The vast yellow sand outside the plug was swept up and thrown down by the hoarse wind, and the guards who stood majestically outside the Chinese army's tent were all disgraced, but they were still firmly rooted in this endless desert. An indissoluble gray hung in the sky, and the dim and faint daylight made it impossible to tell what time it was. Only the unbearable heat could tell that it was an afternoon outside the plug. At first glance, the group of camps and tents is quite spectacular, but in fact, it is like a drop in the ocean in the yellow sand, small, insignificant.

Outside the coach's account, he withdrew many guards who should have been standing guard. There were only two people in the account—a very young and handsome man, no more than twenty years old, with his hands tied behind his back, no military uniform, only a white coat and some shabby shorts. The ground inside the tent was the same as the outside world, full of sand. And the other man, standing in front of the man, turned his back to him. The heavy armor on his body was stained with a lot of wind and dust, and he held a huge red tasseled spear in his hand, and his face was extremely powerful, which made people daunting and respectful. But this Kansai coach, who is both respected and feared by the border tribes, is sighing silently at this moment.

And the young man, although he was tied up like this, looked like he was letting his hair fall, but his face was surprisingly calm, as if he was in a daze.

On the northwest border of the Underworld and the Qinshan Kingdom, there is such a tiger and wolf army stationed all the year round, Marshal Pei Baolong's Snapdragon Army.

Pei Baolong stood in the tent and looked into the distance, and suddenly turned back to the young man and said: "This situation is serious, when I see His Royal Highness the Prince, I must take all the responsibility on myself! Don't try to cover it up, or Ben Shuai won't be able to save you!"

The young man, that is, Pei Baolong's most popular staff, the fifth son of the Heishui Sword Bamboo Qiao family, and a close confidant of His Royal Highness the Prince, Qiao Zhenglang. Qiao Zhenglang's face still did not have the slightest wave, and he responded: "My subordinates understand." This matter is indeed the fault of my Qiao family, and there is nothing to cover up. I just hope now that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's ambition will not fail because of the mistakes of our Qiao family. Otherwise, even if your subordinates die a hundred times, it will be difficult to eliminate the guilt in their hearts!"

"If you can think like that, that's good. Zhenglang, the prince is really kind to you! To be honest, Ben Shuai doesn't want to lose a right-hand man like you because of this matter. As long as you admit your mistakes later, everything will still have a chance to turn around! The prince is not a ruthless person!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of horses' hooves sounded outside the tent door. As soon as Pei Baolong wanted to get out of the tent to see which bastard was wantonly riding outside the tent of the Chinese army, the rider had already leapt off the horse and broke directly into the commander's tent, with a hearty smile on his face, and sighed: "Old Pei, old Pei, your hard work outside the plug is really worthy of its reputation, my sweaty and bloody BMW bought in the Western Regions has been confused by the wind and sand, and I don't know where to run!"

The person who spoke, dressed in a golden dress that symbolized power, wore a double dragon golden hat, had a kind complexion, was born ordinary, and had some wrinkles, he was already thirty-five years old. This person is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Qinshan Kingdom, Ying Mingxin.

Qiao and Pei hurriedly bowed, and Qiao Zhenglang kowtowed and bowed. The prince had a smile on his face, and it seemed that he had not been affected by the rumors that had quickly fermented in Blackwater City to the capital three days ago. But he didn't look at Qiao Zhenglang being tied to the ground, but said in an emotional tone: "Now this king's wolf ambition, I'm afraid it's already known to passers-by, right?" Ying Mingxin was also named "King Ming", he sighed like this, and the two knew that they were going to enter today's topic.

"Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince, your words are not rough. Today's situation is indeed somewhat unfavorable to us, and it is even worsening. His Royal Highness the Fourth Prince also made some moves on his side, and this rumor became more and more excessive and intensified. The subordinates had no way to teach, which made Qiao Zhenglang, a staff member, commit such a big mistake. Now that the criminal Qiao Zhenglang has been arrested, please ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to punish the two of us together!"

"Okay, okay, there are no outsiders here, so there is no need to act in the play! General, please hurry up, Zhenglang, you kneel first." ”

When Qiao Zhenglang heard this, he was very obedient and motionless. The prince squatted down and slowly untied the rope on Qiao Zhenglang's body. Qiao Zhenglang didn't dare to say a word.

"This time, your grandfather has really caused us a lot of trouble!" the prince slowly helped him up, and motioned with his eyes not to push.

"Your Highness, this matter is all the fault of one person...... Qiao Zhenglang blushed, ready to recite the words prepared in advance.

