In the quiet royal courtyard, a guard was patrolling outside the window, seemingly blind and deaf, unable to hear or see anything. The object of the royal family's intense surveillance, the Eldest Princess, was secretly plotting with her confidants.

"He is too suspicious, so there is no need to design anything; he will jump out and design things himself." Li Yunrui said slowly with her eyes closed. "Moreover, he is very arrogant, so arrogant that he can use tricks against tricks... What a load of nonsense! There is no trick at all; he is just playing by himself."

She suddenly opened her eyes and said, "It's just... this princess is afraid that my brother is lonely, so I have to play with him. The assassination on Da Dong Mountain... seems to have become a ridiculous, open affair. He knows I want to kill him, waiting for me to kill him. I know he's waiting for me to kill him, but I still have to kill him. It's really interesting."

Yuan Hongdao listened to this tongue-twister and looked at the smile on the Eldest Princess's lips but didn't find it amusing. Instead, he felt a faint chill. Knowing that Da Dong Mountain was a trap, the Eldest Princess jumped into it without hesitation. Did she really think that Grandmaster Ye Liuyun could change the whole world?

Although he had become Li Yunrui's closest advisor after Huang Yi's death, he knew that although this Eldest Princess had seemed to be forced back step by step by His Majesty and Fan Xian in the past two years, without any brilliant moves, in terms of schemes, there was not much need for him.

Because of this, he had never been able to figure out the details of the Eldest Princess's final plan, so he naturally had no way to report it to the Director and His Majesty the Emperor.

But as an advisor, at this critical moment, whether to pretend or to gain more trust, Yuan Hongdao had to offer some advice that should be given. So he looked into the Eldest Princess's eyes and said softly, "Interesting. At certain moments, it is a combination of absurdity and stupidity... I don't know which side is more absurd and which side is more stupid. But since His Majesty moved first, then you should choose another path. Otherwise, no matter how you move, the chess piece will always be one step slower than the person on the other side of the stone slab."

The Eldest Princess Li Yunrui slowly closed her eyes and said after a long silence, "Another path? Are you advising me not to move for now?"

"Exactly."

The Eldest Princess suddenly opened her eyes and smiled, smiling extremely innocently, "What's the use of not moving? If the Da Dong Mountain ritual to heaven ends smoothly... The Empress Dowager will always have that day. Do you expect me to be imprisoned in this courtyard forever?"

Yuan Hongdao smiled after a moment of silence. Since he could easily enter this courtyard, then the Eldest Princess must have many ways to easily leave this courtyard. He knew that the Eldest Princess was only considering the future situation of Qing Yu Nian. No matter how you look at it, if the opportunity of His Majesty leaving the capital this time is not seized, what opportunity will the Eldest Princess have to rise again?

"Fan Xian." Yuan Hongdao tried to persuade the Eldest Princess, as he certainly wanted to delay the Eldest Princess's actions as much as possible before receiving further instructions from the Director. "This is your opportunity."

"Fan Xian?" The Eldest Princess became interested and said with a smile, "Even if His Majesty wants to weaken Fan Xian's power in the future, this will not be my opportunity."

"It's not just weakening power." Yuan Hongdao lowered his voice and said, "Fan Xian's relationship with the North is too close, and His Majesty... once the internal contradictions of the court are smoothed out, the blade will definitely point to Northern Qi. At this time, what Fan Xian will do is worth considering. Maybe then it will be your opportunity."

"So I have to live?" The Eldest Princess smiled mockingly.

"You must live."

She smiled lazily, noncommittally, and tapped the teacup on the table with her orchid-like fingers. While Yuan Hongdao got up to pour tea for her, the woman slowly lowered her eyelids and quietly thought. Yuan Hongdao's idea was not wrong, but he did not understand what kind of person the Emperor really was.

In this world, only the Eldest Princess Li Yunrui knew best what kind of person her Emperor brother was, and only she knew that now was the opportunity the Emperor was giving her. If she did not seize this opportunity, there was no need to mention anything afterward.

The Emperor had too many opportunities to kill her, but he did not kill her. Naturally, he hoped to use her to lure out some people, those from Junshan Association who had been hidden in the court, some old monsters...

