"'Victim?' Yuhua asked, puzzled.

"I said, 'Aunt Zhen was privately engaged to He Lang back then, because she had not inherited the position of Ximu, and she did not know the heavy responsibilities that Ximu needed to bear. And her master knows very well, just like Aunt Zhen today.

"'Aunt Zhen's master sacrificed the human pleasures he should have enjoyed, and spent his life alone. She naturally understands the sorrow of it. But she still broke up a pair of lovers and chose the same path for Aunt Zhen. ’

"Yuhua interrupted me and asked, 'Are you saying that my mother's master broke up my mother and my biological father?'

"I said, 'I also read the letter, and He Lang said that he was shocked by the change, so he was discouraged and walked forward unconsciously. Think about it, what kind of variables can hit him so hard?

"'I once heard my mother say that when He Lang returned from school, his heart was full of longing for a better life. But outside the east gate of the county seat, he met Aunt Zhen's master, and after listening to Aunt Zhen's master's words, He Lang became disheartened, turned into an unconscious walking corpse, and walked into the dense forest.

"'Although I don't know the content of Aunt Zhen's speech, it can be imagined that He Lang must have persuaded He Lang to leave Aunt Zhen and warned He Lang that it was impossible for him and Aunt Zhen to be together.

"'How similar this is to what has happened to me lately. I can fully understand how He Lang felt at that time.

"'But I can still understand Aunt Zhen's master, who not only sacrificed herself, but also chose to sacrifice the happiness of her disciples, who were as close as mother and daughter, and she did so entirely for the cause of the Holy Spirit that she pursued in her heart.

"'I believe that after Aunt Zhen took over the position of the first Ximu, she must have eliminated her feelings for He Lang from the depths of her heart, which requires a lot of courage, great effort, and endless pain. And He Lang's letter speculated that the reason why Aunt Zhen took you away was to take revenge on your biological father and mother, and second, to continue the affection for He Lang that still existed in her heart.

"'The first point I think is possible, because Aunt Zhen had no idea that her master had come to He Lang back then, nor did she know why He Lang had left her, and the moment she saw He Lang in the Heavenly Capital City, her reason was completely gone, and her sensual instincts, which were engulfed by anger and humiliation, told her that He Lang had abandoned her because she had lost her love, and that Junmu was the bad woman who seduced her husband.

"'The second reason I don't think is because she still has an attachment to him, but because she sees the extraordinary temperament in you, and she thinks that the little girl is the one who will inherit her mantle in the future, a gift from God.

"'Although Aunt Zhen was forced at first, she chose to sacrifice herself in the end, as can be well confirmed from her lifelong self-purity.

"Today, she has to choose to sacrifice her daughter's happiness again. I believe that she also suffered endless pain in her heart.

"'This practice, at the expense of oneself and the next generation, from generation to generation, seems to us to be impersonal, cruel, and sometimes unreasonable.

"But you must know that it is their sacrifice that has maintained order in the world for thousands of years.

"'The meaning of the word Ximu to the world is immeasurable.

"'Aunt Zhen, she is a qualified mother, she has her flaws, to you, to me, but she also has her ruthless side, but all she wants to maintain is the peace of the world.

"'Yuhua, I hope you can understand her. ’

After hearing this, the expression on Yuhua's face relaxed a lot, and she looked at me affectionately and said, "No matter who or what happens, you can see the good in it." How much kindness do you have in your heart?!'

Yuhua breathed a sigh of relief and said, "After reading the letter today, I think I should hate my mother, but I can't hate it. I felt guilty for not having a sense of right or wrong. Hearing you say that, my heart is much more stable. All along, I have doubted, resisted, resented, and angered my mother, but I have never been able to hate her. I don't think I'll ever hate her in the future. ’

"I said, 'Feelings between people are built up little by little over time, and they can't suddenly disappear out of thin air. Aunt Zhen is kind to us, I am afraid we will never forget it for the rest of our lives, and we can't hate her. ’

Yuhua smiled and nodded.

"Only now has Yuhua's mental state returned to normal.

"Yuhua struggled to sit up from the bed and said, 'I want to go out for a walk and get some air. ’

I helped her out of bed and walked slowly out of the house.

"When we left the side room, two of the guards on duty in the main hall immediately stepped forward and followed us out of the main hall gate.

Yuhua looked back and said, "You don't have to follow. ’

The two guards immediately retreated to their original posts.

Yuhua and I slowly climbed to a stone hill near the palace and sat down on a south-facing step.

"It was already dark. I pointed to a dark peak opposite Tianyi City, and said to Yuhua, "Do you see the mountain on the other side? That is the main mountain of the Eighty-One Mountains of the Drought Devils, and it is also the capital of the Drought Devil people." ’

"Yuhua said, 'Is it the place that was captured by those big birds today?'

"I said, 'Yes. That's where you were born. ’

Yuhua looked at Tiandu City quietly and did not speak.

"At this moment, I saw a huge object flash against the background of the dark blue sky in the upper left corner of the opposite mountain, disappearing behind Jun Mountain.

"I subconsciously said, 'What's that?'

"Yuhua turned to look at me and said, 'What?'

