Su Yu walked out of the imperial tent, faced the night breeze blowing in his face, and looked around.

Cangshan hunting ground is very large, and because there has not been such a large-scale hunting activity for many years, the grass and trees are extremely luxuriant, and in some places, the wild grass is so high that even horses will be drowned in it.

The camp was backed by a high hill, and the tents of the entourage were scattered around the emperor's residence like stars and moons, far and near. Directly in front of the Imperial Banner is a large plain suitable for horses and hunting, and slowly, the terrain transitions into gently undulating land, and beyond that, at the end of the line of sight, there are endless hills and deep forests.

At this time tonight, in the distance and on the edge of the camp, although the shadows of piles of bonfires that have not yet been extinguished can still be seen everywhere, most of the officials who came with them have already returned to their tents to rest, and the camp is very quiet. Especially in the vicinity of the Imperial Guard, except for the two rows of soldiers on duty who stood opposite each other every few steps outside the Gate, they were empty.

The tent where Su Yu lived was not far from the royal house, dozens of steps away. She went to her place of residence in the company of the palace eunuch and Gong E. As soon as he came out, he didn't walk a few steps, and saw Yang Zaien and Pei Xiaoyuan coming from a distance.

Yang Zaien was afraid that the emperor would wait for a long time, so he walked in front of him in small steps, Pei Xiaoyuan seemed to have something on his mind, a little absent-minded, lowered his eyes slightly, and walked behind. Suddenly, Yang Zaien saw Su Yu and his party come out, and hurriedly stopped walking far away, and he was shocked, stopped in a hurry, and raised his eyes.

Su Yu walked up to him and looked, and the two of them met their eyes. He slowly closed his eyes, bowed solemnly to her, and then, like Yang Zaien, stepped back to the side, respectfully giving way to her.

Su Yu didn't stop, only nodded to Yang Zaien, his eyes swept over the face of the person beside the road who looked extremely solemn at the moment, and then continued to move forward under the support of everyone behind him, and entered the account.

Yang Zaien bowed down to see the princess, and when the princess's figure disappeared behind the tent door, Fang straightened up and looked at Pei Xiaoyuan.

On the way here, he didn't take the initiative to inquire like others, and he didn't ask why the emperor summoned him.

Yang Zaien hesitated for a moment, glanced at the princess's account again, and finally reminded softly: "Your Majesty should be a little dissatisfied with the poem Si Cheng handed in this morning, Si Cheng should be careful." ”

Pei Xiaoyuan thanked him. Yang Zaien waved his hand, and hurriedly led people to the palace to report, and then motioned for Pei Xiaoyuan to enter.

Pei Xiaoyuan entered the account, and saw that there were only three people in the account, except for Zhao Zhongfang, who was guarding medicine in the corner of the tent, there was only one uncle Cui Daosi in front of the emperor. Seeing himself come in, although he didn't dare to speak, the eyes he cast were full of worry, panic and a bit of admonition.

"Minister Pei Xiaoyuan, meet Your Majesty." He stepped forward and saluted as usual.

The emperor's face was cold, and he did not ask him to be flat.

"Pei Er, do you know what crime you have committed?"

Pei Xiaoyuan kowtowed again: "The minister was on duty in the camp with his subordinates, and was hurriedly summoned by the inner servants. The minister was stupid, and he couldn't think of what crime the minister could commit for a while. ”

The emperor waved his arms angrily and threw the manuscript at him: "Open your eyes yourself, read it again!" Look at what it's all about! ”

The draft was just a fluttering piece of paper, but it was thrown directly on Pei Xiaoyuan's head by the emperor with a bang, pasted on his front door, and then fell to the ground leisurely.

Pei Xiaoyuan lowered his head and picked it up, and saw that it was indeed the poem he wrote.

To tell the truth, last night's chaotic dreams hit people, and the little maid made noise in his ears again in the morning, which made people more and more depressed, and the palace eunuch came to urge him again, and he almost wrote it down casually. In fact, I quickly felt a slight regret, and knew that there was no need to make such a song and hand it in. But everything that has been written has been written, and I can only give up.

At this moment, he took his poem in his hand, read it a few more times according to the emperor's order, raised his head, and met the emperor's cold eyes.

