Recently, the weather near Luoyang has been abnormal, except for the rain, it is cloudy, and the night after the thunderstorm is still full of humidity. Because of the rebellion, there were almost no lights in the whole imperial city, and it was so quiet that people were afraid, and occasionally the night owls foraging outside the city chirped twice, and the sound was distant and bleak.

Pei Ling and Zhou Cang said that the imperial city was in danger, and asked Zhou Cang to return to Jizhou with him, and Zhou Cang had also promised to write to Huangfu Song early tomorrow morning.

A few days passed in a blink of an eye, Kong Rong was conscripted as a subordinate of Sikong Peng, appointed as a military candidate in Beizhong, and went to the north of Luoyang City to station, Pei Ling guarded the gate of the mansion every day, waiting for Zhou Cang's order, but there was no news.

On this day, Pei Ling was exercising, and a person with a thin voice entered the courtyard and announced that Emperor Shao of Han was waiting for him in the palace, and asked Pei Ling to leave immediately.

Pei Ling's heart said that he should not come, and he should not come blindly, but he did not dare to disobey the order, so he had to go back to the house to bathe and change clothes, and rushed to the palace on foot.

Suddenly, another small yellow door came and personally took Pei Ling in.

The palace looks at the layers from the outside, and the Qiong Tower is heavy, and it is grand. After coming in, I feel that it is exquisite, the eaves are hooked and the corners are hooked, and the temple is carved around the fence and jade. As for the place where Emperor Liu of the Han Dynasty came to the court, the Guidian Lan Palace was like a fairyland.

Xiao Huangmen whispered: "At this time, Situ Wang Yun and Shang Shu Ding Guan, Taifu Yuan Kui, Zhonglang General Lu Zhi and others discussed government affairs in the 'East Pavilion', and they did not wait. ”

Pei Ling nodded, looking up at this eastern view, which was the place where archives, classics, school books and writings were stored in the Eastern Han court. The "Dongguan Han Ji", which records the history of Emperor Guangwu to Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, was carried out here, and Cai Yong, Yang Biao, and Lu Zhi all participated in the continuation of the writing.

Pei Ling looked left and right, and only later did he feel that something was wrong, so he leaned over the lotus pond on his side and looked at the goldfish.

After another half an hour, Pei Lingfang heard the sound of the wooden door, and the old officials of several years rushed out, all looking at Pei Ling in surprise, and after a while, they all went. A few people will be discharged from the hospital door, and Liu Bian poked his head out at the palace gate and recruited: "Pei Ling, come quickly." ”

Pei Ling bowed in, bowed his head and said: "The last people came without being summoned by His Majesty, which is really abrupt. ”

Liu Bian personally took out some snacks and put them on top of Pei Ling's case, and said, "It's okay, I should have summoned you a few days ago, but I just ...... Alas......"

Pei Ling knew what he was sighing about, who else was there besides the domineering Dong Zhuo, but as a courtier, it was inconvenient for him to ask, and the atmosphere was embarrassing for a while.

After a while, Emperor Han saw that Pei Ling was silent and asked: "Originally, I wanted to give you the position of lieutenant general of the Yulin Army, but Dong Zhuo gathered his uncle He Jin's subordinates and claimed to be a general, and the appointment and dismissal of military attachés inside and outside the palace had to be reported to him. Liu Wei hung his head and said: "As soon as I talked about you, I was stopped by Dong Zhuo, and Yuan Shao also echoed from the side, only allowing you to be released as a county order, if you are interested, I should give it, if you dislike it, I will give you gold and silver in the mansion, and be a rich man." ”

Pei Ling couldn't help but sigh when he saw that Liu Zhuo only called me in private, not me, but only treated people sincerely and did not show the majesty of the Son of Heaven, but he really didn't expect that Dong Zhuo would be so domineering and dare to obstruct the emperor's personnel appointment.

Liu Wei thought that Pei Ling was silent, so he sighed: "Now that I am a puppet, I am being at will. Lane, insult the ancestors and ancestors..."After speaking, he looked lonely.

'It's rare to be so honest as an emperor, I'm afraid that I think I'm also a person who seeks advantage and avoids harm.' Pei Ling saw that Liu Zhi's face was gloomy, his mind was racing, and he coughed and said: "The people of the end said earlier, the ambition is not in the official, but if Your Majesty trusts, why can't I be a county commander, my hometown is Changshan Shiyi, the Yellow Turban Rebellion was burned, and then a new city was erected on its side, called Mingcheng!" ”

Liu Yan was stunned when he heard this, nodded and said, "En... So I know, so I will ask you to be the commander of Mingcheng County. ”

Pei Ling was overjoyed when he heard this, bowed down and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!" In this way, he can justifiably take Mingcheng for his own use.

