When Fu Zhaoxu stepped into the inner court, the sun was already high in the sky, revealing a fish-belly-colored sky in the east. However, he didn't have much time to enjoy the distant scenery at the moment. He was walking to somewhere in the palace closely following the chamberlain who came to receive him.
Fu Zhaoxu had already calculated the time to go to court before going out, but he didn't expect to wait outside the west pavilion door for a full hour before being received.
It is obviously unusual for the early court to delay to this point, but the Fu family lacks connections in the new court and is not clear about many things the court is doing now. He only vaguely knew that the imperial court had just settled the war in Guanzhong, so he could not guess what might have happened in the previous court this morning.
Fortunately, the court dispersed in the morning, and soon after those faces that were very unfamiliar to Fu Zhaoxu filed out of Xuandemen, a palace servant was sent to lead him to meet the newly appointed young official.
The interview was arranged in a warm pavilion not far from Long Live Hall.
The eunuch who led him forward came forward and whispered to the small eunuch outside the Nuan Pavilion. After a moment, the eunuch waiting outside the door turned around and sang in the eunuch's unique thin voice: "Young Master of Qi Kingdom, the commander of Taining City, Fu Zhaoxu, announced. arrive!"
Fu Zhaoxu subconsciously supported the futou on his head, stepped up the steps steadily, lowered his head slightly and walked into the pavilion.
"My minister Fu Zhaoxu pays homage to Your Majesty."
"You don't have to be polite, sir."
Fu Zhaoxu's eyes were fixed on the ground, and what he heard next to his ears was a very cold voice. The owner of the voice seemed to be deliberately lowering his voice, but he still sounded very young. Even though Fu Zhaoxu had long heard that the new emperor was two years younger than him, he was still a little surprised by the feeling he heard in his voice.
Fu Zhaoxu stood up and turned his gaze to Zhengshou. The light in Nuan Pavilion was a little dim, but Fu Zhaoxu quickly found several figures in the pavilion.
Sitting in the middle could only be Liu Chengyou, the new emperor who had just ascended to power, the second official of the new dynasty. Although the young official is wearing a court uniform, I don’t know whether it is because he has just taken the throne and has to rush to make a suitable court uniform, or it is simply because of his figure. Under the wide and graceful court uniform, the official’s figure on the throne in front of him looks... Very thin.
In addition to the officials on the throne, there was also an official sitting on the low pillars on both sides of the throne. Both of them were dressed in red robes, obviously their status was not low.
Fu Zhaoxu had earlier heard that the late emperor had selected several important ministers to support his great cause before his death, but those people were all former members of the Hedong shogunate who followed the late emperor in his career. The Fu family knew very little about those powerful officials, and they did not know that Nuange was at this moment. Are the two people inside exactly one of them?
The expressions on the faces of the three people were different, but the same thing was that they were all focusing on Fu Zhaoxu at this moment.
Fu Zhaoxu unhurriedly took out the watch and seal he had prepared, bowed and said: "When Your Majesty performs the ceremony, I follow my father's orders and come to the court to congratulate Your Majesty."
The eunuch standing on the side stepped forward to take the watch from Fu Zhaoxu, but did not hand it directly to Liu Chengyou. Instead, he turned around and handed it to the man on the left. Although he did not say a word, his face was quite majestic and his eyes were full of sharpness. of officials.
Fu Zhaoxu noticed this obvious disrespect and couldn't help but cast his eyes on Liu Chengyou, and as expected he caught a glimpse of the flash of anger.
As if to cover up some embarrassment, Liu Chengyou smiled and pointed to the two people beside him to Fu Zhaoxu: "Forgetting to introduce you, these two are the privy envoys of this dynasty, Yang Xianggong and Zuo Pushe Su Xianggong, who are relied upon by both the government and the public."
Fu Zhaoxu immediately knew the identity of the two of them, and bowed slightly to salute: "I have seen these two gentlemen."
At this time, Yang Bin finished reading the watch in his hand, but still did not hand it to Liu Chengyou. Instead, he casually extended it to Su Fengji on the other side, raised his head and said to Fu Zhaoxu: "How is Duke Qi doing lately?"
Fu Zhaoxu handed over his hand and said, "Mr. Meng Yang is very friendly. My father is doing well these days. He only has minor illnesses occasionally."
This was a reply that his father, Fu Yanqing, had privately instructed him when he left Xuzhou. The purpose was to show Tokyo that the Fu family still had the energy to maintain its current status, and to show weakness appropriately so as not to cause the imperial court to have undue influence on the Fu family. Suspicion.
As expected, Yang Bin nodded and stopped asking further: "I heard that when Duke Qi was in town, he often took pleasure in shooting, hunting and chasing. Such amusement is not something ordinary people can have. It is really fascinating."
Fu Zhaoxu was thinking about what to answer when Liu Chengyou suddenly interjected with interest and asked: "Is there such a thing?"
Fu Zhaoxu nodded, his face showing admiration for his father unintentionally: "My father has spent his whole life fighting, and it is indeed difficult to leave the bow and horse."
"Hmm..." With a low groan, Su Fengji also put down the watch in his hand, and finally handed it to Liu Chengyou's hand.
