Just as Qin Feng and Qi Xi were arguing, two Praetorian Guard soldiers walked over carrying a corpse covered with a white cloth, "General, after being identified by the captives, this is Yelu Chengde, the king of the Northern Barbarian Hun Tu." ”

"Huh?"

The three words of King Hun Tu made Qi Xi and Qin Feng, who were still fighting each other just now, couldn't help but focus their eyes on the corpse in front of them, Qin Feng leaned down and pulled open the white cloth, only to see that the King of Hun Tu lying under the white cloth was dead miserably, his brain was overflowing, and the people who watched it were stunned.

"The credit to the Northland Army is remembered, send someone to send the body back, and we will not bury barbarians in the land of Dafeng." Qin Feng covered the corpse with a disgusted face with his backhand and got up and said.

Qi Xi twisted his eyebrows slightly, and immediately turned around to leave.

"General Qi, it's getting late, why don't you go in and have a drink?" Qin Feng looked at Qi Xi with a smile.

Qi Xi snorted coldly, inserted the ancient sword in his hand into the sheath, and said without looking back, "No need, the credit has already been robbed, so I won't rob this wine and meat." ”

After that, he took the soldiers of the Beidi Army to Shanhaiguan, when Zhang Xingshan hurried over, Qi Xi had already walked away, Zhang Xingshan was a little annoyed, he should have come out a little earlier.

Qi Xi turned to the lieutenant general and said, "Tell Your Majesty that the trap of the Prison Pass has been solved, and Qi Xi will not be a threat to us." ”

"Yes."

……

At the beginning of summer, Saibei is still a little dry and cold, unlike the Central Plains and Jiangnan that have entered the rainy season.

Gao Zhen hadn't eaten for three days, lying on the bed with chapped lips and pale face, but Han Zhongxuan was in a hurry, since he came to Dingzhou, Dian Mei asked to see Gao Zhen almost every day, Han Zhongxuan knew that he must not let Dian Mei know that Gao Zhen was terminally ill, if King Jingbei knew about it, he would definitely start an army, this is not a situation that Han Zhongxuan wants to see.

However, he has not met with Dian Mei for so long, and Dian Mei, who is the dog-headed military advisor of King Jingbei, probably guessed something, but there is no real evidence, and he does not dare to speculate.

In Gao Zhen's bedroom, a little eunuch walked over with his head down, and the little eunuch's eyes were gloomy, and he was not an ordinary person at first glance, "Lord Han, General Qin has a letter." ”

Han Zhongxuan took the letter, waved his hand to drink back the little eunuch, and after reading the letter, tears of excitement flowed, and he couldn't wait to run to Gao Zhen's bedside, knelt down, tears in his eyes, and said with excitement on his face: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, good news, General Qin Feng defeated the Northern Barbarian King Hun Tu, King Hun Tu died in the chaos, General Qin led the army to annihilate 100,000 enemies, chased the enemy for 50 miles, and the battle was decided. ”

Gao Zhen's chest swelled twice when he heard the news, he opened his eyes very tiredly, looked up at the roof above his head, and then turned to look at Han Zhongxuan, tears rolled down the corners of his eyes, and said with all his strength, "Help me up." ”

Han Zhongxuan helped Gao Zhen, who was already thin and only skinny and bones, to sit on the bed, watching the emperor who was still majestic before become what he is now, Han Zhongxuan felt a little distressed in his heart.

Gao Zhen sat on the edge of the bed, shaky, and struggled to stand up, trying to make himself look more energetic.

The emperor, who has been sitting on the dragon chair for twenty-six years, has changed from a young man to an old man, Han Zhongxuan picked up the robe on the bed and draped it on Gao Zhen's body, and he knelt beside him carefully.

Gao Zhen covered his mouth but still couldn't stop coughing, Han Zhongxuan saw this, hurriedly got up and tapped his back gently, the old emperor who had been determined to achieve the unification of Dafeng since he was a child was obviously a lot more comfortable, and looked at the half of the candle in front of him with a peaceful expression.

Through a little starlight, he seems to see his glorious life, from the age of twenty-seven to the present, twenty-six has passed, as an emperor for half a lifetime, although there is no Gaozu, Taizong opened up the country, and there is no Renzong, Xuanzong Dingguo is strong, but it is also a quite accomplished emperor, as for how future generations evaluate themselves, it will be left to future generations.

"Grandpa Han, how many years have you been with me?" Gao Zhen asked coldly.

Han Zhongxuan said softly, "Forty-seven years, when His Majesty was not a prince, he followed, and at that time, the old slave was just a small eunuch of the Internal Affairs Bureau, and no one could afford it.

Several princes thought that the old slave was short in stature and ugly in appearance, and did not choose the old slave when choosing the eunuch, so you chose the old slave and gave the old slave the cheats of the exercises, and the old slave made up his mind at that time, and he would follow His Majesty in this life no matter what, even if His Majesty wanted the life of the old slave, the old slave would never say half a word. ”

Gao Zhen withdrew his hand, clenched his fist on his knees, and smiled open-mindedly, it is really rare to see Gao Zhen smile so open-mindedly, "Father-in-law Han, forty-seven years, I am about to come to an end, and the most uneasy thing about this is Qin Wanzun and Gongsun Kang, the prince is kind-hearted, and it is inevitable that he will be constrained by the Qin family when he ascends the throne in the future, and before the prince's team does not get up, the prince still needs you to take care of it." ”

"Your Majesty, the old slave will never give ......up," Han Zhongxuan directly knelt on the ground and kowtowed, choking and shouting.

