Qinse is in the imperial court, forgetting both favor and disgrace

In the camp, the monarch and the rebels looked at each other in silence, and all the attendants held their breaths, no one dared to make a sound, until the general Cao Lin coughed to break the silence, and scolded Zhao Rang, his voice was like thunder, and Zhao Rang was like waking up from a dream , Bow down.

Li Lang said with a smile: "Untie the king of Nanyue and give him a seat, but I want to hear what a surrendered general has for rectifying military discipline."

The one who listened to the order to untie was the bearded Zhao Rang who was captured yesterday. He was obviously unwilling. He kicked hard in the calf.

Zhao Rang was in pain, but frowned slightly, without making a sound, thanked the emperor, and sat down calmly.

Li Lang looked at Zhao Rang with great interest, pushed everyone away except Cao Lin, smiled at Zhao Rang, and said, "General Zhao, can we talk now? Or can you just speak to Cao Qing and even avoid me?"

Zhao Rang did not avoid Li Lang's gaze. He hadn't touched a drop of water all day and all night, and smoke was coming out of his throat. When he spoke, it was like cutting him with a knife, but the emperor had to answer when he asked, so he forced out his voice: "The Son of Heaven keeps his word. , Your Majesty is unparalleled in benevolence, if you promise to offend your relatives and not offend your relatives, why do you go back on your word?"

"When did I go back on my word?"

Zhao Rang put "General Xie" himself into the main tent, trying to get him to persuade the captive girl, how he failed to force him, but was killed by him, and how he helped the girl escape by all means, and told the emperor and the emperor in detail. Cao Lin.

"The general surnamed Xie of Eastern Chu captured my female family, either at His Majesty's order, or because of his connivance. The two must be one of them. Does Your Majesty think that this matter is harmless to the saints? As for the rectification of military discipline, General Cao is here, and the criminals dare not Nonsense, it’s just that the army is governed as strictly as possible, the chickens and dogs are calm, and what the people praise is naturally the prosperity of the country and the righteousness of the emperor.”

After finishing speaking in one breath, he only felt that his throat was dry and itchy, and he couldn't stop coughing again and again.

Cao Lin was terrified as he listened, and since the emperor hadn't spoken out, he couldn't argue.Outsiders don't know the dangers of the imperial court, and the intertwined forces of all kinds, big and small. Seeing treachery and arrogance, and forming cliques for personal gain, they only think that the leader in power is evil, weak and incompetent. Laxity, what a great injustice.

However, it is not Cao Lin who is responsible for these words, but Emperor Li Lang.

Li Lang didn't go beyond the ordinary to become a sage, but Zhao Rang didn't get annoyed when he reprimanded him bluntly, and said with a light smile, "Forget it. Killing Xie Wu, counting as Zhao Rang's military law, I don't blame you. But what crime did those two soldiers commit, that you saw them act as minions?"

Asked this, Zhao Rang was stunned.

Don't say that the two soldiers who died didn't know whether they were helping the tyrant or not. Even if they thanked my party, the punishment should be different. In order to save his wife and sister, Zhao Rang took the initiative to kill people. Neither is justice.

Seeing the ashamed look on Zhao Rang's face, Li Lang bowed his head and said nothing, secretly amused, he already had a rough understanding of Zhao Rang in his heart, and he just waited for further investigation in the future. fast.

He ignored Zhao Rang, who was speechless for the time being, and turned to Cao Lin, asking about the collection of the corpse into the coffin.

It was summer, hot and high temperature, the corpse could not be placed for a long time, but it happened suddenly, in a hurry, there was no time to order the coffin, so a small team rushed to the nearest city, brought a cheap thin wooden coffin, and buried it for Xie Wu.

Li Lang and Cao Lin agreed that he would lead some soldiers and horses, take Zhao Rang with him, drag Xie Wu's coffin, and rush back to Jinling, leaving time for the Xie family to deal with the funeral. A triumphant ceremony was held.

After the official business was over, Li Lang glanced at Zhao Rang who was sitting silently, and smiled at Cao Lin, "Go and heat a bucket of water, and find a set of clean clothes by the way, common people's clothes are enough—it's even better if you can warm two jugs of wine, I want to drink with General Zhao."

The other two people in the tent were surprised when they heard this decree, especially Zhao Rang. He raised his head and took a quick look at Li Lang, his lips moved, but he still lowered his head.

Cao Lin wondered: "Your Majesty obeys the order, but how can Your Majesty be alone with the rebels? You should invite the head of the bodyguard Wei to come in..."

