In the sixth year of Tianbao, the fourteenth day of the first month.
Chang'an City, Wannian County, Shengpingfang.
The morning light at dawn gently shines on the bricks and whitewashed walls of Du's house, making it appear quiet and peaceful.
Du Wulang stretched himself and walked through the corridor, hoping that this long day would pass quickly and night would come soon.
Because once Zishi is over, it is the Lantern Festival, and Chang'an City does not have a curfew for three days in a row, and the city is filled with lanterns...
In the main room, Lu Fengniang got up and couldn't wait to raise the window and look out.
The snow has stopped since the third day of the Lunar New Year. Today, the sky is cloudless and the sunshine is mild. I hope there won’t be any rain or snow in the afternoon that will hinder our trip on Lantern Night.
"cold."
Du Youlin was changing clothes. Although he was old, he was still not very good at it and his movements were clumsy.
Lu Fengniang had no choice but to lower the window and step forward to help him put on his clothes, mumbling.
"Mr. Lang, there is something strange. Last night I heard the maids talking about it. There are rumors in Chang'an City that Yang Laogou lost his son in the early years and is now looking for him."
"Don't mention him to me...wait a minute, what kind of son are you looking for?"
"Just before Yuan Zhengri, an old man went to Wannian County Government to report a crime. He said that Dongyue was robbed by a robber on the official road and was detained for more than a month before he escaped. He claimed to be an old servant of the Yang family of Hongnong County.
He kept crying that his Erlang had been sold. What do you think, Lang Jun? The Erlang he mentioned was the same as Xue Bai in our family."
Du Youlin frowned and asked, "What else?"
"That's all the maids heard."
"You woman, you used to talk a lot and make a lot of noise. This is all you heard when you asked for news seriously."
As long as she didn't beat her son, Lu Fengniang would never get angry with Du Youlin and asked softly: "Then I'll ask you again?"
"Don't talk nonsense at home, let the slaves keep their mouths shut."
"Could it be that Xue Baizhen is..."
Du Youlin waved his hand to interrupt her, as if he was going to analyze a few sentences, but in the end, he only showed a deep face.
Lu Fengniang asked again: "Xue Bai lives in the back house. Since Mr. Lang has a way, he should use it earlier. It will happen on the Lantern Festival."
"There's no rush." Du Youlin said, "The timing has never been coincidental. Please wait."
"Why not a coincidence?"
"Let's talk after the evil servant girl has left. Since she is here, the daughters will not go there. Why is there so much hurry?"
After Lu Fengniang heard this, she immediately felt that it made sense.
Du Youlin was about to go to the study, so he opened the door and saw Xue Bai opening the door and leaving the room in the east wing.
He suddenly thought of something, turned around, hesitated to speak to Lu Fengniang, and finally coughed twice and said: "Go and talk to Erniang. I want to entertain guests at Fengwei Building in the morning. One private room is enough, isn't it?
It doesn’t matter when you’re eating.”
"Mr. Lang? Now in this elegant room of Fengweilou, the royal family and relatives are..."
"Don't I have the face?"
Du Youlin gave a soft drink and walked out with his hands behind his back.
He knew in his heart that things might not be accomplished, and it was not advisable to say things too early before doing them, so as not to make people laugh.
But it is definitely not a good thing for Yang Laogou to take a concubine and come to claim a son again. This time, I would like to ask the Du clan to protect some of the children in case of trouble.
~~
When Xue Bai got up, Jiaonu was still sleeping soundly in the ear room.
You can still faintly hear her snoring.
This maid looked fierce at first, but after breaking away from the control of the Right Prime Minister's Mansion, she gradually revealed her true nature, a good foodie and a sleepy one.
For more than ten days before and after the New Year's Day, he had been doing the same boring morning exercises day after day, and the Du sisters all went to Fengwei Building early, so she relaxed her vigilance a little.
Xue Bai walked out of the house quietly, stayed in the corridor for a while, and saw Du Youlin walking away with a proud face.
