"He's grown a lot over the years, but ...... Not good enough, far from ......"

A generation of emperors was sitting precariously, smiling gently, with a touch of cold color floating in his eyes, and a sunspot as round as jade was twisted between his fingers, which gently landed on the chessboard, like a glimpse of light.

At this moment, the night is quiet, the long and endless night, sweeping away the last ray of sunset in the sky, so dark that it is breathless, there is only a touch of moonlight lurking in the shade of the temple trees, accompanied by a little sparse starlight in the night sky, only to bring a glimmer of hope and a glimmer of light to this vast dark night. Under the shroud of stars and moons, this magnificent Great Zhou Imperial Palace seemed to have fallen asleep like this, and gradually returned to a tranquility.

The spacious imperial study, the lights are faint, silent, and there are countless gold-armored royal forest soldiers standing on the corridor, all of them with solemn faces, coupled with a bright golden armor, and the saber on the waist, coupled with their burly figures, more and more highlight their majesty and grandeur as royal guards, more and more dazzling.

I saw that in the inner hall, the charcoal fire was burning vigorously, and the fresh venison was roasted on it, "crackling", and several charcoal flowers were burst in a row. In the huge imperial study, except for the sound of boiling water and the slowly rising heat of milk tea, there is no sound at all.

Because Her Royal Highness the Queen is a Xianbei person, her eating habits are different from everyone else, and they are also different from the Xiao royal family, who was born in a sweet and heroic family; Queen Dugu has a sparse nature, likes to bow and ride horses, loves to wear Hu clothes, loves to play polo, drinks milk tea, eats barbecue, and more importantly, the queen especially advocates Buddhism, because of this, in her Chongde Palace, almost half of the collection of books are all kinds of classics about Buddhism...... Perhaps under the influence of the Empress, even His Majesty the Emperor, who has always had a light taste, has slowly adapted to this eclectic Northland diet.

Under the flickering lamp, the emperor and queen sat opposite each other, holding black and white in their hands, and playing against each other.

Queen Dugu, dressed in red clothes and bearded clothes, holds a "single knife bun" with a unique Xianbei feminine style, wears a tall aunt crown, beaded ears, and sits still in front of her; In the middle of the emperor and queen, there is an extremely beautiful pear wood chessboard, the chessboard is full of black and white, Heizi wants to eat Baizi, but he never thought about it, but Baizi has already laid an ambush, and he is ready to kill Heizi by surprise. It is clear that this is a game of chess in full swing.

Throughout the game, the chess positions of the black and white sides seem to be evenly matched. Black occupies the natural terrain of the periphery, like a barrier rising from the ground, forming an iron wall against white; White, on the other hand, was far ahead of black, with a complete and tight chess shape, and extremely elastic and tenacious, sticking to the various precipitous points on the chessboard, like the blade of a spear, easily intercepting the attack of black.

At the moment, still in the prologue stage, black seems to be taking advantage of the periphery advantage, one after another, to launch a fierce attack; White, on the other hand, is also trying its best to rely on its own flexibility to withstand the invasion from black.

In terms of chess momentum alone, the two sides of this game are really a pair of wonderful characters, one side of the chess is fierce, sweeping the eight wildernesses, and can actually use the anti-guest killing move under the layers of blockade, not only to seize the outside line in one fell swoop, but to successfully outflank the white chess.

As for the other side of the game, although the chess position is passive, has always taken a defensive position, but it has always been as majestic as a mountain, there is a pattern of "heaven and earth as a game, the sun and the moon as a chessboard", as well as the courage of others, it has withstood the opponent's strong crushing and attack, and has not been shaken by black chess for half a point, solid as gold.

The two sides of the game are naturally the emperor and queen couple who are in charge of the Great Zhou Dynasty!

