I stood on the terrace, my hair ruffled by the breeze and wrapped between my eyelashes, and I could reach out and gently sweep it open to see the entire Imperial Garden, and even beyond the red wall.

However, it is only for seeing.

"Do you like it?"

He stood beside me, looked into my eyes that had been looking into the distance, and asked again.

I didn't speak, silently looking into the distance, but I could feel that the person next to me had been watching me, his eyes were hot and focused, as if the slightest throbbing was reflected in his eyes. I was silent for a while, and then said slowly: "The emperor is busy with government affairs, and he has a lot of opportunities, so I really don't need to spend time on these things. ”

"It's because I'm busy with government affairs, so let this accompany you."

“……”

"I said that whatever you want, I will give you."

“……”

"This terrace was built by me for you alone, and it is much better than the one in the Jixian Palace."

I frowned slightly and turned my head to look at him.

His face is still the same as before, with an indelible look of fatigue, his eyes are not only red, but his eye sockets are also slightly black, he has not had a good rest for a long time, but his eyes are not the slightest slack, the essence is restrained like a sword in the sheath, no matter how harmless and safe it looks, but after all, it has a sharp edge.

It turns out - it's because I mentioned Jixian Hall.

Not only did he not let me go, but he even asked me not to think about it, as long as Jixian Hall had it, he could give it to me again.

So, up this terrace.

But what about the people of the Jixian Palace?

The person in my heart, can he give it to me?

I looked at him and curled the corners of my lips slightly.

Maybe because they were so close, I could clearly see myself reflected in his eyes, or maybe because the wind on the terrace was cool, adding a little imperceptible coldness to my faint smile.

"Thank you for your grace."

After saying this, I didn't say anything more, just leaned against the fence and looked down silently. The scenery is indeed good, and the greenery that makes the day's boredom and heat slowly subside. I blew the wind for a while, and then I felt a chill soak through my muscles and bones, and I wanted to go back. As soon as I turned my head, I saw the man standing behind me frowning slightly, rubbing his fingers against his eyebrows.

Maybe because he was so close, it was the first time I saw that his slightly frowning eyebrows were very deep, and when he did this action, the whole person revealed an indescribable tiredness and fatigue.

I frowned, and at this time, Chang Qing's deep voice suddenly sounded in my ears-

This palace does not require you to do your best, the best, this palace just hopes that you can be more merciful to the emperor.

Mercy......

Mercy.

I was silent for a while, and said lightly: "Since the emperor is tired, let's go back and rest early." ”

He looked up at me and said, "I want to stay with you a little longer." ”

"But Weichen is a little cold, and I want to go back-"

In the middle of his sentence, he suddenly reached out and grabbed my hand.

His palm was strong and warm, and as soon as he touched me, the body temperature immediately came from his skin, making me tremble, and I was about to retract my hand, but he held it tightly: "Qingying!" ”

His strong fingers gripped my hand like a pincer.

I didn't want to get entangled with him, not only in life, but physically, but after he grabbed me, he didn't make the next move, just held my hand like this, and the strength with a bit of forbearance made me a little at a loss for a while, and I looked up at him.

"No matter how good it is, I can give it to you."

“……”

"As long as you don't leave me, I will compensate you for the suffering you have suffered."

“……”

"So," he said, his eyes flashing a little, and his voice a little lowered, "So, don't think about anything else. ”

My heart palpitated, and I immediately realized something, when there was a sound of footsteps under the steps behind him, and I looked very anxious in a hurry. When I turned my head to look, I saw that Father-in-law Yu ran up from below, and when he saw the two of us like this, he was stunned for a moment, and I pulled my hand back with a force.

Pei Yuanhao looked at me, but he didn't get angry, and said without looking back: "What's the matter?" ”

"Back to the emperor, there was another urgent report. Several adults from the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Household asked to see outside the palace. ”

"Let them go to the imperial study and wait for me."

"Yes."

After Grandpa Yu finished speaking, he glanced at me again, turned around and ran down.

I have stepped aside to the side, holding on to the guardrail and looking down, the ironing of my skin just now did not make me feel warm, but my face had a cold paleness, Pei Yuanhao walked behind me, his hands caressed my slightly twitching shoulders, this time I didn't move again, just pretended to be calm and said: "The emperor still doesn't go to the imperial study?" ”

"I'd like to stay with you for a while."

This time, even his voice showed a bit of burnout.

He has never been such a neglected person in government affairs, no matter what kind of people and things can be put in front of him, but now he is like this, I feel, he does not really take those things seriously, but the situation that has not improved for a long time has made him feel deeply tired.

People will always subconsciously avoid what makes them helpless.

