The emperor felt that Xiao Shuo's idea was thoughtful and nodded silently.

"Just do as you say." The emperor showed a satisfied look, his face relaxed a little, and said with a smile, "I feel relieved that you are watching over the court for me."

The emperor had been feeling better recently, but he still missed court from time to time. Because he had no children, the people in the court began to get restless, and he began to be busy trying to have children in the harem, and he didn't care much about court affairs. Most of the memorials were handed over to the Imperial Household Department, and he would only take a look when it involved important state affairs.

Xiao Shuo smiled and said, "I will do my best."

The emperor was more and more satisfied. Xiao Shuo could relieve him of many worries. As long as Xiao Shuo was there, he could completely ignore all the trivial matters in the court. However, Zheng Zhongming always criticized Xiao Shuo in front of him, saying that Xiao Shuo had ulterior motives and that Xiao Shuo was excluding dissidents and deliberately seizing power. He was so annoyed that his ears were about to grow cords.

The emperor waved his hand and sent Zheng Xiu away.

He placed his hands on the desk, leaned forward slightly, and advised: "Ah Shuo, Zheng Zhongming is stubborn and has a stubborn temper. You should give him some leeway. Zheng Zhongming saved my life and he is loyal."

Zheng Chongming had followed him for many years and was his study companion and confidant. When they were in Lingnan, it was Zheng Chongming who risked his life to protect him from the locust infestation.

He always regarded Zheng Zhongming as a close minister. After he ascended the throne, he transferred him to be the governor of the Beijing camp, thus entrusting his life and property to his hands.

However, Zheng Zhongming didn't know why he and Xiao Shuo didn't get along. In May, because he failed to suppress Xiao Shuo as he wished, he got angry with himself and left Beijing for his hometown.

Zheng Zhongming was angry, and the emperor was also angry in his heart. However, Chu Yuanchen was becoming more and more rampant with the military power in his hands, and there was no military general in the court who could compete with Chu Yuanchen. The emperor had no choice but to humble himself and write a letter personally to ask Zheng Zhongming to return to the court.

"Ah Shuo," the emperor said frankly, "In the army, I only have Zheng Zhongming whom I can use and trust. Chu Yuanchen will definitely not give up. There is no way he and I can coexist peacefully. I have to be on guard against him."

"I understand." Xiao Shuo spoke calmly, his voice as gentle as a breeze that made people feel comfortable. "I will not argue with Lord Zheng."

The emperor looked more relaxed. He picked up the teacup and took a sip to moisten his throat.

He thought to himself: As expected, Xiao Shuo understands the emperor's intention best.

Even Zheng Zhongming, no matter how loyal he was in the past, is still struggling for his family now. After all, Zheng Zhongming is just fighting for benefits and doesn't want Xiao Shuo to share his power.

Only Xiao Shuo, who is alone, without a family to support and no one else to rely on, will be completely loyal.

The emperor looked at Xiao Shuo with eyes full of trust.

In fact, ever since the Imperial Household Department and the East Factory were handed over to Xiao Shuo, he really had no more worries.

"A Shuo," the emperor said, "go and keep an eye on the performance of the Imperial Guards for me."

What he wanted was to let Xiao Shuo work with Zheng Zhongming for a period of time to ease the conflict between them. Moreover, he also wanted to give Zheng Zhongming a "warning": don't confuse the relationship between the monarch and his subjects.

Xiao Shuo responded with a smile, his expression normal, as if he was happy to accept everything the emperor arranged. Then he changed the subject and said, "Your Majesty, I have one more thing to report."

The emperor put down the teacup and raised his eyebrows: "Go ahead."

Xiao Shuo said slowly, "The Queen Mother had a headache just now, and the pain was splitting. King Zhao gave her a medicine, and the headache was relieved immediately."

"Medicine?" the emperor asked, confused. "What medicine?"

"It was brought back by the Queen Mother on the day she went to the girls' school, and it was given by Prince Zhao. After returning to the palace, the Queen Mother asked the Imperial Hospital to look at it, but they couldn't figure out the main medicine in it." Xiao Shuo said, "Today, when the Queen Mother had a headache, Prince Zhao took it out and gave it to her to take, and the effect was immediate."

