The carriage galloped on the road to Taihe County.

In the carriage, Lu Chen and Fu Huan continued to improve Fang Cai's suggestions, of course, most of Lu Chen was talking, Fu Huan was listening, and when Lu Chen needed to know some information, she would only open her mouth to add.

The separation of local administrative power and judicial power cannot be achieved overnight, not to mention anything else, the talent pool alone is a problem, and the professionalism required by the judiciary is not low, and there are not many talents in this area in the imperial court.

Relevant systems should also be improved.

After all, politics is not a game, and decisions can be made by patting your brain, and it is still necessary to pilot it.

The most suitable areas for pilot projects are naturally Yu and Sui Erzhou, which have just undergone a great purge, and Gyeonggi, which is firmly controlled by the empress.

Especially in Sui and Yu.

At this time, the land of the two states is like a blank piece of paper, and the ideas of the empress and Lu Chen can be given the greatest feedback there, and at the same time, while the policy is being implemented, it can also continue to cultivate the talents that the imperial court really needs, and prepare for the future.

Kill more than one stone.

Therefore, this matter is also the top priority at present, and we must pay enough attention to it.

An hour and a half passed quickly.

Near noon, the carriage finally came to the foot of Montenegro Mountain, about thirty miles away from Taihe County.

A new twist and turn also happened to fall at this time.

When Lu Chen and Fu Huan were discussing the proposed recital, Gu Simiao, who had been unable to interject, saw that the two of them were finally done, so she lifted the window boredly and glanced outside.

As far as the eye can see, there is a bare black land, which looks like a lifeless desert compared to the lush mountains and trees around Luojing.

As far as the eye can see, the endless black mountains are like a black dragon, soaring into the sky with teeth and claws, which is quite spectacular.

Looking sideways, several dilapidated farmhouse eaves appeared in her sight in the distance.

"Huh?"

Gu Simiao's moving eyes flickered slightly.

"Where is this?"

She opened her mouth and whispered outside.

"Review the general's words."

Zhu Yong's heavy voice sounded.

"We have arrived at the border of Montenegro, which is a village called Yongping Village on the eastern edge of Montenegro."

"It's time to go to Montenegro."

Lu Chen handed the fold to Fu Huan, and then glanced at Gu Simiao.

"Now that you've arrived at Miss Gu's fiefdom, let's take a look at the living conditions of the people here."

"Hmm."

Gu Simiao nodded.

After answering, she looked at Fu Huan, who had heard Lu Chen's words, and directly took the fold back into her arms without hesitation, and said softly: "Commander Fu wants to stay in the carriage to study the fold that was drafted before that?" ”

"Nope."

Fu Huan shook her head, then smiled slightly, and turned her head to look at Lu Chen.

"Your Majesty once said that Huaiyu's safety is related to the future of Great Xia, and protecting Huaiyu is the top priority of Xuanjiwei, as long as Xuanjiwei still exists, even if there is only one person left, as long as there is still a breath left, he must desperately protect Huaiyu, as the commander of Xuanjiwei, in this strange place, he naturally has to follow Huaiyu inch by inch, so as not to make any mistakes."

Hearing this, Lu Chen couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth.

Thank you so much!

With you here, why is Lao Tzu's dream of ascension not broken?

"Commander Fu makes this a mistake."

Gu Simiao shook her head, and then waved her hand, and the moment the mysterious spiritual power surged, a blue butterfly appeared on her fingertips out of thin air.

"Although he is not talented in the bottom, he is also a cultivator of the Five Heavens of the One Realm, and if he is in the bottom, Huaiyu will definitely be foolproof, and Commander Fu can rest assured."

Feeling the coldness emanating from the extremely familiar butterfly, Lu Chen sighed helplessly.

It is precisely because of these two goods that his plan to ascend to immortality will be so difficult.

From the very beginning, he didn't have any hope of ambushing or anything.

Two Returning Realm powerhouses, unless the Holy King personally went out, or the enemy had arranged some ancient great array in advance, he would hardly encounter any danger.

Die and then ascend to immortal or something, you don't even have to think about it.

With them here, it's impossible.

"And..."

Gu Simiao looked at Fu Huan with a smile on her face, as if she was looking at her best friend who had known each other for many years, and her eyes were more kind and kind.

"As far as I know, what Commander Fu just said, His Majesty's orders or something... It should have been said when Huaiyu went to Erzhou to help Xiao Ge Lao calm the flood, right? ”

Fu Huan shrugged.

"As long as Your Majesty does not withdraw your order, this will will always be valid for Xuan Jiwei, and if you are loyal to Your Majesty, how can you greatly discount Your Majesty's will?"

As she spoke, she stood up directly and walked to Lu Chen's side.

