Empress Dowager Guide

Chapter 86
"What are you preparing for today's banquet?"

Cui Yun nodded, "You don't have to worry, Queen Mother. We have made arrangements. The earth dragon in Qingren Hall was burned three days ago. In order to prevent the water from cooling down, people have been sent to continuously add hot water at the source. , so that you won’t freeze your hands when taking food or wine.”

Sheng Shaoqing once again lamented that the ancient people's accomplishments in enjoying this aspect were indeed far superior to modern people's.

In order to show solemnity, Sheng Shaoqing had to take out yesterday's outfit again.

Sheng Shaoqing asked Cui Yun with a bitter face, "Ah Jun, can you change a set?"

Cui Yun replied with a polite smile, "Empress Dowager, the net weight of that set of ruby ​​heads is four catties."

Sheng Shaoqing was a little apprehensive, "Then... what about this set?"

"Four catties and three taels."

Well, she still doesn't struggle.

Sheng Shaoqing changed into his shirt, and got into the sedan chair amidst Cui Yun's urging.

Before the banquet, all members of the Nanjing Mission came to pay a formal visit to the Emperor and Empress Dowager of Beiliang.

After some courteous greetings, Wang Mi bowed and said, "The foreign ministers came this time and brought gifts from our king to the Queen Mother and Your Majesty."

Wang Mi clapped his hands, and someone came in carrying three large boxes from outside the hall.

Cui Yun whispered in Sheng Shaoqing's ear, "I sent someone to check yesterday, and there is no problem."

Sheng Shaoqing nodded, and when the little eunuchs approached with the boxes, Wang Mi also presented the gift list.

Cui Yun took the gift list from the eunuch from a young age, checked it and handed it to Sheng Shaoqing.

Sheng Shaoqing then planned to let Wang Mi take a seat according to the procedure.

But Wang Mi suddenly said at this time, "The foreign minister still has a gift that he wants to present to the Queen Mother privately, please leave the Queen Mother behind."

Cui Yun's complexion changed instantly, there was no such link in the arrangement of the ceremony, why didn't this Wang Mi play cards according to the routine?

Cui Yun scolded, "Master Wang, are you so unruly?"

Wang Mi said with a smile, "The incident happened suddenly, and the ministers had no choice but to do so."

Cui Yun suddenly thought of what Wang Mi wanted to say, turned his head to look at Sheng Shaoqing's expression, and saw the Empress Dowager's eyes full of interest instead of disobedience, and understood what the Empress Dowager meant.

Yuan Che also looked nervously at Sheng Shaoqing. Sheng Shaoqing held Yuan Che's little hand and nodded to Cui Yun.

After receiving the Queen Mother's signal, Cui Yun waved his hand, and all the attendants in the palace retreated, leaving only a few close servants.

Cui Yun tightened the golden hairpin in her hand. The sharp touch made her sober up a lot. Fortunately, she was more careful today and brought this golden hairpin, which is both an ornament and a self-defense weapon. If Wang Mi dares to treat His Majesty Whatever she did with the Queen Mother, she would definitely have Wang Mi's blood splashed on the spot.

Seeing that there were only a few people left in the hall, Wang Mi turned around and walked towards the third box.

Sheng Shaoqing's heart tightened, didn't he talk about Mr. Wei Dalang, why did he really go to the box?

You won't be able to take a human head out of it, will you?

Sheng Shaoqing was frightened into a cold sweat by his own imagination, this Wang Mi had better not be too outrageous.

As Wang Mi slowly opened the box, Sheng Shaoqing's heart was in his throat, and Cui Yun also squeezed the golden hairpin tightly.

Wang Mi bent down and took out a rectangular box from the box.

Sheng Shaoqing gasped, there was no blood dripping down there, right?
Wang Mi slowly opened the box, and inside was a bronze animal-mask pattern.

The reason why Sheng Shaoqing was able to recognize this thing at a glance was because Sheng Shaoqing had recorded it among the mistakes that Mrs. Li had picked out in the account book that Mrs. Li used to frame Wang Shanggong.

At that time, Sheng Shaoqing was ridiculed by the system for a long time because he didn't know the word.

There are so many Chinese characters, it's normal not to know one or two, let alone such uncommon characters that are not used at ordinary times.

If she didn't time travel, she probably wouldn't be able to use this pot in her life, so how would she know that this thing was a wine container?
It seems that useless knowledge has increased again.

"Master Wang, what do you mean by this?"

After all the calculations, she thought that Wang Mi was going to talk about the Wei family, but she didn't expect Wang Mi to pull out such a thing.

Wang Mi bowed and replied, "The Empress Dowager has the eyes, can you recognize this object?"

Sheng Shaoqing thought to himself, "Isn't this a bronze animal mask?"

Wang Mi nodded, "Does the Empress Dowager know where this thing came from and how it got into the hands of foreign officials?"

Sheng Shaoqing's head was full of question marks, is this thing so strange?

