Between the vast sea of ​​clouds

The water vapor in the air has not faded away, and Chang'an has gradually entered the summer trend. There are lush greenery and shady trees everywhere. Birds fly over this ancient capital. Under the clear sky, the majestic city walls stand for thousands of years. Wu Yan watched the pedestrians and merchants coming and going from the city.

The palace has changed the bedding furnishings for the summer season, and the soft and delicate gauze is attached to the window eaves, like the extremely bright green in summer, which makes people feel cleansed and calm when they look at it, as if breathing the freshness of plants. Breath, people also follow a new look.

In the Chonghua Palace, Chu Jun sat in the study room reviewing the memorials. She was wearing a silver-patterned purple gauze royal dress, and the light gauze enveloped her like a mist. She had a purple gold jade crown, long hair in high bundles, and pearls hanging beside her ears. Extraordinary bearing.She just put down the vermilion pen in her hand, and Hu Zhuo who was standing aside immediately got up and said, "Your Highness, do you want to rest for a while?

Chu Jun closed the memorial, stood up and said, "Well, you also need to get up and walk around more. It seems that you can bear it now, but you won't be able to bear it after a long time at the desk."

Hu Zhuo thought to himself that this highness is one or two years younger than himself, and he speaks like an elder in the family. Although she felt strange, she also respectfully agreed.

Liu Zhen came in with tea, and Chu Jun pointed to a cup and said, "Give some to Mr. Hu, the weather is getting hotter, and you should drink more herbal tea, so as to defeat the anger."

Liu Zhen put the teacup on Hu Zhuo's table, Hu Zhuo thanked her, saw that her movements were orderly and her eyes were not wandering, served the tea and left.She couldn't help thinking to herself, the princess had just entered the imperial court, not long after she took over the Chonghua Palace, the internal affairs of the palace are very organized, and there are rules and regulations to follow in everything, she immediately felt admiration in her life.As for the methods of this young emperor, although she has not been to court, she has heard of it.In the past few months, the state affairs have been heavy, and Hu Zhuo has accompanied her around. I saw her reviewing the memorial documents of various states, urgent documents on the battlefield, and reports from six ministries. Except for the major issues that need to be discussed with the six ministries of the cabinet, she never thought about other things. Hu Zhuo had carefully After reading her memorial to the Ministry of Household Affairs, Chu Jun’s pen is vigorous and vivid, and her handwriting is like a silver hook painted on iron. She does not show off. She directly starts with the tax revenue of the previous year, and analyzes the disaster situation of the six prefectures last year. Examples include canal maintenance, remote counties and towns. Road construction, sea freight, list the data reported by the Ministry of Households one by one, and finally answer with questions. Please go back and discuss with the Ministry of Households the huge expenses caused by the war in Yunzhou this year. department expenditure.

Hu Zhuo couldn't help her heart beating after watching it. It is true that she once thought that the elders in her family lied to her to come to Chonghua Palace, just to better see what kind of person this young emperor is.She is loose by nature, but she is not really loose and unruly, but she cannot be reused.Unexpectedly, this supposedly leisurely position would allow her to witness and participate in important matters of national affairs and people's livelihood behind the scenes. How could this not make her feel excited.

After drinking the herbal tea, Chu Jun immediately went back to the table and continued to read the papers. Hu Zhuo couldn't help but feel deeply moved when he saw her concentrating and devoting himself to it. It has been a long time since the Holy Majesty talked about longevity, and he hadn't seen him for several years. It is really incredible that such a diligent daughter can be born.She took a look at the memorials that Chu Jun had written, sorted them and put them in wooden boxes. Someone would come and collect them later, seal them and distribute them to the Six Ministries of the Central Committee and the counties of the six prefectures.

Time flies by quickly, and no matter how long the day is, it will also usher in night. Because there is an access control in the palace, one must leave in time before nightfall.She vaguely heard the bell ringing, so she put away her things and bid farewell to Chu Jun.Before leaving, she saw Chu Jun still sitting at the table, writing something without looking up.

Hu Zhuo stepped lightly, Liu Zhen sent her outside the palace gate, Hu Zhuo said: "You don't need to send Liu Shangnv, Hu will go back by himself."

