The thirteenth year of the Kaiyuan Dynasty was a turning point in the lives of many subjects.

As early as a year ago, when the matter of sealing Zen was first decided, Zheng Yi heard similar words from his father-in-law. Zheng Yi didn't understand at the time, but at the foot of Mount Tai today, he realized his father-in-law's intention - the Son of Heaven actually handed over the list of officials accompanying him to his father-in-law for ruling!

For Zheng Yi, to be able to come to Mount Tai and participate in the grand ceremony of great significance of Feng Zen, although he has the luck of his life, he can't eat or touch, but if he goes up the mountain again, the benefits will fall into the palm of his hand, and he can't run away.

Zheng Yi was happy, but when he saw Zhang Jiuling, who had always been trusted by his father-in-law, he frowned slightly, and persuaded his father-in-law to consider it again. He couldn't help but roll his eyes secretly, thinking that his father-in-law was the head of a hundred officials, and he was deeply trusted by the saints, if he couldn't do this little thing, wouldn't it be a joke? The saints didn't say anything, so what about the anger of the other officials?

Sure enough, the father-in-law was unmoved, and still let his son-in-law and a group of cronies keep up with the top of Mount Tai.

If it weren't for such an opportunity, how could he, Zheng Yi, a minor official of the ninth grade, be able to see the brilliant demeanor of a saint and a man so closely, and how could he feel the great pride of the rivers and mountains at his feet so closely? For the first time, the rivers and mountains of the Tang Dynasty appeared clearly in his eyes, and the honor of meeting the Holy Lord poured into his heart for the first time. He finally understood why his father-in-law was convinced by the saint, and at the same time deeply believed that the trip was worth it.

If it weren't for such an opportunity, how many years would he have to work hard to be among the five noble ones, not to mention the golden belt of Zhu Yi, but also in the same room with the saint at the celebration banquet after the sealing of Zen, and drink this celebratory wine together? For a while, Zheng Yi only felt his eyebrows raised.

In the past, at such times, he bowed his head respectfully and respectfully, and had no time to see anything, but now he finally has the opportunity to take a good look at everything around him, even if it is a saint on the throne.

As soon as he raised his glass and drank wine, he looked at the saint and met a faint gaze.

The first celebrity who looked at the saint, the inner guard, the general of the right prison guard, and Xiao Jiangyuan, who his father-in-law kept saying that he could not be underestimated, and even treated him politely. Usually he hardly met her, and he didn't notice her when he was on the top of Mount Tai, so he only recognized her purple official uniform, but he didn't know her appearance, and this was the first time he saw her face.

I saw that her skin was as white as snow, her eyebrows were slender and her temples were long, she was like a distant mountain, the bridge of her nose was straight like a knife, the tails of her eyes were slightly raised, and her lips were like cherries in season. There was always a slight smile on her lips, which made people feel like a spring breeze, and she couldn't help but want to get close, even though he had already learned from her father-in-law that it was just her politeness.

He couldn't believe that Xiao Jiangyuan was alienated by nature, especially after seeing it today. He even wondered if his father-in-law was too cautious, this General Xiao's reputation has always been gentle and peaceful, safe and good-tempered, how can you see the word "alienated"?

Her gaze was as faint as a breeze, as if it was just a casual glance, and then she looked at each other and then turned away. Seeing her kneeling sideways on the left side of the saint, trying vegetables for the saint from time to time, Zheng Yi turned to look at the saint.

Saints are different. Although he was eating vegetables, he looked left and right, looking happy and leisurely, but he had his own majesty, which made people respectful. Thinking of his father-in-law's closeness to the saint, Zheng Yi wanted to tell his father-in-law that the saint was called "alienation".

The saint seemed to see that something was wrong, although he was still smiling, his eyebrows tightened slightly, and he turned his head to talk to General Xiao.

After all, Zheng Yi only had five grades, his seat was still some distance away from the emperor's, and there was music in the room, so he couldn't hear what Li Longji and Xiao Jiangyuan were talking about, so he had to judge whether it was good or bad by the demeanor of the two of them.

He saw that Xiao Jiangyuan's smile remained unchanged, and Li Longji did not show any signs of annoyance, so he put his mind at ease, but immediately saw Li Longji's gaze, which fell on himself after looking around the room for a week. Before he had time to be surprised, he heard Li Longji call himself to him.

He hurriedly put down the wine cup in his hand, got up and walked forward quickly, bowed his hand, and heard Li Longji ask: "I saw you yesterday when you were still a nine-grade green dress, why did you change your body today and actually wear a five-grade red robe?" ”

Zheng Yi's face turned red all of a sudden. He lowered his head and didn't dare to look at Li Longji's expression: "The ministers don't dare to trespass, and the color of their clothes has changed, naturally because the official rank has changed." ”

Li Longji raised his eyebrows when he heard this: "After Taishan and his party, the accompanying officials have been promoted, but they are not as good as you, and they have been promoted to four grades in a row." You must have done something great to achieve such exaltation, but I can't think of it for a while. Let's talk about it, lest everyone be dissatisfied, and if the five grades are not enough, I will personally correct your name. ”

"This ......" Zheng Yi was completely speechless, did he want him to say it clearly, all this was just because he was the prime minister's son-in-law? His father-in-law doesn't want to be embarrassed, he still wants it.