In today's era when most porcelain is used, objects made of bronze are very rare, and copper smelting technology has matured, so it is not uncommon to create such a utensil.

Sheng Shaoqing shook his head, waiting for Wang Mi's next words.

"I heard that Ms. Cui came from a family and is proficient in etiquette. Maybe show Ms. Cui, and Ms. Cui will be able to recognize it."

Wang Mi stepped forward and handed the 罍 in his hand to Aning who was waiting under the high platform, and turned back to his original position.

And Aning carefully presented the bronze to Cui Yun.

Cui Yun took the rather heavy object, looked at it carefully for a long time, gasped and said, "This... this is something in the palace!"

"How could it be... Could it be?!"

Cui Yun turned her head stiffly to look at Sheng Shaoqing, and Sheng Shaoqing also understood instantly.

This should be the first batch of items lost in the palace before, but for some reason it fell into Wang Mi's hands.

Seeing that the Empress Dowager frowned slightly, she didn't look very surprised, Wang Mi also understood, "It seems that the Empress Dowager should have noticed it long ago?"

Sheng Shaoqing subconsciously felt a little embarrassed. It was nothing more than a fire in his own backyard. Now that the enemy country knows about it, this is simply the scene of a large-scale communal death!

Seeing that the queen mother didn't speak, Wang Mi didn't feel embarrassed, and continued, "This item was also obtained by chance by a foreign minister. As soon as he got it, he knew it was not a special product, so he immediately sealed up the shop. Following this thread, he found some I wonder if the Queen Mother is interested in knowing about it?"

Wang Mi didn't wait for Sheng Shaoqing to nod before continuing, "According to the confession of the owner, he is only responsible for selling the items in Nanjing, and the source of these items is in Beiliang. Every month, someone will regularly send such items through Jiangzhou Customs. Send it to South View."

"The foreign minister planned to send them all to the Queen Mother as a New Year's gift a few days ago, but he didn't expect that they didn't come to the appointment last time."

Sheng Shaoqing thought, I won't let you catch it, Aijia will catch it himself!
"However, the foreign officials have already learned the whereabouts of the things that flowed into Nanjing's Beiliang Palace from the boss, and they will be returned to Zhao and returned to Beiliang in a few days."

This Wang Mi, would be so kind? ?
Sure enough, Wang Mi immediately set out his own conditions.

"However, the foreign minister has something to ask for."

Sheng Shaoqing gritted his teeth and said, "Say it."

"Foreign ministers invite the Queen Mother to sign a letter of credence with our court, and the two courts will have a five-year truce."

That's it?

Sheng Shaoqing asked suspiciously:
"Just one request?"

Wang Mi replied decisively:

"Just this one request!"

However, Sheng Shaoqing retorted, "Do you think you can use these things to get a truce?"

Wang Mi smiled and said, "Of course not."

"Foreign minister, there is a big gift—"

"I don't know if the only son of Mr. Wei Zhenwei, Beiliang Lang Zhongling and Yitong three divisions, is enough?"

"You dare to threaten me?!" Sheng Shaoqing knew that Wang Mi hadn't held his fart well, and he had heard that he was a bad person, but she didn't expect her to learn it so quickly.

Although this truce is not bad for her, it definitely cannot be threatened by others!
This is a matter of principle!

"Foreign ministers don't dare, but please think twice, the Queen Mother. With the wisdom of the Queen Mother, she naturally knows how to choose. A truce at this time is good for both countries."

Sheng Shaoqing thought for a while, then suddenly laughed.

Wang Mi was confused by the Queen Mother's chuckle in the audience. How could the Queen Mother laugh when she was so serious?

"My lord, I heard that Empress Ning Zhen doesn't have any children yet, right?"

Wang Mi suddenly heard Sheng Shaoqing mentioning his sister, and even mentioning it touched her sore spot, and immediately became displeased.

"Queen Mother!" Wang Mi's tone became stern unconsciously, "The foreign minister thinks that the matter discussed at this time has nothing to do with the foreign minister's younger sister, my queen, right?"

Wang Mi deliberately bit the word "queen" very hard, he was reminding Sheng Shaoqing to pay attention to the identity of his sister, not an ordinary courtier's wife, but a queen of a country.

Sheng Shaoqing thought to himself, this Wang Mi is indeed a sister control as the system said, so she did not make a mistake in cueing to his sister.

He was in a hurry and exposed his weakness, then there would be a breakthrough in the negotiation, at least he would not be at a disadvantage.

"Lord Wang, you misunderstood. The Ai family didn't mean to be sarcastic, and the Ai family also admired Empress Ning Zhen very much. It's just that I want to remind Lord Wang, be careful that you end up making a wedding dress for someone else."

Wang Mi said coldly, "Don't bother the Empress Dowager of Beiliang, the foreign minister also believes in the king, and will not treat the foreign minister and his sister like this."

