Wang Yu, the defender of Yunding City, rebelled, led the defenders of the whole city to kill the monarch and attempted rebellion, committed suicide in fear of crime, and the defenders of Yunding City were all slaughtered. This huge change soon spread throughout the land of southern Xinjiang, and not only the whole country of Southern Chu was shocked, but the neighboring countries of Qingqiu and Wuxian also began to pay close attention.

In the north of Diyun City, the Yan family, who originally planned to enter the capital, suddenly shrank back because of this incident, and together with tens of thousands of black-armored warriors, all the teachers returned to the northern frontier.

The two sons of the general Yan Jin, Yan Xuan and Yan Miao, after riding a high-headed horse around the outskirts of the capital, reluctantly returned to their fiefdom and restarted the life of hunting and archery in the hunting ground outside the general's mansion all day long.

"It's just a pity that the eldest brother, the original wish to return to the beauty has been disappointed. The brothers hunted for a day, and they both gained a lot and returned with a full load, and the younger brother Yan Miao saw that the eldest brother Yan Xuan was still angry because he couldn't enter Diyun City, so he made a joke.

Yan Xuan was originally a little unhappy in his heart, not because he failed to marry the princess as his younger brother said, but mainly because he didn't understand why his father suddenly changed his mind, causing everyone to run in vain, and when he heard his younger brother joking like this, he simply complained directly: "Tell me, why did Dad suddenly change his hexagram in battle? We are not afraid of Zhulong's yellow-haired old man!"

Yan Miao didn't answer directly, but asked, "Then you should tell me first, why did Dad want us to enter the capital?"

Yan Xuan said without thinking: "Then you still need to ask, of course it is to enter the palace to fight for power." Since the incident five years ago, in addition to the Gao family who seized the throne, the Zhu family and our Yan family have the greatest power, and now that the monarch is newly mourned, the Zhu family controls the government in the palace, covering the sky with one hand, if you don't enter the palace at this time, when the position of the Zhu family is stabilized, can you not do anything to us?"

Yan Miao shook his head, smiled slyly and said, "Big brother, you misunderstood, what I said was, what are we ostensibly for?"

"Whew!" Yan Xuan waved his hand, "What are you doing all the time, what good is it for us to marry the second princess who is really alive?"

"If you don't marry the second princess, we have no reason to go to the city, without the edict of the monarch, the general can't casually lead troops into the capital, but with the edict of the first king who married the second princess, it's different. ”

Yan Miao said: "Moreover, the edict of the first king, the matter of marrying the second princess to you, there was no movement before, why did the edict come over recently, or did it send it secretly, no matter how you look at it, it was all intentional." ”

Although Yan Xuan is quick to speak, he is not a simple-minded person, he has actually thought about this question for a long time, but it is inconvenient to speak.

Now that the younger brother took the initiative, he simply said bluntly: "That edict was sent to my house, with the seal of the monarch, the seal of the harem, and the small seal of the second princess Ligongyuan, which means that the first king, the queen and the second princess herself all nodded, which is not fake." ”

"You're just worried, the Zhu family now has almost complete control of the palace, is it possible that he got all these seals, and then forged this edict to lure us into the city and catch them all, right?"

Yan Miao nodded, "Not bad." ”

"I was also worried about this at the time, so I went to my father on the day I received the edict, and his old man decided to enter the city almost immediately, what my father meant was that if the Zhu family had mastered the seal of the monarch, it would be equivalent to nominally grasping the supreme power of Southern Chu, and directly forged an edict to establish himself as the king, and there was no need to put us in his eyes anymore. ”

"The reason why the Zhu family is still acting in the name of the Gao family now means that they must not have obtained the seal. Then, this edict stamped with the seal of the monarch must not be the handiwork of the Zhu family, since the Zhu family has not been able to fully grasp the capital, they must not want us to enter the capital at this time. And the less they want us to come, the more we want to come. ”

After speaking, Yan Xuan's expression became annoyed again, "But somehow, we all walked to the bottom of the city tower, and my father actually asked us to turn around and go back!"

