The last light in the sky dispersed, and red lanterns were hung everywhere in Liu Mansion.
In the main hall of the inner courtyard, people have already had three rounds of wine and five tastes of food.
Except for Liu Mingzhi and other men who were drinking, all the female relatives had already eaten and drank enough to get up and leave.
When the tenth jar of wine bottomed out, Liu Mingzhi stood up with a shake of his head: "I can't drink anymore, I can't drink anymore, old man, father-in-law, Ming Li, it's time for you to leave.
Don't be greedy for good wine. Being a little tipsy is better than getting drunk.
Just have a good drink, there is no need to get drunk alone. "
After Liu Mingzhi finished speaking, he turned around unsteadily and rushed towards the East Crossing Courtyard. If he drank any more, he would not have the energy to challenge the Queen in a duel.
As soon as Liu Mingzhi got up, Wen Renzheng and the others also exchanged greetings and put down their wine glasses.
"Boy, I'll be waiting for you outside the house later."
Liu Mingzhi, who was about to pass through the hall door, stiffened, nodded silently, and walked towards the east courtyard with a wry smile.
In the wing room of Chunyu Garden in the East Crossing Courtyard, Liu Mingzhi was looking pitifully apologizing to the Queen.
"To put it bluntly, it's really not that my husband is breaking the promise. It's actually the old man who invited me. It's hard for me to refuse. Tomorrow, let's have a duel tomorrow, okay?"
The Queen was lying on a soft pillow with her cheek in one hand, her ice-skinned shoulders half exposed under the reddish candlelight, and her tall peaks rising and falling with her breathing under her moon-white bellyband. .
Looking down at Young Master Liu who was squatting on the bedside with a pitiful expression, the Queen rolled her eyes sadly and raised her hand to wave casually.
"Go away, go away, you don't have time, I just want to have a rest early!"
Liu Mingzhi, as if he had received an amnesty, stood up and kissed the Queen lightly on the forehead, picked up the coat on the hanger and walked towards the door.
"That's so polite. You should go to bed early and go to your appointment first."
Seeing Liu Mingzhi eager to go out, the Queen snorted, thumped the edge of the bed, turned over and retracted into the brocade quilt.
If I had known this, why would I have had to bathe and change clothes, and spend most of the day doing aromatherapy and rouge and gouache.
The night sky was gloomy, with no stars or moon visible.
On the official road south of the capital, two figures were slowly walking forward, each holding a wine gourd. It was Liu Mingzhi who used Qinggong to escape outside the city, Wenrenzheng master and apprentice.
The red lantern in Liu Mingzhi's hand swayed slightly with the oncoming cold wind, and the candlelight inside the lantern swayed and flickered, and the slightly moving light reflected the snow with messy footprints on the road.
"Old man, since we parted ways in Yingzhou five years ago, there has been no news from you for so many years. Not only Yun Shu, but also the boy and Yunyao thought that you had -
After finally seeing you in the wind and clouds, you came and went in a hurry. Once again, there was no news about the dragon.
Later, I thought about it carefully and realized that you were hiding from us on purpose, so I didn't bother sending people to find your whereabouts.
After returning to Beijing, the boy and Shuer were still talking privately about whether you would show up this year.
Fortunately, Huang Tian lived up to his intentions and you finally showed up.
Where have you been all these years? I don’t know if I should be worried if I send a letter to my family to say I’m safe and let me wait! "
Wen Renzheng picked up the pot and took a sip of wine silently, sighing softly a few times.
"Life is unpredictable, and there are some things that even old men don't know how to talk about.
Don't talk about you, even the old man thought that he would die soon after leaving Yingzhou. An thought about the impermanence of the world, and met his senior brother Li Buyi as soon as he left Yingzhou. "
"Senior...senior brother?"
"Yes, senior brother, he is the disciple on behalf of the master. He calls himself Senior Brother Lao Ruo. After meeting him... this is basically the situation."
Liu Mingzhi nodded in amazement: "So you actually followed Li Buyi, an old magician, to cultivate. No wonder there has been no news for many years.
Fortunately, the sky has eyes, and you are still here.
So do you. Since you have been dormant around us since the battle of Fengyundu, why don't you show up? "
Wen Renzheng's expression gradually became silent, and he glanced at Liu Mingzhi with complicated eyes.
"Although I had a premonition, after seeing your kid really take that step, I still can't adapt.
How could a great situation turn into this in just ten years?
Originally, I planned to meet you, but after seeing you raise your troops, I felt complicated and disappointed, so I had to retreat again and not see you for the time being. "
Hearing Wen Renzheng's tangled words, Liu Mingzhi sighed with a pitiful expression.
"Not only did you not expect it, old man, but the boy himself did not expect that I would take this step.
If it hadn't been for Li Ye's Fengyundu assassination, perhaps the boy would never have taken this step in his life.
It's a pity that there is no if in the world, this thing happened after all. "
"Are you trying to say that the reason for raising troops was because Lord Li Ye forced his ministers to rebel?"
