The sky was dark and it was raining heavily. The entire majestic Daxing City was shrouded in a vast curtain of rain. The green trees and red flowers in the rain gave off a fresh and vibrant atmosphere. Arm-sized raindrops fell to the ground along the ridge of the roof, and the rising water vapor soaked the Zhang Mansion in Yongxingfang, making it cool and pleasant.
Although it was raining heavily, one carriage after another stopped in the tent in the square in front of Zhang Jin's residence. A famous official got out of the carriage and walked on the carpet towards the main entrance of Zhang's residence.
Today is the sixty-seventh birthday of Zhang Jin’s mother. Zhang Jin decided to celebrate her mother a few days ago. However, since it was not her sixtieth or seventieth birthday, the birthday banquet was not large. She only sent out more than forty invitations. , and the guests of the banquet were only relatives, friends and important Guanlong nobles.
Zhang Jin's eldest son Zhang Xiangxiang and second son Zhang Dashu were welcoming visitors in the tent in front of the mansion. At this time, a carriage stopped inside the tent, with the word "Dou Mansion" written on the unlit lantern hung on the shaft of the carriage.
Zhang Elephant and Zhang Dasu thought Dou Wei, the head of the Dou family, had arrived, so they hurriedly greeted him together. Unexpectedly, it was Dou Kang who walked out of the car, not Dou Wei. Dou Kang bowed his hands to the Zhang brothers and said apologetically: "Two worthy brothers, the master of the house was already ready to go. Unexpectedly, the ground was slippery. The master accidentally fell and sprained his foot, so he had to order me to come to celebrate his birthday. I'm sorry. I hope my dear brother will bear with me."
Dou Kang was suspected of following Yang Liang in rebellion. After being captured by Yang Ji, he had been idle at home, silently waiting for the opportunity to come back. However, Yang Guang seemed to have forgotten his old cousin, and instead took great care of his younger brother Dou Qing.
As for what he said now, it was naturally just an excuse. Dou Wei actually wanted to come to the door in person to congratulate him, but thinking about the delicate relationship between the three factions of Guan and Long, he temporarily changed his mind and asked Dou Kang, who had no official or position, to take his place. He came to celebrate his birthday. Dou Wei's arrangement was not only to avoid misunderstandings from the Dugu sect, but also to push Dou Kang into the position of "spokesperson" for the Dou family, and to represent the Dou family in the future to negotiate and compete with the various nobles of Guanlong.
"It's a blessing for the Zhang family that my brother is here, so how can I say forgiving?" The Zhang brothers heard the implication. Although they were very disappointed in their hearts, after all, they were well-educated and well-informed children of aristocratic families, so they remained calm. A few pleasantries were exchanged.
"Isn't this the head of the Li family? I heard that your son was seriously ill yesterday, is he feeling better today?" Hearing this, the three people who were chatting with each other unanimously went out to welcome them, but it was Yuan Shou and Li Yuan who arrived. The person who spoke was undoubtedly It is Yuan Shou.
Yuan Shou glanced at Li Yuan coldly, the contempt in his eyes clearly revealed: The important officials of the Wuchuan League met quietly at Qinglong Temple in Xinchang yesterday. All the heads of the family were gone. Only the Li family asked Li Shentong to come forward. Everyone was disgusted with this. Out of dissatisfaction, when questioned, Li Shentong said that Li Xuanba was "critically ill" and Li Yuan really couldn't leave, so he asked him to represent the Li family.
No one would believe what Li Shentong said; they knew that the reason why Li Yuan made excuses not to come was simply because he was afraid that Yang Guang would misunderstand him and take away his position as a young eunuch in the palace and the title of Tang Guogong. I look down upon the cowardly and useless person who has pretended to be ill many times.
"Thanks to Yuantaifu's concern, although Quanzi Xuanba was born with deficiencies and was seriously ill many times, the whole family was very aware of his condition. With the full efforts of the doctors to rescue him, he was in danger in the middle of the night last night. He has improved a little today and is now with Zhuo. Jingqian went to Kuzhu Temple to fulfill his wish." Among the major sects of the Guanlong aristocracy, Li Yuan's family is very weak in terms of economic strength, talent base, and official power. In addition, Li Yuan's age, position, and rank are not as good as Yuan's. As a result, Li Yuan was always in a weak position when facing Yuan Shou, who had a huge Yuan family behind him, so his speech and behavior naturally lacked a bit of confidence.
Yuan Shou glanced at Li Yuan, who was respectful and smiling, and the smile on his face froze. It was like punching the flowing water. Not only did it not hurt the opponent, but the splash made him feel uncomfortable all over. , he thought for a while and said with pretended concern: "Oh? That's great. But I wonder if Mrs. Li has brought a doctor with her? If the son can't stand the bumps and gets sick on the way, it will be dangerous."
