after being kidnapped by the general

Yuan Li was very curious about what Chu Mingfeng wrote in the letter to Ouyang Ting, which made Ouyang Ting leave Luoyang in such a hurry.But like a chain reaction, on the third day after Ouyang Ting left, Chu Mingfeng's condition suddenly worsened, reaching the point of dying.

No one expected that Chu Mingfeng's illness would suddenly become urgent, and Yang's face became more and more haggard with tears every day.The king of Chu couldn't swallow the eclipse every day.No one dared to take charge of the huge Chu Palace at this moment, so Yuan Li sued from Guozi Xue to take care of the entire Chu Palace.

But I don't know if Yuan Li was thinking too much, he always felt that Chu Mingfeng's sudden and serious illness seemed to be tampered with artificially.

Yuanli went to see Chu Mingfeng every day, but Chu Mingfeng was already so weak that he fell asleep most of the time every day, and his waking moments became very few.

Yuanli went to visit Chu Mingfeng four times, and only once saw Chu Mingfeng awake.

"Ma'am is here?" Chu Mingfeng's voice was as soft as silk, but there was still a smile on his face, "It just so happens that my husband has a few things to tell you."

Yuan Li stepped forward to listen, Chu Mingfeng spoke intermittently.It was just a few words, and after finishing speaking, he had no energy.

"I see," Yuan Li couldn't help but sigh in his heart, "Just don't worry."

After finishing speaking, Yuan Li stopped disturbing his rest.

But when he walked out of the bedroom, Yuanli seemed to hear Chu Mingfeng humming the Ci Fu tune softly.

Her voice was hoarse, but she couldn't hide her joy.

Yuan Li turned his head to look, and saw the curved corner of Chu Mingfeng's mouth from between the raised bed curtains.

Chu Mingfeng...was he looking forward to death?

Yuanli had this incredible idea in an instant.

But when Yuanli looked again, the humming sound had disappeared, and Chu Mingfeng also fell asleep quietly. The scene just now seemed to be just his illusion.

Yuanli hesitated for a few seconds, then turned and left.

"System, is Chu Mingfeng still alive?"

On the way, Yuanli asked again.

After meeting Chu Mingfeng for the first time, Yuanli had already asked the system this way.But the system didn't answer Yuanli.

This time was no surprise, the system indifferently did not respond at all.

Yuan Li lowered his eyes and suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.He knew that Chu Mingfeng was hopeless.

Maybe not even for a few days.

In the middle of the night, everything is silent.

Chu Mingfeng woke up from the pain, and saw a tall and strong black shadow standing by the window.

He recognized who it was, laughed silently a few times, sat up from the bed with difficulty, leaned against the bed post and said, "Ci Ye."

The figure by the window turned sideways, stared at him condescendingly for a long time, and said indifferently, "Chu Mingfeng, you are going to die."

"That's right," Chu Mingfeng coughed, "It's only been a matter of a few days."

Chu Hechao walked to the bed, opened his robe, and sat down on the chair beside the bed.

Chu Mingfeng teased, "I thought you wouldn't come to see me until I died."

Chu Hechao pulled his lips, without much smile, "Why, you are my elder brother."

The relationship between the two brothers of the Chu family is not good, to the point where even the emperor knows that they are not in harmony.In fact, although this relationship is a bit exaggerated, Chu Mingfeng and Chu Hechao really don't have much brotherhood.

Chu Mingfeng has been in poor health since he was a child, and the King of Chu and the Yang family put most of their care and love on him.After Chu Hechao was born, the healthy second son made his parents feel even more indebted to Chu Mingfeng.

Chu Mingfeng is the favored son of heaven, he matured very precociously, but when he was young, he often took the edge of his sword, hated his own weak body, and hated his younger brother's strong body, and did many wrong things to Chu Hechao.

Chu Hechao, a tough guy, would always tolerate a little more when facing his family. This tolerance, he endured until he left home and went to northern Xinjiang when he was young.

After Chu Hechao left home, Chu Mingfeng gradually came to his senses.He is no longer in a daze, and when he grows up, he has a lot of guilt towards Chu Hechao, and he has made up a lot.

However, at this time, the two brothers had become strangers.

But as a family, even if there are many discords inside, they still naturally stand in the same camp, and they are people who can trust each other.

"After I die, you leave Luoyang City immediately with your troops," Chu Mingfeng said in a serious tone, "Don't stay!"

Chu Hechao listened silently.

