After leaving Li Mansion, Xue Bai kept thinking about what Li Shizhi said.
As prime minister, Li Shizhi was straightforward, simply too straightforward. The direct gaze and the undisguised temptation in the words almost made it clear to his face.
——"Yes, I am indeed close to the deposed prince Li Ying. I heard that you are Xue Xi's son? But Zhang Jiuling and He Zhizhang protected you from death?"
Xue Bai didn't know the answer to this question. When he woke up, it was already the end of Tianbao's fifth year in the heavy snow, and he couldn't remember everything that happened in the ten years after the palace change in the twenty-fifth year of Kaiyuan.
In short, this is the first contact with Li Ying's family. They are naturally the force closest to him and the basis of the clique, but they are too weak at the moment.
These people were once the core of the Tang Dynasty. Protecting the crown prince may have been in the hope that the Tang Dynasty would have a first-of-its-kind and smooth transition to the throne. As a result, it failed again, and even the prince was wiped out together with his brothers, wives and brothers.
Now that everyone is dead and dismissed from office, how much energy does he still have? At most, these people are just trying to protect a few implicated innocent people, and it is impossible for them to do anything.
Li Shizhi himself was almost finished.
Even Xue Bai felt that Du Fu's visit to Li Shizhi would affect his future in the imperial examination.
For officials in this department, it was even necessary for Xue Bai to bluff and work hard to curry favor with Yang Yuyao, so that Li Linfu was afraid and postponed dealing with them.
Looks more like a drag.
But we can't just look at this side of the matter. Temporary dormancy does not mean that they are useless.
After the Three Commoners Case, a large number of people must have transferred their hopes of realizing their ambitions to Li Heng, and a large number of people were relegated to foreign affairs, temporarily away from the center of power... They will abandon Li Ying, but their The political views have not changed and the power remains.
Then, what Xue Bai should do is to find the old disciples of Zhang Jiuling and He Zhizhang and become friends.
One day, even if the identity of his wife, Xue Xiu, becomes known to the world, his friends will naturally get close to him and try their best to protect him.
Thinking of this, a person suddenly appeared in Xue Bai's mind... Zheng Qian.
Previously, he had always thought that Zheng Qian was from the East Palace, and that it was the East Palace that arranged Zheng Qian to the Imperial College to investigate and monitor him.
But is that all?
~~
Du Fu had a wide circle of friends and went to visit other friends after leaving Yongle Square. However, Xue Bai did not follow him and went directly back to Wubenfang Imperial College.
Taixueguan, the "Book of Filial Piety" is being taught in the school.
Zheng Qian was famous all over the world for his talent, but when he taught, he always just held the book and read it once, asking students to recite it. If you don't ask, he never explains the meaning of the book, believing that "if you read it a hundred times, the meaning will become apparent."
Therefore, whenever he lectured, many students would fall asleep.
Du Wulang has already arrived at the school, but Zheng Qian, who was crazy last night, seemed to have completely forgotten, and returned to his old-fashioned and serious look, with the ruler in his hand showing no mercy.
When Xue Bai arrived, he looked from a distance and found that there was someone sitting on his seat... It turned out to be Xue Xin. He was wearing a coat and couldn't sleep. He lowered his head and scratched his ears and cheeks.
He then thought that it was time to send his younger brothers and sisters to private schools.
"A filial son should serve his relatives. Living there will bring them respect, raising them will bring them happiness, illness will bring them sorrow, mourning will bring them sorrow, and offering sacrifices will bring them severity..."
After Xue Xin heard this, he finally fell asleep. When he woke up and turned around, he found that Xue Bai was sitting behind and studying hard.
After the lecture was over, he went over and asked, "Brother Six, why do you want to learn this?"
"Brother Liu Liu is a filial son." Du Wulang also gathered around.
Yang Xuan, who was passing by, snorted: "Can you compare with me?"
Xue Bai smiled, asked Xue Xin why he came, and asked him to wait while he went to ask his husband some questions.