After Yuan Shou's "kind reminder", Li Yuan's face turned pale. If he remembered correctly, the doctor who specialized in treating Li Xuanba seemed to be at home.
Seeing that Li Yuan could no longer hold back that disgusting smile, Yuan Shou felt a sense of relief in his heart.
He said with a smile: "Master Li, I only care about my nephew. I have no other meaning. Since ancient times, Ji people have good fortune, and my nephew is also a blessed person, and nothing will happen to him."
Having achieved his goal, Yuan Shou left the confused and pale Li Yuan behind and walked towards the Zhang brothers with a cheerful smile.
The relationship between Dou Kang and Li Yuan is inextricably linked, with constant cutting and confusion. He is both Li Yuan's elder brother, his younger brother, and Li Yuan's brother-in-law. It can be said that the friendship between the two brothers has lasted from the time when they wore pants to the present; later, Dou Kang had a concubine named Dou Dan, and Li Yuan had a concubine named Dou Dan. Dou gave birth to a concubine of the same age, so the two got closer and became in-laws. Seeing that Li Yuan's expression changed drastically due to Yuan Shou's stimulation, Dou Kang quickly stepped forward and asked with concern: "Shude, are you okay?"
"Thank you for your concern, brother. I'll be fine!" Li Yuan saw Zhang Dashu greeting Yuan Shou, and Zhang Xiangxiang was walking towards him. He reluctantly calmed down his trembling mind, exchanged greetings with Zhang Dashu for a while, and then went to Zhang Mansion with Dou Kang. Go to the main entrance.
The two of them walked around the screen wall carved with the sacred beasts that guard the house, and saw that no one was walking on the low-ranking corridor on the right, and Yuan Shou, who was walking on the left, walked slowly and leisurely, as if he was waiting for them on purpose. They looked at each other understandingly and walked silently along the corridor on the right. Seeing that there was no one around and the sound of rain was heavy, Li Yuan asked softly: "Didn't you say that uncle (Dou Wei) came to congratulate you?" "【Note】
The implication is that Li Yuan came because Dou Wei was coming; otherwise, he would have either pretended to be sick like before or said that a relative was sick.
Dou Kang glanced at Yuan Shou in the distance opposite him and saw that he had already quickened his pace. He curled his lips disdainfully and said, "As the leader of the Wuchuan Alliance and the leader of the Yuan Sect, the Yuan family is short-sighted and selfish. It cannot play the role of a leader. Not only does it lead to the Wuchuan Alliance being more formal than reality, but even the Yuan faction is full of conflicts because of the mismatch between Yuan's morality. Yuan is aware of this, and also knows that the major clans are disappointed in them. Very dissatisfied. Although the Yuan clan is now working hard to seek change and stabilize people's hearts, their prestige and appeal are far less than before. It is inevitable that the Wuchuan Alliance and the Yuan faction will fall apart, so they decided to go all the way to the end to find a powerful leader for the Guanlong noble group. enemy."
Li Yuan nodded and said solemnly: "Shen Tong also told me last night. It is said that this enemy is the southern nobles headed by Xiao Xiangguo, and the opportunity is the northern navy."
"The head of the family believes that the southern gentry and the northern navy are just the beginning. The Yuan clan is very likely to attract the royal family and the Shandong gentry to join in the next step." Looking at Li Yuan, Dou Kang said in a deep voice: "The head of the family has taken this into consideration, as well as the relationship with the world. The serious consequences of being an enemy will simply not come, lest Yuan Shou, Zhang Jin and others take the opportunity to force him to submit."
Li Yuan was shocked when he heard this, but he believed in Dou Wei's judgment and believed that Dou Kang would not deceive him. He quickly said: "This is an enemy of the world. Is the Yuan family crazy?"
Dou Kang sneered and said: "The Yuan clan has already gone crazy, so after discussion, our Dou clan elders council unanimously decided to sit back and watch the success or failure. I think most other clans also have this mentality."
Li Yuan pondered for a long time and sighed: "It is right not to participate, otherwise you will get into trouble."
"That's right!" At this point, Dou Kang lowered his voice and reminded: "The head of the family said that once the Yuan clan has identified the enemy and the major sects stand idly by, they will most likely take some desperate measures, and then the thief will cry out to catch the thief. , and put the blame on others. With the combination of the two, the various sects have to continue to unite under the Yuan clan because of the enemy's strength and ferocity, and have to continue to obey the Yuan clan's orders. You have to be careful yourself."
