Yecheng.

On the street, there were several children trotting along the road, holding candied fruits in their hands and humming nursery rhymes happily.

"Bei Youliang, holding the king's sword, raising the big flag, heading towards the throne~~"

The carriage passed slowly on the street, and the sound of nursery rhymes slowly sounded around and entered the car.

The carriage suddenly stopped.

Zu Jue poked out his wrinkled face and looked at the noisy children.

Zu Jue looked at the driver and said, "Help me down!"

The coachman did not dare to neglect, jumped out of the car, and helped Zu Jue out.

Zu Jue limped out of the car, grinning in pain, his buttocks were almost broken. He Shikai secretly gave orders to the executing soldiers, almost beating Zu Jue to the point of paralysis.

The position of Zhongshu cannot be kept, and now he has to be sent to a border area to serve as an official.

Zu Jue staggered, walked in front of the children in a few steps, stretched out his hand to stop them, and then showed a gentle smile.

It's just that this guy was not good-looking to begin with, but when he smiled like this, he looked even more sinister. Some little kids were so frightened that they cried.

"Don't cry! Don't cry!"

"You just sang very well, I'm here to reward you!"

He took out some money from his sleeve and asked the coachman to distribute it to the children. The children immediately lost their fear and hurriedly thanked him.

Zu Jue grinned, and his smile was quite strange.

"Your nursery rhymes are good, but they don't sound very good to me."

"How about I correct you a thing or two?"

"good!"

"You have to sing like this: There is a king in the west, he is benevolent and heroic, he raises the banner, and he is on the right track."

"Doesn't it sound much smoother?"

"Here, get them some more money, sing like this, and someone will give you money."

Zu Jue divided the money and quickly got into the carriage under the leadership of the coachman. Then, he disappeared on the road. The children hid the money on their bodies and did not dare to let others know. They ran towards their homes and talked in their mouths.

Still singing loudly:

"There is a king in the west, benevolent and heroic"

The driver drove the car and listened to Zu Jue's humming voice. He didn't dare to ask about the situation. He took Zu Jue back home.

Zu Jue's home is also a famous entertainment destination in Yecheng. The courtyard occupies a large area and there are many servants in the house, making it quite lively.

Zu Jue limped to the study room and then lay flat on the ground.

His servant hurriedly applied medicine to him, his eyes full of surprise, "Master, Your Majesty obviously loves you very much, why do you punish you?"

"Oh, pampering?"

"I'm not a manly woman, how can I pamper him?"

Zu Jue said unhappily: "Although I have not been with him for a long time, I have done a lot of things for him in the past few months, and I have never made any mistakes. It's just because He Shikai is often in his presence."

He didn't reward me for speaking ill of me in his ears, and now he wants to drive me away."

"I have the ambition to be a prime minister, but he doesn't have the ambition to be an emperor."

The servant felt that these words were a bit treacherous and did not dare to continue.

Zu Jue suddenly said: "He spends all his time drinking and having fun and treats national affairs as child's play. Liu Taozi will kill him sooner or later."

The slave's hands shook in fear, and Zu Jue screamed in pain.

"I didn't say I would kill you, so what are you afraid of?"

The servant turned pale and whispered: "Master, you cannot talk about this kind of thing openly."

"What are you afraid of? Is this the only family in this world?"

"I asked him to comfort Empress Wenxuan, but he actually occupied her. I asked him to divide Hu Luxian and Liu Taozi, but he actually wanted to frame Hu Lvxian!"

"In the end, this sin still became mine?"

Zu Jue was indignant, "He will be defeated sooner or later. I have to find a wise master to realize my ambition to rule the world!"

The servant asked in a low voice: "Are we going to the west?"

"Turning to the West? I have to ask for you too! There are many military leaders over there, and the warriors have the final say. Where can I still have a foothold?"

"What about Tounan?"

“There’s even less of it in the south.”

Zu Jue blinked, "There is one person who is my master. If the two of us join forces, great things can be accomplished!"

He suddenly grabbed the slave's hand and said, "First take your family elders and leave Yecheng secretly and wait for me in Sizhou!"

