Between the vast sea of ​​clouds

The news of the fall of Juning Pass quickly spread throughout the six states. If people had great expectations for the Peace Talks at the beginning, then when Xirong announced the start of war, this expectation was completely shattered.After hearing that Wang Ting's cavalry had entered the customs, Yun Ce's army retreated steadily, and [-] cavalry approached Anping County with invincible momentum, and people panicked for a while.

Wang Ting's flag fluttered over Juning Pass, and continued to approach the hinterland of Yunzhou.When approaching Anping County, Xirong sent envoys who were proficient in Chinese to read the letter of surrender under the city, and then archers shot at the flagpole erected on the tower, and the red king's flag fell, and the generals of Xirong watched closely Listening to the movement on the tower, behind her are royal cavalry wearing black heavy armor. This is the result of Wang Ting's 100-year union of various clans. These [-] cavalry come from different clans on the grassland, and the selected ones are all warriors selected from a hundred. .After long and arduous training, their will is as indestructible as steel. In the process of advancing to Juning Pass, the Wangting cavalry is like a sharp saber. They move quickly and agilely. They are in groups and never alone. Combat, and the formation of various changes when encountering the enemy, often catches Yunce's army by surprise.

The Xirong army was advancing firmly towards Yunzhou like a tide. Among the black army, a white tent stood out.The flag of the wolf's head fluttered on the top of the tent, which is the symbol of the Royal Court of Xirong.

In the tent, Qianhui patriarch He Chang was studying the terrain on the sand table. On the wall was an old blueprint, which clearly marked the distribution of Yunzhou's military defense.

The tent door opened, and a middle-aged general came in, saw her and said, "Hechang, Wang Ting has sent a letter, Jin Zhang Bishu God envoy agreed to participate in this battle and provide us with food and grass in winter."

He Chang frowned when he heard the words: "Didn't the golden account always refuse to cooperate with Wang Ting, why did it change its mind this time?"

The man replied: "The archmage is getting old now, and something happened last time at the sacrifice ceremony, and I'm afraid she is not in good health. Didn't she hand over the matter of the golden account to Bi Shu long ago? "

He Chang couldn't deny it, as far as she was concerned, she could find a solution to the problem of food and grass on the march.Whether it is those ambitious Xirong nobles, or the Jin Zhang who suddenly changed his attitude, she is not in her consideration.

"However, Lord Yanpu asked me to tell you this time, please restrain the people under your command, and don't kill people casually. If we kill all these generations, we won't be able to find coolie slaves."

"I see." He Chang replied casually.

What she wants is to win this war and wash away the humiliation that the Qianhui clan has suffered for hundreds of years.The anger and hatred that had been buried in her heart for a long time whipped her soul all the time, making her always keep this in mind.

This is why she condoned the army's looting of villages along the way, and sometimes she participated in such massacres, witnessing the screams of despair from those who otherwise lived in peace and tranquility.Those fearful eyes all soothed her vengeful heart.But it wasn't enough, she needed more.

He Chang silently turned his gaze to Hengzhou, which was farther away on the map, and she knew that it was the seat of the royal family of Dai Kingdom.Chang'an, the capital city that Xi Rong had not conquered 300 years ago.This time, she will flood the city with the blood of the enemy, hang those high-ranking royals outside the palace gate, and let these generations of people be slaves forever. Xirong will become the biggest kingdom in the world, forever, forever.

Bi Shu opened his eyes, the high priest opened the tent door, and came in from the outside under the wizard's guidance.

"What on earth are you thinking?" She asked aggressively, "Unite with the royal court to provide them with food and grass? Do you know how much tax this will cost? This war has just begun, and the winner or loser is still uncertain. After all, , the teacher handed over the power to you, not to let you do this nonsense!"

Bi Shu listened to her quietly. The high priest sat beside the charcoal brazier angrily, but heard a slight noise in the darkness.

She alerted: "Who's there!"

A person crawled out of the darkness and knelt timidly at Bi Shu's feet. Only then did the high priest see his face clearly. It was a thin girl in a moon-white robe, with a string of green stones hanging around her neck. The emerald green color made the high priest feel a little uncomfortable. In the dim light of the fire, it looked like poisoned snake teeth, full of indescribable malice.

Bi Shu touched her forehead, and the girl recovered from her drowsiness, leaning on her knees to open her eyes.

The high priest saw her amber eyes, as clear as the melting water on the snow mountain, and asked in surprise, "Who is this?"

"A Yuelai." Bi Shu said, "She is Ah Yuelai."

