The night banquet at the minister's house of the Southern Tang Kingdom was much more lively and rich than the banquet in Tokyo. In comparison, the birthday banquet of Dong Zunyu's family, the general of the Zhou Dynasty, is not as good as Han Xizai's usual ordinary banquet.

At the beginning of the lanterns, the nightlife at the home of Han Xizai, the servant of the Jinling Ministry of Officials, is about to start again. The guests were laughing unscrupulously with Han Xizai's concubine in the hall, or sitting together and talking. The slaves were carrying delicacies, fruits, tea, and wine on a large table. The host had not yet appeared, but the officials and guests attending the banquet had not been left out in the cold, and the prostitutes made everyone feel at home.

The young champion Lang Huang Can looked full of ambition, and looked like he had the world in mind and far-sighted in front of the beautiful concubine of the Han family. He asked Dr. Chen Yong, a doctor of Taichang: "I heard that Langzhou (Changde, Hunan) Jiedu sent Zhou Xing to Jinling to seek peace, and wanted to ally with our country?" ”

Chen Yong said with a smile: "Such a beautiful day, only talk about elegance and not state affairs." ”

Li Jiaming, the deputy envoy of the Department of Education on the side, was very cooperative, Li Jiaming was in charge of the Department of Education (state-run brothel), and the military affairs were related to him, so he said without pressure: "Not only Zhou Xingfeng, but also Lin Renzhao, the envoy of Wuchang Festival, came to Jinling." ”

Zhuang Yuanlang asked: "The local military generals have not been called, can they leave Jiezhen casually?" ”

"If you have the ability, you can." Li Jiaming said with a smile.

Zhuang Yuanlang said angrily: "The new monarch (Li Jing abdicated and moved to Hongdu, Li Yu just inherited the throne of the king) was first established, and it was the time to reorganize the dynasty. ”

The prostitute sitting next to her looked adoring: "Huang Lang is so powerful, can you see the king?" ”

"Of course you can!" Zhuang Yuanlang straightened his chest, and the touch of the prostitute's chest resting on his arm was very useful, and it also aroused his husband's emotions.

Dr. Taichang Chen Yong sighed: "You are too young, be humble, see more and talk less." ”

Li Jiaming joked with joy on his face: "Chen Gong can't rely on the old and sell the old, maybe Huang Langjun will be bigger than your official in the future." ”

"Don't dare, don't dare." Zhuang Yuanlang was busy pretending to be modest.

Li Jiaming, who was in charge of the brothel, turned his head and said to him: "I don't care if Huang Langjun doesn't write or not, but I'd better let you know more, otherwise when the king asks, you don't know anything, wouldn't it be bad." ”

"Please give me advice." The young champion gave up his hand.

Li Jiaming said: "I have to say that Tokyo (Great Zhou) sent troops to attack Shu, and left 20,000 forbidden soldiers in Jiangling Mansion on the East Road to protect the back road; Now that the Shu Kingdom has been destroyed, the lord of the country has gone to Tokyo, but the 20,000 forbidden soldiers have not withdrawn. It would be reasonable for the Zhou people to leave a large group of elite troops in the Northern Han Dynasty or Hebei, but why would they not move if they stationed so many men and horses in the south? Huainan is so large, and I don't see so many elites left by the Zhou army. ”

Champion Huang Can nodded thoughtfully: "What does Zhou Jun want?" ”

"Jiangling Mansion is the gateway to Langzhou (Changde); Zhou Xingfeng's foundation is in Langzhou. What do you think they want to do? Li Jiaming said, "Just guess so, you can not believe it." But recently, there was another incident, Tokyo sent an envoy to Langzhou, questioning Zhou Xingfeng ......"

Li Jiaming gags and pinches his tone, pretending to be an envoy of the Zhou Dynasty who is arrogant and domineering: "Wuping serves our dynasty as the master, and the court has great gifts to you." But the imperial court first named Liu Yan as the envoy of the festival, and he was soon killed by you; He also made the king Jinkui an envoy of the festival, and was killed by you again. You regard the lives of the court officials as child's play, and they have no heaven, what do you want! The Empress Dowager of the Great Zhou Dynasty issued an edict and ordered Zhou Xingfeng to immediately go to Beijing to explain the assassination of the two Jiedu envoys and assist the court in severely punishing the murderer. ”

After hearing this, Zhuangyuan shook his head and said: "That Liu Yan and Wang Jinkui both occupied the territory of Wuping after the fall of the Chu State, and the Zhou Dynasty just pushed the boat down the river to give a false name, and now that the person is dead, he has become an official of the imperial court, and the Tokyo imperial court is too." ”

"Not really." Li Jiaming said, "Those gangs are fighting for territory, whoever is in power, Tokyo will give him an official, and they are just talking about it...... Zhou Xingfeng killed Liu Yan and Wang Jinkui to ascend the throne, and the Zhou Dynasty did not give Zhou Xingfeng the envoy of the festival? Suddenly, I remembered that the first two were killed, but I was just looking for a reason to ask for the guilt, and the right way was 'there is no excuse for the crime that you want to add'. ”

Champion Huang Can said: "Asking for such a crime, Zhou Xingfeng is definitely unwilling to go to Tokyo to die, and he has accepted the division of the Zhou court. Now the Zhou court can say that he resisted the decree and rebelled, and found a nominal teacher to ask for the crime? ”

Li Jiaming nodded and said: "That's it, we all understand, whether it's Zhou Xingfeng or Lin Renzhao, of course they also know very well, they all know that the Zhou army is going south to fight Wuping, it's obvious." ”

Huang Can frowned and said, "Why did Lin Renzhao also mix? ”

Li Jiaming leaned closer and whispered: "Now there are ministers who impeach Lin Renzhao, it can be seen that Huang Langjun is one step late; However, others did not impeach him for leaving his post without permission, but said that he secretly colluded with Zhou Xingfeng...... Lin Renzhao was born as a general of the Min State and had problems with his loyalty to the Southern Tang Kingdom.

