Chen Shi

This is probably the most torturous welcome banquet ever eaten.

All the attendees were mournful and dejected. The one who was washed away poured alcohol all by himself. The food had just been served there, and his wine jar was already three empty.Chen Zhi didn't have time to care about him, his hand was almost peeled off by Cui Yan's caress, and he was desperately grabbing it back.

The tables of the two were moved very close by Cui Yan, but the frequent small movements still attracted people's attention.

"Enough is enough." He threatened through gritted teeth.

Cui Yan took a sip of the wine, and with two beautiful blushes on her cheeks, she blew on him with a smile.

Chen Zhi said, "You just had a glass of wine, don't pretend to be drunk."

Cui Yan felt wronged and said, "I am shallow."

Chen Zhi said expressionlessly: "I also mixed water into your wine."

Cui Yan was dumbfounded, she really didn't expect that she would try her best to break into the palace, and she would also eat wine mixed with water.

Taking advantage of his inattention, Chen Zhi retracted his reddened hand and hid it under the big retreat.

Cui Yan stared at the position and whispered, "My hands are cold too, so cover me too." As she spoke, her fingers restlessly arched down her thighs.

Chen Zhi smiled and grabbed his hand, and stuffed it into the urn containing chicken soup.Cui Yan naturally refused, the two were in a stalemate, and almost knocked over the table, but fortunately Zhang Quan fell over at this time, and the wine jar fell, occupying most of the people's attention.

Chen Zhi hurriedly stood up and said, "I'll take him to the room, where the Celestial Master will host."

Cui Yan frowned dissatisfied.

Chen Zhi turned his head and made a face at him while the others were not paying attention.

Cui Yan suddenly became happy, and said to the black armored soldier: "How can you let His Majesty do it yourself? If you don't help him up, if your Majesty is tired, go and receive the punishment yourself."

This is not to worry that His Majesty will be tired, and he clearly does not want His Majesty to meet other people.

The words that treated Chen Zhi like a taboo made all the officials secretly despise.The relationship between the two is almost blatant. If others want to pretend not to see it, they have to poke themselves blind first.Since he was reluctant to poke himself blind, he could only turn a blind eye.

Chen Zhi didn't care about the mood of these people, walked out of the banquet slowly, and breathed a sigh of relief facing the night sky on the roof of the palace that remained unchanged for thousands of years regardless of the changes in the world.

"Your Majesty, where will General Zhang be sent?" the black armored soldier asked ignorantly.

Chen Zhi waved his hand impatiently: "There are so many beds in the palace, just give him an unoccupied one."

"No." Zhang Quan seemed to have come to his senses, and squeezed his hand, "I want to have a long talk with His Majesty..."

Chen Zhi evaded and said: "Recently, the pain from rheumatism is severe, and I can't touch my knees. I will push it another day, and push it another day."

"No! Just today." Zhang Quan's hand scratched his palm, Chen Zhi thought he was teasing himself, and his scalp was numb with nausea, but then he felt as if he was writing, but this word...

"His Majesty?"

The black-armored soldier looked at the hands they were holding with a sad face. If he let the celestial master know, he would have to take the lead, but he could force them to separate, and he would inevitably touch His Majesty. It was really a dilemma.

Chen Zhidao: "Isn't Daoist Jiang's room empty? Let's send it there first."

The black armored soldiers hesitated, and Jiang Yi lived in the side hall of Qianqing Palace. Although they were not under the same roof, the distance was too close.

But Chen Zhi insisted on going his own way, and they couldn't stop them, so they had to send him into the house. When he entered the door, Zhang Quan staggered suddenly. close.

The black armored soldier was startled, knocked on the door and shouted, "Your Majesty?"

Chen Zhi looked at Zhang Quan whose eyes were suddenly so clear, and was also dumbfounded: "Huh?"

"Your Majesty!" The black armored soldier didn't dare to force his way in, so he could only shout through the door, "Be sure to take care of the dragon robe!"

"..." Chen Zhi responded inside, "Don't worry, after seeing Cui Tianshi's sewing skills, I will definitely take good care of this only remaining dragon robe."

