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The news that Bai Gui was conferred the title of Marquis of Linyi and appointed as the Protector General of Jingnan Protectorate at the court meeting spread like wildfire in Chang'an, and many dignitaries began to send gifts to Jinxian Temple.

Those who came early began to send gifts in the afternoon after the court meeting ended that day, and those who came late also went to send gifts the next day.

Gifts also pay attention to status!

The first people to send gifts were basically royal relatives.

After the royal relatives sent gifts, it was the nobles of Chang'an City. After the nobles sent gifts, some court officials began to send gifts secretly.

They were all very smart people, knowing that giving gifts directly was taboo, so the reason for giving gifts was to send money for support to Jinxian Temple.

Jinxian Temple is a Taoist temple!

However, it has always been Princess Jinxian who sent money for support to Taoist temples in Chang'an, and it is rare to see people sending money for support to Jinxian Temple.

But this move is in line with common practice!

Bai Gui and Princess Jin Xian were both worried about the money they needed to make external elixirs. They did not expect so many dignitaries to send money to Jin Xian Temple. After a little hesitation, they chose to accept it.

First, these people did not send gifts too blatantly. They found the reason of offering to the Taoist temple, which was not too taboo. Second, the people who sent gifts were as smart as Wu Huifei. They said that they were giving money to Jin Xian Temple, but did not directly say that they were giving money to Bai Gui, a new noble in the court. Therefore, whether to refuse or not should also be decided by Princess Jin Xian. However, Princess Jin Xian was the emperor's sister. She only received some "support money". Even if the emperor knew, he would turn a blind eye.

The last point is that the gift was given to Jin Xian Temple, not to Linyi Marquis Mansion. To go deeper, the money was given to Princess Jin Xian... The person who was flattering was the princess, not directly to Bai Gui. It just happened that there were a lot of people giving gifts on that day.

Of course, the reason why the dignitaries in Chang'an City were willing to give gifts to Jin Xian Temple was inseparable from Bai Gui's relationship.

A princess is just a princess, no matter how close she is to the emperor, she is just a princess.

But a princess favored by the emperor and a new noble in the court..., the combined influence of the two must not be underestimated, extraordinary, and the influence on the future court can be felt by anyone with a discerning eye.

Xue Na also prepared a generous gift and went to thank him.

Although Bai Gui only pleaded for Xue Na, a veteran, in a memorial, he had just made a great contribution and was in the emperor's heart. Even if the plea was obscure, it was a great favor to Xue Na.

If there is a favor, then accept the gift.

Bai Gui would not deliberately refuse this.

Otherwise, he would plead for Xue Na in a memorial, and then Xue Na prepared a gift, but he chose not to accept it. What was his purpose?

"General Xue has been on the battlefield for a long time and has also been involved in the affairs of Beiting. Even though he is old now, he is still full of energy and active. The saint dismissed you from office to stop the gossip..."

"There is no one available in the court now. Although there are soldiers, there is no general who can coordinate the overall situation. Therefore, as long as there is a war on the border, the saint will definitely reinstate General Xue again."

When Xue Na thanked and left, Bai Gui spoke.

This is not him talking too much and revealing the emperor's thoughts.

He has been away from the center for many days now. He is not the original Zhongshu Sheren and the emperor's close minister, so this statement is just a reasonable speculation.

In addition, there is no outsider now. Even if he really told Li Longji about his thoughts, Li Longji would not know. And Xue Na is obviously not a talkative person, and such secrets will not be announced to the public.

"Thank you, Bai Duhu for your advice!"

Xue Na bowed deeply and thanked.

"General Xue, you are too polite. You and I are both generals guarding the border for the Tang Dynasty."

"This time, you are just being public-spirited."

Bai Gui quickly dodged and avoided Xue Na's bow.

There were some deviations from the history he remembered. Perhaps because he conquered Nanzhao and aroused the fear of the Tubo people, Tubo did not invade the Tang Dynasty in the second year of Kaiyuan, so Xue Na was not reinstated by Li Longji one month after the defeat.

"Bai Duhu has a strong military exploit, but he lives a simple life and is humble. He is truly a minister of the Tang Dynasty."

Seeing this, Xue Na sighed again and again.

Speaking of fighting, although he is a veteran general on the battlefield, his achievements may not be as great as Bai Gui's. He can destroy a country and is definitely a famous general of the time.

