Overlord's Road to Ancient Emperors

The second battle was still going well, the people didn't know the twists and turns, they only knew that Minzhou was safe for the time being, judging from General Kou's words, the pirates would not come again in the short term.

The Spring Festival has not yet passed, and the Lantern Festival has not yet arrived. In order to appease the public, Li Xu invited several opera troupes to perform for free in the city square every day. He also asked people to make countless lanterns to prepare for a lively Lantern Festival.

Li Xu also took his daughter back to the palace, had a good night's sleep, and then energetically took the materials to make a special lantern for the little princess.

The father and daughter gathered head to head, one was sticking paper shells with paste, and the other was cutting bamboo slices with a knife, but both of them were novices, and the things they made could barely be seen.

Kou Xiao arranged the military affairs and came back. What he saw was this leisurely and contented scene. He thought, just to protect this piece of peace, he was willing to do his best to fight against the enemy.

Kou Xiao walked over and saw that the bamboo slices Li Xu had cut out were uneven in thickness and thickness, so he couldn't help snatching his work, "The hands of my lord are too tender, be careful if you get cut by the bamboo slices, let the future Bar."

Li Xu shifted his gaze to his face, and saw that his chin was covered with stubble again, his face had lost a lot of weight, and he looked at him with bright eyes. A beautiful piece of bamboo.

The little princess took the bamboo slices made by Kou Xiao and compared them with those made by Li Xu, and smiled cheerfully: "Uncle Kou is better, the bamboo slices cut by my father are too ugly."

Li Xu knocked on her, pretending to be angry and said, "Ugly is a bit ugly, but your Uncle Kou can't do anything except peel bamboo, you ask him if he can make lanterns?"

As expected, the little princess tilted her head and asked, "Can Uncle Kou make beautiful lanterns?"

Kou Xiao did not do it himself, but he felt that such a small matter would not trouble him, so he replied confidently: "Yes, Uncle Kou will make one for you."

The little princess clapped her hands and said, "Okay, okay, you and my father will each give me one, so I have two."

Li Xu touched her head, "People can't be greedy, if you can only have one, do you want the one made by the father, or uncle Kou?"

The little princess looked at him in embarrassment, and wanted to ask for both, but Kou Xiao helped her out, "How about this, I and the prince will each make one, the little princess will choose whichever she likes, and give the rest to him." The other party is fine."

Kou Xiao had selfish intentions and wanted the lantern made by Li Xu to be his own. Li Xu didn't refuse when he heard him say that, anyway, it was held by his own family, and it was the same for anyone.

But with comparability, the two dare not do things too casually, and become competitive, striving to do better than the other.

Kou Xiao is good at cutting bamboo slices, and he quickly made the skeleton, but he is not very good at the following things. When pasting the paper, there are pastes everywhere, sticky bumps, the little princess covered her eyes and couldn't help it. See.

On the other hand, Li Xu, although the bamboo slices were not cut very well, the paper was still very smooth, and what he made was not an ordinary round lantern, but a cute little duck. "Cute" has a long way to go, but it is always full of childlike fun, especially Li Xu also painted the whole lantern with colors and painted wings, which is very attractive to children from a distance.

The little princess chose the duck lamp made by Li Xu without waiting for Kou Xiao to finish. She looked at Kou Xiao regretfully, "Uncle Kou, although you have worked very hard, Shu'er still likes the one made by the king. Shu'er will also give you a gift as compensation."

Kou Xiao was working on gluing the lantern in his hand into a spherical shape, he waved his hand and said, "No, no, no, I've finished this and gave it to the lord, it's not in vain."

Li Xu quickly refused, "I don't want it." Seriously, that lantern is so ugly, it's so ugly, he would never go out with such a lantern, otherwise the whole city would think that the palace is bankrupt.

Kou Xiao raised his head and glanced at him, then continued to work with his head down, Li Xu coughed dryly twice, and comforted him: "Well, why don't you just stay at home and have a look, after all, it's all in your heart."

Kou Xiao was busy until night before finishing the lantern. In order to make it more beautiful, he pasted a layer of paper on the outside after finishing the shape. At least it was no longer bumpy, but it was still ugly. When Li Xu lit the lantern, he even hoped that A gust of evil wind set the lantern on fire.

Kou Xiao asked faintly: "My lord, you don't look very happy with this expression, if you don't like it, you should just burn it."

Li Xu raised the lantern reluctantly, and praised against his will: "It's not bad, it's not easy to make it like this for the first time." He remembered the paper boat he received from Kou Xiao before, and the level was also hard to describe. It can be seen that General Kou These hands are only suitable for killing people with guns, and they are really not suitable for manual work.

On the day of the Lantern Festival, all kinds of lanterns were hung on both sides of the two concrete roads. Most of these lanterns were made by skilled craftsmen, and they were very beautiful. After going down, he pouted and handed it to the little maid, and went to buy a beautiful rabbit lamp to carry it.

The little princess has a noble status, she rarely goes out on weekdays, and not many people know her, so she took a few maids and guards to go shopping without causing much commotion.

In the sea of ​​lights, Ji Hanyu and Jiang Qiuming were also walking together. They are neighbors now, and they met at the door when they went out tonight. Jiang Qiuming casually made an appointment to go shopping together, but the other party did not refuse.

Along the way, people saluted and greeted the two of them. Jiang Qiuming had lived in Minzhou for more than [-] years, and there must be many people who knew him. Ji Hanyu was a rookie in the officialdom. Not a lot.

Looking at the long and bright street, Jiang Qiuming said, "I haven't seen such a beautiful night scene for a long time. The prince always makes people's lives happier."

