After listening to the report from the concierge Yang Yi, Xiao Ying, Pei Shuying, and Liu Rumei were all thinking about the purpose of Su Dan's visit.
As Xiao Ying expected, Su Dan did not come to visit in an official or personal capacity, but came on the order of his grandfather Su Wei.
Su Wei's purpose is to soften and show favor to Yang Ji. It even clearly revealed Su Wei's future arrangements for the Su family.
This arrangement means that Su Dan will be the head of the Su family, not Su Kui, Su Wei's son and Su Dan's father.
Under this premise, Su Wei hopes that Yang Ji will accept Su Dan and make him a member of the King Wei family. The implication is that Su Dan will be the master of the Su family in the future. As long as he becomes one of the core members of the King Wei clan, the Su faction will also be integrated into the King Wei clan in the future. In the future, the Su faction will look to Yang Ji as their leader both inside and outside the court. Fate is obedient.
If she showed kindness to the prime minister, if she were a woman of low birth, shallow knowledge, and empty heart, she would really be ecstatic to believe it; but Xiao Ying is not the stupidly aloof Yang Huali, nor is she vain. How can Mrs. Yang Su and her daughter-in-law, who have lost everything, believe in this trap-like promise?
He asked Yang Yi to step back and asked Pei Shuying and Liu Rumei: "Rumei, Aying, what do you think of Su Xiang's intentions and intentions?" Liu Rumei was the second eldest son in the back house of the palace. After hearing this, he said: " Madam, during this personnel transfer, other factions took the opportunity to remove members of Prime Minister Su’s family. Especially after people said that Su Xiang could not compete with the Young Master, the major factions in the court pursued and fought fiercely, which put the Su faction in a difficult situation. It is extremely difficult. Just relying on his power as a fallen prime minister, he cannot withstand the attacks of the major factions. Not only does the young master form a faction of his own, but he is also praised by the government and the public as the mouthpiece and representative of the emperor and the royal family. If the young master accepts the successor of the Su faction , other factions must have restrained themselves. In short, Prime Minister Su’s order for his grandson to surrender at this time is nothing more than using the power of the young master to shield the Su faction from the wind and rain, so that the Su faction can weather the storm." Xiao Ying focused her eyes on Liu Rumei asked again on her face: "We all know that Prime Minister Su is extremely utilitarian. When he was still Zuopushe, he was worried that his husband would take away the power of Zuopushe, so he tripped him over and over again in an attempt to Blocking Lang Jun from the central gate. Since he has no righteousness first, then why do you think he thinks Lang Jun will accept Su Dan? Why should Lang Jun help the Su faction survive the crisis?" Liu Rumei was silent for a long time and said to Looking into those Wen Ning's bright eyes, he said: "Madam, I heard the young master say something very reasonable before: The young master said that human nature cannot stand the test. Although many officials and literati admired Tao Yuanming who would not give up for five buckets of rice, and This is how they advertise themselves, but most people are just talking about it. The reason why such hypocrites cannot give in to five buckets of rice is because it is too little, or the other party's family is well-off, but if it is replaced by fifty buckets, five hundred buckets, or five buckets, Qian Dou... the result was different. Su Xiang was a powerful founding father. Over the years, he had created a network of people throughout the government and the public, and this network was the invisible five hundred dollars that the new King Wei family could not refuse. Dou, five thousand dou, fifty thousand dou of rice.”
"Other than that, the young master has never had a direct fight with him, and there is no irresolvable grudge between the two. The main force in the subsequent attack on the Su faction seems to be the Guanlong nobles and Shandong nobles who are not easy to deal with. If the young master joins forces with him, the pressure from the Guanlong nobles and Shandong nobles will be relieved." After saying this, Su Weilai
Liu Rumei summarized the reasons for "voting": "Based on the above three reasons, he thinks that the young master will not refuse, but the young master will definitely refuse." A smile appeared in Xiao Ying's eyes, and she said to Pei Shuying who was eager to try: " Sanniang, tell me!"
"Sister Rumei is so right. He obviously guessed that Aniang would refuse, so he came to find us while Lang Jun was away." Pei Shuying had the same idea as Liu Rumei. She sneered and said: "It's a good thing he is the prime minister. , You can even say such words to deceive fools, do you really think we are fools?" Xiao Ying saw Pei Shuying's face full of anger, a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth, and said softly: "This kind of straightforward method looks like Deceiving a fool is actually a very clever technique; however, both A-niang and Lang Jun are masters of conspiracy. This method can deceive ordinary ladies, but it cannot deceive us." Pei Shuying nodded and commented: "This method seems clever, but it just takes advantage of people's vanity and greed. If it were a general or courtier like Alang, he would not use this method. But a woman of our age and status He has not experienced much in the world, and his vanity is higher than that of those who have experienced many vicissitudes of life. He also likes to compare blindly. His pursuit of fame, wealth and glory is even more stubborn than that of men. But he has no outstanding skills, so he can only show off and compare with his natal family and husband. If the status of each other’s natal family and husband is similar, they will add the husband’s allies and subordinates to dominate other ladies and married women.”
