All rivers and mountains are safe

Lu Ciheng knew inadvertently that the reason why Emperor Chongsheng made such a decree for him to go to the army for training was not groundless, it was not because Lu Chengjing suddenly remembered his long-forgotten son, and it was not because he was in the Imperial College It was Shen Ming'an's proposal to rank first in Zhongshe Yu Nian Nian.

Shen Mingan wanted to dismiss him.

At that time, the war in the Northwest was at a stalemate. In just five years, Lu Ciheng started as a small soldier in the army, and then climbed up step by step, from a corps commander to a hundred general, a lieutenant, and a lieutenant general. All in exchange for flesh and blood.

The former general died in the line of duty, and the army suddenly lost its backbone. Lu Ciheng's reputation in the army in recent years has won the trust of the soldiers, so everyone elected him to be the general.

The war was at a critical juncture, but the old emperor urgently called him back to Beijing to report on his duties.

If he doesn't go, it's against the decree.

The army has run out of food and grass, there is really nothing to eat, even the roots and bark of the grass have been dug up, so a few old and weak horses have to be killed.

However, the army of the Rong people had plenty of food and came prepared.

If the imperial court had no more food and grass to send over, no matter how brave the Xuanjia army was, they would not be able to survive for five days at most under the daily attack and night ambush of the Rong people.

Lu Ciheng didn't respond to the request for grain and fodder, but sent people to the northwest one after another to send him back to the capital.

Lu Ciheng had no choice but to arrange defenses for all the teams in the general, and let the captain sit in the army to give orders on his behalf, and then took advantage of the night to ride a horse and set off from the northwest all the way, running for two days and two nights.

During this period, Lu Ciheng didn't dare to rest for a moment, he only ate some dry food and water that he carried with him, and spent the rest of the time on his way.

The one who couldn't hold on before him was the war horse under him.

This horse has been with him for nearly five years, and has accompanied him in bloody battles and battles. He is agile, vigorous, and humane. He ran for nearly a thousand miles without sleep, and suddenly fell to the ground in the woods outside Shangjing.

In the past, when there was plenty of food and grass, it ate fine feed in the army. Recently, there was a shortage of food and grass, and the horse had been hungry for a long time. In addition, in the past two days, Lu Ciheng was in such a hurry that he didn't even have time to eat. Things, let alone feed the horses, it has carried him so many miles, it is not easy to reduce the journey that should have been more than ten days to two days.

Lu Ciheng was thrown out by the horse, turned around and squatted beside it, stroking its dull mane, trying to make it stand up again.

The war horse kicked its front hooves, struggled to stand up, and fell to the ground again, neighing on the grass, with a painful and sad expression in its wide-open eyes, and its breathing weakened.

This war horse has made countless military exploits with Lu Ciheng, and it shouldn't have died at this moment.

Even if he died, he should have died on the battlefield, not in the outskirts of Shangjing.

Shangjing is right in front of you, and the prosperity and tranquility in the distance can be vaguely seen. Lu Ciheng has been in the northwest for five years, and he is used to the thick yellow sand, dry branches, and piles of corpses.

In the distance is the majestic imperial palace.

Lu Ciheng dragged the dying horse to the bank of the river, then walked to Shangjing City, snatched a strong horse from the nearest racecourse, and rode quickly in the downtown area, all the way to the outside of the palace gate.

Just as the guard outside the palace gate tried to stop him, he was kicked to the ground by a horse's hoof.

Lu Ciheng rode his horse in the palace and didn't stop until in front of Huaxing Hall.

It's disrespectful to run wildly in the palace, but he held the sword, his body smelled too bloody, his eyes were full of murderous intent, like a fierce god, no one came to stop him for a while.

It wasn't until he reached the gate of Huaxing Palace that Lu Ciheng got off his horse and wanted to break in with his sword in hand, only to be stopped by Eunuch Zhang Ling who was waiting at the gate.

"Third Prince, this is in the palace, you are not allowed to wear a sword." Zhang Ling slightly bent down and stretched out his hands, with a respectful but tough attitude, "Please hand over the sword to this old slave."

Lu Ciheng squinted at him, threw the blood-stained sword into his hand, and said coldly, "Is the old man in the hall? I want to see him."

The heavy weight of the sword made Zhang Ling's hand sink, and he almost lost his grip. He took two steps back under the pressure, and when he stood still, he still respectfully said: "The emperor is discussing matters with Taifu Shen, please wait a moment."

"What's the matter?" Lu Ciheng asked.

But Zhang Ling retreated to the gate of the hall with the sword in his hand, and didn't reply anymore.

The door of Huaxing Hall was not completely closed, and Lu Ciheng saw two people inside.

The emperor sat lazily in the hall, looking a little old, with his eyes still sharp, staring closely at His Highness Shen Mingan, "Shen Aiqing, I trusted you at that time, so I asked you to teach the prince and other princes poems and books, now the prince Although you are well-behaved, but when you are indecisive, you will come to you for advice. On the contrary, it is the third child who has been promoted very quickly in the army in the past few years. If he has a different heart, the crown prince is not his opponent at all. I would like to ask You, how did you teach them."

The tone of Lu Chengjing's words was quite strong, and at the end of the speech, he shook his sleeves and stood up, showing the coercion of the Ninth Five Lord.

Shen Mingan knelt down, his voice was calm, and his words were clear, "The prince is honest and honest, and he will be a good king in the future. What I taught him is the way to govern the country. The third prince has a bad character, unstable temperament, ruthless behavior, and a cloudy personality. It is difficult to distinguish, it is difficult to become a great weapon, if he is the king, he may cause great disasters, what the ministers taught him is the way of loyalty to the king."

