Chapter 5: The Sudden Change of the Wind and Clouds Section 25
Several of Li Wei's Taixue friends stood outside the gate of the pavilion, shouting loudly and saying a few words to Li Wei, and then they were persuaded away by Lu Ben Ling Wei Xuan's kind words.
Li Wei was depressed and walked back to the house in despair, the expression on his face looking helpless and painful.
Li Hong looked at him in surprise and asked, "Zhong Yuan, what's wrong, is something wrong?" ”
Li Wei shook his head, sighed, and said sadly: "A friend, she is getting married." ”
Jiang Wu patted Li Wei on the shoulder sympathetically, and said to Li Hong: "My lord, Zhong Yuan's friend who is going to marry probably has a good relationship with Zhong Yuan, you look at Zhong Yuan's appearance, and when he heard the news, he immediately became listless." ”
Arc Ding touched his beard and quipped, "Does Master Li also want to marry her?" ”
Li Wei glared at him fiercely, and then looked lonely, shaking his head again and again, looking heartbroken.
Qi Shen laughed: "If Master Li really has this idea, our brother will help you and snatch her back." ”
Zhao Yun laughed out loud, he pointed at Qi Shen and said, "Qi Shen, don't talk nonsense." This is Luoyang, not the prairie. The Han people marry relatives and have the customs of the Han people. ”
Arc Ding said unconvinced: "It doesn't matter what his customs, as long as Master Li likes her, our brother will help you rob it." What's so great about Luoyang, we didn't swagger in, and the adults didn't also swagger out of the palace. Now that the Lord has sworn allegiance to His Majesty the Emperor, His Majesty the Emperor will be our backer in the future, and we have such a hard backer, can't we still swagger out of Luoyang? I don't believe it. ”
Qi Shen agitated: "Zhong Yuan, tell me who your friend is?" In a few days, His Majesty will lift the ban on us, we will be able to enter and exit freely, and the brothers can start to prepare, and when the time comes, we will run away after snatching her and go back to Xiliang directly. This used to be in the prairie, and we had to do it many times a year, and it was fun. ”
Li Wei looked at them like an idiot, crying and laughing.
Jiang Wu arched his hand at them, pretending to worship them, and said with a smile: "The two eldest brothers are really masters of robbing relatives, and they dare to rob them when they go to Luoyang, and they take it, and they obey it." ”
Pang De lightly slapped the head of the arc and said with a smile: "The two brothers are arrogant. There are countless hidden dragons and crouching tigers in this Luoyang city, and there are countless masters, if you catch a person on the street and ask, he may be an official of 600 stones, or he may be a prince and nobleman, and the protégé of the gate lord family. Don't treat this place as a desert and a western coolness, there are a lot of people here. ”
Jiang Wu smiled and pointed at the two of them and said, "If the ban is lifted in a few days, we will go out in batches, especially the two of us, you must be with us, lest you see a beautiful girl on the street and rob it, even if you have a hundred heads, it is not enough to cut off." ”
The room burst into laughter, and the atmosphere suddenly became relaxed.
Although Li Wei was depressed in his heart, he couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly. Li Hong had already been lying on the desk and laughing so hard that he couldn't straighten his waist.
The laughter diluted everyone's physical and mental exhaustion, and also quietly soothed the confusion and panic in Li Hong's heart, he suddenly found in his confusion that he was originally loyal to the Han and His Majesty, or why would he go all the way to kill the Han back? He unconsciously has fallen into the power struggle of the Han Dynasty, he was suddenly swept away by this violent hurricane of power struggle, he can't distinguish between the east and the west, the fear of imminent death, for a while he completely forgot his life, forgot himself, and forgot the belief in his heart.
When I go back to Dahan, what am I going to do when I go back to my homeland? I came back to find myself, to protect my family who I had never met, the homeland of my heart, I am not loyal to the Han Dynasty, I am not loyal to His Majesty who represents the Han Dynasty, who am I loyal to? I swore allegiance to His Majesty in ignorance, isn't that the belief that sustains me to return to Dahan? Who am I doing all this for? I have fought on the battlefield with countless brothers, and for whom am I fighting? For whom did the brothers die? Only the great man, only His Majesty, and the others do not exist at all.
