In the royal study.
After Li Ye finished bathing and changing clothes, he dismissed the eunuchs and maids on his left and right, leaving only Xiao Dezi waiting in front of the palace.
Walking to the portraits of his grandfather Li Zheng, father Emperor Li Baiyu and his son, Li Ye quietly stared at the portraits of the two late emperors and became silent.
I don't know how long it took, Li Ye showed a bitter smile, picked up three sticks of incense, lit it against the candle nearby, and slowly inserted it into the incense burner.
After kneeling on the futon and kowtowing a few times, Li Ye slowly stood up.
"Li Ye, an unworthy descendant, has failed his grandfather and father's high expectations and lost his ancestor's inheritance. He deserves death.
I hope the ancestors of the Li family are alive in heaven......
...........
Li Ye, the unworthy descendant, kowtows. "
After kowtowing his head a few more times, Li Ye's forehead turned red.
"Xiao Dezi!"
"Your Majesty, we are here!"
"Are the drinks and food prepared for you ready?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, everything has been prepared and placed on the dining table."
"Go and wait outside the palace. Without my will, no one except my uncle Liu Mingzhi is allowed to approach the palace."
There was no response from Xiao Dezi in the hall. After some tea, Xiao Dezi's low and choked voice sounded again.
"We...we...we obey the order!"
"etc!"
"His Majesty?"
Li Ye stood up, straightened his dragon robe, and walked towards the front of the hall.
Looking at Xiao Dezi, who was holding a fly whisk and standing in front of the hall looking at him with red eyes, Li Ye sighed softly and fumbled in his sleeves a few times.
Li Ye, who usually didn't carry any vulgar things with him, turned around helplessly and walked towards the back of the palace.
After a while, Li Ye came out with a piece of exquisitely carved jade pendant in his hand, grabbed Xiao Dezi's hand and stuffed the jade pendant into his palm.
"Your Majesty..."
"You have served me on behalf of Su An for such a long time. I was busy with government affairs and did not give you any generous rewards.
This jade pendant is a jade ornament from the tribute palaces of the countries in the Western Regions. It is worth tens of thousands of gold. I have an ancestral dragon-patterned pendant, but I have no use for it. It is just a plaything at best on weekdays.
You can exchange it for some money and find a place to spend the rest of your life after leaving the palace.
You and I are master and servant, I can only help you so much! "
Xiao Dezi looked at Li Ye's chuckle, held the jade pendant in his hands, knelt down on the ground and choked out: "Your Majesty!"
"Get up, why are you crying? I haven't died yet.
Waiting outside the palace! "
"His Majesty!"
"This is an oral message!"
"Yes...yes...we obey the order!"
Xiao Dezi stood up slowly and walked out of the hall with three turns.
Li Ye breathed out a sigh of relief, turned around and walked towards the back of the palace.
Li Ye grinned as he looked at the dazzling array of food and wine on the dining table in front of the long desk where he was giving instructions.
Since he ascended the throne, he usually eats three dishes and one soup. Privately, he has never eaten so many delicious, delicious and delicious food at one time.
Li Ye picked up the two wine glasses and placed them in place. After Li Ye filled the pot with wine, he walked to the main seat and sat down.
Li Ye picked up the drink in the glass and drank it all in one gulp. Li Ye silently savored the taste of the wine for a moment, smacked his lips and filled another glass for himself.
Looking at the wine that shimmered against the lights, Li Ye showed a self-deprecating smile. With a complicated expression, he took out a paper bag from his sleeve, silently opened it, and poured some of the light gray powder inside into his wine glass. among.
After gently shaking the wine glass, Li Ye sat on the chair and closed his eyes and fell asleep.
There was silence in the hall, you could hear a pin drop, only the burning candle flickered from time to time.
I don’t know how long it took, but Xiao Dezi’s trembling voice sounded from outside the hall.
"Your Majesty, please... please see me."
Li Ye suddenly opened his eyes: "Please!"
"Your Majesty...hey...you..."
Before Xiao Dezi had time to agree to Li Ye, Liu Mingzhi was already walking carelessly towards the imperial study room, carrying a wine bottle.
"Xiao Dezi, just wait for now!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Liu Mingzhi walked to the back hall with ease, looked at Li Ye who was sitting on the chair, walked straight to the chair opposite and sat down, and put the drink on the table.
Glancing at Li Ye opposite him, Liu Mingzhi smiled at the dazzling array of wine and food, picked up a chopstick and picked up a piece of venison and started eating.
