“…… How can a king rule the world?"

In the Lingyan Pavilion, the princes were sitting and listening carefully to the lecture of Mr. Tan, the national teacher. was discussing the way of emperors since ancient times, Mr. Tan asked the princes

They answered enthusiastically, and the answers were neither new nor strange, but only in line with the ideas in Mr. Tan's book.

Su Jiayin replied: "Yimou!"

Su Jiayu was not to be left behind, and hurriedly replied: "Yi Neng!"

Even the weak and sickly Su Jiachen replied: "Yizhi!"

When the royal brothers were actively expressing themselves, Su Jiayi sat silently on the side, hanging her head wistfully, as if she was distracted.

Mr. Tan's eyes narrowed slightly, and his joy and anger were invisible, and after the princes had finished answering, he did not comment on their answers, and could not see whose answers he preferred, so he suddenly asked: "Your Royal Highness, what about you? Why do you think the king rules the world?"

Jiayi was suddenly named, and he was startled in a trance, and replied a little panicked: "...... with virtue"

Several other princes secretly laughed at him when they saw him stunned, thinking that he didn't care about the views in the book that Mr. Tan asked them to read a few days ago.

Mr. Tan raised his eyes, looked at Jiayi, coughed, and asked indifferently: "The Old Man's "Ming Jun Collection", has His Royal Highness never read it?"

Listening to Mr. Tan's tone, Jiayi knew that his answer made him unsatisfied, and he was about to apologize and explain to Mr. Tan, but after thinking about it, he found that he didn't want to please Mr. Tan at all like the royal brothers, so it would be better to leave it like this, he raised his head, pursed his lower lip, and said his true words: "I've seen it...... But I disagree with Mr. Forgive Jiayi for saying that Mr.'s "Collection of Ming Monarchs" only shows the means of governing the country by the monarchs of the past dynasties, but fails to explain the way of the real king. ”

Seeing this, Su Jiayu immediately stood up and accused Jiayi: "Jiayi!

Su Jiayu apologized to Mr. Tan with a gift: "Don't be angry, sir, take care of your body, the fifth brother is young and ignorant and willful nonsense, and he has offended a lot, please forgive me." "He really looks like a generous brother.

Mr. Tan lowered his eyebrows and was silent, unpredictable, brushed his hand and motioned for Jiayu to sit down, paused for a long time, and sighed: "That's it, that's it." After that, he continued to lecture, no longer talking about kings, but about people's livelihood. Jiayi, who was at the bottom, hung her head sullenly and read the book and stopped talking.

After today's lecture was over, the princes gave a salute and walked out of the inner hall, but they saw Jianing walking in, and they hurriedly saluted. I don't know when she came, Su Jiayu was a little weak-hearted, worried that she heard him accuse Jiayi before. Seeing her, Jiayi buried her head lower, ashamed of herself.

Since knowing Emperor Nancheng's intentions, Jiayin's confidence in his heart has risen a lot, and he is no longer as humble and humble as Jiayu Jiachen in front of Jianing, and asked, "Why did the imperial sister come to Lingyan Pavilion today?"

Jianing smiled lightly, swept over these imperial brothers with a slightly sharp gaze, and finally landed on Su Jiayin's face, and said: "The imperial sister is not as good as you are destined to be able to teach under the seat of the national teacher, and today happens to be idle, so I came to Lingyan Pavilion to listen to the lectures of the national teacher, and I don't want to disturb the outer hall to listen to the teaching." ”

Hearing her words, Jiayu's heart tightened, and Jia Ning knew everything about Fang Cai. After the greetings, the other three retreated, leaving Jiayi standing in front of Jianing with her head down. Jianing put away the harshness of the other imperial brothers, smiled softly, patted Jiayi's shoulder, and sighed: "You, you, you are straightforward, even if you don't agree with the national teacher's point of view, you can also distinguish with the national teacher in private, why bother to confront the national teacher in person? The national teacher is a talented and powerful Confucian, and you must not be disrespectful." ”

Facing Jianing at this time, Jiayi felt complicated in his heart, Jianing treated him so patiently and thoughtfully, he was really embarrassed, and squeezed out a few words in a low voice: "What the imperial sister taught is that Jiayi knows her mistakes, so she will go to Mr. to make amends......"

Jianing grabbed him: "No. Jiayi was puzzled, looked at the imperial sister, and she continued: "You just have a disagreement with the national teacher, and there is nothing rude and offensive, why do you need to make amends? And you are an orthodox prince, is it your job to make amends? Jiayu Jiayin pretends to be humble, forget it, we can't lose our temperament." ”

Proud of her, Jiayi had to be speechless and nodded.

