The officials dispersed at Danfeng Gate, thinking that the Chunwei farce had subsided, but few noticed what had happened to the prince.
Because the whole thing seems to have nothing to do with the prince.
But after the sound of silk and bamboo in the opera house stopped, a eunuch cautiously warned him.
"Sage, the prince has been kneeling in the palace all night."
Li Longji had a series of wins at the card table last night. He was in high spirits and had his breakfast with a smile. When he heard this, his face immediately turned cold.
Gao Lishi stepped forward quickly, kicked the young eunuch aside, and scolded: "You are always talkative, and others think you are taking advantage of it."
"This slave is guilty."
"I'm tired."
Li Longji was easy to get along with and rarely blamed the people around him. He calmly ordered people to arrange for a ride to rest.
"Sage, how will the prince arrange it?"
"Can I arrange it? Can I arrange it?"
"Old slave talks too much."
When his interest faded, Li Longji felt tired and sighed.
Recalling that when he was a boy, he was so beautiful that he supported his father's coup, and after his father abdicated the throne and became the Supreme Emperor, he made a coup and monopolized power. He ascended to the throne in the 95th year, created the prosperous age of the Tang Dynasty, and controlled the ministers. People say, "When you are seventy, you can do what your heart wants." He has already done what his heart wants.
There was only one thing that didn't go his way - old age.
Just because he is old, the ministers insist on a prince.
What is a prince? On the surface, he is submissive, but secretly he has been coveting everything that belongs to him. I can't wait for him to die, and after he dies, I will chase the beauty in this forbidden garden...
What Li Linfu said that really angered him last night was actually "The prince is also a prince", which made him so angry that he wanted to depose the prince.
Unfortunately, it will be very troublesome.
This is how the murderous intent at that time came about. The king's mind encompassed all the world, and he only wanted to kill in anger when he was powerless, targeting the prince.
Therefore, once Xue Bai draws a clear line, it doesn't matter how many little thoughts he has.
Li Longji had already seen through these people. Civil servants, jesters, and ministers, so what if they are bad to the core? You have to change your tricks to make the king happy and rack your brains to serve delicious and fun things.
The only threat is his son.
"well."
The sighs fell into the ears of the palace ladies, and they thought the saint was pitying the prince who had been kneeling all night.
~~
"Your Highness, get up."
Yu Chaoen carefully walked around behind Li Heng and helped the prince up.
"The saint played dominoes all night and has gone to bed."
"Father, don't you see me?"
"I dare not say..."
Li Heng lowered his head, gently shook Yu Chaoen's hand, secretly gave him a sincere look, and said softly: "Please also ask the internal officials to save me."
"The saint said that arrangements could not be made for His Highness. It was General Gao who made the decision and asked His Highness to go back."
"Li Chu and Xue Bai are both young and impulsive. I am definitely not instigating them." Li Heng was anxious and whispered: "I must explain to my father."
"But how can this slave help His Highness?"
"Can you let me meet Aweng?"
Yu Chaoen was in a dilemma, but in the end, he stamped his feet and turned around to invite Gao Lishi, saying that the prince refused to leave.
Gao Lishi had already helped Li Longji to sleep, shook his head, and finally came to see him in person.
"Ah Weng." Li Heng burst into tears, "Please help me, Ah Weng."
"Your Majesty, don't worry, let alone see this old slave. Go back and have a good time, and don't worry about things in vain to save yourself."
"I really didn't instigate it!" Li Heng said, "I neither ordered Li Chu to stand up for others, nor did I order Xue Bai to show the blood test in public."
Li Heng knew very well that Xue Bai's move had completely ruined the saint's perception of the East Palace.
The saint appeased all living beings, banned the emperor's grandson, scolded Li Linfu and Xue Bai, but ignored him. Why?
Because the more thunderous the saint is, the more calm he becomes!
"My father has met with the Prime Minister and Xue Bai, but not me? At least he should give me a chance to explain..."
"Explain, what do you want to explain, Your Highness?"
"Aweng, listen to me..."
"Your Highness wants to say that it is better to talk to Wang Zhongsi and King Guangping." Gao Lishi finally relented, "The saint wanted Shibao City, but His Highness asked Wang Zhongsi to preserve his strength; the saint wanted to appease all living beings, but Your Highness asked Guang Ping Prince Ping took the lead. Since Your Highness is so capable, why bother telling this old slave?"
"Don't even Awen believe me?"
"It doesn't matter whether the old slave believes it or not, and it doesn't matter whether the saint listens or not. What matters is His Highness's own heart."
