The ghostly mist surrounds the main hall of the central courtyard, whirling non-stop.
In this lobby, the temperature is slowly dropping.
Chen Ruo and Qing Lan, who were waiting for Xiao Shizhu and the ghost mother, went to fetch several oval hand stoves filled with diamond carbon and distributed them to Xiao Shizhu, the ghost mother and the ministers in the hall.
Chen Ruo and Qing Lan held the last two remaining ones in their hands.
In the ghostly mist outside the hall, bits of frost had formed and spread on the ground.
Jin Lei, who was standing at the door, breathed out, and a stream of white mist spurted out.
"Wu Xiaohui, with so many elite soldiers and generals mobilized, are you afraid that Qingqiu Fox King will do something detrimental to me?" Xiao Shizhu asked after hearing Wu Xiaohui's report: "Afraid that he would be on the hunting ground?"
, in the middle of nowhere, give me a knife in the back?”.
Wu Xiaohui didn't behave like others, he nodded directly and said yes.
He was really afraid that this would happen.
"Anyway, the soldiers have been mobilized, so let's do it." Xiao Shizhu chuckled and said nothing more.
He was not worried about what little tricks the Qingqiu Fox King might make; after all, this was in the Jiuyou Kingdom, and even if the Qingqiu Fox King died together, the cost of doing it himself would be too high.
"I also mobilized several Xuanjiao teams to station at the hunting grounds today with Xuanjiao cloud talismans. We will not find them until the king's hunting is over." At this time, Lin Cong also took over the message and reported to Xiao Shizhu.
"I'll leave the security matters to you. I'm very relieved. There's no need to discuss it. We'll just arrange whatever you plan." Xiao Shizhu put down the stove, picked up his teacup, and took a sip of tea.
"The next thing to discuss is to deal with a few officials." After saying this, Xiao Shizhu put down the tea cup, took out a list of names from his sleeve, handed it to Qing Lan, and motioned for him to give it to Lei Yun who was standing aside.
.
Xia Xing is still in poor health today and is recuperating at home. Lei Yun has been ordered to temporarily take charge of the prisons and laws of Jiuyou Kingdom on behalf of Xia Xing.
Therefore, this punishment list was naturally handed over to Lei Yun.
Lei Yun took a look at the list and saw that there were seven or eight names of ghosts on it. Their positions were also listed in detail, either the county god or the county judge.
However, this Leiyun has been an official in the capital of Jiuyou Kingdom for many years, and he has some knowledge of the party struggle between North Korea and China. At a glance, he can tell that the people on these lists include those from Changqin's group and Lu Wu's group.
There are half and half of the people in the two official factions of Jiuyou Kingdom.
While he was watching, Xiao Shizhu over there said again: "These dog officials are seizing the women of the people and illegally occupying the farmland of other people's ghost houses. Some of the farmland belongs to the families of the soldiers who are on the expedition to Japan. The evidence witnesses,
It has been handed over to the Prosecution Department tonight, Lei Yun, you can check it at any time to verify the authenticity. Once the crime is verified and proven, it must be severely punished."
Xiao Shizhu's face sank as he spoke, and anger rose on his face.
At the end, he added: "Nowadays, the people in the places where these ghosts work have deep resentment, and the judicial yamen must give an explanation to the local ghost people."
Lei Yun did not dare to neglect, and quickly stood up and saluted, saying: "No."
Changqin was not present at this time, but Lu Wu felt a little flustered.
Just now he glanced at the list. Although it was just a glance, he saw a familiar name, the name of an official he promoted.
At that moment, Lu Wu felt a little reluctant to part with this official; after all, he belonged to his party, and punishing him would be equivalent to destroying his strength.
"Your Majesty, there should be more verification in the judicial system before sentencing." So, Lu Wu took courage and said to Xiao Shizhu: "Have any of the people on this list been framed?"
What Lu Wu said sounded like open-eyed lies. He clearly knew that many of his followers were bullies, including the name on the list he saw, who was also a bully.
In the past, he roamed the countryside and did all kinds of evil.
But for his own selfish desires, he still said these words without conscience.
Xiao Shizhu put away his anger, picked up the hand stove, held it in his hand, and said with a slight chin: "Of course it is possible, so didn't I ask Lei Yun to re-examine? As long as the re-examination is completed and there is no false accusation, I must
Severe punishment."
