No one expected Qin Yao to return from Nanhao so soon.

Shen Qianchen stood up and wanted to see Qin Yao, but was stopped by Gu Jue.

"Your hair is messy. Let me comb it for you." Gu Jue pulled Shen Qianchen to sit in front of the dressing table, personally took a peach wood comb and started combing her hair. He then called Jiang Yuan in and asked her to tell Qin Yao.

So Jiang Yuan went to the Banquet Hall of the Qianqing Palace to meet Qin Yao and told him in a serious tone, "Your Highness, the Emperor asked you to wait while he combs the Queen's hair first."

Qin Yao: “…”

Qin Yao opened his eyes slightly and sprayed out half of the tea in his mouth.

Jiang Yuan dodged swiftly and didn't get any tea on his body, but a young eunuch behind him was not spared and had a puddle of tea stains on his robe.

Qin Yao wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and unceremoniously asked someone to serve him a pot of fruit juice.

When he had finished drinking half the pot of fruit juice, Gu Jue and Shen Qianchen finally appeared in the banquet hall.

"Ninth brother, ninth sister-in-law!"

Qin Yao smiled widely at the two of them and looked at Shen Qianchen's hair with a strange look. Shen Qianchen had her hair tied up in a simple bun at the moment, and there was no other head ornament except a pink silk flower in her hair.

Qin Yao thought to himself: The bun that Ninth Brother combed for the little girl is pretty good.

Shen Qianchen felt that Qin Yao's eyes were very strange and confused, so he ordered Amber to serve the iced lotus wine.

Lotus wine is really good! Qin Yao's attention was diverted all of a sudden.

When he first met Shen Qianchen last year, he was seriously injured and his two legs were almost disabled. At that time, Shen Qianchen did not allow him to drink. This spring, Gu Jue had been taking medicine after the operation, and Shen Qianchen did not allow Gu Jue to drink. Until today, she lifted the ban for the two of them.

Qin Yao added cheerfully, "It's too slow to drink one pot at a time, let's just drink a whole jar. Brother Jiu and I won't stop drinking until we're drunk today!"

"No." Gu Jue didn't give Qin Yao any face at all and smiled faintly, "I'm different from you..."

As he spoke, he swept his smiling eyes over Shen Qianchen, and his expression seemed to say that he was a family man.

Qin Yao almost choked on his saliva and said jokingly, "Brother Jiu, you have changed!"

When they were in the northwest, Brother Nine was still thinking about breaking off the engagement, but now he is dominated by his wife.

Qin Yao laughed uncontrollably. He felt wonderful having this feeling that only God and I knew about it.

He smiled and said, "One jar is not enough, Brother Jiu, it should be okay for you to drink three cups with me, right?"

"Sister-in-law Jiu, what do you say?" Qin Yao deliberately turned around and asked Shen Qianchen. He expected to see Shen Qianchen's embarrassed expression, but Shen Qianchen remained calm and raised his hand to make a "five", meaning that no more than five cups could be drunk.

When the three of them sat together and drank, Qin Yao finally started to talk about business: "Ninth brother, that old guy Wuhedu Luo has agreed to cede Shuzhou to Da Qi."

"I heard that the prince of Haozhou, Pu Mixi, went to see the monk that day, and the princes of Ningzhou, Jiaozhou and other places also went to Haozhou to serve him..."

"When I crossed the river from Nanhao, the monk had already taken over one-third of Hao's territory."

"Now, with the Pearl River as the boundary, monks are constantly moving north, and Uhadula is already in a state of panic."

"Before I came back, Uhadula bribed me."

Speaking of this, Qin Yao became excited and took out a pair of baby fist-sized luminous pearls from his sleeve to present as a treasure, which shone brightly.

He casually threw the pair of priceless pearls to Gu Jue, nonchalantly and without any reluctance.

