The bronze mirror reflects a face as beautiful as a peach or plum.
Li Jilan put on a little bit of lipstick, then wiped it off after thinking about it, changed her makeup to a plain one, and straightened her face to make herself look more serious.
Today she has to arrange for a group of actors to rehearse a play, and they have to control the scene.
"Ji Lanzi, are you okay?" Li Tengkong asked outside the door. He was irritated by waiting for too long and could no longer follow the natural way.
"Here we come." Li Jilan opened the door, naturally took Li Tengkong's hand and rushed out together.
When she walked out of the backyard, she remembered that she was a female crown and couldn't walk like this.
"Yeah, I forgot the whisk."
"It's too late, let's go."
Today we are going to Xue Bai's new house, which makes people a little excited for no reason.
How do you describe this feeling? It's like going deep into a famous mountain to visit the abode of immortals... Youxian Cave?
Li Jilan quickly shook his head to dispel this unwarranted association.
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Xue Bai's new residence is located to the west of Xuanyangfang, just across the street from Mrs. Guo's Mansion. Its area is a quarter of that of Mrs. Guo's Mansion, and it can truly be called luxurious and spacious.
"I've been helping to keep an eye on the renovations lately, so I'll show you around.
Du Wulang led everyone in the Xue family through the first courtyard gate, pointing as he walked.
"This house is much bigger than Du's house. It's better to give the house some name... Huh?"
After a long time, he turned around and found that there was only Xue Sanniang left behind him.
She has had good nutrition in recent years and has gradually grown into a tall and graceful girl. Du Wulang feels a little embarrassed every time he looks at her.
"Where are Xue Bai and the others?"
"Brother Six has just turned to the big courtyard over there to watch some singing."
"Then he didn't even say a word to me." Du Wulang turned around unnaturally.
"Sixth brother can't bear to interrupt Wulang."
Everyone saw everything new along the way. No one listened to Du Wulang and fell behind one after another. Xue Sanniang felt embarrassed for him, but she didn't want to lose his face, so she had to follow silently.
Du Wulang didn't feel embarrassed at all, and said with some surprise: "There seems to be mandarin ducks on the pool over there. Do you want to take a look?"
"Won't Wulang go and watch the singing? There are so many beauties."
"Ah, I, I'm tired of looking at beauties. I just like to look at flowers, birds, fish and insects."
"If there are mandarin ducks in winter." Xue Sanniang lowered her head and whispered: "Then, you can take a look."
"Ah, okay, okay."
Du Wulang took advantage of Xue Sanniang's lack of attention and patted his head hard, cursing in his mind why he said such useless and stupid words like "I'm tired of looking at beauties."
"In the past, Mr. Lao came to Yuzhen Temple as a guest, but today it is rare to come to Mr. Lao's home. Mr. Lao welcomed me."
When Li Jilan arrived at Xue's house, he lifted the car curtain and saw Xue Bai coming to greet him. He was so happy that he immediately smiled and talked sweetly.
Li Tengkong was not as promising as her. He pretended to be an expert and said with a sense of ridicule: "Come and rehearse for him, that's why he is so attentive."
"Tengkongzi understands me." Xue Bai answered casually and said, "I just arrived and haven't fully visited here yet."
He led them inside.
Li Tengkong was actually very tasteful. He looked around and praised: "Your house is really well-organized and elegantly decorated."
Xue Bai said: "It was arranged by the Right Prime Minister, please give him the trouble."
Li Tengkong didn't know how to answer this, so he muttered in a low voice: "Then you have a good relationship recently."
The three of them lost their way and walked straight to the small pool in the back garden. They bumped into Du Wulang and Xue Sanniang who were watching the snow scene. They asked for directions before going around to the yard where the show was auditioned.
From a distance, you can hear sweet music and smell the fragrant breeze. When you pass through a courtyard gate, you can see clouds of beauties. Some are clearing their throats, while others are twisting their waists, which makes people dazzled.
There are many beauties in Yuzhen Temple, but most of them are plainly dressed, far less gorgeous than here.
Li Jilan was speechless at the sight, and couldn't help but whisper: "The courtyard is full of beauties, is this what a man wants?"
If Xue Bairuo didn't want to take these beauties as his own and just talked about art, then this place was indeed far inferior to the Liyuan.
Xue Bai waved his hand and said calmly: "It's far less than the Liyuan."
This sentence seems a bit treacherous, but it depends on how you interpret it.
Li Tengkong knew his nature and couldn't help but nodded in approval.
She has a Taoist heart and does not want to compare with these beauties. Instead, she pays attention to a few musicians who are practicing their music.
