Chapter 402 Zhao Duan's vest fell off
Chapter 402 Zhao Duan's vest fell off
"Huh?" Xu Zhenguan suddenly came back to his senses. He was momentarily flustered and subconsciously straightened his sitting posture slightly.
"Are you done?"
Zhao Duan stared at the empress lying on the couch with a strange look in his eyes, caught the strangeness in her micro-expression, and nodded honestly:
"I have finished speaking."
He even suspected that Zhenbao didn't listen carefully at all... Suddenly, he felt like he had nervously reported his work, but his boss didn't listen at all...
"Okay, what you said makes sense. I will believe you this time." Xu Zhenguan coughed lightly and put on a stern face to hide his panic.
Zhao Duan was stunned and thought to himself, are girls so easy to please?
He thought it would be difficult, with a cold war or something... Sure enough, Zhenbao was completely different from those vulgar women. A smart woman would not make stupid mistakes in important matters.
Xu Zhenguan suppressed the complex emotions in his heart, took the initiative to change the topic, and said seriously:
"Although you won the debate today and got a great opportunity, I'm afraid you won't give up so easily."
I want to talk about the great opportunity in detail... Zhao Duan muttered, but he still suppressed his curiosity about the "Buddha's Baptism" for the time being and said:
"Your Majesty, are you saying that the Eastern and Western Buddhist sects will retaliate? Struggle? Cause trouble?"
Xu Zhenguan thought for a moment and said:
"The situation at Shenlong Temple is fine. Not to mention that I have warned Xuanyin a few days ago, and Monk Dajing is still on the run. Just the fact that you helped Prajna up today is enough to give Xuanyin a headache for a while.
Your Buddhist theory is also similar to the sudden enlightenment held by Prajna. Shenlong Temple can later promote the theory of sudden enlightenment and whitewash the debate as their victory... The key is the Western Regions."
Zhao Duan frowned: "That holy monk from the Western Regions doesn't seem to be hostile to me today."
Xu Zhen thought for a moment and said:
"Perhaps they are afraid that this is the Yu Kingdom, so they dare not be too presumptuous. Besides, the Red Sect Master in the Western Regions is not someone who is obsessed with the fusion of the East and the West...
In short, you should keep a low profile these days. I don’t think they would dare to do anything out of line in the capital.
The only thing I am worried about is that the failure of the Western Regions monks to debate will interfere with the trade between the imperial court and the Western Regions next year and affect the new policy market. "
Zhao Duan also became serious after hearing this.
The King of Dharma is supreme in the Western Regions, far superior to Princess Wenzhu and other nearly puppet rulers.
If the Buddhist sects in the Western Regions speak up and interfere with trade, it will indeed be troublesome.
At this moment, footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door, accompanied by the palace maid's report:
"Your Majesty, Princess Wenzhu has come to the palace to ask for an audience."
Inside the house, the king and his minister looked at each other.
Xu Zhenguan thought for a moment, then checked the time and said, "Please ask her to go to the dining hall and have lunch with me."
"Yes."
The palace maids outside the door retreated.
Xu Zhen looked at Zhao Duan and said:
"My aunt is coming to the palace right now, and she must be here for you. You should come with me. Remember, you must behave in a manner that is appropriate to your status in front of Princess Wenzhu later."
Zhao Duan was stunned for a moment and said uncertainly:
"Is it consistent with your status?"
The empress glared at him unhappily:
"To the outside world, you are my lover, have you forgotten? Since you have won the debate, I can only make the best of it. Later, you and I will get closer as king and subject, and put on a show for Wenzhu to see."
You are just putting on a show... Zhenbao, you want to let your aunt know that you support me in the debate, so as to express your strong attitude and make your aunt think that this debate is the will of the court...
This is to show the strength of the Yu Kingdom, and to prevent the Western Regions from causing trouble in trade due to pressure from the Red Sect Master...
Zhao Duan quickly sorted out his thoughts and nodded:
"I understand."
