That was probably the most unforgettable pain in his life. Having said this, Gu Yun didn't want to continue. However, perhaps those words had been in his heart for many years, and he couldn't stop for a moment.

"Life in the northern border is really hard. The war had just ended, and there were wounded soldiers everywhere. Every day, the sand was yellow and the sun was setting. I couldn't even have a sip of hot tea in the princess's tent. How could it be as happy as being a young master in the capital? At first, I insisted on going back, but the old marquis refused. He was annoyed by my annoyance, so he dragged me to the ranks. Every day when the soldiers of the Black Iron Camp were training, I had to practice martial arts with them. If I was lazy, he would beat me in front of those iron giants."

The old marquis had calculated his son's temper. Although he was naughty and spoiled, he would never cry and embarrass himself in front of others even if he was not even as tall as someone's thigh.

Chang Geng leaned on him, resting his chin on Gu Yun's shoulder, and whispered in his ear: "If I were born twenty years earlier, I would have picked you up and stolen you away, and raised you well in a beautiful place."

Gu Yun imagined the scene and was speechless after hearing his embarrassing remarks. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

In fact, if you think about it carefully, many families with wealth and power have declined after three generations. A child like Gu Yun, who is an only child, would have become a naughty boy if he had been allowed to grow up lawless in the capital. It would take a father as cruel as the old marquis to punish him so cruelly and ensure that the Black Iron Camp would not be left without successors.

But no one expected that the price of success was so high.

"Wang Bo said that your personality changed after you came back from the Northern Frontier. You don't like to see people and ignore everyone." Chang Geng paused, took his hand and wrote, "Do you hate the late emperor?"

Gu Yun paused, and subconsciously wanted to touch the wine jug at his waist. As he stretched out his hand, he remembered that he had decided to quit drinking, and the wine jug was no longer with him.

Gu Yun pursed his lips: "No hate... pour me a cup of tea."

Chang Geng almost thought he had heard it wrong.

The siege of the capital had just been lifted, and Gu Yun was so injured that he couldn't even get up, but he still asked for wine without knowing the consequences. How come after going to the Western Regions and fighting a war, he knew how to take care of his health?

Although Chang Geng had always been quite critical of this drunkard, he was shocked when he saw him suddenly change his nature. He stood up and made a cup of spring tea for Gu Yun. He became suspicious again and quietly held his wrist. He only regretted that he was not good enough in his skills and could not make any name for himself.

Although he was unable to see or hear, Gu Yun still sensed his nervousness and reacted immediately, realizing that he had given himself away - Chang Geng was too sensitive. If a person always had a bad record, it would be better for him to just stay bad. The people around him would be used to it, but if he suddenly changed his character without any warning, people would be at a loss as to what to do.

So Gu Yun drank the tea as if nothing had happened and licked his lips: "I don't know where I left the wine pot. Do you still have the homemade wine that Mr. Shen sent last time?"

This sentence sounded more like Gu Yun's style. After all the fuss, he was just thirsty from talking. Chang Geng was slightly relieved and refused, "No more, just drink tea."

Gu Yun let out a half-truthful "tsk" and then something was pushed to his lips. A sticky, sweet smell of glutinous rice entered his nose. Gu Yun leaned back and said, "What is that? I don't want it... um..."

Chang Geng held it in his mouth and fed it to him.

Gu Yun frowned. He was born not fond of sweet things. He choked on Chang Geng and the snack, but he didn't spit it out. Just like the egg noodles with half an eggshell in them many years ago, he ate it whole, and tasted a little bitterness from the overly sweet bean paste.

He suddenly felt a little uneasy, thinking that Chang Geng's annoying energy was abnormal. Just now, he heard that his sudden tense and suspicious energy when he didn't drink was also abnormal.

Extreme sorrow or joy often cannot last long because they are too exhausting. They usually only last for a short while, after which they either turn into numbness and chaos, or the person themselves shifts their attention to dilute these emotions and instinctively protect themselves.

Gu Yun said sternly: "Chang Geng, give me the glass mirror."

"No," Chang Geng held him from the side in a manner similar to imprisonment, and asked relentlessly, "Why don't you hate?"

His last question was both eager and cold. His eagerness was to get an answer from him of "hate" or "no hate", as if he would take some action as long as Gu Yun admitted to "hate".

