The Li family probably didn't expect King Zhong to leave so easily. They were stunned for a while before reacting to greet each other with Gu Cunjing.
Li Huaigu and Gu Cunjing are the same generation, so it is most suitable for him to talk to Gu Cunjing in such embarrassing matters. The other elders of the Li family were all good-natured. King Zhong stepped on their faces today, and they already had a lot of anger hidden in their hearts. After a few polite words with Gu Cunjing, they all returned to the house.
"Master Gu," Li Huaigu cupped Gu Cunjing's hands, "it's hot in summer, why don't you go to the cold house for a cup of tea?"
"Today I came out under His Majesty's order. Now that the matter is over, I should return to the palace to return to the palace." Gu Cunjing returned the salute, and then asked with a look of disbelief, "How can things turn out like this?"
When Li Huaigu faced Gu Cunjing, his mood was complicated. Because of those things in the past, he seldom dealt with Gu's family. Now seeing Gu Cunjing dressed in strong clothes and in high spirits, he suddenly thought of that time three years ago. After the incident at the racecourse, it seems that Gu Cunjing also came to pick up Gu Rujiu and leave.
He once wondered how the Gu family brought up their daughter. The eldest daughter married the Zhang family, and the Zhang family liked her as an eyeball. When the second daughter married the emperor, she was so fascinated that the emperor did not want to accept her concubine. Only pamper her alone.
In fact, not only the two daughters of the Gu family, but also the two sons of the Gu family are very popular with the women in Beijing. Gu Zhiyu, a man with a dead wife, can also make countless women fascinated. I don't know what the Gu family is capable of.
No matter how complicated his mood was, when facing Gu Cunjing, Li Huaigu acted politely, and then recounted what happened yesterday.
"My father originally planned to visit His Royal Highness Prince Zhong with gifts in person today, how could he know that His Highness has such a personality..." Li Huaigu smiled bitterly, looking back at the pitch-black gate and the crowd watching the excitement, "The prince's status is precious, the Li family does not Dare to provoke. But my father, as a first-class courtyard in the court, was bullied by King Zhong like this, it is really…”
When he said this, his face showed embarrassment, and then he raised his head to look at Gu Cunjing. Seeing that the other party was still listening carefully, he said, "Since Mr. Gu has something important to do, I won't bother you any more."
Gu Cunjing nodded slightly, mounted his horse and saluted Li Huaigu, "Young Master Li, take one step first."
Li Huaigu didn't seem to say anything, but in fact he said everything he should have said, he just didn't make it clear that King Zhong was despising His Majesty's authority by bullying His Majesty's officials. The Li family was afraid that His Majesty would be embarrassed, so they forcibly endured their grievances and did not go tit for tat with King Zhong.
The Li family put themselves in a position of compromise.
"The matter between your residence and His Royal Highness Prince Zhong will be reported to His Majesty as it is. Please rest assured, Young Master Li." Gu Cunjing had a general sense of the Li family, otherwise he would not have strongly opposed his sister marrying into the Li family.
He glanced at the stone lions on both sides of the Li residence. The two stone lions had mottled ink spots on their bodies, and they probably couldn't be washed.
"Farewell." Gu Cunjing pulled the reins, turned the horse's head, and hurried in the direction of the palace.
Back in the palace, Gu Cunjing went into the imperial study after reporting by He Ming, who knew that not only the emperor was there, but also his own sister.
Just as he was about to salute, Jin Yang said, "My own family, don't be so polite. Second brother, tell me, what happened to King Zhong and the Li family?"
Gu Cunjing glanced at her sister who was sitting lazily in the corner. She didn't seem to be getting enough sleep, so even though she was holding a book in her hand, her eyes were closed.
It seemed that she realized that there were other people in the room, and she opened her eyes. After seeing that the extra person was him, she smiled and said, "Second brother."
Gu Cunjing looked at his sister, then at Jin Yang, and cupped his hands: "The Empress."
What the emperor spoiled his sister, she was more lazy than when she was at home, but it was really worrying.
