Taiping Inn

The group of three people, except for the woman in the lead, two entourages stood outside the door.

Li Xuandu is talking about these two people.

The woman who was about to speak heard Li Xuandu's words and a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes.

But without waiting for her to explain, the previous entourage who had fought with Xu Jiu had already stepped across the threshold and entered Li Xuandu's study.

This time, Xu Jiu did not stop him.

The entourage asked, "Mr. Qingping remembers me?"

It is to remember rather than recognize it, and it is undoubtedly to acknowledge the saying that "old friends and old friends are acquainted".

Li Xuandu said, "If I remember correctly, you are the prince of the King of Yan."

The old king of Yan is getting stronger and stronger. When he is old, he is called a son. In terms of age, he is almost the same as his grandson, and he is inevitably arrogant. Therefore, the prince is famous for being domineering in the imperial capital and has caused many great disasters, but all He was covered by the King of Yan one by one. Last time, Princess Xuanzhen went to Jingzhou to meet Zhao Lianggeng, who was the governor of Jingchu at that time, and discussed the matter of going to Beijing. In addition to the eunuch in charge of the seal, the prince of the King of Yan was also the prince.

At that time, the prince of Yan and Li Xuan had a conflict and were easily captured by Li Xuan. In the end, the eldest princess Xuanzhen came forward to rescue the siege. At that time, Li Xuan was a little curious about why the prince of Yan was in the hall and was accompanied by Princess Xuanzhen and the eunuch in the imperial horse supervisor. If he only accumulated merits, it would be a bit too much to mobilize the troops.

But later, Li Xuandu was busy with his affairs and forgot this matter. Until now, he recognized the prince of Yan again, and his previous questions were filled with thoughts.

The prince of the Yan prince seemed a little unusual.

At the same time, Li Xuandu remembered another past event. The identity of the King of Qi of the Earth Master Xu Wugui is a top secret. Although some people in the royal family know about it, they are also very few. At least the eldest princess Xuanzhen didn't know it, but it was from Li Xuandu learned this secret from his mouth. To put it another way, Princess Xuanzhen is not a core member of the royal family.

After careful discussion, although Emperor Muzong loved this sister, he did not give her too much authority, and would not allow her to participate in the government affairs. Princess Xuanzhen truly took over the power and began to participate in the government affairs after Emperor Muzong was seriously ill, that is, the period from the 11th year of Wude to the 2nd year of Tianbao.

During this period, Princess Xuanzhen was attracted by the Empress Dowager Xie Zhi, and used the intermediary to reconcile the conflict between the four ministers and the royal family. It’s like the balance technique of the emperor. Only when both schools of people seek the emperor’s words can the emperor count. At that time, the four ministers and the royal family had not completely broken up, and they all needed the role of an intermediary, which made Princess Xuanzhen's status soar. However, Princess Xuanzhen was in power for too short, and many Mixins may not be able to know everything, including the affairs of King Qi.

In this regard, as the oldest King of Yan in the royal family, he is the one who knows the most secrets.

As a result, Li Xuandu had a bold guess in his mind: Does the Prince of Yan represent the Prince of Yan? The reason why Princess Xuanzhen’s trip to Jingchu was accompanied by the prince of Yan was to check for omissions and fill in the gaps?

But Li Xuan was a little unsure. Because the temperament shown by the prince of Yan is better, it is called still young and ugly, but it is embarrassing to be a great task. If it is really as Li Xuandu guessed that the Prince of Yan was responsible for great responsibilities, then it can only be said that the state affairs are still so sarcastic, and the Xu family of the Great Wei Dynasty should be exhausted. The Prince of Yan was not as domineering as last time. He first bowed to Li Xuandu, and then said, "Everyone says that scholars should treat each other with admiration for three days, but since I parted with Mr. Qingping, I have parted with Ping'an County. When I saw Mr. Qingping again, it was not just an admiration, but even a plucking out two eyes. "

If Li Xuandu had heard such words, he would have retorted. However, now, Li Xuandu just laughed it off and asked, "Is Your Highness the Crown Prince coming on behalf of the King of Yan?"

The prince of Yan said, "I dare not be Mr. Qingping's 'Crown Prince'. My name is Xu Zaijun. As for what Mr. Qingping asked just now, I can also answer the sir, which is exactly what my father meant."

Li Xuan understood a little. These royal children are born with two faces. In front of the elders, they are all young talents who abide by etiquette and understand rules, but when they go outside, they become domineering and arrogant playboys. Now looking at the prince of Yan, he is also behaved properly, not as unbearable as he saw last time. In the final analysis, it is because Li Xuandu has a high status, so he is surrounded by "good people". Even such a Tai Sui figure dare not act too rashly.

Li Xuandu asked again: "One represents the King of Yan, one represents the Empress Dowager, and one represents the other?"

There was another entourage standing outside the door, never crossing the threshold. Hearing Li Xuandu’s question, the entourage then stepped across the threshold and whispered: “The prince-in-law Ouyang Wen has met Mr. Qingping.”

Li Xuandu said, "I've heard of you."

Ouyang Wen lowered his head slightly, "I am so frightened, just a son-in-law."