"He thinks that we women in deep houses and courtyards don't have much knowledge and thinks that we are as vain as other noble ladies, so he uses this method to deceive us. If we are proud of this, we will go around saying that Su Xiang regards Alang as our Lord. After Alang comes back, even if he doesn't admit his account, there is no way to deny it." Liu Rumei has an inherent disadvantage in terms of background. Although she has gained some knowledge over the years, she has tried hard to understand the factional struggles in the court and the conflicts of various factions. Although there is a history of grievances, she is still not as good as Xiao Ying and Pei Shuying, who grew up in the top class. The incident is so important now that she dare not express her own opinions without permission and asked: "Auntie, Sanniang, what should we do? Do you treat it as ignorance, indifference, or what?" A sly smile suddenly appeared on Pei Shuying's bright face, her flexible eyes rolled, and she suggested maliciously: "Auntie, how about we ask Auntie together? "
"It's a good idea!" Xiao Ying looked at Pei Shuying with a half-smile, and encouraged: "Then go and ask!" Their mother-in-law Dugumin is completely different from other mothers-in-law. She is a very open-minded and far-sighted person. Easy to get along with.
In the past, Yang Ji was her most important priority. After Yang Ji married, she lost her son and focused on her daughter-in-law. After having her grandson, she no longer cared about their family.
Until now, Dugu Min has always been
"Children and grandchildren will have their own blessings" as a rule of conduct. In addition to taking care of business and grandchildren, she no longer cares about the messy things in the political field. Officialdom and political entertainment and other matters are all left to Xiao Ying.
Dugumin manages the house as a court and an army. She is like the 'emperor' and commander-in-chief in the palace, while Xiao Ying and others are the generals and ministers fighting at the front.
If Xiao Ying and others encounter a problem that is difficult to decide, they can ask for advice and advice. However, Xiao Ying must prepare an effective method in advance, and then the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law discuss the matter and analyze the pros and cons, and then implement it.
If you rush to ask her for advice as soon as something happens, you will definitely get scolded. Of course, they also know that their mother-in-law has good intentions and is exercising the autonomy necessary for them to be the masters of the family. This leads them to worship, be grateful, and revere their mother-in-law; at the same time, they also learn a lesson from her mother-in-law. Good qualities that a mother-in-law should have.
After hearing what the eldest sister said, Pei Shuying immediately gave in. She shook her head repeatedly and said, "I'm afraid, I don't dare to do it alone!" Xiao Ying rolled her eyes angrily and said coquettishly, "Then you still say that?" Pei Shuying took it for granted. He said: "This matter is too big, and we have nothing to do ourselves. Who else can we ask if we don't ask my mother? You can't ask outsiders, right?" Xiao Ying picked up the tea cup and took a sip, smiling: "It's not that there is nothing we can do!" Pei Shuying asked with a face-lifted face: "What good advice does the aunt have?"
"It's not a good strategy. It's just a trick to lure others to attack jade!" Xiao Ying said with a smile: "He thinks we are like other women, so why not be stupid for a while?" Pei Shuying's heart moved, and her bright eyes sparkled. Shining asked: "Auntie, are you sent by Su to deal with the Li family in Longxi?"
"Exactly!" Xiao Ying nodded and said to Pei Shuying: "I heard from Qiuyue that the Pei Mansion sent a message saying that the day after tomorrow is Mrs. Pei Taichang's birthday. The family records of Su Xiang's wife and daughter-in-law, and the senior officials of the Li family should also be here. go."
"Isn't that right?" Pei Shuying looked at Xiao Ying with some confusion and said, "The Pei family is my natal family after all, so you have to give me some face, right? If you ruin my natal family's place, what will I do in the future?"
"You can rest assured." Xiao Ying said: "Xiang Su will obviously not miss this opportunity to get close to us. When the time comes, I will be very angry with the Li family, and Mrs. Su will most likely take the initiative to show her kindness. You can help me. Just light up the fire a little bit."
"That's good!" Pei Shuying breathed a sigh of relief. As soon as there were more people at the banquet that her daughter participated in, someone would jump out and get weird, compare with each other, and ridicule each other. Quarrels were even more common. As long as Xiao Xiao Ying Bu overturns the table, everything is a trivial matter.
