Chapter 131: . Xueluojingcheng (Part 1)

The mercenaries in the mountains in the northwest are still boiling under the hot sun, but the capital of Taraguo on the east coast of the mainland has ushered in the first snow of this winter.
The New Year is only two weeks away. The people of Tara people follow the old rules most. Every time before the festival, it is necessary to prepare the large and small objects used for the sacrificial celebration, let alone the most grand New Year festival of the year. Therefore, even if the snow is fluttering in the cold wind, the streets and alleys are always busy adding new ones to the old New Year's Pass.
However, these cumbersome things can't affect the middle school students in the Royal Academy. For them, the most important thing at the moment is how to find a way to successfully pass the final exam before the new year-this is not only about the reputation of the college, if the exam fails, then in the next month of vacation, it will be indispensable I want to come to the college often to study and make up lessons.
The more recent years have passed, the tension in the college has become stronger. Even the lecturer lounge, which is almost unattended, is crowded with students who want to make up for their homework temporarily. The chattering is noisy and straightforward to teach people a headache.
Fortunately, today is Sunday. The lecturers have already left school with the "followers" they can't get rid of. In the university, except for a small number of students who live on campus, only the busy office workers in the student union tower are left.
The gilded and painted antique wooden building is still warm as spring, like an invisible wall that isolates all the elusive changes in heat and cold from the outside world. Snow flakes like catkins blew along with the wind and touched the floor-to-ceiling glass windows illuminated by the lights. In the blink of an eye, they melted into water droplets, meandering out a series of weird words.
Shun stood in front of the window like this, silently looking at the words that seemed to be a magical pen, but his eyes seemed to have broken through the glass window long ago, and it shot straight farther, even more indistinct in the dark clouds, the towering tower. Giant tower.
The door to the president’s lounge is always closed. Except for the regular cogs of the self-ringing clock, I couldn't hear any noise that could disturb the calm. The dull air was as stiff as the only person in the room, the black gold palace robe with a white jade hairpin. , Without a smile on his face, heir to the empire.
Behind him is a pile of books of all kinds of books, large and small, afraid of not less than a hundred copies, thrown into a mess-this is only after he has been busy for a week to deal with most of the chores. "The most important thing." Except for this messy desk, the rest of the furnishings and furniture in the room are all spotless. Obviously someone cleans it from time to time, but no one dared to touch a bit of the desk.
The hand of the self-ringing bell was still moving forward, and after the minute hand completed a full circle, the bell that marked noon struck on time. 12 The long buzzing sound just stopped, and three cautious taps came from outside the heavy carved wooden door.
"...Come in." Shun still turned his back to the door, and there was no wave in his slightly closed eyes, as if focusing all his attention on the falling snow outside the window.
The door was slightly opened by a crack, and an arrow squeezed into a yellow-robed man. He was less than 30 years old and his face was full of red spirit. It was Master Pan Bin, the deputy head of the household. The face of this important court official in charge of the country's money is solemn and solemn, but the unusually brisk pace during the walk seems to reveal a bit of unstoppable joy.
Holding a thick pile of papers in his hands, he walked a few steps to the table and took a look. He frowned as he looked at the messy books on the table, but he didn't dare to speak too much. He picked up the corner to the side and kept silent. The newly delivered documents went up again, and then he bowed to the prince and said: "His Royal Highness, all the accounts have been counted, please have a look."
"... Hmm." Shun Man replied indifferently, still not looking back, as if the accounts he mentioned were far less important than the snow scene in front of him.
Pan Bin bent over and waited for a long time. He didn't receive a few words again. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart: Why did the temple go to the southern country? As soon as I came back, I changed my personality. I didn't say much. The north wind in the cold winter makes people feel cold.
Although he was pulled up by the prince with one hand, he was still not close to his ministers after all, so he dared not ask more. I want to find a credible person to inquire about it. The guards who are usually inseparable from His Highness have been far away but have not followed back.