Everyone in the room had different looks, some watched the show, some watched the joke, but they didn't want to reach out to help. Prime Minister Zhang said that he was naturally present, and just as he was about to get up, he was pressed on the shoulder by Zhang Jiuling, who came to his side at some point. Zhang Shuo raised his eyes and saw that Zhang Jiuling was kneeling with his robe lifted and sat gracefully, his posture was pleasing to the eye, but his expression was serious, and he shook his head at himself.

At this moment, a good girl beat the drum and opened his mouth to break the peace of this moment: "This is the power of Mount Tai. ”

The room burst into laughter. Zheng Yi's face turned pale, and he just wanted to say something, but was waved by Li Longji, who shook his head and smiled, and rushed back to his seat.

After the dinner, seeing that Zhang Shuo was completely relieved, Zhang Jiuling sighed secretly, followed Zhang and said, "Didn't Xianggong think that Zheng Langjun's matter would be over today?" ”

Zhang said that his face was slightly drunk and full of confidence: "Otherwise? ”

Zhang Jiuling frowned slightly: "The sage clearly noticed the unhappiness of most of the officials and soldiers, and then thought that it was Xianggong's favoritism that caused everyone's dissatisfaction, so he deliberately provoked Xianggong's son-in-law to come out and ask, so as to beat Xianggong." ”

Zhang Shuo raised his eyebrows and smiled: "I know." ”

"Since Xianggong is not carried away by joy, he will adjust Zheng Langjun's official position tomorrow, whether it is the seventh rank or the eighth grade, or simply transfer to the local area and promote him, but don't be so eye-catching. Xianggong has offended the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty at present, but Xianggong's good governance has not yet ended, and he must not lose the trust of the saint again. ”

"Zishou doesn't have to worry, I know it in my heart." Zhang said that he knew that Zhang Jiuling had to do things well on weekdays and did not participate in anything else, and he was able to say so much to him because he was sincere to him. Seeing that Zhang Jiuling stubbornly blocked his way, quite a posture of not giving up until he reached his goal, Zhang Shuo couldn't help laughing and explained:

"After the Taishan Feng Zen, the saint's affection for me has surpassed that of the previous prime ministers, otherwise with the strictness of the saint in the past, how could he let it go so lightly today? The saint was in a much better mood than you and I thought, and he struck, and I knew it, and that was enough. As Zishou said, today Ah Zheng is promoted to the fifth grade, and tomorrow it will be lowered again, where is the prestige of my prime minister? The saint also wanted to save my face, so he didn't give any disposition. ”

On the top of Mount Tai, Li Longji's words to him are still in his ears: May you and I never be like this today - where is this the level that ordinary monarchs and ministers can achieve?

With Zheng Yi's incident, Zhang Shuo can be regarded as testing Li Longji's affection for him. In his opinion, if this matter can be let go, then Li Longji will treat him with real trust and love, and at that time, he will really be in power and unsurpassed-this cannot be said to Zhang Jiuling.

In the next few days, Li Longji really didn't mention this matter again, which not only made Zhang Shuo more and more determined, but also made Zhang Jiuling secretly relieved. But just as a group of people set out from the foot of Mount Tai and returned according to the predetermined route, Li Longji suddenly demoted Zheng Yi and reinstated him on the grounds of disturbing the people.

Although this reason is far-fetched, it is not traceless, so even if Zhang Jiuling repeatedly reminded him, Zhang Shuo still felt that this was because Zheng Yi made his mistake first, and it could not affect him in the slightest.

A petty official who has returned from the fifth rank to the ninth grade really can't shake the chief prime minister of the dynasty, but he can pry people's hearts.

Li Longji saw Zhang Shuo's attitude in his eyes, and on the surface he didn't mind, but he still smiled at him, but as soon as he turned around, he could pull down his face, and he couldn't leave a trace of smile, which showed that he didn't endure it for a day or two.

As long as Li Longji held back and didn't speak, Xiao Jiangyuan didn't coax him once. She wasn't worried about Li Longji at all, because she knew that no matter what happened, it would not make her family's Ah Lang Zhi feel complacent and be ruined. It's just a momentary dissatisfaction, and it's too late to return to Luoyang in the future.

On this day, everyone arrived at Wenshui, Bingzhou. Because this is the hometown of Empress Zetian, Li Longji deliberately stayed here for a few more days. He also took Xiao Jiangyuan and Weifu to take a stroll on the street. Listening to the villagers, since the Empress Zetian has left her hometown and entered the palace for decades, and the state can be described as a vicissitudes of life, and its changes are far from being summed up by the four words of things and people.

Therefore, Xiao Jiangyuan was happy, but also a little disappointed. In this way, I am afraid that in any place in the state, there will be no trace of Empress Zetian.

In this regard, Li Longji was very proud: "If you can't see your grandmother, you can look at me." ”

Xiao Jiangyuan: "......"

It was winter, and there was a drought, at this time in previous years, Li Longji was leading hundreds of civil and military officials to eat in Luoyang, and the end point of the return trip was more Chang'an to Luoyang. Songzhou was the last stop before arriving in Luoyang, and this night was also the last night of Feng Chan's party, and Li Longji specially ordered to prepare a dinner party and have fun with the ministers.