Sikong Mansion.

Xiao Yuanche was sitting alone in the study, holding a copy of "Bohai Landscape Chronicles" in his hand and reading with gusto.

Wei Changan walked in and reported: "Master, Su Cao is back."

Xiao Yuanche's eyes were still on the book, and he just smiled lightly and said: "He's back so soon, let him come in."

Wei Changan nodded. Not long after he left, Su Ling strode in.

Xiao Yuanche pointed to the seat next to him and said: "Going to the Forbidden Palace this time has opened your eyes. It is much better than my Sikong Mansion."

After saying that, he put down the book in his hand and looked at Su Ling with a smile.

Su Ling waved his hand and said indifferently: "What a shabby place. There are many palaces, but there are endless steps everywhere. It tired me to death. I don't like it anyway. I still like Sikong Mansion."

Xiao Yuanche pointed at Su Ling and said with a smile: "That's a forbidden palace, and it's not in your eyes anymore? You, tell me, what kind of official job did you get?"

Su Ling smiled and said: "But I was rewarded with an official position, but I didn't say which official position I would be..."

Xiao Yuanche heard this and said with some confusion: "Since I have been rewarded as an official, how come I don't have any position?"

Su Ling scratched his head and said with some embarrassment: "He said that I can take any civil or military official position, no matter how big or small..."

When Xiao Yuanche heard this, he was surprised at first, but then said with a smile on his face: "Oh, this is really a big deal. Which one did you choose? A civil official or a military attache?"

There was only a look of interest in his expression.

Su Ling waved his hand without thinking and said: "Me? Civilian and military attache... Now I am a bit disappointed with Sikong. I am neither a civil official nor a military attache. I don't do anything. How can Liu Duan serve the food? I

Why did you bring it back to him intact..."

When Xiao Yuanche heard this, he looked at him in disbelief for a while, then he laughed and said deliberately: "You kid, why don't you become an official and take his salary, but you still don't do anything?

How nice, I save you the trouble of giving you a promotion."

When Su Ling heard this, he also opened his eyes wide and hummed: "Huh? Sikong is right. This business is guaranteed to make money without losing money. How about I go back now and ask him for an official position?"

When Xiao Yuanche heard this, he rolled his eyes at him and said, "That's the Forbidden Palace. Is that a place where you go in as soon as you say you want to? Pull it down!"

Xiao Yuanche waved his hand and then said: "Tell me, what did you say?"

Su Ling did not hide anything and revealed all the conversations he had with Liu Duan after entering the palace.

Of course, he felt that the "Four Hengqu Sentences" that he pretended to be X were not a glorious thing, so he had no shame to mention them again...

Xiao Yuanche's eyes fluctuated, thinking about something.

After Su Ling finished speaking, Xiao Yuanche nodded, with a hint of coldness in his eyes and said: "After all, when you are older, you have more to think about. The more you think about, the harder it is to suppress it. Maybe for him,

I shouldn't push too hard, maybe I should change my approach..."

Su Ling just didn't understand and looked at the calligraphy and paintings on the left and right walls of the study room, as if Xiao Yuanche was talking to himself.

Xiao Yuanche nodded suddenly and said: "Very good, Su Ling, you did a good job entering the palace this time, I am very satisfied."

He paused and suddenly caught a glimpse of the "Bohai Landscape Chronicles" that he had not finished reading on the desk. After thinking for a moment, he threw the book into Su Ling's arms.

Su Ling was wandering in the sky when he was hit by a flying book and suddenly came back to his senses. He was stunned for a moment, and then felt something flying into his arms.

He picked it up and looked at it, and when he saw the six characters "Bohai Landscape Chronicles", his heart suddenly moved.

He pretended to be confused and said, "This book was given to me by Sikong because he thought Su Ling had done a good job?"

Xiao Yuanche smiled faintly and said: "That's right... take it back and take a good look at it. Maybe you will find it useful in the future."

Su Ling seemed a little dissatisfied with this so-called reward. He first took it in his hand and flipped through two pages at random, and saw that in addition to some textual annotations, there were also some pictures.

Su Ling then said: "What is this book about... My trip to the palace and my battle of wits and courage with Liu Duan is worth a book?"

Xiao Yuanche gave him an annoyed look, and then said: "If you want to take a good look at it, take a good look at it. Maybe you will be able to use it soon."

Su Ling's heart moved, and he said without concealing it: "Could it be that when Sikong sends troops to the north, he also needs to take Su Ling with him?"

Xiao Yuanche nodded and said, "Why, you don't want to go to the battlefield with me?"

"I... of course don't want to go..." Su Ling did not hide her resistance at all.

"Huh? You kid is getting more and more presumptuous..."

Su Ling waved his hands with a wry smile on his face and said, "Sikong made a mistake... It's not that I don't want to go to the battlefield. Think about it, Su Ling has trouble dealing with even an assassin on the battlefield.

..Besides, I am just a little Cao Yu, how can Cao Yu go to the battlefield...Cao Yu can't even compete with a war horse..."

Xiao Yuanche laughed and scolded: "You boy, he gave you an official position. You are not surprised by hundreds of thousands. Now you are telling a lot of nonsense here. Don't you just want me to promote you to an official position?"

Su Ling chuckled. In fact, he really just didn't want to go to the battlefield. The battlefield was changing rapidly, especially when he faced the Bohai Sea. Maybe the direction of the war would not change in general, but if something went wrong, he would not risk his life.

