At noon the next day, in the Xuanning Palace, Li Yunrao foamed at the mouth and kept talking, it turned out that she learned that Li Linfu was going to impeach Leng Xiaoxiao last night, she was anxious, but she was helpless, and she didn't sleep all night. Unexpectedly, news came from the early dynasty, and above the early dynasty, Li Linfu did criticize him in court, saying that Leng Xiaoxiao's refusal to grant military power was due to the prince's secret order. The strange thing is that the emperor was not angry, and did not say anything about the accusation, but persuaded Li Linfu not to make a fuss about hearsay.

The sweetheart escaped, and Li Yunrao was ecstatic, and immediately sent someone to invite Tang Xiyao into the palace, and the sisters wanted to celebrate. Ye Suiyun naturally went with him, and he was also eager to know what Leng Xiaoxiao's situation was. Knowing that his friend was fine, Ye Suiyun also put his mind at ease and sat aside, his thoughts fluctuating in his mind. After leaving Lingyun Pavilion last night, Li Xiangqiu was already waiting on the road, Ye Suiyun told Li Chengen what he had said, and Li Xiangqiu immediately decided to leave for Dihua Palace immediately. Ye Suiyun also had this intention. But he knew that he couldn't leave Tang Xiyao and leave, no matter what, he had to wait until after the emperor's birthday, Tang Xiyao's family affairs were over, and then he went to Dihua Palace with her. Fortunately, the emperor's birthday was just two days away. Li Xiangqiu was not reluctant, said goodbye to Ye Suiyun, and left Chang'an alone. Ye Suiyun knew that she was outstanding in martial arts, so she didn't have to worry.

Seeing Ye Suiyun pondering beside him, Tang Xiyao asked, "What do you think, so obsessed?" Ye Suiyun was stunned for a moment, only to hear Li Yunrao say: "The two of us have been talking for a long time, no clouds, you tell me, why my father is so unusually today, so magnanimous to Leng Xiaoxiao and the prince's brother." ”

Ye Suiyun naturally knew that there was something strange about it, it must be because Gao Lishi and Yang Yuhuan were helping in it, but he couldn't explain it in front of him, so he just shook his head. Li Yunrao glanced at her and said, "Stupid and stupid." ”

The next day, the streets of Chang'an are full of lights, gongs and drums are noisy, the trees on the street are wrapped in silk, and people are wearing new clothes to salute each other, which is to welcome the Tianchang Festival, the largest festival of the Tang Dynasty every year. That is, the emperor's birthday.

Ye Suiyun and Tang Xiyao's nine sisters went to Xingqing Palace to attend the emperor's birthday banquet. Seeing the lively scene on the street along the way, several people couldn't help but be happy. Walking to the intersection of the street near the Xingqing Palace, I saw several flower buildings in front of me, and there were three or four palace maids in each floor, all holding the basket with one hand, and grabbing copper coins and gold and silver leaves from the basket with the other hand and swaying them out. Downstairs, there were a few unknown people of men, women, and old people, all reaching out to grab them, huddled together. Some of the money fell on the bluestone ground and jingled.

The ninth sister was speechless and said: "When the street throws money, the emperor is really generous." Tang Xiyao said: "Today's Tang Dynasty is rich and strong, and it can be said that it is prosperous and prosperous in ancient and modern times, and it is nothing to throw this money and have fun with the people." Brother Ye, do you want to grab some money to spend it? ”

Ye Suiyun said with a smile: "What do you do with food and shelter, and rob money." The ninth sister glanced at her and said, "Where is this like what a master should say." ”

The three of them entered the Xingqing Palace with the invitation, and the banquet venue was set up next to the polo field, and it is said that there will be a performance by the Polo Troupe of the Tibetan Kingdom. Xingqing Palace is the residence of Li Longji when he was the prince, and later it was renovated and renovated for various festive activities, and it is spacious and huge, enough to accommodate 1,000 people.

