Huaiyu is slightly cool

At the end of June, it was bitterly hot in the northwest, and there was a severe drought for thousands of miles.In the northwest, many people fled from west to south, and passers-by were too hot to die.However, people in the imperial court were still worrying and arguing about whether these refugees who went south were mixed with rebels or traitors and did not carry out relief and compensation measures for a long time.Although the official who submitted the letter was rejected by the eldest princess and demoted, and appointed a minister responsible for disaster relief and a doctor who went to the disaster area to rescue and prevent the epidemic, the treasury did not have enough money and food for disaster relief.And because of the tense war, he dared not order the state government to open warehouses to release grain.

And Northwest Zhou Hao was in the desert, and under the military protection of the Qiang Kingdom, he declared himself king in the name of restoring the country.

On the other hand, the contradiction between the two factions of Xirong has intensified, from fighting each other to fighting for blood, and the king of Xirong is weak, Xirong may reintegrate and fall to the Qiang Kingdom.

In mid-July, due to the failure of the rescue operation, the news of Zhou Huai's 'death' was spread throughout the ten prefectures in the Northwest by the escaped Fourth Prince, Linghuji and others, and the Northwest generals took the lead in rebelling.Wu Guisi led the Northwest Army's [-] cavalry as the vanguard, joined forces with the Zhao Kingdom's [-] troops, and divided the troops into three groups to attack the southern capital. The capital was in danger.

On July [-]th, regardless of the obstruction of the officials, the eldest princess resolutely decided to lead the army to conquer.On the night before Dianjiang assembled for departure, the eldest princess suddenly came to Huguo Temple to meet Zhou Huai.

Zhou Huai was having dinner at this time, and there was a simple vegetarian dish on the table.

When the eldest princess looked at the cold vegetarian chicken, ground three delicacies, fried young bamboo shoots, stewed tofu with cabbage, mushroom egg soup, pickled radish, and a bowl of porridge on the table, her expression was calm.

Although she forced Zhou Huai to shave or become a monk, she still did not treat Zhou Huai badly in terms of basic necessities of life, but she lost the extravagance and luxury of the past.But Zhou Huai didn't seem to like these dishes, but he picked up two or three chopsticks, drank most of the bowl of porridge, wiped his mouth and hands, and went to the deck chair under the grape arbor in the courtyard to enjoy the cool.

The eldest princess watched Zhou Huai's every move quietly, and waited until she was about to fall asleep before finally saying, "I'm leaving——going to war."

Zhou Huai opened his eyes, picked up the tea poured for her by the maidservant who came to clean up the dishes, took a sip, and stared at the eldest princess who was standing upright a few steps away.She looked at it for a while, and then asked meaningfully: "Aren't you afraid that you won't come back?"

"People are always going to die, just want to have no regrets."

"So you decided to go to the front line to do your best? Or command others to do their best?"

"There is no difference on the battlefield. I will advance and retreat together, live and die together like the soldiers of Dajing. If I win, I will return triumphantly with them. If I lose, I will accompany them to die on the battlefield like a hero."

Zhou Huai sneered, laughing at her innocence, so he said in a mischievous tone: "Are you stupid? On the battlefield, any accident is possible. If you don't go, maybe you can still guard Banbi Jiangshan, lingering. Go , maybe the Kingdom of Jing is about to perish.”

"No. Going is to find life for Jingguo. If you don't go, Jingguo's change of dynasty is imminent."

"The building will collapse and the country will perish. What can you do?"

"Do your best and be ashamed of your heart."

"Oh, then what are you doing here?"

"I just want to ask you: Are you willing to surrender and shave your hair because you planned this long ago?"

"I'm not going to ruin a country for personal grudges. After all, I have no enmity with these people."

The eldest princess pursed her lips.Zhou Huai does not bully the weak, not because of kindness, but because he is too arrogant to do it.

But Zhou Huai's loyal and disobedient subordinates are the thorn in the princess's heart.Therefore, when the eldest princess spoke again, she was obviously murderous: "The northwest is still reversed."

"Then are you going to kill me now?"

The eldest princess looked at Zhou Huai silently, without saying a word.

Zhou Huai, on the other hand, was relaxed, and even teased: "The villain died because of talking too much. I've been rambling on and on for so long just now, so take it as my last words. You can do it now."

"...Who said I was going to kill you?"

"Then you mention this...?"

"The rebel army has me, but the long drought in the Northwest will inevitably lead to locusts, you really don't plan to take care of it?"

The eldest princess spoke in a relaxed and indifferent manner, but when she thought of the record book of disaster investigation and disaster situation piled up on her desk, her heart felt like a fire.Ponds and rivers in the northwest have dried up, and even the wells are almost dry. In severe areas, the ground has cracked two fingers wide. There is no grain harvest, food prices are soaring, and many people starve to death.If the disaster cannot be rescued in time, there will be a civil uprising.However, the front line is urgent, and there is no food to relieve the disaster.And as a person in power, it is impossible for the army to lose its combat effectiveness because of fear of stirring up a popular uprising.The eldest princess finally collected food from the people, but not to mention the slow speed, compared with the menacing disaster situation, it is simply a drop in the bucket.Therefore, I can only come to Zhou Huai to 'borrow' food to tide over the difficulties at this time.

"Of course there is a way, but...why should I say it?"

"What are your conditions?"

"Set me free."

"impossible!"

