Born short-lived

The little princess was so frightened that the sound of the piano trembled, and the melody stopped abruptly. She turned around in a panic and bowed to the queen, stammering incoherently: "Mother... mother queen... I... my son and the emperor invited him to come. A narrative on Liushangtai..."

The queen looked down at her with a sullen face, the ends of her eyes were drawn up, and her thin lips were drawn into a line, making her look unspeakably mean, and she said coldly: "Go back."

Dong Li seemed unwilling, hesitated tremblingly, and took a tentative look at Dong Sheng.

Dong Sheng: "Mother, my son invited the princess to Liushangtai to have a talk, just chatting with the piano, and will send the princess back later..."

But the queen seemed not to hear, she stared at Dong Li intently, and interrupted Dong Sheng's intercession with a straightforward voice: "Go back!"

It was only then that Dong Li kowtowed in panic, and a few maidservants rushed over in a very well-trained manner, carefully escorting Dong Li away.

Dong Sheng was stunned for a moment, and looked at the Empress in disbelief, but the Empress glanced at her coldly, and said coldly: "Didn't Zeng Fenglei teach you not to look directly at Tianyan?"

Dong Sheng knew that this person was making a fuss for no reason, and he couldn't afford to hide it, so he lowered his eyes without saying a word.

The queen didn't say anything, just flicked her sleeves and left.

This empress is notoriously eccentric, so Dong Sheng is not surprised by this, but he is a little puzzled. According to his previous impression of the empress, she doesn't seem to care about such trivial matters.

However, most of the people in the palace were elusive. For a moment, Dong Sheng was relieved that he grew up in the East China Sea.

Dong Sheng brushed his hem and stood up, looking back at Zhou Zirong who had been waiting in the distance.

At this time, the sky was completely dark, and there were not many people in the palace, only the white crystal psychic palace lanterns were lit in the corridor.When things like white crystal lamps were first invented, the whole country wanted to go crazy with them, because they were cheap and bright, and they didn't have many of the disadvantages of candle lamps - they didn't suddenly go out, and they didn't have to worry about it. misfire.

But after a long time, people have gradually realized that this thing is useless. The white crystal spirit stone embedded in it is very easy to break, and it is very troublesome to replenish the spiritual power every time. Send the white crystal spirit stone at home to the local supply point to replenish spiritual energy.

Moreover, the light of the white crystal lamp is quite cold, even if it is brighter than a candle lamp, it does not give off any warmth, and the room does not feel lively after lighting it up.

Dong Sheng saw Zhou Zirong and Luo Chi standing in the corridor in a daze. Luo Chi had already dozed off leaning on the porch pillar, and Zhou Zirong was still standing there alone, looking at him with clear eyes. , seems to have been looking at it for a long time, and I don't know if it is an illusion, but the eyes seem very focused.

Like... some kind of small animal, a puppy?

Dong Sheng was amused by the absurd and boring thoughts in his heart.

Zhou Zirong hadn't realized what he had become in other people's hearts, seeing him smile inexplicably, he couldn't help but smile at him.

Only then did Dong Sheng suddenly realize that he didn't know when he started, as long as he saw this person, his mood would become extraordinarily relaxed.

It's just that this person grew up among a group of rough men in the East China Sea, and the thick lines fused into his bones, even if he realized something, he didn't think much about it. He strolled over, and then grabbed Zhou Zirong's shoulder: "Come on, let's have a drink."

"To the palace?"

It was originally agreed, but Dong Sheng hesitated for a moment at this time, rolled his eyes, and smiled slyly: "Hey, you live in the palace several times a year, and the pots and pans may not be complete. I think it's better to go to the restaurant."

Zhou Zirong seemed to have expected it a long time ago, and he just smiled when he heard this: "Okay."

Hearing that the crown prince was coming, Luo Chi managed to wake up a little bit, pulled himself together, and was about to ask if he wanted to follow him: "Your Highness, General, that..."

