The underground fire outside the West Warm Pavilion adds charcoal every incense stick of time. The bowl-sized gears are linked together, and whether adding charcoal or blowing smoke, everything is done in an orderly manner. Wisps of white steam rise from the back, and a low humming sound like a sigh is emitted from time to time.

In the warm room, the king and his minister were confronting each other, one kneeling and the other standing. Li Feng's hands tightly grasped the Nine-Turn Panlong table, his veins throbbing, and he spoke word by word, "Say it again."

After Gu Yun finished speaking, he realized that he shouldn't have contradicted the emperor too much, and immediately took a step back: "I will die."

Li Feng's face turned pale and he nervously turned the white jade ring on his finger.

Gu Yun whispered again: "It's just that the matter of the Ancient Silk Road is a matter of great consequence. Your Majesty, please consider it carefully."

Li Feng asked gloomily, "Does Marquis Anding feel that, apart from you, I have no other generals to use?"

Having said that, the next step would be a quarrel, so Gu Yun simply kept silent and pretended to be dead.

At this time, Zhu Xiaojiao suddenly walked quickly into the West Warm Pavilion and reported in a hoarse voice like an old woman: "Your Majesty, Uncle Wang Guo has arrived and is waiting for your order outside the palace..."

When the emperor was furious, if a minister came to visit, the eunuchs would usually advise them to wait outside the palace for a while. Zhu Xiaojiao was trying to help him out. Gu Yun glanced at him and blinked slightly, indicating that he appreciated it.

The corners of Li Feng's eyes twitched a few times, and a few harsh arcs appeared on his face. He looked down at Gu Yun and said coldly: "Marquis Anding should go outside the palace to cool down, so as not to be overwhelmed by the charcoal fire and not know what to say and what not to say!"

Gu Yun: "Your Majesty, please take care of yourself."

After saying this, he bowed and left, then knelt swiftly in the snow outside the west warm room, where he indeed felt cool.

Li Feng stared at his back sinisterly. The uncle of the king, Wang Guo, who came in later, stood aside and waited without daring to make a sound. An ignorant eunuch wanted to step forward to clean up the ink that had just been broken on Marquis Anding, but Zhu Xiaojiao's eyes nailed him to the spot. He froze in fear and ran away along the wall after a moment.

Wang Guo looked at the emperor's face and whispered, "Your Majesty, the Marquis of Anding is young and hot-tempered. He is used to being with the rough men in the frontier army. Sometimes he doesn't know how to act. Your Majesty doesn't need to be angry because of him."

Li Feng didn't say anything for a long time.

Emperor Yuanhe finally chose his eldest son Li Feng as the crown prince because he was diligent and skillful, had the style of a wise ruler, and was more than qualified to be a ruler who would maintain the status quo. When Li Feng first ascended the throne, he did meet the expectations of the previous emperor. However, Emperor Yuanhe did leave him a mess. The current Daliang Dynasty needs an emperor who has both courage and vision to restore the country, and the ability to maintain the status quo is not enough.

Emperor Long'an had been having trouble since he ascended the throne. In his dreams at midnight, he often asked himself, "Am I capable of ruling this country?"

But if a person, especially a person in a high position of power, always asks himself this question, he will generally be less able to tolerate others raising the same question to him.

Wang Guo’s face almost froze with laughter: “Your Majesty…”

Li Feng suddenly interrupted him: "Uncle, I have been having a question in my mind for a while - the Black Iron Tiger Talisman was given by Emperor Wu, why did Gu Yun return it to me so smoothly and voluntarily?"

Wang Guo was stunned, and mustered up the courage to look at Emperor Long An, thinking that this question was simply a waste of time - was the emperor still expecting Gu Yun to make a big fuss, or even rebel?

"This..." Wang Guojiu's mind quickly changed. He didn't know what to say, so he had to flatter the emperor and said, "Your Majesty is a wise ruler throughout history. We, the ministers, should serve you wholeheartedly. But with just a small black iron tiger talisman, even if the emperor wants to take our lives, who would complain?"

Li Feng laughed softly twice, "I'm afraid not, uncle. I just figured it out today. In fact, it doesn't matter whether Gu Yun hands over the black iron tiger talisman or not. How many of the generals in important positions in the four directions are Gu's party? In the military affairs now, the Marquis's words are more effective than mine. The tiger talisman is just an empty object. What use is it to him?"

Li Feng's voice was gentle, as if it was stuck in his throat and about to come out, like a friendly afternoon chat. However, Wang Guo couldn't help but shudder when he heard it, feeling that the murderous intent in his words was about to overflow.