There is another saying, which is also Lin Renzhao's own statement. He believed that the Zhou court's attack on Zhou Xingfeng was intended to be the sword dance of Xiang Zhuang for Pei Gong, but it was only to gradually approach the Southern Tang Kingdom from the upper reaches of the Great River (Yangtze River); Tokyo's move against Zhou Xingfeng was that he had already made up his mind to plot against the direction of the Southern Tang Kingdom. It was inevitable to tear his face, Lin Renzhao thought that his lips were cold and his teeth were cold, and he urged Wang Shang to act earlier, and formed an alliance with Zhou Xingfeng to abandon his previous suspicions and send troops to aid Wuping, so as to take the initiative against the Zhou army. ”

"I see." Zhuang Yuanlang thoughtfully, "Zhou Xing meets this person, but I have heard of it." I heard that his wife is particularly ugly......"

Li Jiaming laughed: "I have also heard this anecdote, the ugly wife is wise." ”

"It is said that Zhuge Kongming also married an ugly wife back then, and these people are all people who want to make a difference." Champion Lang Road.

Li Jiaming said: "This is reasonable. Food and color, human nature; A powerful man marries an ugly wife, and he must have a greater mind. When Zhuge Kongming married a wife, it was also to marry with the local clan, and he did not covet how others looked, which played a great role. ”

Zhuang Yuanlang nodded and said: "Zhou Xingfeng's reputation is not bad, it is said that he once opened a warehouse for disaster relief, loved the people, and won the hearts of the people...... In this way, I misunderstood Lin Renzhao a little; Humanity is like things and people are grouped, Lin Renzhao saw that he met last week, and he was not too bad a person. He hurriedly arched, "Fortunately, Li Gong gave me some advice, otherwise I would have written to impeach Lin Renzhao, wouldn't I be a villain who slandered me?" Fortunately, it is not in the book yet. ”

Li Jiaming was noncommittal.

Dr. Taichang on the side couldn't stand it, and couldn't help but say: "Huang Langjun, for the sake of us all being guests in the Han Mansion, I have a saying, loyal to the ear, definitely not listening, do you want to listen?" ”

Huang Can said: "Please speak up to Gong Chen." ”

Dr. Chen Yongdao: "In the officialdom, it is most taboo to sway left and right, and your proposition and attitude towards the government have become too fast." If you support this person for a while, support that person for a while, and completely change your opinion overnight, who can trust you to stand in what position? ”

Huang Can was stunned and said: "Of course I am standing in the position of the country's social society, and I will support whoever is beneficial to the country." ”

Chen Yong smiled: "Hehe." "No more at the moment.

Li Jiaming, who was more playful, also said at this time: "Huang Langjun is not wrong to listen to Chen Gong's words. Look at your mentor Han Gong, the king came to ask Han Gong about his opinion twice because of that incident, but Han Gong was only vague and easily expressed his attitude? ”

A few people talked about Han Gong, and the master Han Xizai finally appeared, and he walked into the hall with a few maids, with a hospitable and kind smile. All the princes stood up and bowed one after another.

Han Xizai has long sideburns and beard, and when it reaches his chest, he looks tall and burly, but his demeanor is very elegant. He bowed his hand in return, and said, "I have neglected you, forgive me." ”

"Where, where, where ......" everyone politely.

Han Xizai slowly walked to the couch in front of the screen above and sat down, and said, "The wine and food are casual." Tonight, I can invite Li Ji, the sister of the deputy envoy of the Teaching Workshop, to play Yayin, and the old man and you are all blessed. ”

Someone chimed in: "Let's listen to it, Li Ji is the most beautiful woman in Jinling recently?" ”

Li Jiaming said modestly: "Don't dare, don't dare, the little sister's attainments are still shallow, how dare you say the most?" Who is the best person in Jinling who is better at music and rhythm than the queen (Zhou Xian)? He laughed, "But the queen is so noble that she usually doesn't hear it." ”

At this time, I saw a young lady in blue who was only more than ten years old holding a pipa and covering half of her face, walked in with a shy face, walked to the edge of a seat, tilted her head and made a blessing gently: "The concubine is ugly." ”

He sat down gently, flicked his fingers, and a string of pure sounds like a clear spring sounded between the lights of the hall. The guests and maids all looked sideways and looked at Li Ji.

For a while, the laughing prostitutes and the talking guests all shut down, listening to this beautiful music, the hall was full of tranquility, and everyone was immersed in that artistic conception.

After the song, Han Xizai took the lead in stroking his palms and praised, and the hall suddenly became lively again, and everyone praised one after another.

Li Ji stayed, and the old man heard this crisp and wonderful sound, but it had hidden strength. suddenly remembered a newly acquired dancing girl, the best at sword dancing, if there is Li Ji's pipa matching, it must be a good show. Han Xizai said.

Li Ji chuckled: "It's okay if you want me to accompani, unless Han Gong plays the drums to help the fun." ”

Everyone laughed and persuaded Han Gong with great interest. Han Xizai smiled, so he had to say: "Since Li Ji personally invited, it is better to be respectful than to obey his fate, if you hit the wrong rhythm, don't laugh at the old man." ”

Han Xizai said, stretched out his hand and high-fived him three times, and looked up at the door on the side. Seeing this, everyone knew that the high-five was a signal, and they all looked at the door with anticipation, waiting for the dancing girl who was dancing the sword, maybe wanting to see what it looked like.