"The skills are so superb." She sighed with emotion: "Compared like this, with our little ability, how dare we give them advice?"
Xue Bai said: "It's okay. There are three cobblers, but Zhuge Liang is the best."
His words were quite fresh, making the two women feel both funny and a little annoyed. This naturally revealed girlish attitude was even more touching than the deliberate coquettishness of the beauty next to her.
The three of them walked into the hall and finally talked about the drama.
"I have chosen Pang Sanniang as the candidate for Mrs. Cui."
Xue Bai said: "She has the right age and appearance, and she has pursuits in performance. She can play both the niece and the aunt. You will know when you meet her later. As for the choice of Cui Yingying and the matchmaker... there is a singer named Nian Nu. She should be the most outstanding one, I think it’s good, but it’s up to you to decide whether to reject her, after all, I can’t tell the difference in singing skills; the other choice is Zhang Sheng, I’ll go to the workshop tomorrow to choose.”
It can be seen from this that although Niannu's appearance and singing skills were good, they were not as impressive to Xue Bai as Pang Sanniang's ambition, which made him immediately confirmed.
Li Tengkong said: "We have an idea to discuss with you about Zhang Sheng's choice... Lord Hezheng County, what do you think?"
"Her?" When Xue Bai heard this, he subconsciously wanted to refuse and said, "How can a woman pretend to be Zhang Sheng?"
"She is very good at dressing up as a man. She is both heroic and gentle at the same time. She fits the image of Zhang Sheng in our impression. Sir, you will know her as soon as you see her." Li Jilan said.
"Can you sing? This play is not easy to sing."
"How can a saint's granddaughter not know how to sing?"
Xue Bai was still a little reluctant, thinking that it would be very troublesome if Li Yuetu refused to behave well and wanted to marry him after losing on purpose.
Li Tengkong knew what he was thinking and said, "She said she would try her best to help Xue Lang win the bet. Her character must be trustworthy."
"We will make comparisons after we have selected a group of people."
"good."
Xue Bai did not agree immediately, but he already thought that if he really let Li Yuetu sing, Li Longji would lose honorably.
"Then thank you for your hard work." Xue Bai said: "I will go to meet the two brothers of the Yan family."
"Did you bring Miss Yan San here?"
"No, I'm afraid it will be too noisy here and make her anxious. I will bring her here to play when things get sorted out later."
"It's okay, I can't help you think carefully."
In terms of diction, Li Jilan is better than Li Tengkong; but in terms of rhythm, Li Tengkong is slightly better.
Therefore, this time the casting, music arrangement, exploration of singing methods, etc. were all led by Li Tengkong, assisted by Li Jilan.
She listened to all the singers sing it once, and without hesitation, she directly decided that Nian Nu would sing Cui Yingying. As for the choice of matchmaker, she was a little hesitant.
"How about Fan Girl?
"A little too charming."
Li Jilan nodded, feeling a little wary of Fan Nu. She just saw Fan Nu getting closer to Xue Bai when he went out, and intentionally or unintentionally pressed her plump and proud part against his arm.
At this time, she deliberately asked. Seeing that Li Tengkong had no intention of using Fan Nu, she felt relieved and stopped talking.
"Are you two real people here? I made some ginger soup to ward off the cold."
Li Tengkong turned around and looked for a moment before recognizing that it was Fan Nu, but she had washed off all her makeup and changed into a double-ringed bun. This is because before the results came out, she realized that there was no hope of playing Cui Yingying, and instead wanted to play matchmaker... It was so exciting.
After serving ginger soup for Erli to drink, Fan asked, "May I ask these two masters what they think of Nu's singing skills?"
"Good, very good, and her figure is good." Li Tengkong quickly glanced at her figure, but he was not very envious.
Fan Nu's eyes lit up and she asked, "I wonder if I can play matchmaker?"
Li Tengkong said: "I will announce the result in public. In addition, I will select two more groups of people to rehearse three teams, one chief, two assistants, just in case of emergencies. You don't have to worry."
Fan Nu put away the bowl and asked casually: "I would like to ask for some advice from the real person. Is there any shortcomings in the slave family?"
"You are both talented and beautiful, but your temperament is not like that of a matchmaker."
"Yes." Fan Nu lowered her head and responded. Just as she was about to turn around, she said garrulously: "The slave family saw that Teng Kongzi and Xue Lang were a good match, so I took the liberty to ask, I don't know..."
"Don't talk nonsense." Li Tengkong interrupted quickly, but he was not very angry in his heart.