Chu Mingfeng confessed all his plans, took a while, and finally said: "Ciye, there is one more thing."

Chu Hechao raised his eyelids.

"I begged my mother to bring Yuanli back to the mansion to congratulate me." Chu Mingfeng smiled, "It's a pity that he has not set his crown yet, and I am about to die. Although I have only been married to him for a few days, but I put him When viewed by my wife, he is the daughter-in-law of the Chu family and also your own sister-in-law. Yuanli has a great talent, so let him take care of the rear for you on my behalf."

Chu Hechao pondered the words "sister-in-law" in his mouth, squinted his eyes, and remained silent.

Chu Mingfeng sighed leisurely, "After I die, listen to him more and protect him more. After my mourning period is over, if he has someone he likes, he can marry freely. I see his children and grandchildren are full, and I can feel at ease after I die."

Chu Hechao never expected that Chu Mingfeng would be so generous and allow Yuanli to marry freely once the mourning period was over.It can be seen that Chu Mingfeng also likes his sister-in-law very much.

Chu Hechao said nonchalantly: "Okay, I will watch his children and grandchildren for you."

Chu Mingfeng nodded slightly, "Yuanli hasn't become the crown yet, he wants to stay in Luoyang Guozi Academy for a few more years. After he graduates from Guozi Academy, it won't be too late for him to be in Youzhou."

"How many years?" Chu Hechao suddenly sneered, and asked suddenly, "You let Ouyang Ting leave?"

Chu Mingfeng didn't answer.

Chu Hechao seemed to be teasing: "Because he became Yuanli's teacher, so you also pointed out a clear path for him. Chu Mingfeng, I never thought that one day you would think so much about another person."

Chu Mingfeng smiled without saying a word.After talking about Yuanli, he lost his strength and closed his eyes to rest.Chu Hechao sat beside him silently for a long time, and suddenly said in a low voice, "Do you have to die?"

Chu Mingfeng didn't even sleep, he didn't open his eyes, but said softly: "I have a reason to die."

Chu Hechao stood up suddenly and strode out.

There was a fishy smell in Chu Mingfeng's throat, his Adam's apple rolled, and he said in a low voice: "Ci Ye, I'm sorry."

"...don't be sad."

Chu Hechao sneered a few times, and without stopping for a moment, there was no sound in an instant.

Chu Mingfeng laughed a few times with a stuffy chest, and the low smile turned into a big laugh, as if using the remaining life in his body to vent wantonly at the last moment.

"Where in the world can there be two ways..."

Yuanli couldn't sleep all night, so he got up early the next day and went out to relax.

When he walked to the training ground, he saw Chu Hechao.

Chu Hechao didn't know when he came to the training ground, and the heat on his body was visible to the naked eye.The back muscles sometimes protrude and sometimes sag, carrying a strong and suppressed evil spirit.

Yuan Li's eyes moved, and Chu Hechao's black hair was covered with mist, as if he hadn't slept all night.

Hearing the sound and shadow, Chu Hechao turned his head and looked over.His eyes were bloodshot from sleepless nights, and they were even sharper and more aggressive.

After seeing that it was Yuanli, Chu Hechao withdrew his eyes and swung his knife at the wooden pillar, which was already riddled with holes and cut in half in an instant.

Yuan Li looked at it for a while, then asked slowly, "Are you okay?"

"Sister-in-law," Chu Hechao answered irrelevantly, "When you have a chance, teach me how to get into the water."

Yuan Li nodded sharply, "Okay."

After coming out of the training ground, everyone had breakfast together.

The atmosphere at the dinner table was gloomy, and King Chu and Yang couldn't eat.Both of them had red eyes and white hair, as if they had aged a lot in an instant.

Halfway through the meal, a servant suddenly ran over staggeringly, his face full of panic, "My lord, madam, the eldest son, he, he suddenly became very energetic! Not only did he get out of bed, he also sent someone to bring food and boil water." , now, now is bathing and changing!"

This was obviously a good thing, but the servant was full of despair.Because everyone knows that there is only one reason for a person who has become so ill to suddenly become energetic, and that is the return of light.

The bowl and chopsticks in Yang's hand fell suddenly, and she was dizzy all of a sudden.

A group of people at the dinner table turned their backs.

When everyone rushed to Chu Mingfeng's residence, Chu Mingfeng had already changed into a brand new costume.Two servants were behind him wiping his dripping long hair, Chu Mingfeng was sitting at the table, drinking and eating with his hands up.

