Li Shentong left Yuan Mansion and did not go home directly. Instead, he ran towards the Patriarch's Mansion where Li Yuan lived. He got off the carriage and entered Li Mansion.
The road was unobstructed, as close as the atrium, and bursts of children's laughter could be heard inside, followed by scattered footsteps and children's shouts. It sounded like there were many children chasing and playing, but amidst the children's play, there was The choked cry of a child.
Listening to this familiar cry, Li Shentong shook his head and sighed. He knew that the cry belonged to Li Yuanji, the fourth son of Li Yuan. The reason for Li Yuanji's cry was also very simple. He must have been laughed at by his brothers and sisters again.
Speaking of which, Li Yuanji is quite pitiful, mainly because he is extremely ugly.
As the saying goes, a son does not despise his mother for being ugly, and conversely, a biological mother has no reason to despise her own flesh and blood. However, after Mrs. Dou gave birth to Li Yuanji in the third year of Renshou, she just took one look at him and without saying a word, asked her servants to give birth to her own flesh and blood. Abandoned by son. It can be seen that Li Yuanji's ugliness has reached a point where even his biological mother cannot bear it.
At that time, the maid Chen Shanshan was kind-hearted and secretly took him back to raise him secretly. When Li Yuan came home and reported to him, Li Yuanji did not die in infancy.
Li Yuan did not dislike his son's ugly appearance, but instead persuaded Mr. Dou to raise him. But despite this, Li Yuanji did not enjoy the slightest bit of fatherly love, maternal love, and family warmth. Li Yuan was always working as an official in other places, and Dou and his second son Li Shimin were accompanying them for a long time, so Li Yuanji had to stay with Li Xuanba and Li Zhiyun. , Li Xiuning and other brothers and sisters to play with, but these children are about the same age as him and are not sensible. Not only are they unwilling to play with him, they also take pleasure in laughing at his ugly appearance every day.
For now, only Li Jiancheng and the maid Chen Yiyi, who are responsible for taking care of the family, truly treat him as a relative and give him the warmth of family affection.
Although Li Shentong sympathized with this unfortunate ugly child, after all, it was the head of the family's family affairs and he had no control over it.
When he walked around the shadow and walked into the courtyard. The scene he saw was exactly what he expected.
Li Yuanji was seen crying in Li Jiancheng's arms, while Li Jiancheng was helplessly scolding the children hiding everywhere. But instead of being afraid of the eldest brother Li Jiancheng, these boys and girls who got into trouble laughed.
Li Shentong looked at the children with pink makeup, and then at Li Yuanji. He was puzzled. Both of his brothers were so good-looking, so why did such an ugly guy suddenly appear?
I don’t understand!
"Uncle!" Li Jiancheng saw Li Shentong arriving, handed Li Yuanji to his wife Wang, and stepped forward to salute Li Shentong and say hello.
"Why are they making such a fuss?" Li Shentong acted like an elder and reprimanded: "You are so spoiled to them, do you, Aye, know?"
"No way!" Li Jiancheng said with a wry smile: "Aye asked me to stay at home and take care of my younger brothers and sisters. Of course I want them to grow up happily. Unfortunately, I can't even do that. I'm really ashamed of my parents."
Li Shentong had something on his mind and had no intention of discussing this with Li Jiancheng. He put on a cynical smile and waved his hand, "I have something serious to discuss."
"Okay! Let's walk and talk!" He said he was walking and talking, but Li Jiancheng didn't say a word until he was in the study. Li Jiancheng closed the door and asked Li Shentong seriously: "Uncle, you and General Yuan Da How's the talk going?"
"When I went to see Yuan Shou, Yu Xiangxian was also there." Li Shentong sat down and said worriedly: "They are preparing to concentrate the entire Guanlong forces to deal with King Wei."
In front of Yuan Shou and Yu Xiangxian, Li Shentong complied with their wishes and called him "Yang Ji" one after another. However, when he returned home, he immediately changed to the honorific "King Wei".