Yang Bin glanced at Su Fengji, as if he was dissatisfied with him for interrupting the conversation the three of them were talking about. He turned to Liu Chengyou and continued: "Not only is the Duke of Qi famous for his martial prowess, but the man of the Fu family in front of your majesty is also known as a father."
Su Fengji also followed up and said, "As expected, I have heard what Privy Yang said."
"Oh?" Liu Chengyou had no choice but to put down the note he had just picked up, "I would like to hear the details."
Fu Zhaoxu felt a little depressed when he saw that the three people's attention was not focused on the watch he had brought. At the same time, he also tried his best to concentrate on carefully dealing with the seemingly casual conversation among the three people in front of him.
Su Fengji: "When the Duke of Qi returned to town in February last year, the Shandong thieves Li Renshu and his commander rushed to attack Xuzhou with tens of thousands of soldiers. The Duke of Qi and dozens of horsemen wanted to recruit the thieves, but the leader of the thieves took control of the horse. Fortunately, General Fu was not there. He was frightened by the lewd force of the thieves, so that they knew not to move lightly, so they rescued the enemy and left."
As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Chengyou clapped his hands and praised: "You are indeed a loyal and brave queen. I guess you are also good at bow and horse?"
Fu Zhaoxu quickly replied in the affirmative: "Your Majesty is wise. I have inherited the training and education from my father, and I have barely learned the art of bow and horse."
"In that case," Liu Chengyou stroked his not-so-thick beard on his chin, "it happened that the imperial court was congratulating the peace of the war in Guanzhong. They were preparing to compete in horse racing and bowing in Xiyuan in the past few days. Many of the court's disciples will be present, so you will also go on stage to show off. Show off your power."
"Your Majesty sends you, I dare not live without my life."
At this time, Su Fengji beside the throne seemed to clear his throat twice intentionally or unintentionally, but Liu Chengyou remained unmoved and continued to say to Fu Zhao in an affectionate tone: "You came from Shandong in a hurry. You must not have brought a good horse with you. There are still many people in the prison at the moment." There are several horses donated by the Lord of Khotan last year, why don't you go and choose one now, as I am here in the palace to serve your family as loyal ministers and to protect the country, and I hope you will not let it down."
Although Liu Chengyou spoke in terms of discussion, he actually left no room for Fu Zhaoxu to make concessions.
Although Fu Zhaoxu felt very baffled by Liu Chengyou's win over him, he really had no reason to refuse the kindness of the reward. Rejecting the appreciation of the superior was not the usual style of the Fu family, nor was it the behavior Fu Zhaoxu learned from his father, Fu Yanqing. road.
So Fu Zhaoxu quickly withdrew from the Nuan Pavilion and followed the chamberlain who brought him here to select horses at the Si Prison next to Xiyuan.
Although Fu Zhao's words and deeds are completely different from those of a rude martial artist, he has never left the profession of a martial artist. He has learned the art of bowing and horse since he was a child, and he is no longer a master of horse-drawing. He soon saw the few horses from the Western Regions that Liu Chengyou had mentioned in the inner stables of the prison. As expected, they were all fat horses with good looks.
The eunuch who served the royal horses in the Si Prison introduced the origins of these royal horses one by one to Fu Zhaoxu, but Fu Zhaoxu just listened and relied more on his own eyes to identify and appreciate these rare horses in front of him.
It didn't take long for Fu Zhaoxu's eyes to be completely attracted by one of the black horses. For some reason, he always felt that the black horse in front of him looked familiar.
Seeing his intention, the inner prison guard next to him repeatedly praised: "General, you have good vision! Even in this prison, this horse is one of the best. It's just a pity..."
Fu Zhaoxu became interested and asked curiously: "What's the pity?"
"It's a pity that this horse is not the best one that came from the Western Regions last year. The best one is the rare eight-treasure unicorn. It was originally the mount of the late King Wei, and was later awarded to Privy Council Guo's family by the King of Wei. Erlang."
"Guo Erlang." Fu Zhaoxu nodded, suddenly remembering that the young man who offered his hand to him in front of Fengqiu Gate a few days ago seemed to have the same black horse on his crotch.
...Guo Xin sat on the fence beside the stable, casually grabbed a handful of beans from the bag in his arms and threw them into the manger. Watching his BMW snort, he suddenly couldn't help but feel an emotion. An urge to sneeze.
"I wonder whose little girl is talking about Brother Yi?"
As soon as Guo Xin's sneezing stopped, Guo Pu walked in from outside the stable holding the washed saddle.
Hearing this, Guo Xin laughed and cursed: "I hope no enemy will be concerned about it."
Guo Pu tied the saddle on the Eight Treasures Qilin's back, patted the BMW's strong buttocks, and praised: "I'm afraid only a guy like Brother Yi can ride such a good horse."
"I think there are many people who are good at equestrian skills, but we may not have that many good horses in the Central Plains." After saying this, Guo Xin grabbed a handful of beans and threw them into the manger, then jumped off the fence and looked up and down with satisfaction. Looking at the BMW that he was already very familiar with, he said, "Previously, Shi Dejun asked me to go to the palace for horse racing. I heard that he was going to pick a horse from the royal stables. I don't know how those royal horses compare to mine."
