Chapter 508 Candlelight, Axe Sound

In the General's Mansion in Chang'an, Zhang Fei placed the warm incense burner closer to his legs.

This made Ma Chao, who was sitting next to Zhang Fei, even more unhappy.

He immediately stretched out his arms and pulled the warm incense burner back.

Zhang Fei's eyebrows gradually stood up, staring at the famous Jin in Yongliang. Ma Chao showed a kind smile, and his two rows of white teeth were particularly eye-catching:

"That Yan Xing, who gave up his sword and lost in three moves in the foot battle, and was defeated in the cavalry battle after five rounds."

As he spoke, Zhang Fei slowly raised his chin and finally used four words to evaluate:

"Nothing special."

Seeing that Zhang Fei was almost looking down on him, Ma Chao was immediately furious:

"At the beginning, Yan Xing was just not well-known and took advantage of my unpreparedness, otherwise he would have been defeated in three moves!"

As the person involved, Ma Chao naturally knew how Yan Xing boasted about this record in Yongliang.

Zhang Fei slowly lowered his head and looked at Ma Mengqi from head to toe with a scrutinizing gaze, and said "Ha" with a half-smile.

Although he didn't say a word, this made Ma Chao even more angry, and he immediately stood up and wanted to go out and compete with the other party.

"Third brother!" Liu Bei pressed his head and scolded him lightly.

So Zhang Fei had to mutter:

"Okay, okay, I believe what you, Ma Mengqi, said, okay?"

"Anyway, I think Yan Xing is just so-so."

Ma Chao almost vomited blood. If Jian Yong hadn't come to persuade him to make peace, he would have gone out to compete with this black guy anyway!

The chaotic atmosphere in the hall was interrupted by the sudden opening of the light curtain.

Zhang Fei said something with a bored look on his face:

"Why are brothers killing each other again? They are royal brothers, not to mention me and my elder brother and second brother."

"Even compared with Meng Qi and his cousin Ma Dai, they are far inferior."

Ma Chao thought that the third general did say something human, although Ma Dai was not his brother, he was almost a blood relative.

"I remember that when Meng Qi died of vomiting blood, he cried and entrusted Ma Dai to my elder brother..."

"Zhang Yide!" Ma Chao shouted.

"Why are you shouting so loudly!"

Zhang Fei was dissatisfied and immediately became flustered:

"Hey, why did you sneak attack like Yan Xing?"

"If you have the guts, go out and fight me on foot for a hundred rounds!"

Jian Yong was helpless, Liu Bei stroked his head, Kong Ming and others were not surprised, and Lu Su was stunned.

...

In Ganlu Palace, Pei Xingjian was full of curiosity about everything he saw.

However, after receiving the warning from his master, he remembered the order to watch more, listen more, remember more and speak less. His eyes rolled around and he said nothing.

He saw the ministers and generals gathered here, the emperor and empress were present, and the imperial physician sat upright.

The supervisor of the Ministry of Works was also as if he was facing a great enemy. He saw that the ink and paperweight had been prepared, and he even hung up his brush after hearing the report of the time of Si Shi, as if he was making some preparations.

Although the master also looked like he was about to doze off, he would look up at the blank wall from time to time.

This atmosphere reminded Pei Xingjian of the Qinghai battlefield. When the war was about to start, it seemed so unbearable.

But fortunately, he didn't have to wait too long this time. As the time of Si Shi was reported outside the hall, Pei Xingjian looked at the fairy-like light that seemed to rise from nowhere, like a dragon or a snake, and instantly occupied the entire blank wall.

Although he didn't turn his head to look at the whole scene, Pei Xingjian could feel that with the appearance of this light curtain, even His Majesty seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

Li Jing was also relieved. He turned around and saw his beloved disciple looking around.

"What is Shouyue looking at?"

For a moment, even Li Shimin looked over. Most ordinary people were surprised and unbelievable when they saw the light curtain. It was the first time that Pei Xingjian was not afraid at all, but looked around with a look of disappointment.

"Master, where is Xuannv? Where are the seven-colored clouds? Where are the Yellow Turban Warriors? Why haven't I seen Hebo Shuijun?"

Li Jing was speechless, Li Shimin laughed and interrupted directly:

"Shouyue, are you still thinking about these? If you want to see something, please ask your master."

