Because Jiangzhou is still some distance away from Jinzhou, Qin Mubai and Chu Suiliang set off one day early before Li Daozong's birthday. It was noon when we arrived at the palace. Except for some relatives of Li Daozong who had arrived early, most of the other officials in the palace had not arrived yet. Some of them also arrived early, and they all wisely went to the city to find a place to stay, without daring to disturb them in advance.
Li Daozong, the king of Jiangxia, raised troops from Jin, Bing, Pu, Jiang and other states to govern Taiyuan Prefecture, the northern capital of the Tang Dynasty. He can be said to be a first-class big shot in the north. As the governor and prime minister of Bingzhou, Li Ji controlled most of the troops in northern Xinjiang. Strictly speaking, his deployment had to follow his orders. In fact, the two of them were in a shoulder-to-shoulder position, and they seemed to be suppressing each other. It was naturally impossible for Li Shimin to hand over half of Ruoda's northern territory to one person.
Although both Chu Suiliang and Qin Mubai were only fifth-rank officials, their status was special. In other words, they were now the emperor's military and political spokespersons in the Shanxi region. Therefore, the governors and governors of the third and fourth grades were half waist short when they saw them. Li Daozong also treated them differently and emphasized in the invitation that they should come to the house in advance to drink and talk.
When the carriage just stopped at the palace, a government official greeted him enthusiastically. Seeing Qin Mubai and Chu Suiliang get out of the carriage, he quickly stepped forward and asked, "Are your guests General Qin and Mr. Chu?"
"That's what I'm waiting for." Qin Mubai said with a smile, "Your house is here to greet you."
"Your Majesty has been waiting for you two for a long time. Please invite us two distinguished guests!" The officials hurriedly stretched out their hands to invite you, and they were very polite.
Qin Mubai has already been to the palace once, so he is familiar with the road. Chu Suiliang walked in, looked around, and said with a slight smile: "The King of Jiangxia lives a simple life. A dignified palace is probably not as good as the residence of a wealthy family in Chang'an."
The official said hurriedly: "Your Majesty always tells us to be prepared for danger in times of peace and stay in poverty, so we never build much land or build houses."
Qin Mubai and Chu Suiliang looked at each other and smiled, and unanimously said to themselves: This is indeed Li Daozong's style, greedy and simple, a little more like a miser. It's really interesting that such a great hero has such a ridiculous problem.
The two of them followed the officials to the main hall. As soon as they turned around a flower garden, they heard a hearty laugh coming from in front of them: "Haha! I woke up early this morning and heard the singing of the sparrows. Sure enough, a distinguished guest has arrived! General Qin , Mr. Chu, I have been waiting for you for a long time!"
"I've met the King of Jiangxia!" The two men stepped forward to greet him.
"No need to be polite, please!" Li Daozong waved his hand and invited the two of them into the hall.
Two banquet tables had already been set up in the hall, and there were more than ten people standing next to them, but none of them had sat down. Taking a closer look, there are men, women and children, most of whom look like members of Li Daozong's family.
"You two, these are my family members. Today's lunch will be a family banquet. You two don't have to be formal." Li Daozong laughed and said, "You two are really trustworthy and punctual people. I estimate that you are about to meet Arriving at noon, I specially asked my family to wait for you to have a meal together.”
Qin Mubai and Chu Suiliang quickly raised their hands and saluted: "How dare you be so kind to your prince?"
It is indeed a very high-level treatment to have your family waiting for them to have lunch together. The implication is that they are treated as the most distinguished guests or even relatives.
"You're welcome. I have been accustomed to going straight as a soldier all my life. Just take your seats!" Li Daozong laughed heartily and sat down at the main seat first.
Qin Mubai and Chu Suiliang stopped trying to shirk the blame and sat down on Li Daozong's left and right sides respectively.
"Okay, the guests are here, everyone is seated, the dishes are served, and it's time to eat!" Li Daozong was in a good mood and laughed continuously.
Everyone sat at separate tables, a group of servants filed in and presented wine and food, and the family banquet began. Most of the people present here are brothers or juniors from the Li Dao clan who came to congratulate him on his birthday. Many people can be regarded as relatives of the princes and princes. During the dinner, they just toasted to each other and said some polite words. Li Daozong came to Qin Mubai and Chu from time to time. Suiliang toasted, and the atmosphere was harmonious and warm.
It was just a banquet, so Li Daozong ordered the officials to arrange good guest rooms for Qin and Chu. They went to have a rest first to get rid of the fatigue of the journey, and agreed with them to go fishing in the small lake in the backyard of the mansion at dusk.
In addition to his love for money, fishing is Li Daozong's second hobby.
Qin Mubai and Chu Suiliang went back to their rooms respectively. They were indeed a little tired after riding in the carriage for a long time. They also drank a lot of wine at noon and were a little tipsy. After everyone washed up, they lay down and rested for a while.
Half asleep and half awake, Qin Mubai seemed to hear a knock on the door.
"are you asleep?"
Chen Yan
Qin Mubai stood up, put on his clothes, and replied, "Here he is."
Opening the door, it turned out to be Chen Yan standing outside. She had changed out of her black chivalrous attire and put on a simple men's robe. Her hair was tied up casually, and she was carrying a wooden basin with a bowl of hot soup on it.
