Tie Hyun watched his daughter run away and smiled distressedly. He looked at Shen Ruoliao sincerely and said:

"Mr. Shen, please take a seat. Don't be polite, my family doesn't pay attention to it. ”

Shen Ruoliao has already seen that Tie Xuan is as enthusiastic and generous as his daughter, and he is not informal. He was no longer polite, sat down beside Tie Xuan, took out Fang Xiaoru's letter, and handed it to Lord Tie.

Taking advantage of Tie Xuan's time to read the letter, he carefully looked at the Shandong political sage in front of him.

Iron Willow was indeed born very much like her father; And Tie Xuan and Shen Ruoyu imagined that they were almost exactly the same. He has a high and broad forehead, dark and hard eyebrows, sharp and angular eyes, a straight nose, red lips and white teeth, and a short beard on his chin that is neatly combed, as neat as hair. Shen Ruoyu couldn't help but secretly admire a heroic and beautiful man.

At this moment, this well-known political suffocator in Jinan was reading the letter written to him by Fang Xiaoru intently, his thin lips were tightly closed, and his sword eyebrows were slightly locked. Then, he read the letter several more times from beginning to end, his eyes a little confused, and he fell into deep thought.

After a while, he refolded the letter, put it back in the envelope, raised his head, looked at Shen Ruoliao with concern, smiled slightly, and said:

"Brother Xi specifically mentioned Mr. Shen in the letter, does Mr. know?"

Shen Ruoyu was slightly taken aback: "I don't know; It was late when Mr. Fang sent me the letter, and ...... I can't open anyone's letter......"

Tie Xuan smiled and said, "I also have some friendship with His Royal Highness King Yan. When Mr. Shen saw His Royal Highness, please help me bring a greeting. ”

The prince really made friends; Shen Ruoyu looked at Tie Xuan, the other party's eyes were blazing, and he looked directly at him without avoidance, making him feel a little weak and didn't dare to look back.

He stiffened his head and asked, "Lord Tie and Mr. Fang should have had a long friendship, right?" ”

Tie Xuan said, "Of course. When I was still in school in Guozijian, I had the privilege of listening to Mr. Song Lian talk twice. Since then, I have known Fang Xizhi, and later became inseparable friends. ”

Shen Ruoyu made a rough calculation, Song Lian was exiled to Sichuan by Zhu Yuanzhang in the thirteenth year of Hongwu because of the eldest grandson Song Shen's party case of Hu Weiyong, and died in Kuizhou the next year. Yuan Heng told him that Tie Xuan was thirty-three years old this year, and if he had ever heard Song Lian speak, then he would only be fifteen years old at most when he entered the Guozijian. Shen Ruoyu already respected Tie Xuan very much, and when he calculated this number, the image of Lord Tie shone even brighter in his eyes, like a god.

He asked admiringly, "Mr. Fang told me that what he wrote in his letter was about the imperial court's reduction of the feudal domain. I don't know what Lord Tie thinks? ”

Tie Hyun was about to answer, but Tie Ryu suddenly ran in from outside and shouted:

"Daddy, let Mr. Shen stay and teach me to read."

Tie Xuan smiled: "Shouting, are there any rules?" ”

Tie Liu stood beside him and said coquettishly: "Good father, you are busy with official business all day long, and your mother is busy with housework, who will teach me to read." ”

Tie Xuan smiled at Shen Ruoyu and said, "Sir, don't be surprised; Tie spoiled this girl, crazy, and didn't look like a girl. ――Would the gentleman be willing to teach the little girl to read? ”

Shen Ruoyu had already panicked; Hearing Tie Xuan ask him in front of his daughter, he suddenly felt extremely embarrassed, and before his mouth was opened, his face and neck turned purple first.

