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"Are you Zhao Junchen?!"
This question seemed like nonsense, but it made Zhao Junchen think silently for a moment. 【Read the latest chapter】
Then, Zhao Junchen nodded, with a little regret in his tone, and said slowly: "Although I don't want to...but I am Zhao Junchen."
The same sentence will get different understandings when it falls into the ears of different people - Chen Zhirong was thoughtful, Su Xiuning was slightly stunned, and Cui Qianxue's mind was relatively simple. She didn't think too much and only heard the following. Half a sentence.
Therefore, Cui Qianxue still stared at Zhao Junchen with her big round eyes and an angry tone, and asked: "Since you are Zhao Junchen! Why did you deliberately hide it from me before?" Are you teasing me?"
Although it was a question, coupled with Cui Qianxue's charming tone and childish face, it did not feel harsh at all. Instead, it made people feel innocent and cute.
Zhao Junchen laughed and shook his head, saying: "I didn't mean to hide it from you, but you didn't ask, so I didn't tell you, that's all. As for teasing you, I won't even do it. This kind of thing is neither necessary nor beneficial." , why should I do it? What’s more, you also concealed your identity from me at that time, so how can you blame me for this? "
Hearing Zhao Junchen's rhetorical question and using it to start the topic, Cui Qianxue's eyes flashed with inexplicable excitement, but her expression became increasingly dissatisfied, and her face was full of disbelief. She snorted: "I didn't mean to hide it from you. , it’s just that it was inconvenient to tell you my identity at that time, and I told you so many things at that time, even if I didn’t tell you my identity. But you must have guessed it, but you pretended to be completely ignorant and said it again A bunch of specious truths. You deceived me, and you said you weren’t teasing me?"
After a pause, Cui Qianxue asked again: "Also, the truths you said at that time, after I calmed down, the more I thought about it, the more wrong I felt! In your eyes, in this temple. Qingliu is just for chasing. Corrupt officials are just chasing fame and fortune. Most of the people in this world are just chasing fame and fortune. There are not many good people. Don't you think that your thoughts are just trying to judge a gentleman with a villain's heart? Really? I was in a state of confusion at the time. I was easily fooled by you. But now I won’t."
Zhao Junchen sighed: "Although I guessed your identity at that time, if the scene at that time was exposed, wouldn't it make you and I feel embarrassed? I didn't say it, but it was for your consideration... As for The truths I said at that time all came from my sincerity and good intentions. As for you saying that I was 'using the heart of a villain to judge the belly of a gentleman'..."
Having said this, Zhao Junchen paused slightly. He seemed to reflect on himself for a moment, and then said: "In the eyes of villains, everyone in this world is villain, so what you say is not necessarily wrong. If there are only two kinds of people in this world, 'villain' and 'gentleman', then Of course I am far from being a 'gentleman', so I can only be considered a 'villain'."
Seeing that Zhao Junchen had no intention of arguing, not only did he call himself a "villain" neatly, but he also used it to interrupt the topic. Cui Qianxue was stunned for a moment, then opened her mouth to speak, but she didn't know what to say and couldn't help but be speechless. , a trace of regret and disappointment flashed in his eyes.
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Cui Qianxue doesn't have much talent, and all her thoughts are shown on her face. Even if she deliberately hides it, anyone with a little experience in the world can still understand Cui Qianxue's thoughts at a glance.
At this time, Cui Qianxue's various accusations, questions, and nonsense about Zhao Junchen were clearly understood by Zhao Junchen - she was just looking for something to say and wanted to attract Zhao Junchen's attention. In fact, there is no malicious intent.
Originally, Zhao Junchen had no ill feelings toward Cui Qianxue and didn't mind cooperating with him. However, after seeing Cui Qianxue taking the topic further and further, it also involved the conversation when the two met at the tofu stall. Zhao Junchen frowned. He frowned slightly and took the initiative to stop the topic.
Before, when he first met Cui Qianxue at the bean curd stall, the reason why Zhao Junchen put forward the concept of "clean people pursue fame and corrupt officials pursue profit" was just to make Cui Qianxue go home obediently and then attend the palace banquet with Cui Mian Forget it, now that he has achieved his goal, Zhao Junchen is naturally not willing to continue arguing with Cui Qianxue.
Moreover, in the so-called battle of ideas, no one can always convince the other, especially when it comes to a naive and stubborn girl like Cui Qianxue. If the argument with her continues, I am afraid it will not end in a short time. However, Zhao Junchen But he was unwilling to waste time on ideological debates. This palace banquet was very important to Zhao Junchen, and he had many other things to do.
In a way, villains only have interests in their eyes, so most of them are "practitioners"; gentlemen only have good and evil in their eyes, so they are mostly "theorists"; Zhao Junchen is not a gentleman, so for this kind of pure You may occasionally participate in theoretical debates, but you are never willing to discuss it in depth and talk about it all the time. That is what only "gentlemen" do.