Hearing that the second brother called herself the Queen Empress, the smile on Gu Rujiu's face became a little dim, but she also knew that the second brother's approach was the safest and safest, so she forced the corners of her mouth and said, "If you have something to talk about, I will first go out."
She put down the book in her hand and stood up slowly. When she passed by Gu Cunjing's side, she saw that his cheeks were flushed and his forehead was sweaty, so she went out of the imperial study and went to prepare summer soup for the second brother.
How could Gu Cunjing not see that his sister was a little unhappy just now, but he couldn't let the emperor have the impression of being favored and proud of the Gu family. After a long time, it would affect the relationship between the emperor and his sister.
Jin Yang could probably guess the concerns of the Gu family. He wanted to say that the Gu family did not have to do this, but he was worried that after saying this, the Gu family would become more cautious in the future, so he simply pretended not to see it and gave Gu Cunjing a seat. Let the maid bring tea. Seeing that he was so hot, he had someone move the ice bowl to the direction where Gu Cunjing was sitting.
After telling Jin Yang what he had seen and heard, Gu Cunjing said again, "Your Majesty, Wei Chen also found something a little weird. With the character of King Zhong, if it really is as rumored Arrogant and domineering, then even if Wei Chen goes, he should not agree to leave so easily."
After listening to this, Jin Yang smiled and said, "No one knows the truth of rumors until they see it with their own eyes."
He asked Gu Cunjing to be the commander of the Dragon Guards, firstly because Gu Cunjing was trustworthy, and secondly because he liked Gu Cunjing's behavior. For example, if someone encounters this incident today, they probably won't take the initiative to tell him, because it is "insignificant", but Gu Cunjing told him one by one, and also expressed the doubts in his heart.
"Perhaps King Zhong appreciates you more," Jin Yang said jokingly, "perhaps he used his attitude towards you to show his loyalty to me."
This probably means, you see, although I dare to smash the door of Li's house, I will stop when your people come, Your Majesty. Therefore, I am not dissatisfied with Your Majesty, but simply cannot get along with the Li family.
King Zhong seems to be reckless, but in fact, he is wise but ignorant, and there are subtleties in the rough. It is good that such a person is loyal to the royal family.
"That's it," Gu Cunjing suddenly smiled, "Why is His Royal Highness Prince Zhong being so polite to Wei Chen? It turns out that Wei Chen borrowed His Majesty's light to gain some respect from Prince Zhong."
Knowing that the second brother's words were flattering himself, Jin Yang laughed a little, and began to talk about other things. Because Gu Cunjing is very good at talking and knows how to measure the size, the two of them can be said to have a very pleasant conversation. They stopped talking until Gu Rujiu's voice came from outside.
"It was such a fun chat, you even forgot the time," Gu Rujiu stood outside for a while before entering the imperial study, his eyes swept over the two of them, and then put down the tray in his hand, "I asked someone to make sour plum soup, you guys use some."
The two bowls of sour plum soup have the same color, and it can be seen that they are produced in the same pot, except that there is ice in one bowl and not in the other.
Jin Yang glanced at the sour plum soup with ice for several times, and then the bowl of sour plum soup with ice was brought to Gu Cunjing by Gu Rujiu, and at this time he deliberately looked back at Jin Yang.
Jin Yang shrank his neck, bowed his head and obediently drank his warm version of sour plum soup. And in order to show that he liked this bowl of soup very much, he drank the whole bowl of soup in a few mouthfuls, and then praised Gu Rujiu while wiping the corners of his mouth.
Gu Cunjing looked down at the bowl of sour plum soup that he had only drank two mouthfuls in his hand, then looked at his smiling sister paper and his majesty who complimented her in a fancy way, and felt that the sour plum soup in his hand was very sweet and sweet. Got some toothache.
His Majesty, who can even eat the sour oranges in his sister's yard, is there anything he can't do when facing his sister
He needs to calm down!
After speeding up and finishing the soup in his hand, Gu Cunjing found an excuse to exit the imperial study.
Walking out of the gate of the imperial study, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. After seeing the relationship between His Majesty and his sister, he felt that he could be a little better to the Hu family.
"Master Gu," He Ming said with a smile when he saw Gu Cunjing coming out, "Is the matter done?"