Du Wulang immediately became energetic after hearing this. He waved his hands repeatedly and refused: "Go again? I can't drink anymore tonight..."
~~
When Xue Bai walked into the public room, Zheng Qian had just sharpened his ink and picked up the pen to copy out some of Du Fu's poems from last night on the paper.
He was known as one of the "Three Wonders" because his handwriting was extremely fluent. People at the time called him "the wind sends the clouds away, and the clouds push the moon up." However, there were Li Beihai, Yan Zhenqing, Zhang Xu and others in the world who overshadowed his supposed fame. .
"Since you are Yan Qingchen's disciple, come and evaluate my calligraphy." Zheng Qian pushed the piece of paper he had written on and smiled.
Xue Bai responded calmly: "Doctor, are you kidding the students?"
"When I was young, my family was poor, but I was good at calligraphy and painting. I often suffered from lack of paper. Fortunately, there are several rooms of persimmon leaves stored in Ci'en Temple. I often went there and practiced calligraphy and painting with persimmon leaves. I wrote all the leaves in several rooms. You guys These young people should work harder."
"Thank you Doctor for your teaching."
Xue Bai was silent for a moment, making sure that no one was around, and suddenly asked directly: "Do you know, doctor, that the consort Xue Xiu has a concubine named Xue Pingzhao?"
The writing brush that was still writing "The wind sends the clouds away" trembled, and the last word of the sentence "The Qilin'er in the sky" was broken.
Zheng Qian raised his head and looked at Xue Bai in surprise.
He never expected that this young man would be so magnanimous.
"You admitted it?"
"I really don't remember." Xue Bai said: "But there is a letter deed..."
"I know." Zheng Qian said: "Someone told me about this and said that Prince Qing was the envoy behind you and asked me to come and see you."
If that was the case, Xue Bai would never dare to open this topic with Zheng Qian.
"But the doctor not only came to monitor and test me, he also wanted to protect and remind me privately." Xue Bai asked: "Did the doctor deliberately take me to see Du Fu and tell Du Fu to introduce Li Shizhi?"
"That's right." Zheng Qian said, "I don't know some things. Li Shizhi may know better."
"Can I ask you what it is?"
Zheng Qian asked in return: "Do you know the relationship between me and Duke Zhang Qujiang?"
"Appreciate further details."
"In the early years of Jingyun, I and Zhang Qujiang were admitted to the imperial examination together..."
Zheng Qian's old eyes were filled with memories.
That year in Jinshi High School, he was only nineteen years old and Zhang Jiuling was thirty-two years old. They were both appreciated by the important minister Wang Fangqing. He married the granddaughter of the Wang family, while Zhang Jiuling was vigorously cultivated by Wang Fangqing.
"Later, Zhang Qujiang was eventually involved in the fight for the throne. He never formed a party with the deposed prince, but Concubine Wu Hui was aggressive."
Speaking of this, Zheng Qian said word by word in Zhang Jiuling's tone: "The crown prince is the foundation of the world and should not be shaken lightly! In the past, Duke Xian of the Jin Dynasty listened to Li Ji's slander and killed Shen Sheng, which caused great chaos in the third generation; Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty believed in Jiang Chong's false accusation and raped the prince. The capital was bleeding; Emperor Hui of the Jin Dynasty used Empress Jia's disapproval to depose the crown prince, and the Central Plains was devastated; Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty accepted the words of Empress Dugu and deposed the crown prince Yong, established Emperor Yang, and lost the world. From this point of view, we must not be careless. Your Majesty must want to For this reason, I dare not obey the imperial edict!"
"After these strong remonstrances, he was forced to the point where he would not stop fighting. In the past two years, the prime minister was dismissed, the palace was changed, and the prince was abolished one after another. When the three commoners were involved, he had been demoted to Jingzhou and was unable to do anything. But I know , he did let his disciples take action. Although brother and sister Xue Xiu and Concubine Xue died, the young sons of the three common people were spared their lives and were taken in by the clan; Princess Tang Chang was forced to become a monk and was imprisoned in Tang Changguan, Anyefang; many were implicated Zhang Qujiang asked people to redeem all my family members, and you are not the only one."
