The sun has set and the sky is getting dark.
The girl felt that she was wasting too much time.
From now on, I should finish my work first, and then play with my senior and junior sisters when I am free.
It's not just a waste of time, but also of energy.
Even after so long, my head still feels a little groggy and my body still feels sensitive.
And, I get thirsty easily...
It's not a good time to do serious work in this state.
Xi Heng pressed his temple, changed into light clothes in Huamanlou, and then set off towards the inner city using his light skills.
It was just getting dark, and there were only a few people left in the commercial streets of the inner city.
Walking quickly among the crowd, I soon arrived at a musical instrument shop called "Qinyunxuan".
All kinds of exquisite and gorgeous musical instruments are sold here. The surfaces of the instruments are intricately carved, and many are decorated with gold, silver, jade and other stones.
It looks very expensive at first glance.
The shop owner is a female owner, wearing a white long finger, gently stroking a 21-string zither on the counter.
The surface of the zither is made up of three colors: pine white, sandalwood purple, and pear red. When you lightly twist it with your fingertips, a pleasant zither sound will float.
Xi Heng walked in and casually looked around. There were a wide variety of musical instruments displayed around.
Subconsciously, I recalled the time when I visited a musical instrument store in Hyundai.
The female shopkeeper played a short melodious tune and turned her gaze: "The guests are finally here."
"I'll pay the bill." Xi Heng said.
"Please come in. They are all waiting upstairs." The other party pointed slightly.
Going up to the pavilion, you can see a wider living room.
Among them, there were several women sitting on cushions beside the table, with many plates of freshly served, still steaming food in front of them.
The blood killers were not wearing masks, revealing their true faces.
Some of them looked cold, some looked gentle with half-closed eyes, or the smallest one among them was staring at the table full of food with flickering eyes, fingers on the chopsticks, as if ready to make something else.
The other three blood sons had already noticed Xi Hengshi at this moment, but the little girl, who was already deeply immersed in the delicious food in front of her, was the slowest to react.
She wondered why the sisters around her didn't eat. When she shook her head, she noticed another figure standing in front of the hall door.
Then, as if he had heard bad news, his apparent interest gradually disappeared.
"Hmm..." She pouted.
"Enjoy it after the meal." The cold-looking killer stood up and approached.
The petite Bloodboy sighed.
"Why don't you eat first..." the girl suggested.
However, the person in front of him only answered with four words:
"Blood Wave Sword Technique."
Obviously, these blood killers attach great importance to the blood wave sword technique which is said to be able to promote the blood line sword to the level of transformation.
"I can do some demonstrations and teach you step by step. Is there any open space around?"
"Follow me." said the Blood Killer.
……
A quarter of an hour later.
Behind Qinyunxuan, a huge rock in the center of a small sword training ground had been chopped into smooth slices by Xi Heng using several simple blood wave sword techniques.
Because she had to cut blood every time she used the Blood Wave Sword Technique, her left hand was covered with bloodstains, and her hair also turned a little white due to the slight loss of vitality in her body.
Moreover, the biological lifespan may be shortened by a few months - but Xi Heng doesn't care about it at all.
The blood disciples who were watching carefully memorized the moves in full, and under her guidance, they also compiled their principles into words and wrote them in the secret book with a fine brush.
With the continuous demonstration and explanation, the top of the secret book was filled with densely packed text.
When you close it, you can see the words "Bloodline Sword, Sequel" on the cover.
Xi Heng was just explaining and teaching, and reminded:
"Blood Wave Sword Technique will damage your foundation and lifespan every time you use it. It can be used as a killing move, but it is extremely difficult to achieve the state of transformation."
"I understand." Xuezi's answer was quite simple, as always.
"If the goal is to achieve Hua Jin, it may be more likely to be based on the Hun Yuan Gong created by Dong Huang Meishan."
"Xue Zi has already obtained Hun Yuan Gong and has made some attempts. The Blood Wave Sword in your hand can increase the possibility of this." The other party responded calmly, as concise as ever:
"The payment has been made, it's just a deal, let's part ways now."
Then, the cold-blooded Blood Assassin went back and dragged the greedy and petite Blood Assassin away.
Xi Heng also took a step forward and left the empty courtyard, heading towards the palace.
On the way, she passed by the Liang family, which she had slaughtered before.
At this moment, this clan land has been occupied by elite palace guards who are fully armored and holding spears.
There were elite soldiers guarding outside, and from time to time the sounds of command and movement could be heard from inside. It was obvious that the imperial guards were busy searching in full swing.
"I hope the treasures I can find will be enough for me to lead the army back to support the northern border..." Xi Heng said to himself.
Killing treacherous officials will not directly improve the situation. The resources obtained are also needed to stabilize the situation inside and outside the court.
With the large amount of resources contributed by these powerful families to fill the national treasury, the Great Zhao court should be able to continue to restore its former prosperity as long as it is not disrupted by internal backlash or external enemies.
Xi Heng had to deal with external enemies, leaving internal affairs to her younger sister Zhao Chuxiao.
The girl flew over the place and stepped on the eaves, breaking the tiles.
Not long after, they returned to the palace and landed in Fuqing Hall where the emperor lived.
By concealing his aura, he could easily pass by many patrol guards who hadn't even reached the great level of Ming Jin.
But after taking a few steps in Fuqing Hall, a figure with a powerful aura suddenly appeared in front of him.
This man had a brown face and a beard, and was wearing light armor of an imperial soldier embroidered with a silver dragon pattern. His aura and power were not particularly strong, and he should be just an ordinary Hua Jin.