However, in his opinion, the reason why His Royal Highness would face each other so coldly is probably inseparable from the bad news the other day.
Just last weekend, His Royal Highness had just returned to Beijing all the way to Beijing. The gang of trouble-free guys had to rush to make trouble, and criticized in the court, saying that he was openly involved in the aristocratic circle of the South Island as a dignified prince Lost state. Among them, Lord Zuo Bu, who has not yet obtained the approval of his majesty to be promoted to the deputy cabinet chief of the Criminal Department, is the most outrageous because of the arrogant nonsense on the court.
This kind of bone-chilling remarks have long been commonplace, and if they continue as usual, they will not cause any waves. But I didn’t want this time. His Royal Highness was really angry. The next day he ordered the Guards to cooperate with the Police Department to thoroughly investigate whether the ministers under the pavilion and the aristocracy were involved in the unprovoked attack on the South Island. There is a connection.
Who knows it's okay if you don't check it, it can be messed up when you check.
His Majesty does not love governance today, and state affairs are mostly determined by the ministers, which also makes it possible for some of them to collude and form gangs, secretly doing secret things, until the prince supervises the affairs of the country. Today everyone came to take a closer look, saying that this shouldn't be forbidden, which one privately confiscated gifts from aristocrats in the southern country, but the value is different.
Among them, the most loudly scolded Zuo Bu adults. This officer of the Criminal Ministry usually makes friends very well, and he consciously is very righteous, but he is easy to shirk when he asks for something. He is most favored by the envoys of the South, and there are many foreign in-laws in his family.
Although it is not a big deal to associate with the nobles of other countries in private, once the prince is attacked, it becomes more true and it is impossible for anyone to talk to himself.
The courtiers lost their voice in panic for a while, and even the few elders who held real power did not dare to move lightly. Fortunately, the prince did not intend to cause political turmoil on the occasion of the coming of the New Year. He only punished a few heavy plotters headed by Zuo Bu and demoted them to Juncheng in the southwestern mountains. They could not easily return to Beijing without an edict.
The work of checking the accounts of the courtiers involved in the case kept the Ministry of Households very busy, and it was not straightened out until now, but after he hurriedly handed them in, His Royal Highness seemed to lose interest again, and did not care whether the rest was greedy for money.
The deputy pavilion master stood by the desk for a while, and suddenly saw that the cold-faced Highness in front of the window turned around, and hurriedly bowed again to hide the fact that he was slack.
Shun did not put his gaze on him. He only glanced at the pile of books on the table where the new members had been added, then turned his head and looked back at the gloomy sky outside the window. After a pause, he suddenly asked in a low voice: "Jade Palace, there is Is it moving?"
Pan Bin replied truthfully: "His Royal Highness has never come forward. Now the convicted person has left Beijing and traveled west. Those who wanted to stand by and beg him to intercede have also dispersed."
"Hmm..." The prince replied and stopped talking, only looking at the snowflakes floating outside the window, his thoughts flew away.
It has been a week since he returned to the capital, and the new year is approaching. The large number of government affairs and the student union's final planning form accumulated when he was out before has been overwhelmed like a mountain. He is so busy that he can only run around the college and the Prince's East Palace. In between, I almost didn't care about others.
There is always peace and harmony in the capital. Even if there are some disturbances in the court in the past few days due to sudden investigations, for the common people, it is no more than a few words after dinner. In the busy time of two o'clock and one line, nothing seems to have changed, but it seems that everything has changed...
There are a few students missing in the college. Jiehai is still in a state where there is no news. No one has seen him again. The rumors have different opinions, but none is credible. His classmate friend Lu Ang was also in a dilemma due to the catastrophe of his farm. Not only did the nearby farms move away, no one even dared to buy the fruit juice produced by his family anymore. He had no choice but to change the property and apply for withdrawal from school, and accompanied his father and his family. General to the hometown of the northern lake-Yun'an City.
