In the magnificent palace, there are yellow tiles and red walls everywhere, and they are resplendent with gold. Under the eaves of Xuanzheng Palace, the carved beams and paintings in the hall are lifelike. The back of the golden dragon chair in the hall is carved with nine dragons and pearls, which is very dazzling. On the dragon chair, an old man with black hair and silver beard, wearing a dragon robe and a golden crown, was sitting precariously, and the eunuchs in front of the palace on both sides were serving.

A eunuch under the eaves was walking briskly to the front of the hall, "Your Majesty, King Wei is already waiting for the decree outside the palace." ”

"Xuan!"

Suddenly, a man walked into the hall with his face down, this person was wearing a hairpin silver-winged king hat, wearing a five-clawed silver-white python robe, his face was like white jade, his eyes were like stars, and when he looked up, he was a beautiful young man.

Wei Wangshan shouted long live the salute, and then asked: "My father summoned his sons and ministers and I don't know what happened?" ”

"Hey! I heard that you have been studying behind closed doors in the house recently, and you have worked very hard! Emperor Han twisted his beard and smiled kindly.

"Exactly! Recently, my brothers have been busy with official business, and the more busy I think I am, the more I should read more books to improve myself. ”

Emperor Han nodded slightly, deliberately testing him, "Do you know that the scientific expedition is approaching, and what has been hotly discussed in various places recently?" ”

Liu Xu knew that his father's words were testing him, so he pretended not to know, "My son has lived in the deep palace for a long time and doesn't know these things. The father did not show it, and the child did not dare to ask about it. ”

Emperor Han laughed when he heard this, "Among my children, Xu'er is the most loyal one." Your mother died early, I didn't expect the Queen Mother to be so reasonable to you! ”

Emperor Han twisted his beard, looked at Liu Xu with resolute eyes, and said, "Xu'er, I want you to be the chief examiner of this regular examination." What do you think? ”

But seeing Liu Xu kneeling on his knees with a "poof", with a look of sincere fear, "How can the son-in-law be so virtuous, how dare he have such a delusion!" Moreover, there are many capable people among the dragon sons and grandsons, and there are also many talented people among the courtiers. ”

"Convincing?" Emperor Han said sharply, "I want to see who dares to say half a word!" That's it. Tomorrow morning, you will go to the Ministry of Rites to hand over. ”

When Liu Xu was about to thank him, the steward eunuch Yan Gonggong entered the palace and said, "Your Majesty, the queen mother just sent someone to ask you something?" ”

"Tell me something!"

"The queen said that Lu Zuo, a famous man from Shanzhou, is deeply loved by the people, and has the talent to assist the heavens and the earth, and asks the saint if you can reward Lu Zuo with the empty house that the military department Shangshu Tao Jilin confiscated, so as to show the emperor's mighty grace and cherish the virtue of talent."

"Alright, alright. Father-in-law Yan, you let someone come to reply, and in the future, this kind of trivial matter will be done by yourself! ”

After that, Gonggong Yan replied with a "promise" and went down.

Liu Xu listened to Lu Zuo from the sidelines, and his eyes rolled and said: "Father, I have always heard of this person's name in my ears recently, as if this person's reputation in Beijing is amazing. ”

"Oh?" The Emperor seemed interested, "Is this really the case?" ”

"I heard that a few days ago, a broken temple in the western suburbs of the capital was besieged by strongmen, and it happened that the little general Xun Mou was also there. This matter has been spread all over the city in the capital. Liu Xu talked about it with relish, as if he had seen it with his own eyes.

The emperor smiled coldly, "Isn't it just a puppet who can use brute force!" ”

"Who's to say it isn't! However, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Prince Ning are vying for it! Even the queen seems to appreciate him at this time, which shows that this person is indeed extraordinary. Liu Xu said in his mouth, but his eyes revealed the intention of fanning the flames.

"No wonder the queen suddenly came to me today to ask for instructions to reward this person with a mansion." The emperor pondered, "What is this person's name?" ”

"Lu Zuo!"

"Lu Zuo?" The emperor's expression seemed to be searching his mind to see if he had heard of this person, and after thinking about it for a while, he made sure that he had never heard of it, and then said, "Okay! Xu'er, after taking over this regular department, you must keep to yourself, and you must not form a party for personal gain. ”

After Liu Xu thanked him for his retirement, he did not go back to his house directly, but went straight to the palace of the queen mother to ask for peace.

In the pond of Funing Palace, under the glow of the setting sun, the golden light is shining, the heavy snow of the previous days makes the atmosphere of the whole palace bleak, today's sun is just right, the ice and snow melt, the Queen Mother sits in the evening pavilion in the middle of the pond with her eyes closed, and is leisurely basking in the sun.

"Empress Dowager Qi, King Wei asks to see." A palace maid stood under the porch of the evening pavilion and prayed.

The Queen Mother opened her eyes slightly, slowly tried to straighten up, the afterglow of the sunset slowly slid down her face, and the maid behind her helped her to sit up straight, and then said lightly: "Let him come over!" ”

After a while, Liu Xu came to the Queen Mother with a spring breeze on his face to say goodbye, and said with a smile: "Grandson specially came to tell the Queen Mother Chitose a good news." ”

"Alright!" The Queen Mother didn't wait for Liu Xu to speak, so she interrupted him, and waved her hand to signal the four or five maids beside her to avoid it first, leaving only a slender purple-clothed palace maid to serve. Then he said slowly, "It seems that you did what the mourning family ordered?" ”

"Exactly, my good grandmother, you are truly divine! Just a few words, the emperor ••••••"

"Alright! Calm down, Xu'er, you're good at everything, but you can't hold your breath, just such a small official title will make you get carried away. The Queen Mother smiled, although she said so, she was still very happy in her heart.

Liu Xu smiled, full of pride, "The Queen Mother taught well, and the grandson remembered." ”

"It's a pity that your mother died early, otherwise the position of queen would not be her turn Li Sanniang." The Queen Mother sighed twice.

"Queen Mother Chitose, do you say that the queen's younger brother Li Shizhi is not the prince's person now?"

"Even if you don't dare to help the prince openly, it is estimated that there will be no less contact secretly, after all, Liu Yan is the queen's own grandson." The Queen Mother pondered for a moment, "It seems that we have to find a way to pull the queen's younger brother Li Shizhi off the horse first!" ”

"Are you sure?" Liu Xu was a little excited after hearing this, "He is the secretary of Dali Temple, and his official rank is not small." And I heard that Uncle Li Guo is usually clean and upright, and he is known as 'Yan Zhang Tang', I'm afraid it will be difficult to catch him, right? ”

The Queen Mother looked at Liu Xu and shook her head, looking slightly disappointed, "Xu'er, usually use your brains more, don't let the mourning family think about everything, in case the mourning family is a hundred years later, who do you rely on?" ”

Liu Xu lowered his head, "Grandson knows it's wrong!" ”

"Li Shizhi is just a donor, and there is not much ink in his chest. Now the official is in Dali Siqing, it is nothing more than because the emperor takes a fancy to his uprightness, and it is precisely for this reason that the emperor will choose his sister Li Sanniang as the queen. ”

Liu Xu realized, and answered: "You mean, find a way to make his reputation stink?" As soon as he falls, the queen will lose an arm, and the crown prince will also be greatly injured. ”

The Queen Mother laughed and said, "You're not stupid!" ”

"Thanks to the Queen Mother's teaching!" Liu Xu scratched his head, "Then what can you do to pull Li Shi off the horse?" ”