Qi Ning waited for a long time, and just when he was a little upset, Fan Dehai finally came back, with a hint of joy in his eyebrows: "Master Marquis, the emperor summoned him, please come over and see him."
Qi Ning's mood improved slightly, thinking that the little emperor did not miss his ministers because of Mi Mi's voice, and immediately followed Fan Dehai to the harem.
This is Qi Ning's second trip to the harem. Naturally, it is not easy for foreign ministers to enter the harem. Without the emperor's permission, any foreign minister entering or leaving the harem is tantamount to disobedience.
Fan Dehai took Qi Ning directly to Fengyi Palace, leaving Qi Ning outside for a while before entering the palace. After a while, he saw a lanky old eunuch coming out with a smile on his face and saluted Qi Ning: " Lord Marquis, the Emperor has a decree to summon Lord Marquis to see you."
Qi Ning cupped his hands and followed the eunuch to the palace. He had never seen this old eunuch before and asked, "May I ask my father-in-law's name?"
"The old slave's surname is Liu, and he is the head of the ritual and music department." The old eunuch said with a smile: "The emperor and the queen are watching the song and dance, and they have summoned the marquis to watch it together."
Qi Ning said "Oh" and then realized that the old eunuch in front of him was Liu Wei, the chief manager of the Rites and Music Supervisor.
Although Fan Dehai was very dissatisfied with Liu Chen in his words, Qining had no real contact with Liu Chen, and he never easily made a conclusion in his mind about a person before he had contact with him, so he had preconceived ideas. Because in this way, it is likely to mislead one's judgment of the other party.
Qining didn't know what kind of person Liu Wei was, so at this time he was neither dissatisfied nor fond of Liu Wei.
Stepping into Fengyi Palace, the first thing that came to Qi Ning's mind was Chi Danmei. Chi Danmei disguised herself as a palace maid from Dong Qi and mingled in the harem. She also admitted that she was looking for something in Da Chu Palace. Ning didn't know what Chi Danmei wanted to find, but being in a deep palace, it was not easy to hide his identity from the guards of the palace masters.
Qi Ning has never forgotten the existence of the palace swordsman Xiang Tianbei. Although he has met Xiang Tianbei several times and knows that Xiang Tianbei is a master guard beside the young emperor, what is his status in the palace? However, he was unable to make an accurate judgment, and even though he entered the palace several times, he rarely saw the presence of Xiang Tianbei.
There is no doubt about Xiang Tianbei's loyalty to the little emperor. When the little emperor rushed back to Jianye from Eastern Qi to inherit the throne, Xiang Tianbei was his guard all the way. For such a person, there is no need to doubt his loyalty to the emperor.
Last time on the Qinhuai River, the little emperor secretly met Jiuxi Poison King Swing Yi, which also let Qining know that when the little emperor sent himself to Xichuan to investigate the Heiyan Cave rebellion, it was just a bait on the surface, and the real investigation behind the scenes was... It was Xiang Tianbei. Although the situation required it, Qining also knew that Xiang Tianbei's position in the heart of the little emperor was irreplaceable, and that incident also proved that Xiang Tianbei did have a secret power in his hands.
Since the tentacles of this power can reach Xichuan, it is enough to prove that its power is not weak.
The primary task of this royal shadow force is naturally to protect the safety of the emperor, and its main force is of course deployed in the palace.
If there is any trouble in the palace, it will of course be under the surveillance of Xiang Tianbei's force. If Chi Danmei wants to act alone in the palace, she must face Xiang Tianbei's force. Chi Danmei must face Xiang Tianbei's force. He is the disciple of the master of Baiyun Island in the East China Sea, so his martial arts and resourcefulness are naturally extraordinary, but it is still unknown whether he can successfully achieve his goal in the face of Xiang Tianbei and his group.
Although there are many secrets about Chi Danmei that Qi Ning does not know, Qi Ning knows Chi Danmei's life experience clearly, and the two of them are already skin-to-skin husband and wife. Qi Ning cannot help but Don't worry about Chi Danmei's safety in the palace.
Liu Wei led Qi Ning into the palace. Before he saw the emperor, he heard the music of the piano. The sound was sweet. When he arrived in front of the door, Qi Ning saw Fan Dehai standing in front of the door, but Liu Wei was Leading Qining in, Qining first saw six dancers dancing in the hall, while two women played the piano beside them.
The little emperor and the queen were sitting on the couch, watching the dancing dancers with interest. Qi Ning approached them lightly. Xiao Longtai had already noticed Qi Ning's arrival and made a gesture before Qi Ning could salute. , signaling Qi Ning to watch from the side and not speak for the time being.
Qi Ning could only stand aside and turned to watch the dance.
The six dancers are all carefully selected beauties, with soft waists, graceful dancing postures, and soft dancing styles that make people think of nephrite Wenxiang at first sight.
After a long time, the dance ended, but the six dancers did not step down. The queen first looked at Qining, nodded, then looked at the emperor with a sweet smile, and asked softly: "The emperor thinks this How was the dance?”
"This was choreographed by the queen herself, so it is naturally excellent." Longtai said with a smile: "It seems a little different from yesterday's dance."
The queen smiled and said: "Qi is close to the sea. There are many fishermen. Every year, the fishermen will sacrifice to the God of the Sea. When worshiping the God of the Sea, they will select the most beautiful girls from the local area to perform dances to the God of the Sea. I think the dance to worship the God of the Sea is very beautiful. So I incorporated the dance of those fisher girls and changed it slightly.”