Jianing said: "You go first, the imperial sister is going to meet the national teacher." ”

Jiayi was stunned, "The imperial sister wants to see the national teacher......?

"I see that the national teacher has his own words, can it all be for you? Don't think about it, let's go. Jia Ning smiled, and then walked towards the side hall of Lingyan Pavilion, Jia Yi hesitated and left.

Mo Li entered the hall and spread the word that Jianing had visited the national teacher, Mr. Tan got up from the desk to greet him, solemnly gave Jianing a salute, Jianing accepted it calmly, and then politely gave him a salute: "Zhaoming has seen the national teacher." ”

After Mr. Tan finished the salute, he raised his eyes to look at Jianing, and his slightly rigid white eyebrows trembled a few times.

The palace people set the tea, Mo Li stood aside, and Jianing and Mr. Tan sat on both sides of the wooden table. Jianing said: "Zhaoming has long admired the name of the national teacher, and now the national teacher enters the palace to preach, but Zhaoming can't be taught by the national teacher every day like the emperor's brothers, it's a pity, and today I have benefited from listening to the teachings in the outer hall." ”

"Your Highness has a good reputation, and the old man is famous. Mr. Tan shook his head lightly and said.

Jianing looked directly at Mr. Tan, "Otherwise, Mr. Tan is the sage and talent of the country, why should he depreciate himself in vain?"

There was a different kind of profundity in his meditative eyes, "The old man is really ashamed to be named by His Majesty's Holy Grace to lead the country. As everyone knows, people are not sages, and the old man is just a mediocre person. ”

"Since you are not perfect, Zhaoming is curious about what your biggest flaw will be, National Teacher?" she asked casually with her intuition.

Mr. Tan's eyes froze, he stopped at the clear tea, let out a long breath, and slowly spoke: "I don't know anyone." ”

In the lag, Jianing had guessed many answers, but never thought that he would say these four words.

"Why?" she asked.

Mr. Tan raised his eyes, swept over Jianing, looked at the brilliant golden dome in the distance, and did not speak, only shook his head slightly.

Jia Ning didn't ask, and said: "Zhaoming has read the "Ming Junji" by the national teacher, and his insights on the way of kings are quite incisive, and Zhaoming is very impressed. Today, I heard the national teacher ask the emperor's disciples how the king rules the world, and they have different answers, I don't know which one of the national teachers you like the most?"

A smile appeared on his old face, and he swept away his previous solemnity, and did not answer, but asked: "What is the answer of your Royal Highness?

Jianing replied without thinking: "Virtue and ability, both are indispensable. ”

Her answer made the old gentleman's smile deepen on his pale face, and his brows soothed, "Your Highness thinks that virtue and ability are the most important?"

Jianing replied: "De." ”

Mr. Tan stroked his beard and smiled, "Okay, okay, with all due respect, the old man didn't expect that people in the royal family would still have such an awareness, let alone from the mouth of the head of Luoyunmen." It's a pity that the old man has been confused for half a lifetime, and when everything is a foregone conclusion, he will wake up, and he will regret it......"

His exclamation seemed to imply something, and this hint made Jianing feel inexplicably displeased to listen. Jianing put down the teacup and asked, "What does the national teacher think of the imperial brothers, who is the most virtuous and who is the smartest?"

Mr. Tan said bluntly, "Your Highness wants to ask the old man which prince is most likely to get the throne?"

Jianing was not surprised, since he was an understanding person, it would be better. She bowed her jaw: "Yes." What do you think of that?"

Mr. Tan replied with a sentence that made Jianing dumbfounded: "It's hard to say who is most likely to be an old man at present, but in the old man's opinion, if there is no help from His Royal Highness, His Royal Highness the Fifth is the most unlikely." ”

Jianing's hand that lightly covered the lid of the cup trembled: "Where did the words of the national teacher come from? Lichu is a major matter of the family and the country, how can Zhaoming be in charge? Besides, how can Jiayi be called the most unlikely? Although Jiayi is young, he has both talent and virtue, and he obviously does not lose to several other imperial brothers. ”

He sighed lightly and was speechless for a moment, "Why does Your Highness need to argue strongly? It is clear and clear that the Fifth Highness is pure and upright and not good at scheming, who is the opponent of several imperial brothers? ”

Jianing almost got angry and took his leave angrily.