"Your Majesty, this is a poem dedicated to the return of Princess He Shouchang to the court on the orders of His Majesty. The minister is a martial artist, shallow in knowledge, ugly in writing, and writes in a way that does not conform to His Majesty's wishes, and hopes that His Majesty will forgive his sins. ”

"What a martial artist, shallow in knowledge! I think you're amazing! Quote the scriptures, and want to suppress the first! Take advantage of the great opportunity of the princess's return to the Manchu Dynasty to show off your cleverness and vent your dissatisfaction with the court and me! ”

"'In the past, there was Yilan Cao, and the Five Classics were the deep sea'."

The emperor repeated this couplet, and then let out a cold sneer, "Good poetry, good poetry." Pei Jia'er, you have made such a good poem, what did you say, if it weren't for your uncle's suggestion, I'm afraid I would still be in the dark by you at the moment! ”

Cui Daosi was shocked by the emperor's words, and he was even more remorseful that he couldn't bite off his tongue early, and he didn't have to cause such a disaster himself, so he hurriedly grabbed his nephew's side and knelt beside him.

"Your Majesty! The minister is already accused, and it is indeed a misunderstanding by the minister! From the beginning to the end, this poem is full of praise for the princess, and secretly expresses the sincere admiration that you can't ask for, such as 'If you can't ask for it, you can't think about it.' Leisurely, tossing and turning'. ”

As for the two sentences mentioned by His Majesty, it is a manifestation of the nephew's admiration for the noble character of the sages and his determination to emulate them, and then serve the court. What's more, this poem is also an ancient poem, the form is not restricted, and the inner is more important, this is his admiration for the princess and his loyalty to the court, how can he be dissatisfied with the court or His Majesty? I beg your Majesty to be wise! ”

Cui Daosi's words were impassioned, reasonable, and after a long time, he didn't hear any other sounds in the big tent, only in the corner, Zhao Zhongfang had already fried the medicine, and he forced the medicine into the bowl, sent it to the front, and put it on the table.

"Your Majesty, when the medicine is a little cooler, it will be available." The old palace eunuch reminded.

The emperor didn't hear it, only stared at Pei Xiaoyuan who was kneeling in front of him with his eyes, and said coldly: "He has his own mouth, why should Cui Qing speak!" Tell him to say to himself, what exactly is written? ”

The emperor spoke like this, Cui Daosi didn't dare to make another half a sound no matter how many mouths he had on his body, so he had to keep his mouth shut, and couldn't help but look at his nephew, seeing that he was still slightly lowering his head, his eyes fell to the ground, and he didn't know what he was thinking, and he couldn't help but be anxious and worried.

"Pei Langjun, Your Majesty asked you to tell me in person, what do you mean?" The old palace eunuch waited for a moment, and also urged.

"There are no outsiders here, and Your Majesty is the most considerate of your subordinates. Lang Jun has no scruples. The old palace eunuch said softly again.

Pei Xiaoyuan raised his head: "Your Majesty asked, but I don't dare to hide it." Regarding this poem, the minister has already said that it was written for Princess He's return to the court. The nobility and beauty of the princess are rare in the world. Mo said that the minister was fortunate to meet the princess in the past, that is, the minister had never met the princess before, and now he saw the princess so beautiful, and he would be like many sons and daughters in the court, deeply impressed by the princess, so he felt it, and every word came from the minister's admiration for the princess. ”

This reply can indeed be called neither humble nor arrogant, and it is beyond reproach.

However, when the old palace eunuch heard this, his heart jumped slightly, and he secretly glanced at the emperor, and sure enough, the emperor was obviously not satisfied with the answer he said, and his face looked worse than Fang Cai, and then he asked again: "That's it!" What about the two sentences I just mentioned? ”

He stared at Pei Xiaoyuan in front of him: "Pei Jia'er, you dare to swear to the sky, you really don't have the slightest excuse to play in this poem, to show your dissatisfaction with me and the court?" ”

The emperor's voice fell, and the tent fell silent again for a while.

Cui Daosi finally saw that the emperor seemed to be just deliberately making things difficult for his nephew with this poem tonight.

He didn't know where his nephew had offended the emperor to this point. It's a matter of killing if the pair is not good. Because he also knew his nephew's temper, he was afraid that he would not deal with it properly, so he was about to speak again, but he heard that his nephew had already replied.

"The minister remembers that the minister received a notice in Ganliang at the beginning of the year, and the night before entering Beijing, his uncle had a conversation with the minister, and he talked about His Majesty at that time."

Hearing this, the emperor narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Uncle told the minister that in his eyes, His Majesty is a rare lord of Zhongxing in the world."

Pei Xiaoyuan stopped.