Gu Jue caught the pair of pearls, held them in his hands like walnuts, played with them for a while, and said, "This is the national treasure of Hao country, the Moon Pearl. It is said that if you put these pearls in your mouth, your body will not decay. At night, they can illuminate an area of ​​100 steps. They are rare treasures. Uhaduro is really generous!"

"You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a lamb," Qin Yao raised his head and drank half a cup of lotus wine, saying with a playful smile, "He wants you, Ninth Brother, to be his son-in-law, can you not be generous?!"

Uhadula was willing to give this precious treasure to Qin Yao just to ask Qin Yao to help promote the marriage between the two countries. The ultimate goal was of course to make the two countries form an alliance. For Uhadula, only in this way could he concentrate on dealing with Uhadala.

Gu Jue: “…”

Shen Qianchen: "..."

Qin Yao went to see Shen Qianchen again and said with a playful smile: "Uhaduluo also promised his eighth princess. I heard that she is the most beautiful woman in Hao country, so beautiful that she can shame the moon and the flowers, and she is so beautiful that she can overwhelm the country."

"I also met her once. This Eighth Princess is indeed very pretty. She is totally different from that rough guy Uhaduro!"

"Eh? Brother Nine, why don't you drink anymore!" Qin Yao chattered non-stop, and even had time to add wine to Gu Jue, winking and teasing, "Brother Nine, Wuhaduluo is so bold that he actually dared to covet you, Brother Nine!"

Qin Yao felt that this Wuhedu Luo was really clueless. Couldn't he ask around? Everyone in Daqi knew that his ninth brother refused to marry a concubine for his ninth sister-in-law! Shen Qianchen thought Qin Yao was too annoying, so he took a peach from the fruit plate and threw it at Qin Yao: "Eat more and talk less."

Qin Yao reacted very quickly. He caught the peach and took a bite. He smiled and said, "Thank you, Sister Jiu!"

When he used the word "Jiu Sao", it always sounded teasing and joking.

Qin Yao was much more honest after that. He didn't dare to tease Gu Jue and Shen Qianchen anymore. He smiled even more and said, "I saw this pair of moon beads and I just want to give them to Sister Nine to apologize."

Qin Yao directly used the bribe given to him by Uhaduro to bribe Shen Qianchen.

Shen Qianchen was not polite at all. He took one of the Moon Pearls from Gu Jue and said with a smile, "Okay, give it to my Yueying for fun!"

"Meow?" The elusive black cat jumped onto the windowsill from outside the house upon hearing the sound, and its green cat eyes looked at the three people in the house, meaning, what do you want from me?

Shen Qianchen casually threw the Moon Pearl on the ground. The ground was as smooth as a mirror, and the Moon Pearl rolled out on the ground.

"Meow!" The black cat became excited when it saw the "ball"; its cry became soft, and it jumped down from the windowsill and pounced towards the bright moon pearl.

The cat's paws slapped on the beads again and again, and the beads rolled back and forth on the ground. The cat also pounced and flew around, and the sound of "meow" could be heard from time to time.

"Hahaha……"

Seeing this, Qin Yao raised his head and laughed so hard that he was out of breath, and even tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.

Amber couldn't help but think in her heart: King Nanyang's sense of humor is too low!

Looking at the heartless Qin Yao in front of him, Shen Qianchen smiled faintly, picked up the white porcelain wine glass, sipped the wine, and couldn't help but think of the sinister Qin Yao in his previous life.

That’s great, now this Qin Yao is what this guy should be like.

After Qin Yao finished laughing, he poured himself more wine and returned to the topic: "Ninth Brother, Hao Country is in chaos now, should we fight?"

Shen Qianchen: "..."

Shen Qianchen paused in his drinking, and felt that Qin Yao remained the same. He was undoubtedly the most warlike general of Da Qi in both his past and present lives.

Qin Yao was just speaking casually. The Hao Kingdom was in chaos right now, but the Da Qi Kingdom was not much better, especially since the army was seriously short of soldiers due to the problem of ghost soldiers.

At this time, if Da Qi went to war with Hao State, it would be a huge gamble.

