On the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, Ersheng led all his officials to the square of Taiji Palace to pray to God and bid farewell to the old year.
The mighty guard of honor was stationed in this huge square with a radius of more than ten miles, and there were endless clusters of flowers. The grand ceremony lasted from noon to evening. During this period, the Holy Majesty and the Queen of Heaven sat side by side at the front of the imperial tent. The Prince took his younger brothers Li Xian, King Yong, Li Xian, King Zhou, and Li Dan, King Ji, to serve on the left and right.
Because it was a young year, the long sacrificial speech was followed by a feast of singing and dancing, and delicacies and delicacies were delivered to every table like a stream of water. The emperor wanted to highlight the merits of Khotan's submission to the whole country, so he specially asked the king of Khotan and the princess to sit beside him, and let Shan Chao, who had been particularly in his favor from then to now, sit next to him.
Shan Chao was not too keen on the banquets and singing and dancing in the palace, his eyes were drooping and he didn't know what he was thinking about, when suddenly he heard the Holy Majesty laughing and asking: "Why is Aiqing so dazed? But the food in the palace is not to your taste?"
Several eyes from the surrounding important ministers' seats cast their gazes over, with different expressions, all sizing up this newly promoted celebrity.
The emperor inquired in public, and even noticed the details that he didn't move his chopsticks very much, which was actually a sign of importance. But this question is quite subtle, answering yes or no is easy to leave a laughing stock in front of important officials from other families, it is really tricky.
"Thank you for your majesty's care." Shan Chao stood up and said gently: "Reporting to your majesty, it really doesn't fit."
The emperor was very interested: "Oh?"
"I have been fighting outside the Great Wall for eight years, and my eating habits have long been no different from those of the people in the northwest. In the deep winter, I often share spirits with the soldiers to keep out the cold, so I am not used to the palace-made drinks. I hope your majesty will forgive me."
The conversation was natural and fluent, and vaguely pointed out the arduous military career at the frontier. The emperor was immediately overjoyed: "Yes, it was my negligence! Come here, bring strong wine to General Zhongwu!"
The palace people immediately spread the word, and Shaoqing really replaced it with a new jug. Shan Chao filled a cup of spirits himself, raised his head and drank it all in one gulp, leaned forward and said, "Thank you Your Majesty for your generous reward."
"Okay, okay." The emperor liked this show very much. Immediately on a whim, he even had someone pour him a glass of strong wine to drink. He smacked his lips and asked with a smile, "What do you think of this wine, Ai Qing?"
"The aftertaste is mellow, and it is indeed a good wine." Shan Chao paused, and then changed the subject: "It's just that it seems to be less flavorful than the rough wine that I drank with my fellow soldiers in the military camp. Your Majesty forgive me."
The feelings of everyone around me are the same—you are really enough!
Occasionally pretend to be a force to win the Sacred Heart, but what does it mean to be old and old, if you have the ability, please go back to the northwest to eat sand now!
Little did he know that Shan Chao really wanted to go back to the northwest to fight. It is useless for the leader of the army to stay in the capital. Only by fighting on the battlefield can he make meritorious deeds, so that he can rise to the top and become an extremely powerful minister—the emperor seems to have tasted this hint from his words, and immediately frowned, as if thinking down.
"I want to drink too!" Suddenly a delicate and loud voice sounded, and a little girl in a pink fox fur jacket and a green treasure hairpin squeezed to Shan Chao's side, frowning: "Give me that wine, give me I!"
Shan Chao was not wary, and picked up the little girl, "What do you want?"
"That wine!"
"Taiping!" Empress Wu poked her head out from the emperor's side and drank in a low voice.
Only then did everyone realize that this was the youngest daughter of the Emperor and Empress Wu, Princess Taiping who was loved by thousands of people.
Years later, Princess Taiping of Zhenguo, who has power all over the world, is just over eleven years old at this time. She was born pink and beautiful, with red lips and white teeth. She is the most arrogant and mischievous age. Come drink. Shan Chao wanted to let her go down, but in the chaos, no one could restrain the curious little princess, and the emperor was laughing and making muddy mud; after a long time of tossing, Empress Wu and the nanny gave in, and Shan Chao had to take it. A pair of clean chopsticks was dipped in spirits, and as soon as Princess Taiping took a bite, her brows and eyes instantly wrinkled into buns.
Before everyone could react, Shan Chao's eyes were quick and his hands were quick, and he covered her mouth with one hand.
