Yan Ke turned his gaze to Bai Sanxing. Bai Sanxing, who was tied behind Jiang Ai, looked at Jiang Ai with hatred, then met Yan Ke's eyes and sneered, "Why, do you still think I will keep a secret for you? You are the murderer of He Simu's father, and you are standing on her side with a sanctimonious face, tricking her into killing me, the only person who knows the truth. If He Simu finds out, she will grind you to dust."
Jiang Ai walked a few steps closer to Yan Ke with a smile, her skirt fluttering, and she said leisurely: "Lord Yan was so nervous before, it turns out that you were not afraid that Bai Sanxing would look for you, but you were afraid that the king would know the truth of the past when he saw Bai Sanxing. I really find it strange, you used Bai Sanxing's power to get rid of the former Ghost King, and then used Simu to get rid of Bai Sanxing, so Simu is the only stumbling block left on your way to becoming king? How come you have been content to be the Right Prime Minister for so many years, and you really don't want the throne anymore?"
She approached Yan Ke, put her hand to her lips, and whispered, "Former Lord of the Ghost Palace, that's a pity. It's you behind the child, Right Prime Minister? You want the Ghost King Lantern you've been dreaming of, right?"
Yan Ke looked at Jiang Ai with a cold face, saying nothing, but a gleam in his eyes.
Jiang Ai covered her lips and smiled, then stepped back a few steps, her smile was so charming that her body shook, and she said, "You Cheng has such a big handle in my hand, and you still dare to question me? Bai Sanxing will be a witness to correct you in the future, and Simu will thank me."
"what do you want?"
"What do I want? You know I have no interest in the throne. It makes no difference to me whether it's you or Simu on the throne. But Lord Yan, I see you are pitiful, so please say a few more words. You want both the throne and Simu, but don't be too greedy." Jiang Ai retreated to Bai Sanxing's side, with a bit of coldness in his eyes: "There is no such thing as having both in the world. You will eventually break up with Simu. If you become king one day, don't forget that I helped you conceal it today."
She pointed to the door and made a gesture of invitation. Yan Ke looked at her for a moment, sneered, and disappeared in the smoke.
Jiang Ai's smile faded. After confirming that Yan Ke's breath had completely disappeared, she untied Bai Sanxing and said to him, "You acted well."
Bai Sanxing seemed a little indignant.
Then she walked to the room behind the yard and opened the door. Behind the door was a gorgeous jade-inlaid gold screen with several concealment spells cast on it. A woman was sitting behind the screen, reading a book, with a lamp on her waist emitting a faint blue light.
Jiang Ai said: "Your Majesty, he admitted it."
He Simu closed the ghost book, raised his eyes and looked at Jiang Ai through the gap in the carved screen, and said, "Well, I heard it."
Jiang Ai was silent for a moment, but couldn't help asking: "Simu... Your Majesty, when did you know about the former Ghost King?"
"I guessed it mostly." He Simu's fingers tapped carelessly on the ghost book. She said, "My father would not commit suicide for love. There are not many people who can harm him. Although Bai Sanxing is arrogant and rebellious, he disdains to take advantage of others. At that time, my father was immersed in the grief of his wife's death. He should not have chosen this time to attack my father. Besides, if he did it, he would have announced it to the world long ago. Why would he use the pretext of committing suicide for love?"
"Then Yan Ke..."
"Do you know how Yan Ke died?"
Jiang Ai was stunned for a moment, then she shook her head.
"He was a prince, crowned a king, rebelled, was captured, escaped, raised an army again, and was defeated again. After three ups and downs, he was finally torn to pieces and his body was abandoned in the city." He Simu flipped through the ghost book and said lightly: "His obsession is power. He is the supreme master of the world. How can he be inferior to others?"
Yan Ke may not remember the distant past, but the ghost book remembers it clearly. The ghost book records things that will never disappear or change. He Simu often flips through the ghost book that records the life and weaknesses of all the evil ghosts. The yellow pages tell her what the bad luck and malice of the evil ghosts around her are. Their desires are insatiable and endless.
In fact, in this ghost realm, she only believes in this ghost book and her Ghost King Lamp.
Jiang Ai looked at He Simu through the exquisite and gorgeous screen. She watched this girl grow up in the human world, and watched her be the king of the ghost world for three hundred years, but suddenly she felt that she couldn't understand her anymore.
"So when you say you don't like evil spirits, you're actually torturing Yan Ke?"
"Let him be my subordinate. He can't get the throne and he can't get me. He can see but not touch. Isn't it interesting? The maze outside this nine-palace maze is much more tormenting than being reduced to ashes."
He Simu's calm voice came from behind the screen.
"But I really don't like evil spirits. It would be nice if I could like evil spirits like you and Bai Sanxing."
This reminded Jiang Ai of half a year ago, when He Simu suddenly gave her this white bracelet with a bell tied to it.
At that time she asked - what is this
He Simu calmly uttered the earth-shattering words—Bai? Sanxing's heart candle.
She was shocked, and then she saw He Simu said that she had kept the heart candle of Bai Sanxing, brought it outside the Nine Palaces Prison and lit it, and it has been kept by the Hejia lineage. The 20th generation Hejia was a powerful and skillful guy, who modified the heart candle and made it into a magic weapon that could control and suppress the owner of the heart candle.
Jiang Ai then asked doubtfully: Your Majesty, you are giving this magic weapon to me
—In fact, there is no complete lack of affection between you and Bai Sanxing. It's just that he was too conceited and wanted to control you, pushing you too hard. When you thought he was dead, I saw that you were very sad.
—Yearning…
—Now it's your turn to control him. He suffered a lot in the Nine Palaces Prison. I just woke him up and brought him out. If you are willing, give him another chance. Aunt Jiang Ai, you are very good to me. I hope you are happy.
