To meet the emperor, he must first choose an auspicious day, then fast and bathe, and assume a pious posture like a pilgrimage. But now is an extraordinary period, all of this is unnecessary. Liu Bei, alone, followed Long Fei to Jiaxia. Because Long Fei
With the arrival of the new year, Liu Xie deliberately postponed the morning dynasty by three hours and turned it into an afternoon dynasty.
In the palace, the bells and drums rang together, the whips sounded three times, and the chamberlains called out the call to court in the unique voices of the chamberlains. All civil and military officials arranged their attire, held guards in their hands, and lined up in several rows according to their rank.
A procession of people walked towards the newly completed Chongming Hall. They took off their shoes at the door and stepped on the wooden floor to the center of the hall. After everyone stood up, they heard the sound of His Majesty arriving! Liu Xie, wearing court uniform, came from the side of the hall.
Supported by two chamberlains, he slowly walked towards his throne step by step.
This hall was built according to Long Fei's design. It was originally dark and had several large windows on both sides. The sun is very poisonous nowadays. It shines through the windows and illuminates the entire hall brightly. Liu
Xie's seat is at the very back, where it is the darkest. Candles still need to be lit on both sides, and the sense of mystery is even greater than before.
After everyone had paid their respects, the chamberlain hurriedly reported: "Your Majesty, General Zhenguo, Long Fei, the prefect of Wancheng, is outside the palace asking for an audience!"
"Xuan!"
"General Xuan Zhenguo and Long Fei, the prefect of Wancheng, have an audience...!"
With Long Fei's current status, he can fully enjoy the qualifications of being praised and worshiped without fame, being unyielding in the court, and going to the palace with swords and shoes. But Xun Yu firmly opposed it. Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, no official has ever had such treatment. Even in the later stages,
He Jin and others did not dare to do this. Only Dong Zhuo gave himself such a title. People in the world regarded this as a symbol of seeking the throne. The officials did this to compare Long Fei with Dong Zhuo and Xun Yu.
See clearly.
Long Fei believed that what Xun Yu said was reasonable, so he refused to accept it. The imperial court issued edicts three times, but Long Fei refused to comply. Also because Dong Cheng's incident happened and he was quickly wiped out by Long Fei, the courtiers did not dare to press further.
Long Fei came up to the palace, took off his sword, took off his shoes and entered the palace. He fell down and bowed down. Liu Xie got up in a hurry, and two chamberlains hurried over to help Long Fei up.
"My beloved is coming from afar! Please give me a seat!"
Under the gaze of everyone, even Tai Fu Ma Ridan and Tai Servant Zhao Qi could only stand, but Long Fei, a small general of the country, was sitting majestically on the lower left side of Liu Xie. Even so, no one felt that
No, this is the power of military power. With military power, even if you are just a small captain, you can do whatever you want in the court. Long Fei knew this well.
"Ai Qing came here in a hurry, what's the matter?" Liu Xie looked a little cautious, and his voice was much lower.
Long Fei cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I went to Jizhou to deliver the decree successfully, and I came here to report to Your Majesty! The rebel Gongsun Zan has been killed, and General Yuan Shao has successfully wiped out Youzhou, and is now recovering Bingzhou, which was controlled by the Black Mountain bandits.
Soon, Hebei will be safe and sound! In addition, the coffin of Lord Liu Yu, the former shepherd of Youzhou, was also escorted back to Luoyang by his son Liu He. I will send troops to bury it. Everything is in order and I will come to explain to Your Majesty."
"My dear, thank you for your hard work! With my dear here, I can rest assured!"
The servant Zhao Qi glanced sideways at Long Fei: "Yuan Shao captured Youzhou under the pretext of avenging Liu Yu, but in the hands of the general Zhenguo, he became a hero of our great Han Dynasty! How ridiculous."
