In the southern region, there is such a strange mountain called Mt. Ototo. This mountain is not high, but the top of the mountain is full of clouds and mist all the year round, whether it is near or far, all make people not see really, can only see a general outline, the mountain shape is like a turtle lying on the ground, the back is the top of the mountain, the belly is the foot of the mountain, so it is called the big turtle mountain. At the foot of the mountain, there is a small town, relying on the mountain to eat the mountain, the town has many hunters who go up the mountain to hunt, the medicine merchants who go up the mountain to collect and sell medicines, and of course, there are often travelers who are famous from other places, so the clothing, food, housing and transportation industry in the town is also booming, and the life of the local people is also nourishing, because some of the outsiders are often rich children, with three or five entourages, dressed in noble clothes, and the instruments are lofty, and the locals can see at a glance that this is a very fat head... Fat sheep. It is worth mentioning that the game in the town is a must, and it is somewhat famous in the nearby area, and the meat is firmer than the ordinary game, and it is very chewy, because the beasts on this turtle mountain are more ferocious and irritable than ordinary beasts, and even experienced hunters will fold in this mountain.

On this day, another group of foreign tourists came to the big turtle town. The first person saw that he was wearing a red robe, wearing a yellow tasseled purple and gold crown, and a handsome face, which made people look extraordinary, and he was a beautiful young man. Behind him, he was followed by two attendants. One was a strong man, with a sturdy body, eyebrows and angry eyes, and from time to time he glanced around vigilantly, seeing that he was not a master to be messed with. The other person was an old man with white hair and a crane face, with his hands on his sleeves, silently following behind the beautiful boy.

As soon as the group entered the town, it attracted countless eyes, and the already busy market seemed to be even more lively, and all the clever vendors were full of shouting.

"Yo, the guest officer came to take a look, my jade with local characteristics, guaranteed to be produced from the turtle mountain, the quality is called a good, the whole body is bright, the color is blue, give it to the beloved girl, make sure to send a quasi, hey, don't go, the girl doesn't, filial piety to the old lady is also OK, keep the family and everything is prosperous, mother and son filial piety... Hey, guest officer..."

The beautiful boy smiled and shook his head, he knew that most of the shouts he heard along the way were fake, but they were also interesting, this is probably the most real fireworks in the world?

The beautiful boy's surname is Li Mingmuzhi, and he is the only heir of the Li dynasty in the south, that is, the crown prince. The rugged man behind him is named Cao Dong, who was originally the head of the training of the Great Inner Forbidden Army, and now he is specially arranged to teach teenagers to practice martial arts. The old man's name is Wei Li, who is the first national teacher of the Li Dynasty, who has taught and assisted two generations of emperors before and after, and the old man also has an identity, the chief worshipper of the Li family. There have been three assassinations of emperors in history, all of which were easily resolved by him, and his strength is unfathomable.

Before this trip, Emperor Li specially led Li Muzhi to Wei Li's mansion, changed into civilian clothes, did not bring an entourage, did not make a noise, just the two of them. To make an emperor deign to visit, one can imagine how special Wei Li's identity was in the Li Dynasty. Li Muzhi has just turned 20 and has reached the age of the crown ceremony. Emperor Li also knew that his son was used to being pampered and had never left the capital. However, the crown prince of a country will gradually start to be a regent after the coming-of-age ceremony, so I hope that he will have some experience first, and patrol the territory that will be inherited by him in the future. This can't be blamed on Emperor Li's habitual indulgence, this emperor is frightened by assassination, in less than 30 years of reign, he has encountered three assassinations, although each time there is no danger, but he is really about to be frightened. The most dangerous time, the thief's knife was a few millimeters away from his neck, and in a few millimeters, his head was about to move from his neck, and then the emperor of the country slapped the thief into a pulp.

