As soon as Gu Yun finished speaking, he felt Chang Geng's pulse speed up a bit, it could no longer be considered a pulse. The wrist in his palm was burning hot, and it seemed that there was a volcano hidden under the pulse gate. The slightest shock would cause the blood to erupt hysterically, and it was going to break Chang Geng's meridians.

Gu Yun had never expected that Chang Geng would still have such a big reaction even though he had been so tactful. Worried that something was wrong with him, he stretched out his hand and gently pressed against Chang Geng's chest: "Focus, don't let your mind wander!"

Chang Geng pulled his hand down and clasped it fiercely in his palm. The joints made a "crackling" sound and Gu Yun's eyelids jumped.

Chang Geng's face was as white as gold paper, his pupils were bloodshot, countless phantoms flashed before his eyes, and it seemed as if there were thousands of troops and bells ringing in his ears, demons and ghosts were everywhere, and goblins were running rampant. A ur bone drank his blood and suddenly grew bigger, and the branches were covered with thorns, tearing his heart and lungs like a thorn stuck in his throat -

And at the end of the Urgu, there is a Gu Yun.

...still thousands of mountains and rivers away.

Gu Yun was frightened for a moment, his lips moved slightly, but he didn't know how to continue.

At this moment, Chang Geng tightly grasped Gu Yun's hand with both hands, held it to his chest, and seemed to make an indistinct whimper. He closed his eyes, tremblingly pressed his lips on the back of Gu Yun's icy and cracked hand.

Although Gu Yun had some apprehensive speculations, he had not anticipated this scene. Chang Geng's scorching breath penetrated his sleeves, and his scalp exploded. He was about to blurt out "Are you crazy?"

Chang Geng suddenly pushed him away, stepped back half an inch, curled up, lowered his head and vomited a mouthful of purple-black blood.

Gu Yun: “…”

All this happened as fast as lightning. Gu Yun was not yet shocked or angry, but was already panicked. He was stunned and choked by the words stuck in his throat, which made his throat hurt. He stayed where he was.

Chang Geng's face was a little bleak and almost gray. After spitting out the blood, his mind became much clearer and his consciousness gradually returned. He turned his head away from Gu Yun's hand and whispered, "I'm sorry for offending my foster father. I want you to beat me or scold me... Well, it's all up to you."

Gu Yun took a breath of cold air, and the complicated feelings in his heart were like a long speech comparable to "General Shen Ji Pingzhi's Quotations". He didn't dare to utter a word, which made him feel suffocated. He thought to himself: "I haven't even started to question him yet, but he's vomiting blood first. How dare I say anything?"

He bent down and picked up Chang Geng, placing him on the spacious carriage couch. He suppressed his confusion and whispered, "Shut up and heal your internal injuries first."

Chang Geng closed his eyes obediently and said nothing.

Gu Yun watched over him for a while, searched the carriage, but couldn't find a drop of wine. He had no choice but to take the cold-relieving soup from the small stove and drink it. The smell of ginger in it made his head hurt.

He used to think that Chang Geng might be a little confused, maybe because of the stupid thing he did after drinking that day, which made him have some inappropriate thoughts. He thought that this kid was very smart and he would understand it with a little prompting. Who knew that after just a light prodding, Chang Geng actually leaked before he even started!

how so?

Gu Yun looked at Chang Geng who was closing his eyes and regulating his breathing with a depressed look, and with a half-understanding in his mind, he sat beside him and started to worry intently.

The ancients said "cultivate yourself, manage your family and bring peace to the world". Gu Yun didn't know if he had never cultivated himself well, so that his family and country were in a mess. He was so worried and upset.

There were only a few steps from the imperial palace to the Marquis of Anding's Mansion. Even if the carriage was pulled by a turtle, it would only take a moment to arrive.

As soon as Gu Yun got off the car, a wooden bird flew towards him and landed right on his shoulder. It tilted its head and stared at him lifelike.

Suddenly, a hand stretched out from behind Gu Yun. Chang Geng had quietly gotten out of the car and caught the bird away.

His face still looked grim, but he had regained his usual calmness.

Chang Geng held the wooden bird in his hand, and did not rush to open the letter to see who it was from. He just walked to Gu Yun while the old housekeeper was packing up the carriage, and whispered: "If you feel uncomfortable, I can move out. I won't be an eyesore in front of you, and I will never cross the line again."