Li Hong saw the road of his struggle in an instant, he suddenly became full of confidence, and his body seemed to be gushing with infinite strength, he stood up suddenly, waved his hand and shouted: "Let's go and grab it." ”
Li Wei and the others looked at the murderous and radiant Li Hong, and were dumbfounded.
"Bring the wine, it's time to eat."
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Yuzhou is the hinterland of the Central Plains, since ancient times, there are many talents, heroes galloping, especially in Runan and Yingchuan two counties people are the most. From the Guangwu Emperor of this dynasty to the Shun Emperor years, Runan and Yingchuan have emerged a group of scripture masters, Runan has Dai Ping, Zhong Xing, Xu Shen, Zhou Ju, Cai Xuan, Yingchuan has Zhang Xing, Ding Hong, all of them are famous in the sea, some of these masters enjoy the reputation of "the five classics", "the five classics are vertical and horizontal", and some recruit thousands of disciples, for a generation of grandmasters. There are more famous party members here, including Runan Chen Fan in the "Three Gentlemen", Yingchuan Li Ying and Du Mi in the "Eight Jun", Runan Fan Fan and Cai Yan in the "Eight Gu", and Runan Chen Xiang in the "Eight Harmony". The gate valve of Runan and Yingchuan is even more famous, only Runan has the Yuan's gate valve of the third prince of the fourth world, the Xu's gate valve of the third prince of the third world, and the Ying's gate valve of the great Confucianism from generation to generation.
Xu's door valve because of the past dynasties have been easy to learn masters, do a lot of learning, plus the world-famous Runan "Yuedan Commentary" in recent years is presided over by the children of Xu's door valve, so the prestige of Xu's door valve is high, has been vaguely ranked first in the world.
Xu's gate valve comes from Runan Pingyu, and its ancestor is Xu Yang, a famous water conservancy expert in history. There is also a person named Xu Jun, who is famous for his divination, and his grandson Xu Man is a generation of Yixue masters in history. There is also a famous figure in their family named Xu Shen, who is the author of "Shuo Wen Jie Zi".
In the middle and late stages of this dynasty, Xu Fu, the descendant of the Xu family, and his descendants for six generations were all high-ranking officials and had not decayed for a hundred years. Xu Fu himself was the official to the rafters of the public mansion. His son Xu Jingguan to Situ. Xu Jing's son is called Xu Xun, the official is the chief of the three dukes. Xu Xun's son is Situ Xu Xiang of this dynasty. From Xu Jing to Xu Xiang, the third and third dukes of the Xu family in Runan Pingyu, and the famous people of the Xu family of the same generation as Xu have Xu Qian, Xu Shao, and Xu Jing, all of whom are contemporary superlative people, and it can be seen that the Xu family of Runan has become the first gate of the Han Dynasty.
Sikong Xu Xiang's son is going to marry on the sixteenth day of the first month, so there has been an endless stream of people who have come to send congratulatory gifts recently.
I don't know if it was intentional or coincidental, Zhao Zhong, Zhang Rang and Duan Qi, Shaofu Fan Ling, and Dahonglu Cao Song all came to the door in person to send congratulatory gifts to Lord Sikong in the afternoon of the same day.
Although Xu Xiang is over fifty years old, he is very well maintained, he has a handsome appearance, a ruddy complexion, three locks of long beard, and a little fairy wind bones. Xu Xiangmei smiled, greeted all the way, and let several adults into the study.
"That leopard has arrived in Luoyang in the morning." Cao Song said, "Your Majesty even exempted the early dynasty in order to see him, what do you think?" His Majesty values the leopard so much, does he really want to do it immediately? ”
Cao Song is in his fifties, not tall, and very fat. The old man was in good spirits, with a kind complexion, a long gray beard, and a smile when he spoke. Cao Song was one of the Great Honglu of the Nine Qings, in charge of the affairs of ethnic minorities in the border area and the affairs of the princes and princes.
