After experiencing Zichan's death, Li Ran began to cherish the people in front of him even more.
He couldn't help but pull Ji Le into his arms. He even hoped to hold her like this until the end of time...
Fortunately, under the management of You Ji, Zheng Guo was calm for the time being. And Li Ran was able to continue to accompany Ji Le quietly.
Although there was a moment of peace, Li Ran still kept Ji's hatred in his heart.
In addition to Owl Wing's search for the whereabouts of Lu Houchou, Zheng Yi actually has two things that have been bothering Li Ran - the fire in the Four Kingdoms, and the truth about Boyou's ghost!
According to Li Ran's speculation, the so-called "Four Kingdoms Fire" was most likely manipulated by the secret gangs behind it. Its purpose was to create an atmosphere of terror and attack dissidents, just like how Toyodan attacked Zisan at that time.
And since they have already taken action, there is absolutely no reason to stop.
As for "Bo You Ghost", Li Ran thought it might be the work of "Dao Ji". But to put it bluntly, Li Ran has no conclusive evidence to prove this, so he can only continue to observe in secret.
In fact, Li Ran also knew that the forces behind them, whether it was the "Dark Walkers" or the "Dao Ji", were extremely huge, and it could be said that he only had a partial understanding of these two forces at the moment.
Although Li Ran knew some information about the "Dark Walkers" from Qingfeng's mouth, after all, Qingfeng was no longer one of the Seven Lords at that time, and he had been excluded from some things, so many inside stories were unknown.
But Li Ran is also very clear about the energy behind the "Dark Walkers".
They act meticulously and are best at deception in secret. Even now, they don't know the identities of the other members, so Li Ran has no clue about them.
In comparison, although "Daoji" is also powerful all over the world, it is relatively more low-key.
This "low-key" may be due to the "rule by inaction" that Lao Tzu believes in, or perhaps these "intellectuals" are more Buddhist in nature.
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Comparing it horizontally, the "Dark Walkers" is an alliance formed by ministers from various countries. Almost all of its participants are high-ranking people, and almost all of them are ruthless characters who can turn clouds and rain with their hands.
The members of "Tao Ji" are mostly from various positions such as witchcraft, medicine, divination, music, and history. It can be called the oldest intelligence agency. Often we can only use another channel to maintain the right to speak about "morality" and influence the will of decision-makers in various countries through destiny.
And Li Ran sometimes couldn't help but feel lucky that the concepts they held were completely different. There has even been a tendency to compete with each other to some extent.
Otherwise, if they join forces, what will the world look like?
This was something Li Ran couldn't imagine.
Of course Li Ran knew that the "Four Kingdoms Fire" was just the beginning, and bigger things would definitely happen in the future.
That night, Li Ran was walking in the manor with Ji Le and admiring the moon. Although she still couldn't forget the hatred of destroying her family, at least on the surface, she no longer had the deep obsession and hostility she had before.
Perhaps because she believed that the man in front of her would definitely avenge her.
Li Ran looked at her and smiled slightly:
"The moonrise is bright. The outstanding people are here. The gentle and graceful are here. The hard work is quiet."
This is a sentence from "The Book of Songs", which means "How bright the moonlight shines on your beautiful face, and your elegant and slender figure touches my affectionate sorrow!"
Hearing the words of the sacrificial music, his lips are red and his teeth are white:
"Looking at Qi'ao, there are green bamboos and Yiyi. There are bandits and gentlemen, who are like quarrels, like discussions, like grinding. They are seductive and arrogant, and they are proud and arrogant."
What the sacrificial music responds to is also the poetry in the Book of Songs, which means:
"Look at the curved bank of the Qishui River, with its green bamboo groves. There is an elegant gentleman with superb knowledge and good moral character. He has a solemn demeanor, a broad mind, and a prominent position."
Li Ran was about to speak when he heard someone not far away step forward and say:
"Sir, Li has something important to report."
Li Ran immediately waved.
"Okay, please come closer!"
Fan Li came over and bowed:
"Meet Mr. and Mrs.!"
"Young uncle, you don't have to be so formal in your own home, just treat yourself like family."
Fan Li disagreed with this. He insisted that there was an order of superiority and inferiority. Since he voluntarily followed Li Ran, he should naturally be respected as the master.
