Chapter 26

The envoys and civil and military officials dispersed, and after the banquet was over, it was already late at night, and Lin Nanjie returned to the Zichen Hall to report.

It was a night with a bright moon in the sky. Lin Nanjie walked into the Purple Palace under the moonlight, lifted the curtain and entered the warm inner room. She saw a thick stack of memorials in front of Li Chenghuan. She didn't know how long he had been reviewing them.

Lin Nanqi walked over and bowed slightly: "Your Majesty, I am back."

Li Chengqian raised his eyes and saw Lin Nanjie's slightly excited face. The candlelight from the warm room cast a soft silver edge on his face. He could see his crow-like eyelashes, each one distinct. A pair of dark pupils, black and moist.

"Um."

Lin Nanjie guessed Li Chenghuan's mood, smiled, and stepped forward to flatter him: "Your Majesty was really brave and wise today. He immediately saw through the intentions of the Korean envoys and established the prestige of our Daqi, making the Korean envoys bow down to us."

Li Chengqian glanced at Lin Nanqi: "Really?"

Lin Nanqi nodded: "Of course, didn't you see that when the Goryeo prince left, his face turned black, and the officials of the delegation were even more embarrassed and ashamed. After this, they will definitely not dare to fool Daqi again."

Li Chenghuan raised his brows and thought, Lin Nanjie actually made him feel comfortable this time.

It was common for countries to interact with each other, especially now that Daqi was strong, it was reasonable for small countries around to seek protection and want to bring back some valuable treasures. After all, Daqi was rich in products and its treasury was full, so it would not do such a stingy thing.

It's just that Goryeo has gone too far. When the previous emperor was in power, Goryeo frequently came to the court to meet him, and fooled him many times, making the court miserable. It's hard to keep quiet for a few years, and now they want to use the same tricks to treat him. But fooling him may not be that easy.

Moreover, although Goryeo was on good terms with Daqi on the surface, it was flirting with other small countries behind the scenes, and had a hidden rebellious heart. This was a good opportunity to give it a warning. If it continued to act recklessly, he would not let it go.

What Lin Nan said today was really well said.

[Why doesn't the dog emperor speak? He seems to be very happy being coaxed.]

[I'm so happy, can you return the money to me? ]

Li Chengqian: …

He just knows it!

Lin Nanqi puffed out his cheeks.

【While the dog emperor is still in a good mood, let’s continue to be awesome. 】

【First, make him so happy that he loses his mind. 】

[Praise your civil and military achievements once again! ]

Lin Nanjie looked at Li Chenghuan with burning eyes and said softly, "Your Majesty is so extraordinary, and he is full of dragon energy..."

"Okay." Lin Nanjie just started to speak when Li Chengqian interrupted him, "Put away your flattery. What you said to the Korean envoys tonight was very good. I appreciate it."

"Yes..." Lin Nanjie's tongue was tied and he almost bit the tip of his tongue.

[Is this a reward for me? I haven't finished talking yet? ]

[On the way back, I reviewed the book “How to Praise Your Leader”, but it was of no use.]

Li Chengqian pretended to be unhappy: "Why, you don't want it?"

Lin Nanjie's eyes lit up: "Thank you, Your Majesty. Long live the emperor!"

Li Chengqian cleared his throat and said, "In consideration of your contribution today, I will reward you with 100 taels of silver."

Lin Nanqi's eyes were sparkling.

[Wuhu! My one hundred taels of silver, my two hundred thousand is back! ]

Lin Nanjie was filled with bubbles of happiness, and Li Chengqian couldn't help but smile. He kept smiling and said suddenly, "Another reward of ten taels of gold."

Lin Nanqi stood there in a daze.

【What? 】

【Ten taels of gold?】

[Let me do the math - one ounce of gold is equal to ten ounces of silver, so ten ounces of gold is equal to two hundred ounces of silver.]

【! My reward has doubled! 】

【Ahhhhhhhh! Dog Emperor, I declare you the best emperor! 】

Li Chengqi curled his lips and said silently in his heart: The best emperor is fine, but a dog emperor is not necessary.

Lin Nanjie: "Your servant thanks His Majesty for long live His Majesty!"

Li Chengzhen waved his hands and said, "Alright, it's getting late, let's get off work. I'll go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to collect the money tomorrow."

Lin Nanjie nodded vigorously, and seeing Li Chenghuan picking up the memorial again, as if he didn't want to be disturbed, he walked out quietly.

He lifted the curtain and walked out of the inner room. When he was about to let go, he turned back for some unknown reason and saw Li Chenghuan holding the memorial in a daze.

Inexplicably, Lin Nanjie seemed to be aware of something.

