In the fifth year of Taihe, Xinyou in September, and the third quarter of the first day of Shen.

Jiannan Road, Xichuan, Chengdu Mansion, Yanning Building.

The hour is approaching, and the banquet in Yanning Building will begin. Li Deyu, the envoy of the festival, was greeting the guests who were already seated at the table one by one. In addition to the warriors in charge of the garrison, most of the civilian officials of Chengdu Prefecture were all present. Li Zhi, who secretly did not deal with Li Deyu in the past, also rushed to the front of Yanning Building with his wingmen in a carriage at this time.

"Jiedu envoy Li Zhi, meet Li Jiedu."

Li Deyu turned his head to look and saw Li Zhizheng standing not far away, bowing to him. The corners of Li Zhi's lips hooked up a casual smile, but it was still as unpredictable as ever.

"Envoy Li," Li Deyu was a little surprised by Li Zhi's appearance, but he still replied with his hands crossed: "Originally, Wen Rao thought that the envoy was busy with official business and it was inconvenient to go to the banquet, but this Wen Rao's banquet is going to be lively." ”

"Don't talk about the scene," Li Zhi said with a smile: "You are the envoy of the festival, and your banquet is an order, how can there be any reason not to come?" Besides, it's lively, and it's also a share, isn't it? ”

After Li Zhi finished speaking, both of them laughed in unison. However, in the hearts of both of them, they can also feel the subtlety of the atmosphere, as well as each other's insincerity.

After Li Zhi went up to the second floor, Li Huaishen, who witnessed the conversation between the envoy of the Jiedu and the envoy of the Jiedu, walked up to Li Deyu and whispered: "Gong Li, Li Zhi came to the banquet this time, could it be that he has other plans?" ”

Li Deyu's face was expressionless, he groaned for a long time, pursed his lips, and shook his head slightly.

"If he does not come, it is expected; If he did, he might just be overconfident, or he might not know that his confession had become a piece of waste. Our good landlord friendship is ......"

"Whoa."

Before Li Huaishen's words fell, a high-pitched voice came from outside the door: "Wang Jianjun has arrived!" ”

Wang Jianyan, the envoy of the Xichuan prison army, who has rarely appeared because of the inconvenience of travel, was dressed in a tight scarlet official robe and a rather eye-catching black gauze crown, and before the opening of the banquet, with the support of the attendants, he staggered in from the gate of the front yard of Yanning Building and went to the banquet on time.

"Li Jiedu, I haven't seen you for a long time, don't come unharmed."

In the Tang Dynasty, after the Anshi Rebellion, all the soldiers and horses were placed in the post of supervising military envoys, and eunuchs were appointed as the chief of the supervising military envoys, generally for three years. He was in charge of monitoring the punishment and reward, detecting errors, and mastering part of the army.

Wang Jianyan was a little fat, rarely stepped out of the gate of the embassy, and did not supervise and restrict Li Deyu's actions. Although Wang Jianyan swayed left and right, he also had a good relationship with Niu and Li. Therefore, when Li Deyu saw Wang Jianyan, although there was no surprise on his expression, he also smiled lightly and made a cross hand salute, and then pointed to the building.

"Wang Jian Jun! Rare guest, please hurry up, Deyu has missed the welcome, please forgive me......"

"Li Jiedu's banquet, our family must come," Wang Jianyan put aside his entourage and servants, leaned over Li Deyu, bowed his hand, and the horizontal flesh on his face stretched slightly, "What's more, now that Victoria has surrendered and the lost land has been recovered, the people of Chengdu Mansion have heard about it, our family is climbing, and we have to climb to eat the wine of the Jiedu envoy, right?"

Li Deyu said with a smile: "Okay, before this banquet, Deyu has invited the best chef in Chengdu Mansion to make more than ten plates of dim sum for the military envoys, so as to ensure that you will feast on your mouth!" ”

Wang Jianyan laughed heartily when he heard this, his voice was as good as a bell, and the tight scarlet robe on his belly trembled slightly with laughter, "Li Jiedu, don't be greedy for our family, our family hasn't even eaten lunch, for your banquet!" ”

"Okay," Li Deyu hurriedly smiled and pointed to the steps on the second floor with his palm, while Wang Jianyan smiled and bowed slightly, and then dragged his fat body, supported by several entourage, and laboriously climbed the steps of Yanning Building and went straight to the second floor.

