Li Zhi sat on the high platform, looked at the ministers below, and glanced towards the distance with a playful look. Outside the palace and beyond, there were more ministers and fanliao sitting on both sides.
After the ministers sat down, they all looked at the emperor, queen and prince on the high throne.
Li Zhi glanced sideways at Empress Wu, smiled softly, then turned to look at the ministers, and said: "Although there are twists and turns in the good year of the Yuan Dynasty, it depends on the concerted efforts of all the ministers to ensure the peace of the people. Today is the Yuan Dynasty festival. Prepare fine wine and thank heaven and earth. Heaven and earth will work together, and the country will last forever!"
Li Zhi raised the wine bottle, looked at the clear sky outside the hall, looked solemn, and slowly poured the wine in the bottle directly on the steps.
"May heaven and earth work together, and the Tang Dynasty will last forever!" Everyone shouted in unison, and then followed suit and poured the wine from the bottle onto the ground.
Li Zhi smiled with satisfaction. When he looked up, the palace maid behind him had already filled the wine cup again.
Li Zhi raised the wine bottle again, his face suddenly solemn and said: "Thank you to the ancestors for their blessings, and the country is stable."
"I hope my ancestors will protect me and make the Tang Dynasty stable." The ministers poured the wine from the bottles onto the ground again.
Li Zhi carried the wine again, looked at the ministers and said, "Thank you three times, ministers, for working together and sharing the wealth. Come and have the wine!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Everyone present immediately raised their wine bottles and raised their heads solemnly towards Li Zhi.
"Give me a drink." Li Zhi smiled and raised his head, then drank the wine in the bottle in one gulp.
Li Xuan sat down below and drank all the wine in the bottle with the ministers.
Then, the beautiful palace maid behind him immediately stepped forward and helped Li Xuan fill up the wine bottle.
Li Zhi laughed, then looked sideways at Prince Li Xian, King of England Li Xian and Prime Minister Li Dan, and said: "Xian'er, Xian'er, Dan'er, please go and toast the ministers one by one on my behalf."
"My son, I obey the decree." Li Xian, Li Xian and Li Dan came down from the stage one after another. Li Xian was in the middle of the hall, while Li Xian and Li Dan were outside the hall, one on the left and one on the right, toasting to the ministers of the court.
At this time, Li Zhi turned his head and looked at Dian Yi, who immediately sang: "Serve the food, have fun, and dance."
Taiyue ordered the bell to hit the yellow bell, and the five bells on the right responded, playing the music of Taihe and encouraging people to cheer up.
Hundreds of graceful palace dancers entered the palace and began to dance.
Li Zhi sat on the high platform and saw that the ministers were a little restrained. He smiled faintly, then turned to look at Empress Wu beside him, raised the bottle and said: "Come, Mei Niang, I also offer you a bottle."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, my concubine." Empress Wu smiled softly, then raised the bottle and drank the wine in one gulp.
Li Zhi put down the wine bottle, picked up his chopsticks, and put a piece of thin meat into Empress Wu's bowl, and then said softly: "I can't eat more, Mei Niang, please eat more for me."
"My concubine accepts the order." Empress Wu gently picked up the thin meat, and then put the thin meat into her mouth under Li Zhi's gaze, her face full of tenderness.
Li Zhi's face was filled with a cheerful smile, then he turned to look at the ministers and nodded slightly.
…
Seeing this scene, the ministers relaxed slightly and toasted each other noisily.
Li Xuan raised the wine bottle, turned to look at Li Jing, King Si Zheng on the left, and raised the wine bottle.
At this time, Li Jing raised the wine bottle at the same time and also looked sideways to the left.
Above the left head, King Li Yuanjia of Han held up the wine bottle, then looked at the kings and said gently: "Today is a festive day, all the kings and nephews, let's drink together. I wish the Tang Dynasty and your majesty ten thousand years!"
"May the Tang Dynasty live forever! Your Majesty, live forever!" All the kings congratulated in unison, and then drank all the wine in the bottle.
On the other side, Prince Li Xian was toasting to all the ministers one by one.
Starting from Zhongshu's order Hao Chujun, to the left servant of the minister Liu Rengui, the right servant of the minister Hao Chujun, the minister Zhao Renben, the minister Zhang Wenguan, and the other six ministers, the ministers of the nine temples, and the five eunuchs made toasts one by one.
