Kong Zhangxi looked at Ning Xiaochuan with interest, he wanted to see what kind of reason this young man wanted to use to persuade Tong Xuesi to go north with him to Pingjiaoguan.

"Dare to ask if Mr. can be a loyal servant of Dafeng?" After Ning Xiaochuan's fault was over, he asked directly.

"The heart of loyalty and righteousness can be learned from the sky." Tong Xuesi raised his hand and said.

"This time I went north to level the prison pass, both for the country and the people, why don't the panicked ministers come forward? Hiding behind the three-foot wooden hall, wouldn't it be more than just smiling? Ning Xiaochuan looked directly at Tong Xuesi, and he was not afraid at all in the face of this Confucian debater.

Tong Xuesi also looked at Ning Xiaochuan, his lips moved slightly, "For the sake of the country and the people, Tong should do his best and have no complaints, but if it is for the merits of others and the will of others, then please forgive Tong for not being able to accompany him." ”

The corners of Ning Xiaochuan's mouth curled, and a glint flashed in his eyes, "If there are officials on this trip who mislead the country's major affairs for their own selfishness, I, Ning Xiaochuan, will be the first to refuse, no matter who it is, we should act according to the law and never tolerate it." ”

Tong Xuesi turned to look at Kong Zhangxi, Kong Zhangxi nodded at him, and said with a smile, "Okay, you can go, according to your ability, staying in the Guozijian is really a bit condescending, and the Ministry of Rites is where you should be." ”

Tong Xuesi bowed ninety degrees to Kong Zhangxi, and said with a solemn expression, "Master Xie." ”

Ning Xiaochuan breathed a long sigh of relief, looked up at Yu Gongming next to him, and saw Yu Gongming give him a thumbs up.

"Thank you, sir......"

……

Half a month later, Ning Xiaochuan handed the negotiation list he had prepared to the ministry, and on this day he received a reply from the ministry, saying that the Son of Heaven wanted to see him.

The rain was ticking, walking on the path of the palace, the little eunuch stood behind Ning Xiaochuan, carefully holding an umbrella, slowly walking through the corridor and walking towards the study of the Son of Heaven.

Perhaps because the new study of the Son of Heaven is close to the lake, when it rains lightly, the sound of frogs in the vicinity is bursting.

Ning Xiaochuan stepped forward sideways, and the eunuch behind him was dressed in red and black, in terms of official rank, it was only seven grades, but the eunuch who appeared next to the prince's study at this time was different, with a red robe and white hair.

Although his face is smiling, he looks particularly terrifying, this person is the head of the palace eunuchs, the chief of the internal affairs office of Zheng Sipin, and Han Zhongxuan, who is in charge of the life and death of thousands of eunuchs in the palace.

After the little eunuch sent Ning Xiaochuan to the place, he saluted and retreated, this day was also the first official meeting between Ning Xiaochuan and Han Zhongxuan, of course, they had already dealt with a lot before this, almost every assassination that Ning Xiaochuan suffered in the past three years had the shadow of Zhongfu, and the leader of Zhongfu was Han Zhongxuan.

Seeing Ning Xiaochuan coming, Han Zhongxuan got up and stepped forward and bowed, "Lord Ning, the old man has been waiting here for a long time, His Majesty is inside, please." ”

Ning Xiaochuan looked down at Han Zhongxuan in front of him, and smiled coldly, "Your Majesty said that the time is noon, and now the sky is only a while away from noon, Gonggong Han, it's obvious that I'm early." ”

Han Zhongxuan, who lowered his head, changed his face slightly, and then got up and smiled awkwardly, "Really? I'm really sorry, it's the old body who doesn't do things well, and I hope Lord Ning won't blame him. ”

Ning Xiaochuan walked straight in front of Han Zhongxuan, ignoring the big eunuch.

After Ning Xiaochuan left, Han Zhongxuan straightened up, looked at the sundial next to the study, and then looked up at the rainy and hazy sky, and couldn't help but snort coldly.

Ning Xiaochuan walked quickly to Gao Yuan's study, took a deep breath, the last time he talked to Gao Yuan face-to-face was on the Zhonghe Festival three years ago, when he pretended to be drunk in order to avoid the battle for the crown prince.

