"No, no." Wang Xiaolai smiled dryly and waved his hand.

After clearing his throat, Wang Xiaolai began to speak.

"This story is called Extinguishing the Candle."

The empress was puzzled: "Extinguish the candle?" What do you mean? ”

"The content of the story is like this, in the long history of my hometown, there is a country called the State of Chu, and the story also happened in a time when the King of Chu set up a banquet in the main hall to entertain the civil and military ministers."

I have to say that Wang Xiaolai has a talent for storytelling, and after three or two sentences, the empress's curiosity came up, so she squatted down and listened carefully.

"Next, what about after the king of Chu entertained his ministers?" The Empress asked.

Narcissus said disdainfully on the side: "Your Majesty, you are also willing to listen to the story he made up." ”

The empress smiled and beckoned to Narcissus: "What's the hurry, anyway, there's nothing to do right now, it's better to listen." ”

"Then Your Majesty, you should listen to it yourself, and I'll pour you tea."

"Uh-huh."

When the narcissus was gone, the empress urged Wang Xiaolai to go down.

Wang Xiaolai also nodded, hummed, and lowered his voice: "At the banquet, the king of Chu and his courtiers did not talk about drinking and having fun, but even summoned his beloved concubine to come out and dance in front of the court. ”

"It turns out that those monarchs in your hometown are not much different from Sui Yang." The empress complained.

Wang Xiaolai was speechless: "Your Majesty, this is not yet the climax, don't interrupt it." ”

The empress nodded obediently: "Okay, I won't interrupt, you go on." ”

Wang Xiaolai continued to speak: "Just when the concubine of the king of Chu was dancing, outside the hall, a gust of wind suddenly blew, blowing down the candlesticks on the hall. ”

When the empress heard this, Wang Xiaolai was startled.

"Your Majesty, what's wrong with you?" Wang Xiaolai patted his chest and asked.

The empress grinned and stretched out a finger: "I understand, the king of Chu was assassinated by the assassin while the candle flame was extinguished, Xiao Laizi, is what I said right?" ”

After speaking, he looked at Wang Xiaolai and looked at himself expressionlessly, and for a while, the empress lowered her head, oh oh twice, and said, "Okay, I shut up, you continue to speak." ”

Wang Xiaolai stretched out his hand and pointed at the empress: "Don't make trouble anymore." ”

The empress nodded like pounded garlic.

Only then did Wang Xiaolai go down and said: "In the dim hall, when the king of Chu was about to order his attendants to light the candlelight on the hall. His beloved concubine groped and ran over, holding a tasseled hairpin in her hand, and cried to the king of Chu that some ministers had been rude to him just now when the candlelight was extinguished. Fortunately, in a panic, he grabbed the ornamental hairpin on the minister's head, and begged the king of Chu to order the candle to be lit immediately, so that all the ministers could confront him face to face. ”

When the empress heard this, she couldn't help but say: "I think that the king of Chu should have sent someone to close the door of the main hall, and then look for the ministers who despised his beloved concubine one by one, right?" ”

As she spoke, the empress realized that she had broken down again, and hurriedly covered her mouth.

Looking at the cute appearance of the empress, Wang Xiaolai smiled, and then shook his head: "No, Your Majesty, you guessed wrong, the King of Chu did not do this, on the contrary, he also ordered the attendants to pass on the decree, so that everyone in the palace took off the hairpin on their heads and threw it outside the main hall, and only after everyone had done this thing did they order the candle to be lit." ”

The empress was stunned: "Why? ”

Wang Xiaolai smiled: "Want to know?" ”

The Empress nodded.

Wang Xiaolai had a proud expression on the storyteller's appetite, and then said: "The king of Chu preached to his angry concubine, today's formal banquet, all the civil and military officials are already drunk, and after being drunk, how can they be taken seriously? ”

"The king of Chu you said is open-minded." The empress said.

Wang Xiaolai said: "It's not over yet, Your Majesty, there are still below." ”

Empress: "??? There you don't say it earlier. ”

Wang Xiaolai: "···"

At this time, Narcissus had already walked back with the poured tea, and when he saw that the empress was still asking, he said: "Your Majesty, this guy must be talking nonsense, you don't have to believe him." ”

The Empress took a sip of tea from Narcissus's hand and said, "No, I would like to hear what happened next. ”

When Wang Xiaolai heard this, he smacked his mouth.

The empress also understood, so she handed the tea she had just taken a sip of to Wang Xiaolai.

