Aspirations

Chapter 103
"If this king doesn't stand up again, just care about himself and don't care about the life and death of the people, this king will have no face to see Emperor Taizu again in a hundred years!" King Jing sat down slowly again, his face changed instantly, and he regained his calmness. "That's why the king invited you here to discuss with you how to stop the treacherous ministers from continuing to keep their ears closed, so that the emperor can see the suffering of the people with his own eyes, and know the disaster of the new law, which will affect the country."

Lian Ruohan originally thought that her father would force the marriage in person today, but she didn't expect it to be a matter of discussing important government affairs. While she was determined, she was also slightly worried. Although her father was the head of the Qinghe Cui family, he was a commoner and had neither fame nor official position. At this time, he rashly intervened in the court dispute and stood on King Jing's side. If King Jing lost, the Cui family of Qinghe would suffer disaster.

But think about it again, the eldest prince King Jing, the third prince Xingwang, the fourth prince Qing Wang, and the fifth prince Yun Wang, among the four princes, the third prince and Yun Wang are inseparable, King Qing comes and goes alone, and King Jing is also alone. , now that the four princes are fighting for power, they always have to depend on one person.Although King Jing is a little older, he has King Jian to help him, and he is the most powerful person to contend with the third prince and King Yun.

Song Chaodu nodded slowly, got up and said: "I heard from Mr. Jin Jia that the emperor's condition has improved greatly due to the help of the medicine chair and medicine bed. Originally, Mr. Jin Jia wanted the emperor to continue using the medicine chair and medicine bed to consolidate the curative effect. I don't want to The emperor listened to Hou Pingpan's slander, and believed that the medicine chair and medicine bed had no records in ancient books, and it was a trick of quack doctors. He was afraid of future troubles, so he discarded it and started taking Ye Muping's golden pill again. It only took a few days, Then the disease relapsed, and now he is bedridden again."

It turned out that the emperor's condition worsened again, and Lian Ruohan felt inexplicably heavy.Although she has never met the emperor, she generally admires the great talent of the current emperor, and thinks that the emperor is a generation of wise emperors comparable to Qin Huang and Han Wu.Although the emperor reused Hou Pingpan to implement the new law, causing the people to live in poverty, it was not entirely his fault.The new law itself is also for the purpose of enriching the people and strengthening the country, but it is a pity that Hou Pingpan used it as a tool to eliminate dissidents, and was used by local officials as an excuse to plunder.

In all fairness, Lian Ruohan hoped that the emperor's condition would improve and the court would be revived.In her opinion, King Jing is too old to take over the throne.King Qing is used to idleness, so he may not be the emperor's talent.King Yun is too young and has no foundation in the court.Not to mention seeing the king, frivolous and pompous, he has neither the dignity of a prince nor the prestige of an emperor.

Only the third prince is the most suitable to inherit the great treasure, but the third prince is too scheming, and he is in harmony with Hou Pingpan.

"The emperor trusts Hou Pingpan, a treacherous minister, so he obeys his proposals in everything. If Hou Pingpan is not eliminated, the Great Xia will not prosper." Li Dingshan slapped the table heavily, and said angrily, "Now I am waiting by the emperor's side. People, the emperor is surrounded by Hou Pingpan and the third prince's cronies. Needless to say, almost all the ministers in the court are only waiting for Pingpan, even the servants in the inner palace are all the third prince's people."

"There are two other exceptions..." Lian Ruohan suddenly remembered the two, and interjected, "One is Mr. Jin Jia, and the other is—Ye Muping!"

"Mr. Jin Jia and Ye Muping are the two most trusted by the emperor. One is for the emperor to take care of his body and seek medical advice. The other is for the emperor to talk about mysteries and refine golden pills." King Jing was slightly puzzled, "Jin Mr. A interacts with people and acts rashly. He is neither too close nor too far away. He and Xingwang did not have much contact, but he was not suspected by Xingwang. , and have no friendship with King Xing. It’s just... who among you is familiar with Mr. Jin Jia? Not to mention Ye Muping, as far as I know, everyone here has no friendship with Ye Muping. Ye Muping is very dissatisfied."

Song Chaodu nodded and remained silent, Li Dingshan smiled faintly, Cao Yongguo remained silent, and Cui He was also indifferent.

