Lanling City is located in the southern part of Wu State, at the intersection of three major rivers. Transportation is accessible in all directions and is known as the Ten Thoroughfares.
At the same time, outside Lanling City, there is the fertile wilderness of Jiangnan Road, a fertile land of thousands of miles.
The entire Lanling City is known as "the most prosperous in the South and richer than the capital city". It is a large city with a population of millions.
And in Lanling City, the most conspicuous and prosperous area is a large house that blocks out the sky and the sun.
The scale of this residence is almost the same as that of the imperial palace, and the specifications of the various pavilions and pavilions are comparable to or even exceed the regulations of the palace. There is even a circle of city walls outside, making it a city within a city.
It is the ancestral residence of the Xu family in Lanling.
The Xu family's ancestral residence covers a huge area, including lakes and woods, making it look like an independent kingdom.
At this time, in a bamboo forest in the center of the Xu clan's residence, a sedan was slowly moving forward.
The people carrying the sedan were eight beautiful girls wearing gauze clothes. The gauze clothes on their bodies were thin and blown by the wind, showing their exquisite figures and graceful spring scenery. The expressions of the girls were low-brows and obedient. , looking like you are at your mercy.
Next to the sedan, there were two more beautiful girls on the left and right, one holding a scroll and the other holding a flute. They had the temperament of a talented woman.
Sitting on the sedan chair was an old man in his fifties or sixties.
This old man has a skinny appearance, a mustache and a goatee, and looks sickly. He wears a Zhongjing crown, a velvet crane cloak, and a white silk Taoist robe. He holds a Xiaoyao fan in his hand, but there is a fierce look in his eyes. The color does not give people the feeling of immortality, but is extremely cruel and violent.
At this moment, there was a "snoring" sound coming from the old man's throat, and he turned his head to look to the left.
The girl who was following the sedan next to her and holding a flute immediately stepped forward and followed the sedan steadily. She opened her mouth slightly and faced the old man in the sedan with a pretty face.
The old man immediately spit the phlegm in his mouth into the girl's mouth, then turned his head and closed his eyes to rest.
The girl holding the flute's eyes trembled, her throat moved slightly, her face turned away as usual, and she continued to follow the sedan.
Apparently he has already gotten used to this.
At this time, the sedan reached the depths of the bamboo forest. The winding path led to a quiet lake and a simple blue pavilion beside the lake.
Around the pavilion, there were several rows of young girls in simple and elegant clothes standing. In the pavilion, there was an old man wearing a plain white Taoist robe with an immortal demeanor. He was making tea around the stove under the service of several maids.
Seeing the sedan appear, the old man in the pavilion immediately laughed loudly and said:
"Brother Qiancheng, we missed you from afar! There is snow tea from Lingmiao Peak of Daxue Mountain today. Come and have a drink. I am making tea, so I can't welcome you. Don't be surprised."
The person in the sedan was none other than Cui Qiancheng, the current head of the Boling Cui clan, one of the nine surnames and ten clans!
The sedan slowly came down, and the two beautiful maids carrying the sedan knelt in front of the sedan, letting Cui Qiancheng step on their backs, using them as stepping stones to walk down.
Cui Qiancheng seemed not to notice the maid beside him at all. With a smile on his face, he strode into the pavilion and said:
"Brother Yunjie and I still need to go out? Why don't you quickly pour a cup of snow tea from Lingmiao Peak? The wind is quite strong today."
In this pavilion is the head of the Lanling Xu clan, Xu Yunjie, who is also one of the nine surnames and ten clans.
Today Cui Qiancheng came to the Xu family's ancestral residence in Lanling City to discuss important matters with Xu Yunjie.
Several beautiful maids in the pavilion immediately took off the tea from the stove and poured it into a white jade cup and a sapphire cup. A beautiful maid knelt on the ground, using a pair of slender jade hands as a tray, and presented the jade cup to Cui Qiancheng. before.
Cui Qiancheng picked up the sapphire cup and gently smelled the fragrance, then put it down, then picked up the white jade cup and took a sip, sighing:
"The fragrance penetrates the soul, moistens the lungs and promotes body fluids. It is worthy of being the Lingmiao Peak Snow Tea that only gets three taels a year."
Then he looked at the lake and bamboo forest and admired:
"Brother Yunjie enjoys it so much. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, who would have thought that there is such a beautiful place in the Xu family's residence in Lanling City..."
