Cheng Jiaxuan grunted in response. She reached into the bundle under her seat and rummaged through it, but this time she found nothing. She tried hard to recall that when she left the Snow Song Palace with Shen Shiyun, she did seem to be in too much of a hurry. She also fooled around with the Xuan Shuang and forgot to take off the jade horse that she carried with her and put it in a gap in the bookshelf to prevent it from being accidentally broken during the chase.
This was originally out of caution, but when she left, she forgot to take it. She smiled stiffly and said, "This is this servant's carelessness. I forgot to bring the jade horse. Please forgive me, Niangniang …" She didn't forget to find an excuse. She crossed her arms and pointed, "Isn't it all that Li Yijie's fault? He's always looking for trouble with this servant, making me angry. That's why this kind of mistake happened. Niangniang knows that this servant has always been cautious … "
Shen Shiyun coldly said, "Since you were careless, don't blame others for the crime. No one is born to take the blame for you. " Li Yijie finally heard Shen Shiyun speak a little more in favor of her. She didn't know if it was because she wanted to set the rules for Cheng Jiaxuan, but she still felt a burst of warmth in her heart.
Cheng Jiaxuan said, "Yes, this servant deserves to die." Shen Shiyun said, "Since you made a mistake, you should try to remedy it. There's still time. Go back to the palace and get it. You don't have to run too fast. Be careful not to cause trouble. If you fall on the way and break the jade horse, I won't let you off easily. " Cheng Jiaxuan hesitated, "This … but …" She twisted the corner of her clothes with her fingers and looked pitifully at the Xuan Shuang. Shen Shiyun said, "What, do you want me to go personally?"
The Xuan Shuang jumped up and straightened her clothes, saying, "I'll go with Xiao Xuan." Shen Shiyun said, "Sit down obediently! I don't think Xiao Xuan is so incompetent that she can't even bring the jade horse back. If that's the case, I don't need to raise her anymore. "
Li Yijie had mixed feelings. Even when Shen Shiyun treated Cheng Jiaxuan and Xuan Shuang, he didn't show any intimacy. It wasn't only him. At most, it could only mean that she was becoming less and less humane. If there was no evil in his nature, he wouldn't have been so severely corrupted by the environment in just six short years. But in his eyes, Shen Shiyun was as perfect as a goddess. If he wanted to believe that she was an ordinary person who coveted power and pleasure, it would be like breaking the beautiful image in his heart. How could he endure it?
All of the congratulatory gifts were priceless, each one better than the one before. Actually, Prince Fu did not necessarily have that kind of friendship, but the people in the palace were the best at taking advantage of the situation to curry favor. Seeing that the Emperor specially held a birthday banquet for this Han prince, it was easy to imagine how deep the Emperor's favor and trust was. If they could form a good relationship with him, in the future they would be able to obtain more benefits.
Li Yijie knew a lot about this kind of officialdom, but he was not willing to imitate it. He disdained to wallow in the mire with them, but at the same time, he had the heart but lacked the strength. He relied on Shen Shiyun empty-handed, his financial resources did not allow him to squander so wantonly. Thirdly, and also the most important point, he was not a person who sought fame and fortune. He became the Alliance Leader, endured humiliation and stayed in the palace, all for the sake of Shen Shiyun. As long as he could stay by his beloved woman's side, he would be satisfied, and was not willing to fight for the upper echelons.
The presentation of the birthday gifts was coming to an end, but Cheng Jiaxuan still had not returned. Shen Shiyun's countenance sank. In a low voice she instructed a young servant from the Snow Song Palace to change the present at the last minute, but in her heart she was already angry.
After the presentation of the congratulatory gifts was finished, Prince Fu, under the guidance of several people, walked up the stage. Although Li Yijie knew that today was his fiftieth birthday, looking at his appearance, he was still very astute and capable. Roughly speaking, he looked no more than thirty or forty years old. His body also exuded a heroic aura; it was enough to imagine that when he was young, he must have been brave and unequalled in battle, sweeping away a thousand troops. No wonder he was favored and trusted by the late Emperor.