"Sir, another big event happened in the Song Kingdom some time ago!"
Li Ran's heart sank. He had asked Fan Li to pay attention to the movements of other countries. The battle between kings and lords was becoming increasingly fierce. He needed to keep abreast of the situation of each country at all times.
When Li Ran heard about something happening in the Song Dynasty, he instinctively thought that the "hidden crowd" might be making another move.
Could it be that something happened to the king of Song State like Lu Hou Chou?
"Sir, you also know that the monarch of the Song Dynasty exchanged hostages with the Hua Xiang clan, and that the exchange of hostages between the king and his ministers is a wonder in the world! Song Gong sent Prince Luan and his half-brother Chen Hedi as hostages to the Hua family. Hua Hai also sent his son Wuhuo, Xiang Ning's son Luo, and Hua Ding's son Qi as hostages into the palace."
"Song Gong loved his son so much that he and his wife delivered meals to the prince every day, traveling back and forth. Later, Song Gongzuo couldn't bear it any longer, so he sent troops to attack the Huaxiang family regardless! Because Song Gongzuo always showed love for his son. Love, this was beyond the expectations of the Hua Xiang family, so they were defeated. Song Gong not only saved his son, but Hua Hai, Xiang Ning and others also fled to Wu."
After listening to this, Li Ran breathed a sigh of relief.
"So, did Song Gong achieve victory in this rebellion between Jun and Qing?"
Fan Li shook his head.
"Originally, the matter has come to this, and it is indeed Song Gong Zuo who has won, but the matter is not over yet. Hua Fei, who conquered the two Hua Xiang families, had trouble here. Hua Fei had three sons, namely Yao, Duoliao and Deng. Hua Deng was implicated and fled to the State of Wu together with Hua Hai. Hua Ao and Hua Duoliao served as Shaosima and Qingshi respectively. However, as a Qingshi, Hua Duoliao, the second in command, had some conflicts with his eldest son. Speak ill of the boss in front of him and even implicate Hua Feisui."
"Song Gongzuo still relied on and trusted Hua Feisui very much, so he left it to Hua Feisui to handle it. In order to avoid chaos, Hua Feisui finally decided to let Hua Ao go abroad to avoid the limelight and protect the Hua family. Unexpectedly, Hua Yao was about to say goodbye to his father when he happened to meet Hua Duoliao, and his men suddenly killed Hua Duoliao."
"Hua Ao saw this situation, so he had no choice but to kidnap his father and launch a rebellion, and also summoned people who had fled to join in the rebellion. Within a few days, people from the Hua and Xiang families returned to the Song Dynasty and occupied Lumen! The situation was said to be chaotic. A bunch.”
"Song Gong later sent Feng Xin, Hua Mian and others to resist the rebellion, while Hua Deng, who was in the state of Wu, led a Wu army to support his brother's rebellion, and finally succeeded in raiding the Song army, causing the Song army to be defeated. Song Gong appeared Now I am panicking and don’t know what to do! I don’t know what will happen next!”
After listening to Fan Li's words, Li Ran thought about it in his mind for a while. This matter was indeed absurd, chaotic and weird, and the development of various situations always developed in unexpected directions.
It is difficult to say whether Hua Ao really had the intention to rebel. However, Hua and Xiang families rushed back in time, and Hua Deng was able to lead the Wu army to fight in the Song Dynasty. If there was no "secret crowd" behind this, Li Ran wouldn't believe anything he said.
The "Dark Walkers" have a huge power in Wu State, and it is obvious that they have always intended to support Wu State to become their sword. Therefore, the stakes involved can be said to be clear at a glance.
Now that the Chu State has been dragged down by the Wu State, it is only natural that the secret gangs will use the Wu State to check and balance the king of the Song State.
It is really difficult to say whether Song Gongzuo can survive this disaster safely.
Regardless of the final direction of the Song Dynasty, I am afraid that something big will happen next.
In this regard, Li Ran felt powerless for a while.
——
Chapter 440_Guan Lai Cast
Although the sacrificial music was not very clear, Li Ran saw a worried look on his face, so he interrupted:
"In the final analysis, this matter is the matter of other countries. How can distant water save nearby fire? Therefore, even if my husband has the intention, he is powerless. Le'er thinks it's better not to worry too much about your husband."