The black armored soldier said: "You can't take off your clothes! You can't take off your pants! I'm going to invite the heavenly master! Hold on, Your Majesty! If you can't hold on, you must shout!" He told the black armored soldier at the door that if he heard the emperor calling for help, don't worry about it. 21, rush in and talk.

Compared with the urgency outside, the silence inside the house was scary.

Chen Zhi wanted to light a lamp, but was stopped by Zhang Quan.

Zhang Quan said in a low voice, "I have something to report to His Majesty alone."

Chen Zhi was shocked by Zhang Quan's sincere tone.Brother, do you remember that you are actually a traitor?Don't deviate from the revolutionary road by eating imperial food for a few days!

Zhang Quan said: "My eldest brother and I were killed by a traitor, so we will fail!"

Chen Zhi said, "The Celestial Master is already investigating the traitor."

Before coming, Zhang Quan made up his mind to restrain his temper, proceed step by step, and use rich language skills to persuade Chen Zhi. However, in order to deceive others, he drank a lot of wine tonight. Ji Ji, said in a rough voice: "If the traitor is the master of heaven..."

……

Don't think he can't hear what that pause means.

Chen Zhi felt that his doubts were simply too funny: "Before I set off on the expedition, I made an oath that the Celestial Master is the future master of the world. You and General Gao are fighting for him. If you win, he will win, and if they lose, he will win." He lost. What reason does he have to destroy the Great Wall when he is both prosperous and prosperous?"

Zhang Quan pulled his hair in pain: "I don't know! I can't figure it out! But the fact is that only the three of us know many important military information. Will Gao Delai and I kill ourselves?"

Chen Zhi said, "Could it be that something went wrong on the way to deliver the military situation?"

Zhang Quan said: "That is also his person. Will he check his person?"

Chen Zhi was questioned.Indeed, the scope of Cui Yan's investigation of traitors has always been fixed on the former officials of the Chen Dynasty. If moths come out of the black armor soldiers, it is impossible to guard against them.

The black-armored soldiers guarding the door heard that there was no movement inside, and started banging on the door again.

Chen Zhi shouted: "It's okay!"

Zhang Quan suddenly grabbed his shoulder and said seriously: "The King of Southwest is bloodthirsty and violent. When he becomes emperor, all of us will be finished. We must save ourselves!"

Chen Zhi said: "There is also Cui Yan..."

Zhang Quan said faintly: "How do you know they are not in the same group?"

He was very close, and the breath he exhaled contained a strong smell of alcohol, which made people dizzy.Chen Zhi covered his nose and said, "The King of Southwest wants to proclaim himself emperor, what good will it do Cui Yan to be with him?"

After drinking, Zhang Quan seemed to have opened his eyes. From time to time, he made a few shocking remarks: "If Cui Yan wants to become emperor, he has been in Beijing for so long, and he has already been enthroned. Will he wait until now? Maybe he doesn't want to be emperor at all. !"

Chen Zhi felt his forehead was struck by lightning, and it was scorched black.It's not that Zhang Quan's words are ridiculous, but subconsciously, he actually agrees with this possibility!

Zhang Quan said: "Think about it, if Gao Delai and I are dead, who will benefit?" He snapped his fingers, "The King of the Southwest! And... Cui Yan! From now on, he will be the leader of the rebel army in the world."

"Dangdang!"

The door was kicked open, and Cui Yan barged in majestically.

The sudden cool wind brushed over Chen Zhi's face, like water and ice, freezing him all over his body.

"Hey!" Dazed, Zhang Quan pecked hard on the face, "Jiao Jiao!"

Before Chen Zhi could respond, Cui Yan had already pulled Zhang Quan away, hugged him into her arms, and asked angrily, "Aside from the face, where else did you let him kiss?"

His yelling didn't stop, Zhang Quan's other side had already made a fuss, yelling hoarsely among several black armored soldiers: "Jiao Jiao! Give me back Jiao Jiao! You bastards! The king of the Southwest, the king of the Southwest! He Damn, I want to fight with you... the three hundred rounds of the fight! No, three thousand rounds! I, hiccup, scare you to death!"

"Give him a cold bath to wake him up!" Cui Yan flicked her sleeves and dragged Chen Zhi out with a hug.When he got outside, he pinched Chen Zhi's chin and asked him to look up at him: "What are you thinking?"

