After exhausting myself to death

Shen Minghuan had been sick on and off all winter. Seeing that spring came early this year, everyone in the Shen family breathed a sigh of relief. They never thought that Shen Minghuan would fall ill again.

At this juncture, Xie Zhifei received the secret letter and felt the anger that he wanted to kill someone for the first time in a long time.

When he was first in trouble, he was full of hatred and unwillingness. After years of hard work, he became accustomed to the sufferings of people's livelihood during his exile, and after seeing several episodes of life that were even more miserable than his own, his temper gradually became calmer.

It had been a long time since he had hated someone so deeply.

Xie Zhifei closed his eyes and waited until his mood calmed down a little before taking the letter and looking for Shen Minghuan.

Shen Minghuan is still ill. He really doesn't want to worry this person about this kind of thing, but this person will always know. Rather than letting Shen Minghuan find out by himself, it would be better for him to tell him.

Besides, he would never hide something like this from Shen Minghuan, even in the name of doing good for the other party.

Shen Minghuan was playing with the flowers on the windowsill.

Xie Zhifei frowned, pulled him back to the chair and sat down, then carefully closed the window, "How do they do it? It's still cold outside, how can they open the window so early in the morning?"

Shen Minghuan began to fiddle with the letter he placed on the table again: "I wrote it myself. Zizheng, are you in a bad mood today?"

Xie Zhifei turned around and saw Shen Minghuan reading the letter, and he panicked for a moment.

Shen Minghuan usually looked careless, but he knew how sentimental and soft-hearted this person was. Zhou He was the first person Shen Minghuan taught. They knew each other earlier than Xie Zhifei, and their status in Shen Minghuan's heart was definitely different.

Xie Zhifei didn't understand. Shen Minghuan wasn't good enough for Zhou He?

He brushed off the dust from his body, pieced together his broken self-esteem and personality from the quagmire, taught him literacy, taught him how to fight, taught him self-improvement and freedom, and helped him become the spiritual leader of the world's rebels. What face does Zhou He have? betray?

Obviously two months ago on New Year's Eve, Zhou He sent a New Year's gift. At that time, he also asked in the letter to meet Shen Minghuan.

Xie Zhifei knew that Shen Minghuan took it to heart and that Shen Minghuan was preparing to meet them. Finally, spring arrived and Shen Minghuan's health got better, but Zhou He rebelled.

Zhou He and Liang Da led their people to join Jin State.

How ridiculous, a small, nameless "Wudehou" bought them off with just a thousand taels of silver.

Shen Minghuan spent more than ten thousand taels of gold on them!

"Young Master, I will catch them back and let you deal with them." Xie Zhifei half-knelt beside Shen Minghuan's chair worriedly, his eyes slightly lowered, his eyes stern.

Shen Minghuan pulled him up, "I know you're unhappy, Zizheng, don't be sad. Everyone has their own choice and return. You can't force yourself."

He closed the letter as if it was just an ordinary thing, without any anger or sadness. He even comforted Xie Zhifei calmly and gently.

Xie Zhifei looked at his expression carefully, but he could never tell when Shen Minghuan was pretending to be nonchalant and deceiving others.

Xie Zhifei asked in a low voice: "Sir, did you already know this?"

Shen Minghuan nodded, thought for a moment, and shook his head: "I guessed it. From the time he wrote to me saying that he and Liang Da were going to Fushan in Jin State, I guessed that he would probably not come back."

Shen Minghuan folded the letter and said, "Gu had the opportunity to stop him. Gu knew he would listen to Gu, but Gu still let him go. His heart is not here, and there is no point in Gu Qiang staying."

Shen Minghuan folded nothing, and the letter was crumpled by him. He said jokingly: "However, if I had known that Zi Zheng would be sad, I would not have let them leave."

Xie Zhifei smiled helplessly, "I'm not sad, I'm just not worth it for the young master."

He suddenly frowned and said in a serious tone: "Young Master has been ill recently. Is it because of this?"

No wonder Shen Minghuan had already improved, but suddenly fell ill again.

Shen Minghuan was dumbfounded: "Zizheng, you are so unreasonable. You have been in poor health since birth. How can you blame Zhou and the others?"

Xie Zhifei smiled gently on his face, but in fact he didn't believe it. He made a serious note to Zhou He in his heart.