Knowing that Jianing had met Mr. Tan alone, several other princes were a little panicked, and even Emperor Nancheng took the initiative to ask, he summoned Mr. Tan, made his words clear, and asked him a question that both Emperor Tan and Jianing had asked: "Who does Mr. think I should appoint as a prince?"

Mr. Tan was not shocked, and sighed: "It's a pity that Her Royal Highness Princess Zhaoming is not a prince, and the old man thinks that she is the first choice." ”

Emperor Nancheng's face sank: "But she is not a prince...... So, I still think Jiayin is the best, what does Mr. think?"

Later, Mr. Tan left Jiayi alone in Lingyan Pavilion to talk, and he asked Jiayi: "Before, His Highness said that the old man's "Ming Junji" did not point out the real way of the king, dare to ask His Highness what the way of the king thinks is?"

Jiayi replied: "I think the way of a king should be the way of morality, morality and benevolence, not the way of scheming. ”

"Then please keep in mind today's words when Your Highness becomes the king in the future. ”

Once a son of heaven and a courtier, as Shangguan Tianyuan said, the form of the court will indeed not be like Emperor Wen of Liang in the court, although Shen Donglai was entrusted with a big task to hold heavy power, but he is also on the cusp of the strongest storm, Wan Chaozong's eyes are staring at him, Xun Shaoling is deeply jealous of him, and Shangguan Tianyuan is guarding against him in every way. When the new forces in the court rose, he focused all his suspicious eyes on himself, so that all the people who were opposed to him would become the most innocent blind spot in the eyes of others, such as Wei Rushen.

Xun Shaoling attaches great importance to Wei Rushen and intends to promote him, hoping that he can become a counterbalance with Shen Donglai in the court, so as to ensure that the military and political power does not fall into the hands of Shen Donglai. After Wei Rushen took over as the secretary of the Ministry of War, the Ministry of War almost changed its appearance, and then everything was done steadily and thoroughly, and the entire Ministry of War did its best to prepare for the Southern Expedition, Xun Shaoling was very satisfied, and the special decree was issued to promote the official rank of Wei Rushen to the second grade, and the royal reward was innumerable. Whether the courtiers guessed that this was because of the concubine or purely because Wei Rushen was valued by Xun Shaoling, the limelight among the courtiers finally began to change, and the colleagues who didn't like Wei Rushen's upright character were all vying to be good friends with him, and after he was promoted, the people who participated in his promotion banquet were even more flocking.

At the end of the month, Wei Rushen held a banquet in the mansion, and he was only going to invite a few officials who were good friends with the same department, but because of the hospitality of his colleagues, he had to expand the pomp and circumstance and make it a little more grand.

Although the Tianyuan Elder and Yixin Elder of the Wan Chao Sect were not officials, they also received an invitation from Wei Rushen, and the Tianyuan Elder had never attended without participating in officialdom activities, and only the Yixin Elder came with gifts. Officials with official positions above Wei Rushen should not participate in the promotion banquet, so neither Xing Qingxian nor Shen Donglai showed up, and of course, he would not invite them.

On the day of the banquet, the guests of the Wei Mansion gathered, Wei Rushen and Mrs. Wei personally greeted the reception in front of the gate, the rare jubilation and liveliness in the house, the officials came with their families, and sat dozens of tables in the garden.

Elder Yixin came, Wei Rushen personally greeted and sent him into the garden, the two of them greeted each other, Elder Yixin looked around the scene of the Wei Mansion with his eyebrows, as if he was thinking, Wei Rushen noticed his expression, and said with a smile: "Our Mansion is simple, please don't dislike the elders." ”

Elder Yixin came back to his senses and replied with a smile: "Although the mansion is simple, it is not ugly, the scenery is fresh and the furnishings are chic, and there are other characteristics, so why dislike it? The old man is just thinking that Master Wei is really incorruptible." ”

Wei Rushen quipped: "If you are not really honest, how dare you invite the Yixin Elder of the Ten Thousand Dynasty Sect to come to the mansion for a banquet? I'm afraid that a little greed and small profit can't escape the elder's discernment, right?"

"Haha! Master Wei laughed, laughed. I came here to go to the banquet, not to carry out the task of the Ten Thousand Dynasty Sect, Lord Wei said this, let the old man be at ease?"

Wei Rushen apologized, and the two laughed, and he approached Elder Yixin again, and asked him in a low voice with a smile: "Is it really not?"

A hint of imperceptible unspeakable color flashed on Elder Yixin's face, and he covered it with an open-minded and stubborn smile: "Eh! Lord Wei is really suspicious, the old man intends to make friends with you, who is in front of the emperor, and he is here to attend the banquet, my lord, are you still ridiculing like this? Aren't you giving an order to evict guests? Anyway, the old man has already sent it, and it......'s a big deal to leave."

