Jiang Qing

The dinner for King Xie En was arranged at the Magnolia Terrace.

There are four towers in the palace, magnolia in spring, red lotus in summer, ginkgo in autumn, and white plum in winter.The four towers are located in four directions in the palace, which means that the four seasons change, and life is endless.

Under the magnolia tree, a faint fragrance climbed to the robes of the two men.

The man in white was leaning halfway against the tree, looking up at the magnolia flowers on the branch.The color of Magnolia was mixed with his clothes, making it difficult to distinguish for a moment.I just feel that the flowers on the branches are flourishing, and the face under the tree is bright.

Li An smiled and folded a magnolia, nodded his forehead, and handed it to him: "Magnolia is very suitable for you."

Mei Shao took it, held the flower and smiled: "Thank you, my lord."

Seeing the shadow in the distance, Li An leaned forward and whispered in his ear: "You still have time to go now."

Leaning on Li An's shoulder, Mei Shao lowered her head slightly and looked shy when she saw the people coming from a distance through him.

"King Xie En." The visitor didn't seem to have seen this ambiguous scene, and gave a perfect salute to King Xie En.The little eunuch in the back had lowered his head, closed his eyes, and set himself up like a rock that would neither see nor hear.

Li An turned around and opened his fan to cover half of his face: "Master Bai is smiling. The Jianzhou assassination has disturbed my Meiji. He has been a little restless these days, so I will take him out for a stroll."

"Your Majesty is about to arrive at the Magnolia Terrace, please move your lord."

Bai Bingchen didn't seem to have heard the meaning of "Jianzhou assassination" in his words, and he still respectfully accompanied him to the banquet place, and Mei Shao followed behind them.

According to the ranks of the two of them, Bai Bingchen, the right minister, should not have greeted Li An in person.

Li An just has the false name of a prince, Xie En Palace has no real power in the court, but his status is very special.

He is the nephew of the monarch of Jiang Guo, a neighboring country of Li State.When the first emperor was there, Jiang State was just a clan and tribe lingering on the border of Li State. Although Li's tribe was small, they occupied natural dangers, resisted Li State's army several times, and grew stronger day by day.The first emperor reached an agreement with the Liang Kingdom on the condition of exchanging trade with the north, and the two countries sent troops to attack the Li clan at the same time.Li's tribe was defeated and defeated.

In the crisis, the leader of the Li clan went to the Li State and expressed his willingness to submit to the Li State and serve as a vassal of the Li State to defend the Liang State.The first emperor agreed to Li's request and named Li the king of Xie En.

King Xie En still lived in the old place, and the rest of the Li family moved to the capital to build a mansion, and King Xie En's only son, Li An, was sent to Prince Sheng's mansion to be raised.

It was the time when Liang State raised troops to invade, and King Xie En died. The brothers of the Duzhong clan went back to their hometown in the name of mourning. intermarry with it.Liang Guo made him the king, and Uncle Li An was the king of Jiang Guo.

As soon as Li An entered the table, a disciple of the clan teased and said: "King Xie En is here. It is still King Xie En who is happy. He only loves the gentle and gentle country, and took the beauty to the south for six years to be happy and happy. Unlike our clansmen, Trapped in Pingdu to handle political affairs for His Majesty, where can I see the scenery of the extreme south?"

The other clan members in front of the hall laughed loudly.

"Wang Xie'en has lived in Nandi for a long time. I wonder if he can still get used to the food in our capital?"

"King Xie En's uncle is the king of a country. How can he be compared with our subjects? He is far away. I don't know if Uncle Li's family has sent some things to take care of King Xie En."

Li An is used to hearing these words, and he is not annoyed. He was a hostage in Li Guo when he was a child, and he heard such sarcastic remarks a lot, so he flapped his hands together, bowed to the surroundings, sat down peacefully, and said with a smile: "Thank you all for thinking about Xiao Wang's daily life in the midst of your busy schedule. Li Chengji is just begging for food in the gap between Li and Liang. How can he have anything to show? Xiao Wang Shili Guo Zhilu, with a beautiful woman in his arms, is already exhausted, how can you have such energy, you can have fun in the front and back yards."

The clansmen looked at him as a prodigal son, and they were not ashamed of it, but proud of it. They felt disdainful and bored, so they stopped talking.

After Li An dismissed them, he felt calm, glanced at the grapes on the table, and whispered to Mei Shao who was kneeling behind him: "Don't you like to eat grapes? Let's start the table later, this king's plate for you."

Mei Shao didn't look up, but thanked her in a low voice.

The clan members who were sitting on the side felt even more petty about this King Xie En upon hearing the words, so they snorted silently.

"King Xie En can remember that he has eaten the riches of the Li Kingdom, and he has not forgotten his roots."

Just a soft sentence came from the top, and those clansmen and dignitaries all lowered their voices.

Bai Bingchen, who remained silent after taking his seat, also followed the voice and looked over. It was Prince Cheng, Zhao Yuansheng.

Prince Cheng's mansion is of royal blood, and coupled with his contribution to assisting Zhao Zhen to ascend to the throne, he has a pivotal position in both dynasties.

His eyes were sharp and warning, staring fixedly at King Xie En, as if waiting for his answer in front of the crowd.

Under the coercion, the clan members did not dare to make a sound.Li An was still smiling and talking softly to Mei Shao, there was silence for a while, only his unintelligible fragments of words drifting away.

"It's because I'm late." Surrounded by a group of servants, Zhao Zhen walked to the upper position, and Empress Bai Zijin sat beside him.

