Volume 1 Chapter 202: Disguised as a Horse Bandit
Shen Tianming was so frightened that he fell off his seat, then he quickly stood up and bowed, shouting, “Your Majesty!”
Xiang Yun smiled slightly, then called him, "You woke up in time. The imperial kitchen has just prepared everything."
Then he pointed to the dining table and said, "Here, hot duck blood soup, come and have some."
Shen Tianming hurried over, picked it up and started eating, not afraid of getting burned, his image was completely gone.
It was nothing, he was just very hungry. He didn't think too much when he saw the food, especially since it was His Majesty who asked him to eat it.
It was not until he swallowed three mouthfuls of duck blood soup that Shen Tianming realized that he was not at home. He quickly put down the bowl and said embarrassedly, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I am really hungry."
Xiang Yun smiled and said, "It's okay. There is no monarch or minister today. The two of us can just have a meal like brothers and friends. Please sit down."
Shen Tianming looked embarrassed, but he didn't dare to disobey Xiang Yun's words. He sat down on a chair beside him in a panic, but he only sat halfway and didn't dare to overstep the mark.
Afterwards Xiang Yun stopped talking and concentrated on eating. This meal was specially prepared for Shen Tianming, so it was very rich, with eight dishes and a soup, comparable to an ordinary banquet.
Xiang Yun ate in silence, so Shen Tianming naturally didn't say much. After Xiang Yun persuaded him a few more times, he hesitated for a while and then picked up the bowl and chopsticks and started eating.
He had not had a drop of water since yesterday afternoon, and was really starving. He couldn't help but eat voraciously. Xiang Yun even picked up some food for him several times and told him to eat well and eat enough.
Xiang Yun finished his lunch quickly. He didn't dare to eat too much as he had to save his stomach for the reunion dinner tonight, when he could have a big meal. As for these, they were for Shen Tianming.
This man had a good appetite. He ate most of the eight dishes and there was very little left. It seemed that he was really starving.
Just as Shen Tianming was wiping his mouth with a napkin, Xiang Yun smiled and asked, "I remember that your old mother was framed and killed by the county magistrate who was partial to his own interests and protected his own officials, right?"
Shen Tianming was stunned when he heard this, and quickly said: "Yes, Your Majesty, I am grateful that you still remember this matter. I am really..."
But Xiang Yun didn't wait for Shen Tianming to finish, and continued: "How come I have become the county magistrate who harms people now?"
"Ah?" Shen Tianming trembled, obviously confused. The next moment, as if he had understood something, he immediately stood up and knelt on the ground, trembling, "I dare not, your humble servant."
"Don't dare?" Xiang Yun sneered and said, "I think you dare very much. This is still under my nose. If I let you serve as an official far away from the capital, wouldn't it be worse than the county magistrate who killed your mother!"
Shen Tianming now knew in his heart that His Majesty was saying that he was afraid of General Wei's power and had made the wrong judgment in the case of Xue Manhan. At this moment, his heart was as dead as ashes, and he could not think of any words to defend himself after thinking about it over and over again.
His originally pale face actually turned red at this moment. He hesitated for a long time before he uttered these words: "I am guilty of my crime. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"
Xiang Yun looked at him with disappointment and said in a deep voice, "Your articles and experience really impressed me. I thought you were capable of taking on the responsibility and could take over Sun Shang's position in the future. But I didn't expect you to make such a choice. I am really disappointed."
"I am guilty and have failed your majesty's grace." Shen Tianming was so scared that he was incoherent.
Xiang Yun suddenly sighed and continued, "You have only been an official for a few years, and you have already forgotten the revenge for your mother's murder. How dark and terrible is the court that it can make a young man like you who should be full of sharpness learn to be smooth and tactful."
Shen Tianming was so scared that he dared not make a sound. He just lay on the ground and trembled. Xiang Yun continued: "You are more suitable to be an official than Sun Shang. If you were in the previous Great Sun Dynasty, you would definitely be very successful and rise to prominence. However, you are not suitable to be an official for me."
"But you and I are a monarch and a subject. I always think that the relationship between the two of us should have a good beginning and a good end. What do you think?"
As soon as these words came out, Shen Tianming's heart sank halfway. Xiang Yun's meaning was already very clear. He was not a fool, so he naturally couldn't let the emperor say such words.
Shen Tianming felt a pain in his heart. It was too late to regret now. He said helplessly and angrily: "After I return home, I will probably fall into a deep well. But my waiter and my first wife are innocent people. Please, Your Majesty, leave them a way to live."
Xiang Yun raised his eyebrows, then smiled and said, "Get up, the relationship between the king and his subjects is more than just this."
"Come, give me some wine!" Xiang Yun said softly, and Xiao Guazi walked to Shen Tianming with a small cup of fine wine. Xiang Yun smiled and said, "Drinking this farewell wine can be regarded as an explanation of the relationship between us, the monarch and his subjects."
Shen Tianming was stunned. He really didn't expect that he would end up like this. But in the current situation, Xiang Yun is the king and he is the minister. If the king wants the minister to die, the minister has to die!
Shen Tianming made up his mind, picked up the wine glass and took two deep breaths, then drank it all in one gulp, and finally sighed: "I will never be an official in my next life!"
Shen Tianming's brows were furrowed, but after a while, they relaxed instantly. He looked at the wine glass in astonishment, then looked at Xiang Yun, thinking to himself, "How come this is not poisoned wine?"
