A traitor

Xuan Guo envoys came to visit, and the emperor specially summoned Su Qinglang.

In the imperial study room, the emperor was sitting in front of the desk, and Su Qinglang was standing opposite him, only to hear the emperor slowly say: "Xuan Guo will send envoys here, you know it all, right?"

Su Qinglang cupped his hands and replied: "Yes, I heard that the envoy this time is their imperial historian Wen Shiliang."

The emperor snorted, obviously displeased: "The weasel is paying New Year's greetings to the chicken, and it is said on the surface that it is an envoy, but sending such a person over, is it to show my authority?"

Su Qinglang smiled slightly: "Your Majesty calm down, with Qinglang here, it's not certain who will show off to whom."

Ten years ago, when Su Qinglang was still a kid, there was a great war between Nantang and Xuanguo, but the people of the two countries held different opinions about the outcome of that war.

At that time, in the name of suppressing bandits, Xuan Guo occupied several cities in the southern Tang border. The emperor was furious and ordered General Xie Yuan to lead the army to fight, and drove Xuan Guo's soldiers to the north of Lingshui.

Xuanguo sent envoys to negotiate a peace. It is said that they should have won at this point, but they didn't expect it.

When negotiating peace, their emperor not only accepted Xuanguo's condition of ceding the city and promised peaceful exchanges between the two countries, but also sent Li Chengsi, the son of the former second prince Li Hong, to Xuanguo as a hostage in order to show his sincerity.

Anyone who knows a little about government affairs knows that sending protons is a sign of defeat, so there are two different conclusions about the outcome of that war.

At that time, most of the ministers in the court were opponents, and there were quite a few who tried to reason with the emperor. Even the always obedient and loyal King Chang Shan couldn't help but jump out to stop him.

But their emperor's mind has been made up, and no one can change his decision to send His Royal Highness Li Chengsi to Xuanguo as a hostage.

After all, back then, the old emperor's method of seeking the throne was not very bright, and he was cruel and merciless towards the former second prince Li Hong. He left Li Chengsi because he was afraid that after he ascended the throne, the people of the world would criticize him for being stupid , Cruel brother, but as Li Chengsi grew older, the old emperor's heart disease became more and more serious.

If you want to keep him, it's like a thorn in the flesh, reminding the old emperor of his past sins and pains all the time.

Therefore, this Li Chengsi was strictly guarded by the old emperor since he was a child, and he lived a life of house arrest under house arrest. The people under him knew that the emperor didn't want to see him, so naturally they wouldn't treat him very well.

However, under such difficult conditions, Li Chengsi has become more and more outstanding. Compared with the prince who is always idle and willful, he has a better reputation among the ministers.

This made the old emperor even more unhappy, feeling that this thorny thorn, if it grows a little longer, might become a sword hanging over his head, and one day it would kill him.

As a result, assassination, poisoning, framing... All the calculations of conspiracy and conspiracy were used in turn, and Li Chengsi avoided them all without any risk, which made the emperor very depressed, thinking that this Li Chengsi might have something. With the help of the gods, in such a bloody blow, they can still be tenacious and unyielding to save a small life.

Since you can't kill yourself, then use the hands of others to take advantage of the opportunity to negotiate a peace and send Li Chengsi to Xuanguo. When there is a war between the two countries in the future, Xuanguo will be the first to take Li Chengsi's knife. This will remove the thorn in his side , You don’t have to do it yourself.

Thus, Li Chengsi was sent out of the imperial city.

However, what the emperor didn't expect was that something happened before the team going to Xuanguo left the border of Southern Tang Dynasty.

A fire broke out in the post house where he was staying, and several guards who escorted him, as well as officials from the Xuan Kingdom died, and even the ill-fated Prince Yi was also buried in the sea of ​​flames.

At the beginning, the minister of Xuanguo's envoy was their imperial historian Wen Shiliang.

This Wen Shiliang was very ignorant, and he came to Chang'an to meet Li Chengsi with the attitude of a victor, and with his sharp tongue, he pissed off the former Minister of Rites who was in charge of entertaining them.

Later, the national power of the Southern Tang Dynasty declined, especially after the death of the general Xie Yuan, a general was lost at the border, and only He Yunqi was able to stand up, so the military naturally lost a lot of deterrence.

Xuan Guo stared at him covetously, his evil intentions were not dead, and his actions became more and more reckless.Now, Wen Shiliang, who had humiliated them, was sent here again, the meaning of which was self-evident.

The emperor hummed, and said: "I don't worry about your work. It's just that Wen Shiliang's visit here is not just as simple as an envoy. You have to deal with it carefully and find out his purpose."

Su Qinglang clapped his hands and said yes, and heard the emperor say: "Now that Cai Jun has been promoted, the Ministry of Rites still lacks a servant. Now that Xuanguo is here, I'm afraid you will be too busy alone. The position of servant should be fixed early. I don't know Su Qing. Any suggestions?"

Sometimes, when your boss asks you what you think, don't answer rashly. If you don't show your hospitality, it may arouse the boss's disgust.

So, Su Qinglang thought about the officials under Qin Jian's hands, finalized a few available candidates in his mind, and prepared to recommend them later, but he was very humble on the surface.

So he replied in embarrassment: "This minister is also worried about this matter, but he has not made up his mind. I don't know what the emperor thinks?"

The emperor thought for a moment, and said: "Cai Jun handled Du Qingyun's case very well, and what else...Mei Liusheng's, although he is a young man, is not bad, what do you think of him?"

