The seventh day of November is the day of Zhang Quyi's funeral.
Before dawn, Xue Bai had already gotten up, but Qinglan was still curled up in bed and fast asleep. She used to get up early, but recently, helping with paperwork was more tiring than housework, and it finally consumed too much of her energy.
.
Without her to serve him, Xue Bai couldn't even tie up his hair. He tied it up hastily, put on a plain linen clothes and went out.
It was snowing heavily in Chang'an. It was not far from Xuanyangfang to the Imperial City. It was still under curfew at this time and there were not many pedestrians on the road. It was rare for him to be quiet. He suddenly missed his previous life and thought about listening to the songs from that time. Although it was not
Which song to listen to specifically?
Suddenly I somewhat understood Li Longji's preferences.
When we arrived at Taile Department, Xie Aman came here for the rare occasion today and seemed to be in a good mood.
"Do you remember, Xue Lang? It was the same situation before you left Chang'an."
"Um?"
"At that time, someone passed away. You took the musicians to mourn, and I dressed you up before going out." Xie Aman's eyes were bright, and he said: "Today, the old thing happened again, and I can feel even more that you have finally returned to Chang'an.
"
"The heir, King Li Guan, was the one who died at that time."
Xie Aman didn't care who died, and said angrily: "You don't usually come to Taile Department, you only come when there are funerals."
"After all, it's a part-time job. Captain Chang'an has more official duties."
Xue Bai only held two errands and was already busy. I really don't know how Wang Fei held more than twenty positions.
He said goodbye to Xie Aman and went to Zhang Quyi's house with Zhang Bian, the minister of Taichang Temple.
I haven't seen him for more than a year. Zhang Bian hasn't changed much. Rich and idle people always age slowly. On the road, he sighed to Xue Bai: "I should have stayed away from you."
"Am I in trouble again?"
"I am good friends with An Lushan." Zhang Bian said, "You are indeed in trouble. Your right minister wants to move you to be the magistrate of Jiyang County."
"I heard it." Xue Bai said: "The Prime Minister Zuo told me."
"It seems that you have already dealt with this matter?"
"Yes, Prime Minister Zuo is on our side." Xue Bai emphasized.
Zhang Bian knew that he deliberately did not leave Chen Xilie a way out, so he couldn't help but smile and continued to remind: "Today, the prince and Zhang Liangdi will be here. You'd better avoid them, lest anyone mention that Mr. Zhang was angry with you again."
"Mr. Zhang was intimidated by the people in An Lushan."
"Whatever, it has nothing to do with me."
Xue Bai turned his head and took a deep look at Zhang Bian, and suddenly said: "Si Qing, if Genu becomes an official, there is no one in the court who is more suitable to serve as the Secretary of the Central Committee than you, right?"
"What?"
"In terms of life experience, character, talent, and qualifications, who in the court can compare with you?"
Zhang Bian remained silent because he could not refute Xue Bai.
Xue Bai lowered his voice and continued: "There are so many ills in the Tang Dynasty today that it is difficult to summarize them in one word. The problem at hand right now is that there is no talent. For more than ten years, Genu has been aggressively excluding dissidents, and his cronies have
One person often holds more than ten positions. Looking at the court, all the important ministers are getting old. How many of them are in their prime? Once the slaves are removed from the prime minister, who can take over the affairs of the country and the common people? "
Zhang Bian is the second son of the famous Prime Minister Zhang Shuo. He is handsome, talented, and famous in the world. He has almost perfect qualifications for the prime minister. Only he knows best whether he has this ambition in his heart.
"Stop inciting me." He reprimanded in a somewhat harsh tone, "Don't pretend that I can't see what your intentions are."
"Yes, I have evil intentions." Xue Bai said: "I have offended the East Palace, the right prime minister, and the border town all over. Now that my brother is gone, I have to help an important minister ascend to the position of prime minister. Yang Guozhong cannot agree with me, and Chen Xilie cannot If you dare to share the suffering, do you really have no intention of getting along with me?"
"Don't you know? The saint chose me as his son-in-law, but he didn't intend to reuse me because my grandfather has been accused of being authoritarian throughout his life."
