Long Tai calmed down and asked with a smile: "Do you think Zhao Bangyao has something hidden in his impeachment of you?"
"Your Majesty, this excerpt clearly explains the details of Qianwu Peak that day." Qining said: "This Zhao Zhongcheng is well-informed. If he heard some news about Qianwu Peak, I believe he has This ability, but he is so clear about the details of what happened in Qianwu Ridge, and even mentioned that I came out of the Black Stone Palace, which is a bit strange. Could it be that Zhao Zhongcheng was also present at the time?" He smiled faintly: "The incident in Qianwu Ridge is The Jianghu incident that the Shenhou Mansion intervened in was not within the scope of Yushitai's intervention, so why is he so interested in this matter?"
Longtai said: "Ximen Wuhen also came into the palace to tell me what happened in Qianwu Ridge. He was full of praise for you, saying that you settled a big dispute. Yes, I heard that the Nine-year-old from the Black Lotus Sect King Xidu followed you to Beijing to plead guilty, where are he now?"
"Your Majesty, he should be in the capital at this moment, and he will find me in the next two days." Qi Ning said: "Your Majesty, when I was in Chengdu, it was Xuanyuan Po who conveyed the emperor's decree and asked me to participate in the attack on Qianwu Ridge. I left the capital At that time, the emperor only asked me to investigate the Black Cave incident, but for some reason he changed his mind and asked me to go to Qianwu Ridge?"
Longtai smiled and said: "You really don't understand what I mean? In fact, this is not what I remembered, but Ximen Wuhen's advice, saying that when the Jinyi Laohou conquered Xichuan, it won the hearts of the Miao people. I am in awe of you. The Black Lotus Sect and the Miao people want to have an affair. If you can come forward, the Miao people may not secretly collude with the Black Lotus Sect." After a pause, he said: "You just inherited the title not long ago. Few people still don't care about you, I gave you the opportunity to make meritorious deeds, you should be grateful to me."
Qi Ning frowned and said: "Your Majesty, so it is indeed Ximen Wuhen who advised the Emperor to let me attack Qianwu Ridge?" Thinking of the conversation with the Immortal Saint Li Xigong, this time it was confirmed that it was indeed Ximen Wuhen. After admonishing him, he became even more wary in his heart.
Seeing Qining's solemn expression, Longtai asked, "What's wrong?"
Qi Ning knew that his suspicions about Ximen Wuhen were just speculations without any real evidence. He couldn't speak frankly in front of Longtai, so he could only say: "I always thought that the Lord Ximen didn't want the court to be involved in the affairs of the Lord's Mansion. , I didn’t expect him to take the initiative to involve me this time.”
"Wei Shutong said in the book that the Black Stone Cave was framed and the real culprit has not yet been found." Long Tai frowned slightly, "What's going on?"
Qi Ning immediately told Longtai about some of the things that happened in Xichuan. Longtai nodded slightly and said: "Since Bai Tangling is alive, Blackstone Cave is naturally framed." After thinking about it, he said after a moment: "Although no evidence has been found yet. , but Li Hongxin’s behavior is extremely suspicious, it seems that this person can’t settle down after all.”
"Wei Shutong is currently fully on guard against Li Hongxin." Qi Ning said: "Although this old guy is cunning, since he has broken up with Li Hongxin, he can only rely on the emperor to support him, and this person is available now. "
Longtai nodded and said: "I have never thought about touching him now. As long as he can protect Xichuan for me, not only will I not touch him, but I will also reward him." He added: "The biggest threat to Xichuan is Li Hongxin. As long as Li Hongxin is targeted, Xichuan will not cause a big storm. I was previously worried that someone would use the Black Rock Cave incident to cause chaos in the Miao 72 Cave. Now that you have made good friends with the Miao King, Black Rock Cave has also turned the corner. Then the Miao people can live in peace, and the stone in my heart will fall to the ground."
Qi Ning thought that Li Hongxin might not be the only one in trouble in Xichuan. This trip to Xichuan was full of doubts. Whether it was the Beggar Gang, Hua Xiangrong, or even the Bronze General, they were acting sneakily, and there must be a huge conspiracy hidden behind them. The conspiracy, but Qi Ning himself has not yet completely figured it out. He also knows that Longtai is most concerned about Li Hongxin and the Miao people's 72nd Cave. As long as these two forces do not cause trouble, Longtai can feel at ease. Is he there at this time? If it is too big, you need to tell everything.
"You have worked hard all the way, and I won't let you have dinner in the palace before you return home." Longtai said: "Go back and see your family first. Yes, I have been promoted to the court to handle politics, and I just issued a decree a few days ago. The Marquis of Zhongyi was granted the title of Duke of Zhenguo, and his eldest son Sima Changshen inherited the title of Marquis of Zhongyi." He snorted coldly and said, "The Sima family is now extremely prosperous."
Qi Ning was a little surprised, thinking that with this, the Sima clan would have a duke and a marquis, which would be extremely glorious.
"The emperor conferred the title of Sima Lan, but there was no response from the King of Huainan?" Qi Ning asked in a low voice.