"I'm going to ask you to talk about Loulan today, Uncle Xuan." Li Feng waved his hand as if he was extremely tired. "My dear, please go. I'm tired too."

Wang Guo responded quickly and left the west warm room with his head lowered.

No one knew what happened this year. It was clearly past the Rain Water solar term, but the capital city was still snowing one after another, and it was always lingering and never clearing away. Gu Yun had been kneeling for less than half an hour when a layer of ice had already formed on his court robes. The black iron on his shoulders was covered by the fine snow, becoming even more unbelievably cold.

Wang Guo hurriedly passed him by and caught a glimpse of the pale and handsome face of the powerful Marquis of Anding. He sighed inwardly and felt it was a pity, but that was all. Wang Guo was a smart man. He knew who had helped him to be second only to the emperor and what he should do.

The night in the imperial capital became deeper and darker.

After waiting for Li Feng to fall asleep, Zhu Xiaojiao mustered up the courage to walk out, holding an umbrella and tremblingly came out to see Gu Yun.

Gu Yun was about to melt in the snow, so Zhu Xiaojiao used her orchid finger to hit the little eunuch in gray shirt on the corridor: "You dog slave, it's snowing so heavily, and you don't even know to bring an umbrella for the Marquis. Do you think your eyes are for venting your anger?"

In the eyes of the young eunuch, Zhu Xiaojiao, who was mocked by everyone, was already a very high-ranking official. He was immediately frightened and turned pale and trembled.

Gu Yun blinked away the snow residue on his eyelashes and said nonchalantly: "Eunuch, don't scare the child. The emperor asked me to come out to cool down. How can I cool down with an umbrella?"

Zhu Xiaojiao took two steps at a time and came to him. She stretched out her hand to pat the snowflakes off his body, but she cried out "ouch" first. The fat slap on her delicate skin almost made the black armor on Gu Yun's shoulder stick to a layer of flesh. The old eunuch complained tremblingly: "My Lord, why are you arguing with the Emperor? Kneeling here all night, it would be strange if your legs and feet don't get sick. Aren't you suffering all by yourself? What are you trying to do?"

Gu Yun smiled: "It's okay, we martial artists are all thick-skinned and tough. I was a little hot-headed just now, and I spoke too much. Thank you for remembering it, Master Zhu."

Zhu Xiaojiao thought for a moment and lowered her voice and said, "How about I send someone to invite King Yanbei and ask him to come to the palace early tomorrow morning and say a few good words to the emperor?"

Gu Yun shook his head again: "Don't involve him, it's really okay."

Zhu Xiaojiao thought about it over and over again, but in the end she had no idea what to do. She was also afraid that Emperor Longan would wake up and give her instructions, so she didn't dare to leave the emperor for too long and had to put the umbrella down to Gu Yun.

"Eunuch Zhu," Gu Yun suddenly called him and whispered, "Thank you very much, but you should take the umbrella."

Zhu Xiaojiao was stunned.

Gu Yun said: "I will kneel down and wait for the emperor to calm down. You are someone close to the emperor... don't let him worry about it."

His words were vague, but Zhu Xiaojiao understood them. The old eunuch sighed, "If the Marquis had remembered to be so careful when he quarreled with the Emperor, why would he have to drink this northwest wind?"

Zhu Xiaojiao also left. Gu Yun exhaled a breath of white air, feeling bored, and then he carefully pondered what Chang Geng had said to him in the Huguo Temple - the East China Sea disaster and the Southwest mutiny were probably not accidental.

Slowly, Gu Yun figured out a vague clue.

The King of Wei deployed his troops in the East China Sea, intending to use naval battle as a breakthrough point.

Gu Yun defeated the East China Sea rebels without wasting a single soldier. Compared with the subsequent wave, this incident was simply "top-heavy".

The whole court was in an uproar over this, and the Jiangnan navy was purged from top to bottom. The emperor once poured all the power of the Lingshu Academy into building a sea dragon, which also made the military expenditures of the garrisons in all directions increasingly tight.

The greater impact was that the East China Sea disaster directly gave rise to the "Zhangling Law" to restrict the civilian long-arm division and the drum-beating order to gather the military power of the whole country - the latter was directed at Gu Yun himself. Looking back now, Emperor Longan did not attack him without reason. It was probably because his actions in Jiangnan at that time failed to be concealed from the emperor's eyes.

The issuance of the drum-beating order immediately intensified the conflicts between the local garrisons and the imperial court, and was also the source of the Fu Zhicheng case.