"The sage never said clearly that a prince-in-law should not be held by a prince."
"Since Ruizong's reign, the prince-in-law has been squeezed out of the central ministry." Zhang Bian said, "A saint will not appoint me as prime minister."
Xue Bai said: "I believe everything depends on human effort."
This matter will definitely not be discussed the first time. Zhang Bian waved his hand and did not want to talk to Xue Bai anymore.
…
When we arrived at Zhang's Mansion, there was a solemn atmosphere in the mansion.
Xue Bai took the musicians to the back of the coffin to prepare for mourning. Not long after, a middle-aged official in red robe came to him. He didn't say hello, but said in a commanding tone: "You are so angry with Mr. Zhang, why don't you come here?" Are you here to play music? Don't be afraid of embarrassing Taichang Temple, so retreat."
"Mr. Zhang was frightened by An Lushan's murderer."
"The officer asked you to stand down, but you still dare to talk back?!"
"Who is your Excellency?"
"Taichang Shaoqing, Li Yu."
Li Yu looked proud, and then added: "You really don't recognize me? The seventh son of the Right Prime Minister."
The two may have met before, but Li Linfugu alone had twenty-five sons. Xue Bai really didn't recognize him, and he didn't think there were any powerful people who needed to be remembered.
"I'm sorry, may I ask if Li Shaoqing is conveying the message of the right minister?"
"You are Tai Lecheng, and I am Taichang Shaoqing. Since I have given you orders, do you have any objections?"
"Li Shaoqing." Suddenly an official in sackcloth came over and said, "The temple minister summons you."
Li Yu glanced back, turned and walked towards Zhang Bian. Before he could speak, Zhang Bian patted him on the shoulder with a bad tone.
"You're dressed like this? Why don't you change quickly?!"
"I……"
Zhang Bian leaned close to his ear and said: "Don't cause trouble for Xue Bai anymore, you will only bring humiliation to yourself."
After saying that, he looked back at Xue Bai, nodded, and showed his kindness.
Compared with before, when he looked at Xue Bai with a cold eye and his life was hanging by a thread, his budding ambition today has changed his attitude, and he is willing to take action to protect this low-ranking official under appropriate circumstances.
~~
"Why is your seventh brother so stupid?"
Among the guests, Yang Qixuan saw what happened in the hall and discussed it quietly with his wife.
"He's used to it." Li Shiyiniang sneered: "He has been arrogant and arrogant since he was a child. This year he is wearing a red robe and is reluctant to take it off."
"It was too rude at Zhang's funeral."
"You think Seventh Brother is afraid of the Zhang family?" Li Shiniang lowered her husband's head and whispered: "The Zhang family dares to marry a daughter to the prince. If Zhang Quyi hadn't died early, I would have handled another Du Youlin case.
So why not? Brother Qi is never afraid of his hands or feet when doing things."
"All right."
Yang Qixuan wanted to raise his head, but Li Shiniang still pressed him hard.
"Also, do you know why Seventh Brother is so anxious to trouble Xue Bai? Because Xue Bai has now betrayed Yang Guozhong, and Chen Xilie is against him..."
"Does he have this ability?"
"My grandfather wants to move Xue Bai to be the magistrate of Jiyang County. If the officials don't approve it, Chen Xilie must have betrayed him. Whoever can deal with Xue Bai now, my grandfather will naturally respect him."
"What about me?" Yang Qixuan joked: "If I do it, will my father-in-law respect me?"
"Do you have any idea?"
"Of course not, just joking."
"My twenty-five brothers are all stupid. Do you know who my grandpa's smartest child is?"
"you?"
"To get rid of Xue Bai, it's simple, just catch the most useful clue." Li Shiniang turned her head and glanced in the direction of Xue Bai, smiled, and said: "I can catch him today.
handle……"
~~
Li Mi walked to Xue Bai and asked, "I heard that Mr. Zhang was angry with you and left?"
"Who is spreading the rumor?" Xue Bai said tirelessly: "Mr. Zhang was frightened to death by people from the Anlushan sect."
"You shouldn't damage Miss Zhang San's good reputation." Li Bi said, "She has encountered changes and it is difficult to get married. You are also in trouble."
