For several days, Guo Song sent letters to the families of the fallen soldiers in various places in Guanzhong, and his heart was also extremely heavy in the face of the grief of the families of the fallen soldiers.

In the evening of this day, Guo Song returned to Qingxuguan, and as soon as he walked into the gate with his horse, Senior Brother Gan Feng greeted him, "Senior brother, where have you been, I am looking for you everywhere!" ”

"Senior brother, what's the matter?"

Gan Feng took out two invitations, "They were both sent this morning, you can see for yourself." ”

"I'm sorry brother!"

Guo Song took the invitation, one was sent by Zhao Tengjiao, his father, Zhao Guanshan, the general of the Left Guard, celebrated his 60th birthday, and invited him to attend.

Guo Song asked: "Senior brother, what kind of gift does my friend's father give when he celebrates his 60th birthday?" ”

"It depends on the identity of your friend's father, and then how is the relationship?"

"The identity is the general of the left prison guard, and the friendship is average!"

Gan Feng thought for a while and said: "To be honest, Chang'an people's birthdays are very realistic, and giving silver is the most popular, but your friend's father has a bit of an identity, and it is not appropriate to send silver, you can go and buy an auspicious thing that wishes longevity, I suggest that the value of the item should not be less than three hundred." ”

Guo Song suddenly remembered that there was a pair of white jade longevity peaches in the Duobao Pavilion, the size of a fist, worth about 500 yuan, and it was best to give it as a birthday gift.

The birthday is arranged the day after tomorrow, and he still has to buy a piece of clothing, but fortunately, the tasks in his hands are almost solved, and the family of the last soldier is in Chang'an City, and he will go to deliver the letter early tomorrow morning.

Guo Song returned to his big tent, sat down and closed his eyes to rest for a while, and then he took the second invitation, which was sent by King Li Si, who invited him to a banquet in Taibai Restaurant tonight.

Frankly speaking, Guo Song didn't want to go to this banquet, first, he was not in the mood, and secondly, he didn't want to be drawn into the whirlpool of competition for the throne.

But considering that Li Si sent charcoal in the snow, sent more than 20 big tents and a lot of daily necessities, such a big favor was placed here, it was impossible for him to pretend to turn a blind eye.

Look at the time, it's almost up, helpless, Guo Song had to change his clothes and walk out of the big tent, the temporary barracks are very quiet, most of the soldiers are sent out, Li Ji went to Puzhou, Hedong, Liang Wu went to Yanzhou, there are only a dozen soldiers in the big tent to look after the house.

"Changshi is going out?" An attendant ran up to him and asked.

Guo Song nodded, "I have some personal matters, so you don't have to follow, you eat and rest, and let's go to the last one tomorrow." ”

Guo Song simply didn't ride a horse, went out and hired an ox cart to go to the Taibai Restaurant in Pingkangfang.

A bartender led Guo Song up to the Baiyu Hall on the third floor, only to see a few guards standing at the door, and one of the guards asked, "But Guo Changshi?" ”

Guo Song nodded, "Exactly!" ”

"Your Highness has been waiting for a long time, please come in!"

Guo Song pushed the door into the room, the room was very spacious, divided into two rooms by three exquisite screens, several pipa girls were playing the piano and singing low, and there was a large couch inside, on which a circle of low tables was placed, and five or six people gathered around the table.

I only heard Li Si laugh and said, "Guo Changshi is here." ”

Guo Song walked across the screen, hugged his fists apologetically, and said, "I just went back to Chang'an, and I'm late!" ”

In addition to Li Si, there were four people sitting on the couch, all of whom were not young, and they seemed to be all court officials, Guo Song only felt that one of them was vaguely familiar, and the others were relatively unfamiliar.

"Guo Changshi, please sit down, it's inconvenient here, so we won't stand up."

Li Si smiled and asked Guo Song to sit down, next to Guo Song was Guo Song looking a little familiar official, as if he had a relationship at the door of the Son of Heaven's imperial study.

Guo Song suddenly remembered, "You are..... Han Sang-kook? ”

The man smiled slightly: "Old man Han Rong, Guo Changshi, I have to apologize to you!" ”

Guo Song sat down and said with a smile: "Why did Han Xiangguo say this? ”

"The old man, as a servant of the ministry, has just learned that Guo Changshi has been appointed as the governor of the Anxi Prefecture."

"Will the appointment of the Son of Heaven be disconnected when it reaches the ministry?"

"Sometimes it happens, but this situation is rare, at least for the first time in the two years I have been a servant of the ministry, this is my dereliction of duty, and I apologize to Guo Changshi."

