The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 58: Deeply Frightening
On the fifth day of the fifth month of the first year of Jingfu, the morning light was dim.

The sage and Zhuxie Wusi rode in the same carriage from Penglai Palace to Linde Palace.

In the palace gardens, waiters, cooks, and servants were coming and going, carrying all kinds of wine, meat, food, and tableware. In the Linde Hall, female officials were setting up the futons, tables, and bowls and chopsticks.

At the foot of the hundred-step high staircase, the soldiers of the Yingwu Army occupied one-third of the entire square.

A dense crowd of warriors in official uniforms lined up and, under the guidance of the usher, filed up the stairs and entered the Linde Hall. They were in a very happy mood, talking and laughing, but when they saw the protocol officer, they tried to be serious.

Without it.

Because today the Saint will host a banquet here for the Concubine Xian's guards, as well as the Yingwu, Longjie, and guards of the imperial guards, Yicongdu, and Congzhi armies, to celebrate. It's their first time to have a banquet in the palace, so how can they not be happy?

Especially the Hedong soldiers, when will they be able to attend the banquet with the emperor, concubines, and all the civil and military officials of the court!
Very good, the princess married the right person.

Da da da.

The emperor's carriage came, and the sage and Zhuxie Wusi stood on the carriage side by side.

"Long live, long live, long live..." No one knew who took the lead, but the officers shouted at the figure.

"This is the Linde Hall."

The sage pointed to the majestic palace complex with a grand design and complex structure and introduced it, "It was built during the Linde period of Emperor Gaozong. During the Guangqi period, the rebel army entered the city and burned down a part of it. It was only after repeated repairs over the past seven or eight years that it was barely filled. It was the state banquet hall of the court. An Lushan was beheaded and Emperor Daizong held a banquet for nearly 4000 soldiers here. There is also room for 3000 seats under the corridor."

It is truly the largest hall of the Tang Palace and can easily accommodate tens of thousands of people if they squeeze in.

"Broad, big, and powerful." Zhu Xiewusi smiled and exclaimed.

She has lived in four places: her hometown in Yinshan Shenwuchuan, Chi Lechuan, and Jincheng Town where the Crow King grazed sheep when he was a child, haha. Then there is the grassland east of Dongshoujiang City, where she was implicated by her thief father - Li Keyong rebelled in the Qianfu year and was defeated by the court, so he took his family to exile in Tatar for refuge.

The last one is Taiyuan.

After the bandits withdrew from Chang'an, Li Keyong was appointed governor of Hedong and brought his family to Taiyuan.

This time, Zhu Xiewu wanted to marry a saint from afar, so she traveled thousands of miles and saw the scenery of Jin, Jiang, Tongzhou and the surging Yellow River. She also visited Mount Hua, Mount Li, and the site of the Hongmen Banquet in Xinfeng. She walked to the outskirts of Chang'an, stood on the Ba Bridge, and felt the Ba Bridge Willow Cutting that was often mentioned in poetry.

Today I arrived at the most magnificent hall in the imperial palace again, and I felt a strong sense of freshness in my heart.

After looking at it for a long time, she sighed and said, "It's a pity that it was burned by thieves."

Haha, the saint just smiles and says nothing.

It seems that the father-in-law did not tell his children about his dark history, which led to him being despised as a thief by his beloved daughter who did not know the truth. It was the father-in-law who took the lead in making a fortune in the palace after Chang'an was recaptured. The three towns' rebellious troops invaded the city and looted the palace, which was also the "contribution" of the father-in-law.

The late emperor hated him so much that he would curse the one-eyed dragon at every turn.

"Your Majesty, Madam." As they climbed the stairs, officials, generals, and soldiers took off their hats and bowed to them.

Zhu Xiewusi had seen such scenes thousands of times in the palace, so it was a piece of cake - the royal army was chasing her madly, she was ambushed while living in Tatar, and tens of thousands of soldiers under the city of Taiyuan raised their arms and shouted. She had experienced many ups and downs in the past seventeen years.

She raised her hand, looked around slowly, and said with a smile: "No need to be polite, I will need your help in the future. Let's work together to revive our country and share the glory and wealth."

All the officials looked at each other in bewilderment. With me? Which family...

