When the Dragon Boat Festival arrived, Abba held a banquet in the Hall of Light, feasting the ministers, and Li Zhiyun was also invited. He took a carriage to the Taiji Palace, and under the guidance of an attendant, he came to the door of the Guangming Palace, walked in and took a look, it was really lively inside, in addition to the guests who had come, there were also some officials of Guanglu Temple who were making preparations before the banquet.

Li Zhiyun saw Li Mi, who was talking to a subordinate. Li Zhiyun knew that Li Mi was not here to attend the banquet, but to serve the banquet. After Li Mi defected to the Tang Dynasty, Abba named him Guangluqing, Shangzhuguo, and Xing Guogong, of which Shangzhuguo is the title and Xingguo is the title, both of which are fictitious titles, and his real position is Guangluqing.

Guanglu Temple is one of the nine temples of the imperial court, set up official positions such as Qing, Shaoqing, and the main book, specializing in the royal meals, and has jurisdiction over the four departments of Taigong, Cuisine, Liangyu, and Zhangjiao, and the meal supply of the hundred officials will be of course within the scope of Guanglu Temple's responsibilities.

Li Zhiyun walked over to say hello, and when Li Mi saw him, he hurriedly arched his hand and said, "His Royal Highness the King of Chu, are you here?" Li Zhiyun returned the courtesy: "Mr. Li has worked hard. ”

"The King of Chu is polite," Li Mi said, and said to the official next to him, "Lead the King of Chu to his seat." ”

Li Zhiyun followed the official to his seat and sat down. This year's Dragon Boat Festival banquet is the same as in previous years, seating is set up along both sides of the main hall, there are about three or four rows on each side, and the middle venue is vacant as a place for Gong'e and Cainu to perform programs. Most of the banquets in ancient times were like this, and the hall was full of tables as in later generations, and there were almost no performance stages in front of it, because then the emperor's throne would not be easy to furnish. Is it possible for the emperor and the ministers to sit on an equal footing and mingle? This is not in line with the etiquette of the divine authority of the king, but also detrimental to the majesty of the Son of Heaven. Abba and Pei Lin sat on the same soft couch, both of which were strongly opposed by Liu Wenjing, if he sat with the ministers regardless of whether he was high or low, wouldn't he be drowned by the spitting stars? It was also inappropriate to place the Emperor's throne across the stage, because it would be a great disrespect for the ministers to face the Emperor when they watched the performance.

The seats on both sides of the main hall are the ministers of the imperial court on one side and the relatives of the emperor on the other. As the crown prince, the eldest brother naturally sits at the top of the first row, and the second and fourth brothers are not in Chang'an, so Li Zhiyun sits next to the eldest brother. Below him, in turn, sat the prince of Chang'an, the concubine, etc., and behind him sat the princess, princess and other female dependents and other members of the royal family.

On the opposite side, Pei Lin and Liu Wenjing, the two prime ministers and deputy prime ministers, naturally sat at the top of the first row, and the other ministers sat according to their rank and status.

Li Zhiyun didn't wait long, and the guests all arrived. After a while, Abba also entered the main hall and sat down on the throne, embraced by many attendants. So, the banquet officially began, and the officials of Guanglu Temple began to serve food. For such a large banquet held by the imperial court, it is not allowed to put food on the table in advance, otherwise it is not in accordance with the etiquette system, and the food must be served by the officials of Guanglu Temple after the guests have arrived.

According to the etiquette system of the imperial court, the food of the emperor and the crown prince must be served by Guangluqing himself, while the prince and below were offered by Shaoqing and other officials according to their respective status.

Li Zhiyun didn't care who served him food, what he cared about was that those delicacies were served quickly so that he could feast on them. And Pei Lin is different, in the court, he can sit on the same couch with the emperor, and the treatment of food offered by Guangluqing, can't he still enjoy it? Therefore, when a Shaoqing walked to his seat with a tray, Pei Lin coughed deliberately, and then raised his head with his nostrils facing the ceiling. Shaoqing naturally understood what the prime minister meant, standing there was neither advancing nor retreating, and he was extremely embarrassed, so he had to turn his head and look at Li Mi with pleading eyes.

Li Mi felt that the eyes of the people around him were focused on him. He only felt that his cheeks were hot, so he had to step forward, take the tray in Shaoqing's hand, and respectfully put it on Pei Lian's desk. Liu Wenjing saw it, of course she was not convinced. He has to compare with Pei Lin everywhere, so he also concocts the same method. Li Mi had no choice but to serve him food as well.

After serving food to the two prime ministers, Li Mi walked out of the Hall of Light, took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped the fine sweat on his forehead. Today's ugliness is a big loss, and it's just a matter of serving food to the emperor and the prince, but what are Pei Lin and Liu Wenjing? It's just two minions, and they deserve him to serve the dishes and hand the bowls? At the beginning, he Li Mi was also a hegemon, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses in his hands. When he was powerful, even Li Yuan paid tribute to him, but now he has fallen into such a field, how can it not be embarrassing? It was not until this moment that Li Mi truly experienced the warmth and coldness of the world and the impermanence of life, and tasted the bitter taste under the fence.

In the evening, Li Mi returned to his mansion, locked himself in his study, and sat in front of a candlelight, like a piece of wood carving. He recalled the battle between himself and Wang Shichong, and he had recalled this battle countless times. He didn't understand how the hundreds of thousands of troops under his command could be wiped out in the blink of an eye?