Cai Jun just left, and now Mei Liusheng is coming again, both of them are upright, with wind hidden in their sleeves, and entering the Ministry of Rites, wouldn't it cut off his fortune?

Su Qinglang uttered an uh, and said half as a reminder: "Your Majesty, although this Mei Zhuangyuan is good, but his qualifications are still inexperienced, he still needs to be trained for a few years, let him enter the Ministry of Rites, I'm afraid other ministers will have criticism."

The emperor said: "About this matter, I have thought about it before, but currently there is no candidate available. Besides, since it is my will, who dares to speak up?"

Thinking of that Jia Dexin who had been despised by Qin Xiangye to the mountain den, and that Jia Siqi whose heart was higher than the sky, whose life was lower than paper, and who had previously intended to make trouble and humiliate him, Su Qinglang felt that he would not take revenge.

Not only is he not a gentleman, but he is also a fool, so he immediately seized the opportunity to sow discord and tell right from wrong.

So, he pursed his lips, showed an aggrieved expression on his face, and said hesitantly: "Your Majesty, because of the new examination, Mr. Jia has already approached the minister."

The emperor wondered: "The new exam has already ended, and his son has already won the gold medal, what do you want?"

Seeing Su Qinglang's embarrassing expression, the emperor felt that there was something wrong inside, so with a straight face, he said in a cold voice: "Tell me slowly, I will make the decision for you."

Su Qinglang smirked inwardly, and said half-concealed: "Your Majesty, it's not a big deal, it may be the result of the new exam, which is a bit unexpected, Master Jia loves his son, and has some misunderstandings about the humble minister, it's understandable to be angry Yuan, just let it go after the matter, don't let the emperor get angry."

He paused, and then said: "It's just that I'm a little worried about Jia Siqi, who will be depressed because of this matter. If Mei Liusheng is promoted at this time, it may make him dissatisfied with the court."

In a few words, Mr. Jia and Mr. Jia were labeled as bastards who were dissatisfied with the emperor's decision and openly confronted their superiors. They also portrayed themselves as good people with a broad mind and a good heart for the country and the people.

Hearing this, the emperor was even more furious, thinking that Jia Siqi was bullying him and made him suffer great grievances, so he slapped the dragon table with his palm, shaking the inkstone next to it out of ink, staining a roll of stains.

"This Jia Siqi is really lawless and extremely hateful! I thought he should sincerely repent after learning the lesson from last time, but I didn't expect it to be so! Jia Dexin is the same. If he has any dissatisfaction in the future, let him come to me. I want to see Look, he still wants to do the opposite!"

Seeing that the emperor was really angry, Su Qinglang knelt down on the ground with a thud, and said with a frightened look: "The emperor calmed down, it's the fault of my humble minister, I shouldn't have said such things to you."

The emperor looked at Su Qinglang, with affection in his eyes, and his tone softened a lot: "I know you have a lenient heart, and you won't take such grievances to heart, but you are already a minister, a dignified second-rank official, why don't you give up?" But being ridden on the head by those people? If you encounter such a thing in the future, if you feel embarrassed, you can explain it to me, and I will make the decision for you."

Su Qinglang lowered his head, acting very considerate of the overall situation: "Your Majesty, Jia Dexin and Jia Siqi are, after all, a family of officials and eunuchs, and my ministers always want to show some face."

The emperor snorted: "What a family of officials and eunuchs, it's Jia Dexin's turn here, but he is just a jailer. If Qin Jian didn't insist, I would not promote him here."

Su Qinglang smiled with feigned embarrassment: "Your Majesty, just because he used to be a prison guard, and he had a bit of a relationship with the humble minister, the humble minister did not dare to act rashly, for fear of being criticized."

Thinking of Su Qinglang being imprisoned in the past and suffering a lot under Jia Dexin's hands, the emperor sighed: "This matter is up to me, and you don't have to worry about it."

Su Qinglang said yes, achieved his goal, and when he lowered his head, there was a sly smile on the corner of his lips.

Exiting from the imperial study, he walked along the long palace road, watching a group of Luanjia coming towards him from afar.

Walking to the front, he realized that the person who came was Wan Yuzhen. He saluted quickly, and at the same time noticed a person beside Luanjia, who looked like an imperial doctor.

The imperial concubine lifted the veil and asked, "Master Shang Shu, but I haven't seen you for a few days."

Su Qinglang lowered his head and smiled, and replied: "These ministers have been busy with Xuan Guo's envoys these days, and have no time to visit the palace, so I ask the empress to make amends."

After a pause, he said again: "I got a gold-encrusted jade comb yesterday, I think the empress should like it, and send it to the palace tomorrow?"

Hearing that he didn't have time to see her, the imperial concubine snorted, seemed a little resentful, and said lazily: "Forget it, since Mr. Su is busy, let's do yours first."

Saying that, let people get up in the Luanjia, and head towards the deep palace.

Su Qinglang looked at the direction she was leaving, and shook his head helplessly. He changed his face faster than turning the pages of a book, and his mood was comparable to the sky in June. Only women and villains are difficult to raise in the world, and the ancients really did not deceive him.

Stepping out of the palace, I saw a servant in the palace, who seemed to be from the imperial concubine's palace, so I quickly stopped him and said, "I haven't seen Doctor He these days, I don't know where he went?"

The waiter was stunned for a moment, and replied: "Master Su, don't you know that Imperial Physician He has been assigned to Beauty Wang, and it is Imperial Physician Chen who is serving the empress now."

When the waiter walked away, Su Qinglang frowned thoughtfully and said, "He Yushan's apprentice, Chen Wenxuan..."