This Shatuo woman has only been in the palace for the second day, and she already considers herself the mistress? Did that thief Li Keyong secretly teach her? Look at her calm and strong expression. If she gives birth to a son, she will probably even try to get her hands on the throne of the queen.

Li Cunzhen, Helian Weihuan, Tuoba Weicai, Kang Lingzhong and others exchanged glances and were very proud.

The court officials were so reserved when they saw the king's daughter. If the king himself came, wouldn't they be so scared that they would flee overnight?
Haha.

Entering the Linde Hall, the officials and warriors who were kneeling on the cushions guided by the protocol officers straightened their backs and looked at the saint walking in the middle of the hall.

"Begin the banquet." After the two first-rank concubines, Concubine He and Concubine Zhuxie, sat down on the throne, the emperor looked down at the more than a thousand people who were sitting in their seats in an orderly manner, and gave orders to the censor.

Unlike in movies and TV dramas, large banquets, like court meetings, have dedicated people to maintain order, and the emperor will not interfere.

"Sit down." The guest of honor today was Zhao Guangfeng, a doctor in the Ministry of Shrines. He pressed down his tablet, motioning everyone to take their seats again, and then announced: "During the banquet in the Linde Hall, the ministers are not allowed to make memorials, make noises, drink excessively, run, look directly at the sage, or enter within a hundred steps."

Xiao Wang relaxed and sat down. This kind of situation made him a little nervous.

The saint sat on the high dragon throne, drew down the pearl curtain, and looked at everyone in the hall. His temperament was completely different from usual.

Makes people... afraid?
At this time, the sandalwood clappers sounded and the performance began.

The musicians of the Taichang Temple took their positions and played their instruments. More than a hundred young women came out from behind the screens on the left and right, and performed three Thousand-armed Guanyins. Their sleeves fluttered as they moved, drawing cheers.

As the symphony of stringed instruments and pipa played, many perverts, like foxes whose tails were stepped on, looked at the dancers and musicians with aggressive eyes, as if they were mad and about to spit fire.

After the singing and dancing, more than a hundred warriors came on stage holding their belts and performed wrestling. The bravest soldiers were selected from the Yingwu, Longjie, Imperial Guards, Yicongdu, and Congzhi armies.

Seeing this, Zhu Xiewusi beckoned Helian Weihuan over and whispered a few words to him, asking him to call the main officers over. After that, he looked at Concubine Shu apologetically and said, "I will go to the back hall with the Saint and sit for a while."

"It's okay." Concubine Shu drank a glass of wine, her face flushed. "Sanniang, I'll be back soon." Li Ye saw that He was not in a good mood, sourly, and took her hand and coaxed her softly: "I have my reasons. After this busy period is over and our family is safe, I will spend more time with you and your son in the future."

After saying that, he held her hand and kissed it gently.

He looked at the saint, tears welling up in her eyes. She didn't know why, but she was really afraid that the saint would abandon her and leave her, an orphan and a widow, to spend the rest of her life in the cold room of the Ye Ting Bureau: "Don't forget the oath you made in Zizhou, at the childhood feast, talking and laughing happily..."

"The Qi River has no banks, and the marshes have no boundaries." The sage patted the back of her hand.

……

The lighting in the back hall was very poor and no lights were turned on. After the saint sat down on the cushion, Zhu Xiewusi knelt side by side with him.

After a while, Helian Weihuan, who had a big black mole on the corner of his mouth, walked in, followed by more than 30 civil and military officers: "Madam, we are here."

The ten generals of the Black Crow Army, Kang Lingzhong, the commander of the Hengchong Army, Tuoba Weicai, the military officer of the Prince's Palace, Yelu Chongde, the clerk Li Xiji, the Ya general Xiao, the Yi'er generals Fu Cunshen, Andingzong, Zhazhu and others, all strong and sturdy men, stood in front of the saint and his wife.

The saint seemed to have guessed what Zhu Xiewusi was going to do.

Zhu Xiewusi didn't want to be so abrupt, but his father repeatedly told him that Qin and Jin were thousands of miles apart, so he must let the saint keep these people.

Looking at the officers and soldiers who were respectful in front of him, Zhu Xiewu thought: "Saint, my eleventh brother will only take 400 cavalrymen back to Taiyuan. They and the remaining warriors will not leave for the time being. I hope Saint will let them stay with me as guards."