Gao Zhen didn't have the strength to help Han Zhongxuan, and then said, "Gongsun Kang is scheming, I have told the prince not to let the second child go back to Suzhou, lest Gongsun Kang take the opportunity to make a move, the prince intends to win over the Ning family for his own use, you have to keep an eye on this point, once you find that the Ning family has a heart of disobedience, you need to get rid of it as soon as possible." ”

"The old slave remembers His Majesty's will." Han Zhongxuan was sobbing and couldn't raise his head for a long time.

Gao Zhen smiled lightly, squinted at the pull in front of him, and said slowly, "Now that the matter of the Northern Barbarians is over, do you still remember the things I said in my letter to you?" It's also time to put it on the agenda. ”

Han Zhongxuan nodded, wiped his tears and snot and said, "Your Majesty, rest assured, the old slave will order someone to do it, and it will be done soon." ”

Gao Zhen continued to cough a few times, and said indifferently, "The Chinese military ministers of the DPRK are not good or bad, in order to weigh foreign relatives and control the government of the DPRK, in order to weigh the foreign relatives and control the government of the DPRK, many mediocre but powerful people were arranged in the DPRK, and in the future, when the crown prince ascends the throne, these people are bound to become a lot of resistance;

However, I am not worried about these people, because among the new generation of young scholars, I have seen a lot of promising students, Ning Feng of the Ning family, although I don't like the Ning family, but I have to admit that Ning Feng is a rare talent, and now he is a young Lin in the mountain, and the mountain is high to hide his talent, if he is in a high position in the future, his achievements will never lose to Cui Yi and Guan Zhongxian.

There is also a young man named Yu Gongming, who is also a genius, a real mountain jade, no matter where he is, it is difficult to hide his luster, if he assists the prince in the future, he will definitely be a generation of famous ministers.

There are also Wei Zhengol, Hu Tongxun and others, they are all people who can be big responsibilities, as for the generals, Qin Feng is good at scheming, if the prince can't be suppressed, something will happen, you remind him more by the prince's side, don't let him live by his side for a long time, I'm afraid of variables, I like Gongsun Changfeng very much, if it weren't for his surname, I really want him to come back from Xiaonanguan, it's a pity. ”

When Gao Zhen said this, his eyes suddenly lit up, and then his pale face began to redden, "I know that the prince has always had opinions about me, ask yourself, I am sorry for many people in my life, but I am only worthy of the four words of the Son of Heaven, whether you want to or not, you can't give up the word Son of Heaven, and when you return to Yindu, you tell the prince that I have done all the bad things for him, and the rest depends on himself." ”

"Your Majesty, don't say it anymore......" Han Zhongxuan's tears flowed, he knew that the emperor, who he had been with for most of his life, was terminally ill and had little time left.

Gao Zhen stiffened up suddenly, as if he had a premonition of something, and continued, "After I leave, the prince will ask you. ”

"Your Majesty......"

Gao Zhen's vision began to blur, staring at the candle in front of him and began to be in a daze, everything around him became darker and darker, even Han Zhongxuan's voice became smaller and smaller, only the last bit of light from the burning candle in front of him was left in his field of vision, and when the old man raised his hand tremblingly to catch this last bit of light, the only remaining point of light suddenly disappeared.

"I can't see ......"

His face full of vicissitudes seemed to have a little regret and unwillingness, but it was more of a helplessness about the passing of life.

The old man, who was nearly fifty-three years old, slowly lowered his arm, lowered his head woodenly, and in front of him, the candle was also extinguished because it burned out.

Han Zhongxuan covered his mouth and collapsed to the ground, trying his best not to cry, but the old man in front of him still didn't make it to the end.

On June 23, the fifth year of Dafeng Yongping, Emperor Gao Zhen of Taijia died of illness in Cangtong City, Dingzhou, at the age of 53, and was nicknamed Mu Zong.

……

At the same time, Zhongzhou Yindu, the imperial heavenly prison.

In the corner of the Dafeng Imperial Palace, there is a 30-meter-high stone platform, the stone platform is surrounded by the Imperial Forest Army, and the center is engraved with the three big characters of the Imperial Heavenly Prison, except for the emperor on weekdays, no one is allowed to approach, even the prince.

On the high platform stands a fifty meters high huge pavilion, the decoration is simple and elegant, without losing the magnificence, the pavilion looks like there are three floors outside, but the inside is hollow, the pavilion has no roof, there is a huge bronze dragon statue in the middle, as long as the sun rises, it can shine on the dragon at any time, the dragon's mouth holds an armillary sphere that keeps turning.

The armillary sphere is made of iron cast by the inner four circles and the outer four circles, which are engraved with the names of the heavenly stems and earthly branches, twenty-eight constellations, and twelve constellations, the four circles point to eight directions, the outer four circles rotate clockwise, and the inner four circles rotate counterclockwise, which together form this armillary sphere with a history of 1,000 years, and in the middle of the armillary sphere, there is a golden night pearl, which is not dark all year round.

If this bronze dragon represents the luck of the royal family, then the night pearl in the dragon's mouth is the breath of the Son of Heaven.

"Jingle Bell." With a crisp sound, an old man with a long beard and a long beard who held Buddha dust in his hand walked quickly to the place where the crisp sound sounded, looked at it, there was a pile of debris on the ground, and when he looked up, the night pearl in the armillary sphere in the dragon's mouth was gone.

I saw that the old Taoist chief's face was frightened, and he trembled and grabbed the debris on the ground, and then directly knelt on the ground and shouted, "Your Majesty." ”

"Whoa."

The eunuchs and scholars of the entire Imperial Heavenly Prison knelt on the ground and hid their faces in front of the bronze dragon.