"It's not easy for her to marry, isn't it because Mrs. Zhang is a gambler, and Mrs. Zhang is under house arrest?"
"Zhang Liangdi is not under house arrest." Li Bi said: "She gave birth to an imperial grandson three days ago."
His tone was still calm.
Xue Bai asked, "Are you worried? You should have hoped to have an eldest son who would succeed to the throne smoothly."
"Although it's too early to tell." Li Mi muttered, and then said in a voice that only he and the two could hear: "But I do feel worried."
"Li Heng has no long-term strategy."
Li Mi didn't mind Xue Bai's sarcastic words and said softly: "I know your next plan. We happened to be on the way for a while."
Xue Bai thought for a while, but it was rare that he did not refuse the goodwill of the East Palace to release him, and said: "Zhang Bian is the prime minister, what do you think?"
"Just what I wanted."
Li Mi glanced at him, Xue Bai lowered his head and gave him a small high-five under the cover of his wide sleeves.
The two of them agreed to work together to defeat Li Linfu and An Lushan, and support Zhang Bian as prime minister.
In fact, Zhang Bian's consent was not required for this matter.
"The saint's state of mind has changed." Li Mi continued to whisper, "Yang Gong and Zhang Gong passed away one after another. The saint's heart felt sad, and his attitude towards the East Palace has softened."
"Do you believe this yourself?"
Li Mi said firmly: "Believe it or not, it is better to wait and see what happens. We are not short of time."
The next moment, the whispers and cries around him stopped, and the palace people in linen clothes walked into the hall with small steps and stood on both sides.
"The oracle has arrived!"
Everyone turned around and saw Li Heng and Zhang Ting walking in surrounded by others.
Li Hengyue looked haggard and old, with a lot of white hair on his head. He didn't look much younger than Li Longji. As the prince, he was supporting Zhang Ting at this time.
A few days after Zhang Ting gave birth, when she was most afraid of the wind, she wore several robes around her body and a linen covering on her head, revealing only a pale face.
She gained a lot of weight and did not look as tough as before. She walked with difficulty and cried secretly.
When she arrived in front of Zhang Quyi's coffin, she knelt down and murmured: "Master, my daughter is unfilial..."
Li Heng patted Zhang Ting's back gently, nodded to the eunuch behind him, and the eunuch asked for the imperial edict.
"I am from my mother's Kundi, named Zhang Ming, Xi Xian Huanghuang... Now that my marriage is over, the envoy will pay tribute to me. In addition to the usual gifts, I also give three hundred pieces of silk and three hundred pieces of cloth.
For funerals, hoohoo! His life is glorious, his death is sad!"
Of course, the saint's care and generous rewards to the Zhang family would not only be limited to these silks and cloths. This was just a gesture, and more substantial benefits would probably fall on the child Zhang Ting had just given birth to.
The Zhang family is far more discerning than others expected when they marry a daughter to the prince.
…
Across the crowd, Li Shiniang was looking at Zhang Ting and murmured in a low voice: "Tell me, is she really crying or fake crying?"
Yang Qixuan was stunned and said: "Why do you ask like that?"
"nothing."
Li Shiniang actually thought that if the same situation happened to Youxiang Mansion, she might not be able to cry like Zhang Ting in front of everyone.
After a while, she narrowed her eyes and said, "Here it comes, Xue Bai's handle."
Yang Qixuan turned around and saw Zhang Ting getting up with tears in her eyes and going to talk to Xue Bai.
But he didn't know what the handle was.
~~
"I heard that before my grandfather passed away, it was Xue Lang who helped guard against assassins in the house. He asked the doctor to treat me. It is a great kindness and kindness that the Zhang family will never forget."
"Zhang Liangdi made a serious statement. I only tried my best and could not save Mr. Zhang. I am very sorry. I also ask Zhang Liangdi to express my condolences."
Zhang Ting also wanted to say thank you, but was stopped by someone.
But it was Li Heng who held her hand and said to Xue Bai: "Ting Niang is weak, it's my turn to thank Xue Lang."
Many people today said that Zhang Quyi was angry to death due to Xue Bai, but it turned out that the couple wanted to testify for Xue Bai. Not only did they thank him, they also called Liu Luogu the word "assassin".