He was so indifferent that he seemed to have forgotten that the "late emperor" he was talking about was his biological father. He mentioned him casually, as casually as mentioning a cat or dog on the street.

Gu Yun's heart sank slightly. After a moment of silence, he asked, "What about you? Do you still hate Hu Geer now?"

Chang Geng didn't expect him to throw the words back, and blinked in surprise - if Gu Yun could see clearly at this time, he would find that his eyes were no longer red, but his pupils still had double vision.

Chang Geng replied in a high-sounding manner: "If she were still in front of me, I would peel off her skin and pull out her tendons, but she is already dead and has no place to be buried. Even if I want to dig her out and whip her corpse, it will be futile. No matter how much I hate her, there is no way to dispel it. On the contrary, it will do what she wants and accelerate the onset of the poison, right?"

This was definitely not his true words. No matter how big-hearted or deaf Gu Yun was, he could still tell.

Gu Yun was about to speak when he suddenly felt the person leaning on him tremble - it was the kind of shock that comes when one is concentrating and is suddenly interrupted.

A light breeze blew behind me, as if someone was knocking on the study door.

Gu Yun turned his head and asked, "Uncle Wang or Old Huo?"

The old butler at the door raised his voice and shouted, "My Lord, it's me. Someone from Lingshuyuan is here to see His Royal Highness Prince Yan!"

Chang Geng's double pupils suddenly shrank back, as if stimulated by the strong light. He subconsciously let go of Gu Yun, showing a little "don't touch without permission" reserve as usual. Halfway through the reserve, he remembered something and a blank look flashed across his face.

Gu Yun pretended not to notice: "Go and do what you need to do. I haven't had a proper meal in a few days. I went to find something to eat. You just stuffed me with something... It choked me and made me feel sick."

Chang Geng was stunned at first, then he slapped his forehead fiercely and rubbed his eyebrows in annoyance: "I... that... I really am..."

He stood up in a hurry and said, "I'll ask the kitchen to make you something easy to digest."

Wang Bo said hurriedly, "Yes, I will go right away."

Chang Geng walked to the door of the study in one breath, and then remembered something. He touched himself and took out Gu Yun's glass mirror from his arms. He returned it to him. The metal chain and frame were warmed by his hand. Chang Geng wiped the lens carefully and placed it on Gu Yun's nose. His eyes lingered on his face for a long time, and suddenly whispered: "Zi Xi, I feel like I'm dreaming."

Gu Yun had been tormented by his weird mumbling for the whole afternoon, and he was very angry when he heard this. He wanted to poke him and say, "Let me slap you and see if it hurts."

Who knew that before he could finish, Chang Geng paused for a moment, stood up straight, and said with a self-deprecating smile: "I have never had such a good dream in my life. It's good that I can't wake up."

Gu Yun: “…”

As soon as he was normal, Gu Yun immediately couldn't bear to criticize him. He felt that if he did it a few more times, he would have to start talking nonsense too. So he had no choice but to act calm and composed, waving his hand to tell him to get out.

In the early summer of the eighth year of Long'an, although Marshal Gu had been in bad luck, the national fortune of Daliang seemed to be slowly recovering after hitting rock bottom, just like after a long winter, tiny buds began to appear on the branches under the endless snow.

At the beginning of summer, Marquis Anding quickly put down the rebellion in the western vassal states and signed the "New Silk Road Treaty". The Black Iron Camp escorted the purple gold tribute from the Western Regions to the capital.

At this point, Daliang, which was surrounded by enemies on all sides, finally found a way out.

Just as Shen Yi and others arrived, good news came from Lingshuyuan.

Gu Yun's original large iron bow that had never been promoted in the army finally made a new breakthrough. Ge Chen, a rising star from a butcher family, was indeed a genius. He designed a new golden box that was extremely light and could be mounted on a bow and arrow and perfectly controlled by human power.

The weight of the bowstring of the iron bow, which originally required an extremely skilled master to pull it, has been reduced by more than half. The white rainbow iron arrow can be shot out effortlessly by human hands with extremely high accuracy. The iron arrow is heavy and not easily affected by strong winds. Once this batch of bows is produced on a large scale, the white rainbow will disappear from the Daliang army. The iron arrow can also be equipped with a lighter system. The special iron arrow can be accelerated twice in the air after being shot, and can even explode in the enemy camp, which is extremely powerful.

