After the banquet, the steward who stayed in the mansion whispered in Li Yuan's ear, saying that Zhou Zong invited him to see him.

Li Yuan didn't think much about it, he just thought that this old man was good to make friends with juniors, after all, there were many young people at this banquet. asked Luo Erhu to wait for a while, and followed the steward all the way to the back hall.

As soon as he stepped into the room, he saw that Zhou Zong was already standing and waiting, looking nervous, and took the initiative to greet Li Yuan, and gave a big gift in person: "The old man has been so negligent, and he has made amends to Li Yuhou!" ”

Li Yuan hurriedly picked it up, muttering in his heart, is it because I had been waiting in front of the house for half an hour before? Immediately, he asked with some doubts: "What does Boss Zhou mean by this?" You are a man of the Spring and Autumn Period of the country, so don't you break me? ”

Zhou Zong took advantage of the situation, his beard trembled slightly, stroked his palms and smiled: "Li Yuhou is a rare all-rounder, and now he can be reused by His Majesty, and I am expected to revive the Tang Dynasty!" ”

Although Li Yuan had already heard a lot of compliments just now, he still calmly arched his hand and said: "Thank you for Your Majesty's wrong love, Lord Zhou has praised it falsely!" ”

Holding Zhou Zong to sit down together, the two looked at each other silently for a moment, and Zhou Zong suddenly lowered his old head and let out a long sigh.

Li Yuan understood that Zhou Zong deliberately met him alone, and he must have something to discuss, so he asked, "Why is the old man sighing?" ”

"Alas! Don't hide it from Li Yuhou! Zhou Zong looked unspeakable, and then repeatedly groped in his sleeves, and finally took out an unsealed letter: "This is a letter from Jinling's family to the old man recently, you might as well take a look." ”

Li Yuanhu took the letter suspiciously, opened it and took a cursory look, this is a letter sent by the Zhou Mansion in Jinling, according to the tone, it should be written by someone like a steward, and the content is probably recorded, Li Yuan was recommended by Liu Shaojian in the palace to buy the Zhou Mansion's other courtyard in the west of the city, and the selling price was geometric, and there was nothing else.

Then Li Yuan looked at Zhou Zong, but saw that his old face was a little more embarrassed, and thought in his heart, could it be that he regretted selling the house?

But this kind of family background, there should be no shortage of yards! And even if he wants to redeem it, it won't be over if he directly sends someone to negotiate, just by virtue of the identity of that old minister, how can Li Yuan afford to offend? Why bother to say it in person?

After thinking about it, he said truthfully: "What is said in this letter is not true. Your Majesty is gracious, and you have got an errand in Jinling, so you want to find a place to live. But there is no familiar doorway in Jinling City, after all, the people and the land are unfamiliar, so they have to ask Liu Shaojian for help, and they are also with him all the way back to Beijing, and there are some intersections. As for this price, it was also mentioned by Miss Zhou, and there was no counteroffer, but Mr. Zhou wanted to go back to this house? ”

Zhou Zong shook his head heavily: "What is a house?" Li Yuhou, forgive the old man for daring to ask? ”

"Master Zhou treats me sincerely, and he will tell me the truth."

Zhou Zong paused while holding his long beard, his eyes were only staring elsewhere, and began to ask, "Do you know that Young Eunuch Liu and Envoy Chen have a close relationship?" ”

Why is it Chen Jue again...... Li Yuan's heart stirred, this has all spread to Yangzhou! It seems that no matter how big this backer is, he can't ask for it, even if Chen Jue doesn't fall in the future, he will suffer sooner or later with the hat of the same party on his head. What's more, who is Zhou Zong this time, Qingliu among the few old ministers in the court, if he thinks that he is Chen Jue's party, then Li Yuan will not think about Emperor Zhou E's affairs in his life......

Li Yuan replied calmly: "I didn't know when I first set foot in the court. ”

Zhou Zong still did not give up, and went straight to the point: "Are you close to Chen Envoy?" ”

Li Yuan was ready and replied with a blank face: "Close? Where to start! Born in poverty, if it weren't for the luck in Natanzhou City, he made a small contribution, and he is still a nobody in the army. Who is Chen Envoy? How can it have anything to do with such a lowly person below? ”

Zhou Zong also showed a confused look when he said this, then closed his eyes and thought about it, and replied: "Li Yuhou doesn't have to be too humble, what you did in Chu Di shocked the dynasty!" This is comparable to the plan of staying in the marquis, and the peace of Chu is just around the corner, how can it be said that it is not big or small? ”

After affirming Li Yuan, he couldn't help but say what he thought in his heart: "But this is weird!" If Li Yuhou has nothing to do with Chen Envoy, why did he praise your merits in the recital? For this reason, His Majesty also summoned his ministers to discuss in court. Li Yuhou, haven't you thought about it? You were a pawn a month ago, and now you're in this situation......"

