Zhu Ao squinted his eyes and looked at Qi Tai, the only one in the Jianwen Imperial Court who was still a little strategic, and saw that his long face had several layers of vicissitudes and profundity, obviously a person who had experienced personnel difficulties, not the kind of stunned blue.

To put it in his heart, Zhu Ao actually has a good impression of this kind of person, because he knows that although such a person is a little slippery, not as easy to deceive as Xiaobai, but he is a person who is familiar with various rules and carefully abides by them.

An opponent like Fang Xiaoru, although he will not change the law to make you bad and create all kinds of traps for you, but he is a person who admits death and does not know how to be flexible, if you want to have a reasonable deal with him, he will definitely not agree, absolutely 100% of his goal will not be flexible at all, and will never give in, he is not afraid of you threatening him, you have the ability to destroy my ten clans at every turn, and it is really a headache to meet such a person.

Especially for a man like Zhu Hao, who likes to trade with people.

Zhu Ao saw Qi Tai respectfully kneeling on the ground and kowtowing to himself, knowing that his dismount had played a certain role, and at the same time he knew that this was a person who was on the high ground, and he would not be arrogant because he was the emperor of the imperial court, and he was arrogant, that kind of person was a stupid fork at all, obviously, Qi Tai was not a stupid fork, which made him very happy, and said with a smile: "Lord Qi, please get up quickly, you have come all the way, it is really hard." ”

I saw Qi Tai raise his head, then slowly stood up, glanced at himself, and immediately piled up a very kind smile on his face, and said, "Thank you, Your Highness." Along the way, all I saw was a prosperous and orderly state in the territory of Su State, His Royal Highness is really eloquent, and in just a few years, Su Guo Jian has created this scene. ”

No one doesn't like to be patted on the back, Zhu Ao is no exception, hearing Qi Tai flattering himself so much, his heart is also secretly refreshed, and he can't help but boast to himself, and said: "Lord Qi has won the award, but speaking of which, when Cao Guogong came to envoy me to Su Guo a few years ago, he only needed to go to Dunhuang to see the widow." This time, Lord Qi came to envoy, but he needed to come to Ili, thousands of miles west of Dunhuang, which is not a big deal. Hahahaha. ”

Qi Tai was also amused by Zhu Ao, but he didn't expect this legendary King Su who was decisive to kill so humorously, and said with a smile: "Your Royal Highness's eagle is magnificent, opening up thousands of miles of territory for my Ming Dynasty, and restoring the territory of the Han and Tang dynasties. ”

Zhu Ao didn't want to have a showdown with Qi Tai now, he still had some preparations to do, and when he heard Qi Tai say this, he immediately snorted, sat up straight, smiled slightly, and said: "Lord Qi came from afar, today we don't talk about state affairs, only talk about Fengyue, the widow has prepared a little wine in the apse, ready to catch the wind for Lord Qi." ”

Qi Tai was stunned for a moment, then squeezed out a smile of great anticipation and gratitude, arched his hand at Zhu Ao, and said with a smile: "Thank you Your Highness for your kindness, then the minister will be respectful and obey his fate." ”

Zhu Ao stood up from his seat all of a sudden, looking at his appearance, he should be in a very good mood, turned around, and said to Huai En and the others who were standing behind: "Spread the decree, play music, and catch the wind for Lord Qi." ”

"The slave obeys." Wynn grabbed the dust in one hand, leaned it on his other shoulder, bent slightly at Zhu Ao, and smiled. Then he waved the dust and signaled the band behind him to play.

The drummer standing behind Zhu Ao's throne immediately blew and fought, and walked a very majestic military music, which was enough to give Qi Tai face.

Qi Tai was also very surprised that Zhu Ao had put on such a big battle to greet him, and he could even be said to be a little flattered, so he hurriedly greeted Zhu Ao and said, "Thank you, Your Highness, for your kindness, thank you, Your Highness." ”

Zhu Ao smiled slightly, stretched out his hand to take Qi Tai's hand, and said: "Lord Qi doesn't have to be polite, Lord Qi is now the secretary of the military department, assisting the new emperor in power, speaking with a conscience, Prince Yiwen is very good to our brothers." Now that his son has ascended the throne as the emperor, the widow is a hundred supports, Lord Qi has worked hard to assist my nephew and defend the country for my Ming Dynasty, it is really hard, and you should be courteous to the widow. ”

Qi Tai glanced at Zhu Ao, saw that his words were sincere, not like pretending, and couldn't figure out whether his words were true or false for a while, judging from his performance since he was a vassal, he was a very ambitious king, such people often have a strong desire for power, hope, and are never satisfied with power, just by his words, he thinks that he doesn't want to be the emperor, but wants to obediently assist the new monarch, Qi Tai can't believe it in his heart, Cao Cao didn't often declare himself to be a loyal minister? I often say to people that if it weren't for me, I don't know how many people would be called emperors and kings? The reason why I didn't give up my rights was just because I had conquered the Quartet and made too many enemies, and if I delegated power, I was afraid of retaliation from others.