The high priest suddenly felt that it was ridiculous, and snorted coldly: "The eyes of the sky are not open, where did Ah Yuelai come from?"

Bi Shu lowered his head to look at the girl, the child's eyes clearly showed a kind of innocent attachment, Bi Shu's ice blue eyes moved slightly, and replied: "I said she is, she is."

She looked at the high priest with a half-smile, and said, "Isn't this what you've been expecting?"

The high priest scolded: "What have we been expecting? What the hell are you talking about!"

She was originally a disciple of the great mage, and was later sent by the mage to be a priest. Now, without accident, she should have taken over this position after the mage retired.But since the mage was unwell at the Mingsha Lake sacrifice ceremony and returned to the golden tent to recuperate, she has never received any news. How can this not make her anxious.

Bi Shu is just a young man who has been growing up under the protection of a mage, and the high priest has always looked down on her.It's just that because of the mage's face, although she respects her, she harbors disdain in her heart. She always thinks that she is the future master of the Golden Tent.

Bi Shu watched her anxious expression, gently stroked the girl's forehead with her hand, and she said lightly, "What do you think?"

"What did I say?" The high priest stood up abruptly, suddenly felt dizzy, and staggered a few steps back to his original position.

"Those tricks...haven't you tired of playing them yet? What kind of envoy A Yuelai, these are all fake in your heart. But you have been in charge of Tianyan for many years, you must enjoy the pleasure of this kind of control, right?"

The high priest had a bad heart, she had despised Bi Shu for too long, but she never expected to stumble here.

Bi Shu said to himself: "Wars are fought in the royal court, the golden tent preaches, and the next generation will serve our gods. Wherever the royal court passes, temples will also be built."

She walked down the steps with a series of crisp sounds. The high priest gradually felt his whole body go limp, but his mind was still somewhat clear. She saw that the girl had a bronze collar tied around her neck. It is locked with a slender chain, and the end of the chain is in Bi Shu's hand, and the sound is made when she is walking.

The girl kneeling on the ground stood up obediently, like a lamb, being led by her.

Bi Shu walked up to the high priest and said, "You want to be the master of the golden tent? No, you don't have that qualification yet."

After she had finished speaking, she went out from the tent, leaving the high priest alone on the rug.

The high priest looked at the direction she was leaving in surprise, and heaved a sigh of relief.She thought that Bi Shu would kill herself, but she didn't expect that she would let herself go.

Not long after, the tent door was opened again, and the high priest saw a few dark-skinned women standing outside the door. They looked at her blankly, and then slowly walked towards her.

She knew that those were the lowest slaves in the Golden Tent, and when their hands touched her body, she yelled, "Go away, you dirty and filthy—"

Before she finished speaking, her mouth was forcibly opened by one of them, and a cold iron object was stuffed into her mouth, making her unable to close her mouth again.

A thin layer of sweat broke out on the high priest's forehead, and her pupils constricted in fear. She shouted with all her strength, but it only turned into an indistinct roar.

The slaves looked at her indifferently. All of them had their tongues cut out like this, and could no longer speak.The tongue is the source of evil, from which come forth words that are malicious, sweet, cunning and deceitful.How can a person who serves God open his mouth to speak?

The high priest's back was soaked in cold sweat, she struggled feebly, her soft and warm tongue touched something cold and smelling of blood, a drop of sweat slipped from the bridge of her nose——

The bright red paint on the fingers was very obvious, Bi Shu sat beside the great mage's bed, pulled the iron chain in his hand, and said, "Come here, Ah Yue."

The girl knelt down obediently, and the mage turned his head with difficulty, only seeing the top of the girl's jet-black hair.

"Stand up and let the teacher see you." Bi Shu said.

The girl stood up, her amber eyes stared at the person on the bed curiously, the mage stared at her for a moment, and said, "It's...very similar."

Bi Shu said, "Like who?"

The sorcerer coughed a few times and said, "Like that generation."

"Like her?" Bi Shu laughed, and opened the girl's mouth. The mage could clearly see the quivering half of her tongue, and his gaze was extremely incredible.

"How can you find a... useless person!"

"It's rare to see children who can survive the torture of breaking their tongues," Bi Shu pointed out, "much better than some people."

The old man gasped in pain and said, "Ah Yuelai is a servant of God..."

Bi Shu was silent for a moment, then said, "It's all fake."

She repeated it, clenched the iron chain in her hand, and the scriptures that she knew so well in the past came to her mind. It turns out that God does not exist in this world, so what exactly does she serve and believe in?