Pushing open the door in front of him, he was about to face Gao Yuan again, but time has passed, and now Gao Yuan is no longer the prince, and he is no longer the fifth young master of the Ning family before.

With a sigh, Ning Xiaochuan still knocked on the closed door, "Ning Yan, the servant of the Ministry of Rites, was ordered to come and beg His Majesty to meet." ”

"Come in." A languid voice came from the study.

Ning Xiaochuan pushed the door in, the study was very exquisitely arranged, the bookshelves of golden silk nanmu were full of books, the sandalwood incense table behind him was burning with fine ambergris, and behind Gao Yuan there was also a picture of "Mountains and Flowing Water" by Saint Wu Xiong.

Ning Xiaochuan walked in, Gao Yuan slowly put down the piece in his hand, and looked up at Ning Xiaochuan, "Ning Aiqing, you are here, sit down." ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Ning Xiaochuan lowered his head and sat on the chair next to him, his expression was very unnatural.

Gao Yuan waved his hand, and the maid behind him quickly walked over with hot tea, put it in front of Ning Xiaochuan, and then bowed and left, after a sound of closing the door, Ning Xiaochuan and Gao Yuan were left in the study.

"Three years ago, when I was still the crown prince, I sneaked out of the palace to look for you, but you pretended to be drunk and escaped; I'm serving you tea today, you can't get drunk again this time, can you? Gao Yuan squinted at Ning Xiaochuan, it seemed that he already knew that Ning Xiaochuan was pretending to be drunk at that time.

Ning Xiaochuan smiled embarrassedly, what else could he say, he could only quickly admit his mistake, "I'm really sorry, my subordinates were young at the time, and I didn't recognize that it was Your Majesty, if there is any rudeness, I hope Your Majesty will not blame you." ”

"Hahaha."

Gao Yuan laughed loudly, took out the piece of music that was specially placed on the left hand side, opened it and looked at it, "This time I went north to negotiate peace with the Northern Barbarians, you can understand it with the officials of the Ministry of Rites, but why do you want to take Yu Gongming and Tong Xuesi?"

Yu Gongming is just a serious doctor, and has no real power, Tong Xuesi is just a small country prisoner for alcohol, so the two of them are worth thinking about for so many days? ”

Ning Xiaochuan got up and arched his hand and said, "Although the doctor has no power, he has the ability to give direct advice and not avoid it, and the position of the doctor is even more unacceptable, and the one who can sit in this position is either a confidant minister, or a loyal person who is upright."

Your Majesty will put your Excellency in this position, which shows your trust in him, since even Your Majesty can trust Your Excellency, a student who has just left the country, then why don't your subordinates dare to use it?

As for Mr. Tong, His Majesty can bluntly say that this time he went north to negotiate peace, he must be this person, if he succeeds, this person has seven credits, and if he fails, His Majesty is willing to bear all the blame. ”

After hearing Ning Xiaochuan's words, Gao Yuan's brows suddenly tightened, "Speculating on the holy will is a capital crime?" Ning Xiaochuan, you are so bold, if you dare to say this in front of me, you are not afraid that I will ask for your head. ”

"Your Majesty is just talking about things, and there is no way to figure out the holy will." Ning Xiaochuan straightened up and arched his hand and said.

Gao Yuan looked at Ning Xiaochuan, his brows furrowed, but he quickly regained his composure.

I saw the Son of Heaven sit down slowly, pick up the red pen and write a quasi-word on the chapter, then put the chapter aside, and took out a handwritten book from the cabinet behind him to unload the silk silk, and put it on the table, "This peace discussion is a matter of great importance, and it must not fail." ”

"Your Majesty understands." Ning Xiaochuan walked forward quickly, picked up the silk silk on the table and said.

"Hey, I didn't expect it, you are my courtier, and when you come back from Pingjiaoguan, I will hold a grand celebration banquet for you, and completely wash away your name, and be my courtier, it is not possible to be a courtier." Gao Yuan got up and walked in front of Ning Xiaochuan, and said while helping Ning Xiaochuan up.

