Weiyang Palace.

Chu Zhixia wore the expensive finch feather skirt and knelt beside the chessboard. The turquoise blue skirt pinched her flexible and slender waistline just right, and her long hair was pulled up, revealing her slender and white neck, like a drinking swan.

The chessboard is staggered in black and white.

The emperor grabbed two chess pieces and threw them on the chessboard, and said with little interest: "No, I won't play." ”

Chu Zhixia smiled slightly, unable to hide his pride.

"You little girl, whoever plays chess with me is not trembling and discerning, winning or losing is measured." When the emperor saw her smile, he pointed at her with annoyance and amusement, "You have been merciless, and you have killed me without leaving a piece of armor." ”

"Your Majesty is rich all over the world, why worry about winning or losing a game of chess." Chu Zhi Xia Zhenzhen said, "What's more, the minister's chess skills have not yet reached the point of being superb, and even His Majesty can be deceived in the past." ”

Chu Zhixia showed a sly smile, "There are many people who can lose to Your Majesty, but there are not many people who can win Your Majesty's chess. After this battle, the minister has more capital to brag about, and I feel very honored. ”

She said crisply, "Thank you, Your Majesty." ”

The emperor was completely annoyed by her, and nodded her nose without speaking.

After a while, the emperor said: "That day, I thought you had grown up, and I thought you had grown up. I didn't expect it to be this child's temper. ”

Chu Zhixia smiled hesitantly, not wanting to say more.

"I have rewarded many people, but your reward has not been given for a long time, do you have resentment in your heart?"

Chu Zhixia knew it.

She came to the emperor as a hostage, and the emperor wanted to use her, but he didn't dare to use her too much. The Chu family is an important minister at the border, rich, soldier, and famous, and there are not many people in the court staring at the Chu family, so there is no reason why she is still rising step by step in the imperial capital and has a prosperous official fortune.

This is called checks and balances.

"What is there to complain about?" Chu Zhixia picked up the chess pieces one by one, and said casually, "The minister hasn't been to Yulinwei to practice those young masters for several days, and there are Yulu to take when he lies at home, not to mention how comfortable it is." ”

The emperor's conspiracy and calculation were stirred up by her gags, and he patted her head with the scroll angrily, "I have no ambitions." ”

Chu Zhixia complimented with indistinguishable falsehood: "The sky is falling, with Your Majesty supporting you, why do ministers have such great ambitions?" ”

Chu Zhixia's words coaxed the emperor into a smile, and he was happy.

"You proposed to me to reform the military system, do you remember?"

Chu Zhixia quietly put away the chess pieces, "Chen remembers." ”

At that time, the emperor told her that the matter was very important and deeply involved, and that she should not mention it again. But the rebellion of the second prince was like a slap in the face, which made the emperor confused and couldn't find the north. He realized that the army in the hands of the Maison was like a knife across his neck.

"I now think you have a point." The emperor let out a breath and said leisurely, "I have ordered the cabinet to draft a bill to reform the military system, and the policy has not yet been written, and the opposition is already boiling against the sky. Is there anything you'd like to say? ”

Chu Zhixia took two steps back and knelt deeply on the ground, "The minister is willing to serve His Majesty." ”

——

Too learned.

Bai Ziche is no better than the rest of the princes, no one cares and no one asks, and the books he reads are Buddhist scriptures except for picture albums, which are far from the way of gentlemen and the strategy of governing the country taught in Taixue. The first day he walked in here, he bumped into Bai Yu's cold eyes.

"I've seen the third brother." Bai Ziche took a step back and made way for him.

"I know that you saved your mother on the day of the palace change, so I don't care about your dedication in front of your father for the time being." Bai Yu said coldly, "But if you provoke trouble in the academy, I won't let you go." ”

When Bai Yi rebelled, he kept saying that Bai Yu had caused him to have his legs mutilated, and the emperor sat idly by, and countless palace people, chamberlains, and Yu Linwei heard it. The emperor has been for many days, and he has not had a good face for Bai Yu.

I don't know who is more troublesome.

Bai Ziche lowered his eyes and said, "Remember the teachings of the third brother." ”

Bai Yu snorted and strode into Taixue.

The little palace maid couldn't help but complain: "The Third Highness is simply ......"

"Be careful." Bai Ziche interrupted her, "Let's go in." ”

The young masters and ladies in the school yawned and chatted about inconsequential gossip in twos and threes. Bai Ziche sat in front of his bookcase, slowly arranging the pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, without saying a word, like a silent shadow.

The bell on the podium was suddenly shaken, and he said in a voice with a smile: "Everyone, Mr. Yang is sick today, and I will take this class for you." ”

Bai Ziche couldn't hide his surprise and looked up.

Pei Zhang.

Pei Zhang was wearing a green shirt, holding a folding fan in his hand, and he looked like a scholar when he flipped through the scrolls. He seemed to raise his eyes inadvertently and smiled at Bai Ziche without a trace.

——

Akiba Mountain House.

Chu Zhixia took off the tightly fitting skirt, and lay on the beauty couch in a wide white robe, with bare feet, sitting without sitting. She shook a cup of tea and glanced nonchalantly over the vermilion beams.

"Dali Temple found the bronze statue of King Ming one step ahead of us." Cheng Yuan reported to her through a screen.