While he was talking, a cool breeze blew up in the bamboo forest and blew through the pavilion, giving him a sudden chill.
Xu Yunjie put down the teaspoon in his hand and clapped his hands gently.
Immediately, a group of beautiful maids standing outside the pavilion hurriedly came forward and surrounded the pavilion, standing airtight to block the cold wind for Xu Yunjie and Cui Qiancheng in the pavilion.
These maids were only wearing simple and elegant gauze. They were shivering from the cold wind, but they did not dare to lose their composure in the slightest.
The cold wind was blocked, and coupled with the body temperature, the pavilion suddenly became much warmer. The maids bathed in fragrant leaves and vanilla, with a strange fragrance on their bodies, which immediately made the pavilion fragrant and warm.
Cui Qiancheng put his palms together and smiled:
"The meat screen of the beautiful maid in Brother Yunjie's home is indeed well-deserved. It is really popular with famous people like me. No wonder Brother Dongfang was full of praise when he visited my home before."
His smile was a little breathless at this time, and he immediately coughed and snored in his throat. The two girls behind him, holding a flute and a book, quickly came forward, knelt in front of him, and opened their mouths.
Cui Qiancheng opened his mouth and pointed it at the cherry mouth of the girl holding the book, and spat in.
Seeing this scene, Xu Yunjie, who was making tea, couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and smiled in surprise:
"Where did Brother Qiancheng find such good things? They are unique, interesting and interesting."
Cui Qiancheng raised his hand and pointed at the two beautiful maids kneeling in front of him, a trace of amusement flashed in his eyes, and he said with a smile:
"This object is called the Beauty Bowl. I selected cardamom girls. Those who want to be dignified and beautiful should first study poetry and calligraphy for a year to get rid of their vulgarity, then study silk and bamboo for a year to cultivate their charm, and then practice painting for a year to cultivate their beauty. To be smart and beautiful, you need to learn etiquette and morality for the last one year, and practice your virtues. After four years of this, you can master all kinds of music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and you will be dignified, beautiful and beautiful. Only then can you be my beauty bowl."
"These two beautiful bowls are of quick thinking. If you were to take a test for merit, you might be able to get a Jinshi. We, famous people, are going to use these items to show our elegance."
Xu Yunjie could not help but applaud and exclaimed:
"As expected of Brother Qiancheng, who is known as Boling Fengya, I am not as good as him."
The two of them were drinking tea and having fun, and talked about the elegance of several other aristocratic families with nine surnames and ten families, such as Gongsun's meat table in Xijing and the beauty paper of Cai's family in Longhu. They all lamented their elegance.
After several rounds of tea and wine, Cui Qiancheng and Xu Yunjie called a few maids to come over, throwing meat pots and performing tricks until they became a little tired from the entertainment, and then rested against the meat screen.
Cui Qiancheng asked:
"Brother Yunjie called me here, wasn't it just for the snow tea at Lingmiao Peak?"
Xu Yunjie laughed and clapped his hands. Immediately, a maid came up next to him holding several square wooden boxes and placed the wooden boxes on the tea table.
The smile on Xu Yunjie's face faded instantly, he opened the wooden box and said:
"Brother Qiancheng, please take a look."
Several bloody heads pickled with lime were exposed.
Cui Qiancheng frowned, took out a handkerchief to cover his mouth and nose, and looked at the heads carefully.
There are four heads in total in front of you.
He looked at the first head carefully, tsked and said:
"This Enhai is worthy of being the leader of the eunuch party. Even though he is dead, there is still some unyielding look on his face. It's a pity."
Xu Yunjie nodded and said:
"The emperor's great power has been repaid. The head of En Hai, the leader of the eunuch party, has been passed down to Jiubian. He has just arrived in my Lanling City. Brother Qiancheng must have already known about it."
Cui Qiancheng then looked at the second head, his eyes suddenly widened, and he said in a deep voice:
"Xu Wen...the rumors are true. Emperor Lard was deceived and thought that killing En Hai was a sign of martial arts prowess, so he actually attacked the Dongzhu Party!"
Xu Yunjie sighed and said:
"The Dongzhu Party is just a chess piece we are pushing in the court, just a facade. If the emperor really only attacks the Dongzhu Party, that's all. Brother Qiancheng, continue to look down."
Cui Qiancheng narrowed his eyes and immediately saw the remaining two heads.
