"The princess likes that young general named Xue Mo?" I asked.

When Xing Ran heard this, the hand holding the cup stiffened, and then regained his lazy expression, and laughed at himself: "I liked it when I was young, but I didn't understand some truths at that time." ”

When Xing Ran was twelve years old, he fell in love with Xue Mo, the major general of the Eastern Qi Kingdom.

I have never met Xue Mo, and when I heard Xing Ran's description, I only know that he is a tall young man with a cold appearance and a well-defined outline, handsome and graceful when wearing a robe, and a heroic posture when wearing armor. He had very deep eyes, and his eyelashes were thick and long, "and when I talk to you, I occasionally flutter, like a butterfly moth wing, and make your heart tremble." Princess Xingran described it.

Princess Xingran's entire childhood, youth, Dongqi Kingdom is not peaceful, the Japanese invaded the southeast coast for many years, so that the Dongqi Emperor and the people of Dongqi hated, but there is no tall and mighty warship, no resolute and strong navy, and no invincible weapons, Dongqi Kingdom in the more than ten years of fighting against the Japanese Invaders, in a great weakness, seven coastal cities, six have been slaughtered and looted by the Japanese Invaders, only one general and a city he guarded, in several duels, resisted the Japanese Invaders' artillery fire and long knives.

This general is Xue Chu, a general that Princess Xing Ran admires the most, and inspired by this general, Xing Ran began to study gunpowder and cannons, hoping to build a solid barrier for the Eastern Qi Kingdom.

As a listener, this Shoufu actually couldn't tell whether Princess Xingran began to notice his son Xue Mo because she first admired General Xue Chu, or because she first noticed the young general Xue Mo who was both civil and military, and began to admire General Xue Chu, but it didn't matter anymore, the important thing was that when she was twelve years old, she felt that she was already a big girl, and she could express her joy to others, she liked Xue Mo, and she wanted to marry Xue Mo.

When Xue Mo heard her words, his brows were furrowed, his eyes were silent, and his thick eyelashes were also lowered: "Your Royal Highness Princess, you are only twelve years old, and I am nineteen years old, seven years older than you." ”

"It's okay, we can make a marriage agreement first, and when I'm a few years older, I'll marry you, okay?" Xing Ran happily gestured to him, "You and General Xue went to the coast to fight against the Japanese invaders, and I developed gunpowder weapons in Weihai, how good we matched." ”

Xue Mo's brows furrowed a little deeper, afraid that she wouldn't understand, so he half-knelt down, looked into her eyes, and said seriously: "Princess, you are still young, you still don't understand many things, getting married is not a simple matter, you are a princess, you have greater responsibilities to bear in the future, and more important things to complete." ”

Xing Ran really didn't understand, but felt that Xue Mo was very serious that day, and he was not as easy-going as before.

She also didn't understand that she had already undertaken the important task of developing border weapons in the entire Dongqi Kingdom, and what greater responsibilities she had to bear, and what more important things had to be done.

But she soon understood.

A year later, in the summer, the Japanese gathered the forces of the entire country and rushed to the southeast coast by boat, where the sea and the sky met, and the shadows were raging and the dark clouds covered the sun, in an attempt to break through the southeast defense line and capture the entire Dongqi.

Emperor Dongqi summoned the ministers overnight, saying that the war was urgent, and asked the ministers if there was a solution.

Xing Ran, as a member of the Ordnance Division, also participated in this court meeting.

Xue Chu said: "I still have to thank the princess this year, the armament has been added a lot compared to last year, the artillery firepower is more fierce than last year, and the ammunition range is longer than before, these are the advantages of our battle this time." ”

Xing Ran waved his hand: "General, don't say these words, just talk about our weakness." ”

Because of the perennial naval battle, the wind and the sun, the rain and the waves, Xue Chu's face was already wrinkled and ravines, and he let out a long sigh, which made Xing Ran suddenly think of a word - heroic twilight.

Xue Mo, who was next to him, stepped forward and continued for his father: "Back to Your Majesty and the princess, our biggest weakness is still the lack of soldiers and horses. There were about 600,000 Japanese invaders this time, and because we have been fighting for many years, the number of troops on the entire southeast coast is less than 100,000. With one against six, the odds of winning are really slim. ”

Emperor Dongqi was worried: "Can the soldiers and horses in the north and south be recalled?" ”

"No," Xue Mo said categorically, "The Northern Imperial Monarch has sent envoys this year, ostensibly to make friends, and secretly to probe our truth. Not only that, this year, Beiyu has laid a lot of eyeliner at the junction of the two kingdoms of Yuqi, and if we withdraw our troops on the front foot, they will come in on the back foot. The same is true for the southern border, Ning has always been good at water warfare, once the southern army is withdrawn, Ning Guo can cross the Changlan River that night and attack the southern border. ”

Emperor Dongqi was grief-stricken: "What should I do? Will the Eastern Qi Kingdom be destroyed by me? ”

"Your Majesty," Xue Mo bowed with his fists in a solemn manner, "The minister has a way, I don't know if I should talk about it!" ”

"Aiqing, please speak! Please! Emperor Dongqi was excited, stepped off the throne, and stood in front of the young and promising young general, looking forward to the method that he said might save Dongqi's life.