Then Du Jin came from the verandah.
She always went out early, and Xue Bai couldn't help but ask: "Today is not over yet?"
"We wait to watch the lanterns at night during the Lantern Festival. If we sleep more in the morning, we will have a better night."
Du Jin said, seeing Jiao Nu's absence, she felt a sense of narrow-mindedness, and smiled softly: "Hey, there is a handsome son-in-law of the prime minister's house left here, unattended, and not afraid of being stolen by thieves?"
She had been feeling dissatisfied for many days and finally found a chance to vent her anger.
But when Xue Bai turned around and met her eyes, Du Jin realized from his deep eyes that this was a hot-blooded man, and such a joke seemed like teasing.
Thinking about it again, so what if it was teasing?
So what if it was stolen?
The two of them got closer. Du Jin hooked her fingers over Xue Bai's and pushed a paper roll over.
"Second mother!"
Lu Fengniang just left the main room and hurriedly waved on the steps.
"Come, I have something to tell you."
Du Jin smiled slightly and walked away.
The door of the wing opened and Jiaonu came out, rubbing his eyes, standing behind Xue Bai and sniffing, like a watchdog.
If not, you can smell a faint hint of styrax on him.
"Oh."
She was very unhappy and said: "How can a man who doesn't even have a place to stand up and lives in this shabby house be worthy of being in the prime minister's palace?"
"There's no rush." Xue Baiyun made a gentle movement of Ba Duan Jin, "Maybe I will have my own house soon."
"That's right, otherwise would Seventeenth Mother still be able to live in this miserable place?"
"Oh? Seventeenth Mother?"
Jiaonu immediately became alert and realized that he had relaxed too much.
…
In the morning, Xue Bai was sweating. He was ready to take a shower and change clothes. He fetched hot water and stood in front of the barrel to untie his belt. He then turned to look at Jiao Nu.
"Want to see?"
"Oh."
Jiao Nu sneered and went out.
Xue Bai naturally took out the note Du Jin gave him from his sleeve and looked at it.
Recently, the Fengwei Building has been reserved for banquets every day by dignitaries. In fact, many chores are taken care of by Deng Tong and Du Wulang. The Du sisters do not have many confidants available, so they often secretly inquire about some secrets in Chang'an City.
For example, years ago they learned that Zhang Queyi of Shangzhu State planned to marry his daughter to the crown prince Liangdi.
Now that the East Palace is in danger, there must be a secret behind this move. It seems that a powerful person has stepped in to help Li Heng.
The note was spread out, the writing was very small, each stroke was very elegant, it was Du Mei's handwriting.
It can be imagined that last night, the two sisters sifted through hundreds of messages and sorted out this information that they thought was very important and copied it down.
"Yang Shen took a rest for seven days and went to Shaolingyuan every day. It is rumored that because of the blood of the grass-roots in the ancestral tomb, he and Shi Jingzhong did the same thing to drive away evil spirits."
Xue Bai frowned, slightly confused.
But even he, in his white form, could realize that there was something obviously wrong.
Why did the saint become angry because of his few words about the pearl? The person who was angry was not Yang Shenjin for giving it to his concubine, but Yang Shenjin's association with a demon monk who had special powers and won seven consecutive games of cockfighting in front of the chicken prodigy.
After this incident, he rushed to Yuanzheng to take a rest, which gave Yang Shenjin a chance to alleviate the emperor's anger.
Do you still dare to associate with the monster monk?
Xue Bai threw the note in his hand into the water and crushed it casually. He closed his eyes and thought about it in his mind.
If he had followed his original plan, he would have simply found a good family member in the Right Prime Minister's Mansion, but he encountered such a smelly and tough person.
It doesn't go well every time.
~~
Lu Fengniang had a conversation with Du Jin, and looked at the bronze mirror and finally selected a round fan for night outings.
But Qing Lan walked in.
