Can I get to the other side?.

Chapter 502: Zheng Xuan comes out of the mountain, the mythical beast Pixiu

Cui Mansion.

After leaving the palace, the heads of the major families did not go home individually, but gathered at Cui's mansion in tacit understanding.

The dark room was dead silent.

Everyone sat in their respective seats, no one spoke, and no one knew what they were thinking.

Finally, it was Dong Zhong who broke the silence and asked, "What do you think...what did His Majesty mean by what he said tonight?"

"Does His Majesty already know our plan?"

What the emperor said at the banquet tonight seemed to be spoken to everyone, but in fact it was spoken to them.

This makes them have all kinds of thoughts in their minds.

Because if the emperor really knew their plan, then tonight was a warning to them not to act rashly.

"I don't think so."

Dou Fu pondered for a long time and shook his head. "Your Majesty only talked about the land survey tonight and did not mention the Imperial College."

"And we haven't made any big moves recently. We have only been secretly promoting discussions about the Imperial College in the government and the public, and preparing for the joint petition in advance."

"So I think your Majesty's words tonight are intended to appease us and make us understand the court's land survey."

In order to avoid the eyes of the Embroidered Uniform Envoy, they did things very secretly so as not to be noticed by the Emperor.

Therefore, Dou Fu believed that it was impossible for the emperor to know their plan.

Shen Rong said worriedly, "Not necessarily. We have cooperated with the land survey. Why does Your Majesty have to specifically mention this to attack us?"

"Your Majesty must have known something. Even our current conversation could be overheard by the Embroidered Uniform Envoy!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's expression changed.

I felt uneasy for a moment.

The existence of the Embroidered Robe Envoy is like a sharp blade hidden in the dark. No one knows where it is and when it will stab into their hearts.

Just when everyone was hesitating whether to leave quickly, Cui Yan, who had been silent, suddenly raised his hand and slammed the table in front of him.

"enough!"

Cui Yan shouted, his eyes sweeping across everyone's faces, "It's just a few words, and you're all scared like frightened birds!"

"So what if His Majesty already knows? Are we going to do nothing now that His Majesty knows? Let the Imperial College continue to develop like this?"

"You're scared now, what were you doing before?"

"The competition for the path to promotion will certainly be fierce. This is a game between us and the emperor. We will not hesitate even if it means bloodshed!"

Cui Yan couldn't stand the timid attitude and behavior of this group of people. He was unwilling to sit back and watch the Imperial College gain a foothold, but he also didn't want to offend the emperor.

How can you have the best of both worlds?

"Oh, that sounds nice."

Dou Fu sneered disdainfully, "The knife hasn't fallen on your head, so of course you don't know how to be afraid. If you really anger the emperor, you know the consequences."

"I won't play with you anymore. You can do whatever you want."

After saying this, Dou Fu was about to get up and leave.

Cui Yan was furious when he saw this, and said sternly: "If you walk out of this door, I will assume that you have chosen to surrender to the emperor just like Yang Shi!"

"Do you, the Dou family, really want to stand against everyone?"

Cui Yan's words made Dou Fu stop in his tracks.

His face also turned gloomy.

Yang's behavior was despised by everyone, but at present Yang was in the emperor's favor and Yang Xiu was the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, so there was nothing they could do.

But if Dou was also considered to be a traitor, no one present would let it go easily.

Cui Yan stood up and said expressionlessly: "Things have come to this point. The arrow has been put on the string and has to be shot. No one can stay out of it!"

"I have asked the teacher to come to Chang'an after the beginning of next spring. Before that, we just need to continue to promote public opinion about the Imperial College."

"I don't want anyone else to say they want to quit."

The emperor hopes that the Imperial College can stand firmly on its feet.

What they want to do is to intensify the conflict.

As long as the public opinion against the Imperial College is intense enough, they can legitimately challenge the emperor and wrestle with him.

Everyone had different expressions. After thinking it over, they were finally convinced by Cui Yan and nodded.

……

This year's Spring Festival was very peaceful and harmonious. The war was over and the people had a happy and peaceful year.

There was also a heavy snowfall in Chang'an, but because the court had made preparations for cold resistance and disaster relief long before the arrival of winter, no one was frozen to death by the heavy snow, which was a scene rarely seen in previous years.

After all, winter is particularly hard for many ordinary people. The wealthy and the scholars who have no worries about food and clothing think that auspicious snow means a good harvest, but in fact, heavy snow often represents a disaster.