[Why is the dog emperor so nice today? ]

[They gave me the reward so generously, and even doubled it. ]

[Although the dog emperor was not a thief, he had a clear distinction between rewards and punishments under his rule. ]

[Oh, if only I could always be so easy to talk to. ]

Lin Nanqi glanced at Li Chengqian secretly again.

Candles as thick as children's arms were burning in the Purple Palace, illuminating the inner room. Li Chengxuan was wearing a thin robe and sitting on a huanghuali dragon chair. The candlelight illuminated his handsome three-dimensional profile, making him look like a statue, slightly lost in thought.

The silver charcoal in the copper basin seemed to be almost burned out. Lin Nanqi lowered the curtain and informed the eunuch on duty to add more charcoal in time.

It was cold outside, and Lin Nanjie walked quickly towards the palace gate with his arms folded. After leaving the palace, he walked to the cold and quiet outer room and saw a half-full moon hanging on the withered willow branches.

Lin Nanjie looked at the moon and somehow recalled Li Chenghuan's expression in the Zichen Hall just now.

He murmured to himself: "Why does it seem like the Dog Emperor is a little unhappy?"

On the other side, in the Purple Palace, Wang Dehai personally added silver charcoal to the Baiyuntong charcoal brazier in the inner room: "Lin Nanjie is a thoughtful boy. He didn't forget to add charcoal before leaving."

Wang Dehai straightened up and looked at Li Chenghuan, who had not moved for a long time, and said in a sighing voice: "Your Majesty, I am thirteen today."

Li Chengqian put down the memorial and looked at Wang Dehai.

Wang Dehai said again: "It's late at night, Your Majesty, do you want to go to bed?"

Li Chenghuan shook his head: "I'm not sleepy, I'll go out for a walk."

Li Chenghuan walked in the open space in front of the Purple Palace in his robe, and Wang Dehai followed behind.

The moon was like a silver disk, hanging in the sky, and below it was the majestic and magnificent imperial palace, which seemed to float on the vast night sea. The boundless moonlight sprinkled down, like frost and snow, making the vermilion palace walls and bright yellow glazed tiles look like they were covered with a layer of ice.

Li Chenghuan stared at the bright moon for a long time, as if he could see the chaotic swordplay three years ago. Before the late emperor died, the moon over the Taixu Palace was also this round. The late emperor lay on the couch in the Taixu Palace, trembling as he scratched his right wrist until it bled, staring at him with the last bit of strength in his body.

"Evil beast!"

Li Chengqian raised the corners of his lips in self-mockery.

Suddenly, a cold wind blew from somewhere in the palace. Wang Dehai shivered at first, then looked up to look for the emperor, but saw that the bright moon in the sky had a hint of shadow.

Upon closer inspection, he found something was wrong, so Wang Dehai stretched his neck to take a look.

I saw that the shadow was eating away the moon bit by bit.

Between heaven and earth, the radiance of the silver moon was replaced by a cold darkness. Wang Dehai was horrified and quickly walked to the emperor's side: "This! This is... the moon being eaten by a heavenly dog!"

"Your Majesty... This is a bad omen, the air is cold and gloomy, please go back to the palace and rest!"

Li Chenghuan remained motionless, standing where he was, staring closely at the moon that was being swallowed up, until the last ray of light was covered up and the night was completely dark.

He sneered: "I am worthy of the people of the world and I am never afraid of any omen."

Wang Dehai was stunned at first, but still looked panicked.

-

Lin Nanjie was immersed in the joy of getting two hundred taels of silver and had a very sound sleep. When he woke up early the next morning and stretched his body, he saw his roommate Ding Wen curled up in a ball with the quilt, sleeping at his feet.

Lin Nanjie was so scared that he almost kicked Ding Wen off the bed.

Ding Wen sensed some movement in his sleep, opened his eyes and saw Lin Nanjie, with a look of panic on his face: "There is a demon, it's ominous! I don't know!"

Lin Nanqi was puzzled: "What demon? What is unknown?"

Ding Wen looked terrified: "Last night, the moon was eaten by a heavenly dog."

Lin Nan was stunned for a moment before he responded: "It's a total lunar eclipse."

Ding Wen looked confused: "What total lunar eclipse?"

Lin Nanjie: "Oh, it's the eclipse of the moon."

Ding Wen's face turned pale and he said anxiously, "This is the moon being eaten by the heavenly dog! It's a sign of bad luck! I watched the moon being swallowed last night. Will I die?"

Lin Nanjie thought that people in this dynasty would indeed believe that a total lunar eclipse would bring bad luck. He patted Ding Wen on the shoulder and said soothingly, "Don't worry, you'll be fine."

Ding Wen had tears in his eyes: "Really?"

Lin Nanjie: "Don't worry, anyone who sees this will die. The underworld can't accommodate so many people."

Ding Wen choked and wiped the tears from his eyes: "That's right."

