Fragments of Tales of Central Continent

That day, after the guests were gone, he packed everything up, closed the door, and went to the bedroom in the inner courtyard with a candlestick in his hand. In the closed small courtyard, a cool breeze suddenly blew, and the weak flame flickered. He stretched out his hand to protect it. But it was in vain after all, the candle light was extinguished faintly, he froze for a moment, raised his head and looked around, his eyes were black and shiny in the dark night, with deep vigilance in confusion.

In the silent night, the dark clouds moved away little by little, and the moonlight poured down and fell on the white dress, which was white and white.

"Heh." A sneer sounded from the shadow where the moonlight did not shine.

It was behind He Gu.

He Gu didn't look back.Still standing there straight, under the moonlight, with an indifferent expression, only a shadow.

"Don't you welcome me?" Three people walked out of the shadows. The leader had a square face and a beard, and his facial features seemed to be even. There was a pair of sharp eagle eyes, with deep indifference and hatred. He repeated, The tone was mocking: "Don't you welcome me? I thought you were looking forward to this day, and you have been waiting for me, my... military adviser." When he uttered the last four words, his eyes were lowered, and the corners of his eyes were because of that Twitching with force for a moment.

He Gu's brows were slightly frowned, his expression was still indifferent, there was only endless depth in the deep pupils that the moonlight could not penetrate.

"Yeah, I've been waiting for this day." He turned around slowly, meeting the other's knife-like gaze, "As expected, you're back here again."

"Yes, this is a military fortress. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack. If you occupy this place, you can gain troops and horses. Taking advantage of the favorable location, if you raise your troops westward, you can take Central Continent. You can become an emperor for thousands of years." He paused, " This is what you taught me back then."

He Gu nodded quietly, "It's still my strategy. You made a comeback this time, so you didn't find another capable adviser to help you re-plan?"

"The military master was joking. When it comes to strategy, who in the world can compare with the military master? How can others break the high theory of the military master?"

"The general is rude."

"No, no, I really admire the high talent of the military advisor. So, I came here today to ask the military advisor for help, so I set out from here to complete our imperial plan, how about it?"

"Could it be that at this time, can I still refuse?"

The other party sneered, and said in a drawn-out tone: "A military adviser is a smart man. Then..." He gestured to the subordinates beside him, and saw that the man spread out his palm, and a small bottle lay quietly on it.

He Gu made up his mind, without any hesitation, took the bottle and poured out a pill, swallowed it.

"Okay, refreshing. The military adviser is really hard-hearted." The man clapped his hands and applauded.

"Tell me, what do you want me to do?"

"The military division is a smart person. The military division knows what I want."

"Soldiers and horses, soldiers and horses of Jiyang City."

"No, it's not just Jiyang City, it's all the soldiers and horses in the eighteen cities of Jitong!"

"Heh." He Gu sneered, feeling the huge ambition of the person in front of him.

Jitong Eighteen States, the gateway fortress in the east of Central Continent, is open vertically and horizontally, and the fertile fields are thousands of miles away.In the face of foreign enemies, it is a natural barrier for Central Continent. If you want to break through Central Continent, you must start from here.Life and death are at stake, so no matter which dynasty, it attaches great importance to Jitong, making important military deployments here, leaving excellent soldiers and horses and sufficient weapons.On the other hand, precisely because of its dangerous position and excellent military armor, the rulers were worried that some people here would support themselves and cause trouble in Central Continent, so they divided the military and political power here.The eighteen prefectures of Jitong are nominally under the jurisdiction of the prefect of Jitong prefecture, but in fact the prefect actually controls only four prefecture cities including Jiyang City, and the remaining fourteen prefectures are divided into three, each There is a commander in chief.In this way, except for the imperial decree, no one can easily gather and control the soldiers and horses of Jitong eighteen states.

Seeing that He Gu sneered and said nothing, the other party sneered, "Actually, we are behind the Wang family horse farm. In the name of "converting farming to pasture", we approached the prefect to make him fall into our design and occupy a piece of land. Place your own troops and secretly increase your strength. However, they were destroyed by you. But that’s okay, we didn’t have a plan on how to take down the other three commanders. Now, it’s up to Military Division Lao to make a decision.”

He Gu lowered his eyes slightly, and said indifferently: "How does the general think that I, a powerless grassroots citizen, can take down those general soldiers who hold great power?"

The man smiled faintly, put one hand on He Gu's shoulder, clasped his shoulder bones with five fingers, and then suddenly increased his strength.Seeing that He Gu suffered from pain, his figure froze and his brows furrowed.Then he leaned next to He Gu's ear and asked coldly: "The military master, don't you think that I will believe that you betrayed me in the end and you got nothing from Xinchao, huh?" The strength increased a little bit.