Originally, there was no dynasty in the south, but there were more than a dozen large and small races. The first emperor of the Li family was a real iron-blooded man, who fought in the south and the north, and changed the Li family from a small clan in the southern corner to unify all the big surname races and become the only dynasty in the south. And Wei Li is the greatest contributor to the unification of the first emperor of the Li family.

The current Emperor Li is obviously very lucky, he has been a happy Taiping Emperor since he ascended the throne, and all he needs to do is to lie on his father's credit book and enjoy life. So he has extraordinary respect and dependence on this emperor, and even has a trace of fear, but whenever he encounters a dilemma, his first reaction is: "National teacher, what can I do about it?"

Although Emperor Li is said to be an emperor who will only enjoy happiness, he has great expectations for his son, hoping that after the prince ascends the throne in the future, he will be an emperor who will achieve great things, so that he will at least get a moderate evaluation in the history books, after all, he has kept the great foundation passed down by his father and taught a virtuous heir.

This time, he took his son Li Muzhi to visit Wei Li, just to let the national teacher Wei Li protect him all the way, and at the same time, he also hoped that Li Muzhi could be recognized by the national teacher.

Emperor Li stood outside Wei Li's door, and the crown prince Li Muzhi naturally didn't dare to make a mistake, and stood behind him honestly. Emperor Li raised his hand and gently knocked on the vermilion gate.

With a "squeak", an old servant opened the door slightly. The old servant looked over and saw a man in a low-key costume standing at the door, but he also had a face, so he asked, "May I ask what this lord is doing?"

Emperor Li replied with a smile: "If you come to visit Wei Li, you can just say that the guest's surname is Li, and he will meet him." ”

"Oh, it turned out to be a friend of the master, please come in, please come in, the master often says that whoever comes is a guest, whoever is invited to come in and have a cup of hot tea" The old servant acted quite neatly, opened the door, bent down and made a gesture of please.

Emperor Li raised his feet and entered the door, sighed slightly, thinking about the Xuanwu Gate, the main gate of his palace, and eagerly put a hundred powerful monks to patrol and guard day and night. Probably the so-called art master bold?

As soon as Emperor Li and Crown Prince Li Muzhi entered the meeting room under the leadership of the old servant, they saw Wei Li already sitting there, as if he had been waiting for a long time. Wei Li clenched his fists, bowed slightly, and said softly: "I didn't know that Your Majesty was coming, and I missed the distance." Emperor Li waved his hand again and again: "No courtesy, no courtesy, the national teacher is polite." ”

The old servant next to him was a spirit, his old eyes were dizzy, and he didn't know that the Son of Heaven was coming. The old servant hurriedly knelt down and was about to kowtow. Emperor Li didn't stop him, but he was relieved: "It's okay, it's okay, I went out in civilian clothes this time, I don't know what the crime is?" ”

Wei Li looked at the trembling and frightened old servant, chuckled, and said, "Go down, go and make a pot of Biluochun that I treasure." The old servant was ordered, as if he had been pardoned, and withdrew from the smoke, not wanting to stay in the parlor for a moment.

Emperor Li naturally sat down in the main seat and looked around, from entering the door to the living room, the huge Wei Mansion revealed an old-fashioned bookish anger from the inside out, just like the yellow rosewood rose chair under his buttocks, which was not cushioned, and his buttocks hurt, and he was not comfortable sitting on his own dragon chair at all.

Wei Li, who saw the clue, smiled and quipped: "The original meaning of this rose chair is: dare not be arrogant and elegant, and often practice respectful etiquette, which is the elegant style favored by the old decay." However, because of this, I neglected His Majesty the Emperor, and I was negligent, so I asked my subordinates to change to a soft chair. ”

How could Emperor Li clearly express his suffering, he could only reluctantly smile and replied: "Don't worry, I came here this time to discuss some things with the national teacher, and I can't delay it because of such a trivial matter." Emperor Li pondered his words for a moment, and then said, "I want the prince to travel, but the road is dangerous, and I can only trust the national teacher, so I specially visited, hoping that the national teacher can protect the children well." ”

Wei Li stroked his beard with his hand: "Oh, small things, the old man has been fine lately, and he should protect His Royal Highness the Prince." ”

Before that, this Emperor Li thought of a number of euphemistic words, but he didn't expect that in the end, Wei Li nodded lightly, didn't say anything, and agreed. This made him really unresponsive for a while.

