The two of them snuggled together for a while, then stood up together.
Bai Su called Yi Man over and said, "Tell the imperial kitchen that His Majesty is in a good mood today and wants to have a night talk with Lord Yun in the palace. Ask them to prepare some snacks for tea."
Yiman quickly bowed and replied: "Yes, I will go right away."
Then he trotted all the way over and walked out.
Not long after, Feng Yan and Yun Xie came over under the leadership of Chang Le, and the imperial chef also moved very efficiently.
Sweet and soft peach cakes, pineapple cakes, fragrant osmanthus cakes, thousand-layer cakes, green bean cakes, etc. were placed in small plates and served one by one. Some of the freshly made snacks were still steaming.
In addition, freshly fried sunflower seeds and peanuts were served, and the aroma filled the entire courtyard.
"Your Majesty, the imperial chef said that the commander of the patrol camp just happened to hunt several pheasants and rabbits in the mountains today and sent them to the imperial kitchen. They will be roasted and sent over for your Majesty to taste."
Yiman prepared to serve all the dishes and spoke as she refilled his tea.
Hearing that there would be barbecue, the young man smacked his lips happily and said, "Got it. Pass on my order to reward the patrol commander and the imperial chef with 100 gold each."
"yes."
-
As this person was talking, Yun Xie's voice was heard: "I smelled the fragrance from a long distance away. It turned out that our Majesty was hosting a banquet. Why is he so happy today, arranging the dishes and giving out rewards?"
Following behind him was Feng Xian.
The woman came over gracefully and knelt down gracefully: "Feng Yan greets His Majesty."
Duan Changchuan quickly invited the two to sit down: "There are no outsiders here, please sit down."
The two of them sat together on one side of the eight-immortals table.
Duan Changchuan's uncle arrived a little later, but because the matter was urgent, he trotted all the way over. When he arrived at the yard, Zhang Dehai, who was responsible for inviting him, was left behind and there was no trace of him.
Although he is called uncle, he is actually less than 30 years old. When Duan Changchuan was born, his uncle was only about 10 years old. Now Duan Changchuan has just turned 18, and his uncle is only 28 years old, which is the best age for a man.
The uncle and nephew had not seen each other for nearly ten years. When they saw each other for the first time, they couldn't help but feel their eyes red.
"uncle!"
The boy called him.
The man had been working as a hunter in the mountains, and now he was wearing rags and hadn't had time to change out of them. There were even small pieces of dirt in his hair. When he heard the word "uncle", his lips trembled for a long time before he knelt down in front of him with his fists clasped together: "Your Majesty... It has been ten years since I last saw you. How is Your Majesty doing?"
"I'm fine, thank you for your concern..."
When the previous emperor passed away, the young Duan Changchuan was forced to ascend the throne. The emperor's uncle was only seventeen or eighteen years old, at the age of youth and impulsive.
The regent controlled the government and almost sidelined the emperor. He was indignant and shared the same hatred with Duan Changchuan, so the two of them often made secret plans in the study.
At that time, the regent had not yet accumulated much power in the court, nor had he reached the point where he could cover the sky with one hand. Even if the two of them could not get any good results in his hands, they would not suffer too much disadvantage. However, the queen mother was too cowardly and was always dissatisfied with their behavior.
Finally, when Duan Changchuan was ten years old, his uncle had a big quarrel with the Queen Mother and angrily asked to go to the border.
It has been nearly ten years since he left, and there has been little news from him.
"It's all my uncle's fault... He was impulsive when he was young..." He said, holding Duan Changchuan's arm and looking at him carefully: "Your Majesty has lost weight..."
Duan Changchuan had tears in his eyes, and he was stunned when he heard the word "thinner".
His belly is almost turning into a swimming ring, and he actually... lost weight
Yun Xie couldn't help laughing out loud: "I'm afraid the uncle hasn't seen His Majesty for too long. He has gained a lot of weight in the past six months."
She even stared at his belly while talking.
The uncle said: "Your Majesty, your belly is indeed... a little exaggerated. Don't worry, there are also men in our army who don't pay attention and have a big belly. I heard that your Majesty is not feeling well today. You usually sit or lie down. When you feel better, move a little and the belly will go down."
After a while, he asked worriedly, "The imperial physician checked and said that you are okay, right? It has been Master Huang who has been taking care of you recently. If Master Huang said that you are okay, then you should be okay..."
He was talking to himself more than asking questions.
Yun Xie burst out laughing again.
Duan Changchuan rolled his eyes and said, "Eat your food quietly."
My uncle continued, "Since Lord Yun is so relaxed, it should be nothing."
Duan Changchuan: …
He quickly helped the person to sit at the table.
After some pleasantries, everyone stopped laughing and started discussing political affairs.
Duan Changchuan told him everything, including what the Regent had done in the Huainan epidemic area and his collusion with foreign enemies to rebel. He told him everything in detail.
At the end of his speech, the prince's uncle squeezed the cup in his hand until it was deformed. "How can this be! This Duan Jing'an is getting more shameless as he gets older! He must have read so many books by sages! Even if he dies and goes to the underground, he will be pressed down by the late emperor to die again!"
