Funing Hall

After that night, Zhao Cong never saw Gu Ci again, so he sent his cronies to pretend to be officials of Honglu Temple to meet Yeluqin privately at the Duting Station when he was in the palace, and asked Gu Ci if he wanted to stay in Kaifeng.If he wants to stay, His Majesty will definitely have a way for him to stay without revealing his identity.After staying, His Majesty will take good care of him.

Gu Ci was a little hesitant, saying that he would think about it for a few days.

After hearing the reply, Zhao Cong guessed that the hesitation was due to Xie Wenrui.

Gu Ci's hesitation was indeed due to Xie Wenrui, but part of it was for himself and Yeluqin.Over the years, he has become a habit of doing meticulous work. He feels sorry for Yeluqin who sincerely regards him as a friend, and wants to make up for Yeluqin.He really wanted to see Yeluqin become the emperor of the Liao Kingdom with his own eyes. Although he also knew that there would be a battle between the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty, at least in recent years, there would be no fight.

Yeluqin can still be emperor for a few more years, so he can have a clear conscience.

In addition, Xie Wenrui didn't know what he ate wrongly. Since he was drunk that night, he has been going to the Duting post all day long to look for him. Yeluqin is here, so he is not afraid.Xie Wenrui directly said that after having a banquet together, Yeluqin became interested in making friends with him. Yeluqin was quite happy, and told him in private that Xie Wenrui was a good character and asked him to make friends more.

……

This really made Gu Ci very angry.

But when His Majesty asked him if he would like to stay, he really hesitated.

With such hesitation, the days passed by in a hurry, and Yeluqin was about to return to Liao Kingdom.Yeluqin made an alliance with Zhao Cong, and after returning to Liao, he had to meet Wanyanliang again, and the original scheduled return date was brought forward a few days.

During the days when they came to Kaifeng, Yeluqin had to enter the palace almost every day.On the other hand, on the other side of Xixia, although they would come into the palace almost every day.But it's just a usual greeting and hello, and I have to leave within half an hour.

Until Xixia's envoys were about to return, Zhao Cong could no longer let them do this, and planned to call the envoys into the palace to speak, at least to clarify the contract between the two countries.The contract between Song and Xixia expires at the beginning of next year, and the negotiation is just right at this time.

He was about to send someone to call them, but the Xi Xia envoy came to the palace first.

This time when he came in, the envoy who was always smiling could only say "Your Majesty Wanan", he finally told him some truths, but Zhao Cong did not expect these words.

Li Mingchun, the emperor of Xixia, was willing to increase the number of cattle, sheep and horses by another [-]%, and he was more willing to live in friendship with Song Dynasty within a hundred years and never start a war.With this as a condition, Li Mingchun hopes that when the eldest prince ascends the throne in the future, he, as the emperor of Song Dynasty, will be the first to send congratulations to the new emperor of Xixia and express his support for the eldest prince.I hope that if there is a war between Xixia and Liao in the future, Zhao Cong can send troops to help Xixia.

Speaking of luck, in the eyes of everyone, Zhao Cong has very good luck. After all, as a sick son of the county prince, he finally ascended the throne and became emperor, and even brought down the Queen Mother Sun and brought down the Sun family.

But in fact, there is someone with better luck than him, and this person is the Emperor of Xixia, Li Mingchun.

The founding of the Xixia Kingdom was too short, and the Xixia people were also extraordinarily heroic.The last Xixia emperor was the founder of the Xixia Kingdom. He created a country and ended the era of Xixia's vassalage. However, he died in an unlucky manner. He was killed by his own son.

After being killed by his own son, the rest of the sons frantically fought each other for the throne.

In the end, Li Mingchun, the most timid, survived. No one thought about killing a weak person like him. Instead, he became the emperor of Xixia.

It is precisely because Li Mingchun has been in power in Xixia for decades that the Song Dynasty can be less stressed, and will not be forced too much by the two countries in the northwest.Li Mingchun is just a conservative, firmly inheriting every policy of his father's emperor. Xixia has not developed much in recent years, but has just stood still.

But even so, Zhao Cong was surprised by Li Mingchun's choice.

The envoy of Xixia was seeing his puzzlement, and said: "Our Majesty has a deep affection for the young queen."

The eldest prince was born to the empress, but the empress died young, so Li Mingchun is such a nostalgic person?

"Our Majesty said that since there are many princes, there are also many thoughts. However, Xixia has long been different from the past. It is better to choose a radical and unstable one than to choose a conservative one."

After hearing this, Zhao Cong cocked his lips and said with a smile, "How can you tell me such a thing? How can I believe it?"

How can anyone say it so bluntly?