The emperor's expression suddenly froze, and a strange look flashed in his eyes, as if surprised, as if surprised, as if surprised, and as if a little incredulous.

Soon, the emperor's expression recovered, and he only said in a slightly stiff tone: "What do you mean by saying this in front of me?" ”

"In the eyes of the ministers, my uncle has always made very few mistakes. He thinks so, so His Majesty's wisdom and wisdom are naturally far superior to those of the ministers and all living beings in the world, there is no doubt about this. The ministers are shallow in their knowledge, and occasionally they are moved by whims, and they write this poem, whether there is any disrespect in it that His Majesty refers to, and no matter how much the minister argues himself, it is useless. With His Majesty's wisdom and vision, it is clear at a glance. Therefore, the minister implored His Majesty to make his own decision, and no matter how His Majesty decided, whether it was to kill or chop, the minister would accept it willingly. ”

After Pei Xiaoyuan finished speaking, he raised his poem manuscript with both hands, raised it above his head, and then lowered his head.

The atmosphere inside the tent suddenly became strange and abnormal. Cui Daosi was secretly surprised by his nephew's boldness, and on the other hand, he was surprised to find that his response seemed to have hit the emperor's fate.

The emperor stiffened as if he had become a stone statue, and he wanted to lose his temper, but he was blocked in his chest in one breath and couldn't get out. Cui Daosi didn't dare to take a breath of air. Zhao Zhongfang changed his face and reprimanded: "Bold Pei Xiaoyuan!" Your Majesty called you here, just to ask a few words of poetry for the connotation, when did he say that he was going to kill you and chop you? It's good for you, Your Majesty hasn't said anything yet, and even moved out Pei Gong's words! Your Majesty is the lord of Zhongxing, the wise king, do you still need to say this? No one in the world knows! Do you want Your Majesty to read your poems again and condemn you? I think you're pampered and arrogant, I really don't know what to do! ”

After he finished reprimanding, he picked up the medicine bowl in both hands, sent it to the emperor, and persuaded in a low voice: "Your Majesty, the medicine is just taken." Mo and children are generally knowledgeable. The princess has said, don't be angry. Your Majesty should take the medicine first. ”

The emperor's eyes were furious, staring at Pei Xiaoyuan, who was still kneeling with a poem manuscript in front of him. Slowly, he took the medicine bowl, drank it in a few sips, dropped the bowl, closed his eyes, opened his eyes and turned to Cui Daosi, his tone had turned flat: "Cui Qing, according to you, among these poems handed in, which ones are outstanding, and who is the best?" ”

Cui Daosi felt that the emperor seemed to be about to create another topic to step down, he was asking for it, so he hurriedly cooperated, got up and picked up the poems that had just been selected, and hurriedly flipped through them. This time, he didn't dare to be selfish, and quickly evaluated, with the poem of Lantai, the little prince of Bohai, as the first place.

The emperor took Lan Tai's poem manuscript, looked down a few times, and then nodded frequently, and finally showed a smile on his face: "It's the same as I think." Although I am a foreign minister, my loyalty to the princess, to me, and to the court is far better than that of some children who claim to be born in a big family, which makes me quite gratified. ”

When he uttered this seemingly unintentional emotion, the emperor didn't even look at Pei Xiaoyuan, he groaned for a while, and ordered: "Tomorrow, I will ask Lan Tai to serve as my imperial hunting officer, and accompany me, which should be regarded as a reward for making this good poem to him!" ”

Chapter 81

The next day, a piece of news spread in the camp that Lan Tai won the heart of the emperor because of the poem he wrote a few days ago, and was promoted to the imperial hunting officer.

This is a temporary official position, which is insignificant in itself, but in the next hunting, he can always accompany him, convey orders to the emperor, and even the prime minister and general are under his command and under his command, and the glory of his identity can be called the most hunting ground.

With Lantai's talent for exploring flowers, composing poems was favored by the emperor and received this favor, and the rest of the people were originally only jealous at most. However, another piece of news that spread along with this really aroused the dissatisfaction of many people.

On the same day, I don't know where the news spread, and soon, everyone said that he was going to be made a colt by the emperor.

This statement may seem sudden at first glance, but when you think about it carefully, it makes a lot of sense.

Although in the night hall of Qingyuan Palace, where the princess returned to the dynasty, the emperor publicly declared that he would not consider the princess's marriage for the time being. But the princess is old, for the princess to plan for the long term, how can the emperor, who loves his daughter, really choose a horse all the time? And if you choose a concubine, considering that the princess is not in good health today, the princess has been away from the dynasty for many years, and now it is not easy to come back, if it is not an extreme situation, how can the emperor be willing to let her marry far away?