This is also Li Yuan's strict requirement for his tribe, requiring the tribe to maintain the minimum respect for every dignitary, so as not to make mistakes in details and offend others; over time, the adult children of the Li family have developed a good family tradition, and they also have Learned the conversation skills of "talking to people and talking to ghosts".
"What?" Li Jiancheng was taken aback. He stared into Li Shentong's eyes and said emphatically: "King Wei is the most trusted person of the saint. Haven't they thought about it?"
"They have thought it through very clearly." Li Shentong explained the meeting process in detail, and finally said distractedly: "That's all, but I see their posture, it is clear that they want our Li family to act as They are pawns; if we don't do it, they will join forces against us."
Li Jiancheng was young, mature and steady, and quickly calmed down, and analyzed to Li Shentong: "The late emperor and the saints all regard the Guanlong nobles as poison, and they all regard suppressing and annihilating the Guanlong nobles as their top priority. If Guanlong For the nobles to unite to deal with King Wei, it will only be counterproductive and will only make the saint more fearful. The reason why the Yuan family is so active is for four reasons: first, to use everyone's strength to repay Yuan Yan; second, to express his eagerness After all, they are already the leaders of the Wuchuan Alliance. If they fail to do anything, how can they explain to the Guanlong nobles? How can they gain everyone's trust? The third is to win over the wavering families in the Dugu and Dou factions. The fourth is to win over the wavering families in the Dugu and Dou factions. The point is the most hidden point and the most dangerous point."
Li Shentong, who had always been convinced by this wise nephew, saw him stop and asked quickly: "What is that?"
Li Jiancheng lowered his voice and said word by word: "Uncle, the fourth point is that the Yuan family did not defeat King Wei at all."
Those words were like a bolt from the blue, making Li Shentong dizzy.
"How is this possible?" Li Shentong looked at the gentle Li Jiancheng, his eyes full of disbelief. When he saw the battle between Yuan Shou and Yu Xiangxian, they were clearly fighting to the death with Yang Ji. However, Li Jiancheng actually said, "The Yuan family did not defeat King Wei at all." How could this not shock him?
"How is it impossible?" Li Jiancheng took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "The saint naturally doesn't believe half of what the Guanlong nobles say; if the Guanlong nobles unanimously slander King Wei, the saint not only doesn't believe it at all, but is even more afraid, and then re-appoints King Wei Come and deal with the Guanlong nobles, as long as the Guanlong nobles are immortal, King Wei will be safe and sound."
Li Shentong thought about it carefully and nodded repeatedly: "That's true! What next?"
"Then?" Li Jiancheng smiled coldly: "Everyone aroused the murderous intention of the saint and offended King Wei. They were defeated one by one, so they had to follow the Yuan family all the way to the end. In this way, the Yuan family will always be a noble of Guanlong. The Lord will always be able to enslave the great clans of the Guanlong nobility, and will always be able to take whatever they want from them... In the end, he will use the manpower, material resources, and financial resources of the great clans of the Guanlong nobility to strengthen himself."
Li Shentong was not stupid. Hearing what Li Jiancheng said so clearly, he immediately understood: "This means that after everyone offends King Wei, if King Wei does not fall, it will give the Yuan family a good opportunity to integrate the Guanlong forces. ?”
"Yes!" Li Jiancheng nodded: "Aye once said that the Yuan family's ambition to restore the country is not only not dead, but getting stronger and stronger. If they have the power of the entire Guanlong nobles, then they will have the ability to overthrow the Sui Dynasty. Military and financial resources. If we continue to stir up dissension, everyone will have no choice but to follow the Yuan clan in rebellion in order to survive."
"Damn Yuanshou, Yuanzhou!" After reacting, Li Shentong stood up suddenly, kicked over the desk in front of him, and said angrily: "How about we just report it to the saint?"
