I am His Majesty's favorite

The New Year's Eve banquet was held in the Jiqing Hall. Although the name was a bit vulgar, the soft furnishings inside were extremely luxurious.

Lin Heng sat in the middle of the soft chair with carved dragon and gold lacquer, and there were two rows of seats underneath, arranged in the order of left Wen and right Wu.

All the people going to and from the palace put on new palace uniforms, with vermilion knots around their waists, and they walked through leisurely carrying fine wine and delicacies.The musicians also set up the silk and bamboo orchestras early, and the melodious court songs and dances continued to linger.

The Tianjian officer watched the sky at night, calculated the auspicious time, wrote it with a cinnabar pen and sealed it in a brocade box, and made it public after the monarch finished his opening remarks.

On New Year's Eve, peace and joy.

This is the busiest festival of the year.

The only fly in the ointment is that Lian Xizhuo is not here on New Year's Eve this year.

In previous years, Lin Heng didn't feel that there was anything wrong with the little uncle's presence. At most, the atmosphere was more lively and there were more items for keeping the year.

I don't know where he learned it from playing. In the past three years, Lianxi Zhuoleng has created many elegant games by himself.As a result, there was an unwritten agreement inexplicably between the government and the opposition - on New Year's Eve, one should roll the dice and gamble on wine, so as to have a sense of ritual.

Whenever at this time, Lin Heng would just watch silently from above, watching his courtiers enjoy themselves freely and freely, while thinking about his sweetheart who was thousands of miles away.

But this year Lian Xizhuo was not here, not only him, but even General Ji was given family leave, so he could take care of his younger brother in Changhe Palace with peace of mind.

Without the leader of all evils, the second-in-command who made trouble with the moth also lost interest.

Dali Temple Minister Tang Yao is the most restless person on weekdays, but today he stays obediently at his desk.It's just that he was absent-minded, always staring at the seats vacated by the heads of civil servants.

"Your Majesty, all the courtiers have prepared congratulatory gifts. May I ask Your Majesty to watch?"

Eunuch Jiang Lai has been accompanying him all the time, seeing Lin Heng's appetite is not good, and his face is slightly bored, so he finds a way to persuade him.

"I heard that the congratulatory gifts prepared this year are extremely novel. If there is a good one to send to the Changming Palace, His Highness the Crown Prince will be very happy."

When Mu Chi was mentioned, Lin Heng's expression changed slightly, he put back the silver chopsticks and nodded, "Let's pass it on."

Compared with singing, dancing and vocal music, new things are obviously more interesting.

With one word, the civil servants and military generals who had been sitting still all stood up one after another, seeing the New Year's gift and secretly comparing who was better.

The first thing presented was a pair of Sichuan satin boots embroidered with tiger heads. The soles were made of two layers of cotton and two layers of linen, and the sides were inlaid with exquisite emerald jade.It looks decent and generous, and it is also comfortable and convenient for daily wear.

"Report to Your Majesty, these boots were made by my mother. May your Majesty's holy body be healthy and powerful."

Lieutenant Zhao Tun clasped his fists and saluted. His face, which had been training soldiers and horses in the wind and sand all year round, made him serious and dull.

But such a dull and boring person has always understood the warmth and warmth of the world best.

In the past, the congratulatory gifts he gave were similar to this one. Last year it was a robe, and the year before that it was a pair of earmuffs.Without exception, they all come from the hands of the old mother at home.

However, Lin Heng was very happy about the little benefits that the nobles and bureaucrats could not see.

"Aiqing has a heart, and Gu will cherish Xuantai's kindness."

With Zhao Que's unpretentious beginning, many ministers behind him who couldn't afford to give generous gifts for the sake of honesty and integrity couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

It doesn't matter whether the ceremony is expensive or not, as long as it can be handed out.

"But this..."

Eunuch Jiang Lai looked down the hall, thought and thought, and finally couldn't help wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"Master Tang, what is this?"