"Did Qin Wei bring it?" The emperor muttered to himself, and after a while he shook his head and said, "How can you take medicine casually? The Queen Mother is really a fool."

The Queen Mother had suffered from headaches for more than ten years. What kind of magic medicine did Qin Wei bring? It would cure the disease as soon as he took it?

There shouldn't be any conspiracy.

The emperor narrowed his eyes slightly and said with a forbearing look: "A Shuo, go check, what kind of medicine is this?"

Xiao Shuo responded slowly.

So, that afternoon, a small piece of black ointment was placed in front of Sheng Xiyan.

The elegant seat on the second floor of Qingming Teahouse was filled with the elegant fragrance of tea. Sheng Xiyan took the ointment and smelled it while sitting on the oil paper. She lowered her eyes and thought for a long time. She was about to learn from Shennong, but as soon as she had this thought, Chu Yuanchen saw through it and raised his hand to hold down the oil paper.

Chu Yuanchen said seriously: "It doesn't matter whether this thing can be found out or not."

What he meant was that Sheng Xiyan was more important than anything else and one should not take risks lightly.

This kind of mysterious medicine is enough to just smell, but not to taste.

Sheng Xiyan understood and smiled at him, with two pear-shaped cheeks faintly visible on her cheeks, looking delicate and lovely.

"I can't see it." Sheng Xiyan said bluntly.

All her medical skills came from the medical books and medical notes left by her grandfather. No matter how talented she was, she couldn't judge something she had never seen before. "Just judging by the smell, I have never smelled this kind of medicine. I don't know what's in it."

Sheng Xiyan has keen senses and can remember any herb she has ever smelled. If she says she has never smelled it, then she definitely hasn't smelled it.

But thinking of what Xiao Shuo said, that the Queen Mother's chronic illness was cured in less than a cup of tea after taking it, Sheng Xiyan became somewhat curious and asked, "Brother, can you give it to me?"

Whenever Xiao Shuo wanted this kind of thing, he could ask someone to get it from the Empress Dowager's palace. He didn't care and just gave it to her.

Sheng Xiyan carefully wrapped it in oil paper and put it in her sleeve pocket, and asked, "Did Zhao Yuanrou take this out through the hand of King Zhao?"

In the novel, anything that others have never seen is most likely created by Zhao Yuanrou. However, this ointment has never appeared. Maybe Zhao Yuanrou didn't need it in his previous life?

Xiao Shuo nodded slightly and briefly explained the matter.

He tapped the tabletop lightly with his index finger and said to Chu Yuanchen with a smile, "Do you think Zhao Yuanrou is interesting?"

Chu Yuanchen raised his eyebrows and asked with interest: "What do you mean?"

Xiao Shuo thought for a moment, as if choosing his words: "These things she brought out are all unprecedented, especially the sight, the conception is actually quite ingenious."

Chu Yuanchen deeply believed this.

The shortcoming of the bed crossbow is that it is not flexible enough. If it were replaced with a weapon with a longer range and greater lethality, it might not be useless.

Xiao Shuo's lips curled up into a meaningful smile, and he said concisely: "She seems to have come from another world..."

Sheng Xiyan's heart moved when she heard this. She had also thought that Zhao Yuanrou had a similar opportunity like herself, but Zhao Yuanrou did not react to what might happen in the future. She thought that he should not live his life again.

In that novel, Zhao Yuanrou brought out many things, including her endless and varied poems.

Even if there really is an ancient book in the world that contains these poems, what about other things? Is there a second or third ancient book? Even if she had all the ancient books in the world, it probably wouldn't be enough.

What Xiao Shuo said is indeed right!

Zhao Yuanrou did not live a new life, but came from another world. What she brought out, including poems and songs, are actually the wisdom of another world.

That's why she always looks at other people with such a condescending and disdainful look!

It seemed that in her eyes, they were nothing more than lowly ants.

Xiao Shuo made a gesture, and Wu Ning, who was serving beside him, immediately took out a black cylindrical object and placed it in his hands.