The news that Zhou He accepted Jin Guo's invitation to peace soon spread throughout the country, causing an uproar. The nobles were all happy and found another way to deal with the enemy.

Originally, compared to real swords and guns, this kind of poisonous candy wrapped in sugar was their better method. Money can corrupt people's minds, and it can also destroy the boy who slays the dragon.

Zhou He's compromise was a huge blow to the rebels all over the world. They regarded Zhou He as a guiding light and the direction he pointed to was the distance they would inevitably reach in their lifetime.

Unexpectedly, they were still fighting to the death, but the lights in front of them had been extinguished, and they were at a loss for the future.

Do you want to continue to fight against the nobles? Can they succeed? Or is it considered a success now?

Even Zhou He compromised, can they stop and enjoy the fruits of victory?

Flowers, beauties, endless silks and satins, endless fine wines and delicacies...

Once the sword is put down, it will be too heavy to lift it up again.

*

Zhou Yan found another opportunity to sneak into Shen's mansion.

He has recently made suggestions one after another, which greatly pleased Emperor Yan Longyan. He has surpassed Shen Minghuan and become the new popular person in front of Emperor Yan.

Even if Mr. Zhou had no choice but to become a double agent, he would not do anything harmful to the people, so he was very serious in planning for the State of Yan.

Under various decisions that benefit the country and the people, the royal family's control continues to strengthen, gradually threatening the interests of the nobility.

Emperor Yan was aware of the dissatisfaction of the nobles, but he didn't care. On the contrary, Zhou Yan's purpose coincided with his. He is an absolute iron-blooded monarch, so he is willing to pay the price of temporary instability to completely eliminate the threat from the nobles to the royal family.

Zhou Yan's living conditions have been mentioned again and again, but this does not prevent him from still enjoying tea from Shen's house. "Zizheng, today's tea is not bad. You can have someone prepare one, and I will take it away later."

Shen Minghuan drank the water, puzzled: "So you are all here today, what are you doing here?"

His two great counselors, Sui Qing, and Dr. He, were all crowded into this small room. Even Yu Wenshan came all the way from Yong Kingdom.

Seeing that no one was talking, Zhou Yan put down his tea cup and said, "Sir, I have long wanted to say that what happened to Zhou He cannot be an accident. If you use common people and slaves as vanguards, more people will be shaken. Most of them are Those who were forced to take this road because they couldn’t survive, to put it bluntly, are ignorant and have no brute strength.”

Yu Wenshan was unconvinced, "Are the nobles better? They are the ones who are quick-sighted, cunning and cunning. It would be more dangerous if the young master counts on them."

Zhou Yan was noncommittal, "It's a danger. But looking at the history books, all the founding emperors of the past dynasties won the throne only by winning the support of powerful people. Don't they know that this will lay hidden dangers for future governance? People's hearts and minds, then It is something that can only be considered after the political power is stable. Do you think that the establishment of a new dynasty is a matter of princes and generals? You are wrong, it is just a redistribution of interests. "

He looked at Shen Minghuan: "I am surprised that the young master started to open up the people's wisdom so early. Judging from the land allocation in Hongcheng, the young master already has ideas about future national policies?"

He was not surprised that Shen Minghuan had already begun to think about what would happen after the founding of the dynasty. In his opinion, it would be strange if Shen Minghuan was not the one who finally unified the nine states.

Shen Minghuan was puzzled when he heard this, "Are you here to persuade Gu to be relieved? You are overthinking it. Gu had already known that something like this would happen, but Zhou He would be the first one. Gu really didn't expect it. But Gu didn't expect that he would actually do it. So many people choose to fight to the end.”

He smiled and said: "There are two sides to the matter. Zhou He rebelled. People who were already wavering followed Zhou He and accepted the noble recruitment. The remaining people must be more determined. They are Gu's true support in the future. Gu Neng single-handedly supported One Zhouhe can cultivate the second and third ones.”

"As the old gentleman said, I don't intend to follow the repeated path again, and it is even more impossible to allow someone to try to carve up the interests of the new dynasty. Instead of waiting for the dust to settle before starting turmoil, it is better to eradicate everything that should be eradicated now. "

Shen Minghuan's eyebrows were sharp and his aura was extremely oppressive. He said lightly: "Before I die, I will open up a new world for you. No powerful person can tell you what the future of the world is. It is up to you to decide."

