Chapter 78 Chapter 78 When Li Zhan was at his most embarrassing moment, he met Nan...
The right person?
Emperor Xuanwu looked at the raindrops on his palms and wiped them on his robes with some disgust. "Who do you think is suitable to send?"
Li Junji sneered in his heart. Your Majesty, this question is unnecessary. Of course, Duan Wenpei would recommend himself.
Looking at all the ministers in the court, who has the courage to challenge King Yi?
Li Junji sneered at Duan Wenpei's words of "ulterior motives" and he would not let him succeed!
"Your Majesty, I think, or..."
"I think this mission must be undertaken by the Prince Consort."
Li Junji choked and looked at Duan Wenpei in disbelief. "Uncle...Uncle, what did you say?"
Duan Wenpei repeated to him, "Sir Li, I think it would be most appropriate for the Prince Consort to go."
Li Junji found it somewhat amusing. "My Lord, are you mistaken? Zhan'er is still very young. It's fine for him to serve the princess, but how could he possibly go to Shu? The Prince of Yi and the Zhao family in Shu are not ordinary people. The Prince Consort can't handle this."
As he spoke, he took a few steps forward, closer to the emperor standing in front of the window. "Your Majesty, you must not listen to Wei Yangbo's advice on this matter. Please reconsider!"
Emperor Xuanwu leaned against the window frame, gazing at the imperial city under the rain, his thoughts flying far away.
The place of Shu was the vassal state that he had carefully selected for King Yi.
The mountains are high and the roads are long, the mountains and rivers are steep, and at first I just wanted him to experience the days when no one would respond to my calls to heaven or earth.
However, no one expected that the Zhao family, a family hidden from the public eye, would cause a stir because of King Yi's entry into Shu.
Why, at the beginning, did none of his ministers remind him that the Zhao family in Shu was not at peace?
Why did the place he had been thinking about become a hotbed for King Yi's rebellion?
At the beginning, Duan Wenpei once said that King Yi was not to be feared. Instead of sending him to a remote place, it would be better to keep him in Kyoto, at the feet of the emperor, on the grounds of filial piety, so that his every move could be monitored.
But he rejected it outright. He was the emperor, the Son of Heaven, and his opinions should be followed by all his ministers...
After a long silence, Emperor Xuanwu slowly turned around and walked to Li Junji, as Li Junji waited anxiously. "Li Zhan is a royal relative. If he enters Shu, Prince Yi won't be suspicious. Besides, Zhao Huaijue was rescued by Jingyi. If the prince consort enters Shu, aside from disaster relief, it will also provide a pretext for contacting the Zhao family."
He looked at the stunned Li Junji, and the familiar sense of dominance surged in his heart. "Li Qing, don't worry, I will definitely make the arrangements and ensure the safe return of the prince consort."
Li Junji opened his mouth, but swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth in response to the emperor's eager expectations.
*
Li Junji never expected that after just entering the palace and saying a few words, he had no time to be happy about Li Zhan and the princess's reconciliation, but he had to worry about Li Zhan's upcoming entry into Shu.
He hated himself for being too cowardly and weak, not daring to risk his family's fate for Li Zhan and openly disobey the order.
Li Zhan was just a scholar who couldn't carry anything on his shoulders or lift anything with his hands. The farthest place he had ever been was to catch rabbits in the West Mountain to please Nan Xu.
He couldn't understand, nor did he dare to think, why Li Zhan had to be asked to enter Shu, and why not someone else.
Why? It was all because of Duan Wenpei's words!
He snatched the oil-paper umbrella from the eunuch's hand, took a few quick steps to catch up with Duan Wenpei, and grabbed his sleeve. The rain poured down, soon soaking the sleeves of both of them.
Duan Wenpei tilted the umbrella in his hand, opened his eyelids and glared at Li Junji who was holding his hand, and said coldly: "Let go."
Li Junji's eyes were filled with anger. "You can ask me to let him go, but please explain to me why you insist on recommending Zhan'er to join Shu."
Duan Wenpei was no match for him. With a surge of internal energy, Li Junji was nearly thrown out. He rolled up his soaked sleeves and said calmly, "Your Majesty has already said so. Why does Lord Li still want me to explain?"
Li Junji finally managed to stand firm. Seeing that he was indifferent, as if he was watching a joke, he gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty is Your Majesty, but you are the one who made this suggestion. I want to know what your master is planning! Didn't your master say before that he was willing to go through fire and water for Your Majesty and go deep into Shu? Why didn't you mention it today? Could it be that your master is afraid?"
"Afraid?"
Duan Wenpei shook his head, looked up at the straight stretch of the palace road, and said in a vague voice, "I have accompanied Your Majesty through life and death so many times. If I were afraid, there would be no Wei Yangbo today. Lord Li has run out of tricks, so there is no need to blame your own weaknesses on me."
After saying that, he no longer cared about Li Junji's reaction and was about to leave. However, after taking a few steps, Li Junji stopped him again.
He glanced at Duan Wenpei's arm, where he had just released his inner strength, with some lingering fear, and said stubbornly, "Even so, Lord, you still have to give me an explanation." He seemed to sense that his attitude was a little awkward, so he slowed down his tone and pleaded, "Zhan'er has exhausted all his energy being a consort. Lord... Lord, even if you don't do it for my sake, even if you do it for the sake of my wife, why did you have to let Zhan'er go through this? While His Majesty hasn't issued an order yet, as long as Lord is willing to speak, there must be room for maneuver. No, no, I thank you here."
As he said this, he bowed deeply to Duan Wenpei. Duan Wenpei moved aside, with a hint of impatience in his tone.
