Gu Yun did not know anything about acupuncture and moxibustion, so he had to memorize everything that Miss Chen had taught him. In the past, he had often heard rumors among the common people that if a needle was not inserted properly, it could paralyze a person. Therefore, he did not dare to be distracted at all. He did not dare to make any mistakes in the depth of the needle. It was really difficult for his blind eyes.
Only when the last needle was placed properly did Gu Yun let out a slight sigh of relief. A thin layer of sweat appeared on his body. He casually picked up the sweat towel beside him and wiped his hands. When he turned around, he saw Changgeng staring at him without blinking. The blood and double pupils in his eyes were gone. His gaze was quiet and distant, reflecting the faint light of the gas lamp. It was like a pair of fireworks in the mortal world under the ancient Buddha.
Gu Yun asked, "What are you looking at?"
The corners of Changgeng's mouth twitched stiffly. However, with the silver needles in his body, he was sealed with facial paralysis and could not smile.
Gu Yun's gaze hurriedly swept across his smooth back. Although he wanted to "take revenge", he did not dare to go against the doctor's orders and touch him at this time. He coughed dryly and said, "Alright, stop smiling. Hurry up and rest. Don't you have to wake up early tomorrow?"
"Zi Xi," Changgeng's facial muscles were not many, so he could only speak softly. He seemed to be acting coquettishly, "Kiss me, okay?"
Gu Yun glanced at him warningly, "Are you looking for trouble? You're already a hedgehog, yet you're still seducing me."
Changgeng had already seen through him. A "godfather" was enough to make someone surrender. This kind of upright gentleman among the hooligans would not take advantage of the fact that he was covered in needles to touch him. Therefore, he looked at Gu Yun fearlessly and only smiled. The corners of his mouth could not be raised, but his eyes were full of smiles.
Gu Yun thought, "He's climbing over my head."
However, he was not an old monk after all. He looked at the young man's bare shoulders and narrow waist. His hair was scattered like satin. It was impossible for him to remain indifferent. He could only sit at the side and close his eyes to rest. Not long after, he heard a rustling sound from the side. Gu Yun opened his eyes and saw Changgeng crawling up like a zombie. He came in front of him and touched his lips first. Then, he gently sucked on his lips and pondered back and forth. His thick eyelashes trembled slightly, forming a sharp contrast with his face that was stupefied.
Gu Yun wanted to push him away, but Changgeng's body was covered with needles. Before he could open his hand, Changgeng threw him onto the bed.
His sweetheart's black hair was scattered and he threw himself on top of him half-naked. Gu Yun's throat moved obviously. He felt that he was about to become steel after enduring a hundred times. He was so angry that he slapped His Royal Highness Yan Wang's buttocks, "The needles are still on your body. You're going crazy again!"
Changgeng leaned on him and rested his chin on Gu Yun's neck. He murmured, "I'm fine. It's just that when I thought of you in my arms that day, I felt like I couldn't wake up from a dream. I don't have any good dreams. I'm always afraid that if I'm happy at the beginning, some evil spirit will appear and stab me. I'm a little scared of myself."
Gu Yun raised his eyes and looked at the bed curtain. He thought for a while and asked, "What do you dream of in a nightmare?"
He did not know if Changgeng heard him. He only looked at him and did not answer. He pecked his cheek again and again.
Gu Yun reached out his hand to stop him, "Don't get tired of it. You didn't even put out the fire."
Changgeng sighed. For the first time, he did not want to listen to the doctor's advice at all. He became obedient and whispered, "You look really good in court attire."
Gu Yun picked a place where there were no needles and lazily hugged him, "What do I not look good in?"
He was already a little sleepy. As Changgeng could not sleep well, the room was constantly lit with anshensan. It was hard to say whether the anshensan had awakened from Changgeng's sleep. Anyway, Gu Yun, who was implicated, was getting sleepy earlier and earlier.
He was plotted against by the people of the Western Regions and his old injuries had relapsed. It had been half a year. Although his injuries were getting better, he could feel that his spirit was not as good as before. When he was at the frontline, his heart was still tense. Now that he was back in the imperial court, he did not have to wait for dawn every day. Once the string in his heart was slightly relaxed, his body would often feel a lingering tiredness. At this time, he had only spoken a few words before he closed his eyes in a daze.