The emperor holds the black, raises his hand and falls, there is an awe-inspiring killing machine everywhere, as if the long rainbow runs through the sun, falling sharply from the sky, it is worthy of being the famous "first general of the Eastern Continent" in the year, every son, it condenses the wind of the royal road that is the emperor opens and closes, swallowing thousands of miles like a tiger; The queen is white, although not as murderous as the Son of Heaven, but like a pool of spring water, gurgling and pouring down, dripping on the black and white chessboard, gathering the heroic righteousness of the bullfight, only in an instant, with its own strength, activated the whole game of stagnant chess.

"It seems that His Majesty has decided."

At this moment, Dugu Yuanji's gaze was firm and clear, like a pool of autumn waves, reflecting the blue of the sky, staring down at the chess game in front of him, and his eyes were calm; In the interval, the queen chuckled slightly, stretched out to the chess box in front of her, picked up a white piece in her hand, drew an ethereal light mark with her fingertips, and leisurely knocked on the center of the chessboard, and the white chess pieces surrounded the black chess.

Emperor Xuan was also silent, and the two mustaches under his nose were slightly provoked, but his sharp gaze never moved off the chessboard; The middle-aged emperor had another son, and said lightly before falling into the son.

"My decision is only one aspect, the key is that the kid can figure it out; Otherwise, it would be in vain. ”

After the words fell, I saw that the great Zhou Tianzi, who was not angry and arrogant, put his fingers together, and the sunspot fell in the middle of the chessboard, and did not make too many noises, but revealed a fierce killing intention, which made people's hearts shiver.

Then, Xiao Long was silent for a moment, his brows tightened slightly, picked up a roll of yellow silk imperial silk on the chess case, and after thinking about it again, he handed it to Queen Dugu on the opposite side, and said in a calm voice.

"You take a look at this first."

Dugu Yuanji took the imperial silk and slowly unfolded it, the words on the silk book were dense and eye-catching, and the content in it was enough to make the whole world shocked by the thunder on a sunny day.

"In the sixth year of Yongxing of Wei Da Zhou, the age of Yi Wei, if the emperor said:

Since ancient times, the emperor has succeeded the heavens and established the pole, pacified the universe, and will establish the Yuan Prince, consolidate the country's foundation, and take the borderless foundation of the Mianzong Society. I should be ordered by heaven, hold the picture and accept the edict, Jing Zuo is new, the year is eternal, and the first emperor Mo Lie is prominent, and it is advisable to bow down to public opinion and determine the reserve and deputy early.

Wei Erqi Wang Changyao, living in the mound of the tomb, talented and talented, clear and clear, the industry is written inside, inheriting the heir of the temple and the community, the domain is consulted and listed, Qin Ruo is repaired, hereby contains the ceremony, abide by the will of heaven, I would like to tell the gods of heaven and earth, is to use the life of Er as the crown prince, awarded the treasure, is in the East Palace, Erqi respects the virtuous and virtuous, is lenient and benevolent, there is no slack and no waste, with the unity of ten thousand years, in order to the hope of the four seas, can not be careful.

Chinzai"

This is an edict of the Founding Prince.

In the lower left corner of the edict, there is the blood-red seal of the Son of Heaven, which symbolizes the majestic imperial power.

Today, this mighty king has finally made his choice.

- Xiao Changyao, King of Liqi, is the crown prince.

Yun Ying, the personal female official of Her Royal Highness the Queen, stood quietly aside, staring at the queen who was sitting upright, but saw that Dugu Yuanji's face was calm, and she glanced at the edict of the prince in her hand.

After a long time, Dugu Yuanji put down the edict, her eyes were like autumn water, and she turned to look at the chess game in front of her, and the expression on her face showed the calm of the Sanggan River and the vastness of the beautiful grassland.

At this time, the milk tea placed on the stove fire has also been cooked, and the hot gas is bubbling up, making a screaming sound of "goo, goo".

Seeing this, Yun Ying hurriedly silently put a handkerchief on the stove and lifted the teapot on it; As the teapot is half-tilted, the milky white milk tea is slowly poured into the bowl, wafting with an endless fragrance.