The emperor's fiftieth birthday, the pomp is naturally small, the sky is still early, but the thousands of palace lamps that have been placed in various places in the palace have been lit up, it is conceivable that even after dark, this place will be as bright as day. The participants were introduced into the table by the palace people, and there were a large number of people, in addition to the royal family and dignitaries, officials from various ministries inside and outside the court, more famous people and foreign envoys from all sides. The seats are also strictly arranged, and the prime minister, the prince, the clan, and the envoys of the great powers are seated in the first row on the left and right. Officials of the six ministries, temples, and important guests are in the second row, officials from other provinces, ordinary foreign envoys and guests are in the third row, and people of all colors below the officers of the forbidden army are in the fourth row.

Ye Suiyun and the three of them were arranged in a seat in the second row, and he saw that there were oil cakes, jujube towers, and fruits on a plate on the table, which were strangely and beautifully placed, and reached out to get them. was slapped on the back of his hand by Tang Xiyao and said, "Gluttonous worm, this is a platter, used to see." Are you afraid that there will be nothing delicious for a while? Ye Suiyun nodded as if he understood whether he understood or not, muttering in his heart that the food could not be eaten, but he used it to see that the people in this palace were stupid. He looked left and right, and saw that there was beef and mutton on the table of the envoys of Turkic, Tibetan and other countries, and no one moved, so he could only look at it and not eat it, so he couldn't help but shake his head secretly.

When the guests arrived, the chant shouted, the emperor and the concubine arrived, and a long queue dragged behind him, and everyone stood up to bow down. After a series of red tape ceremonies, when the palace people finally served the food and delivered it to each table, many dancing girls danced to the sound of the music. Ye Suiyun was hungry for a long time, and he didn't care about it, he just lowered his head and ate happily, and he didn't even notice that Yan Wuwu was waving to him frequently not far away, and Tang Xiyao and Jiu Mei couldn't help laughing.

After the singing and dancing, the singer shouted: "Si Tian Jian is going to the hall." People were paying attention, and a man wearing a dark cloud pattern robe slowly walked into the venue and bowed down in front of the throne. Ye Suiyun's mouth didn't stop, he raised his eyes to aim, and couldn't help but be stunned, seeing that the person was the little Taoist priest who had several relationships with him. I saw him a few times before, but I felt that this person was dressed in plain clothes, and even a little sloppy, and thought that it was a Taoist temple that escaped, who thought that this Xiaodao of the same age as himself was actually Si Tianjian Zheng, and it seemed to be a big official.

Emperor Li Longji smiled and said: "In previous years, every time I had my birthday, Aiqing interpreted the hexagram for me, is there a good omen this year?" ”

"Your Majesty, there is an auspicious omen this year. ”

"Oh?" The emperor's face was happy, "Come quickly." ”

"A few years ago, the minister mentioned to His Majesty that an auspicious star appeared in the sky, called the holy star, although the light was weak, but it pulled the sky and arched the crape myrtle star, which can be said to be a great auspicious omen for my Celestial Empire. ”

Li Longji nodded and said, "I remember, you said at the time that this omen indicates that there is a strange person in the world, where is the strange person now?" ”

Retreat Feng Qingdao: "Weichen is incompetent, he has been searching outside for several years, but he still hasn't been able to find this person." The emperor was disappointed, but he heard the retreat and said: "But the good news is that the minister has been looking at the celestial phenomena recently, and the holy star has entered the Taiwei Wall, especially the crape myrtle star, and the light is suddenly blooming, and it can be concluded that the person has come to my heavenly capital Chang'an." ”

The emperor said with regret: "If this is the case, I would like to let me see you." ”

The ninth sister whispered: "This is too mysterious, a person who doesn't know his name, and he doesn't know whether he is high or low, can affect the fortunes of the country, who believes it?" Ye Suiyun nodded and said, "I see that this little Taoist priest is just to make the emperor happy." Who understands the number of days. Tang Xiyao said: "I believe him, I don't dare to say others, you and I were able to escape in the grass forest back then, more or less thanks to the calculation and help of the retreat of Fengqing." At that time, he measured that Jin Wuwei Luo Wenxian would be difficult to live, wasn't he also right? Ye Suiyun listened in a daze, nodded and said no more.

