Deep in the East China Sea, a huge and towering mirage towers above the sea surface. It seems to be moving, but it also seems to be just drifting with the current.
There was still no life on the ship, and the people who occasionally appeared on the deck had pale faces and dull eyes, looking like they were about to die and their end was approaching.
On the upper deck, in the Moon Goddess's chamber.
"The course of the mirage has changed."
The Moon God knelt on the soft couch, with his eyes closed tightly, and was doing his exercises and qi, when a sentence suddenly came out of his mouth.
The moon god's voice fell, and Concubine Yan's tall figure suddenly appeared. She stood in front of the bedroom window, looking at the never-changing sea outside, and replied calmly, "It seems that the time is almost here."
"That woman in Sakura Prison has been very quiet during this time?" Yueshen Heqi stopped and opened his eyes and asked.
"It doesn't look like there's much movement." Concubine Yan asked smoothly, "Where is Star Soul?"
"He seems to be very honest." Luna gave a similar answer, and then asked, "Do you think there is a problem?"
"I don't know about Star Soul, but that woman must know that the time is almost up. She can't be indifferent." Concubine Yan gave a purely subjective judgment.
But in this matter, subjective judgment is enough.
"So, most of them still have problems." With Concubine Yan's response, Luna made a judgment directly.
Although she and Concubine Yan kept an eye on Xinghun and Yingji as much as possible, they were only mortal bodies and could not rotate continuously for twelve hours a day.
Star Soul and the others can always find opportunities.
"What are you going to do? Kill Xinghun?" Moon God raised his eyes and asked Concubine Yan.
Concubine Yan lowered her eyes and did not answer immediately. After thinking for a moment, she asked, "Do you think it is appropriate to kill Xinghun?"
"At least it's more appropriate than killing that woman, right?" Luna asked in return.
"Then do you think we can kill him now?" Concubine Yan asked a somewhat puzzling question.
The combined strength of her and Moon God is enough to crush Star Soul.
If he were on the shore, Star Soul might be able to escape with his life, but on the mirage, he would have nowhere to run and he would be dead!
As for the interfering factors such as Young Master Siming and Yun Zhongjun, they are irrelevant. Mrs. Xiang and her sisters are enough to hold them back.
"Is there a problem?" Luna asked in confusion.
"Gu Xun may not sit back and watch us kill Xinghun." Concubine Yan reminded lightly.
"Gu Xun...why would he intervene?" Yue Shen was stunned, but still didn't understand, "His purpose is to stop you, so it doesn't make much sense to save the star soul, right?"
There were a lot of people on the mirage, including all the senior members of the Yin-Yang family except for the head of the family, Donghuang Taiyi, but most of the people in the Yin-Yang family were useless.
The most useful one is Yunzhongjun.
Yun Zhongjun is the owner of the ship. Although he has no knowledge of navigation and cannot sail a ship, he is the biggest reason why the Yin Yang family proposes to search for immortals overseas.
It can be said that the beginning of everything lies with Yun Zhongjun, the master of alchemy. In the eyes of Yin Yang and Taoists, alchemy has nothing to do with the legends of gods and immortals. However, in the eyes of people who don't know how to do it, the two are always inextricably linked.
association.
It may be related to the fact that doctors, divination and witchcraft did not separate families in ancient times.
In short, the game cannot be played without Yunzhongjun.
Except for Yun Zhongjun, the others are... pretty much the same, it can be said that they are all useless.
Including the Moon Star Soul and several elders, their only role is to ensure the smooth progress of the plan.
But when it comes to going to sea, there is basically no possibility of the plan being ruined, so... in short, it's better than nothing.
Gu Xun keeps Star Soul, and at most it will cause some chaos for Concubine Yan and the others. If he is really relied on to destroy Concubine Yan and Moon God's plans... I can only say that there is little hope.
"So I say not necessarily." Concubine Yan explained lightly.
Xinghun is indeed just an insignificant person, but maybe Gu Xun will want to use him to interfere with Concubine Yan.
Just like Concubine Yan and Moon God decided to get rid of Star Soul in order to avoid accidents.
Until ideas are turned into practical actions, anything is possible.
The most troublesome part is that killing star souls is risky.
If it succeeds, everything will be fine, and the living will not and dare not fight against the Moon God for the sake of the dead.
But if the murder fails, Star Soul will definitely escalate the matter immediately, possibly causing the mirage to fall into chaos.
Theoretically, once the ship goes to sea, the plan will be implemented smoothly, but if the entire mirage turns into a mess, it will be difficult to predict the follow-up.
Among other things, if something goes wrong with the pilot responsible for controlling the mirage, the ship will have to rely on natural power - it all depends on where the waves push them.