She suddenly remembered what that person said, before being poured with the see grass, she looked up at her, obviously she was the weak one, but Bi Shu felt unable to look her directly in the eyes.She said: "Beliefs are all hypocritical lies. There are no gods in this world. I will not be A Yuelai, and I will never be."

"It doesn't matter, man can create one, and God can create new ones." Bi Shu kneaded the paint between his fingers, and said to himself: "When your homeland is full of the banners of the royal court, the gods will be able to create new ones." The kingdom will come with it, and you will all be his slaves, live and die for him.”

A fine autumn rain fell outside the window, covering the palace in hazy water mist, and the palace was hidden in the vast water, as elegant and moving as an ancient painting.

As the situation in the war became more and more serious, the Six Departments had been spinning non-stop, and everyone was trying to restore the increasingly collapsing situation, but it was like a person in a quagmire, the more he struggled, the more he sank.

At the court meeting that day, the faces of all the ministers were solemn, and the princess Chu Jun was standing at the foot of the jade steps. The maid rang the jade bell and sang in a mellow voice: "Your Majesty is here—"

The empress, who hadn't seen her for a long time, suddenly came to court. Everyone was used to the imperial concubine and the cabinet meeting, but they never expected that at this time, the empress would return to the court.

Although many people are not very satisfied with the emperor, the situation is critical now, and there is indeed a need for someone who can come forward to preside over government affairs.But compared with the moody empress, the empress is more tolerant.

The minister who had a memorial to present was a little hesitant for a while. Under the empress, he could express his feelings directly, but now that the empress is changed, I am afraid that the things in the memorial still have to be weighed carefully.

The golden bricks on the ground in the main hall reflected figures, and the empress, dressed in red court attire, slowly came out from the side hall.

All the ministers knelt down and proclaimed long live.No one noticed the empress's stiff expression, and the maid at the side presented a jade scroll.

The ministers knelt still, the empress' hoarse voice sounded, and as the words were uttered, Yan Minghua, who was in the first row, raised his head in shock, regardless of etiquette.

This turned out to be a crime against oneself!

In the history of the Dai Kingdom, except for Emperor Guangyue who almost broke the country 300 years ago, who was written hastily under the coercion of his courtiers, no emperor has ever read an edict of guilt on the court. After all, this kind of thing is nothing more than It is written and written, and it will be fine when it is burned in the Taimiao.

All the ministers were extremely shocked when they heard the female emperor's edict of sinning the readers one by one, and painstakingly confessing the crimes they committed.

Some veterans were so moved that they burst into tears, knocked their heads on the ground, and whimpered.

But more courtiers understood that the fact that the empress read the edict of guilt in the court hall would soon spread throughout Chang'an. As a majestic emperor, how could he announce his guilt to the public and denounce his own mistakes.In the history of the country, the emperor's promulgation of this edict was a harbinger of abdication.

After reading the imperial edict, the Empress knelt on the ground and said very seriously: "I have been on the throne for many years, but I have lost my virtue and acted improperly, causing Juning Pass to be forced by foreign enemies—"

She took off the crown and put it on the ground. The jade beads on the crown made a crisp sound when they touched the gold brick ground.Everyone in the hall knelt down, not even daring to breathe.

The empress took off her court clothes, and walked through the ministers in a plain robe, walking into the drizzle.

This move was like a landslide to all the ministers, the princess stood up first, ordered the palace staff to put away her clothes, and said: "The Queen Mother has been worrying about state affairs recently, and her mind is a little unclear. My lords, please stand up."

The ministers got up and obviously felt that the atmosphere in the hall had changed.

"We are still in distress, and the court meeting will be held as usual." The majesty said with a look on her face as usual, her eyes swept over everyone, as if she understood everything, "Shangshu of the Ministry of War, please present the latest military report of Yunzhou."

After Chu Jun came back to the Chonghua Palace, Liu Zhen had already been waiting outside the hall, and seeing her, she said, "Your Highness, please see the Minister of Dali Temple. The servants have invited her to the side hall, do you want to see her?"

Chu Jun said: "Please come here."

Not long after, Dali Temple Qing Haimo came in to pay a visit and said, "I see Your Highness the Empress Dowager."

"But what happened to Chu Yu?"

Hai Mo said: "That's right. The family of the waste king wanted to visit the prison the day before yesterday, but they were stopped by the prison guards. They went to Dali Temple to make a fuss, wanting to see the waste king."

Chu Jun held his palm, and said softly, "It's embarrassing for my lord, it's just that there are some..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but how could Hai Mo not understand?The deposed king Chu Zhe was no longer in the imperial prison of Dali Temple. It must be the empress who imprisoned her in the palace. After all, she is still her own daughter.

