Chapter 402 Zhao Duan’s vest fell off
"Huh?" Xu Zhenguan suddenly came back to his senses, panicked for a moment, and subconsciously adjusted his sitting posture slightly:
"Are you done?"
Zhao Duan stared at the empress lying on the couch with strange eyes, caught the strange slight expression on her, and nodded honestly:
"I've finished speaking."
He even suspected that Zhenbao didn't listen carefully at all... Suddenly, he felt so fucked up that he reported his work nervously, but the boss didn't listen at all...
"Okay, what you said makes sense, I'll just believe you for once." Xu Zhenguan coughed lightly and put on a straight face to cover up his panic.
Zhao Duan was stunned for a moment, wondering, are girls so easy to coax?
He thought it would be difficult, a cold war or something... Sure enough, Zhenbao was completely different from those vulgar fans. A smart woman would not be stupid in serious matters.
Xu Zhenguan suppressed the complicated emotions in his heart, took the initiative to change the subject, and said seriously:
"Although you won the debate today and got a great opportunity, I'm afraid it won't be that easy to give up."
I want to talk about the great opportunity in detail... Zhao Duan muttered, but he still suppressed his curiosity about the "Baptism of the World Honored One" for the time being and said:
"Your Majesty is saying that Eastern and Western Buddhism will retaliate? Struggle? Make trouble?"
Xu Zhenguan thought for a moment and said:
"The Shenlong Temple side is fine. Not to mention that I warned Xuan Yin a few days ago, and there is still a ghusl monk on the run. If you help Prajna today, it will be enough for Xuan Yin to have a headache for a while.
Your Buddhist theory is also similar to the enlightenment upheld by Prajna. Shenlong Temple can later promote the theory of enlightenment and whitewash the debate as their victory... The key is the Western Region. ”
Zhao Duan frowned: "That holy monk from the Western Regions doesn't seem to be hostile to me today."
Xu Zhenguan thought for a while and said:
"Xu Shi is afraid that this is the Yu Kingdom, so they don't dare to be too presumptuous. Besides, the Red Sect master in the Western Region Kingdom is not a person who is obsessed with the integration of the East and the West...
In short, if you keep a low profile these days, I'm afraid they won't dare to do anything outrageous in the capital.
What I am only worried about is that the monks from the Western Regions will not be able to debate scriptures, which will interfere with the trade between the imperial court and the Western Regions next year and affect the New Deal market. ”
Zhao Duan also became serious after hearing this.
The Dharma King was supreme in the Western Region, far superior to Princess Manchu and other near-puppet holders.
If Buddhism in the Western Region opens its mouth and interferes with trade, it will be really troublesome.
At this time, footsteps suddenly came from outside the door, accompanied by the palace maid's report:
"Your Majesty, Princess Manzhu has come to the palace to ask for an audience."
Inside the room, the monarch and his ministers looked at each other.
Xu Zhenguan thought for a moment, looked at the time and said, "Invite her to the dining hall to have lunch with me."
"Yes."
The maid outside the door retreated.
Xu Zhen looked at Zhao Duan and said:
"When my aunt enters the palace now, she must be here for you. You should go with me. Remember, in front of Princess Manzhu later, you must remember to behave in a manner consistent with your status."
Zhao Duan was stunned for a moment and said uncertainly:
"Conforming to the identity?"
The empress glared at him angrily:
"To the outside world, you are my face, have you forgotten? Now that you have mastered the debate, I can only make mistakes. Later, you and I will get closer and put on a show for Wenzhu."
Acting... Zhenbao, you want to let your aunt know that you support my debate on scriptures, so as to express a tough attitude and make your aunt think that this debate is the intention of the court...
This shows the strength of the Yu State and prevents the Western Region State from causing trouble in business due to pressure from the Red Sect Master...
Zhao Duan quickly cleared his mind and nodded:
"I understand."
……
Princess Manzhu, who was in her forties and had a gentle temperament, was led by the palace maid to the room where she had lunch in the Queen's palace.
As soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw the empress in white standing on the porch with a smile to greet her. Next to her stood a handsome, tall and handsome man.
Astonishingly, it was Zhao Duan Benan.
"Auntie, you came at the right time. The imperial dining room has just prepared lunch. Let's eat together." Xu Zhenguan smiled and spoke proactively.
After returning from the Golden Wind Pavilion and briefly expressing condolences to the defeated monks from the Western Regions, Princess Wenzhu hurriedly returned to the palace with a smile on her lips. She responded before moving her eyes towards Zhao Duan.
Then, she was obviously shocked.
What a handsome man!
In the Bible debate, she could only barely see Zhao Duan's figure due to the distance, but she couldn't see his appearance clearly.
It wasn't until this moment that I saw the whole face.
Sure enough, it was consistent with the rumors. The treacherous minister who brought trouble to the imperial court and sought fame had indeed given birth to a good and sanctimonious person.
Well, I also have a good eloquence...
Princess Manzhu's mood was very complicated. Looking back on the morning debate, the more she thought about it, the more "fake" she felt.
In her opinion, it was unreasonable for Zhao Duan, a minister, to jump out and cause trouble without any warning, and yet he succeeded.
Therefore, rationally, we still believe that the empress arranged the drama behind the scenes, and the content of the so-called scripture debate is most likely not something that Zhao Duan can explain.
This was not the first time that something similar had happened to the other party. Wenzhu even suspected that the empress and Prajna Bodhisattva had secretly formed an alliance.
Prajna provided the theory, and Zhao Duan recited it, so as to kill people with a knife and strive to increase his authority in Shenlong Temple...
This is obviously more reasonable.
As for the astonishment of Yuan Li and other ministers, some of them may have been kept in the dark, and some, such as Yuan Li and other important ministers, may have been acting in concert.
Who are you performing for? Of course it’s myself...
Thinking about it this way, everything made sense. As for the biggest bug, the baptism of the Lord God... she still couldn't figure it out yet.
Therefore, rushing into the palace is also to confirm the suspicion in my heart. At this moment, she suppressed her doubts, smiled and exchanged a few pleasantries, and followed the monarch and his ministers into the house. The round table in the house was filled with sumptuous dishes, and the three of them sat down separately.
It is worth mentioning that the empress and her aunt sat opposite each other. As for Zhao Duan, the "face leader", of course he sat on the side next to the empress.
"Today's scripture debate...Zhao Shijun really opened my eyes."
Princess Wenzhu looked at Zhao Duan and said sarcastically:
"At such a young age, I have never practiced Buddhism, but my attainments in Buddhism are so profound. It is really amazing."
Zhao Duan was in a strange mood, looking at this aunt who had tried to win over him not long ago, and smiled:
"Your Highness the Princess is so complimentary and has only a superficial opinion. She unexpectedly won the honor of the World Honored One."
Haha... He pretends to be quite natural, but he is really a shameless person... Wenzhu is unhappy in her heart. No matter how beautiful she is, as long as she thinks of the rumors in the market, she will inevitably feel disgusted.
"Ahem," the empress coughed lightly at the right time, reminding him to pay attention to his identity.
Zhao Duan smiled naturally and began to skillfully pick up vegetables for the empress, serve soup himself, and feed it to her. While greeting Wen Zhu, he showed his affection in public.
The empress was also very cooperative, looking like an emperor who was used to being served in front of others.
The soup spilled at the corner of her mouth, so Zhao Duan took out a handkerchief and wiped the corners of her mouth carefully... Although she was ashamed, she felt inexplicably happy for some reason.
Although Princess Manzhu was "experienced", she still felt uncomfortable watching the two young men feeding her. She secretly thought that the traitor named Zhao gained favor through shameless flattery and kneeling.
He couldn't help but frown slightly, becoming more and more disgusted.
Xu Zhenguan noticed her aunt's unusual expression, and was a little confused for a moment. She didn't know why, thinking that the two of them were pretending to be different, and that the experienced aunt saw a flaw.