Their intention was the same as Xue Bai's statement that "the Prime Minister Zuo is on our side", leaving no way for Xue Bai to retreat.
After that, everyone prepared to carry the coffin to the funeral, and drank a glass of mourning wine together before setting off.
The eunuch beside Li Heng brought the wine glass to Xue Bai on a tray and said, "Xue Lang please."
Xue Bai couldn't help but think of the first time he met Li Jingzhong, and asked: "I'm afraid there will be a chance to meet again in the future. Do you dare to ask the official's name?"
"Li Fuguo."
Xue Bai was stunned for a moment.
Li Fuguo raised his head, showed a flattering and shy smile, and said: "I only had a nickname before, and it was the name given to me by His Highness."
"That's it, please."
Xue Bai did not drink the glass of wine, but watched Li Fuguo turn around and leave, poured the wine in his hand on the ground, and murmured: "I offer a toast to Mr. Zhang."
~~
That day, Xue Bai finally heard the singing.
On the banks of the Wei River, they buried Zhang Quyi and completed various calculations through the funeral.
"The Yingying Zhang Gong, the distant Huazhou. The wealthy traveler praises the beautiful, Qi Li praises the virtuous... Zhang Yang on the Weishui River, under the Yiling Mausoleum. I mourn the loss of Yin, the horse neighs. I give it away in the pine forest, who is not sad?"
~~
At night, Li Linfu sat in the dark hall, listening to the news reported one by one. Finally, Li Yu, Li Shiniang and others returned from outside the city.
Li Yu thought he was smart and said: "After Zhang Quyi's death, the saint's attitude towards the East Palace has softened. Xue Bai is probably going to join forces with the East Palace to deal with Grandpa."
"Yeah?"
Li Linfu raised his eyes and glanced at his son coldly. He was too lazy to say anything more and just waved his hand.
"Seventh brother is really." Li Shiniang shook her head and sneered, "According to my daughter, Xue Bai may not want to join forces with the East Palace, but wants to win over the officials of the East Palace and fight for power with Grandpa. But this is exactly his handle. As long as the saint is allowed to
It is suspected that he colluded with Dong Gong to frame An Lushan, and this round was won."
In Li Linfu's eyes, there was still no wave in the ancient well. He also asked Li Shiniang to step back and called Li Xiu over.
Only when facing Li Xiu, his expression changed and he asked: "How is the arrangement going?"
"My grandpa has taken a look at it. This is the list I made."
"It's not a matter of skill." Li Linfu took it, scanned it carelessly, and said, "Can you draw up these official positions? Can you decide on them?"
"Chen Xilie is an obstacle. He is in charge of the civil service department and is also a servant. I plan to ask him to come to the government to intimidate him and ask him to follow our instructions and complete the transfer of officials below the fifth rank first."
“How are you going to deter?”
"this……"
Li Linfu suddenly threw the list in his hand at Li Xiu's face and shouted: "How dare you show favoritism?!"
"Grandpa, after all, he is my wife's brother..."
"It's still uncertain whether he is loyal or not, so you want to promote him as a doctor in the household department?"
Seeing his son's silent expression, Li Linfu knew immediately what was going on without having to listen to the explanation, and cursed: "Idiot! I am being controlled by a woman, and I am counting on you to save the family business?
"
"The Lu family has been married to a child for many years, and she wants the Lu family to support us. The child thinks that she should be given some benefits."
"Support each other?" Li Linfu was so angry that he picked up the writing brush beside the desk and threw it at Li Xiu, saying: "Do you know why no one takes you seriously? You are too weak! You think you have far-sightedness, and you spend all day long
If you are worried that something bad will happen to your family and it will be heard by others, who sympathizes with you? Who?!"
Li Xiu quickly fell to the ground and said, "I just think that if you don't have long-term worries, you will have immediate worries."
"Trash, you will only make people look down upon you. Who would take orders from an incompetent person who sighs all day long? Remember, only by always showing power to others can it be a deterrent!"
"Can……"
"Remember?!"
"Yes, yes, remember."
Li Linfu looked at his son's submissive look and suddenly thought of Xue Bai.
