Liu Duan had not rested so late for a long time. He was sitting in the side hall at the moment, wearing a Chu yellow cloak, which was of quite luxurious texture.
There was only one Qi Shizhai beside him holding the lamp. The light was not very bright, but it was enough to reflect the contents copied on the paper on the desk. It was a poem manuscript copied by Liu Duan himself.
The candlelight is shining on the title of the poem.
The title was clearly "Moonlight Night on the Spring River".
Liu Duan was half-holding the poem manuscript, his hands trembling slightly.
He read it for a long time, read it softly a few times, and became lost in thought for a while.
After a long while, Liu Duan let out a long sigh and gently placed the poem manuscript in his hand on the table.
"Why can't such a person be used by me..." He said to himself as if sighing.
He turned around and asked, "Where is this person from?"
Qi Shizhai hurriedly lowered his voice and said: "Your Majesty, I heard the news from our people outside. This Su Ling came to Longtai, Kyoto a few years ago. He seems to be a master disciple of Xuanyuan Pavilion and Xuanyuan Ghost Valley in Mount Liyou."
Suddenly a burning color appeared in Liu Duan's eyes, and he sighed: "Liyou Mountain, Xuanyuan Ghost Valley, those are among the gods... Okay, okay!"
In the blink of an eye, there was a strong sense of loss in his eyes, and he said in a deep voice: "Sigh, everything he does now has the shadow of that person, no matter it is hot-boiled mutton or cold-flavored pills...
..."
He suddenly raised his voice, sounding a little sad and angry: "If God doesn't help me, why don't I meet him first!"
Qi Shizhai hurriedly made a gesture of silence before putting down the lamp in his hand.
He quickly turned around and came to the door of the palace. He looked outside and found nothing unusual.
Then he closed the palace door as if nothing had happened, went to the window to check, and finally returned to Liu Duan.
He lowered his voice and said, "Could it be that the Holy One wants him to be used by us?"
Liu Duan sighed and said: "In the court, that person is becoming more and more powerful. Dong Si and others have not achieved enough. Fortunately, that person did not go into details. He just lamented my queen..."
His expression darkened and became even more sad.
Liu Duan's voice was very low, and he said word by word: "Now the Jin Dynasty... Uncle Liu is the only one who is struggling to support it, but after all, he is outside, and there are few soldiers and generals. How can I be willing to have the Jin Dynasty with more than 600 years of foundation?
Died in..."
Qi Shizhai was so panicked that he quickly knelt on the ground and said with tears: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please don't belittle yourself. In the eyes of this old slave, Your Majesty..."
Liu Duan waved his hand, helped him up and said: "Qi Banban, you are the one who watched me step by step from the prince to the emperor. I really know how I am, and you also understand! Now there are only you and me in this hall.
Just stop saying those flattering words!"
Hearing this, Qi Shizhai touched his eyes with his sleeves, stood up tremblingly and said, "This old slave is still incompetent and has made the Holy One suffer!"
Liu Duan waved his hand and sighed: "I am not suffering, my Dajin is suffering... If this person...
Alas! It’s just a pity that although he is unparalleled in talent and learning, he is that person’s person.”
Qi Shizhai then lowered his voice and said: "Your Majesty, please bear with me for a little longer. General Shen sent someone to secretly deliver a message a few days ago. He is now conducting military exercises. I think the troops will be sent to Longtai, Kyoto in the near future. The day when Your Majesty will leave the cage can be expected."
ah."
When Liu Duan heard this, he showed an excited expression at first, and then gradually calmed down. He waved his hands, with a trace of bitterness on his face, and smiled a few times: "Qi Banban, you are just trying to comfort me. You are in the Jin Dynasty Hall." , how can you not understand it with all your ears and eyes? Not to mention whether Shen Yizhou wins or loses, he just wins. The person in charge of the court is just a different person. What was Wang Xi like back then? What about that person now? "
Liu Duanhu said sadly: "I've had enough, I've had enough! What I'm sad about is that I don't have my own power, it's all my power!"