The sickness seems to have left him for a short time, allowing the old Xiaoge to regain the appearance of a celebrity.His face was rosy, his eyes were bright, and there was a slight smile on the corner of his mouth. When King Chu and Yang Shi saw Chu Mingfeng like this, tears fell on the spot.

"Father, mother, what are you doing crying so much on such a happy day?" Chu Mingfeng smiled slightly, lifted a mouthful of meat, and asked, "It's time for breakfast, please sit down, Ma'am. , Ciye, sit down together and finish this breakfast with me."

The four sat down as promised.

Chu Mingfeng raised his hands one by one, took chopsticks for King Chu and Yang's favorite dishes, and sighed: "I have never served your two elders since I joined the cabinet. Looking back now, I have a lot of regrets." And regret. Father, mother, the son will be gone in the future, you should remember the dish that the son made for you."

King Chu nodded again and again, "I remember, I remember..."

Yang choked up so much that she couldn't help herself.

Chu Mingfeng turned to look at Chu Hechao and Tong Yuanli, he poured a glass of wine for the two of them with a smile, "I don't know what you like to eat, so let's have a drink together, the three of us."

He picked up the wine glass and said to Yuan Li with a smile, "Madam, as a husband, I wish you a bright future and smooth sailing."

Yuan Li had only known Chu Mingfeng for half a month, but he already regarded him as a friend. Without saying a word, he directly drank the wine in his glass.

Chu Mingfeng said "OK".

Afterwards, Chu Mingfeng looked at Chu Hechao.

Chu Hechao picked up the wine glass and touched him, his jaw tensed into an unfriendly arc.

Chu Mingfeng smiled lightly, and said in a low voice: "Ciye, brother, I wish you a long life."

Chu Hechao squeezed the glass tightly, his breathing seemed to change, and he and Chu Mingfeng lifted the glass and drank all the wine.

At this time, Yang had already cried until he passed out.

Chu Mingfeng called someone to help his parents away, and said to King Chu: "My son wants to go on the road alone, and I don't want you to see such scenes."

With tears in his eyes, King Chu staggered away with his wife.

Chu Mingfeng also let Yuanli and Chu Hechao leave the room.

The morning sun slowly shines into the house, and the dust rises and falls in the sun like ants and sentient beings.

Chu Mingfeng held the wine alone, quietly watching the buds bursting out of the ground outside the door.

That night, Chu Mingfeng passed away.

The red silk that had just been hung in the Chu Palace was replaced with white silk. Half a month ago, the Chu Palace was full of joy, but now it has been wrapped in hemp.

There are white horses and plain cars in front of the gate, and countless people come to pay their respects.The Yang family and the king of Chu insisted on burying Chu Mingfeng. On the day of the funeral, the palace sent eunuchs to offer condolences, but they were scolded and rejected by many scholars.

These people almost fought in front of Chu Mingfeng's coffin, but in the end it was Chu Hechao who came forward, and under the intimidation of the God of War in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the eunuch left embarrassingly.

The burden of the entire Chu Palace fell on Yuan Li.

Originally, Eunuch Yang could help him.But Eunuch Yang is also an eunuch after all, even if he has nothing to do with the Empress Dowager's House, it's not suitable to show up at such a time.

The funeral was in accordance with Chu Mingfeng's last wish, and there was no generous burial. When Chu Mingfeng was buried one by one according to the funeral ceremony, Yuan Li lost a lot of weight.

In the evening, Yuanli barely ate some food and rested for a while leaning on the chair.

Zhao Ying hurriedly asked for an interview at this time, "My lord, I found some wrong news."

Yuan Li opened his eyes, wiped his face, "Speak."

I don't know when the disaster in Hanzhong began to spread among the people.

According to rumors, corrupt officials in Hanzhong sent a batch of money to the eunuch Zhang Siban, the admiral. Zhang Siban accepted the bribes, concealed the disaster in Hanzhong and urged the emperor to keep the victims of the disaster in Luoyang out of Luoyang.

When this rumor came together, the people immediately became excited, wishing to drown the eunuch with one mouthful of saliva.

Yuan Li sat up suddenly, staring at Zhao Ying with sharp eyes, "When did this rumor start to spread?"

Zhao Ying said with some uneasiness: "Since Xiaoge died of old age, there are some signs of faint signs, but because you are too busy, these rumors have not been widely spread a few days ago, so I did not report this news to you."

