[The seventy-first year of the Great Qiankang Yuan, April 21, the time of the time, the main square of Chang'an City Road, outside the gate of Deyue Tower]

At this moment, in the main square of Chang'an City Road, outside the gate of Deyue Tower, people come and go, and the frame and pedestrians are like flowing water, in and out, so lively. When it was almost noon, many diners came from all over the world, all ready to walk into this famous restaurant in Chang'an, so as to have a good meal and enjoy the joy of the spleen and stomach.

There are also two people with special identities in the crowd, one is Li Chongsheng, the emperor of Daqian, and the other is naturally Gao Liangshi, the chief administrator of the inner court.

Today, the emperor paid a private visit to the inner court, and the two of them, dressed in civilian clothes, walked to Daozhengfang, thinking that they would go to the Deyue Building again and eat the "Flower Rain Tea Baked Cake" that he thought of in his heart......

Li Chongsheng walked outside the gate of Deyue Tower, but saw a ragged and unkempt beggar lying on the ground, kowtowing to passers-by and begging for mercy:

"Uncles and aunts, big brothers and sisters, please do well, have mercy on me blind, give me a steamed bun, I haven't eaten for three days and three nights!"

Li Chongsheng couldn't help frowning when he heard this, and said in his heart, how can there be such a pitiful person in my Daqian capital? Listening to this beggar's voice, he is not too old, but when he looks at this person's head and face carefully, he sees that his two eye sockets are already empty, and he is really a blind man.

The blind man who was not too old was Zhao Xiaogang, the only son of Zhao Yong, the former squire of the military department. After Zhao Xiaogang got two taels of silver from Yao Zibei's alms before, he exchanged copper plates with a kind steamed bun shop owner, and he was finally able to buy a few hot steamed buns to eat from time to time. However, no matter how much copper plate there is, there is a time when it runs out, once there is no copper money in his hand, Zhao Xiaogang has to linger on the streets of Chang'an again, begging along the street all day long to survive in the world.

Since the last time Yao Zibei "gifted" two taels of silver to him, Zhao Xiaogang picked some lively occasions in front of the restaurant to kneel and beg. Although according to the law of the Great Qian, no homeless beggars are allowed to stay in front of the bustling streets and restaurants, but Zhao Xiaogang is blind after all, whether it is the forbidden soldiers patrolling the city or the officials of Chang'an County, seeing him so pitiful, at most he will drive him away......

At this moment, Zhao Xiaogang was prostrate not far from the gate of Deyue Tower, just because he had not been here for a long time, and he had not yet met the officials patrolling the city, but the two guys from Deyue Tower had already run forward, yelled at him, kicked and beaten, and told him to go away quickly.

Li Chongsheng saw that the shopkeeper was bullying Zhao Xiaogang, who was blind, and he was very unhappy in his heart, but after all, these are the common conditions of the world, and he is not easy to punish him. So, the emperor ordered Gao Liangshi to give the beggar two gold leaves, so that the poor beggar could also eat a few full meals.

However, for this command of the Son of Heaven, Gao Liangshi rarely "resisted and disobeyed" once. The chief of the inner court hurriedly explained to Li Chongsheng: "San Lang, if we give that beggar two gold leaves, if we don't do it well, it will kill him!"

Li Chongsheng suddenly smiled and sighed:

"Yesterday, I also said that the third child is not familiar with the world, it seems that my old father is not much better than his son!"

Gao Liangshi hurriedly smiled and said: "The world is human, but Xiao Zhi, what San Lang hides in his chest is the great wisdom of the heavens and the earth!"

But Li Chongsheng waved his hand and sighed again:

"Ahem, it's old, it's useless...... Heaven and earth are infinite, how can I be enlightened? Today, I can't even guess how many sons in my family have!"

Gao Liangshi wanted to say a few words of comfort, but Li Chongsheng didn't let him say much.

So, Li Chongsheng instructed Gao Liangshi to enter the Deyue Building, exchange a piece of gold leaf for some scattered silver taels and copper plates, and buy some steamed buns and meat cakes, wrap them into a big bag, and give all these to Zhao Xiaogang in front of the door.

Gao Liangshi walked in front of Zhao Xiaogang, just glared at the two shopkeepers, frightened the two runners, hurriedly bowed and withdrew his hands, and retreated into the restaurant.

According to Li Chongsheng's instructions, Gao Liangshi put all the broken silver and copper coins in a bag, and handed over another bag of food to Zhao Xiaogang.