Liu Zhen bowed her body and saluted, and said, "Your Majesty Hu, you don't need to be too polite. Your Highness has ordered your servants to send you outside the door."

Hu Zhuo thanked her repeatedly, and finally bid farewell to her in front of the Vermilion Palace. It was early summer in Chang'an, and the afterglow of dusk covered the ground like water, shining on the glazed tiles on the roof of the palace in the distance. The sunset glow was like fire, burning red After traveling halfway up the sky, Hu Zhuo left the Chonghua Palace through the side door, turned a corner along the palace road, and saw a person waiting outside the side door of the palace.

She went back to salute, and said, "Master Xie, why are you standing here?"

This place is remote, except for the occasional entry and exit of the palace people in charge of procurement, there are few people most of the time.Seeing her coming, Xie Qi said with a smile: "It's also a coincidence, today I suddenly remembered to leave the palace from here, I didn't expect to meet Master Hu just in time."

Hu Zhuo knew that this person was not simple. As the saying goes, you don't reach out to hit a smiling face, especially in the officialdom. Moreover, the two are both servants of the Chonghua Palace, so there should be no gap.Xie Qi was clearly waiting for her here, although she felt unhappy, she still replied softly: "It is also destined, Mr. Xie, why don't we go out of the palace together?"

Xie Qi said: "Then it is better to be respectful than to obey."

The two handed over their palace badges to the palace guards, and put on their own official badges, and then they dressed up and left the palace.Hu Zhuo didn't wait for Xie Qi to speak, and decided to preemptively strike, saying: "Last time, Hu owes Mr. Xie a favor."

Xie Qi's smile remained unchanged, and he said: "Master Hu, you don't have to be so polite, you and I are both His Highness's servants, and mutual help is a matter of duty, what kind of favors are we talking about?"

That's not what Hu Zhuo wanted to say. If there is nothing to ask for, why wait for her here?She naturally held her breath, and said after hearing the words: "Master Xie said that it was Hu who was being rude."

After going around in circles like this, Xie Qi finally explained the purpose of coming: "Xie just wanted to inquire about something with Mr. Hu. When Mr. Hu handed the note to His Highness last time, what did His Highness say?"

Hu Zhuo was slightly taken aback, he didn't expect her to ask this matter.That day when she went to the Ministry of Criminal Justice, she found that she had lost Chu Jun's signature. She was terrified that she had caused a catastrophe, so she rushed back to Chonghua Palace to plead guilty to Chu Jun, but Chu Jun said, "Xie Qi found it on the palace road." This sign was sent over by the palace servants just now."

Hu Zhuo knelt on the ground and saw her stretch out her hand to unfold the label, her fingers lightly touched the paper, as if she was sketching something, she said anxiously: "Your Highness, I—"

She stopped abruptly.

The person under the lamp was as bright and moving as pearls and jade. She seemed to be in deep thought, she tilted her head and traced the handwriting on the paper with her fingers, and there was something that could be called warmth in her eyes.Hu Zhuo suspected that he had read it wrong, but saw her rubbing the paper with her fingertips along the handwriting, as if she was thinking about something.

Suddenly Chu Jun lowered his head, as if he wanted to see more clearly through the light.Hu Zhuo looked at her uneasily, but saw her clasped her fingers, propped her forehead, and sighed almost imperceptibly.

This action made Hu Zhuo feel very strange, she asked cautiously, "Your Highness?"

Chu Jun let go of his hand, and said lightly, "What's the matter?"

The only warmth revealed seemed to be just her hallucination. The moment Chu Jun put down his hands, Hu Zhuo could see the expression on her face clearly, that kind of deep and forbearing, but hard to contain the warmth, giving people a feeling that he seemed to be missing his lover illusion.She suddenly felt chilly, as if she had glimpsed something she shouldn't have known.Chu Jun got up and walked out of the study. She resumed her usual indifferent and distant appearance, standing on top of Majesty Dan and looking down at herself.Hu Zhuo felt her gaze, which was actually more like a scrutiny and evaluation. Her back was chilled, and she didn't dare to show any abnormalities. It took a long time before she heard Chu Jun say: "You don't have to worry about these things, go down."

Hu Zhuo breathed a sigh of relief, and only realized that his back was completely wet when he exited the study.

