The world, the country of Xun, the enclosure of ten thousand beasts.

"Taishi!"

Seeing Shen Zhou walking briskly towards him, Xi Ci was as happy as seeing a savior, and struggled to stand up.

Seeing this, Shen Zhou unconsciously reached out and pulled her, and the person in his heart appeared, and Xi Ci wanted to seek a comforting hug.

But forced by countless pairs of eyes staring, the hand she just stretched out froze in mid-air, pursed her lips in embarrassment, restrained her impulse, and hid her hand behind her.

He lowered his head slightly, looked at Shang Xici's eyes that wanted to speak and stopped, and slowly approached her half a step closer to her who was insecure at the moment.

Yan Mo put the hand holding the bow behind his back and asked a little sternly, "What's going on?" ”

The originally noisy whispering suddenly disappeared, replaced by the "rustling" sound of the wind blowing through the branches, and everyone immediately looked straight at Xici, waiting for her to give an explanation.

Xi Ci looked at Yan Mo timidly, his face was pale, and he didn't know how to state everything that had just happened.

You can't say that a demon man came here to steal himself, right?

Xi Ci's eyes were full of help, and he glanced at Shen Zhou repeatedly, and he looked back at her with a somewhat depressed expression, waiting for her to open the conversation box first, otherwise he didn't know how to use words to solve the dilemma.

Seeing that Yan Mo's expression became more and more solemn, Xi Ci's hand unconsciously grabbed the corner of Shen Zhou's sleeve, and said: "Return, go back to Your Majesty, the maid is here, digging pine cones, and then ...... And then, and then ........."

Shen Zhou's sleeves tightened, and he spied out from the corner of his eye, Xi Ci's fingers were tightly gripping the corner of his sleeve, knowing that under the watchful eyes of everyone, she was inevitably a little nervous and scared.

She raised her eyes and glanced at Shen Zhou again, and seemed to have made up her mind temporarily in a hurry, and then said in a colorful voice: "Then a wild man ran out, and when he saw that I was good-looking, he wanted to steal me, so I resisted stubbornly, but the wild man did not give up, and I had to shout for help, and finally scared the wild man away!" ”

Xici's description made everyone stunned for a moment, and after looking at each other, their expressions became very solemn.

She immediately noticed that everyone's expressions were wrong, and wondered if what she said was full of loopholes.

As soon as Shen Zhou heard it, he knew that she was lying, and it was impossible for ordinary people to break into the royal enclosure, but despite this, he decided to support Xi Ci.

At this time, a middle-aged man stood out, glanced at Xi Ci sternly, and said to Yan Mozuo: "Your Majesty, the escort team of 100 people is distributed around the paddock, and those who trespass on the paddock must be killed, and the security is so tight, it is impossible for such a dereliction of duty to occur." ”

The courtiers present all understood that if there was a real invasion of savages, and the escort team could not help but take precautions and did not know about it, then the entire escort team would need to be dismissed and investigated, and the circumstances would be serious and directly killed.

After listening to the other party's words, Yan Mo stared coldly at the girl who moved behind Shen Zhou.

Shen Zhou's face was pale and he said to Yan Mo: "Your Majesty, it's still too early to say whether there is such negligence, it is better to gather the escort team and ask as soon as you ask." ”

Yan Mo could feel that Shen Zhou was deliberately biased against Xi Ci, but what he said was not unreasonable, and it was not easy to be aggressive to a woman in front of everyone's eyes, so Yan Mo nodded slightly, raised his voice and said, "Okay, then gather all the escorts and interrogate them together!" ”

With that, he turned around and led everyone back to the place of departure, waiting for the assembly of the convoy.

Xi Ci clenched Shen Zhou's sleeve with a worried face, he looked back at her for a moment, did not shake off her hand, but used his little finger to secretly hook her little finger, letting her follow closely behind him.

The two little fingers hooked together, like the agreement to hang the hook that night.

Xi Ci looked at him hooking his little finger in a daze, this contact made her a little cramped and uneasy, but at the moment her mind was full of his doting smile on Qingge.

Back at the starting place, Yan Mo sat proudly on the main seat of the stage, looking down coldly at the escorts who had already assembled under the stage.

"Your Majesty, there are a total of one hundred and two escorts, one and a lot, all up to Your Majesty!" The guard officer walked up to Yan Mo and bowed with his fists in a bow.