After the retreat was cleared, it was the equestrian performance arranged by the Tibetan embassy for a long time, and several knights cooperated with each other on horseback to do various thrilling acrobatics, attracting people's bursts of colorful sounds.

Tang Xiyao exclaimed: "I heard that the animal husbandry in Tubo is developed, and seven or eight out of ten of the country's middle schools are pastures, and the people there have lived on horseback since they were children, and their equestrian skills are exquisite, which seems to be true." ”

After the performance, the leading envoy stepped forward, hugged his chest and saluted the emperor, and said: "On behalf of me, the Tubo Zanpu of the Tibetan State, I wish His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty a thousand years of holy life. ”

Li Longji recognized that this person's name was Pu Danrang, and he was the leader of the Tibetan Mission, so he smiled and said, "Thank you for your kindness." The friendship between our two countries has been good for 100 years, and I hope that the friendship between the two countries will continue for a long time. ”

Pu Dan conceded: "Your Majesty Emperor Xie." ”

Li Longji said: "Your envoy must have traveled hard from afar, so there is no need to be formal." ”

Pudanrang bowed again and said: "Our country is mainly animal husbandry, and the people in the country like polo, and they highly respect people with superb equestrian skills. I heard that His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty is also happy to do this, presumably there must be a lot of polo masters in your country, so why not have a game to let the guests here enjoy themselves. ”

The ninth sister whispered: "Heh, this is Ming Huanghuang's challenge." Tang Xiyao nodded with a smile and said, "Looking at this guy's appearance, he obviously came prepared." ”

Li Longji was slightly stunned and said with a smile: "Your envoy is so interested, why not do it." After saying that, he went down, and after a while, he saw a horse team of more than 20 people enter the field. The team leader asked, "How many people are you going to fight?" Pudan conceded: "Eight." The team leader responded, and also selected eight people from the team to enter the game.

As soon as the notary raised the flag, the game began. The people selected by Datang are all long-term polo masters, and they are good at riding. But they mostly perform for the emperor on weekdays, and compared with the players in Tibet, they are skilled enough, but they are not ruthless enough. On the other hand, the golfers on the Tibetan side are all tigers and bears, fierce and fierce, and their riding skills are still excellent. During the game, every time they encountered a fight for the ball, the Tubo people squeezed out the Datang players with a ferocious collision, so that the opponent frequently fell off the horse, and after a while, three people in the Datang team were injured and replaced. At the end of the first game, Tubo scored 12 points, while Datang only had 1 point.

The brutal performance of the Tibetan team also attracted dissatisfaction, and the guests talked about it. When Pu Danrang heard this, he went to attend with a big grin, and said to the emperor: "Polo is a game of human beings, not only need to control the horse, but also control the wooden ball, it is not easy, at the time of the game, strong confrontation is inevitable, although your golfer is injured, but we believe that it is purely an accident." It is inevitable in the game, and I believe that His Majesty the Emperor will understand. Although Li Longji was uncertain, he still nodded slightly.

When everyone saw that the emperor didn't say anything, they stopped talking. At the beginning of the second game, I didn't want the Tubo people to get worse, and the action was more ferocious, and even pretended to hit people with a stick, and at the end of the game, two more people were injured, and the score was much behind, and the singer shouted the score was also listless.

