Chapter 326: Cultivation Is Also the Cultivation of the Mind

"Master Ao, how are you going to persuade me?"

Huang Shilang said sarcastically.

In the eyes of surrender factions like them, the banner of Zuo Qiuming has fallen. You, a junior, still want to carry this banner? He had already thought about it. After the court meeting, he would send someone to write a letter to General Li outside the city, asking him to take good care of this junior and let him understand that the matter of swords and weapons was not something that an armchair scholar like him could get involved in. .

"Rebellious officials and traitors should be beheaded and their clans should be barred! This is the method of 'persuasion'."

Ao Ye glanced at the group of people, then bowed and said to the emperor on the throne.

"Your Majesty, please allow me."

The emperor looked at Ao Ye with a firm expression below and agreed to the request.

This scene naturally made the surrender faction furious.

After the morning court, the monarch and his ministers met again. The emperor looked at Ao Ye in front of him and remained silent for a long time. He knew that Ao Ye could choose a more comfortable way. As long as he was willing and stood with the capitulationists, he could reap inexhaustible wealth, but he chose the most difficult path.

All the people in the world are not just words from the mouth.

"I'm going here to destroy the bandit army."

Ao Ye said to the emperor, he had never been so determined. Any temptation, wealth, beauty and beauty are just a passing thing to him. He just wants to inherit the teacher's will, revive the mountains and rivers, and restore the glory of the empire.

"If you fail to win"

"If the thief is not eliminated, Your Majesty can find Zhang Zheng and entrust him to him."

The emperor burst into tears upon hearing this.

The pair of monarchs and ministers are no longer young. When Zuo Qiulong was here in the past, with him as the prime minister in his sixties, few people had not noticed this. But now that the tree fell, a few people discovered that the emperor and his ministers were all over forty years old, and Zhang Zheng was ninety-nine in his forties, and his hair had begun to turn gray.

Time waits for no one.

The counter-insurgency forces fought against the rebels.

The two armies fought, and in the end of the fight, both sides were injured. When Ao Ye arrived, the imperial army was in a low mood. Many mid-level officers were surrenderers. They had a negative attitude towards the war and only wanted to defend the city. On the first day when Ao Ye supervised the battle, these people were dismissed and a large number of officers loyal to the court were promoted. Afterwards, he personally led the army to survey the enemy's situation and formulate strategies. He led the army to defeat the rebels head-on. Under his leadership, the army was overwhelmingly powerful.

The rebels were defeated and fled.

Ao Ye led his army to pursue and kill all the people involved in the rebellion. As long as he caught them, he would kill them all. In the process, his aura became stronger and stronger, and the enemy soldiers would become frightened when they heard his name. Finally, Ao Ye led his army to break through the rebels' lair. He wiped out the rebels who had been in power for more than thirty years, and beheaded all those who participated in the rebellion.

Kill the clan!

At this moment, Ao Ye's reputation reached its peak. When he returned to the court with his troops, the emperor personally welcomed him.

This year, he was forty-nine years old.

winter.

Heavy snow.

Chen Luo's hair has also turned white. At the age of fifty-seven, he has gone through many vicissitudes of life and has wrinkles on his face. Ao Yehe rode along side by side. Under the heavy snow, the horses' hooves made fresh marks.

"Sir, it's bad, something happened at home."

The servants were waiting outside the palace gate. When they saw Chen Luo, they immediately shouted. The two of them looked sideways and found that the person coming was the Zhang family's housekeeper and the old servant who had been with him for the longest time. Chen Luo's eyes were calm and he understood clearly.

"Brother, let's go."

Ao Ye cupped his hands and turned to the other side. Today in the capital, no one dares to kill anyone anymore. All those who dared to take the lead were killed by Ao Ye. His power reached its peak and he fulfilled his promise.

He sat on the horse and let the snow fall on his face.

The snow is cold.

Ao Ye raised his head and seemed to be crying.

The snow fell silently, and Ao Ye murmured as he looked at the sky full of goose feathers.

"Teacher, I have done it for you."

Chen Luo rushed home.

A ray of calamity appeared on his body, and he came to the backyard, just as he had guessed. Sister-in-law Xin Hong was dying. He was lying on the hospital bed with a dying look in his eyes.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, she subconsciously opened her eyes, and that familiar figure came into view.

"Uncle is back? He's not injured, right?"

The voice sounded like yesterday, and the woman standing beside the bed looked gentle and sad. Compared with Chen Luo, she is the person who has spent the longest time with Xin Hong in the family. When Chen Luo was away fighting, she took care of all the affairs at home. Now she is the most uncomfortable when seeing Xin Hong like this. .

"My sister-in-law is worried."

Chen Luo sat on the edge of the bed and held Xin Hong's rough palm. Her hair has turned white and her face is covered with wrinkles. She vaguely remembers the bride who wore a wedding dress and married into their Zhang family fifty years ago.

It was also that year that bad news came to the family. My father and brother were killed in battle. My mother did not make it through and passed away with her.

Same winter.

It's also so cold.

Heavy snow.

Nineteen-year-old Xin Hong wiped the tears from her eyes and learned to support herself and take care of her nine-year-old uncle. The ice-cold laundry water soaked the mountains of clothes, and the biting cold made it miserable. By doing this kind of menial work, she earned a few pennies to support her family.