"The son-in-law is true, it depends on which son-in-law of the family. How can the heavenly family be used to be free?" Li Xuan smiled, "Although the son-in-law of this dynasty is not allowed to participate in political affairs, most of them can only worship Xiaoling Mausoleum and take the temple. The sacrifice is to be held in the affairs of the clan and the government, but there are exceptions. I remember that you should be the commander of the palace guards, the general of the ceremonial guards, and the captain of the strong men. He is the confidant of His Majesty and the Queen Mother today. "

Ouyang Wen's expression changed slightly. He didn't expect Li Xuandu to know his existence. He was shocked in his heart, but he didn't show it on his face. He said, "Mr. Qingping lives high on Mount Zhongnan, but he knows everything about the capital thousands of miles away. It's really admirable."

"You are not sincere." Li Xuandu said, "Is it more 'shocked'?"

Ouyang Wen immediately lowered his head, "I dare not."

"It doesn't matter whether you dare or not." Li Xuandu raised his hand and pressed it down, "Please sit down and talk."

Li Xuandu's study is actually a meeting place, so four chairs are placed against the wall for others to sit. Xu Zaijun and Ouyang Wen looked at each other and sat against the wall. Only the woman sat opposite Li Xuandu. From this point of view, the three of them are still led by this woman.

Li Xuandu looked at the woman sitting opposite him and said, "I only recently learned about the prince and the prince consort, but I don't know your identity."

The woman did not answer directly, but asked, "Mr. Qingping knows everything about the Imperial Capital. There is a riot in the Imperial Capital now. Could it be related to Mr. Qingping?"

Li Xuandu did not answer, but Xu Jiu, who had been silent, said, "What if it is related? What if it is not related?"

The woman was startled and suddenly looked at Xu Jiu who had been standing at the door.

Xu Jiu walked into the study, stood beside Li Xuandu's desk, faced the three guests, and then said, "Mr. Qingping is sitting high on Mount Zhongnan. You can put all the charges on Mr. Qingping, but you can't do anything to Mr. Qingping. Otherwise, you don't have to go to Mount Zhongnan to see Mr. Qingping in person."

The woman forced a smile, "Mr. Qingping, I don't know what Xu Jiu means by this?"

Li Xuandu glanced at Xu Jiu again.

"It doesn't matter if you know what it means or not." Xu Jiu understood and said, "Does this have anything to do with what we are going to talk about today?"

The woman understood, "Yes."

Xu Jiu said, "What is your name, young lady?"

The woman replied, "My last name is Lou, my name is Lou Xinqing, Xie Zhi and Gu Yusheng are my senior sisters."

Li Xuandu finally spoke, "So it's Miss Lou. If we start from the third sister-in-law, you and I do have some history. As for Queen Mother Xie Zhi... let's not talk about it. Did Queen Mother Xie send you to negotiate peace?"

Lou Xinqing was silent for a moment and said "yes".

Li Xuandu was not surprised. This is the biggest difference between people in the temple and people in the rivers and lakes. People in the rivers and lakes pay attention to one irreconcilable, but people in the temple are not like that. They pay attention to compromise and everything can be discussed. So in the eyes of the people in the martial arts world, Li Xuandu and the court have long been mortal enemies, and there is no room for compromise. But in the eyes of the people in the court, the so-called lack of room is just that the price is not enough. Not to mention whether it can be afforded, you must first ask the price, and you can also ask for a high price and then pay it back. You can also fight and negotiate at the same time, so searching for the inn rebels while sending people to negotiate, these two things are not contradictory. Even if there is no way to negotiate, it can be used as a delaying tactic to stabilize Li Xuandu for the time being.

For Li Xuandu, there are things in the world that can be tolerated, and there are things that cannot be tolerated. Some things can be compromised, and some things cannot be compromised. In this matter, he will not compromise, but he does not want to let others know that he will not compromise. Xie Zhi could use a delaying tactic, and he could also use a delaying tactic, pretending to agree and letting Xie Zhi and others have a fluke, so he said: "In this case, I would like to hear what the Queen Mother has to say." "Then I will speak frankly. If there is anything inappropriate in my words, I hope Mr. Qingping will forgive me." Lou Xinqing said: "Mr. Qingping is an immortal who will ascend to heaven sooner or later. For Mr. Qingping, this worldly matter is nothing but a dream. If Mr. Qingping can give in, the court will directly accept it. Recognize Mr. Qingping as the Grand Master of Taoism..."

Before Lou Xinqing finished speaking, Xu Jiu interrupted and said, "Who is the Grand Master of Taoism? The court has no say, the Confucian school has no say, only the Taoists have say. If I say that the court only needs to allocate 3 million taels of silver, the Taoists will recognize Emperor Tianbao as the current emperor, I wonder what the court thinks?"

Lou Xinqing already understood that Xu Jiu was Li Xuandu's mouthpiece. What Li Xuandu didn't want to say or couldn't say was said by Xu Jiu, and Li Xuandu didn't say anything, leaving room for maneuver.

Lou Xinqing was silent for a moment, then said, "I didn't make it clear. If Mr. Qingping can become the Grand Master of Taoism, the court will confer the title of True Lord on Mr. Qingping and announce it to the world. In this way, not only the people in Taoism know Mr. Qingping, but also the people of the world. The court will also invite Mr. Qingping to serve as the State Master, which is equivalent to the Emperor's Master. He will have a high status and will not only be in charge of the monks and Taoists in the world, but also be able to participate in state affairs. By the way, when I came here, I saw that Mount Zhongnan had not been repaired yet. The court will also mobilize the people and allocate money to help Taoism repair Mount Zhongnan. This is what I just said about recognizing Mr. Qingping as the Grand Master of Taoism."