Murong Xue sat on the horse and walked slowly and leisurely towards the Taifu's Mansion. Today is already the seventh day since he came to Luoyi, and the welcome banquet specially set for him by Xie Guang is also seven days late.
The reason why this happened was because Murong Xue kept making excuses.
Firstly, he did not want to give Xie Guang this face easily; secondly, as a first time arrival, he had to feel out the depth of the abyss in Luoyi; in addition, he had to get the prince's approval before going to the banquet. .
"Since the Grand Master has shown his kindness, I feel that Murong Aiqing might as well get acquainted with her colleagues in Dongdu."
With Li Bing's attitude, Murong Xue finally nodded in agreement and accepted this late reception banquet.
Murong Xue had to be wary of the arrogant and ambitious Grand Tutor Xie Guang. According to his assumptions, although Xie Guang would not immediately kill someone from the imperial capital like him from the beginning, he should never have a good look on his face. The general plan was that as soon as Murong Xue arrived in Luoyi, he would use some intimidating tactics to kill the imperial court's spirit.
However, he never expected that Xie Guang's methods would be so clever.
Xie Guang not only did not neglect Murong Xue, but instead sent his favorite general Di Xian and the officials of the Eastern Capital out of the city to greet him. He made a grand appearance, which not only showed that he valued Murong Xue, but also did not disturb the rules of respect and inferiority.
Immediately afterwards, the luxurious mansion as a meeting gift showed even more thoughtfulness. All furniture and utensils are available in the mansion, and even the small garden building is specially named "Shushan Pavilion" to echo the meaning of Murong Xue's hometown, which shows the meticulousness. However, none of the maids and servants in the house were arranged, obviously to avoid suspicion and to avoid Murong Xue being embarrassed.
Enthusiastic and considerate, but keeping a distance, it would be difficult for someone who is not a thoughtful person to come up with such an arrangement. Could such a clever skill be something that a rude soldier like Xie Guang could have imagined?
Murong Xue was quite suspicious of this.
He couldn't help but thought to himself: Shen Lie, Shen Lie, I'm afraid that old enemy you miss so much has already started to use tricks on me.
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Xie Guang's Taifu Mansion is located in Chengfufang in Luoyi, just across the street from the Imperial City where the Prince is located.
The owner of this house was originally Prince Yu Li Chengxi. Not long after Xie Guang came to Dongdu, he took a quick look at the feng shui atmosphere of Prince Yu's mansion. So, he arranged for his subordinates to force King Yu to move to make room for him. Faced with this god of plague, even the emperor had to be patient. How dare you provoke the gentle and honest King Yu? With no choice, Li Chengxi could only obey his orders, pack up his belongings and find another place to settle down.
After Xie Guang occupied the palace, he ordered a lot of construction work and renovated the place. Today's Taifu Mansion is extremely luxurious and magnificent. There are thousands of mansions in the mansion, countless strange mountains and rocks, and there are even peacocks, cranes and other rare birds and animals in the backyard.
Murong Xue came in from outside the mansion and looked at it all the way. She couldn't help but admire it.
He comes from a famous family, and the Murong family is the richest in the world. What kind of mansion has he not seen? But even so, Murong Xue was still shocked by the magnificence of the Tutor's Mansion: Where is the main hall here? This is clearly a palace!
The cornices are high, the jade pillars stand tall, and the main hall is a hundred steps wide. Compared with the Liangyi Palace in the imperial capital, it is only slightly smaller.
What an arrogant mansion, what a crazy Xie Guang!
The residence, behavior, and clothing of imperial officials were all subject to hierarchical regulations, and different ranks enjoyed different treatment. The standards of daily life of ministers must not exceed etiquette, otherwise it will be a crime of disrespect and disobedience.
Xie Guangguan paid homage to Taifu. Although he was a very popular minister, his title was only that of a loyal and brave lord. In terms of nobility, he was not considered prominent in the court. But he actually dared to occupy the palace and even changed the regulations for expanding the main hall without permission. This was clearly a provocation to the imperial power!
Murong Xue couldn't help cursing in her heart, and at the same time she was worried because of Xie Guang's arrogance: since this guy dares to blatantly overstep his bounds, the days of dealing with him in the future will definitely not be easy.
At this time, I saw Xie Guang leading a group of people out of the main hall. Murong Xue hurriedly stepped forward and bowed her hands in courtesy: "In this humble position, I see you, Your Majesty the Grand Tutor."
"Oh, hahaha, Brother Murong, you're so polite!" Xie Guang took Murong Xue's hand cordially and laughed loudly: "If you are willing to show off tonight, the humble house will be filled with glory! We don't need to be polite. Come on, come on. Come, your colleagues are waiting for you."
With that said, he turned around and introduced the officials next to Murong Xue one by one.
These officials fall roughly into three categories. The largest number of them are naturally the generals of the Xuanjia Army under Xie Guang; secondly, they are the chiefs of various local government offices in Luoyi; and there are only two officials from the Prince's Mansion - Prince Xima Laojianhua and Huangmen Shan Tingxian, the minister.
Needless to say, Lao Jianhua, Murong Xue got to know the prince when he went to meet him a few days ago.
Hiding deeply - this was Murong Xue's first evaluation of Lao Jianhua.
Shan Tingxian had just met him yesterday, but he also left a profound impact on Murong Xue. The so-called Huangmen Shilang is not an eunuch, but a Shaofu official under the Menxia Province. He is responsible for conveying official documents between the emperor and Shangshu Province, Zhongshu Province and Menxia Province. Sometimes, the Huangmen Shilang will also be in charge of the palace garrison. The coordination of the guards belongs to low-level ministers who can freely enter and leave the palace.
