Li Siye led his entourage to the gate of the Right Minister's Mansion, and there were already several officials standing outside the side door with prayer stickers in hand, and he had no choice but to line up behind them.

He is now an official from the third grade, so he is wearing a purple robe, which is a little lighter than the purple robe of the third grade in terms of color. In front of him were four or five fourth-rank officials in crimson robes, and from the hesitation in their eyes when they looked back, Li Siye could feel that this purple robe had brought a sense of oppression to several people.

They turned around and politely asked Li Siye to deliver the worship post first, but Li Siye smiled and shirked: "No need, no need, everything must have a first come, first come, you go first, I'm not in a hurry." ”

It would be false to say that he was not in a hurry, but he could have a hunch that today's visit would be full of setbacks and difficulties. If Li Linfu hadn't tried every means to make things difficult for himself, he wouldn't have been Li Linfu. So it's better to put on a posture of protracted battle and wait patiently, he doesn't even have expectations about whether he can see Li Linfu.

These people went in and came out quickly, with different expressions on their faces, either disappointed or melancholy.

When it was Li Siye's turn, he took out the prayer post from his sleeve and presented it to both hands, and after the porter saw Li Siye's name on the worship post, he subconsciously raised his head and took a second look, and then the corners of his mouth rose and said with a stiff smile: "Please Li Zhongcheng follow me in." ”

He immediately waved his hand to let Yan Xiaosi and the two people who carried the burden follow him into the door, and when he passed through the second porch, the right guard officer on duty outside the door stopped the porter and asked in a cold voice: "What is in the burden." ”

Li Siye looked back and smiled: "It's just some local products brought from the west of the city." ”

The officer was unmoved: "Put the burden down, I'm going to check." “

Following his entourage looked at each other, Li Siye gave them a look, the two put down their burdens, and the officer lifted the linen covering the surface, opened his pocket and took a look, and nodded to the steward of the palace before letting them pass.

The chief steward of the Fuzhong stood at the foot of the steps of the main wing, ordered the people in the Fuzhong to accept Li Siye's gift, and said apologetically: "The entourage stays outside and waits, Li Zhongcheng, please come with me." ”

He followed the chief steward through the moon cave gate in the front yard, and along the long corridor in the courtyard, he turned into another side room.

At this time, the smile on the steward's face had disappeared, and he nodded coldly and said, "Li Zhongcheng is waiting here for the time being, the right minister is meeting with foreign envoys, and he will see you later." ”

He wouldn't believe half of this kind of words, but he had already been mentally prepared, and said with a smile very kindly: "It's okay, the right minister has a lot of opportunities, and I also know the priorities." ”

The steward replied stiffly: "It's good that General Li knows." ”

The steward of the Right Prime Minister's Mansion walked out of the door, stretched out his hand and closed the partition door, and he was left in the room.

He turned and looked at the furnishings of the room, which saw nothing but a screen, a felt mat, and a table. He could feel the malice of this boredom, so he could prepare some tea and books in his room, so that he could spend his boring time.

Fortunately, he brought a book with him when he came, and he just sat down, opened the book, and quietly read Li Jing's Weigong Art of War.

……

Li Linfu stood in the inner hall, holding scissors in his hand to prune the branches of tropical plants, and the withered and yellowed leaves were gently broken off by him, squatting on the ground and buried in flower pots.

The chief steward walked into the inner hall and stood behind him, bent down and crossed his hands to report: "Ah Lang, I have placed Li Siye in the wing room of the outer courtyard and waited. ”

He didn't answer for a long time, and only after burying the dead leaves did he raise his head and whisper, "I know, go down." ”

The steward took two steps back before he turned back and said, "He has brought two stones of pepper and some sandalwood frankincense." ”

The scissors in Li Linfu's hand paused, turned around and said to himself in surprise: "So many? ”

"Yes."

He raised his chin and meditated for a while before he laughed and said, "This person, is this a martial artist?" It seems that it's not just a martial artist, but I don't know how to tell him apart. said that he was like-minded with the prince's group, but in the former princelings, there was no such flexibility to the point of being slippery, saying that he was a vulgar and bottomless greedy person, but this person acted squarely and had many talents, and those who claimed to be high-minded scholars did not necessarily have such talents, and there was almost no past to discern, and his ideas seemed to fall from the sky. ”

The housekeeper couldn't understand this comment that seemed to be in the clouds, so he had to cross his hands and ask, "Ah Lang, do you want to meet him in advance?" ”

"There's no hurry." Li Linfu waved his hand calmly: "Let's dry him for a while, no matter if he is angry or arrogant, or has a harmonious atmosphere, it is still good to dry him."

Li Siye sat in the wing room and flipped through the scrolls, and every once in a while he looked up at the partition window, the light seeping into the window paper was getting dimmer and dimmer, the room gradually became darker, and the handwriting on the military book was no longer clear.

Did these people in the prime minister's mansion forget about him, even if they didn't pour tea, why didn't they even bring in an oil lamp, and watched him touch the dark inside?

Although he was already mentally prepared for a cold reception, there were still bursts of irritability and anger in his heart.

The room was completely dim, Li Siye was lying on the ground leaning against the desk, his mind was thinking about the scene of meeting Li Linfu, and began to brew the prepared rhetoric, what Li Linfu would say when the time came, and how he should cleverly fight back. If he speaks in a different tone, how should Li Siye respond.

While he was pondering these boring questions, a light appeared in the shadow outside the door, as if someone was about to pass by with a lantern, or was rushing here.

The door was opened with a bang, and the housekeeper walked in with a paper lantern, bent down and apologized to him: "Let Zhongcheng wait for a long time, I really don't want to go, but there are still some things that my family Ah Lang has not dealt with, please forgive Zhongcheng." ”

Li Siye didn't even have the interest to complain, so he could only pretend to understand the other party generously: "It doesn't matter, I can continue to wait." ”

The steward shook his head with a smile and said: "I'm afraid there will be a curfew if we wait any longer, our right prime minister's mansion will never accept foreign guests, otherwise Zhongcheng will go back first, and how about coming back tomorrow." ”

Li Siye said nonsense, Lao Tzu brought a lot of gifts today, but you asked me to go home. I haven't even seen anyone like this, so I'll have to bring a gift tomorrow.

He also smiled politely with the other party: "No, no, no, I'll wait, it's okay with the curfew, we stay in the backyard and are also in Pingkangfang, we don't need to walk far." “

The steward stared at Li Siye with a strange expression, secretly wondering if this person had lost his face?

"Then Li Zhongcheng, wait a minute, I'll go and see if Ah Lang is done."

The steward lit an oil lamp and put it down, and turned to go away again.

Li Siye snorted and continued to wait, but it didn't take long for the steward to arrive with two maidservants carrying lamps, and said with a happy face: "Ah Lang is finally done, let me invite Li Zhongcheng over." ”

The two maidservants sandwiched him in the middle, one after the other, and zigzagged along the dark corridor of the Prime Minister's Mansion, and the lights were hung under the eaves of each building in the mansion, and the light and dark still could not dispel the gloomy atmosphere, and the corner of the wealthy family as dark as the deep sea was revealed in front of him.

They passed through the neatly arranged charcoal copper stove, and finally came to Li Linfu's inner hall, Li Linfu, who was wearing white linen, stood in front of the screen and turned around, his dark eyes were beating with strange lights, revealing a mysterious smile: "Li Zhongcheng, I've kept you waiting for a long time." ”