This rich middle-aged man is none other than the eldest brother Shilang in Cui Geng's mouth, and Liu Laosi, Shangguan Wan'er's henchman.

As soon as he said this, he was almost not killed by the guys in the porcelain shop.

The guy in the store remembered that he was a guest from other places when he first came to Dingzhou, and he didn't know Cui Qingtian's status in the minds of the people, so he apologized, and then spent a lot of money to buy the porcelain vase of "Yunlong Chengxiang", and he was willing to give up.

Liu Laosi didn't care about these civilians, he was burdened with heavy responsibilities, and he didn't dare to delay any longer, so he quickly stepped up, left Hengyang County, and went straight to Dingzhou City.

The next day, he entered the city to inquire about Cui Geng's mansion in Dingzhou City, and then handed his name to the gatehouse of Cui's mansion.

Hearing that it was Liu Laosi who came, Cui Geng hurriedly greeted him in person, but before anyone arrived, the hearty laughter reached Liu Laosi's ears at the door: "Hahaha, Brother Shilang, a rare guest!" Every time I see you, there must be good things, what good news has I brought to my brother this time? ”

"Hey! What good news, this time the news is bad and it can't be worse. ”

Liu Laosi glanced around, and said hurriedly: "Erlang, this time the miscellaneous family came secretly, let's talk about it when we enter the mansion." ”

Cui Geng also noticed that Liu Laosi came to Dingzhou this time, and he seemed to have two small black mustaches on his mouth, which should be to avoid people's eyes, right?

Hearing him say that he brought bad news, his heart was even tighter, and he quickly let him into the house and invited him into his own hall.

……

In the main hall, the guests and hosts are seated.

Liu Laosi couldn't take a pleasantry, and asked straight to the point: "Erlang, there are moths on the Turks' side again!" ”

Cui Geng asked, "Turks? What's wrong with it? ”

Liu Laosi said: "After more than a year of internal affairs rectification, Modu's position has been stabilized. Didn't he say last time that he would marry the Turkic princess to the prince of our Great Zhou as a peace relative? ”

Cui Geng snorted and nodded noncommittally, he knew about it.

Liu Laosi said: "A few days ago, he changed his mind about the matter of harmony, saying that the harmony relatives did not marry their princess to our Great Zhou, but asked our court to marry the prince of Great Zhou to their Turks!" ”

Cui Geng: "......"

Song Genhai, who had just come up with tea, happened to hear this stubble, and was so frightened that he almost didn't stand firm, and almost knelt on the ground!

Song Genhai interjected angrily and funny: "Isn't that the door plugged in upside down?" ”

"Hey, Erlang, you're not in Chang'an, I don't know how big a fuss this thing is!"

Liu Laosi shook his head and sighed, and said: "That's it, there are two factions in the court, one is headed by the general secretary Zuo Weilang and Tian Guidao, and the other is headed by Leopard Taowei's general Biao Zhiwei......

Liu Laosi talked in detail about what happened in the court because of the Turkic people.

Zuo Weilang, the general of the general, returned to the Dao, he had been an envoy to the Turks, and he always believed that the new Turkic khan had great ambitions and it was difficult to insist on long-term peace with the Great Zhou. The so-called letting the Prince of Great Zhou intervene in the door is just an excuse to provoke a war. Therefore, Tian Guidao suggested that the imperial court should sternly reject his rude request, and then rearm the army.

As for the guy Yan Zhiwei, the general of Leopard Taowei, although he is the official general of Leopard Taowei, he is actually from a civilian background, so he is relatively bold.

He insisted that harmony has always been one of the effective methods of the Central Plains Dynasty to appease the alien races in the north and maintain the tranquility of the border, and there have been successful precedents in history. For example, "Zhaojun out of the plug", it has been recited through the ages. Therefore, as long as the Turkic demands are met, the problems of the northern part of the Great Zhou can be easily solved.

The two quarreled, and the officials who supported them all stood up and sprayed each other in the court!

In the end, Wu Zetian made a ruling after careful consideration, and decided to listen to the opinion of the general of Bao Taowei, Eunuch Zhiwei, and let Wu Yanxiu, the king of Huaiyang of the Great Zhou, go to the Turks and pro... Belch... Let Wu Yanxiu go to the Turks to insert the door!