Li Yuan was secretly shocked in his heart, worthy of being the founding father, Jiang is still old and spicy, although sooner or later he will have to get rid of Chen Jue, but in the end, if Chen Jue was not used at that time, how could he have this official robe today? But he suppressed his expression and smiled coldly: "What Lord Zhou said is that the current official body and rewards are all obtained by Chen Envoy for me, right?" ”

Immediately afterwards, Li Yuan got up suddenly, arched his hand to the south, and said with an indignant face: "Although I was born in poverty, I am reckless and loyal to the country. When I rode into the city with my two brothers and three of us, I never thought I would come back alive! Now, thanks to His Majesty's wrong love, he has promised a heavy responsibility, and he has no strength in the lower body and nothing to repay, only to be loyal to help His Majesty recover my Tang Dynasty as soon as possible! But Mr. Zhou thinks of Zai Xia as that kind of flattering villain, which is really chilling! There are many recklessness today, and it will not hinder the eyes of adults, farewell! ”

Zhou Zong saw this posture, and instantly panicked, the person in front of him was so loyal and upright, could it really be that the old man was dizzy? Hurriedly stopped: "Eh, eh! Li Yuhou must not be angry! The old man didn't mean this, please don't misunderstand Li Yuhou! ”

Li Yuan didn't give face, and still raised his head and said coldly: "How can you call it a misunderstanding? What Boss Zhou meant, isn't it that this Duyu Marquis was given to me by Chen Jue? He immediately returned to Jinling to see the Son of Heaven, resigned and returned to the township to prove his innocence! ”

The resignation self-certificate has come out......

Zhou Zong was already intimidated by Li Yuan, only to see him gritting his teeth, bending over at Li Yuan with an old bone, and persuading him very earnestly: "Li Yu must not wait!" If you have a good plan, and you are a person who was born in the military, both civil and military, if you live in the mountains and wilderness because of the old man's words, then the old man is a sinner of the country! Please also ask Li Yu to wait for Wan not to have the idea of resigning, the old man has made amends to you! ”

Li Yuan tilted his head slightly, frowned and sighed, "Alas! Why did Mr. Zhou do this? But there is advice, and if you receive it, you will receive it! You are an old minister who served the first emperor, and you have always admired it, so when you arrived in Yangzhou today, you took the liberty to come to visit. Unexpectedly, it was so unhappy! ”

Zhou Zong leaned on the chair with his hand, tried to get close to Li Yuan, and muttered, "Li Yuhou really has no relationship with that Chen Jue?" ”

Li Yuan showed a disdainful expression, and then said calmly: "If you want to talk about communication, it is in the main hall of the Chu Palace, he and Bian Dashuai interrogated me in public!" ”

Zhou Zong seemed to have learned something terrible, and hurriedly asked, "Oh? Can you tell the old man about it? ”

Li Yuan is also inconvenient to hide it, after all, even if he concealed the incident in the Chu Palace, there were more than ten generals present, and it must have spread sooner or later. From his own proposal to Bian Hao, he went to the palace to interrogate the matter, and roughly described the ins and outs to Zhou Zong.

As for the specific content of the conversation with Chen Jue, Li Yuan also changed his rhetoric lightly, only saying that he was to avoid sin, and also offered a clever plan to calm down Chudi.

When Zhou Zong heard this, he was already so angry that his beard pouted, and he slapped the table hard and shouted, "Ridiculous! The pickaxe over there has followed the first emperor, but he is also dizzy? actually followed that Chen Jue in collusion, and he was not rewarded for his merits, but wronged his loyal ministers! In this way, the clever plan to control Chu in the name of the Ma clan also came from Li Yuhou? ”

Li Yuan remained silent, arched his hand and said, "Boss Mingjian! At that time, he didn't think about it, he just thought that my Datang would calm down Chu as soon as possible and restore peace to the people! ”

"The old man knew that villains like Chen Jue were jealous of their abilities, but he didn't expect to be so brazen! It is really hateful to turn other people's strategies into one's own for the sake of greed! Traitors have misled the country! ”

Zhou Zong was not only scolding Chen Jue in his heart at this time, but he was even more remorseful, this Li Yuan was clearly an upright person, but because he was suspicious for a while, he was so wronged by him! It's so old!

Li Yuan saw that Zhou Zong kept shaking his head, and the look of beating his chest and feet, understood that the knot in his heart had gradually untied. Now that he has passed this level, he sat down and persuaded him loudly: "Don't be angry, boss!" After all, Chen Jue is my privy envoy, and His Majesty trusts him very much, and he is in a high position, so he has nothing to do! ”

Zhou Zong has been in the court for more than 40 years, and he prides himself on being extremely accurate, but now the house has collapsed, so he has to bow his hand with shame: "Alas! Li Yuhou, you are an upright person! This time the old man is clumsy, and he has made amends to you again! In the end, the old man has passed a mile, and there are times when he is dizzy, I just hope that Yu Hou will not take it to heart, and continue to be loyal to His Majesty and Datang! ”

Li Yuan patted his chest and said with a heroic face: "This is nature!" The rise and fall of the world is the responsibility of the husband! Now that you have an official body, it should be even more so! ”

These words hit Zhou Zong's heart directly! Zhou Zong showed an uncontrollable look of appreciation, and couldn't help but applaud: "What a 'rise and fall in the world, the husband is responsible'!" I have a loyal and good general like Li Yuhou in the Tang Dynasty, so why can't I restore the prosperity of Gaozu Taizong! ”

"Master Zhou is overrated!"

Now that the atmosphere has eased down, Zhou Zong happily greeted: "Come on, serve tea!" ”