Yue Pengju said respectfully: "The key to a military strategist is to be surprising and unpredictable, so that you can win. Fight in formation and then fight. The regularity of the art of war and the wonderful use of it all come from one mind." These words became famous military maxims in later generations.
Zongze was overjoyed: "Peng Ju's words mean he has won the military opportunity." He paused briefly and then changed the subject, "In your opinion, how should we use troops in the future?"
Yue Pengju said: "I have been fighting with Xixia for many years. The troops in Guanzhong are fine and strong, and the Jin army has been repatriated on a large scale. Now it is better to send a large army to guard the two rivers, and then plan for Guanzhong. When the imperial court is first established, we can take advantage of the hot summer to launch a large-scale Northern Expedition..."
Zongze said: "This move is exactly what I want."
The two discussed for a while. Yue Pengju was about to leave when he remembered and knelt down: "Teacher, please forgive me..."
Zongze was very surprised: "What happened?"
"My mentor once acted as a matchmaker for the young general, but the young general has already resigned from his engagement with the princess. I still ask my mentor to forgive me."
Zongze was shocked. He had just responded to Tian and didn't know the news yet.
"Pengju, why is this?"
"The young general has his heart set on Hua Rong. He wants to marry Hua Rong..."
Zongze stood up suddenly and said angrily: "Yue Pengju, are you crazy?"
"Xiao Jiang and Hua Rong are not biological siblings..."
Zongze thought of the intimate look he saw tonight, and then he understood why Yue Pengju was not promoted. He had gone through many ups and downs in his life, but he had never encountered such an embarrassing thing. He also remembered that he had never been promoted. Witnessing the exchange between the emperor and Hua Rong, he secretly thought something was wrong. If the emperor knew about it, how could he let it go
"Yue Pengju, do you know that the current emperor intends to admit your sister into the palace?"
"I know. He proposed marriage before in Xiangzhou and asked my sister to be his concubine, but my sister refused!"
"You are so brave! Knowing this, you still dare to regret your marriage? Do you not want to die?"
"The young general hopes to grow old together with his sister, even if there is thunder and lightning, he will not waver!"
Zongze was shocked and angry: "Pengju, you must give up. I have seen with my own eyes that your sister is quite capable of speaking a few words in front of the emperor. Nowadays, treacherous ministers are in power, and Huang Qianshan, Wang Boyan and others are fawning over them all day long. If there is someone around the emperor who dares to Anyone who speaks and pleases him is a good thing for everyone in the world... "
Yue Peng retorted: "Accompanying a king is like accompanying a tiger. How often have you ever seen a concubine really able to interfere in the government's affairs?"
Zongze couldn't answer for a while. Women in the palace were favored when their lust was strong, and favored when their lust was weak. It was too ridiculous for a woman to influence the king's political situation.
He didn't know how to continue to correct Yue Pengju's "appalling" behavior, so he could only wave his hand weakly: "You go down first."
The next day, Xu Caizhi was ordered to find the two of them: "Miss Hua, Pengju, the official has invited you to the palace for a banquet."
The two knew that their relationship was not going well, so they had no choice but to go. The banquet was held in the harem, and there were not many people there. They were just the emperor, Wu Jinnu, and a few familiar friends Xu Caizhi.
She knelt down and saluted, and the emperor immediately stood up and helped her up: "Rong'er, there is no need to be polite. We are all acquaintances. I just want to invite you to reminisce about old times and practice for Pengju."
Yue Pengju was replying to the emperor's military situation, but when he saw the way he was supporting his sister and his eyes, his heart skipped a beat.
Hua Rong met Yue Pengju. The two siblings nodded and sat down according to the seats assigned to them.
At the beginning of the banquet, each person had a few dishes. The first course was served with ten kinds of fruits, including pears, golden apricots, spring peaches, pine nuts, lotus seed meat, ginkgo, and steamed dates; the second course was served with carved honey winter melon, carved honey bamboo shoots, and carved ginger. Ten kinds of "carved honey fried" including dates, carved honey persimmons, etc. The third course is salty and sour purple cherries, salty musk plums, salty and sour ringo, salty and sour pomegranates and other ten kinds of "thoroughly fragrant and salty"; the fourth course is bacon , pickled chicken, pickled rabbit, wine-vinegar mutton and other ten kinds of preserved meat. After tasting each dish, the guests began to toast.
