Looking at the mountains and rivers

As soon as this remark hit the emperor's mind, his complexion became more and more gloomy, and the veins on his forehead thumped. After walking back and forth in the bedroom for a few steps with his hands behind his back, he suddenly kicked over the jade pot spring that was more than two feet high at his feet. Bottle, just heard "crash", the tiles fell to the ground.

The little eunuch hurriedly knelt down and crawled over, brushed away the broken pieces of porcelain at the emperor's feet with his hands, and said repeatedly: "It's the servant who talked too much and made the emperor angry, the servant deserves to die."

Emperor Yong'an didn't speak, he just waved his hand to signal the palace people to clean up the mess.After the palace people cleaned up, the little eunuch still knelt at the emperor's feet, and said softly: "I heard that most of the affairs in the court are now in the hands of King Mu, so I can't blame him for acting so arbitrary. At that time, he might still be able to fight against King Mu, but it's a pity..." He stopped the words suddenly, and sighed again, "I heard that a few days ago, even Mrs. Li was forced to hit the post and died."

The emperor frowned even more when he heard him mentioning this matter: "That's right, I haven't settled with him about Xie Qing's matter. Then Yang Yan is nothing, but he has the military power in the Northwest in his hand and promoted a few peasants. It's really unreasonable to dare to act so recklessly in my court and even in the harem! If I don't teach him a lesson this time, wouldn't he be riding on my head in the future!"

"The emperor wants to teach King Mu a lesson?" the little inner supervisor asked tentatively.

"It's not just a lesson, I can't wait..." Yang Jie's face was full of murderous intent, but he suddenly stopped.He clenched his hands tightly, and it took a long time before he slowly loosened them, and there were a few scratches from his nails on his pampered palms.

The little eunuch knelt there with low eyebrows, only watching the emperor's movements from the corner of his eyes. He noticed that Emperor Yong'an's face gradually changed from fury to depression, and then he staggered a few steps and fell back to sit on the dragon couch.

"I regret it a little. I regret that I didn't listen to Xie Qing. He clearly warned me at that time that King Mu was dangerous. It's a pity that I didn't understand the meaning at that time, and I just wanted to reuse that blind man. Until Last year, he leveled the hidden dangers of Donghu. Only then did I realize that he really has some skills. As a show of praise, I even handed over the left and right guards to him. I expected him to be grateful for the emperor's grace and to share my worries wholeheartedly. Who would have known him? ..." Yang Jie half-raised his forehead, and sighed inaudibly, "He is really powerful in the court now, even if I want to take his head, I have to be scruples."

"According to the slave, although King Mu is powerful, all of these powers are bestowed by the emperor. You are the master of the world! If the emperor has the intention to punish King Mu, it will naturally be an easy task."

"Oh?" Emperor Yong'an looked at the little eunuch in surprise, "Get up and talk about it, how easy is it?"

The little eunuch kowtowed respectfully, then stood up and said: "At present, in addition to the position of Northwest Grand Protector in the hands of King Mu, he is also in charge of the secrets of the two provinces and six ministries. These things are too many and too complicated. The emperor can find an excuse to deprive him of one or two important positions and hand them over to others, so as to weaken his power. If he obediently accepts it, he might as well cut it again and again until he loses his power. You can let the emperor tell you what to do. If he is not willing to hand over the power in his hands easily... that would be even better."

"If he is not obedient, why is it better?" Emperor Yong'an was a little puzzled and couldn't help asking.

The little eunuch's voice was soft, and now he lowered his voice, which was even more treacherous. He lowered his eyes and smiled slightly: "If he refuses, he will be disobeying the emperor's order. If he relies on military power to resist again, it will be even more treasonous." A serious crime. At that time, if the emperor wants to kill him, it will be justified and understandable."

After he finished speaking, seeing that the emperor just frowned and said nothing, he hurriedly knelt down and said, "I have never understood these important military affairs, so I just talked nonsense, and I ask the emperor to forgive me."