……
When Princess Wenzhu, who was over 40 years old and had a gentle temperament, was led by a palace maid to the empress's bedroom where she had lunch.
As soon as I entered the yard, I saw the empress in white standing in the corridor with a smile to greet me. Next to her stood a handsome and tall man with an elegant appearance.
It was Zhao Duan Benan.
"Aunt, you've come at the right time. The imperial kitchen has just prepared lunch. Let's eat together." Xu Zhenguan took the initiative to speak with a smile.
After returning from Jinfeng Pavilion and briefly comforting the defeated Western monks, Princess Wenzhu hurried back to the palace. She forced a smile and responded before moving her gaze towards Zhao Duan.
Then, she was visibly stunned.
What a handsome man!
In the debate, because the distance was too far, she could only barely see Zhao Duan's figure, but could not see his face clearly.
It was not until this moment that I saw the full appearance of this concubine.
As expected, it was consistent with the rumors. The treacherous minister who disrupted the government and sought fame and reputation was indeed born with a good-looking appearance.
Well, and a good eloquence...
Princess Wenzhu was in mixed feelings. Thinking back on the debate that morning, the more she thought about it, the more fake it seemed to her.
In her opinion, it made no sense for a minister like Zhao Duan to jump out and cause trouble without any warning and succeed.
Therefore, rationally, we still believe that it was the empress who arranged this drama behind the scenes, and the content of the so-called debate was most likely not something that Zhao Duan could say.
This was not the first time the other party had done something like this. Wenzhu even suspected that the empress and Prajna Bodhisattva had secretly formed an alliance.
Prajna provided the theory, which was recited by Zhao Duan, thus using a knife to kill someone and strive to increase his power in Shenlong Temple...
This is obviously more reasonable.
As for the astonishment of Yuan Li and other ministers, some of them might have been kept in the dark, and some, such as Yuan Li and other important ministers, might have been cooperating in the show.
Who are you performing for? Of course, yourself...
Thinking in this way, everything made sense. As for the biggest bug, the baptism of the god... she still couldn't figure it out.
Therefore, she was in a hurry to enter the palace to confirm her guess. At this moment, she suppressed her doubts, smiled and exchanged a few pleasantries, followed the king and his ministers into the house, where the round table was filled with sumptuous dishes, and the three of them sat down as host and guest.
It is worth mentioning that the empress and her aunt sat opposite each other, and as for Zhao Duan, the "face-to-face man", he naturally sat next to the empress.
"Today's debate... Envoy Zhao really opened my eyes."
Princess Wenzhu looked at Zhao Duan and said sarcastically:
"It is truly amazing that at such a young age, he has never practiced Buddhism, but has such profound attainments in Buddhist studies."
Zhao Duan looked at the aunt who had tried to win him over not long ago with a strange mood, and smiled:
"Your Highness, I am so sorry for the compliment. It is just my humble opinion. I am surprised to receive such an honor from the World Honored One."
Haha... he pretends to be quite natural, but he is really such a shameless person... Wenzhu was unhappy. No matter how beautiful a person is, as long as she thinks of the rumors, she can't help but feel disgusted.
"Ahem," the empress coughed lightly at the right time to remind him to pay attention to his identity.
Zhao Duan smiled naturally, and began to skillfully pick up dishes for the empress, personally served soup and fed her, while greeting Wenzhu and showing their affection in public.
The empress was also very cooperative, looking like an emperor who was used to being served by concubines.
Soup spilled at the corner of her mouth, and she let Zhao Duan take out a handkerchief and carefully wipe the corner of her mouth... Although she felt ashamed, for some reason, she felt inexplicably happy.
Although Princess Wenzhu was an experienced person, she still felt uncomfortable watching the two young men feeding her. She thought to herself that the treacherous Zhao had gained favor through shameless flattery and licking.
He couldn't help but frown slightly, feeling more and more disgusted.
Xu Zhenguan noticed his aunt's unusual expression and was a little confused for a moment. He didn't understand why, and thought that the two of them were not pretending to be like each other, and the experienced aunt saw the flaw.