Therefore, she didn't know why Xie Qi asked this matter, but she instinctively realized that what she saw and heard that night could not be easily shared with outsiders, so she said: "I was negligent in my duties, but fortunately, His Highness is kind and did not blame me. His Highness didn't say anything else in that note, he just told me not to worry about this matter."

Xie Qi's face was soothed, as if she had let go of the burden in her heart. She suddenly heard that Hu Zhuo was still by her side, and said in a concealed way: "Your Highness is kind, this is the blessing of being a minister. I still have something to do. Master Hu is going back to the house, why don't we go together ?”

Hu Zhuo was polite and evasive again, the two were jealous of each other, but on the surface they were very harmonious, when they parted, they turned and left without hesitation.

Xie Qi was thinking about what happened today in the swaying carriage. Hu Zhuo might not be telling the truth, but he didn't dare to lie.She vaguely felt that this person must know more things. If it wasn't for her lack of qualifications, where would it be for such a person to accompany Chu Jun?She went back to the mansion with resentment in her heart, as soon as she landed, someone came to report that her aunt had been waiting in the mansion for a long time.

Xie Qi didn't even bother to change his clothes, and entered the wing room in the backyard. An unseen distinguished guest sat on a wooden chair carved with mahogany and begonia. advice?"

The woman on the wooden chair is holding a cup of tea in her hand, and her hair is only tied up with a wooden hairpin.She is over fifty years old, and looks like someone in her thirties due to her well-maintained care. She didn't speak for a long time. Xie Qi didn't understand her reason for coming, but saw the woman put down the teacup and said slowly: "I ask you, what happened last year?" In February, you took your mother's token and privately mobilized the dead soldiers in the clan for what?"

Xie Qi said calmly: "It's just to find someone."

"Looking for someone." The woman repeated it, and said coldly: "Who are you looking for? You have to go all the way to Yunzhou to find someone!?"

Xie Qi didn't answer, and looked at the landscape painting on the wall expressionlessly.

"You are so bold and reckless that you even communicated with the relatives of the abolished king in private, luring money to promise a future, and finally got a piece of news from the guards. At the beginning of June last year, a commander who was recruited by the abolished king's mansion suddenly left Beijing. You Follow the news they left behind to find out, and then found that they were all on standby in Yunzhou, as if they were waiting for some order. However, the news of Yunzhou was slow, so you sent the dead to Yunzhou, pretending to be the deposed king The sent manpower replaced this group of people and continued to wait in Yunzhou."

The woman said, "Who are you waiting for?"

Xie Qi said, "I'm not waiting for anyone."

"Nonsense!" The woman was extremely angry, swept her long sleeves, and the teacup on the table fell to the ground in an instant. A servant came in to clean it up, but Xie Qi stopped her and said, "Go down, there is no need to clean it up."

"Why is my aunt so angry?" She bent down to pick up the undamaged porcelain cover, and said with some regret, "This is my favorite Xuefeng porcelain. Now that you have dropped one, I'm afraid I won't be able to make a complete set."

"Don't ramble, I'm here today to ask you yes or no!"

"So what if it is, so what if it's not?" Xie Qi asked back, "The person is already dead, so Auntie doesn't have to worry about any mistakes."

"What is the origin of this person, and why did you spend so much effort to kill her? Your mother doesn't know yet, but given time, she will know sooner or later."

Xie Qi paused and said: "So what? Auntie, the matter has already been done, and the insider has already dealt with it. One more thing is worse than one less thing, and let's just pretend it didn't happen. If my mother asks me, I will naturally take care of it." And bear, will never shirk."

The woman sighed helplessly, apparently there was nothing she could do about it.Seeing this, Xie Qi comforted and said: "Auntie, don't worry, no one will know about this matter in a few days."

"I'm not worried about this matter. If you know it well, what else can I say? It's just that you are an official in Chonghua Palace, but you are getting farther and farther away from His Highness. Xie Qi, have you ever thought about why this happened? "

Xie Qi remained silent, and the woman continued: "You are smart for a while, how many times have I told you, don't meddle in His Highness's affairs. You are just a subject, just listen to and watch the master's affairs , don’t make your own claims and act impulsively.”

