Chapter 260 Meeting the Emperor
"Hey, the Marquis is here!"
Outside the Daming Palace, Dai Quan came out with a smile, "The Emperor has been talking about the Marquis a lot recently!"
Jia Cong followed Dai Quan into the Daming Palace and saw the retired emperor playing with a jade ornament with great interest.
"Your Highness, Jia Cong, sends his regards to His Majesty the Retired Emperor!"
Throwing the item aside, the Emperor smiled and said, "You little monkey are back? Yes, I know everything you did in Jiangnan. You did a great job! You are brave and resourceful, much better than those stupid generals."
"Now that the world is at peace, if you had made such great contributions during the founding of the country, it would not be an exaggeration to even confer the title of Duke."
"This time, the emperor probably won't give you a promotion, but that's so he can continue to use you. Otherwise, if you were given the title of Duke, even if you were the commander of the Beijing Camp, you probably wouldn't be able to hold the position for long."
"I understand the painstaking efforts of the Emperor and Your Majesty!" Jia Cong said respectfully.
"You are now in charge of the Five Cities Military Department and the Beijing Camp. You should be careful with your words and actions. However, this does not mean that you should restrain yourself. On the contrary, you don't need to be too cautious about what you should do. Doing things that you shouldn't do is a bad thing! You are successful at a young age . If you follow the rules too much, it will be uncharacteristic of a young man."
"Just like the loss of face to the King of Nanyue before, it's lost. You, the champion marquis, may not be less important than a prince."
Jia Cong naturally understood what he meant and said immediately, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your teachings!"
"Haha, what are you teaching me? I am too lazy to care about anything in Daming Palace now. I just talked a little more when I saw the outstanding young men of Daqian. You little guy, don't bother me behind my back."
Jia Cong shook his head and said, "The emperor is wrong! Even the common people know that an old man in the family is like a treasure, let alone the emperor?"
"You have been on the throne for decades. What storms and waves have you not experienced? With your experience and knowledge, if I can get some advice from you, I will benefit from it for the rest of my life. How can I not know what is good for me?"
"Hahaha! You little monkey speak very nicely, much better than Li She and Li Wei. "
"How can I compare with the prince and the king?"
"What prince? In my opinion, you are just like them! If you don't find my Daming Palace boring, you can come here to chat with me when you go to the palace to pay homage to the emperor. That would be your filial piety."
Jia Cong nodded and said, "As long as I enter the palace, I will come to pay my respects to the emperor!"
Afterwards, the two began to chat. Unlike the emperor, Jia Cong talked mostly about the scenery of Jiangnan with the emperor emeritus. The emperor emeritus also mentioned to Jia Cong his experiences during his southern tour.
Before he knew it, nearly an hour had passed. Jia Cong saw that the emperor looked a little tired, so he said goodbye.
"Okay, Dai Quan, help me send this little monkey off! This charm was given to me by the Great Illusion Immortal. He said he had recited the Heart Sutra 749 times on it. I'll give it to you as a toy!"
Jia Cong hurriedly took it with both hands, only to find that it was actually a coiled dragon ornament.
After expressing his gratitude again, Jia Cong went to Fengzao Palace.
When Jia Cong arrived at Fengzao Palace, not only the queen was there, but the emperor was also waiting.
"You've been with the retired emperor for so long, you must be starving! Yuanchun, quickly arrange for someone to serve the meal!" The Queen directly pulled Jia Cong to her side.
"Did he get injured in the battle in Jiangnan ? Your Majesty, he is still a child. If there are similar incidents in the future, can't you send someone else? There are many civil and military officials in the court. Why do you have to send a child to fight?" The queen complained to the emperor beside her.
The emperor touched his nose embarrassedly. This kid defeated hundreds of thousands of White Lotus sect members, while he himself only lost a few thousand people in total. Those in the court now could not compare to such a commander.
"Your Majesty! I am the Marquis of Champion, conferred by Your Majesty. If there is something going on in the court, I will be the first to charge. I have no other skills, and I believe that my knowledge is not as good as those of the officials in the court, but as long as Your Majesty gives the order, I will do my duty!"
"You kid!" The Queen poked Jia Cong's forehead and said lovingly, "You are just like His Majesty, both of you have a stubborn temper! I can't control you anymore. From now on, you and your Emperor can irritate me as much as you want."
The father and son looked at each other and tacitly did not respond.
"I have brought some Jiangnan specialties to Your Majesty. Although they are not expensive, they are exquisite. I hope Your Majesty will not dislike them!"
"Really?" The Queen's eyes lit up. "No matter what it is, it's all your filial piety. How can I despise it?"
"Why didn't you tell me what you brought back to me?"
Jia Cong looked at the unhappy look of Emperor Longxing in astonishment. You are an emperor, is it worth arguing over such a small matter? Besides, it's not like I brought nothing back.
During the campaign to wipe out the White Lotus Sect, he had seized a lot of gold and silver! He kept some for himself, gave some to his officers and soldiers as rewards, and gave the rest to Lin Ruhai to appease the people. The remaining millions were all handed over to the national treasury. What gift could be less real than this?
"Haha!" Seeing the emperor's jealous eyes and Jia Cong's stunned expression, the queen couldn't help but laugh, "Your Majesty, why are you still arguing about these things with a child? Besides, I care about this child much more than you do. Isn't it normal for this child to think about me?"
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I will give you half of the things that the child gave me."
The queen's smug look made the emperor even more unhappy!
"You bastard, if you dare to forget this again, I will punish you severely!"
Faced with the emperor personally asking for a bribe, Jia Cong could only accept it...
Fortunately, the meal arrived soon, otherwise, Jia Cong would have had to flee under the emperor's resentful and unhappy gaze... In fact, most of the time, Emperor Longxing was a calm and composed emperor who never showed his emotions, but in his heart, he had too many feelings and emotions for Jia Cong.
This Jia Cong was his son who had been lost for sixteen years, and he had felt guilty about it for sixteen years. Jia Cong was one of his most capable ministers, and he had even risked his life to save him. He remembered Jia Cong's achievements time and time again. Therefore, when he faced Jia Cong, he had the dignity of a minister, but he also had more love for his legitimate son.
There is a difference between legitimate and illegitimate children. Jia Cong's position in his heart is naturally higher than that of Li Wei and others. What's more, he is so outstanding and he has been owed so much by him for so many years? Therefore, in front of Jia Cong, he took off all his disguises and revealed the demeanor of an ordinary "father".