This made her a little anxious, but the empress had never kept a lover and didn't know what normal was like.
I can only recall the scene when my father and the concubines in the harem were having dinner.
Well... I have always been served, and it seems that I can't show my favor to the head of the table... Thinking of this, the empress picked up the chopsticks and started to pick up food for Zhao Duan, urging him:
"Don't be so busy. Eat more to replenish your body."
Hiss... My niece has indeed been deceived by this traitor. As an emperor, he treats his concubine like this... and he doesn't even betray her... He is so intimate with me, how can he be tolerated under normal circumstances?
Princess Wenzhu frowned even deeper.
The empress was stunned for a moment, wondering if she had done something wrong.
Unable to help but feel anxious, he simply transmitted the sound into the secret, sending the voice directly into Zhao Duan's sea of consciousness:
"Not enough, Auntie seems to have noticed something is wrong, act more convincingly!"
"..." Zhao Duan was speechless, wondering how to act this out. There was no change on his face. After thinking about it, something moved his heart.
While picking up the food, he casually put one hand around the empress's slender waist, allowing the two of them to sit closer.
! !
Xu Zhenguan was caught off guard when a large hand climbed onto her soft waist. Her body suddenly stiffened, and her eyes widened slightly:
How dare this guy...
"Not here!" Her voice rang rapidly in Zhao Duan's consciousness.
Mr. Zhao looked innocent and said, this won’t work, then… move down a little?
Then, as my hand slid down, I felt the empress's body tense up, and a sense of danger came over me...
He withdrew his hand awkwardly.
"Your Majesty..." Princess Wenzhu, who was sitting opposite, finally couldn't stand it anymore. Even though she was older, her husband in the Western Regions was only a "formal" husband and had died long ago. How could she stand being so close to a young man?
After enduring it for a long time, he interrupted and said:
"Have you found the Master Lin whom I recommended last time?"
It must be admitted that Wenzhu's words had a bit of a malicious tone.
She deliberately mentioned Master Lin at this time, undoubtedly for Zhao Duan to hear.
Xu Zhenguan's expression changed slightly, he put down his chopsticks heavily, and said coldly:
"Aunt is very concerned about Mr. Lin. When you find him, just give him to me and take him back to the Western Regions. It will be a good use of such a talented person to assist you in governing the Western Regions."
As he spoke, his eyes subconsciously looked at Zhao Duan.
She herself didn't realize that she was a little panicked just now, fearing that Zhao Duan would misunderstand her relationship with that "Mr. Lin".
However, there was no suspicion or surprise on Zhao Duan's face, only a smile.
Princess Wenju didn't expect her niece to react so strongly.
Just as he was about to make amends, he suddenly heard the eunuch's voice from outside:
"Your Majesty, the Imperial Guards sent someone to tell you that the identity of the chess player who defeated the foreign monk has been found out."
The three people in the room were stunned.
Xu Zhenguan didn't expect that this could be such a coincidence. After thinking about it, he simply said, "Bring someone over."
After a while, a royal guard appeared at the door and respectfully handed over a letter:
"Your Majesty, the results of the investigation into the chess player are all written on the memorial."
Xu Zhenguan raised her hand, and the letter was picked up by the breeze and landed in her hands. The empress smiled:
"Since my aunt is obsessed with this person, I will let you know if I find out."
As she spoke, the empress opened the letter, took a look at it, and then... she was obviously silent.
There seemed to be surprise, accident, and also a hint of...as expected.
After a moment, she handed the letter to Princess Wenzhu.
Princess Wenzhu felt something was wrong, but she still took the letter and slowly opened it, looking forward to finding out which family Link was from.
However, when she saw the words written on the paper clearly, she was stunned, her pupils suddenly narrowed, she was stunned for a moment, and then she looked up suddenly.
Staring intently at the empress's lover opposite him.
Zhao Duan smiled slightly: "Nice to meet you again, Princess."
(End of this chapter)