In this world, there is probably a word for "talent", and it is precisely because of the existence of this word that many people feel that success seems to come easily, and no one wants to understand the hardships and pains, tears and struggles, fears and tremors, anxiety and awakening that you have paid for this word.

At that time, Xing Ran looked at this child, and he had this feeling in his heart: The entire Dongqi was impressed by this child's wisdom beyond his age, but no one seemed to know what this six-year-old doll had experienced to become what it is today.

She wanted to open her mouth to persuade him, but Wan Qishu beside her raised her hand and pointed out of the car from afar, interrupting her thoughts: "He came to pick you up, do you want to see him?" ”

Xing Ran was stunned for a moment, and along his fingertips, he saw Xue Mo, dressed in silver armor and riding a horse.

"It's gone." Xing Ran lowered her eyelids, "He probably didn't come to pick me up." ”

"Let's go and see it, you will have one less time to meet with Major General Xue in the future."

Xing Ran was a little anxious: "Brother Xiaoshu, have you forgotten about this?" Aren't you afraid that I will tell him what you say, and that I will remind him to watch out for you? ”

Wan Qishu didn't say anything, got up and walked to the carriage door, lifted the curtain, and stretched out his hand to her: "Your Royal Highness Princess." ”

He was already very sure that Xing Ran would not tell Xue Mo about the conversation in the car.

In fact, Xing Ran did not mention a single word about Wan Qishu to Xue Mo, although she was now sitting on Xue Mo's warhorse, and Xue Mo was leading the horse to carry her to the palace gate as she had done at the beginning.

The sun was dim, and I don't know if it was because of the billowing smoke from the sea, or because of the thick clouds in the sky.

She took the initiative to mention things that made people happy, in order to break the embarrassment: "Major General Xue is out of the blue, this battle is one to six, but he won a big victory, my father and General Xue are very happy, right?" ”

Xue Mo turned his head and looked at Wan Qishu's carriage that left from the dock, looking slightly surprised: "Didn't Wan Qishu tell you?" ”

"Tell me what?"

"The princess is wrong. The great victory in this long battle is all due to the fact that it has nothing to do with me. ”

Her heart skipped a beat: "What did you say?" ”

Xue Mo praised: "The night before yesterday, Wan Qishu held His Majesty's gold medal, suddenly came to the east coast, urgently ordered the soldiers to collect fishing boats, and the fishing boats were covered with grass and oil, I don't know what he was going to do, until yesterday, a west wind swept from the east coast, the straw on the fishing boat was all ignited, and the west wind went straight to the thieves in the middle of the sea, countless Japanese boats were ignited before they had time to evacuate, the fire burned all night, the enemy suffered heavy casualties, and our army did not hurt a single person. It was Wan Qishu who watched the heavens for many days and successfully predicted this life-saving westerly wind, and this credit should be his. ”

Xing Ran thought of what he said in the carriage: "How did Xue Mo do it? He clearly said that the odds of victory were not good, but you can see that he put down the trouble without a single soldier! ”

It turned out that this was Wan Qishu's credit, why didn't he remind himself, why was his gaze so calm?

For the first time, Xing Ran felt guilty about Wan Qishu, because she had never really understood this younger brother.

But this guilt faded over time, replaced by more and more frequent shock, and deeper and deeper disgust.

In the spring of the twenty-fourth year of the Eastern Qi Dynasty, General Xue passed away, and the Emperor of Dongqi held a funeral for General Xue with a state funeral, and gave the emperor a long burial of the heroes' bones. Xue Mo took over the post of General Xue Chu, commanded the five armies, and had a great reputation and unique scenery.

On the summer solstice, Xing Ran's fifteenth birthday, Emperor Dongqi held a grand palace banquet, inviting civil and military officials and their children and grandchildren of appropriate age, nominally to celebrate the princess's birthday, but actually to recruit a son-in-law for Xingran. But everyone knows that the selection of Princess Xingran, or Emperor Dongqi, has already been decided, and it is naturally the newly appointed general Xue Mo. One is beautiful and intelligent, one is handsome and wise, one is obsessed with armaments, and the other is keen on the battlefield.

But Xing Ran was uneasy that night, and for some reason, she was very anxious.

Is it because she wasn't sure if Xue Mo had become more fond of her after two years?

Or is it because Wan Qishu once advised her not to choose Xue Mo as a colt, because Xue Mo would die?