Wei Rushen grabbed him: "Eh, elder, it's a joke, don't be angry, come, please come to the table, I'll punish myself for a cup and make amends to the elder later." ”

Elder Yixin nodded: "This is the way of hospitality!"

Elder Yixin sat down in front of the table, the guests were all in the future, and before the banquet began, many people came forward to greet Elder Yixin. Wei Rushen glanced at Elder Yixin a few times, and then went back to the door to greet the guests.

He said that he was just for the banquet, but in fact, who could he deceive? Before the banquet began, Elder Yixin disappeared from his seat for a while. Compared to other officials' mansions, the Wei Mansion is not big, and it is just enough for him to spend such a short period of time to make secret patrols.

But looking around, he didn't find anything suspicious, and when he saw a small courtyard in a corner of the house, he stopped and looked at it for a moment. The gate of the courtyard was locked, and according to his intuition, he wanted to try to enter the courtyard to take a second look, but because of the large number of people in the house today, even in front of this courtyard, there were often family members passing by. After thinking about it, he wanted to give up.

Fang wanted to go back to the banquet, but before he could turn around, he heard someone calling not far behind him, "Elder!"

He turned around and saw Mrs. Wei leading a few maids with packed congratulatory gifts and walking down another path. In Wei Rushen's second main room, the dignified and demure Mrs. Wei came forward to salute, the elder returned the salute, Mrs. Wei looked at the elder, and then looked at the courtyard where he had stopped to watch, and asked, "Why doesn't the elder sit in the banquet?"

Elder Yixin said: "The old man came early, and seeing that the banquet was still early, it was boring to sit there, so I wanted to walk around your mansion and visit...... Walking here, it is very interesting to see this courtyard, so I can't help but take a few looks, may I ask Madame, which of your relatives lives in this courtyard?"

Mrs. Wei looked at the locked courtyard gate, shook her head and sighed: "Eh, the elder doesn't know, this was my youngest daughter, that is, the boudoir courtyard of today's Concubine Niangniang, she used to live here for a long time and grew up here...... Although she is not my own child, but I have always regarded her as my own, this time into the palace, it will be difficult to meet again, want to be sad, after she left, my family let me take a lock to seal this courtyard, save the hurt ......"

As she spoke, she couldn't hide her sadness, and when Elder Yixin saw this, she didn't want to say anything more, and then asked a few questions on the side, and Mrs. Wei's answer could also match Concubine Yan's information, Elder Yixin was no longer suspicious, so he said goodbye and wanted to return to the banquet.

"Goo~"

He was about to walk away, when he suddenly heard a few pigeon calls from behind the closed courtyard door, and when he heard it, his heart was shocked, and he turned to look at Mrs. Wei, who had not yet walked away, and her face was obviously a little timid. Elder Yixin pretended to be normal and walked away silently with the heart of Mrs. An Wei, and his afterglow stayed on the low wall of the courtyard for a long time.

The banquet was held, in the garden, the wine was finished, the planning was staggered, and all the officials congratulated one by one, although they all laughed in their hearts that the Wei Mansion had no official atmosphere and nobility, but they were all good things to say.

The wine was half-drunk, Wei Rushen got up and toasted on the upper seat, it was still the same, even if others were vying to say good things to him, he would not respond with hypocritical good words, he was not a long-sleeved person who was good at dancing, and everyone was made out of temper by his straight temper. Slightly drunk, Wei Rushen began to talk about political affairs with others, and when it came to preparing for war, someone was drunk and scolded Nan Ke, he slapped the table suddenly, and the four seats were shocked, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he scolded even harder, impassioned and loyal.

The Yixin elders under the seat just tasted wine and smiled at the pride of this garden, who can tell the truth from the fake?

After the banquet, at dusk, Elder Yixin returned to Wanchaozong and met with Elder Tianyuan in the Taiji Pavilion, Elder Tianyuan asked: "Yixin, can you find something here?"

Facing the Tianyuan Elder sitting on the throne of the sect master, the drunken Yixin elder replied: "How can it? The task assigned by the sect master, the old man does not dare to take it lightly, he has indeed inspected the Wei Mansion, and he has not found anything suspicious before, but there is a small courtyard in his house, saying that it is the boudoir courtyard where the concubine lived before entering the palace, the courtyard door is locked, and the old man has not been able to find out, but the old man accidentally heard a pigeon chirping in the courtyard, and it sounded clearly the sound of a silver pigeon!"

