It doesn't matter what the lord is.

Although I taught her to read and write, she still couldn't read many difficult passages clearly.

I listened nearby and recited it silently several times.

After just reciting it a few times, the sword energy that had made no progress in all these years seemed to be unable to be suppressed and began to stir.

There was a short sentence at the end of the sword manual, and Alayya read it out verbatim.

This sentence may be the culmination of Qingyun's sword spirit.

"People are suffering, the world is in decline. Demons are dancing wildly, and the world is absurd. All I have is a sword in my hand and a thought in my heart. So when I start practicing sword, I swear to the sword in my hand as follows:"

"——I will use this sword to save the people of the world."

---------------------------

I've been delayed by something these two days, so I'll give you an update today.

53. Still the Old Year

While Alayya and I were living a leisurely life in Xuanqing Palace, the situation outside was actually changing quite quickly.

First, the king asked the Jinyiwei to investigate the matter of Tianyue Mountain.

There is no risk of being killed to silence the Jinyiwei. Some people dare to assassinate me, but no one dares to touch the Jinyiwei. On the one hand, they are the personal army of His Majesty the King, and no one dares to touch the Tai Sui Ye. On the other hand, it is because they are really unbeatable. Each person is above the ninth level. Walking on the street, they are the first male group of Yongtian Kingdom. Anyone who sees them has to make way.

The Jinyiwei also reported the matter of Tianyue Mountain to the king truthfully.

The specific contents of the report mainly include the following aspects:

First, the people of Tianyue Mountain are really miserable now. It is conservatively estimated that more than one-fifth of the 300,000 people have died. After this year, it is estimated that there will be only a few hundred thousand people left. Most people are hungry and cold, and there are even "Snow Mountain Ghouls", also known as "Snow Mountain Ghouls", which feed on the flesh of the dead. To be honest, although they will not kill people, when this happens frequently in a group, it will cause a great panic.

Second, the surrounding cities refused to accept the refugees from Tianyue Mountain, and forced these people to die in the mountains. Tianyue Mountain is very large and rolling, and it is a natural barrier to the west of the capital. But now it is full of corpses, and the heavy snow has buried the bodies. This year it is fine, but in the spring of next year, there will definitely be an epidemic, and it may even affect the capital.

Third, a large number of people reported that they were forced out by the soldiers. The soldiers confiscated a large part of their property and did not allow them to ask for it back, almost forcing them to leave with nothing, so that they had nowhere to go. Most of these soldiers and the small leaders who led them were subordinates of a few of the Ten Generals. Especially Gram, one of the Ten Generals, whose subordinates made a fortune from the national crisis.

Fourth, so far, apart from the porridge distributed every few days, all the people have not received any disaster relief supplies. You need a mountain to live on, but they don’t even have a mountain, so a group of people die every day, and many groups die every few days.

The Jinyiwei's report was very realistic, that is, this matter cannot be delayed until after the New Year, otherwise it will be too late.

After hearing this report, the king took the wisest approach.

Tamros, Graham and others were secretly detained, and at the same time funds were mobilized from the national treasury to quickly purchase emergency supplies and send them to Tianyue Mountain. All matters were handled by the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the general of the Tiance Palace, without going through the hands of the remaining ten ministers and ten generals.

In fact, it is not difficult to guess the king's thoughts. He originally wanted to cover up the matter, but suddenly found that he could not cover it up anymore, so he had to quickly remove the firewood from the bottom of the pot and get the matter done, so as not to lose face. It is said that he called the remaining ministers, including Wu Mi and Jin Ling, to the hall and scolded them:

"To put it bluntly, all of you are here to seek a living from me. Don't you understand the principle of remembering your roots? When something goes wrong, it's fine for family members to fight with each other, but family disgrace should not be made public. But you, one by one, tell everyone everything in order to bring each other down. Are you afraid that the whole world doesn't know about the good things you have done? Among you, those who are greedy for money have made a lot of money, and those who are greedy for fame have a good reputation. Don't you think I don't know? Now, you are teaming up with people outside to make a scene in front of me. Are you the ministers of the Eternal Heaven Kingdom? Do you want me to give up this position under my butt and let you sit up and give orders?"

It is said that this time the king was very angry.

Perhaps he originally thought that when the city lords came to the capital to celebrate the New Year, the ministers would definitely help him cover up the matter. However, he did not expect that these ministers only pretended to cover up in front of him, but told the city lords everything behind their backs.

