From late August to September, the summer is hot, and cicadas chirping on the branches one after another. The servants under the eaves drooped their heads and closed their eyes and started to doze.

Luoyang Royal Palace.

It was midsummer. In the annoying cicada, the palace maid dragged a long skirt and carried the iced cheese past the awakened eunuch and knocked on the door. Soon, the palace maid inside pulled the door in.

"Mrs. It's time to use some desserts."

The palace maid put the tray on the round table, gently picked up the bowl of iced cheese and walked to the bead curtain in front and squatted down. The wind blew into the bedroom, and the slightly swaying bead curtain, and the curtain with purple gauze was hanging. The figure lying on his side woke up from the light sleep. Looking at the palace maid kneeling with the bowl outside, she woke up for a while, and quickly sat up, as if she realized something, and had a correct expression.

"Take it in."

"yes."

The palace maid held the bottom of the bowl with both hands into the curtain. In the curtain, Empress Dowager He reached out to take it. In the sight that ordinary people could not notice, there was a folded note of paper between the fingers of the palace maid and the bowl quickly and was taken into the tent.

The woman was not in a hurry to look at the note. The cheese with ice residue was sent into her red lips and slowly melted. When the sweetness soaked in her mouth, she put down the silver spoon and turned slightly to slightly block the view that could be seen from outside. She quietly spread the note, and looked at the dense and small words with her eyes clear.

Then, he quickly pinched the note in his hand into a ball and stuffed it under the mattress, continued to scoop the cheese, and used a voice that only two people could hear, and said softly: "All the ministers conspired, I, a woman, don't understand it very much, but please tell Mr. Cui to be careful when doing things."

Her voice slowed down, thinking of some words on the note, which made the Queen Mother He a little embarrassed to speak out.

"If things fail, do I really think that's what I say?"

"When I returned to the Empress Dowager Cui, Mr. Cui said that the Secretary Ling had a strong relationship with King Liang. Using this method will definitely save his life. As long as the royal family is still there, the court will be there."

After hearing what the palace maid outside said, Empress Dowager He's eyes turned red, and he pursed his lips tightly and nodded: "All the ministers are not afraid of their lives, how can I cherish this face?"

The palace maid leaned down to the ground, bowed gently to the noble woman inside, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, stood up and said goodbye to leave. She was not a real maid in the palace, but Cui Yuan's adopted daughter. She was deeply moved by her adoptive father's life for the court. When she needed to install eyeliners in the palace to facilitate contact with the queen mother, the woman recommended herself.

Turning over the palace eaves in front, the woman's lower eyes suddenly had ripples and clouds in her robe. She raised her head and a middle-aged man with long beards stood at her with his hands behind her back and smiled at her.

The woman recognized the other party and then Pingzhang served Liu Can.

"Take it away." Liu Can smiled and waved his hand. The two guards behind him quickly walked over and took the palace maid who showed his shock. The latter hurriedly knelt on the ground, "Ping Zhang, I am just a palace maid and have not made any mistakes. Why... I want to take me?"

"How could you escape from my eyes, take it to the side palace and strangle it to death!"

Liu Can waved impatiently and asked the guards to drag the crying palace maid away, blew the sleeves of the robe, snorted coldly at the palace where the empress dowager was, and took a team of soldiers to the Secretariat. He grabbed the pen and wrote something. He smiled and asked someone to send it out. He leaned against the back of the chair and drank a while of tea. After an hour, he got up and went out.

The carriage left the imperial city and drove across the long street, crossed the carriage from another street. The curtain was lifted, and he bowed to the person in the carriage that also lifted the curtain opposite.

"Mr. Cui, where are you going?"

"Sit around, Ping Zhang invites you in advance." Cui Yuan smiled and bowed back. After a few greetings, he watched the other party's vehicle go away. He put down the curtain and his expression became cold. There was a golden cloth beside him, which was the imperial edict.

Today's news was sent to the palace, and in the afternoon, an imperial edict was delivered to the palace. Your Majesty (the Empress Dowager) summoned the people who were advancing and retreating with the court to go to Huazhou. The purpose was naturally to discuss the punishment of the thieves.