Li Yunrao, who was on the side, saw that the emperor's face was even more ugly, and said: "How can these guys play ball, so barbaric, I think they are looking for fault to cut the face of my Celestial Empire." The crown prince Li Heng said: "Forget it, Tubo has been suppressed by my Tang Dynasty for many years, and he pays tribute every year, and now he is looking for a place in these corners to show his majesty, let them be happy." After all, Tubo is not an insignificant small state, so there is no need to offend them for a competition. ”

When the emperor heard what the prince said, he seemed to be quite satisfied, and nodded in approval, but his complexion did not improve. Li Yunrao stood up and said: "No, today is my father's birthday, how can they be presumptuous." And the last game, to win back no matter what. Li Longji smiled and said: "That's it, the score has been so bad, just let those players be careful and don't get hurt again." ”

Li Yunrao puffed up and said: "Father, let Leng Xiaoxiao, he must have a way." Then he sent someone to summon him. Leng Xiaoxiao came to the emperor's throne as he approached, Li Yunrao said what he meant, and said: "Today, on the day of my father's birthday, how can I lose this face, you can watch it." ”

Li Longji also said: "Leng Qing has a good plan to turn the situation around? It seems that he also has expectations for Leng Xiaoxiao. Leng Xiaoxiao is helpless, this princess always gives herself problems, but since the emperor also has this intention, he can't refuse. He thought of the wolf-like strength of those Tibetan golfers, and his first thought was that it would be difficult for the soldiers of the Tiance Mansion to change the sky, but then he thought that although his soldiers were good at riding, they did not know polo, and they were only suitable for battlefield rushing, and they were not good at dodging and moving between square inches in the ball game, and they would not be better than those players in the palace when they really played.

Li Yunrao pulled Leng Xiaoxiao's sleeve and said in a low voice: "I'll tell you, not only do you want to win, but if you win less, you won't be able to win, give Princess Ben a good kill their arrogance." ”

Leng Xiao thought carefully, had an idea, nodded to Li Yunrao, turned to the emperor and said, "Please be relieved, Your Majesty, the ministers will do their best." After speaking, he strode to the seat of the Tibetan mission, hugged his fists and said: "In the first two games, your team performed very wonderfully, and in the last game, as a tribute to your mission, we will no longer go to the palace players." The audience saw that he suddenly walked out and spoke, and fell silent.

Pu Dan was stunned, and said in his heart, what does this mean, is it possible that there are stronger players in Datang, and then think about it, the score difference is nearly 30 points now, no matter who they change to play, they don't want to turn the tables, but they want to see what other means they have, so he asked: "Is this adult going to change?" I have no objection to waiting, but I didn't expect that your country still has a secret weapon that has not yet appeared. ”

Leng Xiaoxiao listened to his sarcastic words, pretended not to be aware, and said with a smile: "How can there be any secret weapon, your country is a guest from afar, and we will greet each other with players specially trained by the palace, wouldn't there be a sense of confrontation, and it will inevitably be less harmonious." Therefore, in the third game, in order to show the friendship between the two countries, I will find a few random people among the guests to play, and everyone will play a game and have fun together. ”

When Pu Dan heard that this seemingly serious young official was deliberately insulting, he couldn't help but get angry, and said, "This lord originally looked down on us and deliberately played tricks." ”

Leng Xiaoxiao smiled and said, "It's serious." ”

Pudan let hold his breath, secretly wanted you to look good for a while, and said, "Okay, you can choose eight people." ”

Leng Xiaoxiao waved his hand and said: "In the competition with this distinguished friend of your mission, how can you go to eight people, and four people will mean it." As soon as he said this, the audience was in an uproar, which means that Datang was behind by 30 points in the first two games, and the third game was going to be four against eight. This is not contempt, and it is simply an insult to the Tibetan mission.

Leng Xiaowan no longer paid attention to the stunned Pu Danrang, walked to the table of the chief Pure Yang Palace in the second row of the first right, and said, "Worry-free, come and do me a favor." Yan Wuwu was stunned at first, but seeing the sly look in Leng Xiaoxiao's eyes, he smiled, stood up and saluted the master, and walked out.