The ministers stood up and paid homage.

"It's not a big banquet, so you don't have to be formal."

Zhao Zhen is now 32 years old, and he has only been on the throne for three years, and the emperor's scheming and scheming in him have gradually emerged.Bai Bingchen's family background is not high, and there are many obstacles to suddenly ascending to the top position. He appointed his elder sister Bai Zijin as the queen, raised his status, and let him compete with Zhang Jiudai, the head of the family. There are times when the wind falls, but there is absolutely no tendency for one side to overthrow. The pull and balance of this emperor behind the scenes cannot be underestimated.

He glanced at Zhao Yuansheng's face, scanned a circle of officials, and asked, "What did the emperor talk about just now?"

Zhao Yuansheng and Zhao Zhen are about the same age, and the two are related. According to their seniority, Zhao Zhen should be more polite and call him Uncle Huang.

"I'm just reminiscing about the past with King Xie En." Zhao Yuansheng took a deep look at Li An, got up and replied.

"Really? I remember that King Xie En grew up in Prince Cheng's mansion, and moved out to build his own mansion after the old prince passed away. The two of you are old acquaintances. Now that King Xie En is back in the capital, you also have time to take time to get back together." Reminiscing about the past." Zhao Zhen smoothed things out with a smile.

"I've just returned to the capital, and I'm a little dissatisfied. Meiji in the house blocked the assassin for my minister in Jianzhou again. Her body is still not recovered, and my heart is really distressed. When I settle down, I will definitely pay a visit to Prince Sheng's mansion in person." Li An He pushed back the schedule of seeing Prince Cheng without being soft or hard, he didn't want to meet that deep guy at all.

Zhao Zhen glanced at Bai Bingchen: "I have already punished the assassination in Jianzhou. It is reasonable for Bai Xiang to have mixed fish and dragons under his command. Fortunately, King Xie En is fine, otherwise you would not be a royal servant." It’s as simple as not being strict.”

Bai Bingchen got up quickly, and continued following Zhao Zhen's words: "What your majesty said is that the minister has killed the person who caused the trouble, as a warning to others, and he will definitely discipline his subordinates strictly in the future." He paused and continued. : "Your discipline is improper, please ask for a fine for half a year. When King Xie En is settled down, I will come to the door to apologize in person."

The monarch and his ministers sang together, and the words were impeccable, which lightly covered up the big and small crimes.Because His Majesty opened his mouth, Zhang Jiudai couldn't touch the dragon's scales by saying some heavy punishments. He hoped that King Xie En would not let him go and open his mouth for him.

But it is obvious that King Xie En rolls around in a romantic place and is used to watching people's faces.He immediately showed a look of letting go of the past, waved his hands, and said immediately: "Whoever dares to work hard for Mr. Bai, I am not hurt. Mr. Bai is busy with government affairs, and if he is negligent for a while, His Majesty does not need to be too harsh on him."

"It's just..." he changed his voice, "My Meiji has been hurt a lot. He has been with me for a long time, and he is considerate in everything, but because of his status, he often suffers from idleness. I really can't bear it. Please look at it, Your Majesty." For the sake of saving the minister, let him be relieved of his slave status."

An understatement, as if it was just mentioned in passing, is like a stone thrown into calm water.

Bai Bingchen's gaze sharpened suddenly. He turned his gaze from King Xie En to His Majesty, and found that His Majesty's face was as usual, without any surprise. Only then did he realize that what he said earlier was just a preparation for the present, and what His Majesty was partial to was not He, but Mei Shao.

He should have discovered earlier that Li An dared to bring Mei Shao to the palace openly, which meant that the news of Mei Shao's death was only passed on to him.Thank you for dragging yourself who is most likely to oppose him into the water, and I still have a favor from Xie En Palace that doesn't blame him, so I can't open my mouth now.

Is this the meaning of King Xie En or His Majesty?

"Your Majesty, Mei Shao is the son of a guilty minister. The change in Cangshan is an iron case set by the late emperor. How can he be pardoned lightly?" Cao Bai, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, tried to persuade him.

Cao Bo is a veteran of the court, he is clean and honest, and he is the leader of the gentry.Many gentry students came from his disciples, so his words still carry some weight.

However, His Majesty was determined this time and rejected his words: "I have to give King Xie En an explanation, besides, Bai Qing personally tried him at the beginning. If he really participated in the rebellion, can he still live to this day?"

Where no one was looking, Mei Shao's mouth curled up into a sneer: In the past, how I had to support myself in the imperial prison, pleaded my innocence, the Mei family had a grievance, and no one believed him.Now His Majesty's light words, but no one said another word.

Is this the power of the emperor? Only those who have absolute power will be willing to listen to what they say.He raised his head and looked at the person in the upper position, so as long as he could get that position, these people would crawl at his feet, just like he used to be at their feet.

"You have to remember that you are my subjects, not the late emperor's." Zhao Zhen left with a resounding sentence.

All the ministers looked at each other for a while, and all cast their eyes on the person who had no sense of presence in the whole banquet.

Mei Shao could feel the probing eyes of the ministers wandering over him, but he still lowered his head, as if staying out of the matter.

A pair of shoes stopped in front of him, and he paused in his heart.

But seeing that person's hand pat King Xie En on the shoulder, he said meaningfully: "I have grown up."

The grape in Li An's mouth fell to the ground in fright, and he stared blankly at Zhao Yuansheng walking by.