Li Jiancheng was moved in his heart, but he still shook his head: "The saint is not afraid of cliques among ministers, nor is he afraid of conflicts among ministers. Infighting among ministers is the most welcome thing. I guess he will sit on the mountain and watch the fight between tigers and tigers instead of stopping them. If we snitch, he will see through us."
Li Shentong asked: "Neither the left nor the right, so what should we do?"
"Since neither the left nor the right is right, then we should stand in the middle. As long as we stand in the middle, we will have a chance, at least we will not offend anyone." Li Jiancheng said: "If King Wei takes action first, the Yuan family will not have time. The layout doesn’t have time to force us.”
"How to do it?"
"Let me think about it carefully."
. . . . . .
The setting sun was shining slantingly, and the clear water of a lake in the back garden of Prince Wei's Mansion in Daxing City shone with sparkling light. Under the dripping eaves that stretched out like bat wings outside the pavilion by the pool, Princess Dugu Min was fishing with a fishing rod in her hand.
There are also several strong women standing in the distance with big shoulders and round waists. All of these strong women are good at sumo wrestling and are extremely skilled. Their weapons are three-foot-long Vajra Demonic Pestle with a vajra at one end. , and the other end is a three-edged pestle. This magical instrument is usually used by Buddhists to subdue evil spirits, but they use it to stab people. When facing them, ordinary men can't beat them. You can't kill them with a knife, but their Vajra Demon-Conquering Pestle can open a big hole around you, and then make you bleed to death.
Therefore, their destructive power is quite large, and at a critical moment, they can also be used as shields. If they put on the 'bulletproof vest' invented by Xiao Ying, even a powerful crossbow cannot penetrate it.
There are many sumo masters like this in Zhangye Yang Mansion, but because they are not good at battlefield combat skills and can tire out war horses, Yang Ji usually does not consider them when fighting.
As for Princess Dugumin, since Yang Ji became an official, she has been saying that she no longer cares about Yang Ji's life and death. She also said that whether Yang Ji is good or bad has nothing to do with her; but as a mother, how can Dugumin not care? His own son?
No, as soon as he heard that his son was free to engage in the Northern Expedition, he ran all the way from Luoyang to Ganzhou to accompany his daughter-in-law and waited patiently for news about his son; however, as soon as he heard that his son had defeated the Turks again, he ran back to Daxing pretending to be disdainful. After arriving in Daxing, he honestly followed his son's wishes and went to his sister-in-law to negotiate the sworn vows between Liu Rumei and Dugu Pingyun. When they returned to the capital, they could choose an auspicious day to sworn sworn vows.
As for the rebellious girl Pei Shuying, it was up to Dugu Min to solve it. Of course she was very willing to solve it, but before she had time to act, the good news about her son caused uproar in the city.
Although the theories about heroes and gods in the market were bizarre, she listened to them with great interest and joy. However, as the news of the killing of prisoners came, the direction of the wind began to change.
Dugu Min immediately smelled the smell of conspiracy, but she did not take any action, but waited and watched. It was not until the emperor named her husband the "Founding King of Wei Zhao" that she felt a little relieved.
However, the rumors and impeachment storm that suddenly faded away still made her dare not relax, because her intuition told her: the current quietness is just preparing for a bigger storm, not a real calm.
"Toffee! Something big happened." Liu Xu walked over quickly with a cold face.
"Tell me slowly, I can't stand the sky yet." The dignity in Dugumin's calm voice gave people a sense of peace of mind, as if she could carry it even if the sky fell.
"Here!" Liu Xu felt a little relieved, but still said angrily: "An hour ago, someone said that the young master had long been in contact with the Western Turks, and said that the young master's northern expedition, the great defeat of the Turks, and the killing of prisoners was to facilitate the Western Turks. Chuluo Khan better occupied the Great Lakes area. I don’t know where this ridiculous rumor came from, as if it spread throughout the city at once. Regarding this ridiculous rumor, most people have a skeptical attitude, but if there is no If it is stopped in time, I'm afraid more and more people will choose to believe it."
