Jiuxi

Chapter 815 813 [Tiger Roar]

In mid-April, on a straight road more than ten miles south of Jinlin County, a sturdy and spacious carriage was moving slowly forward, followed by two other carriages and ten large carts loaded with various supplies.

Three hundred cavalrymen followed in front and behind. The knights were dressed in tight clothes and had swords on their waists. They leisurely enjoyed the spring scenery along the road.

Inside the carriage, Li Bingxue and Gu Wan'er were talking in low voices, while the dignified Duke of Qin, Lu Chen, was leaning against a soft pillow, looking lazy.

They set out from the capital a month ago, first heading south into Jiangzhou, visiting famous tourist attractions such as Jinghu Lake, and then heading west for a quick tour.

There was constant laughter along the way. Lu Chen put aside the annoying things in the court and wholeheartedly accompanied Li Bingxue to enjoy the scenery and stroll around, while also deepening his relationship with Gu Wan'er.

"Sister, he's tired."

At Lu Chen's request, Gu Wan'er finally changed her habit of calling him "Duke" all the time and started addressing him in private using plain language.

Li Bingxue glanced at someone and chuckled, "How could he be tired? He looks like he is resting and recuperating, but in fact he must be plotting against someone in the court."

Gu Wan'er quietly widened her eyes, clearly a little unconvinced.

Since leaving the capital, Lu Chen basically did not talk about the affairs of the court, except that occasionally a few strange knights would appear and report some things to Lu Chen in private, there were no other situations that spoiled the mood.

"Are you calculating against someone?"

Li Bingxue reached out and tugged at the hem of Lu Chen's clothes.

"of course not."

Lu Chen sat up straight and said seriously, "I'm thinking about where to try delicious food tonight."

It was obvious from the look on her face that she was saying one thing and thinking another, and Gu Wan'er couldn't help but chuckle.

Li Bingxue's eyes flickered as she said leisurely, "Do I need to think about this? Didn't you already make arrangements to bother Prime Minister Li tonight?"

Lu Chen sincerely sighed: "Madam is really smart, nothing can be hidden from you."

"What ma'am? Stop talking nonsense."

Li Bingxue glared at him without any murderous intent.

Gu Wan'er was watching with great interest, her beautiful eyes shining.

Of course Lu Chen would not deliberately miss her, and said with a smile: "Mrs. Gu is also very smart, you two are equally good."

Gu Wan'er laughed softly and shrank behind Li Bingxue.

At first, she thought that Li Bingxue could be so calm and equal in front of Lu Chen because of her family background. After a month of being together day and night, she realized that Lu Chen was different from those princes and nobles.

No matter how domineering and powerful he is outside, he never puts on airs when he returns home. On the contrary, he is very easy to talk to and will even take the initiative to make some harmless jokes.

The carriage suddenly slowed down, and then Qin Zilong's voice rang out outside: "Duke, we are almost at Jinlin County."

Lu Chen said calmly: "You go into the city first and hand in the visiting card to the Li family mansion."

Qin Zilong said, "The Li family came out to greet us. They are not far ahead."

Hearing this, Lu Chen immediately walked out of the carriage and saw dozens of people leading horses standing by the road waiting a few dozen feet ahead. This place was at least five miles away from Jinlin County.

"The old prime minister is really smart."

Lu Chen sighed, then mounted his mount and galloped away with dozens of people.

"Li Gongxu greets you, sir."

The young man was the first to greet him, and then, without caring about his brocade robe, he knelt on his knees and paid homage.

The Li family servants behind him naturally knelt down to greet him.

Lu Chen jumped off his horse, pulled the young man up, and said to everyone, "No need to be polite, everyone please stand up."

This reunion took place two years after the two last met.

Lu Chen looked at the boy's upright figure and upright temperament, and praised: "It's been two years since we last met, and you look more like a bookworm."

"Sir, you are so complimentary."

Li Gongxu was a little shy, and then said respectfully: "I have been serving my grandfather at home for the past two years, and I miss you very much. When I heard that you defeated the Jing army at Yaoshan Pass, killed 30,000 soldiers in battle, and captured the enemy commander Pucha, I was sincerely proud and happy for you."

These words came from the heart and just hit Lu Chen's sore spot.

Most people don't know that what Lu Chen is most proud of is not the false and real strategy of confusing the enemy under Taikang City, nor the brilliant trick of luring the enemy into a trap at Feiniao Pass, but the victory at Yaoshan Pass by combining the normal and surprising means, integrating the military knowledge he learned in two lives, and directly consuming tens of thousands of main forces of Jing Army without any exaggeration.

Lu Chen raised his hand and patted the boy's shoulder, smiling and said, "Take me to see the old prime minister."

"Sir please."

The boy's etiquette was meticulous.

The two groups joined forces and headed towards Jinlin County.

About half an hour later, in front of Ruilin Hall in the Li family mansion.

Li Daoyan was leaning on a cane, ignoring the concerns of his juniors and staring straight ahead.

Lu Chen, Li Bingxue and Gu Wan'er came all the way here, and the three of them bowed at the same time and said, "Greetings, old Prime Minister."

"No need to be polite, no need to be polite." Li Daoyan smiled kindly, looked at Li Bingxue first and asked, "How is Duke Wei?"