Zhou Zirong raised his hand quickly, and said with a smile, "You are tired, go back to the palace to rest earlier."

Luo Chi smiled dryly. He actually wanted to say that he just slept and he wasn't tired...

Before he was about to speak again, Zhou Zirong added with a smile: "By the way, go back and arrange the manpower for the palace. This time it may be a long stay."

Luo Chi; "...um, good."

When did your royal palace arrange for defense personnel...

Dong Sheng also felt strange, and said jokingly: "Didn't you always dislike people surrounding your palace tightly, what's wrong this time? Did you go to Nanyang to save your life?"

Zhou Zirong didn't refute, and said happily: "Yes, things in Huajing have been complicated for a while, and I'm worried about side effects."

Looking at Zhou Zirong's expression, Luo Chi slandered a few times in his heart, squinting his eyes and thinking what's wrong with the general...

However, Zhou Zirong completely regarded him as air, moved forward, and followed Dong Sheng away with a smile on his face.

Luo Chi has been with Zhou Zirong for a while, and although Zhou Zirong is smiling almost all the time, he can still tell which ones are for coping and which ones are real smiles.Every time Zhou Zirong saw Dong Sheng, he would laugh from the bottom of his heart, he couldn't even restrain it, and it was a smile that he had never seen in front of anyone else.

Luo Chi thought to himself, the relationship between the general and His Royal Highness is really good, is it because they grew up together...then I also grew up with my brother, why do I panic when I see him.

Luo Chi looked at the soft-spoken Zhou Zirong who had gradually walked away, and thought of his elder brother who stared at him when he saw him. Bitter.

Luo Chi thought wryly, it's really different...

Since he had to go to court the next day, Dong Sheng didn't dare to live the night life too lavishly, and went back after drinking almost drunk, and Zhou Zirong has always had amazing self-control, no matter how good the wine is, he still refers to it Where to stop, there is no ambiguity at all.

Dong Sheng stayed with him all night, counting on Zhou Zirong to tell him about his younger brother and what happened in Southeast Asia back then.

But Zhou Zirong didn't mention anything.

Dong Sheng is not the kind of person who likes to get to the bottom of other people's concerns. Since Zhou Zirong didn't mention it, he will take it as a turning point.

But other than that, Zhou Zirong suddenly said to him without beginning or end: "You and the princess, don't get too close."

Dong Sheng didn't know what he meant at the beginning, so he responded in a neutral manner: "I haven't gotten close to her very much, and I haven't seen her many times."

Zhou Zirong didn't know how to tell him, he looked at him solemnly for a while, and then sighed, making Dong Sheng's mind full of confusion.

Dong Sheng took a sip of wine by himself, and tentatively asked with some uncertainty: "Are you afraid that she will take the heir?"

Zhou Zirong looked into his eyes and said nothing.

Although Dong Sheng didn't do much about temple affairs, at least he wasn't stupid. When it comes to this matter, he can know how deep the water is, so he suddenly said, "I remember you know someone in the cabinet. people."

Zhou Zirong smiled vaguely and nodded, "I'll ask him to help me look at it."

Seeing that he could understand the essence of what he said, Dong Sheng didn't say any more.

The day of Yang Gui's execution is coming soon.

After all, Yang Gui was very powerful in southern Xinjiang. He was a centipede, and he was dead but not stiff. The court was afraid that the day would be long and dreamy, so the execution time was brought forward, and he was sent to the execution ground three days later.

This is the first time in the past 50 years that Hua Xu has used the Ling Chi punishment.

It is said that the tragic situation at that time was hard to describe in words. Blood flowed all over the street, almost soaking the bluestone slabs on the street. The strong smell of blood cannot be washed away with cold water several times a day.

Although Southern Xinjiang has surrendered, it is still a hard bone to bite.

Originally, the construction of the commercial road with southern Xinjiang was expected to start after the beginning of spring, but it was delayed by a month, but even so, it was only a dozen days away from now. time.

