The prince is very fierce

The first battle in Nanyang made him famous.

War broke out in Mobei and Jiangnan, and the situation was retreating steadily in the stalemate. Xu Buling suddenly came out of Wuguan Road with the force of thunder. The impact was like a pool of stagnant water suddenly encountering sweet rain, which was eaten by all the civil and military officials of the dynasty. A reassurance.

As long as the Xiliang army can fight, it will be a matter of time to quell the civil strife; as long as the civil strife can be quelled, it will be a matter of time to retreat from the Northern Qi Dynasty; although the situation is still difficult, at least there is a feasible way forward.

However, when a live chess piece appeared in the deadlock, not everyone felt at ease, especially Song Ji, who was a chess player and was playing this game; because the live chess piece did not belong to him, but was borrowed from elsewhere.

If it were before the locking dragon Gu incident, Song Ji would still be able to trust the Xu family's "loyalty, righteousness and courage"; but after the locking dragon Gu incident, no matter whether King Su and Xu Buling had turned against them or not, Song Ji could no longer trust Xu. No more; there are no fools in this world, "Heaven and Earth, Lord, Prince, Master" is for the people below, and the Imperial Family has never believed in this.

Nanyang has been defeated, and more than 100,000 rebels are moving towards Nanyang. It is only a matter of time before they attack Xiangyang.

In the imperial study at the back of the Taiji Palace, Song Ji sat behind the desk and read the letter sent by Guan Hongye. From his sad, angry and guilty words, he knew that Guan Hongye could no longer suppress Xu Buling.

Song Ji put the letter on the table, raised his eyes to look at Taiwei Guan Hongzhuo and Imperial Censor Cui Huailu, tapped his fingers on the table, and was silent for a long time:

"What are your countermeasures?"

Guan Hongzhuo's face was very ugly. He was Guan Hongye's elder brother, and he had already learned that Xu Buling almost beheaded Guan Hongye in public. He took a step forward and said in a deep voice:

"Xu Buling was too wanton and reckless. It is true that Hongye had dereliction of duty, but it did not lead to a big mistake. Xu Buling only made a small contribution and humiliated the commander in front of the entire army. In fact, he did the following If you don't control your offense, you will be able to make great achievements in the future, but you won't be able to..."

Song Ji frowned, too lazy to listen to this nonsense, and turned to look at Cui Huailu.

Cui Huailu's expression was slightly dull, and he thought for a long time before speaking:

"Guan Hongye made a fool of himself, and was caught and humiliated by Xu Buling. It was his own fault, and he had no one to blame. At this point, Guan Hongye has no reason to ignore Xu Buling, and he must give him military power; but if the military power is given to Xu Buling, let him He led 50,000 Xiliang troops to attack the city and seize the territory. Guan Hongye had nothing to do with suppressing the rebellion later. From what the ministers saw, he could appoint Xu Buling as deputy commander and command the troops to guard Wuguan Road in Nanyang. Guan Hongye could make up for his mistakes and lead the army. The Xiliang army went out to attack Xiangyang."

After hearing this, Taiwei Guan Hongzhuo thought for a moment, nodded slightly and gave the command of the soldiers to Xu Buling. This could be regarded as "re-employing" Xu Buling, but the combat effectiveness of the soldiers was low, and they could still defend the city, so he wanted to take them out. Sweeping the four kings' coalition forces is nothing more than a dream. Even if he is really taken out, he will definitely be following the Xiliang army led by Guan Hongye to take credit, and he will not let the quelling of the rebels become Xu Buling's one-note statement.

Song Ji thought for a moment: "Yes, go down and deliver the order."

"promise."

Guan Hongzhong bowed, turned around and exited the imperial study.

Seeing this, Cui Huailu was about to leave, but just as he turned around, Song Ji raised his hand again:

"Mr. Cui, wait."

Cui Huailu paused, then turned back and bowed:

"Does Your Majesty have any other plans?"

Song Ji gently rubbed his fingers, turned to look at the portrait on the wall, and was silent for a moment:

"How are you doing, Xiaowan?"

When Cui Huailu heard this, he looked a little confused. After thinking for a while, he said slowly:

"The Holy One is concerned. Xiaowan is withdrawn and has been living in the sea of ​​peach blossoms in Youzhou. Everything is fine. If the Holy One misses her, I can write a letter and ask Cui Huai to take Xiaowan back to Chang'an."

Song Ji glanced at Cui Huailu, shook his head and chuckled:

"Xiao Wan is not used to living in the palace, so there is no need to worry so much. I just asked casually, go down and rest."

"Wei Chen resigns."

Cui Huailu nodded lightly and slowly walked out of the imperial study, his eyes showing some doubts.

There was silence in the imperial study room, with three sticks of incense rising up and a few green smoke rising under the scroll.

Song Ji tapped his fingers on the table. After a long silence, he raised his hand slightly:

"First."

The little eunuch standing in the dark walked out slowly and bowed humbly:

"Your Majesty."

The little eunuch is another nickname of Eunuch Jia. Different from Jia Yi, he has been trained in the palace since he was a child. He has received the true inheritance of Eunuch Jia. He has no name and surname, and has taken over the position of the 'death warrior'.

