People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 641 The prince toasted, Li Jingye pitted Pei Yan

Sitting on the high platform, Li Zhi looked at the courtiers below, and swept away with playful eyes. Outside the hall, and farther away, there were more courtiers and Fanliao sitting on both sides.

After all the officials sat down, they all looked at the emperor, empress and prince on the high seats.

Li Zhi glanced sideways at Empress Wu, smiled lightly, then turned to look at the ministers, and said: "Although there were twists and turns in the Shangyuan Fengnian, it depends on the unity of all ministers, Wu Fu and the people are safe, and today is the festival of Yuan Day. Prepare good wine, thank heaven and earth, heaven and earth work together, the country will last forever!"

Li Zhi raised the wine bottle, looked at the clear sky outside the hall, looked solemn, and slowly poured the wine in the bottle directly on the steps.

"I hope that the heaven and the earth will work together, and the Tang Dynasty will last forever!" Everyone shouted in unison, and then followed suit, pouring the wine in the bottle on the ground.

Li Zhi smiled in satisfaction, and when he looked up, the maid behind him had already filled up the wine again.

Li Zhi raised the wine bottle again, and said solemnly, "Second thanks to the ancestors, the ancestors have blessed us, and the country is stable."

"May the ancestors bless you, and the Tang Dynasty will be stable." All the ministers poured the wine in the bottle on the ground again.

Li Zhi lifted the wine again, looked at the ministers and said: "Thank you three times, all ministers, work together to share the wealth, come, get the wine!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Everyone present immediately raised their wine bottles and solemnly looked up at Li Zhi.

"Give me a drink." Li Zhi looked up with a smile, and then drank the wine in the bottle.

Li Xuan sat below, and together with all the officials, drank the wine in the bottle.

Afterwards, the glamorous court lady behind her immediately stepped forward to help Li Xuan fill up the wine bottle.

Li Zhi laughed, then looked sideways at Prince Li Xian, British King Li Xian and Prime Minister Li Dan, and said, "Xian'er, Xian'er, Dan'er, go and toast all the ministers one by one for me."

"Your servant obeys the decree." Li Xian, Li Xian and Li Dan stepped down from the stage one after another. Li Xian was in the hall, Li Xian and Li Dan were outside the hall, one on the left and one on the right, toasting the courtiers.

At this time, Li Zhi looked sideways at Dianyi, who immediately sang: "Eating, let's have fun, let's dance."

Taiyue ordered to hit the bell of the yellow bell, and the five bells on the right should all respond, playing the music of Taihe and cheering up.

Hundreds of beautiful palace dancers entered the hall and began to dance gracefully.

Sitting on the high platform, Li Zhi saw that the ministers were a little cautious, smiled lightly, then turned to look at Empress Wu beside him, raised his bottle and said, "Come on, Meiniang, I will respect you too."

"My concubine, thank you Your Majesty." Empress Wu smiled lightly, then raised the bottle and drank the wine in one gulp.

Li Zhi put down the wine bottle, picked up the chopsticks, put a piece of thin meat into the Empress Wu's bowl, and then said softly: "I can't eat more, Mei Niang, eat more for me."

"The concubine leads the decree." Empress Wu gently picked up the thin meat, and then put the thin meat into her mouth under Li Zhi's gaze, her face was full of tenderness.

Li Zhi had a hearty smile on his face, then turned to look at the officials, and nodded slightly.

……

Seeing this scene, the officials were slightly relieved, and toasted each other loudly.

Li Xuan raised the wine bottle, turned to look at the heir Zheng Wang Li Jing on the left, and raised the wine bottle.

At this time, Li Jing raised the wine bottle at the same time, and also looked sideways to the left.

On the left head, Han Wang Li Yuanjia held up the wine bottle, then looked at the kings, and said gently: "Today's festival, brothers and nephews, let's drink together, and wish the Tang Dynasty a long life, and your majesty a long life!"

"Wish the Tang Dynasty a long life! Your Majesty, a long life!" All the kings congratulated in unison, and then drank all the wine in the bottle.

On the other side, Prince Li Xian was toasting all the ministers one by one.

