The boiling sound of "woohoo" sounded, and a pot of hot water was boiled.
The little monk wrapped the hot copper handle with a towel, and carefully poured a brew of tea into the red clay pot.
This is a three-way house, with only a narrow and cramped living room. The small kitchen is covered by the blue cloth curtain on the left, and the thin door on the right is hidden, and the bedroom is inside.
He wiped the table three or four times, and then brought the tea tray over. In addition to the freshly brewed hot tea, there were two plates of nutmeg snacks.
"Mo, Mo Shuai, please use tea."
This time the name is normal. When he was in the alley before, this little Xiu was really scared and stupid, otherwise he wouldn't blurt out Mo Xi and call him "stepfather" anyway.
"And this one..." He raised his eyes timidly and looked at Gu Mang with sincerity, "Uh..."
What should it be called
stepmother? Mom
This person was covered by a mask, so he couldn't see his future appearance, so Xiao Xiu wasn't very sure what to call him. However, in the alley just now, he felt that he was absolutely right. Their godlike and indifferent Mo Shuai Xi and Jun must have wanted to kiss each other's face.
Although Mo Xi coughed lightly and explained to him that this friend had sand in his eyes, he was helping him blow. But who would believe it
The little cultivator couldn't help but be frightened, nervous, curious and afraid - God, he actually broke the adultery of Xi and Jun on the way home from grocery shopping!
How to do how to do? Will Xi Hejun kill him? What kind of fairy-like appearance does this stepmother have? How long have they been together? Has Princess Mengze been kept in the dark
Sitting at the table with a cold face, Mo Xi would not know that his seemingly respectful subordinate was flipping through bubbles in his head, and each bubble was wrapped in an extremely dangerous question.
Mo Xi took a sip of tea, and Xiao Xiu stared at his pale and thin lips, a few more bubbles opened in his brain:
It is said that men with thin lips are very affectionate. I once thought that Xihejun was an exception, but I didn't expect it to be the same. Alas, Princess Mengze is really a pitiful person. After waiting so many years, she was abandoned when she said that she was abandoned. How miserable! !
But on second thought, this "stepmother" hadn't spoken since she saw him. He neither knew her voice nor her appearance, and the robe she was wearing was very loose and she was very tall. Difficult to judge - maybe she is Princess Mengze? The princess wanted to swim with Xi and Jun, for fear of being seen by idlers, so it was normal to wear a mask or something.
It was probably because the ups and downs in his heart were too great, and it was revealed on his face unconsciously. Mo Xi looked at him somewhat speechlessly, and put the teacup down: "What are you thinking?"
"No no no! I don't think about anything! I'm a piece of wood with no thoughts!"
Mo Xi: "..."
Xiao Xiu covered his face, and after a while, he looked out through his fingers, and said in a muffled voice, "Mo Shuai, your... er, friend... What does she drink?"
"It's fine if he drinks the same thing as me. We're just here for Elder Qingxu to bring some Duanyang Dragon Rice Dumplings to the workshop. Don't sit for too long. You don't have to be busy anymore."
After speaking, he took out some sweet and salty rice dumplings wrapped in Jiang Yexue's house from the Qiankun bag.
Mo Xi didn't know how many dumplings to keep, so he asked, "How many people are there in your family?"
Xiao Xiu scratched his head: "I'm the only one."
Gu Mang listened to it, and couldn't help but whisper "Huh?"
Hearing the sound, Xiao Xiu turned his head and looked at him suspiciously.
No wonder Xiao Xiu was stunned. Although his voice was soft, he could clearly hear that his voice was hoarse and not a daughter.
Gu Mang couldn't help thinking that something was wrong. It was just when he was embarrassed that he heard Mo Xi indifferently say: "Last night, he caught the cold, his voice is a little hoarse, and he can't speak very well... Could you please make him a pot of hot ginger tea?"
"Oh oh... It turns out that my voice is hoarse..." Xiao Xiu muttered and exhaled, "Of course you can."
It was hard to get over the matter, the two drank tea, left zongzi for Xiao Xiu, said a few words and then left his house.
Walking on the road, Mo Xi asked, "Why were you so surprised when you listened to him just now?"
Gu Mang said, "Ah, that's a long story. That kid, he turned out to be my subordinate."
"… I know."
"You know? My 30,000 remnants were all included in your Northern Army. I thought you couldn't tell which ones were my original brothers and which ones you recruited later."
Mo Xi said, "It's easy to recognize."
"How do you recognize it?"
"The monks you brought, they call me stepfather."
"… "
The black leather military boots with iron pieces were walking on the green brick road, making a crisp sound, Mo Xi said lightly: "They thought I didn't know, but I know all about it. The one just now was also nervous, speaking in the alley. Just call me stepfather, and it will be yours as soon as you hear it."
Gu Mang rubbed his nose a little embarrassedly, and took a long time to say, "That group of outrageous little bastards, why are you randomly giving you nicknames."
"It's nothing, it's fine." Mo Xi said, "Compared to me, you are indeed closer to them. You've seen it for so many years, and you can still remember what a little Xiu looked like, but I don't really care about them. Impression, I'm not good at memorizing these. I'm not that close to the soldiers."
Gu Mang smiled and said, "Your brain has been used to memorize the scrolls of spells and border reports. It's true that you can't remember people."
"… "
If I go on, I am afraid that I will talk about the reorganization of the Northern Territory Army. Mo Xi didn't intend to continue this conversation—he didn't want Gu Mang to know the oath of calamity.