It’s just that the emperor had already ordered local governments to prepare for the arrival of winter, so this winter was not so difficult to get through.

After the Spring Festival, annual tributes from all over the country also arrived.

The so-called annual tribute is the tribute presented by various places to the emperor to show respect. There are local specialties, treasures, medicinal materials, handicrafts, etc.

Normally annual tribute is paid at the end of the year. Now that the Han Dynasty has just been unified, in order to celebrate, the tribute items from all over the country are very rich and precious.

Among them there was an extremely rare item, which was a Pixiu that was tributed from Yizhou.

Liu Xie was very surprised when he heard the news.

The Pixiu is a legendary mythical beast, and it was actually presented as a tribute. This made him really curious about what this so-called Pixiu was.

He doesn't really believe that Pixiu really exists in the world.

Soon, this so-called Pixiu was transported to the imperial garden, and concubines including Lu Lingqi and Zhen Mi came to watch curiously.

Even ministers like Jia Xu, Lu Su, and Zhuge Liang put down their government affairs and came over. After all, everyone was curious about what the legendary Pixiu looked like.

In the imperial garden, a large iron cage was placed in the open space, but it was covered with a piece of cloth, and the iron cage was completely covered.

However, from time to time, low animal roars could be heard from the iron cage, which sounded quite similar to human voices and were chilling.

Gao Lan ordered the guards to guard the cage, and then reported to Liu Xie: "Your Majesty, the Pixiu is locked inside."

Zhen Mi blinked her eyes and couldn't help but wonder, "The Pixiu is a legendary dragon beast, how could it be caught by someone?"

Jia Xu, who was standing by, laughed and said, "Your Excellency, you may not know that the Pixiu is the son of a dragon, but your Majesty is the true son of the dragon. How can a small Pixiu be bigger than your Majesty?"

"When the Holy Lord is alive, the divine beasts will appear. This is a sign of good fortune!"

Hearing Jia Xu's words, Liu Xie couldn't help but laugh and scold: "Stop flattering me, lift the cloth and let me see what this Pixiu looks like."

"Ah I?"

Jia Xu was startled when he heard this. After taking a look at the iron cage, he pretended to be weak and said, "Your Majesty, I caught a cold last night, and now I feel weak all over..." Liu Xie rolled his eyes, raised his foot and kicked him on the butt, then asked Gao Lan to go forward and lift the cloth on the iron cage.

Gao Lan immediately agreed, then walked forward and pulled off the black cloth on the iron cage, exposing the scene inside the cage to everyone.

Everyone in the Imperial Garden's eyes were drawn to it.

But when Liu Xie saw clearly the "Pixiu" trapped in the iron cage, he was stunned.

"Giant...panda?!"

The thing locked in the cage is not a Pixiu at all, but a rather fat bear-like creature with black and white fur all over its body and two dark circles under its eyes. If it is not a giant panda, then what else could it be?
"Is this the so-called Pixiu?"

The corner of Liu Xie's mouth twitched slightly, and he turned his gaze to Gao Lan.

Gao Lan nodded vigorously and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, this is the Pixiu! Look at its strange appearance, with black and white on its body, representing yin and yang. It is truly a mythical beast!"

After hearing this, Liu Xie couldn't help but hold his forehead, feeling that his expectations were in vain.

Zhuge Liang carefully looked at the panda in the cage for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, this is indeed a Pixiu. I have seen related records in books, but this is the first time I have seen a real Pixiu."

The other ministers also nodded.

They all seem to know the relevant stories.

After hearing their words, Liu Xie remembered that the name of the giant panda was not given to it until later generations. It was not called this name in ancient times. The earliest record of it was in the Book of Documents, where it was called Pi.

"Mao's Poems" calls it Bai Zhi, and "Emei Mountain Chronicles" calls it Pi Xiu.

The "Book of Beasts" calls it "貉", and Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" calls it "貘". Legend has it that it can eat people's dreams.

There is an old saying: "There is a strange beast in the world, with black and white body, which eats people's strange dreams."

After many years of these names, it was finally called panda, but because of the different reading and writing order, it accidentally became panda.

In addition, it has a very old nickname, called the iron-eating beast. This name originated in ancient times. Legend has it that Emperor Chiyou’s mount was it.

Because giant pandas are indeed scarce, even in ancient times they were very rare, and because their black and white colors conform to the Taoist theory of yin and yang, they are regarded as mythical beasts.

