On the fifteenth day of the winter month, the cold is getting thicker, a layer of hoarfrost has formed on the leaves, the sky is pale, and birds and beasts jump in the mountains, making it difficult to catch traces. The hunting palace was shrouded in the smell of winter everywhere, and the only little warmth came out of the palace lamps on the high steps of the palace, and was snuffed out in the air by the cold wind.

Winter in Rongguo comes late, starting every year after the winter hunt and ending in February of the following year. Emperor Rong set off here to return to Beijing.

On the way back, a carriage in the team was suddenly scrapped, and this scrapped carriage was Zuo Qing's carriage, which could have been transferred to the Murphy car of the same company, but the car was stuffed to the brim, and the rest of the car was still vacant except for the accompanying lady and Su Yan. Zuo Qing stood in front of the broken wheel, closed his eyes and sighed, and ordered Yansheng to stop the car.

Su Yan raised his eyes and glanced at Zuo Qing, who had a cold face, and coughed dryly. Seeing this, Ah Yan blushed and asked Yansheng, who was sitting with her, "Brother Yansheng, don't you feel uncomfortable?" ”

Yan Sheng looked like he was watching a good show, and whispered: "Your husband is responsible for my family, so he is naturally uncomfortable." ”

Ah Yu roared angrily: "You just lost! Realizing that she had done something wrong, she hurriedly lowered her head and got out of the carriage. Yansheng also hurriedly followed.

There were only two of them left in the car, and the air was inexplicably embarrassing, but Zuo Qing was still upright, with his eyes slightly closed, half-asleep and half-awake, as if he was cultivating.

Su Yan finally couldn't help but ask, "I've always been curious, what kind of person are you?" ”

He didn't open his eyes, and he didn't react.

Su Yan asked: "I lived under the same roof as you, went to Chucheng to sell medicine together, and faced the siege of killers together, do you remember?" Her voice trembled slightly, "Maybe you're just a very unimportant person, right?" ”

He still didn't respond, nothing moved, only the daisy Buddha beads hanging on both sides of the crown shook slightly, lining his face pale.

Su Yan smiled faintly, "If I meet a lover, are you happy for me?" ”

She looked at him, begging for care. And his throat was dry, and he swallowed hard, and finally spoke, but he pretended not to care, "If that is the case, I will be happy for you." ”

Su Yan smiled bitterly: "Really? ”

Zuo Qing slowly opened her eyes, and as soon as her eyes touched her eyes, she moved away coldly.

"Don't you have anything else to say?" Su Yan had suppressed his mood for a long time and wanted to vent it all, but in the face of Zuo Qing, who spoke coldly, he didn't know how to speak, and couldn't help but anger him, "I am young, beautiful, and talented, so I can naturally find a lover!" Speaking of which, you're not too young, why aren't you in a hurry at all? Or do you think that you are the righteous son of Lord Mo, and you are embarrassed to harm other girls? Then don't give up on yourself, there are more girls in the world, and you can always find a match for you. By the way, I think the eldest grandson is good, she is the future heir, and you are all in the same way. ”

Zuo Qing didn't seem to be angry, but persuaded in a low voice: "You still care about your feelings, didn't Xilou show you his heart, why don't you take this opportunity to go to him to promote your feelings." ”

Su Yan trembled with anger, and a row of marks were bitten out of his lower lip, but he couldn't say any prickly words anymore.

When Xilou saw the angry Su Yan, he hurriedly gave up his seat to make her sit more comfortably, and couldn't help asking, "Did Ah Yan make you angry?" ”

"It's not!"

