Nagato has a thin waist

The winter snow continues, the temperature continues to drop, and the vast land seems to be frozen.

At noon, Zhongjing city defense had just changed its guards, and a rapid sound of horse hooves was heard galloping past.

The weather was too cold and there were almost no people on the long street. The messengers crossed Tongtuo Street and headed towards the inner city.

"Report..."

"Her Royal Highness the Queen Mother returns to Beijing..."

"The teacher of King Yonghuai returns to the court..."

Li Zongxun was in the official office, discussing matters with several officials.

They were all wearing mourning clothes and looked solemn.

Li Zongxun sat in the first place. He was not tall but had a strong build. Although he was over fifty years old, his hair was not white, his eyes were bright and he looked very tough. The most prominent thing is the thick beard on his face, which makes his face fierce. He is obviously a civil official, but his appearance is comparable to that of a military general.

When the little emperor died, the top priority was to choose a new emperor.

It is the aspiration of every courtier to tangle with party members, put his true people on the throne, and seek the best interests for himself...

Everyone bowed to each other, exchanged greetings and flattered each other. After being polite for a moment, they got straight to the point.

"The people in the court talk too much and it's inconvenient to talk about it. We are all our own people in front of you, so I don't shy away from it. May I ask, Prime Minister, which prince do you prefer?"

Li Zongxun looked at the man and said, "Who does Liu Gong think is worthy of such a big job?"

The named Liu Ziyu was a fourth-rank military commander with a brave face and straightforward speech.

He said: "There are no heirs now, so we can only choose among the heirs of the late emperor...I think this person must be the King of Qin."

King Yuan Shangyi of Qin was only six years old after the New Year. He had been suffering from urinary diseases since he was a child, and his body was extremely weak...

Everyone remained silent and looked at Li Zongxun's face.

After a long while, I heard him say: "How is King Ruo of Runan?"

Everyone was slightly shocked.

Wang Yuanyong of Runan was the half-brother of the late Emperor Xifeng. His biological mother was originally just a maid. Fortunately, she was named Ronghua. She was not favored by Emperor Gaozu. Among the many princes, he was the youngest and the least popular. He values ​​​​it, and therefore has the best life. After Emperor Xifeng ascended the throne and took turns to kill the royal family, he managed to survive...

Liu Ziyu heard the subtle hint in Li Zongxun's words, frowned and asked:

"How old is King Runan this year?"

Li Zongxun said: "If he hadn't died suddenly today, King Runan would have held a crown ceremony in a few days..."

Liu Ziyu looked at him and said, "Are you a little older?"

Everyone also followed him and nodded.

Compared with the twenty-year-old Yuan Yong, the five-year-old Yuan Shangyi is better to handle. How can an emperor who is old enough to act arbitrarily make people feel comfortable with a young emperor who is sick and has no time to take care of himself?

They believe that Li Zongxun also understands this truth.

Therefore, Liu Ziyu did not hesitate to say the name of King Qin.

Unexpectedly, Li Zongxun snorted and said:

"The King of Qin has no use for it."

Everyone was surprised, "What happened?"

Li Zongxun looked at them and said pointedly: "Do you know that a few days before today's death, King Qin suddenly went to Baima Temple?"

Everyone nodded, "It is true."

Liu Ziyu said: "I heard that on the day King Qin went there, auspicious signs suddenly appeared in the White Horse Temple. A stone unicorn appeared on the head of the seated Maitreya statue. The unicorn had a jade in its mouth and the word "Tongtian" was written on the jade. The abbot believed that the jade channeled spirits and was an auspicious sign from heaven... "

At this point, he suddenly stopped, with a gleam of surprise in his eyes.

"The Prime Minister thinks that the auspiciousness is fake and someone is taking this opportunity to build momentum for King Qin to ascend the throne?"

Before Li Zongxun could answer, he shook his head again.

"No. King Qin has been ill since he was a child. Some eminent monks said that evil spirits had taken away his soul and he had to practice hard in the temple. From then on, he went to White Horse Temple to live for one month every three months. He has never stopped for five years. It seems that It doesn’t seem like it was intentional.”

Li Zongxun held the tea cup in his hand and narrowed his eyes slightly.

"The abbot of White Horse Temple is not an ordinary person. He was also a fierce general before he became a monk. He said that he killed too many sinners, so he left his mortal roots and practiced atonement..."

Everyone looked around, all surprised.

"We don't know?"

What they want to ask more is, how did Prime Minister Li know such a secret?

A gust of cold wind blew in, the curtains shook, and there were hurried footsteps outside.

"Prime Minister, the Queen Mother's carriage and horses will enter Beijing tomorrow."

Li Zongxun opened his eyes suddenly, "Where is King Yonghuai?"

The visitor said: "King Yonghuai and the Queen Mother are traveling together, and they must not arrive until tomorrow."