Qi Shizhai thought for a while, then suddenly looked solemn, knelt down on the ground, bowed and said word by word: "Your Majesty, this old slave has a plan, I don't know whether to say it or not..."
Liu Duan suddenly stood up, helped Qi Shizhai up and said: "Qi Banban, what are you doing? You have been by my side when I was young. You, I can trust you. Just tell me if you have anything." .”
Qi Shizhai was grateful in his heart, and then he corrected his official title as a regular servant, and said slowly: "Your Majesty, do you know what kind of evaluation Su Ling got from Master Xu?"
Liu Duan thought for a while and then said: "Master Xu? Xu Shao? Isn't he dead..."
Qi Shizhai said: "He is a famous Confucian in the Jin Dynasty. Whether his virtue matches it or not, we don't care. But I know that although he has been dead for a long time, many scholars in the world still respect him highly, and The last person he gave words of appreciation to during his lifetime was Su Ling!"
Only then did Liu Duan become interested, his eyes flashed and he said: "Oh, what is the gift?"
Qi Shizhai said in a deep voice: "The gift to Su Ling is the word Chi and Ji!"
"What's the explanation?"
Qi Shizhai said word for word: "Be loyal and courageous, help the world and save the people!"
Liu Duan's eyes lit up, he grabbed Qi Shizhai's withered hand and said, "Is this true?"
Qi Shizhai nodded and said with a serious look in his eyes: "When did this old slave dare to deceive His Majesty?" Liu Duan rubbed his hands excitedly and kept saying: "Chiji, Chiji! It's really wonderful! Jin Dynasty is saved. There’s help!”
Suddenly, he thought of something again, and his eyes gradually became lost. Then he sighed and said: "Oh, Master Xu also made mistakes sometimes. Isn't he also that person now..."
There was a hint of deep meaning in Qi Shizhai's old eyes, he shook his head and said firmly: "Yilao Nu, it seems that is not the case!"
"Oh?" Liu Duanzheng was disappointed. Hearing Qi Shizhai's words, he regained his energy and looked at him with doubtful eyes, with some doubts.
Qi Shizhai slowly stretched out three withered fingers and said in a low voice: "From what I can see, Su Ling does not necessarily really have his heart for Xiao Yuanche. There are three points that can show that. On the contrary, it is possible that the Great Jin Dynasty has another A Xu Lingjun!"
Hearing this, Liu Duan's eyes sharpened, he came closer to Qi Shizhai and said, "Hurry up and talk to me carefully!"
Qi Shizhai nodded and then said slowly: "First of all, according to our people outside, both the three young masters of the Xiao family and Xiao Yuanche himself intend to let him become an official, but he has always refused. It's just that He just wanted to be a businessman all his life and make money. If it hadn’t been for what happened that day, and the Holy Emperor himself had personally ordered to reward him heavily, he wouldn’t have been able to become the Xicao of the Sikong Mansion..."
Qi Shizhai paused and then said: "But what did Xiao Yuanche do to him when he was favored by the Holy Master? He is just a little Xicao, and Su Ling doesn't say anything, but what does he think in his heart?"
Liu Duan heard this and nodded and said: "Qi Banban is right, what about the other two points?" Qi Shizhai hurriedly raised his hands and said: "Second, that day Xu Jinghu led people into the palace and threatened the Queen. In fact, Su Ling
He had been in Fengzhang Palace, why didn't he join forces with Xu Jinghu, but hid alone in the dark, until the Holy Lord was in danger, he stepped forward and saved the Holy Lord? If he was really Xiao Yuanche's man, he could have just done this.
thing......"
Hearing this, Liu Duan pondered for a while, nodded heavily and said: "He has saved me, but for this alone, he can be called loyal!"
Qi Shizhai nodded and said: "Third, a case happened in Longtai, Kyoto a while ago. Does the Holy One know about it?"
Liu Duan heard this and shook his head: "What case? What does this have to do with Su Ling?"