"That'...... Is it true or King Yao? ”

Su Yan adjusted his mentality and said to him: "Actually, it's okay, it's just that there is a shameless person who has to take my carriage, and I don't want to go back to Beijing with him, so I came to you." ”

Xilou nodded, understood in his heart, and said to her again: "After returning to Beijing, you can rest well, and then go to class when you come back to your senses." By the way, do you have any gifts you promised to bring to your students? ”

After being reminded by him, Su Yan remembered that he had promised his students before hunting, but in the past few days, he has been addicted to hunting and has forgotten these top priorities! She was so anxious that she muttered vigorously, "It's all bad, it's all forgotten!" That girl will definitely haunt me, why did I forget?! Can you quickly think of a way for me, or will I buy some on the way back to prevaricate? ”

Xilou couldn't help but laugh and handed her a few brocade bags: "I expected you to get carried away, so I prepared it for you early in the morning!" Seeing her stupid appearance, I couldn't help but reach out and pinch her face, and said, "You have to invite me to a good meal when you go back, these things cost me a lot of thought!" ”

Su Yan opened all the brocade bags, all of them were polished antlers, some in the shape of a villain, and some in the shape of a weapon, all of which were the favorite things of those little children in Shu Youtang.

"I wonder if you're a roundworm in their stomachs, how do you know they like these gadgets?" Su Yan asked curiously.

Xilou folded his hands behind his head, leaned against the corner, and said with a smile: "Of course I don't know, I asked a master!" ”

"Superior? Among the people in the same group, there are people who know the students of Shuyoutang so well? ”

"Do you remember the person in the Xuanzi team who danced the spoon in his year?"

Su Yan frowned: "If there is a fart, hurry up!" ”

Xilou cocked Erlang's legs and said proudly: "But speaking of which, I have to thank King Yao first, one day I met the prince, chatting all the way to your tricky matter, I didn't expect him to be very willing to help with this, and immediately found the little princess, she is a well-known craftsman, and she can carve a lifelike wood carving in a few hours, so I asked her to make these few pieces for you to go back to the business." ”

Su Yan was a little dizzy and asked him, "What does that have to do with the Xuanzi team?" ”

"Because that young man is a little princess!"

"You said the boy who shot the arrow in the tree was...... Your Majesty's little princess?! ”

"Uh-huh!"

Su Yan shook his head in surprise. This royal family is really interesting, a prince likes to go to the academy to pry the corner, a Yao Wang likes to recognize people as sisters, and here there is a little princess who likes to dress up as men and compete with stinky men!

What a fun royal family!

When I returned to Beijing after hunting, I thought that the families of those officials would spread the anecdotes of the hunting grounds in the streets and alleys of the market, but I didn't expect that the people were not new to this, but they were very concerned about the marriage between Su Yan of the Shuyoutang of the Seven Senses Academy and the West Building of the Proton of Yanguo!

Some say: This is a good fate, and it can become a good story. Someone said: The West Building is just a proton, and Su Yan has no background, these two are together, it's not a good story, it's a joke!

There are also people who say: Although Yan Guo's proton has no power or power, he has managed the Wan Dynasty Fang well over the years, and he has been affirmed by Lord Mo, the chief director of the academy, and he is the person who is the favorite of many women who have not left the cabinet.

In short, each has its own views on this marriage, but those storytellers in the teahouse have a deeper view, saying that Su Yan originally liked Zuo Qing, and halfway down the road turned around and fell in love with the potential second son of the West Building, which shows that Su Yan's vision is very far-sighted, and it is not comparable to ordinary people.

This seemingly stable speculation did not arouse much reaction from the people of Ruoshui, because the people knew that Zuo Qing was weak, and whoever took a fancy to him was simply looking for boredom, Su Yan had a vision for the West Building, so it was impossible for him to hit Zuo Qing's south wall!

From this point of view, the view of this storytelling is not deep, but biased. But...... Who sent these corners out, and there was no one around, and who was hiding in the shadows and listening to these corners?

So far, Su Yan is still puzzled!

On this day, Su Yan was lying on the beauty to feed the fish, and asked Ah Yan how the incident got out, and why didn't the people wonder about the grievances between Prince Zheng's son and Zuo Qing, but like a widow next door, so caring about the grievances and hatreds between men and women?

