Inside, Emperor Liu huddled lazily between the soft chairs, his body swaying, and his feet soaked in a basin. It was a medicinal soup specially prepared for him by the imperial doctor, which could dispel dampness and relieve fatigue.
The one waiting next to him was Little Concubine Zhou Yifei, who was squatting down with a graceful posture, massaging Emperor Liu with her delicate hands that played the piano, drums and harp.
Emperor Liu's face was full of contentment. Obviously, compared to the pot of medicinal soup, Mrs. Zhou could relieve fatigue better, and she felt relaxed and happy looking at her beautiful face.
The technique is a little rusty, but the softness of the jade hands can make people's bones go numb. However, Emperor Liu was not completely immersed in the gentle countryside. He looked sideways at Zhang Dejun who was waiting at the side and said casually: "Lu Duoxun is here! Is he going to see Wang Yinwu?"
"Back to the official residence, that's right! After meeting His Highness the Crown Prince, I went there with a gift. The two of them talked behind closed doors for about half an hour before leaving!" Zhang Dejun whispered, his words full of hints.
Emperor Liu didn't seem to be aware of it, and chuckled: "Oh? This Lu Duoxun is very polite and never comes empty-handed. What rare treasure did he bring to Wang Yinwu?"
"This has never been discovered before!" Zhang Dejun seemed to be a little frightened and said with his head buried in the air.
"Okay!" Emperor Liu stretched out his hand and said, "I know about this! It is normal for Lu Duoxun and Wang Yinwu to meet and visit as old friends, so there is no need to make a fuss!"
"Yes!" Zhang Dejun looked very respectful, without any nonsense, as if he was keeping his duty.
He raised his hand to signal him to retreat. Although Emperor Liu seemed to be open-minded and indifferent, during the silence, his expression gradually changed from sunny to gloomy, and his anxious eyes became sharp for a moment.
Obviously, he didn't care at all about the news reported by Zhang Dejun, but he didn't have a clear idea of how to deal with it.
The friendship between Lu Duoxun and Wang Yinwu is not a secret. They visited openly and openly, which showed that they were magnanimous and overreacted. Maybe they were making a fuss out of a molehill, which was unnecessary. However, if he didn't express anything and did nothing, Emperor Liu would still feel unhappy.
Emperor Liu believed that he knew Lu Duoxun well. There was no doubt about his ability and talent. He was of low stature, could endure hardships, and could withstand tests. He had established so many achievements in the northwest and made so much money. Its reputation is a reflection of its comprehensive quality.
However, this person's temperament is indeed arrogant, conceited about his talents, and difficult to tolerate others. He always lacks some tolerance and self-cultivation when serving as an official.
Moreover, Emperor Liu was ambitious and obsessed with power. This was evident to Emperor Liu from the time he was named in the imperial examination and first entered his official career twenty years ago.
Emperor Liu was not surprised by the behavior of forming gangs and cultivating party members in the northwest. Of course, the reason why we accepted Zhao Pu's suggestion and transferred him away from Hexi was based on this consideration, and it also served as a warning to Lu Duoxun.
But now it seems that this warning has not been effective, or it has not met expectations. If we say that in the northwest, the exchanges between Lu and Wang were more intensive, it is still understandable.
However, the current situation is completely different from that in Hexi. Since ancient times, internal and external collusion has been difficult to truly eradicate.
But what are the identities of the two of them? One is the chief official of Zhejiang and Zhejiang. Furthermore, it may be that the Yin of the two capitals has an affair. It is not impossible to even directly worship the prime minister.
One is the Wu Deshi who is in charge of the huge intelligence organization Wude Division. If the two collude, the impact it will have and the power it will unleash will be uncontrollable. Even with Emperor Liu's current caliber, he would be wary.
Lu Duoxun and Wang Yinwu obviously haven't realized this yet, otherwise they wouldn't be able to hide anything and they would have to be more cautious.