Therefore, the team that sent the peace relatives this time had Hanoi Wang Wu Yizong as the main envoy, and Tian Guidao and Yan Zhiwei as the deputy envoys. One has a long black face and the other sings a red face, which must not only meet the requirements of the Turks, but also not fall into the national prestige of the Great Zhou.

When Song Genhai heard this, he was already so shocked that he couldn't close his mouth, and said in surprise: "Good girl, do you really agree to plug the door upside down?" Our Majesty the Empress will not be ......"

"Genhai, don't chew your tongue!"

Cui Geng stopped Song Genhai's disrespectful remarks in time, after all, Liu Laosi is a person in the palace, even if he has a good relationship with himself, he can't hear anyone slandering and questioning Her Majesty the Empress.

Immediately afterwards, he looked at Liu Laosi and asked, "Brother Shiro, you have been talking about this for a long time, and it seems that there is nothing wrong with me here." ”

"Why is it none of your business?" Liu Laosi said, "This time to send relatives to the honor guard, it's just the meaning of our Great Zhou, and in the end, don't you have to agree with the Turks?" ”

"Can the Turks disagree?" Cui Geng asked.

Liu Laosi said abruptly: "Yes, yes, they agreed, but they asked for another person to be the deputy envoy." ”

Suddenly, Cui He had an ominous premonition that instantly came to his heart, he pointed to his nose and asked weakly: "Brother Shiro, the deputy envoy who the Turks asked for to send relatives can't be the junior brother, right?" ”

"Isn't that you?"

Liu Laosi said: "Actually, the Turks asked to add you as a deputy envoy, there are twists and turns in it, Your Majesty is so holy, how can it not be clear?" When you were in Dingzhou, you offended the Turkic envoy Sai Xiulun to death, so that the Turks lost face, and praised the prestige of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and His Majesty and his old man knew all these things. Eh, if you want to talk about this old guy Sai Xiulun, I don't know what kind of luck he has taken. Since the last time he lost face in Dingzhou and returned to the Turks, somehow, his position has risen instead of being reduced, and he is now one of the four Turkic killings. It was his idea to propose that you be the deputy envoy of the family. ”

Cui Geng understood that "killing" is a Turkic language, and when translated into Chinese, it probably means "the head of a certain marching road". The Turks are vast and sparsely populated. In order to exercise effective rule, the country was divided into five regions, southeast, northwest, and middle, with the khan in charge of the middle chamber and the four killings in the southeast, northwest, and northwest. As one of the four Turkic killings, Sai Xiulun has nearly 20% of the Turkic military power, which can really be described as a high power.

Now that Sai Xiulun has deliberately made himself one of the three deputy envoys to send off his relatives, what is the idea of fighting, do you still need to ask?

Don't use any other way, wait until you get to the Turks, just like you did with the Great Zhou envoy Zhu Shizhi back then, the steel knife hangs on his neck, forcing himself to eat, whether he eats or not?

The more Cui Geng thought about it, the more he felt that this so-called deputy envoy to send relatives was a pit, and if he went to the Turks, he would be humiliated at least and killed at worst!

He couldn't help licking his dry lips and asked, "Then who, what did Shangguan Sheren say?" Does she have anything to say, do you want to mention my little brother? ”

"Shangguan Sheren?"

Liu Laosi's face was even more gloomy, "Brother Erlang, this time it's not that Shangguan Sheren is unwilling to help you, but that Sheren is now worried about her life, and she is too late, where can I take care of mediating for you!" ”

Shangguan Wan'er is worried about her life?

Cui Geng's face was stunned and asked, "What's the matter?" ”

"This matter has to start with who Xue Huaiyi, I want Xue Huaiyi to ...... at the beginning"

Liu Laosi slowly recounted.

It started with Wu Zetian's old love ~ Xue Huaiyi, since he had a new love ~ Shen Nanxuan, the imperial doctor, Wu Zetian has become more and more cold to him.

