After Hu Hong finished practicing the last dish, he ate and drank with everyone in the private room. During this period, although Wei Wuxian talked and laughed with Zhao Ning and Chen Anzhi, he had never seen Hu Honglian with his eyes.

Maybe you don't dare, or maybe something else. It didn't matter, Zhao Ning felt the distance between the two of them, gradually estranged.

During the banquet, everyone inevitably talked about the situation in the court and the unfair treatment of the court in this battle. Everyone was indignant, and although no one directly accused the emperor, no one did not understand the meaning.

On the contrary, Zhao Ning and Yang Jiani were a lot more indifferent.

Zhao Ning hadn't read An Siming's secret report, but knowing that the other party would not say good things about the Zhao family and the Yanmen Army, the emperor would definitely choose to believe his own people, and it didn't matter what the truth was.

The important thing is that the existence of such a power group as the gate valve family is itself a huge threat to the imperial power.

Xia, Shang and Zhou all died in the princes, the Qin Dynasty died in the descendants of the nobles of the Six Kingdoms, and the Han Dynasty died in the famous families.

In the land of the Central Plains, there is no shortage of people rebelling during the change of dynasties, but the people have always only made knives. The eight words of the emperor's unethical and people's livelihood are everyone's favorite banner of justice.

Zhao Ning didn't want to criticize the emperor, from the perspective of the imperial family, what he did was also justice - justice, that is, fighting for himself.

Zhao Ning just didn't want to see that the Central Plains Dynasty died in a foreign invasion.

Before the Great Qi, the Central Plains Dynasty, whether it was internal unity or division, and the battle against foreign races, had always been based on victory. The Qin and Han dynasties and the Great Sui have always been like this.

But what about after the Great Qi?

Today, Zhao Ning has realized that relying on the scholars of the Hanmen people, the Central Plains Dynasty cannot resist foreign invasions. In the previous life, the Great Qi would be defeated, and a large part of the internal reasons were that the emperor had killed the power of the family.

The family of gate valves will make the dynasty have internal strife, but once the Central Plains Dynasty has no family, the change of dynasty will no longer be the Han family's own business, but will be invaded by foreign clans to occupy the ancestral territory.

In this battle of the northern border, without the Zhao family's military power group, many outstanding generals have been cultivated, and Zhao Ning, who has not been trained by the Zhao family, can Daqi win?

Compared with generals such as Hanmen Shizi and An Siming, Zhao Ning, who has a deep background in dealing with war, and Zhao Ning, who has received military training and training since childhood, is professional.

The Central Plains Dynasty has no family, and the imperial power is stable, but the country may not be, and the alien race will become the master of this land.

Protecting the Central Plains Dynasty from being occupied by foreign races and safeguarding the life of the Zhao family is the justice that Zhao Ning fought for.

Wei Wuxian said that he wanted to serve in the Longyou Army, and said that he also wanted to be like Zhao Ning, killing the enemy on the battlefield. Either the horse leather shroud is returned, or prove that you have made a career.

This was originally a sentimental statement of drinking too much soju, but Zhao Ning solemnly told the other party that he agreed with Wei Wuxian to go to the Longyou Army. Of course, there is a premise for this, the Governor's Mansion can't give up, he has to find a good successor.

"Brother Ning agreed to let me go to the Longyou Army?" Wei Wuxian was surprised.

"In recent years, there has been a war in the Longyou Army. This is Zhao Ning's reason.

"Where did the war come from? Those Great Qi vassal states in the Western Regions are going to rebel?" Chen Anzhi was as puzzled as Wei Wuxian.

"Those vassal states may or may not rebel, but even if they will, they are behind the scenes. A powerful force is about to enter the Western Regions on a large scale. ”

Zhao Ning didn't hide it, "That's the Tianyuan Royal Court." ”

From ****** back to the Zhenguo Mansion, it was already after the third watch. It took a lot of time to discuss the situation in Beihu with Wei Wuxian and Chen Anzhi. In the end, Wei Wuxian made up his mind to go to the Longyou Army.

The Longyou Army controlled the Western Regions, and the Wei clan was the largest generalist force in the Longyou Army, and Wei Wuxian had a lot of opportunities to sharpen himself and show himself.

Yang Jiani and Zhao Ning went back to the Zhenguo Mansion together. The emperor's ploy to sow discord between the Zhao and Yang clans did not succeed as smoothly as a year ago. Because, this time, Yang Jiani participated in Yang's decision-making.

It is also because to this day, the emperor's desire to take over the power of the family and support the forces of the poor has been seen through by some discerning people.

Now that he has no official status, Zhao Ning doesn't have to go on an errand, he has a lot of time, and he can plan freely. However, the first thing I did when I returned to the Zhenguo Mansion was a feast for a few days and nights.

