I have been a county magistrate for ten years. My subordinates insist on giving me a yellow robe.

"Your Majesty! I am guilty!"

Zhou Chen fell to his knees before Duanmu Yuanchen with a thud, and continued with a choked voice, "Your Majesty, I didn't convey your original words to Jiang Yuan, which led Jiang Yuan to mistakenly believe that Your Majesty was heartless and ungrateful, and ultimately did this."

"It is my fault, I am willing to accept the punishment."

Duanmu Yuanchen closed his eyes and exhaled after a long moment: "Forget it, it's done."

……

Two days later.

"Jiang Yuan has been commended for his meritorious service in reporting the Ning and Yang families, and is hereby granted the title of Viscount!"

"Give him a fiefdom of 500 li around Taiping County. The size of the fiefdom is up to him, and he can decide for himself!"

"Retreat!"

Following the announcement of dismissal of the court, many officials filed out of the hall. Jiang Yuan and Chen Liu walked out side by side. The two who still didn't know the truth still looked a little heavy.

"Old Jiang, when do you plan to go back?" Chen Liu asked.

Jiang Yuan nodded calmly: "It's almost these two days. I'm afraid there won't be many opportunities to meet in the future."

"Well, I'll get some people from the East Factory to send you back." Chen Liu spoke again.

"Oh, by the way, you go back first. I need to go look for His Majesty."

Jiang Yuan waved at Chen Liu, turned around and walked towards the palace gate. At this moment, Chen Liu seemed to have aged a lot. He went straight to the imperial study, waved his hand to stop the eunuch's report, and knocked on the door himself.

"Your Majesty, I beg to see you."

"Enter."

Duanmu Yuanchen's voice was heard, and Chen Liu stepped into the room.

"Is there something?" Duanmu Yuanchen looked through the memorial and asked without turning his head.

Chen Liu shook his head: "Your Majesty, I am fine."

Hearing this, Duanmu Yuanchen turned around in confusion. "Nothing? If nothing happened, why did you come to see me?"

"Your Majesty, I would like to take a walk with you." Chen Liu said softly.

Duanmu Yuanchen nodded in astonishment: "Okay, where are we going?"

"It's all right."

Not long after, the figures of the emperor and his minister appeared in the East Palace. Duanmu Yuanchen looked at the place where he had lived for more than ten years and couldn't help sighing.

"Old Chen, if you have something to say, just say it."

Chen Liu was silent for a while before speaking in a hoarse voice, "Your Majesty, what do you think of Jiang Yuan?"

Duanmu Yuanchen's expression was a little complicated: "It's hard to say."

"Well, Your Majesty, do you think Jiang Yuan is a vengeful person?" Chen Liu spoke again.

Duanmu Yuanchen laughed in silence. Is there any need to ask this? If Jiang Yuan doesn't hold a grudge, then there will be no one in this world who holds a grudge.

Not to mention the distant past, what happened two days ago is a good example.

The Yang family and Jiang Yuan are mortal enemies, and Jiang Yuan tricked him on the spot because Zhou Chen conveyed the wrong message.

Seeing that Duanmu Yuanchen didn't speak, Chen Liu raised his head and looked into the distance: "Your Majesty, I am nearly fifty years old. I am highly regarded by the late emperor. I have seen countless people and I think I have seen through some things."

"But it's not guaranteed to be correct. Your Majesty, you can just treat it as a complaint."

Duanmu Yuanchen's expression gradually became solemn. To him, Chenliu was more than just a subject.

When he was a child, he grew up calling his uncle Chen. It was not until he was named the crown prince that he gradually changed his way of addressing him under the guidance of his teacher.

"It's okay, just tell me."

Chen Liu hummed and spoke slowly: "I have met many people in my life. Some of them hold grudges, while others do not."

"But later I discovered that those who don't hold grudges are the ones you can't make close friends with. On the contrary, those who hold grudges are the ones who are more suitable to become friends."

“Those who forget hatred will also forget gratitude, and those who remember hatred will also remember gratitude.”