He didn't mean to blame Lu Wu at all, and he humbly accepted the other party's opinions.
How could Xiao Shizhu not know that Lu Wu must have wanted to keep his own party members, but Xiao Shizhu could see through it but would not point it out.
He also has his own helplessness. He cannot uproot Lu Wu's party or Changqin's party at once, otherwise the entire ghost country will not be able to operate normally.
Sometimes, Xiao Shizhu can only slowly cut off his strength and party members bit by bit to ensure that the two parties can only compete and will not harm the ghost country.
Therefore, he saw through Lu Wu's little thoughts about what happened today and didn't make any mistakes.
"Lei Yun, you must carefully investigate and inspect, don't wrongly accuse any good people, and don't let any criminals commit crimes." After a pause, Xiao Shizhu explained to Lei Yun again.
Lei Yun hurriedly responded and agreed to Xiao Shizhu.
"Okay, let's talk about the next thing. A war has begun in Dongyingzhou tonight." Xiao Shizhu, who was holding a teacup, his expression calmed down again, looked around at the ghosts in front of him, and said slowly: "But this battle is coming.
Weird. According to our previous predictions
, Qingqiu Fox Kingdom will never dare to start a war while the Fox King comes to our country. Although tonight, Qingqiu Fox Kingdom does not participate in the war in Dongyingzhou, but the more I think about it, the more I feel that something is wrong, and it feels like watching the fire from the other side.
Son.".
All the officials of Jiuyou Kingdom present now know about the war in Dongyingzhou, and they also have some understanding of the details of the war.
Listening to Xiao Shizhu's analysis again, and thinking about it carefully, I feel that this matter is really a bit like watching the fire from the other side.
At first glance, the whole thing has nothing to do with the Qingqiu Fox Country. But while the Jiuyou Country and the local coalition forces are fighting hard, the Qingqiu Fox Country on the side is recuperating and watching the fire from the other side.
Xiao Shizhu had never thought of this move beforehand. Not only him, many military generals and ministers of Jiuyou Kingdom had not thought of this before.
This time, Jiuyou Kingdom was negligent.
It's just that it's not too late to remedy the situation. It's not too late to make amends now.
"We have begun to increase troops to Dongying Continent." Chun Yun put down his tea cup and replied to Xiao Shizhu: "It is the fastest shortcut to send troops to Dongyi Continent first."
"Well, the navy has also mobilized a fleet of warships and headed straight to the west coast of Dongyingzhou. It can launch air strikes from the sea at any time to support the soldiers on land." Gonggong took the words and said to Xiao Shizhu: "Zhou Ghost and
The sharks escorted us all the way, and most of the cargo on board were flying thunder trucks, which were enough to handle any rescue mission."
"Of course I can rest assured about your work." When Xiao Shizhu heard this, he was extremely satisfied, nodded, and said: "But what I am thinking is, since Qingqiu Fox Country wants to watch the fire from the other side, why don't we show them how we eat
Lost."
After saying that, Xiao Shizhu turned his head and looked at Lin Cong again...
Outside the Yuque Palace, far away from the busy city, in the inn where Qingqiu Fox King temporarily stayed, Qingqiu Fox King and Hu Lan got up together and bid farewell to Changqin.
After the banquet was over, Changqin sent Qingqiu Fox King to the post house, and then sat with Qingqiu Fox King for a while and chatted a few words.
It was getting late at this time, and it was inconvenient for Changqin to stay for a long time, so as not to delay Qingqiu Fox King's rest, so he stood up and left. Hu Lan, however, stayed behind to accompany Qingqiu Fox King.
After watching Changqin go out, Qingqiu Fox King looked up and saw a tall building illuminated by lights in the dark night not far away, then turned and entered the house.
"What Changqin said before is that the brick watchtowers in this city, which are one hundred feet apart, can monitor everything in the city. Is it true?" After returning to the house where there were no outsiders, the Qingqiu Fox King whispered to the fox next to him.
Lan asked this and motioned to Fox Judou to close the door.
During the previous chat, Changqin told Qingqiu Fox King that on the towering watchtowers in the city, city defense sergeants and ghost officers took turns standing guard. Every move of any ghost in the city could not escape the surveillance of the towering watchtowers.
