Half an hour later, Master Liu walked out of the imperial study dizzy, still holding the scroll in his arms. When he returned to the house, Madam saw him like this, and hurriedly asked, "The emperor refuses to agree to help matchmaking?"
Lord Liu shook his head: "Not really, the emperor agreed. He also said that the portrait was too ordinary, and he had to ask the painter in the palace to paint it again."
"Then you are frowning, I thought I was implicated and scolded by my cousin again." Mrs. Liu breathed a sigh of relief.
"Women, what are you talking about?" Master Liu was displeased, put the scroll on the table again, and said, "Go and ask the third son to find a good craftsman, mount this scroll, and I will hang it in the central hall. ."
Mrs. Liu was inexplicable when she heard the words, and even thought he had a fever: "The portrait of Princess Goryeo, what are you doing hanging in the middle hall?"
"That portrait has been left in the palace for a long time. This is the title given to me by the emperor's royal pen." Master Liu carefully untied the tether.
"The emperor also gave you a name?" Mrs. Liu was overjoyed and quickly stepped forward to appreciate it. On the rice paper sprinkled with gold, a few large characters are vigorous and elegant, and they are quite majestic.
The world's first media.
…
Master Liu's mood is actually very complicated and joyful, and he feels that these words are really difficult to show off. After all, he is an adult in the court, not a matchmaker in red and green on Wangcheng Street, with flowers on his temples.
In the imperial study, the court painter, after reading the portrait sent by Goryeo, asked, "I don't know how the emperor wants to modify it?"
"The better you draw, the better." Chu Yuan said, "Don't worry about how it looked before."
The court painter led the order to retreat, and Shen Qianfan came out from behind the screen, wondering, "Does the emperor really want to kiss the King of Southwest China?"
"It's just a lot of work." Chu Yuan put down the tea cup and returned casually, "The boss is not young, it's time to get married."
Shen Qianfan: "..."
Does this have to be taken care of
"In the Liu family, I am afraid that he is the only one who is loyal." Chu Yuan continued.
"Where's the Prime Minister Zuo?" Shen Qianfan asked.
"Liu Yishui? A piece of old fried dough sticks. You can't tell that he is a traitor, but it can't be called loyal." Chu Yuan said, "But if he is interested, I don't want to touch him this time."
Shen Qianfan nodded: "As soon as Liu's house is removed, I am afraid that many people will be thrown out of the court this time, and the ministers will inevitably panic. With Prime Minister Liu here, it would be good to be able to mediate and make a mess."
Chu Yuan sighed deeply in his heart, leaned on the dragon chair and closed his eyes slightly.
The Liu family was originally from the family of the Empress Dowager. The relatives and family were intertwined, and the people of Wangcheng were muttering. The owner of the Liu Mansion was named Liu Gong, who originally held military power in the northeast. It took the first emperor of the Chu family ten years to gradually reduce his military power. The position was passed on to Chu Yuan—not the Gao Wang Chu Xiang, who had been supported by the Liu family.
The first thing Chu Yuan did after he ascended the throne was to demote his half-brother to a commoner and exiled to a small island in the southwest waters. He was demoted with him, as well as Liu Gong's five sons. Liu Jinde, the prefect of Liaozhou.
With these few things, the relationship between Chu Yuan and Liu Mansion is self-evident.
But no one is a fool, even if there are more entanglements and hatreds in their hearts, the two sides can still talk and laugh freely on the surface. A year after Chu Yuan ascended the throne, Liu Gong even resigned, saying that he wanted to go back to the mansion to take care of his children and grandchildren.
The common people regarded this as a sign of weakness, but Chu Yuan knew it well, not to mention that Liu Gong was still in the royal city, even if he returned to his hometown in the northeast, he would still be the actual ruler of the Liu family. Baiguan, as long as he was in contact with Liu Jianeng, would still obey him as usual—with the exception of two people. One is Liu Dajiong, who has just come to matchmaking. He has never had a close relationship with the Liu family. Because he is too naive and straight, and because he has no ambition, he is only conscientious and wants to do his job well, so he has been out of the business for so many years. Another is Liu Yishui, the left prime minister. Strictly speaking, he can only be regarded as Liu Gong's fellow countryman. He was also worshipped by other adults in the imperial examinations, and he was cunning, so he couldn't tell what was going on in his stomach.
"Your Majesty, General Shen." Father Sixi reminded outside, "It's time for dinner."
"It's already so late." Chu Yuan returned to his senses, although he still had no appetite. But thinking that Shen Qianfan had traveled thousands of miles to come back, he must have been hungry, so he ordered a meal and even drank a few glasses of wine with him until it was completely dark before sending Sixi to send the person out of the palace.
"If you are a civil official, you will have to send it away. If you are a military officer at the end, you won't have to trouble your father-in-law." Walking to Chongde Gate, Shen Qianfan said with a smile, "Please come back."
"Alright, then General Shen will go back to rest earlier." Eunuch Sixi smiled, "I should also go back to serve the emperor and take medicine."
Shen Qianfan nodded, turned around and continued to walk out, but was stopped by someone halfway.
"... Master Zhang?" After seeing who was coming, Shen Qianfan breathed a sigh of relief. It was silent, and it was Master Liu who wanted to talk.
"General Shen." The painter Zhang had always been on good terms with him, so he was not restrained. "I heard Xiaofu said that the general was having dinner with the emperor, so I knew that I could wait for the general here."
