Chapter 141 The frail and sickly powerful minister

Although he angered the little emperor, Lin Xiaodong was in a good mood.

Guo Xinwen disagreed with him, but the two of them temporarily reached an agreement on sending troops. When the dynasty was over, Guo Xinwen became the thorn who wanted to pick bones from eggs.

Surrounded by his colleagues, he left the hall, and when he descended the steps, he inadvertently glanced back at the young man who was still standing there, knowing that the other party was waiting to meet with His Majesty in private, and he couldn't help but snorted.

"hypocritical."

People who don't know the inside story probably think that Lin Dongqing is the iron-clad royalist, but only Guo Xinwen understands how difficult it is to extract a little power from him and return it to His Majesty.

This guy firmly holds the power of the entire Jing Dynasty in his hands. He has to do everything by himself. Even Guo Xinwen sometimes wonders why this person has not died suddenly, even though his body is already weak and he has to deal with it every day. With so many government affairs, even a normal person can't bear it!

But Lin Xiaodong, who was waiting in the same place, did not wait for Jing Ji's summons.

"Lord Lin," a young eunuch said with an embarrassed expression, "Your Majesty said that he doesn't want to see you now."

It's not that Jingji doesn't want to send troops. As the king of a country, he wants to recapture the northern border more than anyone else. Since the proposal to send troops this time was proposed by Guo Xinwen, the other ministers would only think that it was instructed by His Majesty, and had nothing to do with Lin Dongqing, because everyone knew it. The two have been at odds for a long time.

It's just that when Jing Ji thought that Lin Dongqing had thought about this for himself, he felt annoyed and aggrieved.

"Really?" Lin Xiaodong replied calmly and didn't say anything, just nodded and turned to leave.

When the little eunuch returned to report, Jing Ji reclined on the back of the chair, and his knuckles tapped the armrest lightly. After a long time, he opened his eyes and waved his hand to let him leave.

"Little Youzi," he said, "follow me to see my mother."

You Shu was stunned for a moment, but quickly recovered the expression on his face and replied in a low voice, "Yes."

The imperial guards in the palace have already been replaced by Jing Ji, but because of following a certain agreement, Jing Ji has never seen the Empress Dowager Changfeng again over the years, but only came into contact with the other party's confinement in the harem.

Anyway, he didn't have a concubine, and he seldom even went to the bedroom, so Lin Xiaodong acquiesced to his behavior.

Only this time, he crossed the line first.

Therefore, Jing Ji did not intend to abide by any more agreements.

A few years have not changed the appearance of the Empress Dowager Changfeng, but the spirit of the woman is much weaker than when she first ascended the throne from the foreground. Although she still has exquisite makeup and elegant clothes, her whole person is revealed from the inside to the outside. With a faint smell of decay, it was like an old object that had not seen light for a long time was suddenly moved to the sun, and even the expression seemed a little dazed.

After seeing the grown-up Jingji, she didn't show too much excitement, but just raised her lips sarcastically and asked, "It seems that you can't stand him anymore."

Jing Ji didn't want to discuss this issue with his mother. He came here just to show his attitude to Lin Dongqing, but gossiping with the queen mother Changfeng was not in the plan. Therefore, he just respectfully poured a cup of tea for the Empress Dowager Changfeng, and said lightly: "Seeing that the mother is in good health, the son is satisfied."

"Bah!"

You Shu held his breath and looked at the tea bowl that was slapped to the ground by the Empress Dowager Changfeng, only to feel that a heart almost popped out of his throat.

But Jing Ji behaved very calmly. He glanced at the tea bowl that was shattered on the ground and asked, "What is the meaning of this, Empress Mother?"

"What do you mean?" Empress Dowager Changfeng giggled, "My son, it's not your first day as an emperor, why don't you understand this?"

"......what?"

"Being the honor of the Ninety-five is destined to be lonely." The Empress Dowager Changfeng stared at him with her sullen eyes, and said every word.

Jingji has no words.

But he knew that his friendship with his husband over the years was discovered by the Queen Mother Changfeng.