Yuanli pursed her lips tightly.

Not right.

Regarding the source of this batch of goods, Yuanli only knew about it with the help of the system.Even Wang Er and the others didn't know that this batch of goods was given to Zhang Siban as a bribe, and the sheriff of Hanzhong and Zhang Siban couldn't possibly be so stupid as to blow themselves up. Then who released the news?

Moreover, this batch of goods had already been intercepted by them, and they did not reach Zhang Siban's hands at all. Why was there no mention of this in the rumors?

"There is another thing that is a bit strange," Zhao Ying said in a low voice. "The manager of the cloth shop said that white cloth is sold especially a lot these days. The amount is a bit abnormal."

Yuan Li frowned and asked, "Who sold these white cloths? What are they used for?"

Zhao Yingdao: "Ordinary people bought it, and I don't know what to use it for, but after investigation, the people who bought the white cloth didn't keep it for funerals."

Yuan Li's eyelids twitched several times. He keenly sensed that there was something hidden here, and immediately ordered: "You must find a way to find out the use of these white cloths tomorrow no matter what. Come back and tell me before Xushi."

Zhao Ying cupped his fists, "Yes."

The next day, Zhao Ying really brought new news.

Most of these news are obtained from the mouths of some street rogues or rangers. These people travel all over the world and make friends with them, and they can often get a lot of information.

The store found that these people would always get together recently, and they were so active and excited as if something big was about to happen. After tentative inquiries, they only said that something good was going to happen recently, but they kept silent about what good thing it was.

And after these white cloths are bought by the common people, their uses are also extremely strange.These people will cut a small piece of white cloth and tie it on the door, the meaning is unknown.Zhao Ying counted in Luoyang City, and found that many houses had tied white cloths outside their doors.

And the poorer the place, the more people wear white cloth.

Yuanli thought for a long time but couldn't figure out what this meant.When he saw the white cloth, he could only think of funerals, and when he thought of funerals, he could only think of the recent death of Chu Mingfeng.

He frowned, the good thing that the street rogue and the ranger said was about to happen, what good could it be?

Yuanli felt a little uneasy.

He rubbed his forehead and kept thinking.Baibu, common people, good deeds... These are all the movements after Chu Mingfeng's death.

Ouyang Ting said that when Chu Mingfeng fell ill, all the scholars were frightened and stopped.

The officials also stopped.

Luoyang has ushered in a long-lost peace, but is this peace really true peace?

Were those scholars really frightened and stopped?

As soon as Yuanli stopped moving, he opened his eyes suddenly.

Or did they already feel that the threat was under their noses, that the last victim would be Chu Mingfeng, who knows who the next victim would be.The eunuchs took away their power, and the emperor tried to suppress them.They were accumulating anger, ready to teach the emperor and the eunuch a lesson.

Once Chu Mingfeng really died, it would be a wake-up call for all scholars.

Will they be willing to be threatened?

Yuanli doesn't think so.

He felt that the scholars would rise up and rebel.

Didn't the emperor want to suppress scholars?Then change the emperor to sit on the throne.

In the world, there are only families made of iron and emperors of flowing water.If the emperor does not want to be overthrown, then the eunuchs will be suppressed and scholars will be reused.

It's like the Yellow Turban Rebellion in history.

People in the Yellow Turban Uprising tied yellow scarves on their heads as a mark, and wrote the word "Jiazi" on the door as a mark, as a signal for the uprising.And this scene is so similar to the Baibu family at this time.

Some experts have speculated that although the Yellow Turban Rebellion was a peasant uprising, the black hand behind it was actually the scholar class.As pushers, the scholars secretly promoted the peasant uprising, using the common people as pawns, trying to threaten the emperor.After the emperor was threatened, he had no choice but to end the dispute between the party and the party, and reused the scholars to deal with the Yellow Turbans. The scholars were relieved of the predicament and gained greater power than before.

And now, will it overlap with that scene in history?

Are these scholars secretly promoting an uprising now?And these people with white cloth tied on the door, are they part of the uprising?

The heart in Yuanli's chest was beating faster and faster.

Bang, bang, bang, bang.

He couldn't tell if he was nervous or scared.

Or excited?

Or look forward to?

If it is really what he thinks, it means.

——The troubled times are ahead of schedule.

And Chu Mingfeng was the fuse that made the scholars make up their minds to revolt in advance.He used his own death to disrupt the political situation, either forcing to death an emperor or a group of eunuchs who had killed him.