After the next morning's class, a meal was being prepared in the martial arts academy. A eunuch came and asked Xue Shao to let him go to the Hanbing Palace, and His Majesty summoned him to meet him.

Along with the eunuchs, there was also a thousand cows with several Zuo Fengchen guards, Su Wuxuan, although he was a colleague, Xue Shao was not very familiar with him.

After changing clothes, Xue Shao went to the Hanbing Hall with Su Wuxuan and others.

Xue Shao didn't have much interest in chatting with Su Wuxuan, but Su Wuxuan deliberately approached, saying that his grandfather, Su Lianghe, the secretary of the Ministry of Works, was supervising the construction of the Taiping Princess's Mansion, and he was working day and night but wanted to complete it ahead of schedule, so that Xue Gongzi could marry the princess as soon as possible and become the fast son-in-law of the dragon under His Majesty.

These words are obviously flattering, but Xue Shao is not so happy when he hears it - I am short of time, isn't your old man adding to the chaos?

In addition, Su Liangsi was once the Sima of the palace of Li Xian, the king of Zhou, and Li Xian is now the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty. But God knows how many people Li Xian, the unlucky prince and cuckold emperor who is famous in history, will be involved in the future?

Therefore, Xue Shao was not very happy to be close to Su Wuxuan. Su Wuxuan also seemed to notice that Xue Shao was a little indifferent, so he chattered for a while and stopped sticking to his cold ass with a hot face, and shut up in a daze.

When he arrived at Hanbing Palace, Xue Shao found that his brother Xue Yi and Li Xiaoyi, as well as several officials of Zongzheng Temple, were also here. It turned out that the wedding ceremony had reached the step of "inviting the period", that is, the penultimate step of the six wedding ceremonies, that is, after the man obtained a suitable marriage date in the ancestral temple, he officially reported the marriage to the woman's parents and asked for the woman's consent.

Of course, the royal wedding is different from the ordinary wedding, and there are more things to consider, at least one premise - it must be repaired by Princess Taiping's Mansion before the two can get married.

So today is just a ceremonial formality, but Xue Shao himself must be there in person, and he has to ask his father-in-law for the future face to face with his brother.

The wedding date is set for September 20, which is about seven months away.

The officials of Zongzheng Temple had already prepared the details of the ceremony, and they would go through the procedure just by waiting for Xue Shao to come, so there was nothing complicated. After the ceremony, Li Zhi left everyone to eat in the Hanbing Palace, and called the Xue Shao brothers to the inner hall for a banquet.

Xue Shao found that Li Zhi's face was sick today, but his complexion was not very good, and when he walked, he was on crutches and there were eunuchs on his left and right to support him, and his appetite was also very small.

In front of many ministers, Li Zhi has always been strong.

When they arrived at the banquet, there were only the two Xue brothers on the left and right, and Li Zhi said: "My body is not as good as day by day. Recently, my old Li family's ancestral wind disease stubborn disease has flare-ups from time to time, and once it happens, I am dizzy and dizzy, unable to see things clearly, and I can't control it at all. Xue Yi, Xue Shao, both of you are my nephews, and you are about to become my in-laws and sons-in-law, and they are not outsiders. I want to ask you a question today, and you have to answer it truthfully. ”

"Your Majesty, please speak." At the same time, both brothers felt a pang in their hearts.

"You say, once I am a hundred years later, can my country be passed on smoothly?" Li Zhi said.

Xue Yi changed color on the spot, and exclaimed: "Your Majesty is in the prime of life, why do you say this!" ”

Li Zhi smiled bitterly twice and waved his hand, "My body, I know it in my own heart." All you have to do is answer the questions? ”

Xue Yi also smiled bitterly in his heart, how dare people answer such a question?

Xue Shao's heart thinks more, some historians have studied that this genetic disease of the Li family is probably a cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, which is easy to stroke and easy to die!

I'm afraid that every emperor is worried about such things as succession and succession in his old age. The current crown prince Li Xian, not to mention his personal talent and morality, there is one thing that everyone knows in their hearts, that is-Li Xian just picked up a cheap prince to do.