"It doesn't matter." Li Lang waved his hand, "Go and do it quickly. We will leave at the turn of Yin and Mao."

The emperor insisted, Cao Lin had nothing to do, he secretly thought that Zhao Rang was not a muddleheaded person, if he violated Long Yan at this time, he would die, needless to say, and would bring trouble to the old people in South Vietnam.

Looking at the emperor's demeanor, it seemed that he had something inhumane with Zhao Rang. Cao Lin's doubts grew, but he didn't dare to stay for a long time.

After a while, hot water, clothes, warm wine and hot dishes were delivered. Li Lang dismissed the rest of the people and smiled at Zhao Rang who was still sitting upright: "The whole body is blood-stained. Not only is it disrespectful, I am afraid that General Zhao will feel uncomfortable, right? Clean and change clothes here?"

Zhao Rang raised his head, eyes full of surprise.

His face happened to come into Li Lang's line of sight. Li Lang frowned slightly, took two steps towards Zhao Rang, and stretched out his hand. There is a light-colored scar just above the left eyebrow, which extends to the eyelid and cuts off the end of the eyebrow.

Zhao Rang's whole body froze, he couldn't avoid it, he gritted his teeth secretly, his eyes were sluggish, and he was dumbfounded.

Li Lang asked: "Does Jing Du still remember how the injury on the left eyebrow was left?"

"This is an old creation." Zhao Rang seemed not to notice that the emperor suddenly changed his name, and replied calmly, "Why do you ask this question, Your Majesty?"

His voice was rough and hoarse, but luckily his voice was like this before, even if it wasn't properly concealed, Li Lang wouldn't be able to detect it.It's just that he is still full of doubts. Could it be that the emperor still remembers that old incident?

Li Lang didn't answer, but stroked the wound with his index finger, back and forth several times, but he couldn't stay there for a long time.

Zhao Rang only suffered, and suddenly felt that the skin pressed by the emperor was extremely itchy and unbearably hot. The only way to resist was to close his eyes and endure it.

After a while, Li Lang let go and backed away, with a smile on his face: "His Royal Highness, please change your clothes. If you are used to being served, I can find some soldiers for you."

The implication is that this matter is inevitable, the only difference is that if you don't know how to praise, someone will force you according to the order, but the humiliation is even worse.

Zhao Rang still couldn't calm down from the sudden move of the emperor just now. He got up in a panic, walked to the edge of the wooden barrel in the middle of the tent, stared blankly at the dense heat, suddenly grabbed the edge of the barrel with both hands, and pushed the whole barrel with all his strength. He raised the bucket, raised it above his head, and poured all the water on him with a loud noise.

Yesterday's new injury was poured here, and the pain was unbearable, Zhao Rang couldn't help shivering.He quickly put down the wooden barrel, went to the case again, unfolded the full set of indigo cloth clothes, shoes and socks, picked up only a coat, wrapped it around his body, knelt down to Li Lang, and said in a low voice: "I beg Your Majesty to be merciful. Calling the criminal minister the title of usurping. The criminal minister is willing to suffer the death penalty of thousands of knives and ten thousand cuts, in order to sacrifice to heaven, earth and the former emperor."

Li Lang originally planned to ask Zhao Rang about the details of his refusal to send troops and establish himself as king, but after hearing that Zhao Rang took the initiative to mention the former emperor, and more or less expressed his desire to die, he was unhappy, so he decided not to be in a hurry .

Seeing that Zhao Rang was drenched and dripping, Li Lang said with a dark face, "I told you to change clothes, Jingdu, don't you know what it means to change?"

Zhao Rang's complexion was not good-looking, the emperor avoided talking about him, he didn't talk about business affairs, he just talked about irrelevant things, but this person in front of him was the high-ranking real dragon emperor, even if he had put life and death aside, but It would be useless to suffer for changing clothes or not to annoy the emperor.

The emperor urged again, Zhao Rang could not pretend to be deaf and dumb, so he knelt down, quickly tore off the rags, changed his upper body clothes, and then looked at the emperor.

All the food and wine that had just been delivered was placed on the desk. Li Lang returned to the upper seat, waved to Zhao Rang, and asked him to sit down with him, holding the wine pot, handed it to Zhao Rang, shaking his head and laughing: "As a general, Cao Lin is still waiting for you." I really don’t know how to adapt to the situation, let him take two jugs of wine, but there are really only jugs, and the wine glasses are not served—you and I have no choice but to make do with each other.”

