The moon is bright on the green mountains at night, and the sky is white with dew in autumn.
The Imperial Capital is further north and east than the Southern Territory. Although it is not as humid as the Southern Territory and is slightly colder than the Southern Territory, tourists still feel that the Imperial Capital is more comfortable in this early autumn season.
But even so, the early autumn night wind is still hurtful.
However, when it comes to a grand event like the New Era Cup, people would rather hurt their bodies than lose their spirits.
Playing the flute every night refers to the scene in the imperial capital these days.
What's more, tomorrow is the start day of the New Era Cup finals. Perhaps this is an experience that some people will only have once in their lifetime, so staying up all night is the best way to welcome it.
For some people, the night is big enough for them to pour out all the noise in their hearts.
But for some people, the night is small, and an oil lamp and three taels of files are enough to drive away the loneliness of the night.
Liu Xinyan is the latter.
Liu Xinyan picked up the brush at hand, familiarly used the penholder to pick the wick of the oil lamp in front of him, then turned the pen and drew a few strokes on the file in his hand.
The oil lamp seemed to be not very bright, so Liu Xinyan could only move the file a little closer.
"Master, it's very late, let's rest..."
The book boy took the lamp hairpin and picked out the wick. The flame jumped a few times and then became "sluggish" again. It seemed that the night was too late and even it looked a little tired.
Seeing this, the book boy complained: "Sir, you either rejected the night-light pearl given to you by the Holy Spirit, or donated it to the national treasury. If you use that, your eyes will not be stained..."
Liu Xinyan stared at the file intently, but still responded.
"My eyes were damaged during the scientific examination when I was young. At that time, I didn't have the conditions to burn the midnight oil, so I could only read by moonlight. My eyes were damaged at that time..."
The book boy was lip-syncing his lips. If you look carefully, you will find that he is not saying the same thing as Liu Xinyan.
Obviously, the scholar had heard Liu Xinyan's somewhat perfunctory remarks more than once.
The book boy continued: "But this dim oil lamp is in no way comparable to the 'electric lamp' His Highness gave you. It is small, but it can emit such bright light, it is like hanging a sun in the room..."
The "electric light" mentioned by the book boy is not the electric light from Changsun's previous life.
It was a small object presented to the imperial court by the Western magic tribe. The principle was to carve an electric light magic array into the spar. In this way, the light emitted was not only bright but also stable, and would not flicker like an oil lamp. .
Hearing this, Liu Xinyan put down the file in his hand and looked at the book boy.
"Xiao Wu, I have told you many times, don't use those Western tribal things if you can't use them. They look fancy but are actually flashy. Besides, who knows if there are any shady methods hidden in those things. If the court is brought to justice because of this, If your secret is leaked, you will become the eternal sinner of the dynasty..."
On the surface, Xiao Wu showed respect and obedience, but in fact, he was secretly scolding his master for being pedantic.
Liu Xinyan didn't care whether the little book boy heard it or not. After finishing speaking, he continued to lower his head and read the files.
But this is like opening up Liu Xinyan's chat box.
"This year is going to be eventful again..."
"Xiao Wu, the first thing we as officials must have is unity." A severe drought was reported in the north at the beginning of the year. Although it was already autumn, they did not complain to the court about food shortage, but they estimated that the harvest of the people would not be very good. Therefore, I collected more grain from the south before autumn, in order to fill the gap that could not be collected from the north. Even if the situation gets worse, the imperial court will still want to help those in the north..."
"Secondly, we think more deeply." There is a severe drought in the north, and life in the desert Beishazhou over there will definitely be difficult. Most of the people living in the border desert are herdsmen, and they rely most on the weather for their livelihood. If God rewards us with food, they are good people. If God does not reward us with food, they will turn into bandits and they will inevitably harass us in the north. Therefore, the Ministry of War must select capable soldiers in advance to build a strong northern border..."
Liu Xinyan is like an old man who is used to being lonely, he can't stop once he starts talking.
It's just that these seem to be random thoughts, and there are random things in them.
But every sentence involves major matters involving the imperial court. .
But in the darkness, what responded to Liu Xinyan was not the usual bored echo of the little book boy, but another voice.
"Master Shangshu Ling is not afraid of revealing the secrets of the imperial court when he is giving advice to a book boy?"
Liu Xinyan's hand holding the file couldn't help but tremble. He suddenly turned his head and found that the little book boy had fallen unconscious on the coffee table aside, and a figure was watching him in the darkness.
Liu Xinyan first observed the little book boy's condition anxiously, and then felt relieved when he saw that his breathing was even, and then calmly faced the uninvited guest in the house.