Including Zhang Wenzheng, many people came to visit Zhao Ning. Shi Fu also came and had a good drink with Zhao Ning. What Zhao Ning didn't expect was that even Wu Shaobin came a few days later.

Obviously, the emperor's means of collecting the military power of Yanmen has caused an uproar within Jiangmen. So they sent the children of the clan to contact Zhao Ning and wanted to know what the Zhao family was planning.

The Zhao family's plan is to accumulate wealth and strength, but Zhao Ning will not say this. He will not reveal it to others, he will immediately go south along the canal, go to the Central Plains to the south of the Yangtze River, and complete a series of layouts.

The day I learned the news of the death of the Khitan Khan was the beginning of winter.

No matter how bright the sun falling on the treetops is, it can't dispel the ubiquitous chill, Zhao Ning stared at the bare old locust tree in the courtyard for a long time, and felt the momentum of the mountain rain coming and the wind filling the building.

The news spread quickly in Yanping City, and the people did not realize what it meant, but just used it as an after-dinner conversation. In his words, he was inevitably ridiculed by the Khitan Khan and scolded for dying well and deserving of it.

Before the death of the Khitan Khan, the imperial court had abolished the cultivation of two Khitan King Extreme Realm cultivators. It was the two kings of Great Qi who shot in the middle of the Extreme Realm, and Zhao Xuanji was naturally one of them.

Zhao Ning remembered what Zhao Xuanji said when he came back: The two Khitan King Extreme Realm masters had no emotion in their eyes, as if they were not the ones who were tortured, which reminded him of the captive chickens when their necks were cut - the chickens did not struggle before they were killed.

On the day of the death of the Khitan Khan, the two Khitan King Extreme Realm cultivators also died.

Just two days ago, the emperor was still persecuting the Tianyuan prince Meng Chi, so that he had to let the Tianyuan royal court, and also send two Wang Ji Realm cultivators to Yanping City to accept the punishment - abolish the cultivation.

Meng Chi never agreed, hoping to be compensated with money, which angered the emperor and threatened to raise troops for the Northern Expedition again.

After the death of the Khitan Khan and others, the queen stopped a lot. Because of the war in the north, there were also envoys from the Dadan Department and the Jurchen Department in Yanping City, and when they heard that they saw the emperor again, their faces were extremely strange.

Dali Temple did not find out the cause of death of the Khitan Khan, including the two Wang Extreme Realm cultivators. Zhao Xuanji went to see the corpse, but he had no clue. The only thing that is confirmed is that they were not beheaded.

This result did not reassure the envoys of the Dadan and Jurchen tribes. They took out a lot of money and bribed the officials of Dali Temple to know the real situation, but in the end the emperor knew about it.

Although the officials of the Hanmen of Dali Temple were disposed of by the emperor, the envoys of the Dadan Department and the Jurchen Department were even more worried, and sent several groups of people back to deliver the message.

The emperor asked the Tianyuan Ministry to send two Wang Extreme Realm cultivators to Yanping City to confess their crimes, but in the end, it was over.

Zhao Ning knew that the death of the Khitan Khan and others was inseparable from the Tianyuan Khan. The other party's cultivation realm and secret methods were obviously better than Zhao Xuanji, so even Zhao Xuanji couldn't find out anything.

This black cauldron can only be carried by the emperor in the end. At least in Beihu's view, the Khitan Khan and others could only have been killed by the emperor.

At this time, the emperor's energy is on internal affairs, and he doesn't want the four major tribes of Beihu to be wary and hostile to Daqi, making them feel that Daqi is still going to kill Meng Chi and the two Tianyuan Kings in the extreme realm, plotting against the grassland, so they can only give up persecuting the Tianyuan Ministry.

The emperor was fooled by Tianyuan Khan, but Zhao Ning didn't have much feelings.

In the previous life, the emperor's kingdom was wiped out by Tianyuan Khan, and now this little fool is nothing.

If Zhao Ning insists on saying that his evaluation of the emperor is just eight words: infighting and being an insider, and fighting outside the outside.

After learning that the Tianyuan tribe did not need to send two Wang Jijing to Yanping City to lead the death, Zhao Ning knew that the trip to the south could no longer be delayed.

Yanping City has become a place of concentration of right and wrong, and the Magistrate's Court has begun to dispatch, and every prey they target, whether it is a humble gentleman or a moral bachelor, whether there is a guilty handle or not, there will only be one end.

Zhao Ning didn't want to stay in Yanping City and become an infighting emperor in the hands of an expert, a trophy that made his heart feel refreshed.

In the days before leaving, Zhao Ning spent the rest of his time cultivating in addition to dispatching ****** manpower. The night before the trip, he finished meditating in the middle of the night and habitually felt hungry, so he habitually went to the kitchen.