Qi Shizhai said in a very low voice: "A while ago, on the night of the Yuan Dynasty, Su Ling and Xiao Jingshu, the daughter-in-law of Xiao Mansion, were attacked for the second time in Kyoto."
"What! The second attack! I still remember that they are not... who is this, so unwilling to give up!" Liu Duan said in shock.
Qi Shizhai shook his head calmly and said: "No, no, no, the people who killed you this time are not the same people as last time!"
"Oh? How can you see it?" Liu Duanru was confused and confused.
Qi Shizhai nodded and said: "Please think about it, Your Majesty, if it is really the same group of people, according to Xiao Yuanche's temper, how could he let go of this great opportunity and report it to the court long ago, but he went against the norm and kept it secret.
We sent Lieutenant Boning to conduct a secret investigation. Isn't it suspicious that Xiao Yuanche's behavior is strange and abnormal?"
After all, he is the emperor of the Jin Dynasty. Liu Duan is naturally smart and knows everything. His eyes flashed and he said: "Qi Banban is saying... this time it should be someone from the Xiao family..."
Qi Shizhai nodded heavily, with admiration in his eyes as he said: "The Holy One is really talented and enlightened! That's it. According to our spies, the name of the killer leader this time is Ling Yijian...
.”
"Ling Yijian! I've heard of it before. He was the master of martial arts at that time. Why is he from the Xiao family..." Liu Duan's eyes were burning and his thoughts were surging.
Qi Shizhai hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, although Ling Yijian is a martial arts master, his other identity is the swordsmanship master of Xiao Jianshu, the second son of Xiao Mansion..."
Liu Duan suddenly realized: "So that's it..."
He thought for a moment and then sighed: "Okay, okay, that Xiao Yuanche is already cold-blooded, and this Xiao Jianshu is even worse!"
Qi Shizhai nodded and said: "Although Xiao Yuanche is domineering, he is still respectful to the saint, but if Xiao Jianshu... he is an ambitious man!"
"Your Majesty, you should make plans early!"
Hearing this, Liu Duan nodded heavily.
Qi Shizhai then added: "After this happened, Xiao Yuanche just imprisoned Xiao Jianshu. Later, Su Ling actually came forward to speak out and exempted Xiao Jianshu from the penalty of being imprisoned. He only banned Xiao Jianshu for half a year...
..."
Liu Duan lowered his head and thought, silently.
Qi Shizhai looked at him and said: "Some of Xiao Yuanche's staff and generals were slightly dissatisfied with this kind of treatment, but Su Ling acted like nothing happened, as if he never cared about it...
.”
Liu Duanhu sighed: "Su Ling is really a great talent if he can endure things that ordinary people cannot endure!"
Qi Shizhai nodded in agreement and said: "Your Majesty, please think about it, Su Ling has a tough and calm mind, how can he not feel resentful about this matter? He is just holding back, and he still has to rely on Xiao Yuanche. But, like this
How could there not be some resentment between him and Xiao Yuanche?"
When Liu Duan heard this, he kept nodding his head and said, "Isn't that Qi Banban's plan..."
Qi Shizhai's voice was low and he said word by word: "If Su Ling wants to make money, someone has to give him money... After all, what Sikong can give is limited. If the court gives him money, it will affect the entire Jin Dynasty.
!”
After that, he suddenly raised his head and bowed and said: "Your Majesty, this opportunity must not be missed before it comes again. Su Ling saved me once, and now he has a problem with Xiao Yuanche. Isn't this opportunity given by God?"
When Liu Duan heard this, he lowered his head and said nothing. His eyes moved, he thought about it again and again, and then he made up his mind.
He looked at Qi Shizhai and said with incomparable trust in his voice: "Qi Banban, this matter is so big that I don't want to leave it to others. You must handle this matter alone. Remember not to leak any information!
"
Qi Shizhai trembled all over and worshiped: "This old slave is so heartbroken that I will not give up even if I die!"
Liu Duan suddenly stood up, the melancholy in his eyes swept away, tightened the belt of his cloak, and walked out of the hall.
