Jiuxi

Chapter 844: 842 [Seemingly True or False]

When the sky is dim.

Lu Chen woke up slowly, with a pair of pink and tender arms in front of his chest. Fortunately, it was already early July, so he wouldn't catch a cold and get sick.

He turned his head and saw Gu Wan'er sleeping soundly, so he put her arms back into the quilt and got up quietly.

"Husband...Husband, are you awake?"

Gu Wan'er looked at Lu Chen with sleepy eyes, then woke up, struggled to get up and put on her clothes.

Lu Chen smiled and said, "Do you want to sleep a little longer?"

"Isn't my husband going to the palace today? I want to help him prepare."

Gu Wan'er looked lazy but her movements were very quick.

In fact, she didn't dare to call Lu Chen "husband" at first. After all, she was just Li Bingxue's roommate, and to be honest, she was not even as good as a concubine.

According to the rule that state etiquette is more important than family etiquette, she has to address Lu Chen as "Duke" like everyone else, or at least call him "Master".

However, Lu Chen felt that the sudden use of the word "Duke" during an intimate moment really spoiled the mood, so he corrected Gu Wan'er's way of addressing him and asked her to address him as husband in the boudoir and follow the rules if there was a third person present.

At this moment, she was wearing a single piece of clothing, and her exquisite figure was clearly revealed. Lu Chen couldn't help but joked: "I always thought you were very thin before."

Gu Wan'er's eyes flickered as she smiled and said, "Does my husband like to be thinner or fatter?"

"you guess."

"I guess my husband likes Sister Li more."

Lu Chen raised his hand and gently scratched the tip of her upturned nose, and said with a smile: "Flatterer."

The two chatted and laughed as they packed up, washed up with the help of the maids, and then walked side by side to the side hall in the back house, just in time Li Bingxue also arrived surrounded by maids.

Li Bingxue looked at Gu Wan'er with a smile, the teasing in her eyes was self-evident. Gu Wan'er lowered her head, looking a little shy.

The breakfast at the Duke's Mansion is not rich and luxurious, but it is nutritious and tastes good.

After the three of them finished their meal, Lu Chen said goodbye to his wives and concubines, then went to the courtyard to pay his respects to Lu Tong, and then went to the palace under the escort of dozens of cavalrymen.

At the same time, the emperor's bedroom.

Li Zongben was standing behind the screen while Empress Ning and the palace maids were helping him change his clothes.

After a while, all the palace maids left, and Queen Ning said gently, "Your Majesty, it's done."

Li Zongben was obviously very satisfied. He took Empress Ning's hand, walked to the couch and sat down, and said slowly: "Queen, do you know how I feel now?"

Although Empress Ning was in the harem, she was not completely in the dark about the affairs of the outer court because of the emperor's trust in her. She also knew that today's small-scale court meeting was of great significance and might determine the future structure of the court.

She said calmly, "Your Majesty has given Duke Qin enough respect. I think he can understand your majesty's difficulties."

At this moment, Li Zongben's face was full of confidence, and he nodded and said, "Yes, I don't have high expectations for him. I just hope that he will live up to my hard work."

The so-called painstaking efforts, of course, refer to the fact that he chose to give in several times when facing Lu Chen, whether on the issue of whether Han Zhongjie should be reinstated, or his subsequent praise and commendation for Lu Chen. In short, it is enough to reflect the emperor's respect and favor for the pillar of the country.

He felt that his request was not too demanding. He did not directly weaken Lu Chen's military power. He just hoped that he could show that he had no rebellious intentions and rationally accept the control of the court.

Queen Ning thought for a moment and said cautiously, "Your Majesty, if...if Duke Qin has any objections, you must not get angry."

"Don't worry, Queen."

Li Zongben smiled faintly and said calmly: "He argued with me face to face in the Imperial Garden that day, and later he walked out of the court meeting in anger, causing an uproar among the ministers. I didn't get angry or even punish him, so how could I get angry on this occasion today? In fact, over the past six months, I have a very thorough understanding of Lu Chen's temper, and I can roughly guess how he will react today. However, although I will not get angry, I will not continue to let him do whatever he wants."

Queen Ning felt a little depressed.

Li Zongben slowly stood up and said seriously: "I am not harming him. I hope he can understand this."

Watching him walk out, Queen Ning quickly stood up to see him off.

Queen Ning did not look away until the imperial carriage left. A trace of sadness appeared on her pretty face and she sighed softly.

At the beginning of the morning hour, the imperial carriage arrived at the Chongzheng Hall.

More than twenty important officials saluted at the same time.

The reason why they all came together was that Li Zongben had asked the eunuchs to go to each of their homes yesterday to summon them and to enter the palace to meet the emperor today.

"My dear ministers, please stand still and excuse yourself."

Li Zongben spoke in a gentle tone, and then looked at Lu Chen who was standing behind Xiao Wangzhi, and smiled and said, "Mr. Lu, how are you feeling recently?"

This is a good-natured joke.

Everyone in the capital knows that Lu Chen not only married Li Bingxue, but also took Gu Wan'er, the once famous courtesan in the capital, into his mansion. He can be said to be enjoying the best of both worlds, making countless perverts envious and jealous.

In addition, the emperor and all the high-ranking officials of the court came to congratulate him. This was a rare and glorious scene in the 170-year history of the Great Qi Dynasty.

All the important officials in the hall had smiles on their faces. Even Xue Nanting, who always had a solemn expression, looked at Lu Chen with interest.

"Your Majesty has bestowed upon me such an honor, for which I am eternally grateful." After all, he was a duke of the current dynasty, so it was not difficult for Lu Chen to say a few polite words.