Gu Yun was in the southwest and was in the middle of the situation, so he could feel more clearly the hand that was stirring up trouble - someone deliberately provoked the conflict between the bandits and Fu Zhicheng, and intensified it through the hand of the idiot Kuai Lantu, timing it to explode in front of Gu Yun, and then treated the southern Xinjiang bandits and Fu Zhicheng as a big gift, and packaged them together through the hands of the Black Iron Camp and sent them to the emperor far away in the capital.

Emperor Long An would be horrified to find that even though he had restricted the flow of purple gold within the country, it was still coming in from outside the country.

Gu Yun suddenly remembered - why he and Shen Yi had been in Loulan for such a long time, investigating openly and secretly, but failed to find the legendary "Loulan Treasure", and the emperor sent a spy who was unfamiliar with the place, but in just a few days, he dared to write a letter saying that he had figured out the situation "almost 100% of the time"?

Is it that the spy is too powerful, or is someone deliberately guiding him?

The snow was getting heavier and heavier, and Gu Yun shivered violently. Behind him, a branch of winter plum was broken by the heavy snow, and fell to the ground with a crisp sound, breaking into pieces.

Chang Geng was awakened by the sound of broken branches in the snow.

Gu Yun did not return all night, and he waited for half the night with his clothes on. He leaned against the head of the bed and fell into a daze for a moment, all of which were bizarre nightmares. At this time, the sky was dim and the night was still long, but the window lattice was already reflected by the falling snow, which was pale and bright. Chang Geng suddenly stood up and opened the door, just in time to see Wang Bo jogging all the way.

"Uncle Wang, slow down," Chang Geng called him, "What's the matter?"

The old butler ran in the north wind with sweat on his forehead: "Your Highness, there is news from the palace that the Marquis somehow contradicted the emperor yesterday, and the emperor was furious..."

Chang Geng's pupils suddenly shrank.

A moment later, a rider on a thousand-mile horse left the backyard of the mansion at night and headed towards the Huguo Temple in the wind and snow.

There was no grand court meeting the next day, so Emperor Longan didn't need to get up too early. However, his liver fire was too strong and he didn't sleep well the night before, so he felt dizzy when he got up.

Seeing this, Zhu Xiaojiao came over smartly and began to massage the temples of Emperor Long'an, saying, "Your Majesty, the roll of Indian incense that Master Lechi sent last time has the miraculous effect of clearing the mind and calming the spirit. Didn't you say yes last time you ordered it? How about I give you some more?"

Li Feng hummed, thought for a moment, and then asked, "Is the master still in the palace?"

During the entire first month of the lunar year, the abbot of the Huguo Temple, Master Lechi, lived in the palace, praying for Daliang on the one hand, and preaching to the devout believer in gods and Buddhas, Emperor Long'an on the other.

Zhu Xiaojiao said hurriedly, "I'm here. I heard that the master got up early to do morning lessons, rain or shine. I saw that the emperor's eyelids were a little red, and I thought he was angry. How about calling the master over to chant some sutras and calm his mind?"

Li Feng laughed and scolded, "What nonsense! Master Liaochi is a great monk of the time. Do you think he is singing a little song?"

Zhu Xiaojiao smiled and slapped herself on the face: "Look at this old slave's mouth. I am short-sighted and have made a fool of myself again. Although I don't understand, every time I hear the sound of the wooden fish of Master Chi, I feel that all my worries are gone."

When he mentioned this, Li Feng was indeed interested. After thinking for a while, he said, "Then I'll trouble you to run an errand for me, Master."

Zhu Xiaojiao responded and quickly gave orders, silently helping the emperor wash and change clothes. Li Feng suddenly asked, "Where is Gu Yun?"

Zhu Xiaojiao had always wanted to mention it but had not dared to. When he asked, she hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, the Marquis is still kneeling outside the warm room."

Li Feng seemed to hum softly, with an indifferent expression. He did not dare to mention Zhu Xiaojiao again, but secretly hoped that the old monk, who seemed to be an unreliable reinforcement, could be of some use.

Not long after, Master Le Chi arrived at the West Warm Pavilion. He walked past it leisurely, looking around with his eyes and nose, as if he didn't see the snowman outside the hall at all.

However, no one knew what kind of magic potion the old monk of Huguo Temple had given Emperor Long'an. After he had been in for only a moment, Zhu Xiaojiao came running out with a gust of wind, and announced the decree in a haughty manner: "The emperor has decreed that the Marquis of Anding was disrespectful to the emperor and had no manners in front of him. His seal of command is temporarily confiscated, and he is ordered to return to his residence to reflect on his mistakes and be fined three months' salary."

