"Your Majesty is calling you, why are you standing there?" Chen Tingqiu noticed that Yu Shiqi was standing beside him and didn't move, so he couldn't help but nudge him with his elbow.

Yu Shiqi came back to his senses, walked forward slowly, and came to the iron gate under the gaze of everyone. He supported his knees with one hand and knelt down on one knee: "Yu Yanzhi, a special officer from the Yunzhong Sword under the jurisdiction of the Yuwu Division, is here to see your majesty."

"Yun Zhongjian Yu Yanzhi..." The emperor murmured the name, and a trace of confusion briefly flashed in his eyes.

Then, he sighed quietly: "Maybe I remembered it wrong."

Yu Shiqi hesitated for a moment and replied: "Your Majesty must have remembered correctly. If I guess correctly, Your Majesty is thinking of an old friend at this time."

Xiao Xihong and Chen Tingqiu both looked shocked when they heard this, and Yu Shiqi continued: "His name is Zhong Lingqi. He helped His Majesty ascend to the throne of God nineteen years ago, and later gave up the Imperial Guard Commander prepared for him by His Majesty."

position."

"You...you..." The emperor was greatly moved, and stretched out his trembling hand over the fence, trying to touch Yu Shiqi's cheek.

"I am indeed Zhong Lingqi's son."

After a long silence, the emperor asked him: "Then why is your surname Yu and not Zhong?"

Yu Shiqi replied: "I have been fostered in Tongfengmen in Yunling, Lizhou since I was a child, so I take the surname of Yu, the head of Fengmen. Fortunately, God is kind and I have recognized my biological parents not long ago."

"Zhong Lingqi, is he okay?"

"Your Majesty is asking about his current situation? Or after he left the imperial capital? If it is the latter, then he is very good and has a deeply affectionate wife and daughter."

"So...how are you doing now?"

Yu Shiqi sighed: "With the imperial capital in such chaos, Your Majesty, do you think he can still be okay?"

"He came to the imperial capital?" The emperor's expression changed, "Why is he coming to the imperial capital at this time?"

Yu Shiqi then told everything he knew. When he learned that Zhong Lingqi had planned to regroup Wangchuan's strength to rescue him from prison, the emperor had a helpless smile on his face.

"He always felt guilty."

"To me?"

"Perhaps it's more about the old Wangchuan troops we left behind back then." Yu Shiqi expressed his understanding.

At that time, Wangchuan had the merit of supporting the dragon, and everyone from Zhonglingqi to the following had obtained the official position of Jinyiwei. However, when he finally went to the palace to accept the reward, it was Zhu Zhi who replaced Zhonglingqi as the commander. He thought that he was one of the best.

Zhong Lingqi, who had planned a way out for his followers, chose to leave the imperial capital and live in seclusion in the Wuyue countryside. However, in the next nineteen years, Jin Yiwei accompanied Chen Lin through ups and downs.

Among the group of people who were finally cleared of their identity as Jiang Hu Assassins, some truly regarded themselves as imperial military attachés until they died loyally in the line of duty, some were hard-bitten by nature and were imprisoned and eventually punished, and some were free-spirited by nature and did not like to be disciplined for a short period of time.

He resigned and left after a few months, but some people were so ambitious that they could not resist the temptation to get involved in the overt and covert conflicts between the parties in the DPRK and China...

Nineteen years later, the commander of the Jinyi Guards is still Zhu Zhi, but the number of Jinyi Guards in the guard has changed a lot. The ones that Zhong Lingqi really feels ashamed of are probably those old troops who have died while in office.

"He is a person with a strong sense of responsibility. He has never felt that he should have much honor and power as the leader of the assassins. All he wants is to give these friends who know nothing but killing skills a good life under His Majesty's rule.

Just looking for a way out."

The emperor lowered his head regretfully: "But I failed to live up to his expectations, right? In the second year of Xiuhe and the seventeenth year of Beining, during the nineteen years of my rule, the most profound memories left to the people of the world are those

A bone-breaking war."

"Your Majesty, the war is over."

"But the dead will never come back. I can understand the guilt in Zhong Lingqi's heart, because I have also lost many important people in the past nineteen years. I also feel the same feeling of regret."