After Li Deyu watched Wang Jianyan disappear at the end of the steps leading to the second floor, Xu inadvertently asked Li Huaishen: "Among the guests who just came, did you see Yi Jun?" ”

This question made Li Huai think deeply for a long time, as if he had never heard this name for a long time.

"Hey, I seem...... I really didn't see it, and I didn't even ...... He hadn't been seen all day. Victoria's surrender, he is the first credit, although he once revealed his identity for the inconvenience of the secret pile, but he should also go to the banquet. ”

Li Deyu didn't show surprise like Li Huaishen, but his eyes hurriedly scanned the courtyard in front of Yanning Building, "The time for the banquet has arrived, let's go upstairs." ”

Shen Zheng two moments.

In the noise of the banquet and the music and dance of "He Chaohuan", Ling Fox was late, and Jiedu knew that his family lived far away, and he did not blame him, but made an exception to let him sit in the front. However, to the surprise of many of the marshals who worked with him, Ling Fox, who had always been unkempt, was rarely dressed in spotless banquet clothes tonight, carefully scraped the stubble, wore a scarf and head meticulously, braided his teeth, and his lips were excited, and he was refreshing.

The banquet is gradually boiling, everyone I pour you a drink, you toast me. The feast is full of gluttony, and the guests and hosts are happy. Even if there are many fish and dragons in Chengdu Mansion, there are many things that have their own masters, but at this banquet, they all put aside their prejudices on the surface at this moment, the literati drink wine and poetry, and the generals drink happily. For a while, the atmosphere of the banquet was not lively.

After a round of drinking, Liu Zhan, who was next to Linghu's seat, leaned over and whispered: "Chic and dandan, Linghu Gongzi ......"

Ling Hu smiled, but as if he remembered something, he took out a stack of letterheads from his sleeve cage and handed it to Liu Zhan.

Liu Zhan was stunned for a moment, and before he could ask, Ling Hu was already lying on his ear and whispered something.

Li Zhi slowly got up from the front seat on the left side at this time, raised the wine bottle, and raised his voice: "Zhu Gong ......" Seeing that the envoy of the festival had spoken, the noise at the banquet gradually sank, and Li Zhi continued: "The surrender of Victoria is really the luck of the country, if there is no Xichuan Jiedu to make Li Gong Li Deyu strategize, how can this great achievement be achieved?" ”

Li Zhi paused when he said this, and looked at Li Deyu in the main seat, "Zhi...... admits that for a long time, he has had prejudices against Li Jieshuai and secretly discorded, and he must have heard of it in the officialdom of Chengdu Prefecture......"

When Li Zhi said this, they began to talk to each other in the seat, and everyone's eyes were fixed on the two of them.

“…… However, Li Gong ignored his past suspicions, was broad-minded, and since the beginning of the period, he has been thriving. The withered situation in Shu has changed in one day; The subjects captured by the Southern Barbarians were all returned. Victoria's captives, long admired the imperial wind, and descended with Lilly. In this way, it is not something that a person with a gap in his chest and a great talent cannot do. Plant...... This time, it is determined that Li Gong's talent is not as good as ......."

Li Zhi's words were true, and there were bursts of applause between the seats.

"Therefore, I hope to take this opportunity to make amends to Li Gong and release his previous suspicion......s," Li Zhi finished speaking, holding the wine bottle in his hand and bowing deeply, which can be said to have done enough to make the courtesy of the envoy of the festival.

Li Deyu couldn't guess the meaning of Li Zhi's doing this for a while? Is it really to release the suspicions? Or is it just to let your guard down? Although Li Deyu knew that Li Zhi's show was very likely to be a scene, he didn't really think about it. But seeing Li Zhi's solemn expression and his words being quite serious, he also lifted his face and drank together.

And this brought the banquet to another climax.

Youzheng.

When the wine is hot, the wine is three rounds.

Li Deyu has been too much to drink, please replace the wine with tea, the guests joked like repeatedly persuaded the wine to fail, Li Huaishen ordered a maid to bring the tea cup, with hot spring water to brew tea soup, suddenly the fragrance overflowed.