Lian Ruohan knew that everyone here was deeply influenced by Confucianism, and had always sneered at Huang Lao's theory of the way of the gods, and disdained to associate with him, so he smiled slightly: "Xia Xianzun and Mr. Jin Jia are inseparable, yes Forgotten friends. The little girl has a friend named Lu Zhiyue, who has been in contact with Ye Muping for a long time, and it is not impossible for the two of them to become close friends with Mr. Jin Jia and Ye Muping."

"Lu Zhiyue?" Cui He has been silent since Lian Ruohan came in, and Lian Ruohan frowned slightly when he heard Lu Zhiyue, "Zhiyue is getting more and more outrageous, don't study hard for the exam , If you want to make friends with someone from other places, could it be that he also wants to ask about Xunxian? Hmph, ignorant, rotten wood cannot be carved!"

"You can't say that, Mr. Cui, people have their own aspirations, and you can't force it. If you get fame and become an official, if you are upright, you can serve the country and the people. If you only want to get promoted and get rich, regardless of principles and positions, it will also bring disaster to the country and the people. In the past, King Jing also highly praised that all things are low-grade and only high-level studies are high, but now many officials who come from Jinshi do not hesitate to rely on Hou Pingpan in order to get promoted, and they have long forgotten their integrity. On the contrary, it is Jin Jia and Ye Muping, not Born as a scholar, he is also engaged in a lowly profession that is looked down upon by scholars, but he can maintain his independent personality and solitary integrity in an all-or-nothing lineup, which is really commendable.

"Miss Lian, are you sure that Xia Xiang and Lu Zhiyue will be used by this king?" King Jing can't take care of much now, the matter is urgent, so he has to be a dead horse as a living doctor, no matter how twists and turns, this is the only way to go "This king only asks the emperor to recover from the dragon's body, and if someone lets the emperor know that the new law is harming the people like a plague in the local area, if things go on like this, the people will not be able to live, and the country will not be safe."

Li Dingshan was calm on the surface, but he was very pleased in his heart.Xia Xiang lived up to his years of teaching, and laid a good foundation when he first entered the official career. Not to mention the friendship between Xia Xiang and Zhang Hou and Shen Bao, and the friendship between Xia Xiang and Cao Shuli, Cao Shujun, Lian Bao, etc. Ruohan's friendship, just talking about Xia Xiang and Jin Jia's year-end friendship, is enough to make him full of confidence in Xia Xiang's conduct in the world.

Xia Xiang deeply grasped the essence of his life, gentlemen are harmonious but different.Although Xia Xiang reads the books of sages and sages and studies moral articles, he does not look down on others. He treats scholars, farmers, businessmen, and businessmen as equals. For best friends.And no matter how high a person is in a high position, calling the wind and calling the rain, as long as he is doing it for his own selfishness and has no righteousness or overall interests, he will not join forces with him.

Li Dingshan suddenly felt boundless emotions. He was too bookish in the early years, and then too angry. It was not until he experienced many things, realized the coldness of the world, and was almost killed by the third prince, that he restrained his enthusiasm and became more calm. and low key.

He has experienced many hardships before he has the current bearing. Xia Xiang has such a mind at such a young age, and his prospects must be limitless.Although Xia Xiang is in Zhending, there are three princes and Hou Pingpan who control the government in the court, covering the sky with one hand, and Cui Xiang and the four great families are in the layout of Zhending. There are Xu Heguang, Liu Changting, Xie Huagai and others everywhere to restrain him, but Li Dingshan still firmly believes that Xia Xiang will finally escape from the predicament in Zhending and fly straight into the sky.

"As for Lu Zhiyue, the little girl is quite sure, but for Xia Xiangxia, she is only [-]% sure." Lian Ruohan cast her eyes on Li Dingshan, "If Mr. Li comes forward, Xia Xianzun will definitely agree."

"If this king comes forward, Xia Xiang will also agree. This king and him...hehe, it can be regarded as a kind of friendship." Seeing Wang Leng smiled, he interjected, "Father, my son said that even the wife is not the same. Ordinary, it will bring us surprises, it really is so. Cui Gong, this king is not married, and even the lady is not yet married, so it is better for our two families to marry Qin and Jin, how about it?"

Li Dingshan was stunned. From the last time he saw the conflict between Wang and Xia Xiang in the street, he knew that Wang was frivolous and liked to act rashly when things happened, but he never thought that it would be too impolite to propose marriage to Cui He in person, let alone meet It is a loss of status and the majesty of the royal family for the king to propose marriage in person with the dignity of a prince.

