In spring and February, the weather is like a girl in love, the mood is cloudy, the sky is gray and cloudy, yesterday was still golden, but this morning the sky fell a little drizzle.

A carriage galloped by, the ground was wet, the wheels could not raise a little dust, the air was fresh and cold, Li Qing opened the curtain, sighed to his hands, rubbed his hands vigorously, and looked at the rain and fog outside the window with joy, he likes rainy days, whether it is rain or raindrops, it seems to be the notes of nature, smooth and soothing, the drizzle washes away the anxiety in people's hearts, and makes his soul return to tranquility. The parting warmth of the inn's green willow color'; it is the lonely introspection of 'the shadow of the wall behind the remnant lamp, and the sound of the dark rain hitting the window'; it is the frank and open-minded of 'a cloud of smoke and rain in his life'; and it is also 'lying down at night listening to the wind and rain, and the iron horse and the glacier fall into a dream' worrying about the country and the people.

Li Qing had just returned from Baisun Courtyard, and he had already returned the secret letter that made him too worried to stay in bed to King Guangping, and there were no extra words, and King Guangping did not thank him deeply, and the two knew it.

'Squeak! The carriage suddenly stopped, and in front of him was the Suzaku Gate, and a carriage blocked his way, which also interrupted Li Qing's train of thought, and the coachman turned back and said, "Master! It's as if someone is looking for you. ”

Li Qing looked through the window, and more than a dozen steps away, Yang Guozhong walked towards him with a smile on his face, and shouted from afar: "Yangming, I invited you yesterday, why didn't you come?" ”

Li Qing pushed the car door and smiled lazily: "Do you need such a big move to take a concubine?" You guy just wants to get both people and money, so I'll seal a gift today, so that you won't be able to forget me. ”

He jumped out of the carriage, and when he saw Yang Guozhong's official uniform being bright and neat, he couldn't help but smile again: "What's the matter, the newlywed Yan'er came to the court, but was beaten out by his sister-in-law?" ”

Yang Guozhong sighed with a bitter face, but there was a smugness in his eyes that couldn't be hidden, "I want to take three days off, but the emperor wants to summon me again, it's so annoying!" ”

He peeked at Li Qing, shrugged helplessly, and said, "No! Go to the court room first to get some information, so that I have nothing to answer when the emperor asks, what does Yang Ming need me to tell the emperor? ”

Li Qing smiled and said: "I'm all trivial things, how dare I work Brother Yang, this way, Brother Yang will definitely be indispensable for entertainment, I won't delay your time." ”

Yang Guozhong touched the soft thorn in his hand, but he was not annoyed, he only laughed and said: "Yang Ming said very much, there are too many idlers, so I will take the first step." ”

After that, he ran back to his carriage and went to the city gate first, until he walked a little farther, Li Qing sneered lightly, and ordered the coachman: "Follow up and go back to the yamen of the household department." ”

.

And said that Yang Guozhong rushed to Xingqing Palace, it was already an hour later, after three years of silence, he slowly made a comeback, but more reused by Li Longji than before, at this time he was nearly fifty years old, mixed in the officialdom for these years, he has no jerky when he first entered the officialdom, moderate suppression made him gradually become sleek and spicy, last year he joined the Pei Party, after the heavy appointment of Jing Zhaoyin, he became one of the top two backbones of the Pei Party.

Li Longji summoned him today, he already knew what was going on, but he pretended to go around the imperial city, and his intention was to dispel everyone's suspicion that the emperor had summoned him.

Entering the Qinzheng Palace, Yang Guozhong's smile disappeared, his face gradually became serious, and he quickly came to Li Longji's imperial study under the guidance of the deacon and eunuch.

In the past few days, Li Longji's time in the imperial study has gradually increased, although the enthusiasm for dealing with national affairs is gone, but how to keep his throne, he has not relaxed a step, just as Li Linfu and Li Qing guessed, Li Longji finally decided to change hands in the East Palace, which is what he has been planning since Tianbao three years, and has been waiting until today, this is a long-distance layout, starting from the eradication of Li Heng's right-hand man, Li Shizhi, killing Huangfu Weiming, adjusting the chapter and revenge and Qiong and Fu Meng Lingcha, degrading Wei Jian, disintegrating the Taidang, and depriving the East Palace of power, step by step, has been methodical.

But Li Heng still has one of the biggest reliance, so that Li Longji did not dare to move him, that is, Wang Zhonghe, who held more than 200,000 heavy soldiers, he arranged in advance two deputy envoys Wang Rare and Dong Yanguang could not convince the public, and finally could not stand up Wang Zhonghei, so that Li Longji had to find a new replacement, in the year before last, that is, in the year of Tianbao, Tang Fan once again broke out the battle for Shibao City, Wang Zhonghe's Hu Ren fierce general Ge Shuhan performed extremely well in this war, and kept Shibao City, and he also entered Li Longji's sight, Li Longji did not hesitate to dismiss Dong Yanguang, deputy envoy of Longyou Jiedu, and appointed Ge Shuhan as deputy envoy of Longyou Jiedu and governor of Hezhou.

On this occasion, Wang Zhonghe's visit to Beijing to report on his work was naturally made by Ge Shuhan as a temporary envoy, and this was exactly the opportunity that Li Longji was waiting for.