Li Zongben seemed to be in a very good mood, and said kindly: "My dear minister, you have made great contributions to the country. You must continue to work hard in the future to recover the homeland for our Great Qi. How can I call this reward a great favor? In short, I hope that all the officials of the Great Qi can follow your example, so that we can be united and the country will prosper forever."

"I will definitely remember your Majesty's teachings."

Lu Chen bowed his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I have been away from Dingzhou for half a year. Although Jingguo's attention is now focused on Daiguo behind them, and the border defense line is not in danger for the time being, I am still a little worried. Therefore, I beg Your Majesty to allow me to leave Beijing and return north to take charge of Dingzhou's border defense."

In fact, everyone knew that Lu Chen returned to Beijing this time for two main reasons. One was to accept the reward from the court, and the other was to marry Li Bingxue.

Now that both tasks have been completed, there is really no need for him to stay in the capital any longer. He will eventually return to Jiangbei to be the Grand Commander of Dingzhou.

Li Zongben looked reluctant and pondered for a moment.

At this time, Chen Lanyu, the commander of the Jinwu Camp of the Beijing Army, the Minister of Military Affairs, and the Marquis of Linjiang, came out and said, "Your Majesty, I have a memorial to report."

Li Zongben felt relieved. He certainly didn't want to propose that arrangement himself. That would be a contest between the monarch and his subjects, and there would be little room for maneuver. So he specially arranged two people, and Chen Lanyu was one of them.

If Chen Lanyu has ulterior motives and is not as loyal to the emperor as he has previously shown, there is another person who will take over.

Li Zongben said calmly: "Tell me."

Chen Lanyu looked straight ahead and said calmly, "Your Majesty once said that Duke Qin is a role model for all the civil and military officials in the court, and he has made many great contributions, so the court should treat him well. Now that the Duke is leaving Beijing for the north, he will be too busy with military affairs to take care of his family, so I dare to suggest to Your Majesty that you can follow the practice of this dynasty and let the court support Duke Qin's family, so that the Duke will not have to worry about leaving."

The Minister of Personnel Li Shizhi, who was standing behind the two prime ministers, looked calm and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He is Li Zongben's backup plan.

If Chen Lanyu backed down at the critical moment, Li Shizhi would report the matter to the emperor.

Li Shizhi felt quite relieved at this moment. In fact, he had always been skeptical about Chen Lanyu's position, because Chen Lanyu was a military general trained by Xiao Wangzhi himself, and the relationship between the two was extraordinary.

Although Chen Lanyu encountered many difficulties in the process of subduing the Dingwei Army, and it was Li Shizhi who used the resources of the Jinlin Li family to help him solve his problems and gave him countless benefits through this relationship, Li Shizhi always suspected that Chen Lanyu might be a hidden chess piece planted by Xiao Wangzhi.

When Lu Chen came to Beijing, he ridiculed Chen Lanyu in public, and later publicly reprimanded him at the court meeting. These things gradually dispelled Li Shizhi's doubts. It was not until today when Chen Lanyu made this suggestion that Lu Chen could not accept that Li Shizhi's mood was completely settled.

"Anyway, we don't expect you to really do anything. As long as you have some preference, that's enough."

Li Shizhi muttered to himself, and then watched the show leisurely.

At the moment, the civil and military officials had different moods. Xiao Wangzhi frowned, and Li Jingda did not hide his anger towards Chen Lanyu.

As for the other military minister, Yuan Xingqin, he obviously had no right to express his opinion on this occasion.

"This……"

Li Zongben did not show any obvious inclination. He looked up at Lu Chen and asked with great respect, "What do you think, my dear minister?"

Hearing the emperor's question, the right prime minister Xu Zuo coughed lightly.

He looked at the left prime minister Xue Nanting beside him, and his originally inquiring look quickly turned into confusion.

Xue Nanting didn't seem to have any intention of showing up.

Xu Zuo understood after a little thought. Chen Lanyu's proposal was actually fine from a big picture perspective. After all, this has been the rule for thousands of years. How could a general bring all his relatives with him all the time? How could the court control it in this way?

Except in the era of warlord separatism before the founding of the Great Qi Dynasty, when the central dynasty existed in name only, no one would care about the emperor's edict.

The problem is that the current situation of Da Qi is not that embarrassing and difficult. At least the border troops have to rely on taxes from the thirteen states in the south of the Yangtze River for support.

Xue Nanting's attitude on this matter was actually very clear. He did not think that this was a malicious blow to Lu Chen.

however……

After all, Xu Zuo had been in Dingzhou for two years and knew Lu Chen's temper very well, at least better than those in the court. He was very worried that Lu Chen would have an outburst on the spot because of anger.

Just as Xu Zuo was thinking about how to help Lu Chen ease the atmosphere, the young Duke Qin had already stepped out of the classroom and stood in a row with Chen Lanyu.

He did not look at Chen Lanyu. Facing the emperor's concerned gaze, he said calmly, "Your Majesty, there is nothing wrong with the advice given by Marquis Linjiang. I believe he is indeed a loyal minister who is devoted to the country without regard for personal gain."

"..."

The hall was so quiet that you could almost hear a pin drop.

Including Li Zongben, everyone looked at Lu Chen with strange expressions.

These words were so gentle and respectful, not only without any anger, but on the contrary, they also hinted at a calm acceptance.

Is this still the young Duke with a strong and upright temper?
The dignitaries who had originally thought that Lu Chen would lose his temper on the spot or at least refuse sternly now just thought that this was a very ridiculous scene.

Even if Chen Lanyu's proposal is a policy of loyalty to the country, given Lu Chen's past distrust of the court, could he really accept the result of leaving his relatives in the capital?

The important officials suddenly wanted to walk out of the hall to see whether the sun rose from the west today.

Only Xiao Wangzhi looked calm, with a faint smile on the corner of his mouth.

(End of this chapter)