"Pharmacist will be crowned as the king of heaven after a hundred years. Hebo Shuijun and Xuannv's auspicious beasts must all be commanded by your master."

Pei Xingjian's eyes lit up when he heard these words, and he said without hesitation:

"Master, I want to ride a unicorn! To see Xuannv!"

Li Jing glanced at Pei Xingjian with disdain:

You looked quite smart in Liangzhou, why are you so stupid now?

But seeing that the light curtain had already spoken, Li Jing was too lazy to care, leaving his apprentice with a back of his head, then peeled a grape and looked at it attentively.

If you count seriously, he has been busy with the Tuyuhun war since the beginning of the year, and now is the real rare leisure time.

【In early 1100 AD, Song Zhezong Zhao Xu died at the age of 25.

This emperor of the Song Dynasty ascended the throne at the age of nine and took power at the age of seventeen. During his fifteen years in office, he fought two battles to make Xixia surrender, and took over the Qingtang area in the Battle of Hehuang.

Although he could not be called perfect in showing off his military prowess to the outside world and carrying out reforms at home, he was undoubtedly a rare outlier among the emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty. Many people in later generations even commented that Zhezong's reign was the last glimmer of light in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Why is it called a glimmer of light? Because Zhezong died of illness and had no children, adhering to the tradition of the elder brother to the younger brother left by Taizu Taizong when the Song Dynasty was founded, Zhezong's second brother, Prince Duan Zhao Ji, was established as the emperor. This was the later famous Song Huizong, who was also the Hun Degong of the Jin Dynasty and the Prince of Tianshui.

After ascending the throne, Song Huizong soon found himself in the same predicament as Song Taizong.

The same brother-to-brother succession, the same lack of the previous emperor's will, and the same persecution of the clan members who had the right to inherit the throne.

And for the people, Song Zhezong, the young emperor, successfully opened up the border and avenged the previous humiliation of the Western Xia Kingdom. Many Bianliang literati missed him, and some bold people even compared him to Taizu, so the discussion about the real cause of death of Song Taizu was brought up again.

Song Huizong could not prove to the people that Song Zhezong really died of natural illness, so he chose the stupidest way at that time:

In the second year of Chongning, Song Huizong issued an edict to strictly prohibit the collection of reforms by eleven people including the three Su brothers, and added an additional banned book: "Xiangshan Yelu".

The execution ability of grassroots officials in the Northern Song Dynasty was naturally far inferior to that in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, so the official banned books were spread more and more widely among the people.

Since it was spread, the people of the Northern Song Dynasty were naturally curious about how this book touched the heart of Song Huizong. This was not a difficult task for the Song Dynasty, which valued literature. Soon, the 1.0 version of Candle Shadow and Axe Sound was presented to the people of Bianjing.

In short, when Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangyi were still grassroots, they met an extraordinary immortal. After showing some magical powers, the immortal calculated on the spot:

Oh my God, you want to be the emperor. I know the time when you ascended the throne and founded the country.

In view of this, Zhao Kuangyin had been looking for this immortal after ascending the throne. It was not until sixteen years later when he went to Luoyang to play that he met him again by chance.

Zhao Da's question this time was very simple. He wanted to know how long he could live. The immortal was also very immortal. He counted with his fingers and said: On October 20th this year, if it is a sunny day, you can live for twelve years, otherwise prepare for your funeral as soon as possible.

After waiting for a long time, this day finally came. What made Zhao Da anxious was that it was sunny at noon, but it suddenly started to snow heavily in the evening. He couldn't stop it. The snow in the palace was several inches thick.

Seeing this, Zhao Da hurriedly ordered people to summon his beloved brother to the palace and drove away the idlers. Then the brothers drank until midnight and almost drank Zhao Er to death. The candlelight cast their shadows on the window so that the eunuchs could see them clearly. This is the "candle shadow".

The two drank until midnight. Zhao Da suddenly got excited and scratched the ground with a pillar axe, and said to Zhao Er loudly, "Good job! Good job!" This is the "axe sound".

After that, Zhao Da went to sleep and snored like thunder.

Zhao Er stayed in the palace until the drums were beaten five times in the early morning of the next day, but there was no movement in the palace. The eunuchs then realized that Zhao Da had died.

Then Zhao Er ascended the throne in front of the coffin, and began the extraordinary life of the God of Cars.

