Chapter 229 Farewell
The sky was slightly hazy, and a white-bellied fish had just jumped out from the sky, and a ray of bright morning light had already been cast.

Looking from the long pavilion to the northwest corner, you can see the Jinshui River like a white silk, with clear waves winding through the city of Bianjing, and the embankment full of green. It is the time when the grass and trees are lush, the flowers are fragrant, and the warm wind is slightly intoxicating. The so-called "southern wind blows the painting scenery", which really makes Miao Chengtian and Yu Youshu who are present set up wooden frames, spread the painting scrolls, and start mixing the painting materials...

In the far suburbs of Bianjing city, the morning light was dim, coming from the east and spreading over the banks of the Jinshui River. Under the long pavilion, two figures stood, one with his hands behind his back, and the other leaning on the railing with his arms folded. Both of them had heroic temperaments, and neither of them was willing to give in to the other.

But in the final analysis, the young man with his hands behind his back on the right was much taller, so he obviously suppressed the nobleman on the left.

At this moment, the birdsong and the breeze in the early morning made everything seem leisurely and beautiful. Apart from the conversation between the two people, there was no other words. As for the two girls in the distance who were concentrating on painting, there was no sound either.

Not to mention that around the pavilion, there were more than a dozen riders lying on their horses' backs and wandering around casually. Although they all looked lazy, their riding skills that had made them one with the horse, and the Tang swords hanging beside the saddle, clearly gave off a sense of intimidation, so as not to let ordinary people approach them easily. As a result, the pavilion inside and outside seemed even quieter.

"Now that the Crown Prince has become a legitimate emperor, why should he lower himself to serve the false emperor?"

In the pavilion, the empress turned her head slightly and saw Xiao Yan standing with his hands behind his back, looking at a large ship on the Jinshui River. After pondering for a while, she said with a joking and sincere smile, "Although Longyou is far away, it still has tens of thousands of warriors and hundreds of brave generals. Although it is not as rich as the Central Plains, it also believes that it has some confidence to compete with the world. Since the prince is ambitious, why don't you follow the little prince into Longyou?

The false emperor is immoral and tyrannical. Since the prince is nominally serving him, he will inevitably be wronged. As a prince, it is really unnecessary. As for Longyou, we must respect the prince as the legitimate heir of the late emperor, and then follow the late emperor's will and honor the prince to restore the Tang Dynasty. Even if the prince wants to ascend the throne and announce it to the world, I will do my best..."

"King Qi is joking." Xiao Yan seemed to have just come back to his senses, and then smiled and waved his hand: "The so-called integrity is nothing more than a joke at the moment, no need to mention it. The Tang Dynasty is dead, whether it is the so-called royal family, the five surnames and seven families, or the Tang officials of the world, they have all been lost long ago. At this time, what is the point of talking about whether you are wronged or not.

As for the King of Qi's suggestion, it's not that Xiao is not well-intentioned, but the fact is that at this time, the so-called "orthodoxy" is not a blessing, but a disaster. I can certainly satisfy my own greed and take the title of the crown prince, or even as the King of Qi said, announce it to the world and sit on the throne, but other than that, what else can I get... Why should the people of Longyou bear this unprovoked disaster?"

The empress pondered for a moment.

Xiao Yan was right. In today's world, it was impossible for him to openly shout that he was Li Zuo, and it was even more impossible for him to go to Qi State with great fanfare and declare that he wanted to restore the Tang Dynasty.

After all, among all the powerful vassal states in the world, Daliang is still the most powerful. If Xiao Yan really entered the Qi Kingdom, even if he did not mention the title of the former crown prince of Tang, his current identity and status in Daliang would be enough to induce Zhu Wen to launch a large-scale attack on Qi.

If Jin and Shu just stood by and watched, Qi would be seriously injured and would not benefit from it. The casualties would be the people of Qi, and the gains would not outweigh the losses. It would be the most foolish idea to waste the country's strength with Zhu Wen.

