The sky gradually darkened, and in a small temple ten miles north of Lin'an City, Zhao Cao was sitting cross-legged in the meditation hall. Close your eyes and refresh your mind,

Suddenly, three figures flashed into the temple, Zhao Cao opened his eyes, and the competition that came in was three women, the left and right were both dressed in black and green yarn, and the middle one was dressed in white, and the white gauze was masked. Zhao Cao said in a deep voice: "Who is here?"

The woman on the left said: "King Ming, the holy aunt has arrived, so don't take it quickly." ”

Zhao Cao's eyes flashed, it turned out that he was one of the four great guardian kings of Manichaeism, but he did not have the other three guardian kings since he joined the sect, and he knew that the sect leader Zhong Ziang had three daughters and one son, and the eldest daughter Zhong Xinyu was made the holy aunt of the sect, but she never succeeded. The Manichaean leader Zhong Zizi has always had great ambitions and wanted to make a great achievement, and he has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people for more than 30 years in the south, and now the time is gradually ripe and he is ready to start an incident. Zhao Cao is a stronghold of Manichaeism in Lin'an.

At this time, the woman on the right raised a short stick about a foot long and said, "The Holy Fire Order is here, please check the order of King Ming." ”

Although it was in the dark, Zhao Cao's eyes were like a good look, and at a glance, he could see that what the woman was holding in her hand was the Holy Flame Order. I didn't doubt it in my heart, I got up, walked out of the meditation hall, and bowed my hand and said: "My subordinates don't move King Zhao Cao, I have seen the Holy Aunt." ”

Zhong Xinyu said: "King Ming doesn't have to be polite, I came in a hurry." ”

Zhao Cao said: "I also invite the holy aunt to sit inside, and my subordinates will serve tea and talk." As he spoke, he stood sideways and bowed to him.

Zhong Xinyu said: "King Ming doesn't have to be polite, although I am the holy aunt of this sect, I am also the younger generation of King Ming." As she spoke, she walked into the meditation hall, and the two maids also entered together beside her.

Zhao Cao accompanied Zhong Xinyu into the meditation hall and said, "The holy aunt said this, and the subordinates really didn't dare to do it. ”

Zhong Xinyu smiled and said: "My father often said to our sons, he and the messengers in the sect, the Dharma King, the scattered people, the banner and other names are subordinates, in fact, they are all siblings, we must treat each other with the courtesy of the younger generations, the King of Ming has more time to do things outside, and less time in the teaching, it is the first time to meet, and the King of Ming will call me Xinyu." ”

Zhao Cao was originally a very cheerful person, and when she said this, she was not polite, and said, "Now the sect leader is ready to get up, what are you doing in Lin'an at this time, Xinyu?"

Zhong Xinyu smiled slightly and said: "King Ming doesn't know yet, my father has made an incident in Guangnan, and the entire Hainan Yijing is under the control of our Holy Sect, and now he is preparing to cross the sea to capture Leizhou, so he must pay more attention to all the movements in Lin'an Mansion and see how the Song Dynasty Court will respond." ”

Zhao Cao was stunned and said, "Now the sect leader is starting an incident with the scriptures, is it so fast?"

Zhong Xinyu said: "Since the defeat of Dongting Lake, my sect has been dormant in the south, secretly preparing for almost forty years, now I think everything is ready, it just so happens that now the Song Dynasty is at war with the Jin Dynasty, flawless Nangu, it is a great opportunity, it is too late to inform the sect outside, and please forgive King Ming." ”

Zhao Cao hurriedly said: "The sect leader is wise and far-sighted, how can it be compared to us, such a good plan, it is indeed not to be missed." ”

Zhong Xinyu said again: "King Ming said a lot when he was in Lin'an, what is the situation in the Song Dynasty now?"

Zhao Cao said: "Now that the Song Dynasty has just finished the Northern Expedition, it is confronting the Jin State on the front line of the Jianghuai River. Some time ago, Zhang Jun died of illness, presided over by Tang Siwei and the Jin State to negotiate peace, in recent days Yu Yunwen returned to Lin'an, the Song Dynasty emperor deposed Tang Siwei, reused Yu Yunwen, and the Jin State confronted, whether the war is or not decided until now. ”

Zhong Xinyu nodded and said, "Tomorrow, for the great cause of my Holy Sect, do you think it is better to fight or reconcile between Song and Jin?" "Zhao

Zhao Cao said: "I think that it is beneficial to the great cause of my Holy Sect to continue to be so hostile between Song and Jin. Because in that case, the Song Dynasty would make every effort to prevent the Jin army from invading south, and the most elite army would inevitably be stationed in the Jianghuai area. And the army that can only be used against us is second-rate, which is naturally beneficial to the great cause of our Holy Sect. ”

Zhong Xinyu frowned slightly and said, "In that case, wouldn't the Song Dynasty fall into the middle of the two sessions, will it be equivalent to secretly helping the Jin Kingdom?" If the Song Dynasty is destroyed by the Jin Kingdom for this reason, won't my Holy Sect be pointed out by thousands of people?"