If it were outside, Xi Heng would be confident that he could kill this kind of Hua Jin warrior with ordinary aura within ten moves.
However, the other party is the emperor's personal guard, so he must have his own unique and extraordinary qualities.
Maybe this person will be like Yan Mengguo's Hua Jin, carrying some special items that are not too eye-catching...
"Princess Di came to see Your Majesty at night. What is the matter?"
"Discuss how to deal with the big bandits in the capital." The girl yawned and answered nonchalantly.
"I will go and report."
After saying this, the other party turned and left, but came back not long after.
"Your Highness, please follow me."
Xi Heng followed.
The place she was taken to was not the emperor's residence on the third floor of Fuqing Palace, but the courtyard at the back.
There is a stream flowing in it, and there are several strange-looking blue stones placed on the four sides. The welcoming pine trees appear in front of you, but as it is late autumn, the edges of the pine needles appear dry and yellow.
There was a long cobblestone path under my feet. In front of me, Zhao Chuxiao, who was wearing an ochre-yellow round-necked robe, was leading an old eunuch with gray hair and walking slowly.
Xi Heng could hear their conversations in the distance.
"Your Majesty, Li Shimei has sorted out the amount of money he has embezzled in recent years, and roughly estimates that it is as much as one million taels."
"Does Mr. Gao think it's true or false?"
"It must be true. This man loves drama and pleasure, and he created several popular folk dramas. Every time a large courtyard wants to perform a drama, it has to give him a certain amount of gold and silver. He must not be short of money."
"They are greedy for millions... Tell me, why do they always ask for silver that they can't use up in several lifetimes, but they still don't stop?"
"Maybe it's not that they don't want to, but that they can't," said the old eunuch.
"Why not?"
They seemed to be just chatting, not discussing state affairs.
Xi Heng then approached the two acquaintances.
"Your Highness." The old eunuch said respectfully first.
"I want to quickly eliminate the big bandits in the capital, so I came here specifically to take control of the military." Xi Heng said bluntly.
Zhao Chuxiao stared for a moment and nodded gently: "Mr. Gao, please leave."
The eunuch stepped back and turned away.
Xi Heng also accompanied Chu Xiao, walking slowly with her in the courtyard: "How is the looting going?"
"It went smoothly." Zhao Chuxiao said:
"But their treasure is not only hidden in their home. We still need to interrogate and search for the rest. It will take a long time to truly obtain all of it."
"At least the food won't be buried underground." Xi Heng asked, "There should be enough food and grass now. Please order it to be quickly sent to the northern border tomorrow."
"I'll arrange it." For some reason, Chu Xiao, as the emperor, did not use the word "Zhan" to refer to himself when facing Xi Heng.
"Speaking of the Northern Frontier, has there been any new news or information coming from the Northern Frontier recently?" Xi Heng asked again.
"Uncle Zhao Wanli has led his troops to build a barrier near the lower basin of the Black Water Pond to prevent the enemy from crossing our army and heading south." Chu Xiao answered easily while walking.
"If we are restrained like this, we might suffer a setback on the front battlefield." Xi Heng thought.
"So the Northern Frontier sent another letter asking for help. This is the sixth letter now."
"How many reinforcements do you plan to send?"
"Fifty thousand, recruited by the Beijing army and the northern cities... or reorganized veterans and military households, and also asked the wealthy and prominent families in various places to send people."
Xi Heng was a little disappointed when he heard the number.
If 50,000 elite soldiers and generals can compete with Yan Meng's army, then they will be a force that cannot be ignored in the current war situation in the northern border.
But… she really had no hope for the Beijing Army, which had only really started training after the new emperor took the throne, and now couldn’t even really defeat the bandits around the capital.
As for the other recruited troops, they could only serve as human forces on the battlefield. When the real battle started, they would be easily defeated by the enemy cavalry.
"Not enough." Xi Heng shook his head: "Is it possible to get other reinforcements?"
"There are still a few former rebel armies that have been recruited, but they are guarding the south."
“……”Xi Heng held his forehead with his hand.
It seems that the Great Zhao no longer has any real available troops to support the march northward.
I should figure out a solution myself.
How can we turn the situation around in this adversity?
Xi Heng was thinking about this when he was led back to Fuqing Palace by others.
The girl walked among them quite skillfully, not paying attention to the various magnificent, gorgeous and luxurious decorations around her.
She had seen it all when she was emperor, and there was nothing new about it.
Returning to the emperor's residence, Chu Xiao ordered the maid to bring tea.
During this time, she preached:
"I will promote you to the rank of military commander. You can lead 10,000 troops from the capital to wipe out the bandits in all parts of the capital."
"How many troops do the bandits have?" Xi Heng didn't care about her official position. In her opinion, it was just a symbolic meaning.
"There are four major bandits in the capital, namely Hunshui, Huotou, Heiwei, and Beiwei. Hunshui and Huotou are still hiding in the mountains, while the latter two have occupied the cities and towns. The four bandits rebelled together, and coerced the people to take up weapons to fight against the government troops. It is said that there are more than 80,000 of them, but this number is not true."
Chu Xiao simply said: "In my opinion, these bandits have only about 10,000 or 20,000 regular soldiers under their command. It's only because the Beijing army is unwilling to fully suppress the bandits that they have not been completely wiped out yet."
"Of course they don't want to. After suppressing the bandits, the Beijing army will be pushed to the battlefield in the northern border where corpses are everywhere. It's better to be a soldier in the prosperous capital and live a comfortable life." Xi Heng understood.
"The imperial decree can be issued, but people's hearts are hard to change." Zhao Chuxiao shook his head.
