Chapter 230: Palace Banquet
The imperial palace.
Emperor Qinglong sat on the dragon throne with a smile on his face, his eyes sweeping over Su Tan and Lu Zhiheng, father and daughter, and Song Tingchen, father and son, below.
"Today, let's just treat it as a family dinner. You guys don't have to be restrained."
He had a gentle smile and looked very humble, as if he was truly a good monarch and emperor who was approachable and courteous to others.
"It has been raining for the past few days. They say spring rain is as precious as oil. I saw that the peach tree in the Imperial Garden that had cried to death before actually bloomed yesterday. I thought something good must be happening."
"Sure enough, you guys came back with good news."
He said this as if he had only known yesterday that Su Tan, Lu Zhiheng and others would arrive in the capital yesterday.
"You have all worked hard on this trip to Yingzhou. I will certainly reward you well."
Lu Zhiheng put on a forced smile and raised his wine glass respectfully, but he secretly rolled his eyes in his heart. This time in Yingzhou, the one who worked the hardest was Su Tan, followed by him. As for Song Tingchen, he really couldn't imagine where the other party had worked so hard.
It's really unlucky that Su Tan and I have to be praised together with Song Tingchen.
Inwardly, he was about to roll his eyes to the sky, but Lu Zhiheng said, "Your Majesty, you are too kind. I am just doing my duty. Every day, I try to find ways to raise money. I run around everywhere just to get an extra ounce of silver. This is what I should do."
"Sui Sui was still young, but under Master Su's instruction, he always remembered the principle of putting the people first. Every day, he followed Master Su and used his profound skills to save people."
"But she is just a child after all, so she is not as hardworking as Master Su. The huge sum of money in the end was also earned by Master Su with great effort."
“As for…”
When Lu Zhiheng said this, his voice suddenly paused. His eyes fell on Song Tingchen and he slowly curled the corners of his lips.
"As for General Song, he also worked very hard to maintain law and order. Thanks to him, no disaster victims started fighting just to get an extra steamed bun."
When Su Tan heard this, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and smile without hiding anything.
But Lu Zhiheng didn't even bother pretending. He looked at her with a smile and asked with a half-raised brow, "I haven't seen Miss Su smile like this in a long time. What makes you so happy? Why don't you tell me?"
Su Tan curved his lips and said sarcastically, "Nothing special, I just thought of something happy."
Lu Zhiheng nodded.
"It is truly gratifying that the Yingzhou snowstorm issue has been resolved successfully."
"Aren't you right, General Song?"
At the end of his speech, Lu Zhiheng glanced at Song Tingchen with a forced smile, and at an angle where Emperor Qinglong couldn't see, he rolled his eyes at him without any hesitation.
unlucky!
What bad luck!
For no reason, I was involved with such a person!
Not only did he feel unlucky, Song Tingchen also frowned instantly.
He also didn't want to be associated with Lu Zhiheng, a dandy young man who was only interested in fame and reputation.
He stabbed back lightly.
"Your Highness Prince Chen has indeed worked hard, going in and out with Master Su every day. The victims are truly grateful to you two."
"I was just doing my duty. Compared to you two, it's really insignificant."
Song Tingchen said this to remind Emperor Qinglong lightly that Su Tan and Lu Zhiheng were very close at the moment.
Everyone knows Su Tan's background.
If a master of divination and fortune-telling were to be recruited by Prince Lu Zhiheng at this time, it would be hard to say how securely Emperor Qinglong could sit on the throne.
Sure enough, the moment Song Tingchen said this, Emperor Qinglong's expression changed slightly.
His eyes slowly moved between Su Tan and Lu Zhiheng.
You know, Su Tan is different from ordinary women.
She has an obnoxious mystical skill.
If this skill belonged to a man, Emperor Qinglong would definitely find a way to recruit him and use him for his own purposes, or at least make him a loyal minister.
But it happened to fall on Su Tan, a rebellious and unruly woman.
Su Tan is a wild and unruly person. If anyone makes her unhappy, even if the other person is a noble, she will kill him or her immediately.
Such a woman is not gentle or docile at all, but full of thorns. If one day I, the emperor, make her unhappy, she might stab me with a knife.