In fact, his style of governing the army is just like his people, tough and cold, and it is easy for people to misunderstand that he does not take his soldiers seriously. He is not very good at inspiring words with words, not very good at wooing sergeants with tenderness.
So after he took over the Northern Army for so long, his monks still respected him, feared him, but did not love him.
In addition to Your Majesty, someone in Xian knew that he had spent ten years of Yangshou to protect an army, and the soldiers of the Northern Army did not know what the "stepfather" in their mouths had done for them.
Although now it seems that the oath of calamity is not important, Gu Mang has already made a guarantee for them, and Mo Xi's oath is only used by the emperor for the second time, even if he did not swear this poisonous oath at the time , Your Majesty will not let down the 30,000 blood. But so what
When in the game, no one knows what the truth is.
Their "stepfather" is boring, doesn't like to say good things, is not a god, and can't see what the secrets are hidden under the surface. He may not be good enough in one way or another, but he has already used his life to protect those who he once thought were about to suffer.
Despite this, he only received a sincere "stepfather."
One sentence, "Mo Shuai is an aristocrat, and he won't be with us."
Who says racial discrimination is only from top to bottom? In fact, a commander who was involved in the mud and dust in a noble group had already been discriminated against to the bones by his soldiers inadvertently.
Mo Xi said, "Tell me about that Xiao Xiu, why were you so surprised when you heard that he was the only one in his family?"
"Oh, that's right." Gu Mang said, "Don't look at how young that kid is. He joined the army when he was sixteen years old. At that time, he was the youngest group of descendants under my command. I asked him why he wanted to join the army at that time. , He told me that he has three older brothers, all of them are here, and he can't be idle and doesn't want to be left at home."
When Gu Mang said this, his eyes were a little gloomy: "His three brothers are all outstanding and decent. If I remember correctly, the three of them should have been alive the year I left Chonghua. I didn't expect that. …”
Mo Xi was silent for a moment, then said: "The swords have always been ruthless, so don't think too deeply. No one can guard everyone and do what they do. It is enough to have a clear conscience."
Gu Mang didn't say a word. After a while, he suddenly said without end, "The eldest brother of that family said back then that as long as he had the money to buy a house, he wanted to marry a daughter-in-law and live a stable life."
"… "
After being silent for a long time, Gu Mang sighed, "...If the battle can be over soon, that would be great."
The battle cannot be over soon, but the day of the war is over soon.
Not long after Duanyang, an urgent report came from the northern border, saying that the Liao Kingdom was treachery, breaking the original two-year truce agreement, and suddenly lightning attacked the weakest Shituoguan at the border of Chonghua, and the Shituoguan was in an emergency.
When this news came, the emperor was so serious that he couldn't even walk around the ground, so he had to ask Murong Mengze to preside over the overall situation on his behalf. However, the civil and military officials who did not understand the inside story were very dissatisfied with the king's move, and there was a lot of discussion for a while—
"What's wrong with your royal body?"
"There is a difference in the emperor. It should be consulted by the three elders of Shennongtai, and then told the important ministers in the court, how can you just leave a sentence and go into seclusion? There is no such rule in all dynasties!"
In fact, Mo Xi could clearly perceive the atmosphere that was flowing in the court: people didn't know that your Majesty was suffering from an incurable disease, but after all, paper couldn't contain the fire, and many people with active minds had already come very close to the truth. It's just that they are still uncertain and dare not rashly explore each other. In addition, there are some unsmart bereaved elders. Although they did not notice the strangeness of your Majesty, Mengze's authority undoubtedly hurt their nerves. They did not dare to target your Majesty for the time being, but it was more than enough to target Mengze. .
Mengze meant that he hoped to call Chonghua's Pegasus Battalion to help, and then call part of the garrison from the two nearby gates to consolidate the dangerous situation at Shituoguan. From Mo Xi's point of view, her handling was indeed safe and appropriate, but she was rejected by a large number of people—
"The Pegasus Camp is directly under the emperor, how can it be easily transferred from the royal city?"
"Dispatching troops is a major matter. Even if the princess is to make a dispatch, you have to open a military and political meeting first."
These are all reasonable, and what's more, relying on the fact that he is a noble elder, he directly said to Mengze: "Murong Mengze, you are a girl, why do you control military orders?"
"It's fine if you want Shu Jun to take over the power, you don't even have a title, and both are royal clansmen, who has a lower status than the other? We follow the will of the emperor, and it's fine for you to preside over the court meeting, but we can't listen to it. A girl of yours will dispatch troops, right? Who can bear the burden when something big happens!"
With such a procrastination, official power checks and balances, even if some important officials of the military agency headed by Mo Xi are willing to protect Mengze, it is still difficult for the military order to fall quickly. As a result, Shituoguan finally fell, and the Liao Kingdom's black demon division marched south all the way, and broke through the three frontier cities of Fengcheng, Dazecheng and Dicheng in one fell swoop, kidnapped a large number of people in the city, and killed tens of thousands of defenders.
By the time this news came, although your Majesty had recovered and was able to go to court, it was too late.
He sat on the throne, with the frontier reports of the past 20 days spread out in front of him, his face was terrifyingly cold.
"Before the emergency at Shituoguan, I made urgent reports for help 14 times, and I struggled for seven days." Jun Shang threw the stack of military newspapers on the table, and raised his head from the collar of his fur coat and white fur, his eyes Icy, "Gu has already entrusted Mengze with full authority at that time. Are you all dead or all pregnant and need to have a baby, why are you shrinking and not deploying troops?!"