Gongsun He and Gongsun Ao came hand in hand, bringing extremely rich gifts. Su Ren knew that some of them were given by Liu Che in his own name. Su Jian was not Su Ren's legitimate son, and Su Ren was an idler with no official title.
Liu Che could not reward civilians according to the rules of the palace, so he could only use this method to commemorate the brotherhood between them.
Gongsun Ao laughed loudly as soon as he came in from the gate: "I'm talking about Zi Heng! Isn't this scene too big for you? Even if you are hired in these few days, it will take at least half a year to get married, and it will be next year anyway.
, why are you getting busy now? How big of a scene are you planning to create? Could it be more than His Majesty’s wedding?”
Su Ren laughed loudly: "How is that possible? Now I am just a commoner, and I don't dare to overdo it even if I have ten heads. I just have more friends. I have traveled all over the world in these years, and I haven't gained anything else.
, I got to know some people, but because there are so many of them and they are far away, I can only start from now."
Gongsun Ao also laughed loudly: "It's true. In the past ten years, you have traveled to Lingnan, the Western Regions, and beyond the Great Wall. You have also done great things that make us admire. You naturally make good friends. Su Jian is your eldest son.
, even though my status is slightly inferior, I still can’t lose face.”
A few people chatted and laughed and entered the main room. The banquet had already been set up. As the guest of honor, Leng Jun could only come over to accompany the guests. However, his cold look made the banquet a little embarrassed. Fortunately, Leng Jun was just pretending.
, not long after, he left on the pretext of having something to do, which allowed the atmosphere to relax a bit. Su Ren sent someone to call Su Jian and Leng Mei over to give gifts to the two father's brothers. Gongsun He and Gongsun Ao brought several of the things they carried with them.
He gave the two children something as a gift, and said some auspicious words about a happy marriage and a baby soon, and then the children exited the door.
Everyone knew that Gongsun He and Gongsun Ao came with a mission from His Majesty the Emperor, so the servants were kicked out by Liu Gao early and the door was closed, leaving only Huang Shisan and Man Niu sitting on the steps.
The guessing game is so exciting.
Gongsun He looked around and put down his wine glass with some sadness: "What are you going to do? You know there are already people in the court who are ready to impeach again. This time it is not disrespectful!"
Su Ren smiled slightly and refilled Gongsun He's wine glass: "Is it such an exaggeration? I am already a commoner, and they still don't want to let me go? Is there any real evidence?"
"There is no real evidence, but you and I both know that if..."
Gongsun Ao suddenly slapped his palm on the table: "What if? What Ziheng didn't do when he had a large number of soldiers and had strong military morale, I don't believe he will do it now! It's all the fault of those villains around His Majesty.
Grandpa was so desperate that he took my big knife and chopped all of them with his fucking sword!" He raised his neck, drank the wine in the glass and let out an angry sigh.
Su Ren patted Gongsun Ao on the shoulder, picked up the jug and poured wine: "Who are they? Or are they Wang Wenshu and Li Cai?"
Gongsun He sighed: "Not only them, but also Lang Zhongling Zhao Zhou and General Bi Li Xi."
"Wang Wenshu, we are mortal enemies of Li Cai and others. Li Xi has offended people by the Yellow River. I can understand these people. Who is Zhao Zhou? Why haven't you heard of this person? His Majesty brought him up?"
Gongsun Ao gritted his teeth: "This Zhao Zhou is the most annoying. Do you still remember that student of yours?"
Su Ren smiled and said: "I have more students, which one are you talking about?"
"The one who was expelled from Lou Guan Academy!"
"Master Jinghou?"
"That's him. Zhao Zhou's father, Zhao Yiwu, was the Taifu of Chu during the reign of the late Emperor. King Liu Wu of Chu rebelled. Zhao Yiwu refused and was killed. The late Emperor recognized his father's merits and gave Zhao Zhou the title of Sanfu.
I somehow got together with your traitor Li Shizong some time ago. After His Majesty brought Li Shizong into the inner court, he appointed Zhao Zhou as Lang Zhongling in October." Gongsun Ao was very angry: "Even if it is your student Li Shizong
Shizong did not give any instructions. It was Zhao Zhou who wanted to repay his kindness or wanted to learn from your student, so he attacked you."
Gongsun He sighed: "They also inspired a lot of people. Although the official positions are not high, the number of people is quite large."
"How does Your Majesty decide?"
Gongsun Ao also sighed: "Originally, as long as your majesty stayed silent about this matter, it would naturally calm down after a while. Unexpectedly, your majesty asked the court to discuss it again. You don't know that the court has become a pot of porridge because of this matter in the past few days.
, Although Gongsun Hong is the prime minister, after all, he is not popular enough to hold his position, and I heard that he is ready to resign."
Su Ren shook his head: "I'm afraid it won't be easy!"
"Who says otherwise! Your Majesty will not let Gongsun Hong get away easily at this time. He will not leave until he comes up with a way that suits His Majesty's wishes!" Gongsun Ao suddenly smiled: "Is the Prime Minister so easy to be? What's more?
I am serving as Prime Minister to His Majesty!"
Su Ren turned to look at Gongsun He: "I heard that you have been promoted to Taifu recently. Now Wei Qing is the Grand Sima, and your family is also a Weiwei. I think you will be Gongsun Hong's next one. Do you have any ideas?"