Zhao Zhong is also a fat man, he sat next to Cao Song with a fat belly, and said with a smile: "Jugao, Your Majesty was grown up by us, what can he do with his courage?" Don't worry, he can't make up his mind, he has a soft heart. ”
Fan Ling looked rich, not as fat as Cao Song and Zhao Zhong, he squinted a pair of small eyes, and said with a smile: "Now it seems that Your Majesty attaches great importance to leopards, and he is worried that the leopards will be killed, so he will be arranged to live temporarily in Zhangyuetai, and Wei Duan, the brigade commander of the Southern Army, will personally lead the team and lead two hundred horses to strictly protect it." Xia Yun and Xiahou Ye were also suddenly driven back to Chang'an by His Majesty. Your Majesty did this, did you think that someone in Luoyang must want to kill the leopard? And how many marquis are going to kill him? ”
"Killing must be killed." Duan Jue sneered, "This leopard is too ferocious, if you don't kill it now, once you have full wings in the future, he will kill us." In order to prevent trouble, it is better to kill him. ”
Zhang Rang frowned, and the thin old face was even more ugly. He sighed and said, "The general is going to deal with us, do you know? ”
"I said a long time ago that the position of this great general cannot be set, and you will not listen. The He Jin brothers and sisters had no power at the beginning, of course, they tried their best to convince us, but this does not mean that they will not bite us back when their wings grow stiff in the future. Zhao Zhong didn't feel the slightest surprise, he pointed to the people in the room, and said indignantly, "And you, you didn't listen to me at that time." Back then, the Beigong incident was so thrilling, we almost died, and now you have forgotten it, right? ”
"Did he kill us now?" Duan Jue pursed his lips disdainfully, and said lazily, "Without our support, the Empress will immediately abolish her." Without us, He Jin, who killed the pig, just wanted to go back to the countryside and couldn't eat pig, what was he angry about? ”
Xu Xiang waved his hand and retorted: "Master Hou despises the general too much. In recent years, the general Taoguang has been obscure, and Corporal Lixian has recruited a lot of talents. In order to prevent changes in the imperial system in the future and bring disaster to the clansmen, he secretly accumulated a lot of strength. I think this man is very far-sighted, very smart, and has good means, and we can't take it lightly. If you look at his general's mansion, on the surface, they are all sages and celebrities, but in fact, there are several sets of people in secret, and I think his ambition is not small. ”
Zhao Zhong smiled indifferently and asked Zhang Rang: "Self-ride, what do you think?" ”
"I see that His Majesty is in a hurry to recall the leopard, purely because he has nothing to do. He fears that the world will not be chaotic, and he wants to force us to fight to the death with the pig killer. Zhang Rang gritted his teeth and said, "We are all dead, Your Majesty's plan will succeed, and he can do whatever he wants." ”
Zhao Zhong and Duan Qi's eyes lit up, and they nodded again and again in a sudden realization. Xu Xiang, Cao Song and Fan Ling were slightly surprised, and then their eyes showed admiration.
"What is a leopard? He is a bloody piece of meat in His Majesty's hand, and His Majesty is now holding it in his hand, thinking about where to throw it. If we lose it well, we and the pig killer will die in pieces, and if we lose it badly, we and the pig killer will both lose and let him slaughter at will. ”
When everyone listened, their hearts were cold, and they didn't speak.
Cao Song took a sip of water and said slowly: "Zicheng and the general are in-laws, and the queen relies on you lords very much, we can ......"
"Don't even think about it." Zhang Rang waved his hand vigorously and interrupted Cao Songdi's words, "This matter is obvious, we are the enemy of all arrows, except for Your Majesty, who doesn't want to kill us, everyone wants to kill us." Our friendship with the pig killer is like a tiger seeking skin, dying faster. ”
"Then ...... now" Duan Jue hesitated and asked, "Do we still kill the leopard, and do we still eat this piece of meat?" ”
"Can't be killed." Zhang Rang said resolutely, "Once Your Majesty leaves Luoyang, we will start a life-and-death battle with the pig killers. Your Majesty is not in Luoyang, what do we have to rely on, we don't even have a seal to stamp for forging a holy decree. There is the Northern Army who killed the pig, as well as his own private army, his private army is in Xingyang, so many troops, what can we do except wait for death? ”
"What does the Hou Ye mean is that he wants His Majesty to take away the eldest prince and take the opportunity to blackmail the general?" Xu Xiang asked.
Zhang Rang nodded, his eyes revealing a hint of murder.
