In the scrubbing shed of the horse farm at night on the third watch, in front of a pot of dark yellow rust soup, Zixiao was still fighting against those rusty cold armor.

Finally, she couldn't bear it anymore, so she kicked the basin in anger, raised her head and shouted: "I am the daughter of the wolf king, the princess of the Great Tower Kingdom, a hundred times stronger than the fake princess of He Angelica, why do I have to do such a lowly job!" ”

The gray-clothed man standing behind her persuaded: "Princess, bear with me, if I hadn't broken everyone in advance, your words would have been spread." Now is at a critical juncture, a sword in ten years, just for today. Your task is very important, once something goes wrong and drags the prince back, then all of us will die without a place to bury. ”

"But I hate, I don't accept it." Zixiao's eyes were red, and the glow was miserable under the moonlight, indescribably weird, "I am more beautiful than He Angelica, nobler than He Angelica, and more attentive to him than He Angelica, why?" Why did his eyes revolve around her alone? ”

The man in gray was silent for a while, and then replied: "I don't know what to do, I don't ask why, and I will understand when the princess really likes someone." But for now you have to concentrate on your mission, and when the two armies meet, you find an excuse to leave the camp. If there are other tasks, the prince will inform you separately. When the big thing is done, whatever you want, the prince will satisfy you, because he is the most loving relative. ”

Zixiao shouted: "I just like Meng Xuan, if I don't get him, I will never leave!" ”

"You're just not reconciled."

"I don't care! was also punished, he asked me to wash my armor and let He Angelica set up the formation, making it clear that he was biased towards her! ”

The gray-clothed man laughed hoarsely and said calmly: "He Angelica will never be able to set up that array, and then the emperor will cut off her head." Haha, this is the Heavenly Aid Emperor! Cloth 'rain and fog retreat', rain comes first, and there will not be a drop of rain on the day of the exercise, old man, I will make sure of this. At that time, the Meng family's father and son went into battle together, but they couldn't save the situation. Meng Xuan is not biased, he personally sent He Angelica to the guillotine! ”

Zixiao jumped up and shouted, "Really? National teacher, you didn't lie to me! ”

The man in gray lowered his head: "The old man is loyal to the royal family of the Great Tower Country as soon as the old man takes effect, and the princess is the only bloodline left by the previous wolf king, and the old man will never dare to lie and deceive." ”

Zixiao twisted her lips and sneered: "Hmph, He Angelica, that woman has a face similar to mine, and I am disgusted from the bottom of my heart when I see it." She is a thorn in my side and a thorn in my flesh. You go back and tell my second uncle, when he becomes the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the first thing I want is He Angelica's face - I want to peel off the skin of her face alive! ”

The man in gray wanted to speak and stopped. There was a secret that only he knew, and he had been hiding it for thirteen years, and he almost blurted it out on the spot, and finally swallowed it.

"Yes, the old man will convey it to the prince."

"Hahaha!" Zixiao laughed wildly, and bent down with a smile that couldn't be seen through, "He Angelica's face is gone, and the Seventh Prince will only look at me alone, then that bad woman will understand how cruel reality is!" ”

※※※

In the big tent of the Chinese army at the end of the third watch, Meng Xuan read the military plane, and He Angelica boiled the three friends of the cold to refresh him.

"Don't burn your hands, just leave it there and wait for the light to do it."

Meng Xuan looked at her gauze-wrapped hands with great disapproval, they were all injured, what were you doing with these?

"No way!" He Angelica resolutely refused, "A big man's family, the tea boiled is rude and unliterate, you can drink it, I smelled it from the side but choked in a panic." The tea he brewed could be bottled and used as a poison for self-defense. The tea boiled by Yitong is barely eye-catching, but it costs too much tea, dozens of taels of silver for one tael of mountain blowing snow, I only clip ten pieces of flavor each time, he pours it well, and grabs a lot at a time! Brew two brews and replace the tea leaves with new ones! ”

"The water is boiling, and your hands are burned carefully."

Meng Xuan's eyes were still on the newspaper, and when he heard the prelude to the boiling water, he reminded him loudly.

