Because Jiangzhou was still some distance from Jinzhou, Qin Mubai and Yu Suiliang set off a day before Li Daozong's birthday. When I arrived at the palace, it was noon, except for some relatives of Li Daozong, most of the other officials in the palace had not yet arrived. Some of them also arrived early in advance, and they all went to the state city to find a place to stay, and they didn't dare to disturb in advance.

Li Daozong, the king of Jiangxia, mentioned the soldiers and horses of several states such as Jin, and, Pu, and Jiang and governed Taiyuan Mansion, the northern capital of the Tang Dynasty, and it can be said that he is a first-class big man in this area of the north. As the governor and prime minister of the prefecture, most of the soldiers and horses in northern Xinjiang were strictly speaking, and strictly speaking, his deployment had to be subject to his command. In fact, the two of them are in a position side by side, and they have the taste of clamping each other, and Li Shimin naturally cannot hand over the northern half of Ruoda to a certain person.

Although Yu Suiliang and Qin Mubai are only five-rank official positions, their identities have special backgrounds, in other words, they are now the emperor's military and political spokesmen in the Jin and Jin regions. Therefore, those three-grade and four-grade assassins and governors, seeing that they all had to be half short, Li Daozong also treated them differently, and emphasized in the invitation post that the two of them should go to the house in advance to drink and talk.

When the carriage just stopped at the palace, a government official greeted him warmly, and when he saw Qin Mubai and Yu Suiliang getting out of the car, he hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Kegui is General Qin and Mr. Zhen?" ”

"It's just me waiting." Qin Mubai smiled and said, "There is Lao Guifu coming out to greet you." ”

"The prince has been waiting for the two of you for a long time, please two distinguished guests!" The official hurriedly stretched out his hand to extend the invitation, and was very polite before and after.

Qin Mubai had already been to the palace once, so he was familiar with the road. Yu Suiliang walked in and looked around, and said with a slight smile: "The king of Jiangxia has a simple life, and a dignified palace is probably not as good as the residence of a rich family in Chang'an." ”

The official hurriedly said: "The prince often admonishes us to be prepared for danger in times of peace and to be able to endure poverty, so we never build a lot of construction and build a house. ”

Qin Mubai and Yu Suiliang looked at each other and smiled, and secretly said in their hearts: This is indeed Li Daozong's style, greedy for money and simple, with a little more miser flavor. It's funny that such a big hero has such a problem that makes people laugh and cry.

The two of them followed the officials to the main hall, and as soon as they turned a corner of a flower garden, they heard a hearty laugh in front of them: "Haha! When the king got up early this morning, he heard the singing of the birds, and sure enough, a distinguished guest arrived! General Qin, Mr. Chu, this king has been waiting for you for a long time! ”

"I've seen King Jiangxia!" The two stepped forward to salute.

"No need to be polite, please!" Li Daozong waved his hand and invited the two into the hall.

Two tables of wine banquets had already been set up in the hall, and there were more than ten people standing next to them who did not sit down. At a closer look, there are men, women and children, most of whom look like Li Daozong's family.

"Two, these are the king's inner relatives, today's bento is a family banquet, and the two of you don't have to be formal." Li Daozong laughed and said, "The two of you are really trustworthy and punctual people, this king estimates that you will arrive at about noon, and specially instructed your family to wait for you to have dinner together." Please take a seat! ”

Qin Mubai and Yu Suiliang hurriedly bowed their hands and said, "How dare you be so loving as a prince?" ”

Having your family wait for them to have lunch together is indeed a very high-class treatment. The implication is that they are treated as the most honored guests or even relatives.

"You're welcome, this king Rongma is used to going straight all his life, and the two of you are seated!" Li Daozong laughed heartily and sat down on the main seat first.

Qin Mubai and Yu Suiliang no longer shirked, and sat down on the left and right of Li Daozong.

"Okay, the guests are here, everyone sits, serves, and eats!" Li Daozong was in a good mood and laughed repeatedly.

Everyone sat at separate tables, and a team of servants and maids rushed in and served the food and drink, and the family feast began. Most of the people present are brothers or juniors in the Li Daozong clan who came to congratulate him on his birthday, and many of them are also considered to be princes and relatives, and the banquet is nothing more than toasting each other and saying some polite words, Li Daozong comes to toast Qin Mubai and Yu Suiliang from time to time, and the atmosphere is still harmonious and warm.

After the banquet, Li Daozong instructed the officials to arrange good guest rooms for Qin and Zhen, go to rest first, get rid of the fatigue of the journey, and agree with them to go fishing in the small lake in the backyard of the house at dusk.

In addition to loving money, fishing is Li Daozong's second hobby.

Qin Mubai and Yu Suiliang went back to their rooms, and they were indeed a little tired after sitting in the carriage for a long time, and they also drank a lot of wine at noon, and they were a little drunk. After washing up, they lay down and rested for a while.

Half-asleep and half-awake, Qin Mubai seemed to hear a knock on the door.

"Did you sleep?"

Chen Yan?

Qin Mubai turned over and put on his clothes, and replied, "It's here." ”

opened the door, and sure enough, it was Chen Yan standing outside the door. She had changed into the black chivalrous suit, put on a simple men's robe, her hair was tied up haphazardly, and she carried a wooden basin with a bowl of hot soup on it.