The bloodshot in those eyes faded away, and Chang Geng's expression became a little cold, with drooping eyebrows, showing a thoughtfulness as if his heart was dead.

Gu Yun stood there for a while, and really had no idea what to do, so he turned around and left without saying a word.

Ge Chen and Cao Chunhua only found out about the incident the night before when they woke up early in the morning. They had been waiting at the door for a long time. They hurried over to greet him, but saw that Gu Yun did not even say hello and just walked past them with a sullen face.

Chang Geng watched his back, his face was gloomy and unclear, with a bit of bitterness deeply hidden in his pupils. There seemed to be blood at the corner of his mouth, and his face looked even more haggard than Gu Yun who had been kneeling all night.

Ge Chen: "Brother, what happened?"

Chang Geng just shook his head. When Gu Yun's back was no longer visible, he retracted his gaze, stretched out his hand to open the wooden bird's belly, and took out a piece of paper from the middle.

The note read: "At the beginning of the first year, General Gu escorted the Northern Barbarian Prince out of the border and fell seriously ill. The second brother of the clan made a special trip from Taiyuan Prefecture to go there and returned a month later."

The signature is "Chen".

It was unknown how long the wooden bird had been flying, and both wings had signs of slight wear and tear.

Chen Qingxu's words were incoherent and anyone else might not understand them. To be on the safe side, Chang Geng tapped the back of the wooden bird's head.

The bird opened its iron beak and blew out a shower of small sparks, which instantly burned the paper.

Cao Chunhua asked cautiously, "Brother, I noticed that Mu Niao has been frequently in and out of the Marquis' Mansion recently. Are you investigating something?"

"Investigating an old case." Chang Geng said, "I have always felt that although his temperament has not changed after he came to the northwest, his views on many things seem to have changed a lot. I thought it was the result of the subtle influence of the Loulan Ancient Silk Road, but it seems that is not the case."

Ge Chen and Cao Chunhua looked at each other.

Chang Geng briefly recovered from his loss and whispered inaudibly, "What happened on the way out of the Northern Frontier?"

What caused this Anding Marquis, who was so worried about the sky falling down as a blanket, to almost fall ill on the march, and even alarmed the Chen family in Taiyuan Prefecture? Did he encounter something outside the pass... or did he know something?

Chang Geng suddenly asked, "Xiao Cao, Ah Chen, can you two run some errands for me?"

After Cao Chunhua left the house quietly, Chang Geng began to live a life of being elusive.

Gu Yun tossed and turned for a long time. He wanted to find a day to have a good chat with Chang Geng, but he was shocked to find that he couldn't find anyone at all! Chang Geng was avoiding him.

He had nothing to do all day and was so bored that he thought about all sorts of things, so he simply stopped taking his medicine. At least he could be quiet without being able to hear or see clearly.

At the same time, the court was in turmoil.

First, Emperor Long'an wanted to restart the "Gold Rong Order". As soon as the announcement was made, he was immediately met with a joint letter from the Ministry of Workers and the Ministry of Households. Even the Ministry of War, which had been purged by Emperor Long'an and turned into his own little cotton-padded jacket, began to voice inconsistent opinions.

Li Feng was determined to do what he wanted and quickly fought back.

On February 2, the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue was first reported by the Censorate for "accepting bribes from other countries for personal gain." Subsequently, during the thorough investigation, a series of scandals were uncovered, including officials from all over the country taking kickbacks. It soon turned into the largest corruption and fraud case during the Long'an period.

The Minister of Works is a bit like the emperor's uncle. Although he has a heart that serves the country and the people, he lacks the courage to do so. He rolls up his sleeves when he sees a cigarette, and when he sees the emperor's attitude, he immediately keeps silent and goes about building a house. He no longer dares to mention the matter of the Rongjin Order, which goes against the will of the emperor.

On the tenth day of February, Gu Yun had been under house arrest in the Marquis' Mansion for nearly half a month. A black eagle quietly flew to the northern camp outside the capital, changed out of its black eagle armor, and entered the capital at night, entering the Marquis' Mansion without anyone noticing.

Gu Yun finally had the chance to meet Chang Geng, who avoided him like the plague.

Chang Geng brought the medicine soup to Gu Yun, and the silence between the two of them became awkward: "A black eagle is here."