"But with His Majesty's thoughts, he will definitely not take the eldest prince away." Xu Xiangshu said, "What's more, the eldest prince is not in Luoyang, and there is no guarantee that the general will not attack us?" Unless the general wants to ......" Xu Xiang was suddenly shocked, and his face showed a look of horror.
Zhao Zhong and Cao Song thought of the word "killing the king" at the same time, and the room suddenly fell silent, and the atmosphere was suffocating.
Duan Jue involuntarily blurted out and exclaimed: "Your Majesty is so scheming, no wonder he issued five holy decrees in a row to urge the leopard to return to Beijing, it turns out that he has already seen it." Then why didn't he just kill He Jin......" Then he thought that what he said was really stupid, kill He Jin? Can you kill He Jin now? Once He Jin was in a hurry, he first killed the lieutenant official, and then took the opportunity to blame the lieutenant official to kill the Son of Heaven, and then coerced the good name of the traitor and the gate lord clan to jointly support the eldest prince to inherit the imperial line, then everything would fulfill He Jin's wish. Can't you even see such a simple thing? Duan Jue felt that this pig-killing man had really fledged, and now not only did the tail not fall off, but also threatened his survival.
"Your Majesty recalls the leopard, and with the strength of the leopard, it is naturally not a problem to protect him and Xiao Donghou." Zhang Rang said, "If the general wants to kill us, he will naturally get the support of the gate lord clan." We were the only ones left, a group of helpless old men. What to do? Zhang Rang said at the end and yelled.
"Let Dong Fatzi return to Guanxi immediately and rush to the Hedong garrison with the army, he is the only force we can rely on." Zhao Zhong had regained his composure, he patted his big belly gently, and said slowly, "It's not that there has been an ant thief rebellion in Hedong recently, so let's report to Your Majesty for this reason." ”
"Your Majesty will return to Jizhou, Zhonghuangmen, the Tiger Army, the Yulin Army, and most of the Southern Army will accompany you, and the key is the Northern Army." Fan Ling said, "The Northern Army suffered great losses in the process of suppressing the rebellion in Xiliang, and there are still about 30,000 people, and the general is now recruiting troops to expand the army." If we persuade Your Majesty to let the leopard take away 20,000 northern troops to Jizhou to pacify the Black Mountain ant thieves, then the general's strength will be weakened a lot, and our chances of victory will be greater. ”
"As long as Your Majesty is safe and sound, and the general dares to attack us in Luoyang, he will raise troops to cause chaos, and the crime will not be forgiven." Duan Jue sneered, "Even if we lose both, we're not afraid." If the pig is injured, it is death, and if we are injured, we can still be rewarded for meritorious service. He looked at Cao Song and said, "Brother Jugao, when will Meng De come back?" Hurry up and urge him to come back, let him be a captain in the Northern Army, what else can I do to kill pigs? ”
"Yes, Jugao, why did you come back? I've already sent someone to rush you a few times. If something happens to Jingzhong, we will have to rely on him to lead the army. Zhang Rang pointed at Cao Song and said, "Can you rush back before the Chinese New Year?" ”
Cao Song said: "Almost. Hide that stinky temper, don't you know, can I control it? Estimated about the same. ”
"Then let's do it." Zhang Rang said to Xu Xiang and Fan Ling, "Gongfu, Deyun, you and Ju Gao jointly wrote a book to intercede with Dong Zhuo, he was impeached by Taiwei Zhang Wen, Yuan Peng, the general of the five senses, and the counselor Tao Qian, and the Lang Sun Jian, and so far have not been dealt with. In my opinion, let him offset his merits, or be a broken general, and return to Kansai immediately. ”
Xu Xiang bowed his head slightly and said with a smile: "It's rare for a few of us to get together once, let's go, drink and talk." ”
"Okay, okay, let's go have a drink first...... a few people laughed and got up one after another.
Zhao Zhong suddenly said: "By the way, Gongfu, I see that you wrote a letter to Mr. Xu Shaoxu, asking him to come to the capital and show us the good fortune, what do you think?" ”
"I'm not moving." Xu Xiang nodded helplessly, and said with a wry smile, "Several younger brothers are all high, and they don't want to associate with me, there is no way." ”
"You write a letter, be sincere, don't put on a big brother's show. The nephew is married to the daughter of Zhu Jun and Zhu Gongwei, a great Confucian and Guanglu doctor, your family is a Han family, and there are many celebrities, and it can't be said that a few famous people don't come, it's too rude. Xu Shao doesn't give you face, but he always has to give face to Lord Zhu. You write a letter, and I promise him to come. ”
Xu Lianlian nodded and said, "It makes sense, it makes sense." ”
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When Cao Song returned home, he hurriedly wrote a letter, ordering his family to hurry up and urge Cao Cao to return to Beijing.
