Chapter 107 Chapter 107 Trying your best, desperately, with bloodshot eyes...
Nan Qiongshuang looked at Emperor Jiaqing's concerned expression and was stunned for a moment.
If you don't take the step that is offered to you, you will miss it.
She lowered her eyelashes in sorrow, her round fan half covering her lips. "It's just a small matter. How can I make the Emperor worry about Deyin?"
Emperor Jiaqing said, "How can this be allowed?" He pointed to Gu Huaijin at the bottom of the stairs and said, "I'll ask Mr. Gu to take your pulse some other day."
She felt like a nerve was throbbing in her head. She wanted to smile but couldn't. She said dryly, "Yes."
Emperor Jiaqing took her hand, placed it on his leg, and clapped it in his palm.
Nan Qiongshuang sat in the rose chair, her hand held by Emperor Jiaqing and she couldn't take it back. She didn't dare to look down.
She was being affectionate with Emperor Jiaqing in front of him.
Gu Huaijin's face was as calm as water, and her beautiful lips beneath the black silk were gently curled up.
He said, "Gu obeys your order."
She lowered her eyes, her long eyelashes fluttering like a bird about to fall into a cat's mouth.
Although he remained calm, although he said nothing, although he even smiled.
But she always felt that something was wrong.
She tilted her head and called out softly, almost pleadingly, "Your Majesty—"
"emperor."
Chang Da sat at the lower seat on the steps, next to Gu Huaijin. He raised his glass and bowed to Emperor Jiaqing:
"I have a request, Your Majesty, and I wonder if you would grant it."
There were still some guests left in the hall, and seeing that there hadn't been a major argument over Gu Huaijin's dream, they all breathed a sigh of relief. However, after calmly taking a couple of bites of food, he listened with trepidation upon hearing this.
"General Chang, just speak frankly."
"Outside Shanhaiguan, the Xiongnu are watching covetously. My 140,000-man army is stationed outside Shanhaiguan, guarding it day and night, not daring to relax even a little. The Xiongnu are treacherous and fickle, reckless and bloodthirsty, and a capricious nation. If we do not use the princes to suppress them, I fear their power will destabilize."
Chang Da was neither panicked nor afraid. His wolf-like eyes stared straight at the Emperor Jiaqing, who was sitting on the high throne in bright yellow clothes, and he spoke each word with great vigor:
"If I could be granted the title of king by the Emperor, the Xiongnu would surely be humiliated, the sixteen Xiongnu tribes could be eliminated, the lost land outside Shanhaiguan could be recovered, the pastures could be turned into fertile fields, the people could live and work in peace, and the whole world would be blessed."
As soon as these words were spoken, the remaining guests in Jinshen Hall had no time to drink or eat. They all felt the urge to go to the bathroom and ran out on tiptoe without looking back.
Suddenly, only one third of the guests in Jinshen Hall remained.
In the dark, the musicians did not dare to leave their posts without permission. The sounds of stringed instruments and pipes continued. The hall felt much emptier, and the sound of the wind outside became increasingly deafening, accompanied by the long and lingering string music, creating a strange and beautiful atmosphere.
Nan Qiongshuang took a deep breath and looked at Emperor Jiaqing's expression.
Since the fall of the Wei Dynasty due to the Rebellion of the Princes four hundred years ago, there have been very few precedents of enthroning princes of different surnames. During the Qi and Song dynasties, only members of the royal family could be enthroned as princes.
It’s not enough for Chang Da, a general, to lead an army of 140,000, but he also wants a title for himself and the word “king”?
She turned her head to look at Li Xuanbai beside Emperor Jiaqing.
He wanted the title of a vassal king, the salary of a vassal king, and the fiefdom of a vassal king, just to compete with the regent Li Xuanbai in every way.
But how could Li Xuanbai agree?
Li Xuanbai leaned lazily in the chair, his elbows resting on the armrests, his cheek propped up out of boredom, not even bothering to lift his eyelids.