Xie Qi didn't take it seriously, the woman was tired of what she said, and didn't know if she listened to it or not, so he said: "My words have been brought, whether you listen or not, it's all your own business."

Xie Qi said perfunctorily, "I can save it."

"Your Highness is not such an easy-to-control person..." the woman said, "The old man of the Ren family made a wrong calculation, but the Shao family is astute and knows how to take advantage of the situation."

Today, the empress dowager summoned the cabinet to discuss matters. The war in Yunzhou was urgent. Discussions have become commonplace recently, but this time is different. The dowager summoned all the cabinet ministers to discuss the reorganization of the Hanjia camp.

The Hanjia Camp used to be the most powerful cavalry battalion of the Yunce Army. So far, there are still rumors on the grassland that the Hanjia Camp burned the golden tent and went deep into the royal court to slaughter the nobles.It's just that since the loss of the Erlan Grassland, the Hanjia Camp has gradually lost its due status and gradually faded from people's sight.

Yao Qian, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, came out and said: "The cavalry in the [-]th Yunce Army is small. If it is to be reorganized, it must have horses. But with so many people, how can everyone have horses? Besides, it is very expensive to raise war horses. It takes time and effort, and it needs to be trained with the cavalry, it is not something that can be reorganized by dispatching people in a hurry, please think twice, Your Highness!"

But the Minister of the Ministry of War said, "I have been to Yunce's army, and I have seen many cavalrymen who dare not give up their daily training even though they don't have horses. I believe that as long as there are enough horses—"

"War horse?" Yao Qian said coldly, "What kind of war horse? Do you know how much money it takes to raise a horse? Now that the treasury is tight, where can I get the money to buy a war horse? Besides, I have already said in advance that a war horse is by no means a day. To be able to develop it, it is necessary to invest a huge amount of manpower and material resources! Let me ask you, where did the money come from? You said it easily, do you really think it is the money that fell from the sky?"

Chu Jun spoke to stop the dispute between the two, and said, "Okay, there is no need to quarrel anymore. Which army has the Hanjia Camp merged into now?"

One person replied: "It's the third army under Zhou Shuai's command."

Chu Jun thought for a moment, and said, "Since she is a sergeant under her command, there is no need to add any more."

Seeing that she insisted on going her own way, the Minister of the Household Department quickly knelt down and said: "Your Highness, but now that the national treasury is in deficit, I really can't get anything out. If you want money, you have to continue to raise taxes. But when Your Majesty was here a while ago, because The construction of palaces and the flooding of Chenzhou to repair the embankment alone accounted for more than half of the expenditure. In the past few years, the weather in the states has not been smooth, and everything has been peaceful. Not to mention the war with the Xirong people since last year. More silver!"

The Minister of Military Affairs pointed at her angrily and said, "You!"

After she cried and got poor, all the officials were terrified. No one would go into details about the prosperous and peaceful situation in the past, but it didn't mean they didn't know.Now at this point, he was suddenly stabbed out, and all the cabinet ministers looked at each other, those who knew the inside story shut their mouths tightly and refused to speak, and those who didn't know the inside story were now dumbfounded.

Chu Jun watched the behavior of the people below calmly, she was silent for a moment, and said: "The household department has no money, so forget it."

Hubu Shangshu immediately beamed with joy, but the cabinet ministers looked at the princess with pity and pity.If the two kings who once fought for power knew about this, they would probably laugh out loud.No one would have thought that such a position above everyone would have to face such an embarrassing situation today.In such a huge imperial court, all direct and loyal ministers have been purged and sent down during years of factional disputes, and the rest are just a group of obedient echoers. Apart from flattery, other major issues can be avoided.

It turned out that this extremely gorgeous royal robe was just an empty shell, and the inside was extremely dirty. Insects and ants kept biting the patterns on the robe. When the next owner picked it up and took a look, he found that most of the gold threads had been eaten away. .

Chu Jun glanced at the first assistant and the second assistant, both of them seemed to have nothing to say, she said: "Don't worry about money, how about distributing these war horses to the rich merchants in each state according to the number?"