"Pfft!" The next moment the little princess sprayed his entire palm.
Even Empress Wu couldn't help laughing, and hurriedly asked for a wet cloth to wipe Shan Chao's hands.
Princess Taiping was finally a little embarrassed at this moment, with a blushing face pinching the hem of her clothes, she shyly crawled down from Shan Chao's arms, even embarrassed to look at him, and hurried to her mother's side.
The emperor smiled and said: "General Zhongwu is amazing, but Taiping has met his nemesis."
Everyone around held the field and clapped their hands and laughed, only Empress Wu remembered something, and her expression froze slightly.
But at Empress Wu's hand, Xie Yun seemed to be unaware of everything around him, staring fixedly at the many dancing girls in the field, and didn't even react at all to Shan Chao's gaze tightly falling on him.
The emperor was about to say something more, when suddenly the officials of Honglu Temple quickly walked in from the outside and whispered a few words to the deacon and eunuch. The eunuch looked troubled, and after hesitating for a moment, he finally nodded, turned around and bowed to the emperor, Empress Wu, and then went forward and whispered something.
"Oh? Tubo presented the letter of credence?" The emperor frowned, "Bring it to me for a look."
The eunuch presented a heavy scroll with hot-sealed sheepskin, and the emperor took it down with his own hands, turned to Empress Wu, spread out the parchment, and at first glance saw the thick and colorful scroll: "...intelligent and agile, dignified and rui, so I propose to marry you." Princess Taiping has married Qin and Jin forever..."
Khotan came to surrender just after a young year, how dare Tubo ask for a marriage
Empress Wu's eyes flashed a cold and stern light: "My lord!"
"Bold Tubo, this matter is definitely not going to happen!" The emperor closed the scroll with a snap, and said in a deep voice, "However, it's difficult to refuse. Let me come up with a safe explanation—"
Immediately, his tone suddenly paused, and his gaze turned to the left.
Princess Taiping was breaking free from the nurse's hand, ran to Shanchao's table, and arrogantly ordered a large piece of roast beef.
This stewed beef is specially made according to the style outside the Great Wall. It is made by sprinkling a large piece of beef with spicy spices and roasting it. It is different from the traditional taste of the Tang court. When eating, it needs to be cut into small pieces with a silver knife. Seeing that she wanted it, Shan Chao picked up the silver knife, ordered some beef and asked, "Can I cut a slice for you?"
"I'll do it myself!" Taiping snatched the silver knife from his hand, cut off half of it, "Ah!" and said, "Why is there blood!"
"That's how it's eaten."
"How do you eat blood?"
"So tender."
Princess Taiping stabbed the piece of beef with the tip of a knife and held it up to her eyes. After bravely observing for a while, she nodded and said, "Well, if it is not tender, this princess will punish you for deceiving the emperor!" In his mouth, he chewed and swallowed, blinked his big watery eyes for a while and commented: "—Although it is fishy, it is indeed tender, so I won't cure your crime!"
The emperor smiled slightly at the corner of his mouth, looking at them thoughtfully; while Empress Wu was staring at the emperor's expression, a ridiculous and terrifying thought suddenly rose from the bottom of her heart—
"He's a handsome boy," the emperor after Taishan Fengchan said about Shan Chaoshi, and once unintentionally made such a joke: "If Taiping was a few years older, the husband-in-law can choose according to that mold..."
Empress Wu suddenly tightened her fingertips holding the armrest of the seat, almost trembling and said sharply: "Your Majesty!"
But the emperor didn't seem to hear the terrified intention of stopping her words at all, and at the same time as the words Your Majesty said, he had already opened his mouth with a smile: "General Zhongwu?"
Shan Chao got up and said, "The minister is here."
Empress Wu suddenly turned her head to look at Xie Yun, but Xie Yun didn't know what Tubo Guoshu was talking about. He just raised his head at this moment, frowning suspiciously.
Beside him, Yang Miaorong, who was usually singing and dancing, seemed to notice the change, and asked softly, "Xie Yun?"
"You have just returned to Beijing, and there is no caring person in the mansion who knows the cold and the hot, it is too deserted." The emperor smiled, and pointed to the dancing girls not far away: "I will show you How about two stunning kabukis in the mansion?"