"I only asked you if you were asleep, but you opened the door directly." Chen Yan smiled and said, "I was afraid that you would get drunk, so I gave you a bowl of sobering soup."
"Thank you." Qin Mubai welcomed her in with a smile and said, "Just now I was wondering why I didn't see you during the banquet. When did you arrive at the palace?"
"I came to Jinzhou yesterday." Chen Yan put down the bowl and said, "Although I became a foster father to the prince, I am not used to the life in the prince's palace, and I don't want to meet too many people. So I came to Jinzhou. I was staying at the inn, and I entered the house a little later than you. I saw you were in the mood for drinking, so I didn’t bother you. Drink it while it’s hot. Jianghu secret recipe is very effective for sobering up. "
"I believe this. If people who travel around the world are often drunk, they will definitely do bad things." Qin Mubai picked up the bowl and drank it all. It was slightly sour and sweet, and tasted pretty good.
"Aren't you afraid that I will put medicine in the bowl? This is also a common trick used by people who travel in the world." Chen Yan said with a joking smile.
"That's Xiao Rascal's trick. A heroine like you will definitely not use it." Qin Mubai also laughed.
"Where is your little princess? Isn't she the prince's niece? Why didn't you bring her to celebrate your birthday?" Chen Yan suddenly asked.
Qin Mubai rolled his eyes twice and said with a smile: "If you didn't mention it, I would have forgotten it. Should I bring her to celebrate her birthday?"
"Pretend." Chen Yan sneered.
"She's gone and is rushing back to the capital to collect her guilt." Qin Mubai laughed and said, "She escaped from the palace privately, so how dare she come to congratulate King Jiangxia on his birthday?"
"Escaped from the palace just to see you?" Chen Yan couldn't help but frown slightly.
"That's not necessarily true." Qin Mubai spoke to him with some hesitation.
"Then it must be." Chen Yan shook her head with a smile, "You are going to be in trouble, so take care of yourself."
"You are really direct in your words, just like your sword, you strive to hit the nail on the head." Qin Mubai smiled helplessly, "It seems that nothing can be hidden from you, and your eyes, like your sword, can penetrate people's hearts. "
"I have been traveling around the world for so many years and have met a lot of people. This is naturally the case." Chen Yan said, "You don't have to hide anything. I can tell at a glance that the little princess has her own feelings for you, but you may not agree with her. Love is the same. Don't force things between men and women. If you don't like someone, just say it. Don't deceive others. I always hate people who cheat on their feelings. I don't want my friends to be like this. "
Qin Mubai sneered slyly: "Then what if I like her?"
"That means you are in bigger trouble." Chen Yan sneered and said, "I was once like her, risking my own life to pursue my feelings, and you have seen the end result. In fact, if you like someone, You don't necessarily have to be with him... If he can live well, that's enough. Unfortunately, Gao Yang doesn't understand. She likes you, but it is bound to bring you trouble or even disaster; if you really like her too. , this trouble and disaster will only get bigger. Don’t think I’m talking nonsense, I’m learning from the past.”
"Thank you for your good intentions, I'm very grateful." Qin Mubai smiled and said, "You are the only one who can say such clear things to me. In fact, I know these things very well in my heart, and I know how to deal with them."
"That's good." Chen Yan smiled easily, "I hope you don't mind after saying so much. This is your private matter and I shouldn't get involved. Since I regard you as a friend, I can't help but remind you a few more words. , but I don’t mean to break you up, but I hope there will be a good outcome between you. Let’s take a rest and go fishing together later.”
"You also like fishing?"
"Why don't we fall in love with the prince at first sight?" Chen Yan smiled charmingly, turned around and walked out of the room, closing the door for him as her footsteps gradually faded away.
Qin Mubai couldn't help but laugh to himself: Chen Yan, this woman, is really a hot-tempered woman with a sharp mouth and a soft heart.
Shortly afterwards, Qin Mubai and Chu Suiliang accepted Li Daozong's appointment and came to the back garden of the palace to fish.
Although the Prince of Jiangxia's palace is simple, its area is quite large. There is a nice artificial lake in the backyard. You can also go boating on the lake. There is a simple dock made of wood and bamboo, and some lotus plants are planted in the lake. The wind of decay in autumn blows, and some broken branches and leaves are floating on the lake. Occasionally, wild herons and kingfishers fly over the lake, which has a rural flavor of autumn water and sky.
There were only five people in the group, Li Daozong, Qin Mubai and Chu Suiliang, as well as Chen Yan and an accompanying child. Li Daozong was obviously deeply convinced of this idea. After the boat reached the middle of the lake, he sat down as steady as a mountain and swung his pole and lowered the hook as motionless as a bell. Qin Mubai used to be a fishing enthusiast, but he was not particularly proficient in it. He was not very good at using Datang's homemade simple fishing tackle. Thanks to Chen Yan's help, he successfully caught the hook. Chu Suiliang was just a layman, and it was difficult for him to drop the fishhook into the water smoothly, which made everyone laugh.
It was rare for everyone present to relax like today, so they were all in a good mood and enjoyed the leisurely entertainment of fishing.