Three years is very short, but it has left a deep imprint on Li Longji, during these three years, he has shown his old age, most of his beard is white, the skin on his face is loose, and old age spots have appeared on his arms and neck.

At this moment, Li Longji of Datang Tian was lying on the dragon couch reading a top-secret report, the content of the report was the Golden Pill incident that was contested by several parties, although his people were not involved, but Li Longji's feelings

The content of the report is very detailed, only missing a paragraph of the first night of the Golden Pill dispute, others such as Li Heng wrote a secret letter to Wang Zhonghe, Li Linfu, King Qing, Li Qing tripartite contention, until finally Li Fei Shouyu got the secret letter, until two hours ago, Li Qing returned the secret letter to the king of Guangping, and the report was recorded in detail.

"Smack!" Li Longji threw the report on the table casually, turned back to Gao Lishi and said coldly: "This Li Qing, is there another big thing to do badly?" ”

Gao Lishi cautiously stepped forward and said in a low voice: "Maybe Li Shilang didn't see His Majesty's thoughts, and it was out of Baotai's considerations. ”

Gao Lishi's heart is very conflicted, this report is what he has just sorted out, although he has always supported Li Heng, but looking at the current situation, he also understands that the general trend has gone, he did not hide or delete part of the content because of this, but truthfully reported to Li Longji, too bad is a loss to him, but if he loses the emperor's trust, it will be more than worth the loss.

Li Longji's nose snorted slightly, "He didn't see it?" Does the general really think so? ”

"This.

Gao Lishi's face was embarrassed, and he smiled awkwardly: "The old slave has a good impression of this, so as soon as the emperor asked, the old slave said in a good place." ”

Li Longji's face softened slightly, and he smiled slightly: "This is the truth, in fact, I have a very good impression of him, young and promising, affectionate and righteous, but he is a household servant, as long as he takes care of the finances and taxes, why bother to meddle too wastefully and make me in a dilemma." ”

"Why don't you let the old slave remind him?"

Li Longji pondered for a moment, shook his head, and said, "You don't have to ask about this matter, I have my own plan." ”

At this time, Yu Chaoen quietly walked to the door and reported: "Your Majesty, Yang Cheng is here and is waiting outside!" ”

"Announce his audience!" The main force of the East Palace, in his eyes, Yang Guozhong at this time is no longer the reckless and troublesome uncle he was three years ago, he has begun to have a plan, and he can slowly replace Li Linfu.

"Weichen see Your Majesty!" Yang Guozhong strode into the study and bowed to Li Longji.

"Uncle Guo, please take a seat!"

Li Longji waved his hand slightly, "I'm not in good health and can't last, so let's make a long story short!" ”

He glanced at Gao Lishi, who immediately retreated to the door and drove away all the eunuchs who were waiting outside the door, at this time, only Li Longji and Yang Guozhong were left in the room, Li Longji pondered for a moment and said: "You must have heard about the Taimi letter to Wang Zhonghei this time, what do you think of this?" ”

Yang Guozhong knew that there were some things that could not be concealed from Li Longji, so he replied without hesitation: "Your Majesty, the minister learned about this from King Qing's mouth, but it is a pity that the secret letter did not arrive, and he missed this opportunity, but the minister thought that since there was a first time, there should be a second time, as long as the next time he seized the opportunity, it was still possible." ”

Li Longji was not annoyed by the collusion between Yang Guozhong and King Qing, he just wanted to know if Yang Guozhong was honest with him, Li Longji nodded approvingly, and said: "You are right, I know very well what kind of person he is, he is timid and ambitious, he will not write any more letters, if he exerts a little pressure, he should meet Wang Zhonghei secretly." ”

Speaking of this, Li Longji took out a secret decree from the case, handed it to Yang Guozhong, and said: "Do as I tell you, don't make any more mistakes." ”

Yang Guozhong was flattered to accept the secret order, knelt down and thanked him: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, Weichen will never live up to Your Majesty's trust." ”

"I have one more thing to ask you."

Li Longji walked a few steps in the imperial study with his hands behind his back, and said slowly in a lengthened tone: "This time, Tai's secret letter was obtained by Li Qing, the servant of the household department, and I don't want him to participate in this matter, what can you do?" ”

Yang Guozhong's heart trembled, and a hint of surprise burst out, "Is the emperor going to attack Li Qing?" Not like that! Not like that! Don't be impulsive,' his palms sweated slightly, his heart quickly balancing the pros and cons of the matter, 'now is not the time to fight on two fronts. Yang Guozhong's mind slowly calmed down, and he suppressed the idea of taking the opportunity to frame Li Qing.

"The minister thinks that this matter is very easy, and he can be temporarily transferred out of the capital."

"Not bad! Not bad! You've really grown. ”

Li Longji patted this uncle on the shoulder and said with a smile: "There are some things to do, some things to do, as long as you can grasp this balance, you can become my right-hand man, go!" Li Qing's matter, I have my own measure, so don't ask about it. ”

"The minister will go to do something for His Majesty." Yang Guozhong collected the secret decree and retreated.

Listening to the sound of his footsteps gradually disappearing, Li Longji smiled coldly, took out a secret decree from the red sandalwood box he carried, wrote another decree casually, and handed it to Gao Lishi, who had just entered the house, and said: "Send me an expedited, one to Brother Shu Han of Longyou, and the other to Suzhou Thorn Shi Cui Lian, and order them to act according to the order." ”