"Well, this reward is too small, so there is no need to thank you." Liu Bian looked outside, it was already sunset, and there was no one around, so he left the case, took Pei Ling's hand and said: "I mentioned your life-saving grace to my mother before, and she wanted to thank you in person, and now it's time for dinner, come with me!" ”

Pei Ling's heart moved when he heard this, the Queen Mother actually summoned him as an insignificant person, but he was not qualified to object, so he calmly followed, jokingly: "Your Majesty, don't hold hands, I am not a woman......"

"Hahahaha......"

……

The imperial palace of Luoyang in the Eastern Han Dynasty is divided into two palaces, the south and the north. The two palaces are connected by a roofed compound road, which is seven miles long from north to south.

The layout of the South Palace is neat and orderly, regular and symmetrical, and it is the place where the emperor and the bureaucrats congratulate and discuss politics. The north palace is mainly the palace where the emperor and his concubines live, and its status is more important than that of the south palace, so the building is magnificent and luxurious.

There is a short corner hall in the northeast of the palace, called Le'an Palace, although this hall is not as clean and gorgeous as the southern palace, it is finely carved, extremely dignified and atmospheric. The original name of this palace is Jiade Palace, because Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty lived for his Dong family, renamed Yongle Palace to promote filial piety, after the Empress Dowager Dong was poisoned by He Jin, the Empress Dowager He proved that she was not an accomplice, and had a clear conscience, so that Liu Wei moved here after succeeding to the throne.

"Thou hast saved Thou shalt be grateful, and thou shalt not be polite to thee, and dine at will."

"The people of the end thank the Queen Mother!" Pei Ling knelt at the foot of the steps of Yongle Palace, bowed his hand and thanked him, the ritual of kneeling and worshipping in the Han Dynasty was not particularly important, and the monarchs and ministers were all kneeling on the mat, so there was no such servility as Tatar Qing.

"Don't be polite, since you are good with you, you can be regarded as a family, and you are at will!" Empress Dowager He's voice is crisp and tactful, if the voice of the warbler swallows, there is no taste of the empress dowager's honor.

"The people don't dare..."Pei Linggang wanted to be humble, but when he heard Liu Fan cough, he looked up and saw that his face was full of disgust, and he said that he was still a child, so he changed his words: "The people of the end of the country thank the queen mother for her love." ”

When Empress Dowager He saw Liu Bian's small temperament, Qiu Bo turned slightly, and said with a smile: "Bian'er has been sticky since she was a child, and now she is the Son of Heaven, but she is still a child's heart, and she accepts it frankly." "This Empress Dowager He looks like she is only twenty-five or sixteen years old, and she is still in her prime. The national color of the birth, glamorous as a peach and plum, coupled with the graceful dress, beads and greenery, and a thousand manners, it is no wonder that the crown can be overwhelming in the harem of the ghost Han Ling Emperor.

Pei Ling didn't know whether it was delusion or self-absorption, but he always felt that this Empress Dowager He was quite coquettish with a smile, as if it was provocative, but there was no sense of enchantment. He didn't dare to look up, only nodded yes.

"I was taken out of the palace with my brother before, and I lost to meet Pei Qing!" Liu Bian said happily: "Duan Jue's eunuchs, who boast of their strong martial arts on weekdays, have few opponents, but were scared away by Pei Qing's three punches and two feet, haha..." ”

Concubine Tang, the concubine of the Han Emperor, is still young, and she is also delicate and delicate, like a flower, but seeing that outsiders are still shy and not good at words, at this time, when she saw Liu Zhixing, she opened her mouth lightly and said: "Pei Qing is very skilled, I don't know how to compare with Wang Anrui, the swordsman of King Chen Liu?" ”

Pei Ling lowered his head, secretly embarrassed, relying on Guan Yunchang's knife, I am afraid that he will not be able to avoid Lu Fengxian and Wang Anrui's move. At this time, it is estimated that the god of war Lu Bu and the emperor Wang Yue are not far from Luoyang, how dare they call themselves strong, but they are the emperor and queen of the deep palace, and they can't see the masters.

"Well......" Liu Yanwei pondered for a while, and said: "I'm afraid it's better than that, the first emperor Zeng Yun, Wang Anrui's swordsmanship can be called the first in the world, and only the Fenwei general Deng Zhan can fight with one of them." Liu Bian immediately said: "It's just that my father actually paid it to King Chen Liuwang as a teacher, and I am angry!" ”

When Empress Dowager He heard this, she sighed faintly and said: "That Wang Yue is a person who is greedy for power, and there is such a person as a role model, and I don't blame Liu Xie for being a ghost and scheming since he was a child. ”

Seeing that the emperor and queen were all indignant, Pei Ling looked at his nose and nose, lowered his head and concentrated on dealing with the food, this harem matter was the most cunning and murderous, how could he dare to get involved.

Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Concubine Tang said: "It's not interesting to just drink and eat, why don't you let the dancers come up and dance for Pei Qing?" ”

It's not a formal feast, nothing to dance, why is Concubine Tang's tone trembling? Pei Ling frowned, feeling that something was wrong.