"Well," Gu Cunjing nodded and said to He Ming with a smile, "Farewell."
"Walk slowly." He Ming smiled brightly and watched Gu Cunjing leave. In my heart, I was thinking that Uncle Guo still has too little knowledge. Who can understand the complicated feelings of those who serve the emperor and the queen closely, watching these things all day long
"Father, did you really smash the gate of Li's house?" When Jin Hong came back, he heard his father splashing ink on the gate of Li's house, so he ran to King Zhong's residence in three steps and two steps, "wait for us to return. When you arrive in Rongzhou, what should you do if Li Guangji makes small moves behind his back?"
"What are you afraid of?" King Zhong happily took a sip of tea, then raised his brows and said, "This time when we enter Beijing, it will not be so easy to return to Rongzhou."
Jin Hong's face changed in shock: "Why can't I go back to Rongzhou?"
"Prince Cheng's children have been in the capital for more than a year. Do you think His Majesty has mentioned that they should go to Jinzhou?" Prince Zhong raised his chin and pointed in the direction of the palace, "This man is more capable than the previous emperor. too much."
"Your Majesty doesn't want Jinzhou to let the Prince and Girls Association of Cheng make sense, but we don't have any grudges with him in the past and recently. He..." Jin Hong suddenly paused, not daring to believe, "Your Majesty wants to cut the clan?"
"Cut the vassal?" King Zhong looked at Jin Hong with a funny look, "Now the only vassal kings in the world with fiefs are me and King Cheng, and King Rui is on the road to death. What is there to cut in this vassal?"
"As for our Zhongwangfu..." Zhongwang was a little emotional, but also a little free and easy, "Our Zhongwangfu is a hereditary prince, but not a hereditary vassal king, even if your majesty does not let us go back to Rongzhou, but let us go back to Beijing to be honest Lord, he doesn't even need to find a reason."
Jin Hong had read the imperial decree handed down by his ancestors, but he didn't pay attention to it before. Now that his father mentioned it, he realized that the imperial decree was indeed not clearly mentioned, and their loyalty to the king's mansion could be preserved for generations. State as a feudal king.
Thinking of this, his face darkened. These emperors have more hearts than each other.
Seeing his son like this, King Zhong couldn't help laughing, "Son, there are two paths in front of us now, one is to follow King Cheng, and it may be death or it may be a glorious victory to get half of Dafeng, and the other is to follow King Cheng. It is to be an idle iron hat king with peace of mind today, and maybe we can live a stable life for nearly a hundred years, but maybe in the future, some emperor will not like us and will cut our title when he turns his head."
Throughout the ages, there has never been a real iron hat king.
"I..." Jin Hong was stunned, before saying after a while, "Didn't you already make a choice, Father?"
It seems that there are two paths, but in fact there is only one path for their family, and that is to honestly surrender to the present, and take the initiative to surrender before the present does not speak.
"When I was young, your grandfather and great-grandfather often told me to be content and happy," Zhongwang put down the teacup, "Only those who are content and happy can live long and stable lives."
"Son... I understand." Jin Hong didn't know why his father was so in awe of the present, but he believed in the choice his father made.
On the third day of the Emperor's Longevity Festival, the lord of Li Kingdom entered the capital, and then knelt down in front of Jin Yang, expressing that the people of Li Kingdom advocated Dafeng culture, and Li Kingdom would all be willing to become Dafeng people and asked His Majesty to take him in.
All the subjects in Dafeng were shocked. They had seen Dafeng to fight the autumn wind, and they had seen those who depended on Dafeng, but they had never seen such a small country as upright as Li, who directly took the initiative to merge their own country into Dafeng.
No matter how small the country of Li is, it is still a country. Now this country does not cost Dafeng a soldier or a single soldier. It has taken the initiative to say that it will be a Dafeng person, and that he will be a Dafeng person in his life and die like a Dafeng ghost.
What does this mean? It shows that Dafeng's national strength is strong, so it will come from all directions to congratulate the Quartet to the DPRK. Some countries yearn for Dafeng and take the initiative to express their willingness to be included in Dafeng's territory!
