The news of peace was conveyed by Puyi on the road at a speed of 800 miles. After six days and nights, it was sent to the border of Changsha.

On this day, more than a month has passed since Xier headed north. Zhao Xitai had already returned to Jianghuai, leaving an envoy waiting for Mu Fulan's decision.

Another sleepless night passed. The next day, Mu Fulan summoned the envoy in the palace's convention hall, gave him a letter, asked him to go back and hand it over to Zhao Xitai.

After the envoy left, she then summoned Qi Lulin and other ministers from Changsha, rejecting their previous suggestions that she could choose the crown prince from the Mu clan.

She said: "Among the clans, I have not seen anyone who can take on this great responsibility. I have never heard of the people of Changsha who are anxious all day long and cannot live."

"Before the death of Brother Wang, he said in person, entrusting the thousands of people of Changsha to me. You all heard it with your own ears. I have been regent for several years and dare not say that I have made achievements, but it is not a big mistake. You are all old ministers of Changsha and have made great contributions. But I don't care what you think about this matter. I hope you will stop here. Don't mention a little more in the future! In this extraordinary period, I will continue to do this regent. What should I do in the future? I will figure out what I should do."

Her words were straightforward and her attitude was not even a little room for anything.

In recent years, her authority has become increasingly popular. Among the people, the people have actually regarded her as the heroine. How could Lu Lin and others not know? Seeing her reply like this, they came out loud.

Mu Fulan left Yuan Handing and said to him: "Prime Minister Lu suspected that I would become the king of the king. My sister-in-law has gone again. They may be afraid that they will be excluded in the future, so they made a temptation and wanted to establish another Mu clan closer to them as a throne. I have no intention of being the heroine of Changsha. Not establishing another new king of Mu is under the current situation. I don't want another person to be involved. Xier cannot be involved."

"Brother Yuan, Prime Minister Lu and others hope to alliance with the Eastern Court. They fantasize that as long as the alliance is together, the two sides can resist Xie Changgeng and protect the Changsha Prime Minister from his establishment. You have also advised me to alliance. What do you think?"

Yuan Handing hesitated and said nothing.

Mu Fulan said, "I can actually guess what you think, Brother Yuan. No one knows better than you. The Eastern Court wants to defeat Xie Changgeng, and his hope is very small. The royal family and vassal kings that the King of Qi gathered together were originally gathered for interests. If you cannot see the hope that can bring benefits, people's hearts will not be able to be unified. Even if Zhao Xitai is capable, he will not be able to change the fatal disease of the innate deficiency of the Eastern Court. The previous example of King Zhao's separation from the Eastern Court is an example. A court built on quicksand cannot go far."

"Our army is united, but it also has congenital symptoms. The population of Changsha is limited, and the combat power it can support is also limited. If you want to expand your army infinitely, you must attack, occupy more places, and seize more population and wealth."

She smiled, "The previous kings of the Mu family have gained a reputation for their benevolence and righteousness, and they have been passed into my hands, and they have become trapped. Since we cannot plunder and annex others, we are destined to have limited national strength. If we have today's situation, Brother Yuan, you have done your best, and I have also done your best. It must be admitted that Xie Changgeng's strength is far superior to us. Brother A, you know that even if the two forces work together, it will be difficult to reverse the situation, but you still advise me to join forces. You know that once Xie Changgeng becomes the emperor in the future, no matter how much Changsha retreats, he will never tolerate this country in his belly. You are afraid that my country will be destroyed and humiliated, so you want to do your best to fight again, right?"

Yuan Handing was moved: "I am incompetent and failed the expectations of the master."

Mu Fulan shook her head.

"Brother, I have said that you and I have tried our best to do our best without blaming ourselves. Even though we are unable to compete for hegemony, we have not yet fallen. It seems to me that it is already very good to have an army that can compete with others. As for the future, I have also considered it..."

She was silent for a moment.