"The Xue family, the Zhao family, the Huangfu family, the Liu family, I used to spend money to manage them, and Xue Pingzhao was just one of the children. Ten years later, some people say that there is someone behind the scenes, and it has something to do with Prince Qing. Zhang Qujiang has passed away, He Jizhen has also died, and Li Shi has resigned. Could it be that I am the mastermind behind this?"
With a wry smile on his face, Zheng Qian looked at Xue Bai and finally asked: "I am not being sincere in my treatment of you. Are you willing to reciprocate my kindness and tell me the truth?"
"In the winter months of the fifth year of Tianbao, the student was almost strangled to death in Princess Xianyi's mansion. Fortunately, he fell into suspended animation and escaped, forgetting all the past."
"Okay." Zheng Qian said: "I know that you want to protect yourself, so I have never told anyone else what I just said. There is only one sentence that you must remember."
"Students are all ears."
"Ten years have passed and the situation has changed. From now on, you must stay safe and wait for the day when the prince will reverse the case for the Xue family..."
~~
At dusk, Du's house in Shengpingfang.
Du Jin was sitting in the room drawing a map of Chang'an with his own hands.
She referred to several originally simple drawings of the square, and wrote down each fire watchtower and official residence on her drawings in small regular script, stroke by stroke.
Suddenly, footsteps sounded on the verandah, and Qu Shui said: "Er Niang, Mr. Xue is back."
Du Jin's eyes lit up and she stood up, but first she hid the map in a secret compartment, changed her clothes, went to the dressing table and sipped her rouge in front of the bronze mirror, and then walked out of the house. She was a little rushed at first. Later, I changed to a leisurely pace.
In the side hall, the atmosphere was a little cheerful because Xue Bai was back.
"Of course the Imperial College is boring, but drinking and talking with the gentlemen is very interesting." Du Wulang said: "Even Zheng Taixue and Su Siye called us our year-end friends..."
After dinner, everyone chatted for a while. Late at night, the Du family siblings stayed in Xue Bai's house to talk again.
Du Wulang is now gradually able to participate in discussing some secrets.
"Zheng Qian's meaning is very clear. Donggong asked him to test me, but he has his own ideas."
"To put it simply, he will protect you and not expose you to Donggong, but he also hopes that you will support Donggong."
"This is normal. They supported Li Ying back then, and they will definitely support Li Heng now. We are too weak, and it is already a big progress to find this kind of emotional care."
"Yes, the network should be slowly expanded."
"You came back just in time, we just want to talk to you about the branch."
"..."
Talking about late at night, the Du family siblings dispersed.
Du Jin walked to the boudoir, stopped, and whispered: "I remembered that there is something about the East Palace that I haven't told him yet."
"Yeah." Du Wei was stunned and said, "I'm sleepy. I fell asleep."
Du Jin then blew out the lantern and returned to Xue Bai's room.
Sure enough, he had not fallen asleep yet and was standing in front of the window admiring the moon. She bolted the door and hugged him.
"Well."
"I have to tell you...we must not support Donggong."
"I know."
"You have been buried alive by him, and he will never trust you. Also, Ji Wen can guess that others must have suspected our relationship for a long time, but they just didn't say it. Remember, whether it is Li Heng or his sons , once firmly seated on the throne, they will definitely kill us. I don’t want to be locked up in a deep palace like Webster, but if I don’t become a monk for so long, they will kill me. No matter how nice they say, you must not Believe, as long as you believe in me, I will bet everything on you..."
"Don't worry, no matter how many benefits Donggong gives me, I will never waver in the slightest."
"Well, so that I can trust you, come."
"..."
That's enough.
Tonight, Du Jin was even more enthusiastic than usual, as if she wanted to make Xue Bai firmly stand on the same side as her.
