The heavens set sail from the courtyard

Emperor Qing had no idea that his mother had been beaten to death by Wang Gang, and he was still happily attending a dinner in the front hall to entertain the Yuan and Mongolian envoys.

This time, the Yuan-Mongol delegation included a chief envoy and two deputy envoys.

The envoy Hesar was a middle-aged man in his thirties, with a pale face and a sickly look, but he was very careful in his words and deeds.

The two deputy envoys were rather ordinary and not very old, and more like Hesar's guards.

It has been almost a month since the Yuan-Mongol delegation came to Kyoto. It was during the negotiations between Hesar and the Ministry of Rites of the Qing Kingdom that the two countries have reached a preliminary agreement on establishing diplomatic relations and cooperation.

Emperor Qing also learned from Hesar that the grassland had suffered a three-year drought, which led to a sudden change in the tribal situation. Several large tribes united to establish the Yuan Meng state, with Canglang Khan as their leader.

Emperor Qing was very curious about this Canglang Khan, but Hesar was very tight-lipped and basically did not reveal any information about Canglang Khan.

"Special Envoy Hesar, it's a rare occasion for you to come to Qing Kingdom. I have prepared some gifts for you to take back. Please pass them on to Khan Canglang." Emperor Qing sat on the upper seat in the hall and said to Hesar below.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Hesar clenched his right fist, placed it on his chest, and said politely: "The Yuan Meng Kingdom was just established, and we hope to form a permanent alliance with the Qing Kingdom. Our country is willing to open three checkpoints to trade with the Qing Kingdom."

Emperor Qing said with a smile: "The trade is a serious matter. I need to discuss it with my ministers. I will host a banquet to entertain the special envoy today. We will only talk about love and romance, not state affairs."

Hesar thanked Emperor Qing again and stopped talking about the trade. He picked up his wine glass and said, "I heard that Qing was founded on military power and its people are tough. I wonder if I can see it today."

Emperor Qing frowned slightly, and Minister of Rites Guo Youzhi stood up and said: "It is really indecent to have martial arts competitions and swordplay at a banquet.

It so happens that Mr. Zhuang, a great literary figure of the Northern Qi Dynasty, is visiting our country today. Why don’t we make friends through literature to enhance our literary interest?”

"That's right." Emperor Qing laughed and said, "Making friends through literature is also an elegant thing."

As soon as Emperor Qing opened his mouth, all the ministers supported him, and Hesar chose to follow suit and no longer insisted.

Fan Xian was originally sitting aside drinking, not paying much attention to what was happening outside. After Guo Youzhi brought out Zhuang Mohan, he pointed the finger at him.

Zhuang Mohan directly said in front of everyone that Fan Xian's earlier work "Climbing the High Tower" was plagiarized from his teacher's old work.

Fan Xian perked up when he heard this. Of course he would admit to plagiarism, but the poet he copied, Du Fu, was not Zhuang Mohan's teacher.

In fact, Fan Xian didn't even know who Teacher Zhuang Mohan was.

Zhuang Mohan was actually invited by Princess Li Yunrui to attack Fan Xian.

This great Northern Qi literary figure is Xiao En's biological brother. Li Yunrui used Xiao En to trick Zhuang Mohan to come to Qing in order to ruin Fan Xian's reputation. She wanted to kill Fan Xian and make him infamous forever.

Zhuang Mohan is a writer. Although he has a great influence in the literary world, unfortunately his subordinates are very small. He still doesn't know that his younger brother Sean has escaped from the Inspection Institute prison.

Fan Xian was angered by Zhuang Mohan. In front of the civil and military officials of Qing State, he drank and wrote hundreds of poems, reciting all the famous poems he had memorized in his previous life. Zhuang Mohan was so shocked that he almost lost control of his bladder, even at his age.

Not to mention Zhuang Mohan, even a man like Emperor Qing who valued military power over literature was stunned when he heard Fan Xian utter one poem after another that was enough to be passed down through the ages.

Eunuch Hou quickly called some eunuchs to bring pens, ink, paper and inkstone to write down the poems written by Fan Xian. He did not dare to stop writing, mainly because Fan Xian became more and more excited as he drank, and he was addicted to plagiarism. Eunuch Hou and his men could not copy faster than Fan Xian could speak.

Fan Jian was probably one of the only few people at the scene who could remain calm. He looked at Fan Xian with pride. The more outstanding Fan Xian was, the more proud he, as a "father", would be.