Chen Zhixin was thumping, and said angrily: "I was molested by a drunk, what do you think I should think now? Take off my belt and hang myself to protect my reputation?"

Cui Yan said, "Didn't you guys have a good time in the little black room?"

Chen Zhi said: "What else? Before drinking, say 'General Zhang is working hard, drink more', and then turn your face after drinking and say 'Drunk, go to death'?"

Cui Yan was speechless and could only stare at his face and sulk.

Seeing that he didn't pursue further, Chen Zhi secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "Where's Cui Jiao?"

Cui Yan said: "She said she fell asleep."

Just as he was talking, Chen Zhi saw Cui Jiao, who was wrapped in a quilt, being carried into the room where Zhang Quan was by a group of black armored soldiers.

……

Cui Yan explained: "Since I fell asleep, there is no need to sit up."

Chen Zhi: "..."

I thought that if they left, the banquet would end soon, but later I found out that without them, the others would eat and drink happily. If it wasn't for the persuasion of the military adviser and a few veterans, it would have been almost all night.

Yin Shangong, who was not present at the banquet, didn't take it seriously when he found out, and complained to Chen Zhi: "The reception banquet is just a way to hide shame, it really is a celebration banquet! When the King of Southwest really comes to the city, they will be so happy that they will pass out! "

Chen Zhi thought about Cui Yan and the Southwest King all night, and was upset, so he asked casually, "Is there any clue about the traitor?"

"Not yet. The confessions of General Zhang's subordinates are unclear, and I don't know where to start. Cui Tianshi is quite capable, and he has searched all the temples. Although he did not find out the insider, he caught a lot of moths, which is also considered credit." one piece."

"Only checked the temple departments?"

"The Shuntian Mansion and Yushitai have been investigated, and the Governor's Mansion and the Yulin Army exist in name only, but they have not been moved."

Even the hostile Yinshangong didn't feel that this investigation list was wrong. It can be seen that everyone's inertial thinking is that Cui Yan and his subordinates have no problem.

Chen Zhi couldn't help but fell into deep thought.

He didn't believe Zhang Quan's rhetoric, but was opened up a new way of thinking.And the end of this line of thought made him feel scared—what if Cui Yan really didn't intend to become emperor?

While he promised and promised...the action never came.

Seeing him restless, Yin Shangong comforted him: "Your Majesty, don't worry. With such a vigorous investigation, even if there is a traitor, he will not dare to show his head for the time being."

Chen Zhi asked a strange question: "What if no one wants to be emperor?"

Yin Shangong was so shocked by the question that he was speechless for a long time. When he regained his senses, a ball of fire rushed up, forgetting all the rituals of monarchs and ministers, and all the minor offenses, and opened his mouth and started to spit: "Do you think that the king of the Southwest came here for an outing? No one wants to be emperor, so why does Cui Yan stay in the palace all day to deal with state affairs? Is it because you are afraid that you will work too hard, so you come here to share your worries? Your Majesty Ah, you have to believe that you are unique and unique in this world, and it is not suitable for things like this to happen to you!"

He took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, rested for a while, and asked Chen Zhi: "Does Your Majesty have any other questions?"

Chen Zhi honestly shook his head.

"If Your Majesty has any doubts..."

"Definitely suffocate and don't ask."

"..."

Yinshan's public words are not rough.

Cui Yan couldn't get the Dragon Qi, if she didn't want to be the emperor, why would she stay in the palace and do her best?

Chen Zhi felt that he couldn't let himself be confused, so he went to find out what happened with him first.

Cui Yan went to Chen Zhi to have dinner together in the evening, as soon as she entered the room, she saw that the food had been prepared, and there were several jugs of wine shining brightly.Chen Zhi pulled him to sit down: "I was talking to Duke Yin today. He boasted that he had a lot of fine wine in his house, so I ordered a few jugs. It was really delicious! Try it."

Cui Yan lowered her head and sniffed: "Burning knives?"

Chen Zhi said: "This time there is no water, you can drink whatever you want."

Cui Yan smiled slightly, drank it in one gulp, and swung the cup upside down.

