purple yellow

The Dragon Boat Festival is approaching, and the palace is very busy. Apart from welcoming the festival, there are also a lot of details to be prepared for the visit of the Khitan mission.And that team of Khitan missions entered Bianliang City under the lively and festive atmosphere.

The Khitan embassy is located in Guanghuafang on the north bank of the Bianhe River. It used to be Shangyuan Station in the Tang Dynasty, and was renamed Duting Station in the fifth year of Tianfu in the later Jin Dynasty.As one of the twelve divisions of Honglu Temple, the Courtyard of Concierges did not dare to be negligent, and hastily devoted 12 yuan to hospitality. You must know that Song and Liao have not fought each other for many years, and border exchanges and intermarriage have gradually matured. The diplomatic relations between the two countries have gradually entered the "honeymoon period".

The special envoy to the Song Dynasty this time was Yelu Zongche, the famous Khitan King of the Southern Academy.Not long after he entered the embassy, ​​before he could finish his work, he proposed to enter the palace to submit his credentials, and jokingly said, "I have admired the culture of the Song Dynasty for a long time, and it's a festive season, so I want to ask the emperor for a glass of realgar wine."The officials of Honglu Temple couldn't make up their minds, and the report was satisfactory, and it didn't take long before the summoning message came.

The Khitan mission entered the palace like this.

Although the Dragon Boat Festival is not considered a big festival, the customary banquets in the palace are still indispensable. In addition to the visit of the Khitan mission, the dishes were added from the original 57 to 98 to show the importance attached to the mission.

On the dining tables in the Zichen Hall, there are artificial flower branches made of jewels, some rare fruits, and a fruit plate for viewing. The plate is a pagoda made of candied fruits and carved melons and fruits.At this time, most of the ministers who had the banquet had arrived, sitting on both sides, leaving only two tables closer to the emperor's seats still vacant.It goes without saying that it is the position reserved for Khitan envoys.Originally, the seats of Khitan envoys would not be arranged in this way, but after all, Zhao Zhen still listened to the Queen Mother's idea, and intended to get close to Nayelu Zongche.

Before waiting for a long time, an official envoy entered the palace to announce the arrival of the special envoy. Zhao Zhen said "Xuan", and he led a group of Khitan envoys in.

The person in charge looks to be in his thirties.Wearing a felt crown on the head, dotted with pearls, jade and emerald hair, and hanging gold and flower ornaments on the back of the forehead.Wearing a robe of purple brocade and gold silk, different from the right lapel of the Han people, the Khitan usually wears the left lapel, with a round neck, narrow sleeves, crystal, agate, and indigo dotted around the belt, which indeed has some exotic flavors.In fact, the Khitan Mission visits the Song Dynasty almost once a year. Most of the people in front of them are dressed in familiar clothes, but the leader in front of them is a little special. The value is set off so that people can't move their eyes.

Compared with the roughness of ordinary barbarians, besides the tall and strong figure of the Nanyuan King, his appearance is extraordinarily gentle and polite.Flying eyebrows piercing into the clouds like swords, eyes shining like lightning, but there is another kind of intoxicating profundity hidden in it, facial features are like carvings of knives, there is an extremely delicate mustache on the wheat-colored face, and there are also beards on the temples. Be meticulous.What's more special is that when Zhao Zhen took off his hat and saluted, he saw a thick black hair tied into a bun, which was even more eye-catching compared with the shaved hair of the deputy envoys behind him.

When the letter of credence was presented, Zhao Zhen opened it and glanced at it briefly, then handed it to Xue Liang who was at the side, put it in the middle of the tray and put it away.This kind of credential is also a courtesy presentation, and generally the content of it will be notified in advance, so as to prepare for it and avoid embarrassing each other.Zhao Zhen greeted a few words cordially, then led Yelv Zongche and his party to take their seats, and then announced the opening of the meeting.

After drinking for three rounds, in addition to the realgar wine and glutinous rice dumplings that should be available for the festival, the maids also brought Baisuo, sachets, and Huaqiao fans.The deputy envoy behind him watched the rope-shaped ornament woven with five-color threads repeatedly fiddled with it, but Nayelu Zongche wrapped it around his arm skillfully.

Zhao Zhen wanted to get close, so he smiled and said, "My lord is very familiar with my Chinese culture."