Cao Song is a native of Peiguo County, his original surname was Xiahou, and he was the second son of Xiahou. Cao Song's family was poor when he was young, and his father saw that he could not support his two sons, so he left his eldest son Xiahou Wei (Xiahou Dun's father) and gave his younger son Xiahou Song to Zhongguan Cao Teng and changed his name to Cao Song.
Although Cao Song's adoptive father Cao Teng is a very popular minister, he is by no means a powerful man. On the contrary, Cao Teng attaches great importance to celebrities from all over the world, and is quite admired by celebrities from all over the world, so that Cao Song can be regarded as a sage and a sage when he was young, and he knows etiquette, and he is not contaminated with the pampered temperament of the children of official eunuchs. After completing his studies as a teenager, Cao Song was promoted as filial piety by Zhao Zhi, the Taishou of Dunhuang, and was appointed as the commander of Xingyang. What truly reflects Cao Song's filial piety and honesty is the story of Cao Song and Zhao Zhi.
Zhao Zhi is an honest and simple official praised by the world, and the official worships the East China Sea, passing through Xingyang during his appointment, how to say that Zhao Zhi is also regarded as having the grace of knowing Cao Song, Cao Song naturally greeted him, but he expected Zhao Donghai to turn a blind eye, and the group of people and horses went away, and Cao Song chased to the ten-mile long pavilion, but still did not catch up. In the face of Engong's cold reception, Cao Song was not ashamed, but said: "Lord Zhao Shi is expected by people at home, but now he has avoided my realm, and people outside will know about it, and they will definitely laugh at me for treating my benefactor lightly!" So he abandoned the seal ribbon and chased Zhao Shi along the way to the East China Sea border, and after the visit, he said goodbye and returned home, and the Xingyang order naturally had nothing to do, he went home directly. After Cao Teng's death, Cao Song was hereditary Fei Tinghou. He has successively served as the captain of the division, the great Si Nong, and the current Da Honglu. Cao Song is ranked in the position of Jiuqing, which can be said to be a high position, so he is naturally rich.
Cao Cao was very naughty when he was a child, and he was trained by Cao Song several times, and he had no fame but loved to dance with guns and sticks. Thanks to Cao Song's old friend Lu Bohao, when he was an official in Shandong, he also gave Cao Cao a filial piety, so Cao Cao stepped into his career under the appeasement of his father.
After Cao Cao sent Chen Yi away, he arranged for his wife Ding to stay in Qian County, and he took his concubine Bian and immediately set off for Beijing.
He received another letter from his father in Chenliu.
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Xu Shao received a letter from Xu Xiang inviting him to Beijing at his home in Pingyu, Runan, and he thought about it for a long time and decided to go to Luoyang after the New Year.
He ordered his family to send the letter to his cousin Xu Jing, and Xu Xiang invited him as well.
Xu Shao is a general, and when he is young, he talks about ethics and comments on characters. Xu Jing's words are resting, and when he was young, he had the reputation of being a good person. Because Xu Shao and Xu Jing both have high reputations, Runan people say that there are two dragons in Pingyuyuan. The reason why the two of them are famous all over the world is because of the "Yuedan Review". The Yuedan review is known as the "first comment" in the world, and there are many people who have soared because of the high evaluation of the Yuedan.
The system of electing officials, which was mainly based on inspection and recruitment, had a huge defect in emphasizing "morality" over "talent". This dynasty takes "morality" as the first priority. However, morality is a very vague concept, so it is inevitably tainted with a heavy color of "rule by man". The reputation of "morality" mainly depends on the creation of public opinion, and under the inspection system that attaches importance to character observation and recommendation, rather than examination, it is very important to obtain the affirmation and praise of important figures in society in advance.