After Lin Nanjie took care of himself, he went out to report for duty. He had a meeting with the diplomatic corps today, so he needed to go to the Purple Palace first to accompany the emperor to meet the Goryeo diplomatic corps.

As soon as Lin Nanjie stepped out of the door, he noticed that the atmosphere was different from usual. The eunuchs and maids he met on the road all avoided his gaze, gathered in groups of three or four to whisper, and when they saw someone coming, they quickly pretended nothing had happened, but everyone had a hint of panic on their face.

From time to time, whispers of "the moon is eclipsed by the heavenly dog" can be heard.

Lin Nanjie scratched his head. Is the superstition of the moon being eclipsed by the heavenly dog ​​so deeply rooted in people's minds?

I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Every time he heard about the forecast of a total lunar eclipse, a total solar eclipse, or a triple conjunction, he would go find a place to observe it. What a pity. I went to bed too early yesterday and missed the chance to see it.

Arriving at the Zichen Palace, Lin Nanjie helped Li Chenghuan change his clothes and wash up. He was startled when he inadvertently saw the dark circles under Li Chenghuan's eyes.

[Ah, even the dog emperor was so frightened by the moon eclipse that he couldn't sleep! ]

[It seems that this Tengu does have some abilities. ]

Li Chenghuan paused in washing his face and glanced at Lin Nanjie from the corner of his eye. He saw that his face was rosy and his eyes were clear. He looked like a fairy in a storybook that had absorbed all the essence and energy, and he was extremely energetic.

Li Chenghuan put down the face towel, looked at Lin Nanjie and asked, "Did you sleep well last night?"

Lin Nanqi replied respectfully: "Thanks to the emperor, I slept soundly."

Li Chenghuan snorted coldly, put on his outer robe and walked out of the Zichen Hall.

Lin Nanjie heard the familiar cold snort and followed behind with a look of understanding on his face.

【Ah, I’m in a bad mood again. 】

[As expected, a dog emperor who doesn’t lose his mind is no longer a dog emperor. 】

In the court, Li Chenghuan sat on the dragon chair with full energy, watching the Goryeo delegation and the court officials discussing border trade matters. In the end, they agreed to allow Goryeo goods to be sold in Daqi, but a 30% tax would be levied.

Fu Zhao said indignantly: "Your Majesty, isn't a 30% tariff too high? Does Daqi want to bully us Goryeo by relying on its size?"

Li Chengqian said calmly: "According to my understanding, the price of the goods sold by Goryeo in Daqi far exceeds the value of the goods themselves, and even the price is far higher than the same kind of goods in Daqi. I think 30% is very low."

Fu Zhao's expression became even uglier. He turned around and discussed with the officials of the delegation for a few words, then softened his expression: "Your Majesty, can we discuss this matter later? This prince has another treasure that he wants to present to Your Majesty."

After what happened yesterday, Li Chenghuan remained calm: "What treasure is it?"

Fu Zhao suddenly smiled. "Among the members of the diplomatic corps accompanying me this time is a great wizard from my country of Goryeo. Yesterday, the great wizard and I saw a strange phenomenon in the sky at the posthouse, which seemed to be related to the fate of the Great Qi. The great wizard has the ability to communicate with spirits and mysteries, and I hope he can help your majesty share your worries."

Lin Nanqi, who was outside the hall and heard this, suddenly pricked up his ears.

【！ ！ ！】

[The Goryeo wizard wants to take over the national destiny of our Daqi? 】

[Prince, you have a really big face. ]

All the officials in the court were unable to stand up. This Goryeo prince had no martial ethics at all!

Bringing a wizard to predict the celestial phenomena, it's a pity that he could think of it!

At this moment, Chen Yanzhi, the chief of Qintian Prison, stepped out angrily and said, "How dare you! How can you predict the fate of our Great Qi Nation!"

Fu Zhao refused to give in: "Just now when I entered the palace, I saw that everyone in the palace was in a panic. Since we have talented people in Goryeo who can help your majesty relieve his worries, why should you be afraid?"

Chen Yanzhi was furious: "We in Daqi have our own Qin Tianjian who predicts the celestial phenomena and follows the method of the Book of Changes, which is orthodox. Your so-called witchcraft and divination is nothing but heresy. How dare you taint the fate of Daqi!"

Fu Zhao: "Are you afraid that orthodox teachings cannot defeat heresy?"

Chen Yanzhi waved his sleeves in anger: "How dare you! How is that possible!"

Fu Zhao: "Do you dare to compete?"

Chen Yanzhi: "Let's compete!"

After the two parties finished speaking, the entire court fell silent.

Chen Yanzhi felt a chill on his back and realized that his colleagues and the emperor were looking at him expressionlessly.

After listening to the whole thing, Lin Nanjie looked up at the sky in silence:

【……】

[What a low-level provocation. ]

[It's been a long time since I've seen someone so easily fooled. ]