"Is it really in Bai Yi's Jishan Hall?"

"The eldest lady expected it to be good, and it was there." Cheng Yuan said, "The bronze statue of King Ming was cut into several pieces and hidden in a well. But that place is not under Bai Yi's name, how did Dali Temple find out there so quickly? ”

It will take some time to liquidate the mess left by Bai Yi, and the first thing to be confiscated should be the land, shop, and house in his name, and then the people who have interests with him. Jishantang is very hidden, if it weren't for Bai Yi taking the initiative to expose it, Chu Shixia would have to work hard to find it.

Chu Zhixia didn't say anything, she thought of someone.

On the day of the palace change, Pei Zhang, who appeared in the Chen family.

Cabinet Pei Cifu spoke up in the court, and Chu Shixia Shangke thought that this old minister's conscience was not clear, and there was still a trace of justice in his heart.

But if Bai Yi was not completely exposed, and he launched a palace change with a white face, then Dali Temple would naturally find the bronze statue of King Ming, and Bai Yi's guilt would be certain. On the surface, the prince's crisis was solved, but at the same time, Bai Ziche turned the crisis around.

After all, Bai Yi had always planned to blame Bai Ziche for this matter, and he had already taken action.

Pei Zhang?

Chu Zhixia was a little interested.

In his previous life, this young master of the Pei family did not enter the official career, and Chu Shixia knew very little about him. I only know that when the big men in the imperial capital are fighting, the Pei family has always been alone.

Chu Zhixia was very curious about how he would make this move this time.

——

Black.

The black that you can't see at a glance.

A little light lit up in the darkness, faint and small, held in the palm of the hand by the silver-faced ghost, and lit up the bottomless waterhole little by little.

Only when the demons come, there is light here.

In the middle of the waterhole was a huge iron cage, from which a pair of blinded eyes looked up at the silver-faced ghost above his head. The ghosts seem to be sneering, or maybe it's just a child's hallucination. He lifted a silver bottle and threw it into the cage.

"This is the antidote to this heartburn, and this time there is only one...... In other words, between you, only one of you will survive. The ghost's laughter drifted overhead.

The children in the iron cage were shaken, scrambling to grab the silver bottle. These skinny children burst out with terrifying power, using their teeth and nails as weapons to ferociously attack other children who were also prisoners.

Some people were buttoned in the eyeballs, some people were bitten off their ears, some people were pressed on the head and hit the iron railing, and there was a deep mark on the head. The silver bottle rolled around in the iron cage, and finally landed at the feet of the quietest child.

The child's face was dirty, but it could still be seen that the child had a pair of beautiful eyes. It's just that these eyes are dull and gray, without a trace of popularity.

Someone reached for the silver bottle at his feet, and he stepped on the palm of his hand, crushing his heel fiercely. The sound of bones shattering irritated everyone, and the quiet child was immediately besieged. Unmoved, he struck the man with his elbow and knee violently.

With blood, he swallowed the antidote in the silver bottle.

"Is this the last seed to survive?"

A hoarse voice sounded overhead.

The voice was indistinguishable from male to female, like a needle piercing the child's brain. At some point, torches lit up at the edge of the waterhole, and he looked down in horror to see that the cage was littered with mutilated corpses, and the waterhole was stained red with blood.

Countless dark shadows stood above the waterhole, and they looked down at the little child. The children were so frightened that they almost screamed, and each of them had the same silver face.

"As an Assassin, this face is a little too pretty, so pretty." Someone sighed, "But who made him a seed?" ”

What the ghosts were saying fell on his ears in a chaotic voice. As they got closer and closer, the smell of rotting blood on their bodies surged, and the children couldn't help but retreat step by step, forced to vomit.

Sword, where is my sword? The child's mind was confused, and he subconsciously touched his hand.

With a "poof", the blade of the sword came out of its sheath seven inches, and the clear sword light cut through the black nightmare.

The cold sweat dripping on Shen Zhou's forehead condensed into beads, and it hit the blade of the sword with a "snap", and it fell apart. Shen Zhou originally slept in the corner of the room with his sword in his arms, but at this moment, he drew his sword from his arms and forced forward, as long as he advanced a few more inches, he could cut the opponent's throat.

Chu Zhixia knelt motionless in front of him, worried and inquiring in his eyes, but there was no fear.

"I'm sorry." Shen Zhou put down his sword almost in a panic, he hadn't fully woken up from that nightmare, he was delirious, and reached out to grope for a non-existent wound on Chu Zhixia's neck, "Did I hurt you?" ”

"You're sweating a lot." Chu Shixia brushed the beads of sweat from his eyelashes, "Nightmare?" ”

Shen Zhou closed his eyes and nodded with difficulty.

Shen Zhou rarely shows such a fragile appearance, like a rose flower that can be climbed in the rain, wet and gorgeous.

Chu Zhixia wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with some distress. Shen Zhou didn't touch the hot blood on her neck, and the faint scent of sandalwood on her body made Shen Zhou's soul suspended in the air fall heavily, and fell back into her body steadily.

He is still in the world, and there are no ghosts in the world.

Shen Zhou was relieved, and slowly pressed his forehead against Chu Zhixia's shoulder socket.

"It's okay, I'm here," Chu Zhixia patted him on the back and pinched his palm with his other hand, "What are you afraid of?" ”