You rascal, stop right there!

Chapter 259: What is this little white rabbit imitating?

It was a sunny spring day, and a light carriage was moving slowly on the official road.

Inside the car, Bai Wan and Ling Shumo sat inside and gently lifted the curtain. The purpose of their trip was the capital city which had been lost but now recovered.

Bai Wan was wearing a white gown, her hair fluttering in the wind, as if hiding her uneasiness.

Ling Shumo, who was sitting next to him, was dressed in green. He had a serious look on his face as he repeatedly checked the document in his hand.

As the carriage continued to bump forward, the scenery outside the window slowly changed from plains to rolling hills and gradually became warmer.

They could occasionally see passers-by, and most of them were dressed normally, not in rags.

Along the way, Bai Wan and Ling Shumo had a deep conversation.

They talked about everything they might face on this trip, and even made corresponding plans in their minds for what was about to happen.

Occasionally, you can see a lot of guards and small groups of soldiers behind the carriage.

I can only smile helplessly and regard it as something I have no choice.

Before they knew it, the carriage had reached the gate of the capital city without stopping day or night.

The outskirts of the city that was once captured by Xuanli are now crowded with people and gradually becoming lively.

Along the way, the scenes of other cities were still somewhat bleak, while the capital was obviously more prosperous.

The city and territory that were originally divided now all belong to the Qing Dynasty, and have even been established as the capital by Song Yuanshan.

"The capital? The capital! This is the capital..."

Bai Wan sighed three times in succession with emotion.

After all, when he regained his Ming Dynasty, he witnessed the fall of the capital.

In those days, people were living in poverty, wars were raging, and people were in dire straits. They were constantly threatened by hunger and death.

Those memories are so deep that they are like the pain of tearing out the heart and piercing the bones.

Ling Shumo noticed something unusual about Bai Wan, and gently held his hand, half hugging him.

"Abai, it's all over..."

"Um--"

Bai Wan leaned against him, feeling his warmth, and tried her best to clear the mountains of white bones and the corpses lying in disorder from her mind.

In this way, they finally entered the city gate of the capital.

But Ling Shumo's attention was attracted by the huge scroll on the city wall.

This painting is exactly the world-famous "The Volume of Shocking Changes" that Bai Wan worked so hard on without sleep or food.

He could see at a glance the people-loving heart and the endless grief and indignation over the pain of losing the country contained in this painting. Every stroke of the brush made people admire its talent.

Ling Shumo opened his lips in shock.

“I didn’t expect that the guy named Wan didn’t destroy the painting!”

Bai Wan sighed, feeling slightly relieved about his past paintings.

"No one will destroy a painting like this. It must be passed down to future generations!"

Ling Shumo was full of admiration, and he knew the causes and consequences of the completion of this painting. He was completely impressed by the talent.

He turned around and bowed deeply to Bai Wan involuntarily.

"Mr. Xi Meng is a man of unparalleled talent. Your husband admires you. I hope to learn more from you in the future."

Cough!

Bai Wan was a thick-skinned woman who had never felt ashamed, but when she heard the word "husband", she blushed out of shame, which was rare for her.

"Thank you for your compliment, sir. I would be disrespectful to refuse it!"

He also raised his hand and saluted slyly, then inadvertently grabbed her hand and squeezed and kneaded it, taking advantage of her.

Ling Shumo felt a little hot from being pinched by this person, and he carefully reminded him: "There are people outside, you...you better not mess around..."

Bai Wan was really amused by this man's shy appearance, but she felt a little resentful in her heart!

It looks like he's imitating the little white rabbit again.

Sometimes I look like a wolf!

There is really no reason...

snort!

After a long while, Bai Wan finally calmed down.

"My lords, please get off the carriage! We have arrived at the capital." The escorting captain army commander Jin Jing raised his hand.

At this time, a group of people from the Qing Dynasty court appeared opposite them.

"it is good--"

The two said in unison.

As soon as he got off the carriage, Ling Shumo couldn't help but stop.

He was not frightened by the overwhelming sense of siege, but stopped instead.

The two of them went together to meet King Qing.

Today, the imperial palace in the capital belongs to the Qing Dynasty. It is still as magnificent as it was in the past, but things and people have changed.

When they met Prince Qing, they found that the current Prince Qing was very different from the past.

At this moment, Prince Qing Song Yuanshan was wearing a magnificent robe with dragon pattern. His sword-like eyebrows no longer had the dandy look of the past, but now had the majestic aura of a king.

At this moment, a banquet has been set up in the hall.

Song Yuanshan warmly invited the two to take a seat and carefully prepared a sumptuous banquet to entertain them.

There were also many newly promoted officials sitting around, wearing official uniforms.

