Taiping Inn

The palaces of the Yanshi were very special. Although the people in the Golden Tent did not pay much attention to the separation of men and women, it was not easy for the men to visit a Yanshi rashly. On the contrary, the women and noble ladies did not have such restrictions. Yue Libie was raised by Xiao Yanshi, and was considered an adopted daughter. It was reasonable for her to visit her adoptive mother. However, now that everyone in the royal court knew that the Central Plains envoy lived in her mansion, he could not act rashly and could only send someone.

Ever since Yaomuhu Khan wanted to kill Yue Libie last time, Yue Libie and Yaomuhu Khan had a knot in their hearts. In order to appease Yue Libie and gain the trust of Li Xuandu, Xiao Yanshi sent one of her personal maids, named Yue Niang, to serve as Yue Libie's guard. It was inconvenient for the two to meet at this time, so Yue Niang was responsible for delivering the message.

Soon, Yue Niang brought the news of Xiao Yanshi.

The old Khan had preliminarily agreed to meet with the Central Plains envoy, but the specific details had not yet been determined. After all, the old Khan is very busy now, so busy that he has no free time at all, and can only take time to meet Li Xuandu. The reason is very simple, the old Khan is busy seeking immortality.

During the reign of Emperor Sejong, there was a prince named Duanqing, who was proficient in law, music, dance, mathematics, astronomy and calendar, and was particularly good at making musical instruments. He was known as the "Law Saint". He once wrote a doggerel called "Ten Insufficiencies", which said: "I am busy all day just for hunger, and when I have food, I think about clothes. I put on silk and satin, but I look up and think the house is too low. I built high buildings and mansions, but there are few beautiful wives by my bed. I married beautiful wives and concubines, but I am worried about having no horse to ride when I go out. I bought a tall horse with money, and there are few people following in front and behind the horse. My family recruited Dozens of people, rich but powerless, are bullied. Once they are promoted to the position of county magistrate, they say that their position is too low. Once they are promoted to the position of cabinet minister, they think about ascending the throne every day. One day, they sit on the throne and want the gods to play chess with them. Lu Zu plays chess with him and asks where the ladder to heaven is. Before he sits on the ladder, the King of Hell sends cards and ghosts come to urge him. If it weren't for this person's death, he would still think heaven is too low. "

This doggerel was written during the reign of Emperor Sejong. As we all know, Emperor Sejong worshipped Taoism and did not attend court or government for 20 years. He practiced in seclusion to seek immortality. The second half of this poem is meant to satirize Emperor Sejong, but this is also the cliché of emperors of all dynasties. When they were young, they were ambitious and did not believe in ghosts and gods. But when they were old, they could not let go of the power in their hands and were afraid of the approach of death. They lost their sense of proportion in the pursuit of immortality and even went crazy for it.

When the old Khan was young, he was determined to avenge his previous humiliation. He led his army south many times and even led the troops to kill the enemy. When his subordinates advised him, he said, "Is there anyone who is immortal in the world?" But now, the old Khan has forgotten most of these words. He may not believe that someone can make him immortal, but he certainly believes that someone can prolong his life and live a few more years. For a dying person who is about to die, even one more day is good.

Of course, it is also possible that Xiao Yanshi is judging others by her own standards. The reason why the old Khan is unwilling to die may not be because of greed for power, but because the new Khan is not stable. He wants to support the new Khan to take over the Khanship smoothly before he is willing to leave.

No matter which possibility it is, the result is the same, that is, the old Khan is unwilling to die and wants to prolong his life.

As for who has the ability to prolong the life of the old Khan, it is naturally the state teacher who is elusive. On the grassland, there is royal power and divine power. The representative of royal power is naturally the Khan, and the representative of divine power is the national teacher. The national teacher has a very high prestige and great power on the grassland, but the national teacher will not easily use the power in his hands, and even appears less often than the old Khan, so that many people forget that there is a national teacher living in the royal court to protect the old Khan from external forces. According to Xiao Yanshi, the national teacher has recently lived in the old Khan's golden tent to "treat" the old Khan.

During this period, the old Khan has been claiming to be bedridden, so the national teacher is just treating him. According to Xiao Yanshi, the old Khan was actually injured too many times in his early years, and his blood and qi were seriously depleted. He was about to die early, but he was just hanging on with one breath. As long as he was alive, the old Khan was alive. If he was gone, the old Khan would pass away. But now the situation has improved. After some treatment by the national teacher, the old Khan has gradually improved.

