Emperor Liu's old legs were becoming more and more useless. After a while, he could no longer stand. He slowly bent over and sat down, resting his right elbow lightly on the ground, lying on his side and leaning on the imperial steps. .
"Guanjia!" Yantuo's voice rang in his ears while he was lost in thought.
Looking up sideways, he saw Yantuo's humble and careful salute as always. After a moment of trance, Emperor Liu resumed his lying posture and asked softly: "How is Xiang Xingmin? Is he sick?" is it serious?"
After hearing the question, Yan Tuo quickly raised his hands and replied: "Wen Guogong's condition is very serious and he can't get up from his bed. According to the imperial doctor, I'm afraid he will be gone in the next two days..."
"Oh..." After hearing the answer, Emperor Liu was stunned for a moment, and then he slowly responded and asked, "I can't remember clearly. How old is Xiang Xingmin this year?"
Yantuo couldn't help but look at Emperor Liu in surprise. You must know that just last year, Emperor Liu personally went out of the palace to attend Xiang Xun's seventy-fifth birthday. Surprise flashed in the depths of his eyes, and Yantuo said in a calm tone: "Back to the official residence, Duke Wen is already seventy and six years old!"
"I'm almost 70 years old, which is considered a long life!" Emperor Liu sighed deeply: "I still remember that before the Taiyuan army was launched, Xiang Xun surrendered hundreds of miles to the army. He was not used by the late emperor, so he was taken under my command. From then on, he received a helping hand and helped several people. I have been banned from entering and leaving for ten years, and I have worked hard and followed life and death. I still remember this landlubber. I was forced to take charge of the Jingjiang Army. In order to practice water skills, he almost drowned. During the Huainan War, I used the weak navy to protect the Queen. Along the way, he has made outstanding achievements continuously; I still remember that he attacked Shu with a partial army and wiped out the sixty states of Sichuan and Shu in one fell swoop, and the southwest was determined from then on...
In the blink of an eye, it has been almost thirty years since Pingshu. Why do I feel like it just happened yesterday?
Old friends are dying! I am getting more and more lonely in this world..."
Emperor Liu sighed emotionally, and his dim old eyes even looked a little red. However, what seems a little weird is that before Xiang Xunren left, Emperor Liu had already entered into the grief of losing his old friend, recalling the past as if reciting a eulogy, telling the story of the turbulent years, and Liu The emotions shown by the emperor seemed extremely sincere and did not seem to be fake...
Naturally, Yantuo didn't want to see Emperor Liu immersed in such negative emotions, and couldn't help but comfort him: "In the official family, good people have their own destiny. Wen Guogong is a hero of Yuancong and the pillar of the Han Dynasty. God also I will give you more protection, maybe things will get better in two days, and I will come to the palace in person to say hello to the officials..."
Emperor Liu was noncommittal about what he said, and instead asked, "Xiang Xingmin, don't you have anything to say to me?"
A slight embarrassment flashed across Yantuo's face, but he did not dare to deceive Emperor Liu. He lowered his head and replied honestly: "Wen Guogong is already speechless..."
This answer explained everything. After a moment of pondering, Emperor Liu sat up, looked at the blue sky above his head, sighed longly, and ordered: "Make arrangements, tomorrow..., no, I will go there in person tonight. Mansion, I would like to see the old minister and see him off...
I haven't talked to him alone for a long time. If I can't speak, maybe I can only tell him.
I don’t know how sick he is now, the hero is dying, it’s really sad to think about it..."
"Guan family!" Emperor Liu muttered in his mouth, but he still entered a state of worry and even fear. He couldn't help but call out gently, with a caring tone, but he wanted to remove Emperor Liu from that negative attitude. Pulled out of emotions.
"I'm fine!" However, Emperor Liu was not a fragile person after all. His face quickly changed, his expression became indifferent, and he waved his hand to Chong Yan.
"Where are the twenty-four ministers now? If I go to the Star People, I will be even more lonely..." Emperor Liu shook his head lightly, with a slightly complicated meaning in his tone.
After all, Xiang Xun was different from others. He was the first to follow Emperor Liu. He was in the same group as Zhang Yanwei, Guo Rong, Murong Yanzhao, Ma Quanyi, Han Tong, and Yang Ye. In his early years, he was a backbone general of the imperial party. With great seniority and outstanding achievements, as the heroes and heroines passed away one by one, they were unparalleled in the current dynasty.
Although in the past twenty years, Xiang Xun, like most of the founding generals, resigned from his post and handed over power and retreated to the second line, he was also a banner for the nobles and the military, but he was not as eye-catching as Zhao Kuangyin. Emperor Liu was just jealous. As for the degree of closeness, no matter in the early, mid-term or now, in Emperor Liu's mind, only Yang Ye could compare with him.
However, now this flag is about to fall. With Emperor Liu's state of mind at this time, how could he not feel anything in his heart.