In the third grade of senior high school, Yuming has not come to the college for a long time. It is said that it was stimulated by the last duel with Jiehai, and he was desperately cultivating his supernatural powers, combined with the posture of the Jade King's Mansion that is now closed, 80% is true. How lucky this is willing to work hard.
In addition, the bookstore of Song of Time was also deserted, and every time he wanted to see Sister Miyou, he couldn't find anyone. Naturally, Jiehai is not there, and the store manager Yuno has never appeared, not to mention the crown of the high priest who has not seen a few times a year...The whole bookstore is only left with the little puppet Dandan who is not knowingly lonely still working hard. .
Even the prince's east palace is no longer the same, there is more water monk who uses healing as an excuse to rely on rice, but there is less...
Pan Bin waited at the table for a long time, faintly realizing that His Highness seemed to be in a worse mood at this moment, so how dare to ask questions. It's just that, as a mortal after all, he seems to have indefatigable endurance compared to those of strength. After standing for a long time, he felt sore in his legs and feet. He couldn't help but lifted his knees. The joints made a crisp sound, and he immediately removed Shun from his messy thought Led back.
"Retreat..." He waved his hand gently, and the deputy pavilion master bowed and retreated, stepping away from his numb legs, and slowly Tuntun walked out at a speed completely opposite to when he came. He leaned on the railing and let out a long sigh of relief until he walked through the gate and walked back to the wooden corridor, only to feel that his back was sweating from the depressed atmosphere in the house.
With Pan Bin's departure, the room fell into unwavering silence again.
Shun stood still in front of the window for a long time before turning around and returning to the table. He glanced at it, and the messy tabletop made his gloomy mood even more gloomy. He has never been a lazy person, but because of that person's existence in these years, when he seldom has to do all kinds of chores by himself, over time, even how to organize the desktop is a bit tricky.
Thinking of the person who betrayed him again, he felt guilty in his heart. He simply sat down like this, rummaged through the same messy drawer to find the glasses to put on, and took the newly sent account papers. The floor swept up.
He didn't look slowly, but he was very careful, never miss a word deviation, and gradually became fascinated. He flipped through the piles of books one after another. He didn't know how long it had passed. He only felt dry and dry. He subconsciously reached out and touched the place where the person used to put tea cups. He started empty and had nothing.
Suddenly, he was stunned. Sora held the one-finger-thick document, but his eyes could only focus on the space left on the table-the place was not big or small, just enough to fit a purple bamboo tea tray.
Since the bell rang again. Five low buzzing percussions echoed the room, signaling the quiet arrival of the evening. However, under the snowy sky outside the window, it seems difficult to tell the boundary between day and night.
The heavy snow fell on the capital, and it was wet and cold everywhere, and the weather was hard to bear in the cold winter. However, for those who have been tempered in the icy winds of the Northern Federation since childhood, the chill of the snow in the capital is far from enough to meet the "severe winter" standard.
As a semi-national top hotel, Bingquan Hotel has few guests staying in it, and it has been left in the cold in these nine cold winters. Fortunately, they never rely on the amount of passenger traffic to maintain their operations.
Not long after six o'clock, the sky was already pitch black. Snowflake obeyed the sneaky wind and fluttered everywhere, seeming to be pervasive, but absolutely unable to fall into the lowest floor of the hotel, a suite where only five people knew its existence.
The light in the suite living room is dim. Several light-yellow fluorescent wall lamps were scattered everywhere, and a hot charcoal fire was burning in the marble fireplace, reflecting red on the wall covered with picture frames, as well as shining as far away as possible with flickering dark lines on the face.
He lay on his back on the flannel sofa in the center, with a low coffee table beside him, and a bud-shaped magic lamp. The yellow light, which was not much stronger than the flame, gathered in the miscellaneous magazine opened in his hand, reflecting the words that faintly smell of ink into the green pupils.
This is the new South Island Weekly published yesterday. The above covered a large amount of pages vividly and vividly on the mercenary meeting held in Rock City, accompanied by high-definition live color photos exclusively authorized by the Marquis of West, which instantly caused a wave of national sensation on the island. In order to be the first to see the demeanor of the strongest in the world, countless people flocked to the newspaper to rush to buy it, so that it was sold out on Saturday, and more than 100,000 copies were printed overnight to barely fill the vacancy.