Seeing him so obedient, Yang Jie smiled and asked, "I used to see you serving tea and water, but I didn't know you were so clever. What's your name?"

The little eunuch was praised, he couldn't help smiling, kowtowed and said: "Return to the emperor, my slave's name is Huaixi."

"Huaixi, that's a good name," the emperor nodded in approval, "From now on, you can be promoted to be a regular servant."

On the seventh day of March, Emperor Yong'an, who returned from the spring search, drove back to the palace.The main gate of Tai'an Palace is wide open, and the twelve heavy guides lead the way. The emperor's jade ruins are surrounded and arched in the center. There are musicians in Chinese costumes at the front and back of the jade ruins, each holding a flute, pipe and flute, and the music is exciting. All the ministers and workers bowed to the ground to welcome the holy driver.However, the emperor sitting in the car did not see joy, his face was dark and sullen from the beginning to the end, and it seemed that there was a hint of anger.

After entering the gate of the palace, the emperor helped his servants to dismount Yu Ren, but he didn't get up immediately, but asked coldly, "Where is King Mu?"

There was silence all around, and then I saw Yang Yan coming out from the left, with his crown neatly on, he walked forward slowly, knelt down and saluted: "Your brother welcomes you."

Emperor Yong'an didn't ask him to be flat, but snorted coldly through his nose: "I handed over the Ministry of Rites to you to see that you acted prudently. Why is the guard of honor today arranged so hastily!"

The emperor's anger came so suddenly that all the courtiers were a little confused.Not to mention that the emperor has always been kind to Mu Wang and never reprimanded him, but even if there is a slight mistake in today's situation, it will not prevent Mu Wang from stepping down in public.

When the ministers were looking at each other, Yang Yan leaned over and said: "My brother is terrified. This time, the greeting ceremony is in accordance with the previous practice. If there is anything wrong, please let the emperor make it clear."

Emperor Yong'an sneered again: "Not only did we not investigate, it was extremely fallacious! The left and right Xiaowei were in front of Qianniuwei, and the status was reversed. The advocacy music was "Breaking the Array", which is even more inappropriate! When playing "Shengping Le", it will be solemn."

He reprimanded repeatedly, but Mu Wang just bowed his head to listen to the training, without a word of excuse, Tang Zhiyuan, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, knelt down and said: "The emperor clearly learned that this fact is the responsibility of the Ministry of Rites, and it is even more of a dereliction of duty. His Highness Mu Wang is worried these days. The affairs of the state are already being handled daily, and His Highness is already inconvenient, even if there are deficiencies in his actions, please don't be harsh on him."

All the veterans knew that Tang Zhiyuan had always been kind-hearted, so they were not surprised to see him take the matter on their own.They secretly thought that the emperor was not a magnanimous person, and most likely he wanted to vent his anger, so they held their breath and didn't say a word.

Unexpectedly, Emperor Yong'an took a look at Tang Zhiyuan and nodded his head: "That's right, I forgot, King Mu is disabled, and now the affairs at hand are complicated, so it's inevitable that there will be omissions." He sighed lightly, "You guys Get up."

When Mu Wang and Tang Shangshu got up one after another, the emperor slowed down again: "Mu Wang, I know that you have been tired these days, so don't take those words to heart."

Yang Yan bowed slightly: "Naturally."

The emperor took a step forward and patted him on the shoulder: "You and I are clan brothers, and I can't bear to see you work so hard. How about this? In the future, the affairs of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Households will still be handed over to King Yong, and you will also take care of them." Good rest."

Today's Yong Wang Yang Lin is the former son of Yang Sui, and he was originally the Minister of the Household Department. Since King Mu came to power, he and his eldest brother Yang Qi have only been assigned to idle jobs, and they just live sloppily.At this moment, he suddenly received the emperor's order, but he forgot to go forward to thank him, and just stood there in a daze.

On the contrary, Yang Yan quickly lowered his head and said, "The minister leads the decree."

