Half an hour later, Shen Yi said that he had something to do in the evening and had to go to Beidaying, so he would not eat at home. Old Master Shen was left alone, an old playboy. He spent the whole day chanting sutras and walking his birds. He knew nothing about the court or the harem, and it was inconvenient for him to invite his brother's orphan and widow to have dinner with him, so the Third Lady and her son said goodbye and left.

Just as the mother and son reached the door, they heard the gate god-like mynah bird of the Shen Mansion speak again. The flat-haired immortal watched the sedan chair of the Third Madam and flapped his wings with his teeth and claws, saying, "A bitch is walking a scoundrel, a scabby dog."

Shen Hui's face turned dark on the spot. Shen Yi, who was pinching his nose to see the guest off, lowered his head and rubbed his nose, hiding a slight smile at the corner of his mouth.

He originally thought that the bird's mouth was dirty and annoying, and he should pluck its feathers and stew it someday. However, he did not expect that it could actually charge into battle when facing foreign enemies. He was immediately relieved and decided to get some good rice to soak in wine for the old bird someday.

However, Shen Yi still explained on the surface: "This beast hangs at the door all day long, making fun of everyone who sees it. He has learned vulgar language from the market. Cousin, don't bother with the beast."

Shen Hui was a prodigal son drained of his wealth by alcohol and sex. He didn't dare to show off in front of the Southwest Admiral, so he could only smile as if he had a toothache and flee.

Shen Yi watched the mother and son walk away, his face darkened. He stood at the door for a moment, reached out and touched the tail of the starling, and said to himself: "I have heard of poor families selling their children because they can't afford to eat, but have you ever seen someone running to the general's mansion to buy a general?"

The starling didn't distinguish friend from foe, turned around and bit him, and spat, "Bah, you stupid bastard! You're blackmailing me so badly that I can't even get a stitch on my pants!"

Shen Yi: “…”

It’s better to stew it.

He laughed at himself and walked back. He saw Mr. Shen, dressed like an immortal, holding a cane and waving at him from afar: "Ji Ping, come here. I have something to say to you."

Shen Yi was embarrassed to get angry just now, but now he strode over and said to Old Master Shen, "The Lu family is a family of imperial concubines. I can't afford to marry her. If you want to marry her, you can do it yourself - don't talk about the favor of your third uncle. Even if you want to repay the favor, you can't just ask someone to marry you directly."

Mr. Shen was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "You've been hated by dogs since you were a kitten. Your father never expected that one day you would be able to be sold at a good price. I'm really proud of you."

"..." Shen Yi choked for a moment and said angrily, "You old man don't know anything, just go and walk your bird and mind your own business!"

"Although I am so old that I can hardly breathe, I still know a little bit about what is happening outside," said Mr. Shen indifferently. "Since Emperor Wu, our dynasty has been particularly wary of private transactions between civil and military officials. I have heard of generals with military power marrying princesses, but it is rare for them to marry girls from famous families. Not to mention you, even General Gu...didn't he just get engaged and his bride died before he could get married?"

The old man spoke like he was singing an opera, with long drawls, which made Shen Yi's eyelids twitch. He always felt that there was a lot of connotation in his long-winded tone.

Old Master Shen ignored him, shaking his head and sighing, "Ever since the siege of the capital, the emperor was forced to return the Black Iron Tiger Talisman and General Gu. In today's world, there are some people who increasingly look down on the emperor."

Why is Gu Yun involved?

Shen Yi was stunned for a long while. After thinking about it carefully for a long time, he finally figured out something - since the siege of the city by the westerners, Li Feng was first forced to hand over the military power to Gu Yun, and then the foreigners burned down Jinghua Garden in the west of Beijing and the purple gold that had been privately collected by the royal family for generations... Even now, the dilemma of the four borders has not been resolved, and Emperor Long'an's powerlessness is seeping out bit by bit. Li Feng himself must know this, otherwise, with his bad temper, how could he take the initiative to repair the awkward relationship with Gu Yun?

Old Master Shen pretended to be mysterious and muttered, "I looked at the stars yesterday and saw Greedy Wolf snatching the light of Ziwei. The stardust in all directions dimmed. People's hearts were as panicked as weeds, and the deer had already descended on the Central Plains. I'm afraid that the chaotic world is about to begin..."