Looking at the tea, Wang Xiaolai didn't reach out to take it.

The empress was still puzzled: "What's the matter, aren't you thirsty?" ”

"Ahem, then what Your Majesty, haven't you drunk this cup of tea, there is ambergris on it, I am an ordinary person, how dare I use it."

The empress forced into Wang Xiaolai's hand: "What so much nonsense, hurry up, I still have to listen to what is going on below." ”

Wang Xiaolai: "Okay, okay. ”

Anyway, the empress didn't care, what did she have to care about, she picked it up, swallowed it in one gulp, and followed Wang Xiaolai and said, "The banquet of King Chu this time will be over." Even, after sobering up, the king of Chu forgot about it. But five years later, the enemy country attacked, its momentum was unstoppable, the army of Chu was defeated again and again, and seeing that the enemy entered the national capital, the king of Chu had no available generals. When he was desperate, one of them recommended himself. ”

"Wait!"

Just as Wang Xiaolai was impassioned, the empress called out to him.

Wang Xiaolai looked at the empress puzzled, and saw the empress asking, "What is Mao Sui's self-recommendation?" ”

Wang Xiaolai: "··· That's another story, I'll tell you when I'm free. ”

"Oh, then you go on, how is the one named Mao Sui."

"Well, Your Majesty, it was that person Mao Sui who recommended himself, not that person named Mao Sui. Forget it, I'm struggling with you about this, in short, Your Majesty, you know that there is this person. Wang Xiaolai was also speechless: "That man went into battle, fought in the first city for several days and nights, would rather die than retreat, and finally persevered until the reinforcements arrived and repelled the enemy's attack." After the war, the king of Chu was greatly moved, took the warrior's hand and asked, Lone has no kindness to you on weekdays, why are you so desperate this time? ”

"What did the man say?" The Empress asked.

Wang Xiaolai smiled and said, "That man said, "The minister is the one who was the last in the palace that day. ”

Speaking of this, Wang Xiaolai looked at the empress and smiled: "Your Majesty, do you understand?" ”

When the empress heard this, she lowered her head and thought thoughtfully.

Wang Xiaolai hit the railway while it was hot: "Your Majesty, it's like this, if you also follow the example of King Chu and let Ning Shiguang go, first, you will get a fierce general, and second, you will get his allegiance, why not?" Besides, right now Sui Yang is the time to employ people. Didn't you also say it, then Ning Shiguang is the old department under the command of Marquis Lu, and he has achieved the position of a fourth-grade general by virtue of his military exploits, such a person must not be a waste. You let him out, and after Hou Ye Lu returns to the court, let him and Hou Ye send troops east together to take Zhao Sui, isn't that a beautiful thing? ”

When the empress heard this, she laughed, and pointed at Wang Xiaolai with her hand: "You, you, in the end, let me let Ning Shiguang go, right?" ”

Wang Xiaolai touched his head and smirked: "In the end, I can't hide it from Your Majesty." ”

The empress slapped her thigh: "Okay, since that's the case, then I'll learn how to extinguish the candle and extinguish the candle from the King of Chu, Narcissus." ”

Narcissus came up with a fist: "Your Majesty." ”

"Go, pass the decree to the heavenly prison and release Ning Shiguang."

Narcissus hesitated a little: "Your Majesty, did you really let him go?" ”

The empress nodded and said with a smile: "After all, you don't have any jokes, go ahead." ”

Narcissus then turned and left.

After the people left, the empress looked at Wang Xiaolai: "In this way, you can make a deal with Jin Shichang." ”

Wang Xiaolai hummed a little embarrassed.

Seeing this, the empress was not angry: "Next time, if you dare to agree to this kind of thing casually, see how I clean you up." ”

Wang Xiaolai hurriedly waved his hand: "No, no." ”

"It's better not."

"Speaking of which, Xiao Laizi, tomorrow Lu Yiping leaves Daxing City, you go and send him off." The empress recalls the old words.

Wang Xiaolai was a little puzzled: "Why?" ”

The empress smiled: "No matter how you say it, then Lu Yiping has also survived under your protection until now, nominally speaking, you are also his friend, what, my friend took office, you don't go to send it, don't you think it's a little unreasonable?" ”

When the empress said this, she was sure that she was not fishing for Wang Xiaolai's fish, but what Wang Xiaolai couldn't understand was why the empress had to let herself send Lu Yiping?

Could it be that Your Majesty has a fever?

Wang Xiaolai thought so.