Picking up the tea bowl, Dugu Yuanji took a sip of milk tea, and then put it back on the stove; This milk tea is very fragrant, but no matter how fragrant it is, it is not the taste that I drank in the felt tent of Xiurong River, I got up early in the morning, mixed with the faint fragrance of grass and the curling smoke, and drank a bowl of hot milk tea, which is called fragrant.

And her cheeks with a thin layer of rouge, even though her face is old, even if she is gone, she still looks so soft, just like the Xianbei girl who was dressed in red and rode a horse in Beixiurong.

His Majesty the Emperor, who was sitting opposite her, saw her unfazed expression, and there was a momentary trance and illusion, presumably, Erlang's voice and smile, every move, were inherited from his mother; So, Xiao Longxian showed off his dragon robe, looked at his queen with a smile, who was also his wife, and the mother of his three children, and asked calmly, without a trace of surprise.

"Yuan Ji, it seems that you don't seem surprised that I want to make Changyao the crown prince?!"

But at this time, Dugu Yuanji lowered his eyes slightly, and with a warm smile on the corners of his lips, he stared at the chessboard full of chess pieces; Suddenly, she gently twisted the white disc and landed to the left of a black piece.

"Chengjun, you and I have known each other for 30 years and married for 20 years, if I can't even see this little bit of your thoughts, can I still sit on this back seat! Changyao and Erlang, both of them are born to me, I have always treated them equally, and I have never favored one over the other; Everyone says that you prefer Erlang, but only I know that over the years, you have been cultivating Changyao, not only letting him take charge of the Zhongshu Sect, but also handing over the positions of Zongzheng Temple and Shangjing Mansion Yin to him, for this day......"

Dugu Yuanji paused.

"Since you have already made up your mind to make Changyao the crown prince, why do you have to carry Erlang out...... Don't you think that's a bit too cruel! ”

The queen's tone was obviously a little resentful, she didn't understand, it was clear that the emperor had already strengthened his determination to establish a successor, why did he deliberately praise Gao Erlang and let him compete with Changyao; As everyone knows, his approach will inevitably lead to open and secret battles between the two sons, leading to the two kings competing for the crown prince, the turmoil in the court, and even the tragedy of the brotherly wall, is this what he wants to see?

Perhaps, hearing his wife's unspoken grievances, Emperor Xuan suddenly raised his head slowly, and the chess pieces between his fingers couldn't help but hang in the air, with a pair of blazing dragon eyes, looking straight at Dugu Yuanji's pupils.

"I admit that I do have a preference for Erlang, but I also have to think about Da Zhou."

The bright yellow figure of the Son of Heaven in a dragon robe looked a little gloomy.

"The Emperor...... Not everyone can do it! In the same way, the inheritance of Jiangshan Sheji cannot be based on the likes and dislikes of one person. ”

Speaking of this, Xiao Longxian's tone finally had a faint smile.

"Yuanhime, do you know what Erlang's biggest problem is?"

"Got a little out of character?!" Dugu Yuanji didn't raise his eyes, but the jade teeth were lightly divided, and he said lightly.

Unexpectedly, the emperor shook his head, "No. It's too affectionate, and even sometimes, I always like to play with children's tempers. ”

Until this moment, the face of this world-recognized male lord in the world finally showed a gloom that had never been seen before; But after the gloom, it is the firmness and determination of the king of a generation.

"As an emperor, you can't be ruthless, and you can't be ruthless. Those who are ruthless to their loved ones will be ruthless to the world, and the world will be chaotic; On the contrary, those who are affectionate to their loved ones will be taken advantage of by the small night, and the world will also be chaotic. These sons of mine, if it is about commanding the three armies and sweeping away the heroes, Erlang is indeed an immortal talent, but he is not suitable for the king. Don't look at him on the surface with a hard heart, but in his bones, he is gentler than anyone else. From this point of view alone, Changyao is much stronger than Erlang. ”

Syllable!

Emperor Xuan fell heavily, and the cold aura on his face became more and more intense.

