Sima Lan knew that he had no control over his own destiny. In fact, the tent he was in was not far from the emperor's tent, and he could faintly hear the quarrels of the ministers outside.
Although he couldn't hear clearly what was being argued about due to his old age, he could make a rough guess in his mind.
There is tea in the tent, but now that things have happened, Sima Lan is calmly drinking tea and waiting.
When Qi Ning entered the tent, Sima Lan was a little surprised.
Qi Ning stepped forward and saluted Sima Lan. Sima Lan said with a smile: "Marquis Jinyi... Well, I almost forgot, now it's time to call you Lord Protector."
Qi Ning sat down opposite Sima Lan and said with a smile: "Whether it is the Marquis of Jinyi or the Protector of the Country, they are all the Emperor Long Enhao." He coughed heavily, and an eunuch came into the tent from outside, holding a The tray, there were actually wine and food on the tray.
The eunuch placed the food and wine on the table, bowed and quickly withdrew.
Sima Lan seemed to understand something. He raised his hand to stroke his beard and said with a smile, "Is this a reward from the emperor?"
"The Emperor still has feelings for the Duke, so he ordered me to come and see the Duke off. I hope the Duke will not blame him."
Sima Lan waved his hand and said with a smile: "No wonder, you are also a duke. The emperor has given me great honor by asking you to come."
Qi Ning picked up the wine cup and poured wine for Sima Lan.
Sima Lan sighed: "I still remember that when your grandfather Jinyi Laohou made military exploits, I went to the mansion with fine wine to celebrate. Your father Qi Jing won the battle, and I had people send him ten jars of fine wine. , I never thought that one day you would come to deliver wine to me."
Qi Ning pondered for a moment and then said: "If the Duke is less thoughtful, maybe one day he will be the one who brings wine to the juniors."
Sima Lan smiled and then said: "Duke Protector, there is something that I have been wondering about for a long time. I don't know the answer to this day, but I wonder if you can answer it for me."
Qi Ning nodded and said: "Old Duke, you are too polite. If I know anything, I will naturally tell you everything I know."
Sima Lan asked with a smile: "I wonder if the second old master of your house is still alive?"
Qi Ning was startled and didn't react for a moment, but he immediately thought that the second old man Sima Lan was talking about was Beigong Liancheng, and he hesitated and didn't know how to answer.
Beigong Liancheng has not been seen for many years, and the news is hard to find. Even the people in Jinyihou Mansion have no idea whether Beigong Liancheng is dead or alive. If he had not seen it once in the Dongqi Ghost Bamboo Forest, this problem would be even more It's hard to answer, but since Beigong Liancheng has disappeared, he must have deliberately not let the world know about his life and death.
Seeing Qi Ning's hesitation, Sima Lan seemed to understand something, nodded and said: "If he is still alive, then I will be relieved."
Qi Ning thought for a moment and asked: "Junior, please tell me, the Duke said you can rest assured that the second old lady is alive. What does this mean?"
Sima Lan smiled and said, "Is it possible that you don't know about Longshan's promise?"
"The Covenant at Longshan?" Qi Ning immediately remembered that the leader of the Beggar Clan seemed to have mentioned this matter to Baiying, but what he told Baiying was not very detailed. It seemed that Sima Lan knew a lot about the Covenant at Longshan, so he handed it over. Said: "Please give me some advice from the Duke!"
"Of course you know that the sword god in your mansion has extraordinary martial arts and has entered the realm of transformation." Sima Lan said calmly: "It is said that there are five great masters like the sword god in the world." He smiled lightly and said : "According to my opinion, these five so-called great masters should not exist in the world."
Qi Ning asked: "This junior would like to know, what happened to the Longshan Agreement?"
"Do you know, Lord Protector, that before this, there were no five great masters in the world. Whenever someone like this appeared, it would shock everyone in the world." Sima Lan said slowly: "But twenty years ago , almost at the same time, the five great masters suddenly appeared. I really don’t know who was the first to mention the five great masters, and the existence of the five great masters is not known to the whole world. "
Qi Ning asked in confusion: "Does the old man mean that the five great masters appeared at the same time?"
"That's right." Sima Lan said: "And what's weird is that the distribution of these five great masters is very weird. There is one from the Ancient Elephant Kingdom, one from the Eastern Qi and the Northern Han. In our Da Chu, there are two old masters from your Jinyi Qi family. There is also one person on the other side of Xichuan, but the one in Xichuan is located in the western border and does not embarrass our great Chu, and our great Chu has not done anything to embarrass him before."
When Qi Ning heard what he said, he also felt that this matter was extremely strange.
"The so-called Longshan Agreement, as far as I know, is a gentleman's agreement made by several great masters." Sima Lan said: "The five great masters check and balance each other. If they fight, there will be chaos in the world, so they agreed that all No one cares about the disputes in the world, and no one is allowed to participate in worldly affairs unless other great masters take action."
"Where is Longshan?" Qining was very interested in this: "When did they make the agreement with Longshan?"
"I'm afraid no one will ever know where Longshan is." Sima Lan said calmly: "When there was this rumor back then, I was still skeptical. But over the years, the five great masters have all done their jobs. It seems that the rumors of the so-called Longshan Agreement It’s not fake.”