"This king is also going to do as the Romans do. This thing is Baisuo, also known as Longevity Thread. The Eastern Han Dynasty Yingshao's "Customs" once recorded: "On May [-]th, the arms are tied with colorful silk, and the name is Longevity Thread. A continuation of life A wisp, a life of Bingzhang, a Wuselu, a Zhu Suo, a puppet and a ghost, ordering people not to get sick.' I saw it at the emperor's grandmother when I was a child."

"I wonder if the lord has any research on this sachet?" Zhao Zhen asked with a smile, holding up the small and delicate embroidered sachet on the case.

Yelu Zongche picked it up and sniffed it lightly, and replied: "It should contain perilla, calamus, cinnabar, realgar, fragrant medicine, mussel powder, supplemented by Buddhist and Taoist mugwort, which can absorb sweat and repel insects and evil spirits. The embroidery stitches on the silk cloth of the bread are neat, the threads are bright, tight and soft, and the car is screwed home, it should be Shu embroidery. It looks like a small sachet, but it takes a lot of work." Finally, without waiting for Zhao Zhen to ask again, he picked it up The last flowery painting fan, spread out to enjoy it, nodding frequently. "The painting is exquisite and the color is bright. Although I can't tell who's technique it is, it must be a famous artist."

Empress Dowager Liu, who was drinking at the side, couldn't help laughing out loud when she heard this. "Where is the handwriting of a famous artist? It's just a work of a naughty emperor who doesn't do his job properly."

Yeluzong was stunned for a moment, and when Zhao Zhenzheng looked embarrassed, he laughed loudly: "I only know that Emperor Song has the way to govern the country, but I don't know that there is such a great talent. Disrespect! Disrespect!"

Zhao Zhen was relieved to see that Yelu Zongche also seemed to have the intention of making friends.From the short response, it is not difficult to see that this person is knowledgeable and talented, and he wants to win him over with beauty, and I don't know which woman in the royal family has such means.

After entering the banquet, all the tables have finished eating, the courtiers are full of breakfast, and the singing and dancing that should be in the title arrives as scheduled.The only thing that caught the eyes of the officials was that the performers were no longer Jiaofang dancers, but many unmarried princely daughters from Yunying were mixed in, and there was even a Princess Jue performing dances in it. .And the main direction of the girls performing dances is no longer the emperor, and they even approach the handsome prince who came to envoy intentionally or unintentionally, and the emperor and empress dowager on the stand also have a friendly face, not at all unhappy, which made the ministers couldn't bear it. Sudden in my heart: Could it be that we participated in an on-site royal blind date meeting as a foil?

On the other hand, Yelu Zongche, with a calm expression and an old god from beginning to end, seemed to turn a blind eye to those frequent glances, or accepted them all with a graceful manner.Zhao Zhen believes that with his intelligence, he must understand the meaning, but this person is quite sophisticated, and he doesn't show anything except due etiquette on his face.

After a dance, all the girls left the stage.Zhao Zhen saw that Yelu Zongche was still "sighted and clear", and couldn't help but probed: "What does the prince think of this dance? There are many noble daughters of my royal family among them."

"Oh?" Yelu Zongche pretended to be stunned, and said: "The noble lady of the Song Dynasty really has both virtue and skill, and she is extraordinary."

What Zhao Zhen wanted to hear was naturally not such ambiguous compliments, but before he could go any further, Yelu Zongche suddenly said: "Actually, this king admires people with extraordinary sword intent more than dancing skills. The world-renowned fourth-rank imperial guards with swords, people in the Jianghu are called 'Southern Xia', I don't know if this king is lucky enough to meet?"

Zhao Zhen's expression darkened immediately upon hearing this.It took him a few months to get that person to act as usual, but now that he hastily performed art and used force, he didn't know if there would be any adverse consequences.If he thought about it, Zhao Zhen would instinctively refuse. "I don't think it's very convenient..."

"What's the inconvenience? Since the Great King of the South Courtyard has such an elegant intention, he made such a small request, how could the host who I'm waiting for be so polite as to refuse? Pass, Xuan Zhanzhao enters the Zichen Palace to have an audience."

"Queen, Zhan Huwei is still sick, I'm afraid it's not right...?"