That day when they were discussing terms, Xue Bai raised the porcelain and smashed it. He held up the broken porcelain and was about to rush in front of him. His strong attitude was deeply remembered by him for a long time. What's even more rare is that Xue Bai was not reckless and showed mercy when it was time to do so.
, I can immediately develop a thick skin.
Judging from the various experiences including clinging to the nepotism, the ambition to rule the world, and the unscrupulous mentality of doing things, Xue Bai is more like him. It may be one of the illegitimate children he lost back then.
This ridiculous thought flashed through his mind. Li Linfu looked at Li Xiu again and said with hatred: "Get up, how can you fight against Xue Bai like this?"
"Xue Bai?"
Li Xiu was stunned for a moment, thinking to himself, if Xue Bai had married the Seventeenth Mother and entered the prime minister's house back then, he would probably have been dampened by his grandfather now.
Unfortunately, without this assumption, Xue Bai has never been obedient in this matter.
"How can you deter Chen Xilie with just your stupid mouth?" Li Linfu said, "The key lies in Xue Bai. Letting him go would be like removing Chen Xilie's bones."
"Yes." Li Xiu said, "My child is still looking for evidence of Xue Bai's crime."
"Looking for? Can't you see that the most useful crime is right in front of you? You are worse than the eleventh mother."
Li Linfu grabbed Li Xiu by the collar and almost said directly that the most common crime for harming people in the Right Prime Minister's Mansion was "constructing the East Palace".
He worked hard and did not leave this matter to Li Shiniang, in order to cultivate Li Xiu, so he followed the instructions and taught him earnestly, but this idiot just didn't understand.
~~
Early morning, Chang'an County Government Office.
Xue Bai handled several cases, turned to look at the snowflakes outside the window, thinking that maybe he should go to Yan's house to propose marriage, and get married in January, so that there would be no need for someone to marry his daughter.
Just at this moment, Diao Geng came in scratching his head and said: "Mr. Lang, someone has come to report the crime."
"Bring it in and talk."
"This person is a little strange." Diao Geng muttered.
After a while, more than ten guards and several young women wearing men's clothes entered the Wei's house.
"Hezheng County Lord?"
Xue Bai felt slightly surprised, stood up and saluted, saying: "I have met the county master."
"It's the princess. At the beginning of the year, the saint already made the princess the princess."
"Yu Chi, don't talk too much." Li Yuetu quickly stopped the maid beside him and said: "Xue County Lieutenant is polite."
She was a little embarrassed, as if she didn't know how to speak.
"The princess is here to report a crime?"
"Yes, um... I just went shopping in the West Market, and then, my cat was lost."
"The cat is lost?"
The maid named Yu Chi next to Li Yuetu spoke again: "Aren't you a Chang'an captain? It was lost on your territory in Chang'an County. The princess came to report the case. You can send someone to look for it."
Xue Bai asked: "Why not go to the West City Department?"
"I lost it after leaving the West Market."
"Okay, what kind of cat is it?"
"A yellow and white cat with a gold quilt and a silver bed, a yellow back and a white belly, named 'Cicada Slave'."
After Xue Bai heard this, he went to summon Wei Chang, the bad handsome man, and arranged for him to take people to find the cat.
"County Lieutenant, this?"
"Let's find it, I'll attach it to Guo Jingcheng. There's nothing we can do about it."
In short, Xue Bai took over the case and led the police officers to search around the West City, looking very hard.
Li Yuetu followed him, shouting "Cicada slave" from time to time, but his voice was faintly weak.
After passing an alley, she finally couldn't help it anymore, glanced back, and whispered: "Xue Lang, this way."
"What's the matter, Princess?"
"I'll tell you the truth, my cat was not lost. It was brought back to my home. They just wanted me to find a chance to get close to you."
"Why?"
"When the saint made me the princess, he told me that I must get married in Tianbao's ninth year, but he promised me to choose my own husband... Anyway, you don't have to worry about it. You just need to take care of the errands and forget about finding the cat."
After saying that, Li Yuetu felt ashamed and turned around to walk away.
Xue Bai was a little curious and asked: "Did your grandpa ask you to do this? Who gave him the idea?"