Yan Mo nodded solemnly, raised his hand to signal him to excuse himself, and the guard officer retreated into the queue willingly.

He got up from his position, slowly got down from the stage, looked at everyone in the escort from left to right, and asked coldly, "In the paddock today, do you see any suspicious people?" ”

When the guards heard this, they looked at each other, and replied with great certainty: "Back to Your Majesty, I haven't seen it." ”

Hearing such an answer, Yan Mo took back a satisfied smile in his eyes and looked at Shen Zhou: "I don't know what the master thinks?" ”

The corners of Shen Zhou's mouth hooked up a faint smile: "Your Majesty, this is right, if you see such a disaster happening, wouldn't it be knowingly committing a crime and admitting that you are derelict in your duty?" ”

"What do you mean?" Yan Mo didn't expect Shen Zhou to answer like this, and looked at him with a little surprise.

Xi Ci was also quite surprised by Shen Zhou's answer, and clenched the corners of his sleeves tighter.

Shen Zhou glanced at Xi Ci, which seemed to reassure her, and then withdrew his sleeves and took a step forward: "The minister thinks that it is true that the maid in the house met a wild man, and it is also true that the escort team did not see a suspicious person." ”

The serious middle-aged man from before said unhappily: "Master, do you have any evidence to prove that there are really wild people who have broken into the field?" ”

"Then I don't know my lord, but is there any evidence that no wild people have broken into the arena?" Shen Zhou asked rhetorically without hesitation.

"This ......" The middle-aged man was stunned, speechless for a while, and couldn't help but think.

Seeing this, Shen Zhou had the intention of taking advantage of the victory to pursue: "What do you mean, but the maid of the contemptible mansion maliciously planted the guards?" ”

"What does the master mean, is he also slandering a little maid for lying?" The middle-aged man seemed to have learned Shen Zhou's sentence structure, and asked proudly.

His Royal Highness Shen Zhou smiled, leaned over and said: "Your Excellency has misunderstood, it's just that the maid on the contemptible mansion is the hand-picked by Your Majesty to participate in this autumn ceremony, your Excellency can't believe in the contemptible people, and you can't trust Your Majesty?" ”

His words are obviously leading the war, Xi Ci was invited by His Majesty, if Xi Ci maliciously lied to frame the escort team, it is equivalent to saying that His Majesty wants to frame the escort team.

In other words, to doubt Xici is to doubt His Majesty's intentions, and if His Majesty's intention is to purge the guards, it is equivalent to standing on the opposite side of a certain faction among the courtiers, and to speculate or fabricate the thoughts of the saints at will, which is a great taboo!

When the middle-aged man heard this, his face turned blue with fright, he turned his head to face Yan Mo, landed on his knees, arched his hands, bowed his head to his hands, and calmed his heart: "Your Majesty, the minister has no such intention." ”

Shen Zhou's eyes were slightly raised, the corners of his mouth were sneered, and he bowed: "But it depends on Your Majesty's holy judgment." ”

Yan Mo looked at Shen Zhou in disbelief, he never thought that Shen Zhou would be so protective, Xi Ci was indeed hand-picked by himself, and he couldn't prove who was right and wrong at this time, but Shen Zhou's move was beyond his expectations.

He rubbed his stinging temples, and when he looked at Xi Ci, his expression revealed a hint of gloom, but he withdrew it without a trace.

Yan Mo didn't know what to do at the moment, if he found the wild man, he would testify for Xi Ci, and if he couldn't find it, he couldn't prove whether the wild man had been infested.

He pondered for a long time, sighed, waved his hand and said, "That's it, let's count the prey and go back to the palace!" ”

Yan Mo said, in a gloomy mood, he rode his horse and took the lead in front, and when the temple people saw this, they preached loudly: "Drive back to the palace!" ”

When the civil and military officials and their families heard this, they knelt down and bowed one after another, and then they all mounted their horses one after another and followed them in an orderly manner.

Shen Zhou sighed faintly, turned his head to look at Xici, who was still full of blood stains, and couldn't help but ask funny: "What kind of savage bullied you like this?" ”

Hearing this, Xi Ci woke up from the situation just now, and said angrily in a low voice: "It's the wild highness who wants to grab the magic mirror!" ”

"Oh? He's back? Shen Zhou's eyes were slightly raised, and he asked with a chuckle, Bo Qing really came back, which is really good.