Changgeng loved his self-righteous shamelessness. He laughed softly, "It would be good if you only wear it for me to see. If you wear court attire, I will look at it alone. If you wear armor, I will look at it alone. If you wear casual clothes, I will look at it alone. No one is allowed to covet it …"
His words were half true and half false. Gu Yun, who had already closed his eyes, only treated it as a playful whisper in bed. He smiled mischievously and replied, "I'm afraid that won't do. However, I can only show it to you alone if I don't wear anything."
Changgeng's gaze suddenly changed. A few silver needles were erected from the back of his hand to his wrist. However, it did not delay his hand from slowly moving upwards. He moved his hands and feet and woke Gu Yun up.
Gu Yun could only avoid the silver needles on the back of his wrist. He pressed down on Changgeng and said sleepily, "Stop fooling around. Do you want to receive a few more needles?"
At this moment, the window lattice was gently knocked from the outside a few times.
The sleepiness in Gu Yun's eyes cleared, "En? I'll go. "
He gently placed Changgeng down and pushed open the small window. A dirty wooden bird flew in and fell into his hand. The wooden bird was very old. A sandalwood fragrance had been pickled and faintly entered Gu Yun's dog nose.
Gu Yun returned the wooden bird to Changgeng, "Is this the bald donkey Liao Ran? Where did he run off to?"
Huguo Temple had been cleansed by Li Feng. He originally wanted to give the position of abbot to Liao Ran, who had rendered meritorious service in rescuing the emperor. However, Liao Ran stubbornly refused to accept it. He still had a title in the temple and continued to wander around the world as an ascetic monk.
"He's helping to settle the refugees in Jiangbei." Changgeng crawled up uneasily, "Sometimes, a monk's words are more effective than the government."
As he spoke, he opened the wooden bird and took out Liao Ran's letter to read it. The lingering smile on his face gradually disappeared. After a while, he sighed slightly and put the letter aside.
Gu Yun took it and glanced at it, "Jiangbei's epidemic. Why haven't I heard about it?"
"The climate there is humid and hot. Many people have died. If it's not dealt with in time, it's not strange for an epidemic to occur … Last year, the canal area was renovated. I assigned them the task of settling the refugees and included it in my political achievements. Bastards, they actually learned to hide it." Changgeng said softly. He sat by the bed. His entire soul seemed to be fixed in his body by a few silver needles. He looked particularly tired and stupefied. His gaze fell on the corner of the bed. The bedside lamp cast a large shadow on the bridge of his nose and spread over his thin face, "I thought that I could at least clear it for two years. I had to endure these two years first. Who knew that it would be so …"
If it wasn't rotten to the core, there wouldn't be such a daring local official.
Gu Yun saw that he wasn't surprised and asked, "You already know?"
Changgeng was silent for a while, "Zi Xi, help me insert the needles. It's almost done."
Many people were exhausted from running for their lives. Many people were losing their lives. However, the court assembly was still quarreling.
Gu Yun removed the silver needles from Changgeng's body quickly. She picked up a thin shirt from the side and draped it over Changgeng's body, then hugged Changgeng's waist, "Don't think about it. Have a good sleep. If you have any difficulties, just tell me. Don't always shoulder it alone."
These words touched a nerve in Changgeng. He suddenly turned to look at Gu Yun, "Will you help me no matter what?"
Gu Yun thought for a while and replied, "Justice and ethics are always above. Apart from that, I won't give you the moon if you want the stars. Even if it's cloudy and rainy, I'll set up a ladder for you to pluck, okay?"
At the end of his words, he seemed to have the intention of teasing Chang Geng with a mischievous grin. But this time, Chang Geng didn't laugh. Perhaps it was because his sealed body hadn't completely stretched out, or perhaps he had heard the meaning behind Gu Yun's words.
Gu Yun gently touched his ear, "Come here and lie down."
Changgeng turned around and clasped Gu Yun's chin. His eyes, which were as calm as the sea of stars, suddenly turned into a storm. His usual gentle and refined exterior was removed. His cheeks were pale, his eyes were extremely dark, and the veins on the back of his hand were violently popping. He faintly hid the legendary ancient power of the evil gods.
Changgeng only loosened his grip on Gu Yun's fingertips when he saw her frown. He stared at Gu Yun for a moment with an indescribable expression, "Zi Xi, don't take back what you've given me."
Gu Yun's face was calm as she replied, "Okay. I'll give you the Marquis's residence's salary. However, can you give me one or two taels of silver as pocket money every month?"