Zhao Xiaogang smelled the fragrance of the food in the package, touched the money and silver in the bag, and immediately knelt down to Gao Liangshi, kowtowed incessantly, and thanked him again and again:

"Thank you for this great master, you are really a living bodhisattva! The little one kowtows to you! The old man will definitely have many blessings and longevity, and many children and grandchildren......"

Gao Liangshi was unpleasant when he heard this, but he didn't bother with the other party, he walked back to Li Chongsheng's side and asked:

"San Lang, do we want to go to the private room of Deyue Tower to sit down?"

"Forget it!"

Li Chongsheng waved his hand, I don't know if it was because he saw a sloppy beggar at the door and swept away the interest in eating, or because he saw the running hall in the Deyue Building so bullying, his heart was unhappy, he suddenly changed his mind, today's lunch, I don't want to fall in the Deyue Building. As soon as the emperor turned around, he left the Deyue Tower and headed south.

Gao Liangshi walked with Li Chongsheng, the two walked unhurriedly, unhurriedly, sometimes walking, sometimes stopping, Li Chongsheng was interested in the houses, shops, restaurants, and tea houses on both sides of the road...... All of them are fascinated. Li Chongsheng pointed to those restaurants and teahouses, and asked questions, naturally, Gao Liangshi spoke softly, and answered very carefully......

After half an hour, the two of them had arrived at Chongrenfang, where there was a spacious mansion, which was the Wei Wangfu where Li Zhen lived.

Ma Huacheng, the head of the Wei Palace, saw that the Lord of Long Live was coming to the palace today, and he was so frightened that he quickly knelt on the ground, but Li Chongsheng waved his hand and said that he was traveling in micro-clothes today, and everyone did not have to be formal, and ordered Ma Huacheng to lead the way, and the emperor was going to visit his son.

At this time, at noon, the Wei Wang family was sitting around a large round table of rosewood in the middle of the front hall, enjoying lunch together.

After Li Zhen rested for the night, his dizziness had improved, and after taking a few more decoctions from the imperial doctor, he was able to move as usual.

When Li Chongsheng walked into the front hall, Li Zhen was sipping a bowl of soup, and the wound on his forehead was covered with a piece of white yarn.

The concubine Niu and the concubine Zhang of the King of Wei beside Li Jin, both recognized the appearance of the Son of Heaven, and when they saw Li Chongsheng walk in, they hurriedly got up one by one and knelt down in front of Li Chongsheng.

Li Zhen was not surprised, but when he turned his head sideways and saw that it was his father, he hurriedly put down his rice bowl and was about to kneel down towards Li Chongsheng......

"Don't kneel!" Li Chongsheng immediately waved his hand again and again, and said with a smile:

"Today, I am just a father, come to see my son! There are no kings and ministers here, only fathers and sons, everyone sit down!"

Seeing that Li Chongsheng was dressed in civilian clothes and his words were so easy-going, Li Zhen also waved his hand, so that his wife and children did not have to be formal.

So, Li Zhen gave up his main seat and sat down for Li Chongsheng, while he accompanied him.

"Jin'er, I'm a little hungry, what do you have to eat here?"

Li Chongsheng looked at the round table and saw that there were only a dozen dishes on a large table, and most of them were home-style and light dishes.

Around the table, a total of seven people sat together, in addition to Li Jin, there was also one of his concubines, a side concubine, three sons and a daughter. Naturally, the rest of Li Jin's concubines, concubines, widows, etc., were not at this table.

Seven people sit around a table, but there are only a dozen dishes, and most of them are not hard dishes.

Li Chongsheng couldn't help frowning, and said in his heart, my own son's style is really very different from mine, his lunch is like a princely family, but it is no different from those ordinary medium-sized families!

Seeing Li Chongsheng's embarrassed face, Li Zhen hurriedly instructed Ma Huacheng to go to the stove room to add a few dishes. Unexpectedly, Li Chongsheng waved his hand to stop him, and said that he wanted to eat Jin'er's home-cooked food today, and he didn't have to worry about it anymore.

Li Chongsheng instructed Gao Liangshi to let him sit down together and dine with their father and son, but Gao Liangshi didn't dare to say anything, just said that he would serve from afar.

So, Li Zhen personally served a bowl of rice to his father, and Li Chongsheng ate lunch with his sons, daughters-in-law, grandsons, and granddaughters in the front hall of the Wei Palace.