"Speaking of thanking me, Lord Li should have thanked me a long time ago."
Li Junji bent over and paused, then looked up at him in confusion.
Duan Wenpei pointed towards Chongzheng Hall. "Master Li, how could you have forgotten? If I hadn't fanned the flames just now, your son, our Prince Consort, wouldn't have been able to 'reconcile' with the princess so quickly. Master Li, tell me, should you thank me?"
"Besides," he paused and warned, "Lord Li should know that words can cause trouble, so it's best not to mention Ben Bo's wife again."
The palace aisle was long, and the eunuchs hurried back and forth. Under the heavy rain, the sound of footsteps was drowned out. Duan Wenpei just drifted away, leaving Li Junji standing there with a dejected look on his face. It took a long while for him to recover.
After passing through the palace road and exiting Yongding Gate, which meant leaving the imperial city, Duan Wenpei could almost see the carriage of the Bo Mansion parked at the palace gate. He quickened his pace and was about to leave the palace when he heard a few faint calls from his ears.
Duan Wenpei looked in the direction of the voice and saw a strange eunuch.
"The Concubine Shu wants to see the Lord."
Duan Wenpei raised his eyebrows, thought for a moment, and asked the eunuch to lead the way.
*
In the carriage on the way back, Jingyi and Li Zhan were silent.
Jingyi leaned against the soft pillow, not knowing what she was thinking about. Li Zhan listened to the sound of rain outside and fell into deep thought.
According to his original intention, he was unwilling to enter the palace, and would not compromise with Princess Jingyi.
But the Zhao family agreed to cooperate on the condition of rescuing and ensuring Zhao Huaijue's safety. He had no choice but to return to the princess's mansion.
The groom called a halt to the horses, which meant they had arrived at the princess's residence.
Li Zhan had an idea and lifted the curtain to get out of the car, but was stopped by someone behind him.
"Did Prince Consort forget something?"
Princess Jingyi smiled, but her eyes were cold.
Li Zhan clenched his fists, lowered his head and took a step back, making way for the exit.
Jingyi sneered and shouted outside, "What are you guys still standing there for? Why don't you teach your husband some manners!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a eunuch came out, knelt in front of the carriage in the rain, straightened his back, and waited for the princess to get off.
The rain was heavy and the eunuch's clothes were quickly soaked, which made his thin back look fragile and cold.
Li Zhan looked unhappy. He turned to look at Jing Yi and said through gritted teeth, "You want me to be your stepping stool?!"
Jingyi stroked the hairpin beside her ear and asked him, "Why not?"
Li Zhan was a little bit incredulous, "I am a first-rank imperial consort, there must be a limit to your behavior!"
Jingyi glanced at him sideways, not wanting to bother with him. She just waved to the palace guards to come closer, "The prince consort is too stubborn and refuses to give in. Please help him."
No one dared to disobey the princess's order. The palace guard said to Li Zhan, "Your Highness, I'm sorry." Several strong guards reached out and dragged Li Zhan out. He was dragged into the rain like a rag.
Li Zhan struggled, but unfortunately he was no match for the guards. They pressed him on both sides, forcing him to kneel down and support himself with his arms on the ground.
Maybe he struggled too hard and someone kicked him.
His body tilted, and the rain water mixed with the smell of mud instantly choked his throat.
How could a man who had lived a life of luxury since childhood have ever experienced such things? He eagerly spat out the mud and water in his mouth, but it still felt not enough. He wanted to dig it out with his hands, but he was held down tightly by two guards and could not move.
The rain was pouring down, making it impossible to open one's eyes. The world was in chaos. Li Zhan's entire body was trembling, yet he was still putting up a final resistance...
Until his back was bent by someone and the foot on his back stepped hard, the guards on both sides suddenly let go, and with a scream, Li Zhan fell into the mud.
“Hahahahahaha——”
Princess Jingyi smiled sincerely, and her bell-like laughter attracted the attention of people passing by.
No one noticed who fell into the quagmire. Even if someone guessed, they were just guessing which unlucky eunuch or guard it was. Who would have thought that the person who fell into the quagmire was Li Zhan, the gentle and elegant young man?
"Forget it, let's stop here today." Jingyi stood on the steps of the princess's mansion, looking down at Li Zhan who hadn't gotten up for a long time. She played with a strand of hair on her chest, a little playfully: "The prince consort understands me. Knowing that I am wearing new embroidered shoes today, he is willing to pave the way for me back home. This is a kind gesture from the prince consort. Kindness is rare, how can I let it down? Therefore, no one should help the prince consort. Let the prince consort do his best and walk into the princess's mansion on his own."
No one dared to disobey. After watching the princess leave, they all returned to their original positions, only observing the movements of the people below the stairs from time to time with their peripheral vision.
The figure, whose body was completely bare, slowly, slowly raised his upper body, then his waist, and then...
"Ma'am, look, why is that man kneeling in the rain?"
A carriage passed by, splashing water that was higher than his calves, all of which poured onto Li Zhan who was half-climbing up.
The maid who lifted the curtain and was about to stick her head out was pulled back, and someone in the car said, "Slow down, be careful not to splash anyone."
Then a familiar female voice sounded, "Stop the carriage. There are no clean clothes in the carriage. Yuxiang, give some silver to the young man. The water is deep due to the rain. The driver didn't mean to do that. Please forgive him and use the money to buy some clean clothes."
The carriage stopped and someone said "yes". Seeing the curtain shaking, Li Zhan's dull eyes trembled violently. His half-raised body fell heavily into the mud again like a beam that had lost its support.
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