The envoy smiled bitterly: "Although the eldest prince imprisoned his brothers, he didn't kill any of them. Our Majesty said that if it were any other prince, the rest of the brothers would have already turned into bones by now. The reason why I said it so bluntly is that It is because our Majesty said that sincerity can be exchanged for sincerity. Just now, I have explained everything to the officials, but I don’t know if the officials are willing to accept our Majesty’s sincerity?"

Zhao Cong didn't suspect that they were cheating. After all, once the agreement was made, the contract had to be signed, and once the contract was signed, it could not be violated.Unless Xixia unilaterally breaks the contract, then we have to fight. Today's Xixia can't beat Song Dynasty anyway.

Whoever doesn't want such benefits is a fool.

Zhao Cong nodded in response.

In other words, the eldest prince is much easier to control than the shrewd Li Liangcheng.

Li Mingchun was taking the initiative to show weakness, just to survive.Once the treaty is signed, it will last for ten years, although it is necessary to endure Xixia as the country for these ten years.Ten years later, Li Mingchun died early, and the eldest prince was not smart, so it was only natural for him to bow his head and proclaim himself a minister again.

Without fighting, without wasting troops and horses, without casualties, and with reinforcements, it is a good deal to make a deal.

What Zhao Cong feared most was the Liao Kingdom.

The envoy said again: "Please don't mention this to the fourth person. Only our Majesty, the officials, and your subordinates know."

Zhao Cong understood and nodded in response.

"Thank you, Emperor Song." The Xixia envoy knelt down and made a big salute.

Zhao Cong called out, and made an appointment to sign a new contract with him in private tomorrow, and the official left the palace.Zhao Cong felt emotional, Li Mingchun was indeed a man of affection, and he was still concerned about saving the lives of all his sons.But because of his temperament, he is destined to be unable to create a prosperous world for Xixia.

Therefore, for an emperor, there is indeed only one way to be cruel.

He sighed, feeling sorry for an emperor for the first time.

But no matter how regretful it is, it doesn't affect how he can better swallow Xixia back in his mind.

Zhao Cong originally wanted to talk about this matter with Zhao Shiqi. Li Mingchun's protection of his son is really touching. Besides, he has given up on Li Liangcheng. These are extremely important things, but he should also go to Xixia The envoy does not tell others.Zhao Cong is an extremely trustworthy person, so he can only bear it and say nothing.

Besides, in the future, wait for the eldest prince to ascend the throne.When the new contract takes effect next year, let everyone know that Zhao Shiqi is so smart, so he can see it.

The matters with the two countries have been negotiated, and Zhao Cong finally breathed a sigh of relief.Now even if Zhao Congde has the ability to go to Taiyuan, no matter how hard he is with Jiang Wei, he really dares to use troops, he has nothing to fear.

The envoys of the two countries are about to leave, and he has asked people to prepare a memorial and decree for surrendering the dukedom of Qi. , It also made the two countries fully understand that the Jiang family was simply unusable.

The members of the Jiang family's direct descendants have already moved to Kaifeng, so he personally wrote the words "Jiaguo Duke's Mansion" and sent them over when the day came.

All these things were handled very well, and all the worries and gloom that arose during the Dragon Boat Festival were finally swept away.

Right now, Zhao Cong is waiting for them to return to the country, and then for Yeluqin to have a dialogue with Wan Yanliang, then he will come forward to appease them and accept Jurchen under the name of Song Dynasty.If necessary, at worst, he would go to Dengzhou himself.

With this arrangement, Da Song's border defense can make people feel at ease for a few more years, after all, no one likes to fight.He is also counting on the peaceful era to develop the Song Dynasty better.

After dealing with these matters, Zhao Cong was very relaxed, and he also realized that Zhao Shiqi hadn't come to Chongzheng Hall to look for him for many days.He called Fulu up and asked, "Where is your lord?"

There are many lords, but His Majesty only asked about that one.

Fu Lu immediately said: "Your Majesty has left the palace."

"When did you leave the palace?" He had something to do today, and he ate lunch with several husbands.

"Chen Shi left the palace. It is said that there is business. In the past few days, Mr. Lang has to leave the palace every day, and there are colleagues waiting for him outside."

Since it was a business matter, Zhao Cong didn't ask any more questions.He said: "I will have dinner with him tonight, you ask Rantao to prepare more." After all these busy days, it's time to have a good meal and celebrate it.

"Yes."

"If he doesn't come back later, you ask someone to go out and look for him."

"Yes." Fu Lu said and stepped back.

Zhao Cong continued to read the memorial, just relaxing in his mind for a while, and then remembered the matter of Yi Yu, how to solve this matter?In fact, if he really wanted to solve this matter quickly, there was a way. No matter how capable Yi Yu was, he still had family members. If he used Yi Yu's family members as a threat, could Yi Yu be disobedient?