Hubu Shangshu was dumbfounded, almost thinking that she had heard it wrong, she said tremblingly: "Your Highness, this is inappropriate—"

"There's nothing wrong with it!" the Minister of the Ministry of War shouted loudly, "I tax merchants less than farmers, but merchants have the most wealth. Why can't we act like this? Can't we afford a few hundred horses?"

She continued, "Ha, I understand. Master Yao was born in a wealthy family, so he is naturally worried. Now that the Xirong Iron Cavalry is approaching Yifeng County, if they can't keep it, are they going to sit back and watch Yunzhou fall?"

"When did I say such things? Don't spit blood!"

"I'm afraid I haven't expressed it in words, but the meaning is still inseparable."

"That's enough." Chu Jun scolded, "It's precisely for this purpose that I have invited you this time. Elder Yan Ge, what do you think?"

Yan Minghua arched his hands and said: "The old minister has no objection, and I will follow His Highness's order."

As if expressing his position, Shen Congshan also said: "Your Highness, this method can solve the urgent task. If so, I have no reason to refuse."

One of the others is not as important as they imagined, at least Chu Jun has already taken it off, she said uncompromisingly: "Now draw up the scriptures and present them to Chonghua Palace at night."

Seeing that the two elders had no objection, all the ministers had their own thoughts and responded, "Yes."

In July of the sixth year of Taiqi, the Seventh Army of Yunce Army met Xirong soldiers and horses seventy miles east of Fucheng County. After several days of confrontation, the main force of Yunce Army defeated the branch led by Xirong cavalry. The front line finally ushered in a long-lost victory.

The battle report spread to the army, and Zhou Qian was watching the sand table in the tent. The Fifth Army, as a vanguard battalion, suffered a lot in every confrontation. Made her laugh.

The spies retreated, Commander Zhao took the military report and went into the commander's tent, he was very surprised to see that her face was no longer dark, and asked, "What's the matter?"

Zhou Gan stared at the sand table and said slowly: "There is news from the court that the Hanjia camp will be reorganized."

Commander Zhao was overjoyed when he heard the words, calmed down again, and asked, "The reorganization is just gathering people together, but the horses are the key. We don't have that many horses."

Zhou Qiandao: "The imperial court has already issued a document. If there is not enough horses, it will be apportioned according to a certain amount, and the rich merchants in each state will collect it."

Army Commander Zhao showed a puzzled expression as if listening to the scriptures, and said, "If I remember correctly, the imperial court lowered the tax on merchants 20 years ago. Would they be willing to join the war horse?"

"Of course there are people who are not willing." Zhou Qian replied, "But there are also people who are willing."

Her eyes fell on places other than Wu'an Mountain, and she seemed to have seen horses, driven by the horse breeders, walking towards Yunzhou in groups.

The end of July is the time when the pastures are fertile. The herdsmen on the grassland drove their flocks to a new pasture. This pasture was unexpectedly intact, which is rare in this time of competition.The herdsman took off his felt hat, revealing a sunburned black face. She drove the horse forward for a few miles, and suddenly saw a wooden pole wrapped in colorful cloth. She suddenly realized that this must be someone else's territory He quickly pulled the rein, turned over and looked at the clan emblem.

Before she could get closer, she saw a woman in a dark red robe standing opposite, her face was tightly covered. The uncultivated grassland must have been the territory of the temple.In Xirong, stepping into the territory near the temple without the permission of the priest would be cursed. She fell off her horse and knelt on the ground begging for forgiveness from the priest.

The priest seemed to understand her meaning after looking at her for a while, and nodded slowly. The herdsman felt relieved, got on his horse quickly, and ran away after a while.

Not long after she left, the red-robed priest slowly fell to the ground. Her dark red robe was covered with enchanting red. The killer behind her took a step back, squatting on the ground and wiping the blood-stained dagger with her robe.

Not long after, a person came out of the temple, saw her and said, "Are you dead, carry it in."

There are several corpses in the temple, all wearing dark red robes.

The man said: "Just leave it like this, there is no need to burn it, I don't think people around here dare to come here at all."

"They should be here soon, let's move faster."

The companion nodded, and the two put away their weapons, retrieved the horse foraging in the tall grass, and walked all the way to the south.

Since the gods came to the world, they have sent countless envoys, and only those who practice devoutly can get His favor.