Therefore, Zhang Dejun's report had an effect. Emperor Liu obviously had some ideas about the old couple Lu and Wang. Of course, in the final analysis, Emperor Liu also had some problems in employing people, and the selection of military envoys was inevitably somewhat arbitrary.
In the current court, Zhao Pu has quite a few opponents, but among the Taoist officials, Lu Duoxun is the only one who dares to raise his banner to oppose him and highlight his contradictions.
Over the past year or so, Emperor Liu had received quite a few questions from Lu Duoxun regarding some of the imperial policies, all of which were implemented under the leadership of Zhao Pu. Although it did not directly criticize impeachment, it was obviously eye candy.
The relationship between the two is somewhat similar to the conflict between Wang Pu and Prime Minister Li Tao. At the beginning, one of the two people was the chief official of Huaidong and the other was the current prime minister, but their differences were more about political opinions. As for the relationship between Lu Duoxun and Zhao Pu, it is obvious that the nature of their personal grudge is more serious.
Regarding the discord between the two, Emperor Liu has always had the mentality of watching a show, sitting back and watching or even conniving. Although he trusted Zhao Pu and was willing to hand over the government affairs to him, he also needed to find some opponents for him, otherwise how could he bow down with peace of mind? And cure.
However, if Lu Duoxun himself did not know how to be cautious, Emperor Liu's tolerance would have limits. Emperor Liu always had a bottom line of trade-offs in his mind. If he felt that the bottom line had been breached, then he would consider taking off his official hat or even his head.
"Guanjia, the water is cold, please add some hot water!" During the pause, Little Concubine Zhou called softly, which brought Emperor Liu back from his fugue.
Looking at Xiao Zhou's delicate dimples, Emperor Liu stopped contemplating, smiled, shook his head and said, "No need!"
Although he was used to being served by others, Emperor Liu still maintained the habit of wiping his own feet. After the medicinal soup was removed, her feet were dried, and the rag was thrown away. Perhaps because she felt that Mrs. Zhou was working hard after squatting for a long time, she pulled her up and put her in his arms, feeling the tightness of her delicate buttocks.
"You heard Zhang Dejun's report just now, right?" Emperor Liu asked casually, sniffing the intoxicating smell on Xiao Zhou's body.
"Yeah!" Xiao Zhou nodded his head and responded.
"Have you understood?" Emperor Liu asked.
This was probably the first time that Emperor Liu discussed similar issues with her. Xiao Zhou looked at the greasy middle-aged man hugging his slender waist in surprise. He frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and said tentatively: "Then Lu Shijun is bringing the gift." Is it possible that the officials suspected bribery when visiting the military envoy?"
Seeing the serious expression on the beautiful lady in his arms, Emperor Liu had a hint of pity in his eyes. He shook his head and said, "If Lu Duosun wants to bribe, he has to hide it!"
"Then why are the officials worried?" The smart little Lady Zhou naturally noticed the strangeness of Emperor Liu.
Emperor Liu casually moved around the young lady's waist and said quietly: "Compared with bribery, some things are more noteworthy and worthy of vigilance!"
Xiao Zhou was obviously puzzled by Emperor Liu's words, and Emperor Liu had no intention of explaining. On the contrary, after temporarily putting aside the relationship between Lu and Wang, my thoughts shifted to Zhang Dejun.
Although Zhang Dejun acted in a low-key manner just now, and his words were not very specific, but for some purposes, basic judgments can be made based on behavior alone.
Compared with then, Zhang Dejun seems to be more cunning now, even planting mines without leaving any trace. Zhang Dejun was not targeting Lu Duoxun. He was talking about Lu Duoxun the whole time, but his secret arrow was actually aimed at Wang Yinwu.
Zhang Dejun obviously knew Emperor Liu better than those two people. The closer the two people were, the more suspicious Emperor Liu would be, and something would happen sooner or later.
Zhang Dejun, who had always had a rift with Wude Si, was naturally happy to see this. This was probably a conspiracy. Even if Emperor Liu was aware of Zhang Dejun's motives, it would always be effective given his suspicious nature.