Because among the various vassal states in the south of the Yangtze River, except for Zhu Jin in the Huainan Wu Kingdom who would occasionally go north to invade Daliang, most of the other vassal states had already nominally respected Daliang as the legitimate state. Before Daliang completely showed its decline, it was impossible for them to offend the power of the state. Not only that, they had to pay tribute every year to express their submission.

Just think about it, when Huang Chao was pacified, after his fall, there was still a large group of remnants that continued to dominate for a long time, that is, the cannibalistic devil Qin Zongquan. This man encountered obstacles everywhere in the Central Plains and it was very difficult for him to survive, but after fleeing to the south of the Yangtze River, he immediately became arrogant and ravaged more than 20 states including Jingnan and Huainan, and almost no one could check and control him.

In addition, the elite 'Black Cloud Long Sword' under the previous generation of Wu Wang Yang Xingmi was formed by the defeated soldiers of this cannibalistic devil. And the current Chu Wang Ma Yin was even a general of Qin Zongquan. It was incredible that he jumped from a bandit to a founding monarch.

From a limited glimpse, we can see that the towns in the south of the Yangtze River are not at the same level as the powerful vassal states in the Central Plains or even the north. They are not qualified to intervene in any struggle for hegemony. They are just waiting to see which of Liang, Qi and Jin will gain power in the Central Plains, and then immediately submit congratulatory messages to express their loyalty.

If Wang Jian of Shu still had some ambition, and even dared to defy Zhu Wen and proclaim himself the emperor of Shu, and openly announced that he would unite with Qi and Jin to attack Daliang, the princes in the south, apart from having a great opportunity, were all just conservative people who lived in a corner.

Therefore, it is obvious that if Xiao Yan really announced to all the princes in the world, at this moment, only the three families of Qi, Jin and Shu would dare to respond. The other so-called powerful vassals would certainly just wait and see, not to mention that Shu and Jin would most likely not really send troops for the former crown prince of Tang.

Yang Shuzi brought up the matter of entrusting his son to Xiao Yan only for the purpose of letting Xiao Yan seize the title of Li Xingyun's legitimacy. He did not even think about whether any of the princes in the world would sincerely submit to Xiao Yan in order to restore the already defunct Tang Dynasty.

"I understand, my lord." The empress said sternly, "The prince's kindness is beyond my lord's reach."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan just glanced at the empress with a half-smile, as if he could see through the person in front of him.

Qi State has been in a very embarrassing situation for so many years.

Downward, they could look down on the towns in the south of the Yangtze River, and could even slightly suppress Shu. But upward, they did not have the vast Central Plains of Daliang, nor the strategic location of Hedong of Jin. Not to mention that Li Keyong was the Shatuo Khan of the great grasslands north of the Yin Mountains. With one order from him, he had about 200,000 soldiers from the Uighurs, Tatars, Dangxiangs and even some tribes in the northern desert available. How could they be compared?
However, the passage leading to Hetao from Qi State was blocked by Dingnan and Shuofang towns. Provoking them would easily provoke resistance from the barbarians in the Hetao area, which would easily lead to being stuck in the quagmire of fighting with the barbarians, which would not be worth the loss.

In terms of the national strength of Qi alone, it is obviously not enough to compete with Liang and Jin on its own, or even one of them. However, as one of the most powerful vassal states in the world, as long as they have the intention of dominating, they will not ignore Qi. Even Shu has been invading the north through Hanzhong from time to time for more than ten years, making it impossible to defend against it.

In the limited time, the empress can only try her best to ensure that the war will not affect the homeland of Qi. But in time, after the situation of Liang and Jin's hegemony is broken, one side will always come to annex Qi. At that time, what choice should she, the King of Qi, make?
If he surrendered, he would be betraying the foundation entrusted to him by his brother, and even more so, he would be betraying the title of King of Qi that was trusted by his civil and military generals.

But if they don't surrender, the people of Qi will surely suffer, and there will be no peace unless the country is destroyed.