The cold wind howled outside the palace, but he didn't seem to feel the cold anymore.
Qi Shizhai was so panicked that he hurriedly caught up and said, "Your Majesty, where are you going, Your Majesty?"
Liu Duan laughed and said with great interest: "It's a long night and I don't want to sleep. Come and accompany me to the fish pond to feed the fish!"
Only then did Qi Shizhai smile lightly, and hurriedly picked up the hand stove and said, "Your Majesty, take the hand stove. It's windy and cold outside."
"I'm not cold at all now, I'm very hot!"
............
This day.
Su Ling was busy at the restaurant for a long time, and then went to the medical clinic for a whole afternoon.
Although he is recovering well, I think his vitality has been damaged.
It was getting dark, and Su Ling felt a little sleepy, so she asked Du Heng to close the door so that he could rest early.
Du Heng was holding the door when suddenly an old man in plain clothes walked in front of the door. He stood in the snow and looked at the ugly door plaque for a long time.
Du Heng saw that although this old man was old, his hair was all white and he wore a wooden hairpin to pin it, but he didn't have a beard on his lower jaw.
Du Heng thought that the old man was here to see a doctor, so he put down the wooden board in his hand, walked over and sang a song, and said with a smile: "This old man is closed today. If you want to see a doctor, come early tomorrow. If
If anyone in your family has an emergency, please come in!"
The old man didn't say anything, just nodded slightly towards Du Heng, walked straight into the main hall, and looked around.
Du Heng turned around and walked over. Seeing this man looking around and saying nothing, he said somewhat unhappily: "Old sir, I just said that if there is an emergency, please come in and see a doctor. If there is no emergency, I will just come here."
It's closed, you came in and looked around, what do you mean?"
The old man smiled faintly and said loudly: "I'm looking for Su Ling. Where is Su Ling?"
Although the old man's voice was old, it was indescribably high-pitched and a bit unpleasant.
Su Ling was behind the counter, with her legs crossed on the countertop and her eyes closed to relax. When she heard such a sound, she stuck her head out to take a look.
Du Heng felt that this old man had a decent demeanor, but when he spoke, he was so rude that he just wanted to speak.
However, Su Ling came out from the counter at the back, cupped her hands towards the old man and said, "It turns out you are here, I'm sorry!"
After saying that, he turned to Du Heng and said, "Du Heng, please don't be rude. This is an honored guest. Go and make some tea."
Hearing this, Du Heng felt a little dissatisfied. He glanced at the old man and muttered: "This is an important guest, and that is an important guest. Su Ling, you have many distinguished guests. No matter how many more guests you have, the word "expensive" will not be worth anything..."
He muttered and went away.
Su Ling then sat down with the old man, cupped his hands again and said, "It turns out that Changshi Qi is here, Su Ling is disrespectful!"
This old man turned out to be Qi Shizhai, a regular servant of the Great Jin Dynasty, the great Fengzhang of Fengzhang Hall, and the chief steward of the great palace.
Qi Shizhai smiled faintly, and the wrinkles on his face relaxed a little and said: "Master Su has a good memory. We only met briefly that day, but he still remembers the old slave..."
He was quite modest, calling himself an old slave in front of Su Ling.
Su Ling couldn't figure out why the old eunuch came suddenly.
But I always felt that there must be something abnormal about a disabled person, so I cautiously chatted with him for a while.
Du Heng made tea, and Su Ling asked him to close the door and go back to the back.
Du Heng asked in confusion: "Then how did he get out?"
Su Ling hurriedly said: "I will personally escort the old gentleman out of the back door."
Du Heng nodded, closed the door and went to the back room.
Qi Shizhai felt a little satisfied when he saw Su Ling addressing him as "Mr." with a respectful attitude. Then he took a sip of tea, tasted it carefully, and suddenly opened his eyes wide and said, "This...tea could not be Xin."
Isn’t Yangshan tea ready?”