Song Ji turned his head to look at the portrait and said softly: "During the Qingming Festival, the clan went to the Queen's Mausoleum to sweep the tomb, and found that Jia Yi's tomb had been swept, and the traces were very special... Send someone to the Peach Blossom Sea in Youzhou to see if the Queen is still there. There."

The little eunuch bowed seriously: "No...if the queen is still here, what should we do?"

Song Ji took a deep breath, looked at the portrait again, and then closed his eyes:

"Compassion does not control soldiers, love does not establish affairs, justice does not manage finances, kindness does not serve as an official... Please give me a message, I feel ashamed to be with her."

The little eunuch understood the meaning. After all, Queen Cui should have been dead a long time ago. There is no use in living except for future troubles. He bowed and left the imperial study without a trace... ——

Kuishou Street, Cui Mansion.

After Cui Huailu, the imperial censor, came out of the imperial city, he took a carriage and returned to the Cui family mansion across the street from the Lu family; next door was the Xiao family, and the mansion of the five great lords of Dayue, 'Xiao Lu Cui Wang Li', in Chang'an City. Basically all next to each other.

It was getting dark. After Cui Huailu took off his official uniform, he returned to the back house and came to the house of the principal wife. He was still thinking about the words of the current Holy Master in his mind, and he was a little confused as to why the Holy Master suddenly mentioned Xiaowan.

In the house, Mrs. Cui was drinking tea in the tea pavilion. When she saw Cui Huailu coming, she quickly got up, walked over and gave her a blessing:

"Ms. sir, why are you here?"

They were both an old couple in their fifties. Cui Huailu didn't care about the red tape of those aristocratic families. He sat down at the tea table, asked the maid to retreat, and frowned:

"Just now in the imperial study, the Holy One suddenly asked how Xiaowan was doing. With the current Holy One's temperament, after faking his own death, he would never mention Xiaowan's life again. There must be other reasons. I couldn't figure it out at the moment..."

When Mrs. Cui heard this, her expression changed slightly. She sat next to her, picked up the tea cup and took a sip:

"Well... maybe I missed it. I just wanted to mention it casually. My husband doesn't need to worry about it."

Cui Huailu has stood in the court all his life. How can he sit in the position of the three princes and not understand the emperor at all? He said in a deep voice:

"Do you think the emperor's mind is the same as the love between children in the market? Today's emperor is very unpredictable, but he will never do useless things. Since you ask about Xiaowan, the matter must be related to Xiaowan. Send someone back to You immediately Let’s see if there is something wrong at home.”

The tea cup in Mrs. Cui's hand shook slightly, she glanced at Cui Huailu and said nothing.

Cui Huailu had been in the officialdom all his life and had been with his wife for more than thirty years. How could he not see something strange? His face darkened and he slammed the table:

"Are you hiding something from me?"

Mrs. Cui quickly put down the teacup, hesitated for a long time, and then whispered:

"During the Qingming Festival, I went to sweep Wan'er's tomb. I found that Jia Yi's tomb outside the Queen's mausoleum had been cleaned... It seemed to be Wan'er's handiwork, so I sent someone back to Youzhou to ask. My second uncle said, Wan'er My son has disappeared and I am looking for him in the mountains..."

"What?!"

Cui Huailu was furious when he heard this. He stood up and said angrily:

"You stupid woman, why didn't you tell me earlier? What are you hiding from me?"

Mrs. Cui's face turned pale, she considered it for a moment, lowered her head and said:

"Wan'er is my biological daughter. She secretly ran away from Youzhou. If you find out, you will tell the Holy One first to show your loyalty, and then harm Wan'er with the Holy One..."

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Cui Huailu was angry and pacing back and forth in the tea pavilion:

"The Holy Master is very suspicious today. If Wan'er runs out on her own, I must find her and hide her as soon as possible. Now that you are hiding it and the Holy Master finds out first, not only Wan'er's life is at risk, but I will also be suspected..."

Cui Huailu was sitting on pins and needles. After a few words, he was ready to enter the palace again to confess to Song Ji.

Mrs. Cui was born in the Wang family of Taiyuan, so she naturally knew the pros and cons and quickly stood up to stop Cui Huailu:

"Ms. sir, please don't go to the palace. We can't talk about this matter. If Wan'er could be found, I would have sent her back a long time ago. How could she still be running around outside alone."

Cui Huailu paused: "Do you know Wan'er's whereabouts?"

Mrs. Cui thought for a while and said softly: "A few days ago, when Prince Su came to Chang'an to return to his life, people from Northern Qi came to rob prisoners. Song Ying from the Criminal Investigation Department pursued them. In the eastern suburbs, they met Prince Su with a man. The woman was chased by a wasp. I also saw a chopped-down hornet's nest near Jia Yi's grave that day..."? ? !

Do you agree?

Wan'er is with him?

Cui Huailu's eyes were stunned, and he looked at Mrs. Cui blankly. After being stunned for a long time, his angry expression gradually softened, and he fell into deep thought, walking back and forth in the tea pavilion with his hands behind his back.

Mrs. Cui was frightened, hesitated, and asked:

"Ms. sir, what are you planning?

"Shut up! What do you mean by a crooked idea? I am thinking about the Cui family and your Wang family."

"..."

Mrs. Cui shrank her neck and quickly shut her mouth...