He looks like a reckless young man.
"I don't know what the emperor means." Chang Da said in a polite tone.
Emperor Jiaqing looked at the leftovers in front of him, was silent for just a moment, looked at Gu Huaijin, and said with a forced smile:
"I don't know, Mr. Gu..."
Gu Huaijin remained calm and took a sip from the wine cup.
"The Regent is here to make the decision. There is no need for me to say anything more."
Nan Qiongshuang was waving a round fan. Although she looked calm, she was also uneasy and looked at Li Xuanbai.
If Li Xuanbai doesn't allow, what does Chang Da intend to do today?
Li Xuanbai sat crookedly in the high seat. Without even a glance, he knew that the blind man surnamed Gu and the incompetent madman were concentrating and waiting for his refusal.
Use it as a knife to deal with whoever you want to deal with.
That day, he was trapped in the Forbidden City and knelt down to receive the imperial edict appointing him as the Regent. He should have expected what would happen today.
Unfortunately, there were two tigers in one mountain, and he was the more ferocious one, already holding great power. He didn't want to confront Chang Da's army of more than 100,000 people head-on, and just wanted to deal with him quietly.
If he didn't agree today, would Chang Da's army have already been prepared, waiting to take advantage of today's incident to storm into the Forbidden City?
Li Xuanbai remained silent.
Everything was so quiet. Outside, the wind had picked up at some point, rustling the tall trees outside the hall. Timid guests fled in panic, leaving the Jinshen Hall's doors barely closed as leaves swirled in from outside, swirling across the square floor tiles.
Wang Maoxing had not left. Seeing this, he hunched his frail old bones, tremblingly stood up and stepped forward, clasping his sleeves in salute.
Before he could speak, Li Xuanbai adjusted the small earrings under his ears, picked up a crystal elbow and put it in his mouth, then leaned back in his chair lazily.
"It's easy." He smiled. "It's not easy to be conferred a title of nobility. Our emperor is sympathetic to talents and has elegant tastes. In our Qi and Song dynasties, officials don't even need to go through the imperial examinations."
He glanced at the Jiaqing Emperor's suddenly uncertain expression and spread his hands:
"A while ago, I heard that the good-for-nothing son of the Duke of Qi, thanks to his skill at playing Chupu, beat the Emperor and was given a lucrative official position. Today, he's only a prince. What did General Chang say to me? With all his military achievements, he should have been made a prince, given fiefdoms, and a higher rank. If there's anything missing, it's only a victory over the Emperor at Chupu."
He turned his head and smiled at Emperor Jiaqing, "Your Majesty, when will you play a game with me?"
Nan Qiongshuang immediately knew what he was planning.
No matter how presumptuous he was on ordinary days, when he met Emperor Jiaqing, he would occasionally greet and pay his respects, and he had never been so arrogant.
Today, they want to fight poison with poison, using Emperor Jiaqing's madness to muddy the waters and bring this matter to an end.
But the problem is that when Emperor Jiaqing goes mad, he doesn't recognize his relatives.
She hurried to shake the Jiaqing Emperor's hand: "Your Majesty——"
Before she could finish her words, Emperor Jiaqing threw the wine cup in his hand onto the small table in front of him with such force that the table broke into two pieces. She felt the wood fragments crashing onto her face.
"You bastard!" Emperor Jiaqing jumped to his feet. "So what if I just like playing Chupu? The whole world is yours! I'm handing it over to you! Are you refusing to leave me even a mere gambling house or a chessboard?"
The guests who were still at the banquet were all loyal people. Seeing this, they all left their seats and knelt in the center of the hall, "Your Majesty, please calm down. Your Majesty, please calm down—"
Emperor Jiaqing was sitting comfortably on the throne, but half a year ago, he was suddenly dragged down from the dragon chair. Not only could he not eat his flesh alive, but he was also forced to hand over power and bow his head and smile apologetically to the rebels. How tormented he must have been.
