The Bad Guys: Playing the Fake Li Xingyun at the Beginning

Most of the time, it was Yelu Zhiwu who talked and Su Ming who listened and occasionally responded. But this did not make Yelu Zhiwu angry. Instead, she felt that he was very considerate and understanding.

It took several months to travel from the Mobei royal court to Luoyang. She had been holding back for too long, and there was no one around to cheer her up. There were many things she couldn't tell her personal maid, but now there was finally someone who would listen to her.

Yelu Zhiwu was like a cheerful lark, chirping away, and the depression in her heart was relieved a lot.

On the other hand, Su Ming listened to Yelu Zhiwu's words very carefully and seriously, not missing a single word.

In Yelu Zhiwu's view, what she talked about were the interesting things she experienced and her daily life on the grassland, but in Su Ming's eyes, this was information that could not be bought with money.

Who is Yelu Zhiwu?

She was a saint of Khitan Shamanism and also a princess of Khitan. Her identity was both noble and of great political significance. Shamanism was the religion with the most believers in the grassland tribes. As a saint, she had seen many things in the religion.

She thought those things were ordinary, but to Su Ming's ears, they were the cooperation, conflict and complex and close connections between the Khitan tribes and the Khitan nobles.

At the very least, after listening to all this, he finally had a general understanding of the Khitan nobles, and shamanism not only reached the nobles, but also penetrated into the grassroots herdsmen.

Through these, he can also know the living conditions of ordinary tribal members.

Under his deliberate guidance, Yelu Zhiwu told him everything she wanted to know, and she looked innocent and became more and more excited as she spoke.

Seeing her innocent smile, Su Ming sighed softly. She must have been lonely for too long. In the Mobei royal court, perhaps no one would be interested in these things because they were accustomed to them.

But Yelu Zhiwu, as a shaman saint who participated in sacrificial ceremonies, was different. She saw a lot and cared more.

Soon, it was getting dark, and Su Ming had no intention of leaving. Instead, he had dinner prepared, and he dined with Yelu Zhiwu.

At the dinner, there were milk tea and roasted whole lamb from the grassland, as well as dishes from the Central Plains. It was very rich. However, what surprised Su Ming a little was that Yelu Zhiwu only tasted the food from the grassland, but ate the food from the Central Plains with relish, accepting all of it.

It turns out that she is a little foodie!

Chapter 157 Chi Meng is jealous

After dinner, Su Ming stood up and said goodbye without staying any longer.

I have stayed here long enough today, and it is not impossible to come again if I have the chance in the future.

"Princess, it's getting late today. I should go back now."

When she learned that he was leaving, Yelu Zhiwu pouted her lips, looking very unhappy. He was leaving after just chatting for a while, and she still had a lot to say to him.

Yelu Zhiwu stared at Su Ming, her eyes full of expectation, "Will you come tomorrow?"

"We still have a long time to live together, so don't be in a hurry. As long as I am free, I will definitely come to see you." Su Ming did not make a promise, but said that he would come later, but it was hard to say when exactly.

Now that the marriage is about to take place, the entire court is preparing for this event. It is against etiquette to meet with Yelu Zhiwu frequently, but he can come often in private, as the palace ban cannot stop him anyway.

I just can’t say it, because if I say it, it won’t be a surprise anymore.

Yelu Zhiwu felt a little disappointed because she didn't get a definite answer. She had a lot more to say, but she couldn't open her mouth and could only keep it in her heart.

Finally, he just said, "Okay, you must come and see me!"

Su Ming nodded, said nothing more, and left in the sedan chair.

At this time, Su Ming didn't know that someone in the palace was unhappy. Chi Meng put her hands on her waist and raised her chin, "Lu Linxuan, are you going to watch your little brother go find a Khitan girl?"

Lu Linxuan sat on the bed, her belly bulging slightly, her face becoming plump, not as thin as before. Chi Meng's unreasonable nagging, she just smiled slightly, subconsciously touched her belly, "Senior brother is the emperor now, I can't control him, Chi Meng, how about you talk to him when Senior Brother comes back?"

Chi Meng was stunned and her face immediately turned red. She hardly saw Su Ming all day now. The last time she visited Luoyang with him was last year.

There was no way. Su Ming was too busy to talk about love with her. There were too many people in the harem, including the empress, Yelu Zhiwu, and the noble families and military governors. He could not handle it all.

In comparison, Chi Meng was subconsciously ignored by him, but fortunately they could meet each other often, so she didn't get angry.

As a result, when she saw Su Ming leaving his government affairs to meet the Khitan princess today, she was completely jealous. However, she and Su Ming had never broken the ice.

Su Ming didn't have time, and Chi Meng didn't take the initiative because she was too shy, but now seeing that he has more and more women, she finally got anxious.