Gu Yun nodded, picked up the medicine and drank it. Chang Geng had already prepared the silver needles. When he saw him put down the medicine bowl, he spread the needles in front of Gu Yun and signaled with his eyes: "Is it okay?"

His distant and polite manner made Gu Yun even more at a loss.

Chang Geng no longer let Gu Yun lie on his lap. He was like a strange doctor, just making gestures or pretending to support him, and even refused to touch Gu Yun.

Gu Yun closed his eyes and rested. As the drug began to take effect, his hearing gradually recovered and the surroundings became "noisy" - the sound of servants talking in low voices while sweeping the snow outside, the sound of armor and weapons rubbing against each other of the guards of the Marquis' Mansion... even the rustling of Chang Geng's clothes when he moved, all of which pierced Gu Yun's ears. He had been deaf for more than ten days and was very uncomfortable.

Gu Yun suppressed his annoyance and took the opportunity to ask, "Chang Geng, can you tell me why?"

Chang Geng knew what he was asking, so he remained silent for a moment.

Gu Yun: "Is it because...I drank too much that day and did something to you...uh..."

Chang Geng's hand trembled, and the needle that was about to fall paused in the air for a moment.

He remained silent, and Gu Yun felt really uncomfortable in his heart - no matter how much anger he suffered from Li Feng, he had a clear conscience and could face his conscience directly. But as for Chang Geng, although Gu Yun was confused, he always felt that it took two hands to clap.

If he himself had not done anything inappropriate, why would Chang Geng...

"No." Chang Geng suddenly replied calmly, "I was actually the first one to disrespect my adoptive father that day."

Gu Yun: “…”

"There is no reason," Chang Geng gently held his head to prevent him from moving, and said in an unusually casual tone, "What reason could there be for such a thing? To be honest, it's probably because my father and mother didn't love me since I was a child, and no one except my adoptive father loved me. Over time, I have developed some unreasonable thoughts. You never noticed it, and I didn't want to mention it to anyone, but I was angry that day and accidentally revealed it."

Gu Yun only felt as if a stone as big as his head fell from the sky and hit his chest with a "bang", making him unable to breathe for a long time - he thought it was just a temporary deviation of his true energy, who knew it was actually a chronic illness!

"Godfather, don't take it to heart. Just pretend that it never happened." Chang Geng said indifferently.

The needle in his hand fell without any disorder. If he had not admitted it himself before, Gu Yun would probably have thought that he was disrespectful and self-indulgent.

But how can we pretend this never happened?

Gu Yun was going crazy, a feeling of premature aging came over him. For the first time, he realized that the "Flower of the Northwest" was no longer young - he began to wonder what young people were thinking!

"The emperor asked me to go to court for a hearing these two days," Chang Geng suddenly changed the subject and asked, "I heard them quarreling all day and a big case of corruption and fraud came up. I probably understand what the emperor is thinking. What does foster father plan to do?"

Gu Yun looked at him with a blank expression, not in the mood to discuss state affairs with him.

Chang Geng sighed slightly, reached out to take off Gu Yun's glass mirror and put it aside, blocking Gu Yun's sight with this action, with a resolute look on his face that said "I won't tell you anything".

"I'm willing to do anything for you. If you're annoyed by me, I can avoid letting you see me. If you just want a filial and sensible adopted son, I promise not to cross this line again." Chang Geng said, "Adoptive father, I'm already ashamed of this matter - please don't ask me what I'm thinking, okay?"

Gu Yun's whole person is a big "bad" sign.

Chang Geng began to remove the silver needles from his body and asked calmly, "So what do you want me to do?"

Without waiting for Gu Yun to speak, he continued, "That's fine."

If Chang Geng really tried to harass him, Gu Yun would have called on the 300 guards of the Marquis' Mansion to take him to the already built Yanbei Palace.

Cut the Gordian knot and be ruthless and give him the cold shoulder for a year or two, and everything will be fine.

But Chang Geng gave him a countermeasure: "Even if you exile me to the ends of the earth, I will be happy with it."

Gu Yun had a severe headache, and felt like a dog biting a turtle shell - he had no place to bite.

After holding it in for a long while, Gu Yun asked, "Are you healed?"

Chang Geng nodded and said "hmm" sparingly.

Gu Yun: "How did you do it?"

Chang Geng said calmly: "I have been obsessed with this for years and have gone crazy for a while."

Gu Yun: “…”

It's even more annoying.