Xie Zhifei put down the cup with force, "Sir! What nonsense are you talking about?"

Doctor He snorted coldly, "Do you question my medical skills?"

Shen Minghuan shrank his neck and looked at the angry disapproving faces around him. He shouted harshly: "If you dare to do the following, I will kill you sooner or later."

Zhou Yan didn't even bother to act fearful. He asked Xie Zhifei: "Does Zhou He know the specific identity of the young master?"

Xie Zhifei said: "Zhou He only knew that the person who had advised him was Prince Yong, and knew nothing about other things. The contact between Liang Da and the young master was only through Zhou He. Unless Zhou He told him, there was no way to know the identity of the young master. ”

Zhou Yan shook his head and sighed: "Young master, it is not appropriate to be exposed now."

"Zhou He passed the news through the Chamber of Commerce, saying that he would not reveal the existence of the young master to anyone."

"Believable?"

Xie Zhifei said flatly: "It's not credible. So we have to be prepared."

Those who betray the Young Master have no chance to correct their mistakes.

The two of them were already chatting enthusiastically. Shen Minghuan knocked on the table dissatisfiedly: "I'm still here!"

The two counselors glanced at him and continued chatting.

After all, Dr. He was Zhou Yan's senior brother. After hearing a few words, he also participated.

They became excited as they chatted, and each of them blushed. Suiqing and Yuwenshan looked at each other, hesitating whether to step forward to break up the fight.

It can be seen that Shen Minghuan seemed to be watching it with gusto, so he had no choice but to look away and pretend that this scene did not exist.

Just when the counselors were about to take action, the servant knocked on the door and said, "Sir, General Nie wants to see you."

The Shen Mansion has become monolithic under the control of several advisers. They may be the people of Emperor Yan or the Prince, but in fact they are all Shen Minghuan's confidants.

Nie Shiyun's sword dance on New Year's Eve made most people remember him, so they simply informed him.

Shen Minghuan asked Nie Shiyun to go to Yong Kingdom to rescue Nan Huaijin first. Unfortunately, his well-prepared response procedures were all in vain, and Nie Shiyun came back alone.

Nie Shiyun worked hard and completed the round trip in one and a half months. He complained aggrievedly to Shen Minghuan: "Huaijin refused to leave with me. He said that it was a good time to shake the military power of Yong State and he could not leave."

Xie Zhifei, who was still arguing with Zhou Yan, turned around in surprise: "The birthday of Emperor Yong is approaching, and I heard that Prince Dun, who is stationed in Chu, intends to come to Beijing. Is it because of Nan Huaijin?"

Prince Dun was the uncle of the current Emperor Yong. He was a vassal king with real power and commanded a team of soldiers and horses.

In the Yong Kingdom, except for the princes who were crowned princes, all the others would leave the capital on an errand. Those who were capable could go to the border areas to serve as vassal kings and lead troops to garrison in one area.

The founding emperor originally wanted the prince to guard the country and the emperor to guard the country, but he did not know that if the successor's ability could not suppress the vassal king, the formulation would cause civil strife. In other words, he didn't want to believe that his descendants would kill each other.

Zhou Yan was also surprised and said: "The land of Chu is adjacent to the state of Jin. What does King Dun want to do?"

Even if he seizes the throne and his country is in ruins, what kind of emperor will he still be?

"The battle for Jin State's inheritance is becoming more and more intense. Maybe some deal has been reached."

Xie Zhifei quickly explained and looked at Nie Shiyun: "General Nie, please continue."

Nie Shiyun was even more aggrieved: "I don't know, why do you know that King Dun has something strange, but I don't know anything?"

Xie Zhifei: "..."

Xie Zhifei was in disbelief: "Then what do you know?"

Shen Minghuan frowned, "What did Nan Huaijin say?"

Nie Shiyun said: "He said that if His Highness is interested in the throne of Yong Kingdom, please return to the country after three months. By then, you can drive straight in without any obstructions along the way."

"Oh." Shen Minghuan said indifferently, "What if I am lonely and unintentional?"

Nie Shiyun sneered: "Huaijin said that he would have to give the opportunity to the fourth prince... Your Highness, don't be angry, this is not what I said, it was Nan Huaijin who said it."

Nie Shiyun made a "plop" sound and knelt down to beg for mercy with great desire to survive.