There is no shark fin bear's paw, no bird's nest phoenix brain, no extraordinary delicacies from the mountains and seas, and even a wine jug on the table, so he simply eats rice, but Li Chongsheng also eats quite interestingly.

The emperor looked at the three teenagers sitting opposite him, and in a trance, he felt that he had returned to the old youth, so he asked Li Zhen beside him:

"Jin'er, my three grandchildren, how have you been doing your homework lately?

"Back to my father, they all like to read, but no one wants to learn swords!"

"Books must be read well, and swords should also be learned! My descendants must be both civil and military! They don't want to learn swords, are they influenced by your father?"

Li Zhen lowered his head to eat, speechless.

Li Chongsheng looked at the three teenagers, his face was full of love, and asked with a smile:

"Hongming, Hongen, Hongqi, do any of you want to learn swords from Grandpa Huang?"

"Yes!

The three teenagers on the opposite side all raised their hands high, especially the tall boy who sat first on the left.

Li Jin's heirs were quite difficult, and his concubine Niu gave birth to three sons and a daughter. However, the eldest Li Hongcheng and the second Li Hongwen both died at an early age, leaving only Li Hongen, who is the fourth in line, 14 years old this year and still in good health. There is also a daughter named Li Hongbo, who is thirteen years old this year and is still in the boudoir.

Li Hongming, who is only one year older than Li Hongen, although he ranks third, is a concubine and was born to the side concubine Zhang. And Li Hongchi, who is at the bottom of the list, is only eleven years old this year, but he was born to a concubine, and his identity is the most humble.

At this moment, the young man who is the tallest and most eager to respond to Li Chongsheng's questioning is Li Jin's third son, fifteen-year-old Li Hongming this year.

"Grandpa Huang's swordsmanship is amazing, I want to learn swords from Grandpa Huang!" Li Hongming begged.

"Hongming, Grandpa Huang's swordsmanship is amazing, who did you listen to?" Li Chongsheng asked while eating the dishes.

"I'm listening...... Listen to what my father said!" Li Hongming looked at Li Zhen and replied a little timidly.

"Then Grandpa Huang will test you first!" Li Chongsheng put down the dishes and chopsticks, thought for a while, and then asked a question:

"'The mandate of heaven has sent down the prison, and the people are strict; no arrogance, no abuse, no slackness!'...... Where do these words come from?"

Li Hongming's eyes widened, staring blankly at the roof, and constantly scratching his head, but he thought about it and couldn't figure out what kind of sentence his imperial grandfather was talking about.

"Hongming, it seems that you haven't studied hard!" Li Chongsheng picked up the chopsticks, took a bite of green vegetables, and said:

"Your father is right, as a descendant of my Li family, you must first read the book well! If you don't read the book well, just learning the sword will not succeed!"

Li Hongming lowered his head in shame and said:

"The grandson has written it down, and after the grandson goes back, he must study hard and keep in mind the teachings of the emperor's grandfather!"

Li Chongsheng looked at Li Hongen, who was sitting in the middle, and asked:

"Does Hong-eun know where this sentence comes from?"

At this time, even Li Zhen looked at Li Hongen with great interest, he has always been taciturn in his treatment of people, and he doesn't spend much time with his sons, and he also wants to take the opportunity to understand them while his father is comparing his sons.

At this time, Li Hongen put down the dishes and chopsticks in his hand, straightened his back, and replied unhurriedly:

"Grandpa Huang, these few sentences are from "Three Hundred Poems", which is about Yin Gaozong's deeds of complying with the mandate of heaven, crusading against Jing Chu, making the princes of the Quartet come to attach, and all the states and surrendered. Yin Gaozong is the holy lord of Zhongxing, and under his rule, the people are all respectful and law-abiding, and no one dares to slack off! In the end, the whole world will be unified and all will be under the rule of the great merchants! Now, under the careful governance of the emperor's grandfather, my great cadres have been attached to the four seas and all the nations have submitted, and the emperor's grandfather has inherited the mandate of heaven and won the hearts of the people, and his merits are ......the same as those of Yin Gaozong in those years."

Li Hongming, who was sitting next to Li Hongen, was unconvinced:

"The imperial grandfather is the emperor of the ages, and he is just a Yin Gaozong, how can he be compared with the imperial grandfather?!"

