After walking quickly to the main hall and saying goodbye to his mother, Gu Xuan simply freshened up under the service of his subordinates, and finally arrived at the reception room, and at this time, Ye Zhihuai had been waiting for a long time.

After thirteen years, the old color on the face of the master of the night family is even worse, between the temples, there is already gray hair, and the person has lost a lot of weight, and he is no longer the image of the beautiful man in the capital back then.

When Gu Xuanping retreated, Ye Zhi was ashamed and got up and saluted: "Childe." ”

For this minister of real power in the DPRK and China who does not know why he has always been strongly supporting his side, Gu Xuan can't have the slightest good impression, the strange pill when he was a child has been completely recalled after he took the Jiao clan elixir and completely opened his senses, this Ye Zhihuai, who seems to be an important minister of the Liang Kingdom on the surface, also seems to have an ulterior secret, and it must be not small, Gu Xuan has been very defensive about this for more than ten years, but he has never spoken to anyone.

If outsiders don't believe in this kind of thing, the person concerned won't admit it, so what else can they say? I understand that I can just be vigilant, but fortunately, I haven't noticed that this person has any misdeeds in the past few years.

"Lord Shangshu. Gu Xuan had a kind smile on his face, full of sincerity and was ready to bow and salute, and the night Zhihuai on the opposite side quickly got up and supported Gu Xuan, the expression on his face was sincere and frightened, and he said in a very serious tone.

"Childe can't, there is a difference between respect and inferiority, Childe is the imperial family, how can you bow to Zai?"

Gu Xuan's hand did not move and secretly exerted force, gently shook off Ye Zhihuai's hand, sat down with a golden knife, and said with a smile: "Private place, don't talk about identity, besides, my status as a prince in the palace Lord Shangshu naturally knows." ”

Gu Xuan shook his head slightly with bitterness on his face, and took a sip of the tribute tea that he had just received from the Internal Affairs Office on the table that had only been offered from Jiangzhou this year, and the night Zhihuai on the opposite side looked slightly moved, but he pretended to be unintentional and asked.

"Childe is now eighteen years old, and he can leave the palace to build a mansion as usual, does Childe have any plans next?"

Gu Xuan said with a sad face: "Is Lord Shangshu making fun of me? Even if I don't build a mansion in the capital, or the cost of buying land and building a mansion outside the city is around 10,000 taels, not to mention hiring a large number of servants, where do I have that money." ”

Everyone knows that Concubine Li, the biological mother of the five princes, was born in an ordinary folk, and is a rare concubine in the harem who has no background, to put it mildly, even if it is in addition to Queen Su and the other three concubines, it is an ordinary concubine in some palaces, and behind the nobles there is at least a prefect-level official or family, after all, if the silver is not enough, it is not even qualified to enter the palace to run for election and be selected by the emperor face-to-face, but Concubine Li is in this unique embarrassing situation, if it were not for Queen Su's scruples about the face of the harem, I am afraid that the intriguing harem battlefield would have swallowed the mother and son。

The prince of Liangguo can build a mansion and stand on his own feet when he reaches the age of eighteen according to the law, but everything is at his own expense, the royal family will not pay a penny, nor will he produce a person, in other words, all this depends on the prince's own ability and the power of the mother family, otherwise there is no other way, and the royal family is not a good hall, even if the Son of Heaven favors one person alone, it will not break the rules, not to mention that the number of times Gu Yi has come to Yongle Palace has become less and less over the years.

After Gu Xuan said his difficulties, he didn't forget to tease Ye Zhihuai.

If I'm not mistaken, even if you are Lord Shangshu, your annual salary is only eight hundred taels, is the oil and water of the Ministry of Officials so fat, then I have to beg my father to send me to serve in the Ministry of Officials. ”

Even if he knew that it was just the other party's ridicule, Ye Zhihuai, an old man who had been in the officialdom for decades, quickly leaned down and knelt down, pretending to be frightened, and explained in a serious but not rigid tone: "Childe, don't laugh, if the officials really have oil and water, the officials will not be served by those few servants in the entire mansion." ”

casually laughed at the other party, seeing that the other party actually bowed down directly, Gu Xuan hurriedly stepped forward to help Ye Zhihuai up, and said with a smile: "Why should Lord Shangshu be like this, it's just that you and I are chatting and ridiculing in private, why take it so seriously, besides, the Lord is a member of the imperial court, and I don't have an official status, how can the Lord do this to me? Isn't it a frustration?"

Although he instinctively hated the other party in his heart, after Gu Xuan took the Jiao clan elixir, his mind was extremely precocious, and he had already experienced how to deal with this kind of old man in officialdom, and he spoke in a measured manner.