Therefore, she would pay special attention to her legitimate title of "Former Crown Prince of Tang". Regardless of whether it is useful or not, at least it can be used as a bargaining chip to make other princes cautious. After all, in name, there are many princes who respect the Tang Dynasty. Just talking about the State of Jin, there is no legitimate reason to send troops to Qi State, which can also make the State of Shu stop thinking about sending troops out of Hanzhong and at least sit down and have a good talk.

Not to mention that if Xiao Yan was powerful and used all the strength hidden in the open but secretly, perhaps he could lead Qi to rise up and really restore the Tang Dynasty. Qi would at least be the place where the dragon rose. She could just give up the so-called title of King Qi in exchange for peace in Qi.

This is why she insisted on inviting Xiao Yan to join Qi Country even though she knew there would be great risks.

But it was obvious that unless Xiao Yan was mentally ill, there was no way he would jump in and take on this hot potato, so he had this half-smile on his face.

The empress was stunned for some reason, but she just smiled calmly and changed the subject, saying: "In this case, I can only let Ji Ruxue accompany the prince all the time, so as to make up for my regret of not being able to fulfill my duty as a minister in person. In addition, Miao Chengtian and Xuan Jingtian can also be dispatched by the prince at will, I hope the prince will not despise them..."

Xiao Yan did not answer, but turned around and looked at Ji Ruxue who was standing beside Miao Chengtian with her arms folded, watching her paint.

In fact, he had not spent much time alone with Ji Ruxue since returning to Beijing. He was too busy at first, as he needed to hand over the Guide Army and pay attention to the safety of the Yandi soldiers who came from Hebei. Although Han Yanhui was running around for him, he, as the commander, could not just let it go. Not to mention the trivial matters with Jing Xiang and Zhu Youzhen that he had to deal with personally, when everything was done in a few days, Yang Shuzi suddenly showed up, which was really disturbing.

So now, he suddenly realized that the girl had obviously grown taller, become prettier, and her slender figure had become fuller...

Of course, her appearance has become a little colder. Judging from her temperament, she can no longer be called a girl from now on. She should be called a woman.

Obviously, the girl, who was still in the blue shirt, also noticed his gaze. She couldn't help but look up at first, and then pursed her lips and concentrated on looking at Miao Chengtian's painting.

"King Qi is really..." Xiao Yan smiled, then stroked his sleeves, and suddenly walked out of the pavilion and headed towards the bank of the Jinshui River.

The empress was slightly surprised, but then without hesitation, she walked out of the pavilion and followed him.

It was obvious that the two women who were painting in the distance, the girl with her arms crossed, wondering what she was thinking, and Guangmutian, who was carrying a zither and watching the painting nearby, were all stunned and looked up.

Xiao Yan's action clearly ruined the mood.

"Prince... Your Excellency, what are you doing...?" The empress was surprised for a moment, but she stayed beside Xiao Yan. She glanced away and saw that the dozen or so riders in the distance had already stood up.

But at this moment, Xiao Yan just shouted loudly towards the big boat on the river: "Boatman, did you catch a lot?"

It was said to be a big ship, but in fact it was just several small boats put together to form a large-looking fishing boat. The two boat owners and several boatmen on the boat turned around when they heard it, but were shocked for a moment.

Because not to mention Xiao Yan and the other two on the shore, they were all dressed in gorgeous clothes and brocade robes. The shorter but more handsome young man was even wearing an obviously luxurious jade crown. He looked like a noble person no matter how you looked at him.

Just the dozen or so fierce cavalrymen and several large carriages far away were enough to make them dare not underestimate them.

So after a little hesitation, one of the boat owners actually ordered his men to row the boat over, obviously fearing that Xiao Yan would think that their attitude was insincere.

"Uh... My dear sir, it's still early and we haven't caught much..." An elderly ship owner held down a boatman who was looking around, and just as he approached the shore, he bent down on the boat with his hands folded.

After hearing this, Xiao Yan laughed and said, "Then I am sorry for disturbing you all... How about this, take all the fish you have. I will pay twice the price for them, just as an apology to you all."

