Snake Tale

Under the deep night, the two courtyards outside the palace cast a shadow of light.Luo Yi stalked after the two palace servants who were trotting with lanterns, until he passed the road bed, he frowned subtly.

The palace man whispered: "My lord, the monarch has ordered you to go to the bedroom to discuss matters!"

Sleep on the road to listen to the government, and sleep in the small sleep to rest.The king summoned him overnight and arranged for a small sleep in the harem, which is far away from government affairs. Its meaning can be guessed.Luo Yi calmly said "Excuse me", without asking any further questions, followed the palace servants straight into the residence where the Marquis of Jin was resting.

At this time, Jinhou Guizhu in the warm tent finally finished reading all the reports.

Throwing the last report out of the tent, Gui Zhu felt dizzy and sweaty, his cheeks and ear pinnae were scorching hot from the rolling anger, but his palms and soles were piercingly cold.

He slumped into Li Jixiang's soft and warm arms, coughing violently, slapping the bed and shouting, "Where's the person?!"

The palace man stepped forward nervously and replied: "Return to Your Majesty, Mr. Luo, he—"

"It's too late for the humble job," a voice came from outside the tent, with a familiar calm tone, "I wish you peace and prosperity, Your Majesty."

Through the thick curtain, you can see the figure kneeling in front of the tent.Guizhu's shortness of breath gradually calmed down, he turned away the palace people outside the tent, pointed to the messy report in front of the tent, and said gloomily: "Look!"

Luo Yi didn't need to read it, but he knew what was written in those memorials.Sure enough, the Marquis of Jin counted the increasingly ferocious invasion of the Qin army on the west side of the border with a tone of anger implied.

Luo Yi remained motionless and didn't say a word.He could hear the vain air in the treacherous tone, and it was not appropriate to disturb him.At the same time, he was also speculating repeatedly in his heart.Gui Zhu summoned him to have a nap alone in the middle of the night, could it be to discuss the march and war with him?Although he had just won the first victory in the battle, this place is not a place where he can calmly discuss military plans in detail.

He raised his head slightly, and saw a woman's snow-white feet gently sticking out of the tent.A bright red silk rope was tied on that exquisite ankle, and a delicate braided shell was dropped from it.

Luo Yi's heart skipped a beat, seeing that jade foot slightly bent its toes, he knew it. "Your Majesty," Luo Yi said, taking advantage of the moment when Gui Zhu's breathing stopped, and he spoke in a tone that did not surprise him at all: "The Qin State is just a tribe in the western border, half-agricultural and half-pastoral, uncivilized for a long time, not good at farming, Harassing the frontiers and robbing food and livestock in times of famine are commonplace, so why should your majesty be so angry?"

This may not be true.But Luo Yi agrees to what he likes, which greatly relieves the troubled hearts.He slowly said: "In your opinion, this is just a superficial problem, and there is no need to worry about it at all?"

"Yes, and no." Luo Yi said, "The Qin army mobilized many people to attack. The Great Jin only needs to rectify its strong troops and dispatch its supplies and food as a guarantee to repel the Qin army. It is definitely not a lie to go out of Hangu Pass and rush back to the north of Shaoliang Valley!"

Gui Zhu listened attentively, responded with a "hmm", and slowly sat up straight.Luo Yi said again: "But if there is any difficulty, it will be in the 'reconciliation of soldiers and generals'!"

There was light in Gui Zhu's eyes, and he stared closely at the figure outside the tent.

Luo Yi watched the snow-white ankle swaying slightly, and understood that his words were pressing on the heart of Marquis Jin.Not missing the opportunity, Luo Yi followed the Marquis of Jin's train of thought and recounted the domestic situation.He has a deep understanding of armaments, and deliberately guided them. After a clear analysis, he pointed out the main contradiction in the country: the power of the Huanzhuang clan has spread to the sky, and has posed an extremely serious threat to the Marquis of Jin.The monarch is seriously ill, and foreign enemies come to invade, not to mention whether the public clan will take the opportunity to cause chaos, the 30 soldiers under the command of the Huanzhuang clan just ignore the monarch's life and stagnate, which is enough to deceive the weak and sick It's even more exhausting.

"In my opinion," Luo Yi's attitude was very calm, but his words were extremely sharp: "The Qin army's invasion is nothing more than the work of a saddle horse; the arrogance of the princes, threatening the throne, is a maggot with bones!"

This sentence really shook Gui Zhu, and this was exactly the purpose of Marquis Jin summoning Luo Yi overnight.He recalled the arrogance of Huan Guo at the daytime celebration banquet.I was sick and weak, and many etiquettes were not comprehensive, but Huan Guo seemed to regard himself as the master, shouting and scolding without any scruples, and the whole house could only hear him talking and laughing alone. How could he be the Marquis of Jin in his eyes?He also heard about how Huan Guo got drunk and lost his temper when he went to conquer Yi and Di a few days ago, he openly insulted the Luo family, and made a big show of embarrassment in front of the officials, but what he refuted was also his face as the king of a country!

Thinking of this episode, Gui Zhu felt that it was necessary to comfort Luo Yi: "Luo Qing, are your injuries all right?"

Luo Yi expected that the monarch would ask this question.However, the monarch must never feel that he is slandering behind his back because of his own personal grievances. "It's just a small injury, but the king is worried about it, and the humble official is terrified." Luo Yi paused, and then said: "However, the humble official has long expected that this day will happen."

"Oh?"