Li Xian's two elder brothers, Li Hong and Li Xian, both served as princes, and both had experience in supervising the country, but one died violently and the other was deposed. Li Xiancai has been the crown prince for less than a year, and he has almost never had any experience in governance before that, so he has no power and foundation.

Moreover, both the government and the opposition know that among the four sons-in-law under the emperor's majesty, the eldest son Li Hong and the second son Li Xian are both very talented and outstanding figures, while Li Xian has always only known how to fly eagles, eat, drink and have fun, and is a confused and very willful prince.

has neither a foundation nor a talent - it is no wonder that Li Zhi is worried about whether this country can be passed on smoothly!

"Why don't you two speak, do you have any scruples?" Li Zhi seemed to be a little distressed, and said, "Those ministers have their own selfish intentions, and it is difficult for me to hear the true thoughts from them. But you are one of the few relatives I have in this world, and I would love to hear your thoughts. That's it - there are no emperors and courtiers now, and there are no left and right historical records next to it. My mother's uncle is the eldest brother, and now my uncle and nephew are discussing some household matters, but you have to speak up if you have ideas. ”

Xue Shao still didn't say anything, there was still a big brother above, so he had to let him speak first.

Xue Yi hesitated and said, "This ......"

"If you have something to say, say it!" Li Zhi seemed to be a little impatient.

"That's it!" Xue Yi bowed his hand and said, "The minister thinks that the foundation of the East Palace is too weak, and the power of the queen of heaven and the prime minister is almost overwhelming. If His Majesty is in one day, the government and the opposition can still get peace for one day; Once His Majesty descends the dragon royal funeral day, that ......"

"Anyone can see the status quo, do you still need to say this kind of nonsense?" Li Zhi said, "Say a few useful words! ”

"Yes......" Xue Yi frowned and was very embarrassed, this is sandwiched between the emperor, the crown prince, the queen of heaven and the prime minister, who can talk nonsense!

"Forget it, forget it!" Li Zhi waved his hand impatiently, "Xue Shao, you say!" ”

Xue Shao was stunned and smiled bitterly, "Your Majesty, the ministers are still short, and they don't understand a lot of truths, so they can't talk about it!" ”

"Hey, you two nephews, don't you care!" Li Zhi patted his thigh, shook his head and smiled bitterly.

"Your Majesty!" Xue Yi ate the radical method, bowed his hand and said, "The minister thinks that the minister who assists the prince should be arranged as soon as possible!" ”

"Yes. That's the biggest headache I'm having right now. Li Zhi said, "Now there are four people in the political hall headed by Xue Yuanchao, Pei Yan, Cui Zhiwen, and Liu Renliang. Liu Renliang is already eighty years old, and he has been trying his best to resign from his position as a left servant. Although Cui Zhiwen also abides by the Chinese Book Order, his qualifications are still shallow, and he has always focused on compiling the history of the country. This row comes and goes, and those who can be appointed as the auxiliary ministers of Tuogu can only choose one of Xue Yuanchao and Pei Yan. ”

When the Xue Shao brothers heard Li Zhi's words at first glance, they felt a little nonsensical - shouldn't you go and say this kind of thing to the queen of heaven, the crown prince and the brachial slaughter?

Because, although Xue Yi was newly named the title of Duke of Hedong County, from the perspective of political influence, he was only a foreign official assassin after all, and he had no foundation and influence in the court; And Xue Shao's official position when he first entered the official career was even more humble, not to mention that he had no political foundation - the so-called people are soft-spoken, why does the emperor ask us this kind of question?

But after thinking about it deeply, the emperor was asking the guest to kill the chicken, he just wanted to know whether our brothers supported Xue Yuanchao or Pei Yan.

If you support Xue Yuanchao, it is reasonable to be reasonable, public and private, first of all, the three of them are the same clan of the Xue family, and secondly, Xue Yuanchao is the prime minister who is more trusted by His Majesty the Emperor.

