duo Kingdom, pulling these two countries together that are not allied on the surface? These questions, the prince may wish to think about it carefully. ”

Chu Ci's mind and scheming are undoubted, what he said is always regarded by Yan Beixuan as the closest speculation to the truth, and when Chu Ci sorted out the complex situation in the open and secret into a clean and simple vein, Yan Beixuan was finally able to sort out his thoughts along his questions and see the possible truth hidden in the foggy situation that made him tremble.

Assuming that the reason why Hoth did not declare an alliance with the Duo states was that they were not allies, then there must be a link between the two that would bind them, and that link must be one of the Hothus allies and a Zhongzhou state that could be trusted by the Duo states.

Nanqing Kingdom, Fox Hill Country, who is the one who weaves a dense web in the middle?

Three or two simple words revealed the hidden interests of the relationship, and Chu Ci's actions made the Fox Hill monarch laugh angrily, and his thin palm clutched the dragon's head cane: "What a deaf and clear-eyed mongrel, but like your shameless father who steals women's food." Why, one person can't mess up the clear water of Fox Hill, and now he wants to confuse Beixuan? Although you are a lackey of your Yuan Kingdom, Beixuan is my son, the prince of Fox Hill who wants to inherit the throne, you little brute rarely come to hook up with him! ”

"Father!" couldn't help but scold the Fox Hill Monarch, Yan Beixuan changed his face and let out a low snort. Xu is thought that he was a courtier after all, and after an angry shout, Yan Beixuan quickly softened his tone again, seven points were helpless, and three points were exhaustion: "Father, even if my aunt is at fault, my father should not be counted on Xiao Ci's head." In those years, Xiao Ci was busy up and down for Fox Hill, and his father also saw it with his own eyes, and now what is it to put all his resentment and anger on Xiao Ci? If I really want to investigate, I would like to ask my father about the private communication with the Duo Kingdom, but the father is operating in the middle? ”

Fox Hill Monarch's face changed slightly, and he immediately covered it up with indifference: "So what? You believe in Chu Ci and don't distinguish between right and wrong, can this king, as the king of a country, be as confused as you? Now that the matter has been decided, I might as well tell you bluntly that when this king sent you to the Yuan Kingdom to contact the envoy of Hosdu, the Duo Kingdom had already sent people to negotiate a joint attack on the Great Abyss and other matters. Whether it is the Hosdu Empire or the Duo Kingdom, as long as the Yuan Kingdom falls, the most capable person in Zhongzhou to divide its land wealth is my Fox Hill, with land and property, what are the people afraid of causing trouble? This is far more practical than racking your brains to appease the people! ”

Yan Beixuan's face was like ashes for a moment.

Shaoqing was silent and relatively silent, and the first person to get up was Chu Ci, with an indifference as if he had nothing to do with himself, and a sense of alienation as a strategist of the enemy country.

"The battle between the rivers and mountains is more cruel and ruthless than anyone, but even if Your Majesty takes the lives of all the people of the Foxhill Country, the winner of this war will still not be the Foxhill Country - as long as I am alive, I will definitely go all out to protect the peace of the Great Abyss, even if I want to make the Foxhill Country disappear from Zhongzhou."