Li Zongxun narrowed his eyes slightly, thought for a moment, then looked at everyone, stroking his beard and smiling, "I thought they would have to wait until New Year's Eve to arrive, but the journey is so fast. It's good that I can have a New Year's Eve dinner at home." …”

Everyone said yes, but privately they slandered him.

Empress Dowager Li is suffering from the loss of her son. How can she survive the New Year's Eve dinner?

On the other hand, Li Zongxun, the grandfather, was just sad to lose one of the most useful chess pieces from the beginning to the end.

There were private soldiers in the Prime Minister's Palace, and their organization and expenses were under the control of the Forbidden Army, but not under the control of the imperial court. The leader's military attaché was called Li Shen, who was a close aide of Li Zongxun. While everyone was talking, he stood outside the door, motionless.

After everyone left, Li Shen approached and whispered to Li Zongxun.

"My subordinates found out that Pei Madang returned to Beijing quickly and his whereabouts are unknown."

Li Zongxun sneered, put his hands behind his hands and walked to a picture of "Children playing with fish" hanging on the wall. He paused for a moment and said in a low voice:

"Send someone to keep an eye on the White Horse Temple. When Pei Madang returns to Beijing, he will definitely meet King Qin and Princess Duan."

-

The twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Feng Yun was awakened by the sound of snow being cleared in the yard.

It snowed all night again, and it stopped a little at dawn.

She got dressed and went to see the bedroom prepared for Wen Xingsu, adjusted the incense and lit it, and then came back to eat.

Xing Bing and Ge Guang were talking outside the door. Feng Yun just sat down and picked up the soup spoon when she saw the young man from the Sun family.

The thin and small boy stood outside the door uncomfortably.

Ge Guang asked with a smile: "Sun Xiaolang, do you have something to ask the wife of the village head?"

Sun Xiaolang nodded heavily, with a blush on his cheeks.

Feng Yun put down the soup spoon: "Come in."

Sun Xiaolang walked to the middle of the hall and bowed respectfully to Feng Yun. When he raised his head, his eyes were red and swollen like rabbits, full of red bloodshot. It was obvious that he had not slept all night. He held a small cloth bag in his hand, and he didn't know what was in it. He carefully brought it up.

"Wife of the village head, my father asked me to bring this to you..."

Feng Yun hurriedly declined when he heard it.

"Your family just had an accident, and we need to repair the house after the New Year. It's time to spend money. Don't be polite to me, take it back."

Sun Xiaolang's cheeks were flushed and his voice was choked.

"General Wei from Beijing bullied us before, and it was the wife of the village head who saved my life. Now God has saved our family of four. My father said that everything should be given to the wife of the village head, even the lives of our whole family belong to the wife. But if we really give the wife any reward or thank-you gift, the wife will definitely not accept it. So, my father said, bring this rare thing over and let the wife take a look, maybe she can find some way..."

Feng Yun heard it say "rare thing", and his mind moved slightly.

Seeing this, Sun Xiaolang quickly opened the blue cloth wrapped.

Inside was a dark mass, hard and like irregular bark, with a subtle luster under the light...

Feng Yun's eyes sank, "Where did it come from?"

Sun Xiaolang said, "My father dug it out in a cave when he was hunting in the mountains. He wanted to dig some soil to make a wild stove, but he didn't expect to dig this. My father said that it didn't look like an ordinary thing, so he picked it up and put it at home, waiting for my wife to come back and show it to her..."

Seeing that Feng Yun didn't say anything, Sun Xiaolang grabbed the corner of his clothes, a little nervous.

"Is this... useful?"

Feng Yun pondered for a moment.

"Yes."

She had never seen graphite with her own eyes, but she had seen its description in the book left by her mother. She was not sure for a while, but what was certain was that even if it was not graphite, it was another mineral, and it would definitely be useful.

She said, "I'll take the things first. After the New Year, I'll ask Uncle Sun to take me up the mountain to see where they were dug out."

Sun Xiaolang saw her solemnly wrapping the things back into the green cloth and putting them in the drawer, looking very cherished. He breathed a sigh of relief, bent down and bowed to her twice, and then said goodbye and left.

After noon, Feng Yun set up a couch in the house, found a place to enjoy the snow, warmed up the wine, prepared wine and food, and waited for Wen Xingsu and his party to arrive at the manor. She greeted them with a smile, and then turned her head to instruct Alou, with a smile on her face.

"Go to Yunzhuang across the river and invite the prince to come. Just say you want to invite him to the reunion."

I saw the sisters' request. I really have a headache today. My cat is a little uncomfortable again. It's listless, not eating or drinking, and has no energy... I just made an appointment with a doctor and have to take it to the hospital. If the cat gets better tomorrow, I'll update three times tomorrow...

Thank you all, happy New Year!