In today's Song Dynasty, if anyone can be invited to a banquet by Cai Jing and Grand Master Cai and given an invitation, it will be a great blessing for a year, because it means that he will rise to prominence and will soon have a position in the court. In the early days, it is reasonable to be promoted to any number of levels.
And that person will be at a loss because of his excitement. When the time comes, he will rush there early, but he doesn't dare to let Master Cai wait for him. However, when this matter happened to Sun Tu, it was completely different. He came back a little late, but he was not in a hurry to go out for the banquet. Instead, he asked his servants to prepare some food and filled his stomach in the front hall. After eating and drinking, Shi Shiran went out.
Although he still led people on horseback, he had no intention of walking quickly. He walked slowly and leisurely until the first watch was almost over before he finally arrived at Cai Jing's Prime Minister's Mansion. When he handed over his invitation, both the officials who had been waiting outside for a long time to climb up the big tree called Master Cai, and the servants of the Prime Minister's Mansion were all surprised. After a while, a steward respectfully handed him over. Welcoming him through the door.
At this time, there was already a lot of discussion outside, and people kept speculating about Sun Tu's origin. But because he was not close to the officialdom, none of these people could figure out his identity. Instead, there were different opinions and rumors.
The steward of the Prime Minister's Mansion took Sun Tu inside, and he was also murmuring in his heart. Of course he knew that this person was here for the banquet, but it was too late. Moreover, this young man behaved completely differently from the officials who had entered the Prime Minister's Mansion in the past. He did not have any sense of fear and nervousness. He could even look around with interest, observing the environment and scenery in the mansion. This guy was too courageous. Bar.
In fact, Sun Tu was secretly stunned at this time. When he first came to the Prime Minister's Mansion, he was really surprised by the layout here. Although the area of here was not as large as that of the imperial palace, the design of the pavilions, pavilions, flowers, trees and gardens was obviously far more ingenious than the palaces he had ever entered. When you are in it, you can always clearly feel the nobility. Everything here is so extraordinary and reasonable, and the materials used are very sophisticated. Just a strange stone on the roadside is of the highest quality. white marble.
You can see the subtle details and see the leopard from the inside. Just these details can tell how much energy and wealth was spent on entering the courtyard. Not to mention how luxurious and wealthy Cai Jing is as the owner of this house. Moreover, it was not until he entered the hall in the middle courtyard that Sun Tu suddenly noticed that he had not felt the slightest chill after entering the Prime Minister's Mansion. Even though he was outside, it felt like spring. Apparently, the entire mansion had been specially decorated. , resulting in the cold air not being able to invade and maintaining a true constant temperature. How this is achieved is unknown.
At this time, Cai Jing was slowly eating food in the hall. Several exquisite side dishes were placed on the table, all delicious and delicious. There were also two pretty women who were carefully preparing the dishes for him. He was really carefree. Very. There is another seat at the bottom of it, but apart from that, there is no one else.
When the steward reported Sun Tu's arrival to Cai Jing, the latter was looking at everything here with some surprise. He thought there would be many guests attending the meeting today, but he didn't want to but only invited
alone. This forced him to clasp his fists and apologize: "I didn't know that the grand master would suddenly entertain me, so I'm late. Please don't be surprised."
Seeing that Sun Tu had not lowered himself to the official position, showing that the two of them were equals, Cai Jing laughed: "The words of the Marquis of Yue are serious, but I am rude. I actually want to invite you to have a casual meal and talk by the way." Things, but I ignored that you are also busy. No, when you don't arrive, I will have to eat first. I am old and can't stand being hungry. "
"The grand master is joking. It is natural to eat when you are hungry. No one can say no." Sun Tu said, and he naturally walked to the empty seat over there and sat down casually.
Without Cai Jing's orders, a servant took away the cold food and wine and put a new table for him. But Sun Tu didn't even pick up the chopsticks or touch the cup. He just said: "I'm sorry to say that I had dinner at home before I came here, so I have to live up to the grand master's kindness."
Cai Jing's gray-white eyebrows raised slightly. He had already heard the meaning of Sun Tu's words - just say what you have to say, and don't use banquets to make detours. In fact, Sun Tu was wary of what he would do with the food and wine, which made him smile helplessly, but he did not point it out on the spot. He just nodded: "In that case, I won't be polite." Then he started eating and drinking again, feeling very relaxed.
Sun Tu also sat and waited casually. It wasn't until Cai Jing finished eating and the woman beside him helped clean up everything and left that he smiled and said, "Now, can the grand master tell me why he suddenly called me here?"
Cai Jing stared at him for a moment, then suddenly his face darkened and asked, "Sun Tu, do you know your guilt?"
