Compared with the late Emperor Long'an, Li Feng, Emperor Li Min was able to exercise both tension and relaxation. Although his reforms were like waves, he was well organized, with laws coming first and policies following. He expanded his work from point to surface and from top to bottom. He also established schools to enlighten the people and sent long dragons into the sea to escort merchant ships and people studying abroad. He quietly and bit by bit separated the imperial power, which had been highly concentrated since the time of Emperor Wu, from the complicated court.

At the same time, although he did not like ostentation, he would never treat himself as harshly as his brother.

Every year when the weather got hot, he would lead all his ministers to the newly rebuilt Jinghua Garden Palace to escape the heat. During the New Year holidays, after a palace banquet ended early, no one would try to hold him back with government affairs, as the emperor would have to go to the hot spring villa in the north to rest.

However, in the first year of Taishi, the ministers were not yet accustomed to the emperor's private habits, so the hot spring villa was disturbed several times.

The most annoying one among them is Shen Yi.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, Shen Yi, who had successfully escorted the war reparations back, returned to the capital to report. He estimated that the two people should be tired of each other, and it would not be too annoying to visit them at this time, so he went home, took a few cans of wine brewed by his father, and went to the northern suburbs to visit Gu Yun.

Old Master Shen always likes to tinker around at home. Once he had too much fermented rice wine and had nowhere to give it to, so his family ingeniously put it in Wangnan Tower for consignment. Unexpectedly, it somehow suited the taste of the people in Beijing. Two carts of privately brewed rice wine were sold out in three days. Since then, Mr. Shen's privately brewed rice wine has become very popular and hard to get. When the old man heard about this, he decisively stopped brewing in large quantities. He only produced three or two jars each time and only gave them to relatives and friends. He also asked people to write a story about his privately brewed rice wine in the tabloids, so that people could see it but not drink it. It was very hateful.

In the end, even the Shen family's rather quaint little wine jars became a new trend in the capital, and Mr. Shen's private brew became a valuable gift, which was a bargain for poor Shen Yi to use as a favor.

Unfortunately, the famous wine only passed through Gu Yun's hands for a moment before it was ruthlessly confiscated by His Majesty. Chang Geng gently and without explanation took the jar away and said to him, "I'll ask someone to warm it up before giving it to you."

Gu Yun looked inexplicably angry and sad, which made Shen Yi confused. As soon as Chang Geng left, he nudged Gu Yun with his elbow and said, "The king of a country takes such good care of you, why are you still so upset?"

Gu Yun glanced at him with a stomachache and waved his hands weakly: "You know shit."

Shen Yi wanted to retort, but when the words came to his lips, he remembered that he came here today to ask for something, and it was inconvenient to offend Gu too much, so he had to suppress his temper and said humbly: "Zi Xi, I have something to ask you."

Gu Yun hummed listlessly: "Speak."

Shen Yi swallowed his saliva and asked seriously, "If I want to propose to Miss Chen, how can I make it seem less abrupt?"

Hearing this, Gu Yun raised one of his long eyebrows and asked in surprise: "Abrupt? What's so abrupt about that?"

Shen Yi: “…”

Gu Yun asked curiously, "Didn't you even give me the token of love?"

Shen Yi hung his head and slowly reached into his bosom. Under Gu Yun's astonished gaze, he reluctantly took out a small cloth bag wrapped in fine silk. The thing was tightly wrapped in layer after layer, and it took three layers to reveal the contents inside - it was the "legendary" small step-shaking ornament.

"You haven't given it yet?" Gu Yun commented mercilessly, "Fortunately you didn't give it, it's too ugly."

Shen Yi silently covered his heart.

Gu Yun commented: "You spent so much time choosing something so old-fashioned. If you don't know, you might think you are using it as a gift to your mother. Besides, Miss Chen obviously won't like these pearls and jades. I think it's unnecessary for you to buy them."

Shen Yi could barely accept the first half of the sentence, but something was wrong with the second half. Shen Yi immediately became alert and asked, "How do you know that they don't like it?"

Gu Yun waved at him solemnly, and said earnestly: "A woman, unless she is really too poor to afford it, will buy what she likes herself - otherwise, do you think she would keep it in her heart all day long, and expect someone to buy it for her?"

Shen Yi: “…”

Gu Yun leaned back, looked at him with pity, shook his head and sighed: "You think too much."

Shen Yi looked helpless and pitiful.

