Back at the Baiqi Military Camp, Qin Mubai happened to pass by the military prison and saw two soldiers walking towards the military prison carrying two large food boxes.
"Come here, what are you talking about?" Qin Mubai called to the two people.
The two sergeants came forward to attend the ceremony and said, "To tell you what the general said, this is the dinner that General Changsun and General Yuchi told us to prepare for the four palace ladies."
Qin Mubai asked them to put down the food box, opened the lid and took a look, and said: "Is this food for prisoners? Lotus leaf chicken, stewed lamb tripe, such a big black sesame oil cake and good wine . This is obviously to entertain distinguished guests - send these things to my office, I want to have a midnight dinner."
"Ah, this... general..."
"Do you dare to say anything?" Qin Mubai frowned slightly, and the two sergeants hurriedly agreed. Qin Mubai asked a sergeant to deliver midnight snacks, and another sergeant went to send a message to Changsun Huan in the military prison, saying that each of the four palace maids would receive a steamed bun and a pot of water every day. As long as they did not starve to death or thirst, they would be detained for three days. Say it again. During this period, no one was allowed to say a word to them, otherwise they would be punished for disobeying military orders.
By the way, I asked Changsun Huan to come to the Yamen office to spend the night together.
After returning to the government office and setting up the eating utensils, Changsun Huan arrived. There was no one else around, so Changsun Huan hurriedly said: "Brother Qin, you may not be going too far, right?"
"Why are you in a hurry, brother Changsun. Sit down and let's talk while we eat." Qin Mubai smiled and motioned for Changsun Huan to sit down.
Changsun Huan gritted his teeth and sat down patiently.
Qin Mubai knew that Changsun Huan did not want to offend Princess Gaoyang. Although he was ordered to supervise these four maids, he tried his best to please them.
"Eldest brother Sun, those palace maids are used to being domineering, and they can't put anything else in their eyes except Princess Gaoyang. The more polite you are to them, the more arrogant they become." Qin Mubai said with a smile, giving the eldest son Huan Pouring the wine, he said, "We will have to work in the palace for a long time in the future. If the maids can't manage them, who will give us face? How can we gain a foothold in the palace?"
"Brother Qin's words are certainly tenable and reasonable. But... since we know that they are Princess Gaoyang's people, we still deliberately make things difficult and torture them. Isn't this a huge enmity with Princess Gaoyang?" Changsun Huan said, " I also know the importance of maintaining the authority of the Hundred Cavalry Army, but there is no need to enmity with the royal family! After all, the royal family is the master, and we are servants. Isn’t this the right thing to do?”
"Wrong." Qin Mubai smiled slightly and said, "Generally speaking, we do serve the entire royal family. But within the royal family, we represent the dignity of the emperor. The royal family is higher than everyone else, but the emperor It is even more supreme among the royal family. Today, Princess Gaoyang dares to challenge Huang Wei. If we don't control her, there is no guarantee that some prince, princess or prince will come to challenge her in the long run. What will Baiqi have left? Value? Therefore, this time Princess Gaoyang is not challenging us, but the emperor."
"Uh, this..." Changsun Huan blinked and nodded thoughtfully, "I see... It seems that Brother Qin can still see clearly and further than me."
"It's not that I can see clearly or far. When it comes to being an official, I'm definitely not as good as you, brother Changsun." Qin Mubai said with a smile, "I just always grasped the core - Baiqi, and always stand with the emperor. Only by uniting our stance can we remain invincible. There is nothing wrong with offending a certain royal family for the sake of the emperor. On the contrary, if we neglect our duties because we are afraid of offending a Princess of Gaoyang, that would be really wrong. , the emperor must be disappointed with us and no longer trust us.”
"I understand." Changsun Huan nodded, "In different environments, our responsibilities are different. Looking at the world, what we want to protect is the court; in the court, what we want to protect is the royal family; and within the royal family, we want to protect It’s the emperor. Is that so?”
"Correct answer." Qin Mubai chuckled, "Cheers!"
"Thank you, Brother Qin, for the advice!" Changsun Huan breathed a sigh of relief and secretly said in surprise: In just two months, Qin Mubai became smarter than before, and he used his wisdom on the edge. He can always grasp the core of things, and his vision and knowledge are far beyond those of most of us. Such people are truly terrifying! ... Strange, he is only about 20 years old, how can he be as sophisticated as my father? What a monster-like character!
On a summer night, the four palace ladies were cursing and getting angry in the cell, waiting for those stinky men to serve them with delicious food and drinks. Unexpectedly, in the middle of the night, everyone was hungry and thirsty again. There was no movement, and the mosquito repellent tablets had burned out. It was really miserable. They yelled and cursed for a while, but no one paid attention to them. In the end, I was exhausted and fell asleep.
At dawn the next day, Qin Mubai got up early as usual and arranged to go to the Daming Palace to pick up the driver. He took the time to take a look at the military prison.
The four maids were stinking of sweat and nestled in a steamer-like cell, and two of them started to cry.
“Smelly military academy, stinky man—let us out quickly!”
"Sisters, it's him, do you recognize it? It's him! He was the one who caught us!"
"You will definitely regret it! If you abuse us like this, Your Highness the Princess will make your whole family die!"