There are two famous wines, Yinguang and Suiyu, both millet wines, originating from Xiangzhou. The wine is clear in color, Yinguang is mellow and sweet, while Suiyu is fragrant and refreshing. Most of these wines have low alcohol content. High rice wine.
Each cup of wine has two kinds of dishes. The first one is braised mutton and roasted chicken legs; the second one is golden mutton tripe soup and sheep head pickles. There are fifteen cups before and after, totaling thirty dishes, which are not repeated. .
The soup served after drinking is a sweet soup boiled with licorice and other medicinal materials.
The tableware used in the entire banquet was all carmine red and made from the finest Jun kiln. While everyone was eating, there was also a group of musicians playing, one playing the pipa and the other playing the flute.
Hua Rong and Yue Pengju both came from poor families. They had never experienced such a feast in their lives. They felt dazzled. Every dish in front of them seemed not to be tableware but to be a fine work of art. They couldn't enjoy it.
The emperor sighed: "In the past, the palace gave banquets with 108 dishes; now in times of crisis, everything should be kept simple..."
Hua Rong thought to himself, if this is still simplicity, what about luxury
She looked up at the emperor and saw that he was also staring at her. Because he had drunk some wine, I don't know whether it was because of the alcohol or something else. His face was a little red and his eyes were a little strange.
Wu Jinnu, who was next to him, inadvertently observed the official's expression, smiled slightly, and turned to Yue Pengju: "General Yue is a young hero, and Miss Hua is both talented and beautiful. You two siblings are really rare in ancient and modern times."
"Thank you, empress."
The emperor also laughed: "Pengju, you have made great achievements this time, but you have not received a reward. Do you feel any regret in your heart?"
Yue Peng put down his wine glass: "Reporting to the emperor, I know I am guilty, how can I dare to regret it? I would like to thank the emperor for your forgiveness for regretting the marriage."
"Now, the evil thief Jin Wushu is persecuting endlessly and is gathering his troops towards Yingtian. Pengju, General Zong recommends you, so I order you to obey his orders. You will have to set off again in the future to lead his troops. Accept the challenge, alas, now I have placed all my hopes on General Zong, you must not let down the love of General Zong and me."
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. I will do my best."
Wu Jinnu smiled and took over the conversation: "General Yue is loyal to the official family and has no time to worry about his family. There is no one to take care of your sister. I have thought about it and come up with a good way to take care of your sister for you."
Hua Rong knew something was wrong and smiled: "Your Majesty, please take care of yourself. Hua Rong will take good care of herself."
"That's not what they say. A woman must have a support for her lifelong destination. Now that the official has ascended the throne, you have been following for a long time and your contribution is not small. How about..."
Hua Rong didn't allow her to say what she was most worried about, and interrupted her at the right time: "I don't know something, Hua Rong has already been married to someone else."
The emperor said displeasedly: "Rong'er, I've known you for many years, but I've never heard of you getting married. Why are you trying to shirk it in every possible way?"
"This..." At this moment, he suddenly remembered King Qin's warning, and he only vaguely realized that if he said Yue Pengju, he would really be killed.
She was still hesitating, but she heard Yue Pengju speak loudly: "Back to the emperor, the young general Yue Pengju has married Hua Rong. Because of the busy war, he did not report to your majesty in time. Please forgive me!"
Hua Rong was about to stop him, but it was already too late. His heart was beating so hard that even Xu Caizhi was shocked. Yue Pengju looked at the emperor with no fear on his face and his voice was very calm. He had known what the emperor was thinking. With this opening, he risked his life to survive, leaving no room for himself at all.
What Yue Pengju clearly said was "already married"!
In order to please the officials, Wu Jinnu originally planned this feast in order to fulfill a "wish" for the officials. In front of Yue Pengju, he wanted to summon his "sister" to the palace, but something unexpected happened. When this happens, his face turns pale with anxiety.