"Yes." The saint nodded decisively.

But can the imperial court really control these warriors? If they go crazy, they might be even more terrifying than the little king.

"Now that I stand with the Saint, you are also the ministers of the Son of Heaven." Zhu Xiewusi looked at the Saint beside him, and finally his gaze fell on Helian Weihuan and others. He carefully chose his words and said, "The Saint saw that you came from afar, so he specially held a banquet to welcome you. Now, you go and kneel down to him with the etiquette of the monarch and his subjects, just like you usually do to your father."

"Yes."

Then they knelt together, and under the leadership of Helian Weihuan and Kang Lingzhong, they kowtowed to the sage, calling out, "Your Majesty!"

The saint silently raised his right hand and said, "Everyone, stand up."

After saying "Thank you, Your Majesty", Helian Weihuan and others stood up one after another. Zhu Xiewusi winked at them, and then they came to the sage one by one, knelt on one knee, held Li Ye's feet to salute, danced the Huxuan dance to congratulate, and introduced themselves.

"Your servant Helian Weihuan is the mixed-race Hu people of Tuyuhun who are scattered in Weizhou."

"Your servant Kang Lingzhong is from Loufanling."

"I, Li Cunshen, was a former lieutenant of the Heyang Army. My original surname was Fu and I am from Chenzhou."

"The minister, Tuoba Kuicai, was sent to the city of Yamato and Sichuan people."

"I am Zhazhu, Li Zhenwu's horse-raising slave. I was selected by the Minister of Rites to be a general because of my good riding and archery skills."

"..."

Stab a pig... The people under my father-in-law are really a mixed bag. The saint also knows a Hu man named "Xiao" who is from an unknown tribe.

Alas, I don't know whether it is a blessing or a curse to leave these people in the capital. When Li Ye looked at them, they were also subconsciously observing the saint. Only a few people were honest, such as the handsome man named Li Cunshen, who stood there with his head down and motionless.

Seems to be in a bad mood.

After the event, Zhu Xiewusi waved his hand and said, "Go out and continue your feast. Don't drink too much and embarrass yourself. Do you hear me, pig? Especially you."

"Yes." Everyone dispersed.

I thought of the many palace secrets I learned in the Jinzouyuan, of Li Lang's gentle caress in the bed last night, of the stinging pain and the drops of blood, and of the words "Colorful clouds from the Three Jins descend on Chang'an, and Li Lang misses Zhu Xieyan so much."

Zhu Xiewusi held the saint's face in his hands and looked at the saint who was under internal and external constraints: "If a country has no external troubles, it must have internal troubles. External troubles are nothing more than border issues, which can still be prevented. If they are internal troubles, they are deeply frightening."

Their eyes met closely, feeling the heat from each other's bodies, the saint's ears turned red.

That's it.

There is no one here, so let her do it.

To please this daughter-in-law is the politics of the moment.

When the time is right, he will take advantage of the east wind to destroy the evil bandits Qi and Bin at his doorstep.

How can I allow people like Maozhen and Xingyu to sleep soundly beside my bed!
　In ancient times, there was a man named Liu Yuchong. He accidentally got a military book and read it for a year. He claimed that he could lead an army of 100,000. At that time, some people gathered to rebel, so Liu Yuchong trained a team of local soldiers to suppress it. As a result, the whole team was defeated and he himself was almost captured. Later, he got a water book and read it for a year. He also claimed that he could turn thousands of miles of wilderness into fertile fields. So Liu Yuchong took the map to lobby the state magistrate. The state magistrate asked him to experiment in a village. As a result, just as the ditch was dug, it rained heavily and the flood poured into the village along the ditch. Almost all the people in the village were drowned.

　　From then on, Liu Yuchong became depressed and unhappy. He would stroll alone in the courtyard every day, shaking his head and muttering to himself as he walked, "How could the ancients deceive me!" He muttered these six words to himself thousands of times every day.

　　Soon, Liu Yuchong died of depression. Later, on every night when the wind was clear and the moon was bright, people would often see his ghost walking under the pine and cypress trees in front of his tomb, shaking his head. If you listen carefully, you will still hear these six words. Sometimes when someone laughs at him, the ghost will suddenly disappear.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)