In these ten days or so, Luo Geng not only wanted to completely suppress those thieves in southern Xinjiang, but also prepared people to open the mountain.

The junction of southern Xinjiang and Silan is a place of bitter cold on the plateau. Originally, southern Xinjiang is mountainous and hilly, and the border is even more precipitous. For this reason, Luo Geng specially called Bai Jing's psychic energy from Huajing to create mountains. artifact.The snow here is deep and the ice is wide and brittle, so it cannot be fried hard at all, and it can make people anxious when they start work.

Of course, it was Silan who lived the most miserable life. After the war, several big cities were bombed into ruins. Although Zhou Zirong's rough attack was quite effective, he obviously didn't regard Silan as his home. When Dan put away his tail later, he wished he could spend all his meals and sleep thinking about those wheel tents, and he would just read there all day if he had nothing to do, nothing else, just the few pennies in the treasury.

Huaxu's construction assistance team sent several batches to Sri Lanka and borrowed a lot of money. Large and small building reconstruction projects have gradually entered the right track, but the more troublesome thing is resettling the refugees.

After the so-called army, there must be a bad year, and the house can be rebuilt, but it will be very troublesome to restore the destroyed cultivated land. Sri Lanka is rich in melons, fruits and flowers, and those fruit trees that have grown for several years and more than ten years have finally begun to harvest are all blown up. Became charcoal.

And the worse thing is not only that, the battlefield is too long and the battle line is too long, it is difficult to clean up. It was fine before the warming up in January, but the plague broke out after the warming up in the spring.

Lanhe City was the first place where the plague broke out. The waterfront of Lanhe City is extremely humid. Water seepage and anti-alkali are commonplace, and the two sides have fought here several times in a row. It is no longer a problem of piled up corpses. It's piled up into mountains.In addition, it was far away from the capital, and the cleanup was very delayed, so when the plague broke out, it was almost unstoppable.

Even if the refugees returned to the country after the war, most of them were unemployed. The result of the refugees' scurrying was the further spread of the plague.

However, when a refugee wanders for a long time, he will become a mob.

Especially the black flag on the other side of Lanhe City.

After the black flag was taken back, the women and children were of course brought under the management of Slan, and Aldan also gave him a very lenient policy, which can be regarded as appeasement.Of course, there are also some ungrateful ones. A large number of black flag warriors escaped from Sri Lanka following Zeng Jin's black flag priests, and ran around throughout Nanyang, and some even went north by boat.

Therefore, after the Huaxu aid construction team who went south arrived in the capital, they were reluctant to go south again, and there were even some who secretly fled back to southern Xinjiang overnight.

Aldan assured them that the plague would be suppressed within three months, and he would also provide them with protection, and even promised to give them extra money, but the victims of the disaster in the southern cities could not live without a house, even if it was a shack, they had to build it .

However, this request was flatly rejected by the person in charge of the aid team.

Of course there is only one reason, the victims belong to you, but your life belongs to you.

Aldan didn't tell Huajing about this, and he was suppressed by eating Coptis chinensis. He bit the bullet and negotiated with the aid team, and then recruited aid men from the capital Dimali.And the Slan nobles who Aldan despised for more than [-] years finally did something constructive, calling and dispatching a large number of manpower and materials—of course, more importantly than their family and country feelings, they Factories, mines and orchards in southern cities.

However, there are people who are afraid of death in the Hua Xu aid team, and of course there are also people who are cynical.That kid cheated his own people, and felt that he could not abandon his allies and brothers, but their boss resisted orders and stayed in the capital, so he packed up and sold his own boss - and secretly sent a message back to Southern Xinjiang overnight to tell Luo Geng.

To be cynical, I am afraid that no one can compare to Luo Geng, the thorn in the head. When he heard this, he was furious, and sent the news back to Huajing, asking the court to make a decision.

In fact, the imperial court knew about this, but they kept turning a blind eye and pretending that they didn't know. Unexpectedly, Luo Geng, a stunned young man, had smashed the whole plan.