After hearing this, Li Ran couldn't help but smile bitterly:
"Haha, what Madam is saying is that now we can only wait and see what happens, but... I hope it won't affect us... In fact, what I am worried about now is Zhou who is only a few feet away from us. The royal family."
When Fan Li heard this, he was quite puzzled:
"Oh? Sir, are you saying...will this matter also affect the Zhou royal family?"
"Well, it's really hard to say. Nowadays, the Central Plains is in chaos. On the surface, there seems to be no connection between the countries, but in fact they are closely linked!"
To put it bluntly, everything here is all done secretly by the "hidden people". So how could there be no connection behind these things?
After all, Fan Li was just a fledgling boy, so he still couldn't grasp the point of what Li Ran said.
After saying this, he naturally didn't dare to bother him any more, so he retreated very wisely.
Li Ran and Ji Le saw that it was indeed getting late, so they got up and went back to their rooms to rest.
It was night, Ji Le slept soundly, and Li Ran looked sideways at the beauty in front of him, with a lot of thoughts in his heart, and he made up his mind.
"No matter how the world changes, I, Li Ran, will definitely protect you! So that you can sleep as peacefully as you do now..."
During the chaos of the Song Dynasty, the development of the situation was always unexpected.
The actions of the Dark Walkers did not seem to go smoothly. Perhaps it was because of the "Dao Discipline" operating in it. The two forces were evenly matched, which is why the current stalemate occurred.
Now that the general trend of the world has been quietly changing, what about Li Ran? Can you still stay out of it and keep this peace and quiet?
Unknowingly, Li Ran also fell into sleep.
…
The next morning, when Li Ran just got up, he received a notification from Fan Li, saying that someone else came to see him from outside the house. When asked for his name, he didn't tell him, only that he and Li Ran were old acquaintances.
Li Ran was a little strange, so he summoned him immediately. When the man came, Li Ran couldn't help but feel a sinking feeling in his heart. The person who came was none other than Guan Cong!
Guan Cong greeted Li Ran with a smile and bowed to Li Ran respectfully:
"Young Master, you are fine!"
Li Ran was angry with Guan Cong, leaving aside his friendship with King Ling of Chu. Let’s just talk about the general trend of the world. If this person hadn’t hindered it and caused King Chu Ling to be completely defeated, how could the situation in the world become so chaotic now?
To borrow a very correct saying from King Chu Ling in the past - the world will not become better because of the decline of Chu State!
On the contrary, it was precisely because of the weakness of the Chu State that the powerful ministers of various countries had more room for display, which eventually led to chaos in the Central Plains. And today's Chu State is increasingly declining under the leadership of King Chu Qiji.
It is precisely because of this that Xi Feng Duan, Shu Niu and others had the opportunity to cause trouble to Zheng Guo!
As for the Guan Cong who appeared in front of him now, it would not be an exaggeration to say that he was the culprit who indirectly killed the Ji clan.
Therefore, Li Ran actually didn't have a very good impression of "Tao Ji". Even if the master of this "Daoji" pavilion is his father!
In fact, Li Ran really had no impression of his father in this life, let alone any father-son affection.
Li Ran couldn't imagine how he would react when he saw him.
Guan Cong saw Li Ranhan's face was silent and knew what he was thinking, so he smiled and said:
"Young Master, although the current situation is chaotic, we can't blame it all on Guan Cong, right? Besides, King Chu Ling's defeat was his own fault, so how can Guan Cong do it alone? What's more, I can't do anything. I just did it according to the wishes of the old Pavilion Master. Even if Guan Cong is here to take revenge for personal gain, how can I do all the things in the world by myself?"
"Although I have never met my father, I, Li Ran, have always known his 'inaction'. Do you really mean this, the old Pavilion Master, to bring harm to the Chu country?"
"Young Master is aware that although the old Pavilion Master did not say it clearly, his intention is also very obvious. Moreover, Xiong Wei himself is going against the grain and resorting to militarism. Even if he never takes action, he will bring about his own defeat sooner or later. Young Master back then Why did I choose to leave without saying goodbye? Is it possible that I didn’t think so? Guan Cong is just following the trend. If there is really no momentum to create, Guan Cong will definitely not be able to achieve anything!"
