From the Undead Forest to Qifeng Lake, Qiu Li walked forward along the path filled with fallen leaves. Behind him were two guards in black armor and black robes.
At this moment, the ice and fire on Qifeng Lake have long dispersed, and the calm sea carries the unique Xiao Su of autumn. The imperial city that has not yet begun to be repaired is opposite the big lake, and in Qiu Li's eyes, there are countless things. The desolation.
Before yesterday, he was the eldest disciple of the Immortal Forest Witch Lord, and he was the one who would inherit the ancient scrolls and take over the authority of the Witch Lord in the future.
But in just one day, the world was turned upside down. The witch master who was like a god in his heart died with no body intact, and he would soon become a prisoner of his subordinates.
How could he be willing
Qiu Li lowered his head and walked forward silently. More and more people were coming and going. He passed through them silently and walked towards the palace along the long street that had been washed with blood.
The sun rises higher and higher, and the sight slowly passes over the high wall with the sunlight. Even though it is far away, you can still see the broken but still majestic appearance of the palace.
In Yangyang Nanzhou, Zhao State is just a small country located in a corner, but even so, because of the presence of certain people, it emits an unshakable light.
That light was extremely dazzling and annoying.
"I hope you won't lie to me..." His voice was too low to be heard, just a mosquito whisper.
The two guards behind him looked normal and just led him forward.
These words will change today's imperial city, and then plant a huge seed that, at a certain moment, will set off a storm that can overturn the world.
But now, on this seemingly ordinary morning, it has just drifted away quietly.
Only he knows.
…
…
The banquet had already begun, and the palace, which was originally a slightly depressing atmosphere, became lively now.
The lights in the palace were bright, the palace maids' footsteps came and went silently, and the officials lost their initial nervousness and started talking while drinking and drinking.
There was nothing extravagant about this banquet. The silver plates and jade bowls that were supposed to be used were now replaced with ceramic ones. The fruits and vegetables in the bowls were ordinary and nothing rare. Even the attire of the palace maids who came and went were not out of the ordinary.
They accidentally looked up and saw the girl with a skin color that was better than snow, a dragon dress like ink, and no gold or silver decoration. They suddenly understood that this was a certain signal.
This is a completely opposite signal to Zhao Fu's extravagant banquet.
It seems that even if something goes wrong here, she has no intention of abdicating the throne, and the Zhao Kingdom will usher in its first female emperor.
This empress is obviously so young, but she has such thoughts that no one can object to her.
Lu Marian did not eat much, she just picked up the gauze curtain, drank a few glasses of wine, and ate a few symbolic dishes with chopsticks.
For practitioners in the longevity realm, their requirements for food and sleep are much lower than ordinary people. What's more, the nectar and jade dew condensed by the extraterrestrial spiritual energy are the most delicious. Even the food in this world is The process is complicated, compared with it, it is nothing more than cloud and mud.
Ning Changjiu just sat quietly, holding his chopsticks as usual. He didn't like drinking, so he drank tea instead.
Ning Xiaoling's eyes were shining. To those officials, these dishes might be considered simple meals, but for her, who could only follow Ning Qinshui in the past, these dishes were comparable to delicacies from the mountains and seas. The girl mentioned I picked up a piece of meat with my chopsticks and brought it to my mouth. Thinking back on what happened these days, I couldn't help but shed tears.
Ning Chang smiled and rubbed her head, his sleeves gently passed between her cheeks, brushing away her tears.
Ning Xiaoling moved closer to her. She lowered her head, knowing that many pairs of eyes were staring at them curiously, which made her a little overwhelmed. The food on the table seemed to be under the gaze of such eyes. Not so fragrant anymore…
This made her a little distressed. Although she came to celebrate His Highness Zhao Xiang'er's birthday, she just wanted to have a good meal...
During the banquet, Zhao Xianger handed a stack of papers to a guard and asked him to distribute them. As time went by, the papers were circulated in order and fell into the eyes of more and more people. .
Sounds of surprise and suspicion resounded in the palace from time to time, and there were a lot of discussions outside of tea and dinner.
The content on that paper was all written by Zhao Xianger last night. It roughly stated that the Jin and Rong countries wanted to destroy and divide the Zhao country, so they found a killer to sneak into the Zhao country, surrounded and killed the empress, and released the girl who was originally sealed in the underground palace. There is a big ghost in the depths, and the people who died violently in the city recently were all killed by that big ghost.