Hearing this, Li Xuandu already understood that the Imperial Master must have been using some means to extend the life of the old Khan, and it was even very effective, so the old Khan decided to show up at the birthday banquet of Xiao Yanshi. If possible, the old Khan would not have forced himself to show up at this time, but he had to do so. He wanted to show up in front of the dignitaries of the royal court to show his health, so that the ministers loyal to him would feel at ease and be more loyal, and to deter those who had ulterior motives, so that they would not dare to act rashly, put away their exposed fangs and claws, calm the undercurrents in the royal court, and consolidate their power. For the old Khan, power and immortality are indispensable. If there is no power in his hands, it is no fun to be immortal.

It must be said that Xiao Yanshi did a good job after receiving the money. This kind of news about the Khan's position is worth a lot of money. Xiao Yanshi was willing to tell Li Xuandu such important information, which was a great sincerity. However, Xiao Yanshi was not completely without ulterior motives. If the old Khan continued to be seriously ill, she would naturally not reveal a single word. But now that the old Khan was beginning to get better, it would be a waste to keep the news, so it would be better to do a favor.

Li Xuandu finally understood the general context of the internal struggle in the royal court. The only two things he was unclear about were the new Khan chosen by the old Khan and the role played by the people of the Wudao Sect in the royal court.

However, these are irrelevant to the overall situation. In today's world, people's minds are moving. It is difficult to build a house, so it is difficult to seek peace, but it is much easier to destroy a house. In the Wei Dynasty, Li Xuandu was the one who built the house, and Wudao Zong was the one who destroyed the house, so Li Xuandu had a hard time. Now in the Golden Tent, if Wudao Zong wanted to be a paperhanger, Li Xuan would not mind trying the taste of reciprocity. If Wudao Zong also wanted to destroy the Golden Tent, then they were like-minded. In either case, Li Xuandu was happy to see it happen.

What you think is what you get. Just as Li Xuandu was listening to Yue Niang narrating the various news conveyed by Xiao Yanshi, a guard reported to Yue Libie, "There is a Central Plains man outside who calls himself Huangfu Yuxiu and wants to see the envoy."

Yue Libie looked at Li Xuandu and asked for his opinion. Li Xuandu motioned Yue Niang to leave and said, "Let him come to see me."

Yue Niang received the order from Xiao Yanshi and was very respectful to the Central Plains envoy. She immediately left, leaving only Li Xuandu and Yue Libie. Not long after, Huangfu Yuxiu came to Yue Libie's study alone under the guidance of his attendants.

"Mr. Li is so lucky to have a beautiful woman by his side." Huangfu Yuxiu's eyes swept over Yue Libie and teased in the tone of an old friend, as if the two had known each other for many years.

Li Xuandu said, "First it was King Ji Tian, ​​and then it was Master Huangfu. Is this a matter of first fighting and then courtesy?"

Huangfu Yuxiu said frankly, "You can say that if you want to sit down and talk, the premise is that you can stand up and fight. If you don't have the power to fight back, there is no need to talk, and you can only let others slaughter you."

Li Xuandu did not deny Huangfu Yuxiu's statement and asked, "Did Master Huangfu come here to obey the order of the Holy Lord?"

Huangfu Yuxiu nodded.

Li Xuandu asked again: "What is the purpose of the Huangfu clan leader? Is he threatening me, or does he want to join forces with me?"

Huangfu Yuxiu said without any hesitation: "Of course we want to join forces, after all, the 'Grand Master' is in Mr. Li's hands."

Li Xuandu said without comment: "I have met Xiao Yanshi, and she taught me a truth. Cooperation between strangers must start with sincerity. Tell me, what kind of sincerity can the Huangfu clan leader give."

Huangfu Yuxiu said: "It depends on what Mr. Li wants?"

Li Xuandu said: "I want to know what happened before Song Zheng disappeared."

Huangfu Yuxiu smiled, because not long ago, Ji Tianwang had told him what happened that year, so he repeated Ji Tianwang's words to Li Xuandu verbatim.

After listening, Li Xuandu pondered for a moment and said: "Since the Huangfu clan leader came with sincerity, there is no reason for me to refuse."