This time I can't pretend I don't know, so let's hold a court meeting.

The empress had a blue face early in the morning, and her whole body seemed to be covered with the words Do Not Enter. She sat on the dragon chair like a big block of ice, making the whole court seem to be cold.

Originally, the assistance to the construction was already very benevolent and righteous. At this point, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty almost agreed that the assistance team should be allowed to stay in the capital.

The number of times Dong Sheng went to court is very few. He didn't expect to hear such a bad thing as soon as he came here. He couldn't bear it and said: "Your Majesty, I believe that the so-called good people will be sent to the end and sent to the West. Slan Hua Xu and I are already allies, and we have also signed a three-year contract for assistance, which includes their southern cities, so it might be wrong to break our promise at this time?"

Li Chongwen glanced at Zhou Zirong, Zhou Zirong nodded to him, and Li Chongwen also nodded in understanding.

At this time, Jiang Kun stood up and said with a smile: "Your Highness is full of blood and righteousness, this is certainly a good thing... But, Your Highness, this aid team is also the people of our Huaxu. Do you abandon the people in other countries?"

Dong Sheng glanced at him, and said coldly: "Where does Mr. Shoufu want to put Hua Xu's national prestige on me? It's unrighteous to contradict our promise."

Suddenly, a little old man next to him jumped out filled with righteous indignation, and sprayed him all over his face unexpectedly: "Your Highness's words are wrong! What kind of loyalty do I, Hua Xu, and Silan have?! Back then, they made friends with Daling behind our backs. When Tibetan Tiangang Lingwu, why did he put the righteousness of his allies in his eyes?! They are not kind, we have already repaid our grievances with virtue, and at this moment, how can we protect our own people so little?! "

Dong Sheng was on fire, and just about to speak, Zhou Zirong secretly pulled his sleeves and gave him a wink, Dong Sheng realized that he had lost his composure, so he closed his mouth embarrassingly.

At this time, Jiang Kun ran out again, and said with a pleasant smile: "Hey, Mr. Zhang, don't be excited. Why do you say it so mercilessly? His Royal Highness has been in Sri Lanka for a long time, and there is some friendship. It's unavoidable, we don't have sympathy for Silan, but His Highness does."

Zhou Zirong's eyebrows twitched, and Dong Sheng immediately understood that Jiang Kun didn't come here to make love, he was clearly here to stir up shit!

Li Chongwen observed his words and stood up at the right time: "I think it might be inappropriate for me to wait for Hua Xu to make a promise and change it at this time. Moreover, I, Hua Xu, also have work in Sri Lanka that cannot be delayed. If it is delayed Well, all the Slan people are short of money, and I, Hua Xu, may also suffer losses. I believe that this matter must not be asserted lightly, and a long-term plan is needed."

Unexpectedly, that Master Zhang is actually a mad dog who bites anyone he catches: "I, Hua Xu, have a vast land and rich resources, and I have everything. How can I care about their benefits?! The white crystal mine is not unique to him!"

Dong Sheng raised his eyebrows and said: "Master Zhang has been in the court for a long time, so it is normal for him not to know about business affairs. Even if the per capita labor cost of Sri Lanka increases, it is still the cheapest in the world. Silan signed an employment contract in advance. If he fails to keep the contract, the loss may not be what Mr. Zhang expected. Moreover, the white crystal trade with Silan has been going on for several generations. Whether it is the market or road construction, it should be formed. How to calculate the extra cost of building another place? How to calculate the supply gap in the middle? Master Zhang has a good idea?"

Dong Sheng: "The construction of the commercial road cannot be delayed. As long as the commercial road is opened, not only will the future financial benefits be incalculable, but it will also connect the two countries in southern Xinjiang, which will also ensure the peace of Huaxu's southern border."

This sentence is not clear, but the meaning is already obvious. A business road leads directly from Huaxu to Silan, so it is very difficult for the same disaster to develop to such a degree without Huaxu being aware of it this time.