After all, it was the mother who gave birth to him, and Jing Ji regained his composure after a short period of shock. He couldn't help looking into the eyes of the Empress Dowager Changfeng, and said in a calm tone: "I know, there is no need for the mother to bother here."

"Really?" The Empress Dowager Changfeng sneered, "If you let Lin Dongqing know your thoughts about him, what do you think he will think?"

Jing Ji's face darkened instantly.

Even if he is the honor of the Ninety-Five, Lin Dongqing is also a powerful minister under one person and more than ten thousand people, and he personally told him that he already has someone he likes... How can a dragon and a phoenix like Mr. Down?

Jingji did not dare to gamble.

"What do you want?" He calmed down and looked at the Empress Dowager Changfeng with a terrifyingly cold gaze.

Empress Dowager Changfeng felt a chill on her back, even though she knew that the person in front of her was her only son in this world. She calmed down and said in a relaxed tone, "Anyway, you are my son. Since you want it, I will help you. It just so happens that I have someone available to me, which is a gift from the Aijia family. your present."

With the sound of footsteps, Jing Ji turned around with a frown.

The person's face was exposed to the sun, his pupils shrank suddenly, and then he showed an extremely complicated look.

"This is......"

"What, His Majesty asked you to accompany the army!??"

In the Lin Mansion, Xie Chen, who had just received the news, stood up from his seat. He held the brush in his hand tightly, and he didn't even realize that the ink dripped on his body. He just asked loudly in an unbelievable tone: "How is that possible? It's not like your majesty doesn't know about your body. Does he want you to never come back!"

Lin Xiaodong hummed, stretched out his fingers to tease the little bird in the cage, and said casually, "Who knows."

"No, I'm going to find Your Majesty!"

But Xie Chen couldn't calm down, he put the pen down and ran out in a hurry, but was pulled by Lin Xiaodong from behind.

"Stop," he frowned, "look at what you look like now."

After hearing what he said, Xie Chen realized that his robe had been stained with black ink. He looked down and calmed down a little, noticing that the young man on the side was still calm and calm, he couldn't help asking : "Sir, is there something else hidden in this matter?"

"I said it, I don't know." Lin Xiaodong twitched the corners of his mouth. "After all, when the child is old, even if he is a parent, he can't fully know what he is thinking, right?"

But Xie Chen listened to his tone, but only thought it was absurd - His Majesty is His Majesty, and he holds the power of life and death in the world. Is it possible that he can really treat him as a child?

"...So, are you planning to go?"

Lin Xiaodong straightened up: "If Your Majesty really asks me to go to the northern border, I will naturally not be able to disobey."

After all, Xie Chen had been with Lin Xiaodong for so many years, and he quickly heard what the young man meant: Jing Ji didn't really want to send Lin Xiaodong out with this order.

Also, a dignified official from the Ministry of Officials, naturally, is going to sit in Kyoto. If he was sent to the battlefield casually, let alone Lin Xiaodong's own wishes, even those ministers in the court would definitely not agree.

"Then why does His Majesty still issue this will?" Xie Chen didn't understand.

Lin Xiaodong didn't answer, just picked up the brush on the table in a good mood, rolled up his sleeves and splashed ink on the rice paper. Xie Chen took a look and found that he was painting, but he was painting something like... a cube with long hands and feet?

"What is this?" he asked.

Lin Xiaodong: "SpongeBob SquarePants."

Xie Chen: ? ? ?

He doesn't understand.

But Lin Xiaodong couldn't really explain to Xie Chen what it was. Since Gu Xi returned that night, he had been keenly aware that something had changed in the palace. Maybe it's because of Jing Ji's attitude towards him, or maybe it's an unexpected role that has been silent for a long time... In short, it is not his style to be a civil servant who has been working hard in Jing Dynasty for so many years. Lin Xiaodong has only one thought in his mind now. thing.

- He's going to let himself go!

If the system is still there, you can definitely see it at a glance, this is a typical bear child symptom.

It's a pity that the only person who can cure Lin Xiaodong is still sleeping in Jingji's subconscious.

"His Majesty."

After many days, before the army set off, Lin Xiaodong was finally summoned to the palace again.