The two looked at each other, and after an invisible contest, it was Zhou Huai who conceded defeat first, and gave the eldest princess an idea with an impatient look: "Forget it, let's not let go, anyway, it's easy to solve this matter."

The eldest princess looked at her and asked her to continue.Zhou Huai didn't talk too much, and said directly: "There should be water storage in the Northwest Reservoir, and the gate can be opened. If the drought can't be alleviated, it can also relieve the heat. There is also the grain in the Northwest Granary. When will it not be used now? As for those The disaster victims, why are they rushing to the south? Let the Northwest Army take them to Xirong to grab cattle and horses, won’t they have rations? Or go to the Qiang Kingdom to grab a piece of land... no, borrow a piece of land. Pick the one that is more fertile. Anyway, they have a lot of land and resources, and borrowing from the victims for a few years is a merit, so they probably won't mind. By the way, they can also borrow some supplies from Zhaoguo. As a good brother, Mo Ziqi should not be stingy."

After Zhou Huai finished speaking, seeing that the eldest princess didn't respond, he thought for a while, and then took out a crumpled piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it over: "Hey, there is also this list of confiscated houses. Their property should be about the same as pensions."

The eldest princess looked at Zhou Huai with a complex and silent expression.Some people don't look like princes in dragon robes.And Zhou Huai, even in cassock, looked like a bandit.

After receiving the list, the eldest princess said to Zhou Huai with a solemn expression: "I will return in triumph. Stay here and don't run around. I sent people to guard outside the temple. They issued a military order, and they will definitely come back." Keep you safe."

"Heh, where else can I go like this? If it's a death row, I can still be released when I meet Dahe Tianxia. Now my household registration has become a degree certificate, and I will probably be with the Qingdeng Ancient Buddha for the rest of my life. .”

"Hehe." The eldest princess looked at Zhou Huai's pretending, indifferently.She was sure that Zhou Huai would try to escape again after she set out to fight.

Seeing that the eldest princess didn't believe her, Zhou Huai stopped talking, lay down on the recliner, and covered his face with the Buddhist scriptures that he hadn't seen a few times, obviously unwilling to talk to others.

The eldest princess looked at her and sighed silently, but she still had to say something: "Can you promise me one more thing: If I really can't come back, you will run away again?"

Under the tree stand, Zhou Huai remained motionless as if he had fallen asleep, his face was covered by scriptures, and his expression could not be seen clearly.

Seeing this, the eldest princess stood quietly for a while, then turned around and left.

The sunset glow dissipated from the sky, and night fell. The person who seemed to have fallen asleep just now suddenly spoke like a dream: "When is the spring flower and autumn moon? How much do you know about the past..."

A dull and low voice came from under the book, and the next moment, the man turned over and sat up, staring at the direction where the eldest princess had left and could not see her back, and said to himself: "Hiss, bah! You are so ruthless, let me die!" Don't die!"

Zhou Huai said it loudly, but she didn't take the opportunity to escape. Instead, when Wei Xuan brought the eldest princess and was besieged by the army in Tongbai Mountain, she felt mixed feelings.

August 26 was the fifth day that the eldest princess was besieged.Wei Xuan came to Huguo Temple alone to look for Zhou Huai.

"haven't seen you for a long time?"

Zhou Huai touched his light new hair with some novelty, and his head was a little prickly, tilted his head and asked, "Why are you here?"

"Something happened to the eldest princess."

Zhou Huai replied indifferently: "Oh."

"Can our cooperation continue?"

"I'm afraid not."

"My Wei family can make up for what happened before."

"And then you stabbed me again?"

"Miss Zhou said she would cooperate, but she did not hide a lot of things in the end? The last operation will lose so many people, so it can't be all on my side."

"Shirk responsibility? Back then, it was your Wei family who thought that I was a rare commodity and took the initiative to surrender in exchange for the status of the first family in the capital. I never treated your Wei family badly. Now that I am in trouble, I took the opportunity to intercept my intelligence. I can It’s my fate to be alive. It’s good for you, just make up for it. You still want to cooperate for the second time, what’s your face?” At the time when the emperor collapsed and the capital was in turmoil, Wu Mingtai went on a killing spree, and the Wei family didn’t want to put all their eggs in one basket. And because he was familiar with the eldest princess, he focused on Zhou Huai. When Zhou Huai controlled the northwest, he chose to be Zhou Huai's internal response.

"I am not the only one who decides about the Wei family's affairs. I can only say sorry for what happened last time, but I can't do much if there is too much. If Miss Zhou is dissatisfied with the previous behavior of the Wei family, then I think it only means My personal wishes, I hope that Miss Zhou will look at the face of His Royal Highness and help out. As long as you are willing to relieve the siege of the eldest princess, I will do my best to help Miss Zhou leave here."

"Why should I help her? Because she put me under house arrest? Or because she doesn't like me?" Zhou Huai was angrily, with a gloomy and gloomy expression.

Wei Xuan was not afraid, but said slowly: "Of course it is because of Miss Zhou's heart for the eldest princess, because only you are capable and willing to save her now."

"Heh." Zhou Huai sneered, looked at Wei Xuan, and said maliciously: "Look, I'm a prisoner who needs your help even when I leave the capital, how can I save Her Royal Highness the Princess who is thousands of miles away?" ? You think too highly of me."

Wei Xuan was unmoved, and said with a firm tone, "I believe that as long as you want to save, there must be a way."