"It's Ge Nu who is slandering me again, and Xue Bai's bloody condition is also..."
"If Your Highness is willing to be calm, can others get the handle?!" Gao Lishi saw that the prince was still being tough and said: "The sage said, 'You don't need to listen to explanations. If you can't destroy him, what's the use of explanations'?" "
Li Heng's head buzzed, as if he had been struck by thunder. He was so frightened that he froze there, with cold sweat covering his back.
~~
Large beads of sweat broke out from Xue Bai's back and flowed down his strong waist.
Du Jin held on to the wooden railing beside the couch to prevent her head from being hit.
Covered by the sound of dusk drums, she shouted.
"dying!"
With this cry, the bed that seemed to be falling apart finally gradually stopped.
The setting sun shines through the window paper, dyeing the small attic a golden color.
Du Jin's breathing stopped, and he smoothed away the wet hair from his face, his eyes were different again.
"It would be better if we died together just now."
"You don't have to be so uneasy all the time." Xue Bai gently stroked her slender waist covered with sweat, "You won't die."
"Will you abandon me in the future?" Du Jin suddenly asked, looking much softer.
Xue Bai looked into her eyes.
He thought about what he said when he first met her, that if Dong Gong abandoned the people around him again, it would be bad for people's hearts. This was their consensus and the common bottom line.
Since then, the two have reached this point, driven by desire and interests, as well as a love that goes through life and death.
Although Xue Bai is not a moral gentleman, he still has his own principles, otherwise he would not have taken the risk of taking out the blood test yesterday. It's nothing comparable to Dong Gong's approach of abandoning his son just because he doesn't want to take any risks.
He was suddenly thinking, what would he do if he were the prince?
Thinking about it, Li Heng couldn't be forbearing after all. I can only try my best to do better than Li Ying. Now that they are all wearing armor and marching into the palace, I don't know what to hesitate. It's just death.
In this way, his cultivation level in the art of power is still low. Of course, it may not be good if you practice too much power.
There was no need to say anything to each other. Du Jin understood him and leaned forward gently, saying, "Well, I wanted you to rest more."
"Have enough sleep."
"Actually, I don't think you need to take risks for others when it comes to Chunwei."
"I think I've figured out a bit of the saint's temper. He's quite easy to get along with, as long as he doesn't get too close to Dong Gong. In this regard, Genu has some tricks up his sleeve, and he wants to tie me to Dong Gong."
"Li Heng also knows this. After this incident, he will definitely pretend to be generous, get close to you, tie you into the water, and let the world think that you are on the same side with him."
Xue Bai muttered: "Don't be afraid. If he comes to tie me up, I will tie up his people."
Du Jin was not very happy after hearing this, so she pressed on Xue Bai and pressed him to death, saying: "I have been yours for a long time..."
~~
At night, Li Jingzhong walked down the corridor holding a new set of clothes.
"Your Highness, the wedding robe is ready, would you like to try it on?"
Li Heng was looking at the moon by the window and said without looking back: "At this time of year, wedding matters are simple. This robe is too extravagant. I need to change it."
Today's saints are extremely luxurious, and there are 700 people in the palace who cut clothes for Concubine Yang.
And as a prince, he didn't even want to wear fancy clothes when he got married. This is such a frugal thing.
Li Jingzhong reminded in a low voice: "I'm afraid Zhang Liangdi will be dissatisfied."
This sentence refers to Zhang Liangdi, but it implicitly refers to the saint.
Li Heng said intentionally or unintentionally: "Of course she is dissatisfied, but the marriage has been decided, how can she not marry me as her husband?"
"Yes, is there anyone else in the world who is worthy of Zhang Liangdi?" Li Jingzhong said with an apologetic smile.
The same is true for the reserve position. Can a saint feel at ease if he changes to another son?
King of longevity?
In short, after Li Jingzhong comforted him for a few words, the prince felt a little better.
"Give me the guest list."
"Your Highness, what is this?"
"At this time of year, please invite fewer people."
"But it's not easy for His Highness to have this opportunity to get close to the ministers..."
Li Jingzhong was very upset and thought that if this was the case, it would be better not to let King Guangping grab that reputation. What was even more hateful was that Xue Bai took out the fatal thing in front of everyone.
The guest list has been reviewed dozens of times, and those who have been carefully considered will be of great use to the East Palace in the future and can be invited.
Unexpectedly, after Li Heng took over, he did not hesitate to exclude Pei Kuan, the imperial censor, Fang Guan, the general on the right, Lai Yi, the general on the right, Xue Hui, the general on the left Jin Wuwei, and others.
