Chapter 257 What do you think?
Control Yuan.
Chen Pingping's office.
Zhu Ge was reporting the news about the night banquet to Chen Pingping.
"Your Majesty has arrived at the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests."
Chen Pingping, who was looking at a scroll of bamboo slips, looked up at him and said in a gentle voice.
"Have you checked all the palace maids, eunuchs, and guards on duty today?"
Zhuge nodded.
"We have checked them all. They all have clean family backgrounds. No suspicious people have been found so far."
Chen Pingping closed the bamboo slips and asked again.
"Are there any people who have entered the hall behaving strangely?"
"Have!"
Zhuge nodded.
"Fan Xian! According to the Imperial Guard, he was carrying a dagger and poison when he arrived at the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests."
Chen Pingping smiled, threw the bamboo slips on the table, and waved his sleeves.
"Where's Zhuang Mohan?"
Zhuge replied.
"Zhuang Mohan only brought a roll of old paper to the palace, and my people took the opportunity to touch it. There was nothing hidden inside.
I think Zhuang Mohan is not a martial artist, so he shouldn't cause any big trouble."
Chen Pingping turned the wheelchair slightly thoughtfully and spoke again.
"Yun Zhilan went up to the palace holding a sword?"
"Yes!"
After a pause, Zhuge said hesitantly.
"But... Yun Zhilan's master is Si Gu Jian, so he shouldn't have anything to do with Zhuang Mohan."
Chen Pingping remained silent and simulated various situations in his mind.
"If Yun Zhilan were to draw his sword and kill the king, who would stop him?"
Zhu Geyan said.
"Eunuch Hong Sixiang is just outside the palace!"
Chen Pingping's eyes lit up when he heard this and he nodded.
……
Outside the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.
Hong Sixiang, who was sitting alone on the steps, set up a small table for himself, on which were placed several plates of dried fruits, roasted nuts, and drinks.
Eating snacks and drinking by himself, Hong Sixiang's guard job was quite rewarding.
After putting an almond in his mouth and chewing it twice, Eunuch Hong suddenly slowed down his chewing. The hand that was reaching for the wine glass changed direction without a sound and touched the almond.
He pinched one and placed it on the nail of his middle finger. He pressed it with his thumb, and the almond flicked out to the left and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
A moment later, a guard reported back.
"Eunuch Hong, it's a night owl."
Hong Sixiang didn't even blink, he picked up the wine glass again and drank it all.
……
Inside the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.
"The meal is served~"
With an order.
Groups of palace maids carried dishes into the hall in an orderly manner and began to serve the food.
Two people were responsible for each table, one was responsible for serving and one was responsible for laying out the dishes. After a while, four large dishes were placed on the small table: one dish of shredded shrimp tail, one dish of pea and hazel mushroom, one dish of spicy hot pot, and one dish of fried lotus cake.
Of course, the names were all made up by Mei Chengan himself. He just called them whatever they looked like. He didn't have time to ask because his time was limited.
The original pot of wine was almost finished, and Mei Cheng'an took the opportunity to ask the palace maid who served the dishes for two more pots of wine.
The young palace maid smiled and nodded and left. Soon two jugs of wine were brought to him.
He quietly placed the wine on the ground aside. One reason was to avoid being noticed by Emperor Qing, and the other was that there was limited space on the table.
After saying thank you and watching the blushing palace maid leave, Mei Cheng'an started eating decisively.
The roujiamo that I had eaten before entering the palace had been almost digested along with a pot of wine. It was already 10 . and I was already hungry.
Maybe it had been prepared and served long ago, so the dish was just warm, but it tasted really good, worthy of being an imperial meal.
Especially the shrimp tail vermicelli, which has a bit of the flavor of roasted oysters and garlic vermicelli, perfect for drinking!
Mei Chengan's table manners were pretty good, but Fan Xian was far worse. Except for the fact that he pulled him to clink glasses at the beginning, he just focused on showing off afterwards.
