Zhu Hou has been following the rules for three days.

Concubine Li had basically confirmed that Zhu Houzhao was not in the army. As for where she went, she didn't know, but because she didn't have the chance to meet the saint, she did not dare to completely determine this matter and began to judge her impact on the court and on herself.

Concubine Li considered that this matter was probably related to Chen Xi, so she wanted to ask Chen Xi for it.

At noon that day, when the army was stationed and resting, Concubine Li in men's clothing appeared beside Shen Xi.

At this time, the sun was shining brightly. Outside the simple tent on the edge of the forest, Chen Xi was sitting on a stool for dinner. Concubine Li was stopped by several guards.

"Mr. Shen, can you talk with me?" Concubine Li's voice was crisp, and she sounded like a discussion, but her tone was extremely tough.

Zhu Hong looked at Concubine Li several times, felt familiar, and asked, "Who are you?"

Because they were all in the marching ranks, although Zhu Hong was not familiar with Concubine Li, he did not dare to act rashly and still asked conscientiously. However, he was not worried that the person who looked very thin in front of him would threaten Chen Xi's personal safety.

Chen Xi took the bowls and chopsticks, glanced back, muttering, "Please wait in the account first, and let me talk about it after dinner."

Concubine Li took the initiative to visit her, and Chen Xi was extremely arrogant and didn't even want to put the bowls and chopsticks, which made Concubine Li very annoyed.

However, Chen Xi was willing to give her a chance to talk to her, so Concubine Li snorted coldly and got into the tent.

After a while, Chen Xi had lunch, drank the sour plum soup in clay pots, wiped his mouth, and got up and walked towards the simple tent.

Zhu Hong came over to ask for instructions: "Sir, do you need to be careful?"

Chen Xi waved his hand: "It's okay, stay outside, I have something to say to the person inside."

"yes."

Although Zhu Hong didn't understand what happened, from his opinion, the visiting person should have to discuss some secret matters with Chen Xi, and he needed to guard outside the tent and not let people get close to him.

When Chen Xi lifted the curtain and entered, Concubine Li sat on a large box and flipped through the books. At her hand, there was a thick stack of books, but Chen Xi was carrying it by her side to relieve her lack of use.

Chen Xi frowned and asked, "Who allows you to touch my things casually?"

Concubine Li looked up at Chen Xi and sneered: "Mr. Shen is so intriguing. She even took out a book to read it while she was resting. She is so diligent and studious... I am very curious. What else does Mr. Shen need to learn now to be helpful to his future career? I wonder if he can teach him some experience?"

There was a great irony in his words, and it was obvious that he was deliberately quarrel with Chen Xi.

Chen Xi looked calm: "During this period, I would take an hour off every day at noon. I was reading books in my tent, so who was it that I was hindering?"

Concubine Li asked coldly: "I wonder if it's going to get in the way of Your Majesty?"

While speaking, she stood up, walked to Chenxi, raised her head and said, "Mr. Shen's mouth is so strict, but some things cannot escape the eyes of my palace... Your Majesty is clearly not in the army now. Who is the person who enters and leaves the imperial tent on time every day? Where is Your Majesty?"

Chen Xi frowned and looked at Concubine Li, asking, "I don't know what you are talking nonsense... It's really incredible. Where will Your Majesty be if he is not in the army?"

"This is exactly what I want to ask you." Concubine Li said angrily, "Only you know where Your Majesty is, does this need to be covered? When will you deceive the world? Did you have a conflict with Your Majesty before, and you developed a sense of being unjust, and want to usurp the throne? Lord Shen, you are going to disrupt the country!"

No matter how agitated Concubine Li was, Chen Xi was as calm as usual, and there was no clue on her expression on her face.

Concubine Li kept looking at Chen Xi in secret while talking.

But Chen Xi did not have any guilty marks at all. She just looked at her with a look of looking at a madman, making it impossible for her to guess Chen Xi's heart.

"Why, I'm so stupid? You traitor, don't tell the world your true face, so you won't die a bad death!"

Concubine Li said in a threatening tone.

Chen Xi shook his head: "I don't know what the meaning of these words are? Since you think Your Majesty is not in the army, just go and ask for a meeting, maybe you will be shocked."

At the end of the day, Chen Xi had a teasing smile on his face, which made Concubine Li very upset when she saw it.

Concubine Li stared at Chen Xi, and she couldn't verify the authenticity, so she had to lower her voice again and said, "Tell me some things, you will not suffer any loss... Do you think I will talk to others randomly? What is the situation of Your Majesty now? If you don't explain it clearly, I will send someone to spread it everywhere in the army, saying that Your Majesty was framed by someone, and you will never see the body. If something happens when something happens, you will have to bear the responsibility."

