Because of a Western envoy, the morning court was so noisy that everyone was confused. After the court was adjourned, Chang Geng ignored the large group of people who wanted to test his opinion with their own ulterior motives, and helped the elderly Feng Han Gong out of the palace.

People in the capital were in a panic and there was a shortage of carriages and horses. Usually, Gu Yun would ask Huo Dan to wait for him outside the palace with a horse, but on this day, Huo Dan was delayed by something and was nowhere to be seen for a while.

Chang Geng didn't take it seriously at first, and walked back slowly side by side with the old dean of Lingshu Hospital.

Mr. Fenghan lived in Lingshu Courtyard all day long. The circles under his eyes had become sunken, and he looked like a radish that had been drained of water. Only a pair of gleaming eyes remained, which looked particularly harsh.

"It's hard for Your Highness to have the patience to accompany old folks like us with weak legs and feet," Lord Fenghan sighed, "Are there any news about the reinforcements? When will they arrive?"

Chang Geng: "The chaos in the four borders has hindered the five major military regions. You know what the local garrisons are like. In recent years, the military expenditures and purple gold quotas of various states have been reduced again and again. Basically, they can't afford a few heavy armors. They are all light furs. Light furs are fast to march and easy to mobilize, but they are also very easy to be blocked. Once the enemy sets up heavy armor or chariots along the way to intercept, if the commander is not experienced enough, it is easy to trap the team in the enemy's encirclement - the foreigners don't even need to send many people."

"Your Highness really makes me feel ashamed. Lingshuyuan has not produced anything decent for several years," Zhang Fenghan shook his head in self-mockery. "I am a useless old man who is just sitting there doing nothing. I originally thought that I would retire to the emperor after the New Year, but I didn't expect that the country would be in trouble. I'm afraid I won't have a good end."

Chang Geng said in a gentle voice: "Mr. Feng Han's contribution will last for thousands of years, so don't underestimate yourself."

"Qianqiu... Will there still be Daliang after Qianqiu?" Zhang Fenghan pursed his lips. "I thought that after entering Lingshuyuan, I could turn a deaf ear to the outside world, deal with lighters and steel armor for the rest of my life, and concentrate on doing my own work. But it turns out that this world is bustling with people, and even if gentlemen and villains go their own ways, they will always bump into each other. The more you don't want to get involved in anything, the more you want to do something outstanding, the less you can accomplish anything - even if you just want to be a low-class person with a lot of mobile phone oil."

Chang Geng knew that Mr. Feng Han was just expressing his feelings and didn't want to hear his answer, so he smiled and said nothing.

The situation in Daliang today was certainly caused by two generations of accumulated conflicts between imperial power and military power, but it was not the most fundamental reason. The chronic illness and the fact that the national treasury was becoming increasingly dwindling had already doomed it to a dismal ending.

Zhang Fenghan: "The no-fly net in Qiyuan Tower is being adjusted every day. Those foreigners now only dare to use military vehicles, and the large number of eagle armors dare not go up, but the strength of the secret piles is always limited. I heard that the foreigners use strings to pull wooden kites outside the city every day to 'fly kites'. I am afraid that in a few days, the iron arrows stored in the secret piles will be difficult to sustain. What should we do then? Does General Gu have a plan?"

There are less than 100 Black Eagles left in Beidaying, including those with missing limbs. Once the no-fly network fails, the city will probably be broken.

Chang Geng: "Yes, he knows and is trying to find a solution."

Zhang Fenghan, who was full of worries, didn't know whether to laugh or cry after hearing this. He didn't know whether to say that the King of Yanbei was a "hero in youth" or that he was a fool. It seemed that even if the sky fell in front of him, the young prince would just say "I know" as if it was none of his business.

Zhang Fenghan deliberately lowered his voice and said, "Commander Han of the Imperial Guards was missing from the court today. Did your Highness see that? There are rumors in the court that the Emperor, while blaming the Western envoys, is actually planning to move the capital."