If it is to support Pei Yan, it will be a bit subtle - although Pei Yan is also trusted by the emperor, he has a fairly close relationship with the queen of heaven. If the Xue family brothers "sacrifice the near and far" to support Pei Yan, then their position is very worthy of Li Zhi's suspicion - are you my people or the people of the Queen of Heaven?

Thinking from Li Zhi's standpoint, I am your own uncle, and now I have to marry my baby daughter to your Xue family, you won't eat inside and out, right?

Xue Yi hurriedly bowed his hand and said decisively: "I think that Xue Yuanchao is more suitable!" ”

Xue Shao didn't say anything, and sighed secretly in his heart, the political consciousness of the eldest brother is still quite high! Li Zhi said that he was "just talking about the shortcomings of parents regardless of monarchs and ministers", but in his words, there was a hint of danger!

"How so?" Li Zhi asked quietly.

Xue Yi said: "Xue Yuanchao has been in charge of the center for many years, and his prestige is grand, his political achievements are outstanding, and he has both talent and virtue in the world. Let him assist the prince to succeed, and the minister thinks it is appropriate. ”

"Xue Shao, do you think so too?" Li Zhi asked deliberately.

Xue Shao smiled bitterly and arched his hand: "Your Majesty, the minister and Xue Yuanchao have only met once, and they have not met Pei Yan yet, how can the minister have any opinions?" ”

Li Zhi smiled, "As soon as you said it, I remembered it." When you see Xue Yuanchao's side, it is quite grand - Xue Zi should be the hero of the world, so courageous! ”

"Ah, even Your Majesty knows the way?" Xue Shao's expression looked quite embarrassed.

Xue Yi hurriedly said: "The minister's brother is young and ignorant, and the minister has already apologized to Xue Yuanchao on his behalf!" Please be forgiving! ”

"Alas—needless to say!" Li Zhi waved his hand with a smile and said, "Who didn't do a few things when they were young?" Besides, I thought that Xue Shao might really have the ambition and ability to dare to say something like that. ”

"Chen, it's just an impulse......" Xue Shao hurriedly smirked and said hehe.

"That's it, it's a trivial matter, and I don't need to say more." Li Zhi said, "Xue Yi, what if I appoint Xue Yuanchao to assist the crown prince, but the queen of heaven and Pei Yan disagree?" ”

The Xue Shao brothers sighed in their hearts at the same time - they asked the core question!

"This ......" Xue Yi was a little dumbfounded, it was obvious that once His Majesty the Emperor died, no matter how powerful Xue Yuanchao was, it would be impossible for him to fight Pei Yan and the Queen of Heaven together. If His Majesty the Emperor appointed Xue Yuanchao to be the minister of Tuogu, it would only kill him!

If Xue Yuanchao perishes in the political game, can the Xue clan still not be implicated?

In other words, Xue Yi is now supporting the emperor's hand-picking of Xue Yuanchao to entrust the orphan auxiliary government, isn't that lifting a stone to shoot himself in the foot?

Xue Yi is really big now! - Xue Yuanchao is not, not quite not, this is clearly not a person inside and outside!

"Now you understand my plight, right?" Li Zhichang sighed and said, "The importance of the orphan lies in the Sheji artifact, but it also involves the two of you. You are all my own nephews, and Xue Shao will also become Taiping's concubine. That's why I have to say this to you today. You brothers, you need to think carefully! ”

"Minister, follow the teachings of Your Majesty!" The brothers worship together, and they are secretly inhaling cool air together!

Xue Shao thought to himself, Li Zhi's intentions today can be described as extremely deep, first tested the position of the two of us, and probably found that there was no problem; Then he played the family card and warned us to avoid danger in advance - don't hang yourself on Xue Yuanchao's tree, I don't think he's optimistic!

Li Zhi's intention, of course, was that he neither wanted his two nephews to perish in the political whirlpool in the future, nor did he want his baby daughter Princess Taiping to be implicated in this way.

Emperor's Mind - What a Profound Technique!