Volume 4 is in the ascendant Chapter 511 You came at the right time
After Bai Tu returned to the Chu Palace...
To be precise, the "shock" was felt as soon as the grand court meeting ended and the ministers dispersed.
In order to demonstrate trust, during the grand court meeting, Lü Lingqi, the queen and head of the imperial guards, did not appear directly in Jiangshan Pavilion. Anyway, the first person on the left hand side of the white map was Lü Bu, so there would be no danger...
But now, Bai Tu feels that there might be danger!
"Hard Drive, you'd better prepare well. This is Mr. Lu's last wish... ahem, I mean, his last wish before retirement! Especially, you should let Lingqi to plan more... Well, tell outsiders that it is Lingqi who is busy. This will be better for Lingqi's reputation. Do you understand?" After all the ministers dispersed, Lu Bu stayed behind and spoke righteously to Diao Tu and Lu Lingqi.
After Lu Bu finished speaking, he gave Lu Lingqi, who was rolling her eyes at him, a look that said "Daddy loves you" and "This is all for your own good", and then turned and left.
Only Bai Tu's face was left in disarray...
"Are you feeling proud again?" Lu Lingqi looked at the white map and raised a familiar question.
"Absolutely not! I..."
"Let's talk about it when we get home! Let Xiaojuan know too. She might have a new 'sister', hehe." After saying that, Lu Lingqi turned around and left. Bai Tu hurriedly followed.
until……
When she reached the entrance of Jiangshan Pavilion, Lu Lingqi paused slightly and returned to the position where the "chief of the guards" should be, half a body length behind Bai Tu.
After all, there will be outsiders when we go out, and now... apart from the guards, there is only Zhang Chunhua.
In addition, Lu Lingqi turned her head and looked at Zhang Chunhua, and then said, "Master Zhang should not be interested in having more sisters, right? You don't need to come to the palace to work today."
"Well, I think so too... The king doesn't look very well and may not be in the mood to work today. Madam, you have to take good care of the king." Zhang Chunhua said obediently.
Only then did Lu Lingqi nodded, and then... followed Bai Tu out.
However, Lu Lingqi's seemingly obedient performance still put a lot of pressure on Bai Tu. When he walked in front, his waist became straighter, as if there was a knife in Lu Lingqi's hand, and the tip of the knife was pressing against his waist...
As soon as she returned to the inner courtyard of the Chu Palace, Lu Lingqi quickened her pace again, directly surpassed Bai Tu, and went straight to Xiahou Juan's writing room. It seemed that she had to win over an "ally" first.
After Bai Tu glared away all the other guards, he waited outside the door with great sincerity.
I don’t know how Lu Lingqi described the “car accident scene” at today’s grand court meeting in the house.
In short... when Lu Lingqi and Xiahou Juan came out, the former still had a cold look of anger on her face, while the latter had her signature formulaic smile.
In these few seconds, Bai Tu recalled a lot of things in his mind, including Lu Lingqi, Xiahou Juan, and Xu Rong who was always called to "take private jobs".
When the two approached Bai Tu, Bai Tu suddenly showed an angry expression, then stamped his feet and said, "How can this be! Old man Lu has misled me and also misled Xu Taishi! I can see that he is taking advantage of his retirement to blackmail me. How can we let him succeed? I am summoning him here!"
Having said that, he turned around and left with full momentum, as if he was really going to settle the score with Lu Kang.
only……
As he got closer to the front yard, Bai Tu's momentum did not diminish, but his pace became slower and slower. After taking a step, he would retract seven-tenths of it before putting it down, as if there was some invisible barrier at the front yard entrance.
"Okay! You come back first." Lu Lingqi might feel a little sorry for Bai Tu's shoe soles that were rustling from being worn out.
"Lingqi, if you have something to say, say it quickly. I'm going to settle the score with Lu Kang right away!" Bai Tu took a few big steps and walked back.
Hearing this, Lu Lingqi rolled her eyes and complained, "Keep your voice down. I wonder if they really think you have a big problem with Mr. Lu."
"Of course I have an opinion. I have long felt that he..." Bai Tu apologized to Lu Kang in his heart while slandering Mr. Lu.
Well, anyway...only Lu Lingqi and Xiahou Juan are present now.
…
Bai Tu also took great effort, and when it was almost time , he finally coaxed Lu Lingqi and Xiahou Juan.
At this time, Xu Rong also asked for an audience in front of the Chu Palace - because the Chu Palace... was closer to the Chu King's "mansion", so entering and exiting the palace became more private, but the process was also simpler.
Especially for Xu Rong...
Because of the previous sacrificial and ritual reforms, Xu Rong would often dress up low-key and come secretly to meet with Bai Tu privately - meaning to meet in private to discuss serious matters!
After all, in this regard, in order to be more "easy-going" and not to over-exacerbate some unimportant conflicts, Bai Tu has always let Xu Rong "charge forward".
From the very beginning of its founding, the State of Chu clearly pointed out that it "received its mandate from the people", that is, it completely linked its legitimacy with the support of the people, and did not seek the protection of heaven.