The records in "Xiangshan Yelu" are closer to myths and legends. At first glance, they seem to have no credibility, but don't worry, we still have version 2.0, version 3.0, and even MAX revised version of the candle shadow and axe sound.

And the truth is often hidden in the corners of historical materials. 】

Zhao Pu's face has frozen, and he is very interested in the things that later generations said about Song Huizong.

But soon, Zhao Pu felt that he had no interest in the candle shadow and axe sound.

Not only that, he also moved back an inch with his chair without making a sound:

Don't splash it on your face later.

The young eunuchs trembled, and the two secretaries did not dare to raise their heads even though they wrote down the sounds they heard.

The air in the hall seemed to become sticky. The eunuchs who lowered their heads and eyes heard the official's gradually rising voice:

"Zhao Jiong?!"

"Easy to do!?"

To be honest, Zhao Kuangyin didn't know what easy to do meant. He was surprised and confused:

These four words with unknown meaning were his last words left in the world?

That's why Zhao Kuangyin, who came from the military and had a bad temper, didn't get angry at the first time, but judging from the gradually rising tone of his call for Zhao Jiong, his mood was definitely not good.

"Plop!"

The eunuchs were familiar with the sound of the knee touching the floor.

Then there were two "dong dong" sounds. Although they knew it was inappropriate, the young eunuchs couldn't help but praise together in their hearts:

The sound is crisp! It's really a good head!

Then the King of Jin's crying voice rang out in the hall:

"Your Majesty! Emperor! Brother!"

"How dare I do this? I am so wronged!"

At the critical moment, Zhao Guangyi felt that his mind was clearer than ever before. Every word that the light curtain said just now was clearly presented in his mind, and he clearly found one loophole after another:

"Brother and I know that our Song Dynasty has this thanks to the Emperor's efforts. How can there be such a demon?"

"And this book of the nine classes is actually a famous wild record. It can be seen that most of its contents are like the fictional novels that later generations said, all of which are written to defile the brotherhood between us!"

"Brother, please understand!"

Zhao Guangyi kowtowed again, and pressed his head firmly on the floor without lifting it up, not caring about the dust on his hands and face.

The inner hall was quiet. He could vaguely hear the friction of armor and footsteps of the imperial guards patrolling outside the hall. He knew clearly that at this moment, he only needed a word from his brother, and these imperial guards would rush in. Zhao Guangyi and Emperor Taizong of Song would all be reduced to dust and mud.

He could also hear his elder brother breathing heavily as if he was pulling a bellows. Mostly, his old illness had recurred. The heavy breathing gradually became lighter, and Zhao Guangyi's heart that had jumped to his throat gradually fell back.

Since his elder brother did not start to punish him immediately, it should not be a big problem...

"Then how should I call you?"

"Kuang Yi? Guang Yi? Jiong?"

"Or is it Taizong? The Donkey Cart Emperor? Or the Gaoliang River Cart God?"

The soft but powerful question fell into Zhao Guangyi's ears, making his heart sink a little.

Although he didn't understand what the Donkey Cart Emperor meant, the judgment of the brothers who grew up together made him choose to hit the snake with the stick at the first time:

"No matter Kuang Yi or Guang Yi, they are all the brothers of the official family."

"Heh!" There was no smile in the short laughter. Zhao Kuangyin felt the pain in his chest gradually eased. After a pause, he finally said:

"Get up, you have done nothing wrong, why are you so panicked and lose your dignity?"

"And this "Xiangshan Yelu" doesn't look like a real record from its name, or..."

Or maybe Zhao Kuangyin didn't say it clearly, but Zhao Guangyi certainly understood it. After all, Guangmu said clearly that this "Yelu" is just an appetizer, and there is more to come.

And his fate will probably depend on what the future generations will say in the future.

So his heart was inevitably hanging.

…

"Mengqi, do you think that the Song Emperor is much worse than the Xuanwu Gate?"

Zhang Fei touched his waist and grinned, but still smiled.

Ma Chao glanced at Zhang Fei indifferently, without saying a word, and even moved the cushion to the side a little.

Of course, if it weren't for the black bruise on his cheek that ruined the beauty, this cold face should have added a bit of handsomeness.

Kong Ming didn't care much about this kind of brotherly quarrel, and shook his chin in confusion:

"Reform must be for the sake of survival, why is such a proposal forbidden?"