He pretended to be teasing, in order not to intensify the confrontation. Seeing Zhao Rang kneel down and respectfully took the jug, holding it in his arms indifferently, he became agitated inexplicably, lifted another jug ​​by himself, and raised his head with the mouth of the jug. The entrance of fine wine can calm the nameless fire in the heart.

Poor Zhao Rang is really like falling into the clouds at this time, and he feels quite trapped in the dilemma of Wushan Shu Road.After the Emperor's Raiders caught him off guard and were incapable of parrying him, the devastating momentum of the victory and pursuit made him feel powerless to fight.

Originally relying on the idea of ​​not escaping death, even if he faced the emperor, Zhao Rang could not be flattered or humiliated by himself, and he was frank and calm, but... for a while, he bathed and changed clothes, and for a while, he was given wine and drinks, and the touching before that had no deep meaning. Unpredictable, it seems that death is not enough to end the matter.

Looking up, he saw that the emperor had put down the jug, and wiped his lips with his sleeve without any manners. Zhao Rang, who was dry and tongue-tied, hesitated for a moment, drew a gourd in the same way, and took two sips. smile.

Li Lang saw it in his eyes, and felt that Zhao Rang's unintentional smile made his whole face radiant and charming, and it also relieved a lot of the burden from his heart, so he stared at him intently.

Under the emperor's gaze, Zhao Rang felt more and more like sitting on pins and needles, with thorns on his back. After all, he couldn't bear it anymore. Knowing that he was unwise, he still opened his mouth to the emperor: "The sinful minister thanked your majesty for giving me the wine, and I dare not disturb the holy car any more. Your majesty is running around and working hard. I should do it for you!" Peace in the world, take care of the dragon body..."

The words were very tactful, Li Lang listened and smiled: "That day, the bloody battle of the siege, life and death, five or six days and nights without sleep, and finally defeated the bandits, I didn't feel tired, and I never fell down. .”

Listening to the emperor's talk about the invasion of the northern bandits a few years ago, Zhao Rang's heart beat like a drum, but the emperor did not push the boat forward and pursued his rebellion. Because, to submit to the barbarians from all over the world, seize Fujian in the north, and occupy the city of Dian in the west, you are quite ambitious and talented—in your opinion, since I have taken your Nanyue, what should I do next?"

Zhao Rang was stunned, and looked back at the emperor without knowing why, but the young emperor did not smile. Danfeng's eyes were full of seriousness. He hesitated for a while, lowered his eyebrows, and slowly replied: "Your Majesty is a man of great talent. Your Majesty has long thought of the great cause of unifying the world, and you will not allow criminals to talk about it."

"You can say it anyway."

Seeing the emperor's reluctance, Zhao Rang had no choice but to think about it for a long time before hesitatingly said: "Nowadays the world is divided into rivers and governed, and there are many different races in the Central Plains, and there are many heroes competing for the throne. It is not easy to fight across the river. It is not easy to rule the south first. Frontiers, and then map the northern regions... The southern Fujian and Yue have been flattened, and then Jing and Shu...After the acquisition of Shu, the Northern Expedition can be carried out..."

"Is it necessary to take down Shu Kingdom?" Li Lang asked.

Zhao Rang nodded: "Yes. The land of abundance is rich in products, rich in salt and iron. In the past, Qin merged with Shu and swallowed up the six kingdoms. If your Majesty wants to seize the world, you should enter Shu first and destroy the Jing. As for Dian... it is located at the border , if he does not come to commit an offense, there is no need to be too vigilant."

Li Lang pondered for a while, then smiled and said: "So, you have planned it for a long time? Let me ask you, what is your intention in that secret letter? As a rebel general of Eastern Chu, even if you surrender, I will not forgive you. Forgive me, I will reward you with an idle title to support you, you... do you understand?"

"The guilty minister only asks His Majesty to treat the people of Nanyue kindly, and to forgive the soldiers of Eastern Chu stationed in South Vietnam who persecuted the same opponents for the guilty minister. How will His Majesty deal with the guilty minister? The criminal minister will be happy and have no resentment." Zhao Rang listened to the emperor's words. Feeling relieved, the settlement of the account after the autumn has finally come, so as not to ponder over the holy meaning and ponder over it, he got up and fell to his knees, talking eloquently.

Li Lang chuckled lightly, and suddenly had an idea in his mind, since no matter how he dealt with Zhao Rang, he would be content with it, then maybe there is really a way to get the best of both worlds.