Cui He glanced at King Jing calmly, seeing that King Jing was indifferent, he chuckled: "Thanks to His Royal Highness for loving me, I think highly of my little girl, but my little girl has already betrothed to someone else."

"It doesn't count, it doesn't count." Seeing Wang Lianlian waving his hands, he chuckled a few times, "Ms. Lian and Xia Xiang have a private life, and there is neither a matchmaker's words nor a parent's order. How can it be taken seriously?"

"Of course we can't take it seriously." Cui He shook his head and said, "See His Royal Highness, my daughter is married to Lu Zhiyue, Fan Yang's family, why did she ever make a private decision with Xia Xiang for life? Just now Cui also said this, it's about my daughter Reputation, don't talk nonsense."

"Miss Lian, is it true or not that you and Xia Xiang have a private life?" Seeing that the king was also confused, he came to Lian Ruohan with his hands behind his back, smiling happily and gloating, "Probably to deceive the king." It’s just a casual lie, right? No matter whether you are married to Xia Xiang for life, or you are married to Lu Zhiyue, I will cut them off with just one word. Only this king is your best Good match."

King Jing had a smiling expression on his face, and he didn't open his mouth to stop seeing the king.He wanted to see what Cui He thought and how Lian Ruohan should respond.

Song Chaodu looked at Li Dingshan meaningfully. Li Dingshan knew what Song Chaodu was thinking, smiled slightly, shook his head and said, "Xia Xiang's marriage is up to him, and I don't want to ask too much."

Song Chaodu laughed: "There are hundreds of girls in the family. Brother Li, as Xia Xiang's mentor, has a deep relationship between master and apprentice. I believe you still want Xia Xiang and Mrs. Lian to get married."

However, Li Dingshan looked at Cao Yongguo, nodded and smiled at Cao Yongguo: "Cao Shilang is also a first-time daughter of the Cao family. I heard that Xia Xiang and your son and daughter are also very close?"

Cao Yongguo smiled calmly, and said calmly: "Xia Xiang first came to the capital, and he met the dog and the little girl on the first day. I remembered that Xia Xiang had an argument with me when he first came to Cao's mansion. Hehe, it's interesting. It's very interesting. Xia Xiang and Quan Zi hit it off right away and became close friends. With the little girl, it can be considered quite speculative."

"That's it, that's it. It's settled. This king marries Lady Lian as his wife, and Xia Xiang marries Cao Shuli as his wife. Everyone is very happy." Jian Wang also remembered Cao Shuli's gentle beauty like glass, but in comparison, he was still more beautiful. Lian Ruohan likes the generous and dignified Lian Ruohan because he has a lot of rebellious spirit in his temperament. He doesn't like Cao Shuli's delicacy. Among them, the most eye-catching one.

"Ahem, sir, you just need to care about your own marriage. Xia Xiang's marriage is up to him. Oh, I forgot one thing. The Mongolian country wants to get married with Daxia and is willing to marry the princess. With Daxia, the emperor has no children, and he once said that he would marry the princess of Mongolia." King Jing coughed a few times, slightly embarrassed, as his son, sometimes his straightforward temperament makes people like him, and sometimes Being too self-centered makes people feel disgusted, but it's good, and it saves a lot of trouble. Whether it's with King Xing, King Qing or King Yun, they all have a good relationship, which is why these princes are not wary of him.

"My son refused the emperor at that time, and the emperor never forced his son to marry a Mongolian princess." Seeing the dissatisfied king, he sneered, "Whoever wants to marry a Mongolian princess is ugly and uneducated. , I don’t know etiquette, and I don’t know how to read. It’s too clumsy to be a maid, but also to be the wife of the son? The father, the son is worried that after marrying, they will give birth to a group of foolish children, which will be in big trouble. Want to It’s too late to return to Mongolia.”

"Ha ha……"

Everyone laughed, all amused by Wang's character of daring to say anything.

"My son, don't talk nonsense. The emperor didn't force you to marry the Mongolian princess, but he still agreed to the request of the Mongolian marriage and made you the king. Why do you think the emperor named you the king?" King Jing asked Seeing that Wang Xiacun saw things more clearly first, he said lightly, "It is a supreme honor for the emperor to confer you the title of one-word king, and it is also a foreshadowing of the emperor's foresight. You are the only one-word prince among your peers, and everyone else is two-word prince." The title is the king of the county, and he has not even been crowned king, do you know the reason?"

Seeing Wang Yuan turning around in a circle, he tilted his head and thought for a while: "It's probably because my son is a little more handsome than his peers."