"First, we said that Wenhui attacked weak tribes for no reason and brutally massacred prisoners in order to gain military glory; now we say that Wenhui was clearing the way for the Western Turks, linking each link, each step becoming more deadly. It is really a good plan." Although Dugu Min said His tone was calm, but his eyes were filled with evil spirits.
Liuxu said cautiously: "Princess, according to what you said, those who spread rumors are clearly driving a wedge between the saint and the young master. If the saint has any bad thoughts, he will be in big trouble. The young master is no longer in the capital and cannot enter the palace. Defend yourself, what should I do now?”
Dugu Min couldn't help but glance at Liu Xu in surprise. This girl had such knowledge. It was no wonder that her son made her the "Master of Tianmen". She pondered for a moment and said calmly: "It's not difficult at all to resolve this rumor!"
Liuxu was overjoyed: "Has the concubine got a good idea?"
"There is no good way, but there is a stupid way." Dugu Min said calmly: "Aren't you the 'Master of Tianmen'? You asked those disciples to be more exaggerated."
LiuXu asked for advice: "Toffee, what should we say?"
Dugumin smiled and said: "Let's just say that Wenhui had already colluded with the Eastern and Western Turks in an attempt to split the earth and rebel. The Great Lakes region was where he raised his troops. His northern expedition to the Great Lakes region and the massacre of Murongbei's prisoners was actually killing people and silencing them. Defeating the Turkic army was To please the people in the north and win their hearts. As for the Turkic army, no one died at all. The Turkic people cooperated with him to deceive people and then retreated. By the way, you can also say that our family is Turkic, Goguryeo, The Tuyuhun people are high-level spies planted by the enemy in the Sui Dynasty... Anyway, you can make up any rumors you want, the more outrageous the better."
Liu Xu almost fainted, but when she thought about it carefully, she realized the beauty of it, and she suddenly said: "Toffee, I think I understand what you mean better."
"What did you understand?" Dugu Min smiled.
Liu Xu's face showed two beautiful dimples: "Speak to the enemy so that the enemy has nothing to say."
"This is just one of them." Dugu Min asked seriously: "What else is there?"
Liuxu thought seriously for a moment and said unconfidently: "Princess, the reason why ordinary people are so fussy about rumors is because they lack sufficient judgment. But if the rumors are too outrageous, even the people will not believe them. After they felt that they had been fooled and taken advantage of, they became disgusted and disgusted with the previous rumors. Now that they were disgusted and disgusted, naturally no one said anything about it. Whoever mentions it in the future will be the dog behind the scenes. As long as you keep an eye on these dogs , you will know who is released to bite people randomly."
By the end of the sentence, Liuxu was gnashing his teeth and his face was contorted.
When Dugu Min saw her appearance, she couldn't help but laugh in surprise. Her son was now like a magnet, and any woman who came close to him was attracted by his radiant charm.
Whether at home or outside, which girl doesn’t want to be her son’s pillow? The one in front of me seems to be no exception.
Looking back at that time, things were really different and people were different!
When her son acted like a dandy, everyone hated him and shouted at him, and she was also disliked by others. In order to get a daughter-in-law, she was looked down upon in the circle of noble ladies, especially Mrs. Pei. Rejection is the best thing to do, but what about now? The "cowardly little darlings who couldn't stand being frightened" as she called them were all chased to distant Ganzhou.
Another day, no, tomorrow I will visit her and say that her daughter has the Yang family's seed in her belly... Hehehehe, let's see what she does.
"Toffee, I, I, did I say something wrong?" Liu Xu suddenly noticed that Dugu Min was covering her mouth and snickering, and she couldn't help but become a little nervous.
"You're right, I just thought of happy things." Dugu Min put down his hand and said with a smile: "What else?"
Liuxu breathed a sigh of relief, shook his head and said, "I can't think of it anymore."
