The old madam who painted the boat knew that the people in the cabin must be several high-ranking officials discussing matters, and she could also guess that since she entered the room, the noble young master who has been leisurely and comfortable but speaks his words must be those people. The person with the highest status and status among them is likely to be a certain prince or nobleman, or a big shot in the royal clan who has a very close relationship with the palace. Otherwise, how could the high officials in the court obey his orders.
The old bustard who came out of the cabin stood at the bow of the boat, looking at the sparse and dim lights on the river embankment and the figures that suddenly appeared in the rows of willow trees and left suddenly in a hurry. I want to invite Mr. Du from Luoyang to come here.
The sound of singing and laughing was still swaying on the surface of the Luoyang River. In a daze, the old madam only felt a little cold light flashing in front of her eyes, and then she saw the figure behind the willow forest rushing towards her quickly.
In the blink of an eye, before the old madam could realize what was going on, there was another burst of extremely fast iron hooves, and then the figure who had just rushed down had already boarded his boat from the side of the ship.
The military guards with colorful faces all had horizontal knives on their waists, and some even carried crossbows on their backs. They walked towards the cabin with gleaming eyes. Before she could react, there were not many in the first place. The guests were kicked out by these people at this time.
And the daughter who was still playing the harp and singing quietly at the stern of the ship was stopped by the military guards from continuing to play the harp. Looking at the cabin that had become a little noisy for a while, the old bustard was about to turn around and walk into the cabin to see what was going on. Already? Why was it that in the blink of an eye, his boat was surrounded by people from the government
But just as she turned around and moved, she saw a bright horizontal knife appearing in front of her with a swipe sound. The chilling chill and the cold light on the blade made the old madam instantly feel a chill rising on her back.
"Be patient, we have chartered the ship today, and others must disembark." A military guard looked at the old bustard's confused eyes and said.
The thick foundation concealed many emotions on the face of the old madam, but it could not block the old madam's mouth: "Cococo, sir, these guests haven't paid yet."
Seeing the panic-seeking guests in front of him being driven away by the military guards, the old madam's heart seemed to be bleeding. If these people just left like this, where would she go to ask them for money tomorrow? And who would acknowledge the debt? ah.
"You don't have to worry, someone will give it to you later." The old bustard heard the voice and went out, only to see the pockmarked adult in the cabin on the second floor walking over from the empty staircase.
"Sir, this is a small business. I can't afford to do this..." The old bustard knew that these people were easy to talk to. After all, she had gained some experience from all the officials she had come into contact with over the years.
That is, most officials with high official positions and great power have no airs, and sometimes they even give you a very low-key feeling, making you never imagine that they are the legendary high officials.
The other kind is that kind of official who does not have a high official position and does not have much power, but he has a lot of airs. No matter where this kind of official goes, he seems to be deeply afraid that others will not know that he is an important official of the imperial court. The official record will sometimes make people think that he is the emperor's emissary.
Di Renjie looked at the old madam's face that looked a little pale due to the foundation and smiled, and said: "Don't worry, all the money of the guests who left will be paid by us. After all, I am also a regular customer of your boat, so why not?" I’m afraid I’ll default on my debt.”
After finishing speaking, without waiting for the old bustard to speak, Di Renjie waved his hand to signal the guards to begin blocking off the river area. The sound of horse hooves that had just sounded in the distance also stopped on the river embankment at this time. At that time, the river bank road, riverside and other places were tightly blocked by soldiers wearing helmets and armors.
Although it has long been common for His Majesty to go to Huafang or the people incognito, and there is no need to block the Luoyang River like this, but just now, when His Majesty was talking to Du Bing and others, they still communicated secretly. After all, this is To deal with the wealthy nobles headed by Qi Wang of the Five Surnames, the imperial court used all the power at its disposal. Even Princess Wen went to contact some knights to spread public opinion in Luoyang.
However, these rangers have never been restricted by the imperial court and do things based on their own preferences. Who knows whether the presence of rangers on the river will be detrimental to His Majesty.
Regardless of the other painted boats on the other side of the river, or the painted boats not far away on the left and right sides, driven by the military guards, they all began to slowly sail away from the calm river.
Li Hong, who was standing at the window on the second floor, listened to some noisy sounds outside. He opened the window and took a look. Looking at both sides of the relatively calm river, the painted boats were slowly driving away. He couldn't help but shake his head and smiled bitterly.
Since I became the emperor, my personal freedom has been much more restricted than when I was the prince. I no longer have the freedom and freedom I used to have. Even if I occasionally go out alone incognito, I don't know how many people are protecting me secretly. Own.
"Li Qiao, this is your and Di Renjie's idea again, right? How many times have I told you that if you do this, you will be alarmed and something will happen. No one knew there was anything unusual about this boat. After all your troubles, "Who wouldn't know that this painting boat is different from other boats?" Li Hong turned around and looked at Li Qiao and said.
