Liu Mingzhi took a bath in Wenren Yunshu's boudoir, and left home refreshed and rushed to the palace.
Today is not a day for court meetings. Liu Mingzhi entered the palace because he was worried about something big happening during his return to Jinling.
Wandering around in the cabinet for a while, he repeatedly confirmed that during his return to Jinling, nothing important happened in the court that required his approval, so he left the cabinet and went to the Palace of the Ten Kings.
“Dad, why did you come to the Palace of Ten Kings today?”
“Dad.”
“I’ve met daddy.”
…”
“The child has met his uncle.”
Liu Mingzhi looked calmly as he watched Li Ye wave his hands casually with a group of children entering the hall, and walked toward the side hall.
“Forgive me, what are you busy with...”
Liu Mingzhi looked at the half-played mahjong on the table in the side hall with a slightly raised brow. He looked back at the few people who looked embarrassed and nodded with half a smile.
“It doesn’t look like you’re busy at all!”
Feeling the teasing look in Mr. Liu's eyes, Liu Yaoyao hurriedly came up and took Liu Mingzhi's arm and shook it.
“Dad, isn’t it a good thing that the Palace of Ten Kings is not busy?”
Liu Yiyi also obediently came to the right side of her father and stopped. The two sisters pulled her father to the side and walked towards the chair.
“Dad, what Yaoyao said is right. Only when the Palace of Ten Kings is not busy will it mean that the country is peaceful and the people are safe. We are extremely busy every day, so dad, you should be worried.
We have fun and relax every day, daddy, you should be happy.
After all, this seems to be the children neglecting their duties, but in fact it means the children have no urgent business to deal with, dad, are you right?"
“Daddy drinks tea.”
Liu Mingzhi took the tea from Liu Yaoyao, smiled and flicked the two sisters' foreheads with his fingers.
“You two ghosts and elves, isn’t it okay for dad to be convinced by you?”
“Thank you, daddy.”
“Daddy is so kind.”
"Yes, yes, if you two stinky girls keep talking, daddy, who is so happy, will be confused. Who is playing mahjong?"
Liu Chengzhi, Little Cutie, Li Ye, and Liu Yiyi looked at each other, silently walked to Young Master Liu and stopped.
“Dad.”
“Uncle.”
“Don’t be nervous. If you’re not busy, you can continue playing. I’ll drink this cup of tea and leave.
Yaoyao, Yiyi is right, you should be happy and feel at ease if you are not busy with me.
I hope you will never be too busy in the future.”
“Daddy Shengming.”
“The four of them are playing mahjong, Yaoyao, Chenggan, what are you two doing?”
Liu Yaoyao turned around and picked up a "Compendium of Materia Medica" from the table beside her and handed it to Liu Mingzhi.
“Dad, Yaoyao is reviewing medical books! Grandpa Sai will take a test on my child’s medical skills in a while. Taking advantage of this idle time, my child reviewed the medical pharmacology that he had mastered before.”
Liu Chengqian looked at the long table beside him with an aggrieved expression and said, "Dad, my child is practicing calligraphy! My mother teaches my child's calligraphy every month, and she will whip me with a bamboo stick if my calligraphy fails even slightly.
You should have a good talk with my mother when you go back and ask her to be more relaxed about the child.
The bones of the eldest sister, the second sister, the third sister, the fourth sister, the second brother, and the fourth brother who are idle every day are almost getting rusty. The next few brothers and the younger sister are also playing around with nothing to do every day, and the children are just grinding and grinding every day. I have to practice these inscriptions like a donkey.
We are all your children, and the difference is huge."
Liu Mingzhi looked at the aggrieved look on his third son Liu Chengqian's face, clasped his head and put down the tea cup.
“Bring me your practice tablets and show them to your father.”
Liu Chengqian looked happy and took three steps into two steps to pick up the inscription he had just practiced and handed it to his father.
“Dad, come and see how it goes?”
Liu Mingzhi looked at the fonts on the rice paper in his hand with a relaxed brow, and after a moment he placed a stack of rice paper on the table.
“Just do it, go back and tell your mother, just like your father and I said, you can rest for half a month, and you can choose how to rest.
But next time your mother checks you, if your writing is not as good as it is now, don’t blame your father for not caring about you."
“Thank you dad, I promise I won’t let you down.”
Liu Mingzhi smiled lightly and shook his head, stood up and walked towards the mahjong table: "Let me see who has the bigger cards in this game.
Hit! Keep beating! What are you doing sitting here in a daze?"
The four little cuties raised their eyes and glanced at Mr. Liu who was leaning next to them. They kept playing mahjong in their hands, but no one made any move.
Liu Mingzhi was startled when he saw this, and seemed to understand something.
