[Datang Shuanglong] Aspiration

The culture and customs of the countries in the Western Regions are very different from those in the Central Plains. Even though he has lived here for more than ten years, Li Shimin still can't get used to those weird foods.

When he has nothing to do, Li Shimin can't help but think of his childhood when he played with his brothers in Tang Guogong's mansion, and his glorious past when he led troops to the Central Plains and was full of ambition... But look at the masked and wrapped face on the street With all kinds of pedestrians, those memories become untouchable dreams of the next day, which are of no benefit except adding a bit of bleakness and melancholy to the mood.

Fortunately, Li Shimin was not the only one living in a foreign land. He was accompanied by his wife, eldest grandson, and their children. Their family settled down in this remote city, and their lives were pretty good. .

To Li Shimin's surprise, the old people he recalled most often when he was homesick were not the enemies who forced him to go far away, or the generals of the Tiance Mansion who were loyal to him, but his Li Shimin's brother... To be precise, his elder brother Li Jiancheng.

Li Shimin always thinks of the last time he and Li Jiancheng met and said goodbye in Koryo, and asks himself, if the status of him and Li Jiancheng were reversed, Li Shimin was sure that he would never let the other party go, but Li Jiancheng was still the same as before. The heart is soft... In other words, as the eldest brother, Li Jiancheng has always been unable to let go of his responsibilities to his younger brothers, and it is precisely because of this that Li Shimin was able to escape in a narrow danger, and he still thinks about it with emotion to this day.

As for Li Yuanji, in fact, Li Shimin didn't want to think about him at all. The reason why he thought about him repeatedly was because when Li Jiancheng let Li Shimin escape in Korea, Li Yuanji's expression and behavior were very strange—— At that time, that guy angrily dragged away the elder brother with an embarrassed expression. Rao, they have been separated by thousands of mountains and rivers and more than ten years of time. Whenever he recalls what happened that day, Li Shimin can subtly notice A sour smell hits my face.

It's strange, he is not sour, what exactly is Li Yuanji sour?Li Shimin still couldn't figure it out.

In fact, Li Shimin is not completely jealous of the deep feelings between Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, but ever since he was determined to break through the shackles of the order of seniority and fight for the battle with his own ability, he has ruthlessly abandoned the brotherhood, and it has never been easier. retrieved.

But fate is so ironic that what saved his life in the end was precisely the brotherhood that had been abandoned by Li Shimin.

He was in Korea at that time, how critical the situation was, recalling it from time to time, Li Shimin still had the urge to break out in a cold sweat.Li Shimin's last elite family of King Qin's army was wiped out by the Dayue army, and he and General Kou Zhong would miss it several times... Li Shimin has no doubt that if he really met Kou Zhong at that time, he would definitely be in Jing Zhongyue immediately A different place of decapitation came down from the blade: Ever since the tragic war between King Qin's army and the Young Marshal's army, Li Shimin never thought that there was a possibility of reconciliation with Kou Zhong in his life.

Kou Zhong will not let him go, and neither will Song Shidao, the emperor of Dayue... What makes Li Shimin even more absurd is that his two big enemies are actually a pair!

Li Shimin once thought maliciously that Song Shidao and Kou Zhong might one day turn against each other. After all, they are two men with different ambitions... But the fact is exactly the opposite. Ten or twenty years later, the emperor and queen of Dayue still have a deep relationship , and joined hands together, greatly expanding their territory, the two of them are in charge of internal affairs, and the other is in charge of foreign wars, and the husband and wife cooperate very well.

——How did such an unreasonable thing happen? This is going against the sky. Is there any reason? !

But in the end, the winner is the king and the loser. Although Li Shimin was unwilling, he was convinced.After leaving Korea, their family traveled westward, farther and farther away from China, and finally settled in the transportation fortress city of this small country in the Western Regions.

At the beginning, Li Shimin and the others were still a little scared, fearing that Dayue would come here again soon, and their family would definitely have to move in a hurry; but just a few years ago, after Kou Zhong defeated the Western Turkic court, As far as Chen Bing borders, he gave up continuing the Western Expedition - after returning to the court to rest and recuperate, the Grand Marshal and Empress did not continue to attack the countries in the Western Regions, but took the navy to attack the countries in Dongying and the South China Sea.

For this good news, Li Shimin was very happy and at the same time breathed a sigh of relief: his family should be safe and will not be chased and beaten again.

However, don't think that Li Shimin's experience has been lacklustre since then. You must know that there are surprises everywhere in life. In the later days and under unexpected circumstances, Li Shimin met many acquaintances.

The first acquaintance Li Shimin met was Xu Ziling who was heading west.