Emperor Yong'an obviously did not expect this to go so smoothly, he squinted his eyes and looked carefully at King Mu in front of him, but saw that his face was calm, and there was no clue at all.

Emperor Yong'an got up in the morning of the second day after returning to the palace, and reluctantly pulled himself together to go to the morning court.

The sun was shining outside the Xuanzheng Hall, and the morning breeze was blowing into the hall, warm and soft, making the emperor on the Dragon Throne drowsy.Since last winter, he hadn't been in court for several months. Looking into the hall now, he felt that there were a little more unfamiliar faces among the courtiers, and among them, young courtiers accounted for half of them.

At the bottom of the jade steps to the left is a large chair made of ebony wood. The chair was set up last autumn.But today, this chair is empty. It is said that King Mu is sick and cannot come to court.Emperor Yong'an didn't seem to care about this matter, he only asked a few words, and then listened to the ministers playing one after another, everything was as usual.

After the court, the emperor barely straightened his aching waist, left the dragon seat with the help of his servants, and walked towards the apse.Two other courtiers followed behind him, one was Gao Lu, the servant of the sect, and the other was Yong Wang Yang Lin who had just taken over the Ministry of Household and the Ministry of Rites.

"Your Majesty, I think it's a little strange that King Mu said he was ill and could not come to court today." Gao Lu whispered behind the emperor.

The emperor snorted softly: "Of course I know he's not really sick, I think it's because he was scolded in front of everyone yesterday and felt embarrassed, just angry." He flicked his sleeves, a little disdainful, "This Mu Wang He is still too young and vigorous, and I just want to shave his arrogance."

"The emperor is holy." Gao Lu hurriedly said, "Since King Mu became the director of Wenhua Pavilion, he has almost exclusively held power in the court. As the elder brother of his clan, he still doesn't pay attention to him, let alone Talk about us courtiers."

Emperor Yong'an stopped and looked back at King Yong Yang Lin, only to see him standing aside with his hands down, nodding his head in agreement from time to time, but he couldn't even utter a complete sentence, and he couldn't help feeling a little disgusted in his heart.When Yang Sui, king of Xianyong, was alive, this Yang Lin was the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs. In his hands, there was a big case of salt class, and the amount of money embezzled was extremely huge.Although a large number of officials were executed afterwards, the emperor knew that Yang Lin was the culprit in the Yan class case.From then on, he wanted to alienate this greedy and useless cousin, but now in order to check and balance King Mu, he had to use this Yang Lin again.

"King Yong." He suppressed his impatience and ordered, "After you take office, check the documents and files of the two departments carefully. If you find any mistakes in King Mu, come and report them immediately."

"The minister obeys the order."

"Also," the emperor pondered slightly, "Prince Mu is now claiming to be sick, but I believe he will not stay in his own home obediently. You send people to keep an eye on the movement of Prince Mu's mansion. No matter what warrants he issues or who he meets, you will Record it in the book and let me know. If there is anything wrong with him, I will take him immediately!"

In the ninth year of Yong'an, the sixth day of April.

West Square, Linfeng Pavilion.

With the sound of a horse neighing, the door of the tea mansion was suddenly pushed open. The young man who walked in was wearing a silver armor and a long knife. He seemed a little hesitant after entering, as if he didn't expect the tea mansion to be so deserted.

"Is the young master here to drink tea?" The owner of the tea house leaned down from the railing on the second floor, "The shop is about to close."

"Excuse me, is this Mr. Wu Ningqing?" The young man raised his head, his forehead was slightly sweaty, and he looked a little dusty.

Even in the dimly lit tea mansion, the owner still recognized him at a glance, he smiled and said, "It's my servant, why is General Wei looking for me?"

Wei Changxuan didn't expect that he recognized him, he was slightly surprised, and quickly said: "General Chen Yan asked me to send some things."

The host smiled and said: "It's rare that General Chen has not forgotten me as an old friend. I invite General Wei to come upstairs and drink a cup of coarse tea to quench my thirst."