"Thank you, brother, for reminding me. I'm very grateful, little brother." Li Yuan knew that Yuanshi could do such a thing. When he thought of Yuan Shou's "kind reminder" in front of the house, he felt a little more uneasy than before.
Seeing that the main hall was in sight and there were more guests in front of them, the two changed the topic to a lighter topic and walked towards the main entrance of the lobby.
. . . . .
The main hall of the Zhangjia was packed with more than thirty people. They were all distinguished guests invited by Zhang Jin. However, as Dou Kang said before, all the powerful officials suspected that the motives of the Yuan clan and the Yuan sect were impure. , so most of the people who congratulated were representatives, not the family heads who came personally. Of course, there were some family heads, but the number was quite small.
Zhang Jin was chatting with Yu Wenbi and Yu Wenkai, while Yuan Shou was chatting and laughing with Li Zhongwen and Yu Zhongwen in low voices. The thoughts of the Dugu family are similar to those of the Dou family. Neither the old head of the family, Dugu Shun nor the head of the family, Dugu Zheng, attended. Instead, Dugu Cheng, the son of Dugu Shan who died young, came.
Wei Ji, the fifth son of Wei Xiaokuan, came to the Wei family. Wei Ji was worshiped as a young imperial minister and granted the title of Duke of Yiyang. He was also the head of the Wei family; there was also He Lou Jiao, the son of He Lou Ziqian, Bo He Lou Jiao of Si'an County; and his eldest grandson. The four sons of Chi were Changsun Ren, Daxi Changru, Daxi Gao, Doulukuan and so on.
Nominally, everyone came here to wish Zhang Jin's old mother a birthday, but everyone present knew that this was what was going to happen, and everyone came here for their own purposes. Some people really want to work with the Yuan clan to take advantage of the Northern Navy's rectification to expand the battle. At the worst, they will cause the southern nobles to suffer and seize some positions from the southern nobles, so as not to be underestimated by other factions. The nobles of Guanlong.
Although some people want to deal with the southern gentry, the direction is not military, but to make a difference in the political arena and win several sons of the southern gentry as governors; the most typical representative who holds this view It’s Jingzhao Webster. Although the Wei family prospered because of Wei Xiaokuan, strictly speaking, they did not belong to the Guanlong aristocracy, but belonged to the Guanzhong gentry like the Su family of Suwei and the Jingzhao Du family.
However, most people have a huge sense of crisis in their hearts when they see Yang Guang suppressing, dividing, alienating, and inducing the Guanlong nobles in recent years. They sincerely hope that there will be a Yu Qingze like Yang Jian and Yu Qingze among the Guanlong nobles. He led the Guanlong aristocratic group to once again unite the Guanlong aristocratic group and form a whole, instead of falling into the emperor's trap like now and continuing to fight among themselves because of power and interests. Although this was the original intention of the establishment of the Wuchuan Alliance, the Yuan family did not have the ability and strength at all, let alone a convincing sense of justice, so they hoped to change the leader of the alliance.
However, due to the imminent reorganization of the Northern Navy and the decision to attack the southern gentry during yesterday's meeting, many knowledgeable people have quietly withdrawn their intention to "impeach" the Yuan family. After all, everyone needs a leader at this time. If they can first After removing the Yuan family from the position of alliance leader, no more suitable candidate can be selected in such a short period of time, and there is no one to lead everyone to fight against the southern nobles. In this way, how can the scattered Guanlong nobles defeat the southern nobles? ? What's more, the Shandong nobles, the Central Plains nobles and other large and small factions also covet important positions at all levels in the northern navy. Once they see that the Guanlong nobles are not united, they will definitely join the ranks of the southern nobles. When the time comes, the Guanlong nobles The situation among the southern and northern navies will become more difficult and precarious.
In a hurry, if you want to rashly replace an alliance leader, he may not be more experienced, dedicated, or better than the Yuan family; even if this person and his family can do a more dedicated and better job, he may not have the rich manpower and material resources of the Yuan family. , personal connections, what kind of prestige does such a person or family have to summon the major lords of Guanlong nobles to start a war with the southern gentry?
In view of this, major sects have sent their brothers and nephews with higher status to test the reality of the Yuan clan/Yuan faction. If the Yuan clan/Yuan faction really has any convincing and wise plan, they might as well continue to follow the Yuan clan/Yuan faction. If we win this battle, let Yuan continue to be the leader of the alliance.
"Everyone, please be quiet!" Seeing that the guests were almost all here, Zhang Jin stood up from the main seat.