"This king said, the play, you don't have to play it for me anymore. The prince put his hands on Qiao Zhenglang's shoulders, frowned, and said earnestly: "This matter naturally has nothing to do with you, this king knows." Originally, the matter of the Heavenly Meteorite was to record a great contribution to your Qiao family, but it's a pity that your grandfather later made this pass. Well, it can only be regarded as a merit and a demerit, no reward and no punishment!"

Qiao and Pei were both surprised in their hearts - such a serious matter, the prince was not angry at all, and turned it over so lightly, which really made Qiao Zhenglang feel very grateful in his heart, and made Pei Baolong breathe a sigh of relief.

Qiao Zhenglang immediately bowed down and thanked him greatly. After the prince calmly watched his performance, his expression suddenly tightened, and he asked the main question of the trip: "Both of them are the right-hand men of this king, and they are both smart people." Zhenglang, the patriarch of Qiao Shifan, this king has also met a few times, and he feels that he is old and serious, and his joy and anger are invisible. It's just that this decision is a bit outrageous in a hurry, does that listening girl have any special meaning to you?"

Qiao Zhenglang scratched his head and recalled Qiao Lingyan, the fourth daughter of Uncle Qiao Shuoji, but his fourth sister had a shallow relationship with him, and he left Heishui City five years ago to come to the army, and he was really not impressed by Qiao Lingyan, so he could only reply: "This, my fourth sister usually has too little contact with me, and I haven't been back to Heishui City for three or four years." I only remember that she gave birth to an extremely beautiful voice when she was a child, and nothing else was special. ”

"That's really strange, Qiao Shifan is definitely a scheming person, how could he act so recklessly?

"The Admiral has already investigated it before. The big boss of Huiling Hall is called Ding Rong, who turned out to be a big salt merchant in White Night City. He had some contacts with the officials of the DPRK and the Central People's Republic of China, and he also did a lot of shady deeds by virtue of this. After the big case of Jia Daochang more than two months ago, officials of the Qing faction were widely involved. One of them is the strict investigation of collusion between officials and businessmen. Ding Rong was supposed to be arrested and interrogated. But this person was quite prescient, or there was a master to give him advice, half a year ago he actually abandoned most of his belongings, fled to the country of Hades overnight with a few cronies, and occupied the mountain as the king in the area of Ronghe Huayu Mountain, and his power grew rapidly. It's nothing more than such strange things, but it's a little suspicious, the second leader is called Su Hong, and he is Ding Rong's cousin. Our people in White Night City say that Su Hong is cautious, never greedy for women, and is a very reliable person. ”

"Don't be greedy for women, but do such a thing? Then this Qiao Lingyan is likely to be a bit famous. The prince pursed his lips and analyzed, "Okay, although Su Hong is a little unexpected, Lao Pei, you have a lot of eyes on the matter of Huilingtang." But, alas, it's still not clear what your old man Qiao wants to do. ”

"By the way, Zheng Liguo wrote a letter to this king yesterday that the barbarian general was instructed by the underworld to close all border passes? Do you two have any opinions?" the prince suddenly remembered the completely unreasonable measures of the barbarian general, and asked with a serious face.

Qiao Zhenglang opened his mouth: "Your Highness, it seems that the underworld has issued an order to the border for wartime precautions. This ......"

The crown prince's brows furrowed, and he said to Pei Baolong: "How can this be? Did you and the third prince meet and be leaked out? Or did the Underworld rebel? It was the day after tomorrow that it was said that it was good! Here, how could they have noticed it at the border ten days and a half a month ago?"

Pei Baolong Zhengse said: "His Royal Highness the Prince, there will never be an internal ghost in our army! Even if it is really a traitor, it must be their own problem!"

"Someone must have leaked this news to the country of Hades in advance, that old witch...... What a headache!" The prince scolded viciously and continued: "Forget it, let's put this aside in advance. The time is almost up, and this king has been so busy lately that he has no chance to go to Blackwater City. Zhenglang, when did your old man say to let you go back?"

Qiao Zhenglang didn't wear a military uniform, took out an obituary from his cuffs and handed it to the prince. He took out a piece of letter paper from his pocket and held it with both hands, which was given to him by his second brother Qiao Xuebin in a hurry.