"I didn't expect that our Lord Shangshu Ling would be so familiar with party struggles and factions, and he would start cultivating a successor?"
The figure in the darkness was always looking at Liu Xinyan. Seeing how nervous the book boy was, he couldn't help but mock.
Liu Xinyan's expression remained calm. He had been in a high position over the years and was not familiar with the situation before him, but it was still commonplace.
"Your Excellency is visiting late at night. Why don't you show up and sit down for a chat?"
Liu Xinyan knew very well that the strength of someone who could easily break into his study must be unfathomable. Such a person is already close to him, and his life and death are already in the other person's hands.
Instead of threatening the other party with your identity and status, it is better to sit down and have a chat to see if there is any improvement.
The figure in the darkness chuckled, seemingly disdainful of Liu Xinyan's little thoughts.
"Liu Xinyan, you have indeed changed a lot over the years..."
With that said, the man walked out of the darkness and sat calmly on the chair next to Liu Xinyan's desk.
However, Liu Xinyan immediately stood up from his seat as if he was frightened.
"Lord Wangcai, why are you here?!"
There was surprise and respect that was hard to hide in Liu Xinyan's words.
The eldest grandson looked at Liu Xinyan at this time, wondering how much Liu Xinyan still looked like before.
"According to your plan, should I be trapped in the mystery of the 'murder case of the player', or should I become a burial victim in the 'missing person case'?!"
After reading Lu Si's memories, Changsun began to fall into self-doubt.
Although when he first met Liu Xinyan, he felt that he was hiding something from him, but in his heart he always believed that Liu Xinyan was the upright scholar he once was, but he had become more mellow and mature after experiencing the beatings of officialdom.
But Liu Xinyan appeared in Lu Si's last memories, which made Changsun have to doubt:
Is Liu Xinyan actually a minion supported by the nobles of the clan? He continuously designed "player murder cases" and "missing persons cases" to clean up the traces of evil in Kaicheng District, and then used himself to find the connection between Emperor Yaozong and the surviving family members in the New Era Cup, thereby weakening Emperor Yaozong's dominance.
Liu Xinyan did this for nothing more than one purpose, to support the next emperor!
While still in Lu Si's memory, the eldest grandson thought of who the leader of the clan's nobles was.
Who else but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince can lead the nobles of the clan who were suppressed by Emperor Yaozong to regain their strength and return to the third largest party in the imperial court!
Thinking about it this way, everything makes sense, and it also explains why Liu Xinyan was able to rise through the ranks and sit in the position of Shangshu Ling.
So after Changsun briefly showed Lu Si's memories (excluding Liu Xinyan's last scene) to Zhou Mi and others, he went directly to Liu Xinyan's house.
Perhaps it was because the eldest grandson had also done Liu Xinyan (during his dream reincarnation), or he was angry at Liu Xinyan's use of him, or perhaps he was sad and angry at Liu Xinyan's changes over the years... The eldest grandson seemed a little out of control emotionally at this time.
Faced with Changsun's questioning, Liu Xinyan seemed a little excited. He seemed to want to explain something, but in the end he chose to remain silent.
This made Changsun even more angry.
"Liu Xinyan, power corrodes people's hearts. Don't forget that those bottom-line principles that you think you can sell at will are your original mission in the first place!"
At this moment, Liu Xinyan seemed to see the man standing on the top shouting "Four lines of Hengqu" before his eyes.
” of prosperity.
Seeing Liu Xinyan frozen in place, the eldest grandson did not intend to let him go just like that, but continued: "You have served the country and the people all these years, and it seems to be a great kindness, but in fact it is just a disguise to cover up your great evil!"
"You used to disdain party quarrels, but look at you now. Not only are you involved in it, but you are also passionate about it!"
"But have you ever looked down and seen how many people's bones you have walked along the way?"
The eldest grandson could not imagine what kind of concessions Liu Xinyan would make to the nobles of the clan in order to become the minister, nor could he imagine how many innocent people would die at his hands during this period.
So much so that the eldest grandson could not suppress his emotions at this time.
There was endless bitterness in Liu Xinyan's eyes, as if he was regretting what he had done over the years, and he seemed to be full of grievances for his eldest grandson's incomprehension.
But Liu Xinyan finally swallowed all the grievances.
Liu Xinyan's non-response made Chang Sun's anger only half emitted, and the rest was extinguished in Liu Xinyan's silence.
But this also creates disappointment.
"I have one last message for you..."
"If you wear a mask for a long time, it will be bloody and fleshy when you take it off..."
"I will tear your masks apart one by one at the New Era Cup!"