…
Qin Mubai walked to the cell with his hands behind his back, his face solemn and his eyes serious. He snorted softly, and the four palace maids trembled and stopped.
Qin Mubai didn't talk nonsense to them. He waved his hand and a military officer behind him threw four steamed buns and four water bags into the dungeon.
When the maids saw it, they were dumbfounded. The steamed bun was already dirty when it fell to the ground. How could you eat it? Even if they can eat... these palace maids have grown up with Princess Gaoyang, and have been accustomed to living in fine clothes and fine food with their master. How can they eat such simple food
The maids started arguing again.
"How can you eat this kind of thing? Why don't you keep it for yourself?"
"Don't eat! Don't eat! We want iced sour plum soup and mung bean soup to relieve the heat!"
"Let us out! We'll starve to death and die of thirst. Let's see how you explain it to Her Highness the Princess!"
…
"Shut up!" Qin Mubai shouted, scaring them into screaming. Glancing at them, Qin Mubai lowered his voice and snorted coldly, "To tell you the truth, if Her Royal Highness hadn't taken the initiative to plead with me, you would never have gotten these steamed buns and water bags - you don't know how to appreciate them, you like to eat them or not! "
After saying that, Qin Mubai turned around and left.
Several palace maids were completely discouraged. They knew that this time they really met a character like King Yama. For a moment, there was a whimpering sound in the cell.
After leaving the cell, Chang Sun Huan asked: "Brother Qin, how long will you be locked up?"
"I will detain them for three days first. Then, when they take the initiative to admit their mistakes, surrender, kowtow and beg for mercy, we will consider releasing them." After Qin Mubai finished speaking, he strode away.
Changsun Huan let out a sigh of relief after hearing this, and dove into the cell before Qin Mubai could go far. He was not stupid either. Qin Mubai could tell him all this just because he wanted him to tip off the palace ladies and persuade them to surrender and cooperate early, so that he could plead for Qin Mubai to agree to release them earlier. Otherwise, if the weather is so hot for a long time, it is really hard to say whether any of these three immature women will be tortured to death. Then the matter may become a big deal, which will not be beneficial to anyone.
Thinking about it this way, Qin Mubai didn't really want to embarrass these four women.
"The system is dead, but people are alive. Only those who know how to be flexible are really smart people... Qin Mubai is so versatile!" Changsun Huan could only marvel in his heart.
Qin Mubai, together with Cheng Huaibi and Yuchi Baoyun, came to the harem to pick up the emperor with the Baiqi sergeants who were escorting him. Before Li Shimin boarded the chariot, he deliberately said to Qin Mubai: "Mubai, you don't have to go to court with me. You can rest more from now on, and I will give you an easier job - take some people to the Penglai Hall in the harem to guard King Jin!"
"I obey the decree." Qin Mubai agreed.
Although the two talked nonsense, they were indispensable. This at least let the soldiers of Baiqi know that Qin Mubai, who might not appear in court very often in the future, was specially ordered by the emperor to do other errands, rather than being transferred, being sidelined or some other reason. To prevent everyone from endless speculation and unnecessary trouble.
The stability of generals is particularly important for the morale of an army. Li Shimin and Qin Mubai both understood this truth deeply.
The emperor's car drove away. Qin Mubai led the remaining group of hundreds of horses to Penglai Hall.
The little princes Li Zhi and Li Mingda were still sleeping soundly and did not wake up. The two little guys' bedrooms were placed together, and the sleeping couches were only a few feet away. Several wet nurses and palace maids took turns serving them, ensuring that there was no shortage of people around them at all times.
Qin Mubai had never been a father and had no experience in this kind of work as a nanny. He felt a little confused and confused. Fortunately, it seems that I don’t have to feed myself, wash diapers, or sing lullabies, which would be really frustrating.
After waiting outside the palace for a long time, Li Zhi and Li Mingda got up. They were helped by the nannies and maids to wash themselves and eat breakfast.
The two little guys sit at the same table and eat together, and they don't let anyone else feed them. Instead, you eat by yourself with a chopstick and I eat with a spoon, and sometimes you don't feed each other.
Qin Mubai couldn't help being amused when he saw such a scene after entering.
"Brother Ninth, as my father said yesterday, that heroic general is here!"
"I wonder if he has eaten!" Li Zhi blinked and waved to Qin Mubai, "General, come here, want to eat together?"
"Haha, I've already eaten. Your Highnesses, please take your time." Qin Mubai said with a relaxed smile, "After dinner, how about I take you to the back garden for a walk in the cool air? The air in the morning is the freshest. The flowers are also the most fragrant!”
"Okay! Brother Ninth, let's eat quickly!"
"well!"
The palace maids and wet nurses who were waiting nearby frowned: This arrogant and rude man did not say "serve" the two young highnesses, but said...
Qin Mubai thought very clearly in his heart. If you want to be a good dad, you must first get closer to your children and make them feel that you are their good friend and good partner. Only then can you guide them better. And he had a deeper thought in his mind: What if Li Zhi really becomes the emperor in the future... I have to leave a special impression of myself in his mind from a young age, instead of just being an ordinary bodyguard!