At that time, if you wanted to enter the office, you had to rely on "personnel" to become famous, and you had to be extraordinary, and gain great fame. In the later period of this dynasty, the heroes of the gate lord clan praised each other, self-flaunted, and the topic of rumors prevailed for a while, what "the name of the township", "the words of the people", "the name of the world", etc., formed a kind of social public opinion, and the quality of the public opinion determines the future of the person being evaluated. As a result, the wealthy families who presided over the public discussion had great authority, and those who could recognize talents and raise scholars enjoyed a great reputation. They not only have a significant influence in the world of public opinion, but also can influence the employment of the imperial court to a certain extent.
For example, whoever is favored by Li Ying will immediately carp jump over the dragon gate and be worth a hundred times. Li Ying's fellow villager Nie Jibao is a child of a small family, and after his colleague Du Zhoufu recommended him to Li Ying, Li Ying called him to his home. Nie Jibao sat on the cow coat under the stone steps, and talked to Li Ying slightly, and Li Ying said: "This person is regarded as a national soldier." Later, it was as he said, but if it was not for Li Yingpin's question, Nie Jibao would inevitably die of old age. Some famous scholars who are not officials, contemporary Confucians, because they are good at discovering and appreciating characters, can also influence public opinion. For example, Guo Tai, who has never been a leader in his life, Chen Ye, who is cloth, and Fan Fan, a celebrity who lives in the hermitage township, are all very authoritative talent appraisers, and Xu Shao, the leader of the "Yuedan Review", is a titan figure who shakes the government and the opposition.
Xu Shao and Xu Jing used their fame to recommend sages to the imperial court, especially those who were virtuous but poor. Among them, the "Six Sages" recommended by Xu Shao are the most famous. They are Fan Zizhao, Yu Chengxian, Li Shucai, Guo Ziyu, Yang Xiaozu, and He Qia. All six of them were from humble backgrounds. Fan Zizhao was a headscarf seller, Yu Chengxian was a pastoral supervisor (cattle herding and charioting), Li Shucai was a farmer in the countryside, and Guo Ziyu was a servant of the saddle horse, that is, a postman who delivered letters. After Xu Shao's comments, these people were immediately promoted by the local county guard. After the six became officials, they were all able to govern the township and county with their talents and virtues, and won the praise of the people.
It is a pity that this kind of behavior of arguing and disagreeing with people and personal feelings was soon abolished due to the occurrence of the party rebellion, and the evaluation of the Qing Dynasty was expressly forbidden by the imperial court.
Xu Xuan, who was the Taishou of Runan at the time, admired Xu Shao's name and took the initiative to find Xu Shao to recruit him to work for Gongcao. Xu Shao was upright by nature, not good at socializing, and his relationship with colleagues was also strained, so he finally abandoned his official position and went home. After that, the government recruited him as the government again, and the court also wanted to award him the Yanling County Order, but he refused one by one.
Xu Jing is one year younger than Xu Shao, and the two fell out because of political discord, and Xu Shao no longer ignored Xu Jing. Xu Jing, whose life is in a difficult situation, can only rely on a horse to grind noodles to survive. A few years ago, Liu Yi, a native of Yingchuan, succeeded Xu Xuan as the Taishou of Runan County, and Xu Jing only then got a small position in the history of Pengshi in the county, but his life was still very poor.
Xu Jing was overjoyed when he saw Xu Xiang's letter and immediately decided to go to Beijing.
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The custom of "dusting and sweeping the house on the twenty-fourth day of the lunar month" has a long history. According to the record of "Lü's Spring and Autumn Period", China had the custom of sweeping dust during the Spring Festival in the Yaoshun era. According to the folk saying: because of the homonym of "dust" and "Chen", the New Year dust sweep has the meaning of "removing Chen Buxin", and its intention is to sweep all the "poor luck" and "bad luck" out of the door. This custom carries people's desire to break with the old and create the new, and the prayer to leave the old and welcome the new.
This was the second day of Li Hong's arrival in Luoyang.
Xiao Huangmen Jian Shuo came to Zhangyuetai early, he accompanied Li Hong to eat some snacks, and then urged Li Hong to enter the palace.
"Is it the upper court?" Li Hong asked.
"It's not." Jian Shuo smiled, "Your Majesty is not going to court today, he will take you to Yongle Palace." ”