All in all, there is no unified way to call him.

Liu Xie felt a little amused when he saw that the legendary mythical beast Pixiu was actually a giant panda.

At this moment, the giant panda in the cage was looking at them with hostility. It seemed that it was frightened by so many people.

In addition, there was some meat in the cage, but it was not moved much, and the giant panda looked a little listless.

Gao Lan explained, "Your Majesty, according to the officials who brought the tribute, this Pixiu refused to eat or drink for some reason."

"We've tried beef, mutton, chicken, duck, fish and meat, but it doesn't eat much. It's been hungry for several days."

Hearing this, Liu Xie naturally knew what was going on. Although pandas are omnivorous animals, they are not very interested in meat.

Fortunately, he saw this panda today, otherwise this poor panda would have been hungry for who knows how long.

So he ordered: "Go to the Imperial Kitchen and get some fresh bamboo shoots. I remember they made winter bamboo shoots a few days ago."

Bamboo shoots are not only available in early spring, but also in winter. However, they are usually buried in the soil and difficult to dig out, making them a relatively precious food ingredient.

"Bamboo shoots?"

Gao Lan was stunned. What were he going to do with the bamboo shoots?
However, since it was the emperor's order, he had no choice but to do it. He immediately ordered someone to go to the imperial kitchen and get some fresh bamboo shoots.

Then Liu Xie picked up a few bamboo shoots and walked towards the cage.

Seeing this, Jia Xu on the side could not help but remind him: "Your Majesty, be careful! This Pixiu looks quite fierce, don't get close to it!"

However, Liu Xie didn't care. He walked to the cage and threw the bamboo shoots in his hand into it.

The giant panda in the cage was growling and threatening Liu Xie.

But when it saw the bamboo shoots thrown in by Liu Xie, it immediately stretched out its claws and grabbed them like lightning, then sat down, holding the bamboo shoots and began to chew them with a "crunching" sound.

Orcs will never be slaves!

Unless food and accommodation are included.

Really fragrant.

Seeing this scene, Liu Xie couldn't help laughing out loud, while the others were stunned.

This ferocious-looking beast actually doesn't eat meat but eats bamboo shoots?

"puff……"

Seeing the cute look of the giant panda while eating bamboo, Lv Lingqi couldn't help laughing. Liu Ying, who was in her arms, widened her eyes, staring at the panda in the cage without blinking, and stretched out her little hands to it.

Seeing this, Liu Xie smiled, took Liu Ying from Lu Lingqi's arms, and carried her to the cage to see the panda.

The cuteness of giant pandas is world-class, regardless of time, place, or gender, young or old.

"It's really strange."

Lu Su was amazed and said that it was really eye-opening. As a person from Jiangdong area, he had never seen such a strange beast before.

"Just keep it in the imperial garden."

Liu Xie gave orders and decided to keep the panda.

The Imperial Garden is big enough, so it is no problem to raise a panda. It will just be kept in a cage, and all we need to do is prepare enough bamboo shoots and bamboo.

In his previous life, he had only seen pandas in the zoo, but now he can raise one of his own. If this happened in the future, countless people would probably be envious.

This is the privilege of being an emperor.

Although there are many giant pandas in the Bashu area, they are not easy to catch. After all, pandas are the second most ferocious beasts after tigers and lions.

It is easy to kill, but it is really difficult to capture one alive.

This panda was captured by local people because its claws were injured, and then it was presented as a rare and exotic animal to local officials.

As everyone was watching the panda, Jia Xu suddenly tugged at Liu Xie's sleeve and whispered, "Your Majesty."

Liu Xie turned around and saw Jia Xu looking towards the entrance of the Imperial Garden, so he followed his gaze.

I saw Guo Jia coming over without knowing when.

Liu Xie handed Liu Ying in his arms to Lu Lingqi, stood up and walked over, and Jia Xu followed closely behind him.

"What's the matter?"

Liu Xie came up to Guo Jia and asked directly.

Guo Jia reported solemnly: "Your Majesty, I have received news that the great scholar Zheng Xuan will arrive in Chang'an soon."

Hearing this, Liu Xie's eyes suddenly became stern.

Zheng Xuan, of course he knew this name.

He was a great scholar of the time and a leader in the literary world. His prestige among the literati was unmatched. When he had just escaped from Yuan Shao's control, he sent someone to invite him, but the other party did not give him face and rejected the invitation.

But why did Zheng Xuan suddenly come out now?

(End of this chapter)