Under the scorching sun of the Western Regions, passers-by covered only one pair of eyes, so one could imagine how attractive Xu Ziling was when he was walking on the street with a handsome face and fair complexion.

The moment he saw Xu Ziling for the first time, Li Shimin almost suffered a cardiac arrest from fright—but he recovered quickly and was delighted to find that the other party did not recognize him: Yes, Li Shimin was dressed just like the locals , and his figure is much "rounder" than before. Xu Ziling is not very familiar with him, so it is normal for him not to recognize him.

For some reason, Li Shimin found that Xu Ziling didn't recognize him, but "inadvertently" adorned Xu Ziling, looking at him from a distance: at that time, the strange and complicated feeling that came out of his heart was probably "" When you meet an old friend in a foreign land, you have enmity with each other."

In fact, Li Shimin never felt that he and Xu Ziling had any enmity, they just had different positions... To be honest, Li Shimin has always admired Xu Ziling, and he has much more friendly feelings towards him than Kou Zhong.

After following for a while, Li Shimin suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and Li Shimin heard Xu Ziling say in a helpless and familiar tone: "Shi Zhixuan, you are always around me by my side, what exactly do you want?"

Shi Zhixuan, who was already in his seventies and eighties, but still as handsome as a flower, put his arms around Xu Ziling's shoulders under Li Shimin's inexplicably jealous eyes, and said with a smile: "Ziling, your attitude towards me is getting more and more casual, isn't it just to look for it?" I won't do anything to you."

In this place where not many people can understand the Central Plains language, they speak very casually and don't care about others' opinions at all.But Xu Ziling didn't wave away the hand on his shoulder, he just squinted at Shi Zhixuan, and said: "With my strength, you can't do anything to me."

"Heh, Ziling is quite confident. You should know that even if you go up with that kid surnamed Ba, you won't be able to win this seat." Shi Zhixuan snorted lightly, and said with a slight sneer: "And my unworthy disciple, why don't you replace me?" I'll tell him, don't think that if I stay by your side all the time, I won't be able to kill him!"

Xu Ziling looked serious, and replied coldly: "Brother Xibai is my friend, you'd better not touch him, otherwise there will only be one ending between us, and that is to turn our faces completely!"

Just when Li Shimin thought that these two people would fight in the street and he was about to run away, Shi Zhixuan showed a gentle smile on the contrary, and said: "I will always give Ziling face, if you and I are for others Turning your face, it's too worthless... Let's not mention those boring people, Ziling, have you heard? After half a month, Qingxuan will come here to perform, I wonder if Ziling will give me the honor to go with me?"

"Your daughter is coming, you can just go and see her yourself, why do you have to drag me?" Xu Ziling seemed a little out of interest.

"Because you are mine... Ha, you don't need me to tell you." Shi Zhixuan smiled strangely, and said again: "I'll go to see Qingxuan, you can also go to their guard general to catch up, That Li Jing, don't you guys have friendship?"

"..." Xu Ziling is Shi Zhixuan's so what? !

—— Li Shimin couldn't figure out the answer to this question, because at this point, Xu Ziling and Shi Zhixuan both quickened their pace, so Li Shimin couldn't continue listening to their subsequent conversation.

Not to mention how emotional this accidental meeting brought to Li Shimin. Half a month later, their whole family went to watch the performance of the "Da Viet Royal Song and Dance Troupe". In addition to Shi Qingxuan, a great master of flute art, there were also great dancers who participated in the performance. Shang Xiufang and others, singing and dancing on the stage, the piano and the flute are leisurely, the beauty is closed and the moon is shameful, and the music is melodious and moving. It really opened the eyes of the high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen from the Western Regions who heard the news and made their mouths water. , and yearn for the prosperity of Dai Viet.

Li Shimin had only one thought about the so-called "tour performance" organized by Emperor Song Shidao of Dayue in the name of "friendly exchanges" and even sent a general to accompany him as guards: the fare is too expensive, it's a robbery!

If it wasn't for letting his sons and daughters who grew up in the Western Regions experience the customs of China, and Li Shimin himself wanted to meet those people he knew from the past, he wouldn't be taken advantage of and waste most of their family's savings to buy it. What about the ticket... It's really treacherous. The Song surname doesn't look like an emperor of a big country, he is a profiteer at all, right? !

——The "Dayue Royal Song and Dance Troupe" performed all the way and toured dozens of countries in the Western Regions. It's no wonder that guy Song Shidao didn't make a lot of money. People in the Western Regions must be full of weeds. It's not for nothing Send money to the enemy to raise soldiers? !

Li Shimin, who was heartbroken and heartbroken, was indignant for several days, and felt a little uncomfortable: I think back when he often watched Shang Xiufang's beautiful dance, when did he care about money... Now it's good, he has become a victim.

