Yanjing, Taishifu.

The red lantern hung high, and the tall maid walked through the red light with a supper, and gently knocked on the door of the study.

"Come in."

Xiao Wenbi put down the pen and ink, and as the soup was put on the table, he waved his hand, let the maid go out, looked at the written pair, and repeated: "I called you in, I taught you all your skills, how can you hide it from being a teacher." ”

Outside the house, a wind ran over, and a figure was cut by the light of the lantern on the door and window, and then there was two knocks on the door, and the man's voice was a little hoarse.

"Xiao Moyu to meet Master."

With a 'squeak', the door opened, and a tall man in his twenties walked in, dressed in a spacious black gold-rimmed robe, embroidered with auspicious clouds from his shoulders to his chest.

He closed the door, walked over to the old man's desk, and arched his hand: "Master." ”

"Running in the middle of the night to see a teacher is probably not a good thing." Xiao Wenbi raised his face, but with a smile, he asked him to sit down in the chair next to him, "Is there something wrong with the teaching?" ”

The young man in front of him was his adopted son more than 20 years ago, and when he brought it back, he had no name and no surname, so he followed his surname Xiao and named him Moyu, implying the fate of master and apprentice.

Later, the old man handed over all the affairs of the sect to him, and he focused all his energy on the court, helping his second disciple Beigongye to become the emperor.

"Master."

Xiao Moyu has six out of twenty, and his martial arts are unrivaled in the sect except for the master in front of him, even as the emperor's junior disciple, he can only fight him for less than fifty rounds.

But in front of the old man, he was not as majestic as the teaching, but seemed cautious, only he understood that this old man seemed to be kind, but in fact he was like a murderer.

Even the death of the current emperor's adoptive parents has a lot to do with the old man.

"Hurry up, go back quickly."

The old man turned his head to look at him, and his soft words made the lamps on the side shake suddenly. Xiao Mo pursed his lips and glanced at the figure of the master on the wall.

He no longer hesitated, clasped his fists and said, "That Sword God's disciple Gu Longcheng was not good at assassination, but he was killed. ”

"What else?" The old man picked up the word and blew on the ink stains.

"Fifty mutes died in the sect, and the iron finger Ah Jiu at the head of the sacrificial hall was also killed."

The old man stopped moving, and the figure on the reflected wall suddenly waved his arm, and there was a 'bang', and Xiao Moyu in front of the desk directly fell to the ground, covering his cheeks and hanging his gaze and not daring to raise his head.

"I told you before that the Aragami Sect is not allowed to participate in the rebels! You're my beloved disciple, and you don't even listen to Master, do you? ”

"Disciple doesn't dare!" Xiao Moyu hurriedly knelt on the ground.

"What punishment should be given to those who do not obey?"

The old man's faint voice came, Xiao Moyu's gaze moved, and landed on the palm of his magnified leg, he gritted his teeth and broke the little finger of his left hand with a 'snap'.

He gritted his teeth, trembling all over, trying not to let himself scream.

"Go and kill the person who invited you to join in, and then get out of the Taishi Mansion!"

Xiao Wenbi put down the word, walked directly past Xiao Moyu, opened the door and left directly, the reason why he was angry was that this apprentice was a little disobedient, and he actually contacted the emperor without him.

In the study, Xiao Moyu knelt there, clenched his teeth, he turned his head, his arms covering his face, revealing his eyes as if he was a wounded wolf, staring at the departing back.

The night wind rustles the old trees in the courtyard.

The departing old man walked on a hidden gravel path in the courtyard, passing through the swaying willows on both sides, and there were several good people in front of him to guard them, and when they saw Xiao Wenbi coming, they quickly retreated into the shadows nearby.

Pushing open the closed arch, there is a small courtyard inside, the courtyard is quiet, there is a big locust tree in the middle, and a branch is like a cloud covering a black-tiled house.

In the window lattice, there was still a light on, and the old man walked to the door and window, and saw through the gap the back of a scholar sitting under the lamp looking through the scroll, as if he heard the footsteps outside.

The man inside stopped flipping through the book.

"Master, since you're here, why don't you come in and sit down?"

"No, I'll come and see you." Xiao Wenbi looked at the back inside, and his voice was gentle: "Brother Ling is getting more and more powerful, uniting the seven princes to start an incident, and now Dayan's country is in danger." ”

"Isn't this a gift from the Taishi and His Majesty?"

Xiao Wenbi didn't answer this, and was silent for a moment: "You don't want to know, why did the old man save you?" ”

"What else can there be, it's just that it's still useful down there."

The old man pursed his lips, there were some things he wanted to go in and explain to the other party clearly, and show him the pair of jade pendants, but thinking of the current situation on both sides, Xiao Wenbi hesitated again.

Rustling......

The courtyard was quiet only the sound of the branches, and after a while, there were footsteps again, and someone whispered: "Master, Your Majesty has sent someone to invite you into the palace." ”

"Hmm."

