The emperor would rather have a

Chapter 70 Court Meeting
"Alang, I..."

Early the next morning, when Li Yi went out, he met Chen Xiaoniang waiting at the door.

The little girl seemed to have something to say, but she hesitated for a long time and couldn't say it.

If it were any other day, Li Yi wouldn't mind showing his patience, but today the emperor was going to hold a court meeting, and he also had important things to do.

Therefore, Li Yi didn't wait for Chen Xiaoniang to finish her words and responded casually: "If you have anything to say, wait until I come back and talk to you."

Riding on the horse brought by the gatekeeper, he thought of something and turned back to say, "I don't care if you want to learn how to distill alcohol, but be careful not to start a fire. Otherwise, I will not forgive you if you burn down the house."

"drive!"

After Li Yi finished speaking, he rode away, leaving Chen Xiaoniang standing there, staring blankly at his back, looking very aggrieved and lost.

While riding a horse through the Zhengyangfang Gate, Li Yi happened to meet Zhao Kuangyin who had just come out of the gate.

However, Li Yi felt that this might not be a coincidence. He always felt that Zhao Da had calculated the time accurately and waited here in advance. After seeing him coming, he pretended to have just walked out of the gate.

It's because the Zhao family's house and Li Yi's house are only on the same street.

Moreover, the location is just to the north of Li's house. If Li Yi wants to go out of the gate and head towards the imperial city, he must pass by the Zhao family's mansion.

It would have been easy for Zhao Kuangyin to stop him.

"Brother Zhao, what a coincidence."

Li Yi bowed to Zhao Kuangyin, who was accompanied by two strong men, who should be his personal soldiers.

With Li Yi's current status, there was naturally no need for him to pay attention to two ordinary soldiers. Instead, the two of them took the initiative to salute him respectfully.

"Brother, why are you alone here?" Zhao Kuangyin asked specifically.

After all, Li Yi always takes Ma Renyu with him wherever he goes, so this is probably what Zhao Da meant.

Li Yi didn't explain too much and replied with a smile: "I'm used to coming and going alone."

But he had made up his mind that he would bring a few personal soldiers with him in the future. Nowadays, military generals of some status would do so.

As long as there are no more than ten people involved and the matter is reported to the Privy Council, there will be no problem.

Zhao Kuangyin didn't ask any more questions and took the initiative to invite him, "That's perfect. Why don't you come with me?"

Li Yi nodded and said, "Then I will be honored to refuse."

Anyway, it's broad daylight, so there's no need to worry about Zhao Da playing any tricks. Besides, the other party has never targeted Li Yi and has always been very polite on the surface.

There was no need for him to act petty.

"Brother, I heard that you returned to Xiajin to bring your relatives to Tokyo?"

"Yes."

"Is it going well?"

"They should be here this afternoon."

On the way to the imperial city, Zhao Kuangyin seemed to be making small talk, talking about this and that, and Li Yi could only try his best to deal with it.

However, hearing Zhao Da calling him "good brother" all the time made Li Yi suddenly feel a little uncomfortable.

Thinking back to when he was trying his best to curry favor with the other party, Zhao mostly called him by his name, or called him Brother Yi, and occasionally called him Brother Xian just out of courtesy.

But even so, Li Yi felt flattered.

What a great honor it would be to be able to be on friendly terms with the future Emperor Taizu of Song?

But now... Zhao Da called him his good brother with a little more sincerity, and Li Yi felt a little uncomfortable hearing it.

It seems that his military rank is slightly higher than Zhao Da's now, and coupled with the huge change in his mentality, Li Yi is more calm when facing Zhao Da.

The filter for the future Emperor Taizu of Song has already faded a lot.

"Brother, when you have time, come to my house to have a drink and reminisce about the past. You left in such a hurry last time that my second sister is still blaming me."

When they parted in front of the imperial city, Zhao Kuangyin suddenly invited Li Yi to his home to reminisce about the past, and also specifically mentioned his sister Zhao Erniang.

"I will definitely visit you someday when I have time."

Li Yi replied politely.

However, he felt a little strange in his heart. It was understandable that Zhao Da invited him to drink and wanted to get closer to him. The future Emperor Taizu of Song did have this tolerance.

But why mention his sister for no reason?

Li Yi simply stopped thinking about things he couldn't figure out. Besides, he didn't have time to guess what Zhao Kuangyin was thinking.

After entering the imperial city, we arrived at the court hall.

Li Yi discovered that most of the civil and military officials had already arrived, and they were gathered together talking in low voices.

Many more people came in one after another.

It was still dark outside, but the lights in the hall were bright as day.

It is late July, early autumn.

The weather is starting to get cooler, with a big temperature difference between morning and evening, and you can feel a slight chill.

Li Yi tightened his official uniform and walked to the ranks of the generals in front of the palace.

"Envoy Li." "Envoy Li."

All the generals took the initiative to greet him. Li Yi responded with a smile and quickly walked to stand behind Li Jixun.

"Zhang Dushi."

"Li Du Yu Hou."

Li Yi was the first to greet Zhang Yongde and Li Jixun.

The two of them naturally nodded in response with a smile.

Speaking of which, the current commander of the Palace Army is the commander-in-chief Zhang Yongde, and the deputy commander is the marquis Li Jixun.

The two are the top two figures in the Palace Army.

The various squads under the Palace Guard were nominally of the same level, but the status and treatment of the chief commander of the Palace Guard was slightly higher than that of the other squads.

From this perspective, Li Yi can barely be considered the third-in-command of the Palace Army.

No wonder Zhang Yongde showed his intention to win over me as soon as he came back two days ago.

Li Yi figured it out later. The Inner Palace Guards were the strongest among the Palace Guards, and he now had a resounding reputation.

Who else can Zhang Yongde win over if not himself?
Many times, a person’s importance does not lie in his status or rank.

It depends on whether his position is critical.

In terms of status and position, Li Yi can only be considered above average in the entire imperial guards.

In terms of actual military power...the fully staffed Inner Palace Guards are considered to be at the front.

However, for the Palace Army and Zhang Yongde, Li Yi and his inner palace guards are indeed a strong force.

Thinking of this, Li Yi couldn't help but turn his gaze to the ranks of military generals in the Imperial Guard Department.

The first one was a big man with a curly beard, wearing a purple robe and a fish bag embroidered with gold ornaments around his waist.

It was Li Chongjin, the deputy commander of the imperial guards, who was later nicknamed the "Black King".

Compared to the elegant Zhang Yongde, Li Chongjin is more like a pure warrior.

He was tall and strong, with a very dark complexion, even comparable to Zhao Dayou's.

However, no matter how black he was, Li Chongjin was not as fat as Zhao Da, and he had a fierce look on his face, unlike Zhao Da who looked honest.

As if he noticed someone was looking at him, Li Chongjin suddenly turned around and met Li Yi's gaze.

When their eyes met, Li Chongjin showed a hint of dissatisfaction.

Li Yi immediately looked away, feeling stunned.

When had he ever offended Li Chongjin?

But after thinking about it, Li Yi suddenly understood.

He had never offended the other party. If Li Chongjin really wanted to dislike him, he would probably regard him as Zhang Yongde's man.

What a fuck!
In fact, Li Yi did not want to be too close to either Zhang Yongde or Li Chongjin.

As long as I don't offend either of them, it's fine.

But in this world, people always like to label you.

Sometimes it’s really hard to stay out of it!
(End of this chapter)