Chapter 166 Capture Zu Jue and ask Xiao Luan about his past life
A prayer for rain on the Tongque Tower once again made Princess Xiao Jinyu of Lanling famous. Since then, the story about Princess Lanling has become a household legend for the people of Yecheng. Some literati who saw it with their own eyes compiled it into a storybook. It is sung and performed in major gold-selling places in Yecheng.
The largest Qin Tower and Chu Pavilion in Yecheng is the Fengyue Tower. This is also where Zu Jue often eats, drinks, and gambles with his friends. Occasionally, when he hears those people praising Princess Lanling's stunning appearance and unparalleled wisdom, he can't help but feel a little distraught. , of course, he also paid a very heavy price for his own ulterior motives.
Until now, he has not figured out whether it was a man or a woman he brought home that day. He drank too much and talked a lot. In the end, what the "woman" asked him to do, he was simply elated and obeyed her words. , Otherwise, how could he not know who the person who beat him was after being beaten?
But he still couldn't help but sigh: "This Princess Lanling is really different, so different. Not only is she unique in her beauty, but her unruly temperament is also different. If she could hug her, , or I don’t know what it feels like when I touch it?”
"Master, are you still thinking, the lesson learned last time was not enough?" the steward reminded from the side.
Zu Jue was agitated, stroked his still bruised face, and asked: "What did you just say? Your Majesty has sent an order?"
"Yes! Master, Your Majesty has an urgent order and wants you to come to the palace!"
Zu Jue suddenly felt like he had been slapped again and sighed: "It's over. Could it be that His Majesty discovered what I did?"
"Then what are you waiting for? Get your official uniform ready. I'll enter the palace right away!"
After putting on his official uniform, Zu Jue got on an ox cart and soon arrived in front of Zhu Ming Gate. After walking a long two-mile imperial road, he straightened his clothes and arrived in front of Tai Chi Hall.
The Taiji Hall is the main hall, which is where court meetings, banquets with ministers, and envoys are received. Like the Taiji Hall in Jiankang, it is divided into east and west halls.
Emperor Gao Zhan was sitting in the east hall at this moment. It was already the end of the court meeting and all the ministers had already retreated.
Seeing Zu Jue's arrival, Tutor Gao Guiyan mocked with a smile on his face: "Zu Zhongshu has eaten some delicacies from the mountains and seas recently. Why does it feel like the flesh on his face has become fatter?"
Zu Jue smiled and replied: "This is what a man should do. Don't laugh at me!"
After saying that, he hurriedly ran to Gao Zhan, knelt down with a bang and said: "Your Majesty, I have been wronged. Please be sure to be aware of everything and don't kill me by mistake!"
Gao Zhan looked at Zu Jue with a strange look on his face for a long time. After he finished crying, he asked: "Zu Qing's family, what heinous thing have you done to ask me to forgive your sins?"
"No, absolutely not!" Zu Jue raised his head and looked at Gao Zhan, then looked at the extra person beside him, his eyes widened instantly, "Li Yonghe, why are you by His Majesty's side?"
Li Mi smiled: "Zuzhongshu's information is really ill-informed. I am now your majesty's regular attendant and scholar. If anything happens, tell your majesty. I will take note of it!"
It looks like I'm doing my errands seriously and you guys are going on, burying your heads in your pen and paying no attention to me anymore.
Zu Jue once again turned his attention to Gao Zhan.
"May I ask Your Majesty, what is the purpose of the edict?"
"I want to ask you, what happened when you were at home on leave these two days? Why did your face look like this?"
Zu Jue's face sank, almost crying, and explained: "Your Majesty, two days ago, I brought a woman who pretended to be Princess Lanling home to drink and play gambling with her. I didn't expect that the woman took advantage of me when I was drunk. I tied up the minister and beat him severely..."
"Wait a minute, you just said a woman pretending to be Princess Lanling? Why did you bring such a woman home?" Gao Zhan quickly grasped the key point and asked.