She wanted him to cooperate with her completely, unreservedly, and with all his might.
In this way, she feels safe.
~~
The curtain was not raised.
The two people, both risking their lives, seemed to be fighting for their lives.
A hairpin fell to the ground, and green hair fell like a waterfall...
~~
There was a faint creaking sound at night.
Du Wulang woke up from his sleep and thought that Xue Bai went back to Du's house to sleep and opened the window again.
He simply carried the quilt across the yard, spread it casually in the room in the west wing and lay down, which made it much quieter.
When the night wind blew, he became more awake. He thought about what Xue Bai and his sisters had discussed, but he didn't have much trouble in his heart.
They talked about these things as if they were a big trouble, but in his opinion it was very simple. Xue Bai's life experience was similar to Qing Lan's, except that Xue Bai was more progressive...
Thinking of making progress, Du Wulang immediately felt sleepy. He turned over and fell asleep again after a while.
In the dream, Du Fu patted him on the shoulder and said, "As expected of a member of the Du family, he indeed has the talent for poetry." He was about to recite a poem, but was awakened by the chirping magpies.
…
"You two remember that you came back early on the day of Hanshi and made an appointment with the children of the Lu family and the Pei family to go out to the city to worship. Hey, I see that you have grown taller again. I need to cut two new clothes quickly. I have to cut them. , then people will feel comfortable watching..."
Early in the morning, Lu Fengniang was talking about this matter and explained it repeatedly.
Du Wulang and Xue Bai came out of the yard and muttered: "Oh, I am from a wealthy family of the Pei family. If I am attracted by his little lady, I will be bullied a lot."
"Well, you have to be careful."
Du Wulang looked up at the bird's nest under the eaves and was stunned, feeling poetic.
"Spring is still early in February, and the magpies have already built their nests."
It's a pity that there are only fragments of sentences again. Du Wulang pondered for a moment and couldn't help but sigh and said to himself: "I might as well call him a fragmentary poet."
Xue Bai saw there were two magpies and added casually.
"Double flies under the eaves, the breeze is beautiful in spring."
~~
When they arrived at the Imperial College that day, Xue Bai and Zheng Qian never mentioned their life experiences again, only talking about their studies.
But there is already more of a tacit understanding between master and disciple.
With this relationship, he might be able to become friends with Yuan Jie and Du Fu in the future.
Gathering sand into a tower, gathering armpits into a furry coat, the connections are always spread out little by little.
~~
In the evening, Xue Bai finally returned home to Changshoufang.
He didn't return home for two days in a row, so Qing Lan inevitably vented his dissatisfaction a little.
"Mr. Lang said he was going to the Imperial College to study, but he had so much fun that he made his mistress really worried..."
"come over."
Qing Lan was halfway through talking when he stepped forward to take a look and saw Xue Bai taking out a bag of green dates.
"I picked it up at Du's house last night. Let's try it."
The complaints stopped immediately. Qinglan picked up a date and took a bite. It was crispy and fragrant on her teeth and cheeks.
"It's so delicious. Sir, please try it too."
She pinched another one and fed it to Xue Bai. She felt her fingers touch his lips. She panicked, quickly took the bag, and whispered: "I'm going to wash it."
When she turned around, she stole a glance at him and felt that her fingers were still a little warm. Thinking about it carefully, she felt ashamed.
When she came back from washing the green dates, she looked over and saw that Xue Bai had already laid down and slept. She couldn't help but secretly thought that Lang Jun was probably shy too.
"It's still early. Do you want to get up early and go to the Imperial College?"
"I have to go see the teacher early. Has he sent someone to find me?"
"Well, Lieutenant Yan County seems to have something urgent to look for. He also sent someone here last night."
"Teacher, don't be in a hurry, otherwise we will send you to the Imperial College."
Xue Bai thought to himself that of the two teachers he had studied recently, although Duke Zheng had a high official position, he was too close to the East Palace. After all, Duke Yan was the more pure...