This made her a little anxious, but the empress had never raised a face before, and she didn't know what normal should be like.
I can only recall the scene when my father and the concubines in the harem were eating.
Well... She was always being served, and it seemed that she could not express her favor towards her opposite number... Thinking of this, the empress picked up the chopsticks and began to pick up food for Zhao Duan, urging:
"Don't be too busy, and eat more to replenish your body."
Hiss... My niece was really deceived by this traitor. The majestic emperor actually looked like this to a person... and she didn't betray him at all... She was so close to him. How could she be so normal?
Princess Manzhu's frown deepened.
The empress was stunned for a moment, thinking to herself, could it be self-defeating?
He couldn't help but feel anxious, so he simply transmitted the sound into the secret, and sent the sound directly into Zhao Duan's sea of consciousness:
"It's not enough. Auntie seems to notice something is wrong. You should act more like it!"
"..." Zhao Duan was speechless, wondering how to act like this. There was no change on his face. After thinking about it, his heart moved.
Simply taking advantage of the action of picking up vegetables, a hand seemingly casually hugged the empress Yingying's waist, making the two of them sit closer.
! !
Xu Zhenguan unexpectedly put a big hand on his soft waist, his body suddenly stiffened, and his eyes widened slightly:
How dare this guy...
"It doesn't work here!" Her voice rang quickly across Zhao Duan's sea of consciousness.
Mr. Zhao looked innocent. If this doesn't work, then... go down?
Then as soon as my hand slid down, I felt the empress' body tense up, and a sense of danger came over me...
He retracted his hand sarcastically.
"Your Majesty..." Princess Wenzhu, who was sitting opposite, finally couldn't stand it anymore. Even though she was older, her husband in the Western Regions was just a "formal" husband and he had died long ago. How could she bear the humiliation of young people?
After enduring it for a long time, he interrupted and said:
"Have you found the Mr. Lin whom I recommended last time?"
It must be admitted that Wenzhu's words contained a bit of badness.
She deliberately mentioned Mr. Lin at this time, no doubt to tell Zhao Duan.
Xu Zhenguan's face changed slightly, he put down his chopsticks heavily, and said coldly:
"My aunt cares about Mr. Lin very much. When I find him, I will simply give it to my aunt and take him back to the Western Regions. With such a talent assisting you in governing the Western Regions, I think he will be put to good use."
While speaking, his eyes subconsciously looked at Zhao Duan.
She didn't even realize that she was panicking for a moment, fearing that Zhao Duan would misunderstand her relationship with that "Mr. Lin".
However, there was no suspicion or surprise on Zhao Duan's face, only a smile.
Princess Manzhu did not expect her niece to react so violently.
Just when I was about to make amends, I suddenly heard the eunuch’s voice coming from outside:
"Your Majesty, the Governor of Yama has sent someone to see you, saying that the identity of the chess player who defeated Fan Seng has been identified."
The three people in the room were startled.
Xu Zhenguan didn't expect this to be such a coincidence. After thinking about it, he simply said: "Bring someone here."
After a while, a royal official Jinyi appeared at the door and respectfully handed over a letter:
"Your Majesty, the results of the chess player investigation are written on the fold."
Xu Zhenguan raised her hand, and the fold was picked up by the breeze and fell into her hand. The empress smiled:
"Since my aunt is thinking about this person very much, she happened to find out and will let you know."
While speaking, the empress opened the folder, glanced at it, and then...she became obviously silent for a moment.
There seems to be surprise, accident, and a hint of... Sure enough, it is.
After a while, she handed the fold to Princess Manzhu.
Princess Manzhu felt something was slightly wrong in her heart, but she still took the folder and opened it slowly, looking forward to which family Link was from.
However, when she saw the black and white words clearly on the paper, she froze, her pupils suddenly narrowed, she stayed dazed for a moment, and then she raised her head suddenly.
Staring at the face of the empress opposite.
Zhao Duan smiled slightly: "We meet again, Your Highness the Princess."
(End of chapter)