Of course, this is not an overprint version in the hands of the best fare. It is only because of the distance of the capital and it was just delivered on Sunday afternoon. Even though the mercenary meeting was lively, it was nothing more than a ranking, which did not attract him much interest, but the few familiar figures in those photos surprised him.
Yuno was nothing. He knew that although this friend was the young lord of Asker, he liked to take risks since he was a child, and had a close relationship with the famous female alchemist of "Caro". It didn't seem to be too much to go to Rock City to join in the fun.
But Yun Xuan and Jie Hai appeared in the ring at the same time, which made him feel incredible. After returning to Beijing, he also received a lot of news about the missing schoolboy. It is said that he suddenly awakened his divine power and became a new disciple under the crown of the high priest. He even had a duel with Yuming.
He was skeptical at first, but seeing the colorful photos in this weekly magazine at the moment, I am afraid that something is true. However, in just a few short months, Jie Hai was able to stand in the Rock City Arena and compete with others, and it seemed that he did not lose the wind... Among them, I am afraid that the crown prince took a lot of pains.
As far as possible, he couldn't figure out why the high priest, who had always ignored world affairs, would favor this young man so much, but in his opinion, this matter was gratifying. The relationship between Jiehai and Shun is irreversible. With this relationship under the crown of the high priest, they will surely occupy a seat in the holy tower in the future. After the crown prince becomes the throne, he will be able to help more...
When he thought of the prince who has not yet been able to meet to explain the cause, he suddenly lowered his mood. He stared at the figure of the young man covered with black thorns on the pages of the book. .
The old housekeeper Louis slowly turned into this dim red light from the dark corridor. He still wears a decent black butler uniform, and his old cheeks with a slightly smiling smile always seem to be covered with indelible depression.
As soon as he entered the door, he looked at the lonely figure lying on the sofa, saw that he was holding a newspaper in his hand, and shook his head reluctantly: reading in such a dark place is not a good habit... He walked straight to the row of decorative cabinets by the door Toggle the switch, the zenith sapphire blue bindweed chandelier instantly illuminates the entire hall.
He had recovered as soon as he entered the door, and as soon as he saw the light turned on, he took the opportunity to put the Southern Weekly back on the coffee table, sat up and looked at him, with a few questions in his eyes.
The old butler naturally understood what he was thinking, and bowed slightly in return: "Little Master, Le Liu has returned, do you want to see her now?"
"Excuse me, Louis, please invite Miss Le Liu to come first." Hearing this news, he immediately got up and turned around the sofa, facing the door waiting for the visitor.
Louis responded and turned to whisper outside the door. After a while, the sharp sound of high-heeled shoes fell from afar, and a slender girl in a black and white maid uniform soon appeared under the light.
The girl looked only seventeen or eighteen years old, she looked very thin, her chest was not shrunk, and her tight waist was particularly prominent. She lowered her head slightly, squinted her eyes, and stood by the door with a sense of alienation. The long light gray bangs covered most of her face, and she could only see the small mouth that seemed to be muttering, but she couldn't hear it. The slightest sound.
This girl named Le Liu stood there without saying a word since she appeared, like a stranger who has nothing to do with her, she didn't even give a straight eye. However, he has long been accustomed to the other party's indifferent attitude. He didn't think it was a pestle, and he just said hello with a small smile: "Miss Le Liu, the weather is so bad, I can trouble you to make a special trip. It's really hard for you."
The girl didn't respond when she heard his greetings, still opening and closing her mouth without knowing what she was thinking, her eyes became even more dull.
Seeing that she was still dull and silent, the old butler could only cough lightly and instructed: "Le Liu, you first report today's situation to the young master."
