"Gradually the east wind warms. The apricot shoots and plum calyces are reddish and light. I am holding hands in front of the flowers, but the clouds are flying and the rain is scattering." Mr. An
In the announcement room, the emperor was sitting on the banquet and looking at the roster presented by Wang Duan line by line. He looked at the familiar names of Liu Yao, Lu Dai, and Yan Yan. He kept nodding. It really felt like all the talents in the world were here.
.
Some of these people will be assigned to the Civil Affairs Department to familiarize themselves with government affairs, and some will be directly assigned to positions. The emperor took a look at them and made arrangements for them. He was about to close the roster, but suddenly eh?
There was a sound.
The emperor turned to the end of the list and looked at it carefully. He saw a name lined up in the corner at the end that was very familiar to the emperor.
"Zhuge Xuan?"
The emperor chuckled, rubbed the line of names with his fingers, and muttered: "This is interesting."
The first month of the first year of Jian'an.
In a mansion in Xuanpingli, dozens of slaves Cangtou were busy loading and unloading goods on the carriages at the door. The new owner of the mansion, Mi Zhu, was taking his little sister Mi Zhen in the yard.
Wandering around.
"This courtyard is too small and not exquisite. It is said to be a wealthy mansion in Chang'an. I have only seen it a few times and it just looks like this. It is not as good as our house." It was Mi Zhen who spoke. She was taller than her brother.
Mi Zhu is slightly shorter. She is wearing an apricot dress, which is dyed with peach blossoms. The peach blossoms are all different, as if a meticulous painting is worn on her body. A lotus root is tied around her waist.
The long end of the colorful embroidered belt hangs down to the knees, and the moon-white silk trousers are exposed under the skirt, with smooth and comfortable lines.
She had an active nature and had to restrain Tuotu's temper around her brother, who was known to be dignified. She took small steps gently in a pair of thin silk shoes. Her round face had sideburns as sharp as a knife. She was half beautiful, but also childish.
.
"The specifications of the mansion are all customized. You can't build it as big as you want." Mi Zhu scanned the plants and trees in the yard and said slowly: "In a place like Donghai, the local princes are often restrained by their feelings.
It won’t embarrass us too much. But it’s different in imperial capitals like Chang’an. If you exceed the limit, the people who are secretly waiting for you to make a mistake will immediately put you to death.”
Mi Zhen nodded obediently, rolled her eyes, and said tactfully: "In that case, my brother must become a high official, preferably a marquis, so that our family can live in a big mansion with peace of mind."
These were the girl's simple and innocent words. Mi Zhu smiled, feeling a little uncomfortable in his heart. His father passed away very early, and Mi Zhu shouldered the responsibility of keeping the Mi family name alive and making it stronger at a young age. Ten
Over the past few years, Mi Zhu not only raised his family business to the level of wealth in Xuzhou, but also began to pay attention to cultivating a reputation, such as the image of a gentleman that Mi Zhu spent several years of hard work to create for himself.
He planned to take the Donghai Mi clan one step further in his own hands and achieve a class leap from an ordinary powerful man to a high-ranking noble clan.
When he thought that he had worked so hard, but the last step might fall on his little sister, Mi Zhu had mixed feelings and was speechless. He turned his head and looked at his little sister. As an outstanding businessman, he
There is no reason to give up a shortcut that can maximize his own interests, but as a qualified brother, he is not willing to let his only sister be used as a rare commodity in a transaction.
Mi Zhu was inadvertently distracted. Mi Zhen, who was standing by him, couldn't hold back his temper and waited for the other party to reply, and asked to himself: "It's strange that Wang Jun has not come to look for his brother since he arrived in Chang'an in the past few days."
"Looking for me?" Mi Zhu smiled teasingly, looked at Mi Zhen and teased: "Why is he looking for me? I only met him a few times. After I report my duties to my brother in court this time, you and I will return.
When I return to Xuzhou, I’m afraid it will be difficult to see him again.”
Hearing this, Mi Zhen blushed and spat: "What? Brother, didn't I say that I wanted to say something? If not, what would brother do if he came to report on his duties?"
The smile on Mi Zhu's face gradually faded, and he stood by a pool of water and said: "When I was in Langxie, I told you that Wang Duan's character and knowledge are very good, and he can match you in everything."