The most important thing is that people should say what they say on any occasion. Now it is during the palace banquet. Emperor Deqing, ministers of the court, nobles of the previous dynasty, and eunuchs of the inner court are all nearby, so certain concepts, Even if you can say your true thoughts in private, you can never mention them at all in such an occasion.
"Emperor Deqing is wise and powerful, the ministers in the court are virtuous and upright, and the people live and work in peace and contentment" - these high-sounding words are what should be said on such an occasion; as for "the pure people pursue fame, corrupt officials pursue profit, Zhao Junchen believed that Emperor Deqing also thought so in his heart. However, if Zhao Junchen said it at this time, Emperor Deqing would definitely reprimand Zhao Junchen severely and let Zhao Junchen Junchen couldn't eat and walked around.
Many times, the so-called "whitewashing of peace" is not only because the emperor is foolish and the ministers are treacherous, but also because it involves the stability of the government and the public, the face of the emperor and his ministers, and even the evaluation of future generations. It cannot be careless.
Zhao Junchen had always been careful about this, so when he saw Cui Qianxue gradually turning the topic into a sensitive direction, he quickly admitted that he was a "villain". And stopped the continuation of the topic.
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However, although Zhao Junchen could guess Cui Qianxue's thoughts, how could Cui Qianxue understand Zhao Junchen's various considerations?
In Cui Qianxue's opinion. The reason why Zhao Junchen took the initiative to stop the topic was because his words contained sarcasm and attack, which hurt Zhao Junchen's face and made Zhao Junchen angry.
Inexplicably, Cui Qianxue felt regret and annoyance in her heart. She felt that she should not have accused Zhao Junchen so carelessly from the beginning, but she felt regret and annoyance at the same time. But he was a little angry at Zhao Junchen's "small-mindedness", thinking that Zhao Junchen was angry because of such a slight accusation, and he really lacked the courage and magnanimity.
Between complicated thoughts. After being speechless for a moment, Cui Qianxue raised her eyebrows, hummed softly, and was about to continue talking.
the other side. Different from Cui Qianxue. Chen Zhirong obviously understood Zhao Junchen's true thoughts, and when he saw Cui Qianxue's slightly clumsy performance, there was a faint fluctuation in his bright eyes, but when Cui Qianxue was at a loss for words, he interrupted with a smile: "It turns out that Mr. Zhao and Miss Cui have long been together. We know each other? It’s just that I heard that Mr. Cui Ge’s family education is very strict, so Miss Cui has always stayed in her boudoir and rarely leaves the house. I don’t know how Mr. Zhao and Miss Cui met?"
Hear Chen Zhirong's inquiry. Cui Qianxue was stunned for a moment and couldn't help but be speechless again.
Nothing else. In this era, a girl of Cui Qianxue's age would actually do such a thing as "running away from home", which can be described as "treason". If word spreads, not only Cui Qianxue herself will be ruined, but also the Cui family. Both the top and bottom will be disgraced.
At this time, after hearing Chen Zhirong's inquiry, Cui Qianxue, although naive, knew not to tell the truth. However, Cui Qianxue was not proficient in "lying", "prevarication", "perfunctory" and other means, so she didn't know what to do for a while. The answer was just hesitant.
However, Chen Zhirong's intervention finally diverted Cui Qianxue's attention. In a way, Chen Zhirong did Zhao Junchen a small favor.
Therefore, Zhao Junchen first smiled and nodded to Chen Zhirong to express his gratitude, and then seeing Cui Qianxue's embarrassment, he replied on Cui Qianxue's behalf: "Actually, it's nothing, I just ate in the same restaurant as Miss Cui and met by chance. It’s just that Miss Cui and I didn’t explain our identities at the time, so now we are both a little surprised when we see him again.”
Zhao Junchen did not lie, he just avoided the important and took the easy. He also helped Cui Qianxue uncover the matter of "running away from home", which made Cui Qianxue secretly relieved.
At the same time, because of this, when Cui Qianxue looked at Zhao Junchen again, a trace of gratitude flashed in her eyes, thinking that maybe Zhao Junchen was not so "small-minded".
On the other side, Chen Zhirong naturally knew what Zhao Junchen was hiding, but she was a smart woman and did not ask further questions. She just smiled and said: "I see, I didn't expect Miss Cui and Mr. Zhao to have such an opportunity. It's really enviable. "
Hearing what Chen Zhirong said, Cui Qianxue was slightly startled and wanted to ask Chen Zhirong, "What's so enviable about this?" However, she was worried that Chen Zhirong would ask more questions, so she finally chose to remain silent.
