Chapter 205: Broken jade, all burned, brother and friend.

Shi Tingyun excused himself on military business.

Yan Yuanheng led Yan Yuanzhao into his tent, and after telling Ren Qing to prepare wine, the two brothers were speechless for a while.

Yan Yuanzhao had long ago gotten used to this sawbucket gourd, strolling around the tent by himself with his arms folded.

Though not hopeful, he was still in the habit of trying to have some fun here.

He's found a rare thing.

In the corner of the tent dug a side of the earth pool, inside the water, raising three small palm-sized river turtle. Two black and one yellow, two black in the water mallard, so leisurely, a yellow climbed to the shore, does not seem to be afraid of living people, is curious and Yan Yuanzhao look at each other.

Yan Yuanzhao, looking at it, knelt down and gently stroked its chin with his knuckles.

The turtle was quiet, and held its head up for him to manipulate.

Yan Yuanzhao asked, "What's this?"

Yan Yuanheng: "Turtle."

Yan Yuanzhao: "I've never seen a turtle? I've never seen a turtle run. I've seen turtle soup. I mean, why are you raising turtles here?"

"From Su Chang."

Yan Yuanheng deliberately emphasized the word "Su Chang".

Yan Yuanzhao lets out a laugh, "Okay, Tingyun, that's a good gift. If you don't keep it well you give it to you, if you keep it well it gives it to you."

Yan Yuanheng: "......"

Yan Yuanzhao holds the unafraid little yellow turtle in his hand and plays with it, while Yan Yuanheng sits and drinks tea.

Yan Yuanzhao was having fun and said, "It's just like you, neither of them can talk."

...... Yan Yuanheng felt that this sixth imperial brother of his was not very good at talking either.

He put down his tea cup and walked over to Yan Yuanzhao.

Yan Yuanzhao was so amused by the turtle that he only gave his brother a squint.

Yan Yuanheng coughed lightly, "Sixth Imperial Brother. Does Su Chang often write to you?"

Yan Yuanzhao didn't raise his head, "Ah. How was it?"

Yan Yuanheng: "Nothing."

Yan Yuanzhao got along well with the little yellow turtle, and brought it back to his seat for more teasing. He even attempted to feed it a drink, but was stopped by Yan Yuanheng, who then brought him some fresh fish to feed him.

Yan Yuanheng endured for a long time, asked, "...... What did you say in the letter?"

Yan Yuanzhao replied, "How is the battle at the border, how is his health, is he still alive. What else can be said?"

Yan Yuanheng lowered his eyelashes and let out a "hmm", his mood neither good nor bad.

On the other side, Yan Yuanzhao paused, picking up a small strip of fish, "...... talks about you occasionally."

Yan Yuanheng pricked up his ears.

Yan Yuanzhao, however, stopped short: "That's all."

Yan Yuanheng disappointed, "...... Well."

The two brothers were silent for a while.

Yan Yuanheng tried to break the silence after weighing his words, "When Sixth Imperial Brother has correspondence with Su Chang, he can inform Yuanheng. Yuanheng should also write a letter to inform the several royal brothers of his safety. ......"

"Free, for the good of you and me, 13th brother can take less trouble." Yan Yuanzhao also did not give Yan Yuanheng face, "I think I know what it is like to correspond with you. I ask you a good, you give me back a thank you, we only have polite words in the letter. I don't know you yet, you are most boring."

The brothers were once again out in the cold.

Asked and asked, he failed to ask what he really wanted to ask.

Yan Yuanheng couldn't hold back and finally made up his mind, no longer beating around the bush: "What did ...... Su Chang say about me in his letter?"

Yan Yuanzhao picked up the little yellow turtle and sighed, feeling deeply bored.

Let's go to Tingyun.

This stuffy gourd is obviously no words to find words, and he can't chat with him even if he bites his tongue.

He doesn't have the heart to play brother and sister with Yan Yuanheng.

He got up, "He said that Yan Yuanheng always charges forward whenever there is a battle."

Yan Yuanheng nodded his head, and in his heart there was uncontrollable joy.

Seeing his appearance in the afterglow, Yan Yuanzhao couldn't help but feel annoyed.

He reached out and held the crown of his hair, said, "He also said that Yan Yuanheng has the intention to serve the country, pointing a hundred light cavalry, night chasing Pa Sha, beheading and returning, making a name for himself in the army, and being loved by the audience of generals and soldiers. But in his opinion, it is just a child who is self-reliant in martial arts, showing off his ability to venture into the world, not knowing what is good or bad."

Yan Yuanheng was stunned when he heard that the flavor was not quite right.

That's not the kind of thing Shi Tingyun would say.

