I heard you have nine tails

It was late by the time we had dinner.

Cassia parked the carriage at a restaurant.It seemed that the scene was clear here, except for the well-trained servants serving the dishes quietly, there was no other voice, even Cassia retreated together.

At first, Tan Chang worried that the two of them would have nothing to say after three years.However, as Li Lin pointed to a dish with chopsticks and said: "The chef of this family is from Jiangnan, and the beggar's chicken is a must in his family." Time seemed to flow backwards in an instant.

"Tell me, what have you been doing these past few years?" Li Lin's opening remarks were very plain, plain and homely.

Li Lin listened to Tan Chang talking about his life in the past few years, and the more he listened, the more he frowned.In the end Tan Chang had to stop to comfort him: "Why are you nervous, I didn't suffer much."

Because he has spells at his side, he is not short of money, and he is not worried about being bullied by others.

"Aren't you a bit of a stone-turning-gold art, why do you want to make a deal with a businessman!" Li Lin still disagreed.From his point of view, Tan Chang is naturally worthy of the best treatment in the world. If Tan Chang hadn't traveled a lot in the past three years and learned more, he probably wouldn't think there is anything wrong with this statement.However, now he is patiently reasoning with Li Lin: "Mu Ze, there is a limit to everything, and spells cannot be abused. If the amount of gold and silver increases greatly, the price of gold and silver on the market will drop, and the prices of other things will increase instead." Yes. You have to know that many people have hidden gold and silver in case of emergencies, if the price of gold and silver drops suddenly..."

These people don't have to live anymore.

Li Lin swallowed his thoughts quickly, and changed his words: "You are right. Then, in your opinion, can't the kingdom import gold and silver?" He has been actively exploring the products of the Dazhao kingdom for the past three years, and accidentally discovered There are several countries that have a lot of silver mines.He was gearing up for the ship to go to sea and also wanted to develop the silver mine by the way.

"It's not impossible." Tan Chang followed Li Lin's train of thought, "I've seen a lot of money houses in the past few years..."

Private money houses violate the law.Even so, Li Lin, who has always abided by the law, just listened to him with a slightly downcast face.Tan Chang saw it in his eyes, and said in his heart: Mu Ze is still Mu Ze, it seems that three years have not changed him.

By the time Tan Changlian finished describing with gestures his thoughts on the establishment of an official bank by the government, Li Lin was fascinated by it.His body leaned forward slightly, but his back was still straight. "But what you said has a premise..."

"Yes, the government and the court must have more gold and silver reserves than the merchants." Tan Chang admitted.

The two were quiet for a while to digest each other's news.Li Lin propped his head up and smiled suddenly, "Look at me, I can't stop talking about this, the food is cold, eat quickly, isn't it talking about your life?"

Tan Chang felt a little touched.Li Lin used to eat and sleep without talking, but now talking about government affairs and delaying eating, in his opinion, it is a common thing.

He couldn't help picking up a chopstick and putting it gently in Li Lin's bowl. "If you want to know about these things, I'll talk about them slowly after dinner."

"I want to know everything about you." Li Lin continued without thinking.

Tan Chang's hands trembled, but he smiled.

"It seems that you have gone through so many places, and there are still changes." Not only Tan Chang was observing Li Lin, but Li Lin was also looking at Tan Chang.

Three years have transformed the young, ignorant and unreasonable little fox into a tall and handsome scholar.During the palace examination, Li Lin looked from afar, feeling very sad.The appearance is still familiar, but the words and deeds, even the expression on the face, can't find the traces of the past.

Tan Chang still likes meat and chicken.However, he is no longer as eager as before. The so-called liking is just picking up a few more chopsticks slowly.

Tan Chang also remembered that when they were in the restaurant in Huaiyang, Li Lin ordered a Daokou roast chicken for him alone.His brows and eyes are soft, with the curvature of the happy days in the past. "Actually, it was also because our manager at that time, I think, if you don't walk around, your eyes are easy to get stuck in a certain place. After staying in the imperial city for too long, it is difficult to understand the feeling of not being able to eat in a thatched cottage. gone."

That's why he had to go around with the caravan and talk to all kinds of people.read more, walk more.His Highness the Crown Prince can only be trapped in the deep palace without letting go of the scroll, so he has to travel thousands of miles for His Highness and be his eyes among the people.

Tan Chang couldn't say more touching and affectionate words.Fortunately, Li Lin has accepted this reason.

"Why did you suddenly think of taking the imperial examination?" Li Lin asked.

No wonder he asked this question.The imperial examination has never been easy, and Tan Chang has always been lazy and afraid of trouble.But Tan Chang didn't answer right away, instead, he lowered his head by picking up some vegetables, and a slight smile appeared on the corners of his lips. "My mind has changed now."

"What?" Since the reunion, Li Lin has actually been holding on to his heart.When Tan Chang said that he had changed his mind, his complexion also changed.

"I want to be with you. I also want to help you." Tan Chang put down his chopsticks and looked at the other party calmly, "I still want to stand with you openly."

Who would be willing to just be a plaything in the harem, a nameless courtier?When Tan Chang heard the shadowy rumors about the favored and trusted courtiers of the Eastern Palace among the people, and when he heard that the empress preferred to choose a concubine for the crown prince several times, he was also worried and unwilling.At that time, he made up his mind that he not only wanted to go back, but also went back in a legitimate and open manner.

If it wasn't for the two of them having dinner, Li Lin immediately wanted to rub each other into his arms.

It's a pity that Tan Chang passed by, but instead asked: "How about you, how have you been in the past three years?"

Li Lin came up with an answer without much effort: "It's nothing to write home about."