Zu Jue suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, rolled his eyes for a while, and then replied: "I...I saw that Princess Lanling was extremely beautiful, so I wanted to invite her to my home to compare painting skills..."
"Oh... Zuqing family, you are very brave. I dare not even think about the princess of Prince Lanling now. You are more courageous than me!"
Zu Jue quickly kowtowed with bang bang bang.
"Your Majesty, I deserve to die. I will never dare to miss Princess Lanling again!"
Gao Zhan waved his hand in disgust: "Okay, should you die? King Lanling will take care of you!"
"I'm calling you here today to tell you that in three days I want to personally recruit talented people in this Tai Chi Palace to recruit virtuous people for our country. Among them is a talented person named Xie Zhen. I want you to come and compete with him in person! Zu! What do the Qing family think?"
Learn by competing! Okay, okay! Scared me to death! I thought all the evidence fell into His Majesty’s hands!
"Yes, I must obey your orders and select good talents for Your Majesty!"
"Okay, you can go back! Come to Tai Chi Hall in three days!"
"Yes! I obey your order!"
Zu Jue wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, stood up quickly, and ran away as if running away. Before he could run far, he heard Gao Zhan behind him ask: "Li Changshi, bring me the daily notes you wrote." look!"
Fortunately, I didn't call him. Zu Jue breathed a long sigh of relief again, and Li Mi's voice came from behind:
"yes!"
"You wrote no less than 30,000 words eloquently. What did you write about?"
This is Gao Zhan’s voice! What daily life notes can contain 30,000 words?
Zu Jue was suspicious when he heard Li Mi say seriously: "Your Majesty, you were very brave in controlling seven girls in one night last night. I have written down your great achievements. I believe you will be famous throughout the ages!"
Perhaps because he listened too carefully, Zu Jue couldn't see the road clearly for a moment, and fell down the steps with a plop. When he got up, half of his face, which had been swollen, became bruised again.
…
"Hahaha... It's so funny. Fourth brother, you haven't seen Zu Jue's fall. It's so ridiculous!"
Gao Yanzong, who accidentally saw Zu Jue falling down the steps, couldn't help but recount the funny scene in front of Xiao Jinyu and Gao Changgong!
After he finished laughing, he seemed to have thought of something again, with a look of anger on his face: "This Zu Jue often colludes with Lord Lu and He Shikai, and often speaks ill of us in His Majesty's ears. My eldest brother was raped like this at the beginning. I wonder what he said in front of His Majesty today because of his greedy words?"
"Fourth brother, fourth sister-in-law, you should be more careful in the future. Regarding praying for rain, although fourth sister-in-law has gained fame and your Majesty has given her the position of Taishi Ling, Junjun Lu is very insidious. I'm afraid she can't deal with you." , so we act in secret!”
Xiao Jinyu smiled after hearing this and nodded: "We will do it, thank you Yanzong!"
Seeing Xiao Jinyu's smile, Gao Yanzong was a little stunned. He was stunned for a long time before replying: "You're welcome, Fourth Sister-in-law, you don't have to be polite to me. It's just that Fourth Sister-in-law is really beautiful, especially when she smiles. , it always makes people feel a little distracted!”
After a pause, he said again,
"And I didn't expect that a beauty like Fourth Sister-in-law could have such talent, knowledge and courage, and be able to compete with Lord Lu on the road!"
"I'm a little envious of fourth brother!" "Yanzong——" Gao Changgong cut off his words in a deep voice.
Xiao Jinyu knew that this was a sincere compliment, so she held Prince Lanling's hand and said: "Nothing, Chang Gong, Yanzong has no ill intentions. Let's go and do our things quickly!"
"good!"
Gao Changgong still said hello softly and looked at her intently.
"Prince Lanling really dotes on his princess. Let alone Zheng Yue, I'm afraid it will be difficult for any woman in the world to fall in his eyes!"
Therefore, on the street in front of the palace, the words "Lan Ling Wang" itself have their own attraction. Therefore, at this moment, pedestrians watching the two of them from a distance have spontaneously gathered, and more and more people have gathered.