"You, the master of the house."

"To seek refuge with the Ming Lord, can you still go empty-handed?"

"I have to prepare a generous gift for him!"

"You go ahead and do it!"

"only!!"

The servant left in a hurry.

Zu Jue narrowed his eyes and tapped the bed in front of him with his fingers. After a moment, his sinister laughter came from the inner room.

Yecheng, inside the imperial palace.

Gao Zhan had a straight face, his expression gloomy to the extreme.

There was a lot of fine wine placed in front of him, but Gao Zhan couldn't eat it at all and had no appetite at all. This was indeed rare.

Gao Guiyan, King of Ping Qin, sat aside, a tall man and a big horse.

After assisting Gao Zhan to ascend the throne, Gao Guiyan's power reached an unparalleled level. Even Duan Shao and others were unable to compete with him. He vaguely felt like the first minister under the emperor, just like back then.

The Changguang King Gao Zhan is like the earlier Changshan King Gao Yan.

He must have eaten a lot of wine these days, his abdomen is protruding, he is much fatter than before, and his face is rosy.

He smiled and said: "Your Majesty, don't worry."

"Liu Taozi will not rebel."

"When he tried to rescue Gao Jun, we could see that he had no intention of rebellion."

"At present, the officials are conniving at him and writing memorials to guarantee it, all because he has no intention to rebel. If he wants to rebel, he will be the enemy of the world. People related to him in the court will be the first to stand up and attack him."

After listening to Gao Guiyan's words, Gao Zhan took a sip of wine.

He said slowly: "Some people say that when Liu Taozi was born, she was wrapped in black clothes. Her whole body was as black as ink, and she did not fade away for three days."

"The sign of the dead man's black clothes comes from him."

"There is even a nursery rhyme in the city that says: There is good in the north, holding the king's sword, raising the big flag, and heading towards the throne."

"Liu Taozi is definitely planning to rebel."

"But all the ministers and generals in the court do not agree with my use of troops."

Gao Zhan said angrily and took another sip of wine. He felt unhappy and took several sips in a row.

Gao Guiyan shook his head disdainfully, "This is all Wei Xiaokuan's method!"

"Wei Xiaokuan likes to use this trick the most. He is eager for His Majesty to send troops to attack Liu Taozi, and the harder he fights, the better."

"How can your Majesty believe this?"

"Your Majesty, the most important thing today is to defeat the Puppet Zhou. We will defeat the Puppet Zhou first. Your Majesty will gain military merit in this way, and then continue Gao Jun's policy to enhance the national strength. Five years later, I am willing to capture the jade for your Majesty and create a new world."

A prosperous foundation!!"

Gao Guiyan was very high-spirited. For a moment, he did not look like a bad drunkard, but really looked like a wise king. He said seriously: "Liu Taozi is someone your Majesty can reuse. I have met him before and he has not rebelled."

If you use Gao Xun to control your internal thoughts and Liu Taozi to control your external thoughts, why should the world worry about not being able to control them?"

Gao Zhan didn't say anything and just continued to drink. He didn't know how much he drank. Gao Zhan started to shake a little.

He shook his head, "It's not important whether you can rebel, but whether you can rebel is important."

Gao Guiyan's expression changed and he immediately dared not speak.

Gao Zhan realized his mistake and laughed, "After all, he is a foreign minister and not a member of his own family, how can he be credulous?"

Gao Guiyan's face just improved and he poured him another drink. The two continued to drink. Gao Zhan asked: "Just because he saved Gao Jun, you don't think he will rebel?"

"Your Majesty, if he wanted to rebel, he would not act like this. How could a rebel use money and food to settle the people? He is not close to the local big families, has no contacts with nobles, and there are people inside and outside the court who want to kill him.

There are more people than the Puppet Zhou Dynasty. The people who really want to rebel should be to win over all parties and use money and food to recruit soldiers and horses. How can they be used to resettle the refugees and set up schools? These refugees will be able to fight against fully armed people if they train for another ten years.
To be continued...