Right now, she happened to be very close to Lu Zhiheng, and even taught Lu Zhiheng's daughter the mysterious arts.
In time...
Emperor Qinglong shuddered.
She is so difficult to deal with now. If she really becomes powerful and becomes an accomplice of Lu Zhiheng in the future, will he be able to sit firmly on the throne?
Before today's palace banquet, Emperor Qinglong once asked Master Ye whether he was a match for Su Tan and whether he was sure he could make Su Tan lose his skills.
Master Ye’s answer was that he was not as good as Su Tan and could not compete with him.
Fortunately, Su Tan is a woman. As long as she is guided well, she will definitely not become a threat to Emperor Qinglong.
Emperor Qinglong half-closed his eyes.
guide?
Su Tan is a person who is neither sensible nor obedient, and it is not possible to guide him well.
The best way is to trap Su Tan in seclusion and let her be entangled in trivial matters such as taking care of her husband and children every day, so that she will not have the time to cause trouble for the court.
If Song Tingchen could take in one or two concubines later, he would be able to trap Su Tan even better.
This way, he wouldn't have to worry about it.
Emperor Qinglong raised his glass with a smile, looking at everyone with a gentle gaze. Suddenly, he said, "Prince Chen and General Song are both my right-hand men who can share my worries. Master Su, unfortunately, is a woman. Otherwise, I would definitely ask you to be my Imperial Preceptor."
At this moment, Su Tan still looked respectful to Emperor Qinglong.
Upon hearing this, he stood up and bowed to Emperor Qinglong.
She picked up the wine glass on the table and said with a smile, "Although I am a woman, my father taught me since I was a child that I share the same loyalty to the emperor and patriotism as him."
"As long as I can help your majesty, it will be my honor, regardless of whether I am a man or a woman."
It seems that he has no dissatisfaction with the monarch at all.
Still abide by your duties.
Emperor Qinglong felt slightly satisfied.
Fortunately, Su Tan is still sensible and polite.
He didn't say anything outrageous, and at the moment, he was respectful to him as a king.
However, Emperor Qinglong was still particularly dissatisfied with some of Su Tan's previous actions and his performance at the Yingzhou ceremony.
Once a person has a prejudice against another person, no matter what the other person does, he or she will think that the other person has ulterior motives.
This is what Emperor Qinglong did.
Even though Su Tan was clearly submissive at the moment, she was no different from those dutiful ladies from noble families that he saw every day.
He was still dissatisfied.
I still feel that even if Su Tan is doing his duty now, he might have rebellious intentions the next moment.
Everything has to be fine, so that Su Tan can return to the Song family and take care of her husband and children.
Liu Qingyin, who destroyed the Song family, killed Song Tingchen's biological parents and messed up the Song family, was really hateful, but her existence and the things she did also served as a warning to Emperor Qinglong.
If you lock up several women together and let them fight each other.
In the end, a winner will emerge from the battle and be rewarded.
Then, these women will fall into an endless cycle of fighting.
When women fight among themselves, they naturally pose no threat to men, and the men can then show their skills freely.
This is how Emperor Qinglong dealt with his harem.
The same is true for ordinary men managing their backyard.
When Emperor Qinglong thought of this, the smile on his face deepened.
His gaze slowly fell on Su Tan.
"Master Su, you are the beloved daughter of Duke Dingguo, and Duke Dingguo is a loyal minister to me. So, I have watched you grow up."
Su Tan lowered his eyes and remained silent, waiting for his next words.
Speaking of which, I have been traveling with my master since I was a child, and I haven't stayed in the Song family for a long time.
Emperor Qinglong's statement that he had watched her grow up was truly nonsense.
"If Duke Dingguo has anything he's worried about, I think the one he's most worried about is you."
Having said that, he actually sighed heavily.
It was as if he was just like an ordinary father and could empathize with Duke Dingguo.
Emperor Qinglong continued, "You were wronged in the past, and it was my fault. It was me who didn't have anyone thoroughly investigate Liu Qingyin's background and didn't know her character. That's why you and Song Qing were played around by that traitor."
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