"Lord Tie, I'm afraid this can't be done...... I haven't actually read a few books, but I happened to learn this one in "Mencius", and the class got an axe to tell the young lady nonsense, and I am already grateful if you don't blame me. If you really want to find a gentleman for the young lady, you should go to the school to find an old gentleman who is highly respected and well-educated, and not a half-man like me—what do you say? ”

Not to mention that he is not highly educated, even if he has the general talent of Fang Xiaoru, how can he be a teacher for a young and beautiful girl at the age of fourteen or fifteen; Shen Ruoyu has been tossed by Nangong Qiu recently, he doesn't think that he has any ability to sit still, it's better to stay away from danger.

Tie Hyun is clearly aware of the problem as well; Although he had agreed with his daughter's words when he first entered the door, he pondered at this moment and asked his daughter:

"Liu'er, Mr. Shen is from Beiping, you can't help but let the family go home, right? Teach you to read every day, and he can't do anything else. ”

Tie Liu said unconvinced: "Sir, you can move your family here." If the husband has parents, wife and children, he can also bring them all to Jinan to live. Wouldn't it be better for Daddy to arrange a place for them to live? Besides, I heard that Jinan has a pleasant climate and beautiful scenery than Beiping. ”

Tie Xuan smiled and said, "However, His Royal Highness King Yan is guarding the border in Beiping; Mr. Shen has been working under King Yan, how do you let him leave? Did you ask King Yan to move his family to Jinan as well? ”

Shen Ruoxiao hurriedly said: "What Lord Tie said is true; I really have to rush back to Peking immediately, and I don't know what new tasks the prince will give me when I go back. In addition, Jiaci has lived in Beiping for many years, has a deep relationship, and opened a small hotel, she is definitely reluctant to leave Beiping. It's really impossible for me to move, so please forgive me. ”

Tie Liu had nothing to say, so he had to complain to his father: "It's all my father's fault, I know how to try cases all day long, and I am busy with official business, regardless of Liu'er-"

Tie Xuan was obviously used to his daughter's complaints, and said with a smile: "Liu'er, say these words, aren't you afraid that Mr. Shen will laugh at you?" If you don't help your mother cook, your father and Mr. Shen will be hungry later. ”

After sending his daughter away, Tie Xuan asked with a smile: "Brother Xi said that Mr. Shen is young and promising; I don't know if Mr. Guigeng this year? ”

Shen Ruoyu said: "I am nineteen years old and born in spring. Mr. Fang always likes to brag about my cowhide, and almost praised me to the sky in front of the Son of Heaven. In fact, I just ate mixed rice in Beiping, and I can't talk about being young and promising at all. ”

Tie Xuan smiled: "Mr. is humble. Fang Xizhi's eyes, I know that it is difficult for ordinary characters to make him see them. And he never told lies. Mr. is so young, I don't know if he has a family? ”

Shen Ruoyu said in a panic: "No; Why did Tetsu-sama think of asking this? ”

Tie Xuan smiled and said, "If I were His Royal Highness King Yan, I would definitely want to marry my favorite county lord to a young talent like you." ”

Shen Ruoyu only felt that large drops of sweat were dripping down the back of his head; He didn't even have an idea how to answer Tie Xuan's words.

Tie Xuan sensed his embarrassment, suddenly smiled, became serious, and said:

"I don't know what Mr. thinks about cutting the feudal domain?"

He went straight to the point; Shen Ruoyu was caught off guard, stunned for a moment, and subconsciously replied:

"I'm afraid that the imperial court will force King Yan to rebel."

"Forced to rebel?" A sharp light flashed in Tie Xuan's eyes, "Rebels have their own anti-intentions, and what Mr. said 'forced rebellion', I don't know what it means?" ”

Shen Ruoyu felt that she had a gaffe, and it seemed that it was difficult to remedy. He hesitated for a moment, then calmed down and said:

"Lord Tie is straightforward and refreshing, so I'll be straightforward. My friendship with King Yan is actually not deep, I'm afraid I don't know much about the prince. What's more, in the past six months, I have been running outside, and I don't know anything about the situation in Beiping. A few days ago, I learned that the prince led his troops south to mourn, which caused the court to be very dissatisfied. The imperial court had now begun to vigorously reduce the feudal domain and depose the king of Zhou to Yunnan. With all due respect, if the court does not cut the domain, even if the prince is opposed, he will not find an excuse, he can't care less about his reputation; However, if the imperial court plans to deal with King Yan like King Zhou, and force King Yan to the end of the mountain, he has a heavy army, even if he has no rebellion, he will inevitably embark on the road of rebellion, and at this time he also has the truth to raise troops, it can be said that the Son of Heaven disregards the affection of flesh and blood, and disobeys the will of Taizu first. ”

Tie Xuan said calmly: "The Son of Heaven is the king, and although the King of Yan is old, he is a minister after all. Since ancient times, kings want their ministers to die, and ministers have to die; Now, the Son of Heaven didn't want King Yan's life, he just wanted to cut off his military power, even if he wanted to abolish his title and move him to a wild land, what was the excesses, let alone 'forced'. ”

Tie Hyun put his life on the line at the beginning, making all other possible rebuttals suddenly meaningless. Shen Ruoyu was helpless, sighed softly, and said:

"Lord Tie, if King Yan is not a prince, the biological son of Emperor Taizu, and the uncle of the current emperor, he will become a very outstanding courtier, a pillar of the country; However, now, regardless of whether King Yan is against him or not, it is impossible for him to serve the country loyally, although he still has the same outstanding talent. Because if he shows his talents, he is in the position of the prince, which will inevitably arouse suspicion, and make the court and the Son of Heaven feel that he is ambitious and covets the throne. Therefore, he will either be demoted, be a commoner for the rest of his life, and never have a future, or he will be a prince of peace, just enjoy himself all day long, but ask about state affairs, military and politics, and let his talents be buried and wasted, just to protect himself. Lord Tie, the same story abounds in history, but Zhou Gongfu became the king, but there was no one else; Has this become the truth, and that in order to stabilize his throne and avoid all the scourges of the wall, the Son of Heaven must sacrifice the prince's ability to govern the country, and would rather let the country suffer such losses? ”

His words came from the bottom of his heart, Tie Xuan listened to it, and he was speechless for a while, and he had to admit that what Shen Ruoyu said hit the nail on the head.

He was silent for a long time, and finally spoke: "Perhaps, the story of Zhou Gongfu becoming king can become a reality again." After all, there has been such a precedent and model, and we should always believe that future generations will always improve more than regress compared to their predecessors. ”

Shen Ruoyu didn't speak, worried.

Tie Xuan smiled kindly: "It seems that Fang Xizhi really didn't see the wrong person. Brother Ruo, this is the first time I have met someone like you, young and so far-sighted. ”

Shen Ruoyu was taken aback, raised his head, and looked at Tie Xuan; The other party's dark eyebrows are incomparably frank and sincere, just like the eldest brother Zhou Xiang in the real water village of Yeyao Mountain in the past, always giving people a feeling of solidity, integrity, sincerity and reliability.

He smiled lightly and said, "Lord Tie, you call me like this, it sounds much more comfortable than Mr. just now." ”

Tie Xuan smiled happily, "In that case, why are you so polite? ”

Shen Ruoyu blushed and said, "That's not good; You are different from me, you are an official of the imperial court, and I am just a shopkeeper, so I can't be your equal in any way. ”

Tie Xuan said loudly, "You're bored; You are a native of Beiping, and you are the right-hand man of His Royal Highness King Yan, how heroic King Yan is, how can I tolerate you being so calculating. Do you also want me to think that one day when you become a majestic general, my small participation in politics will be beyond your reach? ”

Shen Ruoliao was desperate and said, "Okay; So what do you want me to call you? ”

Tie Xuan said with a smile: "Emperor Gao's word is 'Keystone', and Tie likes to listen to people call me with words." If you don't dislike me for not living up to my name, call me Keystone. ”

Shen Ruoyu said: "One day, if I rebel with King Yan, then will you-?" ”