The emperor stood up in a hurry: "Yue Pengju, you are so bold!"
Yue Pengju was still very calm. He was a foreign minister and was not called "official" like Hua Rong but "emperor".
"This matter is all because I didn't have time to report it. It has nothing to do with Hua Rong, but I ask the emperor to punish me."
"Well, Yue Pengju! It turns out that this is the real reason why the princess regretted her marriage! But, do you know that Hua Rong is your sister? It is a capital crime to deceive the emperor and betray one's superiors, but it is an even higher crime to cheat on one's relatives."
"Your Majesty, I forgive you. I and Hua Rong have known each other for many years. They are just siblings, but they are not biological siblings. Your Majesty is also aware of this."
"Yue Pengju, since you said you are married, okay, let me ask you, where are your parents' orders and the matchmaker's words?"
"In troubled times, the guilty minister didn't care about so many red tapes. He only married Hua Rong in a simple way."
Hua Rong saw that Yue Pengju was defending loudly without any fear. He glanced at the emperor secretly, but when he saw his face full of anger, he only vaguely realized: Now, a big disaster is coming.
The emperor was furious and shouted: "Yue Pengju, I asked you clearly when I proposed the marriage, and you said you were never married. But now, you have gone back on your promise, humiliated the princess, and deceived the emperor. In this short period of time, there has been no matchmaker. You How can two people get married? Why are you lying
Xu Caizhi immediately knelt down: "Yue Pengju, you have to think clearly. Cheating the emperor is a serious crime that can be beheaded. If you lie, you will not only harm yourself, but also implicate your sister..."
Xu Caizhi meant that he should quickly change his words or stop insisting so that he could keep his name. Yue Pengju knew what he meant, but he said proudly: "The guilty minister dare not lie! The guilty minister loves Hua Rong and has already sworn to accompany her life and death. No matter how hard it is, I dare not change my original intention no matter how hard it is. Therefore, I have no choice but to repent of my marriage to the princess. I dare not make any more excuses. I only swear here to kill the gold thief, protect my family and the country, and shed blood on the battlefield. I will never even frown, let alone ask for any reward. I beg the Emperor to grant me your permission!"
Everyone was so angry that they didn't dare to say a word. The emperor closed his eyes, sighed, and suddenly shook his head: "That's alright, you can step back for now."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your great kindness."
The two of them retreated as if they had received amnesty. As soon as they reached the door, the emperor suddenly said: "Rong'er, you stay here."
Yue Pengju turned around and said, "Your Majesty, this happened because of the guilty minister and has nothing to do with Hua Rong!"
The emperor said coldly: "Back off!"
Hua Rong winked at him, and Yue Pengju hesitated before retreating.
Even all the guards had retreated, leaving only two people in Nuo Da's hall.
The emperor slowly walked down from the throne, walked to her side, and stared at her, "Rong'er, how long have we known each other? Eighty or nine years, right?"
Hua Rong nodded silently.
"I saved you from pirates, and I never disliked you. I have never liked a woman so much. Even if you don't want to, I never force you. I just want that one day, you will be willing to marry me... "
"I'm sorry! Hua Rong has failed the official family's love."
"Rong'er, tell me, you are not married to Yue Pengju at all! This is not true!"
Hua Rong nodded resolutely: "Hua Rong deserves death! He married Pengju, but he forgot to report it to the emperor."
"No! You lied to me! You siblings only reunited last year, and we didn't have much time together. You have always been by my side. If you were married to Yue Pengju, how could I not know about it? Besides, when marrying Yue Pengju, he clearly said that he was never married. -At that time, you were still married! What chance will there be after this? Rong'er, why did you lie to me?"
"I dare not deceive the officials."
"Okay, tell me, when did you get married?"
Hua Rong was so anxious that he had no choice but to say: "After I escaped from Jinying last time, I said goodbye to my official family and went to look for Pengju, and I found him there... In troubled times and precarious times, Hua Rong's women cannot be saved, so... "