"In Gu Wan'er's opinion, maybe you are already close to the posture of a saint."

In the pavilion next to the water pavilion, Li Bingxue sat next to Yan Gan and said with a smile.

"Saints? This is an exaggeration. ”

Lu Shen shook his head, looked at the koi fish that jumped out of the water from time to time, and slowly sprinkled fish food.

"It's not an exaggeration at all."

Li Bingxue's expression was calm, and she said slowly: "You have to know what her previous life was like." In the years before she became an Oiran, the steward of the alum building was often whipped with sticks, and finally got out of the way, and became a pawn in the hands of the children of the powerful. Whether Li Yunyi or those dignitaries, no one really treats her as a person, just looking at a good-looking play, just like a painting, a calligraphy, and a guqin. ”

The topic is a little heavier.

Lu Shen said softly: "If she hadn't asked the maid to kindly remind me, I wouldn't have helped, this is her own fate." ”

Li Bingxue said: "What I want to say is not this. Just imagine, if I was in her situation, and suddenly a young and promising battlefield general came down from the sky and rescued me from that fire pit, and did not ask for anything in return, and was even willing to tell me everything calmly, what is this not a saint? ”

Lu Shen didn't argue about this topic, he believed that Gu Wan'er would be able to understand his thoughts.

Seeing that he was silent, Li Bingxue asked with great interest: "Miss Lin left, does it mean that she has completed the task and taught you all the advanced martial arts?" ”

Lu Shen nodded and said, "Yes, but I'm still practicing, and I'm still far from being a teacher." ”

"Why don't we have a fight?" Li Bingxue's eyes flashed with joy.

Lu Shen hesitated slightly, he had seen the fight between Lin Xi and Li Bingxue in Jianghua City, and he was very clear about the gap between himself and them.

According to the senior sister, Li Bingxue has rich experience in fighting, and the disadvantage is that her internal strength is not as deep as her, so she is slightly inferior in hard-fought battles.

She commented on Lu Shen's martial arts before leaving, because she had practiced hard in the previous nine years, and her foundation was very solid and solid.

But the time he has stepped into the threshold is really a little short, and this gap must be closed by hard work, without any shortcuts such as Daigo empowerment.

In short, Lu Shen's current strength is impossible to retreat from Lin Xi or Li Bingxue's hands, at most it can support the time of a cup of tea.

Of course, the senior sister also praised his understanding, and maybe in a few years he can improve to a barely flat level.

Lu Shen is not worried about losing face and other problems, and it is also a rare opportunity for him to compete with a master like Li Bingxue.

"Then try it?" He replied with a smile.

The so-called try and die, the result is no suspense.

Although Li Bingxue won very easily, she didn't have the slightest disdain on her face, but said with a little surprise: "I remember that Miss Lin said at that time that Ling only realized the threshold of internal strength about half a year ago? ”

Lu Shen replied, "Yes." ”

"No wonder she has worked tirelessly to teach you martial arts, it's a pity that you don't learn advanced martial arts with such understanding. You have made such progress in just half a year, and if you are given a few more years, your name will definitely be on the martial arts list arranged by the Jianghu people. It's okay that way, I can feel a little more at ease. ”

The smile on Li Bingxue's face was quite relaxed.

This sounds like a bit of a deep meaning.

Lu Shen asked, "Peace of mind?" What does Miss Li mean by this? ”

The two returned to the flower hall to drink tea, and Li Bingxue said as he walked: "There will be a big court meeting in a few days, and the rewards of Jiangbei's victory will be determined, and our whereabouts will also be implemented." After the grand court meeting, His Majesty will hold a banquet in the palace as usual, and we, the ministers of the court, and some of the nobles will attend. The problem is that the timing of this feast coincides with the annual feast. ”

Lu Shen lacked understanding of the details of the imperial court, so he humbly asked, "What is a feast?" ”

Li Bingxue replied: "Every year from the beginning of November to the beginning of the lunar month, the imperial court will open the sutra banquet and the discussion of martial arts, the former is to study the history of the imperial pre-imperial chair, most of the lecturers are filled by Hanlin scholars, the latter is by the generals at all levels of the Beijing army to compete in martial arts and the art of war, the two are collectively called feasts. The banquet must have nothing to do with us, but when it comes to martial arts, I think the Beijing army will definitely use this to suppress the limelight of the border generals. ”

Lu Shen frowned slightly and said: "The limelight of the border army soldiers comes from the victory in Jiangbei, can a so-called martial arts discussion make the Beijing army famous?" ”

Li Bingxue laughed and said: "So I don't like to stay in the capital, many people here always have an inexplicable style of doing things that they don't know." ”

Lu Shen suddenly understood at this time that Li Bingxue took the initiative to learn from him not because he wanted to show his martial arts realm in front of him, but because he was worried that his martial arts were too poor and he was likely to become the target of the generals of the Beijing army.

Li Bingxue looked at his expression, knowing that he already understood his mind, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, when the time comes, the opposite side will only be young generals, as far as I know, there are no particularly powerful masters, your martial arts are enough to deal with." Moreover, your fame in the capital this time is not by fighting on the battlefield, but by strategizing, as long as you deal with a few casual strokes, Your Majesty will naturally stop the challenges behind. ”

"I'm not actually worried about this, I just think it'......"