Suddenly, Pei Shuying thought of a change and said quickly: "Auntie, I need to explain this matter clearly to my mother-in-law. If she doesn't know what's going on and thinks we are being bullied, she will beat us." Pei Shuying's worries are not unreasonable. Mother-in-law Dugu Min has a strong temperament, is very defensive, and is very capable of hitting and dares to hit. The three of them are pregnant at this time. If she thinks that her daughter-in-law is being bullied, it is normal for her to hit her.
"Of course I'm going to say it!" Xiao Ying stood up and said, "Let's go to Grandma and tell her everything and see if she has anything to add." Xiao Ying was extremely annoyed with Su Wei.
She knew that her husband had never provoked Su Wei. He had been provoking and scheming against her husband openly and secretly, and now that he had fallen to this point, it was entirely his own fault, but he was actually planning to use their sisters to plot against her husband.
If the sisters accidentally fell into Suwei's trick, they would most likely get into trouble and attract the emperor's dissatisfaction.
This time, not only did she want to drag the Su family into the fire pit, but she also wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to make Su Wei the mastermind against the Li family in Longxi!
Humph, isn't it just a schemer? I, Xiao Ying, can do it too! Although the sisters could not go into battle in person, they were able to take advantage of what Suwei thought was possible at home.
"Short-sighted" and
"Vanity" creates opportunities for husbands. . . . . The bell rang for the last watch, and Su Wei got into the carriage and returned to the Su Mansion.
As soon as he entered the mansion, he sat down in the study room of the mansion and silently thought about the situation of the court, but mostly about himself and his faction.
In the past, when Su Wei was Zuopushe, he was so busy all day long that he really wanted to take a long vacation for himself.
But now that he suddenly lost his actual job and had a lifestyle of doing nothing, he couldn't adapt to it, and he couldn't accept it at the same time.
Faced with the current predicament, Su Wei actually wanted to resign and go into seclusion.
The attitude of "begging to return home" is used to achieve the goal of turning retreat into advancement. During the reign of the late emperor, he used this trick many times: he knew that the late emperor's innovations and creations were inseparable from him, so whenever someone impeached him and he couldn't stand it, he would resign for reasons such as lack of energy and ignorance of the general trend. And every time, the late emperor gave up because he needed him, suppressed various impeachments with the power of the emperor, and even rewarded him with property each time.
The problem is that there are many new people in the court now, and the situation is different from the past. The emperor is not the former emperor. If he resigns, the emperor will most likely resign.
It was already dusk in the evening, and the dim light cast the old face of the founding father in shadow, while the eyes sunken in the eye sockets were flickering.
A maid came in and lit the candlestick in the study with a flaming stick. Just as she was about to leave, Su Wei suddenly said: "Is Mr. Zhang at home?" The maid replied: "Master, Mr. Zhang just came back not long ago!" Suwei ordered: "Go and fetch him."
"Here!" the maid responded and left. The Su Yan Su Wei mentioned was his second grandson. He was studying at Guozixue. He also took part in the imperial examination this year. He also passed the next round of examinations with excellent results above and above. If nothing unexpected happened, he could easily become the leader of the Sui Dynasty. reserve officer.
After a while, Su Yan entered the study. He stood up and bowed deeply: "Grandpa, do you have anything to call me?"
"Well!" Su Wei looked at Yushu Linfeng's second grandson, nodded and said: "In the past few days, how is the public opinion of the scholars in the capital? What has been said?" Scholars are equivalent to a state, a county, and a county. As mouthpieces, whenever the court makes any major decisions, they can immediately learn about it from the official documents of the local government, and then spread the word.
Now that the national examination is about to take place, there are at least 50,000 or 60,000 scholars, their relatives, friends, and followers from all the major states. After they return to their hometowns, they will definitely bring the recent events back to their hometowns and spread them.
What Su Wei is worried about is that his current reputation is not very good. If these scholars exaggerate it back home, he doesn't know what he will look like.
"Grandfather!" Su Yan came forward and said, "Recently, people are talking about the Sui Dynasty and the Turks, as well as the Eastern Expedition. Everyone expresses his or her own opinion, and everything is possible. Today, things have begun to change. Many people are saying that the topic of guessing policy is extremely It may have something to do with diplomatic relations or war." Su Wei showed a smile. This was something he deliberately let out based on the current situation.
"topic". The purpose is to suppress
"The dispute between him and Yang Ji"
"hot spots" to facilitate subsequent
"Peace talks", if public opinion continues to analyze his tricks, Yang Ji might come back to settle accounts with him.
As for what the issue is, he doesn't know. . . . In the palace!
"Sage, something bad has happened!" A guard hurriedly entered the Hall of Renshou and said to Yang Guang, who was handling government affairs: "The policy topic has been leaked, and now everyone in the city knows it."
"What?" Yang Guangda was angry: "Find out and kill me!"