She thought in her heart that if she won, it would be nothing. But even if she lost, it would be good if His Majesty the Emperor could achieve his goal... Thinking of this, a self-deprecating smile appeared on her lips again.

……

……

"Brother Hongdao, what do you say is the ultimate thing in a killing situation?" The Eldest Princess asked him with a smile.

Yuan Hongdao thought for a while and said, "Time, opportunity, the general trend."

"That's right, but it's also wrong." The Eldest Princess slowly lowered her head and said, "In fact, in the end, it's about the most crude, the most boring, and the most direct things. See whose knife is faster, who has more thugs."

"Competing for the dragon throne is not essentially different from gangs fighting for territory... His Majesty is arrogant and suspicious, thinking that he has calculated the world, but he has forgotten one thing: not all the knives are in his hands. Don't forget what I said before, because of his suspicion, he will undoubtedly be defeated."

The Eldest Princess's cold words set the tone for the whole matter.

……

……

Yuan Hongdao smiled, knowing that he could not persuade the Eldest Princess any further. He inevitably felt a little anxious, but he concealed it extremely well and said, "The Crown Prince and the Second Prince have been contacted. We are just waiting for the news to arrive before we start arranging things. There should be no problem with the civil officials. Tragic news is always the best way to attack the minds of these civil officials... And no matter how you look at it, they have no reason to refuse."

"What you said makes a lot of sense." The Eldest Princess said with a smile, "The Overwatch Council is always something that cannot be seen in the light. They are very powerful tools, but at certain times, they can never become a decisive force. Only with the support of the court officials and the palace, what use is Chen Pingping?"

Then she smiled and said, "I heard that Wan'er has been taking care of that concubine who is about to give birth... Arrange this matter."

—————————————————————

On the peak of Da Dong Mountain, Fan Xian looked at the person sitting on the futon outside the door, the blind man who was covered with a piece of black cloth, whose figure was not very tall, but who always seemed so calm. He opened his mouth, but did not say anything.

The Emperor laughed and turned away, leaving the place to the two of them, uncle and nephew.

Fan Xian walked in, carefully closed the door, and made sure that no one was eavesdropping. Only then did he allow the joy on his face to radiate, hugged the blind man, and gently patted his back.

Wu Zhu was still his usual cold self. This coldness was different from Xiao Yan Gongzi. It was not an emotional release of self-protection, but a perception of inner peace, where external things do not touch the heart.

But when Fan Xian hugged him tightly, ecstatic, the blind man, unseen by Fan Xian, slightly parted his lips behind his head, revealing a very rare tender smile.

Unfortunately, Fan Xian did not see it. Otherwise, he would definitely have made some very perverted moves.

The hug was brief. Wu Zhu was not a person who liked to have physical intimacy with people, and neither was Fan Xian. It was just that after a long separation, Fan Xian could not suppress the joy in his heart and indulged in a hug.

The two sat on the futon facing each other, “looking” at each other, and remained silent for a long time without speaking.

Fan Xian's face became more and more gentle and happy. He confirmed that his blind uncle's injuries had almost healed, but for a moment he did not know what to say or where to start. Since they separated a year and a half ago, he had gone south to Jiangnan to fight the Ming family, encountered an assassination in the valley, and killed people overnight in Kyoto. He did not know how many dangerous storms he had experienced.

However... all of this was probably not what Uncle Wu Zhu wanted to hear. These things were nothing to Wu Zhu. What was the Ming family? Wu Zhu would not care at all. As for the dangerous situations he encountered in the valley, Wu Zhu would only think that Fan Xian's performance was very poor.

So after holding back for a long time, Fan Xian said, "Uncle, I'm going to be a father."

……

……

Even Wu Zhu, who did not change his expression even when Da Dong Mountain was pressing down on him, fell silent after hearing these words. He seemed to be slowly digesting the news. Then he tilted his head slightly and said, "You... are also going to have a child?"

The word "also" contained a lot of information. For Wu Zhu, there were only two people in this world. Yes, although there were thousands of people, there were only two for him. Everything else did not exist. Only the affairs of these two people were worth remembering for him.

Twenty years ago, that woman gave birth to a child. Twenty years later, the child born by the woman was going to have a child. Although the two events were separated by twenty years, in his feeling, they were like two events that happened one after another. That was why he used the word "also".