Ah Yu seemed to be very experienced in this, and sat beside her, relishing: "If the water is too peaceful, the people live and work in peace and contentment, and the country is rich, naturally I don't like to take care of the bad things in the temple, and when I am full and have nothing to do, I like to listen to books and watch plays, and those books and plays are all from the palace, which is very interesting!" Unfortunately, it was later strictly forbidden, and the people did not dare to talk about the royal backyard anymore, so they began to talk about the academy. ”

Su Yan felt surprised, this Ruoshui people are really bold, they can't talk about the harem, and they take a step back to talk about the academy!

Ah Yu said: "There are so many men and women in the academy, naturally there will be many interesting things, whose son spent a lot of money to buy the mansion in the east of the city, just for Mr. Bo Jin to smile; Whose son-in-law visited the academy at night, and would rather be arrested than see Mr. Jin..."

"Why are they all Mr. Jin?"

Ah Yu shrugged: "People have to look good!" ”

"Yes, she is really good-looking, and she is really on par with Yanzhen!" Su Yan suddenly became a nymphomaniac, holding his cheeks, and his eyes didn't know where to fall.

Mofu, study.

The drizzle was drizzling, the candlelight was dim, and there was no one to serve in the room, only Steward Wang was guarding the side, and his eyes glanced at the person kneeling outside the bamboo curtain from time to time, and he had been kneeling for half an hour.

Ge Yiyan seemed to be tired of talking, sat on the ground and breathed a sigh of relief, and continued to speak bitterly: "Uncle, I am your nephew, no matter how loyal Zuo Qing is, he is also an outsider, not to mention that this person has a ghost in his heart, if he is reused, he will suffer a catastrophe!" He looked at the man on the couch, and his uncle was squinting and napping, seemingly unmoved. He was anxious, but he was suffering from the lack of evidence, thinking that maybe he would let his uncle know that Zuo Qing was just an outsider who had been picked up, and he should be able to treat it rationally. However, this uncle, who is strategizing in the court, is black and white here in Zuo Qing!

Murphy finally spoke, and wrote lightly: "Is there any evidence?" ”

He swallowed hard: "No, no. ”

Murphy held his forehead and couldn't help sighing, "I have reminded you again and again that you can't act rashly, but you don't listen, if it weren't for the death of those archers, I would have been affected by you today!" Think about it, if he is really rebellious, why don't he use the topic to accuse you of rebellion? Once you are convicted, you are a lonely soul today! But instead of putting you to death, he defended you before His Majesty. Yan'er, with your mind, how can you achieve great things?! ”

Ge Yi hurriedly said: "Uncle! It's better to kill a hundred by mistake than to let one go! I have followed you since I was a child, what kind of person I am is not clear to you? Even if I have selfish intentions, I will never speculate with empty teeth and white teeth! ”

Mo Fei lowered his eyes, and suddenly raised a pair of gloomy eyes to stare at him, "You said that Zuo Qing has a ghost, then you will come up with evidence, if there is no evidence, do your part, don't announce your personal vendetta again, and then affect me!" ”

Ge Yiyan's teeth gritted out and gurgled, "Why does Uncle trust him so much?" He's only been with you for three years! ”

Three years? It turned out to be three years.

Murphy's thoughts couldn't help but go back to three years ago, at the tea stall in the city, the young man was dressed ordinarily, but he still couldn't hide the temperament around him, he analyzed the current situation, the logic was clear, and he hit the nail on the head! embarrassed many Confucian scholars present. To this day, the market still admires Zuo Qing's potential to worship the prime minister, although it is just a joke, but if Zuo Qing really goes deep into the officialdom, he will definitely be able to change the scene of the future. At the beginning, I would have taken a fancy to him at a glance and was included in the door, which is also because of this.

Murphy's thoughts gradually retracted, shook his head and said: "Zuo Qing is very scheming, if you can't do it, if he has a different heart... It's a betrayal of my trust in him! ”

"Uncle...", Ge Yiyan seemed to smell hope.

"If you want to check, check secretly."

"Yes!"

Murphy was depressed and somewhat distracted. At this time, the housekeeper hurriedly came to report that Lord Liang was here.

Murphy gathered his emotions and got up to straighten his robe. Layers of bamboo curtains were lifted, and a man in a cyan placket brocade suit appeared, looking middle-aged, but still sassy and heroic, walking with the wind. This person is the provincial book of Zhongshu: Liang Luan.

