Chapter 23 Chapter 10: One Smile, Allure the City, Another Smile, Allure the Country

On the night of the accident, everything was normal. Yang Tongye led a group of guards from the Palace of Rituals and patrolled the vicinity for a while, and the city in Yelai was still full of people, just like in the past. Near midnight, a few senior guards with serious faces came to the Palace of Rites. After discussing with the officials in charge for a while, they issued a very unusual order. "All the guards will be removed from their positions, and they will all go to the palace to support the guards!" In the rush, Yang Tongye also followed other officials to command in a hurry, but he was as puzzled as everyone else.

Even veteran guards have never experienced such a scene. It is important to know that the responsibilities of guards everywhere are very important. If they guard all important strongholds, if they leave without authorization, it is an astonishing crime. But now, it is tantamount to disarming these important strongholds and entering the palace. Could it be that there have been some great changes in the deep palace? Barbarian invasion? Ministerial coup? Royal rebellion? Thinking of this, Yang Tongye couldn't help feeling anxious, if such a huge change happened, Bao Si in the palace wondered if something would happen?

As he advanced in the rushing ranks, such worries flashed in his mind. It's just that he himself didn't realize that when he became emotional, blue veins like tangled vegetation would faintly appear on his face. Behind Yang Tongye, his primordial spirit, Houji, faintly showed a dazzling light. In the past, Hou Ji's appearance would always change as Yang Tongye grew up, but during the years in Gaojing, Yang Tong had other ambitions and rarely paid attention to Hou Ji's appearance. During these four years, Hou Ji just sat quietly, watching the busy comings and goings of Yang Tongye, and sometimes accompanied him to look up at the royal palace of the Zhou Dynasty.

But Hou Ji's appearance was the same as four years ago, completely unchanged. Now, as Yang Tongye's mood turned into agitation, a bright light appeared on Hou Ji's body. The light shone brightly at night, and even ordinary people could faintly see it. And if Yang Tongye stopped to look carefully at this moment, he would find that Hou Ji's body had begun to melt, and there were signs of skin damage everywhere. In some damaged places, a stronger light is revealed. What kind of situation is this...? What happened to Houji, the Yuanshen of Yangtongye? But at this moment, Yang Tongye's heart is not here, his heart has already drifted into the palace, and he only wants to know if Baosi is safe and well?

After the troops entered the palace, they could only see that the Gyeonggi area was relatively peaceful, and there was no chaos in the brightly lit square, only the guards and soldiers who came and went in a hurry kept going back and forth, looking very busy. Sheep tongue wild ambition was wondering, but heard a guard beside him spit. "Damn, what! I thought something big happened..." Yang Tongye glanced back at him, but didn't say anything. Everyone froze in the palace, looked left and right several times, but still didn't find anything unusual. When they were wondering, a sharp-eyed guard shouted: "Look! Look at the beacon tower!"

Everyone turned their heads to look at his cry, and they couldn't help but make puzzled sounds of "Huh" and "Yeah". At the beacon tower, many attendants were sweating profusely carrying a lot of firewood and piled it next to the wolf dung. In Haojing City, everyone knew that the Beacon Tower was the most important place in the city, and it was usually heavily guarded. Because, as long as there is a warning signal here, it will be the most important event in the world, because the princes of the four directions, Fengguo and the King of Zhou have an agreement. If Haojing is in trouble, they will light the beacon as a signal, and the princes will come to rescue .

That is to say, the feudal princes in the king of the Zhou Dynasty will do their best to come to rescue Haojing in distress! It's just... Yang Tongye and the others really couldn't see anything, so where is the danger? After the attendants piled up the firewood, an even more astonishing scene appeared in the palace. In front of the beacon tower, on a high platform, many elegantly dressed nobles walked up in a file. Looking carefully, among the group of people , there is actually King Zhou You, the current Lord of the Zhou Dynasty! But Yang Tongye looked very far and saw a slender beauty in King You's hand. Although she was far away and her face was not clear, but from her posture, Yang Tongye could tell that she was It was the Bao Si whom he missed day and night.

He watched from a distance that King Zhou You and Bao Si walked up to the high platform holding hands, and the eunuchs and maids around them served wine and food, as if they were going to watch a good show. The ferocious beacon fire of the war, and this leisurely viewing, can't be adjusted anyway. Although Yang Tongye is still worried about Baosi, he still thinks about the mystery of this from time to time. After a while, King Zhou You on the high platform gave an order, and the surrounding drums beat loudly. Amidst the deafening drumbeats, there may not have been any foreign enemies invading, and those attendants on the beacon tower actually raised torches and lit the beacon fire!

At this time, many people in the group of sergeants exclaimed. They had been in the army for a long time and knew that this was an extremely important event. As long as the beacon fire was lit, within half a day, all the feudal troops in the kingdom of the Zhou Dynasty would be defeated. All coming! However, in the absence of foreign enemies, why did King Zhou You light such a major beacon? In the imperial city, all the soldiers stared dumbfounded at the bright beacon fire, which reflected the surroundings like daytime, and huge black smoke rose into the sky, straight up to the sky. The huge beacon fire spewed out thick smoke, and before long, the entire city of Haojing could see this strange and evil-looking black column rising to the sky.

