At midnight.
When the lights in Wan'an County gradually went out and everyone fell asleep, the lights in Zhongjing, thousands of miles away, were still dim. The painting boat on the Ziwei River is full of colors, and the banquet building at the end of Tianjie is full of singing and dancing.
In the center of Zhongjing, the eternal palace lanterns of Changming Palace shine like daylight. Viewed from a high altitude, the entire Zhongjing City is like a plate of dazzling jewels, and Changming Palace is the most dazzling pearl among them.
Behind this pearl, there is a small black mass. The light of Changming Palace shines in all directions, but cannot shine on this adjacent palace. Compared with the light of Changming Palace, the darkness is not abrupt, but appears to be unusually integrated.
Outside the Jingsi Hall, a row of chambermaids and maids stood quietly under the long porch, supervising each other with their eyes and not allowing any sound to be made. His Majesty, who has always been kind, rarely encountered troubles. He went to the Jingxin Hall to seek some peace and quiet. He must not be disturbed by some beast without eyes.
A line of ceremonial guards snaked up, and in the center of the ceremonial guard was a conspicuous phoenix chariot. The golden phoenix feathers on the phoenix chariot were like a ball of fire. They were not made by human craftsmen, but were plucked from the Phoenix Bird Clan of Ten Thousand Monsters Kingdom and presented to Daxuan.
Hou An, the chief eunuch who was guarding outside the Jingsi Hall, suddenly had a smile on his face. He walked quickly to the phoenix chariot and said with his hem, "Welcome the Queen."
When the phoenix chariot reached the ground, a woman in luxurious palace clothes stepped down from the phoenix chariot. She glanced at the meals held in the hands of several young guards outside the Jingsi Hall, and frowned slightly: "Your Majesty, haven't you eaten yet?"
"Replying to your Majesty, Your Majesty has refused to eat since coming to court. I have arranged for the royal kitchen to be kept open at all times."
The queen shook her head slightly, took a plate of pastries from the dinner plate, and a jug of good wine, then opened the door of the Jingsi Hall and walked in. Hou An quickly closed the palace door again from the outside and stood guard at the palace door.
The queen walked into the Jingsi Hall. There were several candles flickering in the Jingsi Hall, and figures swayed in the candlelight. She saw Emperor Daxuan sitting in front of a short table, holding a scroll in his hand and reading. The queen covered her mouth and chuckled: "Your Majesty's book was held upside down!"
The emperor sighed, put down the book in his hand, glanced at the pretty queen who was approaching, and said: "Zitong, don't laugh at me, I am really heartbroken."
"But for that immortal literary heart?"
The emperor gave a bitter smile: "Zi Tong is the one who knows me. It's funny to think about it. I have been the Daxuan Emperor for forty years, but I would not think twice about eating and drinking for a treasure. The late emperor is right, I just have too little ambition in my mind. Imperial pride.”
The queen walked to the emperor, sat down next to him, poured a glass of the wine she had just brought in, and said comfortingly: "Your majesty is young and has many difficulties. Naturally, he cannot compare with the momentum developed by the late emperor who grew up under Emperor Lin's knees; not to mention the past forty years. Here, if not for your majesty’s diligence, Daxuan Dynasty would not be as stable as it is now, and your majesty should not underestimate yourself.”
"As for the immortal literary heart, it is not an ordinary treasure. It can be condensed only by cultivating the three immortal great achievements of meritorious service, virtue and speech in the realm of Confucianism. Daxuan has been in the dynasty for 800 years, and the total amount of literary heart that has been condensed is only eighty. Six..."
The emperor drank down the wine in front of him, took a long breath, and nodded: "Yes. These eighty-six literary hearts may have teachers or families. Those who really belong to the imperial court can only be counted on the tenth finger. . It’s rare for an ownerless heart to appear, and I really can’t bear to give it away like this.”
"In this case, why did Your Majesty agree to let Wen Xin choose the master?"
"Old Prime Minister Wen is devoted to the country and protects me. He speaks in person, how can I refute? Besides, Wen Xin has no one to choose a master. This is the ancient etiquette, and I can't stop him."
