The musician stopped playing, the dancers' movements froze on the stage, like sculptures, everyone's eyes turned to the empty gate, and Li Qi's not so burly figure slowly emerged in the hazy night, from far to near.

Li Qi did not cross the threshold in a hurry, but respectfully untied the saber at his waist and handed him to the eunuch on duty by the palace gate, who stretched out his hands, but his legs were weak and trembling.

Li Qi glanced at the eunuch coldly, his arm was slightly forced, and the knife with the scabbard made a black mark in the air, which fell into the eunuch's hand with a click, and he glanced at the bright lights in the hall, and finally crossed the high threshold and walked towards the throne step by step.

The heavy rain had soaked his whole body, and the tiger's head engraved on the iron armor on his chest was dripping with water, and with each step, his booted feet were deeply embedded in the carpet of the hall, leaving a puddle of water stains among the gorgeous furs.

When a military general enters the palace, he is not allowed to carry swords and soldiers.

This is something he will always remember.

But after all, he still defiled the hall with the water stains under his feet and the blood stains on his robes.

The dancing girls dispersed from both sides, and at a distance of about a few dozen steps, Li Qiuhuang sat on the throne, quietly watching Li Qi's every step, looking at the armor on his body, looking at his calloused hands, looking at his temples that had turned slightly white, looking at him, that still firm look.

Li Qi walked all the way to the bottom of the steps and arched his hand: "Minister, Li Qi, I have seen the lord of the country." ”

Li Qiuhuang glanced at Yang Taizhen, who was silent under the curtain, and then looked at Li Qi, his voice was a little heavy: "Li Qi, you don't take a good look at your soldiers and horses in the big camp, and transfer troops out of the camp without permission, what do you want?"

Li Qi said: "The lord of the country, the minister is ordered by the lord of the country, leading 10,000 soldiers and horses, defending Ding'an City, and protecting my Tang State Qianqiu Sheji, and now, he is also fulfilling his duties." ”

"Perform duties?" Li Qiuhuang sneered and repeated, "Perform duties ......"

He stood up suddenly, pointed at Li Qi angrily and shouted: "Lone asked you to garrison the camp, but you violated the edict, led troops out of the camp without permission, surrounded the palace, and killed rampant in the palace, and now ...... And also brought this bloody qi into this hall, you also call it to perform your duties?"

"How did Lone ever give you such a duty?"

"Why did you ever let you behave like this?"

The three questions were like three thunderbolts in the main hall, deafening, and even frightened the hearts of hundreds of officials.

The depth of the lord's cultivation, few people have really had the opportunity to see it, and in the eyes of many people, the lord of the country has always been a good-tempered person, and even when he scolds his subordinates, even when he is drinking and singing, he laughs and scolds, not only does not make people feel terrible, but his demeanor is praised.

And today, this Tang poet and immortal finally showed some mortal-like emotions.

Li Qi's eyes were calm, and he bowed down again: "Since the lord of the country asks the minister like this, the minister can only answer truthfully. The minister is a courtier of the Tang Kingdom, eats the monarchy, and should abide by the laws of the Tang Kingdom. If the lord of the country lets the ministers protect the society, the ministers will definitely serve the Tang society to death, but has the lord ever remembered that the law of the Tang Kingdom has such a clause since the first Tang king was promulgated...... Harem, no political interference. ”

Li Qiuhuang's face changed: "You ......"

Li Qi looked at Yang Taizhen and said solemnly: "Now the demon concubine is causing trouble in the court, forming a party for personal gain, causing the traitors in the court of my Tang State to run rampant! The loyal monarch and patriots have been deposed because they don't know how to please, and those who are flattering and reluctant are all on the rise. Now it is a world of great controversy, Jing Wu, Canghai, and the Mo family are all abstaining from extravagance and frugality, purging the rule of officials, and strengthening the army for war, but my Tang Kingdom is the only one, but the wind of arrogance is growing, and the rule of officials is getting worse, as for the army ......"

His voice became louder and louder, and he looked around: "The minister didn't want to mention the defeat of Jing Wu a few years ago, but now that the minister is looking at the court, no one remembers that my Tang Kingdom was defeated!"

"Presumptuous!" This sentence was not said by Li Qiuhuang, but after Li Qi said this, the officials of Yang Taizhen's faction finally could no longer remain silent, and stood up and scolded one after another: "Li Qi! You are satirizing the officials and the lord of the country. What if we are defeated? If we are defeated, we will have to wash our faces with tears every day? Then Jing Wu just happened to have some luck, taking advantage of the emptiness inside my Tang Kingdom, relying on a sneak attack to have a breathing of breath, if now, my Tang Kingdom goes south again, then Jing Wu will inevitably be wiped out under the iron army of my Tang Kingdom, and now you blame the head of the noble concubine Niangniang, blame the head of the country, is it possible that you have forgotten? When you went south to attack Jing Wu, you were also the one who tried your best to fight!"