After Chen Liu finished speaking, Duanmu Yuanchen's face was already filled with a dazed expression.

At this moment, Duanmu Yuanchen finally let go of the last bit of dissatisfaction he had with Jiang Yuan.

He figured it out. Even if Zhou Chen hadn't deliberately changed his mind, things wouldn't develop as he expected.

From the moment he had the idea of ​​asking Jiang Yuan to report the Ning family, the outcome of this matter was already determined!

In other words, you were wrong the moment you had this thought.

The price of making a mistake was that the Yang family, who had always supported him, fell, and Jiang Yuan, who had fought for him, also gave up on him.

To be frank, it is not an exaggeration to say that Jiang Yuan’s kindness to him is as heavy as a mountain, but what did he do?

For a moment, Duanmu Yuanchen looked at his hands, and for the first time he felt extremely unfamiliar with himself.

Is this still you?

Did he sit on the dragon throne or kneel in front of it?

After a long time, Duanmu Yuanchen spoke in a low voice.

"Uncle Chen, I understand."

Chen Liu smiled at Duanmu Yuanchen, without even saying a word, and walked away.

East Factory.

"Master Jiang, are you really in such a hurry to leave? My master hasn't come back yet." Wei Yong looked at Jiang Yuan with embarrassment.

Jiang Yuan suddenly waved his hands: "Hey, what's the point of coming back or not? If he comes back, I'll leave too. Haven't you heard the news?"

"I've been made a Viscount, with a fiefdom of 500 li! This is a privilege only afforded to dukes, so of course I'm anxious to get home."

Wei Yong nodded helplessly: "Okay, then please wait for a moment, Master Jiang. I will assign some people to escort you."

"No need. I'm going home, not to fight. Why do I need so many people?"

Jiang Yuan said this, raising one hand and shaking it twice at Wei Yong, with only Li Hu and Wang Gang following behind him.

"Master, are we really leaving? Shouldn't we tell Consul Chen?" Wang Gang's honest voice sounded.

Jiang Yuan put his hands behind his back, shook his head and said, "What's there to say? It's said in the book that all good things must come to an end. Even if I send you a thousand miles away, we must still say goodbye!"

"Oh, is that so? Then I won't be able to see Consul General Chen anymore, and I won't be able to eat the food from the East Factory, which is actually quite delicious."

“Yes!”

"Master, didn't you say you wouldn't come to the imperial capital anymore? Can they still come to our Taiping County?"

"Well, it's hard to say."

"That means you are not sure whether you can see it, Master."

"It's not that I'm uncertain, I'm certain I'll see you, because the book says, life is full of encounters."

"Sir, I think you've become stupid from reading too much. The world is so big, how could you possibly encounter it? I guess the person who said this must not have traveled all over the world."

"Nonsense! If I traveled all over the world, I would be exhausted. But you have to know that I think, therefore I am!"

"What do you mean?"

"Anywhere I think of is like where I've been!"

……

At the same time, Yunzhou.

Outside Caiyun City, known as the largest city in Yunzhou, on a high mountain, a group of people climbed to the top of the mountain against the strong wind.

"Your Highness, everything is ready."

Prince Zhao nodded solemnly, looking down at Caiyun City.

"Then let's start from here!"

After Prince Zhao finished speaking, Ding Yin and others behind him immediately started to get busy. A beacon tower had been built on the top of the mountain at some point.

Ding Yin solemnly lit the torch with a fire starter and threw it directly in.

After a while, the combustible material made mainly of wolf dung began to slowly emit bursts of yellow smoke.

A moment later, a large amount of smoke rose into the sky. Not only here, but also several more smoke rose in the distance.

"Your Highness, the smoke of war has risen and the world is about to fall into chaos. Your Highness, please lead the soldiers to overthrow Daduan and rebuild the dynasty!" Kongwang knelt on one knee and growled.

"Your Highness, please rebuild the dynasty!"

The voices of Ding Yin and others were also heard.

Prince Zhao slowly stretched out his hands, then suddenly clenched them: "Father, look, the old soil is falling, and the smoke of war is rising!"