Chen Xi spread his hands: "It's up to you."

Because Chen Xi spoke and did things without any leakage, Concubine Li was very angry and stomped her feet and said, "Shen Zhihou, you still want to cover up the news of Your Majesty's disappearance? If you know it for the court officials, do you think you can afford it? If something happened to Your Majesty, it would not be an exaggeration to ask your whole family to be buried with you..."

Just like before, Concubine Li was still tempted and deliberately said some heavy words to threaten and tempt.

Just as Concubine Li was performing hard, Zhu Hong's voice came from the door: "Sir, please ask for a visit!"

Chen Xidao: "Let me help me wait, and I will meet the passers-by before going to see him."

"Yes, sir!"

Zhu Hong lost his voice after receiving the order.

Chen Xi said to Concubine Li: "You have seen it too. Master Ting is here to see you. Maybe your Majesty has something to ask me to deal with. Please be more aware and leave earlier... If someone sees you in my tent, you will definitely be irresponsible and insulting your innocence. You will only suffer the consequences at that time."

Concubine Li said with a dark face: "Hmph, Xiao Tuozi is simply a villain who forgets his righteousness when he sees profit. In the past, he obeyed my words. Since you came back, he has been like a cat's mouse. Now it is difficult for me to see him. Needless to say, this matter must be planned by you and Xiao Tuozi. Are you going to usurp the throne together? Even the candidate for the new monarch has been decided now?"

"If you have any doubts, you can ask Master Guo by yourself. I will not be with you, please!" Chen Xi did not answer Li Fei's question from beginning to end.

Concubine Li felt very powerless, but every time she was rejected or ridiculed by Chen Xi, she would still come back, as if she didn't care about her face at all, and this time was no exception.

Chen Xi asked her to leave, so she didn't stop for a long time. She just turned around and said sternly when she left the door: "Shen Zhihou, you have to remember that it is best to discuss with me if something happens. There are not many people who can help you now. If you are proud of your achievements and be arrogant, you will only suffer. Even if you have the ability, you will be overestimating your ability to fight so many court officials with the power of one person!"

Chen Xi smiled and said, "Don't take yourself too seriously. Even if you need your guidance when dealing with affairs in the court, then I don't have to mess around. Accept your auspicious words, I will try my best to avoid getting into evil with ministers in the court. You'd better avoid malicious speculation as logic. When will it be your turn to interfere in your Majesty's affairs?"

Concubine Li looked back at Chen Xi again, shook her face angrily, and then she opened the curtain and left.

Her figure happened to be seen by the little twister standing in the distance waiting to meet Chen Xi.

After Concubine Li left, Xiao Twist entered the tent and asked nervously: "Why is Concubine Li coming? She... she is not here to ask your Majesty about your Majesty, right?"

"What else can I do?"

Chen Xi said angrily, "A lot of things cannot be concealed at all. She is the one close to His Majesty. It shouldn't be a big fuss about discovering His Majesty's disappearance, right?"

Xiao Tiaozi said, "Then does she find evidence?"

"If evidence can be found, how could she come to see me?" Chen Xi said impatiently, "What's the matter with my father-in-law? Just tell me in detail."

After hearing that Concubine Li was not sure that Zhu Houzhao was not in the army, Xiao Taozi breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Mr. Shen, in fact, the villain came to you to ask you about the arrangements after entering Juyongguan. Look... Many people are now doubting Your Majesty's condition. After arriving at Juyongguan, you might as well find more delicious and fun things to give to you based on Your Majesty's usual habits, so how about letting outsiders relieve their doubts?"

Chen Xi smiled and said, "My father-in-law is quite thoughtful."

Xiao Zhuozi smiled bitterly and said, "Mr. Shen, don't make fun of me. The villain just wants to suppress the matter... The villain is dedicated to maintaining the majesty of His Majesty. Didn't you keep working hard for this? This time the villain's proposal... I think it should be fine, right?"

Chen Xidao: "In fact, there is no need to deliberately carve many things, so it seems that I will come to ask for instructions from me. There is no need to. After arriving at Juyongguan, I will arrange the matter with General Li. At that time, everyone thinks that Your Majesty will stay in Juyongguan and refuses to return to Beijing... In Juyongguan, the imperial carriage can wait for a month or two."

"this……"

Xiao Zhuozi asked hesitantly, "Is it really okay if Your Majesty doesn't return to the capital for a long time?"

Chen Xi smiled: "Will Your Majesty immediately meet the court officials when he arrives in the capital and start handling government affairs? After all, it is just to continue the previous practices and hide in the leopard room to eat, drink and have fun! Your Majesty, I will continue to send people to search, and I believe that there will be definite news within a few days."