"Because he can feel the suffering of the people, and he can also find ideas to make them happy." Just like this Lantern Festival, after the war, the people's mentality was somewhat panicked and exhausted. haze.And it doesn't cost much to make lanterns. The craftsmen are all their own, and the materials are all ready-made. It just consumes a little more fuel.

"This time I was able to defeat the pirates, thanks to the secret weapon made by the prince, do you know what it is?"

Ji Hanyu had heard about this a little bit, but he didn't inquire about it, and the prince never mentioned anything, "I don't know, since the prince didn't say anything, it must be something bad. It's better not to inquire about it, Mr. Military Advisor."

"General Kou also explained it in the same way. It's just that there are rumors in the army that the prince is the reincarnation of the hidden God of War. He just cared about General Kou's authority and didn't dare to stand out."

Ji Hanyu frowned, "Who would say such a thing, isn't this a separation between the prince and the general?"

"Yes." Jiang Qiuming sighed deeply. As an insider who knew the relationship between the two, he felt that the person behind this was sad and ridiculous. Can the relationship between the two be separated at will?

Ji Hanyu mistakenly thought that he was worried about Kou Xiao, and persuaded him: "It is better for the military adviser to find out the people behind the scenes and deal with them severely. Although it is just a rumor, but after a long time, troubles will inevitably happen. The Kou family army is surnamed Kou. His Majesty has never thought of changing it."

"I understand, it's just that when that thing comes out, it's not just the enemy who will be frightened. The timid and timid people are always particularly easy to be taken advantage of."

"Then take this opportunity to clean up. The Kou family army is more expensive than the elite. The real elite should not be emotionally affected by a little gossip. Nanyue is the fiefdom of King Shun. The prince has the highest authority over the Kou family army, but everyone knows it well. , this military power belongs to General Kou."

The corner of Jiang Qiuming's mouth twitched, seemingly noncommittal, but he didn't refute, as long as the two are close as a family, it doesn't matter if his surname is Kou or Li.

But when the day comes when they part ways, it is hard to say whether the two parties can separate peacefully.

"Look, are those the prince and the general?" Jiang Qiuming asked suddenly, pointing to the two in front.

Ji Hanyu looked along his hand, and sure enough, he saw two people with similar backs. There were seven or eight of them in a group, all of them wore masks, and they couldn't see their faces, but it was not difficult to recognize Li Xu and Kou Xiao from their figures and momentum. .

"I heard that people in the Central Plains like to celebrate the Lantern Festival. It is also a custom to meet beauties under the lanterns. I don't know if we can embrace the beauties tonight." Kou Xiao bought a lotus lantern from a peddler and stuffed it into it. In Li Xu's hand, "To compensate you, burn that broken lamp at home later."

Li Xu looked at him helplessly. Before going out, he was unwilling to go out with the lamp made by Kou Xiao to annoy the other party. Although the other party compromised in the end, but looking at the lamp in his hand, the anger has not dissipated. Woolen cloth.

In fact, it's not that he can't go out with the ugly lamp, but the lamp probably won't last long and will definitely fall apart. It's better to offer it as a work of art, at least it can survive for a few more days.

Of course, he won't tell Kou Xiao that, the lotus lantern in his hand is extremely delicate, the wick is the heart of the flower, the tender yellow petals are crystal clear under the light, and sliding water droplets can be seen on it.

Li Xu also picked up a lion lantern and gave it to Kou Xiao, bowed his head and whispered in his ear, "You look like a raging lion now, your fur has exploded."

The two whispered to each other on the street, with a close attitude, and at first sight they seemed to be friends with deep feelings. They had extraordinary temperaments, and it was not difficult to guess their identities even if they were wearing masks, but everyone didn't say it clearly.

Ji Hanyu knew about the relationship between Li Xu and Kou Xiao, but he thought Jiang Qiuming didn't know, so he immediately pulled people away and turned away, "My lord certainly doesn't want to be disturbed, let's go another way."

Jiang Qiuming was dragged away for a while, looking at the hands they shook, he suddenly felt his palms were burning, as if they had been scalded.

When Ji Hanyu let go, he rubbed his palms and asked, "How do you know that the prince doesn't want to be disturbed? Maybe we can go for a swim together."

Ji Hanyu didn't miss the gaze of those two people just now, the expression in the eyes, there is no room for other people in the eyes, if they are forced to get together, they will definitely be uncomfortable.

Ji Hanyu felt a little disappointed in his heart. He knew that he liked Prince Shun, but he also knew that even without Kou Xiao, the prince would not like him. He still has this self-knowledge.

"Let's not talk about this. There is a stall in front of you that makes good wontons. I'll invite Mr. Military Advisor to eat a bowl."

"I know, it's Lao Yang's big meat wonton, with thin skin and big stuffing. It has been sold in Minzhou City for decades, and the taste is very unique."

As a result, the two of them had just sat down at the stall, and two people sat down at the next table. When they turned around, they happened to be Kou Xiao and Li Xu.

The two sides looked at each other a bit awkwardly, Ji Hanyu and Jiang Qiuming did not know whether to pretend they hadn’t seen it, whether to say hello or not, Li Xu was a little embarrassed because he bumped into an acquaintance on a date, only Kou Xiao was very comfortable. He washed Li Xu's chopsticks and spoons, and even wiped down the table. His attentiveness made people's skin crawl.

It was the first time for Jiang Qiuming to see their way of getting along in private. He didn't expect it to be like this. His general seemed like a different person. He was gentle, amiable, careful and thoughtful, and he didn't look like a ghost at all.

"Boss, two bowls of wontons." A loud shout interrupted their train of thought, everyone turned their heads and saw two acquaintances sitting down at the remaining table.