"There are about ten days left... When you go back, mention it to him a little bit, and set up his tone, do you have any plans to do this? But don't chase after it, your grandfather is also old, and he will not be able to withstand any strong winds and waves. ”

When Qiao Zhenglang heard this, he was shocked. Looking at the appearance of the crown prince sighing, what did he just say that he couldn't withstand the wind and waves, did he still have to give up Old Man Qiao Shifan?" Patriarch, he must be thinking about how to explain to you at this time, I will write a letter to him later, and tell him that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will personally ask, and the patriarch will definitely say his plan. ”

"Don't do that. His Royal Highness raised his head at some point, and cast his gaze out of the tent at the aimless swirling sand, as if remembering what had happened many years ago. "I don't know if that trick can make him feel a little more at ease... I also hope that Nahezhe is an acquaintance, and this king doesn't want to do anything to the officials of Blackwater City...... If there is a chance, this king will personally kill Huayu Mountain and slaughter that group of traitorous bandits!"

Qiao and Pei glanced at each other, their eyes full of doubts and incomprehension. The prince's attitude is a little strange, this man who has always been able to afford to let go, why should he care so much about Qiao Shifan's mood? Even if Qiao Zhenglang is of great significance to him, His Royal Highness the Prince's behavior is puzzling.

"Don't look at this king with such eyes, and don't be surprised. Qiao Zhenglang, do you remember six years ago? That day, Abin was naughty, secretly went out to play, and accidentally fell into the lake, and you rescued him. Later, when someone reported the incident to me, although I knew that Abin was safe and sound, I was still scared into a cold sweat, and even tears rolled in my eyes, and I just wanted to cry bitterly. At that time, I was not yet thirty years old, but after that time, this king understood, completely understood, that the importance of offspring and children to parents can never be erased by any time, family, power, and money. ”

"This king has always boasted of being iron-clad, but that time he really wanted to cry. And the old man of your family, who is more than eighty years old, is already old, and he has many heavy responsibilities when the family is revived, and the pressure is the same, just like the saddest days I had ten years ago. Lingyan must have a close relationship with him, and he must be very likable. But such a girl is gone, and I am also a father, so I can completely understand his feelings. ”

"This king knows a lot about your Qiao family. Zhenglang, let's open the skylight and say something bright. In your Qiao family, there are many people who have the ability and courage to strategize. Qiao Ming said that Lao Pei and Ben Wang were very impressed. There is also Qiao Liangyan, when I saw him, I thought that this son would definitely be able to become a great tool. The large number of disciples you have recruited, as well as your second brother Qiao Xuebin, seem to be still cultivators and Qi cultivators, right? It can be said that your rise is only a matter of time. But do you know what you lack the most? Every family, whether it is a family or not, is united by blood ties. You can sit together in the house and discuss things, not because of anything else, but because of the family affection that is thicker than water in your body! Although we are not children and daughters, everything that is happening now and everything that will happen in the future forces us to harden our hearts and deal with everything. However, the deepest family affection that I can perceive in all the families, although sometimes this emotion is often ridiculous, but I have never seen it in your Qiao family, at least in the old man Qiao. I can perceive that Qiao Shifan always fought for the opportunity to perform in front of me before, and some tasks were forced to be done by his family, and the horses of your Qiao family sometimes ran outside for half a year. Your old man is too eager for revival and neglects family affection. This was also my biggest disappointment. After all, the family is not the imperial court, and the real feelings will only appear in a family. ”

"I say that, do you understand, now this king doesn't care whether Qiao Shifan has a deeper plan or not, I feel that I am no longer disappointed. Because he finally realized how to use the things of the origin to maintain the longevity of the clan. From now on, your family can really be regarded as a family in the eyes of this king! It's just that if your old man can understand this, I'm afraid he has already paid the price. ”

Qiao Zhenglang was humbly bowing his head and listening carefully to the prince's teachings, when he suddenly heard this, he hurriedly asked: "His Royal Highness the prince, this is ......"

"I'm a little worried about whether his body can survive this catastrophe! Think about it, since your family was rebuilt six years ago, he was alone, so old, and under so much pressure, he had to be ruthless, and sometimes he could only wronged his own people. Therefore, he must have accumulated a lot of sorrow and bitterness in his heart, but he can't say it! But this time Qiao Lingyan was captured by the bandits, I think the blow to him has accumulated to the top, and all the pain burst out at once, this king, I am a little worried about his physical condition! Now, I can only hope that Qiao Shifan can survive until the end of the war, and the gang of traitors on Huayu Mountain, this king will also meet them in person!

"Thank you... His Royal Highness the Crown Prince cares!" Qiao Zhenglang thanked him and was sincerely moved by His Royal Highness the Prince's warmth and thoughtfulness. But listening to the prince's analysis, the old man's body and bones are probably really going to be tested, and his expression can't help but darken.

