The wind and waves were still roaring, and there were broken pieces of wood in the sea, which washed up to the shore.

Wei Zheng raised his hand, wiped his tears with the cuffs of his prison uniform, and carefully avoided the iron shackles on his wrists from hurting his cheeks and eyes, and said to the surviving sergeant: "After the shelling, can you send a sailor to pursue you?"

"Your Majesty sent the main fleet of three naval divisions to pursue all the way to the south, one went and did not return, and the other two fleets did not catch up, so they did not dare to pursue deeply, and retreated back halfway. The sergeant who was questioned still replied with his head down: "Now there is no island controlled by our imperial court in this sea, and it will be dangerous to chase it deeper." ”。

"Hmm. After Wei Zheng thought for a while, he didn't say anything more.

"Brother Xuancheng, the matter has come to this, let's hurry up and discuss the details of going to sea. What kind of guards to bring, and how to deal with the problems of the Nine Shadows at the negotiating table. At this time, Lu Zhidao on the side thought for a moment and said, "I think this time we will go to Shuoyue Island with the talisman festival according to their request, and we will not end up being captured again." ”。

"It's not going to be captured, it's just that the money and materials claimed will definitely be doubled. After a sigh, Wei Zheng let out a helpless sigh.

Wei Zheng sighed and lifted the chain between the handcuffs with his hand, and with the help of the ghost soldiers, he rode his beast soul again, followed Lu Zhidao and their group of ghosts, and turned back into the pass.

"The sailor will arrive later, we just need to bring the sailor, and there are not many ships, the Nine Shadows Kingdom will not kidnap us again this time, but we need to bring some nine-headed ghost chariot birds that can transmit messages, so that our Majesty, who is far away in Xudu, can keep abreast of all the situation at any time, so that he can give us instructions." Wei Zheng stepped forward while riding the beast and walking side by side with Lu Zhidao, and said thoughtfully: "I have to bring a few talented ghost officials, so I can give us some advice." ”。

"That's what I thought, too. Lu Zhidao bowed slightly, and also sighed with a sad face.

Before he came, he still had hope, thinking that with the power of the Northern Yin Dynasty and the orthodox throne of Emperor Xudu, he could deter the Nine Shadows Kingdom.

Now that he has seen such a tragic situation as the calf pass, Lu Zhidao's hope has been dashed.

This time, the Northern Yin Dynasty can't hide from being blackmailed by the Nine Shadows Kingdom.

This kind of helplessness of man-made swords and fish and meat not only makes Lu Zhidao feel uncomfortable, but Wei Zheng is also the same......

In the twilight city of Linhai to the north of Xuanyanzhou, in a small courtyard shrouded in dense locust trees in the south city, Xiao Shizhu's shrine was parked.

This is a stronghold of Xuanjiao in the city, and it is also the place where Wuqiu Yuan now works and lives.

This quiet courtyard, far from the downtown area, is tightly covered by the canopy of locust trees. It is difficult to see the light of the cloudy day during the day, and a dim shadow is shrouded in it.

Today it was raining continuously, and the water did not fall under the canopy. All the rain was blocked by the dense canopy of locust trees.

A day ago, Xiao Shizhu arrived in this city and quietly came to this small courtyard. And the ghost mother also arrived here one day early and waited in the courtyard.

Xiao Shizhu was not in a hurry to go back, so he simply stayed in the courtyard. Taking advantage of the fact that the shrine was in the courtyard, he took his wife to live in the shrine, leaving the surrounding houses to the accompanying guards.

After waking up today, Xiao Shizhu stood by the bed in the inner room of the shrine with a teacup, and pushed open the window to look out.

Not far from the window, there are rows of wooden doors that are connected together, which also form a wall of this small courtyard. When the shrine is about to enter and exit, remove the wooden door and go out.

"The locust tree outside this courtyard is really tall. After Xiao Shizhu watched for a long time, he said to the ghost mother who was packing up for him not far behind him: "I think back then, I also played chess with an old ghost under this tree." At that time, its canopy was like a giant lid. ”。

"Is it the year you and Changqin went south?" The ghost mother neatly folded Xiao Shizhu's robe and put it in the closet not far away.