"Okay, what are you waiting for me?" Shen Qianfan was puzzled.
"I want to ask the general for a small matter." Zhang painter said, "Today the emperor announced that I will go to the imperial study, and there is a portrait of Princess Goryeo. He said that he thought the original painting was not good-looking, so he had to repaint it."
"Then it's fine if you paint a new one. Is it possible that you want me to help you paint it?" Shen Qianfan laughed.
"I've already painted it, but the Princess Goryeo has a mediocre appearance. I think the original artist has already beautified it. Now that I've changed it again, I'm afraid it's not even half similar. So I want to ask the general, did you know about this? If you can tell the emperor what you want to do with this portrait, I would have a good idea of how to change it, otherwise, I really don't know what to do now." Zhang painter said a lot in one breath, gasping for breath.
Shen Qianfan helped him smooth things out and said, "The portrait was sent by Master Liu."
Zhang painter suddenly realized: "Oh, talk about matchmaking."
Shen Qianfan couldn't help laughing: "You only need to paint, it doesn't matter how much you don't like it." Anyway, it was not the emperor who married himself, and no matter how beautiful or ugly, the King of Southwest would definitely not agree, and it was just a joke.
"Yes, yes, that's it, then I'll go and present the portrait to the emperor." Zhang painter was happy, but couldn't help showing off, "My painting is so good, it's based on the number one beauty in the rivers and lakes. "It's as good-looking as you want, and it can be done by anyone who says it's a matchmaker.
Shen Qianfan patted his shoulder, turned around and strode back to the General's Mansion.
In Fodor Town on the other end, Duan Yao was playing with little bugs in the guest room, when suddenly four or five people came in outside the window, and immediately threw a dart at him.
"It's my subordinate." The person who came hurriedly ducked away, with lingering fears in his heart.
"It's you?" Duan Yao wondered, how could the killer of the Southwest Palace follow him all the way.
"Something happened in the Southwest Mansion." One of the people who came was named Duan Nian, who was Duan Baiyue's confidant.
"Master is alive again?" Duan Yao was nervous.
"If his old man is alive, the first thing he will do is to come to you to settle the account." Duan Baiyue pushed open the door and came in.
Duan Yao: "..."
"How?" Duan Baiyue asked.
Duan Nian said: "As expected, the treasure tower was stolen a few days after the prince left."
"Those fake letters were stolen?" Duan Baiyue smiled.
Duan Nian said, "Yes."
"Very good." Duan Baiyue nodded and said again, "Since you are here, let's go to the king's city with you. Remember not to reveal your whereabouts."
Duan Yao poked a small bug and pouted.
No, even you are sneaking, let alone a subordinate.
When can we go back to the southwest
The cold spring is getting colder and colder, and the weather doesn't seem to have any signs of clearing up at all. Duan Yao wrapped herself in a bun and stayed in the carriage all day, refusing to come out.
Duan Baiyue is not too busy, even occasionally Yaxing, can go to the songfang to listen to a little song.
Duan Yao: "..."
Twenty days passed in a flash, Duan Yao was taken out again in the middle of the night, and an imperial decree was "fetched" from the post house.
…
"It was originally intended to be sent to the Southwest Palace." Duan Baiyue sat at the table to unpack it, so it wasn't considered stealing.
Duan Yao rolled her eyes and walked over with hot tea: "What's wrong?"
Duan Baiyue launched the imperial edict.
Duan Yao was surprised after reading it: "Emperor Chu still cares whether you are married or not?"
Duan Baiyue opened the scroll again.
Duan Yao was even more surprised: "Chu Huang wants to marry the Wuxue Sect Master to you?"
"No snow, this is Princess Gaoli." Duan Baiyue knocked on his head.
"Are Princess Gaoli and Sect Master Wuxue a brother or sister?" Duan Yao looked at the light with a scroll, "This is clearly Sect Master Wuxue." The most beautiful woman in Jianghu, she is quite beautiful.
Duan Baiyue smiled, threw the scroll and the imperial decree into the brazier, and looked for Duan Nian: "Have you heard any news?"
"There's one thing." Duan Nian nodded first, then hesitated, "But my subordinates haven't checked it out yet."
"Let's talk about it first." Duan Baiyue said.
"It is said that the leader of Anu Kingdom, Shada has arrived in the king's city." Duan Nian said.
Duan Baiyue frowned: "He?"
What a surprise. Duan Yao slandered beside him, didn't you come here secretly, are you allowed to come or not
"It should be him right. He was temporarily staying in a pawnshop in Wangcheng, and our people discovered it by accident." Duan Nian said, "And his younger brother, Gu Li, was assassinated in an alley in Wangcheng not long ago. The Emperor Chu was investigating first, but in the end he stopped."
Duan Baiyue shook his head, stood up from the table and said, "Let's go."
"Where are you going?" Duan Yao was very vigilant, it was in the middle of the night.
"Wangcheng!" Duan Baiyue strode out.
Duan Yao was stunned, everyone, go to Wangcheng now.
Duan Nian was also surprised by this, did he really care so much
"It is estimated that she has a crush on that Shada." Duan Yao angrily put the bug in her pocket, "So when she heard that someone was in the king's city, she was so excited that she didn't sleep, and hurried to a private meeting."