If he wins, Gu Jue can unify the north and the south and become an emperor of all ages; if he loses, the mountains and rivers will be ruined, countless people will be displaced, and it may even give foreign races a chance to take advantage of the situation.

Gu Jue is not the kind of person who indulges in war, nor is he the kind of person who would do anything to achieve his own selfish desires. He will not risk the lives of the people of Da Qi to achieve his so-called grand cause.

Qin Yao naturally knew this.

"After Wuhaduluo ascended the throne, he went too far in order to eliminate the remaining forces of the previous emperor Wuhabeizhen. He was also concerned about the missing Wuhajialou, so he implicated many innocent people. Over the past year, Nanhao has been in turmoil, causing widespread resentment among the people. They all believed that Wuhaduluo was cruel and arbitrary, and they all missed the kindness of the previous emperor and his son."

"Now that Wuhejialou has won the hearts of the people and has the support of several vassal kings in the south, it is estimated that Hao Kingdom will be pacified soon."

Of course, the pacification of the Hao Kingdom did not mean that the Hao Kingdom would be stable. Just imagine that the Hao Kingdom experienced two changes of the throne and political power in a short period of time, the country would inevitably be riddled with problems.

Next, Wuhejialou will need to spend a lot of energy and time to allow Hao Kingdom to recuperate.

It is easy to destroy a country, which may only take a few months or even less, but it takes more time to repair a broken country and restore it to its former glory.

Gu Jue's gaze fell on the black cat in front of him that was still playing with beads. The cat and the beads ran from one corner of the banquet hall to the other, and the cat's paws almost slipped on the ground.

"What do you think of Wuhejia Tower?" Gu Jue asked suddenly with his eyes flashing.

Qin Yao thought for a moment while drinking, and said, "Wuhejialou is a man of foresight and has the talent to govern a country."

"The Hao Kingdom is now divided into north and south by the Pearl River. Wuhadu Luo is recruiting soldiers on a large scale, but Wuhajialou is not in a hurry to recruit soldiers. Instead, he promised the four states under his command that he would never increase taxes."

The Hao Kingdom was different from the Da Qi Kingdom. In the Hao Kingdom, the princes of each state governed their own fiefdoms, and the armies within their territories also belonged to the princes. Only the Imperial Guards were directly under Emperor Hao.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

The Royal Guards under Uhaduluo's command also evolved from the vassal army of his former vassal state, Yangzhou. Now that the north and south of Hao State are at war, the other vassal kings are afraid that they will not be willing to let their vassal armies die.

Therefore, Uhadula did not have many soldiers that he could actually use.

Qin Yao touched his nose and said, "Brother Jiu, do you think Uhaduro is recruiting soldiers because of you?"

"Maybe." Gu Jue smiled and didn't say much.

Gu Jue was recruiting soldiers. He was recruiting soldiers to fill the holes in the Da Qi army. Only when the Da Qi's imperial guards and the armies of the garrisons in various states were strong enough could they deter the barbarians in all directions and the villains in the country.

Unlike Gu Jue, Uhaduluo's starting point for recruiting soldiers was to deal with Uhadaluo, which was simply a desperate measure.

Those newly recruited soldiers had not received systematic training and had no combat capability at all. Even if they went to the battlefield, they would be at the mercy of others and die in vain.

As soon as Uhaduluo started to recruit soldiers, many people in the country were frightened and fled south with their families, which made the people of Hao country feel that Uhaduluo was a benevolent and kind-hearted king.

The civil war in Hao State was more of a psychological warfare.

Seeing that they were talking excitedly, Amber hesitated for a moment, but still stepped forward to ask Shen Qianchen whether to serve the meal.

She lowered her voice very low, but Gu Jue heard it and changed the subject: "Xiguang, please stay and have dinner with us. We will welcome you back."

Qin Yao readily agreed and ordered a series of his favorite dishes, such as braised bones, cumin roasted spareribs, pickled pork, etc. In short, every dish contained meat.