Gu Yun usually enjoyed bullying him, but seeing Shen Yi's cowardly look, he actually felt a little sympathy for him. He silently cracked an egg boiled in a hot spring from the small tray next to him and handed it to him.

Looking back, after they got rid of Jialai together, they went their separate ways. Chen Qingxu returned to the Chen family's old house, and then rushed to the capital to take care of Chang Geng. Shen Yi stayed in Northern Xinjiang, and was later transferred to Jiangnan by Gu Yun. The two of them were in different parts of the world, and now they have finally breathed a sigh of relief. I guess they didn't have a chance to say a few words.

Shen Yi, this useless guy, didn't even seize the opportunity to get closer to someone who had been through life and death with him. If it weren't for Miss Chen's natural aura that kept people at a distance, how could he have the chance to complain behind her back?

Gu Yun felt a bit sad and angry at his lack of fighting spirit, and said earnestly, "You can repeat it in your mind a hundred or eighty times, but no one will understand. It's useless. Let's put aside whether it will work or not. You have to let people know what you mean first, right?"

Shen Yi said painfully: "I don't know what to say when I see her."

Gu Yun said bluntly: "With your ability to talk nonsense, there is only one reason why you don't know what to say, that is, you are too purposeful. You feel that you have intentions towards others, but you are afraid of making things worse, so you hesitate and dare not say anything."

Although Shen Yi once complained about Gu Yun's lack of moral integrity, he had to nod his head in conviction at this moment: "That makes sense."

"Your mentality is wrong," Gu Yun said very experiencedly, "If you want to be at ease, first of all, you can't show your weakness to yourself. You have to treat her as an ordinary person in your heart, and you can't worship her as a Buddha. You should talk to her the same way you talk to others. However, Miss Chen has been dealing with medicine and stones for many years, and her temperament is too peaceful... that is, a little dull. You have to let her feel that you treat her differently from others. This matter is very subtle. If you don't get the heat right, she won't react. If you use too much force, you will look very vulgar."

Chang Geng came back for some reason, and replaced the wine jar with a small wine bottle. He asked someone to put the small stove for warming the wine aside and left. He listened to Gu Yun's talk about love quietly beside him, whether to laugh or not. The two were concentrating on showing off, while the other was eager to learn, and no one noticed that the emperor had returned.

Shen Yi: "Please teach me, Marshal."

Gu Yun said seriously: "I can't teach you this, because I usually don't have this worry. I'm so handsome and unrestrained that no matter what I do, girls won't think I'm vulgar."

Shen Yi: “…”

Gu Yun: "I can't help it if you keep staring at me eagerly. Besides, this matter can only be understood but not explained. It can't be taught in a few words."

Shen Yi tried his best to suppress his urge to hit him, and squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth: "Tell me something real, give me an example - for example?"

Gu Yun thought for a moment: "For example, at your age..."

Shen Yi got angry and said, "How old am I?"

"Tsk, for example, a mature man like you - mature, okay?" Gu Yun said disdainfully, "You shouldn't talk about love all the time like a teenager, otherwise people will think you are unreliable. Love words are more precious than quantity. The most appropriate situation is that you say a hundred serious words to her, and in between you put in one or two affectionate words, which can really move people and not seem frivolous."

He finally said a few decent words, and Shen Yi nodded quickly.

Gu Yun: "This kind of interjection requires skill. You have to prepare a draft in your mind before interjecting. You have to keep your face calm and not make your words incoherent. It's also best not to say anything too explicit at the beginning. You have to know when to stop. Make sure that the other person doesn't mind first, and then you can push further."

His Majesty the Emperor, who was eavesdropping not far away, crossed his arms over his chest and nodded, probably understanding the tactics that Gu Yun had used against him in the past.

Gu Yun: "But even though it's inconvenient to be explicit, you have to do other things well. For example, you can't just be nervous, you have to consider her feelings and take care of her at all times. At the beginning, what you say and do should be based on her pace and likes and dislikes. This depends on observation. If you can see it with your own eyes, it's best not to ask her directly, so that you appear to be more concerned. And... well, the eyes have to be right."

Shen Yi wanted to invite the four treasures of the study to write down the Anding Marquis's golden rules one by one, not daring to miss a single word, and hurriedly asked: "What kind of eyes..."

He didn't finish his question, and when he looked up he met Gu Yun's gaze.