He glanced at Ge Yiyan, who was kneeling on the ground, and said coldly: "This person ignores the overall situation and takes revenge selfishly, so he can no longer be entrusted with important tasks." ”

Ge Yiyan hurriedly defended himself: "I was being used by others, just..."

"It's not the first time you've made a mistake, how important are the palace guards, how can they be handed over to someone like you who only cares about personal grievances?!"

Murphy looked at his friend who was reprimanding Ge Yiyan, and couldn't help but feel relieved, in Kyoto, everyone was afraid of him, only Liang Luan was the most like-minded with him. said indifferently: "Brother Liang is angry, Yan'er has been punished, I asked him to think about it behind closed doors at home, and he should be able to change his temperament." ”

Liang Luan glared at Ge Yiyan in disgust, and said to Mo Fei: "General Zuo's seat has been vacant for a long time, and it has already been occupied, and I have to dredge it up when the time comes." ”

"General Fu Yan?"

Liang Luan was a little surprised: "Brother Mo's news is fast enough!" ”

Murphy invited him to take a seat, and Fang said: "In the early years of Wei Sheng, Rong Guo greatly revitalized the army, recruited soldiers and horses, and joined the army at a banquet; In the fifth year of Wei Sheng, he killed 200 people in the northwest of the Linjun army, and was promoted to the left forward. Wei Sheng has been ten years old, and Fu Yan has been a left general. Five years later, when I returned to Beijing with glory, I specially recommended him to Prince Zheng, and in the same month he was incorporated into the 'patrol army', and he has always been loyal to me. ”

Liang Luan suddenly realized: "It turns out that Brother Mo has already arranged it!" ”

"Don't worry, no one will threaten us."

The two chatted for another half an hour before saying goodbye. Murphy looked at the light that was approaching outside the study, and said with a smile: "It's better to choose a day than to hit the sun, since you're here, you can give it a try." He walked into the back room.

Ge Yiyan, who was kneeling and was about to faint, suddenly perked up, looked back at the door, but his heart was a little bottomless. If you make a mistake, Zuo Qing is not more loyal in his uncle's heart, how can he eradicate this thorn in his eye?

He took a deep breath, roughly thought of a countermeasure, and invited someone from outside in, only to see that he was carrying something in his hand.

Ge Yiyan picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip of hot tea with a smile on his face, and then asked, "You're a rare guest, what, you're here to see my jokes?" ”

Zuo Qing looked at him and didn't smile, but asked with concern: "Your injuries haven't healed, why are you here?" ”

Ge Yiyan sneered, "Naturally, I came to greet you, what are you afraid of?" ”

"I know that you have always regarded me as an enemy, and you want to get rid of me as soon as possible, and now I can tell you clearly that I have no contradiction with you, I will go my way, and you will cross your bridge."

"Zuo Qing, it's just you and me now, what are you pretending?" He threw the teacup out hard, completely enraged by his words: "Aren't you very powerful? You say those words again, the box, right! It's that box, if you and the West Building, you have the ability to say it again! ”

"Are you still minding about that? I don't have a deep friendship with Xilou, and he said something about you to me that day, but I didn't take it to heart at all, and as for the box, it is very unfavorable to you, and I have already burned it for you. ”

Ge Yiyan's face twitched fiercely, "Still quibbling!" Since it's not good for me, why don't you just give it to me? Who knows if you really burned it or fake it! ”

"I knew I shouldn't have burned it in the first place, look, now you doubt me."

"You!" Ge Yiyan's face turned red with anger, and he couldn't say a word next.

Zuo Qing shook his head helplessly: "Forget it, since you don't believe it, I have nothing to say, anyway, we won't work together in the future." As he spoke, he withdrew his attention from the curtain of the door, and after a while, he saw the corner of the purple cloud rolling ball curtain, and Murphy came out with a smile on his face, and said to him: "Why don't you let people send a message when you come?" I'd better prepare dinner in advance, sit down, there is a stove in the house, warm up first! ”

Zuo Qing and Ge Yiyan glanced at each other coldly, and then entered.