When the matter was done, Emperor Li didn't mean to stay longer, and he didn't even have a sip of the freshly soaked Biluochun before he asked Li Muzhi's disciples to thank the emperor and leave. But if you think about it, Emperor Li won't like the Biluochun treasured by the national teacher Wei Li.

It wasn't until he walked out for a long time that the Li Emperor glanced around, then sighed softly, lowered his voice, and said softly: "Muzhi, if you don't want to live like me, you have to be in power." ”

Li Muzhi behind him had a complicated expression, since he was born to the present, he has always thought that his father is a puppet emperor who will only be submissive to the national teacher and obedient to his words, and he looks down on his father a little bit in his heart. The Li Dynasty occupied the entire southern territory, and the territory was absolutely second to none in history, and the Li Emperor should not have the power to be monstrous and respected to the extreme, why should he treat a national teacher like this? Even if he was the founder of the country?

Emperor Li turned around and patted his son on the shoulder: "I'm sorry, son." With that, he turned around and walked away alone.

Li Muzhi didn't realize until that moment that his father was not as happy as he thought, and this man seemed to have been hiding it well.

Emperor Li still has a lot of words that he hasn't said, he pressed it in his heart, and he didn't plan to say it, so it's good to rot in his stomach for a lifetime, so be it, he thinks so and does it.

For example, the founding emperor of the Li family originally had three sons, and the current Li emperor was the youngest one at that time, and the most lazy, and the least favored one to inherit the crown prince, while his two civil and military brothers died in an accident in the prime of life, and he inherited the throne.

For example, when the first emperor was dying, he looked at him at the bedside, and the last words he said were not to expand the grand cause, but to be: "It's good to be a hedonistic emperor." He will never forget the disappointment on the face of the first emperor.

For example, although he has 3,000 beauties in the harem, he decided to have only one child in this life when he was on the throne of the emperor, so Li Muzhi was born as the crown prince.

For example, what he didn't say before, "I'm sorry, son." Although the Li family ascended to the sky in the south, there was always a Wei Li standing in the sky. ”

——————

Li Muyi and his entourage of three people slowly wandered to the foot of the Big Turtle Mountain, which was full of inns of different grades, and it was obvious that there were many travelers who came to the Big Turtle Mountain.

Li Muzhi couldn't guess the preferences of the national teacher, so he turned around and asked the national teacher Wei Li: "I don't know which one the old gentleman thinks we should stay in?" Wei Li glanced at it roughly, pointed to a room near the corner, and said with fewer travelers: "Childe, just that one." ”

The title of old gentleman and son-in-law was proposed by Wei Li during his travels. At first, Wei Li's suggestion was that during this trip, Li Muzhi, Wei Li, and Cao Dong were each called Gongzi, Lao Nu and Wu Shi, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble. But Li Muzhi shook his head and repeatedly insisted that he would call Wei Li an old man. Wei Li didn't say anything more because of this.

The three of them walked to the front of the inn, which was inconspicuous among the many more ornately decorated inns next to it, and there was a plaque hanging at the main entrance, which read: An inn. Cao Dong glanced at it and couldn't help laughing: "The name of the shopkeeper of this inn is also a bit arbitrary. Li Muzhi nodded, thinking deeply, an inn, who doesn't know that this is an inn.

The inn is not large, with a total of three floors, the first floor is a guest hall for guests to eat, and the second and third floors provide a place for guests to stay. In the guest hall on the first floor, there are a few tables and benches of the Eight Immortals. Maybe it was Li Muzhi and the three of them who came not to eat, but there was no one in the guest hall on this floor.