He Angelica Lisuo wrapped the copper kettle above the fire with a dry cloth, and the boiling water poured down, filling the room with the fragrance of tea. Meng Xuan felt very refreshed before he drank the tea, and pursed his lips and smiled lightly.

At this time, He Angelica suddenly asked: "By the way, hasn't Yitong been found yet?" ”

"Nope." Meng Xuan's voice was a little gloomy, "That kid was not lightly injured, he left a book, and the person disappeared." I asked several altar owners in Weiyang Palace, and they all said that Yitong had never been to the altar, and there was no news for half a month, which was really strange. ”

He Angelica guessed: "He is angry with you, and he will naturally not go to your territory when he leaves the barracks." I remember that when you lived in Qingyuan last year, when you kept in close contact with Lu Jiangbei, Yitong always passed on messages on your behalf, and had a good relationship with Lu Jiangbei. Could it be that he went to Jinyiwei in anger? ”

"Perhaps, send someone to ask tomorrow."

"Don't worry too much, Yitong's mind is active, and you won't suffer outside." He Angelica comforted.

"Okay," Meng Xuan smiled, walked out from behind the desk, took the dampness tea in He Angelica's hand, took a sip and said, "The matter of setting up the formation is enough for you to worry about, and I will worry about the rest." ”

With that, he walked to the door and put on his studded boots. He Angelica asked, "Do you want to go out at this hour?" ”

Meng Xuan rolled up a scroll of river geography maps, nodded and replied: "I also want to have a fireside night talk with the deputies, you are very tired today, and you dance the whip and break the iron with one hand, rest early, otherwise you will sleep late and fall asleep in the daytime, and sooner or later you will fall ill." ”

He Angelica crossed his waist: "Are you talking to this divine doctor?" ”

Meng Xuan raised her hand and ruffled the hair that was draped over her shoulders. The flowing water of the long-haired waterfall passes through the fingers, plucking out a faint fragrance of flowers and a cool touch.

"Doctor lady, go to bed early, and if you feel cold at night, you can put together two braziers. There is another thing - my father asked me to take you with me when I went to the military headquarters tomorrow, but there are two martial arts exercises in the camp during the day and at noon, and I must be present to supervise them. It will probably be after dusk before we have time to enter the city. ”

"Let me go to the military department with me?" He Angelica was a little strange, "Do you know what's going on?" ”

"I don't know," Meng Xuan smiled slightly, "Today, a group of northwest veterans in the ministry just returned to Beijing to report on their work, and the scene was chaotic, and I couldn't hear what my father said." It's okay, let's go over together anyway. Father has always admired your talents, probably for praising you for saving the holy car in the palace. ”

"Oh, then go to your fireside and talk, don't let people wait for you." The little hand pushed his chest.

Meng Xuan lowered her lips and kissed her, "Good Qing'er, you go to sleep first." ”

She pouted, fell back, lay on the edge of the bed and closed her eyes, and said, "Sleep, the general is at ease, right?" "Are you so worried about her?

Meng Xuan patted his head, covered the quilt, and the footsteps walked away.

She was indeed tired, and soon fell into a deep sleep, so deep that even thunder could not wake her.

Meng Xuan walked out of the Chinese military tent, but did not go to talk to his subordinates about military affairs as he said, but saw that there was no one around, so he got into a third-class soldier's tent with gray lines and white background, and said to the people inside: "Sorry for making the national teacher wait for a long time." ”

The gray-clothed man inside was meditating with his back to the direction of the door, his back was gloomy, and his beard and hair were white. He looked back at Meng Xuan, and the face he revealed was also the vicissitudes of the wind and frost, and his eyes gave people the impression of being harsh and cold, and they were very similar to Qi Xuanyu's eyes when he looked closely.