All living beings are struggling in a cage called the human world, how can they compare with practitioners wandering around on the grassland?

If so, why didn't those priests who lay in the temple, covered their faces in red robes, or never closed their eyes, receive God's help?

The blood splattered on the altar has already congealed, and the altar where cattle and sheep were once used for sacrifices is now replaced by angry and frightened human heads.

The color of blood spreads in the water, attracting fish in the water to scramble for food; the precious scriptures fall into the tall grass, are blown by the wind, and fall into the water. The hidden legend written on it with a golden pen is soaked in the water together with the grass roots .

Where is the answer? The so-called fate, the so-called longevity, the so-called everything...

Where exactly.

"If you lose, you lose. What's the use of killing Leda?"

He Chang listened to the lesson of an elder sent by Wang Tingxia with a livid face, and refused to let go of his clenched fist. Seeing that she didn't say a word, the elder became even more angry, and said, "If you don't want to do This is the coach, then ask Wang Ting to take a seat!"

Xiaxi means surrender, give up, and admit defeat in the Xirong language. He Chang stared at the elder viciously when he heard the words.

Before the elder could call for help, his body and head were separated instantly, blood spattered out, and fell back to the ground when it reached the top pillar of the tent.

"Killing people really can't solve it," she murmured, wiping the blood on the knife with a velvet cloth, "but it can solve you."

After killing He Chang, she felt that she had vented her anger. The humiliation of defeat and the lesson of being condescended by the elders of the court made her extremely irritable: "How long do you have to watch outside the door, Master Bi Shu?"

The person outside the door did not come in, but said through the tent: "You killed her, how do you explain to the people in the royal court?"

"What do you say, just kill them all." He Chang replied, "Who knows how many come and kill."

The corpse on the ground lay quietly in a pool of blood, and there was a deathly silence in the tent.He Chang listened intently to the sound of the horn, and after a long time, Bi Shucai said: "He Chang, it is already August, if you don't hurry up, it will be too late."

He Chang forced out a sentence through his teeth: "...there are no horses in the generation."

She said to herself: "As long as there is no horse, they will not win." She paused for a while and then said: "So what, war horses can't be trained in a day, as long as there is no horse, they will lose." !"

Following her last words, the scimitar flew towards the figure beside the tent, and cut a hole. On the night of August, the moon was hazy, and the cold moon was like frost. The people outside the tent avoided the blow and said, "It may not be like yours!" If you wish, I will return to the golden tent someday, goodbye."

He Chang sat quietly for a while, the scimitar reflected the indifferent silver light, cutting her heart full of vengeance into countless small wounds, which ached with the ups and downs of breathing.

She lowered her head, got up and left the seat, stepped on the blood that had become sticky on the ground, stepped out of the tent, and exhaled slowly.

The hatred of generations has been engraved in her bones since she was born, and there is a monster that feeds on hatred and fear in her heart. Whenever she sees people who cannot escape die by knives or trampled to death by horses during a massacre, she will There was a terrific feeling that this was what she was supposed to do, always had been.

How can she lose?Xi Rong went northward to attack Dai with the power of the whole country. She used the rivalry between the two kings of Dai to pretend to help the king of Yue ascend the throne, in exchange for the layout of the border defense of Yunzhou.She has broken through the Juning Pass and reached a place that the Xirong people have not reached in the past 300 years. The gate of the pass has been opened by the Xirong cavalry. What else can she not do?

He Chang felt that he had calmed down a little bit, and just about to order his subordinates to dispose of the corpses in the tent, suddenly a flash of fire flashed in the darkness, with the sound of heavy war drums and the deafening sound of horseshoes, she heard someone shouting in Xirong language Said: "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

The corners of her mouth twitched non-stop, and her hands, which didn't even tremble when killing someone, couldn't help trembling slightly at this moment. She pulled out the scimitar at her waist, roared, and ran towards the place where the flames were bright.

The layout map of the Yunzhou frontier defense nailed to the wall in the tent slipped in the shock, and the water cup on the table happened to fall, and the water covered the worn leather. Like a magic trick, most of the map on it disappeared. At the beginning, all the mountains and plains, as well as the red dots representing Yun Ce's army, disappeared completely, and the leather was clean, as if there had never been anything on it.