"No, no." The boat owner was startled and grabbed the younger boat owner next to him who was about to happily haul up the half-net of fish after hearing what he said. Then he said with a smile, "It is we who have disturbed the two nobles' pleasure of outing. We knew that the long pavilion was here, but we insisted on fishing in this river. We really have no vision. What are you talking about? These cheap things are just my filial tribute to you..."

The empress frowned for a moment, but said nothing.

Xiao Yan continued to laugh, and did not refute. He just nodded and said, "Bring it here."

After this, the young boat owner and several other boatmen were of course angry, but they could not stand the cowardly look of the older boat owner, so they just swallowed their anger and put the half net catch in a basket, and carried it to the shore to show Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan actually squatted down and started picking and choosing, and only stopped after he picked out a few dead fish and threw them away.

This action made them even more angry, and they turned around and left without even taking the basket.

At this time, Xiao Yan just stood up. Seeing this, he was not annoyed. He looked in his arms, but suddenly his face was shocked.

Then, without changing his expression, he moved closer to the empress and whispered, "Brother Li, can you bring..."

The empress was surprised when she heard this, and then she laughed. She naturally understood what Xiao Yan wanted to say, and then she took out a few bean-sized objects from her sleeve, but they were all made of gold.

"My husband said he wanted to buy fish, so of course he should. You can accept these little things as payment for the fish, plus the money for your fish basket."

She just threw it away, and then bent over to pick up the basket of catch herself.

Xiao Yan smiled casually, of course not caring about the frightened and surprised boat owners on the boat. He raised his hand to take the edge of the basket on the other side and asked, "Brother Li, aren't you curious?"

"Of course I'm not curious."

The empress simply said, "Whatever the prince wants to do, there must be a reason for it. As a subject, you just have to follow it."

Xiao Yan laughed again, and when the two bad guys arrived, he let go and handed the basket of fish to them: "That fellow Gong Yangzuo boasts about his cooking skills, let him take care of it, and bring a few jugs of wine."

After that, he didn't need to care about the bad guys who were preparing, but just patted the fishy smell on his hands and said, "Today, I am sending King Qi back to Qi, so there should be some wine and food. I just thought that King Qi gave me a beautiful woman, so I should give King Qi something, but I forgot that I haven't carried any money with me for a long time."

The empress was stunned for a moment, then just laughed: "The prince is indeed a wonderful person."

"Don't mention these two words again."

Xiao Yan thought about it, then walked to Yu Youshu's side again and asked with a smile, "Is Madam Yu ready?"

The latter was a little ashamed, "I just finished the outline..."

"Mine is almost done." Miao Chengtian beside him smiled and took down the scroll.

At this time, the empress had already walked over, but Xiao Yan walked forward almost without stopping, and suddenly picked up a pen on the small desk next to her.

Miao Chengtian was stunned for a moment, but Ji Ruxue understood what he meant. She gently took down the scroll and spread it on the table.

Xiao Yanxu glanced up and saw that on the scroll, the ink had not yet completely dried, the Jinshui River was misty, the sun was rising, and in the wooden pavilion, two figures were facing the sun, and You was just making a conversation gesture.

There is a lot of white space in the distance, which contrasts beautifully with the wooden pavilion and the two tiny figures. It also makes the rising sun, which is half-hidden under the skyline, seem to be reflected on the pavilion, which is very pleasing to the eye.

He smiled, picked up his pen, and then slowly wrote a few lines in the blank space in the corner using the thin gold style that he was accustomed to in his previous life.

It is:

Yi and Lu, two old men, experienced both poverty and wealth. One was a fisherman and the other a farmhand. If they had not met the right person at that time, they would have become heroes.

Tang and Wu met by chance, they were like wind, tiger, cloud and dragon. They made the kingship in a matter of minutes. Until now, thousands of years later, who can compete with them for merit?

Then he picked up the pen and signed his name.

The so-called: Yanzhou, Li Jiu.

"King Qi gave me a gift, but I have nothing to return it with. So I can only give King Qi a poem as a return gift."

For a moment, the empress could only be stunned.

(End of this chapter)