"That's probably true!"
"Probably? Why not definitely?"
"I-I don't know what to say either!"
"Haha... That's because you have never faced up to your identity as a chess player. The king forced his ministers to rebel? You only saw Li Yejun forcing his ministers to rebel, but you never saw the reason for yourself.
You touch your conscience and ask, is it really Li Ye who forced his ministers to rebel when you got to this point?
Maybe you don't know it yourself, or maybe you don't dare to admit it, but the cup of tea that Yan He had to test your loyalty had already caused earth-shaking changes in your heart.
After making peace with each other, Prince Li Baiyu ascended the throne.
If Li Baiyu hadn't died young because of the sudden rebellion launched by his brothers, you might really have continued the legend of kings and ministers for another generation.
However, God was not in his favor, and Li Baiyu, a new emperor whose virtue was not inferior to that of his father, Emperor Li Zheng, chose to die for his country for the sake of the people.
You and Li Baiyu have known each other for many years. Although the relationship between monarch and minister is not as deep-rooted as that between Yan He and Yan He, the relationship between you and Li Baiyu as brothers because of the third princess Li Yan makes up for this shortcoming.
But what about you and Li Ye?
Although there is a relationship between father and nephew, the personal relationship in the past was just a casual acquaintance.
Your ability to support him in ascending the throne and proclaiming himself emperor is only due to your father Huang Yanhe's entrustment on his deathbed and your eldest brother Li Baiyu's entrustment.
Although Li Ye and you got along very harmoniously later on, compared to Li Ye's grandfather and father, you are still far apart after all.
And when Li Ye ascended the throne, the scene where your troops disrespected the new emperor's will in the palace, but were dismissed by you, has long since buried the gap between you and Li Ye that is destined to be irreversible.
Once a rift occurs, no matter how hard you try, there is no possibility of reconciliation.
Later, before you advocated the Northern Expedition, you privately dedicated two books you wrote to teach Li Ye how to be a king to Li Ye.
The way to be a king was not something that Li Ye gradually understood after he ascended the throne and became emperor, but was taught by you, a minister. This invisibly deepened the rift between you and Li Ye again.
Although you did your duty because of Li Baiyu's entrustment and wanted to help Li Ye secure the throne as soon as possible, you also made a mistake that a minister should not make.
The crime of transgression.
The crime of transgression is tantamount to committing the crime of deceiving the emperor.
There is no greater merit than being a savior, and no greater sin than deceiving the king!
Coupled with Li Ye's young age, his ascension to the throne was too hasty.
It is even more incomparable to his father Li Baiyu.
Li Baiyu has been established as the crown prince for many years, and he has already understood a little bit about the way to be a king under the influence of Yan He and his words and deeds. Although Li Baiyu was the crown prince in his early years, he already had The posture of an emperor.
In addition, he had a deep foundation in running the New Year in Chao Zhong. Although he had just ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, his prestige in the minds of the officials was already deeply ingrained.
On the other hand, Li Ye was not a prince when he ascended the throne, nor had he been exposed to any way of being a king. He was not familiar with the officials at all and had never had a close relationship.
Because his father died young, he had no choice but to ascend the throne in a hurry. However, at a young age, he had no foundation and could not convince the public at all.
The reason why he was able to sit on the throne was only because you had an army in hand and supported him vigorously against all opinions.
A prince who is not a prince and has not been exposed to any way of being a king directly ascends the throne and becomes an emperor. He has no ability to stabilize the state and the country and get the sincere assistance of all officials, but you directly taught him the way of being a king.
You are not helping him, but you are plundering the seedlings and destroying their foundation. "
"In other words, are you sincerely helping him secure the throne, or do you have other motives?
If you sincerely want to help, you should understand that it is more appropriate to stay in the court and slowly teach him through words and deeds than to force him into being a king through two books, just like plundering seedlings and encouraging them to grow.
But instead of doing this, you coerced all officials in the court and carried out the Northern Expedition. Li Ye did not agree at first, but because you insisted on requesting the Northern Expedition, he had to agree.
Although Li Ye has never been a prince, he has been studying in the Imperial College for many years and knows more or less what it means to put the overall situation first.
Although he was never taught the way of being a king by his father, he was not so stupid that he knew nothing about it.
Wouldn't he know that the situation at that time was far more important than the Northern Expedition to unify the country?
However, there are many civil and military officials from the three dynasties who have been suppressed by you and have no words to refute. How can he, a young monarch who has just ascended the throne as emperor and has no foundation, stop you, who has already made up his mind and has a large army? Where are the side-by-side king and the marshal in the middle who are in control?
And this move is destined to widen the gap between you and your ministers again.
In the eyes of the people of the world, you are loyal and sincere. You have done your best to unify the world and repay the two generations of late emperors for their entrustment.
But from my perspective, you, Liu Mingzhi, are always loyal and contradictory every step of the way! "