At the same time, since Su Xiuning sat down, she had the same thoughts as Cui Qianxue, and also wanted to say something to Zhao Junchen and attract Zhao Junchen's attention. However, her temperament was naturally restrained and gentle, and she did not have Cui Qianxue's mobility or Chen Zhirong's. She is smart and shrewd, and she has never had any experience with strange men, so she opened her mouth to talk several times, but she couldn't find anything to say.
Now, when Cui Qianxue finally fell silent, Su Xiuning opened her lips slightly and was about to say something when Emperor Deqing suddenly stood up and spoke louder.
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In fact, while Zhao Junchen was talking to the girls, Emperor Deqing was sitting at the top of the palace. Although he was chatting casually with Chen You, Cui Mian, and Su Changjin on the surface, he kept paying attention to Zhao out of the corner of his eye. The movement on Junchen’s side.
During this palace banquet, although Zhao Junchen held a high position and was one of the most powerful ministers in the court after Zhou Shangjing, he was only a second-rank minister of household affairs, and the people attending the banquet today were either nobles, nobles, or ministers. Although he was a former cabinet minister or a senior governor of the same rank, Zhao Junchen had the lowest status on the surface, so his seat at the palace banquet was also in the corner.
At this time, due to the distance, Emperor Deqing didn't know what Zhao Junchen and the girls were talking about, but when he saw that Zhao Junchen and the three girls were "talking happily", he couldn't help but nodded slightly, with a look of satisfaction in his eyes.
Then. Emperor Deqing suddenly smiled, interrupted his conversation with Chen You, Cui Mian, and Su Changzhen, and asked the imperial concubine Wan beside him: "My beloved concubine. This is your first time meeting Zhao Aiqing, right? Look, How is he?"
The imperial concubine Wanshi is the biological mother of the crown prince Zhu Heyu, and Zhao Junchen is the mortal enemy of the prince Zhu Heyu in the court, so the imperial concubine Wanshi will naturally not like Zhao Junchen.
However, the imperial concubine Wan Shi, like Chen Zhirong, is a smart person who knows when to say what to say, and she also knows that Emperor Deqing can't do without Zhao Junchen now. So although he disliked Zhao Junchen, he didn't show it at all on his face. He just smiled and said: "This Zhao Junchen can get your majesty's respect. Naturally, he is a rare young talent. However, I think he is dignified and polite, but It’s not like what the rumors say…”
Speaking of which. The imperial concubine Wan Shi "consciously made a mistake". There was a little embarrassment on his face.
Emperor Deqing didn't mind, he laughed at first, then lowered his voice slightly and said, "My beloved, you mean... Zhao Junchen is rumored to be a greedy and corrupt official, but now it doesn't look like it, right?"
The imperial concubine Wan Shi lowered her head slightly and said: "I made a mistake and made unreasonable remarks about the ministers of the court. Please punish me."
Emperor Deqing shook his head. Said: "You are just telling the truth, how can I punish you for this? However, since I reuse this Zhao Junchen, then what kind of official and what kind of person is this Zhao Junchen?" , I naturally know it well. However, as an emperor, I always have to consider the long-term and comprehensive considerations. Some people must be re-employed even if they are corrupt, and some people must be suppressed even if they are incorruptible... You also know, my dear concubine, that since ancient times Since then, the Qingliu people have always been stubborn, and even regard "speaking out and making mistakes" as a virtue. If I just reuse Qingliu, wouldn't this court become a one-word hall for the Qingliu people? How can I still rule the world? What's more, most Qingliu are too They attach great importance to moral articles and despise practical interests. They can speak high-sounding words smoothly, but their ability to do things is worse. Therefore, even if I know what is going on with him, I still have to use people like Zhao Junchen."
Hearing Emperor Deqing's words, Imperial Concubine Wan's eyes flashed with disappointment, but her expression was astonished. She looked at Emperor Deqing with a hint of admiration and said, "Your Majesty, you are thoughtful and far-reaching. Although I claim to be smart, I am far inferior to him, and I didn’t expect to be so smart. I just think that Zhao Junchen’s behavior does not look like a corrupt official.”
Noticing the admiration of the imperial concubine Wan, Emperor Deqing was a little proud and said with a smile: "My dear concubine, you must not judge people by their appearance in the future. People who are polite in daily life may not be good people, and people who are full of benevolence, justice and morality may not be gentlemen, especially in this situation. There are countless hypocrites in this court. You must know that good people cannot be officials. As for Zhao Junchen, he did not have such a palace in the past. On weekdays, relying on my favor for him, he was very arrogant. However, In recent days, he has finally matured a lot, and his methods, government, and scheming have all grown up. Sometimes, even I can't guess what he is thinking and doing, but it is precisely because he has this Although he is so capable, I beat him from time to time, but I want to use him more, and it is precisely because of this consideration that I held this palace banquet for him today."