Not only the courtiers were excited, but the common people were also very excited. There were even vendors in the capital who started to sell Liguo's special fruits and foods, which was as lively as the Chinese New Year.
The literati have written countless articles to sing praises to the emperors of today, to the effect that, Your Majesty, you are the light, you are the sun, you are the only myth, and you are a rare emperor, and we all bow down to your robes. under.
Then another news came out. It turned out that although His Majesty was very moved by Li's yearning, he still rejected the idea of Li's lord.
The lord of Li Kingdom was not at ease, and stated that if His Majesty was unwilling, he would not be able to kneel in front of Qiankun Palace.
In desperation, His Majesty had no choice but to agree to the request of the lord of Li, and then named the lord of Li as Duke Dingbei, his son Bedoke as the heir, and his daughter Qiulier as the county lord, and gave him the surname Li. .
Li Yin was the same as Li, and the meaning was good. After hearing this, the King of the Kingdom of Li turned red with excitement on the spot, and wiped his tears, saying that he changed his name to Li Tan, his son to Li Ke, and his daughter to Li Qiu.
Li Tan's flattering skills made Gu Rujiu, a bystander, feel a little embarrassed.
She remembered that a few months ago, Li Guo seemed to be going to send a princess to be a concubine. After Jin Yang refused, he left Prince Bedok to live in the capital as a proton. She really did not expect that the credential sent by Li Guo was not a tool used to delay for disaster relief food, but that the other party really wanted to be incorporated into the Dafeng territory.
After this incident was over, Gu Rujiu summoned Li Qiu, the original Princess Qiulier.
When Li Qiu entered the palace this time, he was no longer wearing Li Guo's clothes, but the orthodox Dafeng County Master-grade formal clothes.
Li Qiu, who had put on the county-level formal dress, was a little less aggressive and a little more graceful than a few months ago. The facial features that were slightly different from those of Dafeng people were very harmonious with this dress.
"The minister's daughter has seen the Empress." Li Qiu performed a standard Dafeng etiquette. Although it was not as graceful as the noble daughter of a noble family, she could not pick out the slightest mistake.
"The princess doesn't need to be polite, please take a seat." Gu Rujiu let her sit down with a smile, and then asked, "After the princess entered the capital, there are some things that you are not used to, and can some people neglect you?"
"Return to Empress, everything is fine," Li Qiu replied with a slight bow, "Everyone is very warm to our family, and there is nothing inappropriate."
Although it is only the mansion of the Duke of Dafeng, the mansion is more refined than the palace of King Li, which makes Li Qiu realize once again that the state of Li can only be a dispensable existence for Dafeng.
It's not bad to have this result now. At least from now on, the people of the Li Kingdom will no longer have to lose their lives due to natural disasters, let alone be in the rage of being bullied by the surrounding countries all day long.
"That's good," Gu Rujiu nodded with a smile, "If you need anything, just go to the palace and tell this palace, this palace will not let a beautiful girl like you be wronged."
Hearing that the Empress praised her beauty, Li Qiu showed a few blushes on her face, and said shyly, "The Empress praised me wrongly."
"Bengong's temperament has always been something to say," Gu Rujiu said with a smile, "You are beautiful, so what's wrong with complimenting you?"
Li Qiu was so embarrassed that he didn't know what to say.
Seeing her like this, Gu Rujiu no longer teased her, but said, "The weather is nice today, not too cold or too hot. If the county master doesn't mind, can you follow this palace to the imperial garden?"
"This is the honor of the minister's daughter." Li Qiu hurriedly agreed.
This was Li Qiu's first time to formally appreciate the exquisiteness of the Imperial Garden. She finally knew what the place where the immortals lived as described in the book should look like.
"It's really beautiful. It's the place where the gods live. It's probably nothing more than that," Li Qiu said in admiration. "Isn't this the spring? Why is it so beautiful now?"
"This is probably the miraculous hand of the painter," Gu Rujiu laughed, not knowing why, "I don't know why, either."
Li Qiu also felt that his question was a bit inappropriate. Those who waited on flowers and plants must be servants in the palace. How could the empress be so noble and understand this.
Thinking of this, she hurriedly said, "It's the minister who asked the question."