"Life is good, your grandfather, your father rarely eats royal meals so luxuriously!"
Li Ye raised his eyebrows, picked up a piece of goose meat with his chopsticks, and chewed it slowly.
"We usually have three dishes and one soup. I just ordered the imperial dining room to be extravagant once in order to entertain my uncle."
When the two met, not only did they not feel tit-for-tat, but they gave people a warm feeling while chatting about their parents' shortcomings.
It was nothing like the atmosphere that a meeting between a subjugated king and a self-established new emperor should have.
"This venison is a bit bland. Make some sauce for dipping. It should be just right."
"I guess my uncle is used to staying in the North, and his taste has changed a lot."
"Maybe, the food habits in the North are indeed heavier."
After Liu Mingzhi finished speaking, he picked up the wine glass in front of him that Li Ye had filled with wine in advance, took a look at it, and drank it directly into his mouth.
"It's been so long since I last saw you. Your back is stooped, your face has changed a lot, and you even have some gray hair. Are you so busy with government affairs?"
Li Ye picked up the pot and filled Liu Mingzhi's drink again, sat back on the chair and showed a wry smile: "My father has been in a hurry, and my son's succession is also careless. I am afraid that I will live up to the high hopes of my ancestors, so I don't dare to do it every day. The slightest sign of slacking off.
He has been on the throne for three years.
It seems that the child has never had a good night's sleep since the day he ascended the throne.
I go to bed at midnight and wake up at three o'clock every day. If I can sleep for two hours, it's good.
Sometimes when I look in the mirror, I feel a little strange looking at the face in the mirror with some white hair on the temples.
This is still a seventeen... eighteen-year-old boy. Is this what an eighteen-year-old boy should look like?
Slowly, Xiao Dezi carefully reminded the child in his ear that it was time for Your Majesty to go to court early, it was time for Your Majesty to review the memorials, and it was time for Your Majesty to rest.
The child slowly understood that the strange person in the mirror was really the child himself.
Sometimes I think carefully about it and wonder why the child became like this! "
Liu Mingzhi drank down his drink again and looked at Li Ye silently.
"Tired?"
"Tired! So tired both physically and mentally!
It is easy to be a foolish emperor, but it is really difficult to be a good emperor.
To put it bluntly, when my second, third, fourth, fifth, and seventh uncles rebelled, my father did not abandon the city and the people fled in a hurry. Maybe it was because he was afraid of regaining the throne. Live such a boring life that is both physically and mentally exhausting.
He felt relaxed, putting such a heavy burden on my half-year-old child.
As a father, this is quite irresponsible.
When he was not the emperor, he was the prince of the East Palace. He helped his grandfather handle the government affairs and helped supervise the country.
I didn't mean to praise my uncle. My father's teaching of his children was far inferior to my uncle's. "
"Your father's love for you, Tao'er, Jingyao, and Zhiyao is no less than any father's love for his children.
It's just that due to his status, he is destined to be unable to devote himself to you four brothers and sisters like an ordinary father. "
Li Ye filled the pot with wine for Liu Mingzhi, then placed the jug directly in front of Liu Mingzhi and laughed.
"If you drink any more, my uncle will just pour the wine himself. The ups and downs are a bit troublesome.
The children understood what their uncle said. The moment their father put down the dragon-breaking stone in the secret passage in the palace, the children understood that he was also a perfect father.
So the child didn't resent him at all. "
Liu Mingzhi drank the drink in one gulp and nodded silently.
"It's good if you understand."
Li Ye stretched out, leaned on the chair and looked at Liu Mingzhi silently.
"The third volume of the Book of State Administration, if the king is weak and the ministers are strong, the country will perish! The powerful ministers and party members are not just one person, and cannot be ignored. Stabilizing the government should be done...
Therefore, the best policy is to win over his heart, the middle policy is to reduce his power, and the worst policy is to remove his party members.
None of the three strategies work, so get rid of them!
This is what my uncle analyzed word for word for the child. The child has been working hard to be a good emperor.
The outcome of today's incident is already obvious. If the child loses, he loses. I don't want to act like a daughter and blame everything in front of my uncle. I just want to ask my uncle one thing.
In order to centralize power and better govern the world.
Did the child do something wrong? "
Liu Mingzhi stopped drinking, looked at Li Ye silently for a long time and shook his head gently.
"No!"
"call........"
Li Ye took a deep breath, looked at Liu Mingzhi with a relaxed expression and laughed.
"With this answer, the child will be able to rest in peace even if he dies!"