Shen Yi: "Dad, wasn't it cloudy last night?"

"You ignorant boy," said Mr. Shen, not even looking at him. "Let me ask you, what is the name of the commander of the Imperial Guards now?"

Shen Yi was stunned for a moment - there were so many masters in the Imperial Guards. However, according to convention, although they also had seniority and family background, the highest commander was usually a person transferred from the Beidaying and had military merits.

However, when the capital was besieged this time, more than half of the elites of the Imperial Guards and the former commander Han Qi died in the west of the capital, and their "mother's home" Beidaying was almost wiped out. The guards of the capital suffered heavy losses, which was really a talent shortage. Most of the remaining members of the Imperial Guards were young masters who were left behind to make up the numbers at the foot of the imperial city, and after this battle, these young masters were considered to have military merits and their positions rose accordingly. For the first time, the supreme commander had not been tempered in Beidaying - he was a lieutenant general under Han Qi, named Liu Chongshan, the younger brother of Lu Changchang's wife.

Shen Yi pondered for a long time before he finally figured out the complicated relationship. He felt cold in his heart, took two quick steps, and said to Old Man Shen in a low voice, "Dad, the old ones are the wisest. How about you give me some advice? The Lu family did this right after General Gu and King Yan left. What was they thinking?"

Old Master Shen tapped the ground with his rosewood cane and groaned, "I only know how to walk my bird. I don't know anything else. Aren't you already strong enough? What do you need my advice for?"

Shen Yi was bullied by Gu Yun every day, and he had already developed a manly character that could bend and stretch. He pretended not to hear the sarcastic remarks. He frowned for a moment, lowered his voice and asked: "Could it be that a mere minister dares to..."

"Little Minister?" Old Master Shen looked up and glanced at him, sneering, "Great General, the Fang family is the chief minister, and the Lu family has many relatives. It would be easy for me to kill a country bumpkin like you who leads troops in a remote place. Do you believe it?"

Shen Yi: "I don't believe it. There have been so many incompetent emperors since ancient times, but I have never seen anyone who wanted to rebel all day long - this is against the moral code..."

"Moral principles? Prince Yan has gone south, the Lu family must be in big trouble. If they continue to break moral principles, the whole family will be executed! Is the present emperor a fool? Are you willing to be bullied and oppressed by others?" Old Master Shen said, and hit Shen Yi's left leg hard with his crutch, "Go this way, it's a dead end!"

Shen Yi instinctively leaned to the right to avoid it. Old Master Shen swung his crutch again and slashed his right leg firmly from the other side: "Go this way. If you dare to think and do, you can find a glimmer of hope and become a high-ranking official. Which leg do you want to step with?"

Shen Yi frowned fiercely: "They want to use King Yan..."

This thought was somewhat frightening, as the Imperial Guards had always been the Emperor's confidants. If they rebelled, without any precautions, the Beidaying, which had to be summoned to the capital, would not be able to rescue them in time.

And once Prince Yan compromises and is really pushed to the throne by them unexpectedly, what will happen to Gu Yun?

Would he indulge these people who stole the country because of his personal feelings? According to Shen Yi's understanding of him, Gu Yun would definitely not do that.

However, foreign enemies were eyeing them covetously, and half of the country had been lost. If Li Feng died, would Gu Yun mobilize troops against Prince Yan at this critical juncture and return power to the eight-year-old prince?

Shen Yi found that he didn't dare to make this guarantee.

…But no matter what choice Gu Yun made, in this way, no matter whether it was the love between father and son, friendship between friends, or the love between children that was difficult to tell others, it would probably come to an end.

Shen Yi's mind raced... No, if he could think of it, could it be that King Yan couldn't think of it? As long as he really valued Gu Yun so much, King Yan would never...

Old Master Shen interrupted him and said, "Well, you write a letter, come up with a reasonable and safe reason, and go to the Lu family in person to postpone this marriage."

Shen Yi was stunned and said, "Just push it off, why delay it? Besides, it's not like I'm breaking off the engagement, why would I come here in person?"

Old Master Shen looked at him deeply, snorted, and ignored Shen Yi.