When he received the imperial edict, Cui Yuan specially sent people to inquire about the movement of the Liang Palace. He heard that the war in the north had ended, and the soldiers from Hebei drove away the Khitan Hu people. Unfortunately, the right servant of the procuratorate, Shecao, died of illness. The Liang King returned to Bianzhou to organize the funeral for the man.

When he learned that King Liang had left Jing, he felt relieved. After leaving the mansion, he drove all the way to the eastern suburbs of Luoyang. After half an hour, he then took a long-prepared fast boat to cross the Yellow River to Huazhou.

On the way, I met my colleagues who also attended the meeting. In order not to attract the attention of others, I did not say hello and went to the Baimayi in Tongluoyang, Huazhou.

The post station is at the junction of Huazhou and Luoyang, close to the north bank of the Yellow River. When it reaches this side, it was already the second time of Shen.

Wow--

The trees beside the road are lush and branches above the edge of the official road. The crows are hoarsely crying in the sunset. Cui Yuan opened the curtain. On the side of the road, there are more than 30 carriages parked in the backyard at the huge inn, all of which look ordinary and impermanent, and cannot be seen at first sight. However, vendors traveling around the north or local gentry are riding.

Soon, he got off the car with his clothes in his face. The red sunlight of summer shone on his face, and he felt a little excited. The colleagues here also had a military governor. If the negotiations were made, they would cooperate with the inside and outside and save the country from danger.

After entering the inn, a public official came to greet him. Without asking, the other party took him silently to the side wing of the inn. There were few public officials in the inn along the way, and there were no guards or the like. As soon as the side wing, Cui Yuan frowned. It was quite quiet inside, unlike more than thirty people gathered.

A hint of uneasiness appeared in his heart.

"Here, Minister Cui, all the ministers are inside." The man leading the way was covered in sweat, and he squeezed out a smile and retreated to the crescent door.

“Work…”

Cui Yuan nodded, stepped into the crescent gate with his hands behind his back, his vision suddenly became widened, and the courtyard scene unfolded. Dozens of figures gathered in the old pine flower garden, pavilions and ponds, without any words. They all lowered their heads and stood in several rows, and some were captured by soldiers and pressed on the ground with their shoulders.

In the pavilion beside the pond, a fat body leaning against the wooden railing was flipping through a booklet. It seemed that Cui Yuan was standing at the crescent gate, stretched out his hand to wave at him, put down the booklet, revealing his wide, round and big face, with a thorny tiger beard, and his eyes were fiercely smiling.

"Mr. Cui, come here and polish the ink for me."

Before Cui Yuan could react, soldiers from both sides came over and carried him to the pavilion dejectedly. Passing by the colleagues who were taken into custody, they knew, familiar, and strange, all of them were inside.

"King Liang."

He entered the pavilion and called out in a low voice. Zhu Wen on the other side didn't look at him, but just raised his hand to signal the ink on the table. Cui Yuan took a breath, gritted his teeth, and reached out to polish the ink.

"King Liang, I'm so happy, I don't know what to look at?"

"I wrote my own works alone." Zhu Wen smiled, sat back, put the book on the table and unfolded it. The handwriting on it was full of names.

The Shou Taibao retired Zhao Chong, the Minister of Works, Wang Pu, the Minister of Personnel, Lu Jian, the Minister of Personnel, Dugu Lu, the governor of Jinghai Army, Wang Zan, the Right Pushe... etc., and there are more than 30 civil and military names, and these people are also among the crowds outside the pavilion.

After arriving, Cui Yuan shook his hand suddenly. Among these names, he was also the Minister of War Cui Yuan.

"It's amazing. Do you know what my book is called?"

Zhu Wen touched the paper excitedly, drew circles on the names one by one, and closed the book cover with a smile, which clearly stated "Records of Ghost Book", which was obviously prepared by someone who was dead or about to die.

"I have many hobbies, but this is my favorite. Okay, I'll send you all the way--"
Chapter completed!