Phoenix followed the two of them, then suddenly turned back and looked at the place where the crowd was surging. For some reason, he always felt like a pair of eyes were peering at them, giving him a vague sense of danger.
"Brother Qing, get in the carriage quickly! I'll help you make an appointment with that person!"
Phoenix came to Xiao Jinyu's side and whispered.
Xiao Jinyu also noticed something strange, so she nodded and got into the carriage with Prince Lanling.
…
Zu Jue received a letter when he returned home. The letter said, I have the things you lost. Please come to Dazhuangyan Temple to see them!
Dazhuangyan Temple is a royal temple of the Northern Qi Dynasty. If you are not a person of high status, you may not be able to enter this temple.
Who asked him to meet at Dazhuangyan Temple?
Something is indeed missing from Zu Jue’s house. Any evidence of forging official documents or corruption and bribery is nothing. The most important thing is that a secret letter in which he flattered Lu Lingxuan’s mother and son and planned the future with them was lost. If this secret letter fell into the hands of Emperor Gao Zhan, then even if he had a hundred heads, Gao Zhan would be enough to chop him off!
So, when the housekeeper handed this letter to him, he started to tremble all over. Without saying a word, he got on the bullock cart and took a few slaves to Dazhuangyan Temple!
At dusk, Dazhuangyan Temple looked particularly solemn and solemn. Zu Jue knocked on the door of Dazhuangyan Temple, poked out the head of a young monk, asked his name, and let him in.
Zu Jue looked for what the letter pointed out and came to the backyard of Dazhuangyan Temple. There was a Buddhist Zen room made of bamboo. There was only an eleven or twelve-year-old Xianbei boy standing in front of the Zen room. Although the boy was still childish, he had a beautiful appearance. Gorgeous and handsome, very eye-catching.
Zu Jue only glanced at it and felt familiar, but couldn't remember where he had seen it before, so he had to step forward to greet him and asked, "I wonder if it is..."
"My master is in this Zen room, come in quickly!" Fenghuang said coldly.
"Who is your master? What grudge does he have against me? Why do you want to..."
"Didn't you know it when you went in? Where did all this nonsense come from?"
Fenghuang glared at him coldly. Zu Jue did not dare to say another word and walked into the meditation room with a hurried smile. Several of his slaves wanted to follow him in, but Fenghuang stopped him outside the door with a look.
This young man is too vicious, powerful and terrifying!
This is the most intuitive feeling these domestic slaves have when they see Phoenix!
After entering the Zen room, he saw two people wearing masks. One was tall and tall, with broad shoulders and narrow waist, and a noble and fierce demeanor. At first glance, he looked like a battle-hardened general, while the other was slender. Her waist is beautiful, her neck is beautiful, her skin is as beautiful as snow, and she is graceful and graceful. You can tell she is a woman with good looks even if you don't look at her face.
"I wonder what the two of you are asking me to come here for?" Zu Jue was the first to ask.
The man took out a large stack of documents from his sleeve and placed them in front of Zu Jue. Zu Jue took a look and saw that they were the documents he had lost to change the official documents.
He was so frightened that he rushed towards these documents and wanted to tear them up!
"Zuzhongshu, you should know that it is useless for you to destroy these documents. The original copy is also a copy. Since these things are already known, it is not just the evidence in front of you. "
"Oh, by the way, didn't you also write a confidential letter to Lord Lu? Maybe you have thought about it for a long time and haven't sent it yet!"
Zu Jue was so frightened that he immediately knelt down.
"Who are you? I have no grudge against you. Why do you want to harm me like this?"
"Zhongshu, if you behave upright, you won't be afraid of being tricked, right?"
The man said with a smile, then held the hand of the woman next to him. The two found a couch and let the woman sit down.
"The reason why we invited you here today is not to clean up your case of selling your position, embezzling and stealing, or even having private dealings with the ladies of many high-ranking officials in the capital. We just want to ask you about an old incident!"
When Zu Jue heard this, he couldn't help but be overjoyed.