Prince Fu walked to the center, cupped his fists and saluted in all directions, and then he bowed deeply toward Shunzhi. With a loud and clear voice he said, "Your Majesty has spent a lot of time and effort to celebrate this old minister's birthday. Chen thanks Your Majesty for your great kindness. May His Majesty live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand years. "
Shunzhi laughed and said, "Prince Fu is too polite. You are a great meritorious minister of our dynasty, Zhen is eager to have several more loyal generals like you in the Great Qing. Compared to withdrawing some more money from the national treasury, what's the big deal? "
Prince Fu said, "Your Majesty's reward, how can old minister dare to accept it for nothing? It can be seen that the various daren who sent the congratulatory gifts have spent a lot of thought, they have collected not a few rare treasures. Old minister is really ashamed to accept it. I am afraid when I sleep in the future, I will not be able to sleep peacefully. Your Majesty and the Great Qing have treated old minister well, His Majesty the late Emperor's kindness toward me is as heavy as a mountain. Now I want to take this opportunity to let old minister also send a gift to the Great Qing, henceforth it will be sealed in the national treasury as a national treasure. "
Shunzhi said with a smile: "This matter, Prince Fu, although you have good intentions, it's still somewhat against the rules. Today there is no ruler or minister here, you are the birthday boy, Laoye, you should accept the congratulatory gift calmly. How can you turn the tables around and give a gift? "
Prince Fu said, "It's because that gift is a windfall from the sky, it is not old minister's hard work at all. Under the heavens, all lands belong to the Emperor, any treasure that appears on the Great Qing's land should belong to Your Majesty. Old minister … really does not dare to misappropriate it. "
Lu Qian said in a low voice, "Noble Consort Yun, I think this old thing looks like an old fox." "Oh," Shen Shiyun said indifferently, "You just realized it? If he did not rely on this kind of bullying and flattering, how could he coax the late Emperor into liking him? Ben gong even suspects that his courageous rescue of the Emperor was nothing more than a ruse to gain sympathy. He was also able to manipulate the civil and military officials of the imperial court into running around in circles, he does have some skill. Hmm, speaking of which, he is from your family, you should learn a bit more. "
On the other side, Prince Fu ordered, "Bring it up!" Several servants carried a large chest inlaid with jewels and jadeite diamonds onto the stage, placed it in front of him, and then withdrew. Shunzhi said, "Prince Fu, what a big lineup. Zhen has also heard that during the banquet there will be a special gift, but I did not expect it to come from Wangye. What kind of treasure is it? Zhen is a bit curious. "
Prince Fu smiled and said, "Your Majesty, please take a look, it is here." While saying that, he opened the lid of the chest with both hands and took out a glittering short blade. The blade's hilt was made from a piece of dark blue crystal. As soon as it came out of the chest, it immediately carried a strong aura, along with faint traces of cold air. The strength of this treasured blade made it so that no one could easily overlook it.
Shunzhi was the first to open his mouth and said with a smile, "Good, it is indeed a good blade! I wonder where Prince Fu got it from, you have kept it a secret so well that Zhen did not know anything about it. "
Prince Fu was a sensible person, he knew that the Emperor liked his subjects to be astute, but he did not want them to be too astute, otherwise they would be plotting against his throne, and it would be impossible to guard against them. To be able to conceal something so well, in front of outsiders, it was a skill, but in the Emperor's heart, it would leave a grudge. He hurriedly said, "This old subject only got it recently, it was all for the sake of giving Your Majesty a pleasant surprise at the banquet, so I had the servants conceal the truth and not report it. I did not intend to deceive Your Majesty … …"
Shunzhi laughed and said, "Alright, Zhen did not scold you, why are you so nervous? This blade is indeed of superior quality … … "Prince Fu saw that this matter had been resolved, he smiled and said," Even more superior is yet to come. Your Majesty, please take a look — — "As he said that, he raised his hands and clasped them together. Two more servants walked onto the stage. One of them was tall and strong, the other was short and thin. Prince Fu signaled with his eyes, the thin and weak man stooped down to pick up the short blade, while the strong man held a large axe in his hand. After being examined, it was confirmed that it was made of refined iron. The two walked to the middle of the stage and stood facing each other, raising their weapons high.
From the beginning of the martial arts competition, the difference in strength was too great, the result was obvious. There were also many timid imperial concubines who lost their heads out of fear, they covered their eyes with their hands, but they could not hold back their excitement and peeked through the gaps between their fingers.
On the side of the stage, one of Prince Fu's servants called out the count in a loud voice. As soon as the number 'three' fell, the two blades carried a strong gust of wind as they flew towards the opponent. 'Dang!' The blades collided, an object was chopped in half and fell heavily to the ground. Everyone opened their eyes wide to look, and to their surprise, the object that broke was actually the large axe made of iron. Even the other end of the axe was affected and could not hang on to the handle of the axe. After shaking twice, the axe also broke.
