Back to the prosperous Tang Dynasty to be the emperor

Chapter 72 Night Banquet (1)

On the third day of October in the second year of Linde, Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu led the crowd from Luoyang to Mount Tai. Along the way, prefectures and counties paved loess roads and sprinkled water to greet them. Prince Du was ordered to stay in Beijing to guard. On the ninth day of November, the emperor pretended to arrive in Tai'an, stayed in the palace, and accompanied hundreds of officials to live outside the palace. Expensive, quite disturbing to the people.

On the third day of the first lunar month, Emperor Gaozong led his ministers to enshrine Zen on Mount Tai, with the queen as the sub-offer, Da Sikong and Li Ji as the final offering, and issued an edict to amnesty the world, and changed the yuan to the first year of Qianfeng. , Xun, and Jue ranged, and issued a decree: the [-]th year of the People's Republic of China was awarded the provincial governor, Sima, county magistrate, women's county, and county lord; the [-]th to [-]th, the ancient title was given, and the current year was exempted. This year's taxes in the counties and counties that I have passed can be said to be in the limelight. Just after the end of Fengchan, the "Biography of Lie Nu" and "Chen Gui" compiled by Empress Wu were immediately published in various states and counties. The virtuous name then arises.

A ceremony of enshrining Zen has become a stage for Empress Wu to perform alone. What she did is extremely beautiful. The absolute "home run" not only has the means of rewarding the ministers, but also has the ability to take advantage of the situation to promote the so-called North Gate. Not only that, the benefits of being a bachelor's official position are not only that, but the move of exempting local money and food can also buy people's hearts, plus the praise of a bunch of shameless literati, it also occupies the commanding heights of public opinion, it is no exaggeration to say that it is comprehensive, such a set Playing like flowing clouds and flowing water, even Li Xian, who has experienced people like him, can't help but be amazed.

No solution, really no solution, even if Li Xian was observing with a "microscope", he still couldn't find the flaw in Empress Wu's series of actions. Of course, even if he could find it, Li Xian wouldn't Maybe at this juncture, there will be a collision with Empress Wu. In this way, there is only one thing Li Xian can do during the entire Fengchan period, and that is to stand on the sidelines. Other than that, he just waits, waiting for the big scene Kick off.

The Fengchan Grand Ceremony is very lively, but after it, it will be over. Gaozong himself did not intend to return to the capital so early, but all the ministers have official duties, so they can't waste the court because of it Official business, no, just after the Lantern Festival, first the local officials who came to accompany them left one after another, and then the ministers of the court and the central government also returned to Beijing one after another, and Tai'an City, which had been noisy for more than a month, gradually The land returned to tranquility. Of course, whether Tai'an City is lively or not has nothing to do with Li Xian. As a prince, he doesn't need to live in a camp like the ministers. The palace has its own relationship with Li Xian. Where to live, the two young brothers have been extremely honest these days, neither participating in interviews with ministers, nor having private contacts with ministers, they just get together to chat and play chess every day, but they are very leisurely, No, early in the morning, the two younger brothers set up a chessboard to fight again.

Li Xian's chess skills are not bad, and the three generations have studied it a lot, especially when he was a student in the later generations, he went to an amateur chess academy for several years, and his chess skills are quite good. As for Li Xian, his level is only average, at the top Duobi is just stronger than the stinky chess basket. The reason why he was able to fight Li Xian back and forth, it seems to be a tie, is actually Li Xian giving way to him, but Li Xian's chess skills are really stinky, so I can't tell That's all.

"Reporting to Your Highnesses, Wu Youning, the Shizhou Recorder who joined the army, is here to pay his respects. Your Highnesses, please make it clear."

Just as the two brothers Li Xian were buried in the chessboard, the young eunuch Zhang Che hurried in from the outside, bowed to the two brothers, and rushed to report.

"not see!"

Li Xian's chess is in a difficult situation right now, and he is very annoyed. Hearing that the name of the caller is very unfamiliar, he snorted coldly without raising his head.

"Wait a minute."

Li Xian doesn't know who Wu Youning is, but Li Xian knows it very well, and even knows why he came. To be honest, what Li Xian has been waiting for these days is the appearance of this person, and it is impossible for him to come After leaving like this, he raised his hand and shouted, stopping Zhang Che who was about to make a move.

"Ok?"

These days, many local officials have come to visit. Among them are high-ranking officials such as the governor, but every time Li Xian follows Li Xian's suggestion and never sees him. At this time, he heard that Li Xian had a visitor Meaning, Li Xian couldn't care less about thinking about the chess game anymore, raised his head in astonishment, looked at Li Xian suspiciously, and let out a soft snort.

"Sixth brother, this man is the eldest son of Wu Weiliang, governor of Shizhou, and he is your brother's cousin." Facing Li Xian's doubts, Li Xian smiled lightly and explained casually.

"So what?" Li Xian was extremely disgusted with Empress Wu, and he didn't even treat people from the Wu family very much. He didn't care about his cousins ​​at all. He tilted his head and made a disapproving sound.

"Sixth brother, this son has come from a long way, he must have something important to do, why not meet him?"

Li Xian didn't want to tell Wu Youning's reason for coming immediately, so he chuckled and tried to persuade him.

"Forget it, let him come in."