The hall suddenly became quiet, and pairs of eyes looked at Zhang Jin. Zhang Jin bowed and raised his voice: "Since today is my mother's birthday, I also want to take this opportunity to discuss with you the future of the various clans of the Guanlong noble family. Zhang would be very grateful to you all for coming."
Birthdays are generally held for one day, and ordinary birthdays like the Zhang family only last for half a day. Except for a limited number of guests such as Li Yuan, Dou Kang, Yuan Shou, etc., the guests who came to the Zhang family all brought their family members. They were arranged at this moment. In the nave.
Since men all come with a purpose, they naturally talk about business first, and then go to the central hall to pay birthday wishes, eat and drink to the elderly who have passed their birthdays. Zhang Jin was about to review the glorious past of the Guanlong nobles, but at this moment, the concierge was in a panic. Zhang ran in: "Alang, Alang."
Zhang Jin's speech was interrupted, and when he saw that the concierge was in a panic, which completely lost the Zhang family's demeanor, he immediately asked displeasedly: "What's the matter?"
The porter saluted happily and said, "Alang, just now in the palace,
Someone just sent a message saying that the saint and the queen had heard that the Tai Madam had passed away. They were impressed by the Tai Madam's virtuousness, wisdom, and understanding of reason and righteousness. They specially appointed the Tai Madam as the first-grade imperial concubine and rewarded her with a fish badge in court clothes. In addition, the prince and princess were specially ordered to come to issue decrees and celebrate birthdays. "
The late emperor ordered that only the mothers and wives of officials of fifth rank and above could be conferred imperial titles. However, this kind of canonization was not conferred together with the husband's promotion. There was often a long time lag in the middle for the emperor to use to add favors. The method of granting imperial edicts mainly depends on the husband of the recipient. First, the husband's title is used as a reference, but the premise is that the emperor will only grant imperial edicts to the wives of officials based on their titles when they are facing senior officials or founding heroes. , if the husband does not have a title, the husband will be dismissed as an official, and the imperial edict of the corresponding level will be granted.
Of course, this is not entirely the case. For example, in the case of hereditary titles, because the mother has received the imperial title, although the son has inherited the father's title, if he does not have an official position or merit, his wife will not even have the imperial title. This means that the "wife" has to Obtaining a high-level imperial title depends on the husband's merits.
Because Yang Guang changed the "Twelve Guards Palace" to the "Sixteenth Guards Palace", Zhang Jin also became the General of the Right Imperial Guard. However, his title was only from the third rank to the Founding County Marquis, so his wife was an official of his. Obtained a decree from the fourth grade. Zhang Jin's mother's imperial edict was inherited from the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and her rank seemed to be higher than that of her daughter-in-law. However, as an emperor and a courtier, her imperial edict was actually not as valuable as the imperial edict granted to her daughter-in-law in the Sui Dynasty. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is worse than nothing and can frighten ordinary people.
According to the contemporary concepts of honoring one's ancestors and returning one's homeland with rich clothes, giving a reward to one's father and a royal title to one's mother are a supremely glorious expression of filial piety, which are far more meaningful and valuable than getting a promotion yourself. However, the saint suddenly "leapfrogged" and awarded Zhang Jin's mother a first-class imperial edict, and also ordered the prince to issue the edict and prevented the prince and princess from celebrating their birthdays. What kind of honor is this?
This surprised everyone, and many of them had red eyes.
Zhang Jin, how virtuous and capable is he?
Zhang Jin was also in a daze, and was even more torn. Originally, he and Yuan Shou reached a consensus yesterday to expand the war, and today they will continue the unfinished discussion yesterday. However, they cannot directly say that they want to bring the royal family into the party. That would make many people think that the Yuan faction is crazy and avoid them. Without fighting, we can only deal with the southern gentry, wait until we stabilize our position, and then introduce Yang Ji, the representative of the royal family and the son-in-law of the Xiao family, into the dispute. When the war reaches this point, other clans will not be able to withdraw even if they want to. Unexpectedly, before he could speak, Yang Guang would give him a blow in the head.
He guessed that Yang Guang must have heard that representatives from many sects were gathered together, so he consecrated his mother as a first-class imperial concubine in public, thus achieving the purpose of dividing and alienating the Guanlong nobles. This was the same as when Changsun Sheng alienated Sabolo Khan and Bujia Khan. The relationship between Dulan Khan and the method of luring Qimin Khan to annex the Sui Dynasty were exactly the same.
However, Yang Guang's method is a very clever, shameless and hard-to-reject plot for him; if he refuses the grace of his mother-in-law at this time, he will be unfilial, unfaithful and disrespectful first; and then these people He thinks that he is guilty of being a thief and is being hypocritical. It would be better if he expressed his gratitude generously, but wouldn't this confirm his reputation as "attached to the royal family"?