Tie Xuan smiled, "You won't; I believe in Fang Xizhi's vision, and I believe in my own judgment even more. But,-" He became serious, looked directly at Shen Ruoliao, and said clearly: "If what you said really misfortune happens, then please forgive me for being blunt, I, Tie Xuan, will never have the slightest relationship with any court traitor, of course I will break off friendship with you, and also with His Royal Highness King Yan, and will resolutely support the court, accept the edict of the Son of Heaven, and strike you mercilessly on the battlefield, there is no room for this matter." ”

Shen Ruoyu sighed: "But, I'm still a member of King Yan." Are you so sure I won't swear allegiance to King Yan? You must know that betraying King Yan is also notorious to me. Or did you not want to have any friendship with me in the first place? ”

The last sentence was very sarcastic. Tie Hyun heard his ridicule and smiled, "I want to be friends with you, that's why I said that." If you had not understood righteousness and discerned right from wrong, how could I have said this to you? ”

"Distinguish between right and wrong?" Shen Ruoyu smiled, "However, we obviously had a disagreement just now, and no one could convince anyone. Do you have such confidence in me? ”

Tie Xuan smiled confidently and said, "Just by the article "Mencius" you told Liu Er - 'Life, I also want it; Righteousness is also what I want; You can't have both, and those who sacrifice their lives to take righteousness are also. ’”

Shen Ruoyu was slightly stunned, and a wave of emotion came up in her heart. He said: "Then I will be shy and make a mistake, and from now on, I will call you 'Brother Keystone', how about it?" ”

Tie Hyun laughed heartily: "Happy; That's what a man looks like. - Let's go, the meal has been prepared, let's go and drink a pot; Tie Xuan and you hate to see each other late, if there are confidants in life, if Fang Xizhi and Shen Ruoliao live, what more can you ask for! Get drunk for your confidant today! ”

Tie Xuan has a very good amount of wine; Shen Ruoyu reluctantly drank two glasses with him, and the terrible feeling of ** incense came up a little hazy; He begged Tie Hyun for mercy, but Tie Hyun didn't force him, let him replace the wine with tea, and had a happy meal.

Then, Shen Ruoyu said goodbye to Tiefu, returned to the inn, and found Yuan Hui and Nangong Qiu.

"How's Tie Hyun and his people?" Yuan Hui came up and asked.

Shen Ruoyu was just about to answer, when he saw Nangong Qiu looking at him with blank eyes on the side, an evil thought suddenly flashed, glanced at her, and said with a wicked smile:

"Lord Tie has a daughter, but she is beautiful and well-behaved, and I taught her to read a page."

Nangong Qiu was dumbfounded; Yuan Hui was also very surprised:

"Iron Lord's daughter? - What about Tiehyun himself? ”

Shen Ruoyu said: "Lord Tie is a typical literati tough guy, loyal to the liver and courageous; Under the Son of Heaven, there are still a number of outstanding talents, and it is by no means an easy task to rob him. ”

Yuan Hui pondered for a moment, nodded, and said softly: "Emperor Taizu Gao's word for him is 'Keystone', which is very appropriate. In the future, this person will become the mainstay of the imperial court and the biggest obstacle to King Yan's seizure of the throne. ”

"Have you taken a fancy to Miss Tie?" Nangong Qiu asked timidly.

Shen Ruoyu couldn't help laughing: "Silly girl, I'll tease you." The golden branches and jade leaves of the political participants, where can I move that thought. ”

Nangong Qiu was obviously relieved, but he said smartly:

"If you like her, marry her. Since Lord Tie is a gentleman, his daughter must be very good. ”

Shen Ruoyu looked at her lying eyes and said with a smile:

"In that case, then I'll look for her early tomorrow morning."

"What?" Nangong Qiu was taken aback: "Didn't you say that you would leave for Beiping early tomorrow morning?" ”

Shen Ruoyu's eyebrows fluttered and said: "God-given good fate, the time will not come again, how can you miss it?" Don't you just want to stay in Jinan for two more days, look around, and have fun? ”

Nangong Qiu looked at him stupidly, helpless, and said sneeringly:

"I ...... I want to go home. ”