"Eh, don't slander the ancients!" Li Chongsheng looked at Li Hongming's face slightly cold, and said in a slightly admonishing tone:

"Yin Gaozong's rule of Zhongxing can be called unprecedented! If your imperial grandfather can get the same evaluation as him, he will already be very happy in his heart!"

Zhang, the second concubine sitting next to Li Jin, glared at her son fiercely, so frightened that Li Hongming lowered his head again and didn't dare to speak again.

Li Chongsheng stroked a long beard under his chin, looked at Li Hongen with his eyes, and his eyebrows were full of kindness and approval......

At that moment, the emperor asked with great interest:

"Hongen, in a few days, the imperial grandfather will send someone to bring you into the palace. You follow the emperor's grandfather to learn swords and study together, and our ancestors and grandchildren will be good companions, okay?"

"Grandson obeys the orders of the emperor's grandfather!"

"Okay, good!hahaha......" Li Chongsheng kept nodding his head and laughing.

"However, my grandson has a reluctant request!"

"Oh...... Do you want another reward?" asked Lee Chong-sung with a smile.

When he saw Li Zhen today, he only felt a trace of guilt in his heart, but after seeing his imperial grandson Li Hongen, he was really unusually happy in his heart. When people are old, they always like to stay with young people and feel the vigorous and strong life force of each other, and the emperor is the same.

Li Zhen glared at Li Hongen and reprimanded:

"Hongen, don't you want to mess around! Don't you thank your imperial grandfather?"

"Eh, don't speak!" Li Chongsheng immediately waved his hand to stop Li Jin, and then asked Li Hongen and Yan:

"Say, what do you want?"

Li Hongen stood up, bowed to Li Chongsheng and said:

"Grandson asks for Sister Hongbo to enter the palace with me and learn swords with Grandpa Huang!"

"So that's it!" Li Chongsheng looked at the girl sitting opposite, and saw that although she was young, she also had a sassy posture all over her body, and her appearance was very similar to his seventeenth daughter Li Qi, so he responded cheerfully:

"I'm ready!"

"Grandpa Xie Huang!"

"Well......" Li Chongsheng stared at Li Hongming in front of him for a while, and the more he looked at him, the more he felt that he looked like a person, so the emperor turned his head to Li Zhen and asked:

"Jin'er, do you think Hong'en Xiang doesn't look like a person?"

Li Zhen nodded and said with a smile:

"Don't hide it from your father, the child has already seen it!"

"You have already seen it, then who do you think he looks like?" Li Chongsheng said even more puzzled.

"Hmmm......"

At this time, Li Zhen had almost eaten lunch. He immediately glanced at the two princesses next to him. The Niu family and the Zhang family immediately understood, and immediately got up, and after saluting Li Chongsheng, they all retreated with their four children. In the front hall, only Li Chongsheng and Li Jin's father and son were left, and Gao Liangshi behind him stood far away, bowing and waiting......

"Hongen and Wu are quite similar!" Li Zhen immediately said with a smile.

Li Chongsheng thought about it carefully, it was indeed the case, his imperial grandson, with a slender body and bright eyebrows, and a proud aura hidden in the Wenxiu, his appearance was extremely similar to Xu Ke in the Tsing Yi Guard. He was amazed and said:

"This is strange! How could Hongen look so similar to that Xiao Ke?"

"Father, the world is so big, there are no surprises! In Chang'an City, there are also people who are not brothers, but look extremely similar. Hong'en and Wu's appearance are similar, it's also a coincidence!" Li Zhen replied with a smile.

"Well, I can't imagine that there is such a coincidence in the world!"

Speaking of Xu Ke, Li Chongsheng naturally thought of the real purpose of his coming to the Wei Palace.

At that moment, the emperor took out the thin paper in his arms and handed it to Li Jin's hands.

"Jin'er, look at this!"

Li Zhen opened the thin note, and after reading it, he said worriedly:

"Father, I have heard the third brother tell me about this matter, the eighth brother was abducted by Lu Huoli, the national teacher of Xiao Guo, in the middle of the night. How does Father want to save him?"

Li Chongsheng sighed and said:

"That frost old monster has good swordsmanship, and since the priest has fallen into his hands, we can't act rashly and save people indiscriminately! For today's plan, we have to do what the old monster commands!"

"What does my father mean, let Wu Zhi take the Xuanhuang Sword to Jinding Mountain to save people?"

"Hmm!"

Li Chongsheng nodded, but there was a worried look on his face.