Shen Minghuan's anger was undisguised. Zhou Yan and others didn't care when he was just pretending to shout that he was going to kill people, but now he was clearly silent, making people dare not offend him, and he was quite dignified by the emperor.

Zhou Yan could be calm and calm when facing Emperor Yan, but at this moment he couldn't help but feel fear in his heart. However, Shen Minghuan's anger was not directed at him. This feeling only lasted for a moment. After Zhou Yan realized it, he was happy.

"Young Master?" Xie Zhifei did not expect that although Shen Minghuan was not angry or worried about Zhou He's betrayal, Nan Huaijin would appear in the middle.

It can be seen that Nan Huaijin's status in the heart of the young master is not low, but it is just a joke that he can hear, and the young master is so angry.

Shen Minghuan didn't think Nan Huaijin was joking.

He sneered, "Zizheng, I am going back to Yong Kingdom, please prepare yourself."

If he didn't go back, Nan Huaijin would probably kill himself.

Xie Zhifei nodded: "Yes, Master."

Zhou Yan also nodded thoughtfully: "That's a good idea. Once the young master wins the Yong Kingdom, it doesn't matter whether his identity is exposed or not."

Nie Shiyun: "..."

Nie Shiyun felt that they were even more blind to His Highness than he was. Shen Minghuan was here to be a hostage. Neither Yan nor Yong would allow him to go back. Can His Highness just leave if he wants to? Moreover, the Yong Kingdom is not something that can be obtained just by thinking about it. Your Highness's position as crown prince will probably be deposed when he returns.

Nie Shiyun thought this, but he took two steps forward on his knees very honestly, "Your Highness, can you help me?"

Shen Minghuan glanced at him and said, "No, Zizheng is fine. You can take a rest. We can set off in a few days."

"Ah?" Nie Shiyun was surprised: "So fast? Doesn't it take three months?"

Shen Minghuan thought for a while: "If everything goes well, we can set off by the end of the month."

"What if it doesn't go well?" Nie Shiyun asked curiously.

Shen Minghuan sneered: "If it doesn't go well, we can set off at the end of the month."

Nie Shiyun: "???"

Nie Shiyun felt that there was something wrong with his ears, and he looked tentatively at the others.

Xie Zhifei smiled faintly: "Young Master has been setting up the Yan Kingdom for more than half a year. If he still can't influence a throne, then it means that Zizheng is incompetent."

Zhou Yan drank tea and nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Sui Qing remained silent and calm, while Yu Wenshan's face was full of excitement.

Only Dr. He had a sad expression on his face: "I will have to change the prescription before we leave at the end of the month. The long journey will not be easy."

Nie Shiyun: "..."

Mr. Xie, do you want to listen to what you are saying? Is half a year a long time?

No, the key point is, is the throne so easy to control? Is Your Highness coming to the State of Yan as a hostage or to the State of Yan to ascend the throne?

*

Shen Minghuan bid farewell to Emperor Yan, who quickly sent several boxes of treasures to comfort him, and then rejected his application to return to the country.

If Shen Minghuan leaves, it will be out of his control. The Yong Kingdom can find a way later, but even if Shen Minghuan dies, he will have to die in Yandu.

This was obviously an unsatisfactory situation, and Shen Minghuan sighed.

He has been very happy to cooperate with Emperor Yan for more than half a year. Unfortunately, now he can only change to a more obedient person as Emperor Yan.

The new prince is pretty good too.

For the nobles, they don't care who becomes the emperor, they only care about money.

On one side is Emperor Yan, who has recently begun to reorganize the court and harm the interests of the nobles, and on the other side is Shen Minghuan, who has business dealings with them. They are willing to turn a blind eye to many things, or do some small favors that they think are innocuous. .

And when everything settled, Prince Yan, with the help of Zhou Yan, surrounded the Yan Palace at night and forced Emperor Yan to abdicate.

"The late Emperor had his men put on his armor and went into battle himself, fighting to the death without surrender."

It's a pity that he is already old, and his many years of pampered life have made his skills no longer as sharp as before, and he was subdued in less than a quarter of an hour. The guards were afraid of taking action because of his identity. In the end, Prince Yan stabbed him in the heart.

Zhou Yan told Shen Minghuan about yesterday's mutiny. After speaking, he sighed lightly: "The late emperor was also a hero when he was young. It is easy to conquer the world, but it is difficult to govern the world."

