The heavy winter snow gradually stopped, and the courtyard of the Duke's Mansion was already covered in silver. The branches heavy with snow swayed slightly in the wind, and occasionally there were a few rustling sounds of falling snow.
Opposite the slightly opened window, in the study, an old man with gray hair and beard walked to the desk holding a book, dusted it off with a lively look, sat down behind the table with a smile, took a sip of the steaming hot tea beside him, opened the book, raised his eyes slightly, looked out the window, and then looked at the contents of the book again.
"… Your Majesty, you are very decisive."
There were footsteps outside, knocks on the door, and the stuttering voices of the guests in the mansion could be heard.
"Duke Yue... His Majesty... has sent a eunuch over."
Wang Feng, who was standing outside the door, lowered his hands, listened to the noise inside, turned back and whispered to the smiling eunuch: "The Duke may not be here, how about coming back next time?"
"presumptuous!"
The smiling eunuch's expression suddenly changed. He stopped smiling, glanced at the door with raised eyebrows, and raised his chin slightly. "I came here in response to the imperial decree. His Majesty heard that Duke Yue did not leave the palace, and thought that he was old and in poor health, so he specifically asked me to bring the best tonic medicine from the palace to visit him. How can I just take the original things back like this?"
These words were not meant for the four scholars who were leading the way, especially the words "take back the original things", which had a hidden meaning. Wang Feng, Ma Liu and the other three were frightened when they heard them. They felt it was not right to leave, nor to stay, and they wished they could slap themselves in the face.
At this time, a voice came from inside: "Wait, come in."
The tightly closed door in front of them creaked open, revealing a gap. The four scholars, who had seen monsters several times, were particularly frightened by this scene. They quickly stepped aside and huddled together tremblingly.
The eunuchs and palace guards facing the door were also frightened, but they had seen magic in the palace, so they calmed down and dared to go in.
"Duke Yue, I am coming in."
The leading eunuch apologized softly, then walked into the room holding the imperial edict and two guards. When they came to the wooden carved door with a curtain, they looked at the old man sitting at the desk behind the curtain, then bowed and saluted.
"I am a servant from the palace, greeting Duke Yue."
The old man raised his head and said softly: "His Majesty asked you to come just to visit me?" He continued to flip through the book, and it was obvious that he heard what the people outside said.
"Or do you want to see if I am ill and can bring something back to reply to Your Majesty?"
The eunuch outside the curtain rolled his eyes and opened his mouth with a smile. Just as he was about to speak, he was interrupted by the old man. Yang Su put down the book in his hand and suddenly chuckled.
"Bring the medicine here."
"Ah?" The eunuch was stunned for a moment, then quickly took the brocade box from the guard, carefully uncovered the yellow silk, opened the lid, held a red pill in the box, and respectfully walked behind the curtain.
Amid the rustling sound of the pearl curtains, she put down the desk and said, "Duke Yue, this is what His Majesty asked me to bring. It will nourish your body and prolong your life."
Yang Su didn't even look at the old face in front of him with foundation on. He picked up the pill from the box with his fingers and looked at it in front of his eyes, then chuckled: "I have seen countless pills. I brought all the imperial doctors in the palace with me. How could I not know how many pounds and ounces they were? Or do you have other intentions for this little pill?"
The old man looked away at the eunuch, whose heart skipped a beat and he quickly knelt on the ground. You have to know that Duke of Yue Yang Su was not only a famous general who was renowned all over the world, but his martial arts must have been amazing. Moreover, it was rumored that he also knew Taoism, and was not inferior to the national teacher.
"Duke Yue, Your Majesty has no other intentions..."
"It doesn't matter! I'll take it even if there is one!"
Yang Su looked at the pill on his fingertips, suddenly put it into his mouth, bit it into pieces, reached out for the tea, took a sip, and swallowed it together with the powder. This stunned the palace guards outside and the eunuchs who were kneeling on the ground.
"Duke...you..."
"Get out!"