After a moment, the astonishment on Shen Yi's face faded a little, and shock appeared on his face - his father's intention was to let him have the best of both worlds and not offend the Lu family at this critical juncture!

Shen Yi couldn't help but raise his voice: "Dad, except for fighting the enemy on the border battlefield, I have never done such a double-faced thing to others. If I want to marry a girl, I will go out and find someone to propose marriage and betrothal. If I don't want to marry, I will refuse. I don't need to be hypocritical in this matter. What kind of person would I be? Do you really think a group of rabble can take down the King of Yan?"

Old Master Shen stopped and said to Shen Yi with his back to him, "Since Prince Yan came to the court and took charge of the Military Affairs Office, he first relieved the shortage of the national treasury, then escorted military supplies, and single-handedly pushed the Black Iron Camp to its lair in the Western Regions, pacifying the four directions and resisting the barbarians. What a great achievement - do you know what he thinks?"

Shen Yi angrily said, "King Yan has never formed a clique for personal gain or harbored ambitions. He just wants to restore peace to the world and then return...return...to retirement. He is so young, is it easy for him to devote himself to the country? And you, a bunch of old fools who speculate on things, are following him. You are simply...simply unreasonable!"

"Stepping on your tail?" Old Master Shen sneered. "With the achievements that Prince Yan has made today, does he still need to form a party? There are plenty of people willing to follow him! Do you know what 'three people make a tiger' means? The first person is a new noble in the court who rose to power through beacon tickets and the new policy of official administration. The second person really wants to pacify the country and do something for the country and the people - and there is a third person. The 'third person' is the people he has offended. The first two people wish he could wear a yellow robe, and the latter wish to roast him on the fire. These 'three people' are the same in essence! The first two people are willing to push him to power, and the latter are willing to fan the flames and see his conspiracy exposed and charged with treason! Apart from the crime of treason, who can touch the prince?"

Shen Yi moved his lips but couldn't speak.

Old Master Shen: "Do you know what 'being forced to take action' means? Do you know what 'a tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind' means? People's hearts are like water, and waves can arise from a flat ground. With those three people who have become tigers, do you think that in the future - in the future, will the emperor allow him to retire after achieving success? Who is so confused!"

Shen Yi felt as if he had fallen into ice and stood there for a moment. Finally, his face turned pale and he turned around and walked away without saying a word.

Mr. Shen shouted: "Where are you going!"

Without even turning his head, Shen Yi said, "Do what you have to do! Go walk your bird!"

All over Beijing, there are people who can’t sleep.

At this time, Gu Yun and others had just arrived at the Jiangbei front in secret. They had been speeding all the way and were very happy. However, as the saying goes, a journey of a hundred miles begins with a single step. When they were about to land, something went wrong - they arrived at an inopportune time and encountered a terrible thunderstorm. In order to balance speed and fuel consumption, this aerial chariot could not be too heavy. When the sky was cloudless, it could travel a thousand miles a day and was very majestic. However, when it encountered wind and rain, it was completely defeated and became a bald quail.

The entire eagle was blown to and fro by the howling wind from high in the sky. The others could still bear it, but Ge Chen, the crucial old spiritual pivot, fell down first, too dizzy to even get up. King Yan originally wanted to use acupuncture to temporarily relieve his symptoms, but as soon as the needle was inserted, the eagle suddenly tilted. If Gu Yun had not been quick to grab Ge Chen's collar, he would have almost hit the foot of the bed - the needle that had just entered the acupuncture point was wedged directly into it.

Under the guidance of the dying Ge Lingshu, a group of personal soldiers had to change the established direction and bypass the rainy area, wandering around in a daze.

Gu Yun's clairvoyance was obscured by the heavy rain, so he could not see anything clearly. He could only rely on his senses and commanded: "Go down a little, go down a little!"

Another thunderbolt struck down, almost brushing past the eagle. The eagle trembled in the strong wind, and let out a dying scream, and rolled to one side. Gu Yun stumbled and fell into Chang Geng's arms. Chang Geng took the opportunity to hug him, holding the railing of the eagle with one hand and hugging Gu Yun tightly with the other hand. His face was wet with the rain from the south of the Yangtze River.

