"Lord Ximen has promised to prepare a suitable gift."
After Taira Tadamori came out of the Honglu Hall, he came non-stop to see the great minister Fujiwara Kimomi. Of course, Taira Tadamori didn't mention the high-five and oath.
After all, this is a very incredible proposal, and it involves his sister Yuko Taira, so it is a completely private matter.
"Very good, you did a good job." Fujiwara Kimi was very satisfied with the news brought by Taira Tadamori: "You go back first, the wedding day is not far away, and you will be very busy then."
As the second lieutenant envoy of Zaemon, Taira Taira is mainly responsible for maintaining law and order in Kyoto. As the wedding day approaches, he will be very busy.
"Then please excuse me and take my leave."
Fujiwara Kimimi looked at the scenery in the courtyard and listened to the sweet chirping of the birds on the porch. A rare smile crept onto the corner of his mouth.
His third daughter, Fujiwara Shoko, will soon become the middle palace, and there is still the flesh and blood of Emperor Shirakawa in her belly... Fujiwara Shoko confessed this matter to herself.
Fujiwara Kimimi felt that his biggest task at the moment was to live well. As long as Fujiwara Shoko gave birth to a boy, his position would be as secure as Mount Tai, let alone the future emperor's grandfather.
It doesn’t matter whose seed it is? As long as Emperor Shirakawa dies before him, he might still have a chance to dominate the court.
That young man from Toba always had a kind heart and never resisted Emperor Shirakawa.
Fujiwara Kimi seems to have seen his future path, a golden avenue... He feels as if he can still be young again.
Everything is thanks to Zhangzi, but it must be a boy.
...
...
The wedding day arrived as promised, the spring was bright and the air was filled with the smell of cherry blossoms, making everyone smile knowingly.
"Did you know, I'm getting married today!"
The guests stepped into the izakaya, drank a few sips of wine, and started whispering with their companions.
His companion picked up a piece of salted fish and chewed it in his mouth: "How could you not know? I heard that it is Fujiwara Shoko, the daughter of Mr. Kanago Fujiwara Kimimi!"
"You know what the heck, Fujiwara Shoko's godfather is His Majesty the Emperor... A man in his sixties and a man of fifteen or sixteen are tired of being together all day long..."
The previous guest lowered his voice triumphantly.
"According to what you say, His Majesty the Emperor is preparing to... no, has he cuckolded Jinshang?"
The chewing action was interrupted immediately, the salted fish almost fell on the table, and the voice became louder.
"Keep your voice down, you want to die!" the previous guest hurriedly reminded his companion, and at the same time turned back to look at the door...
A samurai was leading several armed ashigaru into this wine tasting room, and the boss greeted him with a smile on his face.
"Thank you for your hard work, sir!" The boss rubbed his fat hands: "Would you like a drink? It's a treat for me!"
"Is there nothing going on here?" the warrior asked with a gloomy face: "I'm so busy that I'm hitting the back of my head with my feet. Who has time to drink your wine! I don't care what day it is today!"
"Yes, yes! Thank you for your hard work, sir!" The owner of the izakaya saluted repeatedly, but the samurai spread his hands in front of him.
The understanding boss quickly put a bunch of copper coins into the big hand. The samurai immediately took back his hand and scolded him in a stern tone: "Keep a close eye on me. If anyone dares to talk nonsense, they will be arrested and taken to the Yamen."
go!"
After saying that, the samurai glanced at the izakaya with a sharp gaze. The guests, who were just looking at the excitement, immediately lowered their heads at the glance.
The samurai let out a loud "hum" before swaggering away with the ashigaru.
The owner of the izakaya heaved a sigh of relief, and said to the guests with an apologetic expression: "Everyone, please be patient, no matter what day it is, don't talk nonsense, otherwise my izakaya will not be able to open..."
Under the instruction of Fujiwara Kimiji, Taira Taira no Mori adopted high-pressure measures. Anyone who dared to talk about the affairs between Shirakawa Hiroyuki and Fujiwara Shoko would be arrested first.
The originally joyful Kyoto suddenly became enveloped in an ominous atmosphere.
However, this did not affect the joyful atmosphere in the Emperor's Imperial Palace at all. The inside and outside of the Imperial Palace were two completely different worlds.
Ximen Qing also rarely changed into a scarlet robe. In the Song Dynasty, scarlet robes could only be used by third-rank officials or above, but this occasion was an exception. What's more, Ximen Qing was not in the Song Dynasty, but in Japan.
.
"I wonder what gift Mr. Ximen has prepared for Ima?" Mr. Fujiwara happened to meet Ximen Qing and others outside the door. After exchanging a few words, he went straight to the topic: "It's really a headache to talk about it... But for Ximen
For adults, this shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
Ximen Qing chuckled: "Fujiwara-sama is worried about me... As soon as I got the news, I immediately knew what gift I should prepare for His Majesty the Emperor."
"Oh?" Fujiwara Kimomi looked stunned: "Then I'll wait and see."
The two looked at each other, laughed, and walked in side by side.
...
...