Regardless of anything else, with this article alone, Prince Ashina, He Du, and even Yuwen Shizi can all be swept away, and there is only one Lantai who has already settled in Chang'an and entered the court as an official is the most in line with the Sacred Heart.

Therefore, this day's hunting, although it is still a thousand rides, the momentum is huge, He Du, Yu Wenzhi and others also took their own Wei Erlang to hunt, compared to yesterday's knife test, today is more competitive hunting, the bow is not false, the arrow is not shot in vain, and the harvest is fruitful. However, at the end of the day, among all the people, the one who really stood out was the Bohai prince Lantai, who always accompanied the emperor and did not participate in the hunt.

And what made Lantai reach its peak was the routine presentation of the emperor's gains after the daytime hunting. At that time, the emperor, accompanied by his close ministers, was watching with great interest a few rare prey hunted during the day. Among them was a bear, which had been hunted in a herd, and was so huge that it stood upright above the top of a man, and its muscles were so strong that it suddenly broke free from the iron cage and then tore and broke away in the field. Dozens of guards who were nearby immediately stepped forward with swords and halberds to round it up again, but because of the suddenness of the incident and the scattered organization, not only could it not kill it, but many people were injured by its sharp claws, and their skin was open and bleeding profusely.

Seeing this, the nearby Lang Wei officials also made some moves. Cheng Ping, Yu Wenzhi and others fired multiple arrows at the wild bear. Cheng Ping shot the bear in the chest and abdomen, and Yu Wenzhi shot the bear in the chest and neck. However, the fur of this big bear is as thick as a wall, and how can it stop its attack from being wounded by ordinary arrows?

He Du was on the opposite side of the big bear, and an arrow hit the eye, which made it howl on the spot, but still failed to shoot it down, but provoked it to be ferocious, dragging all the way to the most conspicuous emperor in the field.

The emperor was riding on a horse at that time, and Han Kerang was nearby, rushed to the emperor, drew his sword to personally protect the imperial car, and commanded the guards to surround the emperor layer by layer, keeping the emperor in the middle, and then retreated.

However, this bear was extremely fierce, and in the blink of an eye, it actually broke through the outermost sword array, and tore the guards to the point that people were on their backs, and the scene became a mess for a while.

At this moment, a figure flew up from the emperor's side, drew his sword to block in front of a guard who was injured and fell to the ground, and swung his knife violently at Xiong Zhen, who slapped the bear's paw, and cut off half of the bear's paw with a knife.

This person is Lantai. After successfully attracting Xiong Zhen's attack to himself, he quickly broke away from the Emperor's position and ran to an open field outside the field. The bear roared behind him and chased wildly. At this time, He Du, Cheng Ping, and Yu Wenzhi also followed, and the four of them held the knife and the sword held the sword, and after a wonderful fight, they finally worked together to kill the bear.

Although he suffered an unexpected false alarm, the emperor's mood, far from being affected, became more and more excited, he ordered people to comfort the wounded guards, ordered them to return to the palace to recuperate, and summoned the four warriors, and asked the accompanying court painter Song Bokang to paint the scene of their brave bears, in order to reward the loyal actions of the four of them who were not afraid to escort them in danger.

Especially Lantai, at the critical moment, rushed up to lead Xiong Zhen away, became the focus of attention of the audience, the emperor also took great care of him, learned that his arm was scratched in the fight with Xiong Zhen, personally inquired about the injury, and ordered the imperial doctor to administer medicine.

At the camp banquet that night, the emperor gave each of the four people who participated in the rescue of the beast in the evening a gold and jade belt and a cup of wine. And he ordered the great generals of the guards, where the four of them were, to come out and drink wine together. Among them, Lantai was additionally awarded an official position, and was promoted to Zhongshu Province and served as a general secretary.

This official position is far from being prominent in Beijing, but for young officials, it is a rare position that can be close to actual government affairs. If you are really talented, after training in this position, it is not an illusion to enter the stage and enter the cabinet in the future.

Lantai himself was obviously flattered and hurriedly thanked him.

The emperor smiled and said: "Although you are from the Bohai Sea, but you have already been born as a jinshi, that is an official of our dynasty, no distinction between inside and outside, your talent must also be able to do this position, what is lacking is just experience." And I look at your performance in the past few days, whether it is courage and loyalty, there is no outstanding, so I promoted you to this position, first, to make the best use of your talents, and secondly, to ......"