"Is it done?" Chu Yuanchen's eyes lit up. He raised his hand to take it, thought about it in his hand, and then gave it to Sheng Xiyan.

Sheng Xiyan looked at it for a while, and suddenly asked, "Is this the one that was placed on the bed crossbow that day?"

She had seen it that day as well. It looked similar, but because it no longer needed to be connected to a bed crossbow, a lot of complicated parts were removed from it, and the whole thing was much smaller, more delicate and exquisite, and extremely light, so it could be easily picked up with one hand.

"Give it a try," Xiao Shuo said gently, "It's quite interesting."

Sheng Xiyan was very excited. After she took it, she went straight to the window, put it in front of her eyes, and looked outside.

In an instant, everything in the distance became clearly visible: vendors and customers were bargaining; a beggar was finally given a bun by a kind-hearted old lady after begging pitifully for a long time; I also saw people arguing at the street corner, pushing and shoving, and almost getting into a fight.

Even though there was no sound, she could still clearly see their lip movements when they spoke.

interesting!

Xiao Shuo said softly from behind: "You can adjust the distance by turning the column."

Sheng Xiyan tried it and found that by turning left, she could see farther, and by turning right, the nearby objects would become clear instead of blurry.

So fun!

She played with it for a while, put it down reluctantly, and handed it back to Chu Yuanchen.

Xiao Shuo said, "I asked the craftsmen to improve it. This thing is not suitable for use as a bed crossbow, but for marching and fighting, it can be used to detect the enemy at a distance, so it is still quite useful. I call it a telescope."

After Chu Yuanchen refuted his "improved" bed crossbow one by one, the emperor was furious and had it burned and discarded completely.

In fact, compared to the useless "improved" bed crossbow, Chu Yuanchen and Xiao Shuo both agreed that the aimed shooting method was more valuable, so Xiao Shuo asked the craftsmen to improve it repeatedly, and this is already the third edition.

"Brother." Chu Yuanchen said with a smile, "Give this to me."

Xiao Shuo brought it here originally to give it to him, and he had no objection.

Chu Yuanchen turned around and handed it to Sheng Xiyan: "Here you go."

He just saw Sheng Xiyan was so excited and reluctant to put it down, so he thought she liked it very much.

"Anyway, Big Brother will have the craftsmen do it again." He raised his eyebrows and looked at Xiao Shuo, "Right?"

Xiao Shuo laughed: "You can take it and play with it. I'll ask someone to bring another one to Chen later."

Sheng Xiyan didn't bother to be polite with them and took it happily. She examined it repeatedly in her hands, and she felt itchy to open it and see what was inside and why she could see so far.

Xiao Shuo's eyebrows were gentle, and his eyes were as dark as ink. He said, "I want to see how many 'good things' Zhao Yuanrou can come up with."

If there were one or two more things that could rival this telescope, this person would still have some value.

His thumb gently stroked the white porcelain teacup, his lips showing his usual gentle smile, his eyes slightly narrowed and his eye corners slightly raised, his sharp eyes revealed an uncontrollable sharpness, as if an eagle in the sky had seen its prey.

Is Zhao Yuanrou being targeted? Sheng Xiyan couldn't help but shed a tear for her, and happily played with the Thousand Miles Mirror in her hand.

"Brother, you shouldn't go tomorrow." Chu Yuanchen said, "There's nothing interesting about this farce."

Tomorrow the emperor will go to pay tribute to Xue Chongzhi.

It is said to be a worship, but who can tell the purpose behind it?

If Xiao Shuo wants to pay respects, he can go anytime. Chu Yuanchen doesn't want him to be affected by these unnecessary farces.

Xiao Shuo understood his meaning and said calmly, "I'm not going."

He looked out the window silently.

Snowflakes are falling outside again. This winter is even colder. Xiao Shuo vaguely remembers that Lingnan is not that cold. It is warm like spring all year round.

Twenty years.

For Xiao Shuo, it seemed like a past life and present life, leaving only hazy dreams and deep hatred.

"Have you heard that Chi Yu will also be there tomorrow?"

"Really? Can we go to Huangjue Temple?"