"I said, 'Just now, something on the other side of Junshan flashed and disappeared after drifting into the mountain. ’

"Yuhua smiled and said, "It's either a bat or an owl that comes out in the middle of the night. ’

"It seemed to be thrown from the air just now, I didn't expect it to be a flying thing, Yuhua reminded me when she said this. I felt nervous.

"Because that thing is definitely not a bat or an owl, because it's much bigger than both.

"I involuntarily uttered three words: 'Joyful people!'

"Yuhua didn't hear clearly and asked, 'What did you say?'

"I stood up and said to Yuhua, 'Let me send you back, I have something important to go to Lord Shousuke here. ’

Yuhua nodded.

"Send Yuhua back to the side room of the main hall of the palace, there are already palace attendants to bring dinner, Yuhua only drank two mouthfuls of soup, and then went to bed.

"Settle Yuhua, I was about to go out, Yuhua stopped me.

"When she saw me turn back, she said, 'Tomorrow we will be married!'

"I said, 'This is a big deal, how can you be so hasty, you have a good rest first, and tomorrow we will plan it well.' ’

"Yuhua said: 'Buddha generation, you may think that I am doing things on a whim. But you believe me, it's something I've thought it through. I don't want to miss a minute that could lose your time. Ever since I escaped with you, I've been flustered, with a premonition that something might happen. Tomorrow morning you come early, I have already asked people to prepare red candles, and we will worship here. ’

Looking at Yuhua's earnest and determined eyes, I nodded, turned around and walked out of the side room.

"I ran into a burning schop in the lobby.

"Ran Xiang gave me a salute first, and I also saluted: 'General Tu is still busy with business so late?'

"Ran Xiangtu said: 'The eldest sister is not worried about Your Majesty, let me be on duty in the palace tonight, I have just come from home, I want to enter the inner courtyard to greet the monarch's mother, and I don't know if Your Majesty has woken up. ’

"I asked, 'Is Shousuke-sama at home?'

"Ran Xiangtu said, 'The eldest sister is at home. Then he went to the inner court.

"I trotted all the way to the Burning Tho House.

"As soon as I entered the door, I panted and said, 'Shousuke-sama, I have important news for you. ’

"Ran Seo asked me to sit in the guest seat and asked, 'What's the important news?'

"I said, 'The Huandou people are still in the territory of the Drought Valley, and they have not withdrawn their troops at all. ’

"Ran Cho Tho said, 'How do you know?'

"I said, 'Just now I saw the direction of Jun Mountain, and there were Huandou people flying through the darkness. They must have come to spy on the news of Tianyi City. ’

"Ran Shang Tho thought for a moment and said: "I also think that Huandou people will not give up like this today, and they will definitely come to attack and disturb in the future, so let the Quyunling defenders stay in Tianyi Mountain for the time being, and let the sister go to the palace to guard in person at night." I didn't expect them to come so quickly. ’

"After saying that, he shouted to the outside: 'Someone!'

"A soldier-like man came into the front of the hall in response.

"Ran Xiang Tho ordered: 'Go and inform the mountains, except for one or two thousand soldiers stationed on each mountain, the rest of the garrisons will gather at Tianyi Mountain. There are already the garrisons of Benshan and the defenders of Quyunling, all of them will light up the lights of each battalion tonight, and all of them will be dispatched, holding torches in a queue along the main roads in the city, and do not stop until dawn. ’

"The soldiers are like soldiers, and they have to be ordered to go.

"Ran Tho stood up and said to me, 'The situation is urgent, and we need to be fully prepared tonight. I'm going to the North Camp Army to sit on the defense. You can go back to the inn for a while. ’

"I said, 'I'd better go with the adults.'" I can't sleep when I go back. ’

"Ran Tho said, 'That's fine. ’

"Beiying is the garrison barracks of Tianyi City, and the Chinese military tent is built on the highest place of Tianyi Mountain, the ant mound post. The bottom of the antmound hill is surrounded by flat land, but it is divided into blocks of different sizes, some with barracks built in rows, and some empty as a martial arts arena.

"Around the ant mound post tonight, there are teams from outside the mountains stationed one after another, and the water around an ant mound gang is blocked.

"The lights of the various armies and battalions were densely connected, and the blue light on the soldiers almost illuminated half of the city as if it were daytime.

"Ran Xiang climbed onto the point general platform, and the mountain generals in front of the point general stood in two rows.

"Ran Xiang issued an order: 'Tonight, except for some soldiers from Benshan and Quyunling who passed through the city market to confuse the enemy, the rest of the mountain men and horses were sent to various fortresses in the city to guard, especially the eleven cupola crossbow bases, to prepare for battle and not to relax. If there is any slackness, military justice will be imposed. ’

After Ranshang Tho finished speaking, he looked back at a general-looking person behind him and said, "Please ask the general soldiers of Eighty-one Mountain, General Ransheng Mu to issue detailed combat instructions. ’

After speaking, he stepped down from the platform and sat on the chair of the commander in front of the Chinese military camp.

"Ran Sheng Mu boarded the general platform and commanded all the armies to deploy in order.

That night, the soldiers in the city had no sleep and waited for the night. I also accompanied Ran Xiangtho and several generals to sit outside the Chinese army tent until dawn.

"The next day, until the third pole of the sun, there was no Huandou attack. ”