But in the end, he still followed what he said: "If the destiny of heaven is returned, I am willing to be the king of Zhou Wen." ”

However, he could only mutter these words in his heart, he definitely didn't dare to say them, that would be a fool, and he made a gesture at Zhu Ao, and he also looked very weeping, and said: "Your Royal Highness has a good reputation, and the ministers are favored by the emperor and the first emperor, how can you not think of repaying the service?" His Royal Highness's public loyalty to the country moved the minister very much, and the minister will definitely show it to the saint when he returns, so that the saint can know His Majesty's loyalty. ”

"Hahaha." Zhu Ao laughed loudly, then took Qi Tai's hand and played it on a big carriage, and said as he walked: "The widow will thank Lord Qi for his kind words in advance." Life can get the confidant of Lord Qi, what more can the husband ask for, let's go, the widow is willing to return to Yili City with Lord Qi in the same car. ”

In ancient times, the king and the courtiers in the same car is a great honor for the courtiers, although Zhu Ao is only a vassal king, but in the final analysis, he is also the grandson of the phoenix, is the blood of Zhu Yuanzhang, according to the system of the Ming Dynasty, his status is only the first class of the Son of Heaven, and the rest of the people, no one can compete with him, to Qi Tai such a minister, even if he is an official for a lifetime, to be a good teacher, after seeing Zhu Ao, he also has to kneel and kowtow, and there can be no rudeness, otherwise he will be invited to tea by the emperor.

Therefore, Zhu Ao was willing to go in the same car with him, which gave him a big face, which made Qi Tai very panicked, so he could only bow to Zhu Ao again and again, and said: "Thank you Your Highness for your grace, the minister dare not be, the minister does not dare to be." ”

"Hey, what did Lord Qi say? You are a pillar of the country, and you are a minister appointed by the emperor himself, what do you dare not be? Zhu Ao didn't give Qi Tai a chance to refuse, grabbed his wrist, and pulled him straight to the car.

The two traveled in the same car, followed by a large number of civil and military officials, and returned to the new capital of the Su State, Yili.

Zhu Ao took Qi Tai to his temporary palace and took him to the largest house, and ordered Qi Tai to sit under him, and the rest of the civil and military officials were all under Qi Tai, and said: "The auspicious time has come, pass on the order of the widow, open the banquet, and receive the wind for the Lord Qi." ”

"The slave obeys." Huaien held the dust with both hands, bowed and said, and then clapped his hands at the little eunuch in the hall, and they immediately retreated, and after a while, there were all kinds of delicacies presented, there were many cuisines, but the main thing was the northwest characteristics, roast duck is there, there are also hand-grabbed mutton, stewed fish, stewed elbows, etc., anyway, now the animal husbandry of Suguo is very developed, meat products are very rich, you can take them out to entertain others.

When the food and wine were arranged, the group of little eunuchs obediently withdrew, and at this moment a group of dancing girls came in and began to dance in the middle of the house.

Considering that Qi Tai was a more orthodox Confucian minister and needed to hold a little stand in front of people, Zhu Ao did not arrange for his modern dance troupe to come to help the fun, and arranged traditional Western Regions dancers, so that Qi Taiqi, who was accustomed to watching Central Plains dance, changed his taste and feasted his eyes.

The music of the Western Regions is more cheerful and bright, and the dozen or so dancing girls are also very flexible and fast to dance to the beat of the music, their waists are very soft, they are also very tall, a pair of jade legs are very slender, dancing happily in the room, their eyes are all looking at their master, Su Wang Zhu Ao, but they attract the attention of all the men in the room.

Zhu Ao saw that Qi Tai frequently looked sideways at these dancing girls, and secretly said that you Confucian ministers claim to stay away from wine and wealth, and it seems that you are not uncannibalistic fireworks, so he secretly laughed at Qi Tai in his heart, and said: "Lord Qi, are you satisfied with these songs and dances?" ”

After all, Qi Tai doesn't need Li Jinglong, that buddy is a relative of the emperor, and Zhu Di, the king of Yan, is small, he grew up together, and he is used to entering and leaving the palace as casually as entering and leaving his own home, and he is used to seeing these princes, so he has always been more casual in front of them, and it is easy to relax his nerves and concentrate on enjoying singing and dancing, but Qi Tai is different, although he has achieved the high position of Shangshu, it can be said that he has reached the peak among civil officials, but in the final analysis, he is still a courtier, and he works for others. Such people are very cautious in front of the boss and the boss's relatives, and always walk on thin ice.