The Queen smiled again and said: "Your Majesty is too worried. The matter of Wen Xin choosing a master has never happened in our court, but how many of them have really succeeded? The Kong family has been a Li De Wen Xin for five hundred years. , during this period, many talented people from all over the world were invited to participate in the ceremony of selecting the master. Isn’t it still enshrined in the family temple today? Prime Minister Wen once said that if the master is not selected, the Wenxin will be placed in the Confucian Temple. "
"What's the difference between this Confucian Temple and the imperial court?"
"To take a step back, if there are really talented people who let Wen Xin choose the master, it means that I, Da Xuan, will have another great Confucian seed. It is difficult to judge who is more beneficial to the dynasty, Great Confucian or Wen Xin."
The emperor nodded slightly: "Yes, what Zi Tong said makes sense." However, the frown between his brows did not ease.
Seeing this, the Queen thought for a moment: "Does Your Majesty have other concerns?"
The emperor stood up, took a few steps, and said, "I do have a little thought."
After speaking, the emperor walked up to a stone screen in the Jingsi Hall, waved his sleeves, and a stream of white air shot out from the emperor's hand and hit the stone screen. The screen flashed with white light, and the patterns of nine giant cauldrons slowly appeared on it, but only six of them were filled with white light. The seventh cauldron only had about one-third of the white light, and the rest was with the remaining two. Dingdu showed a bleak color.
"Your Majesty!" The queen stood up in surprise.
This national luck wall is the most precious treasure of the Daxuan royal family, and it can illuminate the fortune of Daxuan.
"The prosperous age of the Nine Tripods, the Eight Tripod Dynasties, and the Seven Tripods Powerful Country!" The emperor looked at the national destiny wall in front of him and said softly, "When Emperor Lin was in power, luck overflowed from the Nine Tripods, monsters and barbarians did not dare to claim the throne, and thousands of tribes came to court. Emperor Qi His death destroyed two cauldrons of luck; the late emperor succeeded to the throne and worked hard to govern, including five northern expeditions and three southern expeditions. The barbarians did not dare to look south and the monsters did not dare to go north. Finally, another cauldron of luck was gathered..."
"When I succeeded to the throne and worked hard for forty years, I only had six and a half fortunes left, barely maintaining peace. If my fortunes drop again, the country will be in danger of falling into disarray."
The queen walked up to the emperor, stretched out her hand to hold his palm, and said softly: "The late emperor's northern and southern expeditions overdrafted our country's destiny, and his sudden death also damaged the foundation of our destiny. After that, three kings seized the throne, and Huo Prime Minister lost power. , the world has been in chaos for another ten years. I heard from my father that when His Majesty ascended the throne, the country’s fortunes were only in shaky state. It was His Majesty who brought order to the chaos. From the four tripods fluttering to the five tripods, and then from the five tripods to the six tripods, your Majesty is no worse than the late emperor Lin Huang in the eyes of my concubine!"
The Queen's sincere words made the Emperor feel warm in his heart, and he shook his head: "I don't have Emperor Lin's great talent or great strategy, and I don't have the heroic spirit of the previous emperor. I can only be diligent and can barely be a conservative king. I am worried about the Emperor... "
The queen looked solemn, thinking of her troublesome prince, and quickly explained: "The prince has been working hard recently..."
The emperor waved his hand slightly, helped the queen up, and said: "I am not blaming him. It's just that if I die, my luck will be unstable. If the royal family has more gentleness to suppress it, their luck will be more stable. This is my selfishness." "
The queen was startled and said quickly: "Your Majesty has prospered for a long time, and you must never say such unlucky words again."
"The emperor has his own destiny." The emperor said nonchalantly, "But when that day comes, Wen Xin will only be a supporter. What he really relies on are those important ministers."
After saying this, the emperor looked at the National Luck Wall again: "It would be great if there was more luck..."
After the emperor finished speaking, the Jingsi Hall fell into silence.
…
The high-pitched voice of Hou An, the eunuch with the first salary, sounded outside the palace door: "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Wen wants to see you."
The queen's voice came from the palace: "Your Majesty is tired, let Prime Minister Wen go back, see you in the court tomorrow."
Hou An seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then replied: "Xiang Wen specifically asked me to offer you a method to increase the luck of the dynasty!"
There was a rush of footsteps in the palace, the palace door suddenly opened, and the emperor rushed out.
The Queen followed behind, carrying a pair of shoes, and shouted: "Your Majesty, shoes..."
