A thin charcoal pencil drew a circle on the gridded paper.
"You are not allowed to teach her." Zhao Jin, who wrote the pen, first told Han Qiaoer, then looked at Zhang Wenwan with a proud look in his eyes and said, "You really can't defeat me, right?"
"Who said that? I just want to think about it."
Zhang Wenwan was stubborn and refused to admit defeat, but she already frowned and stared at the chessboard in thought.
Zhao Jin got bored of waiting, so he asked Han Qiaoer: "Do you think Li Xia taught you this backgammon?"
"Yeah, what's wrong?"
"He's so boring and yet he can do this."
Han Qiaoer became alert as soon as she heard this, and turned around and asked, "Why is Brother Li so boring?"
"It's just boring." Zhao Jin said matter-of-factly, "At his age, he lives like an old man. Every day is about official business. My father is not as busy as him."
Han Qiaoer was about to retort when Zhang Wenwan asked, "What does your father do?"
"I won't tell you."
"I don't want to know yet. My brother-in-law is the emperor, so of course he is busy."
Zhao Jin was speechless. He glanced out of the car window and said, "Besides, Li Xia was so boring when he was sixteen. My uncle said he had no youthfulness at all."
Han Qiaoer became angry after hearing this. She raised her hand and pointed at the paper chessboard to teach Zhang Wenwan how to play chess.
"What are you doing? I'm just telling the truth. I didn't say anything bad about him."
"Anyway, I will teach my second sister how to play chess."
Zhang Wenwan followed Han Qiaoer's instructions and took a few steps, her eyes gradually brightened, and she said happily: "I won!" Zhao Jin couldn't help but get angry when he saw it.
"You bullies, I won't play with you anymore."
At this time, the carriage had just started to move. She jumped out as soon as she lifted the curtain. She turned around and looked around. She suddenly realized that although there were thousands of people in the team, none of them were her relatives, so she simply hid in the back.
Nestled in a carriage carrying groceries.
There was a little quarrel between the three friends.
After only half a day, Han Qiaoer lost his temper and went to find Zhao Jin to reconcile.
Zhao Jin didn't know whether he was willing to reconcile or not. He lowered his head and said after a while: "It's true that I was too presumptuous and forgot my identity. A remnant who has broken his family and is about to destroy his country always speaks in an unguarded manner.
If you say bad things about him, of course it will offend you."
Han Qiaoer was stunned for a moment and said, "I don't dislike you."
"oh."
"Then let's go. This carriage is very bumpy."
Zhao Jin shook his head and refused to go back to the carriage in front with Han Qiaoer. He only said that he wanted to reflect on it.
Han Qiaoer only thought she was strange and couldn't understand her thoughts anyway.
That night, Han Qiaoer told Li Xia about this before going to bed.
"She just has free time, and she has been spoiled since she was a child." Li Xia responded casually, "She could just be sent to work somewhere for a few months, but it's a pity that Yan Rong won't let her."
Having said this, he missed Yan Rong a little, and also missed many people in Chang'an.
Han Qiaoer was taken aback. She thought to herself that it would be bad to cause trouble for Zhao Jin because of her talkativeness, so she quickly shut up and did not dare to say more.
He also secretly observed Li Xia's reaction and found that he didn't care about Zhao Jin, so he felt relieved.
A few days later, the team finally arrived at Mengjin Ferry.
Zhao Jin was jolting on the carriage with hard wooden boards so hard that her bones were falling apart. She was rubbing her waist. Suddenly she saw someone lift the curtain and come in to take a closer look. When she saw Li Xia's handsome face, she was inexplicably in a daze.
It was easy to look away, secretly guessing
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him, so I’m a little easily surprised.
Although this man is boring, he has a good skin.
"Many of my documents and maps are kept here. Are you staying here to spy on military intelligence?"
"Don't scare me, I'm not scared." Zhao Jin glared and said, "And I didn't look at anything from you at all."
"Whether you look at it or not, this is not where you should be."
"What are you doing here?" Zhao Jin asked, "Are you here to persuade me?"
Li Xia raised her hand and pointed at the box she was sitting on.
"oh."
Zhao Jin then moved to the other side and said, "Take it."
Unexpectedly, Li Xia stepped on the car's shaft and got into the carriage.
The carriage was small, and he was tall, blocking all the light, which made him look very oppressive in Zhao Jin's eyes. Just as she was feeling frightened, his head accidentally hit the roof of the carriage, and the sound was loud.
She couldn't help but cover her mouth and smile, not wanting him to think she was gloating, so she quickly lowered her head.
Taking a peek, Li Xia had already sat down on the box. It turned out that he wasn't going to pick up something, but was actually going to sit down and talk to her.
Zhao Jin couldn't help but become nervous.
"I...I can go to work, but if you want to bully me, I'll tell Yan Rong."
"How does one consider bullying you?"
"Okay, you didn't bully me." Zhao Jin said, "I was the one who got angry myself."
She paused for a while, but when Li Xia didn't answer, she continued: "You know, I can't worship you like them. It seems that I...have no position."
"Who did you learn the words from?" Li Xia chuckled lightly and said, "That's not what I'm talking about. I want to ask you why you are so awkward."
"I didn't cause any trouble, did I?"
"Do you know that Jia Sidao invaded Sichuan and Shu?"
Zhao Jin looked at Li Xia, paused for two breaths, and nodded stupidly. "Well, I just heard about it recently."