Zhao Qi, a veteran of the three dynasties, was originally a party member. He was originally expelled by Emperor Ling. Dong Zhuo was in charge of the government and re-appointed Zhao Qi. In the past, Zhao Qi regarded Dong Zhuo as having the kindness to meet him, so he and Dong Zhuo were in the same league. After Dong Zhuo was executed, Zhao Qi also
The glory of the past is gone. In fact, Zhao Qi was involved in Yang Feng's kidnapping of the emperor and Dong Cheng's attempt to kidnap the emperor again this time. It's just that Long Fei thought he was old so he let him go. But Zhao Qi thought he was hiding
He is so good that he often confronts Long Fei.
Long Fei glanced at Zhao Qi: "Master Zhao is right. I also think that Yuan Shao is very unreliable. Back in the court, His Majesty ordered Yuan Shao to capture and kill Gongsun Zan. Master Zhao didn't seem to object, right?"
Why do you suddenly say such words now? Do you think His Majesty is wrong?"
"Hmph! I am loyal to the great man. His Majesty's decree was right. What was wrong was that he chose the wrong person to deliver it!"
"Really?" Long Fei chuckled. Every time Long Fei came, there would be one or two thorns among the courtiers. As soon as Long Fei left, these people quickly disappeared without a trace. Only this Zhao Qi always stood tall.
No, these people have been in the political whirlpool for many years, and they see these things clearly. However, this Zhao Qi seems not to be aware of it.
Ma Ridan quickly smoothed things over: "Sir Zhao, General Long is an important minister of my great Han Dynasty. Your Majesty's humerus. I won't talk about this today. I heard that General Long has something important to report. I don't know what it is?"
Long Fei ignored Zhao Qi and turned to Liu Xie: "Your Majesty, when passing by Yuzhou on the way back, there was a man who claimed to be a relative of your Majesty. I don't dare to make a decision, so I brought you back to your Majesty for your Majesty and all the ministers to make a decision!"
"Oh?" Liu Xie was delighted: "Is there anyone in the royal family who is in charge of the army?"
"Yes!" Long Fei nodded: "This man's surname is Liu Mingbei and his courtesy name is Xuande. He is from Zhuo County. He claims to be the descendant of Prince Jing of Zhongshan and a descendant of Emperor Xiaojing. I saw his strange appearance and led tens of thousands of soldiers to garrison.
Yuzhou, my three generals Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Taishi Ci are all world-famous heroes, and I have brought them here to see Your Majesty!"
"Hurry up and call me!" Liu Xie seemed a little impatient.
It was not long before Liu Bei walked into the hall with his back bent and his head lowered. As soon as he reached the entrance of the hall, Zhao Qi rushed over angrily and shouted at Liu Bei: "The bold thief dares to enter the hall with shoes on. What are you going to do?"
Rebellion?"
It turns out that although Liu Bei is a hero, he has seen scenes like this there. The majestic warriors, the solemn hall, and the voices coming from above sounded like heaven. In his panic, he even forgot to take off his shoes and hurried in.
When Zhao Qi shouted, Liu Bei hurriedly looked down and saw that his two clear footprints were already imprinted on the smooth floor. Not daring to make any more mistakes, he took two steps back, took off his shoes, and immediately knelt down.
"Master Zhao, don't be like this. It's normal for people in the mountains and fields to have never seen your majesty. I think this man has a strange appearance and is an extraordinary person!" Ma Ridan came to the rescue again.
Liu Xie nodded repeatedly: "Your Majesty, you don't have to be like this. With General Long here, who dares to do anything against me?"
Zhao Qi snorted coldly, glared at Liu Bei, and returned to his place. Liu Bei hurriedly knelt down three times and kowtowed nine times, looking quite embarrassed. In addition, he was not wearing appropriate clothes. He came from Wancheng in a dusty way, and there was sweat on his face.
He didn't even do anything, he just looked like a rough guy: "Liu Bei, a humble minister, come to see your majesty!"
"Love Qing's life!"
Liu Bei stood up slowly, still not daring to look up. Liu Xie nodded: "What is your position now, Aiqing?"