"What old story, you ask?"
"We want to know everything about Xiao Luan, the imperial physician and Dr. Guanglu who was beside Emperor Wenxuan when he was alive, including the cause of her death..."
Zu Jue's face suddenly darkened when he heard this question.
"Why are you asking her? I don't know much about her? I just..."
Halfway through his words, he suddenly felt that the light around him dimmed, and a heavy chill spread like a tide in the Zen room. An invisible pressure forced him to kneel down again.
Before he could understand what was going on, a sword with a cold light was already placed around his neck, and at the same time, a black shadow stood in front of him, blocking his sight.
"Okay, let me tell you. In fact, I really don't know much about Xiao Luan. This woman is too mysterious. When she was an official next to Emperor Wenxuan, she never bothered to say a word to me, but she She is a strange woman with excellent medical skills and extraordinary intelligence. She knows many things that others do not know and cannot think of, oh, just like Princess Lanling..."
When Princess Lanling was mentioned, Zu Jue's expression changed almost imperceptibly. He glanced subconsciously at the silent woman sitting on the couch, and continued, "When Emperor Wenxuan was alive, although his temperament was Brutal and murderous, but as long as this woman is by his side, he can stop killing. Emperor Xuan Gao Yang also admired this woman very much. As long as he wants a woman in this world, whether it is a brother's wife or a minister's wife , he said that possession means possession, but he only respected this woman very much.
Xiao Luan once suggested that Emperor Xuan build the Great Wall to resist the invasion of the Northern Hu. Emperor Xuan accepted her suggestion and later thought of making the girl his concubine, but she refused, so he gave her a third rank. Dr. Guanglu will do it.
There once was a beauty who wanted to compete with Xiao Luan for favor, and slandered Xiao Luan in Emperor Xuan's ears for wanting to control the emperor with drugs. However, Emperor Xuan not only did not doubt Xiao Luan, but instead killed the beauty, and even took out her femoral bones to make a pipa in public. , to pay tribute to the best! "
Speaking of this, Zu Jue's face looked a little strange and confused.
"However, one thing is very strange. Xiao Luan has been Emperor Xuan's exclusive physician for about eight years. In the first seven years, Emperor Xuan's bloodthirsty nature was under control. But in the last year, for some reason, Emperor Xuan's condition became worse. Extremely deteriorating, he would often put on makeup, wear women's clothes and sing and dance on the street
And he finally did a very cruel thing, that is, he summoned all the male members of the Yuan clan to kill them. A total of more than 700 people were killed, including babies.
It seems that because of this incident, Xiao Luan fell out with Emperor Xuan, resigned from his official position as imperial doctor and Doctor Guanglu, and returned the money given by Emperor Xuan All the treasures and mansion given to her left Yecheng quietly.
After that, Emperor Xuan became ill after drinking too much and died like this!
When Emperor Xuan died, he still held a piece of silk in his hand, which read: I can't save such a king! "
Hearing this, Xiao Jinyu began to think silently, and Prince Lanling once again held her hand tightly to express comfort.
After Xiao Luan left Yecheng, she settled down in Luoyang. Logically speaking, she was far away from the political center of Yecheng. With her temperament, she should be able to live in peace. What happened next?
As I was thinking about it, I heard Zu Jue continue, "However, not long after Xiao Luan left, Gao Yan and the current emperor Gao Zhan launched a coup. First, Gao Yan seized the throne. After Gao Yan succeeded, He ordered a search for Xiao Luan, but failed to find him. Two years later, Gao Yan also suffered from a strange disease. He said that he would often dream of the former prince Gao Yin who was killed by him coming to him. This disease tortured him for half a year. For a long time, until an autumn hunting trip in the countryside, he accidentally fell off his horse. From then on, his condition worsened and he died. Finally, it was passed down to the current emperor Gao Zhan. "
"After Gao Zhan succeeded to the throne, he seemed to have sent people to look for Xiao Luan, but it is unknown whether he was found..."
(End of chapter)