When he returned to his residence in the evening, Li Chengqian asked about the results of the day's discussions.
Xiao Rui sighed: "I have worked so hard to find a wife for you, but I haven't worked so hard to find a wife myself."
"Hey, I know my brother-in-law is working hard, so I'll give you a pat on the back..." Li Chengqian looked flattering.
"Go, go, your hands are not used to slap people on the back." Xiao Rui pushed Li Chengqian away, and then warned: "You can't eat hot tofu in a hurry."
Tofu? The tofu invented by my brother-in-law is delicious. I like eating it very much.
...this foodie!
"You are the prince. Even if you don't put on airs now, you still have to pay attention to your status. Don't be irritable. How can you be decent? Be patient."
"Oh...but I want to meet Sister Ning'er." Li Chengqian lowered his head and whispered.
Xiao Rui stretched out his hand and pushed his head, "It's worthless! Be patient, you will meet naturally if you should meet."
"It's different now than it was back then. Back then you were living under someone else's roof and you were just a servant. Now you're blatantly marrying someone else's daughter. Can they still let you get along with each other as a single man and a widower?"
Forehead……
Li Chengqian nodded disappointedly.
Ignoring this guy's petty mood, Xiao Rui said, "You don't know that His Majesty wants to attack the five surnames and Qiwang, including the Qinghe Cui family. If you marry the daughter of the Qinghe Cui family, you will be in power in the future. , how will they be treated?"
ah?
Why are you asking this suddenly?
Li Chengqian scratched his head and said: "Brother-in-law, I never thought that I am so young and my father is in his prime. Isn't what you said is too far?"
Xiao Rui asked in a different way: "If you were asked to marry Cui Ning'er, and when His Majesty is rectifying the five surnames and Qiwang, the Cui family of Qinghe asks you for help, will you go and intercede with His Majesty?"
After hesitating for a moment, Li Chengqian shook his head.
"What if Cui Ning'er begs you?"
I……
Xiao Rui looked at it and said in his heart, if the emperor knew that his son was a soft-hearted person, what else could you do, the prince?
After thinking for a long time, Li Chengqian asked: "Brother-in-law, why must my father suppress the five surnames and Qi Wang? Can't the two sides live in peace?"
Xiao Rui covered his forehead, and Zhao Deyan and I have been teaching you for several months. Is it in vain? Not as influential as a woman on you? Are you obsessed with sex?
"More than 70% of the officials in the imperial court are their people, or people who are loyal to them. If His Majesty's decrees cannot be conveyed, they will always be obstructed and sabotaged by them. In such a situation, who does the imperial court belong to? His Majesty's? Or theirs? ?”
hiss……
Li Chengqian's face turned red, his fists clenched, and he said angrily: "You deserve to be killed!"
"Now you know you should kill her? What if Cui Ning'er doesn't let you kill her?"
Then, then...
After muttering for a long time, Li Chengqian asked in a low voice: "Brother-in-law, does my father disapprove of my marrying Sister Ning'er?"
Seeing his deflated look, Xiao Rui couldn't help laughing, "No, your father really hopes that you can marry the daughter of the Cui family."
"Ah? Why? Aren't we rivals?" Li Chengqian was puzzled.
"Do you think that if you marry Cui Ning'er, listen to her cries, and then go and beg His Majesty for mercy, His Majesty will listen to your change? Haha, I'm afraid he will kick you out and throw you into a prison."
Xiao Rui explained patiently that the emperor wanted his son to marry Cui Ning'er in order to divide the five surnames and seven hopes and defeat them one by one, not to cause trouble for himself.
"So, should I marry now or not?" Li Chengqian struggled.
Marry or not?
What's the meaning? Are you going to give up after all? Suddenly you don't like this girl?
"No, brother-in-law, I like her. But according to my father, marrying Sister Ning'er will harm the Cui family. Sister Ning'er will be sad. I want to marry her, but I don't want to make her sad..."
Xiao Rui really wanted to cover his eyes. Why didn't he notice it before? Are you still a love interest?
"Don't worry about it. Just think about your feelings. At your age, it's not appropriate to get involved with other things. We will handle these dirty things."
"Brother-in-law, will you kill them all?" Li Chengqian was a little worried, but he knew that this brother-in-law seemed harmless to humans and animals, but was actually very cruel to the enemy.
Xiao Rui shook his head and said, "No. Although they have violated the emperor's taboo, they are still our people of the Tang Dynasty. Just let them retreat and force them to hand over their rights. There is no need to kill people."
Really? That's great!
After hearing that there was a way to achieve both ends, Li Chengqian finally felt relieved, returned to his bed, and fell asleep with a smile on his face.
Xiao Rui walked out of the bedroom, looked up at the stars in the courtyard, walked and meditated.
After the Luoyang incident, the Fan Yang Lu family and the Xingyang Zheng family hated Xiao Rui with itch because Xiao Rui cheated them before leaving.
The pension for the aftermath has been prepared here, but Xiao Rui didn't kill everyone in Jinxiu Tower? Keep half of it? Why keep them? Do you hate us for abandoning our subordinates?
With hatred, these two families paid special attention to Xiao Rui's affairs. Everyone knew that he took the prince to Qinghe to propose marriage to the prince. However, it is an iron rule that Qi Wang of the Five Surnames should not marry into the royal family, and the Cui family of Qinghe dare not agree to it.
Lu and Zheng were both waiting behind Xiao Rui's joke.
But no one expected that Xiao Rui would be treated as a guest and simply stay at Cui's house in Qinghe. What the hell is going on? Is it possible that the Cui family of Qinghe has forgotten what happened to Anle City in Youzhou? He and Xiao Rui have been enemies before. Can he also be a guest? Could it be that you have some private dealings?
With a sense of suspicion, not only the Fanyang Lu family and the Xingyang Zheng family, but also several other families sent people to Qinghe to inquire, and the situation suddenly became tense.
"What's weird! Li Junxian, Xiao Rui's guard captain, suddenly led the Cui family to Chang'an? Is there some conspiracy? Hurry, report to the master's family."
…
After a follow-up investigation, Li Junxian took a direct descendant of the Cui family to the closely guarded Xiaojiazhuang.
Everyone knows that the defense of Xiaojiazhuang is comparable to that of the imperial palace, and Xiao Rui's biggest secret is stored inside. Over the years, the five surnames and Qiwang have tried to explore it countless times, but all failed or disappeared. Now Xiao Rui actually allows people from the Cui family in Qinghe to enter? You wouldn't believe it if they said they had no cooperation!
It's over... now the misunderstanding has deepened. I wonder if Cui Shouzhen would vomit blood if he knew it. I'm afraid if he finds out, he will immediately think that this is also Xiao Rui's plan.
In fact, it's really not the case. The two of them just made a bet to verify the cost of printing books. How could there be so many calculations? If the calculation is too precise, wouldn't it tire people to death?
Ten days later, Li Junxian and the others quickly returned to Qinghe.
"One day, Patriarch, one day! Just one day..." The man held a wooden box with a brand-new book inside, and rushed in to report, his tone full of shock.
Cui Shouzhen had already received the news and invited Xiao Rui to drink tea and wait in the living room.
When he heard the shouting, he couldn't sit still any longer, so he suddenly stood up and went out to greet him.
After listening to his subordinates' narration and looking at the brand new hardcover Green Bag Sutra in his hand, Cui Shouzhen stood stunned on the spot! He turned to look at Xiao Rui in disbelief. Lord Marquis, is there anything else in this world that you don’t know how to do?