Therefore, it is suggested that Qingqiu Fox King should not go to Hulan Mansion no matter what. Otherwise, Lu Wu will know about it as soon as possible.
So if King Fox wants to talk to Hu Lan, he can just stay in the post house. The guard here is arranged by Changqin himself, so it is trustworthy.
Qingqiu Fox King was still doubtful of Changqin's words. As soon as Changqin left, he immediately asked about his younger brother Hu Lan.
"Exactly, Changqin didn't lie." Hu Lan, who sat down next to Qingqiu Fox King, also answered softly: "Xiao Shizhu manages these high-rise buildings, which are called security buildings. They were built after Xiao Shizhu took control of Yuque City.
On weekdays, they are used to catch thieves and maintain public order. In wartime, they are used as turrets."
"On weekdays, these watchtowers are managed by Jiang Ziwen, Jing Zhaoyin of Jiuyou Kingdom, but Jiang Ziwen's immediate boss is Lu Wu." Hu Lan paused, then said: "I'm afraid Changqin is...
I am conveying a message to Brother Wang that the management of the watchtower has been handed over to Lu Wu."
The Qingqiu Fox King picked up his tea cup, scratched the tea with the quilt while thinking, and took a sip.
"Xiao Shizhu's idea?" Then Qingqiu Fox King asked again.
"Xiao Shizhu won't care about such a trivial matter. He has always been very particular about employing people without suspecting others and never using them. He would never interfere in such a trivial matter after using a trustworthy person." After thinking for a moment, Hu Lan shook his head slightly.
He said, "Lu Wu must have made the decision on this matter and handed over the management power to his own hands."
Hu Lan has also lived in the capital of Jiuyou Kingdom for many years. He is well aware of some official matters in Jiuyou Kingdom. After a little analysis, he got this answer.
But to Qingqiu Fox King, this answer sounded like Xiao Shizhu was not wary of him at all, and everything was the result of Lu Wu being good at making opinions.
Moreover, Changqin and Lu Wu were at odds, and the Qingqiu Fox King had figured it out.
At today's banquet, the two ghosts had a lot of bad feelings about each other, and even the Qingqiu Fox King saw it.
However, the Qingqiu Fox King was not in a hurry to draw conclusions and asked Hu Lan again: "You have been in Jiuyou Country for many years. According to you, Changqin and Lu Wu are really fighting.
Are you still acting?".
Hu Shidou, who was standing by the door and listening carefully to the movement outside, also looked at Hu Lan.
But Hu Lan didn't even think about it, so she replied: "How can this be a show? The two ghosts have been fighting for many years. They both want to show off in front of Xiao Shizhu, and then make themselves the one who is better than one person and better than ten thousand people."
It’s really not clear why Gui Changqin is fighting for me, Lu Wu is going for this purpose.”
Having said this, Hu Lan took a sip of tea and continued to tell what he knew: "Then Lu Wu, his ambition is not small. He didn't have so many ambitions at the beginning. But in recent years, the Jiuyou Kingdom has become more and more powerful.
My ambitions are getting bigger and bigger. Everyone can see that on the surface, he says that he is not a member of the community or party, but secretly he is working for one thing - to control the government of Jiuyou Kingdom and exert power over the government and the opposition.
.”.
"Recently, there has been a lot of activity in secret. They are all busy wooing others and working with him to put pressure on Xiao Shizhu, asking Xiao Shizhu to establish a throne as soon as possible."
Hu Lan, who became more and more enthusiastic as he talked, was called schadenfreude. For a moment, he was beaming with joy and a look of joy on his face.
He was enjoying the fun and joy of watching a play; even if the ministers of Jiuyou Kingdom fought to a bloody battle, Hu Lan could only wish to cheer loudly.
Qingqiu Fox King was also very happy after hearing this, but he still kept a trace of calmness.
After thinking about it carefully, Qingqiu Fox King asked: "Who is Lu Wu going to make Xiao Shizhu his heir apparent?"
"Xiao Fulei is Tu Yaoqing's son." Hu Lan, still smiling brightly, told Qingqiu Fox King word for word.
This time, Qingqiu Fox King and Fox Shidou were stunned.
Immediately there was an incredible look in his eyes.