But even so, Bai Tu definitely did not want to be labeled as "going against the will of heaven". After all, even the Chu people with the most trendy ideas could not be indifferent to the will of heaven.
Moreover, not to mention the impact within Chu, especially outside Chu, it will give other princes, and even the Han emperor who wishes to remain anonymous, the best excuse to criticize Bai Tu!
Therefore, Bai Tuke never regarded "Heaven's Mandate" as something bad, but only emphasized that "the will of Heaven is the will of the people."
Just like when the jade seal was returned, didn’t Bai Tu also “really” enjoy the benefits of destiny?
Until now, the people living under the rule of the auxiliary Han forces have kept this matter in mind, so Liu Bei and others did not dare to directly criticize the nature of Bai Tu in terms of public opinion. At most, they criticized the various policies of the Chu State.
Even when promoting the Han Dynasty's legitimacy as the Mandate of Heaven, a rift had already been created in the hearts of the people.
The Emperor of Han, who did not want to reveal his name, felt so angry every time he thought of this incident and how moved he was at the time!
In order to make the situation more moderate, Bai Tu's sacrificial reform was led by the Taishi Bureau - after all, the Taishi Bureau was equivalent to a department responsible for observing the stars and fortune-telling for the imperial court, and was also the absolute authority in this regard.
The only one who can monitor it in this regard is the Ministry of Rites...
When Xu Rong completely sided with Bai Tu and there were many "astronomy enthusiasts" and "mathematics enthusiasts" within the Tai Shi Bureau, and these newcomers were always vigorously promoted, the sacrificial reform took the lead in the Tai Shi Bureau.
In this way, even if someone resists, the situation can be controlled to the level of "objection to the work of the Tai Shi Bureau" and "question about the professionalism of the Tai Shi Bureau."
Instead of fermenting in the direction of criticizing "The King of Chu disregarded the will of heaven" and "The State of Chu mocked God"!
Up to now, there are more than a dozen festivals and anniversaries established by the Tai Shi Bureau, but the sacrificial activities are all planned very simply and even down-to-earth, which has indeed attracted a lot of criticism.
However... all these criticisms remained at the level of the "Tai Shi Bureau" as expected!
In other words, until now, Xu Rong has never given up and asked the Tai Shi Bureau to withdraw and let Bai Tu bear the disputes directly. Instead, she has always kept all the disputes between the opponents and the Tai Shi Bureau.
Although Bai Tu's secret support also played a decisive role in this, he also deeply understood and was grateful for Xu Rong's stubbornness.
During this period, Bai Tu also met Xu Rong privately, just like when he "arbitrarily changed the wedding date and added a bunch of divination theories that seem a bit unorthodox nowadays"...
And the demands are getting more and more excessive, but Xu Rong is getting more and more accustomed to it, and now she even enjoys it.
For example, the "Loneliness Day" was established previously to encourage people to pay attention to the elderly and children who are alone and cannot survive on their own. Xu Rong proposed that on this day every year, some representative "Loneliness Gardens" could present some programs and organize the public and government agencies to watch them, so as to further enhance empathy.
Xu Rong is now used to "making up" the sacrificial rituals herself...
Xu Rong, who looked small and weak at the beginning, now has a completely different personality in the court than she did back then. She is even one of the representatives of officials in the State of Chu who is known for her uprightness!
Bai Tu has always believed that compared to using a sense of solemnity and, in the eyes of the public, an unattainable sense of distance to add bricks and tiles to one's own legal rationality and establish a personality that conforms to the will of heaven, in the new era it is better to have these more popular and commemorative contents.
After all, as Chu's basic education becomes more and more effective, the effect of the former will become smaller and smaller, while the effect of the latter will be continuous!
And because he often had secret meetings with Xu Rong,... the guards in the Chu Palace were very familiar with Xu Rong. After all, they would often take orders to escort her into the palace through the small door.
Xu Rong was also one of the few officials who were allowed to enter the Chu Palace without reporting.
The same happens this time!
Especially because the incident at the grand court meeting spread among the guards, everyone became more enthusiastic when they saw Xu Rong.
Xu Rong went all the way to the backyard without any hindrance - it was not like she had never been there before!
However, the situation this time was obviously a little different. For example... because the guards at the backyard gate had long been cleared out by Bai Tu, Xu Rong was unable to find anyone to report on her behalf.
I thought I'd come in to look for it, but when I came in...
It was awkward to see Bai Tu half-hugging Lu Lingqi, with his other hand still holding Xia Hou Juan.
Although the former still had a look of anger on his face, it was clear that he had calmed down. As for Xiahou Juan... he was holding back his laughter and had a stern face, which was the opposite of before.
Xu Rong accidentally scratched a branch and made a noise. The three of them turned their heads to look over. Lu Lingqi quickly left Bai Tu's arms, and Xiahou Juan also loosened his grip without leaving a trace.
"I'm sorry! Maybe I came at the wrong time..." Xu Rong said embarrassedly.
At the same time, she, who had always been known for her uprightness as an official, still had uncontrollable redness on her temples. She lowered her head as if she had never seen the world, and wanted to leave.
But at this time, Lu Lingqi said: "No, you came at the right time..."