Yan Miao didn't answer this, but said: "Dad just told you that this is not the Zhu family's handiwork, and Dad didn't say that this edict must be true." ”

This time it was Yan Xuan's turn to be surprised, if it wasn't true, and the Zhu family didn't need to forge it, then who else could forge the edict?

Suddenly, he thought of the news he had just gotten from Yunding City, and a possibility flashed through his mind, and he muttered, "Could it be...... The third prince flies high?"

But Yan Miao still shook his head: "Since the day the first king died, the Zhu family has devoted all the strength of the city to hunt down Gao Fei, and he may not dare to bring the seal with him." The best way is to give it to someone he trusts enough and the Zhu family is easy to ignore. ”

Yan Xuan suddenly realized: "You mean ......"

Yan Miao smiled slightly: "To deceive a suspicious yellow-haired thief like Zhu Ning, dark under the light is often the most effective way." ”

"I see!" Yan Xuan laughed: "It turns out that the second princess wants to win us over, and she can't wait to catch herself!"

Yan Miao also smiled: "The beauty came to the door by herself, and my brother is not shallow." ”

"Then since my father has already seen through this, why ......?"

"Because the Gao family doesn't need us so much now. ”

Yan Miao said slowly: "Father's grasp of the timing is far better than ours, the battle of Yunding City, at least it shows that the situation has not obviously turned to one side, and we don't need to rush to make a move." ”

The sky is close to dusk, the sunset on the edge of the sky at this time seems extraordinarily red, the fiefdom of the Yan family is flat and vast, people in the wilderness always like to raise their heads and look up, enjoy this gorgeous sunset, the people who have lived here for a long time know that now these red sunsets are not the most beautiful time, and after a while they will show a deeper crimson and heavy purple, becoming more layered and more brilliant, but this intoxicating splendor often only lasts for a short time before ushering in the end, and the long dark night will cover the earth。

Thousands of miles away, in the Ligong Garden of Diyun City, the second princess Gao Xue was also gazing at the sunset on the horizon.

She had already heard the news of Yan Jin's sudden return to the division, a dignified general of the country, who retreated from the battle and stayed out of the matter at the time of the national crisis.

Gao Xue had already foreseen that after the Yunding City incident, Zhu Ning might have to completely tear his face, revealing the treacherous face of the thief, and the Yan family chose to watch from the wall at this time, it seems that they want to wait for the royal family and the Zhu family to lose both before coming to reap the benefits.

Thinking of this, Gao Xue showed a self-deprecating wry smile on her face, there was no way, this fisherman's fishing net was sent to the door by himself.

Yes, as Yan Miao expected, the edict was forged by Gao Xue, using the seal sent by Gao Fei that night.

This edict is very realistic, she thinks that if the Yan family believes it, it will become a big help to the royal family, and it will inevitably enter the capital to fight against the Zhu family, even if the Yan family does not believe it, it is Gao Xue who shows goodwill to the Yan family on behalf of the royal family, and the Yan family has to say that sooner or later they will have to stand up for the royal family.

It's a pity that the Yan family has already walked to the foot of the city gate with the black-armored warriors, saying that they have done their job, but the day when they will really stand out for the Gao family is far away.

Gao Xue knew that the battle outside Diyun City was about to reach a climax, but she couldn't help with anything.

Confined in this glass palace, there is only a group of palace maids and Xiao Huangmen around him, whether these people are eyeliner sent by the Zhu family or not, Gao Xue can only do to be kind to them.

As a young girl who has just become an adult, she has experienced the life and death of her relatives, and witnessed these slaves and maids in and outside the palace being punished to death, Gao Xue's eyes gradually gave birth to a kind of compassion that does not match her age, and this compassion warms the little people in the Ligong Garden like the winter sun.

These little people were originally like insects and ants living in the dark and damp stone crevices, and some of them were poisonous insects with the marks of the Zhu family's minions, their world had always been dirty and gray, but now they gradually saw the sun, so their eyes gradually had a faint light.