Hai Mo just wanted a reassuring answer, she said: "Thank you Your Highness, I just rejected the family of the abolished king when I went back."

Hai Mo only guessed that Chu Yu was imprisoned in the deep palace, but he never expected that she was in the Chonghua Palace where the empress dowager lived.

Chu Jun didn't make things difficult for her, but locked her up and sent a few dumb slaves to guard her.There are many empty palaces in Chonghua Palace, and there are also some violent rooms where people are detained.

Therefore, when she saw Chu Yu, Chu Yu sat on the bed with disheveled hair, and her limbs were tied up with cloth strips to prevent her from harming herself and others.

Chu Xun lost weight a few times, his eyes popped out, and he looked at Chu Xun fixedly.

Chu Jun said: "Second Sister, long time no see."

Chu Yan's teeth creaked, and he said after a while, "You...it's you."

She muttered something, and then burst out into an ugly laugh, and said frantically: "You are going to die! You are dying! Chu Jun, your good days are over!"

Her voice dropped again, and she whispered: "Wait for them to come back, wait for them to come back..."

Chu Jun glanced at her face, and said, "Don't pretend to be a ghost, I know you are not crazy. It is a skill to pass the news out of my palace."

She poured a cup of tea and moistened her throat.Seeing this, Chu Yan rolled his eyes and suddenly returned to normal: "Fourth sister is really amazing."

"Stop pretending?" Chu Jun said lightly, "Then let's talk about things."

"What are you talking about?" Chu Yan chuckled and said, "Now that the Ju Ning Pass has been broken, I really didn't expect the boss to have such a skill, and she would cheat people before she died. She was confused for many years, and she was not very clever in the end. But this move is a wonderful move!"

Chu Jun said: "Since you miss Eldest Sister so much, how about going to be her company together?"

Chu Zhe laughed, and said: "You dare to kill me? You dare not kill me! All your affairs are in my hands. If you dare to kill me, all the ministers will know that you are just a bastard!" She spat Taking a sip, he looked at Chu Jun contemptuously.

"It's kind of interesting." Chu Jun smiled suddenly, and gently put down the teacup, "Second sister sometimes values ​​the position so important, why don't you learn from the third sister, know how important you are, what to do, don't What to do."

Resentment flashed across Chu Yan's eyes, her face was full of gloom, she managed to calm down, and said, "Where's your little lover?" She deliberately said in a contemptuous tone: "She must have hated you to the core, right? "

After saying that, she stared at Chu Jun closely, trying to see some flaws on her face, but unexpectedly Chu Jun just smiled, summoned the palace servants to remove the teacup, and looked at her with strange eyes, Slowly said: "Qian donkey's skills are poor, so we will try our best to use crooked methods."

She didn't pay any attention to Chu Yu, went out of the room, and returned to the main hall.

She pondered for a moment in the palace, then summoned Hu Yu from the palace and asked: "The people of Xirong have spoken out, saying that the envoy to Xirong has betrayed, how will the Ministry of Punishment deal with it?"

Hu Xun said: "I'm afraid that the apprehension document will be issued to trap his family, and we will discuss it after the war."

The vermilion pen in Chu Jun's hand paused, staining her cuffs, she put down the pen and said, "Speak to the Ministry of Punishment, if someone is caught here, please bring him to see me."

She wrote a line on the paper, stamped it with a jade seal, folded it and handed it to Hu Xuan.Hu Xun didn't dare to procrastinate, so he went to the Ministry of Criminal Justice after leaving the door.

It's just that she ran into Xie Qi before she left Chonghua Palace.

She knew Xie Qi, and knew that this was an old man beside the Empress Dowager, so she said, "Master Xie."

Xie Qi smiled and said, "Your Majesty Hu is so polite, where are you going in such a hurry?"

Hu Xun said: "Your Highness has ordered some things, I am going to the Ministry of Punishment."

Xie Qi said: "Then I won't say more, Mr. Hu, please go ahead."

Hu Xun left in a hurry, Xie Qi looked at her back and said in his heart, this is also a role that is not easy to get into.

Although they are both officials in the Chonghua Palace, although they are courteous, they are still in a competitive relationship with each other.Hu Xun is also smart, he served by Chu Jun's side, but he never talked about foreign affairs.

She was thinking about it, but suddenly saw a piece of paper dropped on the ground, and felt that Hu Xun was not so cautious anymore. Seeing that there was no one around, she picked up the paper and unfolded it.Her eyelids twitched, and three familiar words came into view.

It turned out to be this Li Qingping again.

Xie Qi put the paper in his sleeve and stepped into the palace gate thoughtfully.