Li Bingxue bowed her head slightly and said, "Thank you for your concern, old prime minister. My father is doing well."

"That's good."

Having said that, a hint of sadness flashed in the old man's eyes, and then he looked up at Lu Chen, just like Lu Chen had looked at Li Gongxu outside the city before.

The old and the young looked at each other, as if they had thousands of words to say.

Li Daoyan said gently, "I have had someone arrange a clean and elegant courtyard for you. How about you stay there for a few days?"

Lu Chen nodded and said, "Old Prime Minister, your kindness is something I would love to receive."

After exchanging pleasantries and sitting for a while, the housekeeper of the Li family asked Li Bingxue, Gu Wan'er and their personal maids to go and settle down. As for the personal soldiers led by Qin Zilong, they lived near the small courtyard. Fortunately, the Li family's ancestral home was long and had sufficient conditions to accommodate these brave warriors.

The main hall fell silent. All other members of the Li family were dismissed by Li Daoyan. Only Li Gongxu stayed behind to pour tea and serve water.

"This trip to the capital was not as smooth as you imagined, was it?"

The old man's tone was half joking and half concerned.

Lu Chen said casually: "It's within expectations."

"not angry?"

"I'm not angry, I'm just a little disappointed."

"Fleeing from the capital because of disappointment?"

"What did you get from that, old Prime Minister?" Lu Chen smiled and said, "To be honest, Miss Li and I have been apart for many years. We are about to get married, but we haven't had much free time. It is inevitable that we will have some regrets in the future, so I accompany her to travel around."

"Dishonest."

Li Daoyan raised his skinny finger and pointed at him, smiling, "But with your personality, you will definitely not be afraid of difficulties, let alone escape. You left the capital this time probably to stay out of it and watch them fight to the death."

Lu Chen's face remained calm and he said with a smile, "Old Prime Minister, what you said is too profound. I don't understand."

"It's not your nature not to fight back when you've been wronged. You've spent a lot of money in the capital over the past few years, and you must have cultivated a secret force. Plus the secret agents you left in the Ministry of Justice through Gao Huan and the arrangements made by the Textile Bureau, you should be able to grasp many of the secrets of the court officials."

Li Daoyan said without pretense, "The imperial examination is going on now. You just need to muddy the waters and throw out a lot of negative information about officials. That will be enough to make my son suffer."

The tone was gentle, yet it seemed to contain the sound of metal and stone.

Lu Chen put down the teacup he had just picked up and looked at the former Left Prime Minister who was already very old.

What he saw was a pair of eyes that were like a deep, cold pond and could not tell whether they were happy or angry.

At the same time, Beijing.

The Ministry of Personnel office.

The Left Vice Minister Qu Hongyi strode into Li Shizhi's duty room and said straight to the point, "Sir, everyone in the court is in danger now. I'm afraid it will be difficult for the imperial inspection to continue."

Li Shizhi put down his brush, his expression still calm.

Qu Hongyi sat down opposite him and continued, "Sir, please forgive me for speaking frankly, but this matter is a bit too much after all."

Li Shizhi asked, "What do you mean?"

Qu Hongyi said frankly: "The purpose of the imperial inspection is to evaluate the performance of officials in the capital. Some are promoted and some are demoted because of this. This is very common in previous imperial inspections. But never before has it been like this. Only halfway through the imperial inspection, so many officials have problems, either embezzling money or taking bribes or sitting on the job without doing anything. More than 20 people have even been impeached by the censors. I have just made a rough count and found that more than 70 officials from the six ministries, nine temples, seven prisons, the two courts, and even the Yongjia Prefecture were involved."

In the past few years, Li Shizhi has quietly promoted many of his confidants and trusted aides in the court, and the Ministry of Personnel is his top priority, but the left vice minister in front of him is not included.

Qu Hongyi is the emperor's man.

Li Shizhi knew this very well. He was well aware of the treacherous nature of human nature, so he never thought of causing trouble for this person. Only in this way could the emperor feel at ease.

After hearing what Qu Hongyi said, Li Shizhi felt that he had consulted with the emperor, so he said calmly: "This is the original intention of the imperial examination. Why should the minister panic?"

Qu Hongyi was silent for a while, and finally couldn't help but ask: "Have you heard the recent rumors in the city?"

"I heard."

Li Shizhi nodded and said frankly: "They said I was using the opportunity of the imperial examination to eliminate dissidents and cultivate my own party."

Qu Hongyi really wanted to say, isn’t it?
So many officials have problems, why is there no clue at all for anyone who has any connection with you, Minister Li?
At this moment, a clerk hurriedly walked into the duty room and said, "Sir Li, the Ministry of Public Administration sent someone to inform you that they received sixty-seven impeachments today, fifty-one of which were... impeaching you, Sir."

Qu Hongyi gave Li Shizhi a meaningful look, then stood up and said, "I hope you can calm the storm as soon as possible. I'll take my leave."

The clerk quickly stepped aside.

Li Shizhi looked at Qu Hongyi's departing back and naturally understood the reason why he came here specially. It was obvious that the extremely suspicious emperor was dissatisfied with him.

"You go down too."

Li Shizhi did not get angry. He asked the clerk to leave the duty room and then stood up and walked to the window.

Looking at the green outside the window, he laughed at himself and said with narrowed eyes: "Good trick."

(End of this chapter)