If Gu Yun usually looked at him with the expression "Get out of here, you're blocking my light", then the expression in his eyes at this moment was "You are my light".

Gu Yun's gaze was very subtly between "focused" and "wandering", his eyes were slightly curved, as if with a smile that came naturally, his eye sockets seemed to only hold the person in front of him, and at the same time he seemed to be distracted involuntarily, his eyelashes flickered slightly, and suddenly he was caught, his eyelids drooped, and he made a very natural "unnatural" smile, and stretched out his hand to rub it gently under his nose.

Shen Yi: “…”

His hands trembled and he almost dropped the half-eaten egg on the ground.

Chang Geng couldn't bear to watch it any longer, so he strode over and coughed heavily.

Gu Yun immediately put down his legs from the small table and quickly put on a gentlemanly face. Shen Yi felt awkward for some reason and stood up quickly: "Your Majesty."

Chang Geng forced himself to put on a "gentle and elegant" expression, waved his hand and said, "This is a private occasion, no need to be polite, Mr. Shen, please take a seat."

Shen Qing vaguely felt that it might be time for him to say goodbye and leave.

Chang Geng smiled and said, "I just overheard a few words. What? Are you here for Miss Chen?"

Shen Yi suddenly felt even more embarrassed.

"I heard that Miss Chen has admired General Shen's heroic spirit since the battle in Northern Frontier," Chang Geng slowly put the small wine bottle on the stove to warm it. At the same time, he slapped away Gu Yun's hand that was reaching for the wine bottle without even raising his eyelids, and said to Shen Yi, whose face was flushed, "If the two of you are in love, there is no need for so many tests. Last time, I found a few rare medical books in the palace, and I was planning to send someone to deliver them to Miss Chen. Would Mr. Shen be willing to do it for you?"

Shen Yi almost knelt down before the emperor, thinking that Chang Geng's two sentences were more valuable than Gu Yun's long speech.

After an incense stick of time, Chang Geng watched Shen Yi leave with satisfaction - he was the one who wanted Shen Yi to get married as soon as possible, so that this person would not hang around Gu Yun all the time. From the time Yan Hui returned to the town until now, the two of them were inseparable. When Gu Yun encountered difficulties, he would definitely inform Shen Yi even if he didn't tell him... Although there were always reasons for each incident, it was impossible for Chang Geng to not mind at all.

After sending this one away, Chang Geng turned to the other.

Gu Yun quickly gave him an affectionate look.

Chang Geng was unmoved, and said leisurely, "You can prepare your thoughts with your eyes. Zixi, you are indeed a man who has been through many trials and tribulations."

Gu Yun blinked, stretched and stood up, walked to Chang Geng, untied a slit in the fox fur and wrapped Chang Geng in it, lowered his voice and smiled in his ear: "Your Majesty, you should have said you were jealous earlier."

Chang Geng: “…”

He was deafened by Gu Yun's lazy whisper, and then he realized that this man was indeed a master of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, and what he taught Shen Yi was just the basics.

Gu Yun sniffed his temples and praised, "The sour aroma is so fragrant - Your Majesty, let's make a deal. You just drank a jar of vinegar, can you give me a sip of wine?"

Chang Geng was so angry that he laughed: "Dream on, just smell it."

Gu Yun said with a "tsk". "Yesterday I was allowed to lick the chopsticks, why did I just smell the taste today? It's all Shen Yi's fault. He had to come here to be an eyesore during the holidays..."

Chang Geng pulled out a pair of chopsticks from the side and dipped them into the warmed wine cup: "Take it and taste it. Stop bargaining."

Gu Yun: “…”

There was a chopstick with a strong aroma of wine between the two of them. They looked at each other in silence for a moment. Just when Chang Geng thought that Gu Yun had been well behaved today, Gu Yun suddenly pulled out the chopstick that was stained with wine, sniffed it gently, then he quickly turned Chang Geng's chin, wiped the wine on Chang Geng's lips, and licked it clean in the blink of an eye. The chopstick that was in the way was thrown aside with a "click".

Chang Geng was stunned as he was taken advantage of by him, and he didn't react at all.

Gu Yun licked his lips and floated away with a smile: "Good wine, I'm drunk."

The new emperor, who had been teased in various ways, stood still for a moment, and finally couldn't bear it anymore and chased after him. He felt that it was very necessary for him to personally check how General Gu's injuries were recovering.