Chang Geng smiled, his face not surprised: "Your Majesty won't do that. We are not desperate yet. I saw the Lingshuyuan car. I'll help you get in... Um, is Huo Bo here?"

Huo Dan walked hurriedly, his face full of anxiety, and came to Chang Geng: "I am late today, please forgive me, Your Majesty."

"No problem," Chang Geng waved his hand, "What delayed Huo Bo today?"

"..." Huo Dan carefully glanced at his expression, "The Marquis was injured by a Westerner's arrow last night. I just heard about it early this morning. He just passed away... Hey, Prince!"

As Huo Dan and Zhang Fenghan stared in amazement, Chang Geng, who had been strolling just now, suddenly changed his expression, turned over, jumped onto the horse's back, and disappeared like a gust of wind.

The smell of gunpowder in front of the Nine Gates Formation had not yet dissipated. The Western army withdrew at dawn, and Gu Yun was able to take a moment to breathe.

There was a dent in the black iron shoulder armor, and the arrowhead had been pulled out. Two military doctors surrounded Gu Yun, holding pliers and scissors, and carefully pried down his deformed shoulder armor. The clothes and flesh inside had already mixed into a ball.

Chang Geng rushed in, his eyes fell on Gu Yun for a moment, and he couldn't help but look away, his expression was even uglier than the injured man.

"Hiss..." Gu Yun took a breath, "Can you two please be quick? How about the embroidery?"

Chang Geng did not answer. He took a deep breath and stepped forward, waving away the two military doctors. He bent down and carefully observed the armor that could not be broken off Gu Yun's body. He took out a small iron pliers as long as a finger from his bosom, hugged Gu Yun's shoulder tightly, and cut from the other side. His hands were very fast, and the sharp little pliers cut a hole in the deformed shoulder armor like cutting through mud. Blood immediately stuck to his hand.

Chang Geng's cheeks tensed up, and he was a little breathless for a moment. He whispered, "Why didn't you tell me you were injured like this?"

Gu Yun, who was still grinning just now, suppressed his pain and said through gritted teeth: "It's a small matter - what did the Western envoy say at the court meeting?"

"What can I say? He made a lot of nonsense in the Golden Palace," Chang Geng moved his unsteady fingers and peeled off the broken pieces of armor that were stuck to Gu Yun's body with blood, "He said that we should stop the 'persecution and plunder' of the countries in the Western Regions, give up the territory outside Jiayuguan to become the International Trade Zone, and the laws in the trade zone should follow their domestic rule of law, and..."

The deformed shoulder armor was completely peeled off. Chang Geng stared at Gu Yun's wound and took a deep breath. He stood up straight with difficulty and took a break.

"And...what else?" Gu Yun shuddered, sweat pouring down his face. "Doctor, why are you still fainting at the sight of blood?"

Chang Geng's entire body was as tense as an iron bar: "I'm faint from your blood."

He snatched Gu Yun's wine jug and took two fierce gulps. He felt dizzy and wanted to vomit. After forcing himself to breathe for a while, Chang Geng picked up the scissors on the side and cut open the clothes so that the underlying color could not be seen.

"In addition, the thirty-six counties in the northern border and all the areas north of the line from Xijing to Youzhou in Zhili will be assigned to the eighteen tribes, and the capital of Daliang will be moved to the eastern capital of the Central Plains. In addition, Princess Hening will be sent to the eighteen tribes as a hostage. From now on, we will pay tribute to the eighteen tribes every year..."

He Ning is Li Feng's only daughter and is only seven years old.

Gu Yun angrily said: "Bullshit!"

As he struggled, blood gushed out. Chang Geng could no longer bear it and yelled, "Don't move!"

The two of them were silent for a moment. Gu Yun's expression was uncertain. After a while, he said, "...Go on."