Yan Yuanzhao marched out two steps with his back to him and stopped in front of the tent, "He said that he wishes you to build your career, and he also wishes you to be greedy for life and death. May you be a pillar of the country and not a hero after death."

After Yan Yuanheng's mind turned, and he realized who was trying to say this to him, he only felt a slight heat rising in his chest.

He made a deep bow, "Thirteenth Brother knows. Thank you, Sixth Imperial Brother."

Yan Yuanzhao waved his hand somewhat uncomfortably.

That whole brotherly friend thing really doesn't suit him.

As he raised his steps to leave the tent, Yan Yuanheng called out to him from behind once again, "Sixth Emperor Brother, that little turtle was given to me by Su Chang."

Yan Yuanzhao: "......"

He just didn't like Yan Yuanheng's one-dimensional nature!

Yan Yuanzhao was indignant: "Playing with a turtle is not a stew, so why are you so stingy."

Yan Yuanheng said seriously, "This object is my reward for killing Pa Sha, and Su Chang himself went to the river to catch it for me."

Yan Yuanzhao: "......"

He held up the turtle incredulously, met the round red eyes, and tsked in wonder, "You risked your life to kill Pa Sha, and Shi Tingyun fished out three Wang Ba to give to you as a reward?"

Yan Yuanheng : "Uh-huh. I like it very much."

Yan Yuanzhao was about to put the little yellow turtle down when he heard the words and his expression changed slightly.

He thought of the question he had asked Shi Tingyun when he had played against him at the General's residence in Wangcheng.

"...... Sixth Master wants your word, do you have a broken sleeve?"

At that time, Shi Tingyun held up his chess pieces without saying anything and did not answer positively, but judging from his expression, it was obvious that he already had someone in mind.

Seeing Yan Yuanheng again, Yan Yuanzhao also realized that he was a bit different from what he used to be.

Thinking about this, he felt a little bad, so he stopped his steps toward the outside, went and came back, settled down in the main seat, and picked up the wine cup, "I'll taste how the white wine of the Southern Border tastes like."

Yan Yuanheng picked up the little yellow turtle and put it in the pool, letting it go to find its two other playmates.

Yan Yuanzhao drank two mouthfuls of wine, one hand supporting the chin, one hand playing with the wine cup, seemingly unintentionally said, "...... thirteenth brother, with Tingyun to the border these days, how do you think?"

......

When Chi Xiaochi enters Lou Ying's tent, Lou Ying is already in a wheelchair, smoothing out pages of his crumpled books.

Seeing him enter, Lou Ying put the book down once more with a natural movement, and then patted the arm of the chair at his side: "Sit here."

Chi Xiaochi sat down, "Sir, I'm nagging there."

Lou Ying said, "I called you here to talk about Chu Ziling."

Chi Xiaochi thoughtfully, "Oh--"

Lou Ying laughs, "Oh what."

Chi Xiaochi said in all seriousness, "Practicing beautiful voice."

Lou Ying coughed, "...... Chu Ziling."

Chi Xiaochi snappily brings the conversation back on track, "Chu Ziling Chu Ziling."

Chu Ziling's life is pretty tough right now.

His remorse value, however, remained below 10 points.

The deaths of Pa Sha and Wu Yichun had undoubtedly broken his spirit, but in his heart, Ai Sha was not dead yet.

Even if he learns of Ai Sha's death, to Chu Ziling, he has only lost a few puppets that he can manipulate; there are many people who know that he is an undercover agent of the Southern Border, so he still has a lot of possibilities, so why should he despair and regret?

Chi Xiaochi said to herself, "It's been two months, it's about time 'that guy' made some moves."

Lou Ying said, "Since he is not dead, he will always come. It's just that he's been circling the Northern Household Army for the past two months, and I heard that he was shot and lost an eye, so he probably came a little late because he was recovering from his injuries."

Chi Xiaochi said, "I hope he'll be quick. The Thirteenth Prince's teenage boy heart has been a bit out of control lately, and I may not be able to wrap my arms around it."

Lou Ying: "I can help you with that."

Chi Xiaochi came a little closer: "How can you help me? You just tell me to come back when something happens? What if I don't come back?"

Lately he feels less afraid of Lou Ying, and sometimes he is able to joke with him.

Lou Ying looked him straight in the eye, tapped her fingertips twice on the armrests of her wheelchair, and said gently but firmly, "If you don't come back just now, I'm going to go get you."

Chi Xiaochi: "......"

His eyes and eyelashes drooped, and he turned in like the wind and conceded, dutifully shrinking back into his chair and gulping water from his cup.

I don't know whether it was because of the Spirit of Words, but after the two of them sat opposite each other for a while, a pro-army messenger hurriedly came and handed over a letter.