Because this position has access to the most important matters of the imperial court, although the rank is not high, the status is extremely special.
Since Prince Li Bing was ordered to lead the Wucheng Palace in the Eastern Capital and supervise the government on the occasion of the Emperor's Day, the Eastern Palace specially applied to the Imperial Capital for the official position of Huangmen Shilang, which was considered to be in line with the court rules.
The most unusual thing about Shan Tingxian is that although he holds a civilian position, he is not a scholar, but a martial arts master.
Murong Xue is an expert. When they met yesterday, she could see that Shan Tingxian's temples were bulging high and his sharp eyes were shining brightly. It was obvious that he had considerable martial arts power. He carefully considered in his mind all the information that he had read specifically before, but he could not remember this person.
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Everyone greeted Murong Xue and then followed Xie Guang bustling back to the hall, where the guests and hosts took their seats.
On the high couch in the middle of the hall, there is a wide table, which is the seat of the owner Xie Guang. To the left of the main seat was Murong Xue's guest of honor seat, and sitting opposite was the governor of Yuzhou. Each of these three seats is occupied by a single person. On the left and right sides of the case, there is a beautiful lady in full dress kneeling to accompany her.
Other officials sat two to a table and arranged their desks in separate rows.
The banquet kicked off with Xie Guang's toast. Everyone present raised their glasses frequently to welcome Murong Xue to Luoyi. All of a sudden, all kinds of delicacies and fine wines were laid out like flowing water, and the beauties around him were also attentively serving her, pouring wine and serving dishes for Murong Xue.
After three rounds of wine and five delicious dishes, a group of beautiful dancers in feathered and colorful clothes appeared in the open space in the middle of the hall, dancing to the sound of silk and bamboo wind music, like colorful butterflies flying and falling flowers in bloom.
Through the gap between the dancers, Murong Xue peeked and saw Di Xian, who was sitting not far away opposite, whispering to Shan Tingxian, who was sitting at the same table.
At this time, Shan Tingxian happened to raise his head and glanced at Murong Xue across the table, with a malicious smile on his face.
Murong Xue's heart moved: As the saying goes, there is no good banquet. I'm afraid something will happen next, right?
After the song and dance ended, all the guests applauded and cheered.
However, before the applause had completely subsided, Shan Tingxian, the Huangmen servant, stood up and said to Xie Guang, who was sitting high in the middle: "Master Taifu, the reception banquet held for Master Murong tonight is really wonderful. I am humble and drunk and bold. , I also want to add a little interest to all the gentlemen here, is it possible?"
"Oh? What do you suggest, Master Shan?" Xie Guang asked with a smile, holding a wine glass in his hand.
Shan Tingxian replied loudly: "I was born in a humble family. I was favored by His Highness the Crown Prince and was given the post of Huangmen Shilang, in charge of the guards of the Luoyi Palace. I have the chance to meet Lord Murong, and I admire him very much. In terms of job relationship, Lord Murong is a humble person." My immediate superior, when it comes to martial arts and character, he is a few steps ahead of his humble position. Therefore, since I am not talented in my humble position, I would like to ask Lord Murong to give me some pointers in martial arts so that I can improve myself."
Murong Xue sneered in her heart: Sure enough, she is still here! He didn't wait for Xie Guang to speak, and said first: "I'm afraid today's banquet is not suitable for dancing with swords and sticks, right? According to the laws of our Holy Tang Dynasty, unauthorized combat with weapons is also strictly prohibited..."
"Hey, what did Mr. Zhan Shi say?" Di Xian added fuel to the flames: "What the law prohibits is private fighting among the people, but it does not prohibit formal martial arts competitions. In the 800th century of our Holy Tang Dynasty, we established a country by force, and the court and the army were drinking It is common for martial arts competitions to be held during banquets. What's more, Zhan Shifu is in charge of the government affairs of the East Palace. As a superior, it is reasonable for him to give guidance to his subordinates. "
Xie Guang nodded and continued: "Well, what Xiaodi said makes sense. Most of us here today have military backgrounds and don't pay much attention to red tape. Brother Murong, Xie knows that you came from the Imperial Capital's martial arts hall. You are a special student, and you have served in the Forbidden Army's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry for a long time. I don't know how many colleagues here want to see your kung fu. Let's open up everyone's eyes by following a few simple moves with Shan Shilang."
Lao Jianhua had been looking at Murong Xue with a smile and said nothing before, but seeing that he was still hesitating, he said smoothly: "How about this, you two adults don't use weapons, just spar with fists and feet, and that's it. "
After hearing this, everyone present started to cheer loudly, clamoring to see the two of them compete.
Murong Xue suddenly felt embarrassed.
First of all, he hasn't figured out the details of Li Tingxian yet. He doesn't know the other person's background, martial arts skills, or His Highness the Crown Prince's attitude towards this person. It is inevitable to have worries before taking action.
Furthermore, what Murong Xue is good at is archery, horse riding, and military tactics. If we simply talk about martial arts, he is completely inferior to his good brother Li Jiangyao, who was personally trained by He Jingming and Commander He.
At the moment, Shan Tingxian showed off the air of a master, and proposed to only compete with fists and kicks. He must be very sure that if he made a slight mistake due to his lack of strength, he might be taken advantage of by Shan Tingxian.
Although Xie Guang and others were not so bold as to kill him on the spot, a broken bone or tendon might be unavoidable. To put it bluntly, even if it is not that tragic, just losing in public will make the imperial capital lose face.