"Yes, at that time, our family was not born yet. Xiao Shizhu nodded a little, and continued to look out the window at the dense branches of the trees.

"You're going to have to give me another baby. After a long time, Xiao Shizhu closed the window, turned to the ghost mother and said with some embarrassment: "I also know that this is very painful, but some of Yingzhao's words are not unreasonable." I all know that the Qingqiu Fox Kingdom came prepared and tried to take the throne under my ass, but it was not good to tear my face and refuse at that time. In the current situation, Tu Yaoqing gave birth to a son, but you and Yue Yatou didn't give me a son. I don't care, but in the future, if a ghost minister uses this as an excuse to ask me to set up that little cub Xiao Fulei as my prince of the ghost country, I will not even be able to refute it. ”。

"Look at what you said, as if Xiao Fulei is not your child. I can see it, this child has mysterious power, and the ghost aura is similar to yours, isn't it your child, but who is it?" The ghost mother glanced at him and said, "No matter what the child's grandfather has in mind, he is your child after all, you still have to do your father's responsibility, and you shouldn't blame this child for any faults." ”。

In a few words, Xiao Shizhu was speechless.

He silently followed the ghost mother around the diamond-shaped wide side of the wooden frame in the depths of the inner room, and the screen was full of six-sided turtle back brocade solitary fan screens, and came to the deeper bed and sat down.

Xiao Shizhu thought for a while and said, "It's not that I want to be dissatisfied with Xiao Fulei because of this. I wanted to make our Poria the crown prince, but after a few years, I still haven't been able to do it. The ghosts in the country always felt that the crown prince was going to inherit the throne, and it had to be a male ghost. The female ghost is nothing more than the water spilled by the daughter who got married, and she can't inherit the unification, it's really stubborn!"

After saying that, Xiao Shizhu snorted angrily, and his face suddenly turned blue.

Green smoke curled in the incense burner in front of the bed, and the lit soothing incense could not make Xiao Shizhu dissipate.

The ghost mother sighed lightly, showing a little helplessness.

At present, the best candidate for the prince of the Nine Shadows Kingdom is none other than Xiao Fuling. Xiao Shizhu, the eldest daughter, not only studied under a famous teacher, but also was calm and calm, and she became more and more comfortable and experienced in handling things. has experience in commanding troops, and experience in supervising the country and handling state affairs, so he is the best candidate for the crown prince.

In the Nine Shadows Kingdom, there is also a certain foundation.

It would be better if there was more discernment in calling and selecting and appointing ghost talents.

But the ghost officials and generals in the court have always been reluctant to agree to let Xiao Fuling be the successor. Xiao Shizhu wants to use these ghosts again, so naturally he can't compete with them.

Therefore, when talking about these, Xiao Shizhu was not angry.

"Okay, there must be a road before the car reaches the mountain, how old is Poria cocos, you are so anxious about this. There is also the matter of having a child, which can only be slowed down. Seeing that he was still angry for a long time, the ghost mother changed the topic: "By the way, I want to ask why you suddenly want me to pick you up?"

"You don't want me. Aren't you happy to let you pick me up?" Xiao Shizhu was still angry, and his speech was also full of taste.

The ghost mother was not in a hurry, nodded and said: "I think, I just don't know why you suddenly let me out, and you have to arrange a dark line in the palace to monitor a few palace people who have dealings with the Qingqiu Fox Kingdom?"

Hearing this, Xiao Shizhu put down the teacup in his hand and lay down on the bed, stretched out his hands flat, and put out a big character on the red and unusually bright and soft dust mattress on the bed, and looked at the embroidered birds on the gold wire tent above: "Ah San gave me a situation, the rare metals smuggled out have only started in the past year or so." There are not too many in the territory of the Northern Yin Dynasty, and most of them have already entered the Qingqiu Fox Kingdom. ”。

"Qingqiu Fox Country secretly resells it in private, so he wants to investigate whether the rare minerals that flow out to other places are also related to Qingqiu Fox Country. Speaking of this, Xiao Shizhu sighed.