The envelope was thick, pinching up at least a couple dozen sheets of paper.

Chi Xiaochi thought it was something related to the war, and after opening it and taking just one look, his eyes lit up.

Lou Ying recognized the gleam in his eyes, and his heart followed.

He asked, "Is ...... here?"

Chi Xiaochi skimmed through the letter, then threw it to the ground and said, "Yes, at last."

He pushed Lou Ying's wheelchair to a safe place, grabbed the tea he had just half-drunk, and didn't forget to remind Lou Ying: "Cooperate and plug your ears."

Lou Ying : "...... hmm?"

Chi Xiaochi said, "I'm going to lose my temper."

After Lou Ying plugged his ears, Chi Xiaochi flew up and kicked over the chair Fang Cai was sitting on, and then he picked up a teacup and threw it to the ground, smashing it to pieces.

The sound was so loud that it could be heard in a ten-topped military tent in a radius.

A moment of silence outside when he heard a disturbance within.

Within a few moments, Yan Yuanheng flung open the military tent and hurriedly entered: "What happened?"

Chi Xiaochi did not answer, biting the edges of his lips white, and without another word he lifted down the tabletop.

Yan Yuanzhao followed Yan Yuanheng into the tent, saw the chaos, did not move, first signaled his entourage to send back the soldiers who heard the noise nearby, Fang Cai closed the curtain tent, frowned and said, "^What are you making a mess?"

Yan Yuanheng noticed a pile of letters lying on the ground, leaned down to pick them up, and turned them over.

The more he turned it over, the harder his expression became.

That sheet of letters was clearly a secret letter to the Southern Border to inform the military situation!

Some of the paper was on the newer side, some on the older side, and although the letters were not explicitly dated, the earliest of the secret letters, based on the contents, was projected to be from the Battle of the Twin Cities seven years ago.

That battle would have been a sure-fire surprise attack.

However, the Southern Border Army in the Twin Cities had prepared for this and planted fire mines outside the southern part of the city, hitting the Northern Household Army so hard that Shi Jinghong was hit by an arrow in the shoulder and nearly died in the chaotic battle.

And in that earliest letter, the strategy of surprise attack was told in great detail, even pointing out that the northern government army would attack from the south direction of the city.

Yan Yuanzhao saw them all look so ugly, his heart could not help but be suspicious, snatched it over and turned over two pages, then there was a burst of shock and anger: "...... Tingyun, isn't this your writing?"

"This is not Su Chang's." Yan Yuanheng's face was somber, "The structure and stroke are exactly the same, but it is by no means written by a single person. When Su Chang writes, there are always some unusual little habits, such as when writing the character '之', the end of the topmost point will be raised slightly upwards ......"

Yan Yuanzhao asked, "Who sent these letters?"

Yan Yuanheng took out the topmost piece of letter paper: ''This packet of letters should have been sent from the main camp. General Shi Jinghong has already gone through it, and the attached letter says that these letters were personally delivered by a Southern Border envoy who came to negotiate a truce, frankly saying that they have a spy ...... planted inside the Central Plains army named Chu Ziling."

Yan Yuanzhao sucked in a breath of cold air and turned his head to look at Shi Tingyun.

Shi Tingyun's shoulders were shaking, and his fingers curled and spasmed one at a time as if they were itching from a heart fire.

Yan Yuanheng moved closer to Shi Tingyun and raised his hand to tug at his sleeve, but in the end, he lowered his hand and only stood by his side.

He figured that if he couldn't stand, he could hold him faster if he stood closer.

With this in mind, Yan Yuanheng handed Yan Yuanzhao the letter in Shi Jinghong's handwriting and asked him to look at it: "Now that envoy is detained in the main camp. He also said that he came to the peace talks in good faith, and that he gave up Chu Ziling's identity to show his sincerity, and that he was willing to confront Chu Ziling face to face. General Toki has already sent men to take the man in the primus camp, and has also told Su Chang to go at once to have a look."

Yan Yuanzhao read the whole thing in one glance, glanced at the ashen Shi Tingyun, and resolved not to fall into the well first.

"The Southlanders? Would they be so kind as to catch the traitor for us?" Yan Yuanzhao frowned, "Don't be stirring up trouble, right? Whose name did that Southern Border envoy come under?"

Lou Ying at the side said in a warm voice, "The person who sent him was Tie Muer, but the person who told him to send the letter was a Southern Border Vice General. That person is Ai Sha's nephew and Pa Sha's vice general."

Yan Yuanzhao coldly said, "Can the words of such a person be trusted?"