"In addition, they also forced Li Feng to order Shen Yi to withdraw the Nanjiang garrison occupying the Nanyang Islands, divide the East China Sea Canal into two parts, and have the Jiangnan Navy retreat to Hanoi. The area outside the river and the East China Sea will be assigned to the Western Far East District." Chang Geng's eyes were gloomy, but his hands were very gentle in wiping his wounds. After a pause, he added, "There is also compensation..."

Gu Yun tensed his muscles silently.

"During the morning court session, Li Feng wanted to execute the envoy, but was persuaded by the ministers to stop." Chang Geng held Gu Yun's uninjured shoulder, "I want to clean the wound, godfather, can I temporarily seal your senses?"

Gu Yun shook his head.

Chang Geng advised kindly: "I only use a little medicine. You are highly resistant to it and won't be able to sleep for long. If there is any change in the outer city, I will guard it for you..."

"Wash it then," Gu Yun interrupted him, "Stop talking nonsense."

Chang Geng glanced at him and realized that it was useless to reason with this man.

At this moment, Tan Hongfei came running over and said, "Marshal..."

As soon as Gu Yun turned around, he smelled a strange fragrance. He took a sip without any precautions and his whole body softened instantly.

The wise and brave Marquis Anding never expected that His Royal Highness the Prince would know such a low-level underworld trick as "the world up his sleeve", and even use it on himself!

Gu Yun: "You..."

Chang Geng didn't even blink as he quickly inserted the needle into his acupuncture points, and then caught Gu Yun's unconscious body.

Tan Hongfei, who watched his commander being knocked down, stood at the door in a daze, staring at His Royal Highness the Prince: "..."

Chang Geng calmly gestured to him to keep quiet, picked up Gu Yun and laid him flat, then began to clean his wounds carefully.

Tan Hongfei was dumbfounded: "This... that..."

Chang Geng: "It's okay, let him sleep for a while, so he won't suffer any more."

Tan Hongfei blinked - a long time ago, he always thought that His Royal Highness the King of Yanbei was like a kind and amiable scholar. Later, he found that he was capable of strategy and calculation, and he admired him very much and wanted to get close to him... It was not until this moment that Commander Tan felt a burning respect for him.

Tan Hongfei subconsciously reached out and touched his face - the scar on his face from being beaten by Gu Yun had not yet healed - and thought to himself: "The prince is too bold."

Chang Geng: "By the way, what's the matter?"

Tan Hongfei finally came to his senses and said hurriedly, "Your Highness, the Emperor is here, and the carriage is right behind you, look..."

As they were talking, Li Feng, looking haggard, came in casual clothes, with only Zhu Xiaojiao by his side.

Li Feng looked down at the unconscious Gu Yun, then reached out and touched his forehead: "Is the emperor's uncle okay?"

"It's just a flesh wound." Chang Geng bandaged the wound, put a thin silk robe on Gu Yun, and packed up his silver needles: "It's just that I used some anesthetic on him, so he won't wake up for a while, don't be offended, brother."

After Chang Geng finished speaking, he stood up, picked up Gu Yun's Wind Cutting Blade, and walked out without even putting on his armor.

Li Feng asked hurriedly: "What's the matter?"

"I will guard the city for my adoptive father for a while," Chang Geng said. "Although the envoy is in Beijing, I'm afraid it's a maze set up by Westerners. They might attack the city when we let our guard down. We better be cautious."

Li Feng stood there for a moment in a daze, then suddenly grabbed a sword and followed him out. Zhu Xiaojiao was shocked: "Your Majesty!"

Li Feng ignored him and climbed up the city wall.

With the help of his clairvoyance, Emperor Long An saw the camp of the Western Army not far away. The fertile land outside the capital was now in ruins. The Nine Gates of the capital, which used to be bustling with cars and horses, was now deserted. A corner of the collapsed city wall was held up tightly by the scrapped black iron armor, and it was shaky and stubborn.