Gu Yun was stunned.

Zhu Xiaojiao quickly winked at him.

Gu Yun: "...I accept your order and thank you."

Zhu Xiaojiao slapped her thigh and called out to the eunuchs at the side in a hoarse voice: "Look at these blind monkeys! They are still standing there in a daze. Help the Marquis up!"

Before he finished, Gu Yun had staggered to his feet. His limbs felt like they were being pricked by needles. Through his court robes and steel armor, the snow and water had soaked his entire body. An indescribable chill drilled into the cracks between his bones. Gu Yun bowed to Zhu Xiaojiao and walked out of the palace with a heavy heart. At the same time, he wondered in his heart, "Did this old bald donkey have someone take over his body? Why did he think of saving me?"

...until he saw Chang Geng waiting for him outside the palace gate.

Gu Yun: "So it was you who moved to the Huguo Temple. I was wondering why that old bald donkey was so kind."

Ever since Chang Geng heard that Gu Yun knelt in the snow all night, the Urgu in his body began to stir regardless of the situation. However, he could not panic, so he had to recite the Qingxin Jue repeatedly and paced back and forth at the palace gate like a trapped beast. Although he was prepared, Gu Yun was more embarrassed than he had imagined. Chang Geng's head roared, and he felt that the surging blood was about to hit his throat.

Without saying anything, he wrapped Gu Yun in a thick fox fur coat and reached out to touch his faintly blue face. Gu Yun had been frozen all night, and his skin was thick, so his reaction speed was much slower at this time, and he was touched right away.

But this action was too ambiguous. Gu Yun didn't know whether to dodge or not, so he could only joke, "Have you figured out the weight of my bones?"

I don't know whether this person has a broad mind or is really heartless. Even in such a situation, he is still joking!

Chang Geng dragged Gu Yun onto the carriage without saying a word, his eyes red with heartache.

As soon as he got on the carriage, warmth hit him. Gu Yun rubbed his hands, turned around and asked Chang Geng: "Do you have any wine? Give me a bowl."

Chang Geng said nothing.

Gu Yun tilted his head and saw that his eyes were so red that they seemed to be dripping blood. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "Oh my God, I have never seen you cry since I was a child. Today I have learned something new. Hurry up and ask Wang Bo to get the basin. It just so happens that the emperor has fined me three months' salary. We can rely on your gold beans to make a living."

Chang Geng certainly wasn't about to cry. He was suppressing the murderous intent mixed with hallucinations in his heart, and he was about to explode.

Gu Yun finally noticed that there was something wrong with his eyes: "Chang Geng?"

Chang Geng managed to calm himself down and squeezed out a few words from his throat: "Godfather, please change your clothes first."

His voice was so hoarse that it sounded like two pieces of rusty old iron scraping against each other. Gu Yun frowned when he heard it. While paying attention, he quickly untied his wet hair and took dry clothes from the car to change into.

Chang Geng didn't dare to look at him. He sat aside with his brows lowered, breathing in and out according to the method Miss Chen taught him. However, the rustling sound in his ear was so faint that it could be easily drowned out by the rumble of the carriage. But now it became like a spirit, constantly drilling into his ears. The more he breathed in and out, the more restless he became.

Gu Yun placed the crown on the small table in the car. With a "click" sound, Chang Geng came back to his senses as if awakened: "I cooked some medicine to drive away the cold, you first..."

His voice stopped abruptly, and Gu Yun's cold fingers pinched his wrist.

Chang Geng shuddered and tried to withdraw his hand, but Gu Yun held his pulse tightly, so he could only whisper, "Godfather..."

"I don't really understand pulses," Gu Yun's face became serious, "but I roughly know what it means to be possessed by the devil when practicing martial arts."

Chang Geng hastily avoided his gaze.

"Chang Geng, tell me the truth, are you..." Gu Yun paused unnaturally when he said this. Even though his heart was as wide as the sea and his face was as thick as a city wall, he still felt that the following words were not easy to say.

Chang Geng seemed to have sensed something and slowly raised his red eyes.

Gu Yun was silent for a while, then he made up his mind, summoned more courage than he would have to confront the emperor, and said with difficulty: "Do you have something to hide?"

Chang Geng took a few quick breaths and asked in a low voice, "What are you talking about, foster father?"

Gu Yun: "...male and female."

Both the Qingxin Jue and Qingfei Jue were blown to pieces word by word, turning into ashes.