King Zhou You on the high platform was even more elated, and the musicians and theater troupe around joined in and started to play lively silk and bamboo music. The thundering rumbling drums, the joyful sound of silk and bamboo music, coupled with the beacon smoke symbolizing the tragic war, is simply a strange scene that no one has ever seen in the ages. All the sergeants of the Zhou Dynasty looked at each other in blank dismay, but no one knew what was going on. Yang Tongye frowned, ran up to a high observation platform, looked back at the wolf smoke rushing into the clouds, and then looked at the main road outside the city.

Not long after, an army appeared far away on the horizon. Yang Tongye stared at that army, and saw that the men and horses in the army were well-dressed, and everyone was holding torches. A "Zheng" character. That is the feudal state that the Zhou Dynasty relies most on today: Zheng State. All of a sudden, several horses appeared in the imperial city, and the one in front of them was very angry. Looking carefully, it was Ji You, the monarch of Zheng State. Yang Tongye knew that Zheng Bo was working as the prime minister of the dynasty at this time, and Zhou You Wang would discuss with him many important military and state affairs before they were implemented. At this moment, Zheng Bojiyou rode his horse and shouted loudly: "How can this be done? How can this beacon smoke be lighted so casually?" He came to the imperial city, so naturally he couldn't stay on the horse all the time, so he got off the horse neatly, and wanted to run to King Zhou You's high platform. However, at this moment, a very proud eunuch with chest and belly came down from the high platform. Seeing that Zheng Bo was about to run to the high platform, he stretched out his hand to block his way. "My king has orders, Zheng Boyou obeys!" Although Zheng Bo was in a hurry, he didn't dare to lose his manners in the palace, so he stopped and bowed to listen to King Zhou You's order. The eunuch said loudly: "My king has an order. Today, my king and my concubine Bao had a great time drinking. They set off the beacon fire to add to the fun. It is pure joy. Don't worry too much about uncle. The country is busy with government affairs, so I invite uncle to come back to work." Hearing such an order, Zheng Bojiyou opened his mouth wide, unable to answer for a long time.He wanted to say something more, but he heard the eunuch say sharply: "My king has ordered that Zheng Bo can retire first!" He had no choice but to walk out of the palace dejectedly, Zheng Bojiyou, who had been in a panic. Before leaving, he looked back at the high platform where King Zhou You was sitting in disbelief. On the high platform, the music of silk and bamboo music never stopped, and several court ladies danced a gorgeous lupine dance on top. The princes from all walks of life came very quickly, and not long after, troops from Wei, Xu, Cai, Jin and other countries came one after another. These vassal troops who saw the beacon fire in the middle of the night and thought that the king was in trouble, ran all night on the dark road, loyal, in order to come to Wangji and rescue the king's distress. But when they arrived at the imperial city, what they saw was an unbelievable scene. I saw that the imperial city was full of troops from various kingdoms, everyone was sweating and panting, but in the bright lights of the imperial city, I saw a luxurious high platform, no enemies, no accidents, only one You Wang, who is richly dressed, is drinking and having fun on a high platform. Seeing so many troops coming, the ministers in the palace couldn't help but feel a little suspicious, so someone quietly transferred all the guards to guard near the high platform to avoid temporary changes. And Yang Tongye followed suit, and under the arrangement of the leader of the guards, he ordered him to lead a small group of guards to go up to the high platform to guard. It was also because of such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that after four years of hard work, he finally had a chance to see Bao Si up close! Thinking of the beautiful face that could be seen after getting on the high platform, although Yang Tongye was already twenty-eight years old at this time, his heart was beating like a boy meeting his sweetheart for the first time, "thump, boom, boom" stop. At this time, the army of the princes looked up at King Zhou You from the high platform in surprise and suspicion. At this moment, King Zhou You stepped up to the front of the high platform, looked down at these loyal princes, and laughed loudly: "God bless our country, fortunately, we are not here." There are no foreign enemies, everyone has worked hard, please return to your own country, and there will be rewards in the future!" His voice was so loud that it spread far away in the royal city. Everyone heard his words, but they still couldn't believe what they heard! But the king's order cannot be reversed once it is spoken. There is nothing to do. Although the troops of the feudal kingdoms are aggrieved, they have no choice but to touch their noses and return to the feudal kingdom on their own. Amidst the sounds of people and horses retreating, Yang Tongye also stepped up to the high platform. He deliberately hid in the crowd, but his eyes searched eagerly, and he saw Bao Si all at once. I saw that she was wearing a pale lake green gauze gown, leaning lazily on the cushion, with an indifferent expression on her face. Over the past few years, Bao Si's face has become more bright and colorful. Although there is no smile, it is still beautiful and fascinating. Suddenly, as if alert to something, she began to look around.Yang Tongye instinctively wanted to dodge, but his body didn't listen, and he just stood there dumbfounded. At this very moment, Bao Si turned her head slowly and saw him