The big ghost was also closely related to Demon Bird Blood Feather Lord. They came together to destroy the Zhao Kingdom in one fell swoop. Fortunately, Zhao Xiang'er joined forces with Lu Xianzi from the Yujian Tianzong to kill the big ghost. The big ghost, Mr. Blood Feather, was also seriously injured and escaped. The killers from the Jin and Rong countries were also wiped out, and no one survived. And this pair of senior brothers and sisters named Ning Jiujiu and Ning Xiaoling also played a very important role in this chaos in the imperial city.
Of course, there are truths and lies in these rhetorics, but ordinary mortals can only see through the smoke and mirrors, so how can they tell the difference? What's more, how can they question it at this moment
"What the Kingdom of Jin said before was that they received a decree from heaven and said they would kill the empress. Now it seems that it was a long-planned plan to deceive the public! And in my country of Zhao, so many people... really believe it." He punched the table with anger and dissatisfaction.
Zhao Xiang'er said calmly: "What came to the country of Jin is just an evil god. When the time is right, I will kill it with my own hands."
"Your Highness, the killers of Jin and Rong have been wiped out... Is it true? Who are they?" someone asked.
For them, the big ghosts and the Blood Feather Lord are too illusory, and the assassins of the Jin Kingdom are famous all over the world. They kill people without a trace, which is extremely terrifying. In the past, many people in the Zhao Kingdom died suddenly, and it is said that these assassins were responsible. .
This is one of the shadows that the country of Jin has pressed upon them, and it is what they can feel most intuitively.
Zhao Xiang'er's voice was cold and she replied slowly: "The corpses of more than 20 people, including Caiyi Gui, Yanhu Swordsman, Wuliang Sword, Cicada Silk Ghost, etc., will be hung on the top of the city in the afternoon, and everyone can go and see it. .”
"The ghost in colorful clothes?" Someone was horrified: "Is it the living ghost who always wears colorful clothes and likes to kill people violently and to death?"
The Caiyigui was notoriously evil in the Gu Kingdom, and his life experience was a hot topic in many Jianghu novels. The bodies of those killed by him were tortured to the point of being transformed into human beings, and their souls were destroyed by the soul insects around him. Bite cleanly.
And for so many years, he has been at the top of the assassin list in Jinguo, and no one can shake him.
Unexpectedly, he also sneaked into the Kingdom of Zhao yesterday. If you kill such a vicious person, Your Highness will probably waste a lot of energy...
Fortunately, he was killed after all...
Everyone had different thoughts, but they all secretly breathed a sigh of relief and were even more convinced of Zhao Xiang'er.
"Your Highness...then...where is that Blood Feather Lord?" someone asked cautiously.
"Has been expelled from the imperial city." Zhao Xiang'er replied.
"Then now that the masters of Jin and Rong have suffered so many losses, if they turn their anger on Zhao..." Another person hesitated to speak.
"They have bullied them all the way to the door, and I have killed them all. Do you think there is still room for peace talks?" Zhao Xianger asked back.
The man asked no more questions, and someone else stood up and said: "In the future, I hope that the State of Zhao can be taken over by His Highness. If not, the Kingdom of Jin and the Rong Kingdom will be watching with eager eyes, and our incompetent ministers will not be able to feel at ease."
Zhao Xiang'er listened to his self-deprecation, smiled slightly, and said calmly: "As I said again, I will not give up on Zhao... As for this throne, it is just a formality. It can be recast after his external and internal troubles are resolved."
"Then the Imperial Master..."
"Since your husband is sick today, I won't disturb him anymore. From now on, the Imperial Preceptor's Office will still be the Imperial Preceptor's Office."
"Your Highness is kind."
…
This kind of question and answer continued unhurriedly. Zhao Xianger stood on the golden steps and answered the questions without too many fluctuations in her tone. She also patiently answered some of the more intense words without any disrespect. Be patient, the time of the birthday party passed by in the sound of conversation.
Lu Marian kept looking at the girl who was answering slowly, with a lot of admiration flashing in her eyes. It was a pity that she met her too late and could not see the beauty of her legendary mother. It was a great regret.
Ning Jiujiu had already stopped using his chopsticks. He took a sip of the wine and felt it was a little spicy. He smiled helplessly and then put down the wine glass and looked at Zhao Xianger, wondering what he was thinking.