Xiang Yun laughed loudly, and then said calmly: "After all, you are a subject, how can I kill you? Don't jump into the well when you go back. Write a letter of resignation and never enter the official career again. Go back to your hometown to do business or farming, and live your life like this."
Shen Tianming wiped the sweat from his forehead when he heard this, as if relieved, and bowed again hurriedly: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace!"
Xiang Yun waved his hand and said, "Go ahead, leave tomorrow, don't delay!"
Upon hearing this, Shen Tianming quickly stood up and walked out. He bowed to Xiang Yun at the door of the imperial study, and finally left the palace without any hesitation.
At this moment, he was extremely confused and at a loss, and just wanted to return home as soon as possible to calm down.
In the imperial study, Xiang Yun looked at the duck blood soup still left on the table, narrowed his eyes, and said softly: "After we get away from the capital, we can pretend to be bandits and kill people on the road."
As soon as these words came out, an Anbu member lurking in the imperial study left quietly.
It’s not that Xiang Yun is cruel and ruthless and treats human life as worthless. It’s just that he has killed many officials like Shen Tianming.
He was afraid of power and abused it for personal gain. If he had not become an official, he could have saved his life. But if he had become an official under Xiang Yun, the moment he chose to save Xue Manhan's life, Xiang Yun would definitely not keep him any longer.
The governor of Shuntian Prefecture, Yi, is the father and mother official of the people in the capital. It is impossible for him to let such a person be the governor.
It’s just that Xiang Yun didn’t want to get rid of Shen Tianming so quickly. At least he had to wait until the news of Jiang Fei’s incident passed. But this guy was courting death and kept provoking his bottom line, so Xiang Yun had to take his life as soon as possible.
"Alas, there are fewer talented people without us noticing. It has been a while since the beginning of spring. It is time to hold the second imperial examination to select talents for the dynasty!" Xiang Yun muttered softly, then sat back on the dragon throne and began to deal with the remaining memorials.
He still had to be diligent and responsible in government affairs, especially with the several decrees that had been issued and implemented in the past few days. The people below were all unfamiliar with them, which led to indecision on many matters, big and small, and they all reported them to him, making the decisions for him as the emperor quite cumbersome when they accumulated.
In the meeting room of the Ministry of Rites, Princess Song Yun of the Black Witch Nation slammed the table and shouted angrily: "Impossible!
Eighteen cities, eighty million taels of silver, why doesn't your emperor go and rob them!"
Guo Ziyi also said angrily: "We in the Black Witch Kingdom still have millions of troops. If we are really pushed into a corner, you, the Great Sun Dynasty, will not have an easy time!"
Song Yun said angrily: "We came here with sincerity, is this the attitude of the Great Sun Dynasty?"
Liu Xingjian's face flushed, and he was obviously a little embarrassed.
But the emperor had already issued a death order, so he had no choice but to pretend to be firm and bowed in the direction of the palace, then said in a deep voice: "I have conveyed the emperor's meaning, and General Jiang Fei has also rushed to the southern border of our dynasty!
Whether you are willing to accept these conditions or not depends on your opinion!"
Song Yun angrily slammed the table again and shouted: "You have no say in matters between countries. I want to see your emperor!"
Liu Xingjian said calmly: "It's the same as what we said. If you have any chips that can make people excited, just tell me, and I will report it to the emperor truthfully!
As for meeting the emperor, my emperor said that as long as you agree to the conditions set by the Great Sun Dynasty, you can meet him before leaving Beijing. As for the rest, there is no need to discuss it further. "
Song Yun's expression became uncertain. Although he still had a final trump card, it was difficult to speak it out in front of these people.
Helpless, he could only say firmly: “Humph, the emperor of the Great Sun Dynasty is so majestic!
According to the previous conditions, twelve cities and thirty million taels of silver, our Black Witch Nation agrees, but you must let me meet your emperor now!"
In Song Yun's view, such a request was already a huge concession. Even Guo Ziyi was shocked. He did not expect that Her Royal Highness the Princess would agree to such an excessive request.
Even if the Black Witch Kingdom were to fight with the Great Sun Dynasty, the twelve cities would not be something that the Great Sun Dynasty could take down in a short period of time. It was obvious that they could maneuver for a while.
But Liu Xingjian still shook his head slowly and said, "No, our general has already gone to southern Xinjiang. The emperor has made a firm decision. Eighteen cities and eighty million taels of silver must not be reduced by a single cent. Otherwise, we will meet again at the border of the two countries!"
Song Yun also lost her temper and shouted angrily: "If that's the case, then see you at the border!"
"Let's go!" The two sides had a falling out, and Song Yun immediately took Guo Ziyi and others to leave the Ministry of Rites and returned to their inn in the capital of the Great Sun Dynasty.
Liu Xingjian in the meeting room smiled bitterly and shook his head, sighing in his heart: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you are really warlike~"
Inside the inn, Guo Ziyi had a worried look on his face and said anxiously, "My Lady Princess, are we really going to go to war with the Great Sun Dynasty?"
"To put it bluntly, there is no hope for us!"
"Especially in the past few days since I came to the Great Sun Dynasty, I heard that the most capable fighters in the Great Sun Dynasty are not the Jiang brothers, but this so-called emperor!"
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