Chapter 296: The father-in-law and son-in-law meet

After saying goodbye to An Lushan, Li Qing'an's carriage continued to move forward. Soon after, he drove into Wubenfang and headed towards Dugu's mansion. He needed to have a good talk with Dugu Haoran. Since he wanted to marry someone's daughter, the relationship should not be too stiff.

Since the last Dugu family banquet, the Dugu family has begun to prepare for the wedding nervously, especially Mrs. Pei is busy, from the preparation of the banquet, the list of guests, the wording of invitations, the wedding dress of her daughter, and other small matters. Her husband Dugu Haoran doesn't care about this from beginning to end.

Fortunately, there are many women in the Dugu family, and women are naturally interested in marriage. Many things are discussed by Mrs. Pei. After lunch, Mrs. Pei discussed the treat list with her mother-in-law Mrs. Wang. Mrs. Wang is the widow of Dugu Shi who has passed away. She was also unlucky. She originally wanted to remarry Ma Rong, the prefect of Yuanzhou. The reason was that when Ma Taishou was young, he wanted to marry her who was only sixteen years old at the time, but by chance, Mrs. Wang married another person.

After more than twenty years, she remembered this love again, and Ma Taishou's original wife was also very interesting, so that they could relive the old love of the young. Unexpectedly, as soon as they had this intention, Ma Taishou died of a heart attack due to excessive excitement, which made Mrs. Wang's hope fade. Fortunately, they had not had time to exchange documents and their status was not determined, so she was still a widow of the Dugu family. However, after this incident, her status in the Dugu family plummeted, surrendered to her daughter-in-law Mrs. Pei, and became Mrs. Pei's housekeeper assistant. In the matter of Mingyue's marriage, she was also busy and worked hard to restore Mrs. Pei's tolerance for her.

"Madam, I went to see the lobby of Gao Mansion. It was indeed magnificent. It could accommodate at least 3,000 people for dining. There were two sub-houses, one thousand people each, that was five thousand people. Mrs. Gao said that Li Qing'an had no family members, and some distant relatives were shattered and his subordinates were in Anxi, so they could not catch up. Therefore, the main guests on the man's side were court officials, and there were about 700 or 800 people with their family members. The invitation had been sent out."

Mrs. Pei thought for a while and said, "We are mainly clan members and family friends, as well as relatives and friends of the Pei family. I calculated that there are more than 400 people, but each household can write an invitation. I guess it is enough for more than 200 copies. Please go to Zhangji Printing House again to see if we have printed the 300 invitations. We must write them today."

"Okay! I'll go now." Mrs. Wang stood up and was about to leave, but Mrs. Pei called her again, "I remembered that the shopkeeper of Zhang Jiyinfang wrote a good word. Let's add more money and ask him to write the customer's name together."

Mrs. Pei took out a booklet and handed it to her, "This is a list. If they are willing to write, just give it to them!"

"I got it, I'll go now."

As soon as Mrs. Wang left, a maid came in to report: "Madam, the new son-in-law is here, I want to see the master!"

"Oh! Go and inform the master."

Mrs. Pei gave a few more instructions and rushed to the front yard. Although Li Qing'an is still the identity of a prospective son-in-law, his status is high and he has become the first pillar of the Dugu family. Now when it comes to Gutu's family, everyone will say that this is Li Qing'an's father-in-law's family, and Li Qing'an has become the backstage of the Dugu family.

The servants were also very flattering and invited him to the guest room to wait, cooked the best tea and brought the best detailed entertainment.

Soon, Mrs. Pei rushed over and smiled when she entered the door: "Qilang was unfortunately here, Mingyue and Mingzhu happened to go to my uncle's house."

Mingyue's uncle was Pei Min, who had just been promoted to the Minister of War. He happened to report his job in Chang'an, so he directly quit his old position and took up his new position. Li Qing'an returned to Chang'an this time and had never seen him. Pei Min was originally a member of the Eastern Palace Party. After Li Heng was deposed, he was unfortunately demoted and later promoted to the prefect of Qizhou. This time, Li Yu entered the Eastern Palace, and Pei Min, who had a family background, was naturally re-activated.

Li Qingan quickly smiled and said, "Auntie, I'm not here to see Mingyue, I want to talk to my uncle."

"Well! You guys need to have a good talk and eliminate some misunderstandings. I have sent someone to inform him."

Mrs. Pei asked Li Qing'an to sit down. Before Dugu Haoran came, she asked in a low voice: "Qilang, have you ever thought about how to take Mingzhu away?"