Longtai said: "After you left Beijing, I went to pay my respects to the Queen Mother every day. She either mentioned that Sima's family should be ennobled, or she asked me to let Sima Wanqiong enter the palace." His face became quite cold: "I don't tire of it, I can only On the first day of the ascension to the imperial court, I simply made Sima Lan the Duke of the Kingdom. In this way, the Queen Mother cannot force me to let Sima Wanqiong enter the palace immediately. I will give in, and she cannot be aggressive. "
Qi Ning looked at it and knew that Longtai was becoming more and more disgusted with the Queen Mother. He thought that the harem was interfering in politics. No wonder the little emperor was dissatisfied. He knew that if things continued like this, the rift between Longtai and the Sima family would become bigger and bigger. The young emperor was young and mature. He only vented his dissatisfaction with the Queen Mother and the Sima family in front of himself, but he hid his anger to the outside world.
"Your Majesty, when you ascend the throne and govern, sooner or later you will have to establish a queen and move into the harem." Although Qi Ning knows the royal affairs and as a minister cannot interfere easily, he has a very good relationship with the little emperor. If he says a few words at this time, the little emperor will Instead of blaming her, the emperor felt more cordial. He lowered his voice and said, "I said last time that I wanted to propose marriage to Dong Qi. Has the emperor made up his mind?"
Longtai waved his hand, motioning Qining to come closer, and then lowered his voice and said: "After we discussed this matter last time, I didn't let anyone know, Qining, I am going to mention this matter in public at the court meeting. I don’t know if it’s appropriate?”
"Mention it at the court meeting?" Qi Ning frowned and said, "The emperor has already made up his mind?"
Longtai nodded and said: "If we discuss it with the Queen Mother first, the Queen Mother will definitely obstruct Sima Wanqiong from entering the palace in many ways, and things will be difficult to handle by then. I promised at the court meeting to turn this matter into a fact, and the emperor's golden words will come true. I can't repent at that time. And I also understand the thoughts of the Huainan King and his gang. Sima Lan was granted the title of Duke of Zhenguo, and Sima Changshen became the loyal marquis. The Huainan King must be very dissatisfied. At the previous court meeting, Huainan Wang doesn’t seem to have any reaction, but I know that he must be extremely dissatisfied with Sima Lan in his heart.”
"Your Majesty is saying that the Sima family is now extremely prosperous, and many people are filled with jealousy. If Sima Wanqiong enters the palace as queen again, there will definitely be opposition?" Qining laughed softly: "The King of Huainan definitely doesn't want to see Sima Wanqiong. The power of the family has grown so rapidly, yes, Your Majesty, the Queen Mother wants Sima Wanqiong to enter the palace, does King Huainan know about this?"
Longtai smiled strangely and said softly: "I didn't know it at first, but now I know it. I secretly let people know about it, and said that the Queen Mother was going to let me make Sima Wanqiong my queen. The King of Huainan was already very concerned about this matter. clear."
Qi Ning laughed and said softly: "If King Huainan knew about this, of course he would try his best to stop it. If the emperor proposes to propose marriage to Dong Qi at the court meeting, King Huainan will definitely agree to it."
"I think so too." Longtai said with a smile: "As long as I don't marry Sima Wanqiong, no matter who enters the palace, King Huainan will strongly agree, so I will ask someone to raise it at the court next time, in front of all the officials. If the matter is settled in person, the Queen Mother will not be able to stop it at that time."
Qi Ning raised his thumb and said, "The emperor's planning is indeed very clever."
"By the way, you have to prepare yourself." Long Tai said: "Since Zhao Bangyao has fallen into this trap, he is afraid that he will use this to attack you at the next court meeting."
Qi Ning chuckled and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for reminding me. I know what I know." He coughed and said, "Your Majesty, there is one more thing. Please tell me."
"What's up?"
"My trip to Xichuan cost a lot." Qining said seriously: "I don't know whether these expenses are reimbursed by the Ministry of Household Affairs, or the emperor approved it for me here? Of course, apart from the expenses, the emperor is wise. There are still some rewards for Shenwu, but it doesn’t need to be too much, just get a few hundred taels of gold as a reward.”
Longtai stood up straight, sat down behind the royal desk, raised his hand and said, "Please step aside first. I still have memorials to read." He picked up a memorial and lowered his head to read it, ignoring Qi Ning.
Qi Ning said: "Your Majesty, you are letting the horses run and not letting them eat grass. The Jinyihou Mansion is very poor, and the expenses this time were scrapped together. You... you can't do this. It’s not interesting enough.”
Longtai glanced at Qining and said: "I gave you the opportunity to make great contributions and make you famous in Xichuan, but you still dare to settle accounts with me? Don't take it seriously that you don't know that there were several rich kids in Hangzhou who gave you After giving you a generous gift, you also got some money from Dou Lianzhong, which is not a small amount." He simply dropped the memorial in his hand and said with a smile: "And Jiang Suiyun, the head of the Ministry of Rites, you are at the Jinghua Book Club, and He had a bet, and he won ten thousand taels of silver. Why, these are not silver, and you still dare to cry poverty in front of me? Be careful, I will let someone accuse you of corruption and bribery."
Qi Ning was stunned and said: "Does this...the emperor know about this?"
"Jin Yihou, you are making money outside, I just turn a blind eye, don't pretend that I don't know." Longtai stared at Qining and smiled: "I treat you as a friend, and between friends, don't Why don't you ask for money, so as not to hurt your harmony." Seeing Qi Ning dejected, he smiled and said: "Don't worry, I know you have worked hard this time, and I will not let your hard work go in vain, I will always give you a chance to get money."
Qining was helpless, thinking that it seemed that he had really met a stingy emperor who didn't give up anything.
…