"Yes..." The little maid reacted like a mechanism, and read the report without hesitation. "The Jade Prince's Mansion is still quiet today. Someone ran into a fat cook who was buying ingredients in the Royal Mansion in Gulou Alley, Houjie. Ah Bing, according to what he said after drinking, most of the chefs and gardeners hired have been dismissed. I don’t know the details..."
"The five prisoners who were demoted to Juncheng left Beijing in an airship today, and their family members gathered outside the palace to beg for a visit also dispersed. The emperor has not expressed his opinion on this, and the mood of the remaining courtiers is still stable... "
"There is new news in the Holy Pagoda today. The prince's request for review of the spiritual monk Ku Rong has been approved, but because Ku Rong himself has not appeared for a long time, it is estimated that it will take another week to officially implement the review process..."
The sound of Le Liu Machinery's report ended here, and it instantly changed back to the silent maid.
After listening to her as far away as possible, she said and said hard, but she was a little disappointed, because compared with the information received yesterday, it was really not much different.
It seems that it has been almost a week since returning to Beijing, but there is still no progress in the investigation of the Jade King. Now his identity is embarrassing. In order to avoid deepening the misunderstanding between him and Shun, he can only hide in the Bingquan Hotel most of the time, and obtain everything he wants to know through the intelligence chief Le Liu.
He didn't know much about the people who worked in obscurity under his mother's hands. Including this indifferent girl dressed as a maid, if there is no introduction from the old housekeeper, it is really hard to believe at first glance that she is the intelligence chief who is commanding the entire underground secret line of the capital.
Since he is asking for others, he naturally wants to get closer and treat each other as friends. However, Le Liu seemed to be very resistant to his unfamiliar "young master". Apart from the official report, he was stingy with just a few words.
The intelligence network that Mrs. Lovina had secretly deployed in the capital was so big that it frightened him. Although the spies are almost powerless mortals, and most of them don't even know the identity of their dark lines, after all, this is the sanctuary at the feet of the emperor, and a little carelessness will attract countless visits. He really couldn't think of how his mother, with great magical powers, managed the dark web to such a scale without showing a trace under the eyes of the patrol inspectors...
The thoughts that diverged as far away gradually flew away, and there was no sound for a long while, but the girl standing in front of the door lost patience, stopped silently and bowed slightly and said: "If there is no other order, Le Liu will leave."
She didn't wait for the "young master" to answer, and turned around to leave, and was stopped by the ashes who finally woke up.
"I'm really sorry, Miss Le Liu, just remembered something else..." He apologized first, and then asked after careful consideration, "Have anyone seen the demobilized servants of the Jade Palace?"
"There is no relevant information."
"Really... why can the fat chef stay in the mansion?"
"He is a distant cousin of the princess, with a different identity."
"So..." I couldn't help frowning as far as I could. This matter seemed a bit strange, but I couldn't infer any conclusions from it. Although he knows that the Jade King and the South Island Protestant elder Moredia are in collusion with each other, and may even be the messenger behind the scenes, if there is no sufficient evidence, how can he make Shun believe his words in his embarrassing situation now?
Thinking of this made him feel discouraged, but he couldn't let go of that person in his heart, so he couldn't help asking: "Miss Le Liu, is there any new news in the academy...?"
The girl paused for a few seconds, maintaining her mechanical tone and replied: "Pan Bin, the deputy head of the household department, went to the student union today. Someone saw him carrying a large number of documents. I think this inventory finally yielded results... In addition, previously Granny Ye, the resident steward who is ill at home, has officially resigned today. There are rumors in the Fengming Road next door that she is guilty of hysteria, and there is no precise information."
"Hysteria?" Jin Yuan was a little surprised. The mother-in-law has seen her many times, and she seems to be very energetic. How could she suddenly develop hysteria?
However, compared with the hidden conspiracy of the Jade King, this was really not important. Although he was surprised, he didn't ask any more. After thanking the girl for her help, he watched her disappear into the dark aisle without a word.