"What's wrong with you? I'm afraid it's almost healed after taking care of it for a long time. Thinking about Zhan Zhao's service in the court, it's time for him to serve for the court. There is absolutely no reason to shirk it." Seeing Zhao Zhen still To argue strongly, he waved his hand to interrupt. "Don't need to say too much, it is said that he is here, the Ai family wants to see with their own eyes, is it right or not?!"

Empress Dowager Liu suddenly gave Zhao Zhen a fierce look, frightened him into silence as if someone had seen through his mind, and dared not speak again.

After half a stick of incense, Zhan Zhao came slowly with the summoned attendants, wearing a rather loose azure blue brocade gown, tied around his body by a crescent-colored jade belt.The queen mother was already upset when she saw that he was not wearing an official uniform, but when she saw that he was unarmed, she immediately flew into a rage, and before Zhan Zhao came to kneel down, she suddenly shouted: "Bold Zhan Zhao, do you know where this place is? Ai family passed you Why did you come here?"

Zhan Zhao was taken aback for a moment, but the beads of sweat on his forehead finally rolled down his cheeks due to the previous brisk walk.He said neither humble nor overbearing: "Of course I know that this place is Zichen Palace, as for why I came here, I really don't know."

"You..." Empress Dowager Liu was about to be furious, but was snatched by Zhao Zhen who was leading the way. "Tell me! How did you pass the decree, you slave, why did the guard Zhan not know what to do here?"

"Ah?" The attendant who delivered the decree was dumbfounded, and said aggrievedly: "The servant just respected the Queen Mother's order to pass on the Zhan Guard, but the Queen Mother didn't say what the Zhan Guard should do."

Empress Dowager Liu trembled with anger when she thought that this attendant was actually from her palace.Seeing this, Zhao Zhen scolded him even more: "Are you stupid? The king of the South Court wants to see Nan Xia's sword intent, and the queen mother asked you to invite someone here. Why don't you come to dance the sword and invite you to drink?" Glancing at the empress dowager who was losing her composure, she continued to ask, "Did the Zhan guard ask you what you're here for?"

"I asked..." Looking at the empress dowager's cannibalistic eyes, the attendant replied even more guilty.

The queen mother snorted coldly: "That's the case. Since Zhan Zhao knew that you were coming to Zichen Hall, you should also come in official uniform as usual. How can you pretend to come here like this?"

Zhao Zhen slowly explained: "The queen mother has wronged Zhanwei. The official uniforms of Zhanwei have long been damaged. I originally planned to ask the Ministry of Rites to replace some new official uniforms, but because Zhanwei has been recovering from injuries, there is no such thing. The need has been delayed until now. I think the reason why the guards of Laizhan wear such a brocade suit that doesn't fit well is because there is no more expensive clothes in the closet than this one, right?"

Zhan Zhao's eyes drooped slightly, neither should nor deny.But anyone with a discerning eye can see that Zhao Zhen's words are true, and the queen mother can't say too much.Zhao Zhen glanced at Yelu Zongche, and felt a little unhappy when he saw that he was staring at Zhan Zhao in front of him.He asked: "Guard Zhan, this is Yelu Zongche, the great king of Khitan Southern Academy. He has heard of your reputation in the world and wants to see (du) your demeanor. It's a pity that you are currently injured and ill. I don't know if you can still perform a bit?"

With a twitch of his eyelids, Yelu Zongche glanced at Zhao Zhen meaningfully, then looked at Dianxin's elegant blue shirt, and suddenly grinned playfully as if he understood something.

Zhan Zhao thought for a while, and then said: "If you don't use your internal energy, you can forcefully use a set of Ding Ling swordsmanship, but without internal energy to supplement it, it's empty and unintentional.

Yelu Zongche smiled wryly and waved his hands again and again: "Forget it, it's because this king doesn't know how to be polite, so it's difficult for others. Fortunately, this time, this king will stay in Bianliang for a while to discuss with His Majesty about the marriage. The future will be long, The future is long. I only hope that Master Zhan can fulfill my wish after he recovers."

Seeing Yelu Zongche smiling at Zhan Zhao in a gentle and harmless manner, but with a look of inquiry flashing in his eyes from time to time, Zhao Zhen instinctively developed a trace of defense.

This Yelu Zongche must find out the details as soon as possible...

The author has something to say: the second update in May, it is really not easy to update the text.I take care of the baby during the day and accompany the baby at night. I only get up in the middle of the night to write, and I have been writing until now. I am so tired, I go to bed first.