Guo Song said lightly: "This shouldn't be your responsibility!" ”

Another rather elderly official next to him said angrily: "The court and the central government all know that Yuan Zai is the one who really holds the power of the ministry, and the key positions in the ministry are basically the people he has placed. ”

Guo Song was immediately impressed by this person, who is this! Naming and bombarding Won Jae, there are really few people in the DPRK and China who can do it.

"This senior is—" Guo Song asked.

Han Yun smiled and said: "Let me introduce to you, this is also a famous minister of the Tang Dynasty who has just been transferred back to Beijing, and he has moved the world with his calligraphy, has Yan Zhenqing heard of it?" ”

Guo Song was in awe, got up and saluted: "I have heard the name of the Duke of Lu County for a long time, and the kid is rude." ”

Yan Zhenqing is nearly seventy years old, he has just been transferred back to the capital from Jingzhou's assassin history, and he has not yet been appointed to an official position, he is jealous and hateful, and he is most unaccustomed to Yuan Zai's corruption and perversion of the law, tonight it was Han Rong who invited him to Li Xi's banquet, and he agreed without hesitation.

Yan Zhenqing smiled and waved his hand, invited Guo Song to sit down, and said with a praising gaze: "Guo Changshi put life and death outside the degree, tragic and majestic westward expedition, admirable, Datang has such a generous person to go to righteousness, Datang is also lucky!" ”

Summoning Wang Li Si introduced the other two to Guo Song, he pointed to a veteran next to him and said: "This is a veteran of the army, the king of Fufeng County, Ma Lan, who used to be the left servant of Shangshu, you should have heard of it!" ”

is another heavyweight, without waiting for Guo Song to get up and salute, Ma Lan knelt down and gave him a big salute, which startled everyone.

"Old county king, why is this?"

Ma Ling said with tears in his eyes: "I heard that the Anxi Protectorate is still there, which makes me anxious, and I can't wait to lead the army to kill back, but unfortunately I have no heart, thanks to Guo Changshi who led the army to the west and contacted the Anxi garrison, the old man is grateful, only a big gift!" ”

Ma Lan is a veteran of the Anxi Army, and he has a deep affection for Anxi, and he has written many times to ask the court to go west, but there is no result, which makes him deeply regretful.

Li Xi hurriedly said: "Today is the banquet of this king, everyone is casual, and I will introduce the last person to Guo Changshi when I have time to communicate in the future." ”

He pointed to one of the youngest officials and said, "This is Du Huangshang, who also came out of Shuofangjun, and is currently serving the imperial history, and has a good personal relationship with this king." ”

is another celebrity, Du Huangshang was the prime minister of Tang Xianzong, he was engaged in Guo Ziyi's account, in today's words, he was Guo Ziyi's secretary, the first to serve in the secretary province, and accompanied Wang Li Xi to study, so the two had a good personal relationship.

Everyone saw the salute one by one, Li Xi clapped his palms, and the delicacies were immediately served like flowing water, and three bottles of Meishou wine were served.

Everyone poured full of wine, Li Si raised his glass and said with a smile: "Today, this king has a little Yaxing, I specially invite you to drink together, and at the same time introduce Guo Song Xiaoyou to everyone, although some people in the court turn a blind eye to Guo Changshi's merits, but justice is at ease in the hearts of the people, this first cup of wine, I suggest respecting Guo Changshi." ”

Everyone raised their glasses together and said with a smile: "Congratulations to Guo Changshi on the successful completion of the task and his triumphant return!" ”

Everyone drank it all, and the maid poured wine for everyone again, Guo Song was moved, got up and raised his glass and said: "Thank you for your kindness and your predecessors, Guo Song's cup of wine is to call His Royal Highness the king, and also to all the seniors!" ”

With that, he raised his glass and drank it all.

……….

In the study, Li Shi stood in front of the window with his hands in his hands, listening to Lu Qi's latest report with a dark face.

"The news is indeed reliable, in the Baiyu Hall of Taibai Restaurant, the king was summoned to a banquet and invited five ministers, Han Rong, Yan Zhenqing, Ma Lu, Du Huangshang and Guo Song."

"What do they talk about?" Li Shi asked coldly.

"It's not clear exactly what they're talking about, but our people say that they vaguely hear them talking about the Western Regions."

"I guess they'll talk about the Western Regions."

Li Shi snorted heavily, "I don't know what to do, I still want to reuse him, it's so disappointing to me!" ”

Lu Qi was secretly proud, he finally succeeded in changing Li Shi's perception of Guo Song, and he said in a low voice: "Although he is young after all, it is impossible that he does not understand what it means to go to the banquet of the king?" Your Highness, this is his choice. ”

Li Shi said with a dark face for a long time: "This king knows!" ”