"A congratulatory gift to His Majesty." Tang Yao rubbed the corners of his eyes, swung a stick in his hand, and drove a group of rabbits at his feet forward. "There are two deer outside. The guards stopped them because they thought the antlers were heavy and afraid of hurting people. Your Majesty, do you think I need you to bring them in?"

Speaking of which, Tang Yao is two years younger than Lian Xizhuo, but his talent is astonishing.

In the early years of the scientific examination, he was supposed to be admitted to the Royal Academy, but Lin Heng accidentally discovered that he was very talented in case resolution and review, so he gave him the post of Minister of Dali Temple.Let him get rid of the unjust prison and clear up the great injustice in the world.

Tang Yao did a very good job, the cases he handled had solid evidence and were absolutely impartial.The interpersonal relationship is also handled well, and he has accumulated a large group of loyal subordinates who are not afraid of the powerful.

If you don't count the temper that is more annoying than Lian Xizhuo's secret poking, he should really be the number one civil servant.

"Master Tang, today is the New Year's Eve, and it's not Shangshanfang's choice of confession. What do you want to do, you chasing chickens and ducks?"

Holding the wine glass in his hand, Ling Yuan said a lot of teasing, but in fact it was full of ridicule towards Tang Yao.

That's right, the chain of contempt of civil and military ministers has existed since ancient times, and there will always be a few such dramas when hosting a banquet.

Tang Yao didn't bother to talk to Lin Heng at all, so he cupped his hands and said to Lin Heng: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I was appointed to investigate cases in the Taiping River area a few days ago, and removed more than ten corrupt officials from the county government. The local people are grateful, but unfortunately there is no food to thank. So he raised the village and gave some livestock to the minister."

"Received the favor of the emperor, I dare not accept the benefits of the people without authorization, so I borrow flowers to present Buddha on New Year's Eve, please Your Majesty raise and treat my minister well."

As soon as this remark came out, there was a burst of chatter in the banquet.

Who doesn't know that Taiping River is under the jurisdiction of Zhou Yuan, Minister of the Ministry of Rites. Now there are corrupt officials, and even the common people can't eat enough.

However, since years ago, Zhou Yuan has called for sick leave and has not shown up for more than half a month. Naturally, he is not present at this moment.

Lin Heng drooped his eyelids, signaling to the guards to lead the rabbit and deer to the Treasure Hall first.

It is not a good time to punish criminals on New Year's Eve, and it is so far away that it is easy to catch.

Tang Yao's action this time is not only a complaint, but also a reminder.

Remind Lin Heng that there is a problem with Zhou Yuan's faction.

Skipping this episode, the atmosphere during the banquet suddenly became stagnant, and Lin Heng looked indifferent about the congratulatory gifts presented by the ministers afterwards.Neither satisfied nor disgusted.

In short, rare treasures are sent to the monarch without money, and there are many ingenious bells and tripods, as well as exotic drum bells and copper chimes.

Lin Heng was thinking about which dishes Mu Chen would like, so that his father-in-law Jiang Lai could register and send them to the Changming Palace, when he suddenly heard an exclamation from the palace servants who served the dishes.

The voice happened to be heard when the last courtier retreated to his seat, and there were only chatter in twos and threes in the hall, so everyone's attention was inevitably drawn to it.

In fact, this kind of thing is considered normal, it was just a little palace maid who overturned the wine cup, or bumped into something.

Lin Heng felt a chill in the back of his neck, subconsciously raised the silver chopsticks, turned his wrist lightly, and shot it out instantly with unimaginable force.

"Ugh!"

Immediately, a panting body appeared on the ground where the seat was vacated, and a sharp scimitar fell along with it.The blade was glowing a terrifying forest green, obviously it had been poisoned beforehand.

The man who fell on the ground was not completely dead from the blow, and a few drops of blood dripped from the black veil that covered his face.He crawled forward two steps in vain, and before he wounded someone with a hidden weapon again, he was given death on the spot by the second silver chopstick issued by Lin Heng.

"Come, come! Escort!"

