The autumn wind was raging, blowing the garden outside the Luohan Palace. The drizzle continued, and the platform outside the Luohan Hall was full of novices kneeling in gray robes.

Forget Chen knelt in front of all the novices, side by side with the presiding officer of Hanshan Temple, his eyes were level ahead, there was no sadness or joy on his face, and he let the eunuch who pronounced the decree read the decree with a sharp voice.

"Master Li, take the order."

The bright yellow holy decree was in front of him, but Li Huaijin didn't reach out to take it. Two years ago, in such a cold and damp weather, a bright yellow holy decree fell into his hands, cutting off his only concern.

"Li Gongzi, take the order." Seeing that he did not move, the eunuch raised his voice to remind him.

"Forget the dust, take the order quickly." Before the eunuch was embarrassed, the host pushed Li Huaijin next to him and asked him to accept the decree quickly.

Li Huaijin didn't move, looked at the eunuch with a sad gaze, and asked word by word: "What if the poor monk doesn't take it?" ”

Everyone was frozen, and the eunuch of the decree frowned and looked at him, and only after a while did he persuade him, "Gongzi Li, resisting the decree is to punish the nine clans, you must think clearly." ”

Zhu Jiu Clan? Hehe, two years ago, the emperor used this as a threat and forced him to cut off the edge of the dust and become a monk; Now that he has come to this trick again, it is expected that he is reluctant to let his family fall down, and he can handle it as much as he wants?

It's a pity that the Li family has guarded the border for generations, and the family ancestor is loyal to the king, but such loyalty falls in the eyes of the superiors, and it is just a trick to manipulate them. Loyal to the king, is it not even possible to recognize what kind of king he is loyal?

Thinking about it, Li Huaijin laughed, raised his eyes to look at the eunuch lightly, and asked coldly: "Forget Chen has been expelled from the Li family tree, and there is only one person in the nine clans. ”

The eunuch was startled, and hurriedly asked people to come up from the mountain, and when the people came onto the platform, Li Huaijin's face finally changed.

"Huai Jin." General Li was dressed in a navy blue robe, and he was a little less fighting and more elegant as a literati.

Li Huaijin closed his eyes in despair, his Adam's apple rolled for a while, and finally his voice was dumb, "Dad." ”

"Master Li, take the order." The great eunuch breathed a sigh of relief, stuffed the holy decree into Li Huaijin's hand, and breathed a long sigh of relief. Or His Majesty thought thoughtfully and let General Li accompany him.

Clenching the bright yellow holy decree in his palm, Li Huaijin trembled and fell to the ground, his voice hoarse, "The grass people thank Lord Longen." ”

Li Yuanzheng looked at his son's painful appearance, and his heart also throbbed, and the deep-rooted loyalty to the monarch since childhood was slightly shaken for the first time. The Li family has been loyal to the people for generations, is it going to end up being coerced like this?

"Huai Jin." Li Yuanzheng couldn't bear to stretch out his hand and helped Li Huaijin up from the ground. "Let's go home with my father."

"Okay." Li Huaijin staggered down the mountain, his gray robe was drenched in the drizzle, and the cold stuck to his body, expelling the last warmth on his body.

Before getting into the carriage, Li Huaijin bowed heavily to Hanshan Temple three times, and then bowed his head and got into the carriage.

"Huai Jin, you have suffered in the past two years." Looking at his son's slick head, Li Yuanzheng patted him on the shoulder distressedly.

Li Huaijin shook his head expressionlessly, stared down at his fingertips, and asked in a dumb voice for a while: "Dad, is she okay?" ”

She? Who? Li Yuanzheng was stunned for a while before he realized who she was referring to when he asked. His heart suddenly tightened, but Li Yuanzheng clenched his back molars but couldn't say anything.

"Daddy?" Unable to get the answer he wanted, Li Huaijin looked up at Li Yuanzheng, but saw hatred rolling in the other party's eyes. "Daddy!" His heart sank suddenly, as if a thin thread had been tied to his heart, and he was slowly tightened to make him breathless.

Li Yuanzheng looked at him kindly and sighed: "You have nothing to do with the eldest princess, don't think about her in the future." ”

Is there a fate? Li Huaijin raised his hand to cover his eyes and smiled silently, "If it weren't for Your Majesty's interference, how could the child have nothing to do with her?!" The child thought that he would be cut off in the Buddha hall for the rest of his life, but he didn't expect His Majesty to release the child from the pagoda with another holy decree. Now that the child is free, the child thinks, maybe the child can fight again. ”

Hearing this, Li Yuanzheng's eyebrows twisted into a dead knot, and after thinking about it, he still said truthfully: "Huaijin, the eldest princess is married, you can put it down." ”

Li Huaijin's body stiffened, and he chuckled in disbelief, "Dad, you lied to me, you must be lying to me." What kind of character she Zhao Xinyue is, I know better than anyone else. Even if she died, she would not marry. ”

"Huai Jin, the eldest princess is really married, as early as five months ago, His Majesty gave her the marriage of King Nanyang, His Royal Highness...... Married far away and went to Nanyang. Li Yuanzheng knew that he was difficult to accept, but this is a fact, and it will not change because of his inability to accept.

Did you marry Nanyang? Li Huaijin's body shook, and suddenly remembered that Du Yuan came to see him five months ago and accompanied him for three whole days, he couldn't figure out why, it turned out that she was married, Du Yuan was afraid that he wouldn't be able to think about it?

"Huai Jin?" Li Yuanzheng was afraid that he wouldn't be able to think about it, so he looked at him worriedly.