Looking at the representatives with different expressions and the cold Yuan Shou, Zhang Jin secretly smiled bitterly in his heart. Even if he jumped into the Yellow River, he wouldn't be able to escape.
"Alang?" The concierge noticed that the atmosphere was not right and the head of the family looked ugly. He quickly suppressed his smile and warned carefully.
After weighing the pros and cons, Zhang Jin already had some calculations in his mind. He bowed his hands to everyone bitterly and said apologetically: "I'm really sorry. Please sit down for a moment and allow me to lead my relatives to receive the order and welcome the prince."
The prince came to deliver the decree on the emperor's order. Who dares to sit still like a mountain? Hearing that Zhang Jin wanted to invite his old mother, wife and daughter to receive the order and thank him, everyone stood up and said, "Master Zhang, I'll go ahead later."
Li Yuan and Dou Kang also quickly followed everyone out of the main hall, and the group arrived at the tent at the gate of the mansion. At this time, the prince's car had not arrived, and everyone was talking in twos and threes.
However, the atmosphere has become very delicate. No one talks about the unity and future of the Long nobility, let alone national affairs. This is the instinct of human self-protection. When they find that talking too much makes them vulnerable
Unfortunately, when there is a "ghost" inside, you will become cautious in your speech and behavior.
"Da da da da" Just when Li Yuan and Dou Kang were talking about some interesting things at home, Li Shentong came to the tent with two followers Pegasus.
The sudden sound of horse hooves attracted everyone's attention. When Li Yuan saw his cousin and entourage looking nervous and wet, his heart suddenly tightened. He walked to the tent and asked, "Supernatural power, I'm here!"
When Li Shentong saw his brother, he immediately dismounted from his horse, strode in front of Li Yuan, and said in a trembling voice: "Brother, something big happened at home, you should go home quickly!"
Li Yuan's expression changed drastically, and he asked quickly: "What happened?"
"Brother, sister-in-law, Jiancheng and others were attacked at the foot of Cuihua Mountain." Li Shentong said with a choked voice: "Shimin, Shimin, he was poisoned by an arrow. He is already dead."
Because of Li Shentong's fear, everyone stopped communicating and silently paid attention to the Li brothers. When Li Shentong said this, there was an uproar.
As the victim's father, Li Yuan, for him, this bad news was like a thunderbolt from the blue, making stars appear in his eyes and ringing in his ears.
After a long, long time, Li Yuan woke up from the shock and grief. However, he could no longer control his anger. He glared at Yuan Shou in the crowd with a pair of tiger eyes, but his reason finally allowed him to swallow his anger and bear it. I let go of the overwhelming hatred in my heart.
Yuan Shou was struck by his glare, and his heart palpitated. He thought to himself that this damn Li Yuan, did he think he was a traitor?
"Let's go." Li Yuan looked away. He took a deep breath, walked quickly into the heavy rain, grabbed the horse of an entourage, jumped on the horse, and drove away.
In the heavy rain, Li Yuan gritted his teeth with hatred and had only one thought in his mind: "The murderer must be the Yuan family, it must be the Yuan family."
Li Yuan was just a small figure in the Sui Dynasty, and his family was also an inconspicuous small figure in the Sui Dynasty where there were many aristocratic families. He was afraid that his tribe would offend the big shots who could not afford to offend him, so he strictly required his tribe to be cautious and conduct themselves with their tail between their legs, so Apart from Li Yuan's grudge against the Yuan family when he was fighting for the leadership of the Wuchuan Alliance, the Li family had no big enemies at all.
Previously, after the Yuan family successfully won the position of alliance leader, they launched an all-round suppression of the Li family, causing heavy damage to various industries of the Li family. Although they later pretended to reconcile with themselves, the suppression still continued. At this time, he remembered what Dou Kang had said before and what Dou Wei had said before, as well as the reminder of good remedies.
Li Yuan has identified Yuanshi and identified Yuanshi as his son-killing enemy.
No one else but Yuanshi.
Who else could it be besides Yuanshi?
—————
[Note: The corridor is one of the ancillary buildings of the traditional courtyard. It not only facilitates people to walk in rainy and snowy days, but also allows people to rest, sit and enjoy the scenery in the courtyard. Generally, after entering a door, it first extends to both sides, then forward, and then returns to the middle from both sides before reaching the next door. In the courtyard, zaoshou verandas are arranged along the outer edge of the courtyard. Because they resemble the shape of a ring formed by a person's chest, arms and hands when they hold hands clasping together, they are called zaoshou verandas. 】