After Li Mi wiped out Yu Wenhua's 100,000 army, the elite soldiers suffered great losses, and returned to Kim Yong City, the base of the Wagang army. In September of that year, Wang Shichong took advantage of Li Mi's exhaustion after the war to launch an attack, led 20,000 elite soldiers and 2,000 cavalry, coerced the Yan Division, set up camp on the south bank of the Tongji Canal, and set up a pontoon bridge on the Luoshui River to prepare for a decisive battle. At this time, Li Mi was proud and complacent, no longer sympathetic to the soldiers, and there was no savings in the treasury, and he did not even distribute the spoils to the soldiers after winning the battle, which made the generals of the Wagang Army detached from morality. Wang Shichong took advantage of the situation to attack the Wagang army and defeated several members of the Wagang army. When Li Mi learned of this, he ordered Wang Bodang to defend Kim Yong City, Bing Yuanzhen to guard Luokou Cangcheng, and he led his elite troops to Yanshi to meet him. Wang Shichong forcibly crossed the Luo River, and the two sides fought at the foot of the mountain. As a result, Wang Shichong broke Li Mi. Pei Renji, Zu Junyan, Cheng Zhijie and others of the Wagang Army were captured by Wang Shichong, and Bing Yuanzhen, Shan Xiongxin and others surrendered to Wang Shichong one after another. The Wagang army suffered heavy losses, and Li Mi was forced to flee east to Wujiaoguan.

Li Mi thought of Zhai Rang again, Zhai Rang is really a rare good person, who does not fight for power or profit. He took a fancy to Li Mi's talent and recommended him to be the leader. It can be said that everything Li Mi got later was given by Zhai Rang. However, Li Mi listened to the slander of the ministers and killed Zhai Rang.

At that time, Zhai Rang's Sima Wang Ruxin persuaded Zhai Rang to appoint himself as the head of the family and take charge of government affairs, so as to seize Li Mi's power, but Zhai Rang refused. Zhai Rang's brother Zhai Hong was rude, and he said to Zhai Rang: "The Son of Heaven should be his own, why should he give it to others?" If you don't be the Son of Heaven, let me do it! When Zhai Rang heard this, he just laughed and didn't take it to heart.

Later, Zuo Changshi Fang Yanzao offended Zhai Rang and felt very scared, so he told Li Mi about the situation, and repeatedly persuaded Li Mi to kill Zhai Rang, and Li Mi finally moved. He invited Zhai Rang, Zhai Hong, Zhai Rang's nephew and others to drink, and separated the guards, leaving only the strong man Cai Jiande standing with a sword. Before eating, Li Mi took out a good bow and asked Zhai Rang to practice archery. As soon as Zhai Rang drew his bow, Cai Jiande slashed Zhai Rang with a knife behind his back, and Zhai Rang fell down in front of the bed, roaring like a cow. Cai Jiande killed Zhai Hong, Zhai Rang's nephew, Wang Ruxin and others. Xu Shiyun escaped from the door and was cut in the neck by the soldiers guarding the door, but fortunately he was stopped by Wang Bodang loudly from a distance. Shan Xiongxin knelt down and begged for mercy, and Li Mi released him. The people on both sides were terrified and suspicious, and they didn't know what to do. Li Mi said loudly: "I rebelled with everyone, and I wanted to eradicate the tyranny. But Zhai Rang was tyrannical, humiliated his subordinates, and did not distinguish between high and low. The only person to kill today is Zhai Rang's family, and it has nothing to do with you. He ordered someone to pick up Xu Shiqin, place him under the tent, and personally apply medicine to him. Zhai Rang's troops were about to disperse, and Li Mi sent Shan Xiongxin to convey his condolences. Immediately, Li Mi rode a horse to Zhai Rang's army to express his condolences and concern. He let Xu Shiyun, Shan Xiongxin and Wang Bodang lead Zhai Rang's troops respectively, and finally stabilized the morale of the army. However, Li Mi's generals began to have suspicions and uneasiness, which also laid the groundwork for Li Mi's later failure.

After Li Mi was defeated by Wang Shichong, he wanted to go to Liyang, but someone said: "When I killed Zhai Rang, Xu Shichang almost died, and now I have lost but I have gone to him, how can I be insured?" In the end, they decided to go to Guanzhong to join Datang. Li Mi is still very popular with the military, and more than 20,000 people have entered the customs with him. Later, some of Li Mi's former generals also led their troops and horses to submit to the Tang Dynasty and were placed in various places by the imperial court.

The night was dark, and Li Mi was not tired. He laid out the paper and grinded the ink, splashed the ink, the handwriting was graceful and free, and the ink spots on the vertical and horizontal paper were quite like teardrops:

The golden wind swings in the early festival, and the jade dew withers the late forest; On this night, the poor man is sad and sad; The wild flat leaves and reeds are together, and the village is barren and deep; Listen to a lot of feelings, and lean on solitude; What do you do? Nostalgia; Qin customs are still unsettled, what will the Han Dao do? Fan Xu's apprentice, Xiao He's knife and pen officer; Once the fortune will be passed down through the ages; Sending words to the world, it is really shameful to be born in vain.

This is a five-character poem written by Li Mi when he lived in seclusion in Huaiyang, and now he has a special taste when he reads it again. A burst of sadness welled up in Li Mi's heart, tears filled his eyes, and crystal tears dripped on the rice paper.

At this moment, the door was gently knocked twice, Li Mi hurriedly took out a handkerchief to wipe away the tears on his face, and gently wiped away the tears on the paper, and then folded the paper and put it on the desk, and then said in a thick nasal voice: "Please come in." ”

The door was pushed open, and Lonely Chunyan walked in with a teacup. She gently placed the teacup in front of Li Mi, looked at him and said, "Husband, it's so late, why don't you go to sleep yet?" ”

"Oh, I'm not sleepy, you go to sleep first."