The wedding process is complicated and cannot be completed within a few days. Today is just the official day, the so-called ceremony.
His Majesty Shirakawa sat on the main seat, waiting for the newlyweds to come to pay homage to him. The pride in his eyes was evident.
This is the first time Ximen Qing has seen this old guy who can cuckold his grandson. From the emperor to the emperor and then to the emperor, the government that this old guy has firmly controlled for decades is officially called "yuanzheng".
”.
There is no doubt that this kind of court politics will continue until the old guy dies naturally or unnaturally.
Judging from the complexion of this bald old guy, he has taken good care of himself. Although he indulges in women, he can live in good health for more than ten years at least.
"If things go well, how will Toba deal with this old guy?" Ximen Qing thought: "This old guy must not be able to make a comeback...unnatural death is the best option."
At this moment, the old guy's voice came from above, speaking fluent Chinese: "The envoys of the Song Dynasty came here to celebrate today. I heard they even brought gifts?"
Ximen Qing smiled slightly after hearing this, knowing that this old guy was the final mastermind.
What appropriate gift?
This kind of request is like a woman facing several full wardrobes, preparing to choose a suitable outfit for an upcoming date, and asking her best friend to help her see which outfit is the most suitable.
As you can imagine, the two women were busy from morning to night and could not pick out a "suitable" dress.
Because the standard of suitability is emotional, not rational, and there is no standard to measure it.
But Ximen Qing was very confident that this gift could silence the mouths of Emperor Shirakawa and Fujiwara Kimomi.
Because this gift is the only one in this world...at least in Japan.
What's more, Ximen Kei also has Emperor Toba on his side.
"His Majesty, the Ambassador of Ximen Imperial City has indeed prepared what he considers to be the most appropriate gift."
Kimi Fujiwara's voice doesn't sound like that of an old man in his sixties at all. Just listening to the voice is clearly that of a man in his thirties or forties, full of energy.
Of course, the meaning is: "Ximen Qing thinks he is suitable, but he may not be suitable."
Emperor Shirakawa looked happy, and the only hair on his face and beard trembled: "It must be a good thing, bring it over!"
Ximen Qing laughed secretly, this gift was for Toba, but the old guy actually got excited himself, it was really a good show.
However, it can also be seen from this point that Emperor Toba is just a puppet, but this old guy would not have thought that one day the puppet would suddenly act on his own and oppose him.
"As ordered." Ximen Qing smiled slightly and waved, and Kinoshita Tokichiro came forward with a scroll in his arms and solemnly handed it to the chamberlain.
"Calligraphy and painting?" Fujiwara Kimi's smile seemed to be a little playful: "Could it be from Dongpo layman?"
Ximen Qing chuckled: "When the scroll is opened, everything will become clear."
The scroll was slowly opened by two chamberlains. Emperor Shirakawa and Fujiwara Kimomi put their heads together and looked at it carefully. The Emperor Birdsong next to him couldn't help but stretched his body and stretched his neck to watch.
"Well, it's a picture of flowers and birds... This method is not from Lay Buddhist Dongpo..."
Fujiwara Kimihi stopped mid-sentence because he had already recognized the technique.
Emperor Shirakawa originally pretended to be happy but could no longer be happy. This spell was...
"It's a flower-and-bird painting personally written by His Majesty the Emperor of the Song Dynasty!"
Emperor Toba gave the answer crisply and decisively.
This gift couldn't be more appropriate!
On the Emperor's wedding, the envoys of the Song Dynasty presented a flower-and-bird painting written by the Emperor. It couldn't be more appropriate!
Neither Hierophant Shirakawa nor Kimiji Fujiwara could point out what was inappropriate about this flower-and-bird painting as a gift. To say "inappropriate" would be simply disrespectful to the Emperor of the Song Dynasty!
Whoever says this will face very serious consequences!
The two old guys, Emperor Shirakawa and Kimiwara Fujiwara, looked at each other in the same way. They were panicking!
Unexpectedly, Ximen Qing actually took out this painting of flowers and birds as a gift.
"You have a great idea!"
Emperor Shirakawa covered his mouth with his sleeve and whispered to Fujiwara Kimihi who was very close at hand: "Why don't you think of a way quickly?"
Fujiwara Kimiko coughed, pretended to look at the scroll carefully, and replied in a low voice: "Your Majesty, there is no need to panic, who can prove that this is the handwriting of the Emperor of the Song Dynasty?"
As he spoke, Kimi Fujiwara stretched out his hand and pointed at the blank space of the scroll...
Emperor Baihe's eyes lit up, he straightened up and asked: "Envoy from the Ximen Imperial City, this painting of flowers and birds is truly the work of the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, why is it not sealed?"
This statement was close to a strong argument, but Emperor Shirakawa and Fujiwara Kimomi had no better choice.
"You two, please take a look." Ximen Qing walked forward with a smile and pointed: "This place is a clear proof."
Emperor Shirakawa and Fujiwara Kimimi looked in the direction of Ximen Qing's finger, and their expressions suddenly changed.
There was a blank space in that place, which was supposed to be a bird, but someone had painted over it, and the bird was only half painted.