At this moment, Xue Mo slowly turned his head and glanced at Xing Ran deeply with incomparably complicated eyes.

Xing Ran will never forget that look, because after this look, she heard her joyful young general propose to her father—

"Your Majesty, we have signed a friendship agreement with Jinguo not to attack each other. The minister heard that the king of Chong'an of Jinguo was young, but he was brave and good at fighting, and he had a large number of soldiers and horses, and they were all brave and good at fighting and swearing allegiance. The princess is already in the prime of her life, and she will be married in two or three years, but she has not yet found a colt. The minister thought that the two were very opposed, and Dongqi could take advantage of this to marry Jinguo, consolidate the agreement, and the marriage contract was established, and the soldiers and horses under the king of Chong'an could help us tide over the crisis. ”

Before this, Xing Ran never thought that her favorite person would be the person who suggested that she go and kiss. Even if the person who made this suggestion was General Xue Chu, she could accept it, why was it Xue Mo?

She looked at Xue Mo in a daze, trying to see a trace of reluctance on his face, but she tried her best, but she never found it.

Xue Mo's words were sincere, every sentence was analyzed very well, and he thought about Dongqi and her very thoroughly, and even the horse he recommended was the famous King Chong'an of Jinguo, she didn't seem to be at a loss.

Emperor Dongqi was obviously also moved by these words, turned his head, and looked at her expectantly: "Xing Ran, what do you think?" ”

What else could she think.

Can she still say no, at the moment of life and death in Dongqiguo?

The whole hall, as if everyone was waiting for her to nod, no one was on her side, giving her courage to refuse. She felt as if she was standing next to the abyss, and it was her sweetheart who pushed her here.

"Erchen, naturally...... Willing to be for her father, for General Xue, for ......" She has always been outspoken, for the first time she felt that it would be so difficult to say a word, and it would be so heartbreaking to call a person's name, but she finally said it, "For General Xue, share the worries, and the sons are willing to take the order......"

But before he finished speaking, a clear voice of rejection sounded in the hall, and a thunderclap tore apart the gloomy and oppressive court—

"I can't do it!"

Emperor Dongqi and all the ministers looked sideways, only to see Wan Qishu, who was only six years old and was the prince's companion at the time, stood up, although he was already much taller than his peers, but in a group of adults, he was still weak.

But such a weak person stood up and said "no".

He was not a child who was stubborn, nor was he rash, but after judging the situation and careful consideration, he finally analyzed the Emperor of Dongqi and his ministers with a mature opinion far beyond his age:

"The minister does not approve of Princess Xingran and his relatives for three reasons. First, as General Xue said, the armament of the southeast coastal defense is mostly developed by the princess, and its ability is increasing year by year, if the princess marries another country, I Dongqi is not only as simple as missing a princess, but less of a genius of ordnance manufacturing, if the princess is far away, the collapse of the southeast coastal defense is a matter of time;

"Second, I don't know why Major General Xue decided that the Jin Kingdom would lend troops to Dongqi? In fact, over the years, the Jin Kingdom has been eyeing the southern country, and launched several wars on the border between Jin and the south, each time the Jin country has a slight upper hand, taking advantage of the high morale, the Jin Emperor's ambition to destroy the southern country in one fell swoop is increasing day by day, and they are using troops at the time, I am afraid that they will not lend troops to me to the east;

"Third, Emperor Jin can not only have the ambition to conquer the southern country, but also have the intention to capture my Dongqi. Although the two countries have an agreement with friendly countries, it was drafted by the first emperor when he was still there, and it has been twenty years since now, and the countries have been divided and merged, and the strong are kings, and the agreement is just a piece of waste paper in front of ambition, and no one can stop him if he wants to tear it up. Borrowing troops is tantamount to showing weakness, if we rush forward this time, it will be equivalent to telling Jinguo that my Dongqi Kingdom is in danger, and you can come to attack me. ”

The stars froze.

Xue Mo next to him was also in shape.