Li Ran also knew that some of Guan Cong's words still made some sense, and that it was completely unnecessary if he still persisted in the matter now that it was over.
King Chu Ling is dead, and Prince Qiji has ascended to the throne step by step. The depression of Chu State is a foregone conclusion, and the chaos in the Central Plains has also emerged.
Li Ran remained silent, not wanting to talk to him anymore. After all, this Guan Cong gave him a bad feeling from the beginning to the end, even though this Guan Cong had taken the initiative to show his kindness to Li Ran and also intended to join him. And isn't all this because of his identity as the young master, Li Ran?
There are huge differences between the two in terms of personality and behavior. Guan Cong knew this very well, but he still thought very clearly that Li Ran was the lord he recognized now.
Moreover, everything he did could be attributed to the old pavilion master. Even if Li Ran was dissatisfied, he would not be an enemy of his father, right?
"How much do you really know about the Great Fire in Shikoku?"
Regarding the simultaneous fire in the four countries and the "prophecy" in advance, this matter is by no means simple. Although Li Ran guessed that it was the work of the undercover, it was only a guess after all, and there was no direct evidence.
Therefore, Li Ran still asked Guan Cong, thinking that as a "Taoji" person, it is not surprising that he knows some inside stories.
"Regarding the Great Fire of the Four Kingdoms, Guan Cong not only knows some inside information. In fact, everyone in the Taoist discipline has also known about it for a long time!"
"Since we already knew it, why didn't we stop it and instead waited for tragedies to happen in the four countries at the same time? For such a huge disaster, I think even if you don't have the means to stop it, you can still give a warning in time and reduce some innocent casualties, right?"
Guan Cong couldn't help but laugh.
"Young master, you don't know. In fact, people like Zi Shen of the Lu State and Zhen Zao of the Zheng State have already issued warnings before. However, how can such a thing be stated openly on the table?"
"What's more, everything in the world has its destiny. From this point of view, it is better to follow the trend! Just like a person's body, if he gets sick, the disease can show its symptoms, and sometimes it is not a bad thing. If Isn’t it bad that a person looks fine but doesn’t know he is sick, and when he finds out he is already seriously ill?”
"People are still like this. Young Master, please forgive me for speaking bluntly. Governing the world is like governing people. It is probably not a wise move to only treat the symptoms without thinking about how to solve the problem fundamentally!"
Judging from the literal meaning of these words, there is nothing wrong with them, but the target of the attack is directly on Li Ran, and he even more intentionally accuses Li Ran of only knowing how to treat headaches, head pain, and feet. Isn't this Li Ran's biggest problem?
To put it more bluntly, Li Ran didn't know how to take advantage of the situation, so every step was so difficult!
Li Ran was already angry, and now he was even more furious:
"How many innocent people suffered in the fire in the Four Kingdoms? How many people were directly buried in the sea of fire? How many evil people used this to show off their power? Even if Li is unworthy, how can he tolerate such a great evil? You knew it in advance, but you didn't find any way to do it Eliminating this disaster is so easy to say! Watch! If Li doesn’t deal with you today, it will be unforgivable to do so!"
When Guan Cong heard this, he still showed no fear. He just laughed and said:
"Haha, young master, don't you think, 'Heaven and earth are unkind and treat all things like cud dogs, so the saints are unkind and treat the common people as cud dogs'?"
Guan Cong's words made Li Ran startled.
This sentence obviously came from the mouth of his father Li Er, and it is nothing more than a paraphrase.
For his father, Li Ran only felt chilled at this moment. In order to conform to the general trend of the world, anyone can be sacrificed, even thousands of innocent people.
However, all those who have achieved great things since ancient times are like this.
As the saying goes, 'One general's success will lead to ten thousand bones', and this concept is obviously not accepted by Li Ran now.
Li Ran sighed secretly in his heart and did not want to tangle with him on this matter anymore.
"Guan Cong, weren't you in Chu State assisting the new king of Chu State? Why are you here? Could it be that you were kicked out by the King of Chu?"
Li Ran's words were also meant to be teasing, but Guan Cong said calmly:
"Haha, I wasn't kicked out. I left on my own. If I didn't leave as soon as possible, my life would be in danger!"