Chi Meng continued, "The Khitan sister hasn't even married yet, but she wants to seduce the little brother. She must be a bad woman."

"Alas, she is a Khitan princess and wants to see me. I have no choice but to go. Don't worry, Chi Meng. I am not a casual person and nothing will happen to me." Lu Linxuan comforted her when he saw her worried look.

"I'm not worried that my little brother will do something wrong, but I'm afraid that the Khitan princess will use some tricks on him. I heard that she is a shaman saint and will definitely use shamanic witchcraft. What should we do if something happens to my little brother?" Chi Meng blinked, looking worried.

These words frightened Lu Linxuan. She stood up immediately and said, "No way? Senior Brother is the emperor now. How dare she attack him?"

Chi Meng saw her move and said quickly, "I am just guessing. The Witch King is so powerful that he can bring Ji Ruxue back to life. Maybe there are other strange witchcrafts on the grassland."

It would have been fine if she didn't explain. Once she explained, Lu Linxuan became even more panicked. She didn't want to see her senior brother get into trouble.

Just when he was about to ask Zhang Zifan, the palace maid came back to say that the emperor had already returned.

So, the two of them rushed to Ganlu Palace, where Su Ming was reading a book under the lamp.

"Senior brother, are you okay?" Lu Linxuan asked as soon as he entered the door.

Su Ming was confused by her question and frowned, "I'm fine. Why are you here so late?"

Chi Meng, who was following behind Lu Linxuan, shrank his head, avoided his gaze, and didn't dare to look at him. He showed a far-fetched smile on his face, "Little brother, we are just here to take a look, nothing else."

Before she could finish, Lu Linxuan said directly, "Brother, Chi Meng is worried that you have been bewitched by the shamanism, so we came to take a look."

This explanation made Su Ming laugh and cry. Shamanism witchcraft, why don’t you go to heaven?

"Okay, what is this? The Khitans don't have that kind of stuff. If they did, Yelu Abaoji wouldn't have been hunted down. Don't worry, Yelu Zhiwu is not a bad person. When she enters the palace, you can get along with her well."

Hearing him speaking well of the Khitan princess, Chi Meng pursed her lips and stopped talking.

Sensing that they were still somewhat worried, Su Ming explained, "Don't worry. With my skills, there are not many people in this world who can beat me, and there are even fewer who can attack me quietly. The Khitan princess came here to marry me, not to kill me."

Lu Linxuan heard the confidence in his words and finally put his worries to rest.

Su Ming knew that this was a misunderstanding caused by Chi Meng, and Lu Linxuan would not think about such messy things.

He could easily see the jealousy, anger and grievance on Chi Meng's face. Knowing that he had not paid much attention to her recently, he walked forward and comforted her softly, "Chi Meng, I know you are doing this for my own good, but marrying a Khitan princess is not just my decision. It concerns the interests of the country. Even I cannot refuse."

Suddenly, tears welled up in Chi Meng's big eyes and flowed down her cheeks, "Little brother, don't worry, I won't cause you any more trouble in the future."

Now, Su Ming became anxious and tried to keep her. If not handled properly, Chi Meng might really leave.

He stretched out his hand and put it on Chi Meng's shoulder. "I know you care about me. I am so happy. How could I feel that you are causing me trouble? You are alone in Luoyang, without any relatives or friends, and the Khitan princess is the same."

"When she enters the palace, you can definitely be sisters."

"As for your father's affairs, it is not appropriate for me to intervene now. Raojiang is too far away from the Central Plains, and it is beyond my reach. The Twelve Caves also made an agreement with Yuan Tiangang to save your father, so this matter cannot be circumvented by him."

"When there's a chance, I'll talk to Yuan Tiangang and ask him to stay in Luoyang for now. I'm worried about you going back to Raojiang."

Chi Meng seemed to have heard nothing of the previous conversation. She only heard the last few words. Her face immediately turned red, and her pouting lips slightly curled up. She no longer cared about the fact that he had gone to meet the Khitan princess in secret.

Lu Linxuan on the side was completely stunned. She looked at Su Ming as if she didn't know him. "Senior brother, when did you become so shameless?"

How dare you say that you want to be her sister?

Lu Linxuan only complained about these words in his heart and did not refute him at this time.

Chapter 158 Preparing for the wedding

After comforting Chi Meng, Su Ming coaxed them away.

The next day, Zhang Zifan came over and looked at him strangely. It was obvious that Lu Linxuan told him what happened yesterday, but he obviously underestimated Su Ming's thickness of skin. This alone was not enough to make him feel ashamed.

Where is this?

Fortunately, after breakfast, Zhang Zifan felt refreshed. He didn't have time to stay here. He had to go back to accompany his wife and take part in the affairs of the Tianshi Mansion. He was very busy.