And Ling Hulu, who didn't drink a few cups, was also unusual, and actually asked to drink tea with Li Deyu. Due to the excellent atmosphere of the banquet, the festival envoy also gladly agreed.

Li Zhi, on the other hand, looked at Ling Hu slightly, as if he had guessed what would happen next, and the corners of his lips hooked up with a sly smile.

Li Deyu got up and raised his tea, and was about to make a toast. Ling Fox looked at Li Deyu's cup of tea with a solemn expression, and in a trance, his heart beat faster, his breath became thicker, his hands clenched into fists began to tremble at some point, and his palms were already full of fine sweat. Listening to Li Deyu's toast, a memory that had been forgotten by Ling Hu once upon a time came to his mind at this moment......

Two years ago, in the third year of Taihe, in the summer of May.

Dugi Road, Luoyang, the eastern capital, Changxiamen.

Ling Hu carried his bags on his back, led a thin white horse alone, and looked back at the crowded Dongdu Market for the last time. He originally wanted to say goodbye to his family, just because the path he chose would eventually be contrary to his family, and it would be difficult to tolerate it, but when he was about to say goodbye to the Zimo weeping poplars in this city, he couldn't help but feel a little reluctant.

Suddenly, a shout came from nowhere: "Little Five! ”

It was Ling Hu's nickname, and Ling Hu Mu subconsciously searched around, and really saw a son running from the direction of Renhefangmen, dressed in plain clothes.

"Brother Silk?!" Ling Fox blurted out, very surprised, he wanted to stretch out his hand to say hello, but he lowered his arm hesitantly.

The eyebrows and eyes of the person who came are similar to Ling Fox, and he is Ling Fox's cousin. Linghu ran hurriedly out of breath, Luoyang was in the middle of summer, he was already covered in sweat, and the sweat droplets that flowed down his white neck were stained on the inner lining, and he was instantly dyed with a halo.

"Little Wu, how can you say goodbye without saying goodbye?" Ling Fox Xuan gasped, and said with an annoyed expression: "Just don't tell Grandpa and Uncle, don't even say anything about your brother?" Where are you going? ”

"Huazhou ......"

"What are you doing there?"

Ling Hu Mian was about to explain, but Ling Hu Xuan didn't give his cousin this chance, and talked endlessly, and Ling Hu Mian knew that this was his cousin's consistent character, so he smiled and listened quietly.

“…… You just passed the exam this year, and your brother persuaded Grandpa to use the relationship between the DPRK and China, and finally arranged for you to get a fat difference in Shangshu Province, how can you just leave? Besides, what is there to go in Huazhou? ”

Ling Hu sighed lightly, "Xiao Wu wants to go to the Yicheng Army to be the secretary......"

"Righteous Army?" Ling Fox frowned slightly, and suddenly exclaimed: "Isn't that Jiedu envoy that Li Deyu?" That sworn enemy of my grandfather and Uncle Niu? You're going to be his secretary? Uncle Niu asked you to go? ”

Ling Fox shook his head.

"So you're crazy?!"

The fox was silent for a long time...... The cousin is not wrong, the Linghu family is friends with Niu Sidian and Li Zongmin, and the "grandpa" in Linghu's mouth Linghu Chu was once the prime minister, and now the official is the envoy of one party. With the Bull Party in power in the DPRK and China, Ling Hu Mu has a bright future if he goes to Shangshu Province.

However, he is not crazy......

He gave up his good future and chose to join Li Deyu's shogunate as the secretary, not for glory and wealth, but not for taking this opportunity to be the internal response of the Niu Party, to restrain Li Deyu in every way, and to communicate with the Niu Party.

Why?

When he met Li Deyu for the first time, Li Deyu also asked him the same question, "Have you ever thought it through?" When you enter my shogunate, in this Tang officialdom, you are breaking with the family, what are you for? ”

In order to......

Ling Fox's thoughts were cut off here, and he suddenly found that his breathing no longer seemed to be as rapid as Fang Cai, but calmed down, he drank the tea in the teacup, and slowly got up. Li Deyu, who was making a toast, stopped, and made the fox walk up to Li Deyu under the suspicious eyes of the guests, snatched the teacup in Li Deyu's hand, and smashed it to the ground.