The emperor already had the idea of bestowing a marriage in his heart, but this question was set up in an extremely clichéd way. It only depends on what kind of person Shan Chao is—smiling and nodding his head to thank him? Or firmly refused on the spot, why should a man who is immortal to the Huns do his home
The surrounding people were puzzled, but several gazes were cast over at the same time. I saw that Shan Chao was also stunned, and then he cupped his hands, looked directly at the emperor on the golden chair and said: "Thank you for your kindness, but I am ashamed and dare not accept it."
Empress Wu's complexion changed, and she repeatedly winked at Xie Yun, signaling him to quickly find a way to divert the scene.
The emperor's expression also changed, but he was a little more genuinely happy: "Oh, why? Since you are young and unmarried, I have an idea..."
"Because I have a marriage contract." Shan Chao said, "So I failed the emperor's grace, please forgive my sin." After speaking, he bowed deeply.
There was no sound, and the faces of the emperor and empress suddenly became very exciting.
Xie Yun's fingers holding the chopsticks paused suddenly, and fell into Yang Miaorong's eyes.
"You... what engagement do you have?" The emperor was astonished: "When and where did you make the engagement?"
"Reporting to the Holy Majesty, it is the marriage contract that I made when I was living in the desert in my early years. It has been more than ten years now. Although I have never married for various reasons, no matter the vicissitudes of life and the changes in the world, I always remember that person in my heart. One day I can go to get married in a fair manner, and this wish will not change until I die."
Shan Chao stood up, took a deep breath, and said clearly, "Because of the great love from the Holy One, I have no choice but to refuse to accept it."
The banquet was still going on, and there were singing and dancing outside, but the atmosphere in front of the narrow imperial tent was weird and tense.
Xie Yun's fingers couldn't stop trembling, and after a while there was only a soft slap, he clasped the silver chopsticks on the table with his hands behind his back, got up and left the banquet with a flick of his sleeves.
The emperor looked at Shan Chao, as if he couldn't understand why the son-in-law Chenglong Kuai who had just taken a fancy to just now flew away in a blink of an eye. He was still hesitant about this young general who was not from a family, and he was not sure in his heart, but when he found out that the other party had a marriage contract, he regretted it more and more, and couldn't help asking: "Ai Qing is so sure. Is it? After all, it was a marriage contract many years ago, so what if the girl is married or dead?"
"He's not dead." Shan Chao smiled and said, "If he gets married, I'll just wait for the person he married to die, and then remarry."
The emperor always likes to boast that he is affectionate. If it were normal, he would definitely praise him a lot, and he might even make him a confidant. However, the person the other party refused to marry became his own daughter, and he felt a little bit embarrassed immediately. He had to say euphemistically for a long time : "Ai Qing is too stubborn!"
"General Zhongwu is stubborn because of his upright character." Empress Wu lost no time in interjecting: "Your Majesty, the matter in Tubo is not too urgent. We will just think of a solution after the next year. Why bother?" Have you come to a conclusion?"
"..." The emperor only said that Empress Wu felt that the age difference between Shan Chao and the little princess was too big, and it was hard to say anything under the eyes of everyone, so he waved his hand and sighed after a long while: "Forget it, that's all—General Shan, I'm just asking for nothing. , you sit down."
Only then did Shan Chao plead guilty, his eyes swept away from Empress Wu's unconcealed relieved expression, and he sat back behind the desk calmly.
No one knew the reason for this short episode, and soon the palace officials stepped forward to remove the remnants of the seats, replaced them with wine, fruit, snacks, etc., played the silk, bamboo and flute again, and the kabuki also came forward with new makeup. Dance softly.
Shan Chao pushed that he was going to take a walk when he was too drunk, apologized to the empress, turned and left the banquet.
The back garden of Taiji Palace is relatively deserted, and the flower pond in Linyuan has long been frozen, and the pines and cypresses are only green in the snow. Shan Chao's footsteps made a slight creaking sound on the snow, he turned around the veranda, and suddenly stopped.
At some point, his throat reached Sen Han's sword edge, and he looked towards the end along the blood trough, the slender and powerful hand protruding from behind, the knuckles were turning blue and white like ice.
"..." Shan Chao's eyes changed slightly, and a very faint smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "It's just a few words of truth, Master, is it necessary to meet the apprentice you raised personally?"
There was a flower pond under the veranda, and a slender and beautiful figure turned around the stone pillar on the other side. He raised his eyes and saw the two people who were in a stalemate here, and suddenly stopped in their tracks.