The old butler Louis did not know when he had taken out a small bottle of aged wine from the wine cabinet. When he turned around, he raised the bottle and asked with a smile: "Little master, today is a rare first snow. Do you want to enjoy the snowy night in the atrium? ?"
As far as I could at the moment, my thoughts were complicated, and I didn't even think of appreciating the snow at all, but looking at the ardent face of the old housekeeper, how could I resist it and could only agree.
The two of them brought wine utensils fitted into a rattan frame, followed by walking toward the inner corridor, bypassing several levels of rounding stone ladders, and then opening the hidden door, but in front of them was an open-air greenhouse located in the middle of the side building of the hotel.
The greenhouse is full of commonly seen wild flowers and short grasses, mostly from his hometown of Olesia. The small flowers of various colors are laid out in disorder, without showing any unique atmosphere, they are like a campsite directly opened in the countryside.
Looking far away at the flowers and plants of the hometown that seemed to be familiar and even more unfamiliar, he was in a daze, but before he had time to think about it, he was interrupted by the soft call of the old housekeeper.
Louis had already laid out a napkin by the central round table, and put on a wine set, just as he gestured to him. The gun guard stepped forward and sat down in silence. The old man knew that he didn't like to drink too much, so he only poured a small half glass and put down the wine bottle and stood by.
I lifted the wine glass from the far end and shook it gently, watching the red wine with rich aroma in it, but I couldn't get any interest in it, so I barely took a sip and put it back.
The intelligence investigation that made little progress this week obviously made him quite disappointed. The old housekeeper saw it in his eyes, but he was unable to change. Although he is very happy to see Young Master getting in touch with family affairs, he also knows that all that Jin Yuan has done so far is just to alert that person... Seeing his depressed look, Louis also felt a cork plug in his heart, just thinking Find a way to distract him.
"Young Master, did you also read the new Southern Weekly?" The old man remembered that he was still holding books under the dim light, and he chatted by the way, "Speaking of this rock city, it has been really lively these days. With so many strong people gathered in one place, it really makes an old man of me feel that blood is gushing in his chest. I thought, if you were there, at least one runner-up would come back!"
I didn't dare to brag as far as I could, and shook my head slightly and replied, "Don't underestimate the mercenaries in Rock City. With my strength, I won't have a problem in entering the finals. It's hard to say any further."
The old butler finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he was willing to stubbornly, and smiled confidently: "Young master, you are too self-effacing. When it comes to understanding Yancheng, the old man is much clearer than you think..."
Hearing his words as far as possible, and feeling puzzled, the old man immediately changed the subject: "Young Master, do you think this weekly magazine will be sold if it is sent to Beijing for sale?"
"Marketing?" He didn't know why the other party had this question. He thought about it and found it feasible, and nodded slightly. "Although there are newspapers in the capital, I have never seen this kind of miscellaneous publications with color pictures. As long as the price is reasonable, he should Many people are willing to try... Your Majesty is most interested in these novelties. If you can get his approval, the rest will not be a cause for concern."
"What you said is exactly." The old man didn't know the joints. It was just to draw attention to the question. When he looked up with doubts at the far end, he laughed and explained, "Look at my memory, I forgot to mention it to you. This South Island Weekly is also our family’s industry, including the South Island Daily and Beijing’s Oriental Daily, as well as West’s Huandao Films, we all have a lot of shares. of."
Hearing as far away as possible, I was taken aback, and then I thought about it and was relieved: I can quietly spread this dark web in the capital, and a few news and newspapers are simply not enough.
The old butler seemed to have eased his expression, a little interested, and immediately introduced the details of the news industry, and there were many interesting anecdotes in his talk.
He quietly listened to these family properties that had never been touched, but were inseparable from him, and occasionally asked a few questions. Gradually, he finally suppressed the heart that had been hanging in the air for a while.
The silhouettes of the old and the young stayed peacefully in this little green field that was undisturbed. Snow flakes with goose feathers continued to fall from the sky, with dampness and coldness, but there was always that transparent shield blocking the sky, dispelling all the cold that shouldn't be intruded.