I thought about it, looked back at him, and finally opened my mouth for the first time after these days: "What does the emperor think of the affairs of Jiangnan?" ”

His eyes flashed slightly: "What do you think?" ”

"Wechen has been closed these days, and he doesn't know how the war is going in Jiangnan."

"Actually, there is no war yet."

"No war?"

I was a little surprised for a moment, and looked at him in amazement - the civil unrest has been going on for so long, and the rebels have already built up a rebellious sphere of influence in Jiangnan, why hasn't he ordered a war yet?

But when I think about it, I understand.

It's not that he can't fight, but he can't talk about fighting lightly.

Jiang Nan has betrayed the rule of the Celestial Empire, but who is the manipulator behind the scenes, it has not been clarified until now, if it is really Xichuan, or Yao Lao's person, then the matter is relatively simple, but in case, it is not Xichuan's person behind the scenes, then the matter will be complicated.

What Pei Yuanhao has to face is the nuisance from Jiangnan, Xichuan, and possibly even from the northern grasslands.

Such a situation can be described as the most difficult to suffer from the enemy on the back of the abdomen.

"Then the emperor's plan now is—"

Speaking of these, the little bit of beautiful air just now was suddenly swept away by the cool breeze, and he slowly put down the hands that were caressing my shoulders, and said: "Although the situation in Jiangnan is chaotic, we need to sort out the source from the chaos in order to find a solution." ”

"Is there a source for this civil unrest?"

"The two sides are fighting, and there are three people, one is the people, the second is the food, and the third is the sword soldiers."

I thought about it for a while, and said slowly: "There are many thugs in the south, plus those of the imperial court in the past few years-" I glanced at him, did not say any more, and added: "It is not difficult for the people there to organize a rebellious army; As for food and wages, the six provinces south of the Yangtze River themselves are the richest places in the Central Plains, and it is not a problem to provide food and wages for the war. ”

"So—"

"Knife soldiers."

At the mention of these two words, I couldn't help but feel a trance in my heart.

At the beginning of Fu Badai's entry into the palace, let Qinghan give Nian Shen a dagger, which was cast by Xichang Taihe Iron Mine, and its meaning is self-evident.

He seemed to be reminding him of something at that time.

The imperial court did not control the iron mines of Xichuan, so they had the leeway to produce large quantities of weapons for use in the war against the imperial court, but the south was different.

In the past few years, the harsh government and heavy taxes, coupled with the strict control of the imperial court, the circulation of iron ore in Jiangnan was very difficult, so even if those people were overwhelmed by the untouchables, they could still barely control them without causing much civil unrest over the years.

But this time, they have openly rebelled against the imperial court, and have built a huge naval camp on the river.

It's not easy!

I said, "The emperor suspects that they are Xichuan's forces?" ”

Pei Yuanhao was silent for a while, but his answer was a little unexpected to me: "Not necessarily." ”

"Oh?"

"Although the imperial court's control of Xichuan is not strong, it is not as weak as you think; It is not so easy to transport weapons that can support a war from Xichuan to Yangzhou. Even if they take the waterway, the Sanjiang Dam—"

At this point, he paused, as if suddenly thinking of something, and didn't continue.

Sanjiang Dam?

When I heard the name of this place, I lost my mind for a moment.

People who come out of Shu will not be unfamiliar, this is the beginning of the founding of the Celestial Empire, funded by the imperial court in the Yangtze River through the Xichuan downstream of the most dangerous three rivers to build, an unprecedented project.

It is said that before that, the drought in Shu was very fierce, but after the dam was built, the drought in Shu was greatly alleviated.

But this qiē makes people wonder why the imperial court is obviously so hostile to Shudi, and even fought for many years after that, why should such a dam be built that is beneficial to Shudi. The only explanation is that the waterways between Shu and the south were cut off by this dam, and any goods entering or leaving the country had to be inspected by the imperial court defenders before they could be released.

In this way, it is impossible for such a large number of weapons to be transported to Jiangnan in this way.

Neither self-produced nor obtained from Xichuan, so where did the weapons in the south come from?

Thinking of this, I couldn't help frowning, as if something was about to come out of my mind, but I couldn't see it clearly through a layer of hazy fog, and suddenly a black shadow flashed in front of me, and it was Pei Yuanhao who stretched out his hand and rubbed my eyebrows.

"Don't frown."

I blinked, and subconsciously wanted to retreat, but at a glance, I saw a bracer on his wrist, and suddenly remembered something.

Foreign goods......

When he heard these two words muttered out of my mouth, he was also stunned: "What did you say?" ”

I suddenly looked up at him: "Foreign goods! ”