Because Luoyang was still under the control of Li Siyuan, the Tianshi Mansion could not guarantee Lu Linxuan's safety and could only place her in the palace, while Zhang Zifan ran back and forth between the Taoist temple and the palace.

After the Tianshi Mansion opened a Taoist temple in Luoyang, it followed the same approach and opened Taoist temples in the wealthy counties around Luoyang. They also did not use the name of Tianshi Mansion and changed to a different name, but the staff were still Tianshi Mansion people.

In this regard, the government only provided some conveniences and did not interfere. Now is not a good time to interfere in the dispute between Buddhism and Taoism.

The local Buddhist temples naturally have opinions about this. They originally monopolized the incense business, and now the Taoist temples are trying to steal their business. They have to ask these local bosses for the answer.

In invisible places, Buddhist temples and Taoist temples fought openly and secretly several times. Both sides suffered damage, but on the surface they were still harmonious and did not cause an ugly situation.

On the other hand, Li Cunli and Feng Dao's cooperation in the court became more and more pleasant. Both of them were promoted by Su Ming. One was an old minister of Li Cunxu, and the other betrayed Li Siyuan. In the court, they could only rely on the emperor, otherwise there would be no possibility of success.

After attaching himself to the emperor, Feng Dao recommended many old ministers from Li Cunxu's period to Su Ming, such as Li Shaorong, the former governor of Wuning Army, who could be regarded as Li Cunxu's most trusted confidant.

Although he was killed in the fifth season, Li Siyuan has not had time to wipe out the forces left by Li Cunxu. He only had time to place people in strategic locations, and his power expansion was not great.

With Feng Dao as a bridge, those people quickly turned to him and made him their allegiance. A large number of these people were not civil officials, but military generals.

Su Ming was quite cautious regarding military power and did not make any promises easily. He instead sent them down to local areas to be deployed.

In those days, the Jiedushi had too much power, and when he was demoted, it was still a matter of whether the people would listen to him or not. Besides, there were not many places where he could be stationed, only the old territory of Liang State.

But that is the most essential part of Central Plains. How could Su Ming possibly trust these surrendered generals?

If another Zhu Wen were to be born, wouldn't that be asking for trouble?

After gathering these old ministers, Su Ming's power in the court expanded again. At the same time, the Khitan envoys also submitted a proposal for marriage to the court.

The Khitan princess had already been sent to Luoyang, and the marriage was already known to everyone. There had been discussions about it throughout the court, and it was passed without too many surprises.

The court then set down regulations, which stipulated that the emperor's wedding would be hosted by the Minister of Rites Feng Dao, assisted by the Deputy Minister of the Secretariat, and the three departments would provide funding.

Li Siyuan had no opinion on this matter. Even though Sansi Envoy Ren Huan was unwilling, he had to accept it.

He was not afraid of the emperor, but he was wary of the Khitans.

If this matter is not handled well, he will be held accountable and he will not be able to escape! This is related to the reputation of the court and Khitan, and no one dares to be careless.

With Li Siyuan's tacit approval, the three ministries decided to allocate a large sum of money to prepare for the emperor's wedding. The Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Rites all took action to ensure that this matter was done well.

The imperial court spent a huge amount of money on the wedding, almost emptying the national treasury.

Su Ming couldn't use the money anyway, so he might as well spend it on the wedding or make large purchases from the public, which would also boost Luoyang's economic growth.

This event may seem like just a wedding, but in fact it once again demonstrates the power of the emperor.

At the beginning, Su Ming's coronation ceremony was too hasty, lasting only one month in total. It took several months for the military governors from various places to send gifts and congratulations.

At that time, Luoyang was in decline and had just experienced war. People were in turmoil and no one took him, the emperor, seriously.

But it is different now. The political situation in Luoyang is stable, and there has been no fighting or war. The imperial examination system in the past brought many scholars from all over the world to Luoyang, which greatly stimulated the recovery of people's livelihood in Luoyang.

Even if only a small number of people stayed in Luoyang after the imperial examination, the changes it brought were enormous.

For the emperor's wedding this time, Su Ming asked the Ministry of Rites to consult historical records and hold it according to the highest standards to ensure that the ceremony was as solemn as possible.

Etiquette may seem useless, but in fact it can inspire people. Most people only pay attention to the surface. Grand etiquette represents that the court is rich, which has a great psychological suggestion effect and enhances the credibility and authority of the court in the hearts of the people.

It has to be said that the reason why ancient emperors liked to create spectacles was because they understood this point very well. As for how many people could not get enough food, who would care?

It is enough as long as they can barely survive. It is not a good thing for the untouchables to eat too much. Shang Yang's Six Strategies for Governing the People clearly states that the core of the rule is similar. It was so in the past and it is so now.