One has a bald head and the other has a bun.
This is one monk and one path.
Facing Cui Qiancheng's slightly puzzled look, Xu Yunjie said slowly:
"The monk's Buddhist name is Shi De, his lay name is Zhao Pu, he is from the Shaolin Holy Land, the Taoist priest's Taoist name is Daoren, his lay name is Xu Zhonglin, he is from the Wudang Holy Land, these two people, one is from the Yuezhou Zhao family, and the other is from my Lanling Xu family, They are all transformation masters of the fourth level of super level, and these four heads were sent by Emperor Shunlong."
A glint suddenly appeared in Cui Qiancheng's eyes, and he said solemnly:
"The emperor dares to openly oppose my nine surnames and ten clans! Doesn't he even regard the three major martial arts holy places in his eyes!?"
He had heard what Xu Yunjie said before, but he didn't expect that even the envoys of the three major martial arts holy places were beheaded by the emperor.
Xu Yunjie smiled slightly and said:
"The emperor is a small matter, but the family is a big matter. Brother Qiancheng must have understood my purpose of inviting Brother Qiancheng here."
Cui Qiancheng nodded and sighed:
"So, this court will have to worry about me and other aristocratic families again... But if this happens, it will not be good if there is a rift among our nine surnames and ten clans."
For many years, although the Li Dynasty royal family was the nominal co-owner of the world, it was actually their nine-surname and ten-family family that truly controlled the entire Wu Kingdom.
With the Li Dynasty royal family as a cover, these aristocratic families can maintain peace and harmony, and everyone's interests are just defined.
Living more comfortably than the emperor, naturally you don't have to be the emperor to get into trouble, and you are easily besieged by other aristocratic families.
The existence of the Dongzhu Party is just a tool in the court created by the Nine Surnames and Ten Clan to stabilize the current political framework.
The existence of Enhai was also tacitly approved by them.
As long as there are benefits, give the royal family a false name.
It's just that what the emperor is doing now has touched the bottom line of the nine surnames and ten clans, and it is inevitable to change the emperor, or directly change the court.
For patriarchs like Cui Qiancheng and Xu Yunjie, who have nine surnames and ten clans, the emperor, no matter how brave he is, cannot withstand the three holy places of martial arts. The bodyguards controlled by the emperor, the Shangzhi Army, are also nothing to worry about in front of the elite private soldiers of the world's famous families. .
The emperor is dead, but what he is really worried about is that he is afraid that this incident will cause internal disputes among the nine surnames and ten clans.
This is also the main reason why Xu Yunjie invited Cui Qiancheng to come to discuss.
Xu Yunjie said with a smile:
"Brother Qiancheng has such a high opinion, I feel at ease. My Lanling Xu family and Boling Cui family are closest to each other, so I also want to have a detailed discussion with Brother Qiancheng first. As for the Cai family, we still need Qiancheng. Brother Cheng said nicely that the Gongsun family has an old man as a lobbyist. In this way, the world can be settled and great things can be accomplished."
The Xu family of Lanling, the Cui family of Boling, the Gongsun family of Xijing, and the Cai family of Longhu are collectively known as the "upper four families" among the nine surnames and ten surnames. They are the most powerful and have always been the leaders of the world's aristocratic families.
As long as these four families share the same hatred, there will naturally be no conflicts.
Cui Qiancheng nodded and said:
"That's very good... I've always heard that Brother Yunjie has raised a lot of clan members, and they have come in handy this time. I just don't know how many of them can be used?"
Xu Yunjie smiled slightly and said:
"Brother Qiancheng is laughing. After the Ling Emperor Rebellion, I have been collecting lost clan members among the people. Over the years, it has been quite effective. Currently, the clan princes who are being raised in my Xu clan's residence include One hundred and one people, known as the Hundred Kings in the Stable."
Then he pointed to the beauties serving as meat screens next to them:
"The Li family has been in existence for more than two hundred years and has many clans. These are all the princesses and princesses that I have collected."
"As for the clan members who can be used...Xuan Wang Li Xun, who is stupid and foolish, can be made emperor."
~
(Author's note: Both the meat screen and the beauty bowl have existed in history. The meat screen is from Yang Guozhong, and the beauty bowl is from Yan Shifan. From this, we can get a glimpse of the evil feudal society where people cannibalize people.)
(End of chapter)