Next to her was Lin Cui, the only person in the boat who was still playing. At this time, in this small boat, the only sound of the piano and sesame was slowly flowing out from between Lin Cui's arms.
"Don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of the worst. If someone alarms you, it will be our fault. This precaution is also because the officials and others are afraid of that eventuality, so it is better to take strict precautions." Li Qiao He smiled, looked at Li Hong's smiling face, and said haha.
While Li Hong was talking to Li Qiao, Wang Xiaojie and Yao Chong, noisy footsteps came from the stairs, and then he heard Di Renjie's voice: "Please, the young master has been waiting for you for a long time."
As Di Renjie's voice disappeared, the door was opened at the same time. The cabin, which was not very big in the first place, became a little crowded after a few middle-aged people with ashen faces came in.
Because there was no order from Li Hong, Lin Cui was still stroking the strings when everyone came in, and the sound of the piano was still flowing from her fingertips.
But she quickly raised her head and saw her husband Guo Jingzhi, following a few people. He looked a little confused and followed everyone in blankly. When he saw that she, Du Bing and others were all When he was in the room, Guo Jingzhi's expression tightened again, and he began to think quickly in his mind, what were their intentions in inviting himself and his wife here today.
But looking at Lin Cui's calm expression, still playing the piano unhurriedly, and it didn't look like she was forced here by Du Bing and others, waiting for her to come to the rescue, so she couldn't help but feel like Lin Cuinu She nuzzled, but Lin Cui lowered her head and ignored her.
"Are you Du Shenyan? Are you Guo Jingzhi? Do you two know each other?" Li Hong looked at the people standing in a row against the wall and asked calmly while sitting at the table.
"This is Du Shenyan... Your Majesty, Du Shenyan, has met your Majesty, and I know Mr. Guo." Du Shenyan originally wanted to salute first, but before he could salute, Li Hong started to ask questions, so he had to answer while salute.
As for Guo Jingzhi, who was asked the same question by Li Hong, after hearing Du Shenyan's words at this moment, his mind went blank. He couldn't believe that the young man in his thirties sitting in front of him could actually He is the current emperor of the Tang Dynasty.
Lin Cui's piano sound was also out of tune again when Du Shenyan bowed and replied, but this time it was more serious. After the strings made an out-of-tune clang, they suddenly broke, which also caused her hand to break again. He was frozen in the air, feeling happy, sad, surprised and scared all at once.
What I was happy about was that I didn't expect that the person I was narrating just now would be His Majesty. What I was worried about was that if Du Shenyan denied it, would His Majesty still believe what I said? When the time comes, will I be implicated in my husband and will I be thrown into prison by His Majesty
Just when Lin Cui lowered her head and thought about the fate of herself and her husband tonight in a mixture of joy and sorrow, she heard her husband say in a similar pattern after Du Shenyan's reply: "Guo Jingzhi, a humble citizen, has met your majesty."
They had been married for many years, and she could immediately tell that her husband's tone was as nervous and uneasy as the sound of the piano she just played, and even his words were intermittent and trembling.
"I heard that these two people came to you to redress their grievances through their connections, but you did not help them redress their grievances after accepting their gifts. And because your son was covetous of Lin Cui's beauty, you used words to coerce them, but Is this the case?" Li Hong asked, looking at Du Shenyan with a solemn expression.
"Replying to Your Majesty, I have never accepted any gifts from them. I have only met Guo Jingzhi once. That was last year. The reason why I remember it so clearly is because he is also a scholar of the Tang Dynasty and participated in the event last year. When he failed in the imperial examination, he thought that someone had replaced him under his name. The minister thought that this was nonsense. The imperial examination was always fair and impartial, and there was no room for sloppiness. No one would bend the law for personal gain, so how could someone impersonate him? . Therefore, because of his difficulty in studying, I ignored and investigated him for slandering the imperial examination. As for the fact that my son once coveted his wife's beauty... Your Majesty, my son Du Bing is nineteen years old this year, and Guo Jingzhi. My wife..." Du Shenyan said this, and glanced at Lin Cui who was sitting in front of the window with her head bowed and said: "Although she is beautiful, she looks several years older than the child. Moreover, she is already a married woman, so how could I fall in love with her? I think this is because Guo Jingzhi and his wife ignored their complaints, so they took the opportunity to slander me and my son."
"But when I asked your son Du Bing just now, he admitted that he was greedy for the beauty of Guo Jingzhi's wife, Lin Cui, and also said that as long as Lin Cui obeys him, he will ask you to make the decision for their couple, and even You can no longer participate in the imperial examination and directly recommend him to enter the official career." Li Hong glanced at Lin Cui and Guo Jingzhi, their faces looked extremely scared at this moment.
(End of chapter)