"The eighth brother had previously secretly told Wu Wei in front of the emperor that he was guilty of 'fornicating with demons'! Because of this incident, my father would take my post and go to prison because of my illness! Is my father worried that Wu Ji will hold a grudge against him, and he is unwilling to go to Jinding Mountain to save people?" Li Zhen immediately asked.

It was not until this moment that Li Zhen finally understood that his father, the emperor, who rarely came to his palace, would visit him with great interest today?

He also had lunch with his family so enthusiastically?! Just now, his father promised to personally teach Hongen and Hongbo to learn swords and read.

It turned out that his father was asking him for help today.

Why did his father come to beg him? In the final analysis, it was for his eighth brother.

From this point of view, the status of the eighth brother in the heart of his father is not low!

......

Sure enough, Li Chongsheng nodded and said:

"Jin'er, I won't hide it from you, your third brother and Cheng Wanli have already gone to the edict to persuade Xiao Ke in prison. But that little Ke is like a stubborn donkey, and he won't listen to anyone! Now, the old monster of the frost has only given us a three-day deadline, and if this stubborn donkey refuses to live or die, I can't force him to ......."

Li Zhen hurriedly said:

"Father doesn't need to worry, Erchen will go to the edict in person today, no matter what, Erchen will also let him agree to save people without illness!"

"Yes, I didn't misread you!"

Li Chongsheng couldn't help patting his son's shoulder, and there was a hint of emotion and apology in the look on his face.

Li Chongsheng immediately got up and walked towards the front hall, and when he was about to reach the door, the emperor suddenly stopped, turned to Li Jin, and said earnestly:

However, I earnestly hope that you will remember that in the future, no matter what, you will always have a sense of mercy towards your own brothers! If they do not act in rebellion, you must be ...... You must be a good student and treat them well......"

Speaking of this, for some reason, the Great Qian Emperor's eyes suddenly burst into tears......

Li Zhen hurriedly bowed to his father and said earnestly:

"Please rest assured, the child swears that during his lifetime, he will treat his own brother well and never harm him!"

......

......

Almost at the same time, in the Tsing Yi Wei Prison, in the No. 12 cell of Jiazi, Xu Ke and Mingyue sat together at a square table, and they were also enjoying lunch together.

In the past few days, according to Nangong Qianhu's orders, Ding Chunqiu was personally responsible for Xu Ke's food, and no one else was allowed to interfere.

Nangong Qianhu also deliberately allocated one hundred taels of silver from the public bank of the Bei'an Ping Division to use it as the fund for Ding Chunqiu to go out to purchase food.

Ding Chunqiu was originally responsible for Xu Ke's daily diet in the edict prison, and since he was instructed by the Lord of Qianhu, he has done his best, saddle up before and after the horse, and be extremely busy. Today's lunch, he deliberately went to the East Market and purchased it from Xiangmanlou.

Xu Ke took a "northern bag" and put it in his mouth, opened his mouth and chewed it, he couldn't stop praising it: "It's delicious! It's really delicious!"

Mingyue couldn't help but "poof" and smiled:

"My lord, just a bun made you happy like this?"

"Ahem, Miss Mingyue, you don't know, this 'northern big bun' has thin skin and thick filling, delicious gravy, and its flavor is endless! Such a bun, when I was a child, if I could eat one, I would have nothing else to ask for!"

"When adults were young, they begged everywhere, and a meat bun was the biggest dream of adults. At that time, my lord didn't expect that one day, you would become a senior official of the imperial court, right?"

Xu Ke sighed again and said:

"Ahem...... Now, I have long been cut to serve as a citizen by the Holy Lord, and I am still locked up in this dark prison, and maybe my life is still not guaranteed! I knew that today, I might as well be as happy as begging around in the city of Hangzhou back then!"

"Adults are really good at laughing!" Mingyue also picked up a "big northern meat bun" and put it in her mouth, she only felt that her mouth was full of gravy, and she didn't feel that it was very fatty, Xu Ke praised the deliciousness, but she also felt ordinary.

Mingyue said:

"Yesterday General Cheng came to persuade you, and this morning Zhao Wang Ye came again, and they all said that as long as you are willing to agree to go to Jinding Mountain, the Holy Lord will forgive your sins, but you just refuse to agree! Obviously, you yourself are stubborn and stubborn! You yourself refuse to get out of this edict, and now, you are still talking about the wind and cold......