Although Tu Yaoqing had been pardoned from the death penalty by Xiao Shizhu today in front of Qingqiu Fox King, he was only punished to face the wall in Qiancheng Palace to reflect on his past.
But it stands to reason that Lu Wu and Tu Yaoqing are not related to each other.
In terms of closeness, Lu Wu is Xiao Shizhu's sworn brother. When there are no outsiders in private with Gui Mu, Lu Wu has to respectfully call Gui Mu "sister-in-law".
Logically speaking, Lu Wu should be the one to take charge of establishing Xiao Fuling.
"Why is this?" Qingqiu Fox King frowned and pondered for a long time, his face was already full of confusion, and he asked immediately.
"Hey, what else could be the reason? Why is the ghost mother so unhappy? She just gave birth to a daughter." Hu Lan smiled softly and revealed the mystery: "First I had Xiao Fuling, and now I have Xiao Fucha.
Two little devils, both girls. Just
There is Xiao Fulei, the only male and the eldest son. Lu Wu’s reason is very simple. Girls have to get married and have a daughter, which is equivalent to giving the country to another family. This is not a house or a piece of fertile land.
It’s a ghost country.”
At the end, Hu Lan paused and added: "For this reason, Xiao Shizhu's statement cannot be refuted."
"Did Xiao Shizhu agree?" Qingqiu Fox King looked directly at Hu Lan and asked impatiently.
"I'm still hesitating, saying that Xiao Fulei is still young, so we should at least wait until the child reaches sixteen and then consider it when he is an adult." Hu Lan slowly shook his head and said: "Xiao Shizhu has a strong feeling for Lu Wu in this matter.
Disgusted. It would have been better if Lu Wu had not brought up this matter, but as long as it was Lu Wu who brought it up, Xiao Shizhu was unwilling to continue talking about the matter in depth, and just gave it a few words to talk about it."
When the Qingqiu Fox King heard this, he recalled it a little and remembered that Chang Qin occasionally mentioned this matter while chatting in the car back to the hotel today.
"I heard Changqin talk about this matter, and I also heard a little bit about it." Qingqiu Fox King nodded slightly and stopped talking. He returned to the topic and asked: "Hu Lan, tell me one thing honestly, this ghost Changqin
, is it credible for us and our country?”.
Hu Lan was no longer in a hurry to answer, and started to think while stroking his long beard.
After a long time, he slowly said to Qingqiu Fox King: "In my opinion, it was not very credible before; this ghost usually has his own purpose in doing things, and is a bit egoistic. He only does it for his own interests and purposes.
I will do my best."
After a pause, Hu Lan continued to say thoughtfully: "According to my observation, after this ghost came back from his mission to our country, it became more obvious that he did things for his own purposes. He seemed to want to re-conquer Zhu Rongguo.
Establish it and raise it according to the inside information arranged by me in the palace.
Judging from the clues provided, he submitted two memorials to ask Xiao Shizhu to restore the country to him. He promised to be a vassal of Xiao Shizhu and Jiuyou Kingdom forever, but the memorial has not yet been handed over to Xiao Shizhu.
Then, Lu Wu detained him and sent him back."
"Furthermore, I knew privately about the past few performances and asked Changqin if he wanted my help. In the past, he must have been eager to do so, but then he thought about it and actually refused me." Hu Lan stopped stroking his beard and continued to give Qingqiu some help.
The Fox King said: "He quietly told me in private not to interfere, so as not to implicate you, Brother Wang. This Changqin suddenly changed, and even I didn't expect it."
After hearing what Hu Lan said, Qingqiu Fox King felt relieved now.
He also believes that Changqin is a really trustworthy ghost. He no longer has any doubts and suspicions about Changqin.
"So if you want to ask him whether he can be trusted, it depends on the circumstances." Hu Lan took a sip of tea and added: "Changqin is not self-serving for our Fox country. From this point of view, he is still
Reliable. He never opened the secret message that Brother Wang asked him to bring back to me, and he didn’t know that the secret message was just a blank piece of paper. If he wanted to open it, there would be plenty of opportunities on the way. Judging from these things,
Changqin is still credible."
The words he spoke in a firm tone without any panic made Qingqiu Fox King believe in Changqin even more; it also confirmed that Changqin was the trustworthy person he had placed in Jiuyou Kingdom.