On the day Tan Chang left, he returned to his original life.No, a worse life than before.When correcting memorials in the study room, there will no longer be a little furry head nestled next to it, occasionally acting like a baby.When returning to Xianyang Palace from the outside, there will no longer be a little guy poking his head, afraid that he will find him lazy.To discuss countermeasures and draft memorials, only Zhan Shifu was left.

Zhang Ting is very good, Yang Jingrun and Li Bin are all very good.But a subject is different from a friend, from a sweetheart.

"That shouldn't be the case, I heard..." Tan Chang originally seemed to be smiling and wanted to say something. The meaning of the smile was rich, sly, teasing, and there were many emotions that Li Lin couldn't express.But Tan Chang looked at him and stopped talking. "Forget it, let's not talk."

"What did you hear?" Li Lin couldn't help urging him.

Tan Chang scratched his chin, weighed it in his heart for a while, and then said honestly: "I heard that the Empress has recruited noble ladies from various families into the palace several times." Anyone with a discerning eye can see that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has never married, and the Emperor and Empress I'm really in a hurry.

Li Lin's right hand put down the chopsticks with a snap, and he reached out and grabbed Tan Chang's left hand. "What did I think before, what do I still think now, you can't wrong me."

"Well... so I can't say anything."

The little hand struggled restlessly, but was tightly wrapped, so he gave up the useless work.

"How did you procrastinate until now?" Tan Chang asked in a low voice.

"There is always a way." Li Lin said lightly. "However, I really have something to tell you." Li Lin hesitated, and his voice paused for a while. "Yang Qingzi... is the former national teacher who just died."

Tan Chang raised his head and looked at him deeply.

The former national teacher colluded with Li Ji in the past, colluded with officials in the court, and secretly dug countless tricks for Li Lin, but in the end he lost his sacred heart because of an impeachment.Emperor Jinghe ordered the Nine-Tailed Fox to be captured, but the palace officials dug three feet into the Xianyang Palace and found no trace.The former national teacher was ordered by Emperor Jinghe to catch the nine-tailed fox on time, but there was no news for a long time, and he was completely abandoned and idle, and no one cared about him.Li Lin claimed that he was not a saint. Although he didn't deliberately make it difficult for him, he didn't stop others from finding fault either.

However, the death of such an idler made Li Lin vigilant again.

The cause of death of the former national teacher is very disgraceful: Ma Feng.Quanzhen sect forbids disciples to marry wives, not to mention that the former national teacher is already at this age.When Jing Hedi saw the reported memorial, he did not hide his disgust, and it was indeed not an act of faking.

Li Lin always remembered the strange cause of Mr. Tan's death, and he didn't dare to forget it, because after investigating this matter, he and Tan Chang had walked through life and death once.Doctor Zhang's family lost their lives in the flames because of it.

With so many lives, what kind of secret did they want to bury?

"Jade Ming just replied to me today. The national teacher drank alcohol before his death, and there were drugs in the alcohol."

Tan Chang immediately followed his train of thought, "You mean, someone gave him the medicine?" At the age of the national teacher, it is indeed easy to cause accidents when using too strong medicine.Moreover, this way of death can also make the emperor completely disgusted with him, unwilling to ask more questions, and naturally he will not investigate deeply.If it is said that someone did this on purpose, it does make sense.

However, if he was murdered, it undoubtedly shows that there was something deeper hidden about Mr. Tan's death back then.

"It's hard to say whether it was intentional or not." Li Lin tightened his five fingers, facing the opponent's palm, intertwined. "I asked Jue Ming to investigate, and he said that this person did have the habit of taking medicine in private. When...he was with his concubine."

If someone poisoned him, then this person knew him very well.

Li Lin frowned when he talked about the romantic affairs of his former national teacher.Tan Chang looked a little funny, and naturally stretched out his right hand to smooth him out.

"I vaguely remember that before the national teacher entered the palace, he was the master of the Qingfeng Temple." Tan Chang's memory is very strong, not to mention looking through "Daily Life" three years ago, in his opinion, it is just a memory of yesterday.

Qingfeng Temple is a well-known Taoist temple in Beijing. Because of this, after the death of Empress Chen, the master of Qingfeng Temple was able to enter the palace to meet the saints, and later won the favor and became a national teacher.

"Yes." Li Lin felt warm fingers sliding between his brows, and his smile stretched accordingly. "Tan Huiyuan is really talented."

"Hey, I haven't asked you yet." As soon as Tan Chang mentioned this, he withdrew his hand and said seriously, "I really took the examination for Huiyuan myself? You didn't intervene?"

To be honest, with the courage of the people in the Ministry of Rites, they would not dare to raise Tan Chang's paper as a meeting member, although Zhang Ting argued hard.

Li Lin's murmurs had already let Tan Chang know the answer.Tan Chang curled his lips and said, "It's nothing. When I wrote that paper, I didn't expect to be able to take this test." Although he pretended nothing happened, he still felt a little disappointed.

"What nonsense?" Li Lin finally came back to his senses, and cursed lightly, "Do you not trust the talent and learning of Taifu Tan, or do you not trust Gu's advice?"

Tan Chang really laughed. "Then it's only logical that Tan Huiyuan, the first member of Zhongdi, would go to worship Qingfeng, who has always been effective, and ask the Taoist priest about the past of the former temple master?"

"That's natural."

They bickered again and said something, Tan Chang urged: "What time is it, why don't you go back to the palace?"

"It's late, I can't go back." Li Lin raised his eyebrows, "Talking about Huiyuan, can I stay overnight?"

"It's a great honor, as long as His Highness doesn't think the restaurant where I'm staying is too simple."

So that night, His Royal Highness did not return to the palace.