The barbarians turned out in full strength and launched a surprise attack on Yanhui City. It could be said that they risked their lives. Even Daliang was struggling to maintain the heavy armor. What did it mean to the barbarians of the eighteen tribes?
Probably, it was far from enough. Their bone marrow had to be scraped three times.
They were a warlike tribe that grew up in the same nest as the wild wolves. With the addition of the heavy armor troops that had been plotting for a long time, they should have been invincible.
Unfortunately, they ran into the Black Iron Battalion.
The Black Eagle nimbly seized the giant kite, and the Black Armor captured the barbarian heir alive. With Gu Yun's tacit approval, they wiped out the remnants of Bei Man's troops in the city. The battle ended before the sun set that day.
But this was not the end. After Gu Yun dealt with the foreign enemies, he immediately turned his weapons to his own people at lightning speed. Taking advantage of the fact that everyone was intimidated by the Black Iron Battalion, he captured more than sixty generals from Yanhui City, Changyang Pass, and other frontline forces in the Northern Borderline. Without any investigation, they were all detained to await trial. For a time, the Northern Borderline was in a state of panic. Everyone was in danger.
Changgeng and Ge Pangxiao were temporarily placed in the residence of Yanhui Prefecture's Governor Guo. When Governor Guo saw Gu Yun, he trembled. He was afraid that he would be implicated. When he heard that he had to take care of the little prince, he knew that he had dodged a disaster. He did not dare to neglect him at all. He sent two rows of people to wait at the entrance of the courtyard where Changgeng and Ge Pangxiao were staying. He was only short of personally pouring tea for them.
Ge Pangxiao benefited from Changgeng's glory and also enjoyed the treatment of the imperial family.
The little fat boy recovered from the chaos of war. When he thought that his family was destroyed, he cried. Halfway through, he remembered that Changgeng was like him. They were all alone. Although he still had his adoptive father, Uncle Shi Liu was nowhere to be seen. He also did not come to see him. He could not help but sympathize with him. He was too embarrassed to cry out in front of Changgeng.
But there was nothing else to do. Ge Pangxiao counted with his fingers, trying to figure out the key points of this matter. In the end, he gave up. This matter was too complicated for him. No matter how he thought about it, it was a mess. He asked Changgeng, "Big brother, they said that your father is the emperor. Is Aunt Xiu the empress?"
Changgeng had half a handful of "Sleeve Silk" in his hand. When he saved Ge Pangxiao, he threw out one of the Sleeve Silk from the iron wrist buckle. Later, when he was cleaning up the battlefield, he secretly picked it up.
Generally speaking, it was difficult for iron to coexist with sharpness and toughness. Although the Sleeve Silk from the cloud disk buckle could cut iron like mud, it was not very tough. The tip had already been broken in the barbarian's heavy armor. A corner of it had been melted by the hot purple gold. The blade was gone, and it had become a bare piece of black iron.
Changgeng used the iron nail to scrape away the protrusions on the blade as he said to Ge Pangxiao casually, "The emperor's sons are not all born from the empress. He has plenty of wives. Also, Xiu Niang is a barbarian. I am not a prince. It was that barbarian woman who wanted me to pretend to be a prince."
Ge Pangxiao, "… …"
When the butcher's son heard this answer, he became more and more confused. He opened his mouth and stared blankly for a while. He felt that his big brother was too pitiful. Birds and beasts all had parents, but he was the only one who did not understand his own background. His parents were like a tangled knot that could not be untied. He did not know where they came from.
Ge Pangxiao vowed, "Big brother, don't worry. It doesn't matter if your father is the emperor, a baihu, or an opera singer, you are still my big brother!"
When Changgeng heard this, he first dryly raised the corner of his mouth. Later, he probably realized something and finally revealed a vague smile.
Ge Pangxiao, "If I can also enter the Black Iron Battalion in the future, that would be great."
Before Changgeng could reply, someone suddenly said from outside the room, "The Black Iron Battalion is not like ordinary soldiers. Their daily training is extremely difficult. Can you bear the hardships?"
The two youths raised their heads and saw that Shen Yi had pushed open the door and entered.
Shen Yi had changed out of that terrifying black armor. In the blink of an eye, he was back to that fussy and downtrodden scholar who exuded the word "poor". He walked in with two food boxes in his hands and placed them on the table, "Supper, eat."
Official Guo placed great importance on maintaining his health. The supper in the residence was only soup and water. It was fine if it was an adult, but it was fine if it was an adult. How could these youths endure it? Ge Pangxiao drank three big bowls of chicken noodle soup in a row, but he still felt full. Even his body that was warm in the winter and cool in the summer had dimmed. When he opened the food boxes and saw that there were real steamed buns, steamed buns, and meat inside, his eyes turned blue. He immediately cheered and pounced forward, forgetting about the Black Iron Battalion and the White Iron Battalion.
However, this little fatty was very loyal. Even if he forgot about the world, he didn't forget about his big brother. He first eagerly gave Changgeng a big steamed bun, "Big brother, you eat."