"I only asked if you slept with you, but you opened the door." Chen Yan smiled and said, "I'm afraid that you will be drunk, so I will serve a bowl of sobering soup." ”

"I'm tired." Qin Mubai welcomed her in with a smile and said, "Just now I was still wondering why I didn't see you between the banquets." When did you arrive at the palace? ”

"I came to Jinju yesterday." Chen Yan put down the bowl and said, "Although I worshipped the prince as my father-in-law, I am not used to the life of the palace, and I don't want to meet too many people. That's why I came to Jinju to stay at an inn, and I didn't enter the house until half a day later than you. At that time, I saw that you were in the mood for drinking, so I didn't bother. Drink it while it's hot, the rivers and lakes are secret, and the decanting is extremely effective. ”

"I believe that. If a person who walks the rivers and lakes is often drunk, he must be prone to bad things. Qin Mubai picked up the bowl and drank it clean, slightly sour and sweet, and the taste was not bad.

"Aren't you afraid that I'm drugged in the bowl? This is also a common trick used by people who walk the rivers and lakes. Chen Yan smiled playfully.

"That's Xiao Xiao's scoundrel's trick, a woman like you will definitely not use it." Qin Mubai also smiled.

"Where's your little princess? Isn't she the prince's niece, why didn't she bring her to celebrate her birthday together? Chen Yan asked suddenly.

Qin Mubai rolled his eyes twice and said with a smile: "You didn't mention that I forgot, should I bring her to celebrate her birthday?" ”

"Load." Chen Yan sneered.

"She is gone, and she is hurrying back to the capital to confess her guilt." Qin Mubai smiled and said, "She escaped from the palace without permission, how dare she come to congratulate King Jiangxia on his birthday?" ”

"Escaped from the palace to see you?" Chen Yan couldn't help but furrow slightly.

"Not necessarily." Qin Mubai looked at him a little squeaky.

"Then it has to be." Chen Yan shook her head lightly with a smile on her face, "Your trouble is coming, so let's do it for yourself." ”

"You speak really directly, just like your sword, and you try to hit the nail on the head." Qin Mubai smiled helplessly, "It seems that I can't hide anything from you, your eyes are the same as your sword, which can penetrate people's hearts." ”

"After walking the rivers and lakes for so many years, I have seen more people, so this is naturally the case." Chen Yan said, "You don't have to hide anything, I can see at a glance that the little princess has a soft spot for you, but you may not be in love with you." For men and women, don't be reluctant. If you don't like people, say it directly, don't deceive them. I've always hated people who cheat on feelings, and I don't want my friends to be like that. ”

Qin Mubai sneered treacherously: "Then what if I like her?" ”

"That means you're in more trouble." Chen Yan sneered and said, "I used to be like her, desperate to pursue my feelings, and in the end, you also saw the result." In fact, if you like someone, you don't necessarily have to be with him...... If he can live well, it will be enough. It's a pity that Gao Yang doesn't understand. She likes you, but is destined to cause you trouble or even disaster; If you really like her, this trouble and disaster will only be greater. Don't think I'm talking nonsense, I'm learning from the past. ”

"Thank you for your good intentions, I appreciate it." Qin Mubai smiled and said, "You are the only one who said such a clear thing to me. In fact, I know these things very well in my heart, and I will take care of the heat. ”

"That's fine." Chen Yan smiled lightly, "I hope you don't mind after saying so much, this is your private matter, I shouldn't have interfered." Since I regard you as a friend, I can't help but remind you a few more words, but I don't mean to break you up, but I hope that there will be a good result between you. Okay, you can rest and go fishing together later. ”

"You like fishing, too?"

"Why don't you get acquainted with the prince at first sight?" Chen Yan smiled charmingly, turned around and walked out of the room to bring him the door, and the footsteps faded away.

Qin Mubai couldn't help but smile to himself: Chen Yan, this woman, is really a knife-mouthed tofu heart.

Soon after, Qin Mubai and Yu Suiliang came to the back garden of the palace at the request of Li Daozong to go fishing.

Although the Jiangxia Wangfu is simple, the area is not small. There is a nice artificial lake in the backyard, you can also boat on the lake, there is a simple dock made of wood and bamboo, and some lotus flowers are planted in the lake. The wind of autumn decay blows, and some broken branches and leaves are swept on the surface of the lake, and the occasional wild herot and kingfisher sweep over the lake, but it also has a bit of the rural flavor of autumn water.

There were five people in the group, Li Daozong plus Qin Mubai and Yu Suiliang, and Chen Yan and a servant who accompanied them. Li Daozong was obviously in deep darkness, and after the boat reached the center of the lake, he sat down as steadily as Mount Tai, and waved his rod and hooked it like a bell. Qin Mubai used to be a fishing enthusiast, but he was not particularly proficient, and Datang's homemade simple fishing tackle was not too good at tossing, and it was thanks to Chen Yan's help that he successfully took the bait. Yu Suiliang is purely a layman, and it is a little difficult to get the hook into the water smoothly, which makes everyone quite laugh.

It was rare for several people present to be as relaxed as today, so they were all in a very good mood and enjoyed the leisure and entertainment of fishing.