The second floor was also empty, without a single clerk, the owner turned on the stove himself, made tea soup and served it in front of Wei Changxuan.The tea soup is dark green in color, and it is crystal clear in a small teacup. Wei Changxuan was feeling thirsty, so he raised his head and drank a cup of tea. He shivered, and then the sweetness gradually returned from his throat to the tip of his tongue. The fragrance of tea filled his mouth, making him, a person who did not know the way of tea, nod and said: "It's really good tea."

The owner smiled and nodded: "It's the new tea after the rain this year. It's not top grade, but it's still good for drinking." Seeing that the teacup in Wei Changxuan's hand was empty, he lifted the pot and filled it up for him slightly, "General Wei It’s very different from five years ago.”

Wei Changxuan was slightly taken aback: "Sir, did you know me before?"

The master stood up, went to the window and opened the bamboo curtain. From the window, he could see the bank of the moat in the twilight. He said with a smile, "I can still vividly remember the grand scene of Sheliu on the fifth day of the new year. At that time, which girl's house in Jian'an I don't know 'Wei Jiaerlang, his beauty is beyond measure'."

Wei Changxuan couldn't help being embarrassed when he mentioned the past, his face flushed slightly, and he lowered his head to drink tea like a cover-up: "Mr. laughed."

"I remember that when General Chen just returned to Beijing, he drank tea in my shop and met General Wei in this tea mansion. The two heroes were young at that time, and it really made the shop flourish."

When he said this, Wei Changxuan finally remembered that he had indeed been here many years ago, and he was a little dazed: "It turns out that the master also knows Chen Shao."

"I am an old friend of the Chen family. General Chen often came here when he was a child. Besides drinking tea, he also likes to eat icy cheese sprinkled with sucrose." The master thought about it intently, with a bit of confusion appearing on his face, he said softly Sigh, "In a blink of an eye, it has been so many years."

Wei Changxuan was silent for a moment, then suddenly remembered something, and pushed the wooden box in front of him: "General Chen asked me to give it to sir."

It was a light wooden box, he guessed that it might not contain any valuable gifts, but the owner's eyes lit up immediately after opening the wooden box, he held the wooden box in front of him, closed his eyes and sniffed vigorously: "OK , the tobacco in Yuezhou has always been excellent."

The box contained gold silk wine, a specialty of Yuezhou. The owner brushed the wooden box lovingly and asked, "Does General Wei like to smoke?"

Wei Changxuan shook his head in a daze.

"Then it's at your own convenience." The master smiled at him, quickly pulled out a pipe, skillfully twisted a pinch of tobacco to fill it in, lit it with the sparks in the stove, and took a deep breath.Gray smoke slowly exhaled from his nose, his eyes were half-closed, as if extremely intoxicated, his whole body relaxed lazily.

"In Jian'an City, there don't seem to be many people who like to smoke."

The master heard the slight surprise in his words, and nodded with a smile: "Jian'an City is full of high-ranking officials and dignitaries, and they swallow clouds and fog all day long, so it's not proper. This is a habit I picked up when I was young when I was sailing with people on the sea. The wind and waves are strong, and I can't lift my spirits without smoking a cigarette."

"Is this tobacco good or bad?"

"Of course," the owner pointed out to him in interest, "this tobacco is like tea. If the tobacco leaves have moisture, they cannot be called good tobacco. If the tobacco leaves are dried enough and have a resinous fragrance when smoked, it is considered top grade."

When he said this, he laughed again: "Sometimes when you smoke the tobacco leaves of a certain estate, you can even guess what the climate is like here. For example, if the tobacco is dried too well, there will probably be a sign of severe drought in the place."

"Anything like that?"

"Well," the owner took a few more puffs on the pipe, and frowned slightly, "this year's tobacco is very good, there is no moisture at all, and it hasn't rained since the beginning of the year, so to speak, There seems to be a severe drought in Yuezhou."