"There has been no fixed ruler in the world since ancient times, and the same is true for Changsha. When we really reached the last step, under the trend, what we can do is to respond to the situation. We seek peace with war, negotiate with him, and achieve his unification of the world, and he will not respond. The thousands of people of Changsha have supported our Mu family for two hundred years and saved them from the endless war. This is also a little reward for our Mu family."

Yuan Handing stared at her and slowly knelt down at her.

"San Miao has been a place where the imperial court has been attacked for the past. The gains are not worth the loss, so we must consider the trade-offs. Yuan Handing hopes that the owner will retreat to San Miao and have a happy life for the rest of his life!"

Mu Fulan smiled and helped him up from the ground.

"Brother, at least for now, we don't need to worry. Xie Changgeng won't attack us. You should also know how I replied to Zhao Xitai in the letter. I'm a little worried about that. They have high hopes for the alliance. I haven't replied before. With Zhao Xitai's intelligence, it's not difficult to guess my decision. Xi'er hasn't come back yet. In case, I want to trouble you to go out again and take him back."

Yuan Handing immediately agreed and prepared himself out that day.

...

Outside Huguo Temple, Liang Tuan and others were outside the mountain gate. The next day, they saw people coming in. After a night, they didn't see them yet. They were a little worried. They were about to go up and inquire, but suddenly they saw a fast horse coming from the direction of Shangjing, and a message came.

Liang Tuan asked the others to wait, and immediately went up and reported their intentions. He was taken to the Talin in the back mountain by the monk and brought it to the Sifang Zen Temple.

Liang Tuan walked in. The surroundings were empty, there was no sign of people, and there was no sound.

The sun shone above his head, but he felt a trace of miserable silence.

Shangjing was completely controlled, Empress Liu and his followers were executed, and the emperor with some dementia was under house arrest. The remaining officials also began to write letters one after another today, scrambling to be loyal to the new master.

He really didn't understand why the King of Qin came here to visit an old monk late at night at such a major moment worth celebrating.

It's fine if you come, but why did you pass overnight and you haven't come out yet.

He walked to the door, stopped, called, but didn't hear an answer for a while, he hesitated, and said, "King of Qin, the news has just arrived. The guard leader who had been ordered to escort the young master south to send someone to send a message, saying that the young master was worried that there might be an ambush on the road ahead, so he stopped halfway and was still in the inn in Pucheng."

After he finished speaking, he heard a slow and heavy footsteps coming from it.

The door slowly opened. He saw a figure appearing behind the door.

Xie Changgeng stood there, holding the door with one hand, his eyes were dark.

At first glance, the person in front of him even made Liang Tuan feel an illusion, as if he had lost all his strength, and even the simplest movement of standing was so difficult for him.

But overnight, he seemed to have grown older than ten years old.

Liang Tuan was shocked and stepped forward and reached out to help him. He avoided him.

"What did you say just now?" he asked in a hoarse voice.

The Liang Tuan hurriedly repeated it again and said, "Don't worry, King Qin! The young master is fine! The leader sent a message just to inform the King of Qin to make progress on the road. He said that he would protect the young master and send him back to Changsha safely. If the King of Qin is worried, I can bring some people over and escort them together!"

Xie Changgeng stood still.

"Where is he?" he asked.

"Pucheng."

"Pucheng..."

He murmured and repeated the place name, his face twisted, and an extremely strange look appeared in his eyes.

"I'll go by myself."

He settled for a moment and suddenly murmured.

Under Liang Tuan's surprise gaze, he let go of his hand holding the door, slowly stood up straight for the slightly hunched body, raised his shoulders, then took the threshold and strode away.

...

It was another evening, and a setting sun cast on the top of Pucheng.

This city, which was besieged by the rebels of the Pingyang King a few years ago, has now returned to peace. Only when the sunset is shrouded in blood on the city, can people still vaguely remind people of the tragic situation of that day.

Xie Changgeng arrived here on a horse.