"And most importantly. Erlang has been in the army for a long time, and he is good at conquest, and no one in the government and the opposition can hope to match him, but after all, governing the world is different from leading troops to fight. If you want to command the three armies and defeat the enemy, what it needs is the decision to kill, what it needs is the supreme military power of the commander, and it also needs the absolute obedience of the officers and men of the whole army to the commander; However, governing the world depends on humility and inclusiveness, so that the four seas can be united, and it has never been the arbitrariness of one person. I admit that if you talk about the talent of the army, Erlang is indeed talented, but he is negligent in governing the government, although he is the first to talk about the way, but he is mostly talking on paper, and he does not know the difficulties of the crops, the sufferings of the people, and the cumbersomeness of government affairs. Such a person can only be the commander of the three armies, but not the king of a country. Therefore, whether it is for the sake of the Great Zhou Dynasty or for the sake of the world, I can't make Erlang the crown prince, in comparison, it is more appropriate to Changyao. ”

Xiao Changyao has the talent of an emperor, but he is not good at military strategy; Xiao Changling is the emperor and father, Xiao Longxian, the most pertinent evaluation of the two sons, the world has not yet been unified, Chu and Yan have not yet been extinguished, but the lord of a country in front of him is already thinking about the affairs of thousands of generations.

Finally, Dugu Yuanji raised her jade face and showed a look of unbearable expression.

"It's just that I've wronged Erlang......"

"Grievance?!"

Xiao Long first squinted his eyes, and with a touch of elusive emotion in his gentle eyes, he stared at Queen Dugu who was sitting opposite him.

"Is he alone in his grievances?! The wolf smoke covers up the human bones, and this world is a world of great contention, and there are many wronged people. ”

The emperor and queen both fell silent.

At this moment, outside the imperial study, there was a report from the inner servant.

"Your Majesty, the six Shangshu have gathered in the Ganlu Hall to ask to see Your Majesty."

"I'm tired today, what's the matter, I'll talk about it tomorrow morning." Emperor Xuan waved his hand.

"Yes, Servant Command."

The next day, in the Taiji Palace, at the court meeting, the edict of the prince was made public:

The eldest son of the Great Zhou Emperor Xiao Long, the Taibao of the inspection school, the Pingzhangshi of the Tongzhong Shumen, the Zongzheng Temple, the head of the car, the Yin of Shangjing Mansion, the big mound Zai, Xiao Changyao, the king of Qi, was registered as the crown prince, plus nine tin special gifts, gave the feather forest tiger Ben, and a hundred people, and officially entered the East Palace.

The country is established, and the whole country celebrates!

For many years, the battle for storage space has finally come to an end.

……

In the blink of an eye, days flew by, the morning dawned, and the dawn broke in the east.

In the early autumn of the sixth year of Yongxing, with the call of the season, it quietly stepped into Beijing; At this moment, in the depths of the air, although there is still a little summer heat, but when the morning sun on the edge of the sky breaks through the clouds of the early morning, the heat has slowly faded.

The annual autumn wind is strong.

The bleak west wind, from the inside to the outside, swept all the way, swept through the vast buildings of the imperial capital and imperial city, swept the tall and wide Shangjing City, and swept the endless Great Plains......

From a distance, the early morning in Gyeonggi is extraordinarily magnificent and beautiful.

The vast Juma River, the calm water, under the fiery red sky, the golden waves are sparkling. The red sun rises high, gushing out of the place where the water and the sky meet, and the mountains and rivers and the scenery suddenly become a hazy red silhouette. The vast reeds are swinging, rolling with long waves of gold and red, and the shadows are full of shadows.

Yongping, Jingbei camp.

Here, known as the "Gyeonggi Throat Point", Yongping City, where 120,000 Jingbei troops are stationed, is also the "Qin King Camp" where Xiao Changling, as the commander of Jingbei, controls the town and commands the soldiers of Jingbei.

A cold killing intent enveloped the mighty Jingbei camp of this army.