The ordinary soldiers of the Beidaying Camp all knew Chang Geng and came forward to greet him, but they did not know Li Feng. They just saw that he was well-dressed and had an extraordinary demeanor, so they thought he was a civil servant and addressed him vaguely as "Sir".

The two brothers of the Li family, who looked close but were actually at odds with each other, stood side by side on the city wall. They had no similarities in appearance or body shape, and their relationship was so thin that it seemed like a piece of window paper that could be pierced by a finger.

Li Feng suddenly said to Chang Geng: "Han Qi should be back this afternoon. Tell the emperor's uncle to find someone he can trust to pick him up when the time comes."

Chang Geng didn't ask, and didn't seem curious at all, he just replied casually, "Yes."

Li Feng: "Don't you want to ask me where I asked Han Qi to go?"

Chang Geng lowered his eyes slightly, looking at the stone bricks of the city wall. After a moment of silence, he said, "I have been dispatching the Ministry of Revenue's purple gold and military supplies recently, and I found that there are some doubts about the flow of purple gold from the court in the past few years... But maybe my brother has his own arrangements."

As soon as Emperor Long An heard this, he knew that Chang Geng had already discovered the little bit of purple gold that he had secretly kept.

Li Feng said awkwardly, "Well, there is a secret passage inside Desheng Gate leading to Jinghua Garden. I asked Han Qi to lead the troops out of the city from here and open the private vault of Jinghua Garden. Inside is... ahem, 160,000 kilograms of purple gold that I have not yet distributed - don't make it public. The people in the court are unstable right now. If they knew about the secret passage, I'm afraid some people would be uneasy."

Chang Geng nodded, not really surprised - Li Feng was taking out all his family fortune.

Emperor Long'an, who was so stubborn and self-righteous, would never surrender to anyone and humiliate his country. He would rather die under the Nine Gates.

Once he fell silent, there was nothing much to talk about between the two of them - in fact, it had always been like this. Apart from the government affairs of the court and the polite nonsense when paying respects, there was really nothing much to talk about between the Li brothers.

Li Feng: "How old were you when you met the emperor's uncle?"

Chang Geng: "... twelve years old."

Li Feng hummed and said, "He has no family yet and has been leading troops in the northwest for a long time. I guess he won't be able to take care of you, right?"

Chang Geng's eyes wavered slightly: "No, he is very caring."

Li Feng narrowed his eyes and looked at the dim sky, remembering that he had grown up with Gu Yun. When he was a child, he sometimes envied that his father treated Gu Yun better and more gently, but most of the time he felt that although this little uncle didn't play with them much, he was a very good person.

He once thought that this youthful friendship would last a lifetime.

But in just over a decade, the situation has become like this.

"Amin," Li Feng said, "If the city is breached, I will pass the throne to you. You take the harem and officials through the secret passage and move the capital to Luoyang... and then take your time. There will always be a day when we can make a comeback."

Chang Geng finally looked at him.

"If that day really comes," Li Feng continued, looking into the distance with a level gaze, "you don't have to remain the crown prince. Just give your nephews a place to stay."

Chang Geng did not respond. After a moment, he said indifferently, "My Royal Brother, you are too serious. It's not that serious."

Li Feng looked at his younger brother and vaguely remembered the words he had heard from their mother when he was a child.

She said that the women from the northern barbarians were all monsters, who were very good at playing with poisons and bewitching people, and that the children they gave birth to in the future would be monsters that would taint the royal bloodline of Daliang.

Later, Marquis Anding brought the fourth prince, who had been living among the people for many years, back to the palace. For the late emperor's last wish and his own reputation for benevolence, Li Feng kept him. He was just an extra salary for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and usually he didn't see him, so he wasn't bothered.

It was not until this moment that Emperor Long An realized that he could not see through this young man.

He remained calm in the face of national crisis and powerful enemies, and even the emperor could not move his heart. The clothes he wore looked like they were from last year, and he refused to change them even though the cuffs were worn thin.