Ning Xiaochuan sighed in his heart, and looked up at Gao Yuan, this Gao Yuan still wanted to win himself over, Ning Xiaochuan took a step back, and said respectfully again, "Your Majesty, thank you Lord Longen, this time you will live up to Your Majesty's trust." ”

After that, Ning Xiaochuan left in a hurry, he had to leave quickly before Gao Yuan said some words, and he couldn't take them back after saying some words.

Watching Ning Xiaochuan leave, Gao Yuan smiled deeply, and continued to sit there as if nothing had happened, processing his own recital, and said while annotating with cinnabar, "Ning Xiaochuan, Ning Xiaochuan, don't you understand?" No matter how you dodge your identity as a monarch and minister, you can't avoid it. ”

……

Yindu, Ningfu.

Ning Xiaochuan was about to go north, and without Su Su by her side, Mrs. Ning personally helped Ning Xiaochuan pack up, it was about to be autumn, and Saibei was colder than Yin Du.

Therefore, Mrs. Ning brought a lot of warm clothes to Ning Xiaochuan, in fact, Ning Xiaochuan, as a martial artist, can keep out the cold by relying on his true qi, but seeing his old mother nagging and stuffing clothes next to him, he couldn't bear to interrupt it, so he leaned against the door and quietly looked at the busy figure of the old lady, nodding from time to time.

If he could, Ning Xiaochuan really wanted to freeze time here, so that this warmth could stay forever.

"You said that you two brothers are true, you want to go north to discuss such an important matter and don't say a word to your family, you don't say it until you leave, if you say it earlier, your mother will prepare it earlier, and it won't be so hasty." Old Madam Ning said angrily as she packed up her things.

Ning Xiaochuan smiled lightly and hugged Mrs. Ning from behind, "Mother, don't I want you and my father to worry?" Besides, you've packed enough for me that I don't have to clean up anymore. ”

Old Mrs. Ning gently stroked Ning Yan's head like she did when she was a child, gentle and loving, "My mother is worried, I must send a letter to my family when I arrive in Dingzhou, don't let my mother and your father worry all the time." ”

"I know, I will write to you as soon as I arrive at the place, and I will not delay a little time." Ning Xiaochuan grinned.

Old Madam Ning gently scraped the tip of Ning Xiaochuan's nose, "It's poor again." ”

On the day of departure, Guan Yun'er got up early in the morning, came to the door of Ning Xiaochuan's courtyard, and stuffed all the jerky and oil cakes she bought for Ning Xiaochuan to Ning Xiaochuan, and said hurriedly while stuffing, "Xiao Yanzi, this is the oil cake that the second sister asked people to buy for you in Dongshi early in the morning, the first pot just came out, I know that you love to eat this, and these dried meat, all with me." ”

"Second sister, you bought too much, I can't finish it......" Ning Xiaochuan smiled bitterly.

Guan Yun'er glanced at Ning Xiaochuan, "I bought everything, and you still asked me to return it, take it." ”

"I'll just say I won't let you and my father know, you see, once you know about me, I won't be able to go out." Ning Xiaochuan said helplessly, saying that it was so, but he still asked Nie Hongyi to take all the things.

After seeing Ning Xiaochuan take the things, Guan Yun'er smiled knowingly, put her hands around her chest and said, "Don't say it, Xiao Yanzi is quite handsome in an official uniform, and when she arrives in Dingzhou, she must not be fascinated by those little girls." ”

"Second sister, you're making fun of me again."

"I'm not good at boasting about my brother, really."

Ning Xiaochuan smiled lightly, stepped forward and hugged Guan Yun'er gently, "Second sister, thank you." ”

Guan Yun'er was stunned for a moment, then patted Ning Xiaochuan on the back and said, "Stinky boy, what are you doing with what your family is talking about, it's not too early, hurry up, don't let people wait for a long time." ”

One day Ning Feng and Ning Xiaochuan were drinking, and with the smell of wine, Ning Xiaochuan told Ning Feng that if one day he was asked to choose one between Ning Feng and Guan Yun'er, no matter whether it was right or wrong, he would not hesitate to choose the latter, there was no reason.

After Ning Feng listened, he raised his head and smiled, and said indifferently, then don't worry, there will never be such a day.