He put on a dark green robe today, the gold-inlaid jade belt outlines the youth's slender waist, and a strand of black hair falls on his forehead, covering his handsome eyebrows and eyes, and the young man casually touches his ears. back.

If he only looked at his appearance, he didn't look like a powerful minister with a prestigious reputation, but more like a handsome scholar who paired with a beautiful woman in the book.

Jing Ji couldn't help biting the tip of his tongue, so as to prevent himself from showing excessive aggression in his eyes. He raised a smile, as if he was not affected by the previous events at all, and still approached Lin Xiaodong affectionately, pulling him to sit down as usual.

"Sir," he said, "how are you doing lately?"

Lin Xiaodong didn't know what he wanted to say, but looking at the wine bottle on the desk, he already had some guesses about Jing Ji's intention to invite him this time. While amazed by Jing Ji's boldness, he replied without any difference, "Thanks to Your Majesty, my body is much better."

"That's good." Jing Ji said with a smile, "I thought that Mr. would blame me."

"I don't know what Your Majesty is saying?" Lin Xiaodong said slowly, "If it's because of the fact that he is with the army, this is the long-cherished wish of the minister, and the minister would like to thank His Majesty for making it happen."

"But I still feel bad about it," Jing Ji sighed. "Although it's already spring, the northern border is bitterly cold. If Mr. really leaves, I'm afraid I will suffer."

With that said, he poured Lin Xiaodong a glass of wine.

"Sir, please."

Lin Xiaodong looked down at the clear wine in the glass, and drank it with a sullen head.

And when he put down the wine glass, what he saw was Jing Ji's slightly complicated look.

"I thought that Mr. would at least ask one question." He said softly, looking at Lin Xiaodong with gentle and deep eyes.

Lin Xiaodong lowered his eyes and said, "I believe Your Majesty."

The degree of this bottle of wine is not low, it belongs to the type with great stamina, and it is easy to drink and get drunk for no reason.

The last time Lin Xiaodong saw it was at the New Year's Eve banquet set by the Empress Dowager Changfeng.

Now Jingji has put it out again, plus what was written in the information that Xie Chen handed him recently, the place just offered the royal family a thousand pieces of incense... He sighed, thinking about the courage of this child It's really big, are you really not afraid that you will be like this?

However, Jing Ji seemed to be unaware of his inner activities. Seeing that Lin Xiaodong drank the wine in his glass, he happily poured him another glass. He seemed to intentionally want to get Lin Xiaodong drunk, and after a few glasses of wine, a faint blush appeared on the young man's cheeks.

"I have to leave tomorrow..." Lin Xiaodong wanted to refuse, but Jing Ji smiled and pressed his hand down, "It's okay, General Zhao said that the food and grass are not completely ready, I'm afraid it will take a long time, sir, don't worry. "

He lowered his voice and calmed down with a coaxing attitude: "Sir, have another drink. There are medicinal herbs in this wine, so it won't hurt your body."

"Well......"

Lin Xiaodong blinked his eyes a little slowly. Indeed, the mouth is soft and the aftertaste is long. It is not a spirits, but the taste is very good. He doesn't like that kind of overpowering wine. This wine is rare for his appetite, otherwise, no matter how much Jing Ji persuades him, he won't drink much.

But there is also a possibility that Jing Ji has already figured out his preferences, so he will...

He shook his head, some chaotic consciousness could not think about such a complicated problem, so he could only mechanically take the wine glass poured by the young emperor, and then drank it all.

In the blink of an eye, most of the bottle was swallowed.

White smoke floated from the incense burner in the hall, and there was a faint scent of agarwood in it.

"Your Majesty," after clinking the glasses again, the young man's curled eyelashes trembled slightly, and he asked in a vague voice, "Did you call the minister just to drink?"

Jing Ji also drank a lot with him, but he was still awake in the end. Hearing this, he smiled and put down the wine glass.

"Of course not." His eyes were no longer concealed, and he looked at Lin Xiaodong with fiery eyes that seemed to split the other party into his stomach, "I'm just thinking about one thing, sir, just listen."

"You...you said."

Probably because he was really drunk, Lin Xiaodong even forgot to say the honorific.