Xi Ci nodded again and again like a chicken pecking rice: "Yes, it's him!" ”

Shen Zhou, who was halfway under his face, frowned slightly, but he thought she was very funny: "Then how did I hear that you shouted about stealing people, not robbing?" ”

"I'm your man now, and he's going to take me out of your nose, isn't it called stealing?" Xi Ci asked with a simple face.

"......" What did she learn by following Fengyang?

Sensing the black line on Shen Zhou's face, Xi Ci seemed to realize that his statement was a little inappropriate, so he added seriously: "I mean, I am from your house, and if he doesn't ask about his own captivity, he steals!" ”

"Heh~" Shen Zhou couldn't help laughing.

As he spoke, he felt something uncomfortable in his upper lip, so he stuck out his tongue and licked his nose to his lips, some dried blood.

Seeing this, Shen Zhou asked angrily and funny, "Is it delicious?" ”

"Hmm...... It's a little salty, a little fishy. Xi Ci looked at Shen Zhou innocently and said, she always thought that her blood was sweet, after all, her father fed herself so much honey since she was a child, but she didn't expect it to be no different from human blood.

Looking at her like this, for some reason, he couldn't say a word of accusation, and he didn't have a handkerchief at hand, so he directly wiped the blood on her face with his hands and sleeves.

This is the first time that Shen Zhou has treated himself so gently, and he finally overlapped with him in his dream.

Such a close and slightly intimate contact made Xi Ci suddenly feel cramped and uneasy.

Then Shen Zhou helped her onto the horse and said, "Let's go, let's enter the palace." ”

Xi Ci rode on the horse and asked a little worriedly, "Taishi, I'm causing you trouble again, right?" ”

"Well, yes." Shen Zhou rode a horse, and led Xici's horse leisurely behind the large army.

Hearing his affirmative answer, Xi Ci pouted a little confusedly: "I'm sorry." ”

"It's okay, I'll still support you." Shen Zhou said without looking back, he had gradually gotten used to her troubles.

Shen Zhou's words made Xi Ci's frustrated mood jump all of a sudden, and after a while, he began to chatter with Shen Zhou again.

Shen Zhou led her horse and listened quietly to Xici's words in front, although she didn't respond to her too much, but her face was rarely relaxed.

in the royal palace.

Most of the time was spent waiting for the courtiers' families to arrive at the enclosure and the subsequent gathering of the convoys, and very little was actually achieved.

But after careful inventory, the maid in the Taishi's mansion had a great harvest, and in such a short time, she shot a fat hare and a huge wild boar.

When the temple people were ordered to announce the results of this hunt, they looked surprised to see the words of the pine cones standing in a corner, constantly groping for pine cones from their bodies.

Hearing his name, Xi Ci was a little surprised to divert his attention from the pine cone, thinking that everyone would congratulate him, but he didn't expect it, and when he looked up, he saw a complicated and alienated look.

Xi looked at Shen Zhou, who was standing beside His Majesty at the moment, his eyes were not stained with a trace of emotion, as if everything was expected.

And Yan Mo, who only shot a fawn, couldn't help but raise his eyes in surprise when he heard this, his sullen eyes instantly froze, and he looked coldly at Xi Ci with a blank face.

Most of them only hunted rabbits and pheasants, and a few people hunted fawns, and Xici was the only one who hunted wild boars, and besides, she was a little maid.

Not only did she make such a big splash in the paddock, but she also won the first place in this autumn festival, which can't help but make people think about it.

Under these unfriendly gazes, Xi Ci shrank helplessly behind the pillar.

It is customary to save the best game for tomorrow's Hundred Flowers Festival, such as the wild boar of Xici.

On the night of the Autumn Festival, a night feast is customary, and some of the game is used for this feast, and the king will share the joy of the harvest with the ministers present today.

The rest is used as the imperial kitchen, and the imperial dining room will handle it properly, and then put it in the ice cellar, and take out some of it every day to cook for the royal family.

All the arrangements have been secured, there are still several hours before the start of the dinner, Yan Mo on the golden carved dragon throne, seeing that some of the courtiers have begun to fight, thinking about tossing for most of the day, they should be tired.