"Since this is the case, the Ai family will not worry about your lord. If your lord has nowhere to go one day, my door to Beiliang will always be open for you."

Just as Wang Mi wanted to refute that he would never have such a day, he calmed down for a while before realizing that he had fallen into the trap of Sheng Shaoqing's words, and his emotions had been being led away by Sheng Shaoqing.

He raised his eyes to look at Sheng Shaoqing on the high platform in amazement, but seeing her harmless expression on her face, he felt even more horrified.

Wang Mi, who has always been famous for his eloquence, will fall into the trap of others, or is he an ignorant woman as he thinks?
Wang Mi secretly regretted that he underestimated the enemy, and couldn't help but re-evaluate Sheng Shaoqing's weight. With such a person in Beiliang, he might become a strong enemy in the future.

Wang Mi also suddenly smiled and said, "May the foreign minister never have such a day."

Sheng Shaoqing was also a little surprised when he saw that he got around so quickly, and that his trick of diverting conflicts had never been seen through so quickly before.

At this time, she also guessed why Emperor Ming wanted to propose a truce.

I'm afraid that there is something wrong with the restructuring of Nanjing, and I'm worried that Beiliang will attack from the south at this time.

However, Sheng Shaoqing didn't intend to reveal his real purpose. Every family has scriptures that are hard to recite, and who doesn't have any difficulties?
"The Ai family can agree to a truce. However, in order to show the sincerity of both parties, the Ai family wants to make an alliance with the Emperor Ming at the border by swearing at the river."

"If you agree, the Ai family will agree. If you don't agree, then this matter will be discussed later."

He can't take all the benefits by himself, and she has to raise some conditions, otherwise it's too easy to agree and it's easy to go back on her word.

Wang Mi gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words, "Foreign ministers don't dare to be exclusive, and they have to discuss with our king."

Sheng Shaoqing raised his eyebrows, thinking to go ahead and discuss it, but he said, "No hurry, you can stay in Bianjing for a few more days, Ai's family will arrange someone to take you around for a while, look at me What is the difference between the northern region and your southern region?"

Before Wang Mi came here, he never thought that Sheng Shaoqing would be so difficult to deal with. He originally thought that as long as he offered a condition, Sheng Shaoqing would agree. After all, this is a beneficial and harmless matter for both countries.

If it weren't for the heavy resistance in Nanjing's restructuring, Emperor Ming and he were very worried that Beiliang would send troops at this time. Under the double pressure of internal and external troubles, even if Emperor Ming was wise and powerful, he might not be able to do it all at once.

Coincidentally, he found items in the Beiliang Palace in the market, thinking that there must be something wrong with the Beiliang Palace, he just used this to lure the Queen Mother of Beiliang to agree to his conditions.

What's even more coincidental is that just after he entered Bianjing, someone broke into his camp and persuaded him to surrender to Beiliang with a mouthful of Beiliang official dialect.

He wanted to treat him as a lunatic and forget about it, but he didn't expect the guards to find a Beiliang official seal on the lunatic.

Now he felt more confident about the ultimate goal of this trip, the officials of the Beiliang court had gone crazy like this, Beiliang had nothing to fear!
However, just to be on the safe side, I still brought this person into Beijing together, there is no guarantee that it will not come in handy.

His keen intuition really helped him again, when Wei Zhen came to test him at the palace banquet yesterday, he realized that the person he arrested must be related to Wei Zhen.

After investigating overnight, I heard that the lord of the Wei family has not shown up in recent days, and the slaves of the Wei mansion frequently go to and from the land of smoke and willows to find someone. The person I arrested is not the lord of the Wei family, but who else? ?
Hearing Mrs. Wei's surname is He, and this person also said his surname is He, this person has more face, he is not willing to lose his Wei family members, but his own mother's family members.

Under the double insurance, he was not afraid that the Queen Mother of Beiliang would not agree to his conditions.

But he didn't expect that Sheng Shaoqing's counter-general would hold him back with blood as an alliance.

Wang Mi was a little frustrated at once, Sheng Shaoqing took advantage of the situation and told Cui Yun, "Didn't you listen to what Mr. Wang said, you are going to let the Dalang Lord of the Wei family go. After a while, you will go with Mr. Wang to lead him."

Cui Yun received the Queen Mother's signal, and restrained the excitement in his heart, and said, "I obey."

Wang Mi could only give up when he heard that, once some cards were revealed, they would no longer have the same effect when used again.

"Master Wang must be thirsty after talking with Ai's family for a long time, why don't we have a feast and have a good drink?"

Wang Mi could only obey Sheng Shaoqing's arrangement and said, "The minister thanked the Queen Mother for her hospitality."

Cui Yun also invited in the envoys who had just left, and ordered the attendants to prepare for the banquet.

There is only one word of elegance in the banquet of Qushuiliu.

So yesterday's noisy opera and acrobatic shows were excluded, and the elegant piano sound was replaced to add to the fun.

Elegant, indeed elegant.

(End of this chapter)