But the money has already been spent, and Li Shimin can only comfort himself: In any case, seeing that Li Jing and Hongfu Nu couple are doing well, he can be considered to have settled one of his worries - back then Li Shimin fled with his own cavalry , but left Li Jing, who was loyal to him, as an abandoned son. That behavior is really insincere.

Now Li Jing and Hong Fu Nu are both the generals of Dayue. They also made great contributions when Kou Zhong led the army to conquer the Turks before. This time, they are also in charge of the "money making operation in the Western Regions" ordered by the emperor. It seems that they are very popular. Life must be much better than his Li Shimin.

——Well, their family has struggled in the Western Regions for so many years, but their savings were stolen by their old enemies. What is this?

Fortunately, following the "Da Viet Royal Song and Dance Troupe", came the "grand occasion" of the "Central Plains Wind" sweeping the Western Regions: from the princes and nobles to the common people, all countries in the Western Regions yearned for the Central Plains culture.As a matter of course, the merchants from the Central Plains started a new round of long-term money-making operations... Li Shimin instantly grasped this excellent opportunity with his shrewd strategic vision, and immediately spent all his savings to open a store. "Tang's Restaurant" has since embarked on the bright road of "Central Plains Industrialist".

Of course, Li Shimin, who just wanted to earn back the singing and dancing tickets at the beginning, would never have imagined that since then, the inheritance of "Tang's Restaurant" will last for hundreds of years, and eventually become a large chain restaurant all over the world. World-renowned.

After becoming the owner of the restaurant, Li Shimin met more acquaintances, not to mention that Xu Ziling had eaten dozens of meals in his restaurant back and forth. The two "female bosses" once fought here and broke dozens of tables and chairs in their house. Fortunately, they "considerately" paid Li Shimin a lot of money in the end, and they still have a little conscience.

However, those two "female bosses" have caused Li Shimin a headache for a long time: one is Wanhou, her disciple Mingkong is so generous and beautiful, he seduced Li Shimin's youngest son and lost his five souls, and almost made a scene. The elopement joke made Li Shimin so angry that he almost didn't let go of his anger... Fortunately, neither Houhou nor Mingkong looked down on the son of a restaurant owner in the Western Regions, and the two of them finally returned to the Central Plains to "seek another great career". The aftermath of the affair slowly passed away.

Then there is Shi Feixuan, different from Xu Ziling, Hou Hou and others, Shi Feixuan and Li Shimin are much acquainted, after coming to the restaurant a few times, she recognized this old friend.

Seeing Shi Feixuan with empty sleeves on the right and all her black hair gone, Li Shimin's heart was very complicated: he had to admit that the beautiful Shi Feixuan was once the cinnabar in his heart and the moonlight in his dreams... But sometimes To this day, their past is just a cloud.

"Brother Shimin is indeed a dragon among men. Even though he traveled far to the Western Regions, he was able to create such a large family fortune. I am really pleased with Feixuan." Shi Feixuan's beautiful eyes seemed to flow with a pool of autumn water, It is more clear and thorough than it was back then.

Li Shimin couldn't find any other suitable expression other than a wry smile, "The fairy said that, it really discouraged me. We fled here like bereaved dogs. We can barely make ends meet, thanks to the blessings of our ancestors."

Shi Feixuan smiled lightly, and said: "Brother Shimin, you don't have to be so self-effacing. The better you live, the more you can prove that Feixuan didn't misunderstand the person back then, and everyone is happy."

Li Shimin was slightly taken aback, his thoughts were confused, he didn't know what to say, so he could only ask dryly: "How have you been doing these years, Fairy?" In the stomach——Cihang Jingzhai suffered a huge blow. As the owner of the Zhai, Shi Feixuan had a broken arm and became a monk. How could it be considered good?

However, Concubine Shixuan nodded without hesitation, and said with a sincere smile: "Very good, my mind is clearer than ever before, and my martial arts path is also smoother than ever before. I really appreciate His Majesty's generous gift from the bottom of my heart... Oh, I said Wrong, the emperor's younger brother has succeeded to the throne a few days ago, and I want to thank the previous emperor."

Li Shimin's expression tightened, and he asked in astonishment: "Emperor Taidi succeeds to the throne? Then... what about Song Shidao, isn't he here?" He really didn't feel happy at all, but faintly disappointed.

"How is it possible?" Shi Feixuan blinked, and said with a dumb smile, "He has profound skills, and it will not be a problem to live for hundreds of years... He abdicated and became the Supreme Emperor, and he went to roam around with Kou Zhong."

Speaking of this, Concubine Shixuan raised her cup and took a sip of her tea, then suddenly said with a sly smile: "Maybe you also have a chance to meet them..."

