Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 528 Keeping an Appointment
"Li Yuan is a bad man, but he is definitely not a bad leader."

Xia Lin was sitting on the top of the wall, and below him was Old Zhang who was carving stones. The two were chatting about Li Yuan. It all started because Old Zhang asked Xia Lin why Li Yuan rashly proclaimed himself emperor without any of his men betraying him. Wasn't the righteousness he always talked about just a joke?
"Even from their perspective, Li Yuan might not even be a bad guy. We all hated the powerful back then. Do you still hate them now?"

"It's okay. I don't hate you as much as before." Old Zhang raised his head: "So it's because I've become a rich and powerful person, right?"

"Yes, you opposed it when it didn't exist, but when you have it, you naturally support it. The people under Li Yuan followed Li Yuan as his loyal ministers, but now that they are here, even if we don't hold them accountable, they are just guilty ministers. What would you choose?"

Old Zhang pursed his lips and nodded: "That makes sense."

"Then why do you always hate the rich and powerful? You've been tormenting them a lot."

Upon hearing this, Xia Lin just looked up at the sky, and after a moment of silence, he said, "Of course, because I have seen the sun. And you are frogs in the well."

"Oh, your mother..."

"I think I heard something about someone's mother." Wu Ning came over and glanced at Xia Lin on the wall: "Today is a holiday, stay and have dinner with us."

"Wait for the second half. I'm going to eat at the palace during the first half."

Old Zhang now asked curiously, "Are the dishes in the palace delicious?"

Hearing this, Xia Lin showed a sad look on his face: "The palace family banquet, one hundred and thirty-seven dishes, started to be prepared at three o'clock in the morning, and then kept warm in the steamer from morning to night. All the dishes are soggy. How delicious do you think it can be?"

"Then come over after breakfast. I have called two chefs to cook for us. There are eight dishes. Each of us will get a big meatball weighing one pound."

"are you crazy?"

"What a young man cannot have will haunt him for the rest of his life." Old Zhang raised his head with a sad face: "Even though I know I can't finish it, I still want it. Appetite is one of human desires. Just like you can't finish having sex with your seven fairies in one night, but you still want them."

"Zhang Zhongchun, you have a foul mouth. Damn it!" Xia Lin jumped off the wall, and a voice came from behind the wall: "I'll come over later and make the meatballs more flavorful for me."

After returning to his residence and changing into appropriate formal wear, Xia Lin was about to follow his father-in-law to attend a banquet in the palace.

In fact, he was expecting someone here to jump out and act out a plot from a skit, pointing at him, Xia Daosheng, and saying, "How dare you, a bastard, come to the palace?" and "Why don't you stand up quickly and give your seat to the **prince**princess."

But life is full of disappointments. After he arrived at the palace, he was seated on the left hand side of Emperor Jingtai. What kind of position was this? That should have been the position of the queen. What was Tuoba Jing doing?

No, what about the Imperial Household? What about the Zongzheng Temple? What about the Ministry of Rites?

Xia Lin sat down, feeling uncomfortable all over. Apart from him, the others at the table were all concubines from the harem, looking at him with laughter. Normally, he didn't know what embarrassment was, but today he felt extremely embarrassed.

Next to the empty seat was Yang Guifei, the daughter of Yang Jian, the grandson of Yang Jian, the Duke of Sui from the Hongnong Yang family. She was seventeen years old this year, and had a pretty face. Although she was a concubine, she was lively and active by nature. She was happiest when she saw Xia Lin: "Master Xia, can you write a poem for me later? They all have... I came late, and Master Xia has never written a poem for me. You know, if any of the sisters doesn't have a poem from Master Xia, they can't hold their heads up high."

Xia Lin laughed dryly twice: "No problem..."

At this moment, Emperor Jingtai came over. He looked unhappy and gloomy. He came over without any etiquette and sat down next to Xia Lin.

"What? You killed the queen?"

Xia Lin thought that the Queen's affair had been exposed, and Emperor Jingtai had dealt with her. Emperor Jingtai glanced at Xia Lin, his eyes filled with anger: "That bitch has been married to me for more than ten years, and she has never smiled at me. Today is the first palace family banquet since I ascended the throne, and she is still so rude. I simply told her not to come. It's not good to leave this position vacant, so I put you here. It just so happens that I have something to say to you."

"Your mother..."

"Ok?"

"No, have you been infected with some kind of plague? I was sitting next to you at the family dinner, and you let the news spread outside. Am I still a human being? Tuoba Jing, if you like me, just tell me directly and I will run away. Don't play dirty tricks on me."

"How dare you call me by my name?"

"You... you've already been placed in the position of queen. This is your first family dinner this year. You can decide whether I beat you or not."

Xia Lin stood up and was about to leave, but Emperor Jingtai pulled his belt and said, "Sit down!"

Now everyone was watching, Xia Lin couldn't get too excited, so he could only sit down. At this moment, Emperor Jingtai stood up and began to congratulate the new year. After Long Chang finished speaking, everyone raised their glasses to congratulate. After Emperor Jingtai sat down, he turned his head and said to Xia Lin, "Help me check on that bitch."