At that time and now, He Simu not only made Jiang Ai feel strange, but also made her feel a little sad. She thought that this child had known all the truth, knew who his father died because of, and knew the covetousness of people who seemed close to him, but he remained silent for more than three hundred years and never tried to tell anyone or rely on anyone.
But He Simu was still a little girl. She had lived for 400 years in total. She had laughed and scolded in the world, and had acted like a spoiled child on her parents' laps. How could she have matured to this point today
Jiang Ai walked behind the screen. He Simu looked at her with some surprise. Seeing the reluctance in Jiang Ai's eyes, she waved her hand and smiled, "Aunt Jiang Ai, don't be like this. Yan Ke can't control you. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, he will speed up the preparations and rebel as soon as possible. It's a good opportunity for me to see who else has ulterior motives, so that I don't have to look for them one by one in the future. I will need your support then."
"That's natural. But... Simu, why did you choose this time?" Jiang Ai was a little puzzled. After all, He Simu had known these things for more than three hundred years.
He Simu thought for a moment and said, "Actually, I've been waiting for him to rebel for a long time, but I haven't seen him do so yet, so I'm not in a hurry."
Perhaps it was because she didn't know where to go after avenging her father. She was walking on a foggy road, and there was a lamp of revenge, but now there is no lamp.
After a pause, He Simu said, "But recently I feel that maybe it's time to put an end to it. I should move on."
Jiang Ai felt that He Simu's current expression was very familiar. She always showed this expression when she mentioned the little boy in the world. He was not mentioned in this sentence, but Jiang Ai had a feeling that He Simu was talking about him.
In the human world, Duan Xu took Jingzhou, and the rebels in Qizhou were willing to surrender, so he began to think about attacking Youzhou. It happened that the general Danzhi stationed in Youzhou was his old friend, who had led his troops across the Guanhe River and went straight to Fenglai, the southern capital.
The battle for the throne that caused Danzhi to lose three states finally came to an end. The Sixth Prince supported by Fenglai finally secured the throne. He received numerous awards and became the General of the Upper Pillar State of Danzhi. He did not need to go to the front in person. However, when he heard that the Grand Marshal of Daliang was Duan Xu, Fenglai immediately jumped up and asked to go to the battle. He led 100,000 elite soldiers straight to Youzhou and beheaded the generals of Jingzhou and Qizhou who failed to suppress the rebellion. He seemed to want to avenge the previous humiliation and drive Duan Xu back and make him give up all the occupied land.
Duan Xu couldn't help but feel wronged for the beheaded generals. The general in Jingzhou thought that Tang Dequan was going to surrender to Danzhi, so he was careless in suppressing the rebellion. Who knew that a man suddenly showed up and muddied the waters. It was too late to suppress the rebellion seriously. The general in Qizhou was conscientious, but the Zhao family was a big family with deep roots. Five out of ten people in Qizhou were surnamed Zhao, and they were all related to the Zhao family. The Zhao family had already mastered Qizhou from the government to the army. Naturally, they would be unstoppable when they rose up.
Of course, the most critical factor is Youzhou. Youzhou is strategic, and each checkpoint is heavily guarded. The Daliang army is eyeing Yunzhou and Luozhou covetously, so the Danzhi troops dare not easily divide them to quell the rebellion.
Duan Xu arrived at Qizhou leisurely, and made some pretentious advances with Zhao Xing, and comforted him by citing the carefree life of Qian Chengyi who surrendered in Weizhou. Zhao Xing meant that he did not want to leave Qizhou to be enfeoffed in Nandu. Duan Xu knew what he was thinking, so he said that the Zhao family had deep roots in Qizhou, and if Zhao Xing made any mistakes in Nandu, Qizhou would not be able to explain it, and Daliang would naturally do its best to protect his safety. Besides, Nandu was very prosperous, and life must be much more comfortable than in Qizhou.
Zhao Xing and Duan Xu both knew that if Zhao Xing left Qizhou, he would not be able to return for at least 20 years. Zhao Xing was different from Qian Chengyi. Qian Chengyi was a loyal and brave outlaw who had no power in Weizhou. Zhao Xing was a local tyrant entrenched in Qizhou, with influence over the government, businessmen and the military. If he stayed in Qizhou, he would be a big problem that could not be controlled, so he naturally had to be kept under the emperor's watch.
At this time, news came from Nandu that the emperor had just woken up after being unconscious for five days. The Imperial Astronomical Observatory calculated that the Pojun star in the north had caused an unusual phenomenon and collided with the emperor, and Pojun happened to correspond to the Qizhou area.
The emperor immediately issued an edict, asking Zhao Xing from Qizhou to postpone his entry to the Southern Capital to receive his title. Zhao Xing was extremely happy, but Duan Xu had a headache. Fortunately, although Zhao Xing did not listen to him, at least he would not make trouble behind his back, so Duan Xu did not care about it for the time being.
"What's going on with the Imperial Observatory? How could Imperial Master Fengyi allow them to calculate so many things?" Duan Xu couldn't help but sigh.
Luo Xian, who brought him the news from Nandu, sat in the tent and said calmly, "National Master Fengyi has left Nandu to travel around and is no longer the National Master. The people in the Imperial Observatory are trying their best to present more letters to the emperor so that they can gain a firm foothold."
"The Imperial Master left Nando?" Duan Xu was a little surprised.
He Jiafengyi usually does not leave Nandu to protect the royal family. He left at this time. Could it be that something happened in the ghost world? When Simu came to see him before, she also mentioned that the ghost world was not peaceful recently.
Duan Xu folded his hands on his lips, thinking deeply, but heard Luo Xian continue: "There is also the latest news. Something happened to Lord Fang and he was demoted."