Changgeng's expression darkened when he heard her evasive words. Gu Yun smiled and hugged him to the bed, "I won't leave you behind. I swear to God. Why are you so paranoid? Go to sleep. I'm so sleepy. "
Changgeng did not give up, "Even if I really …"
"I won't leave you behind even if I really go crazy." Gu Yun rested her head on her curled up arm. She patted Changgeng's body lightly and said with her eyes closed, "If you dare to go out and hurt people, I'll break your legs and tie you up in the room. I'll look at you all day long. Are you satisfied? Why did you have to come here in the middle of the night to be scolded? "
He obviously did not say anything good. Changgeng's breathing suddenly quickened and his eyes lit up. He wished he could swallow the person in front of him in one gulp. However, he immediately remembered the doctor's advice. After all, he still had a sense of propriety and did not dare to rashly take risks with Wu 'er Gu. He only stared at Gu Yun for a moment before finally lying back down unwillingly.
Changgeng closed his eyes and imagined the scene. His entire body tensed up. He wished he could really have his legs broken by Gu Yun and be locked up in the room. A small dark room was fine too. He would never complain.
He tossed and turned for a moment. Finally, he could not help but reach out and hook Gu Yun's wrist, "Let's make a deal. If I go crazy, you'll lock me up. If you die before me in the future, you'll give me a bottle of Crane's Crown Red. After I send you away, I'll end my own life … Hiss!"
Gu Yun raised her hand and slapped his buttocks. This time, it was not a caress. She really used all her strength. It was burning with pain.
Gu Yun, "Break a lantern. Shut up. If you don't want to sleep, get out."
Yan Wang, who had started to ramble after the injection, finally became obedient after being slapped. He shut his mouth. Gu Yun's consciousness was still worried when she fell asleep. Changgeng's words of "end my own life" might really be true. She did not know if it was his nature or Wu 'er Gu was also subtly changing him. Although Changgeng tried to hide it, Gu Yun could still feel the stubbornness and extreme temperament in his bones day by day.
How could this go on?
The Emperor Long An's imperial court meeting was originally held once every ten days. However, it was a special period recently. Many things had been pending, so it was changed to every day. All the civil and military officials in the imperial court had to wake up in the middle of the night. However, the Grand Council arrived an hour earlier than all the courtiers.
The next day, when Gu Yun was woken up by Huo Dan, Changgeng had already left and did not wake her up. She did not know if his movements were too gentle or if Gu Yun was sleeping too soundly.
"Extinguish that thing," Gu Yun rubbed her temples and pointed at the incense burner, "I'm about to fall asleep because of it."
Huo Dan followed her instructions and extinguished the incense burner. However, he said, "Marshal, this is just an ordinary sleeping incense. Why is it that other people are fine after inhaling it, but it's like a knockout drug for you? You can't blame the incense burner. You're so tired every day. It's obvious that your vital energy and blood are weak. You're so young. How can you continue like this? "
"Shh," Gu Yun gave him a look and said in a low voice, "Tomorrow, I'll go ask Miss Chen to prescribe me some medicine. Don't be so long-winded with others, do you hear me?"
Commander Huo was particular about "military orders are like mountains". He immediately replied, "Yes!"
At the same time, he calculated the words in his heart, "Marquis wants me to 'be less long-winded'. He doesn't want me to talk too much or shut up. Then I'll have to think about how to reasonably allocate the opportunities to complain."
Today, as soon as the imperial court meeting started, the atmosphere was tense. As expected, several aristocratic families joined hands and threw out the memorial that Jiang Chongtuo had sent to Changgeng the night before. Afterwards, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Lu Chang, took the lead and vehemently accused the leader of the Ministry of Works for recommending the thirteen merchants to set foot in the Violet Gold because they were 'ambitious'. The two groups of people almost tore into each other in the main hall, but they were stopped by the furious Long 'an Emperor.
Fang Qin calmly watched from the sidelines. When he saw the Emperor's ugly expression, he gave a look to his henchmen. He knew that he had poked the Emperor's sore spot.
As expected, Li Feng let out a long sigh. He pinched his temples and slowly said, "This matter needs to be discussed at length. Zhen also feels that the private sale …"
Without waiting for him to finish, Jiang Chong suddenly stood up and said, "Emperor, the officials of the Grand Council came early this morning to discuss this matter. Their concerns coincide with Assistant Minister Lü's. They all feel that the private sale of Violet Gold to private merchants is inappropriate."