At the end of June, with the Black Iron Camp watching with eagerness and the domestic conflicts in the West gradually becoming prominent, the war situation in the north and the south stabilized briefly at the same time, and Daliang got a chance to breathe. Everyone in the court knew that the top priority at this time was to reassure the people, especially to settle the refugees who had fled to various places during the war.

But how to rest and settle down?

It is absolutely impossible to rearrange the land for these refugees. No great official is so noble as to give up his own land to others.

The Grand Council held several grand court meetings to gather all the ministers for discussion, but they never came up with anything. They only collected a bunch of bad ideas, such as organizing refugees to open up wasteland. Emperor Long'an was so angry that he accused the ministers of being idle in the court: "Why don't you say to round up the refugees and exile them to the East Sea to imitate Jingwei?"

Suddenly, Prince Yan of the Grand Council took the lead in remaining silent and did not express his opinion. The six ministries and local officials submitted memorials to the court, blaming each other and arguing in the court. At this time, Du Wanquan brought his thirteen wealthy businessmen from all over the world to write a letter to the court, claiming that they were willing to follow the example of Westerners, set up private factories in various places, and gather refugees from all directions to engage in production.

This would not require much land. The little land that Chang Geng had confiscated from corrupt officials who had arranged for refugees along the canal would be enough. They also planned to use the farming puppets of Jiangnan as a model, and recruit a group of folk long-arm masters to transform a series of civilian lighters.

With the issuance of the second batch of beacon tickets, an undercurrent of power gradually gathered in the court. When they were dormant, they seemed to have no faction at all. But now they began to push this matter secretly: they advised Emperor Long'an to give some special rights to these private businessmen who were the first to stand up and carry the beacon tickets. For example, they could directly write to the Grand Council and ask the emperor for special approval. Then, while ensuring military use, they would be allowed to purchase a certain amount of purple gold each year.

This memorial was originally submitted by the Ministry of Works. The Minister of Works, Meng Jue, was a poor scholar from a Hanlin Academy. He said in the memorial: This is a plan that kills three birds with one stone. It not only solves the riots of refugees in various places, but also shows that the court will not treat meritorious people unfairly. The silver earned from selling the purple gold at a high price to these wealthy businessmen can also be invested in military supplies and war preparations.

This stone caused a thousand ripples, and this time, someone from the aristocratic family with a keen sense of smell finally came to his senses.

Gu Yun, who had not attended court for a long time, had the honor to listen to the tense scene of the court meeting. He was stunned and felt that this place was more dangerous than the front line where there were open and covert attacks.

A letter from thirteen tycoons in the form of memorials in the imperial court suddenly intensified the accumulated contradictions between the aristocracy and the rising stars from the poor families. Those with brains had already discovered the secret deals between officials and businessmen, and those with a keener sense of smell had already realized that this emerging force would be irresistible in the future and would shake the foundations of the aristocracy, and a sense of crisis quietly arose.

In the court, the pro-business faction accused the aristocratic families of "forming cliques for personal gain, bringing harm to the country and the people" and "talking without any concern". What's worse, some people were furious and pointed at the other party's nose and cursed, "If you have an idea, why don't you let the refugees settle in your house?"

Several aristocratic families argued fiercely, "How can merchants be accepted in the halls of elegance?" and "How can the precious treasures of the Purple and Gold Kingdom fall into private hands?" In the end, they simply said, "I don't know how much bribes you have accepted to be in the same boat with these peddlers."

Then, a row of generals looked at each other in bewilderment as Marquis Anding remained silent, and all stood by and watched. Finally, the Grand Council came out and tried to smooth things over one by one.

Gu Yun looked up at Emperor Long An and felt that Li Feng was really old. He was only thirty years old, but his hair was already gray and his forehead was filled with anger. For a moment, Gu Yun suddenly thought: "If he had been nailed to death on the red-headed kite by a stray arrow when the city was about to fall, would it have been a good thing for him?"

Li Feng seemed to sense something and just happened to look up and meet Gu Yun's gaze.