This gray-clothed man is Qi Xuanyu's father, the former national teacher Qi Jing. He smiled, but the audience didn't feel the warmth at all, and only listened to him: "A person like General Meng, I believe that anyone is willing to wait, whether it is an hour or a year or ten years, it is worth waiting." My prince once said that the heroes of the world are the first generals. The old man was still a little puzzled in the past, but recently he saw the general's actions, and he realized that the prince's words were true. ”

Meng Xuan smiled: "I dare not be ashamed." I am the general of the imperial court, and the prince is the head of the emperor, and the different positions of the two sides make me have to keep working against the prince, and the prince also praises me in turn, which is really elegant. ”

Qi Jing said: "The ability of the prince, the general has not seen the tip of the iceberg, and the yellow-bearded boy in the imperial city can never be compared, even his grandfather is less than a point." Follow the prince, the future is limitless. "Such a big rebellion, he said it rightly.

Meng Xuan pondered for a moment and said, "Let me think about it for a few days, although I admire the prince's Gao Hua, but I was born in the Meng family, and it is not my business to make any decisions." ”

Qi Jing shook his long beard with a smile, and said incomprehensibly: "The old man found the general precisely for the Meng family's plan." ”

"Oh? What does this mean? ”

"General, please read."

Qi Jing handed over a piece of paper, and Meng Xuan's heart burst after reading two lines. Rao is heart is like a stone, and his gloomy face also reveals his wavering at the moment. In the eyes of Qi Jing, it is good news, Meng Xuan defected, and the prince's major event was decided!

Qi Jing added another fire and added: "No matter how cautious the Marquis of Baoding is, in the eyes of many bigwigs in the court, it is also a thorn that must be pulled out. The content of the evidence in this piece of paper is accompanied by a volume of detailed evidence, once it falls into the hands of political enemies, even the emperor will not be able to protect the Meng family. The general thinks twice, my prince is really sincere, and he is the first person to cherish talents in ancient and modern times. Not only the general, but every son of the Meng family has the opportunity to show his talents and learn. ”

"Okay, I agreed on behalf of my father."

Meng Xuan clenched his hands into fists and lowered his head with difficulty, with helplessness in his eyes.

Qi Jing happily took out another piece of paper, asked Meng Xuan to pay, and inquired about the specific distribution of military power in the hands of the Meng family. Meng Xuan answered one by one, and the two talked late at night.

Finally, before Qi Jing left, he turned around and said: "It's rare to fall in love with the general, the old man wants to be a big matchmaker, I don't know if the general appreciates his face?" ”

"Please."

"Zixiao is the daughter of the prince's brother, innocent, and has a soft spot for the general. If the general is willing to accept her as a concubine, I believe that the prince will also be happy to see it. ”

"Zixiao?" Meng Xuan's face was surprised, "This is really surprising. The first time I saw her was in the barren mountain Taoist temple, she was just a yellow-skinned little Taoist girl, and her exposed arms were covered with scars left by bamboo knives, according to her, she was beaten by a fierce master, and begged me to take her away. Could it be that the meeting was also arranged in advance by the prince? ”

Qi Jing showed a sad look and sighed: "There are no eggs under the nest, and even the prince couldn't get out of the whole body back then, let alone the princess who was less than four years old." ”

"National Teacher, you ......"

Qi Jing restrained his sad face before saying: "General rest assured, Zixiao is the orphan of the former master that the old man just found not long ago, and even she didn't know her life experience before, and she didn't have the idea of calculating. The general can take it with peace of mind. ”

"Then, Meng Xuan thanks the national teacher for his kindness."

"So, the general agreed?"

"It's easy to get a thousand dollars, but it's hard to find a city. Zixiao fell in love with the appearance of the city, and I couldn't think of a reason to refuse. ”

"The general is a real hero!" Qi Jing smiled with satisfaction.

"Don't dare to be."

Not long after, in a dark red tent behind, the flickering candlelight depicted a pair of figures, looking like cross-necked mandarin ducks from the outside of the tent, which was beautiful. It wasn't until the sky was white in the east that the two figures separated, accompanied by a woman's lingering low sobs.

The man changed his clothes and snorted coldly to leave, but found that there were many people outside the tent, so he stopped in embarrassment. No, he must not be seen!

Listening to the voice, it should be the patrol guard in the battalion, and he wanted to come in and find out.

The man was startled and hurriedly looked for a place to hide.