"A few days ago, when I undertook the responsibility of minting new coins, I had a quarrel with the Huanzhuang clan." Luo Yi said, "The public thinks that minting coins is a major event that involves the lifeblood of a country's economy, but the monarch uses a foreign surname like the Luo family. It's just—" He stopped talking suddenly.

"What is it?" Que Zhu found out very sensitively, "Say it! I'm not angry!"

Luo Yi sighed: "Say——you're really sick and confused!"

Gui Zhu snorted coldly, but remained silent.The minting of coins was of course a deliberate decision on his part.In addition to relying on Luo Yi's talents, it was also because Jinyang, which was rich in copper and iron ore, was the Luo family's territory, and it was more convenient for Luo Yi to come and go and supervise.But he soon realized that the Gong clan excluded Luo Yi for no other reason, it was precisely because he was his most important subject that he had to suffer on behalf of the king.Even deeper, the public family deliberately spread the rumor that the monarch is "seriously ill and faint", isn't it just to pave the way for the next step to depose the "faint monarch"!

Thinking of this, Gui Zhu had to be a little restless.Luo Yi knew that this was an extremely important joint, so he decided to add another weight, and said, "Shortly after this incident, Huan Guo sent another person to ask the Luo family to cede Jinyang to him."

"Is there such a thing?" Gui Zhu had also heard that Huan Guo had repeatedly robbed the fiefs of other officials recently, but he unexpectedly got his hands on Jinyang.He immediately thought of the 56 burning workshops in Jinyang.The minting of new coins has ended, and Huan Guo's encroachment on Jinyang at this time is obviously not for minting coins, but probably for casting-weapons!

Gui Zhu couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat, and hurriedly asked: "Then you—"

"Naturally, the Luo clan sternly refused." Luo Yi replied: "In order to avoid more troubles, I gave him the Changxian County as a gift. Unexpectedly, he failed to do what he wanted, and he is still angry to this day."

Gui Zhu let out a long breath.Chang County is a land of blessings managed by the Luo family for several generations. In order to preserve Jinyang, he gave it away. It is a bit apologetic. "Luo Qing," he said worriedly, realizing that there was no need to defend Luo Yi, "Huan Guo's rebellion has been clearly revealed. Alas, I deeply regret that I couldn't fully believe your advice at that time, and sent Huan Zhuang's family to the throne. His ambition has been tolerated to such an extent!"

Luo Yi knew that the monarch had recalled an old case several years ago.Since succeeding, the shrewd and jealous Que Zhu has hated those Huanzhuang clans who are dictating before the throne, and once asked Luo Yi for countermeasures. "Ambition is like a weed that grows," Luo Yi replied, "If you let it go, the consequences may be unpredictable!" Gui Zhu thinks so, but he is always hesitant to bear the reputation of "fraternity killing each other", so he hesitates to act.

Luo Yi used retreat as an advance, and proposed a strategy for him: Among the public clan, the rich son is the most wise, if the public clan cannot be eradicated in one fell swoop, at least this person must be eliminated.Once the public loses the humerus, they can take it slowly.Therefore, Luo Yi, who was instructed by the Marquis of Jin, deliberately wins over the rich son.At the same time, people secretly let out rumors that Fuzi intends to flatter the monarch and sell the interests of the Huanzhuang clan as a means of getting promoted.After this, the Huanzhuang clan fanned the flames and angrily discussed to besiege Fuzi's mansion.Luo Yi turned around and informed Fuzi again, urging him to run away to save his life.In a hurry, how could Fuzi realize that the "best friend" in front of him who planned for his disaster and worry was actually the initiator of everything?He had no choice but to flee the Yue country in panic to seek refuge, leaving behind his compatriots who were arrogant and arrogant and did not know how to restrain their edge.

"It's not too late now." Luo Yi said, "If you do many injustices, you will kill yourself. I just hope that the monarch will cheer up and fight this hard battle well. Luo is willing to run, and will not hesitate!"

After these impassioned speeches, there was a silence in the tent.Luo Yi couldn't help being confused, but when he saw that ankle swaying leisurely, he quickly settled down again.

It turned out that Gui Zhu felt this kind of devotion, and his thoughts were full of thoughts for a while, but he couldn't take it easy to comfort him.But now that you have decided to rely on it wholeheartedly, you need even more careful planning.He opened his mouth and said to Li Ji, "Go down!"

He only heard an extremely delicate "Yes!", and when the curtain was lifted, before the beautiful figure appeared, there was a strange fragrance rippling on the tip of his nose.Luo Yi lowered his head, only feeling a beautiful woman walking by his side gracefully.

"Luo Qing, come here!" Gui Zhu ordered with a pleasant face, "This is a big matter, you and I, the monarch and my ministers, must make a good plan."

Luo Yi hesitated for a while, but couldn't refuse several times, so he walked to the front of the tent.However, as soon as the curtain was lifted, Luo Yi's feeling of embarrassment disappeared.He was in a hurry to advance and retreat at the banquet during the day, and he couldn't take a closer look. He didn't expect that the brave and capable Marquis of Jin in the past had already weakened to this point!His cheeks were deeply sunken, his eyes were especially large, and from time to time they flashed a watchful and suspicious light, and his dry mouth exuded the breath of aging and decay.This is naturally the inevitable result of his unscrupulous enjoyment of wine and beauties even though he is seriously ill.

Luo Yi tried his best to conceal the contempt in his heart, with a humble and apprehensive expression on his face, as if he was listening to the golden words of the Marquis of Jin, but he heard Gui Zhu's tone in a low voice, and secretly said: "Luo Qing, you have heard of it—— ?"