Lu Zuo also knew that the purpose of Du Zongting's trip must be to discuss how to rescue King Wei, but Lu Zuo still pretended to be suspicious and asked him why.
"Yes! It's you we're looking for." Du Zongting looked anxious, "The Queen Mother sent someone to ask me to come to you, Mr. Lu!"
Lu Zuo and Anyuanshan looked at each other in embarrassment, but this was the Queen Mother's order and it was hard not to do so.
Du Zongting seemed to see the worries of the two of them, "Mr. Lu, you know that King Wei is in such a mess because of your affairs this time, you can't just sit idly by and ignore it!"
Lu Zuo was at a loss for words. This was not because he had harmed the King of Wei. It was clearly the King of Wei who had harmed him, but he couldn't explain it clearly, so he said calmly: "Okay, I'll go with you."
"Mr. Lu, you are indeed honorable!" Du Zongting bowed his hands and saluted, "But the Queen Mother's appointment will be at the 'Furong Wine Shop' in the south of the city. She must arrive at the end of the afternoon."
Du Zongting's tone was firm and unhesitating. It was obvious that he must take Lu Zuo to see the Queen Mother.
Anyuanshan looked at Du Zongting questioningly and asked, "Do you want me to go together?"
"The Queen Mother only said to have an appointment with Mr. Lu, so I won't disturb you Sir." Du Zongting hesitated and replied.
Du Zongting saw that the time was almost up, and then waved his hand to invite Lu Zuo to go with him, "The carriage has been prepared. It's almost time. If it's too late, the Queen Mother may blame us, so we'd better set off now!"
Lu Zuo nodded, "Okay! Let's go!"
The two said goodbye to Anyuanshan and his son, and Pingyuan Bo Anyuanshan just asked the housekeeper to send him to the door.
The "Furong Wine Shop" in the south of the city is the most prosperous wine shop in Kyoto. Only wealthy officials, businessmen and travelers would drink and have fun here. Since the wine shop only receives dignitaries, the decoration here is luxurious and all are private rooms. It is an excellent place for conversation and entertainment.
Du Zongting's carriage stopped in front of the tavern, and he first ordered a servant to go inside the tavern to inquire about the situation. After a while, the servant came back and reported that everyone was waiting in the "Qian" private room on the second floor. Du Zongting and Lu Zuo got out of the carriage mysteriously and headed straight to the second floor with their heads lowered, not daring to meet anyone else.
When the two came to the private room named "Qian", there were two people in regular clothes standing at the door. Lu Zuo knew at a glance that they must be the Queen Mother's bodyguards. When the guards at the door saw that Mr. Du Zongting had arrived, they all nodded, opened the door for Mr. Du, and then carefully closed the door.
The furnishings in the house are elegant and luxurious. As soon as you enter the house, there is a round table in front of you, with five or six maids standing in a row behind them. There is also a pear tree screen behind the maids. The Queen Mother must be behind the screen.
Du Zongting pulled Lu Zuo and motioned for him to salute together, "Empress Dowager, I have invited Mr. Lu here."
Lu Zuo did not wait for the Queen Mother to say anything, and quickly knelt down and saluted: "Common man Lu Zuo pays homage to the Queen Mother."
After the two saluted, they paused behind the screen and did not answer immediately. After a while, a voice slowly came out from inside, saying: "Forgive me!"
"Thank you, Queen Mother!" Du Zongting and Lu Zuo stood up carefully and slowly.
After a while, two people came out. A maid held an old lady with gray hair on her temples and slowly walked out of the screen. This old man wearing ordinary clothes must be the Queen Mother, but judging from her face, she looked very well-kept. , dressed elegantly, still feeling energetic. Lu Zuo glanced for a moment, then lowered his head and bowed to signal.
The Queen Mother sat on an armchair in the middle, facing the two of them, and slowly asked Lu Zuo: "Are you Lu Zuo?"
Lu Zuo bowed again and said, "That's right."
"Did Master Du tell you clearly about the situation when he came?" the Queen Mother said nonchalantly, without looking directly at Lu Zuo, and there was a hint of contempt in her tone.
Lu Zuo nodded, "I've already said it!"
"You and I don't want to see this situation happening now. Now that you have been stripped of your honors and the King of Wei is under house arrest, if Aijia were not the queen mother, I am afraid that even Aijia would not be able to see my grandson. .But at this moment, King Wei is still thinking about you."
After Lu Zuo heard this, he bowed and said, "The common people are frightened!"
When the Queen Mother looked up at Lu Zuo, she saw that even though he said this, there was no trace of nervousness or fear, "Do you know what King Wei said to me?"
"Common people don't dare to speculate on their own." Lu Zuo actually still knew it, but he knew that in front of this kind of people, he must not be smart before he knows the details.
"Even now, King Wei asked the Ai family to come to you personally and let you come up with a solution."
Lu Zuo was stunned for a moment, then forced himself to calm down, "The common people are really ashamed..."
"Ashamed?" The Queen Mother looked directly at Lu Zuo, "You just refused to say it!"
"The common people will tell you frankly. If there is anything wrong, please forgive me, the Queen Mother." Lu Zuo once again raised his hand to signal.
"But it doesn't matter!"
Lu Zuo calmed down and said, "In the humble opinion of the people, if King Wei wants to regain the favor of the Holy Emperor, he can only stand still now. After this incident is over and the Holy Emperor's anger has dissipated, Queen Mother, if you please beg for mercy, maybe King Wei will have a chance." .”
After hearing this, the Queen Mother couldn't help but applaud him in her heart. She didn't expect that Lu Zuo's opinion was the same as her own. It's a pity that King Wei is impetuous. How can he bear this kind of anger now? As the Queen Mother, I entered the palace to see King Wei this morning. What I said to King Wei was the same as that of Lu Zuo, but King Wei just paid attention to it. He wanted to take back what belonged to him, but he was not willing to listen to his own opinions. He insisted that he would not find a solution for him, so King Wei entrusted himself to come to Lu Zuo to find a solution.
The Queen Mother sighed, shook her head, and said earnestly: "Why would the King of Wei listen to me? Our Xu'er is a very impatient person. If we ask him to stand still, he will simply sit back and wait for death!"
"King Wei, if you really want to achieve something big, as long as King Wei is willing to wait, the common people will also be willing to wait. But if King Wei doesn't listen to the good advice of the common people, the common people really have no choice now." Lu Zuo said sincerely.
"Hey!" The Queen Mother sighed, "I'm afraid it will be even more difficult with King Wei's temperament!"
The Queen Mother actually knew the character of her grandson. Liu Xu was impetuous. He was originally the most honest person among the princes. Now that he was involved in the battle for the right to inherit the throne, he became even more impetuous and the least scheming among all the princes. If I hadn't helped him secretly over the years, I'm afraid he wouldn't even have a title now. He never thought that after he finally promoted him to this position, instead of fighting for it down-to-earth, he suddenly thought about how to get rid of the prince and the king of Wei. How could Liu Xu know that he could be his opponent now?
"From the common people's point of view, it is difficult for the King of Wei to compete with the Crown Prince and others." Lu Zuo gradually said boldly.