Li Qi looked at the pot-bellied official with contempt, as if he saw the shadow of the current officialdom of the Tang Kingdom from his stomach, and sneered: "Yes, in that battle back then, I also advocated war. ”

"Then what else are you talking about......"

"But I have never agreed with your so-called 'you can occupy the entire territory of Jingwu within three months'!" Li Qi broke off and pressed the official's voice back into his throat, "My Tang ** force is strong, more than twice as much as the Jingwu that was just established back then, whether it is from the river downstream, or the infantry army attacks from two sides, it should be reasonable to win that battle...... But how did you lose back then?"

Li Qi sneered, "If it weren't for you mediocre people who only know how to talk on paper, thinking that Jing Wu is a sheep with no ability to resist, you can slaughter at will, in order to fight for the annexation of Jing Wu before the Mo family and Canghai, you are greedy for merit, if it weren't for you forcibly asking the army to spread out on the border, resulting in loose troops, how could you give Gao Changgong the opportunity to break through and sweep through the eight thousand Qingzhou ghost horses?"

"And grain and grass!" Li Qi didn't give those officials a chance to continue talking, his voice was as loud as a raging lion, "The soldiers in front fought bloody battles and fought for the country with their flesh and blood, but what about the rear? Why is there a shortage of grain and grass when it is delivered to the soldiers?"

The soldiers sacrificed their lives to fight with the Jing Wu army and climbed the towering city wall, but when they returned to the camp after the battle, they found that they were still hungry and wrapped in thin armor...... The pot is boiling clear soup and fresh water, and the white-flour steamed buns are all black-hearted, so that's fine......" Li Qi's eyes showed a little sadness, "People who can't eat enough will never die, but those wounded who came down from before the battle were already on the line of life and death, but they didn't wait for those herbs and rice salt until they died......"

He looked at the shrunken person in Yang Taizhen's faction, and said sharply: "Master Pei! You should know this matter best, what are you hiding?"

Li Qiuhuang, who was sitting on the throne, changed his eyes, he knew that Li Qi was not a person who could lie and talk nonsense, and above the court, in full view of everyone, he would not have the opportunity to lie.

Li Qiuhuang's eyes were like torches, he only stared at the official lightly, and the official immediately fell to his knees.

"Pei Ji, what Li Qi said, but the facts?"

Pei Ji, the head of the Tang Kingdom, is seventy-one years old this year, his beard is gray, and his body trembles at this time, almost suffocated by Li Qiuhuang's invisible breath, and he said intermittently: "The lord of the country is ...... Minister...... Minister...... Minister......"

He talked about several ministers in a row, but he couldn't say anything after all.

Li Qiuhuang sighed, the aura around him seemed to be messy, and he said: "When you were asked to be the head of the household, I valued you for your old age and integrity, and thought that you would not be a person who filled your pockets. But now, you have withheld military rations and dared to cut off the supply of medicine and salt, and this is how you repay Jun's kindness? You are seventy-one years old this year, and you can be regarded as an old minister of the Three Dynasties, even if you move the entire treasury home, how many days will you be able to enjoy it? And your sons and daughters ...... You give them this money, not to do them good, but to harm them. ”

Pei Ji knelt on the ground, kowtowing constantly, tears the size of beans flowed from his cloudy old eyes, but he couldn't say anything to defend after all, just kept repeating: "The minister is ashamed of the lord of the country, and the minister is guilty." ”

Li Qi looked at Pei Ji who was kneeling on the ground, shook his head gently, and said: "The lord of the country doesn't have to be harsh on Lord Pei, officialdom is like this, although Lord Pei is the head of the household, he can't stop those people from constantly reaching out for money." Even if he doesn't give it, what can he do? If he doesn't give it today, tomorrow, those people will take advantage of the situation in the court, remove him, and find someone who can give it. Master Pei has worked hard to manage the household department for many years, and how much money he has raised for my Tang Guo and how much money he has saved is obvious to all. That is to say, there is an old man like Master Pei in charge of the household department, and the treasury of my Tang Kingdom can still maintain the old state, if it is replaced by someone else, hum...... I'm afraid that the current treasury has already become an empty shell. ”

He looked at the man sitting in his seat, his eyes half-closed and seemed to be contemplative, and said in a cold voice, "Am I right?

This half-closed official, with a calm and breezy face, is naturally the right-hand servant who has been fighting with Cai Yong for many years.

Although he is much younger than Pei Ji, he is also an old minister who has gone through two dynasties, but before Yang Taizhen promoted him, he was just a servant of the ministry, and the colleagues around him were up and down in the officialdom, and the position under his ass has been the same for ten years, and there has been no change at all.

His colleagues in the ministry thought that he was nothing more than this in this life, and perhaps, even he himself thought so.

But just after Yang Tai Allah ruled, he relied on the little distant blood relationship with Yang Taizhen, and his official position was like wings, and in just a few years, he had actually sat in the position of the right servant, and the Tang State officialdom was in an uproar.