sixty-three
Although he had solid evidence of Li Liang's communication with Xirong, Xiao Weixin did not rush to instruct him to do anything for him. He just asked him to go back and do what he should do, and contact him again when needed.
Li Liang's mind was not as good as his brother-in-law, Prime Minister Xia. Even if he wanted to struggle, he had no good way to deal with this situation. Rather than being discovered by the Western Rong, he was more afraid that Prince Ling would pass these things to the emperor or Xia Maoan. With Xia Maoan's ruthless character, if he knew that he had betrayed him and colluded with the Western Rong to get rid of him, his fate would be even worse.
Fortunately, although Prince Ling had him in his grasp, he did not embarrass him for the time being. Li Liang sneaked back home through the back door of the palace with trepidation, and never dared to go to the mansion in the suburbs again.
"What's written on it?" You Shu secretly watched Li Liang go back home and then turn back. It was just dawn and he remembered to ask about the contents of the parchment.
Xiao Weixin sneered, "What else can I write? It's nothing more than finding out about the deployment of the border defense forces. Fortunately, Li Liang doesn't know much."
You Shu nodded, thinking of the massacre in the city a year later in the book. He hesitated whether to reveal a little bit in advance, but he didn't know how to start. After all, he couldn't explain why he knew what would happen in the future. If he talked about traveling through a book, even Xiao Weixin might not believe him, right
"What are you thinking about?" Xiao Weixin looked up and saw that he was slow to speak, so he looked over.
You Shu shook his head: "I was just wondering if the Xirong would make a comeback."
"Given the temperament of their new Khan, it's only a matter of time." Xiao Weixin replied, "As long as he really understands the situation, he will be able to attack us soon. It's a pity that Xiao Weishen is very afraid of the Yang family, and with Xia Maoan interfering, I'm afraid there will be no one to lead the troops by then."
And the original novel does follow this trend. You Shu is very worried: "What should we do then?"
"Li Liang is in my hands now. I will have him pass on some false news from time to time. The Xirong people should not be able to figure it out for a while." Xiao Weixin said in a deep voice, "After I deal with those two bastards Xia Maoan and Xiao Weishen, I will destroy Xirong sooner or later."
You Shuxin believed that he could do it, but there was the hidden danger of the rebels in the country, and the Western Rong were eyeing him covetously outside. His prince still had a long way to go, and the situation was indeed very difficult.
But the road to becoming a king has always been like this, and he will definitely accompany him to the end.
The two discussed in the study for a while, and Huachun walked in and said carefully: "Your Majesty, the concubine is outside asking to see you."
"What is she doing here?" Xiao Weixin said impatiently, "Didn't I tell her not to enter the study at will?"
Hua Chun sighed, "Of course I know, but... we servants cannot stop a concubine by force. She insisted that she had something important to do, and there was nothing I could do."
Xiao Weixin knew her difficulties. Behind Zhou was Xiao Weishen, so she couldn't help but give him face. She said in a deep voice, "What important matter can she have?"
"Let her wait in the side yard and don't let her get close."
Hua Chun retreated respectfully.
You Shu thought about it and said, "Then I will take my leave first."
"You stay." Xiao Weixin looked back at him, "Come with me."
You Shu was confused and thought to himself, why do you take me with you when you go to see your woman? But he swallowed the words back when they came to his lips, fearing that Xiao Weixin would be angry and punish him.
In the garden of the side courtyard, Zhou was drinking tea leisurely, and she didn't look like she had anything important to do. Xiao Weixin stood outside the courtyard and adjusted his mentality before walking in. He entered the movie star mode in a second. Even You Shu, who was used to seeing him like this, couldn't help but sigh.
My prince should have been born in modern times. He would have definitely been admitted to the Beijing Film Academy.
Zhou heard the noise and turned around. She stood up and saluted happily: "Your Majesty."
"Get up." Xiao Weixin replied indifferently, deliberately dragging his weak steps over, "I heard that you have something to do?"
Zhou's eyes moved charmingly, and she said in a tender voice, "Of course there is something wrong."
"Your Majesty's birthday is coming soon. I wanted to prepare a gift for you, but I didn't know what Your Majesty would like, so I came to ask."
Xiao Weixin was extremely annoyed. This happened every year, and this woman would not stop for a moment. "Since it's your birthday, let's just celebrate it as we did in previous years. I don't like extravagance, so you can do whatever you want."
Zhou looked happy, but pretended to be sad: "This is also the last time I will serve the prince, right? In a few months, the queen will marry into the family."
"Why bring up this matter?" Xiao Weixin frowned. He felt even more annoyed when he heard Xia Yinxiu's name.
Seeing that he was not interested in Miss Xia, Zhou understood a little and said politely, "It was I who said too much."
She glanced at You Shu behind Xiao Weixin and asked curiously, "Why isn't Qi Han the one serving the prince today?"
"Does the king have to tell you everything?" Xiao Weixin was unhappy, "Are you meddling too much?"
Knowing that he was angry, Zhou quickly stopped talking and admitted her fault: "It's just that I haven't seen this new servant before. I was wrong."
Xiao Weixin nodded, and said in a soothing tone: "Even if you become the principal wife in the future, your treatment will remain the same. I will not show favoritism, so you don't have to worry."
"Yes." Zhou's face showed joy, as if she really loved him.