"I've asked the Imperial College, and they say we can go, as long as we don't disturb Chi Yu and the others."

"Then I will definitely go! Even if it is an epitaph, it would be a great honor to read Chi Yu's article."

A few men who looked like scholars came to the door of Qingming Teahouse. Their voices could be heard intermittently. After talking for a while, they went into the teahouse to avoid the snow, saying that they wanted to meet friends over literature.

After snowing all night, December 23rd turned out to be a sunny day. The students went to Huangjue Temple early in the morning, and the tablets of Xue Zhongzhi and his wife were enshrined in the Jingxin Hall of Huangjue Temple.

When the offerings were first made, people were allowed to come and worship first, but later the Jingxin Hall was locked on weekdays.

The Imperial College selected a total of ten students, five of whom were supervisors of the Imperial College, two of whom were talented and well-known for their talents, and the other three were selected by the Imperial College after testing their literary talent.

In addition to them, some students and common people came spontaneously after hearing the news.

The emperor was coming today, and the Huangjue Temple should have been cleared, but the emperor specially allowed the people to come and watch, so the imperial guards had to strengthen their defense and strictly control their numbers.

The students arrived earlier than the Holy Chariot, and they needed to finish writing the epitaph before the Holy Chariot arrived.

These days, they have actually already figured it out in their minds, just waiting to show their skills.

They all knew that the emperor not only wanted to write an epitaph for Xue Chongzhi, but also planned to publish a biography for him. If he saw that they had good literary talent, perhaps this great opportunity would fall on them.

Several desks have been set up in the huge Jingxin Hall. After offering incense, the students quietly spread out their paper and wrote.

The pens, ink, paper and inkstone were all prepared early. They wielded the pens like gods, and in a short while, many words were written on the rice paper in front of them.

Li Anyuan was a student of the Imperial College. Most of the students were children recommended by officials in the court, and some were poor students with outstanding talents. Li Anyuan was born in an ordinary family and was admitted to the Imperial College by his own efforts.

For Li Anyuan, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The imperial examination was held every three years, and how many people could really make a successful career in officialdom? If he could make the emperor remember him today, his career would surely be smoother in the future.

Li Anyuan was full of confidence. He had pondered and revised this article several times. In terms of literary talent, he was not as good as Chi Yu, but he thought that the quality of literary talent was not important. The most important thing was to be able to write to the emperor's heart.

People all say that the late emperor and the emperor treated the vassal kings with great kindness, so we should emphasize that the emperor's kindness is deep and the ministers have no regrets, especially Xue Chongzhi's determination to repay the emperor's kindness with his death.

Ang Lee wrote a long and eloquent piece, which he himself thought was very wonderful.

Finally, he put away his pen, placed it on the pen holder, and read his article carefully again.

He believed that his article would stand out and attract the emperor's attention.

"Huh?"

Li Anyuan let out a sound of surprise and widened his eyes in disbelief.

He should have finished writing it, so why is the first half of the article... missing?

The rice paper was clean except for a few light water stains, and not a single word of the article he had just written was gone.

Where have you been?!

Li Anyuan's face changed drastically. He rubbed his eyes hard and stared at the rice paper carefully, his eyes almost wanting to poke a big hole in the paper, but he still didn't see a single word.

No!

No!

Confucius does not speak of strange things, supernatural powers, or spirits. What about the articles he wrote?

Li Anyuan shuddered. All those ghost legends, country goblins and the like that had only appeared in strange stories flashed through his mind. He subconsciously turned to the second half of the page, and his fingers stiffened for a moment.

Those words disappeared one by one right under his eyes!

Li Anyuan's hand trembled, and the rice paper fell onto the desk.

On the rice paper that was originally filled with writing, only the last few lines of words remain.

"Where are the words?" Someone nearby also shouted in surprise: "Where are the words?"

"Mine's gone too!"

"And mine!"

"Who, who is playing tricks?"

There was chaos in Jingxin Hall. Those students who were usually well-mannered and polite were now all panicked and talking at the same time.

All the articles they had written were gone.

For a moment, everyone looked at each other, not understanding what was going on.