Li Yunrui's mood was different. The look she gave Fan Xian was full of knives. If eyes could kill, Fan Xian would have been cut into pieces long ago.

"Hmph! Ye Qingmei's son, I will not let you survive today." Li Yunrui was filled with murderous intent and stood up and left.

Emperor Qing caught a glimpse of Li Yunrui and sneered in his heart, thinking that Fan Xian and Lin Wan'er's marriage was completely settled.

After tonight, Fan Xian's talent and fame will spread throughout Kyoto, and even to Qing and Qi. Emperor Qing must build up momentum for this illegitimate son.

If anyone stands up to question the marriage again in the future, Emperor Qing can just slap them back.

After Li Yunrui left, the eunuchs and palace maids came in and filled everyone's glasses with wine. Fan Xian ran over and grabbed the wine jug and began to pour it into his mouth.

He wanted to take advantage of the poetic inspiration to get himself drunk, and use the drunkenness as an opportunity to leave the banquet, and sneak into the harem with Wuzhu to look for his mother's relics.

According to the plan, Wu Zhu had already sneaked into the palace and would take action as soon as Fan Xian escaped.

What they didn't know was that Wang Gang had already taken away the key left by Ye Qingmei.

He was destined to return empty-handed tonight.

…………

Wang Gang killed the Queen Mother, left the palace directly, and swaggered towards the Queen's residence.

Anyone who saw him was affected by his "inner demon" and stood there in a daze.

The strange art of "Heart Demon Attraction" is not very effective against those with strong minds, but it is very useful against some eunuchs and guards.

Until Wang Gang entered the queen's bedroom, he had not met anyone who could block the "inner demon's attraction".

Since the Taiping Courtyard Massacre sixteen years ago, the Empress of Emperor Qing's mother's family was completely slaughtered by Fan Jian and Chen Pingping, and she herself was confined to the harem by Emperor Qing, which was no different from being banished to the cold palace.

After all, the Queen was the mother of Crown Prince Li Chengqian, so Emperor Qing still showed her some mercy and only put her under house arrest instead of killing her.

However, compared to death, being trapped in the dark harem, the queen might prefer the former.

In order to limit the power of his maternal relatives, Emperor Qing did not allow the Empress to have contact with anyone except the Crown Prince. Even the palace maids and servants who served her were told by Emperor Qing that they were not allowed to communicate too much with the Empress.

During the days of loneliness and helplessness, the queen could only keep company with wine. She was slightly drunk all day long so that she could forget the pain and the wailing of her entire family when they died tragically, and survive these sixteen years.

As soon as Wang Gang walked into the queen's bedroom, he smelled a faint smell of alcohol. A beautiful middle-aged woman in a black robe was leaning on the couch, drinking strong wine spoon by spoon.

The huge palace was empty, but bright and filled with candlesticks. However, it was deserted and seemed very lonely.

The queen noticed someone coming in and glanced at Wang Gang with drunken eyes.

"Who are you and why did you break into my bedroom?"

Wang Gang smiled and said, "I, Guo Baokun, follow the order of the Crown Prince to invite the Queen to the front hall for a banquet."

"Attend a banquet?" The Queen was slightly surprised. She put down the wine spoon and asked curiously, "Your Majesty actually asked me to attend a banquet?"

Wang Gang said with a smile: "Your Majesty is receiving foreign envoys. You are the mother of a country, so why wouldn't you be there?"

The queen suddenly became happy, maybe because she was drunk, and asked excitedly: "Your Majesty has finally forgiven me?"

Wang Gang continued, "Husband and wife are one body. How can Your Majesty blame the Queen? No matter what mistakes you make, Your Majesty will understand."

The queen's face suddenly turned serious, and she said sadly: "Impossible, Your Majesty will not forgive me. Ever since the death of that little bitch Ye Qingmei, Your Majesty will not forgive me."

Wang Gang frowned, feeling that the Queen of Qing had some mental problems. She cried and laughed at the same time. Was she possessed by a demon?
"No! How did you get in without being summoned?" The queen suddenly regained her senses, the smell of alcohol disappeared, and she began to act like the mother of a country.

Wang Gang raised his lips, straightened his back, stopped pretending to be Guo Baokun, and said with a smile: "Queen, follow me to the front hall! There is a good show going on there, and we can't do without you."

The queen was horrified and shouted, "Help! There's an assassin!"

In the empty hall, the Queen's voice echoed, but no one came in. (End of this chapter)