Now, he has the title of emperor and just wants a little face from the emperor.
But, today, at the palace banquet, these people openly accused him of ruining the country due to gambling?!
He shook off Nan Qiongshuang's hand and overturned the small table in front of him. The utensils and cups on the table crashed to the ground, leaving a mess. He stepped on the broken porcelain and leftovers on the ground, pointing to the sky and shouting:
"It's a disgrace to the country! Who is it that's a disgrace to the country? I only gave away a small official, and you are unhappy because it's not you who was given the gift! I gave the national seal to the two of you, and you accepted it! You were happy! I am the one who has disgraced the country, who stole it——"
The words "stealing the country" must never come out of Emperor Jiaqing's mouth. If he said it, the matter would be settled.
Nan Qiongshuang ignored the fact that she had just been pushed sideways by him, stood up and tried to pull the Jiaqing Emperor's arm. She quickly took out a scented fan from her sleeve and coaxed him in a soft voice, "Your Majesty, why are you so angry? Your Majesty, your headache is about to flare up again. Please don't scare me..."
Halfway through her words, two tears fell from her eyes. She pulled his sleeve, her eyes full of water, and fanned herself with the fan in her hand - the ribs of the fan were made of the raw material of the aphrodisiac incense, the wood of Fu Luo. The fragrant wind blew away, and even a cow would fall down.
The Jiaqing Emperor blinked dazedly, but then tried hard to keep his eyelids open again. "You people! Sooner or later, I will want one! One! After another—"
Nan Qiong Shuang tried to cover his voice: "Your Majesty!"
Emperor Jiaqing's eyes were full of bloodshot: "Deyin, let go!"
She refused to let go, holding his hand, rubbing it soothingly in her sleeve, calling out repeatedly, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty——"
"Let go!" Emperor Jiaqing jumped up suddenly and threw her to the ground, almost knocking her to the ground. With a swish, he drew his sword from its sheath. The pale blade shone brightly and split the small table in front of Li Xuanbai into two halves.
Li Xuanbai shrank his feet and glanced at Gu Huaijin with disgust and impatience, wanting him to control this madman. But when he saw him, he remembered that he was blindfolded, and he became even more angry. He raised his voice:
"Gu!"
The ministers kneeling on the ground in the hall woke up as if from a dream, and remembered that if there was one person present who was feared and respected by the Mad Emperor, and trusted and respected by the Mad Emperor, and who could suppress the emperor's fit without bloodshed, then - it was only that person.
Everyone looked at the blindfolded man sitting at the head of the stairs.
The blindfolded man did not move at all, did not say a word, and looked quietly at the person on the steps.
Nan Qiongshuang didn't know why the hall suddenly became so quiet. It was so quiet that the only sound was the frantic voice of Emperor Jiaqing.
But she didn't care. She picked up the three silver needles in her sleeve and cursed in her heart. If they were alone in the Zichen Palace, she would have plenty of ways to do it, but she had to do it at the palace banquet!
Suddenly, she felt a crackling shudder all over her body, as if someone was staring at her from the stairs.
Staring hard, desperately, with bloodshot eyes.
She came back to her senses and looked.
The man who was being eagerly stared at by all the important officials in the hall looked back at her, but it was unclear who he was looking at on the steps, as his expression remained unchanged.
However, he was shaking uncontrollably, his lips were trembling, and his face was as pale as a ghost who had died tragically in the water.
She suddenly felt something was wrong.
The next second, Gu Huaijin opened his mouth, and bright red blood rushed out from between his lips, leaving two straight blood marks from the corners of his lips to his chin.
The minister in the palace exclaimed: "The technique is backfiring! Sir's technique is backfiring!"
In an instant, the blood he vomited covered his entire chin, and with a "puff" sound, it sprayed on the ground, splashing out a large, hideous flower.
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