Murphy sat down like a cloud all the way, and glared at Ge Yiyan halfway, with extreme dissatisfaction hidden in his eyes.

He picked up the teacup and moistened his throat, and asked with a smile: "The academy is busy with trivial matters, and I am usually not free, why do you have to come to see me today?" ”

Zuo Qing smiled and said: "This is the secret spiritual ointment of the summer resort, which has the miraculous effect of healing scars and reshaping muscles and bones, and I specially used it to heal the general." As he spoke, he showed the two jars in his hand.

Ge Yiyan snorted coldly, not wanting to be unappreciative at all, but he immediately softened under Murphy's eyes that were almost devouring, and reluctantly got up and went over to pick it up.

"The master in charge really cares about the little brother, I don't know if this spiritual ointment has an aphrodisiac effect, it's up to you to use more." Ge Yiyan didn't miss any opportunity to embarrass him, and he almost regarded it as the greatest pleasure of his life.

Zuo Qing didn't care at all, he only handed him the spirit ointment jar, and when their hands touched the jar, Ge Yiyan secretly tried violently, almost crushing it. Zuo Qing let go of his hand without changing his face, and said with a smile, "Although the spiritual ointment has miraculous effects, it is the most unbearable to use the power, if you insist on doing it, I am afraid that you will be disabled, you should go back early, rub the medicine for a few days, and it will be all right." I still have important matters to discuss with my father-in-law, so I won't give them away. ”

Ge Yiyan stuffed the jar into his arms with all his might, and said angrily: "What big thing can you Zuo Qing do, even if I listen to it, are you still afraid?" ”

"I'm afraid that you'll be tired, and I'm even more worried that you'll miss the best time to heal."

Ge Yiyan still wanted to target, but Murphy stopped him sharply, "I don't go back yet, there are more than enough things to do, go back and think about the wall, and reflect on what I have done." ”

Ge Yiyan was angry and hateful, but he didn't dare to speak out for fear of Murphy's majesty, so he had to give up.

As soon as the song was gone, Murphy regained his smile, "Say, what's the matter?" ”

Zuo Qing said with a serious face: "Presumably my father-in-law has also heard that Princess Xihuan has reached the marriageable age, and it coincides with the five days when all countries enter Beijing to pay tribute, and Your Majesty has decided to choose a son-in-law for the princess on that day." ”

"Looks like you've got a plan."

"It's not a plan, but I think this competition is a great opportunity, with His Majesty's love for the princess, if we can marry the princess, we are like a tiger to us, and the most important thing is .... Future. ”

Murphy nodded in agreement with his idea, but immediately vetoed: "The opportunity is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but the people who participate in the competition must be people with strong martial arts, how to win?" ”

"I've seen the roster of entrants, except for the kings and grandsons, there are many famous people in the rivers and lakes, as long as we send a few people with strong martial arts to mix in, no one will find out, if we can win the competition, it can be said that we have a hard backing for our father-in-law."

"Your Majesty has already read the roster, how to do it?"

"In order to avoid trouble, naturally you can't provoke the royal families and nobles of various countries, those people in the rivers and lakes are a good choice, under the heavy money, there must be brave men."

"What if you lose?"

Zuo Qing's face was embarrassed: "If you lose......" He thought for a moment, and then suddenly realized, "If you really lose, it is not a good deal to gather a few masters." ”

Murphy slowly smiled, his deep eye sockets were pulled by the surrounding skin, making him look even more gloomy, "I have always believed in you in whatever you say, and your ability will eventually be above me." ”

Mo Fei's trust and respect for Zuo Qing has always been unswerving, which is also the direct reason for Ge Yiyan's hatred and jealousy. But for Zuo Qing, this is not a killing, the more important, the more hopeful Murphy's heart is, once disappointed once, his credibility will naturally decrease, then for the future plan, it will be difficult.

However, Zuo Qing has always been handy at dealing with such a tricky matter, and he can always say that he is alive if he is dead.