Li Xia asked again: "Feel ashamed? You don't dare to stay in front anymore, so you come here to hide?"
"You... how do you know?" Zhao Jin was surprised, "Even Qiao'er doesn't know what I'm thinking, how do you know?"
"Feeling at a loss?"
"Um."
After a while, Zhao Jin muttered: "You are quite good at using idioms, but I feel like I am at a loss. I don't know who I am and what I should do. I also want to work, weave something, but I
..."
After she didn't say anything for a long time, Li Xia spoke for her and said, "You are lazy."
"certainly not."
Zhao Jin glanced at him and said, "My uncle has invaded Sichuan. Do you hate me? I mean, will you punish me?"
Li Xia didn't answer, just stared at Zhao Jin.
Faced with such a look, Zhao Jin wanted to avoid it, but he had nowhere to hide, so he had to lower his head until he was finally willing to speak.
"I plan to make you my concubine."
"What? Ouch!" Zhao Jin was startled and wanted to stand up, but he hit his head. It hurt so much that he quickly covered his head and sat down, "It hurts!"
She just kept rubbing her head and dropped the topic.
Li Xia waited for a while and then continued: "I haven't told you before that there have always been ministers who surrendered from the Song Dynasty in the court and asked me to accept you because your identity is beneficial to my unification.
Since Jia Sidao entered Shu, this matter has become more and more meaningful..."
"Why have I never heard of anyone advising you to accept me?" Zhao Jin plucked up the courage, looked up at Li Xia, and said, "I think you did it on purpose."
"I don't have to make such excuses."
"Okay, just for your great cause, right? Why should I be accepted by you? What if I don't agree?"
"The Zhao family has been in power for three hundred years, but their strength has been exhausted. As the grandson of the Zhao family, how about you contribute to accelerating the process of unifying the world?"
"Hmph." Zhao Jin tilted his head and said, "It sounds grand, but behind the scenes it's all male thieves and female prostitutes."
"You don't use idioms well."
"But you are shameless."
"Anyway, you think about it first." Li Xia said this, stood up and got out of the carriage.
The more Zhao Jin thought about it, the angrier he became. He opened the curtain and shouted, "I won't agree! I won't agree! Just kill me if you can."
~~
"Your Majesty, there is an urgent report from Luoyang that Lu Wenhuan has sent troops to Songzhou. The Song army has many soldiers and horses, but the defenders of Songzhou are insufficient. Dong Wenzhong ordered them to withdraw from Songzhou, and I apologize to Your Majesty."
"I know, how long does it take to cross the river?
?』
"Your Majesty, do you want to postpone crossing the river?"
"It doesn't matter." Li Xia said, "I am not scared by Lu Wenhuan." So the Tang army continued to cross the river.
The Yellow River was surging. When the ship reached the south bank, another messenger arrived immediately. "Your Majesty, Secretary Jiang has arrived in Luoyang."
"I just arrived. I must be entering the city at this time. This is his secret message to His Majesty." Li Xia took a quick look and ordered: "Prepare your horses. I will go to Luoyang first."
Soon, a small group of cavalry was ready. Li Xia got on his horse and galloped towards Luoyang.
Once out of the ceremonial frame, his traveling speed immediately became much faster, and he arrived at the gate of Luoyang City in less than a day.
~~
Luoyang Palace.
When Jiang Fan came to see him, he brought several people with him. They were Wang Yinglin, Zhou Mi and others who were captured in Jiangling at that time.
Their surrender to Li Xia was regarded as treason by the Song Dynasty. They were escorted back to Lin'an this time with the thought of death. They never thought that they could be rescued. It was like a miracle that they saw Li Xia again.
Everyone was in tears.
"Zhao Yu, the traitor, not only conspired to usurp the throne, but also colluded with foreigners. It can be said that everyone has it and punished him. However, the whole court of Lin'an is blind, and I am heartbroken. Your Majesty..."
After everyone made such a statement, Li Xia ordered them to go down and rest first, and then asked Jiang Fan alone about Lin'an.
"Your Majesty, we have contacted some Song ministers in Lin'an. Jia Sidao is having a hard time..."
Jiang Fan talked for a while, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion, saying, "It's a pity that Wang Xun doesn't join the Public Opinion Department."
"Wang has a big mouth, long sleeves and is good at dancing, so he can move people with his words?"
"Yes, he is very good at making friends. He made friends with Jia Yuqing before arriving in Lin'an, so he was able to take care of Wang Yinglin and others along the way. After arriving in Lin'an, he quickly became friends with Zeng Yuanzi and Zhang Jian, who are now important ministers of the Song Dynasty.
, Chen Yizhong and others."
"He didn't reveal his identity?"
"No, only Jia Yuqing knows his identity. Others only think of him as Jia Yuqing's staff." Jiang Fan said: "The courtiers of Zhao and Song still hope to wait for Jia Sidao and Lu Wenhuan to achieve results before solving the problem."
To seize their military power and reap the benefits..."
Li Xia heard about it, thought about it for a while, and felt that although the ministers of the Song Dynasty wanted to stab Jia Sidao, on the other hand, they were also full of hostility towards him, Li Xia.
This means treating him, Jia Sidao, and Kublai Khan as crickets. The question is, do they have the strength?
"Your Majesty," Jiang Fan said, "I thought that I could ask Wang Xun to help those people to defeat Jia Sidao first."
Li Xia shook his head and said: "Why do we help them? What we want is the profit of that fisherman..."