Eunuch Jiang Lai was the first to react when he was shocked, and hurriedly summoned the Imperial Forest Army to guard the palace.

At the same time, dozens of burly men appeared out of nowhere, dressed exactly like the assassin who had just passed away.All of them hold scimitars and cover their faces with black gauze.

When a good banquet encounters an accident, the scene is suddenly chaotic, and a few timid civil servants escape in a hurry under the protection of their attendants.The remaining generals didn't change their expressions, and immediately got up to fight the assassin.

The dozens of big men who came here are not bad at martial arts, and they have weapons in their hands, which is much more advantageous than the unarmed generals.

But the advantage is the advantage. Seeing that there is nothing to be done with the experienced general, the assassins in black turned sharply, and all the cold blades approached Lin Heng's position.

These people's martial arts are not low, but their brains are not good.The whole palace is capable of fighting, but they want to pick the one who is the most difficult to mess with.

Lin Heng had no choice but to concentrate, raised his foot, and the rolled up table immediately overturned the two people who rushed over first.

The bowls and dishes full of delicacies turned into pieces of broken porcelain all over the floor at this moment. His Majesty the Emperor tapped his toes, dexterously avoided the cutting blade, injected internal strength at the moment he turned sideways to make a hole, and swung his backhand, cleanly finishing off the other four .

The leading man in black originally thought that those six could hurt Lin Heng in the slightest, but unexpectedly he lost his breath before even getting close.

At the moment, he didn't care too much, so he raised the scimitar and went straight to the door.If it is said that Lin Heng was a little on the sidelines at the beginning, then now he is really murderous.

The assassins came one after another, and it was impossible to guard against.It's not a good time to pick, but I have to pick the New Year's Eve when Mu Chen waits for him to go back to watch the fireworks!

Lin Heng picked up the dropped blade and rushed to meet the leading man in black in two steps.When the two cold blades collided, the force was so great that mottled sparks burst out directly.

Both of them were startled when they fought, the man in black's wrist was numb from the shock, and he staggered back a few steps.And the one who is the king didn't expect that the opponent was more difficult to deal with than those crooked melons and dates in the past, and he might not be able to win within three moves.

Just as the Royal Forest Army surrounded the Jiqing Hall, Lin Heng raised his knife and cut two bone-stained wounds on the chest of the man in black.

"Catch him without a fight, and I will reward you with a whole corpse."

"Heh." The man in black spat out the blood from his mouth and gritted his teeth word by word: "Don't even think about it!"

Now Lin Heng is really helpless, logically speaking, he is an emperor who is quite popular, one is not exploitative, the other is not fatuous.

Why don't these people even want their lives, as long as he dies?

Done.

Since he chose not to die, then don't blame him for not giving him a way out.

Lin Heng exhaled intently, and approached with a treacherous pace, almost walking around behind the man in black in the blink of an eye.

Unexpectedly, the man in black reacted quite quickly, knowing that he would never be able to fight head-on, so he used the Chengliang pillar in the temple to dodge to distance himself.Instead of fleeing to the door, the man smashed the window and used lightness kung fu, leaping and hastily hiding into the night.

It's not easy to hunt down a man in black at night.

But today is New Year's Eve.

Lin Heng didn't have time to think, and stepped on the dripping blood to catch up. Before the figure disappeared completely, Ji Qingdian said in a deep voice: "Order Tian Jiansi to light all the fireworks."

The attendants on duty didn't dare to delay and hesitate, so the first bonfire was lit, accompanied by gunpowder smoke and shocking sound in the sky, and countless brilliant lights exploded in an instant.

Lin Heng's night vision ability is higher than that of ordinary people, and people who are seriously injured can't run far.After a while, he spotted the man in black.

The dark red blood dripped all the way along the glazed tiles, and the two of them, one in front of the other, deftly crossed several palace walls and stone bridges like sparrow swallows.

After chasing after Lin Heng, he was startled suddenly.

look in this direction......

Ever Bright Hall!