A perfect match. You also clearly understand the current situation of my family and my thoughts. There is no need to say anything more. But I saw that you two got along quite well with each other along the way, so I wanted to ask you more, are you attracted to him? "
Wang Duan originally only had a slight affection for Mi Zhen, but on the way here, he used money to clear the way through Mi Zhu, and persuaded a large number of good people to secretly match him. Through various opportunities and coincidences, the two young people's relationship grew stronger.
Zhu also saw that the two of them were indeed in love with each other, so the guilt in his heart faded a lot.
At this moment, Mi Zhen's face turned even redder, like a freshly washed red cherry. She turned away and whispered, "Brother, if you already have a plan in mind, why do you need to ask me what I think?"
Mi Zhu felt more and more confident, and looked at the water quietly, thinking about what reason he should find to visit next, and get through the joints of the elder Wang Bin.
At this moment, an old man walked in from the front, offered something with both hands, and said to Mi Zhu: "This is what the king sent to return just now."
Mi Zhu glanced at the thing in Old Cangtou's hand, but before he could react, Mi Zhen beside him suddenly exclaimed.
In the past few days, something seems to have happened to Wang Duan. After returning to Chang'an, he not only changed his previous ambiguous and affectionate attitude, but also returned the hairpin that Mi Zhen had given him in private. Returning the girl's hairpin
, Mi Zhu didn’t want to know what this meant. But he couldn’t contact Wang Duan, so he had to look for people everywhere. What surprised him was that Yan Jun, Lu Dai and other good people who were involved in bringing the two together were there.
It was as if he had noticed something, and he acted as if the matter had nothing to do with him. Even when Mi Zhu came to ask questions in person, he was vague.
Finally, under Mi Zhu's relentless questioning, Wang Lang, his fellow countryman and colleague from Donghai, who was engaged in Xuzhou, gave him a clear answer, like a bolt from the blue: "General Wei does not agree with this marriage, and he does not like anyone to continue discussing it.
."
Seeing Mi Zhu's dumbfounded expression, Wang Lang emphasized his tone and explained: "Lü Dinggong and the others are self-recommended scholars. According to the new rules issued by the country last year, those who are recommended for conscription, or those who will be promoted,
Everyone must enter the Civil Service Department to familiarize themselves with political affairs, and then select officials based on policies. The teaching of the Civil Service Department is concurrently undertaken by General Wei. The evaluation of whether they succeed in the Civil Service Department mostly depends on General Wei.
Now that General Wei has personally stated that he does not like this marriage, who would dare to intercede for you at the risk of delaying his career?"
Wang Bin determines the future career of Yan Yan and Lu Dai's group of scholars to a large extent. On the way here, Mi Zhu had heard about this news and used this incident to let Yan Yan and others learn from the Mi family.
They found a way to indirectly cling to the Wang family. This made Yan Yan and others eager to bring Wang Duan and Mi Zhen together. But now the situation is reversed, and this incident has in turn brought disadvantages to Mi Zhu.
Mi Zhu thought this was a sure thing. After all, his family had a good reputation and rich wealth. As long as his sister could marry him, he wouldn't be able to afford a dowry of hundreds of millions to the Wang family even though he was a newly rising relative.
, but our ancestors only produced one general with good features, and no one in the prefecture or county was an official. Compared with the Mi family, both reputation and background were a bit behind.
One of them has power, the other has money. Since ancient times, money and power have complemented each other and are mutually beneficial. The other party has no reason to reject this marriage, let alone reject this marriage.
But why is it happening like this now?
Mi Zhu thought for a long time but could not come up with a complete clue. However, Wang Lang saw it clearly, but did not hide it. Instead, he persuaded: "After all, the Mi family's reputation has not spread beyond the prefecture and county. The Wang family used to live in Handan.
I haven't carefully examined the powerful people in various places, so I don't know that Lord Mi is wise and the Mi family is rich, which is reasonable. I am afraid that General Wei saw this and refused to get married."
"If Mr. Mi is interested, I have a plan to help you." Looking at Mi Zhu, a gentleman who has always been elegant and graceful, with a frown on his face, Wang Lang flashed a glint in the corner of his eyes, feeling a little proud in his heart, and said softly. 11