He Gu grunted in pain.

"You can do something, won't you?" Seeing this, the man changed his face again, let go of his hand, and smiled faintly, "Okay, we should go, and leave it to the military division for a day to figure it out. Tomorrow night I want to hear useful news."

After finishing speaking, the three jumped out of the courtyard.

He Gu was the only one left, dressed in white, standing alone in the still bright moonlight.

After a moment of silence, just as He Gu turned to enter the room, there was another dull sound of feet landing behind him.He turned his head in surprise, and in the half-bright moonlight in the night, he saw another familiar face.

——The prodigal son is not affectionate.

In the cool night, in the quiet small courtyard, the two looked at each other silently, one was surprised, the other was calm, and deep in the black eyes, there was no doubt hiding.

"Followed a few people here secretly."

"You..." He Gu asked in surprise, "You noticed it long ago?"

"Yes. Wang's racecourse, I had a vague feeling that it was not that simple, so I secretly investigated and found that there is a more dangerous force behind the racecourse." He paused, and his eyes on He Gu became deeper, "More I never thought that such a force would be related to you."

The parties closed their eyes and remained silent.

"So who is he?"

"Shen Chengshan."

Shen Chengshan?After hearing this name, Feiqing's face changed, "Shen Chengshan from Beixiao? Then you are actually Beixiao's military advisor Qi Huan?"

"Ah."

"So none of you are dead?"

He Gu smiled wryly, and replied, "No."

"You betrayed him?"

"Yes."

He Gu answered calmly and concisely, but Feiqing remained silent.

"Oh. Do you think I'm disloyal?"

Feiqing didn't answer.

He Gu laughed again, briefly, self-deprecatingly.

The past is vivid in my heart, and it is hard to count the true kindness and false righteousness.

"No." Feiqing said suddenly.When He Gu Ye gave up his words, he suddenly spoke, also calmly and concisely, with a deep voice that contained a certain force.

He Gu was taken aback, surprised.

"You can tell me what happened back then?"

When he came back to his senses, He Gu sighed slowly, "The story probably started eight years ago..."

Eight years ago, He Gu Ruoguan, young and frivolous, was born in troubled times, but also had the heart to manage the world and the ambition to achieve greatness and fame.That year, he came to Jiyang City for the first time and met Shen Chengshan here.At that time, Shen Chengshan was a small soldier who survived by luck.A battle between winner and loser made him see this troubled world more clearly, and also sharpened his heart and will, determined to become a hegemon and end the troubled world.The same temperament and common aspiration brought the two together, He Gu advised him, and he obeyed.Starting from scratch, within five years, he was able to separate one side, set up an altar and proclaim himself emperor, and his power shook the world.

But the boy's story only ends here.

After being proclaimed emperor, the hot blood is still there, but it has lost its size.The mind of the world is still there, but it is only used for conquest.He rushed forward in a hurry and killed endlessly. No matter how many times he advised him, he was not listened to.Years of wars have cost the people and money, and even damaged the foundation of the country.In the end, facing the well-prepared Liang Jun, Bei Xiao, who was strong on the outside and capable on the inside, finally came to a dead end.

What surprised He Gu the most was that Shen Chengshan went crazy to that point.Before spending all his power on the country and leading his army to the Tingyang River for a final showdown with Liang Jun, he approached He Gu and arranged for such a thing: massacre the city.

Slaughter the capital of Beixiao!

"If I lose, I will lose, but these subjects of Bei Xiao, I want them to be Bei Xiao's people in life, and Bei Xiao's ghost in death! None of them will be left to Liang Guo!"

He Gu was horrified, but also completely awake, and made his final decision.

He chose to surrender the whole city to Emperor Liang, and the news of the surrender came when the army arrived at the Tingyang River under his arrangement, and the army was in chaos for a while.And then, Shen Chengshan's plan to massacre the city also spread among the army, and the crowd was enraged instantly. Civil strife suddenly broke out, and Liang Jun took advantage of the situation to rebel and surrender.

However, in the chaos, Shen Chengshan escaped.

"I knew he would not be reconciled and would not let me go, so I resigned all the rewards and came here again, waiting for him."

"Alone? You are really brave."

"Heh." He Gu smiled wryly, "There shouldn't be more people involved in this matter."

"Then do you know that if you can't solve it, more people will be involved." Feiqing's voice lost its usual calmness.

"I know, I'll take care of it."

Seeing that He Gu answered with certainty, Feiqing frowned. He was not satisfied with the answer, "Oh? Really?"

"He Gu, I know you are thoughtful and good at calculating, but there is one thing that you always don't calculate. Do you know what it is?"