The young man took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "According to their plan, I speculate that they should collude with the soldiers of Zhang State to tie down my uncle's troops at the southern border. My uncle will take this opportunity to rebel and leave me isolated and helpless... If I forcibly dispatch my uncle's army to Shengjing to rescue me, I will be ignoring the safety of the entire Datong and handing over the border city to others... But if my uncle does not come to rescue me, I can't resist his offensive with the imperial guards and secret guards in the palace alone... If I retreat, I will lose my life, but if I move forward, I will be the eternal sinner of Datong. Duan Jing'an has made a good calculation."
The prince's uncle frowned and gestured to him to calm down.
"Duan Jing'an colluded with foreign enemies and intended to hand over Datong to others. The people of the Southern Territory will definitely kill him. Your Majesty, the people are water, and the country is the boat. Only water can carry the boat! The people of the Southern Territory have suffered from Zhang State for a long time. The survival of the Southern Territory border is the survival of the people of the Southern Territory. As long as the military spirit is stable and the people's hearts are stable, Zhang State will not succeed. Your Majesty, what I mean is that Baili rushes to the Southern Territory border to send a letter, ordering my two deputy generals to preside over the overall situation in the Southern Territory and make public what the regent has done! Just dispatch a thousand cavalry, and I will be able to quell the rebellion!"
When he said the last sentence, he simply stood up and knelt in front of Duan Changchuan: "We can stabilize the soldiers in the Western Regions through public opinion, and the overall situation will be stabilized. I am willing to issue a military order! If you don't behead Duan Jing'an, you will cut his throat to apologize!"
Bai Su quickly winked at Duan Changchuan, asking him to help the man up.
He said: "After receiving the news, Your Majesty has secretly strengthened the deployment of the Heavenly Prison, but the regent's conviction still needs to go through layers of trials, and I'm afraid it will take some time. If the Heavenly Prison can be defended, as long as the regent is caught, there is no need to worry about his rebellion. But if the Heavenly Prison cannot be defended, we can only act according to what the uncle said."
Feng Yu nodded thoughtfully, "It is indeed difficult to prevent the incident in the Heavenly Prison. The Imperial Guards under His Majesty cannot be mobilized, and we can only rely on the secret guards and the soldiers stationed in the capital, or the patrol camp. But if there are people of the Regent among the patrol camp and the soldiers, they will lend him a helping hand... It is not convenient for the prince's uncle and his subordinates to show up at this time. The Zhang Kingdom has been eyeing the southern region of Datong. If they find that the prince's uncle and his confidants have come to Shengjing, they will definitely march into the palace and our southern border."
After all, it is still a difficult situation to resolve.
It is also because the regent's power in the court is too deeply rooted... It will not be easy to uproot him.
This is also why, when Duan Changchuan exposed him in public and put him in death row, he remained calm.
After some discussion, everyone fell silent in the end.
Seizing power has always been dangerous. The winner will be the king and the loser will be the villain. Nothing can be predicted until the end.
Yun Xie closed his fan with a snap and said angrily, "This is so annoying! I'll just go to the prison and chop him up! If you want to insult me, come to me!"
The young man's serious and angry tone actually eased the atmosphere.
Duan Changchuan rolled his eyes at him: "Why should I come to you? By the time I have not yet cleared your name, the grass on your grave will already be three feet tall. Do you think the Regent Party is vegetarian?"
Yun Xie: "... Speak properly, where can grass grow three feet tall on a grave?"
"The grass on your grave, if you don't believe it, bury yourself and see."
Yun Xie:
She turned around and grabbed Feng Yan's sleeve: "Aunt, look, he is bullying me again!"
He was hit on the forehead: "You are talking nonsense."
So he curled his lips and sat down again in frustration.
But after his commotion, the atmosphere became better. Bai Su picked up the teacup and smiled, "Just do as the uncle said. Don't forget that we still have firearms."
Speaking of firearms, Duan Changchuan's eyes lit up: "Sister... well, does the Queen have more firearms to make?"
The young man blurted out "sister", and everyone except the king's uncle understood it.
Bai Su even smiled with her hands covering her lips, saying, "I didn't do any more, but Miss Feng Xian and Lord Yun should have done a lot. At least one for each of us and the secret guards is enough."
"Very good!"
Yun Xie was also enlightened: "Yes, we still have firearms to use! But except for me and my aunt, the rest of us probably haven't practiced our aim, so we don't know if we can hit accurately. But we still have more powerful artillery, which can be secretly transported to the South Region, and then we can catch Zhang Kingdom off guard! We will transport it tonight, and it will arrive in 15 days at the latest. I guarantee that Zhang Kingdom will be shocked!"
Upon hearing that there were better artillery pieces, the uncle also became excited: "Don't even mention fifteen days, it's just a small country like Zhang! Even if it's three or six months, our soldiers in the Southern Region can hold out! Even if there is only one soldier left in the Southern Region, as long as we can defeat Zhang, it's worth it!"
So Duan Changchuan stood up and picked up the cup: "Then it is settled. I toast to everyone and also to my Datong territory."
Everyone immediately raised their cups and said:
"Your Majesty!"
"Respect our Datong territory!"
…