Then his lips bloomed with a gentle smile again, and he said to Fan Xian very seriously, "Congratulations."

Because of this smile and these two words, Fan Xian naturally fell into endless shock and joy. He could not understand how, after not seeing Uncle Wu Zhu for more than a year, he would say such vulgar two words and generously show his most human side in front of him. When was the last time he saw Uncle Wu Zhu's smile? It was probably when he was still in the grocery store in Danzhou City mentioning his mother.

For some reason, Fan Xian felt a warmth in his heart. He seemed to feel that Wu Zhu was finally willing to smile for him, and not just because of Ye Qingmei. This was a very memorable thing.

Wu Zhu's smile immediately disappeared, and he returned to his usual appearance. He said seriously, "If you are going to have a child, you have to say congratulations. This is what Miss taught. I have not forgotten. So don't be surprised."

Fan Xian smiled wryly and was speechless, but he opened his mouth again and said, "These should be heartfelt emotions. We don't need to memorize them."

Wu Zhu's face was facing the mural in the temple. He said, "For me, this is very difficult. For you, you are happy too early."

The thin and opaque black cloth was tied to his eyes, making his nose appear particularly straight, and what he said next was just as direct, "The timing is wrong."

……

……

The meaning of this sentence was too simple and too profound. If it were an ordinary person, they would definitely not understand it, but Fan Xian had lived with Wu Zhu since he was a child, so he easily understood the meaning contained in these four words. He smiled wryly, nodded, and acknowledged Uncle Wu Zhu's judgment.

The Emperor was offering sacrifices to heaven on Da Dong Mountain. If someone really dared to rebel, then Da Dong Mountain was the most dangerous place in the world. Correspondingly, Kyoto was naturally the second most dangerous place in the world. Fan Xian was far away on the coast at this time and could not take into account the situation in Kyoto. If the Eldest Princess and those princes really had the courage to do that, then what kind of methods would they use against Fan Xian, this superficial loyal imperialist?

Wan'er was the Eldest Princess's biological daughter. Fan Xian was not too worried. But what about Sisi and the child she was about to give birth to? Even if the Emperor made a big profit on Da Dong Mountain, what kind of harm would those people in Fan Mansion, those people Fan Xian was worried about, suffer if Kyoto was in chaos?

This was the root of Fan Xian's shock and worry after seeing the Emperor in Danzhou. It was just that he could not express anything in front of the Emperor. Only after Wu Zhu directly pointed out the root cause did his face reveal the true emotions in his heart, a piece of heaviness.

"The Director and Father are in Kyoto. There shouldn't be any major problems." He seemed to want to persuade Uncle Wu Zhu and himself.

"The Emperor has always prevented Chen Pingping and Fan Jian from controlling troops. This is a problem." Wu Zhu's words still had no reasoning, only results. He lowered his head and said coldly, "If you rush back to Kyoto now, it might still be in time."

Yes, even if someone rebelled in Kyoto, there still needed to be a name. The Emperor's assassination would definitely need to find a scapegoat, so the time of the change in Kyoto must be about fifteen days after the Da Dong Mountain affair.

Now Fan Xian should still be in time to rush back to Kyoto.

Wu Zhu said, "You are useless here."

After thinking for a while, Fan Xian suddenly said, "My role seems to have been completed the moment I saw you."

Going up Da Dong Mountain, entering the old temple, and seeing Wu Zhu at that moment, Fan Xian understood why His Majesty the Emperor wanted to issue an edict to summon him to accompany the ritual to heaven, why he had to block him in Danzhou and bring him to Da Dong Mountain.

Just as the Emperor had said before, since this scheme was aimed at Ye Liuyun, then he needed Wu Zhu's participation. Wu Zhu would not only not leave Da Dong Mountain because of the Emperor's plan, but even on Da Dong Mountain, if he did not want to attack Ye Liuyun, he would not attack - the Emperor could command everyone in the world, but he could not command Wu Zhu - so the Emperor needed Fan Xian's help to persuade Wu Zhu to participate in this matter.

"His Majesty brought me to see you. You should know what he means." Fan Xian looked at Wu Zhu and said with his head lowered.

"You also know." Wu Zhu said.