"General Gu's kindness, I understand it in my heart, and I also know that your cultivation is profound, even if you don't use spiritual power, you are also a peerless fierce general who can carry the tripod with the strength to carry the tripod, the arm can walk the horse, and the unparalleled fierce general of the three armies, but protecting Huaiyu is the responsibility of the next, so where Huaiyu goes, he will go next."

Hearing this, Lu Chen suddenly subconsciously looked at Gu Simiao's arm.

Arms can walk horses, strength can carry a tripod or something, these words, used to describe a woman, even in this strength of the Middle-earth continent, is not very good?

As if noticing Lu Chen's gaze, Gu Simiao raised her hand so that her shoulders were facing the lighting beads in the carriage.

In the next second, in the light yarn, a slender arm was soon revealed.

"Commander Fu has won the award."

I don't know if it's an illusion, Lu Chen always felt that Fu Huan's tone was a little subtle fluctuating, which was a little different from the breeze and clouds on weekdays.

"Although the cultivation under the can barely get it, but in essence it is just a weak woman, if there is no spiritual power, let alone any strength to carry the three armies of the Ding and the Yongguan, I am afraid that even a chicken can not be killed, but it is not worthy of the name of this fierce general."

As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere in the entire carriage inexplicably became a little subtle.

The silent smoke of gunpowder quietly surrounded the eyes of the two looking at each other.

Lu Chen yawned.

"Alright."

He slowly got up.

"Since Liangyu wants to relax, let's come over together."

With that, he left the carriage and walked outside.

After Lu Chen left, the two of them staggered their gazes almost at the same time, and then Fu Huan said very politely: "General, please." ”

"Commander Fu, please first."

"There is a difference between respect and inferiority, so let's ask the general first."

"His Royal Highness the Holy King has made great contributions to the court, Commander Fu led the Xuanwu Guard Horse to step on the Purple Pole City and save His Majesty from fire and water, his monstrous feats are far better than those below, how dare he claim to be respected in front of Commander Fu?"

"The general is too modest."

"Commander Fu is the envoy."

The two of you pushed me to let me, and I didn't say for a while who would go out first.

It wasn't until Lu Chen shouted outside that the two glanced at each other, and then walked out of the carriage at the same time, one left and one right to Lu Chen's side.

Then, Fu Huan looked at Zhu Yong and several other Xuanji guards who were about to follow along.

"I'll go with Huaiyu and the general to visit the people, you are here, don't move."

As he spoke, without waiting for a few people to respond, he gestured to Lu Chen.

"Huaiyu, let's go."

"Hmm."

Lu Chen answered, then took a step, and with the two of them accompanying him, he walked slowly towards the village not far away.

Soon, Lu Chen and the three of them walked into the village.

There is only one word to describe it - dilapidated.

Due to the spring rains, the roads in the village are extremely muddy, and the sparse fence walls are scattered with farmhouses that are obviously some years old, and at a glance, you can casually see the cracks in the loess walls of those farmers.

Some cracks are even large enough to reach into them, giving the impression that they can be blown down by a random gust of wind.

And because it is located at the foot of the Black Mountain, there is very little greenery in the village, and some places are obviously plowed, but there is nothing but a few patches of weeds.

It's desolate.

Seeing this scene, Lu Chen quietly frowned.

"This village... Can it really live in people? ”

Gu Simiao lowered her eyes slightly.

"Before, perhaps."

The meaning is obvious.

It used to be, but now it can.

She is not a person who does not eat the fireworks of the world, nor is she a famous daughter who does not know the world.

In fact, she has also traveled to the north and south, and has had the experience of going to the end of the world with a sword, otherwise she would not have met Lu Chen and others who went out to practice, so she naturally has an understanding of what an ordinary village looks like.

And the Yongping Village in front of her was several times more dilapidated than the poorest village in her memory.

This kind of place... Can you really live?

Fu Huan slowly closed her eyes, and the spiritual power in her body quickly spread around. In just a few breaths, I figured out the living conditions here.

"Now there are more than 200 villagers in the village."

While perceiving, she reported the information to Lu Chen.

"These people are all ordinary people, there are no cultivators, and the fire spirit power and earth spirit power here are extremely strong, and a restless breath can be clearly felt in the soil, it seems that the stone coal has a great impact on the land here, such a land... It is basically impossible to grow food within a radius of ten miles. ”

Hearing this, Lu Chen couldn't help but be a little puzzled.

"Can't you grow food at all?"

"Hmm."

Fu Huan nodded, and slowly opened her eyes.

"As far as I know, where the fire spiritual power and the earth spiritual power are fused, they are all dead lands, and they will definitely not grow a single grass, not only is it worthless, but it will also erode the vitality of people with similar attributes and physiques, and if they stay here for a long time, they will even have to worry about their lives."