Xu Ling clung to a mast nearby. He never wanted to fly again in his life. He asked tremblingly, "My Lord, can we still live to investigate those corrupt officials?"

"It's okay," Gu Yun smiled nonchalantly, "Don't worry, Master Xu. Everyone has fallen off the Black Eagle a few times. Don't panic. I'm here. I guarantee that no one will die from the fall."

Xu Ling: “…”

In the bitter wind and rain, the personal soldiers shouted: "Forward! Marshal, we can see land!"

Xu Ling took a deep breath, and before he could even chant Amitabha, he heard another guard shout, "Marshal, Ge Lingshu said there might be a problem on the right wing. We're turning at too big an angle!"

Gu Yun: "What..."

Before he uttered the word "me", he felt a warmth on the side of his neck. It turned out that Chang Geng secretly licked Gu Yun's neck while everyone was fighting with the big eagle at the top of their lungs and had no time to pay attention to him.

Amidst the noise, Chang Geng whispered in his ear: "It would be nice to die for love like this, right?"

Gu Yun: “…”

Prince Yan was calm even when faced with a crisis. In this situation, he was still in the mood to do such a thing. Gu Yun was impressed by him and suddenly felt that what Lord Fenghan said made sense - was His Highness born without knowing what anxiety was?

The guard shouted, "It's about to land, hold on tight... be careful!"

Gu Yun felt a black screen before his eyes. The eagle fell to one side, tilted its neck and plunged into the ground. The person on the eagle was almost thrown out. Chang Geng rolled three times while holding Gu Yun and stopped only after hitting a mast. There was a "click" sound. Gu Yun grabbed Chang Geng's collar and pulled him to the side. Then the mast fell straight down and narrowly passed by the two of them.

The scattered guards were collectively startled and cried out. It was only then that Gu Yun realized that he and Chang Geng were entangled hand and foot, which looked very ambiguous. In front of outsiders, he hurriedly coughed to cover up his mistake, climbed up, and looked around.

It was late at night, and the eagle had landed on a stretch of abandoned fields that stretched as far as the eye could see. It was unusually quiet, with no village buildings, chickens crowing, or dogs barking, except for the occasional quiet calls of summer insects.

Gu Yun suddenly had an ominous feeling in his heart: "Where is this?"

A guard stumbled forward, still catching his breath, and said, "Marshal, we seem to have crossed the river before we knew it."

Lord Xu, who had not yet gotten up, stumbled and fell down again when he heard this.

They actually dived into the enemy camp!

Chang Geng turned his head and smiled at Gu Yun: "Marshal, it flew over the head."

Gu Yun rubbed his nose awkwardly: "With such a big commotion, don't attract more Western soldiers later - go ask Xiao Ge, what to do with this unreliable broken sculpture of yours?"

Two guards dug out Ge Chen, who was about to go see the late emperor. Ge Chen used all four limbs to fend off the people around him: "Ugh..."

"Don't vomit yet," Gu Yun lifted Ge Chen's collar to prevent him from lowering his head, forcing him to do what he wanted, "Tell me first, can this thing be taken apart?"

Ge Chen: “…”

I heard that General Shen wanted to strangle Marquis Anding for more than 300 days a year. At this moment, Ge Chen understood him.

In less than half an incense stick of time, the guards around Marquis Anding followed Ge Lingshu's instructions and quickly dismantled the eagle's power system. They split it into four pieces and had four people carry them on their backs. What was left was a pile of useless scrap metal. Gu Yun added a little purple gold to the barrel of the eagle and took out a fire starter: "I'll count to one, two, three, run."

Xu Ling was confused. He saw King Yan make a gesture and two guards held him up on the left and right, and they ran towards the headwind.

Then there was a loud "bang" and the huge fireworks almost shattered the rainy sky. There was a muffled thunder in the air and the earth was shaking.

Gu Yun blew up the wreckage into ashes!

Xu Ling's face suddenly changed and he asked, "My Lord, what should we do if we attract the enemy?"

"Nonsense, how can we go back if we can't attract the enemy?" Gu Yun said bluntly, "We can't swim across the river, right? Lord Xu, it's okay to follow me."

Lord Xu no longer dared to believe him.