She sat on the nine-song corridor specially built for her by Emperor Qihuang in the palace, looking at the deep and vast blue sky, looking at the bright starlight of the Milky Way, and suddenly felt that life was difficult when she grew up, she had to make so many choices, she had to distinguish so many right from wrong, and she had no time to feel the vastness of the sky, and she was not in the mood to feel the glow of the Milky Way.

She went out after all, to the palace banquet held especially for her, to complete one thing she had to do tonight, the problem had to be solved, didn't it?

That palace banquet was really grand, as if the unmarried young men from the entire imperial capital from the age of eight to twenty-eight had come.

Strange to say, among so many sons, the first thing she saw was not the Xue Mo who made her miss her, but the youngest, only eight-year-old Wan Qishu. He sat opposite Xue Mo, very close to the main seat, but as if he was out of honor, he was peeling a glossy lychee unhurriedly with his slender fingers.

Yes, it seems that he should be sitting there, because in the past two years in the Criminal Department, he has made great achievements and closed countless old cases. Listening to his father, Wan Qishu is extremely good at interrogation, and those criminals and death row inmates in the prison of the Criminal Department who have been speaking wildly all the year round have finally explained what they have done under his interrogation, and they all honestly signed and detained. Wan Qishu himself naturally rose from a small principal to a servant of the Criminal Department.

She used to wonder: why would a child under the age of eight pack up those death row inmates in order? Wouldn't these tricks be very effective if they were used in marching and fighting? So, on a sunny spring day, she came to the Criminal Department with great interest to observe how Wan Qishu interrogated the prisoners.

The official of the Ministry of Rites told her: "Lord Wan Qi is on death row, and he has a prisoner to be tried today." ”

She was excited: "What do you want to do?" ”

"It seems to be a collaboration with the enemy and treason."

Xing Ran rubbed his hands: "Princess Ben is going to take a look." ”

The more you go inside, the closer you get to the ground, the more you don't see a trace of light, and because Dongqi is close to the sea, the underground humidity is extremely high, and the water mist on the stone wall in the prison is condensed, and from time to time a few drops of cool water will drop, which will fall on the skin and make people instinctively creepy. Generally speaking, the further down you go, the deeper and more unforgivable the sins you are in.

She only remembered that time when she walked to the bottom of the prison for a long, long time before she saw Wan Qishu, at that time, Wan Qishu was trying the criminal with a director of the criminal department, and he put a candle on the desk in his hand, and the dim candle flame fell on his face.

Before seeing her, Wan Qishu seemed to have just given the order, and before she had time to take the lantern to look at the legendary treasonous criminal, she heard a heart-rending cry from the prison that rushed straight to the spiritual platform: "Ahhhhhhhhhhh My fingers! ”

Even though Xing Ran was already very bold among the girls, she was so unprepared that she heard this ghost wolf howl, and she was so frightened that the lanterns took off her hands, and the prisoner let out a terrified cry.

Suddenly, a pair of small hands covered Xing Ran's eyes, and a slightly cool voice fell on his ears like a sea breeze: "Why are you here?" After a pause, he immediately said, "Lord Hou, you judge first, and I'll take the princess out." ”

Lord Nahou asked him: "Lord Wan Qi, he has fainted, but he still has to follow the established procedure?" ”

Wan Qishu was so calm that he didn't seem to speak, as if he hadn't heard Fang Cai's terrible cry at all, but when he spoke, he moved his hand to Xing Ran's ear: "Well, wake him up." Tell him that this is only the second way, and if he doesn't recruit him, there are eight punishments waiting for her later. ”

Even though her ears were covered by a pair of cool hands, Xing Ran could still hear this sentence clearly, and at that time, she shrank uncontrollably, and slowly moved away from Wan Qishu.

After getting out of prison and seeing the light of day again, she felt like she was in a different world, and she couldn't raise any interest in Wan Qishu and the trial of the case anymore.

"Brother Xiaoshu, are you afraid?" She asked, frowning.

The sunlight passed through, dyeing Wan Qishu's pupils light brown, and there was not a trace of fear on his face, calm as a pool of bottomless stagnant water: "Princess, sometimes I want you to see this sooner, but sometimes I think it's better for you to know later." You haven't married yet, and you're still a little girl, so you should experience more freedom and joy, so don't come to the Criminal Department in the future. ”