He is even more elusive than Master Liaochi of the Huguo Temple. He loves nothing, as if nothing in the world can move him.

Li Feng opened his mouth. At this moment, Zhu Xiaojiao whispered to him, "Your Majesty, it's time to return to the palace."

Li Feng came back to his senses, handed his sword to the soldier beside him, patted Chang Geng on the shoulder silently, glanced at the young man's tall back, turned around and left.

After Li Feng left, a dusty monk went up to the city wall - it was Liaoran.

All the monks of the Huguo Temple had retreated into the city. He followed the abbot, chanting sutras and praying for national prosperity during the day, and secretly using informants to investigate the people around Li Feng at night.

Chang Geng glanced at him.

Le Ran shook his head and gestured, "I checked and found that the people around the emperor have clean records. None of them had close contact with the Eighteen Witches and their subordinates."

Chang Geng: "The Emperor is suspicious by nature. He is not someone who cannot keep secrets. We have repeatedly leaked secrets. The culprit must be his confidant. Have you investigated Eunuch Zhu?"

Liaoran shook his head solemnly - I've checked, no problem.

Chang Geng frowned slightly.

At this time, Gu Yun, who was knocked down by Chang Geng with needles and medicine, finally woke up. He slept so hard that he almost didn't know what day it was. It was not until he felt a dull pain in the wound on his shoulder that he belatedly remembered what had happened.

Gu Yun got up, put on his clothes, and prepared to go find Chang Geng to settle the score.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he came out, he heard a loud noise in the distance, and the whole capital city shook. Gu Yun held onto the city wall and thought, "Earthquake?"

Chang Geng on the city wall suddenly turned his head, a sinister look flashed across his brows - he always thought that the traitor in the imperial city was a palace servant around Li Feng, but Li Feng was cautious and suspicious, so how could he reveal the matter of Jinghua Garden to the servants around him?

Gu Yun: "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Chang Geng walked down quickly, "Li Feng just came and said that he asked Han Qi to go to Jinghua Garden through the secret passage to transport the purple gold... Is that the direction of the western suburbs?"

Gu Yun woke up with a start.

On the ninth day of May, the secret of Jinghua Garden was revealed. It turned out that the Westerners' peace talks were a cover. However, they did not take the opportunity to attack the city. Instead, they sent troops to detour to the west of Beijing and killed Han Qi on the way.

After Han Qi's dying struggle, he was finally defeated. He made a prompt decision and set one hundred thousand purple gold coins on fire, which directly blew up the entrance to the secret passage, destroying everything.

The fire engulfed the entire western suburbs like a prairie fire. The inexhaustible purple gold seemed to be a calamity brought from underground, burning the imperial guards escorting the purple gold, the unsuspecting Westerners, and even the beautiful landscapes, pavilions, and towers of Jinghua Garden. The special purple air illuminated half the sky like an auspicious omen, as if a stroke of rich and colorful light was flying down from the horizon.

The heart of the earth is burning and the entire capital is shaking.

The heat flow stretched for dozens of miles, slowly flowing from the western suburbs into the rock-solid Nine Gates. The early summer in the capital, which was still considered cool, suddenly became as hot as the furnace of southern Xinjiang.

The originally light and difficult to distinguish scent of purple gold diffused against the east wind, and everyone finally tasted that special taste - it was an indescribable fragrance.

It seems like the pine resin is mixed with a little bit of grass and wood scent.

All the remaining heavy armors were mobilized by Gu Yun, and the white rainbow strings were tightened.

As he expected, the Western army also moved at this time.

Gu Yun didn't know how many Western troops were killed in the fire, nor did he know how long the Pope could hold out under such severe losses. After besieging the city for many days, both sides had reached their limits.

Just after the hour of Wei, the first wave of frenzied attacks arrived. Heavy armor and chariots moved alternately, artillery fire and white rainbows rose and fell, and there was almost no gap in the fierce artillery fire from both sides.