However, even Xiang Xun could not make Emperor Liu feel too sad, and he soon regained some composure.
Maybe he was too deep in his thoughts and had too many thoughts, but he felt a little empty at this time. Probably wanting to change his mood, Emperor Liu looked at Yantuo, who was waiting carefully, and asked with interest: "Yantuo, I heard that you also adopted a son?"
Yantuo was slightly shocked when he heard this. Why did he jump to this matter all of a sudden? His brain was thinking wildly and guessing constantly. Could it be that the officials had opinions on this matter? Or did the child make some mistake and was reported to the officials? If so, who could it be, Wang Jien's old dog? Or other ministers or censors?
While his mind was spinning, Yan Tuo tried his best to remain calm on his face and responded: "Back to the official family, Xiao Xiao is a person without roots. He is single-minded and only wants to serve the official family and has nothing else. However, in the past few years, in the countryside, A clan elder came and introduced me to a junior from the same clan. Seeing that he was quite smart and very likable, the younger couldn't stand the clan elder's persuasion and couldn't bear the elder's wishes, so he adopted him as his adopted son..."
"Why are you so verbose!" After listening to Yantuo talking as if reporting official business, Emperor Liu frowned slightly and said, "What is the situation of your adopted son? What does he do for a living now?"
Hearing this, Yantuo became more careful, and some bad thoughts came into his mind. Could it be that he had really committed something?
"The younger one arranged for him to live in Anyang, bought him a house and several acres of thin farmland, and let him study hard..." Yan Tuo said.
"How old are you?"
"Nineteenth year."
"You are about the same age as Liu Shan!" Emperor Liu muttered, and then asked Yantuo meaningfully: "Anyang, I have forgotten that you are also from Anyang's hometown! Since you are such an adopted son, why? Instead of being arranged in the capital, you should be filial to your bedside? At the age of nineteen, you can also be assigned a position. With your current status as Senior Officer Yan, it is only a matter of one sentence to arrange a seventh-grade minister..."
Emperor Liu said this easily, even with a bit of ridicule, but Yantuo couldn't help but break into a cold sweat when he heard it. He didn't dare to be negligent, and hurriedly expressed his position: "The official family is generous, and the eunuch adopts an adopted son, which is inherently objectionable. It's a small thing. It's just a private thought to keep the incense alive, so I put it in Anyang, away from right and wrong.
Although the younger ones benefited from the favor of the officials, they certainly had some influence, but the official positions of the state were public weapons. How could they dare to give and receive them privately, thereby incurring the favor of the officials?
I don’t have high hopes for my adopted son, so I naturally don’t need to arrange all the four adopted sons in place like the envoy of the Imperial City, and give him my wings and help..."
At the end of the confession, Yantuo did not forget to apply eye drops to the imperial envoy Wang Jien in front of Emperor Liu.
However, Emperor Liu didn't seem to care much about the overt and covert fighting between the two eunuchs. His attention was still on Yantuo's adopted son.
After thinking about it, Emperor Liu asked calmly: "You were also present at the enfeoffment discussion on the night of Shangyuan. I intend to enfeoff Liu Han to Nanyang. Your adopted son is about the same age as him, so that he can go to sea to join the country with Liu Han. , I wonder if you are willing to part with it?"
Hearing this, Yantuo was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Emperor Liu to have such an idea at all. He didn't know what to do for a while.
However, after a brief hesitation, he still bowed and said: "I have only served the officials my whole life. If I am lucky enough to serve the fifteenth prince, it will be his honor. If it is passed down to the generals, it will be a good story. If the officials have The edict, no matter how small it is, I have no intention of giving up..."
Hearing Yantuo's statement, Emperor Liu laughed out loud: "Looking at your hesitation, it can be seen that you don't mean what you said! You are reluctant to part with your adopted son, let alone a blood relative?"
After saying this, Emperor Liu fell into his own thoughts. He stopped talking and made no further conclusions on the matter, leaving Yan Tuo, who was deeply concerned about the matter, feeling uneasy.
…
At night, the front door of Duke Wen's mansion was brightly lit, and a few shadows were reflected on the ground. Emperor Liu walked out of the palace slowly. He had already seen Xiang Xun. Yantuo did not lie to him at all. Xiang Xun was indeed dying. He was haggard and breathless, and he was on his deathbed. He couldn't speak, but his old eyes showed excitement after seeing Emperor Liu's arrival in person.
Facing the old man in the future, Emperor Liu also behaved like an old man. He forgot his identity as a monarch and minister, held Xiang Xun's hand, said some personal words, and once again recalled the prosperous years and Qianyu related to Xiang Xun. In the past, I saw Xiang Xun off calmly until he fell asleep. Even Empress Fu was not able to enjoy this kind of treatment back then...
However, after tonight, Emperor Liu may never be able to get rid of the title of "Old Minister Killer". Of course, there are only a handful of people worthy of him visiting the palace in person.
(End of chapter)