After being in power for many years, Cai Jing carried with him supreme majesty. Once he became serious now, this aura would be as overwhelming as a mountain. An ordinary official would have been frightened out of his wits by being stared at and questioned like this, and he might even kneel down and beg for mercy. But Sun Tu remained as calm as ever. He sat there without moving, and just looked at him: "I don't know what my crime is, but I have to ask the Grand Master to investigate."
"Hmph, don't you realize what you have done? Contempt the prince, ignore the king's law, kill people in the street... any of these are enough to put you in a sky prison, and then the Ministry of Punishment will decide the serious crime and punish you severely to the end. !" Cai Jing narrowed his eyes and said threateningly. At this time, he had changed from his talkative appearance just now and became murderous.
"It turns out that the grand master is referring to my execution of Gao Duo two days ago. This is what I will say. Gao Duo has done all kinds of evil things, ruined the honors of many good women, and killed many innocent people. , and even supported those bandits in Wuyou Cave, which caused a lot of suffering for the people in the capital. No one has dealt with all these crimes. I can't understand it. It's him who has committed countless crimes. Why do I A person who acts impartially should be blamed?" Sun Tu looked at him without hesitation and spoke eloquently: "It is a serious crime for the people to kill officials, but it is another matter for officials to kill the people. And As far as I know, Gao Duo did not hold an official position. He did evil in broad daylight. How can I be guilty of killing him? If the Grand Master does not believe it, he can summon relevant people to inquire about the cause and effect, but if he wants to take matter
If you accuse me falsely, please forgive me for not being able to accept it. "
After a pause, he continued: "As for despising the prince, I cannot accept it. Although my previous words have offended the prince, they are true. Since I am receiving a salary from the imperial court, I should be loyal to the emperor. Why can't you point it out when you see someone doing many unjust things? Although the prince is the crown prince, he is not the king after all. I am doing this for the sake of our Song Dynasty court and for the sake of your majesty's purity."
Cai Jing was a little stunned when he heard his impassioned speech. But soon, he clapped his hands and said with a smile: "Okay, I didn't expect that you Yuehou has such a talent for eloquence, which makes me a little impressed. But do you know that just because you acted so wantonly, Captain Gao Suddenly he was seriously ill and bedridden, and His Majesty was furious, causing many misfortunes in the East Palace. Aren't you afraid of bringing disaster to yourself?"
"I walk and sit upright, what's there to be afraid of?" Sun Tu narrowed his eyes and said, "Isn't what I said true? What's more, this is not exactly the result you want to see, Grand Master? Just I know that you have long been prejudiced against the current prince, and have been encouraging the emperor to abolish and establish the emperor. Now that you finally have such an opportunity, how can you not seize it? I am afraid that the fate of Ren Shu and others will also be yours, too. Are you using your strength in the middle? Now that you are blaming everything on me, is it too unethical for the Grand Master to do this?"
Cai Jing never thought that today, there would be people who would dare to speak so tit-for-tat to him, without any fear at all. This made him unable to argue for a while, so he could only hum: "The Marquis of Yue is really a sharp-tongued man, but sometimes the victory in the court is not determined by who has a sharp tongue."
"Of course I know the truth behind it, but these truths must be explained clearly first. Only then can the truth be justified. What do you think, Grand Master
"And I believe that Grand Master, you did not invite me here specifically just to say such innocuous words, so if you have anything, please just say it."
In the past, when Cai Jing saw Gao Qiu and Liang Shicheng, they always had no way to deal with Sun Tu and thought they were useless. But today, after actually confronting this person, he realized that this young man is indeed quite troublesome. He is a thoughtful and ruthless person. Anyone who is worried doesn't even take himself, the prime minister, who has the most power in the world, into his eyes!
What made him particularly annoyed was that he really had nothing to do with Sun Tu. The other party had no concerns, but he had so many concerns that he was completely unable to deal with Sun Tu the same way he used to deal with other officials.
In order to gain some momentum and overwhelm the other party with momentum, Cai Jing suddenly slapped the table: "Sun Tu, you really overestimate yourself. Can't I, the true Taoist, do anything to you? Just because of what you have done before, Your Majesty will I already have the intention of taking you down to hold you accountable, so I can issue an order right now and make it impossible for you to fly!"
"Master, are you overestimating yourself and underestimating me, Sun Tu? You and I are only ten steps apart now. As long as you give the order, I can stop you in the blink of an eye. Do you think those people outside still dare to Are you going to take action against me?" Sun Tu was completely unmoved and said with a smile: "Not even Zhu Meng dared to take such a risk back then. I think the Grand Master can't be more stupid than him. If you have anything to say, just say it. , don’t tempt me by saying these things again.”