Li Xuan and Li Jing, the heir to King Zheng, clinked glasses and drank. They put down the wine bottles and looked at the opposite side.
He looked across from him, always feeling a little strange.
Li Jingye was sitting next to Pei Yan, the Minister of Punishment. On the other side of Li Jingye, sitting was none other than Shi Dou Xuande, the governor-general of Yangzhou.
It is a foregone conclusion that Dou Xuande will be transferred to the center. What, is Li Jingye also going to be transferred back to the center this time?
The atmosphere between Pei Yan and Li Jingye was very strange. Li Jingye seemed to want to say something, but Pei Yan always turned his head away.
Li Xuan was sure that these two people must know that it was him sitting across from him, but for some unknown reason, neither of them looked at him.
Are you avoiding suspicion?
It's to avoid suspicion.
Li Xuan confirmed this guess almost instantly, because it was so weird.
When Li Xuan was in Hangzhou, Pei Yan sent Xue Zhongzhang to investigate Li Xuan. However, not only did he fail to investigate Li Xuan, but Xue Zhongzhang himself was plotted by the King of East China Sea, and even Li Jingye was involved in the end.
If there is another East China Sea King sitting here, then a closed loop will be formed.
At this moment, Prince Li Xian arrived with a toast.
…
The prince proposed a toast, first to the central ministers, then to the generals of the Sixteenth Guards, the governors of various states, and finally to the princes, princes and princes.
After all, the royal family belongs to the Li family, and the entire Tang Dynasty belongs to the Li family. They should be the ones grateful to the ministers in the court.
The prince represents not only the emperor, but also the entire Li and Tang royal family, so in the end Li Xian toasted the kings and his relatives...
Now there is only one relative in the palace, Wu Chengsi, and he still sits in the secretary's seat.
The emperor's mother's family is the Changsun family, and his grandmother's family is the Dou family, but they both have remote bloodlines. The only one in the palace now is Dou Xuande.
While Li Xuan was thinking, she saw that Li Xian on the other side had finished paying respects to Pei Yan and turned to look at Li Jingye.
Pei Yan hadn't sat down yet, and Li Jingye had just stood up.
At this time, Li Xian seemed to have remembered something, turned around, looked at Pei Yan, and asked softly inadvertently: "Pei Qing, I heard that something happened to my nephew, how is the investigation going?"
Li Xuan, who was opposite, suddenly raised his head and stared at Li Xian.
Pei Yan and Li Jingye were also stunned at the same time. Neither of them expected that Li Xian would say this at this time.
With thoughts racing in his mind, Pei Yan bowed his hands respectfully to Li Xian and said in a slow voice: "Thanks to His Highness's concern, the Ministry of Punishment has verified some clues regarding Zhongzhang's matter. However, it is difficult to travel in the mountains in winter, so no more progress has been made. Wait until If there is solid evidence in the future, I will report the truth to His Highness the Crown Prince."
"Yes!" Li Xian nodded and said: "Xue Erlang is a stable man. Perhaps he was careless in Hangzhou and was taken advantage of by thieves. It's a pity..."
Pei Yan bowed deeply to Li Xian, but his mouth was tightly closed at this time.
Even at this time, Pei Yan glanced at Li Xuan. At this moment, Li Xuan also looked at Pei Yan, with a sharp look in his eyes, but for some reason, this sharp look quickly aroused a trace of doubt, subconsciously The two of them looked at Li Xian at the same time.
"British Lord, I heard that you and Erlang Xue were classmates in the early years. He also informed you when he went to Hangzhou this time. I wonder if you know that besides you, who else did Erlang Xue tell about that he will be transferred to Hangzhou? thing?"
Li Xian happened to lift the bottle and look at Li Jingye at this time, but Pei Yan still stood where he was.
For a moment, it seemed as if Li Xianzai was pulling Pei Yan and Li Jingye to have a conversation at the same time.
Li Xuan was sitting not far behind Li Xian, but at this time, he couldn't help but lower his head slightly, not daring to look up at all.
Because he was worried that when he raised his head, he would turn to look at Li Zhi.
Because the current scene was directed by the emperor himself.