Emperor Qing sat on a high seat, eating his food leisurely, but his eyes were constantly scanning the people in the hall.
When he saw Fan Xian eating without restraint and stuffing food into his mouth, he narrowed his eyes.
"Fan Xielu."
Emperor Qing's voice was not loud, but it did not prevent everyone in the hall from hearing it. Upon hearing the words, they all stopped what they were doing and looked up at Emperor Qing.
Only Fan Xian was so absorbed in his eating that he did not hear Emperor Qing calling him, and continued to eat and drink with big mouthfuls.
Mei Cheng'an shook his head helplessly, picked up a peppercorn that he had just picked up on the table, and threw it directly at Fan Xian.
The peppercorns hit the side of his face. Fan Xian paused, then puffed out his cheeks, held the wine in one hand, held the chopsticks in the other and glared at his fellow villager.
"What's Lee doing?"
Mei Cheng'an tilted his head and turned his back to Emperor Qing, cursing in a low voice.
"Stop eating, are you deaf? His Majesty is calling you."
"back…"
Fan Xian looked at Emperor Qing in a daze, and saw that Emperor Qing was indeed squinting at him. He came to his senses and continued chewing frantically.
He threw down the chopsticks with his right hand, gestured to Emperor Qing to wait, and then took the opportunity to drink a glass of wine to wash down the food in his mouth.
When he had almost finished swallowing, Fan Xian quickly stood up and walked to the middle aisle to bow to Emperor Qing.
"His Majesty!"
Emperor Qing glanced at him and spoke calmly.
"You have seen me several times, but you never kneeled down. This time, I thought you would still stand."
Fan Xian clasped his hands on his abdomen and replied while shaking his head.
"That would incur public wrath, and I am not stupid."
Upon hearing this, the ministers murmured in their hearts that Fan Xielu was too bold.
The Northern Qi delegation was surprised. Is this how the ministers of Qing responded to the emperor? If this happened to the Northern Qi, their heads would be smoking.
Mei Chengan curled the corners of his mouth and said, "Are you feeling proud now, bro?"
Emperor Qing was already accustomed to Fan Xian's bold discovery, so he didn't take it seriously. He didn't even look at him and just waved at him.
Fan Xian walked to the platform with a swagger and stopped. Emperor Qing was fiddling with his chopsticks in the plate, looking up at him and squinting his eyes.
"You look dazed, you're a heavy drinker, aren't you?"
Fan Xian's eyes rolled, and he bowed and spoke loudly.
"Your Majesty, this is such a grand occasion that I can't help but feel a little nervous."
"Hehehe."
After laughing a few times, Emperor Qing suddenly looked towards the seat on his right.
"Yun Zhilan!"
Yun Zhilan stood up and walked around the table, bowed and stood quietly.
Emperor Qing pointed at Fan Xian and Yun Zhilan and said.
"Your two disciples were arrested just for trying to kill him, and then committed suicide out of fear of punishment."
Yun Zhilan glanced at Fan Xian and replied.
"I know."
Emperor Qing leaned forward.
"Don't underestimate him because he's young. He's quite capable. Not to mention that your two disciples haven't found a chance to attack. Even if they were given a chance, they might not be his match."
Yun Zhilan glanced at Fan Xian again and spoke calmly.
"They are not well-trained, so killing them is nothing. Killing me is a real skill!"
Hearing this, Fan Xian frowned and glanced at him.
Emperor Qing was also very displeased when he heard this. He slammed his chopsticks heavily on the table and looked at Yun Zhilan angrily.
"Si Gu Jian's disciple is just a little arrogant!"
Yun Zhilan was as calm as his name suggests. Facing Emperor Qing's scolding, he simply bowed respectfully and returned to his seat.
Emperor Qing looked at him and suddenly raised the corner of his mouth, his expression softening again.
"I understand."