too, her red lips parted slightly, with a surprised expression on her face.Then, the surprised expression was like the melting of the first snow, and it was like a spring flower blooming, and he unconsciously showed a happy smile. At that moment, Yang Tongye only felt that time was about to stop, and only saw her smile like thousands of brilliance, as if everything in the whole world had disappeared... At this moment, King Zhou You, who was watching the retreat of the princes, also happened to turn around and saw this beautiful smile like the sound of fairy music. Although in the past four years, he and Bao Si have been together day and night, but has he ever seen such a happy smile? Then, Bao Si closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and the speed of Zhou You Wang gradually slowed down, like a clay sculpture, and stopped moving. The surrounding air also suddenly fell silent, the sound of retreating soldiers and horses, the piercing sound of silk and bamboo music, and the sound of drums in the sky all disappeared. In the entire time and space, only Yang Tongye and Bao Si are left, and the rest of the people and things just become the background. This ability to stop time was also used by Bao Si in the river cave. After a few years, when the two met again, it played a great role. Bao Si still had a bright smile on her face, but tears had already appeared in her eyes. "You...you are here," her voice trembled, but she was filled with joy, "I knew that one day, you would definitely come." Yang Tongye could no longer bear the longing in his heart, walked past the still crowd, stretched his arms lightly, and embraced the beautiful body that he had been thinking about day and night. Soft body, warm body. The woman he missed all the time in his dreams finally returned to his arms. Bao Si's face was full of tears, and she was gently hugged by Yang Tongye. She looked at this heroic man with blurred eyes, kissed his cheek and the bridge of his nose lightly, and then pressed her cherry lips on the on his lips. Passion... touch... What the two of them hoped most at this moment was that time would stop here and never move forward. But that is just a wish after all. "My time is coming soon. Although I have been able to stop it for a long time these years, it is also coming to an end," Bao Si said quietly, "I just hope you take good care of yourself, my smile is still only for you Keep." And Yang Tongye just took her hand foolishly, unable to bear to let go for a long time. Bao Si smiled sadly, kissed him on the lips again, broke away from his hand, and returned to the soft chair she was sitting on. "Maybe one day we can be together, but not now," she said softly, "I just hope you take care of yourself." Yang Tongye stared at her blankly, feeling longing, as if he wanted to explode his whole body. It's just that time is always so cruel, although sometimes I am willing to stop for you for a while.But there is always a painful end to it. The people and things around slowly began to flow again, and the voices of people, horses, and music became clear again. At this last moment, Bao Si looked at Yang Tongye and showed her beautiful smile again. Such a beautiful dream was awakened by King Zhou You's strange cry with a "hoo". He strode forward with a stride, but happened to block Yang Tongye and Bao Si's sight, making them unable to look at each other any longer. Just before the time stopped, King Zhou You also saw Bao Si's smile, and was overjoyed, thinking that it was the embarrassment of the warring princes that attracted the smile of this peerless beauty. "Hahahaha! Your smile is full of charm, even if you ask me to light the beacon fire ten times, it is worth it!" As he talked, he began to sniff and kiss Baosi's face and body furiously. Yang Tongye looked at him with desire, but saw Baosi's eyes were full of tolerance, and he shook his head slightly at him. "Don't be impulsive! Think for yourself..." Fortunately, at this time, most of Fengguo's army had left the city, and the guard team that Yangtongye belonged to was also called off the high platform by the minister. This bonfire farce is finally over. But in Yang Tongye's heart, there are mixed feelings, meeting Bao Si again, such a fate, I don't know whether it should be sad?Should I be happy? After King You of Zhou's farce of burning the beacon, the princes of the four directions seemed to have no complaints, but in the government of the Zhou Dynasty, an extremely ominous undercurrent had already appeared. It turned out that King Zhou You, who had seen Baosi's smile after the beacon fire incident, loved her in every possible way. With nowhere to vent his love, he planned to do something to please Baosi. At this time, there are few loyal and upright ministers around King Zhou You. Looking up, they are all a group of sycophants who guide King Zhou You to lust and have fun. Conflict with Bao Si has already lost King Zhou You's favor. Therefore, several courtiers Yin Qiu, Guo Shifu, Ji Gongyi and others came up with a plan to encourage King Zhou You to abolish the prince Yijiu and replace Baosi's son Bo Fu as the prince. King Zhou You had already had the idea of ​​abolishing Prince Yijiu, but because of the opposition of a group of loyal and upright officials at that time, he gave up the idea. At this moment, a group of slanderous officials proposed such a plan, which was exactly in line with King Zhou You's wishes. Originally, he ordered the ministers of the dynasty to prepare to choose another day to establish a prince. Prince Yijiu is the grandson of the princes of the Shen Kingdom. When the Marquis of Shen heard the news, he naturally stood up to speak for Yijiu, but King You of Zhou became furious. crusade. The several conditions for overthrowing the Western Zhou dynasty have been fully met so far. This once prosperous dynasty is about to collapse.