Li Shimin waved his hands again and again and said: "I will burn incense in front of the Buddha every day. I must ask the Buddhas to bless them, and don't teach them to come to my door."

But there are some things that are really so strange, the good ones and the bad ones, the two people Li Shimin didn't want to see, finally "came to the door".

Looking at the two "special guests" who were still young and stepped into the store hand in hand, Li Shimin once again felt the extreme tension of cardiac arrest... He didn't dare to greet the guests in person, so he asked his eldest son Li Chengqian to invite the guests To the upper room.

Out of a certain kind of prudence, Li Shimin once installed a eavesdropping device in this upper room: unexpectedly, there will be a day when it is really necessary to use it!

"This city is quite prosperous. I think if you hadn't called me back to cross the sea to fight dwarves back then, my surname would have been changed long ago!" Kou Zhong muttered immediately after ordering the food and dismissing the waiter.

"Anyway, the surname will be changed sooner or later. There is nothing to worry about." Song Shidao's tone was indescribably confident, "Now most of the money and food of the countries in the Western Regions are in the hands of our people. It won't be long before the little brother will die without bloodshed." If you can take them down, it will just give the new emperor a boost, so don't take credit for it."

Kou Zhong couldn't help but rolled his eyes, "You said it as if I value those credits, hey, you cheapskate, I've done so much, but you didn't reward me at all."

Song Shidao leaned close to Kou Zhong's ear, and said with an ambiguous smile, "What reward do you want, tonight..." The voice behind him gradually dropped.

——Li Shimin who "listened to the corner" suddenly felt a little stomachache.

"Go away!" Kou Zhong pushed Song Shidao away, looked left and right, and changed the subject: "Young Master Ling specially recommended this store, the decoration alone is very authentic, the owner of the store is very careful , eat well later, don't touch your hands!"

"I obey, I dare not obey the Queen's order." Song Shidao pretended to be honest.

Kou Zhong rolled his eyes again, and asked: "To be honest, you sent someone to open this store, right? You are really good at making money. Seeing that the upstairs and downstairs are full of customers, you must make a lot of money." Very cool."

Li Shimin, who was eavesdropping silently, suddenly felt a strong sense of accomplishment.

Song Shidao played with the teacup on the table, pondered for a moment, then raised his eyebrows and smiled suddenly: "Tang's restaurant? Of course it can't be my property. Speaking of which, the Shanxi flavor in this restaurant is really strong..."

Li Shimin's heart skipped a beat, and Song Shidao said in a deep tone, "The young man who just came to welcome us, have you looked at him carefully?"

"What?" Kou Zhong's eyes widened inexplicably, and he said, "I didn't notice at all, could it be that he is very handsome?!" At this point, his tone was heard by Li Shimin who was in a state of anxiety. , actually brought some "flirting" meaning that cannot be ignored, which made the shop owner feel speechless.

--Hello!If you want to flirt, don't involve me and my son!

"That kid is really handsome." Song Shidao met Kou Zhong's eyes that were shining coldly, and said with a chuckle, "Thirty points like his father, seven points like his mother... Oh, his mother is the one behind the counter." That boss lady."

Kou Zhong suddenly understood, "I heard you say that, are you an old acquaintance?"

"Oh, my memory has always been very good." Song Shidao shrugged and smiled, "When the Li Clan held a wedding and Changsun married Li Shimin, I followed Uncle Lu to Taiyuan to give gifts, and I had a relationship with the bride once. .”

——It's over, Li Shimin smiled helplessly: This guy's memory is really against the sky, he has to admit it, he is doomed to die in the hands of these two people, it's fate!

Kou Zhong stood up as soon as he slapped the table, and said with both surprise and joy: "This is Li Er's shop? Ha, it's really hard to find anywhere, and it doesn't take much effort to get here!"

Song Shidao hugged Kou Zhong's waist, pulled him to sit on his lap, and said with a smile: "It's not a matter of effort, it sounds like a bully snatching a marriage...why, you still plan to rush?" Go out and kill their whole family?"

"Hey?" Kou Zhong looked back and wondered: "Didn't you always want to catch him, but now you have changed your mind?"

"I just want to listen to your words and have a good meal," Song Shidao said with a casual smile, "We have already abdicated, why bother with so many other things... This store is doing well, and it will definitely be for me in the future." There is no need to kill all the big taxpayers in Da Viet."

"..." Of course Kou Zhong had no objection, the two "disrespectful" guys continued to flirt in the old enemy's shop.

After listening to the corner for a while, Li Shimin clutched his poor, irritated stomach and left silently.

——Do you want to order the kitchen to add some food to the two of them?Hey, forget it, let's tell the kitchen to cheer up and cook some good dishes to entertain the distinguished guests.