Zhou didn't have anything important to say, so after sitting for a while, she stood up and left. Seeing her walking away with the help of the maid, You Shu couldn't figure it out: "We used to celebrate birthdays casually, why did she come to ask about it this year?"
"She's being nice to me for no reason." Xiao Weixin pondered, "It must be that Xiao Weishen has given her some task again, so she came here to test my opinion."
"Have someone pay more attention to her movements."
You Shu nodded. Although Zhou was not a smart woman, she was the dog emperor's spy after all. She would suddenly pop up and check in from time to time, so it was better to be careful.
He was still thinking about Zhou's matter, but heard Xiao Weixin speak again, "Birthday... I forgot about it."
"Since my mother passed away, no one in this world truly remembers this day anymore."
You Shu felt a little distressed when he heard the bitterness in his words. After the murder of Concubine Xian six years ago, Xiao Weixin had been unwilling to celebrate his birthday properly in recent years. He just ate longevity noodles hastily at Hua Chun's insistence. Sometimes You Shu watched him sitting there with an expressionless face and eating noodles slowly in the dark, and he could always feel the pain in his heart.
This made You Shu think of himself. Although no one celebrated his birthday now, his family members in his previous life still attached great importance to it. They would hold parties for him every year and buy him all kinds of expensive birthday gifts. His sister would also fly back from abroad to accompany him. He almost never had a missing birthday.
In comparison, the current situation is somewhat bleak. Relying on those memories to live, You Shu does not feel bitter. But Xiao Weixin is different. He and his mother have lived in the deep palace for so many years and have never had a comfortable day. So what he can recall is only a little warmth, right
You Shu had received a lot of love, so his heart would never be desolate. But Xiao Weixin had received very little, and You Shu was willing to give all that he had received to Xiao Weixin, so that he could also feel that the world was worth living.
"Someone will remember, Your Majesty." You Shu said softly, "There will be more and more in the future."
When you become emperor, the whole country will celebrate your birthday with you, and no one will forget that day.
Xiao Weixin pursed his lips and didn't seem happy, because You Shu obviously didn't understand the deeper meaning of his words.
"I don't really care whether others remember it or not."
"It's just that no one has given me a gift for a long time, and my hands are empty."
After he said this, he pretended to be calm and walked out. He didn't want people to see that as a prince, he was so high and mighty that he actually stretched out his hand to ask for gifts from others. If others knew about it, he would lose all his face.
You Shu didn't react at first. By the time he figured it out, Xiao Weixin had already walked away.
So... his prince condescended to ask him for a gift
You Shu began to worry again.
What should I do? The small treasury has just been filled a little and I have to spend money again. Giving gifts to his precious prince will definitely not be cheap, and he is reluctant to give him cheap things.
The worst thing is that he has never given anyone a proper gift in his two lifetimes. For his sisters’ birthdays, he would just buy whatever they wanted for Ka Ai. As for the prince’s birthday... does he have to just give him banknotes
He could already imagine Xiao Weixin's furious look.
You Shu is sad.
Alas, it’s so troublesome to have a relationship, and it’s too expensive to support a wife.
The weather was getting hotter day by day, and it was June in the blink of an eye.
Because of the coming of the hot summer, Xie Feiyuan seldom assigned them tasks. When they had nothing to do, everyone hid under the trees in the backyard of the Shadow Guard Camp to cool off. A group of handsome guys with bare chests and in shorts squatted together and ate watermelons.
You Shu also squatted with them, but the prince did not allow him to be shirtless outside, so he could only wear a vest and a small jacket to be reserved. Then he was mercilessly ridiculed by everyone. They were all grown men, and wearing a jacket could not cover anything.
You Shu had no words to express his grievances, so he could only eat melons in silence.
In the evening, the sun was setting and the city finally felt a little cooler. While the shadow guards were still chatting, there was a sudden noise from the back door. Usually, only family members could go through this door. Xie Feiyuan was afraid that they would come back one by one and disturb the prince's rest, so he opened a small door to enter and exit. Only they could know where this was.
Yingjiu heard the sound and turned around to see. Sure enough, the door opened and a man walked in stealthily.
The man was ragged and unkempt, with an unpleasant sour smell on his body. I don't know if he hadn't showered for a few days. Everyone stopped eating melons and looked over eagerly. Ying Liu even reached out and pressed the knife at his waist.
Only Ying Si stared at him for a while and asked uncertainly, "Look, does this beggar look like our Lao Ba?"
As soon as this sentence came out, everyone looked over.
The man lifted his messy hair and finally broke down after confirming their faces:
"Damn it! I'm finally back!"
“Awoooooooooooo…”
Yingba cried loudly with a dirty face. Xie Feiyuan was drinking and came over with a whip in hand. "Who the hell is killing chickens here?"
Yingba fell to his knees with a plop and burst into tears:
"Master Shadowshou! I have finally lived up to your trust and returned alive!"
“Wuwuwuwu…”
You Shu knew that people should be compassionate, but he couldn't help himself when he saw Yingba's miserable state.
Xie Feiyuan's eyes twitched, "Did you really beg for food all the way back?"
Yingba shed tears of humiliation, and even snatched the melon from the hand of Yingshi, who was already stunned, and started to eat it madly.
The rest of the shadow guards all let out sounds of amazement and gathered to watch Shadow Eight's miserable condition. They were all as happy as if it were New Year's Eve.
Xie Feiyuan looked at them in a state of confusion and became extremely angry.
Damn it, how come he always raises these weirdos!