Ling Shumo could see that most of them were not old ministers of Daying, but new nobles of the Qing Dynasty who were military generals.

He couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed and sat at the table looking around.

There were many guards surrounding the place inside and outside, all of them were unfamiliar new faces.

Obviously, due to their acquaintance in Zhengzhou, Song Yuanshan knew both of them very well.

Their table was filled with their favorite foods and cakes. Knowing that the two of them couldn't drink much, they only put tea.

However, although the table was filled with delicious food, the atmosphere among everyone was extremely restrained and awkward.

"Lord Ling, Master Bai, the two of you have made great contributions in defending Dingzhou City. This king wishes to reward you well."

Song Yuanshan raised his hand, holding a glass of wine and looked towards them.

"Resisting Xuanli is the duty of the people. This is something Ling did willingly. It can't be considered a great achievement."

Ling Shumo responded by offering tea instead of wine.

Bai Wan also cupped his hands and said, "If we weren't here, others would have fought against Xuan Li. We won't let the foreign enemies invade our territory in vain."

As soon as these words were spoken, the faces of the people around him suddenly turned unhappy.

Especially Song Yuanshan!

Although Song Yuanshan has the ability to lead troops and judge people, he is also good at judging people.

However, when Ling Shumo asked him for help, he let Dingzhou fend for itself without hesitation and resolutely chose to attack the capital.

It's really not very kind...

What if the reinforcements from Huaqing and Gamboge from Heifeng Village didn’t arrive by then?

What if Chen Xingyi is not one of us and he really gave us a complete and true city defense map?

Not only would Dingzhou City fall, the people would suffer, and even Ling Shumo and Bai Wan would die.

Bai Wan felt really uncomfortable about this.

Obviously, Ling Shumo also noticed the dissatisfaction of the person next to him, and he couldn't help but signal him with his eyes and raised his eyebrows to calm him down.

"Yeah." Bai Wan had no choice but to nod secretly in her mind.

never mind!

To be honest, the twenty prefectures governed by Song Yuanshan were relatively stable, and he was indeed unique in governing his officials and the people.

However, Bai Wan felt unbalanced and had to bite the chopsticks hard.

He suddenly felt a toothache again and put it down.

Ling Shumo looked at him with a headache and curled his lips helplessly.

At this moment, Song Yuanshan signaled with his eyes and asked others to bring a few boxes.

Not surprisingly, those boxes were filled with gold jewellery and even some shiny green jadeite.

"These are my rewards for your service in defending Dingzhou."

Song Yuanshan said indifferently.

If others saw it, they would probably drool in shock.

But after Bai Wan and Ling Shumo took a look, they both realized that something was wrong.

This chaotic world has just been stabilized, and governing the country requires money, and this amount far exceeds the amount.

Sure enough, it was not long after.

Song Yuanshan's expression suddenly showed some difficulty, and he spoke slowly.

This seems to be a reasonable yet unexpected request.

"Lord Ling has the talent of diplomacy in the Ministry of Rites, and I admire him. He is the best choice to go to Nanying for the peace talks this time."

After praise comes requests.

"Sir, in the upcoming peace talks, you must tear up the peace agreement completely and never let this peace talk succeed."

We can’t let the peace talks succeed!

These words are very serious.

Several military officers from the Qing Dynasty who were having the banquet below the stage seemed to have known about this matter for a long time and they were all staring at Ling Shumo intently.

Ling Shumo was stunned for a moment, and then he barely suppressed the thoughts in his mind.

After all, he is the king.

How could Song Yuanshan be willing to divide the country by the river and negotiate with Nan Ying?

What he wants is the unification of the world.

What's more, this time Nanying took the initiative to propose peace talks. If the talks fail, Qing Dynasty will have a reason to go to war.

Song Yuanshan certainly did not want the peace talks to succeed, and planned to attack Nanying.

Therefore, this peace talk will never lead to an agreement.

Bai Wan, who was listening to everything silently on the side, couldn't help but scream in his heart that something was wrong.

He knew very well that this time the Qing Dynasty sent Ling Shumo to Nanying for peace talks. If the talks failed, he would most likely be killed.

If the peace talks are successful, the Qing Dynasty will not let him go.

This is really a dilemma.

Ling Shumo never expected that the peace talks would fail, and he was fully aware of the consequences.

However, now the people of Dingzhou City are being strangled by Song Yuanshan's army.

The palace was heavily guarded inside and outside, creating a tense situation.

"Prince Qing! Ling will definitely live up to your trust!" he said with a bow.

Hearing this, Bai Wan stared at the people around him in surprise.

He couldn't help but mutter, "Zi Chen, are you crazy?"