Imperial Concubine Wan Shi nodded and smiled and said: "I see, Your Majesty, if you have such means, it doesn't matter whether you are a hypocrite, a real villain, or even an old fox. You will be controlled by Your Majesty. In this way, the world With stability and peace, Your Majesty, your saintly wisdom will surely be passed down for generations to come."
The "old fox" in the mouth of the imperial concubine Wan Shi naturally refers to Zhou Shangjing, the chief minister of the dynasty.
Emperor Deqing has always been proud of his imperial acumen. However, during the reign of Emperor Deqing, Zhou Shangjing gradually rose to prominence and became the most powerful minister in the history of the Ming Dynasty, second only to Zhang Juzheng. Although there was no serious harm, Emperor Deqing was deeply attached to him. Ashamed. The words of the imperial concubine Wan Shi just scratched the itch of Emperor Deqing and made Emperor Deqing even more happy.
Obviously, the imperial concubine Wan Shi knew Emperor Deqing very well and knew what kind of words could make Emperor Deqing happy.
After smiling heartily, Emperor Deqing looked at Zhao Junchen's position again, and then asked the imperial concubine Wan: "These three women, one is the daughter of Su Changzhen, the governor of Southern Zhili, and the other is Chen You, the Duke of Jingguo. My daughter, and the other is the granddaughter of Cui Mian, the old man in the front pavilion. I think they are both good-looking and worthy of Zhao Junchen, but my dear concubine, which one of them do you think is the most suitable to be Zhao Junchen’s wife?”
In this regard, the imperial concubine Wanshi had already had an idea in her mind and replied: "I think that everything will be prosperous if the family is harmonious. Since this Zhao Junchen is highly valued by your majesty, he must be a man of his own mind, so his wife is the best-tempered Be more docile, and I think of these three girls, Su Xiuning, the daughter of Su Changzhen, the governor of Southern Zhili, is the most suitable."
Emperor Deqing smiled and nodded, and said: "My beloved, you always agree with me. I also think that Su Changjin's daughter is the best match for Zhao Junchen."
However, Emperor Deqing did not give his reasons. He just changed the topic and said: "However, this Zhao Junchen is a high-ranking official in the court after all. Even if I am the ninth five-year emperor, I cannot appoint him at will." The marriage can only depend on his own attitude. Now it seems that although I prefer Su Xiuning, the daughter of the Chen family of Duke Jing and the granddaughter of Mr. Cui Ge are more proactive. Look, my beloved concubine, these two girls are here While talking to Zhao Junchen, it was Su Xiuning who sat aside and said nothing, looking very embarrassed."
Hearing what Emperor Deqing said, the imperial concubine Wan Shi also looked towards where Zhao Junchen was sitting, and then paused briefly on Chen Zhirong, with a trace of solemnity flashing in her eyes for the first time.
Then, the imperial concubine Wan Shi smiled calmly and said: "Girls of this age are the most tender-faced. It is rare for them to be so familiar with each other like the daughter of Duke Jing. Your Majesty, don't worry, wait until they are slow to get along with each other." Once you get familiar with it, you will start to let go."
Emperor Deqing nodded and said: "Indeed, the palace banquet has just begun. When the atmosphere becomes warmer, the daughter of the Su family will also make a difference... After all, her father should have said something to her. At times like this, she has to let go of her reserve..."
While speaking, Emperor Deqing stood up when he saw that all parties involved in the palace banquet were ready.
As Emperor Deqing stood up, everyone did not dare to neglect. They all stood up to accompany him and waited for Emperor Deqing to speak.
However, Emperor Deqing did not know that Su Xiuning had finally found an opportunity and mustered up the courage to talk to Zhao Junchen, but was interrupted by his actions.
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"Just now, I was chatting with Mr. Cui Ge, Governor Su, and Duke Jing. I learned that the old minister is still in good health, that the important town in the south of the Yangtze River is still prosperous, and that the nobles in the court are still safe. I couldn't help but feel happy. Everyone, drink this cup with me. !”
After Emperor Deqing finished speaking, he raised his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp!
Seeing Emperor Deqing's statement, everyone naturally thanked him quickly and toasted with Emperor Deqing.
Then, Emperor Deqing said a few more high-sounding words to liven up the atmosphere of the palace banquet. After everyone thanked them, they finally sat down with satisfaction.
After Emperor Deqing sat down, everyone naturally followed suit.
Then, at the table where Zhao Junchen and the three girls were sitting, Su Xiuning suddenly noticed an interesting detail, her eyes lit up, and she finally found a reason to talk to Zhao Junchen.
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ps: Since last month, there has been a lot of turmoil in Chongzi’s working environment, and I have no intention of coding. Sorry! Now it's back! (To be continued...)