The emperor paused, his eyes flickered, and he swept over the many ministers who were attending the banquet around him, raising his voice.

"I also want more people to know that all my thoughts are based on long-term calculations for the country. Therefore, the amount of people is employed, not sticking to one pattern. As long as you are talented, serve me, and report to the court, you can be promoted and reused! ”

The emperor's words fell, and a burst of cheers mixed with the shouts of the Long Live Mountain erupted in the banquet hall of the camp. Lan Tai was pleasantly surprised, glanced at the jade tent where the princess lived in the distance, and then bowed down again. The only regret in his heart at this moment was that the princess did not show her face again tonight, did not participate in the feast here, and failed to let her see her moment in such glory.

As for He Du and the others, although they secretly harbored jealousy, envy or disobedience in their hearts, they were all grateful together on the surface.

At this time, those feudal monarchs also led the people around them to come out one after another, kneeling to the emperor and toasting, in order to show their respect, and the atmosphere in the field was pushed to a climax because of this.

In such a joyful atmosphere tonight, compared to Lantai, the world's most proud person, the most unlucky frustrated person in the audience, there is no doubt that it is naturally Pei Xiaoyuan.

Han Kerang couldn't understand why his subordinate, in the eyes of the Manchu Dynasty, who was originally the most likely to be the son of a heavenly coquette, was reduced to such an existence that no one paid attention to.

Tonight, the four most outstanding young sons of each guard were receiving the emperor's commendation and enjoying the supreme glory in the field, while the person he had originally placed high hopes on was outside, taking the initiative to take over from a Jinwu officer who was scratched by Xiong Zhen during the day, and arranging for tonight's duty.

Not only that, he was called by the emperor last night, and Han Kerang also knew about it. With his own face, Han Kerang finally found out from Yang Jaeun's mouth, as if it was because the poems he made did not meet the sage's wishes, and the sage sent a fire.

All kinds of things made Han Kerang quite disappointed in his subordinate, and he didn't want to take care of it anymore, so as not to sulk again, but seeing that the few bosses of the guards who were rewarded with their subordinates tonight, such as Fan Ximing, etc., were all his old acquaintances, all of them were high-spirited, his heart couldn't help but be sour, and he couldn't bear it, so he ordered someone to call Pei Xiaoyuan again, and he waited for him to see someone in the corner of the banquet hall, and said: "What difficulties do you have, or where you can't, you tell me, Lao Han, I can help, Be sure to find a way to solve it for you! The princess was born with such a beautiful appearance and a first-class temperament, or your old acquaintance, and she is about to be taken away! You don't feel sorry, I hurt for you! Are you really willing to admit defeat and give the princess away? ”

He was trying to persuade his subordinates when he suddenly stopped.

From the direction of the palace in the distance, a few people were hurrying to come. The first person was Feng Zhenping, who was left in the palace because of a sudden illness when he set off yesterday and did not come to hunt with him.

At this moment, he somehow hurried over, dismounted, walked through the lively banquet hall with bursts of laughter, walked quickly to the emperor's seat, and after saluting, he came to the emperor's side, and I don't know what he whispered, and the emperor who was talking and laughing with several chiefs beside him paused for a moment.

The distance was a little far, and it was dark, and it was all lit by fire sticks, so the emperor's expression was not very clear. But it can still be vaguely seen that after a short period of condensation, the emperor quickly returned to normal, continued to talk and laugh with the people around him, and after a while, he seemed to get up and go to the imperial tent. Feng Zhenping followed closely.

"What did Feng Zhenping do when he came over suddenly?" Han Kerang immediately became alert.

"You come with me, in case Your Majesty summonses!" Han Kerang commanded in a low voice.

Pei Xiaoyuan also took the scene of Fang Cai into his eyes, and in the night, his eyes shimmered. He didn't say anything, and stepped along.

She stayed in her tent tonight, sat behind a desk, held a bright silver candle, bowed her head and held a pen, slowly painting a painting reflecting the royal hunt.

After her identity as a princess was revealed, Song Bokang and others, who came with her on this trip, were naturally shocked. Later, Su Yu met with them in private, telling them not to be too formal, saying that in the future, he would still be a member of the hospital. Everyone was overjoyed, and they all said yes, but how could they really dare to get along with her like before. Su Yu understood in his heart that after receiving them, he knew that their painting task was heavy, so he proposed to paint this royal hunting picture by himself.