Fan Xian slowly raised his head, with a very complicated expression on his face. After a long while, he said, "I have been in Kyoto for three and a half years and have done many things, but I know that these things are being used by some people... And now, those people are using me to use you. I am fine because I have my own needs, but you have no needs in this world, so this is unfair to you."

"There is no such thing as fairness or unfairness in the world." Wu Zhu said calmly, "The key is whether this matter is beneficial to you."

Fan Xian noticed a very peculiar thing. After being separated from Uncle Wu Zhu for more than a year, the blind uncle seemed to be talking a lot more than before, and his expressions were slightly richer. He shook his head with a wry smile and said, "His Majesty has thrown himself into this dangerous situation. If we don't help him, he will really be cut down by Ye Liuyun's sword... Then things will be terrible. He is using his life and the turmoil of the world to force us to help him."

"Even if we don't care about these two points, I must care about the safety of those people in Kyoto." Fan Xian paused and said with a wry smile, "If Ye Liuyun makes a move, the Eldest Princess and the Second Prince must have reached an agreement in Kyoto. We can't let them succeed."

After a moment of silence, Wu Zhu said, "Say it directly."

Fan Xian sat up straight in front of him and said very sincerely, "Please, Uncle, protect His Majesty's life. As for Ye Liuyun, don't worry about it."

Wu Zhu nodded very directly.

Fan Xian felt a sigh of relief in his heart. The Emperor could use him, but he did not want to use Uncle Wu Zhu. He only had so few relatives in this world and did not want to mix too many other things into it. Letting Uncle Wu Zhu take action did not mean that Fan Xian was not worried about Uncle Wu Zhu's safety, because the changes before the ritual to heaven were bound to be the biggest shock on this continent in twenty years. Even if Uncle Wu Zhu had the cultivation of a Grandmaster, he might not be able to get a good outcome.

But Fan Xian was not very worried, because this temple was on a high mountain cliff. Even if Uncle Wu Zhu lost in the end, he could jump into the sea. This method could not be caught up by Ye Liuyun and those big shots even if they tried their best.

"I should go down the mountain now." Fan Xian said with his head lowered. He did not have too many qualifications to speak in the upcoming major events, and from the bottom of his heart, he was unwilling to go crazy and take risks with His Majesty the Emperor.

But he knew that the Emperor should not let him go down the mountain. Only by using this method of kidnapping hostages well could he mobilize Uncle Wu Zhu to be used by him. If Ye Liuyun's sword occasionally deviated and pointed at Fan Xian, Wu Zhu would have to take action even if he did not want to.

"If the other party makes a move, they will definitely rush ahead of the completion of the ritual to heaven... I will try to persuade His Majesty to let me go down the mountain later." Fan Xian frowned and said, "After this matter is over, please come find me as soon as possible."

Speaking of this, he looked at Uncle Wu Zhu's face and asked blankly, "I don't know what the ritual to heaven is about or what symbolic role it has, but I am very curious. Has Uncle you been healing your injuries on Da Dong Mountain this year?"

Wu Zhu nodded.

"Everyone says that Da Dong Mountain has magical effects. Is it true?" Fan Xian looked at the black cloth on his face and asked seriously with a frown.

Wu Zhu said, "I don't know if it is useful for those people's illnesses, but it is very beneficial for me to heal my injuries."

Fan Xian's heart trembled slightly, and he did not understand what this sentence meant. He asked, "Why?"

"The primordial energy of Da Dong Mountain is more concentrated than anywhere else in the world." Wu Zhu said.

Fan Xian's brows furrowed even more tightly, "I can't feel it."

"You can only feel the true essence in your body." Wu Zhu said, "And the primordial energy between heaven and earth is not so easy to capture."

He paused and opened his mouth to say, "Ku He once practiced Western magic. He should be able to feel it."

Fan Xian was silent and suddenly thought of the two mediocre mages who had occasionally appeared in his life. He vaguely seemed to guess something, but he could not connect the entire clue. Magic... what a distant and unfamiliar word. He had once had the idea of practicing magic when he was young, but no one on this continent was proficient in it. Even Ku He was more involved in collecting and researching theoretical knowledge.

