What is different from the past is that Huayan did not take the two girls Shenglan and Xinqiao on her trip this time, but came to Xiao Minglang's mansion alone. She still dressed as a female companion and a man, and carried two pots of wine from the Forgotten Dust Building. Since Liu Che'er recognized some flaws last time, he has been careful with his paintings.

"Apricot Grove." Hua Yan looked at the plaque on the door of the mansion and said. She remembered that the plaque on her former door read "Treading Fang Path"

"Are you here to find my son-in-law?" A butler-like figure came out of the room and asked.

Huayan turned his attention back to the topic, and said with a hippie smile: "Exactly, please report it, Jia Yingtai from the Forgotten Dust Building has sent wine." ”

The housekeeper is a kind and kind person, he hurriedly invited the painting face in, led the way in front of him, and said to himself as he walked: "My son-in-law loves fine wine the most, son, please come in first, I'll go and report it, and you will follow." ”

Hua Yan also replied enthusiastically: "Okay, okay, you go first." ”

Looking at this kind old man, Huayan had no choice but to shake his head and smile, it was so easy for people to enter the house, Xiao Minglang coincided with the peak of his life, and when he met so many people every day, his saliva was probably dry.

Painting Yan leisurely strolls through the courtyard, waiting for the presentation. The apricot trees planted when I arrived in the capital are now full of flowers. Patches of apricot blossoms fell to the ground, like drops of colored rain.

"The Anglo-Taiwanese brothers also love apricot blossoms?" A voice rang out from behind Hua Yan.

When he turned around, it turned out to be Xiao Minglang. However, in just a month, Xiao Minglang has lost a lot of weight, his hair is still messy and scattered, and the stubble on his chin looks haggard. Huayan was stunned for a while, then smiled, she handed over the two pots of wine in her hand, and said, "Brother Lang, the younger brother specially came to pay back the wine owed to you." However, in the future, Brother Lang will stop being polite to me, and call me Yingtai directly. ”

"You finally appeared, the third prince is also here with me, come with me to meet, we haven't met together since the incident in Peicheng." Xiao Minglang took the wine and introduced the painting into the hall.

In the hall, Liu Che'er was pacing in the house, and when he saw Xiao Minglang and Jia Yingtai coming in, he hurriedly stepped forward. He smiled and arched his hand and said, "Brother Yingtai, I finally got to see each other." Last time in Peicheng, this king has not thanked him in person. ”

Hua Yan hurriedly leaned over and returned the salute and said, "The prince doesn't need to be polite to the little one, it is a small blessing to be able to do a small part for the prince." The little one has been busy with trivial matters recently, and he has not visited the prince, so please don't blame the prince. ”

"Sit down, please." Xiao Minglang led Liu Che'er and Huayan to the main seat and the lower left head respectively, and he sat at the bottom right head.

After Xiao Minglang ordered the frightened people to serve tea, he personally filled the wine brought by Huayan for them, and then raised his glass and said: "Brother Che, Yingtai, let's have a drink for the victory of the Battle of Peicheng!" ”

The three of them raised their glasses and drank together.

Seeing that Xiao Minglang had poured another full glass, Huayan hurriedly stopped: "Brother Lang, your body is still recovering, don't drink too much." ”

Xiao Minglang didn't follow, still raised his glass and smiled: "Don't worry, this little wine is not too much for me." This battle can be regarded as a friendship between life and death, for the righteousness of brothers, I should have another drink! ”

Liu Che'er also said happily: "Yes, for the sake of life and death, brotherly righteousness, have another drink!" ”

Seeing that he couldn't be persuaded, he simply filled a cup and drank it.

After two glasses of wine, Xiao Minglang suddenly laughed for no reason, and Liu Che'er followed suit. The laughter continued, and Hua Yan had to giggle with him.

"This stop is regarded as the battle of the opening of the mountain, and I am afraid that the dangers and difficulties in the future will be more severe." Xiao Minglang poured another glass of wine and drank it.

Hua Yan half got up and asked in surprise, "Why did Brother Lang say that?" ”

Xiao Minglang stopped the wine glass in his hand, glanced at Liu Che'er, and then replied: "Since I returned to the capital, I think you must have heard a lot of rumors about me. Now you can guess one or two, right? ”

Of course, Hua Yan understood in her heart, but she couldn't say it explicitly, so she had to pretend to be ignorant and continue to ask: "Little brother is stupid and can't guess." What did Brother Lang say? ”

Liu Che'er suddenly slapped the table, stood up, walked to the center of the hall, looked at the light rain that suddenly fell outside the door, and said: "Today's court can't work for the people's interests, it's sad, we won't sit idly by!" ”

Huayan looked at Liu Che'er's back, and after listening, he did not show a trace of surprise. She knew that the future throne would belong to him, but there were still some hardships to go through. And she wondered, what role should she play in this? History proves that there has indeed been some prosperity in the world governed by Liu Che'er, and he is a Ming monarch. In the past few years, the imperial court has been renewed several times, accompanied by continuous wars, and the people have long been struggling to make a living. What should she do? Self-financed school, no penny medical center, how many people can be helped by Shi Zhai cloth porridge? None of this is the solution.