Xiao Xihong, who was kneeling behind, suddenly raised his head, tears glistening in the corners of his eyes.

He knew that the important people the emperor lost included a group of his fathers, and it was the bloodshed and sacrifice of those people that resulted in the final victory of the Northern Expedition to Rongxia.

"Xiao Xihong." The emperor suddenly looked at the young man who was holding a spear and crying silently.

"I'm here."

"No, I am not talking to you as the emperor now."

"Your Majesty..." Xiao Xihong looked up in surprise, and suddenly found two traces of tears on the emperor's face.

Your Majesty...can you cry too?

He recalled that in the autumn of Beining's fifteenth year, when he was outside the Pass and deep into the grasslands of Rongxia territory, even when the war was the most difficult and critical, the emperor never shed tears.

In the eyes of the younger generation of soldiers in the Northern Expeditionary Army, the emperor's existence is like the sun or even a god. Because it was the emperor who defied all opinions and resolutely launched the first war against the Rong Xia at a time when famous generals were withering and the country was exhausted.

Four expeditions to the north and victory in decisive battles finally established the great situation of Antai in northern Xinjiang, and the Rong Xia fled to Mobei.

"I am asking you now as an incompetent father. Xianyan will be entrusted to you in the future." The emperor solemnly said to Xiao Xihong, "She can no longer go back to the palace."

"His Majesty……"

"After my death, given Mu Qingxuan's narrow-minded nature, if the princess remains in the palace, she may be harmed by him. Looking at the world, there are already all the people I can trust."

Xiao Xi shouted with red eyes: "Your Majesty will not die! Your Majesty, General Ye and I are here to rescue your Majesty this time!"

"Ye Wangshu is really a hopeless fool! I don't know how many people are going to die for his unfulfilled obsession tonight!" The emperor behind the iron bars roared angrily, "Are you as stupid as him?

?”

Xiao Xihong placed the spear on the ground, bowed his head and kowtowed three times to the emperor: "The loyalty of the three generations of the Xiao family to your majesty cannot be cut off here! Your majesty, please take back your order and entrust the princess to Yu Shaoxia. I am willing to fight to the death with General Ye! That year

There are only a few hundred people in Wangchuan, but they dare to go to the imperial city first to cut down the gates for Your Majesty. Now that I have followed His Majesty across the grassland to the north to chase the Rongxia, how can I be inferior to the Jianghu assassins in the face of danger?"

Chen Tingqiu sighed softly and turned sideways, unable to bear to look any further.

There were two jade chopsticks hanging on Mu Xianyan's beautiful face. She knelt down beside Xiao Xihong: "I don't want to be separated from Brother Xiao... Brother Xiao, you don't want to die... You don't want to die, okay?"

Xiao Xihong gritted his teeth and looked at the emperor, ready to fight with death. But as soon as he straightened up, he was suddenly hit hard by a knife on the back of his neck, and he immediately fainted with a muffled sound.

"Brother Xiao!"

"He's fine, he just fainted." Yu Shiqi, who knocked Xiao Xihong unconscious, stretched out his hand to support his falling body, then carried him behind him and tied him to him with Xiao Xihong's armor robe.

Behind him, Yu Shiqi picked up the spear that fell on the ground and turned to Chen Tingqiu: "Master Chen, please take the princess and follow me."

Chen Tingqiu nodded vigorously. They had been delayed here for too long. Ye Wangshu's people might be defeated by Li Zhong at any time. If the Northern Army arrived, it would be difficult for Xiao Xihong and the princess to leave again.

"Your Majesty, I'm leaving." Yu Shiqi carried Xiao Xihong on his back and bowed slightly to the emperor behind the iron bars.

"Go." The emperor waved his hand gently with gratitude in his eyes.

When Mu Xianyan saw Chen Tingqiu walking towards her, she finally kowtowed to her father: "Father."

"You will no longer be a princess. You must be more sensible and don't have too much temper." The emperor looked at her with soft and sad eyes, just like the queen of spring mountains and snow.

"My son...remember this."
Chapter completed!