In the uproar of the audience, Ling Hu Mu wrote lightly: "Li Gong, the tea is poisonous. ”

The vocal music of the banquet stopped abruptly, and the sound of gasping was heard from the guests.

It only took a breath to make the noisy feast silent.

Li Deyu was shocked when he heard this, and the eyes of the guests in the audience were also wide-eyed. Under the order of Sima Li Huaishen on the march, the Zhongya army in Yanning Lou acted quickly and immediately blocked the restaurant up and down.

Ling Fox stood with his hands down, and when many people were still stunned, he lowered his head and said softly: "I gave the poison." ”

Li Huaishen's eyes immediately turned red, and he roared angrily: "Take it for me!" ”

The tooth soldiers drew their swords and faced each other, but were stopped by Li Deyu raising his hand. Li Deyu's masseter muscles trembled slightly, but he looked at Ling Hu in a calm voice.

"Why?"

"I am afraid that some people in the DPRK and China do not want Li Gong to make meritorious contributions......"

Li Zhi, the envoy of the festival who was unexpectedly involved in this development, immediately took the case, for fear that Ling Hu would talk nonsense, so he hurriedly pointed at Ling Hu Mu's nose and scolded angrily: "The festival marshal trusts you, and the secretary of the marshal's mansion should be entrusted, this is how do you repay this kindness?" ”

Ling Hulu didn't look at Li Zhi, and he didn't care about the questioning of the Jiedu envoy at all, which made Li Zhi quite embarrassed.

"Then why did you want to win the cup? It can't be a discovery of conscience, right? Li Huaishen sneered sarcastically.

Ling Hu looked at Li Deyu silently, his eyes were like stars, and his words were sincere.

"The court is mixed, the temple is in charge, the factions are contending, and the party is the same and different, for more than ten years. And the silence ...... I only hope that Fu Xianchen, do his best, and return a clear and peaceful ...... to the world" Ling Hu suddenly vomited blood from his mouth, but the corners of his mouth pulled out a relaxed smile, "And Mian has long been determined, Li Gong is the virtuous minister." ”

Li Zhi believes that Ling Hulu is by no means sincere to Li Deyu, the family lineage is here, if Ling Hulu changes the court, it will be a complete break with the family, and it is also a giving up the career that should have been smooth. Therefore, he pretended to be Linghu's handwriting, and the secret letter instructed Linghu to poison Li Deyu. When his cousin sent a letter, Li Zhishu made the fox dare not disobey, and also forced him to make a choice.

However, after all, he underestimated Ling Fox's enthusiasm and loyalty.

On one side is the family, and on the other side is Li Deyu. From the moment Ling Fox received the secret letter that forced him to poison, this was a dead end. However, with the heart of the fox and the scholarly spirit, once it is determined, he will never repent. If you encounter a traitorous and evil minister, you should be brave and punish the thief, and now you meet a virtuous and righteous person, what should you do?

When you encounter a dead end, you will break the game with death, and you will be determined by death!

From the moment he chose to join the Li Deyu shogunate, Ling Hulu had already made a choice.

Linghu's cheeks were already pale, but his eyes were brighter and clearer.

"I have always been greedy, and I drank the poisonous tea soup first, so as to test it, laugh at the princes, and hope that Li Gong will forgive his sins."

After Ling Fox finished speaking, his body staggered backwards.

"Goro!"

After listening to this, Li Deyu couldn't care much. Regardless of the dissuasion of Li Huaishen and his colleagues, and the majesty of the envoys in the past. Under the watchful eyes of the full house, he rushed down from the main seat, and before Ling Hu Mo fell, he held Ling Hu Mu's shoulders with both hands.

And Ling Fox Mo couldn't see clearly, his eyes were getting dark, but his cold cheeks seemed to feel a line of warm tears running through him.

Ling Fox smiled with relief.

I remembered, Ling Fox said in silence. I remember what you were doing when you joined the shogunate......

Ling Hu used his last strength to tightly grasp the corner of Li Deyu's purple robe.

"I implore Gong Li, for the sake of the Tang Dynasty, for the sake of Li Shu in the world, fight for ......"