But it's not the ministers' fault. Ministers who want to stir up trouble will always try their best to gain the power around them, to poke a hole in the dark cloud that covers the sky, so that the sun can shine on the world and bring a little warmth. These people are too weak, and can only rely on external forces to break the deadlock here. In this way, those who are guilty of their crimes must also take out their interests to win over the city lords, so as to ensure that they can always suppress the other side and remain invincible. After a while, nothing can be concealed.

Tamros and Grimm were only temporarily detained and not formally convicted. On the one hand, their status and position were there, and it would take a lot of time to interrogate them. On the other hand, the city lords were all watching, and the king didn't want them to laugh at him.

However, from their confessions, it is clear that this matter is no longer just a struggle between ministers, but has escalated into a struggle between two princes.

The morning king and the evening king.

I was actually curious about why they were given such titles. Later, I found out that the two princes were half-brothers born on the same day. It was just that King Chao was born in the morning and King Xi was born in the evening. King Chao was actually not involved in the struggle in the capital. It was clean and there was basically no evidence of his involvement. King Xi, on the other hand, had a long history of bad deeds. He took advantage of this conflict to stir up trouble in the court, trying to wipe out the forces that supported his brother.

When the matter was traced back to the prince, many things could not be inferred using common sense.

But the king had made a public promise after all: even if the prisoner was his own son, he would deal with him according to the law.

So the king took the Jinyiwei to see King Xi.

But King Xi was just running around his palace like a madman, with several royal relatives beside him, and everyone was helpless.

No one knew whether he was really crazy or just pretending to be crazy. Anyway, after the imperial physician took Prince Xi's pulse and announced in public that he was suffering from insanity, the king left Prince Xi's mansion without saying a word and ordered the guards to leave some men to surround Prince Xi's mansion, not allowing any outsiders to enter or leave, and not allowing Prince Xi to go out by himself.

It is equivalent to putting King Xi in solitary confinement.

Most of these things happened today. In just one day, the situation in the royal capital has changed dramatically again. As of late tonight, King Xi was put in solitary confinement, and the riot seemed to have finally calmed down. One person from each of the ten ministers and ten generals was arrested. Although it is not known how many people will be involved in the follow-up, it is expected that not too many will be involved. Big things will be reduced to small things, and small things will be reduced to nothing. There is a high probability that those who remain will survive.

It's a cause for great joy and celebration.

When Bai Huang told me this, it was at the end of the day. A new day soon arrived, just like a book turning a new page. But this new day was still not New Year's Day, but New Year's Eve.

According to legend, it was a day when the monster Nian wreaked havoc and the whole nation stayed up all night to celebrate the New

54. Future Agreement

On New Year's Eve, Bai Huang seemed very happy.

I should say I am super happy.

The universe is invincible and happy.

It was like the smug smile on the face of an old hen when she chased away the weasel after a hard fight. At this moment, Bai Huang's smile looked similar, and his mouth was also similar:

"Well, Lid. I told you, this is called one force defeating ten skills! Look, this matter was exposed, isn't it resolved quickly? If it weren't for me, relying on those ministers who are full of twists and turns, this matter would have been delayed until next year."

I decisively chose to be a superficial lickspittle, and boasted a lot, saying things like "Oh, you are the big boss", "You are so strong that I am dying", "This is so handsome", etc., but I sighed silently in my heart.

Regardless of whether the matter has been settled here, Bai Huang is fine because of what she did. In fact, she is just enjoying the dividends accumulated by Yunhai from generation to generation, and it has nothing to do with her.

Because the Cloud Sea Lord had a very wide circle of friends, never offended anyone, and could handle everything to the satisfaction of all parties, he had good relations with all the territories. But by the time of Bai Huang's generation, this accumulated bonus was slowly being consumed.

For each territory, what they care about are "striving for their own interests" and "weakening the power of the royal capital". No one will say much even if 300,000 disaster victims are killed.

But Bai Huang did this, 300,000 people were saved, but the city lords failed to gain enough benefits for their territories, the capital quickly stabilized, and the various forces actually gained nothing. If it were a territory outside Yunhai, this kind of thing that cut off people's financial resources would have been used by the enemy long ago, and a group of people would be gathered to besiege. But Yunhai didn't have any enemies, so no matter how unhappy the families were, no one would really jump out to say anything.

Overall, it was still a loss. He used the bonus of connections accumulated in his own territory to save 300,000 people he had never met before. These bonuses could have been converted into something more valuable, but now they were lost inadvertently.

But this is probably why I like playing with Bai Huang.

If you ask her if she knows this, she knows it more or less. Many people think that young ladies are ignorant of the ways of the world, and there are indeed some, but they are young ladies who live in seclusion, like the little princess Lana. Bai Huang has been running around outside since she was a child, and she has seen everything. The Lord of Yunhai must have taught her a lot about the ways of the world.