But he, Zhao Cong, is not a hero of the rivers and lakes, he is a family of officials, an official family.

How can you do such an unremarkable thing.

Zhao Cong was secretly distressed. If he really couldn't do it, he could only act like this in the end. He secretly hired someone to threaten Yi Yu, and then sent someone to Yangzhou to keep an eye on him.

At this time, Zhao Shiqi was listening to someone report about Yi Yu at home.

The person who was sent to search Yi's house said in shame: "Lang Jun, I really didn't find anything. This person is really cautious. There is a lot of gold and silver in the house, but there is nothing related to that technology."

"Where are the books? Have you read them?"

"There are too many books in his house. There is a room full of books."

"study?"

"There are three or four shelves of books in the study."

Zhao Shiqi said in a deep voice: "Take a few more people to read together, at least read all the books in the study."

"Yes."

"Go down and look carefully. Is there a book that you often read on the table? If so, bring it back to me."

"Yes. It's just my lord. What should I do if I search all over and still can't find anything?"

Zhao Shiqi sneered, the envoy had left early, and he said, "Burn it with a fire."

"……Yes."

After Zhao Shiyu finished his explanation, he was about to get up and go back to the palace, when Yin Mo from outside suddenly ran in and said in a panic, "Sanlang, it's not good."

It was rare for Zhao Shiqi to see her so anxious and say such things.

Without waiting for him to ask, Yan Mo hurriedly said: "The princess met Yi Yu by chance on the East Street today, praised him for being handsome in front of everyone, and even invited him to the princess mansion! Now everyone says that the princess wants the champion to be her son-in-law , The servant girl just went to the vinegar workshop to hear the news, and it has already spread throughout the city! I am afraid that there will be news from the palace soon."

Zhao Shiqi frowned, displeased: "It's just nonsense!"

If Zhao Cong knew, he would be angry.

He asked, "Where are people?"

"Some said that Yi Yu followed the princess back to the princess mansion, and some said no. The servant girl was in a hurry to come back and tell the gentleman, but she didn't ask clearly."

Zhao Shiqi got up, and said to Ji Xiang who accompanied him, "Go back to the palace first, and be careful, don't ask anyone to tell His Majesty about such things."

"Yes!" Jixiang turned and left.

Zhao Shiqi was not in a hurry to go back to the palace, and went to the princess mansion as soon as he went out.

Zhao Cong will know sooner or later, but before he knows, he has to figure out the cause and effect first. It is best to break Zhao Zongning's mind first, so that Zhao Cong can be less angry.

When they arrived at the Princess Mansion, Zhao Shiqi asked, and Yi Yu was indeed there.

There is a stage in the princess mansion, and there is an opera troupe in the princess mansion.When he arrived, Zhao Zongning was listening to the play with Yi Yu, but Zhao Zongning was sitting at the front seat, and Yi Yu was sitting at the bottom.

Zhao Shiqi didn't go there, but waited in the middle of the main courtyard. A female envoy had already called Zhao Zongning.

Aunt Cheng accompanied Zhao Shiqi, Zhao Shiqi was not usually nosy.Zhao Zongning is Zhao Cong's most beloved sister, he couldn't help it, he frowned and said, "Why doesn't Auntie stop the princess? Che Xia is messing around with the princess, don't you stop?"

Aunt Cheng didn't say much, she just knelt down and admitted her mistake.

Zhao Shiqi couldn't get angry at her, after all, who could stop what Zhao Zongning wanted to do?Just not getting angry, Zhao Shiqi couldn't help but say a few more words, very serious.Just as he was talking, Zhao Zongning strode in and said displeasedly, "Why do you say Aunt Cheng, it's none of her business!"

Zhao Shiqi looked up to see her coming in, got up and said, "I heard that you praised Yi Yu for looking good today in the downtown area?"

"Exactly. The people present all said that the princess should match the number one scholar."

Zhao Shiqi was so angry that he said it again: "It's just nonsense." The voice was very low.

Zhao Zongning was taken aback for a moment, then became even more displeased, who would like to be scolded by his nephew?She also said angrily: "Just treat me as a fool! I'm doing it for my brother's benefit!"

"Your brother wants to know that you are like this, can you be happy?!" Zhao Shiqi thought of Zhao Cong's reaction after knowing this, and his heart became more angry, and his tone couldn't help but become more serious.

"Brother will understand me!"

"He understood you from the very beginning. The reason why he didn't agree to you was because he didn't want to take advantage of his own sister. You still act like this? You're done!"

What Zhao Zongning did today, he already knew that if his brother was not happy, he was doing it under pressure.Now that she was being scolded by her nephew, she became even more angry, and raised her voice: "I'm eighteen, how old are you? Why do you scold me?!"