Chen Zhi filled another cup.

"It's too slow to drink like this." Cui Yan picked up the wine jar, raised her head and drank a few gulps, then wiped her lips and smiled, "Is this enough?"

Seeing that his cheeks were flushed, Chen Zhi quickly brought another altar to him.

Cui Yan reluctantly took the wine jar and put it aside: "Just ask if you have anything to say, and you don't need to get drunk. I have a demon pill, so as long as I don't want to get drunk, I can't get drunk. Moreover, compared to wine... ...the color is more intoxicating." She stared at him with watery eyes.

Chen Zhi didn't expect to really get him drunk: "Oh, then pretend to be drunk."

"Are you sure?" Cui Yan's eyes darkened, as if she was really about to get drunk.

"The kind that's too drunk to walk."

Cui Yan moved towards Chen Zhi's direction: "I can't walk anymore, I want to be hugged by idiot."

Chen Zhi turned his head around twice before he remembered that Ah Chi was Chen Yingke's nickname: "...sit down and look at me."

Cui Yan rested her head on her arm and looked at him with a smile.

"When are you going to be enthroned?"

"Didn't Ah Chi mean after defeating the Southwest King?"

"What if you are undefeated?"

"...The country is gone, and the life is gone, so why do you want to be enthroned?"

Chen Zhi was speechless.

Cui Yan moved her body towards him again: "Are you drunk?"

Chen Zhi looked at him "...what do you want to ask?"

"Ever since you and Zhang Quan were in the same room in the small black room, you have been full of worries. What did he say to you?" Cui Yan asked very gently, but the gleam in her eyes was obviously not that friendly.

Chen Zhi said angrily: "Speaking ill of you, are you going to kill me?"

Cui Yan pretended to be drunk on purpose, and said with her tongue out: "If a fool is dissatisfied with me, it's fine to point at my nose and scold in front of me, why bother to speak ill of him behind his back. It must be Zhang Quan who did something bad, I will kill him ’” As he spoke, he staggered to stand up.

Chen Zhi pulled him, and he immediately fell into Chen Zhi's arms and couldn't get up.

Chen Zhi said: "This is my last dragon robe, if it is torn I will...I will... run around naked!"

He didn't know why he made such a strange threat. What was even more strange was that Cui Yan got up aggrieved and looked at him accusingly, "You are not a woman".

Chen Zhi pretended not to see it: "Has the traitor been found out?"

"Didn't Yin Monkey report to you every day?"

Chen Zhi raised his eyebrows: "You know?"

Cui Yan sighed helplessly: "If I don't know, how can I gather any news with his cronies."

Chen Zhi said: "Isn't there any news about you after checking for a long time?"

Cui Yan said: "The embankment of a thousand miles is destroyed by ant nests. Now I am digging out the ant nests one by one. It seems trivial, but it is actually necessary. It is still unknown whether there are traitors. Even if there are, after this time , and dare not take any action.”

Chen Zhi felt that he really had the potential to be a foolish king.After listening to Zhang Quan's words, after thinking about it, the train of thought is quite clear. Why did Cui Yan feel that what he said was very reasonable when he explained it?

He held his forehead and thought for a while, and suddenly remembered a very important thing that he had always neglected: "Have you checked the New Year's house?"

It's okay not to mention it, but when he was mentioned, the "drunkness" on Cui Yan's face immediately turned into "jealousy", and she said sourly: "Young Master Wuxia, who is having a tryst with Your Majesty, without His Majesty's permission, how dare I investigate randomly?" ?”

Chen Zhi didn't fall into his language trap at all, "hehe" smiled: "There is no 'random' investigation, so it must be done in a serious manner, right? Don't tell me that Chen Shoutian's existence was only in your dreams!"

"If Your Majesty is worried, they can disappear tonight." Cui Yan said lightly.

Chen Zhi was afraid that he would take a wrong turn again, so he directly asked the question: "How likely do you think the Nian family and the Southwest King are in collusion?"

"The Nian family wants to support Empress Nian's son, which conflicts with the interests of the Southwest King, so the possibility of collusion is unlikely."

Chen Zhi remembered the back that looked like Shan Bushe he had seen at the door of Nian's house, and hurriedly said: "It's hard to guarantee that he didn't cast a wide net and catch carefully."