"Hey..." Lian Ruohan couldn't help laughing out loud, seeing that the king is a prince, one of the only five one-word kings in Daxia, but he has no princely demeanor, and is as funny as a storyteller on the contrary. Speechless.

Old King Jing blushed, feeling that his face was dull, and snorted: "No nonsense. The emperor's move has two intentions. Apart from this king, Xing Wang, Qing Wang and Yun Wang, there is no one-word prince in Da Xia. The emperor was extra merciful, and specially named you a one-word prince. First, after the emperor fell ill, he didn’t want several princes to fight over the succession of the throne and the brothers were at odds, so he named you a one-word prince. King Qing and King Yun can't figure out which prince the emperor wants to pass on to, and divert their attention so that brothers won't kill each other... The second is that you marry a Mongolian princess as a prince, and you can be regarded as a good match for the Mongolian princess gone."

"What, the emperor still wants his ministers to marry a Mongolian princess? No, she won't marry even if she is beaten to death. Even my lady, if the emperor is appointed as the king, and this king becomes the emperor, you will be the queen." Seeing the king, he laughed proudly. , "You married the prince."

Li Dingshan held back his laughter, not wanting to embarrass King Jing too much.He has an inseparable relationship with King Jing, and King Jing also has the kindness to know him, and King Jing is honest and tolerant, and he is a prince worth following.It’s just that Wang Xiacun is too shallow and uncultivable at first, not to mention that the emperor will not choose to meet the king, but take a step back, if the emperor really wants to pass on the character of seeing the king to see the king’s nonsense, soon after he comes to power, he will Some princes rebelled.If ethics are often perverted, they will perish immediately; if virtue is not coordinated, there will be disasters.

Song Chaodu turned a deaf ear and shook his head slightly.Cui He remained calm, as if he hadn't heard anything.Cao Yongguo smiled helplessly.

King Jing shook his head and smiled wryly. He originally wanted to mention his son, but he didn't want him to be brainless. He couldn't help thinking that the emperor's painstaking efforts would be in vain. Not to mention the suspicious Xing Wang, even King Qing and King Yun would not think so. The emperor really wants to pass the throne to Jianwang.

"How could the emperor pass on the throne to you? My son, don't be wishful thinking. The emperor is brilliant, his eyes are like lightning, and he knows who is a great talent and who is a useless one. My father also knows that you are not the son of an emperor. King Jing didn’t mean to belittle his son, he was very clear about Xia Cunxian’s disposition, although everyone yearns for the throne of the emperor, but if the incompetent and virtuous get it, not only will he not achieve great things, but will attract The catastrophe.

Seeing that the king was not at all sad because his father said that he was not an emperor, on the contrary, he waved his hand and said indifferently: "My son is not interested in becoming the emperor. If you only become the emperor, you can marry Lian. It’s okay to be a lady. If you can marry a lady even if you don’t become the emperor, then you don’t want to be the emperor. It’s very distressing to be the emperor. If you don’t become the emperor, this king is also a one-word king. Don’t worry about who is not loyal to me. Worrying about who is going to be unfavorable to the king, laughing and cursing every day, traveling around the mountains and rivers, can also protect the glory and wealth of the lady for the rest of her life."

Lian Ruohan's heart was inexplicably moved, and she had to say that seeing Wang's words was the most beautiful love words she had heard so far, and it was also the most daring and most rebellious confession.But for some reason, Xia Xiang's seven-point indifferent and three-point evil smile always appeared in front of her eyes, as if Xia Xiang was standing in front of her and said to her eccentrically: "When you meet such a man who is willing to pull the emperor off the horse for you... Jun, why don’t you hurry up and get married?”

"Shut up." Seeing that Wang Yue's words became more and more outrageous, all the words about not loving Jiangshan and beauties were said and spread, even if the emperor really intended to pass the throne to Jianwang, he would not pass it on again, King Jing was annoyed, Fortunately, everyone here is a reliable person, and no one has passed on the word, but even so, Xia Cunxian's words are treasonous words, he snorted coldly, "Even the lady has already betrothed to someone else, so don't think about it. Wait for the emperor's decree, you You can marry the princess with peace of mind."

"If the emperor insists on letting the son marry the princess, the son would rather not be the one-word king, and run away from marriage." Seeing the king's proud and resolute expression, "At that time, I will ask the father to make the child perfect and let the child fly away."

(End of this chapter)