He stopped outside the city gate for a moment, raised his head, looked at the neat row of scrambled doors at the top of the city, and for a long time, he closed his eyes and continued to drive his horse inward.

When he was taken to the post by Pu Chengling who had arrived after hearing the news, the young man was alone in the stable behind the post. He had just finished feeding his little dragon horse, and then combed his mane with a comb.

The postmaster took Xie Changgeng to the stable, stopped outside the door, and looked at the people and horses in front of him.

The child looked at the little dragon horse with care. He seemed so attentive that someone behind him entered the stable, as if he had not realized it.

"The young master has been here for a while. He is very kind to this horse and feeds and takes care of it himself every day."

The official secretary smiled and whispered to Xie Changgeng.

It was a destiny that he and her son, their Xier, would stop in this city that was so unbearable to look back on.

Xie Changgeng looked at the figure ahead, and his eyes gradually turned red.

If the person who was controlled by power and desire for the past life had not been retaliated against, would he really have a hint of repentance towards his wife when he was about to die?

He ordered the postmaster to retreat, and he was about to step towards the young man before he raised his foot, but it seemed as if the soles of his feet were as heavy as a thousand pounds and could not take a step.

The young man seemed to have noticed something. He turned around and saw him standing at the door of the stable. He called out "Mr. Xie", turned around and ran towards him.

Xie Changgeng finally walked towards him, moving faster and faster, walked to the young boy, and stopped.

"Sir, why are you here?" he asked with his face raised.

Xie Changgeng lowered his head and stared at the young boy in front of him. His eyes were not blinking. Suddenly, he opened his arms, hugged the person in his arms, and hugged him.

He hugged so tightly. The young man seemed to have not reacted at first, and struggled slightly for a few times, but soon, he stopped, motionless, and let him hold himself.

"Sir Xie, what's wrong with you?"

A moment later, Xie Changgeng heard a soft question coming from his ears.

He looked at the child's beautiful eyes that looked like his mother, and could not move his gaze away.

In front of him, the scene of the boy in white striking his sword and committing suicide in front of him, and swearing to no longer be a father and son.

He remembered that day, the young boy in front of him was also a long journey, hiking from the dust and trekking, and alone came to Changping Pass without telling her, just to tell himself that he believed what he said to him, and he never had any doubts.

He Xie Changgeng had no virtue and ability, and what he did, and he could still gain such wholehearted trust in his whole life.

His eyes were red, and he slowly relaxed his arms and let go of the little boy.

"I'm fine. I just heard that you stopped here and came over. I'll take you back." He whispered.

The young boy smiled and said, "Sir, you are so nice. I thought that my mother received my letter. If she believed in me and did not form an alliance with the Eastern Court, the people there might want to be unfavorable to me and threaten her with me, so I simply stopped here to avoid any trouble."

He looked around.

"This place is very good, I like it," he said.

Xie Changgeng felt as if there was a dull knife slowly cutting somewhere in his heart.

"My mother will definitely send someone to pick me up again. No need to bother you, sir. I really hope I can grow up soon so that I can protect my mother." The young boy sighed.

"By the way, sir, have you been to Huguo Temple and have you seen the eldest grandfather?" He suddenly thought about it inadvertently and asked again.

Xie Changgeng stared at the young boy in front of him.

"Xi'er, you want to protect your mother, but do you know how to best protect her?" he asked suddenly.

The young boy said, "Sir, what I actually know is that she can only protect herself by being the king and being the most powerful king in the world. But my mother, she is too kind and she doesn't want to be the king. What she first thinks about is always to protect the people of Changsha."

"Do you want to do it? Be the most powerful king and protect her?" Xie Changgeng paused and asked.

The young boy was silent for a moment, raised his eyes, looked at Xie Changgeng and said, "I want to do it."

"Very good. From today on, Lord Xie will help you become the most powerful and only king in the world."

Xie Changgeng said word by word.
Chapter completed!