Changgeng looked behind Shen Yi and didn't see the person he wanted to see. He immediately lost his appetite and waved his hand disinterestedly. He suppressed the disappointment in his heart and greeted half-heartedly, "General Shen."
"You flatter me," Shen Yi knew what he was thinking just by looking at his face. He nonchalantly sat down next to him and explained, "This time, Marshal Gu is really busy with the border cleansing. It's just that he is very concerned about Your Highness, so he specially asked me to come and take a look."
"Your Highness doesn't deserve it," Changgeng lowered his head indifferently. After a moment of silence, he said coldly, "Ten … Marquis is so busy every day, but he still cares about us. It's really flattering."
Shen Yi smiled and said, "If Marshal knew that Your Highness was so distant behind his back, he would be very upset. It's a pity that he's a person. If he's upset in his heart, he will never say it directly. He only knows how to find fault with other people. It's really hard on us subordinates. "
Changgeng was indifferent and didn't reply. His entire mind seemed to be on the broken blade in his hand. He carefully chose a position on the blade and began to drill holes in it with an iron nail.
His heart was as clear as a mirror. He didn't believe that Shen Yi was an ordinary subordinate. Even if he was out on patrol, would an ordinary subordinate dare to casually order the Marquis of Stability to do the dishes and cook porridge? Unless it was an old man who hung himself — he was tired of living.
No one spoke. The atmosphere was so awkward that it could die.
Shen Yi had a smile on his face, but he cursed in his heart. Changgeng's expression was completely for Gu Yun to see. That bastard Gu Yun covered his eyes and didn't dare to look, so he pushed him to take the blame. He said in his heart, "Ever since I boarded the pirate ship with the surname Gu, nothing good has happened."
Shen Yi was born in an aristocratic family. Speaking of which, he was somewhat related to The Old Marquis's maternal family. When The Old Marquis was still alive, he was brought to stay with the Gu family for a short period of time. Gu Yun's mischievous and heroic deeds from a young age were half of Shen Yi's military exploits.
After The Old Marquis passed away, the two went their separate ways. Gu Yun inherited the title of nobility and entered the palace. Shen Yi went back and obtained scholarly honors. However, after high school, he refused to enter the Hanlin Academy. Instead, under everyone's gazes, he invited himself into the "Lingshu".
The Lingshu Temple here didn't grind medicine and consult patients. They didn't cultivate the human body, only the body. They were on par with the imperial guards and directly under the Emperor. They were the biggest debt collectors of the Ministry of Revenue, and also the parents of the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War.
Among the seven major military branches, the "Kite", "Jia", "Qi", "Qiu", "Ying", "Che", "Cannon", and "Jiao", all the blueprints, improvements, and updates of the equipment, and even the secrets of the Black Iron Battalion, all came from the Lingshu Temple.
The Lingshu Temple often mocked and humbled themselves with the title of "Imperial Long Arm Master". They almost didn't speak on important matters in the imperial court. They didn't seem to be of high rank, and most of the time, they were holed up in the Lingshu Temple tinkering with those iron tools.
However, no one dared to compare them with those craftsmen who made a living from the oil of the common people.
The reason why Gu Yun was able to restart the Black Iron Battalion was definitely not just because of the urgency of the war or because of the Emperor's light imperial edict. To a large extent, it was because his old friend, Shen Yi, helped him to smooth out the connections in the Lingshu Temple. At the crucial moment, the Lingshu Temple stood behind the young general and gave him the most favorable support. This allowed the military power that had been faintly declining over the past ten years to once again suppress the noisy scholars.
After the Black Iron Battalion came back to life, Shen Yi accepted Gu Yun's invitation and left the Lingshu Temple to become Gu Yun's personal bodyguard. Of course, with Changgeng's current knowledge and experience, he didn't know about these messy matters.
Shen Yi also didn't have the intention to explain. He just raised his head and said to Ge Pangxiao, "I have a few words to say to the Fourth Prince. You …"
Ge Pangxiao immediately responded cleverly, "Yes, yes. You guys talk. I'm tired after eating, so I should go back to sleep."
After he finished speaking, he stuffed two steamed buns into his bosom and held a large pork shoulder in his mouth. He jumped down from the chair and ran away.
There were only the two of them left in the room. Shen Yi then slowly said, "When the war in the Western Regions stabilized a little, Marshal Gu received a secret edict from the Emperor. He was ordered to go to the northern border to find the Fourth Prince who had gone missing with the Imperial Concubine sisters."
Changgeng's hand movements paused for a moment. He raised his eyelids and looked at Shen Yi without saying a word.