But Jing Ji didn't care about these small details, he continued: "If there is no accident, there will be a group of ministers kneeling in the hall to ask me to withdraw their orders. After all, you are two Minister of the Ministry, this side of the capital will definitely not be able to move away, and it is too child's play to be sent to the frontier battlefield as a staff officer."

Lin Xiaodong raised his eyelids: "Then how does Your Majesty treat you?"

"Although I am the emperor, I also have selfish intentions." Unconsciously, Jing Ji's voice was getting closer and closer. He stretched out his arms and supported the crooked body of the young man and made him lean on him. His voice was hoarse, like While suppressing a certain emotion, "I hope that Mr. can stay by my side, but also want to meet the wishes of the ministers, it is really embarrassing."

"Is it very embarrassing?" Lin Xiaodong raised his eyebrows and reluctantly thought for a while, "The two don't seem to contradict each other, right?"

Aren't they all staying away from Beijing?

"No," Jing Ji smiled, "When I said 'stay by my side', it's not just as simple as staying in the capital."

This is also thanks to his mother, who brought him such a useful chess piece.

Jing Ji turned his head and stared at the man standing in the corner, but his eyes did not show any nostalgia for Lin Xiaodong, but instead revealed a cold indifference.

This person has a face that looks almost like Lin Dongqing.

If he had rashly replaced Lin Xiaodong's existence with such a "defective product" at ordinary times, he would definitely be discovered within two days.

But coincidentally, At this time, it was the time when Jing Chao set out on an expedition to northern Xinjiang, and Lin Dongqing was a well-known faction of the main battle-if Jing Ji sent him to accompany the army, he would definitely agree.

And he can take this opportunity to sack people. Anyway, General Zhao and Lin Dongqing are both military generals and civil servants, and they are not familiar with each other on weekdays. As for the capital's side, after a month or two, he would just find an excuse to bring the stand-in back, and no one would be able to notice that something was wrong.

Even if someone from the Lin House finds out, Jing Ji can make an excuse to say that it was because Lin Dongqing met a bandit on the road and was frightened.

This plan sounds like a fantasy, but it is very feasible. Almost the moment Jing Ji saw this double, he thought about the next series of steps.

Jing Ji really hesitated.

But he understood that this was probably the only way he could keep Lin Xiaodong.

Lin Xiaodong tilted his head and looked at him for a while, then suddenly laughed.

"Your Majesty," the peach-faced young man raised his chin, half-closed his eyes, and asked with a smile, "Are you going to do something bad?"

Jing Ji's breath choked.

He could not control himself as he watched Lin Xiaodong's cape, which he had untied because he was too hot, slowly slip off his shoulders, as if the scene of half-drinking clothes almost made his nose warm. I can stare blankly at Mr. Long Hair who is close at hand, and my heart beats like a drum.

"Yeah." He muttered.

Hearing this, You Shu immediately left with the stand-in in the corner obediently, and before leaving, he closed the door for the two of them very thoughtfully.

With a creak, apart from the flickering candles, only two figures remained in the empty hall.

There were thousands of thoughts in Jing Ji's heart, but in the end, they were all suppressed to the bottom of his heart. After the fear of arranging the plan subsided, followed by the ecstasy of the fulfillment of Shi Yi Chao's long-cherished wish.

His breathing gradually became rapid, and he unconsciously approached Lin Xiaodong's position, until he could smell the faint aroma of alcohol until the tip of his nose.

closer...closer...

"Your Majesty," Lin Xiaodong suddenly said, "You are drunk."

Jing Ji's action stopped.

He looked at the young man's blushing face, but his eyes were sober, and his heart sank to the bottom in an instant.

Is this legendary incense, which can make people hallucinate, actually useless?

He thought of a thousand ways, but none of them could make young people stay for him. They could be monarchs, ministers, masters and apprentices, or even close friends, but because of their respective positions, they could never achieve the most intimate relationship. . Therefore, Jing Ji had to settle for the next best thing, using this despicable method to make Lin Xiaodong completely withdraw his heart from him.

Even if the young man at this moment is not seeing him, Jing Ji recognizes it.