“Okay, okay, I’m leaving. Isn’t it okay for me to leave right away?
You can go and have fun on your own, I can go out and tell fortunes."
Liu Mingzhi said without hesitation, and walked directly towards the outside of the Ten Kings Palace with his hands behind his back. He knew in his heart that if he stayed here any longer, these little bastards would not dare to continue playing mahjong.
Liu Mingzhi left the Palace of Ten Kings and walked along the square towards the palace gate. Before he was halfway through the journey, a young man in dark gray robes hurried over to meet Mr. Liu.
"Your Majesty, Li Yue, is here to see you. Long live my emperor."
Liu Mingzhi stared blankly at the young man in front of him who was bowing to him. He felt vaguely familiar, but for a while he couldn't remember where he had seen him.
“Excuse me, who are you?”
“Reporting to Your Majesty, I am Li Yue, the second son of Prince Duan.”
Hearing Li Yue's self-report, Liu Mingzhi looked at Li Yue with sudden realization and finally remembered his identity.
“I remembered that you are the second son of Uncle Duan Wang. We met several times in the ancestral temple when my father Emperor Ruizong passed away, and we met several times later when Wuzong died.
I haven’t seen you for some years, and your appearance has changed a lot.”
“Your Majesty has a keen eye and is the right minister.”
“There’s no need to be too polite, there’s no need to be too polite. In terms of status, I should call you a worthy brother. Now that you’re not above the court, let’s just avoid some false etiquette between you and me!”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“I just saw you walking towards me in a hurry. Do you need my help with anything?”
“Your Majesty, my fourth uncle is dying. He said he wanted to see you before he died.
Therefore, I asked my ministers to come and ask Your Majesty to move to the clan’s residence.”
“Uncle Four Kings?”
Liu Mingzhi first murmured and then stared at Li Yue with a sharp expression on his face: "But Ming Gong?"
“Yes, Ming Zhengzheng is the fourth uncle of the minister.”
After confirming that Li Yue was talking about Li Yugang, Liu Mingzhi couldn't help but feel nervous: "Where is Mr. Ming now?"
“The clan’s mansion is in Siguodian.”
Liu Mingzhi took a deep breath, picked up his clothes and walked quickly towards the palace gate: "Hurry, lead the way for me."
Li Yue hurriedly followed up: "Your Majesty, please."
Liu Mingzhi stopped suddenly when he rushed to the palace gate. With a calm expression, he whispered a few words into the ear of the commander of the imperial army guarding the palace gate, then he got on his horse and galloped in the direction of the clan mansion.
In about the time it took for a stick of incense to be burned, the two men and their horses tightened their reins and stopped outside the clan's residence.
As soon as Liu Mingzhi got off his horse, a group of Li clan members with downcast expressions immediately came out to greet him.
“The minister’s order, Li Chengbai, comes to see your majesty, long live...”
Liu Mingzhi didn’t wait for Li Chengbai to finish speaking. He waved his hand and walked towards the huge sect’s mansion: “Without courtesy, please take me to the Siguo Palace to meet Duke Ming.”
“Yes, Your Majesty, please.”
After a few cups of tea, Liu Mingzhi finally arrived at the Siguo Hall of the Zongren Mansion under the guidance of Li Chengbai and others.
Liu Mingzhi walked quickly through the door of Siguo Hall, standing up before anyone heard a sound.
“Ming Gong? Where are you... Ming Gong.”
Liu Mingzhi stared blankly at Li Yugang, who was sitting on the chair and smiling lightly at him, and his eyes could not help but feel sore.
His hair and beard are all white, he is very old, and his old and dim eyes have a faint gray color. Compared with the Li Yugang of a few years ago, Li Yugang is completely different.
“Ming Gong! Long time no see.”
Li Yugang nodded lightly, and holding the faucet in his right hand, he stood up tremblingly and walked towards Liu Mingzhi.
“Young boy Liu, you’re here! Long time no see.”
Liu Mingzhi hurriedly rushed forward and helped Li Yugang, who seemed to be knocked to the ground by a gust of wind.
“Ming Gong, please slow down, please slow down.”
Li Yugang stared at Liu Mingzhi with his dim eyes for a while, then nodded with difficulty and pointed to the left with his hand.
Liu Mingzhi looked in the direction of Li Yugang's finger and saw a low table placed in the side hall. On the low table, two plates of side dishes and a bottle of wine came into view.
“Ming Gong? What do you mean by this?”
“Liu Xiaozi, why don’t you have a couple of drinks with me, my friend who forgets the New Year?
Don’t even think about rejecting me. If you don’t have a few drinks today, we may not have the chance to have a drink with each other in the future.”