In the Jingxin Hall, a cold wind blew, and the candles lit all around began to flicker, and the candlelight formed a strange shadow on their faces.

"Brother Chi!"

Someone suddenly screamed, and said with a trembling voice, "Brother Chi, look, what is this?"

Under Xue Zhongzhi's tablet, it was pitch black and something seemed to be moving.

A few people looked at each other, and then someone brave enough went over. They saw that under the tablet, there were densely packed black ants, huddled together, which made people feel creepy.

"How can there be so many ants in this freezing weather?" Chi Yu shook his head and sighed, "Huangjue Temple is too inadequate in its care."

As he spoke, he picked up the tablet, raised his sleeve and gently stroked it, trying to wipe it. He didn't know where he touched, but there was a dull "bang" and the bottom of the tablet fell to the ground.

"ah."

Several students were shocked. This was really disrespectful.

Chi Yu quickly squatted down to pick it up. As soon as he moved his body, a piece of paper floated out from the tablet and landed at Li Anyuan's feet.

"What, what is this?" Li Anyuan bent down subconsciously and picked it up, "There are words on it."

"What did you write?" someone asked.

Li Anyuan simply unfolded it. It was a piece of silk paper as thin as a cicada's wing, with most of the page densely written on it. He read softly, "As the Emperor of Darong, I agree to form an alliance with your country..."

The more he read, the softer his voice became, and his face turned paler.

His lips were trembling and his eyes looked down quickly, but he didn't dare to read any further.

The others were waiting. Seeing that he hadn't made a move for a long time, one of them stepped forward and took it. He read on his own: "I will take the life of Lingnan King Xue Zhongzhi as my sincerity..."

Every word and sentence on this piece of paper was beyond their imagination.

The person who recites it cannot believe his eyes, and the person who listens to it cannot believe his ears.

The late emperor...

The late emperor actually colluded with Nan Huai, forced Xue Chongzhi to death, and set fire to the ancient city of Zhan!

This is unbelievable!

"On this..." the man holding the silk paper said with a slight tremor, "is the private seal of the late emperor."

They all knew the late emperor's name.

"It can't be fake, right?" Someone couldn't help but question, "It's just a seal, anyone can fake it, right?"

Privately engraving the seal of the previous emperor is a capital crime, but if someone really wants to frame someone, it is not impossible to do it.

"It shouldn't be." Chi Yu took the silk paper, looked at it carefully, and said, "This should be true."

He was talking about the letter, not the seal.

"Why?"

Chi Yu sighed, "The texture and color of this silk paper don't look like something from recent years. Also, the ink and seals on it have faded. Judging from the degree of fading, it must be at least twenty years old."

He stated calmly: "If they wanted to frame me, why would they have started planning 20 years ago?"

Chi Yu was very prestigious among the students, and everyone believed what he said.

Too.

If he had taken great pains to privately carve a seal and forge a letter, why would it take twenty years for them to be exposed?

"Could it be that the late emperor really colluded with Nan Huai?"

Someone cried out in disbelief, and this cry was like a hammer hitting their hearts.

The scene when Zhenbei King Chu Yuanchen carried the coffin back seemed to be still vivid in front of his eyes. On that day, countless people said that it was because Xue Chong died with his eyes open that the solar eclipse occurred. But they all knew that the so-called solar eclipse was just a change in the weather.

However, this silk paper...

"The ant is gone."

The ants that were crawling densely just now are now nowhere to be seen.

A chill ran down everyone's heart, and they couldn't help wondering, could it be that this letter was hidden by an old member of the Lingnan Palace 20 years ago, but all of them were killed or wounded in the subsequent war with Nanhuai, so they had no chance to show the letter to anyone?

And those ants are Xue Zhongzhi's heavenly spirits that led them to discover him?

Otherwise, why are there so many ants in the middle of winter? Why did the base of the memorial tablet suddenly fall off?

The door was pushed open from the outside, and the sunlight shone in. At the same time, there was a hearty laugh: "How is the writing going, everyone?"

A man in a bright yellow dragon robe strode in, followed by a group of ministers in court robes.