Xiao Wenbi glanced at the figure in the house again, turned around and left the eaves.

In the room, when I heard the footsteps and walked away, the figure standing in the dim light turned his face sideways, and there were several knife wounds on his cheeks, which ruined the originally handsome and gentle face.

He looked out of the window lattice and muttered, "Third brother...... Good job! ”

……

The carriage drove through the streets of the night, surrounded by the light of lanterns, and then turned back into Suzaku Avenue, and soon after, entered the imperial city.

Inside the temple of Taean.

The rows of bronze beast lampposts are bright, bringing warmth to the hall. In the curtain of the weft yarn, the emperor was a little distracted by the chess pieces, and Empress Jiang opposite him could see that he was in a bad mood.

"What's in your Majesty's heart? You might as well tell your concubine about it. ”

"How can you understand the major affairs of the military state." Beigong Ye casually dropped a son, "I have already asked Master Xuan to enter the palace, after playing this game of chess, you can go and rest first." ”

Outside the hall, a eunuch came over at this time and whispered outside the door: "Your Majesty, the queen, the Taishi is here." ”

Empress Jiang immediately got up and walked outside the chessboard, bowed to the emperor, and followed the palace maid who carried the lamp to leave through the back door. After a while, the door of the palace opened, Xiao Wenbi came in to salute, he saw the chessboard, and smelled the residual aroma, probably guessed that the queen or other concubines had played chess with the Son of Heaven here.

"Your Majesty, I don't know what to tell the old minister to come over late at night."

"Master Tai come and sit down, sit opposite me."

"The old minister is bold."

Xiao Wenbi walked into the tent and sat down opposite the Son of Heaven, after the palace maid came over to add tea and leave, the old man looked at Beigongye, who had been staring at the chessboard silently, "Your Majesty summoned the ministers over, but the plan has failed?" ”

"Not exactly."

The emperor took a sip of the teacup, his eyes narrowed, "What sword god disciple, his head has not been cut off." Useless thing, that sword god Yuan Baisheng hid in the snow mountain and didn't come out, he is also a great swallow people, Yan Guo is now at the point, shouldn't he stand up for the country? It's all people who cherish their lives! ”

He snapped and smashed the teacup.

“…… There are also those thieves in Rongzhou, I sent so many things, I showed good, bowed my head, and as a result, I accepted the things and brought my messenger back like a dog! ”

The shattered teacup was thrown to the ground by him, "The only good news, the Xirong people have been out of the customs, and this time it should be to ravage Rongzhou." Since those people in Rongzhou follow the rebels, then follow well, and it is reasonable to die! ”

Beigongye said it, and felt that the fire in his heart was finally vented, and people brought tea again.

"Now that Yan Kingdom is in Kyushu, there are seven states that are causing trouble, and they are wreaking havoc on the entire territory of each state, and there is an intention to go north, how does Taishi think he should deal with it?"

"Since the two strategies have failed, and the Xirong people can entangle Rongzhou, Your Majesty should concentrate on dealing with the soldiers and horses of the other seven princes at this moment, and dispatch the capable generals in Beijing to lead the soldiers and horses of the headquarters to Qizhou and Laizhou, and mobilize the local soldiers in various counties and counties, first, without the imperial court troops, and second, to prevent those who are too guarded to jump to the side of the rebels when they see that things are wrong. These were not enough, so they recruited the slaves of the Snow Plain, continued to expand the Gyeonggi army, and at the same time, stepped up the training of the existing soldiers. ”

"What about Rongzhou?"

"The old minister thinks that the Qi family in Yantang Pass can still be used, and it will take some time for the Rongzhou rebels to drive away the Xirong cavalry, so you might as well let the Qi family stay still, and wait until the rebels go north and east into the Yanzhou territory, and fight back and forth with the imperial court soldiers and horses!"

The old man picked up a chess piece, landed it on the chessboard at random, and killed all the chess pieces on the emperor's side.

"After several months of drought, the rebels in Rongzhou and even other states will not be able to hold out in July, the grain will be urgent, the morale will inevitably drop, and the opportunity for Your Majesty to counterattack will come."

On this night, the somewhat depressed emperor rekindled his fighting spirit in his eyes, and it was also this night, eight hundred miles to the west.

Youyan Mountain, southwest of Yantang Pass.

The team that walked out of the mountains and forests regrouped in the field, and the burly Zhang Fei inserted a snake spear on the ground, untied the wine bag around his waist and poured it violently.

And not far in front of him, Guan Yu, who was riding on horseback, looked at the corner of Chengguan in the distance, his beautiful hair was caressing in the wind, and his phoenix eyes were slightly closed, with the power of looking at everything.

"A bunch of rats colluding with foreigners!"

The faint words, the killing intent was awe-inspiring.