"That's it." Longtai clapped his hands and said with a smile: "The queen is talented and intelligent, and can sing and dance well. The dance you can perform is unparalleled by anyone."
"The emperor is making fun of me." The queen smiled sweetly and reached out to hold Longtai's hand: "I think there are still some things that can be changed. After the changes are made, I will ask the emperor to taste it."
"Okay!" Longtai nodded and said, "I'm waiting for the queen to come out."
It's not that Qi Ning doesn't like singing and dancing, but at this time, he has no interest in singing and dancing. He deliberately coughed. Longtai turned his head, looked at Qi Ning, and asked with a smile: "Jin Yihou, what do you think?"
Qi Ning cupped his hands and said, "I wonder what the emperor is referring to?"
"Of course it is a dance choreographed by the Queen herself." Longtai said: "This took the Queen several days of thought."
Qi Ning smiled lightly and said: "Reporting to the Emperor, I have only a limited knowledge of singing and dancing, so I dare not make any rash comments."
"Oh?" Long Tai asked with a faint expression, "You are entering the palace today, but you have something important to report?"
Qi Ning took out the file from his sleeve, took two steps forward, and said, "Your Majesty, Da Xichong, the left minister of the Ministry of Punishment, engaged in malpractice for personal gain, transplanted flowers and trees, and released prisoners privately. Two years ago...!"
Before he finished speaking, Longtai frowned and said, "Is it a case from the Criminal Department?"
"The case was a major case two years ago, but this time it was because that case was implicated in a case involving officials from the Ministry of Punishment." Qi Ning said seriously: "Because the case involves the left minister of the Ministry of Punishment, I...!"
"Since it is a case of the Criminal Department, you can handle it yourself." Longtai said: "I will leave the Criminal Department to you. Naturally, you will be in charge of all matters, big and small. You can't have all the six yamen come and ask me for advice. .”
Qi Ning was startled, thinking that since you said so, it would be up to me to decide this case.
"Is there anything else?" Seeing that Qining was silent, Longtai picked up the teacup at hand and asked, "Please report anything you have to do. I have to accompany the queen to watch the singing and dancing these days, so I may not have time to summon you again. "
Qi Ning frowned, but still said: "Your Majesty, I'll be honest, three days have passed since the wedding, and there are many court affairs. Your Majesty can convene a court meeting to discuss the affairs of the court. Nowadays, there are many court affairs inside and outside our great Chu. If If we don't deal with it in time, I'm afraid things will pile up more and more...!"
Longtai put down his tea cup and asked: "There are many court affairs? Aren't the Duke of Zhen, you and the officials in the court all dealing with super court affairs? Could it be that I have a few days' rest and let the court affairs pile up?"
"The emperor just got married, so it's okay to rest for a few days." Qining said: "But if the emperor abandons state affairs and puts his mind on singing and dancing, then...!"
"Bold!" Long Tai said coldly: "Qining, do you want to say that I am obsessed with pleasure and ignore state affairs?"
Qi Ning shook his head and said: "I didn't say that, but if the emperor has always been like this, then the emperor will do this...!"
Longtai stared at Qining's eyes. Qining was not afraid. He looked into Longtai's eyes. The atmosphere in the hall became cold for a moment, but the queen had already said softly: "Your Majesty, Jin Yihou is an upright and loyal minister who speaks out and gives advice. Your Majesty, please calm down!"
Longtai snorted coldly and then said: "Qining, the queen married from Qi State to our Chu State. It's a long journey. She has no other relatives in Chu State except me. If I don't accompany her well, who can accompany her?" I know you said it unintentionally, so I won’t care about it this time.”
Liu Wei had been standing aside with a bow, but at this time he had already stepped forward and knelt down: "Your Majesty, I just saw the dance choreographed by the Queen. It looked like it was danced by fairies in the heavenly palace. I am so bold that I dare not not say something!"
"Oh?" Longtai looked at Liu Wei: "What are you talking about?"
"Slave... I think that there is still something lacking in the song and dance just now. If it can be improved, it will be a song and dance that has been passed down for hundreds of years." Liu Wei lowered his head and reported.
Longtai's face darkened and he said angrily: "You dog slave, you are so brave. You dare to say that the song and dance choreographed by the queen is lacking. Someone, come here and kill this dog slave...!"
The queen stopped her in time and said: "Your Majesty, no one is perfect. There are indeed flaws in this dance of my concubine. Eunuch Liu is the chief supervisor of etiquette and music. He is well-informed. Since he said this, he must have some opinions. Why don't you listen to him? .”
Longtai held the queen's catkins in his hands and said softly: "Whatever the queen says is fine. Liu Wei, tell me, what's wrong with this dance?"
"Your Majesty, this old slave is not saying that this dance has flaws." Liu Zhen said anxiously: "With the old slave's knowledge, I can't see any flaws in this dance choreographed by the Queen. What the old slave said What’s lacking is the music to accompany the dance.”
"oh?"
"This is the old slave's negligence. The queen arranged this dance. The old slave used the two musicians with the highest skills in the ritual music supervisor." Liu Wei said: "I originally thought that with the skills of the two of them, they could match this dance, but Now it seems that the queen's dance is too beautiful, and the music of these two people is not as good as Wan Yi!"
Longtai's expression softened and he asked, "Did you come up with this song?"
"It was the old slave's negligence. Please forgive me!" Liu Wei lay on the ground: "I beg the emperor to give me a chance to make amends for my past mistakes!"