After a pause, Emperor Qing raised his head and looked down the hall again.
"Fan Xian, a memorial has come from the Honglu Temple, saying that you did a good job this time. The war was started by you and ended by you. I don't want to praise you in public. Come, have a drink with me."
Eunuch Hou responded by pouring wine for Emperor Qing. Fan Xian took a look, turned around to look at his fellow villager, pointed at his own table, then gestured a drink, and then hooked his hand.
Mei Chengan rolled his eyes. You're not willing to walk these two steps? You're so lazy.
If Emperor Qing wasn't watching, it would be strange for Mei Chengan to pay any attention to him.
He stood up and walked to his table, picked up his wine jug and glass, poured the wine while walking towards him, and waited until the glass was just full in front of him.
Fan Xian took the wine glass, smiled, and thanked him quietly.
"Tie up the hot old friend."
"Tie your grandma's legs."
Mei Chengan replied quickly with a smile, then turned and left.
"..."
Looking at his fellow villager's back, Fan Xian muttered to himself.
"Why are you still cursing? What kind of character is that? Bah!"
When he turned to face Emperor Qing, Fan Xian put on a smile again, held the cup in both hands and raised it from a distance, and when Emperor Qing also raised his hand to signal him, he drank it all in one gulp.
Holding the wine glass, Fan Xian turned and walked towards his seat.
However, before he had taken two steps, the second prince on the platform suddenly spoke.
"Fan Xielu, please stay."
Fan Xian was stunned for a moment, then turned around and looked at him.
The second prince stood up, walked to the middle of the platform and knelt down facing Emperor Qing.
"Your Majesty, I have something to say."
Emperor Qing shook his sleeves and looked at him.
"explain."
The second prince nodded.
"In addition to being brave and martial, Fan Xian is also a man of great literary talent. I am deeply impressed by his poetic talent.
Recently, I heard that during the negotiations with Northern Qi, Fan Xian was neither humble nor arrogant, and he knew when to advance and retreat. He is very useful!"
Emperor Qing was too lazy to listen to his nonsense and glanced at him.
"Say it directly."
Before the Second Prince spoke, he bowed to Emperor Qing.
"Next year, it would be better if Fan Xian presided over the imperial examination. The young talent would give advice to students all over the country, which would be recorded in history and become a good story."
What? Presiding over the imperial examination?
Fan Xian was dumbfounded.
As soon as these words were spoken, the ministers began to discuss.
Fan Xian? Leading the imperial examination? Putting aside the question of whether there is a precedent for this, even if it is feasible, wouldn't Mei Cheng'an be more suitable than Fan Xian?
In terms of official experience, fame, the number of poems and lyrics that have been passed down throughout the world, familiarity with the work process of the Ministry of Rites, etc., in every aspect, there is no way that he does not crush Fan Xian...
Guo Youzhi's face changed suddenly when he heard this, and then he thought that their plan had not yet started, and if it started, Fan Xian would definitely have no chance, so his face looked better.
Mei Cheng'an turned a deaf ear to the discussions around him and ate and drank quietly.
Emperor Qing was silent for a moment and suddenly looked at him.
"Mei Chengan."
The discussions in the hall suddenly died down, and everyone looked at him.
Mei Cheng'an put down his chopsticks without standing up, turned to Emperor Qing and bowed.
"The minister is here."
Emperor Qing pointed at the Second Prince with his chopsticks.
"What do you think of his proposal?"
Just say whatever you think, Mei Chengan nodded.
"Um, your Highness...sit and watch."
Emperor Qing: "..."
The ministers: "..."
Prince: "..."
The eldest princess smiled like a flower.
The second prince almost couldn't hold it in any longer, so he lowered his head and pinched his thigh wildly.
Zhuang Mohan looked at Mei Cheng'an with interest. It turned out that the young man who wrote such a famous sentence was Mei Cheng'an!
……
(End of this chapter)