Such a person is not arrogant, but humble to him, a commoner, and is neither arrogant nor indulgent.

Xue Na thought to himself that if it were him, he would never be able to be like Bai Gui now.

After talking for a few more words, Xue Na left.

The two of them had no other friendship except Bai Gui's petition for mercy. During this visit, Bai Gui's words were a bit exaggerated.

But if not, how could he have such a deep friendship with Xue Na...

"Princess, eunuch, concubine, prime minister, frontier general..."

"I have become so close to you without realizing it."

After Xue Na left, Bai Gui meditated for a while, thinking about his current social circle in the Tang Dynasty, and sighed silently.

Most of the time, he just let things take their course.

But he didn't expect to end up in this situation step by step.

...

Soon, it was the day when Princess Jinxian held a banquet in Furong Garden on the south bank of Qujiang Lake.

The banquet was divided into two banquets, internal and external.

In addition to the royal family and concubines, there were also some officials who were friends with Bai Gui.

However, most officials accepted the invitation and gave some gifts, but did not go.

This is not because Bai Gui has a bad relationship with people, but officials and nobles are different. If they attend the banquet, they will inevitably be suspected of forming a clique for personal gain. If they go, the censors will easily impeach them.

Therefore, most of the guests at the banquet are the princes and dukes of the royal family, who are relatively far away from Li Longji's lineage. They come to the banquet for the sake of Princess Jinxian.

There are also some children of nobles who come together.

So Bai Gui made a few polite remarks at the outer banquet, met some royal children whom he would not have met on weekdays, and then went straight to the inner banquet.

Although these county princes and county dukes are all first- and second-rank titles, their status is not high if they are not in power and far away from the royal family.

Royal titles are not worth money!

Inner banquet.

As soon as he walked in.

Bai Gui felt a little dazzled.

Beautiful women are like clouds, surrounded by pearls and jade.

However, he has seen a lot, and just paused for a while before returning to normal.

Furong Garden is a royal garden, so it is no problem for the concubines in the harem to go there.

In the Tang Dynasty, the restrictions on the concubines in the harem were not too strict. Empress Wei and Wu Sansi could play backgammon on the dragon bed of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, and Jiang Jiao, the favorite of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, could fight cocks and play Cuju with the concubines.

Some concubines could even live outside the palace.

"He entertained the private banquet, shared the same couch with the concubines, played ball and cockfighting, and often called her Jiang Qi instead of her name." - "Old Book of Tang".

"This is the emperor's sister-in-law."

Princess Jinxian introduced the noble lady who sat on the same couch with her during the banquet to Bai Gui.

"I have seen the queen."

Bai Gui bowed slightly and saluted.

It's not that he had never seen Queen Wang. As a close minister of Li Longji, he had seen Queen Wang many times, but Queen Wang had never met him formally.

When he was an official in the inner court, although the top scholar was rare, it was a regular exam every two years, so no matter how rare it was, it was just that. In the eyes of ordinary people, after the top scholar passed the exam, he could expect to be promoted to a high position, but for the queen, it was a bit common.

"I often hear Sanlang mention Linyi Hou. Linyi Hou is a handsome man... He will definitely be a pillar of the court in the future."

After the beautiful Queen Wang said a few polite words with a smile, she pondered for a while and said, "I heard that Wu Jieyu gave Linyi Hou a volume of alchemy book a few days ago. I don't have anything good to give, so I gave Linyi Hou a pair of purple jade lions as a gift this time."

"Sister-in-law, you are wrong."

"That is the alchemy book that Wu Jieyu gave me. I just asked Brother Baidao to pass it on."

Princess Jinxian heard the gunpowder smell of the harem fight, and quickly took it on herself and took Bai Gui out.

As I said, Li Longji can have countless concubines, but my sister knows how many.

No matter how the palace fights, she is always invincible.

But when Bai Gui, an outsider, is involved, the nature of the matter changes.

"So that's how it is..."

"I was saying that Wu Jieyu and Linyi Hou were strangers, so how could she give him the Danjing?"

Queen Wang narrowed her eyes and said calmly.

"Queen, you are blaming me, but you are involving Linyi Hou. Aren't you afraid of delaying military and national affairs?"

Sitting below, Concubine Wu Hui covered her mouth and chuckled, saying in a bitch-like tone.