There was a light in the kitchen, and figures were swaying on the window paper, and it was obvious that the other party was making up food.

Zhao Ning stopped in astonishment, looked at the slender figure, his heart was surging for a while, he didn't know what to say, time became hazy and psychedelic again, he seemed to have returned to a few months ago.

At that time, he often came to look for food in the middle of the night, and he often saw such a figure, if he walked into the kitchen, he would not be surprised to see Zhao Qiyue who stepped on a small bench to stir-fry.

The taste of Zhao Qiyue's various dishes is indescribable, but even if it is shredded ginger and shredded potatoes, Zhao Ning can eat it, and there is not even any residue left. If possible, even if he eats something weirder than this dish every day, he is willing to eat it.

Stepping into the kitchen door, Zhao Ning saw a person, he couldn't tell what mood he was, he understood that if he wasn't dreaming, he wouldn't have seen Zhao Qiyue, but he still felt disappointed and lost.

Holding a steaming plate in one hand and a chicken leg to her mouth with the other, Yang Jiani, who was about to leave from the stove to eat, was stunned for a moment when she saw Zhao Ning who suddenly came in.

Zhao Qiyue will come to the kitchen in the middle of the night to cook food for Zhao Ning, after Zhao Qiyue leaves the Zhenguo Mansion, he will come to the kitchen in the third watch, except for the greedy Yang Jiani, who else can there be?

"Do you want to eat it?" Yang Jiani handed the chicken leg to her mouth to Zhao Ning.

Zhao Ning smiled.

This smile was blown out by the cold winter wind in the dim candle flame, the taste of past and present lives, parting and reunion.

......

In the middle of the night, the lights of Chongwen Hall were still on.

Zhao Qiyue came to the outside of the Chongwen Palace, originally planned to go in, but when he saw the eunuch coming out with a tray, he glanced over and couldn't help frowning slightly.

When Song Zhi was dealing with government affairs until very late, she would make some soup and send it over, and if it was very late, she would cook some side dishes herself.

At first, whether it was soup or side dishes, Song Zhi would use some, even if he couldn't finish eating, he wouldn't move his chopsticks after all. But in the recent days, the emperor has not touched the things she has sent her.

Zhao Qiyue felt the emperor's alienation from her.

The original idea of entering the temple disappeared at this moment. She turned around and left the Chongwen Hall and went back to her Lizheng Palace. As she passed by the high platform, she suddenly stopped.

Turning around, looking at Yanping City, which was almost pitch black, her gaze fell on the direction of the Zhenguo Mansion.

The cold winter is coming, and when it comes to the third watch, even if it is as prosperous as Yanping City, there is not much light, but in the direction of the Zhenguo Mansion, Zhao Qiyue saw a little faint light.

This light was very small, if it weren't for the cultivation of the late stage of the Yuan Shen Realm, she wouldn't have noticed it. But because she caught it, she could tell that it was the location of a certain kitchen.

A smile appeared on the corner of Zhao Qiyue's mouth, and he said in a voice that only he could hear: "It's this time again......

After Zhao Ning came back, he visited her in the palace. It's just that after the palace wall, it's no longer so convenient to see each other. Now her identity is different, and she can no longer whip Zhao Ning at will like before.

The smile on the corner of Zhao Qiyue's mouth was quickly replaced by abruptness, and there were two more indescribable sorrows in his eyes, "Will there be hot food in the kitchen now?"

She didn't want to move for a moment.

"Queen, it's snowing, let's come in. The voice of the maid rang out at some point.

Zhao Qiyue raised his face, and in the deep darkness that could not be seen, there were indeed scattered snowflakes, which fluttered down one after another.

There was a smile in her eyes again, and when she looked at Zhen Guogong again, this smile did not dissipate, but it became indescribable.

She knew that Yang Jiani was in the Zhenguo Mansion, and she also knew that Yang Jiani was greedy. If Zhao Ning could eat hot things at this time, it would probably be Yang Jiani's presence.

"One day, there will be another woman in your life who will cook for you, cook for you, so that you can have something to eat even in the middle of the night when you are hungry.

"Her skills may or may not be good, but eventually you'll get used to it and enjoy her cooking, and you'll feel warm about it.

"At that point, you'll gradually forget the taste of another woman's meal that you used to eat a lot when you were younger. Until one day, you forget about it, and you forget about her.

"This ...... It's probably a brother and sister. ”

Murmuring here, Zhao Qiyue retracted his gaze, turned around, and walked towards his dormitory.

The wind and snow grew stronger, sweeping through Miyagi, blowing away the smell she left on the high platform.

Winter has arrived.

————

End of Volume III.