Continuous all kinds of military tents, chariots, banners, spears formed a magnificent camp, a radius of more than 20 miles, surrounding the city of Yongping City and the bank of the Juma River, forming a huge moon arc, broad, majestic, solemn, standing in the shape of a mountain.

At the moment, the sun is faint, the morning fog, the faint autumn sun, the headwind drags a few feet, under the cover of the misty sky, the huge camp is dyed into a large area of flame-like red, and it is transformed into dozens of long fire dragons.

Looking down from a high place, outside the camp in Jingbei, ten miles in a radius, the reckless plain, as if it was covered with a group of dense ants, with the trajectory of these ants, it seems that the whole ground is gradually wriggling, as if to cross this plain.

As far as the eye can see, in the entire camp, the iron armor is cold, and what comes into view is all black clothes, black armor, black silk, black horses, dark to the extreme, and there is no trace of brightness in sight; All over the mountains, the black camp, the black armor, and the countless black soldiers in the camp converged into a black castle.

Between the defense lines of the camp, there is a row of fences, countless Jingbei longbowmen, with solemn expressions, blue tendons on their foreheads, standing behind the fence with bows, but their bodies have not moved, looking at the smoke and dust billowing in the distance; The pikemen in the back row, all armed with guns and spears, are maintaining a heroic posture, stepping on sonorous and powerful steps, divided into multiple columns, shuttling between the camp tents, and patrolling back and forth.

At this time, the military academy was already murderous and dusty.

A point general platform shaped by the iron tower, facing the sassy west wind, rising from the clouds, towering majestically, slowly showing a hill-like outline.

Approaching the high platform, the first to show in front of the soldiers in the battalion are two awe-inspiring and eye-catching banners: one is the Xuanmo Daxu with the word "Jingbei" written on it in the autumn wind; On one side is the "Silver Dragon King Flag" that stands high in the air, inlaid with the scarlet block "Xiao" character, symbolizing the "Silver Dragon King Flag" of the Qin King Xiao Changling's outstanding achievements.

Under the royal banner and the military flag, from east to west, from left to right, they are divided into three powerful and majestic large military formations: led by the deputy generals of the Chinese army in the Beidaying and Dongdaying, the cavalry phalanx with heavy armor and sabers and long lances; There are many soldiers, and the cold light is flickering, like a long dragon's infantry formation; A powerful crossbow phalanx consisting of giant crossbow machines, eight-ox monnieri crossbows, and hundreds of archers.

Between the three major army formations, separated by a wide passage, heroic faces were revealed, and each of them seemed to retain the bloody dust, full of pride in sweeping thousands of armies; As for heavy ordnance such as thunderbolts, Wuhan Iron and Steel vehicles, and horse repelling pistols, they are all in place, layer upon layer.

On the lonely platform, Xiao Changling was dressed in a military uniform, his eyes were as cold as a knife, his hands were holding his black and heavy "Chengying" ancient sword, his figure was tall and majestic, standing proudly on the top of the high platform, standing still, letting the cool breeze of early autumn blow across his resolute face; At this moment, as the king of Qin of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the commander of the 120,000 Jingbei Army, he had already removed the bundle of crowns, his black hair was coiled up at will, and he changed into the outfit of the march:

A noble armor.

A fluttering breeze.

The white-clothed Shengxue in the past is now lined under his cold armor, and the heroic style and bones can be seen at a glance.

Xiao Changling's military uniform is tattooed with the imprint of the flame emblem, the shoulder armor is cast with flowing clouds and flames, and the robe is full of frost and snow; The iron helmet is adorned with white feathers and hangs down the back of the head. The silver armor of the feather helmet and the long sword that must not be separated from it all the more show the heroic and upright posture of the lord of Jingbei; And his sharp eyebrows, cold face, and his arrogant expression all the more show his unangry self-authority and majestic demeanor as the person in charge of the 120,000 heroes.

