Chapter 72 Night Banquet 1

On the third day of October of the second year of Lin De, Gao Zong and Empress Wu led the crowd from Luoyang to Mount Tai. They paved the road of loess in Zhou County and sprinkled water. On the fourth day of October, the families in Guanzhong set off from the capital and rushed to Tai'an to wait for the emperor's drive. The only prince was ordered to stay in Beijing to guard. On the ninth day of November, the emperor arrived in Tai'an, stayed in the palace, and followed him. The officials promised to settle the bill and live outside the palace. Therefore, the traffic is full of powerful people on the street, and the firewood and rice in Tai'an are expensive, which is quite suspected of disturbing the people.

On the third day of the first lunar month, Gaozong led a group of ministers to seal Chan Taishan, with the queen as Ya Xian, and Da Sikong Li Xun as the final offering. He issued an edict to amnesty the world, and changed the yuan to the first year of Qianfeng. At the ceremony, the Empress Wu personally gave the ranks, lords and titles of civil and military officials, and issued a decree: more than 80 versions of the people were awarded to the governor of Xiazhou, Sima, county magistrates, and women's counties. , county magistrates; more than 70 to 80, given the ancient title of the first level, exempt from the taxes of the prefectures and counties this year, which can be said to be out of the limelight. After the completion of the Zen, the "Biography of Women" and "The Track of Ministers" compiled by the Queen Wu were immediately issued in all states and counties. In addition, a group of scholars from the North Gate wrote articles touted one after another, and the name of the sages of the Empress Wu rose.

A Zen ceremony turned out to be the stage for the performance of the Empress Wu. What it did was extremely beautiful. The absolute "home run" - not only did it have the means of rewarding the ministers, but also had the benefits of taking advantage of the situation to raise the official position of the so-called North Gate bachelors. Not only that, the act of avoiding local money and food can also buy the hearts of the people, and then Counting the vigorous praise of a group of shameless literati, public opinion also occupies the commanding heights. It is not an exaverse to say that it is comprehensive. Such a set of games will come down like flowing water. Even Li Xian and other people with experience have to be amazed.

No solution, really no solution. Even if Li Xian is already observing with a "microscope", he can't find the flaws in the series of actions of Empress Wu. Of course, even if he can find it, it is impossible for Li Xian to collide with Queen Wu at this jugme. In this way, during the whole Zen period, Li There is only one thing that can be done, which is to watch coldly. In addition, it is to wait for the opening of a big play.

The ceremony of the Zen ceremony is very lively, but it will be over. Gao Zong himself did not plan to return to the capital so early, but a group of ministers have official duties, and they can't waste the official affairs of the court because of it. Well, just passed the Lantern Festival, first of all, local officials from all over the country resigned one after another, and then, The ministers in the court have also been edicted to return to Beijing one after another. Tai'an City, which has been noisy for more than a month, has gradually returned to tranquility. Of course, whether Tai'an City is lively or not has nothing to do with Li Xian. As a prince, he does not have to camp with the ministers. The palace has its own residence with Li Xian. The two brothers For a period of time, they have been extremely honest. They have neither participated in the reception of ministers nor went to have private contacts with ministers. Every day, they chatted together and played chess, but they were also very leisurely. Well, early in the morning, the two brothers opened the chessboard to kill each other.

Li Xian's chess skills are good. The third generation of people have done a lot of research on this, especially when he was a student in the later generation. He went to the amateur chess academy for a few years. As for Li Xian, his level is average, at most stronger than the stinky chess basket. The reason why he can kill with Li Xian is that it seems to be tied. In fact, Li Xian is giving up to him, but Li Xian's chess skills are really stinky, and he can't see it.

"Your Highnesses, Wu Youning, the recorder of Shizhou, came to visit you. Please make it clear."

Just as Li Xian and Brother Li were buried in the chessboard, the little eunuch Zhang Che hurried in from the outside, bowed to the little brothers, and rushed to report.

"I don't see you!"

Li Xian was in a difficult situation, and he was very annoyed. The name of the person who heard it was very strange, so he snorted coldly without raising his head.

"Hail."

Li Xian doesn't know why Wu Youning is Xu, but Li Xian knows it very well, and even knows his intention. To be honest, these days, what Li Xian has been waiting for is the appearance of this person. Since it is impossible for him to leave like this, he raised his hand, shouted, and stopped Zhang Che, who was about to take action.

"Hmm?"

In these days, there have been many local officials who have come to visit. Among them, there are extraordinary senior officials such as assassins. However, Li Xian did not see him at all according to Li Xian's suggestion every time. At this time, when he heard that Li Xian actually wanted to meet guests, Li Xian could not think about the chess game anymore. He raised his head in consternation and looked at Li Xian suspiciously. A soft voice came out of his nose.

"Sixth brother, this man is the eldest son of Wu Weiliang, the assassin of Shizhou. He is the cousin of you and my brother." In the face of Li Xian's doubts, Li Xian smiled indifferently and explained casually.

"So what?" Li Xian was extremely disgusted with Empress Wu, and even didn't like the people of the Wu family very much. He didn't care much about his cousin at all. He tilted his head and said disapprovingly.

"Brother Six, this son has come from afar. There must be something important to do. Why don't we meet?"

Li Xian didn't want to break Wu Youning's intention immediately, so he smiled and persuaded him.