Gongsun Ao was stunned: "You mean His Majesty is going to let him succeed Gongsun Hong as prime minister?"
"Why not? Ge Yihou is the Marquis of Guannei. He once led troops to defeat the Xiongnu. Now he is the Taifu. Do you think he is a perfect candidate for the prime minister?" Su Ren continued: "To put it bluntly, Wei Qing is the prime minister in His Majesty's eyes.
As a warrior, you, Gongsun Ao, are even worse. You are your majesty’s old guard dog. He is not the same in both civil and military affairs. Now he has both military merit and high civil service. The most important thing is that we used to be the closest to your majesty. How wonderful this is.
Candidate for Prime Minister?"
Gongsun Ao looked at Gongsun He blankly and said nothing for a long time.
Gongsun He glanced at Su Ren: "Am I not protecting you from disaster? If you didn't want to be the prime minister and caused so many things, what would have happened to me, let alone Gongsun Hong!"
"His Majesty wanted you to be the Prime Minister, so why did you tear up the imperial edict and beat up the Huangmen to do these things?"
Gongsun He snorted coldly: "You just know?"
"Well, even if you don't want to, you don't have to do this. Now you have nothing to lose! Why bother? The official position is just necessary. The title is fought for with a sword and a gun. Why not? You are really not afraid of annoying His Majesty.
Yes, directly..." Gongsun Ao made a beheading motion.
Su Ren suppressed his smile, raised his head and drank a glass of wine: "Why not be afraid? I have been thinking about this issue these days since I came back. To tear up the imperial edict and beat Huangmen and say it is treason in a big way. Even the smallest one is disrespectful. Beheading is more than enough!
I am betting, putting my own head on the friendship between me and His Majesty. I have never thought about becoming a general or a prime minister in my life."
Another drink: "When you came out of the mountains, your only purpose was to survive. Who knew that after you made some progress, you would find a bunch of people standing behind you with their mouths wide open, waiting for food, and then you would walk step by step to where you are now! Don't
Ask me what my ambition is, do you believe it when I say it’s my wife and children?”
He raised his head and was quiet for a moment: "Since I left the mountain at the age of sixteen or seventeen, I am already forty-two this year, and my son is about to get married. For twenty-six years, I have been walking northeast and west every day, either in Tiannan or Saibei.
Many times I thought I would die somewhere. Huang Shisan at the door saved me twice, and Man Niu also saved me once. They all traded their lives for mine! I believe that if I
Even if something happens, they still don’t spare themselves! Huang Shisan has been with me for twenty-six years, and Manniu has been with me for more than ten years. After all these years, we have become brothers and relatives! I don’t want to lead them to continue to live in fear.
day!"
One cup after another, Su Ren didn't know how much he drank. Gongsun He and Gongsun Ao drank with him.
"I think I have worked hard for the big man these years, right?" The two nodded quickly, and Su Ren continued: "I just want to be comfortable with my wife, my children, and these brothers who share life and death and spend a few years relaxing.
In these days, this is not too demanding, right?"
"Your Majesty has taken away my title, but I don't care, because that title means nothing to me! Your Majesty has taken away my official position, but I am very happy. I no longer have to get up early in the morning to go to court!
Money, do you think I'm in need? With my current condition, no one will mess with me! So now is my favorite life. Can you please tell your majesty that I, Su Ren, have no ambitions?
Common man, stop tossing me!"
A meal of wine was poured down the branches of the moon at noon. Several people drank a lot, which was all high-strength wine specially brewed by the Su family. After drinking, the three of them suddenly sang loudly, sometimes hugged each other and cried, sometimes laughed without stopping, and sometimes burst into tears. Su
Ren didn't know when he fell asleep, let alone when Gongsun He and Gongsun Ao left. He didn't even come out to see anyone the whole next day, and Liu Gao's reply was: The head of the family is still drunk.
Liu Che sat blankly on the chair, while Gongsun He and Gongsun Ao knelt on the ground. Neither of them dared to raise their heads to look at Liu Che's expression. Early this morning, they went into the palace to report yesterday's situation in the Su Mansion to Emperor Liu Che.
They dared to conceal and would not exaggerate. They just relayed Su Ren's original words to the emperor verbatim. They knew that the emperor would be silent for a long time after hearing this, so they could only wait.
There was a dull pain in his knees. Gongsun Ao endured it for a long time. When he couldn't bear it any longer, he moved his body slightly. Suddenly he heard the emperor's voice coming from above his head: "Get up!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The two of them stood up shakily, still with their heads lowered. Liu Che waved his hand, and the two of them wisely exited. When they arrived at the door, they looked at each other and sighed without saying a word.
Liu Che calmed down and said slightly: "Did the two of them hide anything?"
Su Kai emerged from the shadows and saluted: "Mr. Su also said, please don't torment him anymore!"
"You bastard!" After cursing this sentence, there was no more words. After a long time, he suddenly laughed and said: "Tell Gongsun Hong to stop the court discussion! Su Ren has made great achievements in defeating the Xiongnu, and he will be crowned Marquis of Yong'an and awarded the title of General of Hussars!"
Liu Ruyi was stunned and immediately replied: "No!" (To be continued)