Leng Xiaoxiao said to Yan Zhenqing in the third row: "Lord Yan, your nephew and Zai are friends, can you ask him to help me." ”

Yan Zhenqing didn't expect Leng Xiaoxiao's question, and before he could reply, Qi Yufeng had already stood up and said, "Teacher rest assured." "I straightened my sleeves and went out of the table.

Everyone saw that Leng Xiaoxiao chose two young people who were not special, and they didn't seem to be very special, and they didn't seem to have any connections in the court, and they all whispered, I don't know how Leng Xiaoxiao chose, and there was a fourth one that was not selected.

Leng Xiaoxiao chose Yan Wuwu and Qi Yufeng, naturally he already knew it in his heart, but he hesitated in his heart about this fourth person, Ye Suiyun was in charge, but considering that he wanted to hide his identity, in such a public eye, it was uncertain whether it would be hindered.

At this time, one person stood up and said: "General Leng looks a little undecided, why don't you let Xiao Ke choose this last person to help the general." Leng Xiaoxiao saw that it was Shen Zhuangxing, the son of Wenjia, who spoke, and hugged his fists and said, "What is the high opinion of the son?" ”

At this time, there was another person in the first row of seats: "I also want to choose someone for the general." Everyone looked at it, and it turned out to be the crown prince of Japan, Gen Mingya.

At this time, there was also a person not far away: "Since it is so lively, the old man will also come to get together." As he spoke, Mr. Lu also stood up, and he said: "Shen Gongzi, Prince Genji, since the three of us have candidates, it will be difficult for General Leng, so we will write the names of our respective candidates on a note, and let General Leng blindly choose from them, and whoever is drawn is who?" The other two also found it amused and nodded their heads in goodness. Then the palace people sent the precious Huanhua note, and the three of them finished writing it and handed it over to Leng Xiaoxiao.

Leng Xiaoxiao thought about it, since there are Qi Yufeng and Yan Wuwu, plus himself, this competition can be said to be invincible, no matter who the three of them choose, it doesn't matter. He took out a note from the plate and opened it with the words 'Tang Wuyun' written on it. Leng Xiaoxiao was a little surprised, and unfolded the other two notes, which turned out to be the same as in the first note, both of which were Tang Wuyun's three words.

Shen Zhuangxing and the three of them smiled at each other, and Mr. Lu said: "It's just because at the poetry meeting a few days ago, this little brother Tang's hand was really influential to the old man. Yuan Mingya and Shen Zhuang said: "Exactly." But the guests were already boiling and asked who it was.

Tang Xiyao sighed and said, "I'm really afraid of something, Brother Ye, I can't hide this time." Ye Suiyun couldn't shirk and walked to the room. Everyone saw that it was a man with an iron mask, and they felt even more strange.

The four of them came to the apse to change their clothes, and Leng Xiaoxiao couldn't help laughing: "I didn't expect the first time the four of us joined forces was on the polo field." ”

Qi Yufeng said: "The martial arts strife is endless, are you afraid that there will be no chance?" It's just that next time it will be a coalition or a hostile position, it's hard to say. ”

Yan Wuwu glanced at him and said: "Daqi, your martial arts skills are good, and you are not a bad person, but I am just tired of your attitude, and when you speak, you are always yin and yang, as if the world is full of your enemies." Qi Yufeng said coldly: "That's not bad." ”

Yan Wuwu wanted to say more, Ye Suiyun interrupted: "Xiaoxiao, do you know what my situation is, how dangerous this blatant appearance will be." It's okay for me to do it myself, if there is any danger, Xiyao and even Tangmen will be affected by me. ”

Leng Xiaoxiao smiled bitterly: "I didn't find you out, although I do have this intention." He looked at the three people in front of him and said, "There's no way, if you want to reverse the defeat now, it's impossible for normal golfers, you can only rely on a few of us who have martial arts skills." ”