There was a little disappointment in his eyes.

He was extremely benevolent to the Qingqiu Fox Country, and he wanted soldiers and things, and never regarded their citizens as second-class citizens. If it was really Qingqiu Fox Country eating inside and out, although he would never tolerate it, it was inevitable that he would be cold.

"Is there such a thing?" the ghost mother was stunned for a moment, and then blurted out exclaimed.

"Hmm. Xiao Shizhu turned over and sat up again, looking ahead: "Although most of the inside stories are not yet known, Bacheng is inseparable from the Qingqiu Fox Country. In particular, Hu Lan's son is the most active. He has already made a lot of friends in the palace and the scribes, and he has been secretly in contact, thinking that I don't know!"

Xiao Shizhu's eyes suddenly widened, and he snorted coldly in a flash of anger.

"You just left Yuque City on your front foot, and someone from the palace came to his mansion to report to this fox Qingyun. Immediately afterwards, Xiao Shizhu said again: "After that, Hu Lan suddenly called himself sick and closed the door. ”。

Over the years, the reason why the Nine Shadows Kingdom has been stable is that Xiao Shizhu has installed Xuanjiao disciples everywhere. These ghost slaves were born, and the emancipated Xuanjiao disciples were loyal to Xiao Shizhu, hiding in the yamen of various prefectures and prefectures, without exaggeration, and truthfully reporting everything they saw. So that Xiao Shizhu can understand everything as quickly as possible.

Only then can subversion and rebellion be nippled in the bud again and again.

And in Hu Lan's mansion, there are naturally Xiao Shizhu's secret agents. Every move can't escape Xiao Shizhu's eyes.

"Hu Lan is a good ghost, he is scheming, but he has no ambitions. But his son is different, he is always ambitious, and he always wants to achieve great things. Before the ghost mother could recover from her surprise, Xiao Shizhu spoke again: "In a word, I am very restless. ”。

After saying that, he turned his head to look at the ghost mother: "Don't think I don't know, it's him, he provoked Tu Yaoqing's ambitions." ”。

The ghost mother suddenly felt a pang in her heart, and surprise appeared in her eyes. When he turned his head to look at his husband, he saw the angry Xiao Shizhu with hatred in his eyes. But soon, it turned to sadness again.

At a glance, the ghost mother knew that Xiao Shizhu knew that Xiao Fuyuan was dead.

She hadn't figured out how to tell Xiao Shizhu about it. Now it seems that there is no need to say anything.

"I know, Fu, Fu, ......" Xiao Shizhu suddenly bit his lower lip hard, and after his hands were clenched into fists, tears appeared in his eyes.

The ghost mother was startled, she had rarely seen her husband so grieved, so that when the tears appeared, her whole body was trembling slightly.

"Fu is gone. At this moment, Xiao Shizhu choked up, a little weak, and squeezed out these words from between his teeth.

"Tu Yaoqing threw my daughter to death!" Immediately after, he took out a secret letter from his sleeve and handed it to the ghost mother, closed his eyes and fell back, lying on the bed and crying silently.

With a sad face, the ghost mother took the secret letter and did not open it. She knew what was written on it and where it came from.

Even though she can block the news in the palace, the news outside the palace cannot be completely blocked. After all, the Xuanjiao disciples will pass on this matter to Xiao Shizhu.

It's just that the ghost mother didn't expect that before she could tell her husband the bad news, her husband would know it first.

"When you suddenly recalled Poria Cocos, I felt that something was wrong. Let the Xuanjiao followers secretly check it, but they didn't expect it to be such bad news. Xiao Shizhu, who was lying down, suddenly opened his eyes, was murderous, and gritted his teeth: "They dare to let them lose their children for no reason, I will cut them with a thousand knives and chop them into meat puree!"