Under Murphy's warm gaze, Zuo Qing Zhensleeve knelt on the ground, "The father-in-law is an indispensable humerus for Rong Guo, how dare I compare with you." ”

For Murphy, Zuo Qing is his left and right arm, and he is the military advisor who advises him, how many courtiers he holds in his hands, with these weaknesses, Murphy is like a fish in water in the court, and no one stumbles to make him disgusting. Such a genius from the sky, he naturally has to take good care of it, and his grand career may also need Zuo Qing to inherit it.

The drowsy cabinet is full of sandalwood, full of Buddha incense, and the people in front of the bookshelf are gently tapping on the teacups, uneasy. Yansheng knocked on the door and entered, Zuo Qing stared at the secret document in his hand with a solemn expression.

"But Yunlai Pavilion?"

Yansheng handed over the secret document and replied, "I didn't write a signature." ”

Zuo Qing didn't think much about it, and took the letter to read it.

"What are you talking about?" Yan Sheng watched him unfold the secret document and couldn't help but ask.

"The bird is trapped in the deep courtyard, and it is rare to spread its wings." Zuo Qinghu looked at the word Honghu suspiciously, which obviously referred to...

"It's Yan Ling!" He was a little shocked.

Yan Sheng asked him anxiously: "Xuanting is in charge?" Why did he suddenly find you, an adult? The thought of your being targeted by a leader of the dead men made his face pale with fright.

Zuo Qing burned the secret documents and replied: "Xuanting only obeys His Majesty's orders, and has always cared about the disputes in the court, and it is really unexpected to write a letter suddenly this time." ”

"That's... What are you going to do with him? ”

"Bringing down Murphy and forcing Emperor Rong to abdicate, it's not enough to clean up the three provinces and six departments, I need soldiers. It can be said that he has really removed his armor, and he has no right to mobilize the Praetorian Guard, and now in addition to Prince Zheng's Kyoto Guard, only the Prince's East Palace Praetorian Guard can be used, but now there is an additional Xuan Court, which can be described as a tiger with wings! ”

Xuanting only does things for the emperor, tracking down and killing people, they all act in secret, they have their own people, directly obey the emperor's orders, those people are called 'Tingwei', a total of thirty-six people, all elites, brave and good at fighting, it is said that they are all orphans selected by the military camp, and they are dead soldiers! It was rumored that Murphy had recruited him, but he was unmoved and devoted himself to protecting His Majesty and the Crown Prince.

"Xuan Ting only obeys His Majesty's orders, and Yan Ling is a dead brain, notoriously stubborn, how could he join forces with us to deal with Murphy? Dealing with Murphy, is it necessary to remove stumbling blocks for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince? ”

"He is His Majesty's personal guard, not the prince's personal guard, why take the risk for the prince? Come to think of it, he is cooperating with me alone, as for why ......" Zuo Qing sighed softly, thinking that Xuanting was born and died for Emperor Rong, and protected with blood all the way, so that Emperor Rong could be safe and sound so far, but such a mediocre emperor who listened to slander was really not worth working hard for him, "Perhaps, he is not protecting the emperor, nor the prince, but Rong Guo, as for who the emperor is and who the prince is, it doesn't matter." ”

Yan Sheng suddenly seemed to be frightened by something, and said in a panic: "How did he conclude that you would definitely cooperate with him?" He...... He wouldn't have found out what we're doing, would he? ”

Zuo Qing was very calm, and said indifferently: "What does Xuanting do?" Listening, tracking, arresting, and killing, no matter which one is taken out alone, it is beyond the ability of the Criminal Department, do you think such a department, and it is deeply rooted in the palace, will not know the whereabouts of the prince? With their experience, how could they not know the purpose of the prince. ”

Yan Sheng suddenly understood, but having said that, I am afraid that Yan Ling is acting as bait, and the person holding the fishing rod behind is probably Your Majesty!

Zuo Qing was a little surprised by his guess, Emperor Rong had been mediocre for many years, and he had allowed Mo Fei to do evil, but now he could suddenly come to his senses? It's impossible to think about.