Ning Xiaoling also looked at her face, thinking that she and her senior brother were getting more and more perfect.
Gradually, there were fewer and fewer questions, and the whole hall was so silent that you could hear a needle drop.
Zhao Xiang'er smiled lightly and suddenly looked at Ning Jiujiu. Their eyes met in the air. Ning Jiujiu was slightly startled and suddenly had a bad premonition.
Sure enough, this hunch soon came true.
Zhao Xiang'er said: "Since you all have no questions, I have to say one thing."
Of course, Ning Xiaoling also noticed where her eyes were, and her heart tightened, vaguely guessing something, feeling both fear and expectation.
Everyone present heard this and looked at her as if they were in a state of shock. The story of a riot in the imperial city yesterday, where His Highness and this little Taoist priest fought side by side, and how they fell in love with each other were quickly imagined in their minds. .
It's just... Zhao Xiang'er's soft gaze only lasted for a moment. Soon, her eyes were silent, and when they fell on Ning Changjiu, they were like the cold winter lake.
In the ice-colored eyes, deep in the girl's pupils, there was a trace of fighting spirit.
"I've been thinking about who you are all night long. Although I still don't understand many things, it's not important anymore." Zhao Xianger looked into his eyes, suddenly smiled slightly, and said, "I just want to You know, that old fox may not be anything, you are the real whetstone prepared by my mother for me."
Ning Changjiu: "?"
Zhao Xiang'er looked at his face and said, "I know you may have been kept in the dark. After all, it is God's will. People walking on this big chessboard in the world will inevitably become chess pieces."
"..." Ning Jiujiu said: "Your Highness, girl, do you have any misunderstanding about me?"
Zhao Xiang'er shook his head gently: "Your existence, appearance, and role in this change are all just right and too coincidental, so I believe that this is not a coincidence... The most important thing is... "
Ning Xiaoling raised her head, looking confused.
Lu Jingwen's head slightly drooped, thoughtfully.
Ning Jiujiu frowned and said, "What is it?"
Zhao Xiang'er stared into his eyes and said word by word: "The most important thing is that you are a Taoist priest."
Ning Jiujiu asked in confusion: "Demons are rampant now. There are so many Taoist priests who exorcise demons in the world. What's so special about them?"
Zhao Xianger reached into her sleeve with her fingers and slowly took out a bright red letter.
Ning Changjiu's complexion changed slightly.
Zhao Xianger held the letter between her hands and said seriously: "When I was a child, my mother arranged a marriage for me. This is the marriage letter."
The whole place was in an uproar. A long time ago, there was indeed a rumor in the court that the young lady of Qianyu Palace had been engaged, but rumors were just rumors after all, especially after the incident three years ago, all the young masters of the Zhao family who coveted her, He also gave up the idea, and no one mentioned the rumors about His Highness’s baby kiss anymore.
This marriage letter begins with "A promise made by a white-headed couple, which refers to the alliance between lovers" and ends with the characters "A perfect match, and we will be united forever."
When she was a child, she was bored and flipped through the marriage book and read it many times.
But now when she took out the marriage letter with her own hands and revealed it in front of everyone, everyone found it hard to believe that someone like His Highness actually had a marriage contract, and that it was made by the Empress. As for how His Highness will look after her husband and raise her children after they get married. , everyone just feels that their imagination is really lacking...
Ning stared at the marriage letter for a long time and suddenly felt a headache. He looked at Zhao Xiang'er doubtfully and asked: "Then...should I congratulate His Highness?"
Zhao Xianger shook her head slightly: "I have never seen the person in this marriage letter."
Ning Changjiu said: "If the marriage is done on the fingertips, then meeting each other on the wedding day is considered a common thing among the people."
Zhao Xiang'er's fingers were slightly closed, her slender eyebrows were slightly furrowed, her thin lips trembled slightly, and her voice deepened: "The term of this marriage letter is sixteen years old, and the person in the marriage letter does not exist at all."
Ning Jiujiu also frowned, becoming more and more confused.
Sixteen years... Today is Zhao Xiang'er's birthday, which means that after today, the marriage certificate will be invalid
But what does it mean that the other person in the book does not exist at all
Zhao Xianger said: "The man in this marriage letter is a closed disciple of a certain temple master. But sixteen years have passed, and the temple master still has not found his closed disciple... So this marriage letter is completely meaningless. "
For some unknown reason, many people still breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that the marriage certificate was meaningless, even if the news meant nothing to them.