Nie Shiyun was also very sad when he heard this: "I didn't expect this Prince Yan to be so ruthless, but he is already a prince, why take risks?"

"With Emperor Yan here, who cares about the prince? He still has some intelligence." Dr. He brought the second bowl of medicine today, "We don't have to do it with him. If he doesn't cooperate, there will still be a second prince."

Xie Zhifei smiled gently: "If the young master had not returned to the Yong Kingdom, the throne of Emperor Yan might not have been occupied by the young master."

Shen Minghuan waved his hand and said very freely, "It doesn't matter. Yan Guo will let Zhao Yuancheng keep it for now, and we will pick it up after a while. Anyway, the army is still in our hands."

If he hadn't nearly knocked over the medicine bowl, his words would probably have been more powerful.

Nie Shiyun shuddered, feeling like a simple and innocent white rabbit, out of place among the wolves.

Suddenly there was a noise outside the door. Before Xie Zhifei could ask, the servant had already reported in haste and fear: "Sir, Your Majesty has come down from court and is coming this way."

"Don't panic." Shen Minghuan said leisurely, "When His Majesty arrives, just lead him here."

If the emperor comes to a courtier's residence, the whole palace will be greeted by the palace. There is no reason to sit and wait in the study, let alone only one servant to greet him.

A country cannot live without a king for a day. Although the formal enthronement ceremony has not yet been held, Zhao Yuancheng has already begun to go to court as the emperor.

The servant was originally very scared, but after hearing Shen Minghuan's calm "Don't panic", he calmed down inexplicably.

It didn't seem to be a big deal. Anyway, he would be able to follow the young master to the Yong Kingdom soon. Even if the emperor wanted to settle accounts with Qiu Hou, he would not be able to find him.

No one would doubt that Shen Minghua could not return to the Yong Kingdom. Smart people had already connected the death of the late emperor with his rejection of Shen Minghuan's application to return to the country.

Nie Shiyun looked at Zhou Yan and asked tentatively: "Old sir, why don't you avoid it?"

Zhou Yan pretended to sigh, "After all, he is someone who has been helping me for a while. It's time to teach him the last lesson."

Zhou Yan put down the tea cup and said sadly: "This world is very cruel. He must learn to accept reality."

Dr. He rolled his eyes: "Don't listen to his nonsense, he just doesn't think it's necessary. If Prince Zhao hasn't seen it now, he's really stupid."

Zhou Yan was not embarrassed by being exposed. He stroked his beard and said, "General Nie, don't look at it. It seems that we can win this mutiny easily. In fact, we have almost used all the master's secret moves - such as this one."

He regretted: "If the young master had not been in such a hurry, I would have played a greater role by staying with Emperor Yan. It is a long way to the Yong Kingdom, and it is a pity that the great situation of the Yan Kingdom has been lost."

Shen Minghuan looked at him: "Sir, you are still addicted to being a spy?"

Zhou Yan said seriously: "I'm just curious, who is this Nan Huaijin? Is it worthy for the young master to pay such a high price and rush back to see him?"

He is Shen Minghuan's counselor, and he will also be Shen Minghuan's civil servant in the future. For the sake of his future official life, some of the lord's bottom lines still need to be clarified. If Nan Huaijin was not a young master, he would have wanted to treat Nan Huaijin with the same courtesy as his mistress.

It has to be said that Mr. Zhou has great confidence in Shen Minghuan and has already considered the matter of establishing a queen.

"You will know when you see him, he will not let you down."

Shen Minghuan knew that from a profit perspective, it was not the best decision for him to return to Yong State now. Xie Zhifei and the others were still willing to support and cooperate, mostly out of loyalty.

He could certainly act arbitrarily, but that would be disrespectful to his advisers. That's all for others. For Xie Zhifei, he was afraid that his cherishment and importance were not obvious enough.

Shen Minghuan said seriously: "Not to mention a mere Yan country, even if I take advantage of all the arrangements Gu has made over the past six months, Gu will not hesitate. Nan Huaijin is worth it."

Xie Zhifei's eyelashes trembled, and he quickly smiled and said: "Young Master said so, it is indeed worth seeing."

Nie Shiyun and Yourong Yan.

Zhou Yan looked at Shen Minghuan and then at Xie Zhifei, looking thoughtful.