Qiu Che rested in the mansion.

Feng Ke entered Lian Shenwei's room in the middle of the night, opened the door and saw that he was still awake.

Lian Shenwei was not surprised that he came in, "You're here?"

"Why would Qiu Che come to see you all of a sudden? What's the message? I don't believe he just wants to chat with you. If he did, he wouldn't stay here overnight."

Feng Ke knew his two friends very well: "Tell me the truth, what is he doing here?"

Lian Shenwei took a chopstick and poked the ferocious bird in the cage, then watched it fall to the ground, cursing.

"Battle," he said.

Feng Ke: “?”

He widened his eyes and said, "A challenge? No, he doesn't know your current situation, but you don't know it yourself, right?"

"Even if you don't want to tell him that you can't use your inner strength, can you at least find an excuse to fool him?"

He stared at Lian Shenwei's expression for a while, then narrowed his eyes: "You're not really going to fight him, are you?"

Lian Shenwei: “I haven’t thought about it yet.”

"This is a fight we made ten years ago. Deep down, I don't want to break the contract. But the price is a bit high..."

This battle is not necessary, it is just to reduce the regrets of the past.

Feng Ke said coldly: "If you really go, don't blame me for telling him about your physical condition. When the time comes, even if you beg him, he won't compete with you."

Lian Shenwei knew he would say that and sighed.

“That’s why I said give it some thought.”

Feng Ke: "Now that Ying Jingjue has ascended the throne, when will you come with me?"

"We agreed that once he ascended the throne, you would come back to Nanjing with me, and then go to the Feng family to recuperate. You said you were tired the other day, so why haven't you packed your things yet?"

He didn't want Lian Shenwei to be exposed to even a little bit of the mess in the court. After Lian Shenwei's health collapsed, it was not suitable for him to waste energy like before.

Fortunately, Lian Shenwei didn't know about the incident at the border, otherwise, given his personality, he would not have left no matter what.

Lian Shenwei remained silent: "Maybe later."

He really wanted to remove all obstacles in Ying Jingjue's way, but he also understood that Ying Jingjue was young now and his temper was sometimes unstable, so he needed some obstacles to temper himself.

He is no longer the child who was asked how to read words when he was little.

Feng Ke: "When exactly?"

Lian Shenwei: “Two…” months.

Feng Ke said quickly: "Okay, two days."

After he finished speaking, he quickly walked to the door, not giving Lian Shenwei any chance to refute: "You said you would leave the day after tomorrow."

Lian Shenwei: “…”

When the room became quiet, he came back to his senses from his awkward state, thought carefully about Feng Ke's expression just now, and frowned.

Feng Ke was never so anxious before.

What happened outside?

"The Regent King has not attended court in the past two days."

Eunuch Xue, also known as Xiao Zhizi before, shook off his whisk and said, "Your Majesty, when the border incident happened, you didn't get enough rest. What if you get sick from overwork?"

Ying Jingjue: "He is waiting for me to invite him."

He pinched his brows and leaned back.

Even if Ning Feng's legs were forced onto the battlefield, they would not be able to pacify the soldiers on the border. Instead, the soldiers' morale would be shaken because their commander was injured.

He temporarily appointed two generals from the court to go to the border to hold out for a while. The border lost a city, but fortunately it was temporarily stable, but the ones who suffered were still the soldiers of the Great Sheng Dynasty and the people of the border...

In the face of foreign invasion, the court can still quarrel.

Many ministers in the court asked him to go to the Regent Palace to visit Lian Shenwei as he had said before. He just mentioned it that day.

In the eyes of the court officials, this was probably the first confrontation between him and Lian Shenwei since he ascended the throne. If he had watched, this confrontation would have been a bad one.

Ying Jingjue had no time to sleep, nor did he really want to sleep.

When he was so tired that he went to sleep, he always had nightmares.

The dreams seemed to be the same. He only remembered the feeling of fear when he was dreaming, but when he woke up, the images in the dreams disappeared without a trace.

It was just like how he felt when he had the nightmare in the Marquis of Loyalty's Mansion.

Xiao Zhizi hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, you saw the Regent King coming out of the late emperor that time, but the late emperor had no sword wounds on his body."

Ying Jingjue's face turned cold.

"I told you not to mention this matter."

Xiao Zhizi slapped himself on the mouth, "The slave is guilty."

Ying Jing decided: "Go down."

The next day.

The bird stayed in Lian Shenwei's room for a whole night and became even sicker. Seeing that it was breathing in more than out, he picked up the cage and planned to throw the bird to Feng Ke to let him treat it.

His own realm has long touched the edge of the Tianshu realm. Although his internal strength is now dormant, if he intentionally slows down his steps, people with a lower realm than him will not be able to detect it.

Walk to the corner of the corridor in front of the Moon-Sucking Courtyard.