The boat can't even sail to where it should go, and it's still playing with a hammer!
Of course, if Gu Xun takes action, the situation will definitely be stabilized, but the future development will be determined entirely by Gu Xun's thoughts, which is not advisable for Yanfei Yueshen.
The two of them couldn't risk letting the situation get to that point.
Luna frowned slightly, "So, what are you going to do?"
"...I still need to think about it some more." Concubine Yan replied hesitantly, "Before that, let's go see that woman first."
"If it really doesn't work, it's okay..."
Concubine Yan didn't finish her words, but her meaning was very clear. She had mentioned it a long time ago, to directly kill Princess Yan in Ying Prison.
Xinghun couldn't stir up any trouble by himself. Only with the help of the woman could he have a chance to cause trouble.
So it was her that Concubine Yan wanted to kill at the beginning, but she didn't want to kill Star Soul - the troublesome part of killing Star Soul was mentioned before.
But she was persuaded by the moon god.
Now that the risk of killing Star Soul is even greater, she naturally turns her goal to solving the problem from the root.
Killing Princess Yan in Ying Prison is much easier than killing Star Soul. Giving Princess Yan ten breaths is enough.
Unless Gu Xun keeps an eye on her twelve hours a day, nothing will go wrong with this matter.
"Then let's wait for a while." As soon as Luna heard this topic, she immediately wanted to delay.
She didn't want Concubine Yan to kill the woman in advance anyway.
………………
On the other side, Gu Xun was already hiding in the residence of Ehuang and Nvying sisters.
After staying in the mirage for more than a year, Gu Xun felt that his whole life had become clear, and he felt that he was about to achieve enlightenment and become an immortal.
The confused eyes, haggard face, and slack energy all prove that Gu Xun's mental state is not very good.
He even began to understand Xiaomeng's weird temper.
He had good food, good drinks and beautiful women in the mirage, and as a result, after a year and a half, he wished he could be reincarnated and start a new life.
Xiaomeng Na Nizi has been in solitary confinement for ten years in Taiyi Mountain. It would be great if she can still speak human language after being released from solitary confinement.
What more bicycles do you want?
But at this moment, Gu Xun's spirit suddenly shook!
"The time is finally here!"
A sudden sentence attracted the attention of the two sisters, Ehuang and Nvying, who were whispering about secrets in their boudoir.
"When is the time coming soon?" Ehuang asked blankly.
"The day to return to the shore is coming soon!" The depression and depression on Gu Xun's face was wiped away, and he replied with great energy, "The glory of the Emperor Star has dimmed to the limit and may be completely extinguished at any time."
"Mirage, it's time to go to the final destination."
As soon as these words came out, the two sisters, Ehuang and Nvying, were even more stupid. They were stunned for a while before they all showed joy.
Gu Xun couldn't bear the hard days, and neither could they.
After all, there are only a handful of special cases like Xiaomeng.
After the ecstasy, Ehuang showed suspicion again, "How did you know?"
"Didn't I say that the stars have changed?" Gu Xun replied naturally and casually.
Ehuang looked at the bright sun outside through the window and shook his head, "I don't understand..."
Why can you see the stars during the day?
Although Gu Xun told her more than once that the "stargazing" in astrology is not the actual starry sky.
But Ehuang still couldn't understand this problem.
There is a feeling of not knowing the darkness of night during the day.
Gu Xun was in a good mood, so he explained to Ehuang again:
"The so-called stars in astrology are essentially projections of fate and are false and unreal. Therefore, stargazing does not require you to actually be under the starry sky at night."
"As long as you are proficient in astrology, facing the sun in broad daylight will not hinder you."
"But... Lady Luna's astrology has reached its peak. I don't see her looking at the stars as casually as you do every time." Ehuang asked, "And you seem to be paying attention to the stars all the time. How do you do that?
Arrived?"
Gu Xun explained leisurely and comfortably, "Theoretically, everyone will correspond to a star in the star chart and have their own destiny."
"But the starry sky is boundless, and an individual's destiny is insignificant in the infinite starlight, and it is difficult to observe - no matter how skilled astrology is, it is difficult to do it."
"But some people are not simple and mediocre individuals. They may affect the lives of thousands of people, or even tens of millions of people."
"For such a person, the star corresponding to him will be extremely bright and conspicuous, such as what I often say - the Emperor Star."
"Although I always say that the Emperor Star's light is getting dimmer and even about to be extinguished, this dimming or even extinguishment will not affect the 'conspicuousness' of the Emperor Star."
"If nothing else happens, the Emperor Star will be the brightest and most conspicuous star in the star map for at least the next two thousand years."