This was not the end of it, what was even more astonishing was that the two halves of the axe that fell to the ground had cracks running horizontally and vertically across the surface of the axe. Several crisp 'kacha' sounds were heard, and along the fine lines, the axe broke into countless fragments. These fragments were the same as before, they cracked, and after a few times, not even a trace of powder could be seen on the ground.
For a moment, everyone was startled, only Prince Fu stroked his beard with satisfaction, with a smile on his face. After that, he tested copper, silver, and gold weapons. The short blade could be said to be invincible, all the weapons that collided with it were defeated one after another.
Shunzhi was the first to regain his composure, he clapped his hands and said with a smile, "Good, good! This is really a treasured blade! Prince Fu, you have given a good gift to the Great Qing! I wonder if this treasured blade has a name? "
Prince Fu smiled and said, "Replying to Your Majesty, it has a name. There was a period of time in the past, its reputation in Jianghu was not small. But if we only look at it literally, the meaning is unavoidably somewhat treasonous and heresy. On this kind of festive day, this subject does not want Your Majesty to misunderstand anything and say that this old subject has ill intentions towards the imperial court. As for a name, it is nothing more than a title. Since the treasured blade has already belonged to Your Majesty, I would like to ask Your Majesty to give it a new name. This also indicates that the treasured blade will completely belong to Your Majesty, implying that our Great Qing will always have good wind and rain, the country will prosper and the people will be at peace. Isn't this the best of both worlds? "
Shunzhi said, "Prince Fu, why are you suddenly so superstitious? Even if it once had a name that shook the entire Jiuzhou, that was the old owner's intention to intimidate the common people. Why would Zhen want to offend you? Moreover, you have just rendered a great service, if you have second thoughts, why would you make a special trip to present the treasured blade to Zhen? As for this blade, it would be better to keep its original name. Beloved subject, there is no harm in speaking. "
Prince Fu said, "It is one of the 'seven evils' handed down from the ancient times, Demanding Life Chop."
The hall was once again filled with astonishment and lamentation. There were some old ministers in the imperial court who had followed Nurhaci as early as when he was in charge of the Later Jin regime. At that time, they had all heard that Prince Heshuo Zhuang, Shulhaci, was plotting to become independent, and wanted to find the treasure of the seven evils to usurp power. Afterwards, Shulhaci was secretly executed by his older brother, and the seven evils who had appeared before also disappeared without a trace, so this matter was temporarily suppressed.
Unexpectedly, after so many years, they saw the treasure that had been hidden for so many years in this place. Especially this' Demanding Life Chop ', as well as the' Afterimage Sword ', both were the sabers and sabers that Shulhaci used to fight on the battlefield. Even if ordinary people wanted to see them from a distance, they would not be able to do so.
Shunzhi calmly smiled and said, "So that's how it is. The name is indeed not very auspicious, but if you think about it from another angle, these two characters' Demanding Life ', it means to take the lives of the rebels and rebels; the meaning is extremely good. Zhen is very curious, I wonder where beloved subject found this exceptional treasured blade? "He saw the hundreds of officials were alarmed, thereupon he pretended to be calm and collected, to calm the crowd.
Prince Fu said, "Lao Chen is old, I am no longer of any use, how can I have this kind of skill? That is a gift from a young hero to Lao Chen. "
Shunzhi cherished talent; he said, "Oh? May I ask that young hero to come here and let Zhen see him? Zhen wants to reward him according to his merit! "
Prince Fu laughed and said, "Since Your Majesty has summoned him, how could he dare to defy the imperial decree? However, Lao Chen just so happens to have something to report to Your Majesty. I have already privately adopted him as my adopted son, but have not informed Your Majesty yet. "
Shunzhi laughed and said, "Granted. This young hero's method is extraordinary, if he can stay and serve our dynasty, it will be an endless help. Prince Fu is able to help Zhen find a talent, this is another great merit, double happiness coming at the same time. "
Prince Fu laughed and said, "In that case, Lao Chen will thank Your Majesty on behalf of my son." In a low voice he whispered something to the servant next to him, and the servant accepted the order and left.
Lu Qian frowned and said, "Strange, strange, is that really the real 'Demanding Life Chop'? How could it be in that old fox's hands? "
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