Ming Cang and Tiannan were discussing something in a low voice.

Lian Shenwei stopped without making a sound. The ugly bird in the cage glanced at him without saying a word.

"…You really don't want to tell the master?"

"have no idea."

"Give me some advice. I have always been in charge of the intelligence in the capital, but the border affairs have something to do with you. Do you really want to listen to Mr. Feng?"

Tiannan held a small piece of paper in his hand, looking worried.

The transmission of news from the border to the capital was slow. This note came closely after the previous one, saying that after the first city was lost, the situation in the second city was also precarious.

These two pieces of news came one after the other, which means they happened very close in time. Plus, there was a delay in the news, so no one knows what the current situation on the border is.

But it's not good in the end.

He was afraid that his master would find out and skin him alive.

Ming Candle: "Mr. Feng in the mansion is already packing up."

She planned to take her master away to the Feng family for recuperation and treatment. She thought it was better for her master to leave than to stay. But she also understood Tiannan's dilemma.

But people’s hearts are biased.

"Oh, never mind," Tiannan said, "I'll accept it even if the master peels off my skin. Anyway, Mr. Feng will take care of everything."

Lian Shenwei came out holding a cage and said in a cold voice, "Whose skin did you peel?"

Tiannan froze.

Lian Shenwei walked up to him and said, "Take out the secret letter."

Tiannan didn't dare to say a word, he lowered his head and handed the note over.

The note read: [One city has been captured, two cities are in danger. The northern barbarians are attacking fiercely, and the military situation on the border is urgent.]

The atmosphere was unusually silent. Ming Cang and Tian Nan looked at each other and knelt down: "I admit my mistakes."

Lian Shenwei said calmly: "When did it start?"

The two did not speak.

Lian Shenwei's voice sank: "Speak!"

Tiannan gritted his teeth and said, "The military situation in the border areas has been reported to the capital since the day the crown prince ascended the throne."

"……very good."

Lian Shenwei exhaled deeply, and his heart, which hadn't hurt for a long time, began to ache again.

Ming Cang glanced at him anxiously, "Master, you can't get excited."

"What's wrong?"

Qiu Che jumped down from the railing, "What's wrong?"

Lian Shenwei handed him the cage in his hand and said, "Qiu Che, you stay in the mansion and don't go out. I need to go to the palace. Send this bird to Feng Ke."

"Um."

Lian Shenwei lowered his eyes and said, "You two, after today, go and receive your punishment."

Tiannan breathed a sigh of relief, said yes, and hurried to prepare the carriage and token for entering the palace.

Soon, Lian Shenwei sat in the carriage and hurried to the palace.

His eyes were gloomy.

Originally, it was thought that it was just because the new emperor was busy with affairs after ascending the throne, and that this powerful minister was too inconsiderate, so Ying Jing decided to reduce his power, which was why there had been no movement in the past few days.

He didn't expect that chaos had already broken out on the border, and he didn't know about it until so many days later.

That stinky boy...

Such a big thing happened as soon as I ascended the throne.

I'm afraid you haven't slept well these days.

The news that the Regent Prince had entered the palace soon reached Ying Jingjue's ears.

Ying Jingjue had just seen the second memorial from the border. When he heard the news, his first reaction was not surprise, but vigilance and speculation, as well as a chill that had been suppressed in his heart for a long time.

He almost uncontrollably recalled the day he saw Lian Shenwei coming out of his father's bedroom holding a sword.

Ying Jing decided: "Announce that the Prince of Regent will meet him in the West Warm Pavilion."

***

The West Warm Pavilion is filled with soothing incense.

The fragrance in Lian Shenwei's room was blended by Feng Ke, and he liked the smell.

He used to be used to smelling the calming incense in the palace, but now he couldn't. As soon as he smelled it, he couldn't help but want to cough, and his chest felt stuffy and painful.

As if Ying Jingjue wanted to leave him alone for a while, Lian Shenwei waited here for half an hour before Shanshan showed up.

When he arrived, the tea on the table had been replaced with two cups.

"I have just ascended the throne and have many things to deal with. I have kept the Regent waiting for a long time."

The young emperor was dressed in a black and gold robe, his tone was polite and distant, and his majesty as an emperor could be seen in his every move.

He did not bow to Lian Shenwei as he did when he was still the crown prince, but simply passed him by and sat in the main seat with his skirt lifted.

Lian Shenwei looked at him.

He thought that he had indeed matured a lot, and then his eyes fell on the dark circles under Ying Jingjue's eyes, and he couldn't help but frown.

He nodded. "Nothing. Your Majesty, be well."

"I heard that the Regent Prince was ill a few days ago," Ying Jingjue said, "I haven't found time to visit him yet. I wonder if he is well now?"

"It's fine now."

Lian Shenwei: "I heard that the situation on the border has made Your Majesty worried, so I came here specially to visit you."