"Come, come, a few guest officers, please!" A more shrill voice sounded, and then a young man who looked like he was fifteen or sixteen years old ran out with a cigarette. The young man was dressed in coarse linen clothes, and he had a clean rag on his shoulder, and he could tell at a glance that he was a shopkeeper.

"A few masters have a good eye, our inn is famous in this big turtle town, the food is good, the food is good, the accommodation is good, and the price is very good. The shopkeeper said as he invited Li Muzhi and the three of them inside.

In fact, as early as before the three of them came to the door of the store, the shopkeeper saw them, and secretly wondered in his heart, obediently, this dress is a rich disciple, if you can come to us, it will really be a white silver with long legs, and it will be sent to the door by yourself. However, he didn't have much hope, because the reputation of an inn was really not good in this big turtle town, and the food was expensive, the food was expensive, and the accommodation was expensive. This decoration is ordinary, but the price is one of the most expensive in the surrounding inns, so this inn usually has very little business. Fortunately, no matter whether the business is good or bad, the monthly salary is there, and he will not be less than a child, and of course there will be no more than him.

Li Muzhi and the three of them randomly picked a table of eight immortals and sat down, and looked around, although the decoration of the store was ordinary and looked quite deserted, but every place was very clean and tidy, obviously the shopkeeper usually put a lot of effort to clean up.

Thinking of this, Li Muzhi smiled and asked, "Is you the second shopkeeper in such a big inn?"

The shopkeeper nodded, and replied quite embarrassedly: "The guest officer's eyesight is really good, and I am the only shopkeeper in the inn." After a pause, he added, "The bookkeeper is also me." ”

"Oh?" Hearing this, Li Muzhi was quite surprised, he didn't expect this young boy to be quite capable.

The shopkeeper scratched his head and said: "The chef is also me, we don't remember the number plate of the dish here, and a few guest officers want to eat and tell me, I will probably know a little bit of the famous local specialties." ”

Li Muzhi was even more surprised in his heart, raised his eyebrows, and quipped: "You opened this inn?"

"That's not it, the old shopkeeper is used to being a shopkeeper, and he is usually not here. But don't worry, don't look at my age, but I can do things quickly, one top several, so the guest officer lives here and has to tell me, I promise to do it beautifully. When the shopkeeper said this, he was full of pride.

Cao Dong on the side nodded secretly, the second child in this shop did have something, so he couldn't help but quip: "Boy, this cooking is not delicious just by making a profit." ”

Hearing this, the shopkeeper immediately patted his chest and swore and said: "Don't worry, this master, the dishes I cook don't brag, and even the dumb ones will applaud when they eat them." ”

When Li Muzhi heard this, he felt that the second child in this shop was very interesting, much more interesting than the group of eunuchs in the palace who could only shout that the prince is wise and the prince is martial, so he continued to quip: "Then I really don't dare to eat it." ”

At this moment, there was a soft knock on the door.

When everyone looked up, they saw a young man of about fifteen or sixteen years old standing at the door with a basket almost as high as him, and it was he who knocked on the door.

"I'm sorry, a few guest officers, please wait a moment and let me pick out some fresh and good ingredients to cook. The shopkeeper confessed to the three of them, then turned around and trotted to the door, and shouted with a smile: "Hey, Mo Shiping, didn't I tell you, just come in directly, who is with whom, what are you doing every time you are so restrained, what good things are you bringing today?"

The young man named Mo Shiping standing at the door smiled shyly, raised his hand to wipe the beads of sweat from his forehead, and unloaded the basket behind him, which was almost human-high, which was filled with ingredients picked from the Big Turtle Mountain and game hunted and so on.

At this moment, Wei Li, the national teacher who had been expressionless and silent since entering the inn, frowned slightly.