Li Xian frowned and thought for a while, although he still decided in his heart that he didn't see him, but it was not easy to refute Li Xian's face, so he nodded and agreed.

"Yes, slaves obey."

Hearing Li Xian opened his mouth, Zhang Che didn't dare to be negligent, he hurriedly responded, and was about to turn around and go out, but unexpectedly, before he had time to lift his foot, Li Xian stood up, and conveniently moved the chess piece he was playing with to the door. Throwing it into the chess box, he said with a smile: "Sixth brother, sit down, younger brother, let's go and have a look together, don't let people say that you and my brother are unreasonable."

"Yeah." Li Xian said noncommittally, and didn't say anything more. He lowered his head and looked at the chess game again. Obviously, in his mind, the chess game in front of him was more important than that cousin who didn't know the so-called hundred times.

In front of the main hall, a young man dressed in the costume of a sixth-rank official was pacing back and forth uneasily, looking at the dark depths of the main hall from time to time, as if looking forward to it. This man was Wu Wei, the cousin of Empress Wu. The eldest son of Liang, Wu Youning, came here this time at the order of his father, in order to invite the two princes to a banquet in the garden where his family lived temporarily. According to his heart, he thought it was just an easy task. It can be done easily, but I didn't expect that I have been waiting in front of the hall for a long time, and I didn't see any reaction inside, which made Wu Youning feel a little uneasy.

"Eunuch Zhang..." When Wu Youning was anxious, the corner of his eyes suddenly caught sight of Zhang Che who was slowly walking out of the hall. He hurriedly adjusted his clothes, and rushed forward. , suddenly found Li Xian who was following behind, he couldn't help but froze, and forgot to say hello for a moment.

Hey, it really is this bastard!Wu Youning didn't know Li Xian, but Li Xian recognized Wu Youning at a glance, because in the previous life, Wu Youning was a vicious dog in front of Empress Wu. Li Xianzi has also been bullied by him, and his character can be said to be extremely disgusting. However, this is not the time, it is impossible for Li Xianzi to show his face as soon as he meets him. Dazed on the spot, Li Xian didn't say anything to remind him, he just stood with his hands behind his back and smiled, looking at Wu Youning with great interest.

"His Royal Highness King Zhou is here, Wu Canjun'an dare not worship!"

Li Xian was very angry, but Zhang Che who was standing aside couldn't stand it any longer. He cast a sidelong glance at Wu Youning, who was stupid and not stunned, and scolded angrily.

"Ah, the next official, Wu Youning, has met His Royal Highness Zhou Wang, and the next official was rude for a while, so please His Highness Haihan."

Although Wu Youning is a relative of the emperor and has an official position, he is actually just a rookie who has not seen much in the world. After being scolded by Zhang Che, he immediately messed up his hands and feet. Look how like a country bumpkin.

"Forget it. Speaking of which, Wu Canjun is still Xiao Wang's cousin and his own brother, so there is no need to perform these vain rituals." Li Xian's city mansion has long been cultivated to the point where his emotions and anger are invisible, and he will not The dislike of Wu Youning in my heart came to my face, and I didn't care about Wu Youning's lack of etiquette, I just raised my hand with a smile, and said in a very amiable manner.

"Ah, yes, oh, no, I would like to thank Your Highness for your love, my officer..." The more kind Li Xian became, the more nervous Wu Youning became, responding indiscriminately, so nervous that he was extremely embarrassed, and his white face was suffocated for life It's purple.

"Is there something important for my cousin to find Xiao Wang? Hehe, the entrance of the main hall is really not a place to talk. If there is something about my cousin, please let me talk inside, please!" Li Xian seemed not to see Wu Youning's embarrassment, and smiled. He turned his lower body, made a gentle "please" gesture, and greeted him politely.

"No need, no need, it's not a big deal, but my father and my uncle have prepared some banquets, please Your Majesty and Empress Dowager to come here, I am here on the order of my father, I beg your Highness to join His Highness King Lu Go, here is the invitation card, and I would like to invite the two highnesses to honor the party." Wu Youning himself felt that he was rude in front of Li Xian, and some of them lost his status, and he really didn't want to stay any longer, let alone enter the palace again. Then he hurriedly took out two gold leaf-plated invitations from his sleeves, bowed, cupped his hands above his head, and handed them to Li Xian.

"Oh? I see." Li Xian nodded with a smile, stretched out his hand to take the two invitations, and didn't rush to open them to read. He stuffed them into his sleeves and continued with a smile: "My cousins Xiao Wang is very grateful for your kindness, if it is convenient, I will go now, it is rare for my cousin to come, so please come in and have a chat, so that you and my brother can be intimate with each other."

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness. I still have some mundane affairs to do, so I won't bother you any more. I will come to see your Highnesses again some other day. I'm leaving." For some reason, Wu Youning couldn't let go in front of Li Xian. Feeling extremely uncomfortable, when Li Xian agreed to go to the banquet, he secretly heaved a sigh of relief, but he didn't want to stay for a moment, so he hurriedly asked for his resignation.

"Forget it, since that's the case, Xiao Wang won't force his cousin to stay. You go."

Li Xian didn't force Wu Youning to stay, just nodded with a smile, accepted his gift calmly, watched him turn around a screen wall outside the hall, then curled the corners of his mouth, showing a cold smile, Flicking his sleeves, he strode back to the palace.

(End of this chapter)