Li Jingzhong stepped forward to take a look and saw that only the clan and artists such as Jia Chang, Li Guinian and Gongsun Auntie were left.
Seeing him feel distressed and hateful, he couldn't help but said: "Your Highness, Pei Mian came up with an idea to make people pretend to be cockfighters, except Xue Bai..."
Before he finished speaking, Li Heng directly dropped the pen in his hand on Li Jingzhong's head.
"What time is it now? Killing people just to vent your anger is of no use to the greater good? How dare you cause trouble for me!"
"This old slave knows his crime."
Li Jingzhong was so frightened that he quickly changed to a new pen.
Li Heng took the pen and slowly wrote several new names at the end of the guest list.
~~
Xue Bai took up the pen and slowly wrote a series of words.
"Right and wrong are just for talking more, and all troubles are caused by forcing oneself to speak out."
The early morning sunlight shines on the tables and stools in the lobby of Yanzhai, and the handwriting on the rice paper looks correct.
Yan Zhenqing took a look, but shook his head and sighed.
"If you can't write well, you can't remember the principles."
"Teacher, should you teach students principles or calligraphy first today?" Xue Bai asked politely.
One sentence made Yan Zhenqing laugh out of anger.
He put down the book in his hand, sat down in the hall, and said, "Tell me, how was the night before?"
"The sage first asked me who was being used to uncover the Caoqu case. I answered that I had a personal grudge against Ge Nu. Later in the dominoes game, I won a thousand coins from the imperial concubine and Guo Guo's wife, but the saint won them all back. In the end, I lost three. Hundreds of guan, including the 800 guan I won last time, were also filled in. I said I had no money, and the saint gave me many tributes, including a priceless bronze mirror, which I placed in the Fengwei Tower. The saint is very generous..."
Yan Zhenqing looked sad when he heard this, much more sad than when he was worried about Xue Bai.
The saint is famous for his generosity. Whenever he is in a good mood, he always gives countless rewards to those around him.
But what benefit does this kind of generosity have to our country, our country, and our country?
Having mentioned the matter of money, Yan Zhenqing sighed: "Fang Gong has been thinking carefully about your two tax laws recently and thinks that now is probably not the time to implement them..."
It is conceivable that with the current state of mind of the saint, it is impossible to carry out tax law reform. Moreover, as long as this unbridled emperor refuses to be frugal, any tax law will only become a tool to plunder the people.
Fang Guan mentioned this matter in order to win over Xue Bai, meaning "the prince and King Guangping will implement it in the future, and you will be reused."
Xue Bai also had a purpose and said thoughtfully: "Teacher may reply to Fang Gong. The saint seems to be dissatisfied with Ge Nu, because there are many places to spend money in recent years. It would be good if there are important ministers who can manage money, such as Pei Gong and Fang Gong. .”
Yan Zhenqing sighed and shook his head.
Xue Bai knew that the teacher had seen through some of his thoughts, but he remained calm and continued: "In addition to increasing revenue, there is also cutting expenditure. I heard that the saint wanted to expand the Huaqing Palace. Although I don't know how to build it, I feel that the cost estimated by Ge Nu is too high. .”
Yan Zhenqing's expression changed. It was the first time he discovered that having a jester beside the saint to inquire about information could be so useful.
But he scolded: "You still haven't repented! You are inciting trouble in front of me."
"Students must do their duty honestly and study with peace of mind."
Yan Zhenqing saw that this attitude was good and Fang nodded.
In fact, he was not part of the Donggong family, but he was familiar with Fang Guan. Even if he saw through Xue Bai's intention to stir up trouble in the Donggong to counterattack the Youxiang Mansion, he would still tell such information.
"I remind you again, never use the opportunity of serving the saint to interfere in state affairs again."
"Yes, the student told the saint that he will serve the country as an official in the future and can no longer play dominoes in the palace."
"Quite sensible. Let me ask you, why did you hand the blood sample to King Guangping?"
"If you take it out in public, it will not make the saint and the prime minister admit their mistakes and cause trouble, but it will create a great momentum and make them somewhat afraid in the future. In recent years, everyone has been afraid of taking risks and kept silent. King Guangping is the most important person among saints. My beloved grandson, I am the saint’s poker partner. If we don’t dare to take risks together, wouldn’t the whole world be a warlord?”
"Tell people what they say, and tell ghosts when you see ghosts."