Su Ling laughed and said: "Qi Changshi Guo Zhen Tea is a master of tea. Ordinary people don't know this tea!"
Qi Shizhai waved his hand and said with a smile: "Master Su, you are ridiculous. My hometown is Xinyang. How can I forget the taste of this hometown?"
Suddenly he seemed to sigh: "Oh, it has been nearly sixty years since we left Xinyang Mountain. At that time, the old slave was as young as Mr. Su, but now he is a dying man!"
Su Ling laughed loudly and said, "If Mr. Qi likes this, Su Ling will prepare more tea. If you want to try it anytime, just send a few Huangmen to get it."
Although he said this, he also thought to himself that his Maojian life was not long. Guo Baiyi said that he would deliver goods to sell. After the Maojian water cargo ship accident, the matter never went further. He
It's time to ask.
When Qi Shizhai heard this, he was happy in his heart. He secretly praised Su Ling as a sensible person, and he laughed and said, "This way, Mr. Su will spend a lot of money!"
Su Ling smiled and said: "It's just tea, but it's worth a lot of money..."
Seeing that Su Ling was so knowledgeable, Qi Shizhai was quite impressed, so he got straight to the point and said, "My master wants to see you."
Su Ling took a sip of tea first. Hearing this, he almost choked on the tea. After coughing for a while, Fang blurted out in surprise: "Who? Who wants to see me? Liu Duan?!"
Qi Shizhai frowned, feeling that this Su Ling still had no rules and was an ordinary person after all.
But ordinary people are better at showing kindness.
He then nodded reluctantly.
Su Ling glanced at him for a few times, and then his expression returned to normal.
He was not in a hurry to speak. After thinking for a while, he calmed down and said in a calm voice: "Okay, bring it."
Qi Shizhai was a little confused by Su Ling's sudden and unclear words, and then he was stunned and asked in confusion: "What did you bring?"
Su Ling smiled meaningfully and said, "It's my will."
Qi Shizhai was stunned again, thinking that Su Ling had made a mistake, and then said: "But that's not the case. This time the emperor summoned him secretly."
When Su Ling heard this, he smiled coldly and said, "In that case, please go back, Eunuch Qi!"
After saying that, he stood up and said to Du Heng in the back room: "Du Heng, open the back door and see off the guests!"
Du Heng responded, and then there was the sound of the back door creaking.
Then Du Heng walked in with a strong body and said: "Please..."
Qi Shizhai was stunned when he heard this, and said with a cold face: "Is it because you don't want to go? Su Ling, you are just a little Xicao! What an honor it is for the emperor to see you!"
Su Ling waved her hand and said nonchalantly: "Of course I can go, but I can't go like this. Let's do this..."
Su Ling lowered his head and thought for a moment, then raised his head and bared his teeth at Qi Shizhai, who was already looking angry: "Please, Eunuch Qi, please go back and tell Liu Duan this way. Just say that he is the emperor and you can see whoever you want...
..."
Just as Qi Shizhai was about to speak, Su Ling waved his hand and said, "Since he is the emperor, he must be upright and upright. How could such a sneaky thing be done by the emperor?"
"you!......"
Qi Shizhai felt angry for a while, and was about to get angry, but suddenly he changed his mind and lowered his head to ponder for a while.
When he raised his head again, his face was full of smile, he gave a deep salute and said: "Young Master Su is absolutely right! In this case, I will resign."
Su Ling then waved his hand and said: "Well, let's go, let's go slowly, I won't send you off..."
After Qi Shizhai left,
Du Heng then asked Su Ling very puzzledly: "This is the emperor's companion, why don't you go with him? Are you afraid that his identity is fake?"
Su Ling smiled and said: "The identity is true, but if I went there secretly, wouldn't it be too shameful?"
Du Heng shrugged speechlessly and said: "You dragged me up in front of the emperor..."
Then he shook his head and mumbled and went back to his room.
Su Ling blew out the lights in the hospital and said louder, "Sleep!"
He glanced out the window thoughtfully, then turned and walked into the darkness.