Before Xue Badyi made his career, he was a person who walked the streets and alleys to sell strong pills, and he didn't know how many catties and taels he had, but he actually lost his temper with Wu Zetian.

By the time he understood that the taste was coming, it was already late, and Wu Zetian had been lukewarm to him.

How can we regain Her Majesty's heart? Xue Huaiyi had an idea and thought about it.

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month of this year, the imperial court canceled the curfew, and the lights were decorated with lights, and the world carnivaled.

In order to please Wu Zetian and return to the Holy Family, Xue Huaiyi commanded his subordinates to dig a five-zhang deep pit in the Ming Hall, and buried the Buddha statue in advance in the pit and installed the mechanism. Then, a palace was built on the pit with silk.

After Wu Zetian came to the Ming Hall, Xue Huaiyi commanded his subordinates to slowly pull up the Buddha statue from the bottom of the pit to the palace built of colored silk. From the side, it looks like the Buddha statue is coming out of the ground.

At the same time, Xue Huaiyi ordered someone to kill a cow, painted a 200-foot-tall Buddha with ox blood, and hung this Buddha statue on the Tianjin Bridge in Luoyang.

He said to Wu Zetian, Your Majesty, my dear, this is what I painted with my own blood by cutting my knee. I know that Your Majesty worships Buddha, and today I used my own blood to paint such a large number of Buddha statues for Your Majesty, which shows my infatuation and sincerity for Your Majesty!

Wu Zetian was not stupid, smiled indifferently and ignored it.

Who knew that Xue Huaiyi's dedication this time not only did not please Wu Zetian, but also made it self-defeating, too, Wu Zetian is the emperor again, and then an old woman, after all, he is still a woman, isn't it? Xue Huaiyi, this stupid fork, Nima, you made such a bloody stab, which woman can be happy?

After Wu Zetian returned to the palace with a strained face, he put down his face and scolded Xue Huaiyi a few words, which happened to be heard by Shangguan Wan'er.

Shangguan Wan'er, as Her Majesty's intimate little secretary, of course, thinks about Her Majesty's thoughts and is anxious about Her Majesty's needs.

The next day, when Xue Huaiyi asked to see Wu Zetian again, Shangguan Wan'er blocked his drive.

Xue Huaiyi was already irritable because of the empress's indifferent attitude towards him, but today when he was blocked by Shangguan Wan'er, he knew that he would never be able to return to the empress's arms again, and he could no longer be favored. This is the prelude to falling out of favor and entering the cold palace!

This became the straw that broke the camel's back.

That night, he set fire to "Paradise" (an extremely majestic building in the palace). The fire continued to spread, setting the Ming Hall on fire.

The fire was raging, shining the divine capital Luoyang like day, burning until dawn, and the Mingtang and heaven were reduced to ashes together.

This is the famous Xue Huaiyi burning Ming Hall in history!

When Heaven and Ming Hall were first built, the money spent was gone, causing deflation in the world. In order to solve this problem, Prime Minister Li Zhaode even forbade the people to store brocade, and there were many complaints.

Now in front of everyone's eyes, the Ming Hall has been burned, how can you explain it? Rao is Wu Zetian can't suppress this monstrous public anger,

Wu Zetian couldn't get out of bed for two days, and he really wanted to cut Xue Huaiyi, who had already made her tired and disgusted, with a thousand knives. But she didn't dare to treat Xue Huaiyi's sin now. Because this guy is not afraid of heaven and earth, muddy and stunned, if he really provokes him, what if he dies and the net is broken? Xue Huaiyi is a cheap life, and he can break melons and break them, but Her Majesty the Empress is the king of all times, and he still needs to be famous.

"A few postures of love with Her Majesty the Empress", "How the Empress is dissatisfied with her desires", "Three hundred palace secrets...... Once these rumors are spread by Xue Huaiyi, the male favorite, where can the empress's big face go?

So, Her Majesty gritted her teeth and took the initiative to take the blame for Xue Huaiyi, claiming that this matter was an accidental fire in the palace from a small aspect. In the big picture, it is due to my lack of virtue. Therefore, I want to make an "edict" to the subjects of the world.