Yan Mo's expression gradually softened, and he said slowly: "You Aiqing are all tired, right?" Then take a moment back and wait for dinner! ”

When the courtiers heard that His Majesty had opened this golden mouth, they all woke up briefly from fatigue, and knelt on the ground with their left hand, supported on the ground, and slowly kowtowed to the ground, staying for a long time, with their hands in front of their knees and their heads behind their hands: "Thank you, Your Majesty's holy grace, long live your Majesty, long live, long live, long live!" ”

Yan Mo smiled lightly, waved his hand at the ministers, got up, passed by Shen Zhou, glanced at Shen Zhou, and said in a low voice: "Master Tai is lonely, come to the study." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Shen Zhou bowed his head in agreement, glanced at the lonely Xici in the corner lightly, and left with Yan Mo.

Xi Ci saw Shen Zhou turn around, and took half a step from the same place to stop talking, and took it back one by one, hanging his head a little dejectedly, and slowly walked out of the hall with the courtiers and family members.

After coming out of the paddock, Shen Zhou suddenly ignored him, and Xi Ci was puzzled, because of the identity and distance between the two, it was not good to come forward to inquire in front of everyone.

Walking out of the main hall, Xi Ci looked at the huge palace, didn't know where to go, wanted to go back to the Taishi's Mansion, but didn't know if going out of the palace and returning to the house without permission would cause trouble for Shen Zhou, she walked down the steps and walked aimlessly with the crowd.

Inside the study.

Yan Mo turned his back to Shen Zhou and unfolded the "Wisteria Fairy Picture" presented by the envoys of Qu State again.

He looked at the painting repeatedly with a puzzled expression, and then smiled, and said: "Lone has always felt that he seems to have seen the fairy in this painting somewhere, and today I saw the maid on the Taishi's Mansion again, and I suddenly became enlightened. ”

Shen Zhou didn't answer his words, he just lowered his head slightly, there was no emotion or temperature in his eyes, and the corners of his mouth were smiling.

"Master, why are you silent? Don't you think it's like that? Yan Mo saw that Shen Zhou's reaction was too flat, and he couldn't help asking.

"Back to Your Majesty, the minister is stupid, I only feel that the beauties in this world all have a similar face." Shen Zhou replied respectfully, his voice very soft but sonorous.

"So, the master admits that the maidservant girl in the house is a beauty?" Yan Mo couldn't help but chuckle.

Previously, Shen Zhou always denied that there were beauties in the house by playing Tai Chi, saying that it was an ordinary maidservant who was perfunctory, so there should be no way to deny it now, right?

Shen Zhou was empty, and explained unhurriedly: "Beauties are also divided into three, six, nine and so on, and the maid in the house is just the most mediocre one among the many beauties." ”

"Taishi is indeed stupid, such a wonderful beauty can be said to be mediocre? In the whole country, if she is called second, I am afraid that no one dares to call her first. Yan Mo saw that Shen Zhou was still arguing, and couldn't help but sneer.

Shen Zhou didn't understand why Yan Mo always couldn't get along with Xi and didn't like her, but he mentioned it repeatedly, and he didn't want to figure it out, so he said perfunctorily: "The saint is wise." ”

Seeing that Shen Zhou was soft, Yan Mo was overwhelmed with pride in his heart, and a smile hooked up at the corner of his mouth: "Presumably, the envoys of Qu Kingdom have seen her today, right?" I don't know if I will mention this matter to King Qu after I go back. ”

When Shen Zhou heard this, he was slightly stunned, and vaguely guessed Yan Mo's thoughts, but he was not sure, thought for a moment, and replied: "As an envoy of the Qu Kingdom, you must know the preferences of your own monarch, and it is inevitable to mention it." ”

Yan Mo put away the painting, stared at the indifferent Shen Zhou incomprehensibly, and said slowly after a long time: "Gu has decided to refuse Qu Guo's invitation to make peace, I don't know if Qu Guo will be angry, I am afraid that it will ruin the friendship between the two countries in advance." ”

"Your Majesty, since you have decided to refuse to make peace, you can proceed with the original plan without worrying too much." No matter what Yan Mo decides, Shen Zhou doesn't care, as long as the general direction remains the same, he can do whatever he wants.

Yan Mo nodded approvingly, but a sly smile crossed his eyes, and he took it back without a trace.