Dugumin said with an undiminished smile: "I said before that the masterminds behind the scenes were 'one link after another, and each step is more deadly.' Next, they will definitely spread rumors and say that the Wenhui has already colluded with the East and West Turks in an attempt to split the earth and rebel. But if we first By 'speaking the enemy's words' and 'leaving the enemy speechless', not only will it disrupt their deployment and force them to re-plan, but we will also have the time and opportunity to uncover the mastermind."
"Thank you, Princess, for clearing up the confusion." Liuxu was enlightened and said happily, "I know what I should do."
"Well!" Dugu Min nodded: "Whoever takes action first will have the upper hand, so time is very important to us." After looking at the darkening sky, he said: "It's still early, you're going to be ridiculous today." rumors spread."
"Here!" LiuXu bowed and retreated.
Just at this moment, the fish in the lake sank, followed by the fishing line tightening. Dugumin was just thinking about her thoughts, and the fishing rod slipped from her hand. It bounced on the ground and was dragged into the water by the big fish.
But Dugu Min no longer cares about this. She knows that the impeachment of Yang Ji is mainly caused by officials of the Guanlong nobles. From this, it can be seen that the uproar of public opinion is caused by the Guanlong nobles.
Dugumin also thought about his young and energetic son who was willing to be a pioneer and became the emperor's sharp weapon against the forces of Guanlong, but he had offended the various nobles of Guanlong. Although his son had always been favored by the saints, who knew what would happen tomorrow? how?
Thinking of this, Dugu Min couldn't help but let out a long sigh with a headache. As she had thought at the beginning, her son was walking on a steep path full of thorns and dangers in the officialdom. However, his son had no way to retreat. If he retreated, he would be killed. The thorns behind him were stinging all over his body. If he accidentally encountered a poisonous thorn, he would be poisoned and die immediately, so the only way was to advance without retreating.
To be honest, she was not very worried about the poisonous arrows shot by the Guanlong nobles, Shandong nobles, and Southern nobles, because she knew that as long as these powerful forces did not fall, her son would be safe. I am afraid that "the king's heart is unpredictable".
If the emperor were Yang Jian, she could still act like a daughter and act coquettishly, leaving many things unsolved; but that was no longer possible. If she bothered Yang Guang like before, it would only be annoying and counterproductive.
Suddenly, Dugu Min's eyes lit up, and he saw the fishing rod being dragged by the big fish, which was sinking and floating in the water, and was blown into the water bamboo bush by a gust of wind. No matter how much the big fish dragged it, it could not escape from the water bamboo bush.
Dugu Min, who occasionally felt something, immediately called Su Yunniang.
"Auntie, are you looking for me?" This Su Yunniang, in addition to being Yang Shuang's wife, housekeeper, and Dugu Min's right-hand man, she also has another identity, that is, she is a member of the Suwei family.
"Yes!" Dugu Min glanced at this dependent sister and roughly explained what had just happened.
Dugumin trusted this sister the most and did not pretend to be himself in front of her. He even expressed his worry that "the king's heart is unpredictable".
When Su Yun heard this, she also paid attention to it.
Yang Shuang died before she had time to give birth to a son and a half daughters. However, because she was a royal woman and could not remarry, Yang Ji, the 'legitimate son', had the final say whether the rest of her life would be good or bad. Fortunately, Dugu Min and her son treated her with sincerity and regarded her as a sister and a mother, and their hearts settled down. From then on, a family of three, an orphan and a widowed mother, lived in love with each other until now.
Now that she heard that her 'son' was in big trouble, and that this big trouble most likely originated from the emperor, Su Yunniang became a little confused: "Auntie, I guess no one in the world can restrain the emperor. "
Dugumin said: "I don't mean to restrict the emperor, but I want more people to influence the emperor."
The sisters have known each other for many years and have already developed a tacit understanding. Su Yunniang understood and said, "Auntie, then I will go back to my 'parents' home' tomorrow."
"Well!" Dugu Min stood up and said with high spirits: "We will go our separate ways tomorrow. You go back to your 'natal home'; I will go to Pei's home to get our second daughter-in-law."
