The blue sky is like a piece of blue jade, clear and flawless, without a trace of white clouds, transparent and clear, making people's mood also clear.
But his mood was gloomy.
He knew that the most ruthless imperial family had always wanted to break this curse.
As the eldest prince, the direct descendant of the eldest prince, the most likely to take over the throne, but when Hu Lieyuan told him about guarding Zhenlongyuan, he decided to sacrifice himself, give up the throne, and take on this boring and lonely mission.
I just want to set an example for my younger brothers and sisters.
There has to be a prince who guards Longyuan, so why can't it be him?
But now it seems that my sacrifice was so useless and my original decision was so ridiculous!
His delicate face slowly turned red and became congested with blood. Anger ignited in his heart and began to burn, getting stronger and stronger.
But the flame didn't have any warmth, instead it was cold, making his breath and eyes look cold.
He put the jade talisman carved with exquisite patterns into his arms and used Qinggong to gallop, much faster than before.
After he ran a mile, he noticed something strange.
The jade talisman is continuously emitting two forces. One force makes itself full of vitality, just like the willow branches in spring. The vitality forces itself to continuously extend and elongate, and the body is undergoing subtle changes.
The muscles become stronger, the heartbeat becomes more powerful, and the blood rushes more surgingly, like a roaring wave emptying.
Another force merged into his own Gang Qi, causing the Gang Qi to undergo strange changes, becoming softer and more subtle.
After running for thirty miles, the Gang Qi seemed to be not moving, and the existence of Gang Qi was completely invisible from the outside.
He felt as if he had lost his cultivation.
Under such circumstances, you can't even feel your cultivation, let alone others sensing you, let alone your cultivation.
As he was running, he secretly sighed, the world is so big and there are so many wonderful things, and the beauty of this jade talisman is beyond imagination.
He found that he couldn't sense his own cultivation and Qi, but he could move at will, and his speed became faster. He originally thought it would take two days, but one day was enough.
One day later, in the evening, the setting sun shone on Yunjing, and Hu Houqing entered Yunjing silently.
The light between heaven and earth has become softer, not yet dark, but some homes have already turned on their lights.
Prince Jing's Mansion is already brightly lit.
Hu Houqing appeared at the bottom of the seven steps outside Prince Jing's Mansion, raised his head and looked at the four guards outside Prince Jing's Mansion, as well as the four large lanterns with the word "Jing".
These four lanterns are all made of exotic animal skins and are extremely transparent. As the light circulates, there are faint tigers attacking, which is frightening.
He recognized the four lanterns.
This is the treasure of the town house, the tiger soul lantern.
Most wealthy families have never even heard of it. The power attached to it is enough to dispel some evil spirits.
Yunjing is known as the City of All Gods and has all kinds of strange powers. These four tiger lanterns are of great use.
Even in the evening, the queue outside Prince Jing's Mansion was still a hundred meters long, stretching along the white jade-paved streets.
There was no queue, and Xi Wang Hu Houqing, who stood at the front of the queue, was particularly eye-catching, attracting people's attention.
But no one spoke up to yell.
There are crouching tigers and hidden dragons in Yunjing. No one knows who the person who came to pay homage to Prince Jing is and what his background is.
Not offending others casually is an important way to live in Yunjing.
Anyway, he didn't jump in line, he just stood at the door and looked around. He didn't bother them in any way, and there was no need to talk too much. There was no need to offend anyone.
The four guards didn't say anything, they just stared at him eagerly. As long as he didn't step onto the steps, they would ignore him.
After a while, a middle-aged man in a green robe came out, and behind the middle-aged man was an old man with white beard and eyebrows. He was kind and smiling.
The middle-aged man in green robe turned around and clasped his fists: "Mr. Ji, stay here."
"Master Zhang, walk slowly."
The old man with white beard and eyebrows clasped his fists and watched the middle-aged man in green robe leave with a smile on his face, and then turned his eyes to Hu Houqing.
He smiled and asked: "Who are you?"
Hu Houqing reached out and stroked his face, wiping off all his beard, revealing his true face, and said calmly: "I am Hu Houqing."
"...Prince Xi?!" Manager Ji was stunned.
"Second brother, is he looking for me? So I came over." Hu Houqing said lightly: "Please let me know."
"Your Majesty, wait a moment!" Manager Ji hurriedly clasped his fists, turned around and hurried away.
The people who were waiting widened their eyes, then clasped their fists and saluted, and the sound of calling "Prince Xi" could not be heard.
Hu Houqing guarded Zhenlongyuan. Even if he only thought that Zhenlongyuan was the most evil person guarding Dayun, he still felt that his hard work was highly meritorious.
As the eldest prince, he did not stay in Yunjing to enjoy the blessings and seize the throne, but instead went to a remote and desolate place to suffer hardships.
Even if some people call him stupid, they can't help but admire him.
Hu Houqing clasped his fists in return, his expression calm, reserved and calm.
"Brother!" With a clear shout, King Jing Hu Housheng strode out of the high threshold, jumped down the seven steps in twos and twos, and rushed to Hu Houqing.
With a smile on his face, he said excitedly: "Big brother, we are blessed with good fortune and good fortune. Thank God! Thank God indeed!"
Hu Houqing looked at him calmly, looked at him deeply, and raised the corners of his mouth slightly: "Second brother, you are fine!"
"Thank you for your concern," Hu Hou said. "When I heard that my brother was in danger, I couldn't sleep at night and couldn't eat. I hated God for being blind and letting him have an accident."