As Chang Geng spoke, he packed up the silver needles, turned to the corner of the room, took out some tranquilizing powder, and asked calmly, "Should I go call that Xuanying brother in?"

"Your Highness," Gu Yun suddenly called him solemnly, "You are a descendant of the royal family, a golden branch and jade leaf, and you may be extremely wealthy in the future. Others treat you like pearls and jade. I also hope that Your Highness can cherish yourself at all times and in all places, and don't belittle yourself or despise yourself."

Chang Geng buried most of his face in the shadows, and continued calmly, "Well, Lord Marquis, don't worry."

Gu Yun: “…”

Chang Geng stood for a while, as if waiting to hear what other instructions he had. After waiting for a while and seeing that Gu Yun was speechless, he turned around and left quietly.

Gu Yun leaned back and let out a long breath.

He would rather Chang Geng had a quarrel with him without explanation like he did when they were young, because he found that once this bastard had no desires or demands, he was almost invincible.

The anxious Gu Yun walked around the room for a few times and decided not to daydream about the beauty and the red sleeves anymore. It was too much.

At this time, Xuan Ying, who had been waiting for a long time, knocked on the door and came in.

The black eagle must have flown here in a hurry. Although it had a simple wash, it still looked haggard and had not even had time to shave.

"Marshal." Xuan Ying fell to the ground.

"Don't be polite," Gu Yun said with all his strength, "What's going on? Did He Ronghui ask you to come?"

Xuan Ying: “Yes!”

Gu Yun: "Show me the letter."

He flicked his wrist and unfolded the letter brought by Xuanying, and quickly scanned it from the beginning. The handwriting of He Ronghui, the chief captain of Xuanying, was extremely ugly, but the words were concise and to the point -

At the end of the month, the small Western Region country Qiemo and Qiuci had a dispute over border trade. Since the affairs between the Western Region countries have always been regulated by themselves, it was inconvenient for the Daliang government army to intervene and did not pay much attention to it at the beginning.

The Kingdom of Loulan and these two countries happened to be in a three-way relationship, so the king of Loulan sent his younger brother as an envoy to mediate. Unexpectedly, the delegation was robbed on the border of the Kingdom of Qiuci and the entire army was wiped out.

At first, they thought they were bandits from the Sands. But after the King of Loulan sent people to investigate, they found the sword emblem of the King of Kucha's guards in the ruins. They immediately questioned Kucha, but the people of Kucha refused to admit it and instead claimed that Loulan favored Qiemo and humiliated the envoys. Loulan sent the prince ahead with 3,000 light cavalry to Kucha to seek justice. Kucha closed its gates at first and refused to respond, but then suddenly the gates opened, revealing hundreds of "Sand Tigers" inside.

The so-called "Sand Tiger" is a chariot that travels in the desert. It is extremely heavy, consumes a lot of purple gold, and has extremely complex craftsmanship.

Gu Yun had encountered this situation ten years ago when he was suppressing a rebellion in the Western Regions. At that time, the enemy had only three large Sand Tigers, which almost trapped half of his battalion of immature Black Cavalry. But as far as he knew, those three or two Sand Tigers were all the assets that the Western Regions countries had put together.

Gu Yun stood up suddenly, his brows furrowed tightly, his fingers unconsciously pinching the beads in his hand - this incident was so similar to the rebellion in the southwest, he lowered his voice and asked: "Is it a real Shahu, not an empty shell?"

Xuan Ying was very articulate and quickly replied, "General, it was a real Sand Tiger. It took less than a cup of tea to defeat the Loulan Light Cavalry. The little prince was almost killed in the battle, but was rescued by his soldiers at the risk of his life. On the same day, Loulan sent people to our garrison to ask for help, but before the wax seal was opened, the garrisons of all countries on the ancient Silk Road had received the news and were all in a state of panic. Other countries in the Western Regions, India, and foreigners all gathered their troops in their respective garrisons. Lord Meng of the Northwest Protectorate came to the camp in person and ordered us to wait for the 'drum beat order'."

Gu Yun slammed the table fiercely: "Ridiculous."

Xuan Ying thought he was referring to the drum-beating order, so he continued: "Our Xuan Ying's General He said the same thing. The Black Iron Camp is not under the control of the drum-beating order. But Meng Duhu said that the commander-in-chief is under house arrest by the emperor, and he has been ordered to reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors, and ordered my three departments to wait for the emperor's order--"