Her hands started to become rough that year.

"As long as everything is fine, I will be fine if I go to Jiuquan and meet my father and your eldest brother in the future."

A smile appeared on Xin Hong's face.

She talked a lot, until finally, there was no more sound. There was still a smile on his face, as if he was asleep.

Wen Wan, who was beside him, cried loudly, and some servants who had a good relationship with Xin Hong also shed tears. Because she had suffered when she was young, Xin Hong was very kind to everyone around her. Although she was not the mistress of the Zhang family, her status was the most special.

Chen Luo put his hand down, feeling a little uncomfortable for some reason.

This was the heart demon tribulation.

It was his tribulation.

If he didn't know it was the heart demon tribulation, could he still be as calm as he is now?

He pushed the door open and walked out, looking at the falling snow outside the yard.

This year, he was fifty-seven years old.

Standing in the snow, he stretched out his hand, and there was another black stone in his palm.

After defeating the rebels and stabilizing the court, those ambitious people who were ready to move suppressed their inner desires under the deterrence of Ao Ye's name. The world was peaceful, and the emperor rewarded according to merit.

The commander-in-chief Ao Ye ascended the cabinet and became a prime minister, inheriting the position of his teacher.

Chen Luo was also a high-ranking official, becoming a first-class official.

Without the constraints of the ambitious, the three men revived the country, swept away all the surrenderists, promoted capable officials, and the empire's decline disappeared and began to shine again. The reputation spread far and wide, and appeared in the ears of foreign barbarians.

A few years later, the emperor died.

The new emperor ascended the throne.

The Prime Minister's Mansion.

The courtyard where Zuo Qiulong and the two of them once made tea.

Ao Ye, with a gray beard, sat on the main seat. This was once Zuo Qiulong's seat, but now it was his. Chen Luo sat on the other side. The two of them sat in the pavilion, warming tea and chatting about current affairs in the court, just like many years ago.

"Someone sent me a letter."

Ao Ye put the letter on the table, as if it was a reappearance of yesterday.

It's still a choice.

Life is full of choices, and every choice is a life.

"Regent?"

Chen Luo picked up the letter in his hand and took a look. The letter was unsigned, and the content inside was a suggestion. I hope Ao Ye can temporarily exercise the power of the emperor and manage the country. To prevent the new emperor from being unable to suppress those arrogant soldiers and generals after he ascends the throne, causing the empire to decline again and making everyone's years of hard work go to waste.

All the words reveal is the concern for the country and the consideration for the world. Only one purpose is hidden under the words.

It is power.

The familiar aura of disaster emerges. This time, it is not only Ao Ye, but also Chen Luo who has the same aura of disaster.

When power reaches this point, it will change the world.

Few people who have enjoyed power can let it go. With Ao Ye's current reputation, if he exercises the power of "regent", no one inside or outside the court will object, not even the new emperor. If the ambition goes further, it is not impossible to do the real Wang Mang.

On one side is the power of the world, and on the other side is to return to ordinary life.

"What are you going to choose?"

Chen Luo looked at Ao Ye. He also wanted to know whether he could still keep his original intention after decades of ups and downs in the officialdom.

Ao Ye shook the teacup and slowly poured the brewed tea into the cup. Just like the teacher yesterday, he picked up the letter on the table and threw it into the stove. The words on the paper were burned to black ash along with the fire, and the ambition to dominate the world was also burned.

"It's time to quit."

He stood up and did not read the letter again, but turned back to the inner room.

With the confirmation of the choice, the calamity on Ao Ye's body suddenly faded by half, and the energy in the heart demon calamity began to merge into the demon seed like crazy. Chen Luo also stood up. As a deputy prime minister, he could make the same choice as Ao Ye, but this calamity was originally caused by him, so how could he not see through it.

The next morning.

The two old ministers resigned, and the court and the public were shaken for a while.

For the empire, these two people are like the pillars of the country, especially Ao Ye. The land that was stained red by the rebellion in the past is still radiant. If these two people give speeches at the same time, it will have a huge impact on the empire.

The new monarch tried to retain them several times, and finally agreed to their resignation.

The two carriages drove away from the capital.

Ao Ye returned to his hometown. His life was even more miserable than Chen Luo's. After retiring, he only had a wife, a servant and an old horse. There were not many people on Chen Luo's side. Apart from his wife Wen Wan, there were only the housekeeper and two servants.

Under the setting sun, the two said goodbye.

The carriage drove away.

On the shaking carriage, Ao Ye opened the curtains and looked at the distant capital, feeling a little disappointed.

Finally, he let it go, letting go of a light body.

Chen Luo was also watching. He looked up at the sky and observed the calamity in the world. The heart demon calamity is born in the heart, and only those with a firm heart can survive it. He who practiced the heart demon tactic has been studying the heart demon calamity. The heart is illusory, and few people can explain what it is. But it does exist and affects every practitioner.

Just like in history books, all those who have left their names in history, whether great sages or great evils, have their own persistence.

They understand what they want to do and practice it with this goal.

The immortal cultivators should be the same.

The heavenly tribulation will select the true "immortal cultivators". Only those with a single mind and a single nature can become immortals.

If it were just a simple accumulation of resources, the superiors would have become immortals long ago, so how could there be "mortals cultivating immortals". (End of this chapter)