After the court was dismissed that day, Gu Yun was left in the palace. The two had a falling out before the war, and had been fighting non-stop since then, with almost no chance to spend time together in private. This time, they were chatting about old things in the place where they grew up together, and it felt like a lifetime ago. Li Feng kept Gu Yun on impulse, but when they really walked in the imperial garden together, they found that they had nothing to say to each other, which was really awkward.

Just then, the prince passed by after coming home from school and came over to greet and pay his respects.

Li Feng was not very obsessed with the harem, and he did not have many children. The prince was just eight years old and had not started to grow yet. He was a child. When he saw Li Feng, he was a little reserved. He went forward to greet him politely and said, "Father."

Then he looked at Gu Yun cautiously, wanting to talk to him, but he didn't know who this person was.

Gu Yun smiled at him and said, "Your Highness, I, Gu Yun, pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

The prince was surprised. Little boys love to hear stories about great heroes. Seeing a real hero, he was very excited, but he had to maintain his dignity in front of his father. His face turned red and he stammered, "General Gu! No... that... Imperial uncle, no, no need to be so polite. I... I have also learned Imperial uncle's calligraphy."

Gu Yun looked a little strange: "...Your Highness is too polite."

The three words "Royal Uncle" hit him so hard that he felt like he had grown a two-foot-long beard.

That day, Li Feng dismissed everyone and only left the prince with him. No one knew what he talked about with Gu Yun. The palace servants only knew that the little prince seemed to get along very well with Marquis Anding. He kept pestering him and refused to leave. In the end, he fell asleep on Gu Yun's shoulder and was sent back to the East Palace by Marquis Anding himself.

Before leaving, Emperor Long An specifically told Gu Yun to come to the palace often if he had time and give the crown prince some pointers.

Previously, the emperor and Marquis Anding had a falling out, and the military and political separation seemed to be just a ripple that was deliberately forgotten.

At this time, Jiang Chong hurried over to the private room of Wangnan Tower, took out a secret letter from his sleeve and handed it to Chang Geng: "Your Highness, please take a look at this. Our foundation in the court is not stable yet, so we may be a little too hasty this time."

It was a copy of a memorial. Jiang Chong lowered his voice and said, "It leaked from the palace. After the court session ended, several major families jointly submitted the memorial to the emperor through Uncle Wang Guo. I'm afraid this was planned for a long time."

Chang Geng took it without changing his expression: "Uncle Wang Guo? Did he clean up his own mess? There have been many wars during this period, and General Tan died in the capital. Do you think no one will hold him accountable?"

Jiang Chong lowered his voice even more: "Your Highness, Uncle Wang Guo is from the Empress Dowager's mother's family. As long as he doesn't rebel, the Emperor won't touch him... Besides, who dares to mention that incident? If Uncle Wang Guo is brought down on this ground, won't the late Emperor be known as a tyrant who was deceived by villains and witches and murdered loyal officials? A son should not blame his father. The Emperor can't punish Wang Guo for this incident."

Chang Geng had a blank expression on his face as he quickly scanned the rubbing and suddenly exclaimed "Huh?"

Jiang Chong: "What?"

Chang Geng: "This thing doesn't look like something that Wang Guo, a good-for-nothing, would have come up with. Whose work is this?"

Jiang Chong: "Oh, it turns out that this person has a close relationship with the prince. Didn't the Fang family intend to marry the prince? The man behind this is Miss Fang's uncle, the current Minister of Revenue Fang Qin. He was the number one scholar selected by the previous emperor in the 18th year of Yuanhe. He was the only person in the previous dynasty to have won three consecutive first prizes. He has been famous for his talent since he was a child."

Since Fang Qin took over the Ministry of Revenue, he has managed the affairs in an orderly manner, and has cooperated well with the Military Affairs Office, never dragging his feet, and can be said to be a capable official. Unfortunately, his butt determines his head. He was born in the Fang family and represents the Fang family, so he is destined to be a stumbling block to a talented and famous person.

"The master has been sitting here for half the court, and he is the most popular person." Chang Geng knocked on the table gently, "The swallows that used to fly around the mansions of the wealthy and the rich should now fly back to the homes of ordinary people."

Jiang Chong heard the murderous intent in his words and his heart skipped a beat.