But she did it anyway.

She really attaches great importance to other people's lives. Although they are not as important as her own, the desire to "save someone" is pure and pure.

The imprisonment of Tamros and Grimm indicated that the list of the ten ministers and ten generals would likely be reshuffled. Bai Huang was happy about this, and in fact, most of the people in the capital were also happy about this.

But if a new group of civil and military officials came to power, would people's lives become better?

That's not the case.

During these days in the capital, I also went out for a while. The biggest problem in the territory directly ruled by the royal family is that the "royal family" is becoming more and more bloated. Take the capital as an example. It is the largest city in the world, but less than 30% of the land is occupied by the people. 70% of the territory belongs to the royal family, because the number of the royal family itself is also growing explosively.

We assume that the king at the beginning had two sons, and each of these two sons had two sons, and so on, the number of royal family members in each generation would double that of the previous generation. In fact, a king has more than two sons, plus many princesses still live near the capital after getting married, plus the various relatives of the queen, and the various relatives of the previous queen, the queen mother... the number is increasing.

These are all royal relatives and they all enjoy extremely high status.

These people are the most troublesome existence. To be honest, if these people don't die, no matter if Abai Le, Tamros and others are in power, or if Wu Mi, Jin Ling and others take over, it will be difficult to make this bloated group revitalized. Wu Mi and others can only patch up at best, and confiscating the property of a large number of ministers to fill the deficit is not a long-term solution after all.

But I didn’t tell Bai Huang about this, so she is still very happy and believes that everything will be fine.

"It's New Year's Eve..."

Bai Huang sat on the bed, crossed her legs, grabbed her ankles, and swayed like a tumbler:

"I feel really bad that I didn't spend the New Year with my dad and brother this year. My brother has a great chef who is good at cooking. He is the chef for the New Year's Eve dinner every year, and I'm used to it. My brother can also make candy figures. Do you know how to make candy figures? It's just putting a board underneath, putting a stick on it, and then pouring sugar syrup on it in a long stream. When the sugar condenses, it can all be peeled off with a light touch. Every year my brother makes a few strange-shaped figures for me, saying that they are so cute that I can't bear to eat them. He made a few ghosts for me. If I eat them, I will have good luck next year."

Then, Bai Huang suddenly asked for no reason:

"Can you make candy figures, Lid?"

I replied:

"I know a little bit. But I don't have the materials right now, so I can't show you my skills."

Bai Huang said:

"Let's talk about it when we get back to Yuxi City. I always feel uneasy if I don't eat the little devil made of candy. I have eaten it every year since I was a child, so I have always had good luck. What if I can't eat it this year and have bad luck for the whole year? Hey, Lid, tell me, could it be that last year's validity period has expired and this year's has not been renewed, so something went wrong during this period?"

I really want to cover her mouth:

"Sister, please stop being such a pessimist! I'm really scared of you."

Last time I said something like "People like Lingwu Lord are so high and mighty, we will never have any intersection with her in our lifetime", but when I turned around, I ran into the trap, and I am still scared.

Bai Huang threw a pillow at me, hitting me right on the face, with a faint fragrance.

I threw the pillow back to her. Bai Huang suddenly raised her head, frowned, thought for a long time, and said:

"Thinking carefully, it seems that this is the first time I celebrate the New Year outside. In the past, I always spent it with my family. Our Yunhai family is really harmonious. Every year, a lot of relatives and friends gather together to celebrate the New Year, and there are many cute little sisters who come to play with me. You know, I am a legendary figure in their eyes. They call me "Sister Baihuang~" and "Sister Baihuang~" so affectionately. I touch one and hug that, and take them to the night market in the city that never sleeps to pick lanterns. Others just look at the lanterns, but we are different. If we like something, we just take it and hang it up in Yunhai Mansion... and then let my brother pay for it."

Bai Feng is so miserable.

Bai Huang laughed, looked at me and said:

"I didn't expect to spend New Year's with you this year... It always feels quite novel to spend New Year's with other boys. Do you think we will have the chance to spend New Year's together in the future?"

I'm not really sure, because Bai Huang will eventually go back to Yunhai. When the fight between Bai Feng and Bai Ye comes to an end, Bai Huang will be almost old enough to get married, and she will most likely go back to Yunhai by then. And once she goes, there's no telling when she'll come back.

But looking at Bai Huang's big blinking eyes, I still smiled and replied:

"Yes. Don't worry."

55. The sound of firecrackers is heard as the old year is gone

The big red lanterns are hung high, and the New Year should look like the New Year.