From Zhongshuling Hao Chujun, to Shangshu left servant shooting Liu Rengui, right servant shooting Hao Chujun, minister Zhao Renben, servant Zhang Wenguan, and six other ministers, nine temple ministers, five supervisors made a toast one by one.

Li Xuan and his heir Zheng Wang Li Jing clinked glasses and drank, put down the wine bottle, and looked at the opposite side.

He looked at the opposite side, always feeling a little strange.

Li Jingye was sitting beside Pei Yan, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, and on the other side of Li Jingye, was the governor of Yangzhou, Shi Douxuande.

It is a foregone conclusion that Dou Xuande will be transferred to the center, why, is Li Jingye also transferred back to the center this time?

The atmosphere between Pei Yan and Li Jingye was very strange. Li Jingye seemed to want to say something, but Pei Yan always turned his head away.

Li Xuan was sure that the two of them must have known that he was sitting across from him, but for some unknown reason, neither of them looked directly at him.

Are you avoiding suspicion?
It's avoiding suspicion.

Li Xuan affirmed this guess almost instantly, because it was too weird.

When Li Xuan was in Hangzhou, Pei Yan sent Xue Zhongzhang to investigate Li Xuan, but not only did Li Xuan not be investigated, but Xue Zhongzhang himself was plotted by the king of the East China Sea, and even Li Jingye was involved in the end.

If there is another Donghai King sitting here, then a closed loop can be formed.

At this time, Prince Li Xian came to toast.

……

The crown prince toasted, first the ministers of the central government, then the generals of the sixteen guards, the governors of the states, and finally the princes, county kings and princes.

After all, the royal clan and king belonged to the Li family, and the entire Tang Dynasty belonged to the Li family. They should be grateful to the officials in the court.

The prince represents not only the emperor, but also the entire Li and Tang royal family, so in the end Li Xian toasted the kings and relatives...

Now there is only one foreign relative in the palace, Wu Chengsi, and he is still sitting in the secretary's seat.

The emperor's mother's family is the Changsun family, and his grandmother's family is the Dou family, but both of them have remote bloodlines. Now the only one in the palace is Dou Xuande.

While Li Xuan was thinking about it, she saw that Li Xian on the opposite side had finished respecting Pei Yan, and turned to look at Li Jingye.

Before Pei Yan sat down, Li Jingye just stood up.

At this time, Li Xian seemed to think of something, turned around, looked at Pei Yan, and asked softly inadvertently: "Pei Qing, I heard that nephew Ling had an accident, I don't know how the investigation is going?"

Li Xuan on the opposite side raised his head suddenly, staring at Li Xian firmly.

At the same time, Pei Yan and Li Jingye were also stunned. They didn't expect that Li Xian would say this at this time.

Thoughts turned in his mind, Pei Yan cupped his hands respectfully to Li Xian, and said slowly: "Thanks to His Highness for your concern, the Ministry of Criminal Justice has already verified some clues about Zhongzhang's matter, but it's just that it's difficult to travel in the mountains and fields in winter, so there is no further progress. In the future, when there is solid evidence, I will report the truth to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Yeah!" Li Xian nodded and said, "Xue Erlang is a prudent man, maybe he was taken advantage of by thieves because of his negligence in Hangzhou, it's a pity..."

Pei Yan bowed deeply to Li Xian, but his mouth was firmly closed at this moment.

Even at this moment, Pei Yan glanced at Li Xuan for a while, and at this moment, Li Xuan also looked at Pei Yan, with a trace of sharpness in his eyes, but for some reason, this trace of sharpness quickly aroused a trace of doubt, subconsciously The two of them looked at Li Xian at the same time.

"Mr. Yingying, I heard that you and Xue Erlang were classmates in the early years. He also informed you when he went to Hangzhou this time. I don't know if you know. Besides you, who else did Xue Erlang tell that he will be transferred to Hangzhou?" thing?"

Li Xian raised his bottle and looked at Li Jingye right now, while Pei Yan was still standing there.

For a moment, it seemed that Li Xianzai was pulling Pei Yan and Li Jingye to talk at the same time.

Li Xuan was sitting not far behind Li Xian, but at this moment, he couldn't help lowering his head slightly, not daring to look up at all.

Because he was worried that when he raised his head, he would turn to look at Li Zhi.

Because the current scene was directed by the emperor himself.