Therefore, Qi Tai did not lose his temper like Li Jinglong before, but as soon as he heard Zhu Ao's summons, he suddenly came back to his senses, thought secretly in his heart, arched his hand at Zhu Ao, and said with a smile: "Back to Your Highness, the dance in the Western Regions is really different from my Central Plains style, and it has a different flavor. ”

This is very official, as if praising the dance that Zhu Ao rewarded him with, but it sounds like he doesn't say anything, just a simple introduction to the different dance styles of the Western Regions and the Central Plains. In this way, only an old fritter like Qi Tai, who has been immersed in officialdom for many years, can come up with it in such a short time.

This old fox. Zhu Ao said secretly in his heart, knowing that he didn't want to get too close to him, so as not to affect his image in Zhu Yunwen's heart, and then affect his lofty political and political future.

You don't want to get close to the widow, the widow is too lazy to pay attention to you, this is the territory of the widow, is there still a lack of people who want to pat the widow? The widow said that the moon of this Su country is square, then he is square, and said with a smile: "Since Lord Qi likes it, please enjoy it, the next time you go to Su Guo, I don't know when it will be waiting." ”

He didn't plan to send a dance team to Qi Tai, first of all, he knew that Qi Tai was a standard Confucian minister, and considering Zhu Yunwen's opinion of him, he would not openly accept gifts from the vassal king. Second, he didn't think about giving gifts to Qi Tai, Qi Tai was different from Li Jinglong. Li Jinglong is Zhu Yuanzhang's messenger, Zhu Yuanzhang's authority is something that no one can shake, and Zhu Yuanzhang is a calf protector, he is a little better to Li Jinglong, he goes back to tell Zhu Yuanzhang about his goodness, Lao Zhu will be very happy in his heart, thinking that his son has grown up.

However, Qi Tai is different, Qi Tai is Zhu Yunwen's messenger, Zhu Yunwen is guarded against and suspicious of the vassal king in his heart, and no amount of gifts he gives him can offset his defense and suspicion of himself, unless he gives him the entire Su country, which is absolutely unacceptable to Zhu Ao. There are rumors in Qi Tai's envoy to Suguo this time that he is here to do something, so it is even worse to give gifts to show weakness at this time, which will make people think that you are a soft persimmon that can be slaughtered by others.

At this time, it is better to be tougher and have a certain amount of psychological pressure on Qi Tai, so that he, a courtier, will have scruples in his heart and throw a mouse bogey, so that he will not dare to mention some of his excessive requirements.

And Zhu Yunwen is far away in the sky, he doesn't know what happened to Su Guo, and when the time comes, he can make up an excuse to prevaricate the past, this point, Zhu Ao believes that Qi Tai can do it, because he is a reasonable person, and he doesn't want to die now.

When Qi Tai heard Zhu Ao say this, a flash of inspiration suddenly flashed in his mind, and he raised his eyes and secretly glanced at Zhu Ao, revealing a little essence in his eyes, but he still pretended to be careless on his face, as if he was at home with Zhu Ao, and said with a smile: "What His Highness said is true." The minister is in the capital, and it is not easy to make an envoy to Su Guo in the northwest, and it took two months to walk on the light road. To tell the truth, before the minister went on the road, he made the minister's favorite salted duck for the minister, and let the minister take it to eat on the road. However, although this salted duck has salt and can be kept for a longer time, how can it be shelf for two months? It broke down halfway, and it was thrown away by the minister, and it's a pity to think about it now. ”

Zhu Ao's eagle-like eyes instantly caught the light in Qi Tai's eyes, and he could see at a glance that he wanted to take this opportunity to lead himself to talk about canned food, in the end, he was an old fritter, and his clichés were so silent, at this time, he couldn't follow his words, otherwise he could only be brought to his rhythm, pretending not to understand him, and casually diverted the topic and said: "There is no saltwater duck in the capital, and there is also the roast duck in our Suguo." The roast duck of the Su country is famous all over the world, and now it has even become famous outside the territory, widely welcomed by Persia and even the big cannibals. ”

Qi Tai saw that Zhu Ao was not on the set, so he could only smile and say, "That's, that's." This delicacy invented by His Royal Highness can really be described as ancient and modern, not only ministers, but also emperors and emperors like to eat it. ”