"If so."

Lu Chen's brows suddenly furrowed even deeper,

"Then why are there villagers here?"

Fu Huan shook her head, and then looked at Gu Simiao, who was standing on the other side of Lu Chen, also frowning.

"This... I don't know. ”

She glanced at Gu Simiao deeply, and then said: "I only know that the breath of the people here is very weak, much weaker than that of normal people, probably due to the harsh environment here, and their breath... It's very light, it doesn't feel like you've lived here for a long time. ”

"Besides, it's been a while since the three of us strangers came here, and the village chief didn't even have a figure, which is a bit strange......"

Gu Simiao has been famous for a long time, and her strength is naturally much stronger than Fu Huan, who has just broken through to the Unified Realm, and she will naturally not be unaware of what Fu Huan perceives.

After a moment of silence, she suddenly turned her head to look at a slightly larger farmhouse not far away.

"Huaiyu, come with me."

With that, she lifted her steps and walked towards the farmhouse.

Lu Chen didn't refuse, and followed her while thinking.

Although Fu Huan was not called, she also consciously followed.

Click...

Soon, the three of them came to the gate of the farmhouse.

Lu Chen was about to open his mouth and ask the master inside to open the door, but Gu Simiao directly stretched out his hand, directly pushed open the courtyard door, and walked in with a loud bang.

"No one will come out and open the door."

While walking, Gu Simiao said without looking back:

"Although there are people inside, her aura is extremely weak, so weak that it is almost imperceptible."

Hearing this, Lu Chen was slightly stunned.

So weak that you can barely feel your breath?

Isn't that dying?

In just a split second, he reacted.

"Not good!"

His gaze froze, and his steps quickened suddenly.

However, at the moment when he was about to rush forward, Gu Simiao, who seemed to be taking a leisurely walk, somehow, obviously looked like she had only taken a step, but the moment she landed, she stood at the door of the farmhouse and directly pushed the door open.

Boom!

The door of the house, which had been corroded and disfigured, fell down in response.

The loud movement quickly attracted the attention of those around him.

"What's going on?"

A thin old man opened the door, walked out with a cane, and walked out with rather weak steps.

"Where's the movement?"

"Daddy."

Seeing the old man come out, a woman in a shabby linen dress who was cleaning in the yard hurriedly trotted over.

Seeing that although the old man was trembling, he was standing quite steady, and he was immediately relieved.

"the dog, where did you hear that noise?"

The woman who was called the dog lady was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly reacted.

"Oops!"

Her complexion changed suddenly, and then she turned her head and looked in the direction where Lu Chen and the others were.

"It seems to be Chu Laohan's daughter's house!"

Hearing this, the old man was immediately shocked.

"What? Is it Bao'er's girl's house?! Not good! ”

As he spoke, he strode forward with great stride, and wanted to hurry over.

"We need to get over there!"

"Huh?"

Seeing her father-in-law's anxious face, the woman suddenly panicked.

"Dad, stay at home well, I'll go over."

"No! I'll have to go over and see for myself. ”

The old man said stubbornly.

"Chu Zhan has helped us a lot these days, we have to be grateful, and now the masters of the Chu family have taken everyone to the county seat to beg for food for us, leaving the Chu family girl alone at home, if there is anything wrong with Bao'er girl, how can we explain to Chu Zhan and the two of them?!"

"I don't feel at ease if I don't go over and see it myself!"

The woman couldn't resist her father-in-law, so she had to nod her head in response, and then helped him out in a hurry and walked towards the farmhouse where Lu Chen and the three of them were.

Naturally, the elderly are not the only ones who have this kind of thought.

At the moment when there was movement from Chu Zhan's house, almost all the villagers who were aware of it hurriedly ran out, endured their physical discomfort, and hurried to Chu Zhan's house.

Soon, more than a dozen villagers came to the small courtyard of Chu Zhan's house.

When they saw that the door of the farmhouse had fallen to the ground, everyone's hearts sank.

"Is there a thief?!"

Someone whispered with a trembling voice.

When the others heard this, their faces immediately tightened, and then they all looked at the old man who was being supported by the woman.

"Old Chen. Let's"

"Don't panic!"

Before the man could finish speaking, Chen Lao interrupted, and then staggered towards the farmhouse and said in a deep voice: "Black Mountain has no grass, even we can't grow food, and we will definitely not be able to feed the thieves, so let's relax." ”

Hearing this, everyone suddenly relaxed a little.

Immediately after, they glanced at each other, took a deep breath, and then strengthened their courage and clenched their fists and followed behind Chen Lao.

(End of chapter)