However, when she took another look, she suddenly felt that Fan Nu's temperament really resembled the matchmaker in her heart.
"The season is full of romance, the future is bright, and the sun is setting on happy love. There is a song in Xue's house in Xuanyangfang, with some drama, melodious, and quite new.
From then on, there was music and music here every day, like a small pear garden.
Those who were staring at Xue Bai couldn't help but comment in their hearts when they saw the actor coming in and out of Xue Bai's house.
"As expected, he is the sycophant favored by the saint, exactly like the saint."
However, Xue Bai still lived in Xue's house in Changshoufang. He spent most of his time studying literature and martial arts, and learned the Six Arts of a Gentleman from the Yan family brothers.
He felt that Yan Quanming seemed a bit lustful, and Yan Quanming always asked him why he didn't go to Xuanyangfang to see beauties.
"There will always be no shortage of beauties in the future, but the two brothers are about to return to Hebei.
"yes."
Yan Quan said clearly, "This trip back to Beijing to report on work has been long enough..."
In this peaceful atmosphere, Xue Bai was actually quietly paying attention to the situation in the court. He did not go to see Wang Zhongsi again, but went to Yuan Zai's house after Yuan Zai moved to his new home.
Yuan Zai was very enthusiastic and took Xue Bai to sit down in the back hall, full of praise.
"Thank you so much, Xue Lang. My father-in-law's situation seems to be much worse."
"Brother Yuan, are you scolding me?"
"I wish I could kowtow to Xue Lang three times."
Those who are close to Zhu are red, and Yuan Zai now has a bit more of Yang Zhao's slickness. Fortunately, his poor experience in his early years made him quite deep, which covered up this slickness.
"Rectifying the church cannot be without cost. Nowadays, public sentiment in the court is raging, and the memorials to impeach my father-in-law are pouring out. Even those who were originally friendly with him and close to the East Palace have expressed their dissatisfaction. The saint obviously intends to let his father-in-law bear the consequences. "
Yuan Zai said with a smile on his face, not only happy for Wang Zhongsi, but also happy that Yang Dang could win over Wang Zhongsi.
He stood up, poured a cup of fruit juice for Xue Bai with his own hands, and said: "As Xue Lang wished, my father-in-law has shown signs of becoming a lonely minister... In addition, I heard that Ge Shuhan, An Sishun and others are returning to the court."
Xue Bai came here to hear this news from him and asked, "What is the relationship between General Wang and these generals?"
"They may not have a good relationship in private, but they all admire my father-in-law very much." Yuan Zai said: "Even Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing from Anxi, who doesn't admire my father-in-law's military exploits?"
"Don't wait for them to return to the court, the nights will be long and there will be many dreams." Xue Bai said: "Add fuel to the fire.
"Don't worry, I understand."
While the two were talking, Wang Yunxiu arranged for more than ten maidservants to come in with dishes... This scene showed that Yuan Zai was now wealthy.
"Come, try your sister-in-law's cooking. This is your favorite braised mutton." Yuan Zai became more and more attentive, and he really asked about Xue Bai's taste, "There is also this soup, which has been stewed for two days. An hour."
"Thank you for your hard work, sister-in-law."
"After all, it is Xue Lang who is here." Wang Yunxiu's smile was not as bold as usual, and a little unnatural.
But Xue Bai knew at a glance that she didn't have such cooking skills and must have bought the dishes from a restaurant. Yuan Zai didn't need to pretend to be so close to her.
Of course, now that his official position is low, if he slowly learns from Yang Zhao, he will no longer have any flaws in his flattery in the future.
Several vegetarian dishes were placed on the table. The maid stepped forward to taste them first, and then Li Linfu took chopsticks.
At this time, Cang Bi hurried over and reported: "Alang, the Yushitai sent a message. Wang Zhongsi not only refused to plead guilty, but also gave a confession... and accused others of being guilty."
"This is adding fuel to the fire." Li Linfu thought for a while and said to himself: "In the past, I was stubborn and stubborn towards the saints and refused to attack Shibao City, but now I can't deal with the officials."
He put down his chopsticks and ordered, "I will come to the palace again."
"Alang, you haven't eaten yet, how can you eat less and do more things every day..."
"It's too late for the weather, so prepare to drive quietly."
"Here."
Encountering a master who was so diligent in state affairs, Cang Bi was helpless and hurriedly prepared.
When Li Linfu returned, the first thing he did was to recruit An Lushan.
"deal."
When An Lushan heard these two words, his little eyes seemed to light up, he was so excited.
Li Linfu said: "The sage has decided to dismiss Wang Zhongsi from the post of military envoy to Hexi and Longxi. There will be an imperial edict from Zhongshu Province tomorrow."