"Well, just send him in."

Li Xian frowned and thought about it. Although he still believed that he didn't see it, it was not easy to refute Li Xian's face, so he had no idea to nod and accept it.

"Yes, the maidservant obeys."

At this time, when Li Xian opened his mouth, Zhang Che did not dare to neglect him. He answered quickly and was about to turn around and go out. Unexpectedly, before he had time to raise his feet, Li Xian stood up, threw the chess pieces he was playing into the chess box, and said with a smile, "Sixth brother, sit down, and I will go and have a look together. Don't let people say that you and my brother are unhumane.

"Hmm." Li Xian said without saying anything and didn't say anything more. He looked down at the chess game again. Obviously, in his mind, the chess game in front of him was a hundred times more important than the so-called cousin.

In front of the hall, a young man in six-grade official clothes was walking back and forth uneasily, looking at the depths of the gloomy hall from time to time, as if he was expecting something. This man was Wu Youning, the eldest son of Wu Weiliang, the cousin of the Queen of Wu. This time, he came under the order of his father to invite the two princes to his family. The temporary garden went to the banquet. According to his original intention, he thought that it was just an easy thing. It could be easily done, but he didn't expect that he had been waiting in front of the hall for a long time, and he didn't see any reaction inside, which made Wu Youning a little nervous.

"Eunuch Zhang..." When Wu Youning was anxious and uneasy, he suddenly glanced at Zhang Che, who was walking out of the hall. He quickly straightened his clothes and hurried forward. As soon as he opened his mouth and called, he suddenly found that Li Xian, who was following behind, he couldn't help but be stunned and forgot to say hello for a moment.

Hey, it's really this bastard! Wu Youning didn't know Li Xian, but Li Xian recognized Wu Youning at a glance. Because in his previous life, Wu Youning was a vicious dog in front of Wu Hou. Relying on Wu Hou's favor, he did a lot of things without assholes/eyes. Li Xian was also bullied by him. He was extremely disgusted by this person's character, but at this time. At that time, it was impossible for Li Xian to show his face as soon as he met. At this time, when he saw Wu Youning stunned on the spot, Li Xian did not say anything to remind him. He just stood behind his back with a smile and looked at Wu Youning with interest.

"His Royal Highness the King of Zhou is here, and Wu Shenjun An dares not to worship!"

Li Xian was good-looking, but Zhang Che, who stood aside, couldn't look at it. He glanced at Wu Youning, who was not stunned, and scolded angrily.

"Ah, the subordinate Wu Youning has met His Royal Highness the King of Zhou. The subordinate has been rude for a moment. Please forgive me."

Although Wu Youning is an imperial relative and has an official position, he is actually just a rookie who has never seen much of the world. After being scolded by Zhang Che, he immediately messed up his hands and feet. He didn't salute completely, and the words in his mouth were also vague and chaotic. How can he look like a country bumpkin.

"Don't worry. It's said that Wu joined the army or Xiao Wang's cousins. They are all their own brothers, so they don't have to do these false salutes." Li Xian's city government has long practiced to the point of joy and anger. He will not bring the disgust for Wu Youning in his heart to his face, nor did he care about Wu Youning's imperty. He just raised his hand with a smile and said kindly.

"Ah, yes, oh, no, lower official, thank you for your love, lower official..." The more kind Li Xian was, the more nervous Wu Youning was. He answered randomly in his mouth. He was so nervous that he was extremely embarrassed, and his white face turned purple.

"Is there anything important for my cousin to find Xiao Wang? Ha ha, this door of the hall is really not a place to talk. If my cousin has something to do, please!" Li Xian didn't seem to see Wu Youning's embarrassment. He turned his lower body with a smile, made a gentle "please" gesture, and greeted politely.

"No, no, no, it's not a big deal. That is, my father and uncle have prepared some banquets. Your Majesty and the Empress are invited to come. The official is ordered by his father to come and I beg Your Highness and King Lu to go together. The existing invitations are here, and I would also ask your Highness to appreciate it." Wu Youning felt that he had lost his salute in front of Li Xian. He didn't want to stay any longer, let alone enter the hall. He hurriedly took out two gold-plated invitations from his sleeves, bowed, held his hands over his head, and handed them to Li Xian.

"Oh? So that's it." Li Xian nodded with a smile, reached out to receive the two invitations, and was not in a hurry to open them out. He stuffed it into his sleeves and continued with a smile, "Xiao Wang is very grateful for the kindness of the two cousins. If it is convenient, from now on, it is rare for my cousins to come. Please come in and talk about it. You and my brother can also make out with each other. All right."

"Thank you for your goodness. Your Highness is still a little vulgar, so I won't disturb you any more. I'll come back to see you another day. I'll leave." Wu Youning didn't know why he couldn't let go in front of Li Xian. He always felt extremely uncomfortable. At this moment, as soon as he heard Li Xian's promise to go to the banquet, he was secretly relieved. He didn't want to stay for a moment, so he hurried to say goodbye.

"Well, in that case, Xiao Wang won't force his cousin. Go well."

Li Xian did not force Wu Youning to stay. He just nodded with a smile, calmly accepted his gift, and saw him turn around a wall outside the hall. Then he curled the corners of his mouth, showed a cold smile, shook his sleeves, and strode back to the hall...