"Which bitch?"

"Don't play dumb." Emperor Jingtai's eyes were fierce. "You told me before that there is no one in the world who doesn't like to laugh. If there is, it's her who doesn't like to laugh at me. You said that, didn't you?"

"It's been so many years, do you still remember it?"

"I remember every word you said, Xia Daosheng."

Xia Lin shuddered: "You are so disgusting."

"Go check it out!"

Xia Lin propped up his face with one hand and tilted his head to look at Emperor Jingtai: "You and her are ruthless and loveless, it's just a marriage. You have a concubine and a concubine, so it's not surprising that she has someone outside, right?"

Emperor Jingtai looked around, reached under the table and twisted Xia Lin's thigh. "Fuck, fuck, fuck..."

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Emperor Jingtai lowered his voice and said, "If I were not the emperor, I wouldn't care even if she had hundreds of people, let alone someone else, but this is about the face of the royal family and my safety. That bitch is the queen! The queen!!!"

"What if it is found out? How do you plan to deal with it?"

"Be more careful." Emperor Jingtai leaned close to Xia Daosheng's ear and said, "You deal with those outside the palace, and I will deal with those inside the palace."

Xia Lin was also laughing in his heart at this moment. The Queen's acting skills were really bad. Although everyone knew that she had no feelings for His Majesty, she still had to act. Even Emperor Jingtai noticed that something was wrong. Wasn't it obvious that she was seeking her own death?

"Should this be made public?"

"Can such a thing be made public?" Emperor Jingtai slapped his face and said, "I am already over thirty years old. Do I want to keep my old face or not?"

"As ordered." Xia Lin pursed his lips and said impatiently, "But what if we find out that the other party is in a high position and has great power?"

Emperor Jingtai was stunned for a moment, and stared at Xia Lin's face carefully: "You? Tell me if you are a slut or not, I told you to give it to you but you didn't want it, so you came back to steal it?"

"Steal your mother..." Xia Lin cursed: "What are the looks of the women around me? What is the look of your queen?"

"She's OK. She's a little boring, but she's a beauty. Don't talk nonsense. After all, she was carefully selected by the late emperor."

Xia Lin propped up his head and continued, "It's not appropriate for you to give this matter to me. I am responsible for investigating who is plotting rebellion and usurping the throne. You want me to investigate who the queen is having an affair with. Is this appropriate? Leave it to Zhang Zhongchun."

"Oh, yes." Emperor Jingtai slapped his thigh and said, "Then leave it to him. Go and tell him."

After he finished speaking, he made way for a little bit and asked, "Is Concubine Yang pretty?"

Xia Daosheng took a look and nodded, "Not bad."

"give you."

"No!" Xia Lin stood up straight: "Are you incompetent? Why do you always want to send me a girl?"

"Bullshit, I am a strong and vigorous man, I just saw that you still have no offspring! You bastard took my kindness for granted."

"Yes, yes, yes. No, no." Xia Lin waved his hands and said, "If you don't have it, then you don't have it. It's all a matter of fate. You can't force it."

Emperor Jingtai was stubborn, so he sighed and said, "Since you don't know what's good for you, I won't force you. By the way, Li Yuan's envoy arrived at noon today."

"Just come if you want to. I have nothing to do with them."

"It doesn't matter?" Emperor Jingtai laughed: "They submitted a letter of credence. They want to negotiate."

"Negotiation? What are they talking about? They are just trying to make money."

Emperor Jingtai looked around and said, "They want you to negotiate, and they specifically want you."

"No." Xia Lin immediately shook his head: "If I go, I won't be able to come back."

"I know, so I sent the messenger away. It's ridiculous for a traitor to expect to negotiate with me."

"Well, I definitely can't go."

But at this moment, the eunuch beside Emperor Jingtai came over quickly and whispered something in his ear. Emperor Jingtai was immediately surprised: "Is there such a thing? Please go down."

"What's wrong?"

"My spies heard what the messengers said. They said that Princess Pingyang's son was seriously ill. Li Yuan knew that you had a famous doctor with you, so he planned to use this trick to lure you over. I also find it funny that a descendant of the Dugu family wants my most trusted minister to take risks, and he, Li Yuan, has the nerve to ask that."

"I'll go." Xia Lin lowered his eyes: "I'll go."

"I haven't finished speaking yet."

"Whether you finish talking or not, I have to go." Xia Lin frowned and said, "Pingyang and I are close friends, and Duguhan and I are brothers. If I don't go, won't I be labeled as unkind and unjust? The so-called benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness, without benevolence there is none, Your Majesty."

"But...you still want to come back after you leave?"

"I can come back even if I go to the grassland." Xia Lin narrowed his eyes and said, "I will leave early tomorrow morning. By the way, that famous doctor is the granddaughter of the former Minister Feng. You can think of a way for me. I want to see her early tomorrow morning."

Emperor Jingtai was silent for a long time: "You are not really with Princess Pingyang... that child is not yours, right?"

"You are the ruler of a country, how can you say such nonsense?" Xia Lin rolled his eyes at him and said, "Don't worry, I said I can come back, and I will definitely come back!"

(End of this chapter)