"Your Majesty, at the beginning of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, I followed Lord Lu Zhi to conquer the Yellow Turban bandits, and was appointed by the imperial court as Prime Minister of Pingyuan. Later, in Xuzhou, Mengzhou Mu Taoqian saw it, and the people of Xuzhou elected me to be the governor of Xuzhou. Now I live in Yuzhou.
No job!" Liu Bei's last words were very unconfident.
Liu Xie glanced at Long Fei and then asked: "General Zhenguo said that Ai Qing is a member of the royal family, do you take it seriously?"
"Your Majesty, I am indeed a descendant of the royal family, a descendant of the filial emperor, and the queen of Prince Jing of Zhongshan."
"You are a bold man who dares to pretend to be a descendant of the royal family. Come here! Pull this man down!" Zhao Qi couldn't bear it anymore. He thought Liu Bei was another confidant of Long Fei and wanted to use this to get an official position.
Fortunately, they have gained a foothold in the imperial court. The three people left behind are now: Mi Fang, who is appointed as Wu Guan Zhonglang General, in charge of the palace guards; Guan Hai, who is appointed as a guard; and he is in charge of all the troops and horses outside the palace.
Zhong Yao was also the one who gave him the most headache. He was the minister. Apart from Ma Ridan and himself, he was the only one who was the biggest in the court. These three people were enough for him. Wouldn't another one mean that all officials would be completely ignored? So.
Zhao Qi was very angry.
Long Fei said: "Master Zhao, why don't you just listen to what he has to say? Your Majesty is here, why are you doing this?"
Liu Bei hurriedly took out a scroll of bamboo slips from his arms and presented it with both hands: "Your Majesty, this is my family tree. Please read it clearly! I am not pretending!"
Liu Xie waved his hand, and a chamberlain took the bamboo slip from Liu Bei's hand and handed it to Liu Xie. Liu Xie looked at it for a while and then handed it to Long Fei. The expression on his face changed immediately, and he seemed to be beaming: "Okay! Very good.
!,Where is Zongzheng?”
Someone came out in a hurry. Long Fei handed Liu Bei's genealogy to the chamberlain and asked it to be handed over to Zong Zheng. Liu Xieyao said: "Look, if it is correct, Liu Bei will be able to recognize his ancestor and return to the clan. This will be a blessing for me as a man!"
Liu Yu was originally Zongzheng, but because he stayed in Youzhou, the affairs of the court were handled by Zongzheng, the prime minister. After Liu Yu died, the prime minister became Zongzheng naturally. The new Zongzheng held Liu Bei's genealogy in his hands, and while reading it, he felt in his heart
Constantly guessing. On the one hand, he had to guess what Liu Xie meant. From Liu Xie's expression, he could tell that Liu Xie wanted to take this opportunity to win over Liu Bei. On the other hand, he also wanted to guess what Long Fei meant. Since this person is
Long Fei introduced it, and Long Fei most likely hopes to facilitate this matter.
Zongzheng looked at it for a long time and rerolled the bamboo slip: "Your Majesty, this genealogy is correct! This Liu Bei is truly a descendant of the royal family!"
"Hehehe..." Liu Xie let out a hearty laugh: "Very good! Very good! Then what is his relationship with me?"
Zong Zheng hurriedly said: "From the genealogy, Liu Bei is the seventeenth generation descendant of Emperor Xiaojing, and your Majesty is the fifteenth generation descendant of Emperor Xiaojing, so this Liu Bei is your Majesty's imperial grandson."
"Imperial grandson?" Long Fei had already expected such a result. He turned his head and glanced at Liu Bei, and understood something in his heart. Liu Bei was really powerful. The so-called genealogy bamboo slips were obviously newly made. The silk threads on them were still shining, and the handwriting was also bright.
It is clearly visible. And the identity of this imperial grandson not only satisfies his wish to be a descendant of the royal family, but also minimizes everyone's suspicion of him. He is indeed a tyrant.
Liu Xie clapped his hands and said, "Well done! Your Majesty, your grandson will be fine soon. He will stay in the palace to have a light meal with me today."