"What a way to be loyal to the emperor!" Lu Chengjing sneered, put his hands behind his back, paced back and forth, and said sharply: "Then tell me, can he be loyal to the emperor now?"

Shen Ming'an replied: "Defending the northwest territory for the country is to be loyal to the monarch."

"Five years ago, you suggested to me that the third child should go to the army to practice, and I agreed. I didn't expect that he would be elected as a general from a small soldier. His power has already threatened the prince, so what?" Lu Chengjing frowned and asked him sharply.

"Protect the Crown Prince." Shen Mingan lowered his eyes, without any fluctuation in his tone, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince should be the most important thing."

Lu Chengjing didn't make a sound for a long time, and the hall was quiet except for the sound of the wind. After a long time, he walked down the steps slowly, raised the corners of his lips, and lifted Shen Mingan up with one hand, as if he was satisfied with his answer, "Ai Qing Loyal and sensible, I trust you the most."

Lu Ciheng watched Shen Ming'an walk out of the hall, the hall door slowly closed behind him, Shen Ming'an pressed his lips, coughed twice, walked towards the corner, walking very slowly, getting closer and closer to him step by step.

Shen Ming'an would cough frequently every autumn and winter. Sometimes in the Guozijian, after a day's lectures, his voice would be hoarse and he could hardly utter a sound when he finished school at night.

Shen Mingan had never missed a class, and when he came back to class the next day, he still didn't feel much better, and he would stop and cough for a while after he couldn't speak a few words.

Lu Ciheng used to get up every day at Yin hour to simmer a small cup of rock sugar pears on the small stove to moisten his lungs, and he also tried his best to find a fleece collar and a hand stove to warm his body.

It turned out that he had done so much, but in Shen Mingan's eyes, it was still just a word of bad character.

Lu Ciheng thought, Shen Ming'an was indeed accurate in seeing people, he was originally such a person, and in order to please him, he disguised himself as such a gentle, obedient, soft and harmless person in the Imperial Prison.

But one day his nature will be revealed, and he confided his heart to him, in exchange for Shen Mingan's alienation and loathing.

This alienation and disgust has been maintained for so many years.

"Because I want to protect the crown prince, should I be abandoned?" Lu Ciheng suppressed the surging anger in his eyes, and asked when Shen Mingan walked near him while lowering his head and coughing.

Shen Mingan was slightly startled when he heard the words, and when he raised his head and saw Lu Ciheng, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes, then he regained his composure, and respectfully called him "Third Prince."

Words and deeds are measured, people can't find the slightest fault, after saying that, they want to turn around and leave.

Lu Ciheng blocked his way, stared at him viciously, and asked: "You went to propose to the emperor that I should join the army?"

Shen Mingan's eyes faded, and he said without any ups and downs: "Didn't you hear everything just now?"

"Is it your suggestion to let me go to the army without a name and role as a small soldier?"

"It's me." Shen Mingan said indifferently with a tired expression.

Lu Ciheng could clearly hear every word and every word, but he just wanted to hear what Shen Mingan had to say.

He wanted to see some guilt and panic on that familiar face, but Shen Mingan's eyes were light, and there was nothing on his face except indifference.

Lu Ciheng tried his best to restrain himself, and asked him, "Why?"

"Because you shouldn't be staying in Shangjing."

Shen Mingan didn't even bother to lie to appease him.

The more magnanimous he was, the more Lu Ciheng hated him. He grabbed Shen Mingan by the neck, pressed him against the vermilion palace pillar, and yelled at him ferociously: "In the final analysis, you are Don’t want to see me! So you go and propose to that old thing that I join the army so that you don’t have to see me all the time, you just hate me, disgust me, don’t you?!”

Lu Ciheng's armor was still on, and there were still dried blood on it. Shen Mingan was strangled by him, breathless, with a pained expression, and he turned his head without saying a word, without even the slightest struggle, as if acquiescing took his word.

"Thanks to you, I have been blowing wind and sand in the northwest for five years, and I almost died several times under the arrows of the Rong people. Your selfishness, you let me go to that kind of place, and ruined my wooing deployment in the capital, Shen Mingan, how can you be so selfish?!" Lu Ciheng was full of hatred, and his subordinates tightened even more.

I haven't seen each other for five years. Shen Ming'an has lost a lot of weight. His neck is slender. Lu Ciheng was able to wrap his arms around his neck, as if it would break if he pinched it. Lu Ciheng became more and more forceful, and Shen Mingan's face gradually became strange. red.

This face made him think about it for more than 1000 days and nights. Lu Ciheng even wrote a letter to Shen Mingan in the northwest, but he didn't expect that it was all because of his own sentimentality.

Lu Ciheng tried his best to force himself to loosen his neck, watched Shen Mingan coldly slipping down the palace pillar and fell to the ground, and laughed at himself: "It's ridiculous that after the old man made that decree, I still I hope you can intercede for me, and you can come and see me off when I leave."

Shen Mingan propped himself on the ground with one hand, covered his chest with the other hand and coughed vigorously, the red marks around his neck were extremely conspicuous, as if he wanted to cough up all his lungs.

Lu Ciheng took two steps back, turned around and left, leaving Shen Mingan and the endless coughing behind him.

If he stayed any longer, he was afraid that he really couldn't help strangling Shen Mingan to death.