Over there, the old man who had swallowed the pill waved his robe, creating a gust of wind that blew the eunuch on the ground, causing him to roll and crawl outside the curtain door.
"Go back and tell Yang Guang that he can dig the Grand Canal, but it will take ten years. After ten years, I will not hinder him!"
The old man's voice made the window frames vibrate. The eunuchs who rushed out of the study did not dare to stay and rushed out of the house with the guards, leaving only four scholars shivering outside in the cold wind. For a moment, they did not know what to do. After a while, someone whispered, "Shall we go too?"
The other three moved closer.
"I'm afraid it's hard to leave." "Wait a little longer, maybe Duke Yue will forget about the four of us after he gets angry."
"... We have come through foxes and ghosts, so what is there to be afraid of? At worst... we can kowtow to the Duke of Yue and make amends!"
"And serve tea!"
"Yes, let's do it together to show our sincerity!"
The four of them were talking outside in whispers, while in the study, the originally angry old man had a calm expression, with no trace of the anger he had just shown. He looked at the empty brocade box, got up from his chair, walked to the paper window, looked at the snow scene in the courtyard, sighed, and white mist floated out of his mouth and spread out.
"Brother... Brother, that's all I can do."
The long street of the official residences was filled with people stumbling out of the door. The eunuch turned around and spat at the golden plaque with the words "Duke of Yue" on it, "Wait for death!"
He cursed and yelled a few words, then climbed onto the carriage and hurried away from here, urging the driver to speed up and return to the imperial city. After getting off the carriage, he picked up his robe and ran quickly to the Daxing Palace.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
“Rebellion!”
Rushing into the study, the eunuch stumbled over the threshold, fell to the ground unsteadily, knelt down two steps in embarrassment, and shouted a few words to the figure behind the dragon table. Realizing that he had said the wrong thing, he slapped himself in the face, bowed and kowtowed.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I was so angry and anxious that I said the wrong thing."
Yang Guang ignored him. After reviewing a memorial, he put down his brush and allowed him to stand up and speak.
"How is the Duke of Yue?"
"Your Majesty, he is fine!" The eunuch stood up from the ground, rubbed his knee that was hurt from the fall, and pointed outside with a grin: "I brought the medicine that Your Majesty sent. The Duke of Yue took one look at it, put it in his mouth and swallowed it without blinking."
Yang Guang suddenly grinned. The pill was not a poison. He just randomly picked one from the pharmacy. It was just a test. If he didn't eat it, he would have other thoughts. Since he ate it, it meant that the Duke of Yue was still...
"His Majesty!"
While she was still thinking, she was interrupted by the eunuch over there: "After the Duke of Yue took the elixir, he drove this servant out, and he still said something."
"What else?" Yang Guang frowned.
"He also said that if your Majesty wants the Grand Canal in the future, he has to wait another ten years, so he won't hinder your Majesty, otherwise he will step over his head!"
Thinking of how he was chased out of the Duke's mansion in a miserable state, the eunuch followed his original words and added half a sentence to spice things up. As soon as he finished speaking, the dragon table over there was slammed.
The emperor above had a stern look in his eyes, and the brush in his hand broke and threw to the ground, splashing several streaks of ink.
"Old bastard! I dare not kill you!!"
He gritted his teeth and squeezed out the words, thinking of his uncle, who had the Daoist magic and corpse puppets as his soldiers. He turned around and looked at the attendant: "Is the Imperial Master at Wanshou Temple?"
"Your Majesty, he should not have returned yet."
"Send someone to check first, and also pass on my handwritten order, ordering the troops stationed outside the city not to leave the camp without my token!"
"yes!"
Soon, the emperor ordered the cavalry to go out in all directions and gallop on the special post road, some going out of the city, some galloping towards the Furong Pond. However, at this time, the emperor's so-called national teacher was passing by the south gate of Chang'an, leading an old donkey, and walking on the street with Sun Yingxian to buy some New Year's goods.