This is what Mrs. Pei is most worried about. If Mingyue stays in Chang'an, Li Longji may not let her go. Although she is already the wife of her subordinate, Li Longji will not have too many concerns as emperor. Mrs. Pei even worried that Li Longji would attack her son-in-law in order to get her daughter.

Li Qingan smiled and said, "I have asked Gao Lishi to ask the concubine for help. In this matter, we have the same interests as the Yang family. I believe the Yang family will consider this matter for us."

Mrs. Pei sighed, "With that being said, we need to have a reason!"

"Auntie, the reason is actually very simple!"

Mrs. Pei was stunned for a moment, her eyes gradually lit up, and she hurriedly said, "Tell me quickly, what's the reason?"

At this moment, there was a heavy cough outside the door, and a long figure appeared at the door. This was Dugu Haoran's arrival.

Mrs. Pei and Li Qing'an immediately stood up. Mrs. Pei smiled at Dugu Haoran who had walked into the room and said, "Master, Qilang is here to see you today."

"Yes!" Dugu Haoran walked forward with his hands behind his back, and he said to his wife expressionlessly: "Madam, let's go first! I'll talk to Qilang."

"Okay, you guys talk, I'll ask about the situation of the wedding dress."

Mrs. Pei got up and left, Dugu Haoran sat down, and the maid also gave him a cup of tea. He picked up the teacup and took a sip and asked, "Today's hungry people riot, how was the situation when Qilang came?"

Talking about current affairs is the best topic between men, it is easy to forget the displeasure between each other. Although Dugu Haoran and Li Qing'an did not have direct conflict, Li Longji caused an embarrassment and a subtle distrust between them.

After Wang Gong, Wei Huan and others became prime minister, Dugu Haoran gradually calmed down and began to realize his impulse in his daughter's affairs. When the Lord had no promise to him, he rashly sent his daughter to the palace. If that were the case, what would be the consequences? It is possible that the Lord would grant his daughter a concubine, but the greater possibility was that the Lord sent his daughter back the next morning. The Lord would not offend a rank-in-province official for his daughter. He just wanted to get his daughter's body, but would Li Qing'an endure such a great humiliation? He is the governor of Anxi, holding heavy troops. He will definitely not want his daughter, and the Lord would not want him. In the end, Dugu Haoran was beaten up in vain and was ridiculed by others, and was still ridiculed by others after thousands of years.

It is this consequence that things will not be as wonderful as he thought. The emperor will not promote him to be a prime minister. Every prime minister he proposed has profound meaning. Even Li Qing'an had political purposes. It was not his turn to Dugu Haoran. The emperor has promoted him to be a minister of the Simin Temple, which is the advance reward for him.

Understanding this, Dugu Haoran couldn't help but feel ashamed of his desire for profit. He also thanked his wife for her persistence, but he would not be grateful to Li Qing'an. Being grateful to Li Qing'an was equivalent to admitting his stupidity, which was something he would never do. On the contrary, Li Qing'an found so many important officials to suppress him on the day of the family banquet, but he had always been worried.

Dugu Haoran also felt it was necessary for Li Qing'an's visit today, but that was not for reconciliation, but for his daughter's wedding, he would not have been drunk and fought with Li Qing'an.

Although Li Qing'an came with sincerity, he did not expect him to have any smiles between Dugu Haoran and his son-in-law. As long as Li Longji is willing, he can easily provoke Dugu Haoran's relationship with him. Dugu Haoran is such a person. He values ​​personal promotion more than anything else, far exceeding family affection.

But Li Qing'an still wanted to talk to him. He didn't want any accidents to happen in the last few days. Li Qing'an also took a sip of tea and sighed: "When I came, the court had already started to provide disaster relief. The emotions of the victims were stable, and there would be no chaos for the time being."

"Temporary? Why do you say temporary?" Dugu Haoran asked again.

Li Qing'an pondered for a moment and said, "In my memory, Henan Road suffered a drought the previous year, and it was Hedong's turn last year. If there was a slight disaster, the people would be displaced and unable to make a living. My uncle thought this was why?"

Dugu Haoran also sighed and said, "There were disasters in the Kaiyuan period, but they were far less serious. One state and one county can solve them by themselves. The disaster victims came to Chang'an, which is an incredible thing."

"It's incredible, but it happened. Did my uncle think of the reason?"