Qi Ning was a little surprised, thinking to himself that Sima Lan had only heard of the Longshan Covenant, and was not sure whether it was true or not.
Sima Lan picked up the wine glass, looked at the wine in the glass, but did not drink it immediately, and asked: "Do you know why I mentioned the five great masters?"
"Junior please ask for advice!"
"I know that Beigong Liancheng is not much younger than me, and several other great masters are already old." Sima Lan said: "If one day, any of our great masters from the Three Kingdoms of the Central Plains suddenly passes away, you Do you know what the consequences will be?"
Qining's expression became solemn.
Each of the three countries has a grand master. It is only because of mutual checks and balances that they live in seclusion. If one day the grand master of one country dies, the deterrent effect on other countries will immediately disappear. No one can guarantee that the other two grand masters will not take action.
He has seen the strength of the Grand Master, who is indeed a monster-like existence. With their strength, entering the palace of another country to take the emperor's head is simply a piece of cake. As long as they make a move, the emperor will be killed, and the country will surely fall into turmoil, with consequences. Unthinkable.
It's just that the doubt that has always existed in my heart came up again at this moment.
As Sima Lan said, Beigong Liancheng and others are already quite old, but the appearance of the two great masters he saw last time in the Ghost Bamboo Forest was obviously very different from their age. They both look about forty years old, and their hair is not even white. If one of the great masters is like this, it may be due to his martial arts training, but it is very strange that both great masters are like this.
"If that member of your Qi family is still alive, at least Da Chu will be safe for the time being." Sima Lan suddenly lowered his voice and said, "There is just one thing that I have been wondering about."
"What is the old man talking about?"
"You naturally remember the spread of the epidemic in the capital." Sima Lan said thoughtfully: "After that, the Shenhou Mansion quickly got involved and pointed the finger at the Black Lotus Sect, and also gathered eight gangs and sixteen sects to attack Black Lotus Sect, I still haven’t found out what’s the mystery behind this.”
Qi Ning didn't expect Sima Lan to suddenly mention this matter before he died. It was a little strange, but he still asked: "Has the old man investigated this case?"
"Since I am the chief minister, I will naturally investigate what needs to be investigated." Sima Lan smiled lightly: "The leader of the Black Lotus Sect is a great master. The Shenhou Mansion's attack on the Black Lotus Sect was almost directed at that great master. The grandmaster left, Ximen Wuhen is a very shrewd person, he should know that once the Black Lotus Religion is really pushed into a desperate situation and the great grandmaster takes action, the consequence will be a confrontation between the Black Lotus Cult Leader and the Sword God."
Qining frowned, realizing this problem at this time.
"The affairs of the world have always been under the control of the Shenhou Mansion, and even I cannot get involved too much." Sima Lan said with deep eyes: "I have been thinking about the purpose of Ximen Wuhen's attack on the Black Lotus Sect. ? Some people say that Ximen Wuhen is old, and the strength of the Eight Gangs and Sixteen Factions is increasing day by day, especially the Beggar Clan. He is worried that the Shenhou Mansion will not be able to deter the Eight Gangs and Sixteen Factions in the future, so he will use that. This opportunity will weaken the strength of the eight gangs and sixteen factions."
Qi Ning asked: "Does the Duke think this is false talk?"
"It would be absolutely stupid to weaken the strength of the Eighth Gang and the Sixteenth Faction at the expense of causing the conflict between the Black Lotus Leader and Beigong Liancheng." Sima Lan said lightly: "No matter how strong the Eighth Gang and the Sixteenth Faction are, How can he match the terror of a great master? And Ximen Wuhen has never been a fool."
“Then what does the Duke think the Lord Ximen’s purpose is?”
"After much thought, I can only find two possibilities." Sima Lan said: "Either Ximen Wuhen deliberately wants to cause a fight between the two great masters. If so, Ximen Wuhen must have evil intentions. Another possibility is that It’s the leader of the Black Lotus who is no longer alive!”
"The leader of the Black Lotus is not alive?"
"Ximen Wuhen has been keeping an eye on the Jianghu forces in Dachu." Sima Lan said: "The Black Lotus Sect is naturally what he is extremely concerned about. If the leader of the Black Lotus Sect is really not alive, Ximen Wuhen is likely to get the news, so Only then will we take action.”
Qi Ning nodded slightly.
"If the leader of the Black Lotus will die, of course the other great masters will also die." Sima Lan said: "The death of any great master will change the general situation of the world, so... you, Lord Protector, must guard the Great Chu. , naturally you have to pay attention to the movements of several great masters." At this point, Sima Lan drank the wine in the glass, then put down the glass, picked up the wine pot, and poured it for himself, looking very calm and calm.
Qi Ning sighed in his heart, thinking that Sima Lan could not possibly not know that this was the poisonous wine given by the emperor, but he could still be so calm at this time, and he was worthy of being a weathered person.
Sima Lan poured the wine and then stroked his beard and said: "If the leader of the Black Lotus is not dead, then you have to find out what Ximen Wuhen is thinking and whether he intends to embarrass your Jinyi Qi family."