Unexpectedly, the old guy surnamed Zhang became more and more addicted to barking, spit and said: "Whether it is for the southern border or for Silan, can your highness make it clear? Your highness will only go to Silan, and he will be full of Silan." Yet?"

Dong Sheng heard him speak more and more inhumane, but if he confronted him directly at this time, he would let this old mad dog bite him.

His Highness the Crown Prince looked puzzled for a while, and suddenly turned to the Queen, and knelt down on the ground with a plop, his eyes were suddenly full of grievances, and his eye sockets were red, and he said plausibly: "My son is dedicated to the country, the sun and the moon can be respected." Jian, Si Lan and I, Hua Xu, are close to each other, please be judged by Your Majesty!"

The queen looked at the son who was so well-informed that she was pretending to be a true legend. She couldn't laugh or cry for a while, rubbed her brows and said: "Silan is an ally, so we must help, but we need to ensure the safety of my aid team. Jiang Qing, Arrange for someone to go to Sri Lanka to have a look, make a long-term plan, and then bring back the captain who made his own claims."

Jiang Kun: "The minister leads the decree."

The queen felt a pain in her head, and was just about to wave her hand and say to retreat, you all go away, when a censor stood up again.

Yan Yushi was so old that his back could not be straightened, and he looked up at Jiang Kun with treacherous eyebrows, and then he came out tremblingly, and immediately fell to his knees on the ground with a solemn plop: "Minister, I have a book to play."

The queen felt dizzy when she saw this old thing, and said with gritted teeth, "Say."

Yan Yushi was so excited that he choked on his own saliva twice, spit flying all over the place and said: "My minister Shen Beizhao King Zhou Zirong is aggressive and good at mobilizing troops!"

Dong Sheng glanced over fiercely, wishing to gouge out that old thing's body, but Zhou Zirong was calm, and only sneered inaudibly.

Yan Yushi: "The warships in the East China Sea should defend our Huaxu East Sea territory, instead of going out of Hong Kong without authorization to support other countries. Although General Zhou has made great military achievements, what does this look like to the court and the emperor?!"

The queen thought, do I want you to tell me what I am?

However, this matter is a dead end, Xuantian Pavilion is secretive, and the overall situation is uncertain at the moment, and Xuantian Pavilion cannot be revealed.It was a secret order from the beginning to the end, so there was only an oral order and no seal order. People said that Zhou Zirong was "good at mobilizing troops and horses", and he really couldn't refute it.

The queen gave Yan Yushi a sad look, and then at Zhou Zirong.

Zhou Zirong didn't seem to be angry at all, he knew it in his heart, knelt down calmly and said, "Your Majesty's life will not be tolerated, His Royal Highness is trapped in Sri Lanka, and I am eager to rescue you, ignoring my law of Huaxu, Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

The queen was silent for a long while, then sighed and said, "The king of Beizhao, Zhou Zirong, is now ordered to stay in the mansion temporarily, and the rest of the matter will be discussed later."

This sentence sounds like a slight reproach to Zhou Zirong, but in fact it is similar to "It's okay, you go home, wash and sleep", and it may not even be enough to avoid suspicion.

Sure enough, Yan Yushi said relentlessly: "Your Majesty! It is a felony to deploy troops without permission! How can..."

As a result, the Queen's face immediately became horrified, and Jiang Kun gave Yan Yushi a hard look, and Yan Yushi realized that he had gone too far.

The queen said gloomyly: "Oh? Does Yan Yushi have any objections?"

Yan Yushi hurriedly lowered his head tremblingly: "My minister... I dare not..."

In fact, this is the best situation, Zhou Zirong has long expected that this matter will not be good, and the empress's kindness to the queen is already a great grace of the emperor.

Zhou Zirong was banned for more than half a month, and he stayed in his palace to raise his whites.

From time to time, Dong Sheng would send him a message to say some important things, but after half a month, something really happened again.

The old emperor of Panyang is dead.