At this time, the night was getting deeper and deeper, and the temperature at the top of the mountain was slowly decreasing. The insects in the grass were frozen and stopped chirping. A murderous aura gradually condensed among the numerous temples. Fan Xian blankly raised his face and looked at the murals painted on the four walls of the temples. Those paintings, which were basically the same as the paintings in the Qing Temple in Kyoto, made him feel a little lost.

Fan Xian was full of too much curiosity about the Temple of the Gods and the Qing Temple, which followed its style. He originally wanted to ask Uncle Wu Zhu, but the urgent situation now prevented him from staying for too long.

He stood up, bowed to Wu Zhu, and lowered his voice to say, "It doesn't matter who dies on this mountain top, you can't die."

Wu Zhu did not answer this sentence but tilted his ear and stretched out his right hand from his sleeve, pressing it directly on the ground, steady and motionless.

After a moment, Wu Zhu said quietly, "You can't go down the mountain."

……

……

"You persuaded him." The Emperor stood with his hands behind his back on the dark cliff. Today there were clouds in the sky, covering the moon in thick clouds. The blue sea far below the cliff was a dark, inky color, but you could vaguely see one or two very faint spots of light, which should be the naval ships of the Jiaozhou Navy escorting him.

Fan Xian walked behind the Emperor and frowned slightly. He had almost fallen down in the afternoon. How did this Emperor train his courage? However, the situation was urgent, and he did not answer the Emperor's question. He said directly, "Your Majesty, there are cavalry coming from the foot of the mountain."

The Emperor slowly turned around, with a smile on his face. Without questioning how Fan Xian knew the movements at the foot of the mountain on the high mountain, he said gently, "Is that so? How many people are there?"

"I don't know." Fan Xian replied with his head lowered, "I believe that since the enemy is attacking, we should immediately send out the Tiger Guards to break through and seek help from the local area."

The Emperor quietly looked at him, without agreeing to his words. He just slowly said, "I have other things for you to do."

At this moment, a rocket whistled through the night sky from the foot of the mountain, illuminating a bit of the sky and reporting the emergency situation at the foot of the mountain. At this time, the foot of the mountain was probably already filled with the sounds of fighting and the scene of blood and flesh flying. The most daring and reckless attempt to assassinate the Emperor in the history of Qing Yu Nian officially kicked off.

"Report!" The Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guards rushed out from the mountaintop camp, knelt in front of the Emperor, and quickly reported what was happening at the foot of the mountain. However, the top of the mountain and the foot of the mountain were extremely far apart, and it was impossible to fully understand the specific situation with only a few signal arrows.

The Deputy Commander's face was pale, and he was sweating profusely in the cold night wind. He only knew that there was an enemy attacking at the foot of the mountain, and this fact was enough to cost him his head. He really couldn't understand how these attacking troops had come to the foot of Da Dong Mountain without alarming the local government, and under the cover of night, had launched a fierce and tragic attack on the two thousand Imperial Guards at the foot of the mountain.

There was no specific content. Fan Xian looked at the Deputy Commander's lips moving up and down, but he seemed to be unable to hear a word, like an absurd and ridiculous silent picture.

It was indeed ridiculous that the Emperor of a great country was surrounded on Da Dong Mountain, deep within his own territory!

……

……

The sounds of killing could not reach the high mountain top, and the smell of blood could not float up. The peak of Da Dong Mountain was still clear and bright. At this time, the thick clouds that had been obscuring the night sky above the mountain top suddenly dissipated, revealing a bright moon.

The moonlight shone like silver on the Emperor and Fan Xian on the mountain top. Fan Xian narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at the Emperor's god-like figure shrouded in the moonlight, and began to feel nervous and excited. Through the Emperor's iron-like shoulders, he saw a small boat drifting in from the distant sea.

The small boat rose and fell in the waves, moving forward leisurely in the moonlight, heading towards Da Dong Mountain.

The mountaintop and the sea were extremely far apart, but Fan Xian still felt the small boat.

Because Ye Liuyun was standing on the boat.

……

……

(The monthly votes have fallen to fourth place. Please help everyone pull them up... Pull them up to third place. It involves soliciting votes, but alas, I won't be exploding... Everyone also knows that the climax is coming, and I am very careful and fearful, worried that I will not write well. I want to write slowly and strive to write better. I sincerely ask everyone to cast their monthly votes for me again.)