Dugu Haoran shook his head, saying that he didn't want to say it, not that he didn't know that any official and even farmers in the Tang Dynasty knew the reason. In the past, the farmers' land was their own. After handing over the national grain, they still had some surplus grain in their hands. Since there was a famine, they could plant something else to resist drought. But now?

Li Qingan saw it and smiled and said, "This is why I say it is temporary. I heard that spring drought has occurred in Hebei Road, and there has been no rain or snow in a winter. In summer, it will inevitably be another major famine. But the emperor is unwilling to face it and is determined to launch the Tubo War. Natural disasters and man-made disasters, how can the disaster not be tragic?"

"Qiro, be careful about your identity when speaking!"

Dugu Haoran's face darkened and said unhappily: "The emperor has his own considerations, but those who are ministers should not criticize the emperor."

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became awkward. When they talked about current affairs, it was easy to find common topics and curse each other. If you praise me, I respect you and smile at each other, the conflict between them will ease, and the grudges in their hearts will be resolved. This is the best result of the conversation. Unexpectedly, the two of them will not be speculative, but instead they will have a sense of distrust between them.

The two of them couldn't find anything to say for a moment, and Dugu Haoran was really displeased. Li Qing'an was his son-in-law, but his official position was greater than him, which made him unable to teach his younger generations a lesson in his condescending attitude, and also made him feel a little jealous. Especially when Li Qing'an had a dissatisfied tone with the emperor, the fire in Dugu Haoran's heart surged.

At this moment, Mingzhu's excited voice came from the yard, "Where is Brother Li? My sister and I happened to talk about him! Take me to see him quickly."

Dugu Haoran snorted heavily, walked to the door and shouted angrily: "Bold!"

Mingzhu, who was yelling at her father, was so scared that she stood there and didn't dare to move. She had been looking for Li Qing'an twice these days, but she didn't find anyone, which made her feel depressed. Today, she heard that Li Qing'an was coming, and she immediately smiled. She had too many words to say to Li Qing'an, and she ran over without even listening to the butler's words, but was scolded by her father in front of her.

"Look at you, with such a loud voice and talking nonscrupulously, are you still like a junior? A woman who is about to marry is crazy all day long. Go! Go back to your own room."

Li Qingan heard that Gu Du Duran was pointing at the mulberry and scolding him. He was really unhappy, so he stood up and said coldly: "Then I won't disturb Uncle Dugu anymore, I will say goodbye first."

People are so strange. If Li Qing'an continues to smile with him or pretend to be like nothing, Dugu Haoran will be even more arrogant and speaks more unpleasantly. However, Li Qing'an's cold face made Dugu Haoran feel a little weak. After all, Li Qing'an is the number one important official of the Eastern Palace Party, Prince Anxi, and he is still in charge of the prime minister. He is not able to provoke him. Dugu Haoran's tone immediately softened.

"This... Haha! Qilang, just sit for a while!"

He asked Mingzhu again, "Where is your sister?"

"It's behind!" Mingzhu said timidly.

"It's not easy for Qilang to come here today. Let your sister sit with you."

Li Qingan suddenly realized that he understood Dugu Haoran at once. It turned out that there was no need to reconcile with him in any way. It was easy to get him done. As long as he had a gloomy face and showed his superiors' attitude towards his subordinates.

Li Qing'an sneered in his heart, and he said lightly: "I'm sorry, I have something to talk about with Mr. Crown. If it's convenient, I plan to take Mingyue to see the manor tomorrow."

"Oh! Well, you have been in Chang'an for a short time, so just gather with Mingyue more often!"

After saying that, he laughed dryly and left. As soon as his father left, Mingzhu immediately jumped up and pulled Li Qing'an's arm and shouted, "Brother Li, I'm going to go tomorrow."

"Where will you go tomorrow?"

Mingyue walked into the yard with a smile. She also heard that her lover was coming, and she wanted to fly in her heart. But she was not as introverted as Mingzhu, and she retained a little reserve. She had actually come a long time ago and heard everything. It was not until her father left that she walked in as if nothing had happened.

"Sister, Brother Li said he would take you to the manor tomorrow, and Dad agreed. You must take me there too. Stay at home all day, and I will be suffocated to death."

Li Qingan just wanted to stay alone with Mingyue, but he didn't want to bring this curious sister-in-law. He secretly gave Mingyue a wink, but Mingyue seemed to have seen nothing and smiled at her sister: "As long as you Brother Li agree, I'm fine."

Mingzhu even took Li Qing'an's hand and said coquettishly: "Brother, take me there! When you are in trouble, I went to Anxi. Have you forgotten?"
Chapter completed!