"What?Silver Feather Pigeon?" Elder Tianyuan Huo Ran stood up.

"Yes, you and I both know the habits of the silver feather pigeon that Luo Yunmen uses to communicate between the two places, this pigeon's cry is hoarse and harsh than other pigeons, and it often stops after two calls, and it is all too familiar, so the old man immediately decided that it was indeed the silver feather pigeon......

Elder Tian Yuan clasped his palms together and nodded, "En...... Since this is the case, it is necessary to send someone to explore the small courtyard as soon as possible, lest he have already taken precautions. If Wei Rushen is really Nanke's meticulous work, he will have to get rid of the harm earlier......"

Elder Yixin commanded: "Yes." So he went to arrange for someone to visit the Wei Mansion at night.

At dusk and sunset, the clouds are thick, and when the sky is slightly dark, the banquet table in the garden is removed, the carriages and horses in front of the house are scattered, and the Wei Mansion is gradually deserted.

Mrs. Wei handed a cup of hangover tea to Wei Rushen, Wei Rushen took it, took a sip, looked at Mrs. Wei and said with a smile: "Madame has worked hard today." ”

Mrs. Wei covered her mouth and smiled: "My husband has also worked hard." ”

The two glanced at each other, and Wei Rushen asked, "Are the guests sent away?"

Mrs. Wei said: "The guests during the day have all been sent away, and the guests at night have not yet come." ”

Wei Rushen got up and looked at the sky outside with the sunset, and the two slowly walked out of the hall, Wei Rushen said: "Okay, before entertaining guests at night, let's go meet our old friends first." ”

He took his wife's hand, and the couple walked to the backyard study.

The doors and windows of the study were closed, and when she walked to the door, Mrs. Wei stopped, "The concubine won't go in, the husband will go by himself." ”

Wei Rushen smiled deeply, pushed the door into the room, and Mrs. Wei sat down at the stone table outside the door to look around.

As soon as he entered, he heard the young and hearty laughter, "Haha, Lord Wei is a big rebel, the scolding of Nan Ke during the banquet, at first glance, I thought that Lord Wei and Nan Ke really have a grudge against each other." ”

"Qinglong, don't laugh at me, I'm also helpless, who can believe me if I don't scold hard? Who made me the secretary of the military department of Beiliang, and I can't be a great 'loyal minister' of Beiliang. Wei Rushen smiled, shaking his head and laughing at himself.

Tang Jianyi walked out from behind the screen in front of the bookshelf, and greeted Wei Rushen against each other, Wei Rushen asked, "Suzaku has already received good news, right?"

Tang Jian replied, "Yes, Suzaku is ready. ”

Wei Rushen nodded and said: "Today, Qiu Yixin came to the mansion to investigate me, and he also tried every possible way to test the situation of Suzaku in front of his wife, it seems that Wan Chaozong is really leaking, and after all, he pointed the finger at me." ”

Tang Jian couldn't help but quipped: "Shangguan Tianyuan has been cautious all his life, how easy is it to deal with him?" It's just that Lord Wei, you don't need to worry about Wan Chaozong's spearhead, after all, you still have Lord Shen's iron shield in front of you, Wan Chaozong is 'ten thousand arrows' against Lord Shen, Lord Wei, you want to hit it is only the middle point of 'Yu Ya'." ”

Hearing this, Wei Rushen couldn't help laughing, and said with a somewhat unkind smile: "Yes, yes, the most bitter thing is Lord Shen! ”

On the bright side, the political enemies who are for tat in the court are secretly an alliance that can cooperate with tacit understanding without verbal communication, Shen Donglai and Wei Rushen, you sing and stop us, one has earned the cronies of Emperor Wen of Liang for more than ten years, and the other will stir up the court in front of the new emperor of Northern Liang.

"This is what Lord Shen asked me to bring. Tang Jianyi took out a yellow cardboard bag from his arms, it was not big, and it should be in powder. "Lord Shen said that he could manage twelve hours. Is it enough?"

Wei Rushen took it one by one, looked at it in his hand, thoughtfully, and said: "Enough, eh, it's just a pity that there is one less fellow in Youzhou." ”

After the two exchanged specific matters, Tang Jian cautiously left.

At dusk, the door of the Weifu Mansion was closed, and when the lights went out in the middle of the night, the people of the Mansion slept peacefully, and only the housekeeper Chen Qing occasionally got up at night to patrol the night to ensure the safety of the house.