Lu Shen paused slightly, and said with a complicated expression: "Your Majesty is not easy, you have to face this group of foolish people every day. ”

Li Bingxue raised his eyebrows and said, "Confused? They are not confused at all. Fighting for power and profit, these people are all superb and free, sometimes even my father can't help but sigh, if it weren't for Jingzhou to control the northwest gateway of Daqi, the soldiers' salaries would definitely not be available. Even so, when there has been no actual payment for so many years, a few points will be deducted every time, if my father makes another sum of money from it or the supervision below is not strict, the soldiers can get at most 30% of the salary, which is not enough to support the family, what else to talk about protecting the family and defending the country? ”

Lu Shen sighed lightly and said, "If it weren't for Ling Zun and Governor Xiao supporting the overall situation in the frontier, I can't imagine how the situation would have eroded. Even though His Majesty has the heart to change all this, the crux of the court is too deep, and many times he can only be helpless. In the final analysis, Zuo Xiang's strength in the court is too huge, even if he shows that he is not a powerful minister in various ways, these two words have already become a reality. If you want to pierce this impenetrable net, I am afraid that some special means will be needed. ”

Speaking of this, a past incident from half a year ago suddenly popped into his mind, and then he fell into deep thought.

Li Bingxue looked at his brows slightly frowning and thinking, and did not bother, but just watched quietly.

……

Nancheng Bapingfang, the right prime minister's mansion.

Xue Nanting, the right minister of the Scattered Dynasty Returning to the Mansion, came to the main hall, raised his eyes to look at Xue Ruogu, the eldest son who was standing respectfully, and asked lightly: "Is there a greeting from the Lu family today?" ”

Xue Ruogu replied: "Back to my father, no." ”

Xue Nanting's eyes were slightly condensed, and he said leisurely: "Although Lu Shen is young, he is calm enough, you have to learn more about this kind of bearing." ”

Xue Ruogu was twenty-three years old at the time, and he became a jinshi in the middle of last year, and now he is studying history in the Hanlin Academy.

He has a calm temperament, and he cultivates himself in the noble yamen of the Hanlin Academy, and he can't help but feel a little emotionally when he hears this, and secretly says that the captain named Lu Shen is really good, and he can get such a solemn approval from his father by virtue of his status as a military general.

Although he was a little unconvinced, Xue Ruogu respectfully agreed, and said, "Father, didn't my uncle say in a letter to his family that Captain Lu would definitely come to visit?" ”

Xue Nanting said unhurriedly: "Uncle is kind-hearted, but he is afraid that Lu Shen will be wronged in the capital, so he mentioned that the child will come to visit me immediately after entering Beijing, and it can be regarded as telling those gentlemen in Beijing that Lu Shen is not a border army general they can bully at will." It's just that I didn't expect him to be so cautious, and it's no wonder that the two Grand Governors praised him. ”

"Be cautious...... Xue Ruogu finally couldn't help it, lowered his head and said: "Father, he almost had a direct conflict with Li Sanlang in the alum building, and now many people in Beijing are laughing at Li Sanlang, and saying that Lu Shen is young and vigorous and doesn't know how thick the sky is, which doesn't seem to be cautious." ”

Xue Nanting glanced up at him and chuckled, "This is the reason why my father asked you to stay in the Hanlin Academy to cultivate history." ”

Xue Ruogu was slightly puzzled.

Xue Nanting did not pretend to be pretty, Wen Yan explained: "Li Sanlang took the initiative to befriend Lu Shen, on the one hand, he hoped to take root in His Majesty's heart, and on the other hand, he wanted to win over Lu Shen and then change the minds of other border generals through him. Under the situation at that time, if Lu Shen was a little weaker, his situation would become extremely embarrassing, wouldn't he be able to kill people if he heard people's words? It is precisely because he is careful and sharp enough that he can immediately reprimand Li Saburo and calmly stand in an invincible position. ”

Xue Ruogu listened carefully, and gradually came back to his heart.

Xue Nanting said again: "It is also because of this consideration that Lu Shen understands that as a military general of the border army, he must stay away from all forces in the DPRK and China, so as to reassure His Majesty, so he did not come to visit me." His Majesty's mood has obviously been good in the past few days, and it should be inseparable from Lu Shen's previous face saint. ”

Xue Ruogu responded: "I see, my son has been taught." ”

At this moment, the old housekeeper in the house came in and said, "Xiangye, Lord Xu is here." ”

Xue Nanting's eyes flashed, and he bowed his head and said, "Please ask him to meet him in the outer study." ”

After a while, Xue Nanting came to the outer study alone, and a civil official with a clear face in his forties stood up and saluted: "I've seen Xue Xiang." ”

Xue Nanting said calmly: "Lord Xu doesn't have to be polite, please take a seat." ”

After the civil official surnamed Xu sat down, he said bluntly: "Xue Xiang, four days later, there will be a great court meeting." Recently, those people have been in tandem in private, waiting to make a noise at the court meeting. According to the speculation of the lower officials, whether His Majesty wants to set up a new army in Jiangbei or transfer several commanders of the border army to the Beijing army, they will definitely spare no effort to oppose it. ”

Xue Nanting said unhurriedly: "I know. ”

The civil official surnamed Xu stared at his calm face, and said in a low voice: "Dare to ask Xue Xiang, do we want to take advantage of the situation?" ”

Xue Nanting didn't answer immediately, thinking calmly.

After a long time, he said slowly: "There are some things that Your Majesty is not easy to talk about, and I, as a courtier, naturally have to be sympathetic to the holy will, and if we can't correct some people's wrong ideas, the Northern Expedition will become far away, and eventually become an empty talk." ”

"Xiaguan understands."

The civil official surnamed Xu looked solemn and his tone was extremely firm.

(End of chapter)