"It's not grandpa. It's hard for me to see grandpa now."
"Who is that?"
"It's a chamberlain in the palace." Li Yuetu was actually helpless and said, "I went to see the saint today, and the chamberlain made arrangements when I left the palace."
"who?"
"I don't know him either. Anyway, he's not General Gao."
Xue Bai thought for a while and said: "It doesn't matter."
"Anyway, I have to remind you." Li Yuetu finally finished what he said, feeling much relieved, turned around and walked away.
But after returning to the carriage and sitting for a while, he opened the curtain and looked out, only to see Xue Bai and the Chang'an County police officer looking for cats nearby. Everyone was "meowing" a few times from time to time, which showed a different kind of absurdity.
.
~~
The very next day, Li Mi, who was awaiting an imperial edict, was summoned to the imperial court.
"I wish the saint good health."
"No need to say hello. I called you here to ask for an explanation from you." Li Longji liked Li Mi very much and was not restrained. He said, "Someone has accused you of conspiring with Xue Bai to frame Hu Er. Is this relevant?"
Li Bi said: "Sage, forgive me. I don't know why there is such a rumor."
"General Gao, show him."
Gao Lishi then stepped forward and handed several files to Li Mi one by one.
"This is Wang Zhi's confession, saying that Li Linfu colluded with An Lushan and once raised troops to prevent the crown prince from ascending the throne. Has Li Hanlin heard of it?"
"I've heard of it." Li Mi told the truth.
"Therefore, the East Palace wanted to get rid of Li Linfu and An Lushan, so he asked you to contact Xue Bai, kill Liu Luogu, and create evidence to frame An Lushan. Is this true?"
"There is no such thing."
"Well, the day before yesterday, when you were attending the funeral for Duke Zhang, you had secretly conspired with Xue Bai to support Zhang Bian as prime minister. Is this possible?"
"That's right." Li Mi said frankly: "Both Xue Bai and I believe that Li Linfu allowed An Lushan to rebel and be dismissed as prime minister. We also thought that Zhang Consort was the most suitable candidate. Of course, we are both young, so we were just saying
Just for fun."
Gao Lishi wanted to ask more questions, but Li Longji asked in person: "According to your opinion, except for the false accusation against Hu Er, the rest is true."
"Yes, I, like Xue Bai, believe that Mount Anlu is a serious threat to the Tang Dynasty, so I have been contacting and communicating with all the ministers, vowing to expose the true face of this Hu Xie."
"What a good minister. I think you have admitted your guilt."
"I plead guilty."
"Zhao, what else did you do?"
"I also asked a familiar internal official to coax Princess Hezheng to approach Xue Bai."
Li Longji was surprised and looked at Gao Lishi.
Gao Lishi looked at Xue Bai's self-defense memorial again. It clearly stated that An Lushan bribed the palace servants to deceive Princess Hezheng and deliberately framed him to construct the East Palace.
"Did you do this? Why?"
"Since the sage agreed to Hezheng Princess to choose his own consort, I thought Xue Bai was suitable, so I made this move."
"What a cultivator!" Li Longji shouted.
Gao Lishi's eyes flashed, and he sneered: "Li Hanlin actually did such a thing, doesn't Xue Bai know?"
"I don't know." Li Bi laughed at himself and replied: "Xue Bai is a young man with great talents. Unfortunately, he and Dong Gong have always had misunderstandings. I want to eliminate this misunderstanding, so I acted like this."
Li Longji and Gao Lishi looked at each other. It can be seen from this incident that Dong Palace is still wooing Xue Bai, and there are only some clumsy methods. The prince is under house arrest, and even Li Mi cannot use more clever tricks.
.
Then, it is obviously impossible for Dong Gong to instigate Xue Bai to climb and bite Anlu Mountain. It is more like Li Linfu climbing and biting randomly.
There are still only those old methods, which are getting more and more boring.
"The little Taoist priest is impatient and has lost his integrity. He deserves to be punished." Li Longji said, "The contributions of Guo Qianli, Jia Jilin, Xue Bai and others can be discussed..."
At the same time, he subconsciously began to think about the question raised by the two young people - is it okay to make Zhang Zhen the prime minister?