No one would have thought that in the long night, these glimmers of light would become the sword that pierced the darkness in the future.

The sun set, Gao Xue sighed slightly, walked back to the dormitory, and slowly rolled the bead curtains.

And Yunding City, in the center of the whirlpool, was very calm at this time.

Goofy has been silent these days.

The yellow rats that Yunding City cracked and poisoned, the soldiers who pretended to rest, and the ambushes outside the city were all his handiwork, but the corpses of nearly 10,000 defenders and the ominous curse of killing and surrendering were also his lingering shadows.

Under the red clouds in the dusk sky, Goofy squatted in the woods outside the city, looking up at the sky with a blank face, not knowing whether he was thinking about the past or the future.

After a while, Gao Yuan walked over, and Gao Fei glanced up at him and motioned for him to sit down as well.

"Is there any news from Diyun City?" Gao Fei asked.

Gao Yuan nodded.

"Zhu Ning should know that we have joined forces to deal with him, does he plan to stand on his own?"

Gao Yuan continued to nod at first, then shook his head again, and said, "Set up our eldest nephew, Xuan'er." ”

Gao Fei nodded: "Big brother's son...... Set up a doll less than two years old to be the monarch, and the fig leaf that the old thief left for himself is almost transparent. ”

Gao Yuan didn't answer, the brothers were silent, and after a while, Gao Yuan wanted to speak several times, but finally broke the peace: "Third brother, I think that the position of the monarch should be returned to you now." ”

Gao Fei looked sideways, glanced at Gao Yuan, and did not speak.

Gao Yuan continued: "Originally, we were caught off guard by Zhu Ning, so I pretended to accept his request to succeed the monarch, but now that he has torn his face with us, we don't need to pretend to show him." The young and the young are orderly, the position of the monarch should have been yours of the third brother. Besides, in terms of talent and strategy, I am not as good as you, and you are the best candidate to be the king. ”

Gao Fei stared at Gao Yuan's eyes for a long time, Gao Yuan did not evade, and finally, Gao Fei looked away and looked up at the sky again, which was considered a tacit acquiescence.

Gao Yuan smiled slightly: "Then I'll prepare, and in two days, I will give the third brother an enthronement ceremony and announce it to the world." After speaking, he was about to leave, but was stopped by Gao Fei: "Just tell the world, don't enthrone the throne, we have more important things to do these days." Gao Yuan thought for a moment, nodded, and walked out of the woods.

Goofy was still in the woods, he lay down on his back so that the sky was always in his field of vision, he watched the sun set, watched the clouds chasing the moon on the horizon, and thought quietly.

Before Zhu Ning's rebellion, he was the object of envy and worship of everyone, even after the rebellion, it was his series of tricks that almost all of the Zhu family's plans failed, and he turned the tide with the power of one person to save the royal family on the verge of danger.

In the eyes of the people, he seems to be a god who does not make mistakes, but Goofy himself knows that he can also be impulsive and make mistakes, and on that thunderstorm night, it was precisely because he was controlled by hatred and killing that he made the great mistake of killing and surrendering.

He sat up slowly again, looking at the south, at the end of the southern border guarded by the Zhennan army, at the junction of the Ba Snake and the Demon Forest, he could vaguely see three straight giant trees rising from the ground and reaching into the sky, which was a fairy pen tree that had existed for hundreds of years and was regarded as a "sacred tree" by the people of Southern Chu.

This tree is tall and straight and majestic, the trunk is not bent or bent, straight into the clouds, people imagine that it is a big pen of immortals on the earth, and it is also a symbol of the fortune of the Southern Chu country, the trees are tall and prosperous, then the Southern Chu country is also prosperous, if the three immortal pen trees fall down on any day, then the gas of the Southern Chu country is also exhausted.

It was getting dark, there was no wind, the whole woods were quiet, and Goofy knew that it was the calm before the big war.