Seeing that she was always so cautious, Gu Rujiu took her to the next place to watch, lest the other party faint from the nervousness.
It was also strange. She remembered that when she first saw Li Qiu, she didn't seem to be so nervous. Why was she more careful now
When Jin Yang returned to the Zichen Palace, he found that Gu Rujiu was not there. After asking, he realized that Jiu Jiu had brought the princess of Li Kingdom to the imperial garden.
Thinking of what it looked like when he faced the beauty for a long time, Jin Yang's face darkened, and he turned around and walked in the direction of the Imperial Garden.
Bai Xian and He Ming hurriedly followed behind His Majesty and strode up to catch up. Your Majesty is also true. No matter how beautiful the Princess Li is, she is also a woman. Why are you so nervous
When they hurried to the Royal Garden, they saw the Queen Mother holding Dingbei County Lord's hand and saying something. Dingbei County Lord smiled and blushed. This picture is indeed...
Bai Xian secretly looked at His Majesty's face, only to see His Majesty's Shen Rumo, with that look, he could rush up and slap Dingbei County Master away in minutes.
Your Majesty, please calm down!
"Niangniang, Your Majesty is down." Qiu Luo saw Jin Yang's figure, and whispered, "My maid doesn't seem to be looking very well from His Majesty's face."
Gu Rujiu looked back and saw that Jin Yang was hurriedly walking towards him, his face... It didn't seem very good-looking.
Letting go of Li Qiu's hand, Gu Rujiu took a few steps in the direction of Jin Yang, "Your Majesty, why are you here?"
Jin Yang grabbed the hand that she had squeezed the Dingbei County Lord, and said with a corner of his mouth, "I heard from the palace maid, come and see if you are visiting the garden."
Pulling Gu Rujiu a few steps forward, he set his eyes on Li Qiu: "This... is the Dingbei County Master?"
Li Qiu hurriedly saluted Jin Yang: "My minister and daughter have seen His Majesty."
Gu Rujiu raised her eyebrows, didn't you see it a few months ago
With an expression of "I have no impression of you" on Jin Yang's face, he nodded reservedly, "The scenery here is really good, and I used to love coming here with the queen."
Hearing this, Li Qiu curiously glanced at the hands that the two of them were shaking, and his face was a little red. The relationship between His Majesty and the Queen is really good.
Because of Jin Yang's participation, Li Qiu couldn't keep going any longer. After finding a reason, he retired.
After Li Qiu left, Jin Yang twitched his nose and said a little aggrieved: "What did you do with the hand of Dingbei County Master just now?"
"I'll help her read palmistry," Gu Rujiu smiled and looked at Jin Yang's aggrieved face, "I read a book about palmistry recently, so I wanted to give it a try."
"What's so beautiful about other people's hands, it's better to look at mine," Jin Yang put his hand in front of Gu Rujiu.
His hands were as white as jade, but there was a white scar on the palm close to the wrist, which looked particularly dazzling.
Gu Rujiu touched the scar a few times before looking at the palmistry for Jin Yang.
The lifeline of Jin Yang's palm looks a little strange. The front part is a little curved, and there is a fork. The branch that branches out is very short and shallow. The main branch is very long.
"Do you see anything?" Jin Yang saw Gu Rujiu's serious face, and said with a smile, "Master Gu?"
"You called me Master, how could I not see it," Gu Rujiu closed his palm, and then held his hand with both of his own, "Chen Jun's lifeline is very long, at least he can live for a while. One hundred years old."
"You don't need to be a hundred years old," Jin Yang smiled happily, "It would be nice to live and die with Jiujiu."
Gu Rujiu looked at Jin Yang, raised the corner of his mouth and smiled silently.
"Your Majesty," He Ming whispered, "The eunuch just reported that Lord Sima Hong passed away."
The smile on Jin Yang's face subsided, he held Gu Rujiu's hand and looked back at Bai Xian, "When did it happen?"
"I heard it was around noon." He Ming replied in a low voice.
He died of illness at noon, and it was almost evening before the news came in. If it was said that no one was blocking the transmission of the news, he would not believe it.