Her Majesty the Empress reluctantly issued an edict of guilt, can the tone in her heart be smooth? Xue Huaiyi didn't dare to punish her, so she had to spill her anger on Shangguan Wan'er, who had blocked Xue Huaiyi outside the palace.

Didn't you Shangguan Wan'er not help Xue Huaiyi with his kindness at the beginning, could he have done this? Do you understand this isolation from the inside and outside?

In the end, a decree was issued to temporarily detain Shangguan Wan'er and behead her at a later date.

……

This is what Liu Laosi got just now, Shangguan Wan'er herself is worried about her life, where can she still settle things for you Cui Geng?

"Wait a minute......"

When Cui Geng heard this, he said: "Burning Mingtang is such a big thing, junior brother, I am here in Dingzhou, and I also know about it." But it's been more than half a year, and now I'm looking for the official people, right? That's not right! ”

"Hey, of course you don't!"

Liu Laosi said: "Your Majesty just found a mistake a few days ago, and temporarily detained the Shangguan Sheren and beheaded him on a later day, although the matter of burning Mingtang has passed for so long, the root is still in this matter." ”

Cui Geng secretly thought, grandma's, it has been more than half a year, Wu Zetian did it, if it weren't for people like Liu Laosi who knew the inside story, ordinary people would never associate these two things together. Tsk, our Majesty the Empress is really a scheming... She's quite old now, she should be a scheming!

Now Shangguan Wan'er is sitting on a cold bench, and even her life is worried, so as his henchman Liu Laosi...... Cui Geng looked at Liu Laosi with some sympathy and asked, "Now that Shangguan Sheren is unlucky, ...... you, Brother Shiro?"

"Of course, it's not as good as a day, eh, like people drinking water, they know how cold and warm they are!" Liu Laosi also looked frustrated, and said: "Erlang, this time the miscellaneous family came to you, one is to give you a message about this and the matter of the deputy envoy, and the other is to ask the virtuous brother for your help." ”

Cui Geng was stunned and said, "Help? How else can I help? ”

The implication is that your brother and I are going to be driven to the shelves to be the deputy envoy to send relatives, I don't know if there is a chance to return to the Central Plains from the Turks, my situation is worse than yours, what can I help you Liu Laosi?

Liu Laosi sneered and said, "What, brother, I know the relationship between the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce and Erlang." Isn't the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce related to the interests of many powerful people in the current dynasty? In this way, can you do it for the sake of you and me, repair a book, and recommend my brother to Wu Sansi or Wu Chenghe? ”

"Brother Shiro who dares to love is trying to climb another high branch?" When Cui Geng heard this, he was a little disdainful, Nima, Shangguan Wan'er hasn't done anything yet, you have started to pave the way back.

Liu Laosi said helplessly: "Alas, this is not bad for me, Shangguan Sheren is like that, I have to think about my own future, right?" ”

Cui Geng shook his head secretly, obviously disagreeing with Liu Laosi's words, because the Shangguan Wan'er he knew would not lose his life in such a daze, on the contrary, the height and power that Shangguan Wan'er would achieve in the future was admirable!

Immediately, he persuaded earnestly: "Brother Shiro, I advise you, it is easy to put the icing on the cake, but how can it be good to send charcoal in the snow?" There are more people who are thinking about Wu Chenghe, even if you go to the past, people may not be able to look at you squarely, let alone reuse and cultivate you. But now, if you can help Shangguan Sheren get out of trouble, once she returns to the Holy Family, you will not be far from glory and wealth. ”

Being able to say these words to Liu Laosi also shows that Cui Geng treats the friendship between the two of them sincerely!

Liu Laosi drooped his head and said; "Brother Xian, I don't want you to be a brother? My brother is not the kind of person who is unkind! But the question at the moment is that Shangguan Sheren has offended His Majesty, what can I do to help her......"

Suddenly, Liu Lao's eyes lit up, and he grabbed Cui Geng's wrist, as if a drowning man had grabbed a life-saving straw, with a dawn of hope in his eyes, and asked urgently: "Erlang, you can even solve the drought in Yangzhou and the locust plague in Dingzhou, isn't there a way to solve the case of Shangguan Sheren?" ”

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