But the words "closed disciple" stirred up a storm in Ning Changjiu's heart. His eyes trembled, and he stared at the marriage letter, counting with the fingers in his sleeves.
Zhao Xiang'er ignored everyone's reaction, slightly bent her knuckles, and held the corner of the marriage letter in her palm, smiling coldly: "I originally thought that it would be impossible for me to see my so-called fiancé, but..."
She looked at Ning Changjiu and said: "But your appearance made me feel confused. You have unusual talents, unusual skills, unusual conversation, and you are a Taoist disciple. I wonder if it is a coincidence. Not only did you suppress With the demonic nature of that monster, I still withstood that thunderstorm in front of my eyes. I think this is no accident. My mother said two words to me when I was a child... "
"One sentence is that God's calculations are not as good as those of humans, and another sentence is that humans can defeat heaven."
"And in my heart, my mother is determined by God. What's more, how can such a big event as marriage be done casually?"
"And today, you showed up. Although it is difficult to completely match your identity with this marriage letter... So I want to ask you, before Ning Qinshui, did you have another teacher?"
After Zhao Xianger said this, she looked at him quietly, waiting for the answer.
Ning Jiujiu's brows were always furrowed. He thought of the marriage he had when he was sixteen years old - but that was an unknown number of years ago.
But as Zhao Xianger said, all this is too coincidental.
Close disciple…
Disciple closed!
Ning Jiujiu's eyes suddenly lit up, and he remembered what he could always sense, the vague aura in the imperial city.
That might be Master's newly recruited disciple, and Zhao Xiang'er is the fiancée Master prepared for that disciple!
The same closed disciple, the same sixteen years old, the same marriage certificate.
At this moment, he had figured everything out. No wonder he could always feel the aura. It turned out to be his junior brother, coming to see his fiancée...
Did he make a completely opposite choice to his past self
He looked at Zhao Xianger's dark eyebrows and porcelain-white cheeks, with an expression that was both enlightened and confused.
It's just... Master, why did you kill me back then? What is the disciple you have accepted now? What will happen to him in the future
Ning Jiujiu felt miserable.
I just don’t know, Zhao Xiang’er’s sixteenth birthday is about to pass, why does the junior brother refuse to show up even though he is in the imperial city
Could it be...
Ning Jiujiu had a strange idea in his mind.
Isn't she a junior sister
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but take a breath, and his eyes looking at Zhao Xiang'er became a little weird.
Seeing his delay in answering, Zhao Xiang'er had some guesses in her mind and smiled: "I know, maybe you also have your own secrets. It may not be convenient for you to tell them in public now, but it doesn't matter. Anyway... No matter if it's you or not, I Neither of them will accept this marriage letter."
Ning Jiujiu didn't have much fluctuation in his heart at her words. Anyway, it was not his marriage that he wanted to cancel. I just feel a little sorry for that junior brother, or... junior sister
In short, when meeting Zhao Xiang'er, it is not easy not to lose half of your life.
Ning Jiujiu said calmly: "Can I see this marriage letter?"
Zhao Xiang'er's eyes flashed, and her expression was a little strange... Why, your Highness broke off the engagement for you in front of so many people, and you weren't angry at all? Or... are you pretending to be calm? You shouldn't be... still chuckling, right
She didn't know what Ning Chang was thinking.
Ning Jiujiu couldn't guess what she was thinking.
The two people's eyes always met, each with their own agenda.
Zhao Xianger was silent for a moment, then smiled and said, "What? Are you afraid that I will tear up the marriage contract?"
Ning Jiujiu said: "I just want to take a look, just take a look."
Zhao Xiang'er snorted coldly, failing to make his wish come true. He lowered his arm and pushed the marriage letter into his sleeve, saying, "I won't show it to you. Besides, this marriage letter is not important. I thought about it." All night long, if the person my mother chose for me is really you, then I want to see why you are worthy of my mother's favor."
Ning Jiujiu thought to himself that this little girl usually looks weird, why does she look a little silly now...
He wondered: "Your Highness, girl, what do you want to do?"
Zhao Xiang'er took a step forward and leaned forward slightly. Ning Jiujiu was half a head taller than her, but the girl's slightly raised gaze seemed to be looking down. She stared into Ning Jiujiu's eyes and said, "I want to invite you." A battle.”
…
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(Five thousand words! What a big chapter!)