At this time, Xiao Changling is no longer the white-clothed young man who was in the moonlight of Huanhua Creek and the beautiful lady Qingqing and me, nor is he the noble prince who was in the palace that day and stubbornly looked directly at the supreme prince in the world; At this moment, he is not a teenager, nor a prince, but the commander of a large army, the master of 120,000 athletes, and the king of Qin, who intimidates the heroes!

The wind of early autumn, beating a beautiful beat, blew through Xiao Changling's handsome face and his white-clothed battle armor; Under the autumn sun, his face as calm as an icy lake seemed to be shrouded in a layer of dream-like brilliance, and he looked more and more heroic like a fairy, leaving no one in the world. He is so outstanding, and so heartbreaking, in the face of such a man, let alone a girl with a rippling spring heart, even if it is a man, he will be willing to bow to this person's handsome light.

Standing on the platform, Xiao Changling was condescending, tightly holding the hilt of the sword that was dark with Chengying, contemplating his eyes into the distance, his eyes becoming deeper and deeper, looking at the Jingbei soldiers in the camp wearing armor and holding blades; The keen and calm, bright and cold eyes like eagles, swept from everyone's faces, one by one, and they were engraved in the depths of Xiao Changling's eyes under the sun, all of them were so golden and shining.

This is the Jingbei Army of the Great Zhou, and it is the Jingbei Army that belongs to him alone; As a world-recognized commander, Xiao Changling firmly believes that one day, he will lead this army of tigers and wolves to gallop vertically and horizontally, go north to level the Rouran royal court, and go south to crush the river defense of the Southern Dynasty, and lay down a unified country...... At that time, there was no more war in the world, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and his Jingbei army might turn into dry bones in the grave, or perhaps, it would become the pillar of the town, with millions of male soldiers, dominating Kyushu.

The world is in chaos, the four seas are boiling, Xiao Changling, and the Jingbei Army are destined to shoulder the mission of sweeping away chaos; Even if one day, even if the Jingbei Army perishes, it will fall on the way to charge, born chic, and died heroically!

The school field is silent, the west wind rises suddenly, and the four sides are rolling, only the lonely wild goose on the side of the sky, and the faint and mournful sound is endless, just like the bursts of beards.

Suddenly, accompanied by the sound of strong iron boots, Hu Kun, a general in black armor and black armor, hurriedly stepped onto the high platform; I saw that this fierce general of the Beida Battalion, who was relied on by His Royal Highness the King of Qin as a confidant and was famous in the Jingbei Army, in addition to the saber hanging from his waist, was also carrying a brand-new saber in his hand, which looked like a standard saber that had just been built.

"Poof!"

Hu Kun knelt on one knee, presented his saber in both hands, and presented it to Xiao Changling.

"King Qiqi, this is the first batch of Jingbei sabers newly made by the Ordnance Division, please inspect the king."

"Okay, let Lone take a look." Xiao Changling's face remained unchanged, but he put Chengying on his waist again and took the knife in Hu Kun's hand.

However, the texture of this knife can be described as unique; The knife is three feet long, with a gold and iron scabbard, the blade is hidden deep in the sheath, and the handle is snow-white and shiny, which is polished from the finest marble, and inlaid with a shining jewel of the West Sea, giving people a feeling that is both mysterious and dazzling; Moreover, in terms of the weight of the whole knife in the hand, it is also very moderate, not light or heavy, which greatly enhances the flexibility of the person holding the knife, takes into account the majesty and appearance, and ensures the practicality.

With the snow blade in his hand, Xiao Changling's eyes were crossed by a shocking lightning, which gradually condensed into a touch of sword qi, as if Changhong was crossing the sky, and a sword split the sky, directly killing the heaven and the earth were eclipsed, and it was dark, reflecting the chill in his eyes, and suddenly it was snowing.

Suddenly, Xiao Changling laughed at himself, and the killing intent immediately erupted from his body.

"Lonely, it is the knife in the hands of the Son of Heaven, I never thought that today, I actually became a knife man!"