"Silly boy, why are you crying with a sad face, straighten your waist for me!" Pei Baolong laughed dryly when he saw this, and slapped his powerful big hand on Qiao Zhenglang's shoulder.

"This king has just said so much, you have to remember it. When you go back, reassure your family, especially your grandfather. Let's just say that this king cares about this matter, and then just make up a reason. Your family did a good job of meteorite that day, and praised Qiao Shifan for me. There were also a few people who traveled this time, telling them that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was very satisfied. As for the current situation, listen to it now—all our actions before were very smooth, and we hardly encountered any obstacles. Those people in the court should also know that King Ming is not a stupid prince. Originally, it was only the court officials who knew about the king's affairs, and it wasn't too explicit, at least no one had moved their brains to it, and the father didn't have anything to say. So this rumor is also a good opportunity to discern oneself... After all, we have not been idle in the past few years, and in the face of absolute strength, what is the use of rumors! Have you ever heard of a hungry wolf being bullied by a hare?"

Qiao Zhenglang looked at the prince's calm and resolute expression, without a trace of anger or smugness. This man has almost always been in control of everything, except for the day he was in Blackwater City six years ago, but it seems that this is exactly what happened. Otherwise, he wouldn't have tried to do the hardest thing in the world. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is kind to him and the Qiao family, and how much kindness is like a mountain, it is impossible to measure. And this kind of change, the grandfather is purely for the love of his children, and it makes Qiao Zhenglang so ashamed that he almost wants to apologize with death. But the prince comforted him in turn, saying that this incident might also be an opportunity...... And the rumors of the ill-intentioned people in the court and the slander of the other princes that he would face after he turned around, these highnesses did not say a word.

"Brother... Grace is as heavy as a mountain, love is as deep as the sea... The most interesting thing in this life is to get to know my brother. Qiao Zhenglang will definitely do his best to be loyal to his brother all his life, if he has two hearts, the heavens and the earth will be destroyed!"

No one would have thought that between the lords and ministers, in private, they would be brothers. But if you understand the person of the prince, you will understand what is strange about this.

"Brother Xian, and Brother Pei. The two of you are the king's closest people, just like the twilight of your father, and you are married to Jinlan. Brother Pei has been by my side since I was a child, and has been following me until now; and Zhenglang, Abin's life was saved by you, and now I find out that the life of Concubine Ai was also saved by you, and you gave hope to this king. You are one of the few bosom friends of this king, do you understand? You have the heart of a young man who has not yet been washed by the world, and this king can talk to you about everything. To put it simply, we are the most destined, I don't trust you, who do I trust? Brother Xian, if a person suffers from rheumatism in his arm, must he cut it? As long as we work together, such a little trouble will not be solved? In the future, we will enjoy the glory and wealth of the world together, and help the people of the world! So what I saw when I just came in, this king will never want to see it again. Regardless of whether you two are bitter or really afraid of my punishment, it is not what I want to see! I want that we will now share honor and disgrace, and this king will never give up either of them, because then I am no different from cutting off my arm? I want you both to remember my trust, and to trust me unconditionally. We must all be worthy of each other's trust in order to reach the final end and do the impossible!"

The weak-crowned young man, and the standing man, did not confuse the man to look at each other, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth under the subtle atmosphere. Suddenly, Qiao Zhenglang jumped to Pei Baolong's side, smiled and slapped an old fist in his back, and quickly hid behind the prince and hugged his shoulders......

......

In the evening, the prince rode back to Sene alone. An hour and a half later, we arrived at Lishan City. He did not immediately set out to find an inn, but rode his horse to a small inn. After a little conversation with the messenger who was going to travel tonight, the prince took a piece of silver from his horse and stuffed it into his hand. Soon, he found the letter he wanted, threw the rest of the letter back to the messenger, and left the station.

There were holes in the yellow paper, but the ink didn't seem to be dry. The prince sat in the inn and felt the temperature on the paper with satisfaction. There was a long list of names written on the paper, scribbled, but it did not seem to interfere with the prince's reading.

When he saw the three crooked words "Mo Lingming", the prince's increasingly cold face finally showed a trace of doubt. After thinking for a moment, he dipped his fingers in the liquor in the glass and smeared his name out vigorously. Then he picked up the flask and drank it all. Crumpled the paper into a ball and stuffed it into his pocket, and with a calm expression, he went upstairs and returned to his room.

"They say that I have formed a gang, they say that I despise the holy will, they actually say that I use the iron of heaven to enrich myself, and they even say that I have a lot of henchmen, and my prestige overshadows my father's emperor...... What a smart person, what a smart person......"