Ying Jing decided: "The Regent Prince was my teacher in those days and taught me very well. Don't worry about it."

This lukewarm sentence is extremely alienating.

Lian Shenwei's expression dimmed a little.

The concern that came over because of the worry that Ying Jingjue would not be able to handle it gradually cooled down.

It's a good thing that Ying Jing decided to distance himself from him.

Lian Shenwei said in his heart.

He was silent for a moment, then stood up and said, "In that case, I will take my leave."

Before he was about to leave the warm pavilion, Ying Jingjue stopped him: "Wait a moment."

The young emperor stared at Lian Shenwei's back, his eyes dark, and walked slowly down.

"I have always had a question. Please answer it, teacher."

He called the teacher, but his voice became even colder.

Lian Shenwei turned sideways and asked, "What's the matter?"

As Ying Jingjue approached, he had already exceeded the safe distance between the emperor and his subjects, and the secret guards around him secretly became alert.

"That day my father passed away, the palace gates were locked, and I went to the Purple Palace and saw you coming out." He used "I" and "you" as addresses and did not consider himself an emperor at that moment.

Lian Shenwei frowned and felt a little discouraged.

"...Teacher," Ying Jingjue stood in front of Lian Shenwei. He was almost as tall as Lian Shenwei. "Tell me, do you have anything to do with my father's death?"

Xiao Zhizi: "Your Majesty..."

"Everyone get out."

Ying Jingjue shouted in a low voice: "Everyone get out!"

This "all" naturally includes the secret guards.

After everyone cleared out, Ying Jingjue repeated it again, staring at Lian Shenwei without blinking. His fingers hidden under the dragon robe slowly clenched, and he didn't even notice how nervous he was.

It seems that from ancient times to the present, men have always regarded their fathers as the benchmark for their own growth, or as the goal they must surpass. They respect their fathers, and of course, if they have enough ability, they will not be able to help but compete with their fathers.

Ying Jingjue's father never cared about him. He regarded Lian Shenwei as a teacher when he was young, but now he regards him as an enemy. There is no moment that he does not regard Lian Shenwei as a goal that he wants to surpass.

This regent, who was regarded as a powerful and corrupt official in the Great Sheng Dynasty, was like a half-father to him.

Even though the age difference between them is only eleven or twelve years.

From looking up to looking down on each other, from admiration to hostility, this was the first open confrontation between the elder and the young.

"Teacher, answer me."

Lian Shenwei looked at him quietly.

After a long time, he lowered his head and smiled, feeling somewhat relieved.

Then he slowly took a step back, "Your Majesty, you have grown up."

He raised his head, looked at Ying Jingjue, and said something.

——

[…I was not the one who killed your father, but his death was definitely related to me.]

Ying Jingjue was the only one left in Xinuan Pavilion. He stood there, recalling Lian Shenwei's last words in his mind.

Xiao Zhizi came in timidly, "Your Majesty."

Ying Jingjue walked from Xinuan Pavilion to Zichen Hall and found a black handkerchief that had been put away.

This happened when they were attacked in Linfen City. He pulled Lian Shenwei and the back of his hand was scratched. Lian Shenwei gave him a handkerchief to stop the bleeding.

He remembers it very clearly.

Lian Shenwei's nervous and concerned reaction at that moment did not seem fake.

He remembered it and kept the handkerchief.

So even though he became more wary of him, he still remained hesitant, wondering whether Lian Shenwei still had true feelings for him, and he did not implement many of his plans to reduce the influence of Lian Shenwei's party.

He believed what Lian Shenwei said, that he was not the one who killed his father.

But he didn't understand. His father had cared for and loved Lian Shenwei far more than he did his own son. Why did Lian Shenwei not only not go in to take a look at his father before he died, but also tried to hasten his death before his father died?

Ying Jingjue asked Xiao Zhizi to prepare a brazier and then threw the handkerchief into it.

The flames devoured and the fire flickered.

——

the other side.

The moment Lian Shenwei walked out of the palace, he had already thought of how to deal with the attack from the Northern Barbarians.

He sat in the carriage and coughed for a long time. When the smell of blood came out of his mouth, he skillfully covered his lips with a handkerchief.

Perhaps it was due to stimulation, the amount of blood coughed up this time was more than usual.

He didn't want to hide the matter about Emperor Jingcheng, nor could he, so he might as well be honest. Ying Jing would definitely resent him, but that shallow hatred was much better than the suffocating blood feud.

The position of Regent will not last long, and the collapse of the building will only happen faster with his instigation.

By that time, be it resentment or indifference, once the Northern Barbarians matter is settled and the spies are caught, he will just leave and the affairs of the capital will have nothing to do with him.

Tiannan's voice came from outside: "Master, are you okay?"

Lian Shenwei held up the handkerchief: "It's okay."

The first thing he did after returning home was to look for Qiu Che.