Li Huaijin waved his hand, his face pale and wry, "Your Majesty is really kind to our Li family." ”

Although it was a very normal tone and a very normal thing to say, for some reason, Li Yuanzheng heard something wrong.

"Huai Jin, you can't be impulsive." Li Yuanzheng held his shoulder hard, for fear that he would do something stupid on impulse.

Impulse? His heart has been poached by life, what impulse does he have? Li Huaijin leaned on the carriage with self-deprecation, his tone was full of despair, "Dad, the first rule of the Li family's ancestral training is to be loyal to the king, if the king is not benevolent, what should the son do?" ”

Li Yuanzheng was startled, hurriedly stretched out his hand to cover his mouth, and reproached: "You are crazy, you dare to say such a thing?!" If someone with a heart hears it and reaches His Majesty's ears, the entire Li family will be convicted for it. ”

If it reaches his ears and what if it doesn't, can it change the emperor's determination to unload the mill and kill the donkey? As early as many years ago, he could see that the emperor was a person who could only share weal and woe, not prosperity.

When the world is turbulent and the enemy country is attacking, the Li family is his sword to guard the border passes, kill the enemy and retreat, and only at that time will the emperor realize the importance of the Li family, so as to favor the Li family. But once the overall situation has been decided and the border is calm, the Li family will become a thorn in his flesh, how can he calm Jun's heart if he doesn't pull it out?

"Dad, do you really think your son is crazy? Are you really dizzy and can't see the knife hanging above the Li family's head? Your Majesty didn't want to kill the Li family on the first day, how long do you still have to deceive yourself? ”

"Shut up!" Li Yuanzheng's face was gloomy, and he scolded angrily in a low voice. I know what, since ancient times, it has been the death of kings and ministers, and the ministers have to die.

Even if His Majesty really wants to hide the bird with a good bow, then he can only admit it. How can a person who is loyal to the monarch say that the monarch is not?

There was no word along the way, Li Huaijin took the holy decree into the palace to thank him, and in front of the courtiers, the emperor praised him lavishly, and the rare treasures he was rewarded meandered all the way from the palace gate to Chang'an Street. For a while, the son of the Li family was favored and immediately became a hot figure in Beijing.

In the imperial study, the emperor sat on a high seat, condescendingly looking at the Li family father and son kneeling on the ground.

"Huai Jin, you have suffered in the past two years." After scrutinizing enough, Zhao Zhen let people get up and pretended to be kind.

Li Huaijin stood respectfully to the side, the robe on his body had been changed into a gorgeous dress, and his expression was as indifferent as a monk. "Your Majesty is serious."

Detached tone, indifferent attitude, Zhao Zhen glanced at him unexpectedly, the Li family has been loyal to the monarch for generations, but it is rare to see the Li family show such a look. "Are you still blaming me?"

"The grass people don't dare." Li Huaijin bowed his head and saluted respectfully.

It's not that you don't dare, not that you don't hate. Zhao Zhen understood the meaning of his words, and took a sip of tea with a teacup in a funny way, "Li Huaijin, I ask you a question, I hope you will answer truthfully." ”

"Your Majesty, may I ask." Li Huaijin hung his head to the side, how obedient and obedient he was, so that people couldn't get the person in front of him to have anything to do with the son of the Li family who was famous in the capital back then.

Zhao Zhen stared at him, as if to see him through, "Are you sincere to Jingyang?" ”

So far, the person who cut off all his back roads with his own hands and asked him such a ridiculous question? Li Huaijin felt extremely ridiculous, in fact, he really laughed, and immediately realized that it was disrespectful to laugh at His Majesty, but he couldn't control the anger in his heart at all.

"What does Your Majesty think? Now, does it make sense to ask such a question again? Huai Jin is not talented, when he was young, thanks to the first emperor who valued marriage and the eldest princess of Jingyang, now things are people and everything is off, His Majesty asked Huai Jin again if he was sincere, don't you think it's ridiculous? ”

Li Yuanzheng was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly reprimanded in a low voice: "Huai Jin, you are presumptuous! How dare you speak to Your Majesty like this, don't kill you! ”

"Life?" Li Huaijin raised his lips self-deprecatingly, and finally looked up at Zhao Zhen on the dragon chair, his eyebrows and eyes were full of ridicule: "If Your Majesty wants the life of the grass people, he will take it as early as two years ago." Keeping the grass people's cheap life, but it's just to take advantage of the eldest princess. ”

The family is his seven inches, why is he not Jingyang's seven inches?

For the emperor, he is just a bargaining chip, a bargaining chip that can handle Zhao Xinyue at any time. And he, who was useless, couldn't resist, and let the other party pinch him and aim at Jingyang's seven inches.

Li Yuanzheng's face turned pale, and without waiting for Zhao Zhen to get angry, he knelt on the ground and said in fear: "Your Majesty forgives me, the dog has no intention of offending the holy face, and I beg Your Majesty to spare his life for the sake of the dog's young and ignorant sake." ”

"Li Aiqing hurry up, Huai Jin is straightforward, I know that he has no malice, and I won't blame him." Zhao Zhen personally walked over to help Li Yuanzheng up, and looked at Li Huaijin in front of him for the first time.

But he underestimated him, and sure enough, his father's vision was excellent, how could a person who could be selected as Jingyang's concubine be incompetent?

Li Huaijin looked straight ahead indifferently, people who have lost their hearts are just walking corpses alive, do they still need to be afraid of the threat of others?