Yan Yuanheng said, "If he wants to say planting, he can take these letters and prove that Su Chang fornicated with foreign countries, so why should he name names and plant a small military officer? Why should he name names and plant a little senator? What good will it do?"

Yan Yuanzhao had nothing to say but to keep slanting his eyes at Yan Yuanheng.

Do you know how to read faces?

Chu Ziling was promoted by Shi Tingyun and grew up together, so their friendship was extraordinary.

If Chu Ziling was falsely accused, that would be fine, but if he was not, how could Tingyun live with himself?

Shi Tingyun looked as if he had just awakened from a nightmare, looking around blankly, and only after looking around at the mess on the ground did substance slowly come into his gaze.

As if to confirm that this was not a dream, he pulled his feet up and ran outside.

Yan Yuanzhao was startled and chased a few steps out of the tent, "What are you doing?"

Shi Tingyun sprinted to pull over a good horse and straddled it, "...... I'll go to him myself. I'm going to ask him for a clear explanation!"

......

Chu Ziling was dragged straight from the stables.

Come to take his people, look at the dress is the northern government army troops, the leader of the black tower with the big man Zhan Dayuan whispered two sentences, Zhan Dayuan is a burst of color, shouted two stronger soldiers, without saying he will be bundled up, take the tarpaulin grass gagged, thrown on the back of a horse, transported livestock like transported on the road.

What's going on with ......?

Chu Ziling had a hard time saying anything, and after a moment of fear in his heart, he calmed down again.

He has a special status and is under the protection of Gong Zi. There is no need to explain why he was treated in such a manner.

He has always been clean, confident that it will not leave any traces, unless the Southland people will be sent back to the letters he once sent, or never find evidence to prove that he corresponded with the Southland.

And the only slip-ups would be those city spies, I guess.

It might be that the Northern Household Army had captured a spy who happened to have delivered a letter for himself, and that spy had given himself up in order to stay alive.

This is not enough to fear.

As long as the person is determined to be planted, the other party has no credentials and no witnesses, so what can he do?

Before he even arrives at his destination, Chu Ziling has thought of all the ways to deal with the situation.

While he was ventriloquizing, he suddenly heard a burst of Tak's hooves, coming from far and near, followed by the sergeant in charge of escorting him stopping his horse and saluting, "...... Young General."

Chu Ziling's eyes lit up and he looked up and vaguely called out, "Stop ......"

The next moment, he was kicked off his horse by Shi Tingyun, who had rolled over and dismounted, and fell to the ground, rolling several times on the dry land, nearly breaking his neck.

Shi Tingyun could not help but take the horsewhip and lash out at him.

I do not know whether it is a coincidence, the whip is dipped in water, but also salt water, heavy and heavy, not to mention Shi Tingyun military background, strong, the whip blade dipped in the body will hurt into the bone marrow.

Chu Ziling ate the pain and couldn't escape, so he could only roll and crawl in a sorry state to avoid it, calling out vaguely, "Gong Zi!...... Tingyun, listen to my explanation, I'll let me explain- "

Shi Tingyun, however, as if he were mad, whipped him regardless, and a whip rained down on his head and face, one of which landed on his cheek and tore a strip of skin off his face!

Chu Ziling had never suffered this kind of pain before, and nearly went crazy from the pain, so he no longer bothered to explain, and spent all his energy on escaping and hiding.

Between the spanks, the same thing he had properly hidden came loose from him and fell on top of the dry land.

Chu Ziling rolled out five or six feet away, only to feel a sudden horror, turn his head to see, only to see that the proof of their identity of the South Border King Jade Pendant, even in the constant running and rolling, from his lapel inside the pocket fell out!

Chu Ziling for a moment cold hairs stand up, heart and soul are lost, actually meet the whip blade pounced up, want to protect the jade pendant under the body.

...... This jade pendant must not be seen by Shi Tingyun!

If he sees it, it's all over!

Shi Tingyun, however, had no intention of seeing it.

Or maybe he didn't even see it.

Because the next second, his boots stepped on the jade pendant.

...... Kaz.

Caca caca caca.

Chu Ziling watched as the jade pendant, wrapped in a soft handkerchief, which he had carried with him since he was a young boy for fear that someone greedy for money would steal it, fell apart at Shi Tingyun's feet, splattering its remnants.

Chu Ziling froze on the spot, staring at Shi Tingyun's feet, and was solidly whipped by Shi Tingyun for more than a dozen lashes before he came back to his senses, with tears in his eyes, cold sweat exploding, and his teeth chattering, as if the trampled jade wasn't his heart, liver, spleen, and lungs.

Shi Tingyun could still hear what he was hissing through a tarpaulin gagged in his mouth.

Chu Ziling growls with a sobbing voice: "--My Jade!"