Zhao Cao said: "The Holy Aunt's heart is not unreasonable, but as long as the measures are appropriate, I don't think it will be so." With the current strength of our Holy Sect, it will not be able to annex the entire Song Dynasty in the short term, but the only way to do this now is to base ourselves on Guangnan first, gain a firm foothold, and then force the Song Dynasty to recognize the rationality of the Holy Religion's statehood, and then take the opportunity to annex Sichuan, gradually expand its power, and then annex the Song Dynasty in one fell swoop along the west of the river. ”

Zhong Xinyu said: "King Ming is really high-minded. ”

Zhao Cao said: "Actually, the sect leader is very strong, and he should have seen this step a long time ago, so he has been dormant in Guangnan for nearly forty years before he started an incident. It is not difficult to annex the Song Dynasty, but I am afraid that the Jin State will take advantage of the situation and make a wedding dress for others. Therefore, when our Holy Sect did nothing to fight against the Jin State, it was not appropriate to weaken the power of the Song Dynasty excessively. ”

Zhong Xinyu said with a smile: "With King Ming and other sects assisting my father, the major affairs of our Holy Sect will definitely succeed." When the foundation of our Holy Sect is established, King Ming and all the members of the sect will be the heroes of the founding of the country, and they will be famous for thousands of years. ”

Zhao Cao said: "The word fame and fortune are just things outside my body for Zhao Cao, I only hope that as the Holy Religion says, I can establish a pure world of light everywhere, so that all the people can live and work in peace and contentment." ”

"Yang Yan has seen his father-in-law." The old eunuch in front of him doesn't know if he is seventy or eighty years old, he is already too old, and there are still dozens of hairs left on the top. The cheekbones are prominent, the eye sockets are deep, the wrinkles are piled up, and the skin and bones are so thin that they are only skinny. The two white eyebrows were so thin and long that they almost hung down to the bottom of the neck, and a pair of eyes seemed to be open and thin. Although it was a hot day, the windows of the room were closed tightly, and even Yang Yan was sneering, but he was still wearing a wide and large robe, and the whole person was lying on a soft bed, as if he had his last breath left. There are also four small eunuchs waiting next to him.

Because Yang Yan's official position also includes the item of "bringing imperial equipment". Therefore, if he is in Lin'an, he needs to go to the palace to guard duty. Tonight is the first time that Yang Yan has been on duty, so he first has to come to worship Cao Jin Cao, the highest servant in the front palace.

However, Yang Yan didn't expect that this Gonggong Cao, who was a provincial envoy who knew how to enter the interior and wait for trouble, was actually this Zizi An old eunuch who looked half-dead. Yang Yan's most familiar eunuch Cao An is his distant nephew. The guards on duty in the palace should be in charge of the internal treatment, although Yang Yan is not on duty in the palace with "imperial equipment", but he must also listen to his arrangements when guarding in the palace.

Gonggong Cao rolled his eyelids weakly, looked at Yang Yan, closed his eyes and said: "Yang Yuhou, you don't need to be polite, this is the first time you have entered the palace on duty, and you don't have to come to see our family in person next time." Commander Zhao, in the future, Yang Yuhou will be on duty in the palace again, and you will arrange his errands. After saying these words, Gonggong Cao gasped for a while, and coughed several times in a row, as if he might lose his breath at any time. The little eunuchs on the side were busy pressing their chests and beating their backs.

Commander Zhao's name is Zhao Zhen, he is in his forties, of medium stature, nothing else is special, only the joints of his fingers are thicker than ordinary people, and he is about proficient in the kung fu of the palm of the powerful King Kong palm or the grappling hand. He was also a disciple of the clan, and now he is the commander of the left straight class in front of the palace. After listening to Gonggong Cao's instructions, he said to Yang Yan: "Yang Yuhou, please follow us." ”

He took Yang Yan and passed through several palace gates, and came to a palace place, where more than 20 guards on duty gave Zhao Zhen a salute, Zhao Zhen waved his hand and said, "You don't have to be polite." Then he turned his head and said to Yang Yan: "Marquis Yang Yu, this is Qingyun Palace, which is where you guard." ”

Zhao Zhen pointed at Yang Yan and said to the guards: "This is Yang Yuhou of the Ma Military Division, this is the first time to be on duty in the palace today, from now on, you all listen to his arrangement." When all the guards heard this, they immediately came over to salute Yang Yan. Yang Yan also said a few polite words.

Zhao Zhen said: "Yang Yuhou, when you get ugly, someone will come to change shifts with you, and you must not leave before the shift changes, otherwise you will be guilty of dereliction of duty." ”

Yang Yan nodded and said, "Lord Zhao, I wrote it down." ”

Zhao Zhen nodded with satisfaction and said, "Okay then!" I'm going to look elsewhere, and I'll leave it to you. ”