Shen Yi's expression was sincere and didn't seem to be fake. He said tirelessly, "When we passed by Yanhui, we found signs of Bei Man's activities outside the city gate. The Wolf King's heir has always been ambitious and had the intention to rebel. Marshal Gu was worried that there might be changes in the northern border, so he stopped to check. Unexpectedly, he met Your Highness among the wolves. Fourteen years ago, Marshal Gu followed Princess Royal and met the Imperial Concubine. When he first saw Your Highness, he felt that you looked familiar. It wasn't until we sent you back and saw the Xiu Niang that we confirmed that you were the Fourth Prince we were looking for. "
"Fourteen years ago, Marshal Gu was just a dying child. The Xiu Niang didn't remember him. At first, we planned to reveal our identities to her and take you back to the capital. Unexpectedly, we found that the Xiu Niang was secretly communicating with the barbarians. In order to avoid alerting the enemy, Marshal Gu secretly transferred some people from the Western Regions. At the same time, he wanted to beat them at their own game. This time, the elites of the 18 tribes of barbarians were all killed, the heir was captured, and a large amount of money and manpower were used by them. At least, they could keep the northern border of Daliang peaceful for five years. I hope that Your Highness will not argue with Marshal Gu about his deceit for the sake of the tens of thousands of people at the border. "
When Changgeng heard this, he thought for a moment and nodded understandingly, "Yes."
Shen Yi heaved a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Back then, Sirius of the Northern Barbarians presented two treasures of the Great Prairie to our emperor. One was the Violet Gold, and the other was the Sirius Goddess. The Goddess had a noble status, and His Majesty was grateful for the sincerity of the Sirius people, so he made her an imperial concubine. She was the only imperial concubine in our dynasty. If the Imperial Concubine knew in the netherworld that Your Highness had grown up, she would be very pleased. "
Changgeng sneered in his heart. According to this, wasn't the Xiu Niang — Hu Ge'er — his biological concubine? If his biological aunt was like this, how good could his biological mother be?
Changgeng said, "I think that according to common sense, the story should be that the 'Imperial Concubine' desperately tried to escape after finding out that she was pregnant. She even wanted to kill the child with a bowl of abortion medicine, right?"
Shen Yi, "…"
It was inconvenient to talk about the secrets of the palace, but this brat's guess was very accurate.
However, Shen Yi was a fox spirit who had interacted with the rich and powerful since he was young. He immediately pretended to be a little surprised and said, "Your Highness, what are you talking about? If it was because of Miss Xiu, then you don't have to think too much. After all, Miss Xiu is an outsider. It's understandable for her to be loyal to her own clan. Your Highness is also not her biological child. Even so, she still worked hard to raise His Highness all these years. She also tried to send a message back to the capital with His Highness's half jade pendant. Presumably, she was prepared to die for the country and didn't want to implicate His Highness. Most likely, it was because she cared about blood ties. If your biological mother is like this, how could your biological mother not love you? "
After a pause, Shen Yi said, "Your Highness's appearance is like the Imperial Concubine's, but your temperament is like the Emperor's. Blood ties can't lie. As for the matter of Miss Xiu breaking Your Highness's toe, I think there must be some hidden story behind it. Or maybe Your Highness was young at the time and had a memory error. It's all possible. "
Mr. Shen's words were reasonable and eloquent. If Changgeng didn't know that he had a strong poison in his body that slowly made people go crazy, he would probably be persuaded by the story he made up.
He could no longer completely trust the truth that came out of other people's mouths. His heart was filled with speculations and suspicions. He couldn't help but tear apart every word that other people said. Just a little deeper and he felt that he was full of doubts.
Changgeng suddenly felt very tired.
After the time it took to burn a stick of incense, Shen Yi was politely sent off by Changgeng with a stiff smile on his face.
Changgeng sent Shen Yi to the door, "In the past, I was short-sighted and thought that Gu Marquis was lacking. I was often long-winded. I hope that Marquis can forgive me."
Shen Yi looked down and could only see the spiral of hair on Changgeng's head that refused to look him in the eye. He could only sigh and leave Changgeng's small courtyard with a heavy heart. He walked out of the courtyard and turned into a small path. In the small garden outside the courtyard, he saw the legendary "busy with military affairs" Gu Yun.
There were a lot of silvercore grass planted in Daren Guo's courtyard. Gu Yun sat alone in the gazebo and idly plucked the leaves of the silvercore grass. He held the leaves in his mouth and chewed them for a while before eating them.
He didn't know how long he had been sitting here alone. The silvercore grass was almost bald because of him, like a bush that had been trampled by a goat.
Shen Yi coughed lightly, but Gu Yun acted as if he didn't hear anything. It wasn't until he walked closer that Gu Yun squinted his eyes with some difficulty and saw him clearly.
"The effect of the medicine has worn off, right?" Shen Yi sighed.
Gu Yun looked confused. He subconsciously tilted his head and made a gesture of listening hard.
Shen Yi had no choice but to walk forward and lean close to his ear, "Let's go back first. I'll tell you when we get back. Give me your hand. There are stone steps there."
Gu Yun shook his head and refused his support. He took out a "glass mirror" from his chest and placed it on the bridge of his nose. He slowly walked out without saying a word. The two small moles at the corners of his eyes and ears seemed to have dimmed.
Shen Yi glanced at the silvercore grass that had been gnawed by the goat surnamed Gu and chased after him.
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