"This is also the reason why I can monitor its condition at any time - you may not be able to confirm the position of the Big Dipper at the first time, but the sun can always be seen at a glance."
"Ah... okay." Ehuang nodded vaguely, not sure whether he understood or not.
Fortunately, she didn't ask for a deeper explanation. It was just a habit to ask, and she immediately changed the topic to business, "So the Emperor's star is about to be extinguished, does it mean that Ying Zheng is going to die? If he dies, the mirage can go back?"
"Well, the first half of the sentence is correct, but the second half is inaccurate." Gu Xun pointed out, "After Ying Zheng dies, your Yin Yang family's plan can officially start, and we don't have to keep spinning in circles on the sea.
.”
"Although I don't know exactly how long this plan will take, I think it could be as long as a month or as short as five or seven days."
"The day to return to shore is indeed not far away."
Regarding the death of Ying Zheng, Gu Xun's reaction became increasingly weak.
Perhaps the days on the ship were too tiring, or perhaps he gradually accepted this matter.
After all, he already knew the date of Ying Zheng's death twenty years ago.
Ehuang Nvying no longer cares about the Yin Yang family's millennium plan. She just wants to leave the mirage and set foot on the stable land again.
There is hope now, which is a good thing.
………………
The empire, Kuaiji County governs the outskirts of Wu County, and the patrol team is now parked here.
Kuaiji County is not a very poor place, but it is not very wealthy either.
This place used to be the territory of Chu State, and Chu State... is difficult to evaluate.
Even among the Caotai team, the Chu State was one of the most bizarre among the seven warring states at the end of the Warring States Period.
Or should I say... mediocre, the weird ones are the other six.
The Qin State ruled the country with military merit, weakened the people and strengthened the country. In addition to fighting, it also prepared for war.
The Yan State is located in the northeast and has no ability to move south, so it adheres to the principle of attacking Liaodong whoever attacks me. At the same time, King Yan likes to attack those who should be soft and force them hard, but he cannot do it when they should be hard.
The three kingdoms of Han, Zhao, Wei, and Jin can be said to have gathered together like a ball of fire and dispersed like a thin sky. At the same time, there were three immortal talents: Han Wangan, Wei Wangjie, and Zhao Wangqian. They can be called immortals.
Han Wangan's main theme is that when you close your eyes, it will be dark, and I don't know, it means the country is peaceful and the people are safe.
The king of Wei pretended to love the country more than dogs, and he only wanted to play with dogs, which can be described as abstract.
Let’s not talk about King Zhao Qian. Before he succeeded to the throne, he was famous among the Seven Kingdoms for his bad conduct, and he even “trapped” Li Mu to death.
Qi State...Qi Wangjian, there is nothing to say, it is a mess...
In comparison, Chu State is really much more normal.
A new king who knows a little about power but is not very interested in taking the throne, and a group of nobles who are closely connected and powerful enough to represent the state of Chu itself but do not do anything serious.
A mediocre king, a lagging nobleman, a powerless minister, low efficiency, a bloated government, and a burdened army.
It's complicated, but... it's simple.
Therefore, whether the people in the territory of Chu State live well or not all depends on the general environment. Don't expect anyone to be able to manage the territory particularly well.
Those that are geographically close to the Central Plains or have some developable resources, such as the current Sichuan County, Huaiyang County, Donghui County, and Jiujiang County, are a little richer.
Others, such as Kuaiji County, Zhang County, and Lujiang County, are a little bit worse.
Given the conditions in Kuaiji County, it was naturally impossible to provide Ying Zheng with any good accommodation conditions.
The local officials have serious collusion with the Xiang family, and they will not carry out large-scale construction projects just to please Ying Zheng.
In the motorcade and in Ying Zheng's car, he was rarely dealing with government affairs, but was lying on the bed to rest.
Not long ago, he began to feel uncomfortable when he was performing activities to worship heaven and worship gods in Kuaiji Mountain. After struggling to finish the activity, he collapsed.
It is far from being said that he was completely ill. He was still able to carry out normal life activities, but Ying Zheng could clearly feel his own weakness and had to reduce his workload because of his weak body.
He has been using his tenacious will to fight against his body for so many years, but unfortunately, human beings have limits. The will can squeeze the body, but it cannot completely control the body or even exceed the limit.
However, he kept the news of Ying Zheng's illness strictly sealed. Apart from himself, the only people who knew about it were a few servants including Zhao Gao.
The reason for blocking the news is that Ying Zheng is afraid.
He was afraid of death, and he was even more afraid that others would know that he was about to die. This was not because he was like Jiajing, who was afraid of the princes and officials forcing him to marry him.