There will be a fireworks display tonight, and the royal family and all the city lords will go to enjoy it together. Xuanqing Palace was vacated early, and even Norn, who was injured in the previous competition with me, went to the scene on crutches. I can't stay in Xuanqing Palace like a salted fish. What's more, I always feel that there is something in my heart that I can't let go of, and going out for a walk can also relax my mood.

The New Year atmosphere in the capital is indeed strong, especially on New Year's Eve. When the Spring Festival really comes, everyone will visit relatives and friends to pay New Year's greetings, and people of high positions such as the royal family and lords are no exception. Therefore, most people will regard this night as a completely relaxing carnival, and people's expectations for the expected happiness are often higher than the happiness itself.

Crowds of people.

The roads in the capital were basically blocked by traffic, and were filled with a large number of vendors setting up stalls on the street. In fact, according to the laws of the Kingdom of Eternal Heaven, stalls must be set up in special markets, but there was no other way. Doing business on such a busy street was too profitable, and everyone was willing to take a little risk.

I bought a hairpin for Alaiya, after all, it's the New Year. I helped Alaiya to put up her loose blonde hair, and then took off the hairpin in my hand, and she looked much more girlish. But when I think about it carefully, Alaiya is indeed a girl, and she hasn't even turned 17 yet. It's just that she usually doesn't have any expression, and looks much more mature.

In fact, if she changes her hairstyle and puts on some accessories, she can still look like a little girl.

I was walking in front with a bunch of food in my arms. They were all snacks bought on the street, such as fried meatballs, frozen persimmons, grilled squid, almond tofu and the like. I bought whatever I saw. There were four grilled skewers inserted in the four gaps between my five fingers, and half a piece of unpeeled sugarcane stuck under my armpits. I didn't stop until I had spent all the change I had.

Bai Huang had a double bun hairstyle today, and at first glance, she looked like she was cosplaying as Mickey Mouse. While walking beside me, she unceremoniously took food from my arms and ate it, not forgetting to say to me:

"You can't eat so much, I'll help you."

It will be deducted from your salary anyway, so eat as much as you want.

In addition to food, the capital also has a lot of fun things. Similar to the archery competition, if you hit the bull's eye with an arrow, you can get a doll. But because people who are accomplished in martial arts have very good skills, this event is limited to children. Alaiya is obviously also classified as a child, so she shot the bull's eye with an arrow and got a reward.

The shop owner patted my shoulder and handed me a life-size female doll. I had no idea how he made such a doll with dead eyes and a sausage mouth, especially since the shop owner deliberately put his finger into the doll's beautiful mouth and smiled at me evilly. I quickly pushed the oversized doll back and said:

"No, no. Leave it to someone who needs it more."

But the boss replied:

"How can I regret it in front of so many people? This lady won it, so you can take it, young man."

In the end, Alaiya carried him on her shoulders and took him away. The action looked like she was carrying a corpse, and the rate of people turning their heads on the street reached a new high. In addition, there was also the goldfish scooping, which showed that Bai Huang and Alaiya were both very stupid.

The net was clearly made of paper, and Bai Huang was still muttering things like "great strength makes miracles happen" and "it will work this time", but the result was completely different from success. Alayya was better, she planned to use the scoop to knock the fish unconscious, and then take it away directly at lightning speed, but after being sternly rejected by the store owner, she also encountered a series of failures.

In the end, it was Heggie who gained a lot.

Perhaps he thought Bai Huang would like goldfish, so he fished very seriously and soon caught several goldfish one after another. Unfortunately, Bai Huang was angry because he couldn't catch any goldfish. When he saw He Ji had a full bag, he threw all the goldfish back in anger.

When they all stood up and prepared to leave, I found a small golden fish swimming in front of me and stopped there. I reached out and gently touched its head. The goldfish raised its head, blew a bubble at me, and swam around happily. Soon all the goldfish in the pond gathered around me, causing the store owner to praise me:

"My dear brother, your fortunes next year will be limitless!"

I scratched my head and said:

"It has nothing to do with luck... I'm just better at slacking off."

When I stood up and waved goodbye to the goldfish in the pond, many more goldfish jumped out of the water and said goodbye to me.

All in all, today's capital was definitely a carnival-like celebration. Consumption increased dramatically and everyone had a great time.

After Bai Huang, Alaiya, Heji and I had eaten and drunk our fill and had a rough look at the entertainment booths, night quietly arrived. The sun gradually set and the moon appeared in the sky.

The crowd on the street gradually gathered in one direction.

"The fireworks display is about to begin."

A couple passing by were discussing this topic.