But she didn't want to see bloodshed and sacrifice the most, and she never got involved in the killing and grabbing, so she didn't want to participate too much in the battle between Liu Cheer and other princes to seize the throne. But it's okay to give some advice, she knows which generals and strategists have helped Liu Che'er on the road of counterattack, she just needs to make some suggestions to help Liu Che'er contact these people. She resolutely raised her head and said, "If the prince can afford the small one, the small one is willing to serve the prince." ”

Liu Che'er turned around and said in surprise: "Brother Yingtai is too modest, your strategy to rescue the people of Peicheng that day is enough to see that you are indeed extraordinary." With you joining, our fists will be even more powerful against our enemies! ”

Huayan returned to her hippie smiling face and said: "The prince has won the award, and the small ones can't be on the big scene, so they can only provide the prince with some tricks." I hope I can help the prince. ”

Liu Che'er patted Huayan's shoulder, and suddenly said seriously: "The current situation of this king should also let you know truthfully." In the past, the king did not like to have personal relations with his ministers, so there were no ministers of the court to follow me. Mrs. Zhang has attracted many ministers for the prince, and the emperor is too partial to the prince, and my mother Wang Meiren has always been suppressed by Mrs. Zhang in the harem. With the current situation of this king, it is difficult to fight for the throne. Do you still have faith? ”

Seeing that Liu Che'er was in such a low mood, she smiled and comforted: "Brother Che, don't worry, the throne is still yours in the end, but you still need to go through some difficulties." ”

Xiao Minglang, who had not spoken for a long time, also stood up and said firmly: "Yingtai is right, the prince is the king of benevolence, and his ambitions will definitely be realized." ”

Liu Che'er nodded and smiled, looking at the two brothers gratefully.

"So where do we start now?" Liu Che'er walked slowly back to his original seat, bowed his head and pondered.

Xiao Minglang threw the wine glass aside and drank the wine in the jug directly. He rubbed his lips and said, "Since ancient times, the elders of the throne have come first, so it seems that the prince is the heir to the throne. But there is also a saying that the sage comes first. Several princes who have the opportunity to compete for the throne are: Liu Yifu, the prince of the world, never concentrates on political affairs, loves to drink and enjoy fun, and everyone in the court knows it. The second prince, Liu Yizhen, is frail and sickly, and he is bedridden all the year round. The fourth prince, Liu Yikang, is young and reckless and impetuous. The other princes are not in the climate, and they have been free-range since childhood, so they are not close to the emperor. In this way, only Brother Che has a modest temperament, literary talent, and talent for governing the world, and there is not a word from the court that is unfavorable to Brother Che, and Brother Che's chance is still very great.

But if we want to fight for more opportunities, the most fundamental thing is military power. ”

Huayan remembered that Liu Yifu, the young emperor of the Song Dynasty, was abolished in history, which was done by Xu Xianzhi, Tan Daoji, Fu Liang and others. But they were all loyal people who followed Liu Yu to fight the world, and later because of Liu Yifu's extravagant games, these old ministers rebelled. Xie Hui was finally ordered by Mrs. Zhang to rebel. Although he can't persuade Xu Xianzhi and others to support Liu Che'er to compete for the throne now, he can also get close to him appropriately and pave the way for the future.

Thinking of this, Hua Yan said: "Now the military power of the imperial court is divided into five branches. The Emperor's Forbidden Army. Tan Daoji and Xie Hui's army were the two backbones of the imperial court. There are also Zhu Chaoshi and Xu Xianzhi each commanding two small armies. Xu Xianzhi and Tan Daoji are the emperor's henchmen. Xie Hui is Mrs. Zhang's right and left hand. Only Zhu Chaoshi, who has not heard of which camp he joined, can be used by us. Although he has a small military power, he has a lot of small power and cannot be ignored. And Xu Xianzhi and Tan Daoji, I think it is appropriate to be friendly with them. ”

After painting Yan finished speaking, she took a big sip of tea, but she didn't see Liu Che'er and Xiao Minglang's surprised eyes.

"How do you know in such detail?" Xiao Minglang stopped the wine jug in his hand in mid-air and asked in surprise.

Liu Che'er then asked, "Xie Hui is Mrs. Zhang's person?" ”

Hua Yan woke up and hurriedly explained: "You know that there are many people who come to my Forgotten Dust Building, so it will be much more convenient for us to collect information." But I assure you that the information is true. ”

Liu Che'er and Xiao Minglang glanced at each other and breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.

"Zhu Chaoshi? I've heard of it. This person likes to dance with knives and guns, bother writing chapters, and has no brains, and everyone is the same. You will only see the wind and rudder. It was quite cold in the DPRK and China. There are many weaknesses, and Brother Che can easily break them. Xiao Minglang returned to his lazy normalcy and said leisurely.

Thinking of Zhu Biyu's funny appearance, Huayan suddenly laughed and said, "It turns out that if there is a father, there must be a daughter." ”

Liu Che'er didn't hear Huayan's words, and nodded in approval of what Xiao Minglang said, "Then start with Zhu Chaoshi." ”

Xiao Minglang glanced at the painting and thought thoughtfully.

"Brother Lang is now back in the capital, and my father will definitely summon him, how should you explain it then?" Liu Che'er asked again.

Xiao Minglang replied: "The emperor has long known that you and I have been friends since childhood, and according to the emperor's suspicious nature, we can only interact as always, so as not to arouse more suspicion." But no matter what the emperor thinks, on the surface, I will still tell him the excuses for saying it to others. ”

"That's all it can be." Liu Che'er said.

"Childe, there's a girl outside the door asking to see you." The housekeeper stepped forward and said to Xiao Minglang.

Xiao Minglang raised his head and asked, "Girl? Can you report home? What did you say? ”

"Said that it was for her father, Duke Xu, who came to visit her son."

Liu Che'er asked in surprise: "Is it Xu Xian's daughter?" What did she come to do? ”