Cui Yan looked at him with deep meaning: "Your Majesty is so eloquent, don't you know something?"

"You know that our master can read pictures, right?"

"Well, I have the appearance of an emperor."

Chen Zhi said nonsense in a serious manner: "Everyone in the Nian family has 'check me, check me, I'm suspicious' written on their faces."

Cui Yan asked curiously: "Your Majesty looks in the mirror every day, what do you see written on your face?"

Chen Zhi said, "I didn't sleep well yesterday."

Cui Yan: "..."

"Don't change the subject. That day when Jiang Yi and I came out of Nian's house, we happened to see a vicious, sinister, vicious person enter Nian's house. According to my many years of experience in meeting people, he must be a person full of evil."

"Such as Shan Bushe?"

Chen Zhi froze.

Cui Yan patted his head: "What's wrong, Your Majesty? I'm just making an analogy."

"You're right. It must be an extremely strange person to use a name from a hundred years ago."

Five hundred miles away from the imperial palace, an army of tens of thousands of people was on their way overnight.

In the middle of the army, three identical giant carriages were driving smoothly on the official road.The King of Southwest was sitting in the third carriage, and sitting with him was a pale young man with his eyes closed.

There was a continuous drizzle outside, and after a while, the rain became heavier and began to "tick-tick-tick" the window.

The young man slowly opened his eyes, and the Southwest King, who was reading with his head down, immediately raised his head and said, "The Palace Master is awake? I'll call for a meal immediately."

The palace lord said, "Someone is here."

Just as he was talking, he heard the guard outside reporting that he saw a village in front of him.

The King of Southwest said: "Leave the food, and everyone will be killed."

The palace lord said: "My lord endured all the way, why did he suddenly start killing?"

Southwest King said: "The closer you are to the capital, the more the people will be taught by the current dynasty. After I proclaim the emperor, they will think about the benefits of the previous dynasty if things go wrong. This kind of troublemaker is the most annoying , kill it to be clean. Palace Master thinks it’s wrong?”

The palace owner said: "The way of heaven pays attention to karma. Whoever sows the cause will reap the fruit. Why do you ask me about the prince's own affairs?"

The Southwest King laughed loudly and said, "But the skynet is fully restored, and there will be omissions in the end. Even if you are punished by heaven, you can still survive. I just kill a few troublemakers, so what's the point?"

The palace lord gave him a cold look.

The Southwest King didn't take it seriously, and still said with a smile: "When I ascend the throne, I will designate the palace master as a national teacher, and benefit all the people. I am afraid that this karma will not be calculated by the way of heaven."

The rain poured down suddenly, like pouring beans, covering all the sounds in the car.

The news of the Southwest King's approach spread across the capital in an instant, and at the same time, there was also the sad news that the villages along the way were massacred.Everyone in the capital is in danger, and many people have already planned to abandon the city and flee, including most of the old officials of the Chen Dynasty.

Once bitten, twice shy.I thought Cui Yan was already considered cruel, but compared with the Southwest King, she is simply a teacher of benevolence and righteousness!

They blocked the Palace of Political Affairs, crying and shouting for the capital to be moved.

Chen Zhi got a headache from the quarrel, so he simply hid in Yinshan Gong's house.But the rumors leaked out quickly, and Yinshan Gong's house was so blocked that even the common people rushed to ask the emperor to move the capital and promised to follow him thousands of miles away.

While counting the family property with his wife, Yin Shangong said to Chen Zhi, who was eating fruit in his arms and said, "Your Majesty, the public opinion is overwhelming, please think twice, Your Majesty."

Chen Zhi said: "Move the capital to the north? Do you think the Tatars in the north are vegetarians? When they saw us passing by, they held up the banner of 'Welcome' and said enthusiastically, Neighbors, please move around more in the future."

Yin Shangong said: "But the King of Southwest is coming in a menacing way, and the capital's troops are not enough to deal with it. Staying here is a dead end."

"Cui Yan hasn't cried yet, why are you howling?"

Chen Zhi felt that it was not suitable to stay here for a long time, so he went back to the palace to find Cui Yan.