Xiao Guozi was very sad and said in a crying voice: "What's the matter? The villain doesn't know how to face the doubts of outsiders now, for fear that someone will find out the truth when he says the wrong thing."

Chen Xi comforted: "Just keep a normal mind, don't worry. Even if someone knows, they dare not promote it casually. Everything is within a controllable range."

Concubine Li returned to her resting place and was very angry, but she soon returned to her calmness.

"Anything that Shen Zhihou has to worry about covering up, there will be no major problems." Concubine Li said to herself, "But now Shen Zhihou obviously does not want to cooperate with this palace. He wants to suppress the news by his own efforts. If it is not expected, as Qian Ning said, Your Majesty should have secretly ran out for fun, and no one has been found yet!"

After thinking about it, Concubine Li realized something again: "But Shen Zhihou is not necessarily ignorant. With his character, he may have discovered His Majesty's whereabouts long ago. He just tolerated and did not say anything. He would send people to protect His Majesty, not to open up the conflicts with His Majesty, and try to do things as beautifully as possible!"

"But I'm afraid that if he wants to join forces with him to do His Majesty, the previous war was clearly his plot behind his back, which made everyone in the world think that His Majesty had misled him. With his temperament, how could he have no predictions about the situation in advance? To put it bluntly, everything is within his control."

...

...

Another day later, the imperial carriage and his party drove to the banks of the Guishui River at the foot of Langshan Mountain. Seeing that it was only sixty or seventy miles away from Juyong Pass, the situation about the emperor attracted more attention. Those who initially ignored this or abide by the rules and were unwilling to get involved in the court struggle also began to find Chen Xi to find out.

In the Sili Supervisory Office, Dai Yi and Gao Feng had a great status, but they did not have much personal relationship with Chen Xi and did not dare to come to ask about the situation casually. However, Zhang Yong came to see him in person because he had a close relationship with Chen Xi.

"...Mr. Shen, let's go straight to the point. Your Majesty has been sick for a few days. Except for you who have visited him, only the servants around His Majesty can meet the Lord... Do you explain the situation to the people below and what is the condition of Your Majesty?"

Zhang Yong's eyes were eager.

This time he followed Chen Xi to the war, he made great contributions, and he was enough to compete for the position of the Sili Supervisor. If he could master the emperor's first-hand information, he could provide considerable assistance to his election.

But Chen Xi is not very secretive about this issue.

"If Your Majesty's dragon body is healed, he will come out to meet Eunuch Zhang, otherwise it will be useless no matter how anxious he is..." Chen Xi shook his head and said.

Zhang Yong said: "That's right. Our family found some good things from Jiangnan and wanted to submit them to Your Majesty. I wonder if Lord Shen can help me pass on it. Please give it to Your Majesty? Our family will never disturb the Holy Driving. Just take a look from afar and explain it clearly to Your Majesty."

Chen Xi smiled and said, "Don't you ask Your Majesty for such a thing? What's the point of telling me?"

Zhang Yong smiled and said, "Isn't this a saint unable to meet the saint? I can only talk to Lord Shen... The people around His Majesty looked at each other very closely, and His Majesty changed his past habits and no longer keen on fine wine and beauty. Isn't everyone worried about it?"

While speaking, Zhang Yong secretly looked at Chen Xi. Although it was difficult for ministers to see the emperor, they could more or less hear the news that the king was indulging in love with his erotic and unruly behavior. Now that Zhu Houzhao suddenly fell silent, it was inevitable that people would be suspicious.

"Then wait for me to ask Your Majesty for advice, let's see what Your Majesty means."

Chen Xi responded casually, "I will set off for Juyong Pass tomorrow morning and strive to arrive at the pass before nightfall... It's not too early, Eunuch Zhang will go back and rest early!"

...

...

The emperor's physical condition touched the hearts of too many people, but no one except Chen Xi knew the truth.

That night, officials started to send gifts to the camp, some for Zhu Houzhao, some for Chen Xi, and even Xiao Tiaozi had a lot of gifts.

That night, several officers and soldiers carried two large boxes into the tent of Chenxi, and waited for Zhu Hong to hand over the letter presented by the person who was sending the gift. Chenxi looked at it and couldn't help but frowned slightly.

The gift list is very rich, not a simple local specialty, it is all gold, silver and jewelry. It is worth three to four thousand taels. When Chen Xi saw this posture, he knew what he was now in the court. The local officials below had begun to give gifts to him desperately, as if he treated him as the number one powerful minister around the emperor.

Zhu Hong said: "Sir, have you returned the gift?"
To be continued...