Yan Zhenqing originally wanted to beat Xue Bai and stop him from targeting the East Palace, but at first he didn't believe Xue Bai's excuse. However, after careful consideration, I finally believed it.
If he didn't have such sincerity, how could he accept him as his disciple?
Yan Zhenqing stood up, went outside the hall to summon people and said, "Go to the study and bring the scroll from my desk."
…
After a while, it was Wei Yun and Yan Yan who personally delivered the scroll.
"You are so young, stay less involved in state affairs in the future, study hard, practice calligraphy, and take a look."
Xue Bai took the scroll with both hands and opened it, but it was an article titled "The Twelve Meanings of Zhang Changshi's Writing Method".
When he saw the beautiful running script with dragons and phoenixes dancing on it, he couldn't help but ask: "Teacher, can the student practice running script?"
"No." Yan Zhenqing put his hands behind his hands and sneered, "If you don't have to work hard, just practice regular script for another thirty years."
Yan Yan secretly smiled and rolled her eyes, full of gloating.
Xue Bai looked at the scroll and first saw the preface to the narrative, telling the story of Yan Zhenqing's study with Zhang Xu, followed by a detailed explanation of the twelve meanings of the brushwork.
"I gave up Zhiliquan and went to Dongluo. I visited Zhang Gongxu, the chief historian of Jinwu, and asked him to learn brushwork..."
After he read it carefully, Yan Zhenqing asked, "Do you understand?"
“Students don’t quite understand it yet.”
"Write the word forever."
"yes."
"You haven't understood it at all. I asked you to 'pitch with etiquette' and 'vertically and horizontally with images'. The intention is to be as natural as Cui Yuan and the image is like Cai Yong, then write it."
"..."
When Xue Bai wrote a few more words in succession, Yan Zhenqing was still dissatisfied and turned away impatiently, while Wei Yun hurriedly arranged breakfast.
Yan Yan walked to the table, took a look, and reminded her softly: "When you write vertically, you must use your strength. You don't have to restrain yourself. The vertical strokes are straight down. Brother, can you understand the meaning of the word 'vertical'?"
What she said became much simpler. Xue Bai got some guidance and made some progress in writing.
This improvement was nothing in Yan Zhenqing's eyes, but Yan Yan was much more patient. She nodded and said, "Brother is talented. He has mastered the brushwork, but he still needs practice."
After saying that, she turned around and saw her grandfather and mother-in-law talking, so she asked Xue Baixiao in a low voice: "I heard that you come from a gambling family. Your grandfather ran away due to debts, and you played dominoes every night. ,is that true?"
"Huh? Who said that?"
"Your grandma said it."
Xue Bai was speechless and turned around to take a look, only to see that her beautiful eyes were full of curiosity and exploration, as well as a little sly teasing.
Inexplicably, he seemed to be less able to speak in front of this little girl.
"Brother, can you tell me what happened between you and the refiner?"
"Why do you ask this?"
"The master healed me, and I want to know more about her."
Xue Bai didn't know what to say.
Yan Yan seemed to have seen through the entanglement between him and Li Tengkong, but she did not point it out. She asked Yan Zhenqing: "My master's attainments are too high. My attainments are just right for my elder brother? Can I let my elder brother write a manuscript every day?" Shall I comment?"
"It's up to him to write or not, the calligraphy article is his own business."
Xue Bai said: "Teacher, don't worry, I will definitely write it and send it to you."
Yan Yan was proud, she put her chin on her finger and thought for a while, then said, "Brother, I will write something tomorrow, something special like the poem "The Sapphire Case"."
"good."
Wei Yun looked around and saw Xue Bai bowing out, she was slightly confused and said to Yan Zhenqing: "You said this disciple is shameless and cunning, why do I become more and more reserved when I see him?"
"Evil people will be punished by their own evildoers."
~~
Xue Bai returned home with the scroll, recalling the events of Chunwei along the way. Compared with the East Palace and the Right Prime Minister's Palace, he had increased his reputation and broadened his connections. In fact, he gained the most.
"May I ask, are you Xue Bai and Xue Langjun?"
Just as he was about to enter the door, he heard this soft question. Xue Bai turned around and saw a young man who looked like a servant.
"it's me."
"Mr.
They were two matching pieces of bamboo, tied together with red thread, which looked quite simple.
When I opened it, I found a single piece of colored paper inside, which read: "On the second day of the Lunar New Year in Meng Xia, we have a wedding banquet in the East Palace. We will have a small dinner with a small set of clothes. We will wait for you at the end of the application."
But it was Li Heng's wedding invitation.
(End of chapter)