His words stunned everyone. Fang Qin looked at Yan Wang with hesitation. He suddenly didn't know who this secretive Prince was sitting on the same bench as. He also didn't know what kind of play he was putting on today.
Li Feng had a good impression of Jiang Chong, a pure official that he had personally promoted. When he heard what Jiang Chong said, he also felt that what Jiang Chong said was to his liking. He waved his hand and indicated for Jiang Chong to continue.
Jiang Chong said, "However, the disaster of the refugees is imminent. There are already many bandits in the Shu region of the Central Plains. Even if the Marquis of Stability killed a fire dragon, who knows if there might be a 'water dragon' or 'wind dragon' hiding among the people, waiting to take action. As long as there is profit, there will be an endless stream of bandits. Today, the refugees are good people, but if they are forced to the point that they can't survive, they will become bandits tomorrow. Right now, the four regions are already plagued by war. If there is a fire in our backyard, how can we talk about recuperating? Wouldn't our enemies laugh their heads off when they see us? What's more, a while ago, this official heard that there was a plague in Jiangbei. If it is true, it will be one disaster after another … "
Before he finished speaking, there was a "boom" in the Imperial Court.
Li Feng's vision darkened. "Plague? What plague? "
Fang Qin, who was calm and unruffled in the midst of chaos, was stunned at first, but then he realized something. He looked up in disbelief at the aggressive Assistant Minister Lü. Last year, a large number of officials along the canal were pulled down by Yan Wang. All the aristocratic families were busy installing their own people in the government. The Governor of Liangjiang was Assistant Minister Lü's brother-in-law. The head of the Lü family was not very powerful, but they had many in-laws. Imperial Concubine Lü was the birth mother of the eldest son of the Emperor and had a very deep foundation … But Fang Qin never thought that they would be so bold!
In the Daliang Dynasty, the sky was high and the Emperor was far away. If there was a disaster in a place, it was common for the disaster to be concealed and exaggerated. The former was for the sake of their own reputation and achievements as officials, while the latter was for the sake of cheating the country for more disaster relief funds. Now that the country was poor and weak, they were afraid that the Emperor would be more worried about the people and the Purple Gold. They were afraid that the Emperor would be more worried about the people and the Purple Gold, so they deliberately concealed the news.
Fang Qin immediately understood what was going on. He glared at the man surnamed Lu, wishing he could bleed from clenching his teeth. Why didn't they think about the fact that paper couldn't contain fire? Yan Wang had unexpectedly inspected the canal last year, and now it had only been a few months? The head of the previous Emperor had not rotted into a skeleton yet!
The Emperor Long An was diligent and frugal. He hated corruption and fraud the most. Yan Wang was a freak who did not form cliques or pursue private interests. He looked smooth and slick, but he actually turned hostile. The Lü family was simply courting death under the eyes of those two.
If they failed at the last step, it would all be because of this group of people who thought themselves clever!
Li Feng angrily said, "Beloved Minister Jiang, speak clearly!"
Changgeng calmly stepped out and said, "Replying to the Emperor, this subject brother likes to copy scriptures and worship Buddha. He has a close personal relationship with Master Liao Ran. After Master Liao Ran resigned from the position of Huguo Temple, he went south to help settle the refugees in the Jiangbei area. However, he was a commoner, so it was inconvenient for him to disturb the local officials. Therefore, he went around begging for alms, preaching and preaching. He raised some money from the local rich to solve the urgent needs. A few days ago, Master Liao Ran sent someone to deliver a private letter to this subject. He told this subject that the disaster was serious and asked this subject brother to think of a solution as soon as possible. However, the letter mentioned that the situation in the Jiangbei area was very serious and this subject had never heard of it. I just received the letter and the real situation has not been verified yet. Lord Jiang spoke without thinking.
Please do not blame me. "As Yan Wang spoke, he glanced at Assistant Minister Lü without any anger. Soon after, his eyes seemed to intentionally or unintentionally pass over the ashen-faced Minister Fang.
Li Feng took a deep breath and said, "The Six Ministries and Nine Ministers, the important military places, I did not hear any news. Instead, it was revealed by a … a plain-clothed ascetic monk. If this is true …"
He was silent for a long time. Then, he gritted his teeth and said, "I don't know who is covering the sky with one hand in the imperial court."
The officials in the main hall all knelt down.
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