"Childe grew up in this palace since he was a child, the people are warm and cold, and the world must be very touched, with all due respect, with the background of the son, if you don't seize the opportunity, I am afraid that it will be difficult to have a place for the son in the future. ”

Hearing the other party's sudden warning, Gu Xuan frowned slightly, the other party was a member of the imperial court, and it was okay to speak directly to him, the most wasteful of the princes, in private, but with the identity of the other party, in front of his brothers, he was also a big man who needed to be treated well, and he did not dare to show his princely prestige, and the weight of the four words of the official book was enough to crush most of the forces in the capital.

Gu Xuan said in a deep voice: "What does Lord Ye mean, it is better to say it bluntly, Xuan has known since he was a child that if he does not have the full support of the Ye family, I am afraid that the days are not as good as now, for Lord Ye, Xuan has always been grateful, you and me, there is no need to be polite and tempting." ”

Ye Zhihuai stood up and confessed first, and then looked directly into Gu Xuan's eyes and said, " Since His Majesty ascended the throne, the national strength of my Liang country is thriving, the people live and work in peace and contentment, the border passes are frequent, the granary is full, and the sergeants are strong, but since last year, His Majesty's health has deteriorated, although there are imperial doctors to recuperate every day, and mobilize elixirs from all over the country to tonic, but still not better, and now the princes are getting older, and they are also building their own houses and supporting their customers, these must be in the eyes of the prince, is it that the prince himself has no idea about that position?"

Gu Xuan suddenly slapped the table hard, and the stone tabletop was actually slapped with a shallow palm print by him, and even Ye Zhihuai couldn't help but shake it subconsciously and swallowed lightly.

"Do you know what you're talking about now? Gu Xuan stretched out a finger and shook it in front of Ye Zhihuai's eyes before he said coldly. "I can't afford it. ”

Unexpectedly, Ye Zhihuai did not bow down and confess as usual with caution, but continued to persuade: "Childe, since ancient times, the royal family of all dynasties will not allow the ministers of the court and the prince to have direct contact with the prince, and the change of the throne is a family affair of the Son of Heaven, and it is forbidden to do so, except for my Liang country, which has passed three generations so far, but there is no sign of degeneration, but the national strength is thriving, why?" Emperor Gaine and His Majesty today are both victors who have been killed from the sea of blood in the mountains of corpses, your father, Gongzi, the current emperor of my Liang Kingdom, is destined to go down in history with his martial arts, but there were as many as eleven brothers of His Majesty back then, but you can see that there is a prince in my Liang Kingdom now?"

"Regardless of how many intrigues and intrigues have gone through, no matter how many dirty transactions there are, history has proven to everyone that a weak and incompetent person can be a minister, but he must not be an emperor, and that is not beneficial to the country, and from the child's childhood to the present, there have been a total of two hundred and thirty-one times in this Yongle Palace, and Gongzi thinks that His Majesty does not know anything? Or did Childe not guess that this was a matter of His Majesty's acquiescence or even fueling the trouble?"

"Stop!" Gu Xuan suddenly waved his hand, and Ye Zhihuai's endless narration came to an abrupt end.

This was the first time that Ye Zhihuai had seen such an angry expression on the face of this good-natured son.

However, on that night eighteen years ago, the words of the Holy Clan's envoy have been echoing in his ears all these years, and in the sixteen years that he has boldly approached the Yongle Palace family and silently helped the two of them through the meaning of His Majesty Gu Yi's desire to take care of Xuan's mother and son, he has never forgotten his goal, which is also the goal of their Ye family for three generations, how can such a small thing scare him away, so he still continued.

"Childe, you and I are not ignorant civilians in the prosperous world, we are beasts in the dark forest, Childe wants to eat vegetarian in this forest, this is definitely not a good idea, the dispute over imperial power is a big whirlpool, you and I have no time to quit, Childe!"

Gu Xuan leaned back in his chair weakly, the eighteen-year-old boy's mind was full of scenes of meeting the little princess of the mermaid country when he was five years old, he looked at the ceiling, and unconsciously opened his mouth and read softly: " After that day, it seems that everything is different, sometimes I also wonder, is it better to be a fool all the time, my mother had a good life in the palace before, right, after all, no one will be afraid of a fool Five Princes, let alone a simple and unsupported concubine, and no one dares to risk offending his father and emperor to be bad for his mother, and want to step on her on the throne, those unwillingness and jealousy can only be buried, and Queen Su is also very good to her mother, she will come to Yongle Palace to chat with her mother openly, and the father will occasionally come to see her mother。。。。。。 ”

Ye Zhihuai seemed to see hope, and said with a hint of joy: "As Gongzi said, even if Gongzi himself doesn't care about the throne, shouldn't he think about Concubine Li?"

Gu Xuan turned his head and asked seriously: "What do you say I am messing with the second brother, the second brother has always treated me well, and my father has established the second brother as the crown prince so far, and the second brother is so powerful, I think it should be the second brother who will be on the throne in the future, my younger brother who has been following him will not be able to tolerate me, right? Or is it my self-defamy, how about it? Ye Shangshu, which one do you think is better?"