"Right Chancellor, what next?"
"You go back to Fan Yang first." Li Linfu said.
"What?" An Lushan was surprised, "Where are Shuofang and Hedong towns?"
"But... Wang Zhongsi wants to plot rebellion! In the third year of Tianbao's reign, when he was attacking the Turks, he secretly contacted the three tribes of Bashmi, Geluolu and Uighur to plan to help the prince raise an army." An Lushan screamed strangely, " That’s why he accused Hu Er of having different intentions..."
"Sages know all these things, so what's the use of talking about them?" Li Linfu had a lot to do, so he said impatiently: "He also accused you, did the saints deal with you?"
"Hu'er is loyal, but he has evil intentions."
An Lushan's face was full of grievance, his little eyes rolled around, and he said: "Ge Shuhan, An Sishun and others all respect Wang Zhongsi. As long as he has one town in hand, he is equivalent to commanding four towns. How does the right prime minister control the river and the long river?"
"I have my own sense of propriety." Li Linfu did not need to be reminded, "After all, he is the adopted son of a saint, and he has a nurturing relationship. Take your time, haste makes waste."
An Lushan had no choice but to hold up his chair and stand up to say goodbye.
He never expected that the result this time would be that Wang Zhongsi would be able to keep the two towns, and it would be in vain for him to hold on for so long.
This time I went to Chang'an, and the harvest was much less than expected. Looking back, every setback has the shadow of that person.
"My uncle doesn't keep his words."
Back at the mansion, An Lushan's expression changed little by little from the moment he entered the door. From the harmless, silly and funny expression at the beginning, he gradually turned into a ferocious and vicious one. When he walked into the lobby, his whole face was filled with tears. Already ferocious.
Li Zhuer hurried up to meet him, trying to hold up An Lushan's belly as usual so that the maids could untie their belts.
Before An Lushan came back, they teased him a few times and praised him for getting more and more handsome as he grew older. Although they had restrained themselves at this time, there were still residual smiles in the corners of their eyes.
The lights in the hall were very bright, and everything was clearly visible.
Li Zhuer squatted down and put his head on An Lushan's belly. Suddenly, he was pushed from behind and fell forward.
"The villain knows his fault..."
Li Zhuer quickly admitted his mistake and wanted to kneel down, but An Lushan stepped on his face, causing severe pain.
"do not move!"
An Lushan cursed a few words in Sogdian and was very rough. He slowly squatted down, grabbed Li Zhuer's belt, and pulled it away.
Li Zhuer was so frightened that he really didn't dare to move anymore. He trembled and let An Lushan's fat hand pinch his lower body...
Then, with a "bang" sound, An Lushan pulled out the dagger from his waist and cut it off, still cursing fiercely. "
"Don't!
Amidst the screams, Li Zhuer was in shock and pain. Unable to bear the pain, Li Zhuer fainted.
An Lushan finally vented his anger, looked up, took out the ashes from the incense burner, and sprinkled it on Li Zhuer's wound to stop the bleeding.
"It doesn't matter, just bear with it."
An Lushan whispered, and then the cruelty on his face disappeared, and he murmured to himself: "Be patient, a gentleman will take revenge, it is not too late in ten years..."
The next day, before the news of Wang Zhongsi's dismissal from the two towns spread, An Lushan reported to Li Longji and left.
The first thing he did after leaving the palace was to say goodbye to the Yang brothers and sisters and Xue Bai, reluctant to leave.
"Oh? Hu'er is going back to Fanyang?"
"If it weren't for those Xi people and Turks who always come to invade, Hu'er would really like to stay in Chang'an for a long time. I really can't bear to leave my uncle. It would be great if I could keep him company every day."
Xue Bai said: "It doesn't matter, as long as you take good care of yourself, we can always meet again.'
"Great, little uncle has to wait for Hu'er."
An Lushan clapped his hands and laughed, looking so naive.
He was not in a hurry, because no matter how many tricks Xue Bai used to change the holy will, he could not stop the saint from getting older and older. The saint's suspicion of Wang Zhongsi would only become more and more serious, and it was impossible for Wang Zhongsi to block Hedong all the time.
Then, sooner or later, it would be as easy for him to choke Xue Bai as it was to choke Li Zhuer.
Xue Bai seemed to be amused by An Lushan, and his expression became more and more calm.
He could hear the deep hatred hidden in An Lushan's words.
But he is not in a hurry. Changes in the world always start little by little. What is needed most is patience, and he is still very young. This is the biggest capital...