Worth it.

However, Xiao Yuanche got it wrong.

Su Ling had no choice but to go down the slope and show some desires appropriately in front of people who still don't fully trust you, which will often have unexpected miraculous effects.

Xiao Yuanche thought he had a plan, and with a smile on his face, he thought for a moment and said, "Let's do this. After the court meeting in three days, I will make a rule and promote you to be the commander of the Sikong Prefecture or the commander of the generals. What do you think?"

Su Ling was a little confused and said: "The general has shit? What kind of shit is it?"

Xiao Yuanche pointed at him with his hand and laughed and scolded: "Don't pretend to be crazy, don't you know? As the leader of the subordinates, with a rank of thousands of stones, from the fifth rank, Shi Ke, the general and commander of the Sikong Mansion, can help me command the troops, and his rank is slightly higher.

Genuine fifth grade.”

Su Ling looked like a villain and clapped his hands and said, "Then I can't walk sideways underneath you?"

Xiao Yuanche nodded and said with a smile: "In this long history, the prime minister has the most powerful position. Generally, the rank in the court is in the third rank. However, the position of prime minister has been vacant for a long time, so if it is only in the long history,

, your official position is indeed the greatest."

Su Ling then made a satisfied look and said, "Thank you Sikong for supporting me. When the time comes to go to the battlefield, Su Ling will be the vanguard officer."

Xiao Yuanche laughed loudly and said with great satisfaction: "Okay, after singing at his place for a day, you must be tired, so go back and rest."

Su Ling then nodded, stood up and said goodbye.

He stood up and walked to the front yard.

Suddenly he heard a woman's voice calling him, and Su Ling stopped suspiciously, turned around and looked behind him, but there was no one there. After listening carefully, there was only the sound of wind.

Su Ling then shook his head and walked out.

Outside the study, a pale yellow figure stood a little lost in the snow on the ground, with tears in his eyes.

"Why did you call him?" The voice in the study was deep and slightly angry.

"Father, he saved me, I always have to..."

"You are the eldest daughter of our Sikong Mansion. He is just a long history official who has not yet been officially appointed. How can you behave like this when you chase him out without any hesitation?"

"But......"

"No but, go back to your own house. Without my order, you will never see that person again..."

The pale yellow figure trembled slightly, then turned around, never looking at the person in the study again.

Suddenly there was a tear on the cheek, and those starry eyes were full of firmness and determination.

Without saying any more, she strode out of the study room.

The pale yellow figure disappeared for a while.

In front of the study door, Xiao Yuanche's figure slowly appeared.

He stood under the shadows, his face gloomy.

Girl Jingshu, it’s not that your father doesn’t want you to have more contact with him, it’s just that you also have difficulties as a father, if he and you are together.

That is something that cannot be tolerated by heaven...

He sighed, turned around and walked towards the study again. There was a hint of old age in his back.

............

The next day, Longhuang Hall, Longtai, Kyoto.

All the civil and military officials arrived, and Liu Duan sat in the middle on the dragon chair. After Qi Shizhai said the scene, Xiao Yuanche slowly stood up.

There seemed to be a questioning look in his eyes as he said: "Your Majesty has had a look at the list of officials that I drafted a few days ago. I don't know what your Majesty thinks of the candidates. If they are not suitable, I will consider it again."

Liu Duan knew in his heart that he wanted an exchange of interests, so that Xiao Yuanche agreed to hold the Longhuang Poetry Festival and build the Longhuang Tower, so none of the officials he nominated could reject it.

Thinking of this, he unexpectedly became calm and said with a pleasant expression: "Xiao Aiqing has done her best for the court and recommended talents. How can I be wrong? According to the candidates proposed by Aiqing, I have already drafted the imperial edict and will hand it over after the dynasty is over. It will be issued from Zhongshu."

Xu Wenruo, who was in the first row among the courtiers, felt a little strange and surprised. In the past, Liu Duan always hesitated for a long time and always stubbornly eliminated some people. Although it was innocuous, he always showed that he was the king of a country. Why was he so happy today?

He couldn't help but feel a layer of worry and shadow in his heart.

Although Xiao Yuanche was a little surprised, it was always in his own interest and he stopped talking.

After Liu Duan signaled Qi Shizhai to hand over the edict to Xu Wenruo, he looked at Xiao Yuanche with a smile and said unhurriedly: "Xiao Aiqing, you mentioned Su Ling to me a few days ago. I saw it, and it turns out that he is a talented scholar." I like you very much, and when Su Ling resigned, I told him from the bottom of my heart, I wonder if Xiao Aiqing has heard of it before?"

His tone was neither quick nor slow, and the smile in his eyes was even more obvious.

When Xiao Yuanche heard this, he was extremely surprised. What did he say from the bottom of his heart? Su Ling had never told me that he only said some innocuous words in front of the emperor. I also confirmed repeatedly that judging from his expression, there was nothing missing.

.

But today Liu Duan suddenly asked, what's the explanation?

He was filled with doubts and was speechless for a long time.

But Liu Duan said this again, still smiling and waiting for his answer.

However, Guo Baiyi was in the third row among the ministers. When he saw Xiao Yuanche being stunned for a moment, he knew that his lord was suspicious again.

Suddenly he opened his mouth and said in a loud voice: "Su Ling is a talented and learned man. His words are from the bottom of his heart. I and all my ministers are also eager to listen to his lofty opinions. I respectfully ask for your Majesty's advice!"
To be continued...