At this moment, only the emperor could arrange Pei Yan and Li Jingye to sit together.

Although she lowered her head, Li Xuan was still listening to Li Jingye's movements, and at the same time, she was thinking crazily, what exactly does the emperor want to do?
Pei Yan, Li Jingye, these two people are closely connected through Xue Zhongzhang.

But apart from Xue Zhongzhang, there was another person who also closely linked the two of them, and this person was the King of the East China Sea.

Li Xuan raised her head suddenly, staring at Li Jingye firmly.

He now understands why the emperor ordered him to stay at home after he returned to Chang'an. This is the reason!
……

"Your Highness, although I and Xue Erlang are friends, I haven't seen each other since I honored the emperor last year. I don't know if there are other friends around him. I need to ask Pei Shangshu about this matter. Things were rushed that day. Pei Shangshu is in control of Xue Erlang's whereabouts, if something happens, Pei Shangshu should be the first to know about it." Li Jingye bowed and looked at Pei Yan.

Pei Yan, and Li Xuan cursed in their hearts at the same time: "Old fox."

Avoid the important and ignore the minor, ambiguous, blame others, treacherous villains.

Although he scolded Li Jingye thoroughly in his heart, Pei Yan was still calm but said: "I don't know about Erlang's conversation with the British businessman. If we can know whether he also discussed this matter with others."

Li Xian smiled faintly, and then said: "Then, after Pei Aiqing goes back today, please investigate those friends around Xue Erlang carefully. If the British Duke has nothing to do for a while, you may as well help investigate, all prime ministers, ministers, and ministers. , the general, the general, and the kings, the Ministry of Punishment and the British Duke can all investigate."

"I'm guilty!" Pei Yan stepped on Li Xian's words and immediately bowed in salute.

Li Jingye also did not dare to neglect at the same time, and at the same time cupped his hands and said: "The minister is guilty!"

"What's wrong with the two of you? What you have done is all human nature," Li Xian said lightly. It sounds very ordinary, but after careful taste, there is a lot of blame.

But is it really Lee Hyun who is to blame?
Sitting across from her, Li Xuan lowered her head slightly, but her ears kept listening.

At this moment, unknowingly, the entire hall has completely quieted down, only the dancing girl in the middle is dancing silently.

……

"Your Highness, Shengming, my minister and Xue Lang met each other. They were classmates in the Imperial College. They had similar temperaments. They will have more contacts in the future. The matter in Hangzhou this time is because the minister is not strict in housekeeping. At the beginning of September, Xue Erlang wrote to him. I said that he was going to be transferred to Hangzhou, so I let him live temporarily in the other courtyard of my house, and I never thought that he would be taken advantage of by thieves. This is my fault."

Li Jingye bowed heavily, with a bitter look on his face.

When all the officials present heard his words, they looked at Pei Yan at the same time as they thought about it carefully.

Pei Yan's face immediately sank deeply.

While Li Jingye made his choice clearly, he also tricked Pei Yan into it.

Li Xuan has always been somewhat skeptical. How did Li Jingye live in Meizhou, but received news from Chang'an overnight, and arranged for Xue Zhang to live in a different hospital in Hangzhou?
After all, there was only one night in total. Later, Xue Zhongzhang went to Yangzhou with Li Xuan, and his identity was Secretary Lang.

Even if he was later transferred to Hangzhou, he had already passed through Yangzhou, so how could he still contact Li Jingye who was far away in Meizhou, and arrange everything properly?
So everything can only happen that night.

Li Xuan even doubted whether Li Jingye was not in Meizhou at all that night.

After all, from Chang'an to Meizhou, even if a fast horse travels [-] miles a day, it will take a whole day.

It would be interesting if Li Jingye, who was supposed to be in Meizhou, quietly left Meizhou.

Perhaps the emperor was also suspicious.

But now, Li Jingye has made all the choices. The reason why he can make arrangements in advance is because Xue Zhongzhang knew that he would be transferred to Hangzhou at the beginning of September, so he notified Li Jingye and made the subsequent arrangements.

But who is it that can make arrangements for Xue Zhongzhang so accurately?
Pei Yan.

Li Jingye chose himself cleanly, but he trapped Pei Yan deeply.

(End of this chapter)