He Qingchang raised his head and looked at Ye Tianhuai.

The time between the two seemed to be stagnant, and after a long time, a trace of regret flashed in He Qingchang's eyes, and he said: "Your Majesty's love, the lower officials deserve it." The lower officials are only afraid that they will disappoint His Majesty. ”

The scorching fire in Ye Qianhuai's eyes seemed to be extinguished in an instant, and she sighed silently, revealing a regretful smile.

He Qingchang rejected the olive branch she handed over.

"Is it because Gu Shihai is better than me?" Ye Qianhuai asked.

He Qingchang lowered his head again and stopped talking.

Curiosity appeared in Ye Tianhuai's eyes, and she asked with a smile, "In that case, why did you come to see me today?" ”

He Qing was silent for a long time, and finally he raised his head and looked at Ye Qianhuai again, his eyes were still as calm as water, but they shimmered with sparkling waves.

"Although the lower officials can't help Your Majesty, the lower officials have one person to recommend." He paused and said, "General Gyeonggi Wei Shenwei Weiwei, Zhao Yinshi." ”

Ye Tianhuai was slightly startled, and then said in his heart: It turns out that he is here for this.

"Zhao Yinshi is the founding general of the country, General Zhao Chengfeng, one-handed Zhao's marksmanship makes the furnace perfect, and in terms of kung fu, it is famous in Shengjing. Moreover, when he fought against Jinchuan five years ago, he was awarded the title of general, served as the deputy of General Zhang Xuwen, and was the deputy commander of the army at that time, and he was a talented general. ”

Ye Tianhuai didn't know about Zhao Yinshi's past. But she has heard of Zhang Xuwen's name. This person is both wise and brave, and he led his troops to fight several victories in the Shunping Dynasty, and the first emperor once praised him as the first general of Shunping. Zhao Yinshi can be a deputy general under him, and he will never be an ordinary person.

With such a resume, it is logical to be named a general. Why didn't he rise but surrender, and now he is just a five-grade General Wei? Ye Tianhuai couldn't help but be curious.

After the Battle of Jinchuan, he injured his ankle and lost his right leg, so he asked to be discharged from the army. At that time, the first emperor wanted to confer on him the position of commander of the forbidden army, but he refused several times on the grounds of leg injury. Later, the first emperor was annoyed, not only did not reward him for his exploits in the Battle of Jinchuan, but demoted him to his post and let him go to Gyeonggi Weizhong to receive a Wei general. When He Qingchang said this, he suddenly smiled and said, "He doesn't have any small words, but he is quite happy, and he has been a general for four years at once." ”

This was the first time Ye Qianhuai had seen him smile. It can be seen that He Qingchang not only understands this Zhao Yinshi, but also appreciates it.

"Why did He Qing recommend him to me? Is there anything special about him? ”

"The Zhao family is a well-known military general in the Shengjing clan, although there has been a decline in recent years, but the name of General Zhao Chengfeng is still there, and the major clans still have to sell some face. Xia Guan and General Zhao discussed the art of war several times, and they also fought each other during the exercise. The subordinate can assure His Majesty that this person's cunning is in no way inferior to the subordinate official. ”

He Qingchang looked at Ye Qianhuai with those serious triangular eyes, and said, "Your Majesty just said that you want a brave and resourceful loyal and filial person to command the forbidden army, and the lower officials think that General Zhao is the most suitable." ”

Ye Tianhuai secretly thought to himself, He Qingchang was right, Zhao Yinshi, regardless of his family background, was enough to suppress the forbidden army, if he was really as wise and brave as He Qingchang said, he was indeed a good candidate.

But—

He Qing said before that when the first emperor wanted to appoint him as the commander of the forbidden army, he had disobeyed his will several times. How can I be sure that he will be the commander of this forbidden army of mine? ”

He Qingchang was silent for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "On the eve of the Forbidden Army Palace, His Majesty gave him a secret decree, right?" ”

Ye Qianhuai thought for a moment and said, "Yes." Where did He Qing know? ”

"It was General Zhao who told the lower officials." He Qingchang paused for a moment and said, "If he hadn't come to find Xia Guan overnight, what Your Majesty saw outside the Chengtian Gate that day would probably not be a forbidden army of thousands of people." ”

Rather, it is the Gyeonggi Guard, which is tens of thousands of people.

Ye Tianhuai heard the voice of his words.

"Elder Gu Ge already knows about this matter, and I'm afraid that General Zhao, the general of Wei, will not be long in coming." He Qingchang said, lowering his eyes.

Ye Tianhuai was silent for a long time, and said: "It turns out that He Qing came to see me today to find a way back for Zhao Yinshi. ”

He Qingchang did not nod or shake his head. He was silent and did not speak.

If what He Qingchang said is true, then Zhao Yinshi has indeed invisibly stood in line Ye Qianhuai, and there is no way out for Gu Shihai.

"Why would he do that?"

"I don't know. What exactly does General Zhao think, His Majesty has to ask him personally. He Qingchang still replied in a stiff manner.

Ye Tianhuai knew that he couldn't ask more about Zhao Yinshi's situation here, so she asked He Qingchang again: "Isn't He Qing himself afraid of Gu Ge's suspicions?" Since you have the heart to recommend meritocracy to me, why do you insist on standing on Gu Ge Lao's side? ”

He Qingchang's calm black eyes drooped again, his Adam's apple rolled slowly, and said, "When Your Majesty looked at Xia Guan's resume, did you ever see that Xia Guan had been imprisoned?" ”

Before meeting him, Ye Qianhuai did check his resume and asked Li Baoquan about his personality. But neither in official documents nor in Li Baoquan's memory, He Qingchang has never been imprisoned.

"In the early years of Shunping, when he was a member of the military department, he was implicated in Hu Lingyun's case of collaborating with the enemy and was suspended for questioning. The lower officials have repeatedly written to clarify, imploring a thorough investigation, but there is no news. He Qing paused for a long time and said, "This is actually a very simple matter, as long as you carefully check the correspondence between Hu Lingyun and the lower official, you can prove the innocence of the lower official, but no one has done it." ”

Soon after, Xia Guan was suddenly released and reinstated. Later, the lower officials inquired in many ways, only to learn that it was Gu Gelao, who was the commander of the Criminal Department at that time, who took over the case, and after he thoroughly investigated the case file, he reported eleven unrelated people, including the lower officials, to the imperial court, and washed away the grievances of our others. And at that time, Xia Guan and Gu Ge Lao were just nodding friends. ”

He Qingchang seemed to recall something, he paused, and said, "Your Majesty, Gu Ge Lao Yu has the grace of saving his life, and he has the grace of knowing things. Lower officials cannot be ungrateful. Gu Ge Lao wants to suspect the lower officials, even if he wants to kill the lower officials' heads, the lower officials have no complaints. The life of the lower official was originally fished out by him. ”

Ye Tianhuai didn't know that there was such a relationship between the two of them.

She couldn't help but be impressed by Gu Shihai's royal methods.

But in this way, He Qingchang's actions today, as well as his behavior of standing still in the Chengtianmen incident, seem unreasonable again.

"He has such a great kindness to you, how can you bear to let him down outside the Chengtian Gate?"

He Qing was silent for a long time and said, "Xia Guan is Gu Ge Lao's disciple, but Xia Guan is also the secretary of the Ministry of War. What the subordinate did was just what the secretary of the military department should do. ”

He looked at Ye Qianhuai with a resolute expression.

(End of chapter)