Sure enough, I saw that the Empress Dowager He straightened her upper body, concave and convex, graceful and familiar. The woman's figure made Pei Ling's eyes light up, and her jade hand raised a cup and said: "What is the meaning of dance music, since Pei Qing is good at martial arts, why don't you dance a sword skill?" ”

Pei Ling frowned lightly when he heard this, and excused himself: "The last people don't bring blades, and they are not good at sword dancing. ”

Empress Dowager He had already prepared, her jade palm was lightly closed, and she called: "Let's stage the martial arts." His wonderful eyes turned to Pei Ling, and said softly: "If there is no shortage of weapons in the palace, let's dance casually!" ”

Emperor Liu Wei of the Han Dynasty also smiled and said: "Pei Qing will come to a while, so that they can also see it!" ”

At this time, the two little eunuchs brought up a weapon, swords, guns, swords, halberds, axes, hooks, forks, and eighteen kinds of weapons.

Pei Ling couldn't, sighed, reached out and took a pair of thin swords specially used for sword dancing from the weapon rack, danced two sword flowers, and said in amazement: "This sword... Not a golden stone? ”

Empress Dowager He smiled and said: "It is worthy of being a person who practices martial arts, and you will know that this sword is a black birch, which is the wood of the mountains and forests of Liaodong, hard and steel, filled with lead water, and the same weight as steel, and has always been used for martial arts in the palace. ”

"It turned out to be an iron birch tree" Pei Ling suddenly, this black birch is an iron birch, which grows in Japan, North Korea, Russia, and domestic Kyrgyzstan, Liao, etc., generally in the slope area at an altitude of 700 meters. It is three times harder than oak and twice as hard as regular steel, making it the hardest wood in the world and is often used as a substitute for metal.

Pei Ling didn't speak, and his chin gestured that he could start.

The sound of Jin Ge Iron Horse sounded in Yongle Palace! Pei Ling danced twice with a double sword, but felt quite uncomfortable with a sword, in the previous life, he used to fight in battle, and occasionally fought with a single knife and two swords, at this time, the music of the battlefield was played, and the swordsmanship became more and more unperformable, so he stopped and looked at the musicians in the corner of the hall, and said softly: "This sound is too killing, it is not suitable for banquet sword dance, you can have some soothing tunes?" ”

When the Empress Dowager He heard this, she smiled and signaled to change the dance sound, and the eunuch had an order to remove the chime, weaving, and huqin one by one, and replace them with Dong Xiao, Guzheng, five-string pipa and other musical instruments, and a song of Chang'an rose ethereally.

The song of Chang'an was originally a sleeve dance, which was danced by Bo Ji and Mrs. Qi of Liu Bang, the lord of Henkel. Frustrated, ethereal and distant.

Pei Ling heard the song and started to fight, the sword went to the center, in an instant, as fast as carrying wind and electricity, Pei Ling had been lying on the couch for many years, he had not touched the sword for a long time, and he was young at the beginning, but he entered the realm of forgetting things and me in a moment!

The sound of frustration sounded, the swordsmanship is like flowing water, the dragon goes out to sea, and when walking, it dances like a butterfly, but it implies the majestic momentum of the coiled dragon and the crouching tiger, turning around and splitting the sword is more like a strange python turning over, and the ancient meaning of this clumsy, gentle and majestic, lingering bullet wipe all on the tip of the sword!

"Good! Pei Aiqing's swordsmanship is elegant, with thousands of twists and turns, and there is a feeling of being born out of the dust! Seeing the exquisiteness of his dance, Liu Wei applauded loudly, drank the wine in the cup again and again, and was drunk after a while.

Concubine Tang covered her lips with her hands, but she only felt that the swordsmanship was fluttering, dazzling, and amazed.

Empress Dowager He is beautiful eyes ripples, seeing Pei Ling's continuous moves, chic and elegant, and even a tiger's back and bear's waist, ape arms and leopard legs, what a beautiful young man with sword eyebrows and bright teeth!

At this moment, a eunuch suddenly came behind the Empress Dowager He and whispered a few words in the Empress Dowager's ear. Empress Dowager He nodded, and the eunuch retreated.

After making an appointment with a cup of tea, the dance music was about to stop, Pei Lingfang wanted to regain momentum, and suddenly eight swordsmen jumped out next to the hall, surrounding Pei Ling, and the sword net suddenly covered his body!

Pei Ling was shocked, and a longitudinal cloud rose from the ground. He turned and pointed his sword at two of them. Looking sideways, Emperor Han was also stunned, but the second queen was bright!

Pei Ling's two swordsmanship points out, and then the two swords spin downward, and one sword covers the enemy with a knee pad sword. Another sword stabbed at the enemy like a white snake spitting out a letter.

These eight swordsmen are just some Kong Wu eunuchs, and they have no great skills, Pei Ling's double swords are connected, and five of them are poked and can't fight!

At this moment, a loud shout suddenly came from the gate of the temple: "Your Excellency, good swordsmanship!" Take my sword! ”