Both Che Xia and Aunt Cheng knelt on the ground, not daring to show their breath, Zhao Shiqi looked down at them both, and said in a deep voice, "Both of you go out."

"Don't go out!" Zhao Zongning shouted.

"Get out!" Zhao Shiqi raised his voice.

"Don't go out!" Zhao Zongning said and pulled out the soft whip from his sleeve.

Zhao Shiqi smiled: "Do you still want to beat me?"

"you--"

Zhao Shiqi put away his smile suddenly, and said to Che Xia and Aunt Cheng, "Go out."

Che Xia and Aunt Cheng were frightened, and retreated obediently.

"What prestige do you come to my house to put on?!"

"Last time I told you so clearly that this matter can be resolved by both His Majesty and I. You don't need to do this at all. Why do you still act like this?"

"I also made it very clear that this method is the most convenient, my brother doesn't believe me."

"You have grown up with others following you. You are used to it. Once you don't follow you, you will be unhappy and insist on going against others!"

Zhao Zongning was aggrieved, she didn't understand why her brother and Xiaoshi didn't agree with her method.So what if she recruits a son-in-law?She really doesn't pay much attention to this so-called marriage. The son-in-law has no influence on her at all. If she recruits a son-in-law, she can solve one troublesome matter for her brother and one troublesome person. How nice?Why do they always disagree?

She was aggrieved, but also angry at being reprimanded by Zhao Shiqi, who was a generation younger than her, her temper immediately came up, and she said angrily: "Shut up!" At the same time, she waved her hand and whipped the whip severely.Originally, she only planned to pump the ground so that Zhao Shiqi could shut up.Unexpectedly, she used too much force, the whip bounced, and the tail of the whip swept Zhao Shiqi's face.

Zhao Shiqi didn't feel the pain, but he felt his cheeks were cold, and he stretched out his hand to touch it, okay, the skin was broken and bleeding.

Zhao Zongning was taken aback, she didn't want to smoke Zhao Shiqi at all!

Seeing her dazed face, Zhao Shiqi took the opportunity to say, "Have you calmed down?"

Zhao Zongning came back to his senses: "I, I didn't want to smoke you! I want to smoke the floor!"

Zhao Shiqi naturally knew it, and he would not do anything to Zhao Zongning because of this matter. He calmed down after just such a twitch, and said coldly: "Actually, it's useless to say more, it's already too late. You take everyone back to the princess mansion." Now, it is said outside that he wants to be your son-in-law, so you should first think about how to talk to your brother about this."

"..." Zhao Zongning felt a little ashamed in his heart, "Does your face hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt." Zhao Shiqi said and turned to leave.

"You want to go back to the palace?"

Zhao Shiqi turned around to look at her, and said coolly: "I'm afraid my face will be swollen later, if I go back like this, if he knows that I quarreled with you like this and still started to fight, will he be angry?"

"...I didn't do it on purpose."

"I'm staying outside the palace today. Think about how to explain to His Majesty. I'll pick you up tomorrow morning and we'll go back to the palace together."

Zhao Zongning finally put away his temper and whispered, "Understood."

well.Zhao Shiqi sighed, covered his face, and left.It's just that before he left, he didn't forget to ask someone to send Yi Yu away.He had no intention of meeting Yi Yu face to face, and after giving orders, he stepped out of the gate of the Princess Mansion.

When he left, Zhao Zongning also sighed, she really didn't mean it.

Che Xia hurried in and whispered, "Princess, are you alright?"

Zhao Zongning felt exhausted, leaned back on the couch, and said weakly, "It's nothing."

"Mr. Eleven is so fierce that he is scary!"

Zhao Zongning nodded, it was a bit scary, she was scared just now.

"Where is the number one scholar?"

"Just now, when Mr. Cai went out, he asked someone to go to the stage to call him and send him out of the mansion."

"Oh."

Che Xia said cautiously: "Princess, since neither His Majesty nor the gentleman wants you to do this, why should you?"

"I just think my method is really good."

Che Xia persuaded: "Princess, you treat yourself as a gentleman and don't care about these feelings between men and women. But in the eyes of His Majesty, you are his most beloved sister, so he naturally doesn't want to see you like this. You are two years younger, and you are your nephew in seniority, but he is also really worried about you. You—"

Zhao Zongning was upset and said: "I know, the big deal is, I don't want Yi Yu to be a son-in-law."

"Princess—Eleventh Prince is really looking out for you. How dare others tell you that?"

"Of course I know. Anyway, I can still share it. I really didn't intend to beat him with a whip! Tomorrow, I will personally make amends to him, and then I will make amends in front of my brother."

Che Xia breathed a sigh of relief, and said with a smile: "That's good."

That being said, Zhao Zongning was still restless throughout the night, and it was Sun Zhuyun who heard the news and came to talk with her, and then made her laugh.