The only one who could arrange for Pei Yan and Li Jingye to sit together at this time was the emperor.
Although she lowered her head, Li Xuan was still listening to what Li Jingye was saying, and at the same time, she was thinking crazily in her heart, what exactly did the emperor want to do?
Pei Yan and Li Jingye were closely connected through Xue Zhongzhang.
But besides Xue Zhongzhang, there is another person who also closely connects the two. This person is the King of East China Sea.
Li Xuan suddenly raised his head and stared at Li Jingye.
He now understood why the emperor ordered him not to go out at home after he returned to Chang'an. This was the reason!
…
"Your Highness, although I and Xue Erlang are friends, they have not met each other since he paid homage to the emperor last year. I don't know if there are other friends around him. I still need to ask Pei Shangshu about this matter. Things happened in a hurry that day. The traces of Xue Erlang are well known to Pei Shangshu. If something happens, Pei Shangshu should be the first to know." Li Jingye bowed and looked at Pei Yan.
Pei Yan and Li Xuan cursed in their hearts at the same time: "Old fox."
Avoiding the important and taking the easy, being vague, blaming others, and being a sycophant.
Although he scolded Li Jingye thoroughly in his heart, Pei Yan remained calm but said: "I don't know about the business discussion between Erlang and the British minister. If you can know whether he has discussed it with others."
Li Xian smiled faintly, and then said: "Then please Pei Aiqing, after going back today, do a good investigation of the friends around Xue Erlang. If the British Duke has nothing to do for a while, he might as well help to investigate, the prime ministers, the ministers of the ministries, and the ministers of the temples. , the general, the great general, the kings, the Ministry of Punishment and the British Duke can all investigate."
"I am guilty!" Pei Yan stepped on Li Xian's words and immediately bowed.
Li Jingye also did not dare to neglect at all, and at the same time cupped his hands and said: "I am guilty!"
"What are you guilty of? What you two did is all human nature," Li Xian said lightly, which sounded very ordinary, but if you taste it carefully, it seems to have the meaning of blame.
But is it really Li Xian who is blaming him?
Li Xuan sat opposite, lowered his head slightly, but kept listening in his ears.
At this moment, unknowingly, the entire hall had completely quieted down, with only the dancer in the middle dancing silently.
…
"Your Highness is a wise man. I am acquainted with Xue Lang. They were classmates in the Imperial Academy. They have similar temperaments and have many contacts in the future. This incident in Hangzhou is due to my lax stewardship. At the beginning of September, Xue Erlang wrote to I said that he was going to be transferred to Hangzhou, so I gave him a temporary residence in a separate courtyard in my house, but I never thought that it would be taken advantage of by thieves. This is my fault."
Li Jingye bowed deeply, with a bitter look on his face.
When the ministers heard his words, they thought about it carefully and stared at Pei Yan.
Pei Yan's face suddenly darkened deeply.
While Li Jingye made his choice clearly, he also tricked Pei Yan into it.
Li Xuan had always been a little suspicious. How could Li Jingye be in Meizhou, but receive news from Chang'an overnight and arrange for Xue Zhang to have a separate hospital in Hangzhou?
After all, there was only that one night in total. Later, Xue Zhongzhang followed Li Xuan to Yangzhou, still serving as Secretary Provincial Secretary.
Even if he was later transferred to Hangzhou, he had already passed Yangzhou. How could he still contact Li Jingye who was far away in Meizhou and arrange everything properly?
So everything can only happen that night.
Li Xuan even doubted whether Li Jingye was not in Meizhou at all that night.
After all, it would take a whole day to travel 800 miles a day from Chang'an to Meizhou, even if a fast horse traveled.
It would be interesting if Li Jingye, who was supposed to be in Meizhou, quietly left Meizhou.
Perhaps the emperor was also so suspicious.
But now, Li Jingye has chosen everything. The reason why he was able to make arrangements in advance was because Xue Zhongzhang already knew that he would be transferred to Hangzhou in early September, so he notified Li Jingye, and then the subsequent arrangements were made.
But who is it that can make arrangements for Xue Zhongzhang so accurately?
Pei Yan.
Li Jingye made a clean choice for himself, but he deeply trapped Pei Yan.
(End of chapter)