He Gu didn't understand what he meant and shook his head.

"You always don't count the help of others, and you don't ask for help. You shouldered the Beixiao incident back then. Then, you didn't think about who will help you with the Wang family racecourse incident. Up to now, Shen Chengshan plotted a mutiny, and I dare you to say that if you don't handle it well, more people will get involved, and you just said that you will handle it well. He Gu, don't you feel tired?"

This is the longest sentence that the prodigal son Feiqing has said since they met each other, and every word is heartbreaking.For the first time, He Gu's eyes were dark and sad, he gave a wry smile, Gu left and right said to him: "I didn't know you are so eloquent."

"He care!"

"Okay. Don't talk about me, have you untied your knot again? The prodigal son has never been close to anyone in his life. We just met by chance, why bother your Excellency so much."

"you!"

"Go back. Don't get involved here."

After exposing each other's scars out of caring for each other, the two stood with their backs facing each other, and finally had nothing to say.Silence, here, no one is happy, and no one is angry.Everyone has knots in their hearts, who can save whom?

That night, the lights in He Gu's room were on all night.On the second day, he opened the book as usual, as if nothing had happened.

It's just that in the evening, he closed the door half a quarter earlier than usual.He also locked himself in the inner courtyard early, sat quietly in the pavilion, watched the night come over him little by little, and sprinkled ink on the surrounding scenery little by little.Light a lamp, reflecting his calm face, everything around is very quiet, nothing disturbs.

Suddenly, when everything around was silent, He Gu's figure suddenly froze, his face under the light began to tangle with pain, his eyes were tightly closed, his brows were furrowed, his chest heaved violently, and within a short while, he was sweating profusely dripping.

At this time, there was finally movement around, the sound of footsteps and laughter approaching at the same time, "Master Military Advisor, how does this Heart-biting Poison Gu taste?"

He Gu tried his best to raise his head, looked at the person in front of him, and wanted to speak, but a mouthful of blood gushed out instead of words.

The other party smiled coldly, and sat down on a stool beside him, intending to pass the time, watching He Gu dripping with blood and sweat with contempt and interest, "I don't know how the military master is thinking in a day?"

He Gu couldn't answer, he clenched his teeth, blood was still oozing from the corner of his mouth.

"Can't talk, nodding or shaking his head, the military division should be able to."

He Gu frowned again, and nodded slowly.

"Okay!" Shen Chengshan shouted loudly, squeezed He Gu's jaw with one hand, and stuffed a pill into He Gu's mouth.

The pill entered his stomach, and within a moment, the pain was greatly reduced. He Gu straightened up slowly, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, met Shen Chengshan's cold gaze, and heard him ask: "What's your plan?"

He Gu didn't answer him right away, but took out a small box from his sleeve, and after opening it, a delicate jade seal appeared before Shen Chengshan's eyes.

"what is this?"

"The thing that Emperor Liang gave me is the seal he carried with him in his early years. Seeing this thing is like seeing himself."

"Ha!" Shen Chengshan sneered sarcastically, "It's really a good thing. By betraying me, the military master really benefited a lot."

He Gu ignored his ridicule and continued: "Tomorrow, I will bring this thing to the magistrate to intimidate him, and you can further manipulate him. In this way, you will own the soldiers and horses of the four states in his hands." After a pause, he asked, "So, do you think it's okay?"

"What about after that? What do you want to do with the other three chief soldiers?"

"Using the prefect, using the convenience of the jade seal, falsely passed on the order of the imperial envoy, and summoned three general soldiers to Jiyang City. At that time, the soldiers were deployed to set up an ambush, and they were controlled in one fell swoop."

"Ha, good! The strategist's strategy has always been bright and won my heart. Then there will be a strategist tomorrow, and I, I will also send someone to help the strategist secretly. After all, the strategist's current body...hahahahaha."

He Gu watched Shen Chengshan leave, the candlestick was beside him, his face and eyes were reflected sideways, the expression was hidden in the outline, the eyes were a little heavier than the night.He slowly put away the jade badge, took the candle and walked back into the room.

In the middle of the night, the stars and the moon are silent, and no one in the world is willing to rest.In the shadows of the courtyard, a figure lurks in the dark.

And somewhere he didn't know, another figure was watching him.

The next day, He Gu woke up very early, but did not clean up and open the house as usual.Instead, he took the jade badge and went to the magistrate's office when there were no pedestrians on the street.

Half an hour after entering the mansion, three soldiers came out on horseback.The sound of horseshoes breaks the tranquility of the morning, tramples the dust of the dormitory, and the people facing the street are awakened, looking blankly at the beginning of a new day.

-----Outside the window, the morning light gradually filled.