Although it was a welcome banquet for Qin Yao, it was just a meal for them alone. It was not a proper palace banquet. They just added a few meat dishes according to Qin Yao's taste.

Qin Yao was eating with his mouth full of oil, feeling very satisfied. He kept praising the royal chef's cooking skills, saying that they were much better than those chefs in the northwest. He even asked for the recipes of those meat dishes.

That night, Qin Yao did not leave the palace until the palace gates were about to be locked. He had been a hostage in the capital for many years and had a residence in the capital, so he returned to the Nanyang Palace in the capital to rest.

Gu Jue and Shen Qianchen were also full of food and drink. Seeing that the weather was cool, the couple simply went for a walk in the Imperial Garden hand in hand.

The night wind was cool and breezy, and occasionally a few fallen leaves and petals flew in the wind and gently landed on them.

Shen Qianchen was now lazily, not even bothering to brush off the petals on his shoulders, and casually said: "Jiu Xia, how long do you think the monk will need?"

"About half a year." Gu Jue pondered for a moment and estimated the time.

"So fast?" Shen Qianchen raised his eyebrows slightly, a little surprised.

The current situation in the Hao Kingdom is divided into north and south. Although Wuhe has become powerful, he now only occupies one third of the territory, and Wuhe Duluo is not weak either.

Then she took back what she said: "Not that fast."

After all, Gu Jue helped Wuhejialou from behind.

Gu Jue smiled slightly, raised his chin, and looked at the night sky to the south.

The night sky is dotted with stars, and there is a nearly round silver moon hanging in the sky.

Shen Qianchen shook their clasped hands and asked, "Will there be a tough battle over there?"

"No." Gu Jue shook his head decisively.

Shen Qianchen stopped and looked at Gu Jue with his little face tilted, waiting for him to continue.

Gu Jue said: "As long as Wuhejialou returns to secular life."

Shen Qianchen was confused and blinked.

Gu Jue leaned over and kissed the corner of her eyes, then held her hand and continued walking forward, saying, "When Wu He Beizhen was still alive, it wasn't that he didn't want Wu He Jialou to return to secular life. He had been waiting for an opportunity."

Nanhao, like Daqi, has many problems in the country. Wuhebeizhen is determined to rectify the problems and pass on a better Hao Kingdom to Wuhejialou, so he waited year after year. Wuhejialou had long reminded Wuhebeizhen that Wuhaduluo was ambitious, but Wuhebeizhen trusted his younger brother, which gave Wuhaduluo an opportunity to take advantage of.

“And now is the perfect time.”

"Uhagaru's return to secular life represents his entry into the secular world. He stepped down from the Buddha's throne into the secular world for the sake of the people and the country, in order to save the world."

The people of Hao State all believe in Buddhism. As long as the news of Wuhajialou's return to secular life spreads and then creates appropriate momentum among the people, it will become what the people want.

After a pause, Gu Jue asked Shen Qianchen with a smile: "How powerful do you think the power of faith is?"

His original intention was to say that the power of faith could make the people of Hao Kingdom turn to Wuhejialou and strengthen the power of Wuhejialou.

But to Shen Qianchen's ears, the only person she thought of was Gu Jue.

Gu Jue is her faith.

There is no one else except him.

For him, she can go all the way.

"Destroy with ease." Shen Qianchen said with a smile, his clear phoenix eyes rippling like water under the silver moonlight, "Faith can make people destroy with ease."

Gu Jue looked at the little girl's confident look and felt as if she was saying some sweet words to him, and his heart softened.

He touched her cheek tenderly and asked, "I'll take you to Jiangnan next year, okay?"

"Okay!" Shen Qianchen nodded vigorously, happy and smiling, "I have never been to Jiangnan!"

She lived two lives and had been to many places in her previous life, but she had never crossed a river and had never been to any place south of the river.

The night breeze was blowing gently, and the swaying flowers and trees around seemed to be eavesdropping on their conversation, and now they were whispering to each other.

This is destined to be a restless night.

(End of this chapter)