Hu Houqing smiled and said: "It is indeed a blessing that I can come back to Yunjing. It is also a fluke."
"It'll be great if eldest brother comes back, it'll be great if he comes back!" Hu Housheng sighed repeatedly: "Don't be in a hurry to leave when you come back this time. The two of us brothers have a good time drinking and talking, and then go into the house!"
He turned his head and glanced at everyone, clasped his fists and said, "Excuse me for waiting for a long time, my eldest brother is back today, so I can only talk to him. You can come back tomorrow."
"Yes." Everyone nodded.
Hu Houqing hugged everyone and expressed his apology.
Hu Housheng extended his hand to invite him, and the two of them stepped up the steps together, entered the gate of Prince Jing's Mansion, and disappeared from everyone's sight.
The people queuing up outside did not disperse, but stood looking at the slowly closing gate of Prince Jing's Mansion.
News about Yunjing spread very quickly, and Prince Jing's Mansion sent a large number of manpower to search for Prince Xi. This was not top-secret news.
It is not top secret news that Prince Xi was seriously injured in an assassination and may have died.
People all judged that it was Dagan who was doing it, and that Dagan was seeking revenge for Dayun's assassination.
Occasionally, some people speculated that it might be the work of Prince Jing.
But no matter who was responsible, the search failed to find Prince Xi, and Prince Xi sneaked into the front of Prince Jing's palace without any trace.
Why come directly to Prince Jing’s Mansion?
They are all smart people. When they saw Prince Xi's actions, they felt vaguely that the last assassination was not done by Da Gan but Prince Jing.
This matter could only be understood but not expressed in words. They did not say anything, but they all stayed outside the palace and did not leave.
But there were also a few who left in a hurry, not wanting to get involved or wade into this muddy water.
The battles between princes are extremely fierce. If you are not careful, you will be implicated. If you have done nothing, your family will be confiscated. In the lighter case, you will be deposed, in the worst case, you will be exiled. In the worst case, your family will be confiscated and exterminated.
——
Zhou Yuanhu returned to his small courtyard. As an official, he only had a small courtyard in Yunjing.
As soon as he entered the courtyard, a housekeeper came to greet him and said hurriedly: "Master."
Zhou Yuanhu frowned and glared at him: "Old Deng, why is it so urgent?"
"Congratulations, sir! Congratulations, sir!" Lao Deng beamed: "Madam is happy!"
"Really?" Zhou Yuanhu said hurriedly.
Lao Deng nodded vigorously: "I just sent away the second doctor, and my wife is indeed happy!"
He chuckled and said, "Master, our Zhou family is going to have a heir!"
"Haha..." Zhou Yuanhu laughed suddenly, strode to the backyard, and saw a beautiful middle-aged woman walking in the yard.
Zhou Yuanhu stepped forward and held the beautiful woman's hand: "Madam!"
"Master..." The beautiful woman pursed her red lips tightly, her eyes quickly moistened, and said softly: "Congratulations, master."
"Congratulations too, Madam." Zhou Yuanhu said with emotion: "The sky will never stop me Zhou Yuanhu! Tomorrow I will go to Xuankong Temple and pay my respects outside the temple!"
"Master, please don't go. I'll just go." The beautiful woman said softly, "Lest anyone see me gossiping."
People in Yunjing all know that Divine Monk Fakong has great supernatural powers, but the people of Yunjing also know that Monk Fakong is a divine monk from Daqian, and is tabooed by the Dayun court and cannot get too close.
Officials, in particular, should not get close to Xuankong Temple. If they are targeted by political enemies, they will definitely be a big deal and they may be suspected of collaborating with the enemy.
"That's fine." Zhou Yuanhu helped the beautiful woman sit down at the wooden table.
"Master, have you met Prince Jing?" the beautiful woman said softly.
"I said I did, but I didn't." Zhou Yuanhu snatched the teapot from the beautiful woman's hand, brewed one himself, shook his head and said, "I met her once, but not officially."
He then told what happened, and the beautiful woman frowned her delicate eyebrows.
She whispered: "Looking at Prince Xi's demeanor, it was Prince Jing who did it, right?"
"Well, nine times out of ten."
"...It's really crazy."
Zhou Yuanhu shook his head: "If it is done, the emperor really has no other choice, but it is not done..."
"Master, don't go see Prince Jing."
"Um--?"
"Let's take a look first."
"With this wait and see, I'm afraid I will have to step aside if Prince Jing gains power in the future."
"That's better than leaning in at this time. Prince Jing is just playing with fire and will burn himself too easily."
Going to visit Prince Jing now is tantamount to taking refuge in Prince Jing's service. It would be fine if Prince Jing could win, but now it seems that Prince Jing has not been able to defeat Prince Xi.
Such an assassination is extremely taboo. Killing one's own brother is simply too much.
The assassination attempt failed, but the victim came looking for him.
If the emperor leaves confinement, he will definitely hold Prince Yu Jing accountable.
Once the emperor was questioned, Prince Jing would find a few scapegoats even if he escaped unscathed, claiming that he did not know.
At this time, it is best to stay away from Prince Jing, do not let Prince Jing see you, and do not let Prince Jing think of yourself.
"Is Prince Jing going to be in trouble?"
"How is it possible to do such a thing without paying any price?"
"Well, what Madam said makes sense."
The two of them were talking when suddenly Lao Deng hurried over, his face red and sweating profusely: "Old... Master, it's not good."
"Say!" Zhou Yuanhu hummed.
Old Deng wiped his sweat and said hurriedly: "Prince Jing was killed by Prince Xi!"