Lu Fengniang had already known Qinglan's intentions, and considering that Xue Bai had added twenty slaves to the Du family and given 30% of the profits of Fengwei House, she had already taken out her body deed and prepared to make arrangements after the Lantern Festival.
Seeing that the little maid was unhappy at this time, she couldn't help but make fun of her.
"I asked you to comb Xue Bai's hair. Why are you back?"
"In reply to my wife, Mr. Xue has his own servants to comb his hair and change his clothes."
"This evil maid."
Lu Fengniang waved her fan lightly, holding her pearls of wisdom, and said with a smile: "Go and get the plum cakes sent by my mother-in-law."
Already busy with many things this morning, the head of the house and her mother walked into the east chamber with cakes in her hands. When she saw Xue Bai, who was wearing a brand new robe, her eyes lit up.
She couldn't help but think that it would have been great if she could have had another daughter with her husband twelve or thirteen years ago.
"How about you take care of breakfast and lunch?" Putting the plum cake on the table and inviting Jiaonu to eat together, Lu Fengniang and Xue Bai chatted casually, "How do you plan today?"
"I'm going to the Prime Minister's Mansion soon. I should be serving a banquet until Chou Zheng lights up the lanterns."
"So late? Fortunately, the Lantern Festival is held all night long. Tonight we are going on a night out as a family. When you are done, just come and find us outside Xingqing Palace. Under the lantern held by the Jingzhao Du family, you will know as soon as you ask."
"good."
After Lu Fengniang finished speaking, she was leaving, and Xue Bai hurriedly saw her off.
After leaving the room, Lu Fengniang lowered her voice slightly.
"By the way, Yuan Zhengri, you have also met my cousin. He will also take his daughter out tonight. Then he will also take a look at Fan Yanglu's lanterns. They are like flowers and jade, dignified and decent. They will definitely be better than those who made a sudden fortune.
Home is much better. Those lanterns are big and bright, but they have no background."
Xue Bai understood and responded politely with a smile.
After breakfast and lunch, he took Jiao Nu to the Prime Minister's Mansion.
~~
Xue Bai's gift has been prepared for a long time. It is an abacus.
The abacus is something that has existed since ancient times, but today's system is slightly different from the beaded abacus, and Xue Bai made some improvements.
He had money recently, so he used fine small-leaf red sandalwood. The abacus was separated by a beam, with two beads on the upper end and five on the lower end. There was a line of small words engraved on the frame -
"The clouds are in the blue sky and the water is in the bottle."
I used this poem because Xue Bai thought of it when he was looking for a craftsman to make it, and he had a hunch that Li Linfu and the emperor would like it very much.
The king, the king, the ministers, the emperor, and the right prime minister should be high up, and the water should be safe in the bottle and not sloshed around at will.
When Li Linfu presented this plan, the sage could think of his huge contribution to the Tang Dynasty's finances, which was similar to Yang Zhao's words of ten thousand gold, and everyone was happy.
really.
When Xue Bai arrived at Youxiang Mansion, Li Linfu saw his gift despite his busy schedule, and his eyes immediately lit up.
He raised his hand, silencing many high-ranking officials in red robes, and concentrated on stroking the finely carved small characters, and read them twice in a row.
"Good artistic conception, just this sentence, the artistic conception is profound."
Looking away from the abacus and looking at Xue Bai, Li Linfu had a rare look of approval in his eyes and smiled at everyone.
"This guy is very attentive."
"Congratulations, Right Minister, Shangyuan has received a great gift."
After all, it is the Lantern Festival, and even the Youxiang Mansion has a more festive atmosphere.
Li Linfu waved his sleeves and told Xue Bai: "My children and grandchildren are all in the west courtyard. You can go over and accompany me, and then go to the banquet with me in the evening..."
In fact, at this age, Li Linfu could no longer bear to stay up late with the saint every year during the Lantern Festival.
But this is a habit that the saint has developed since he was young and frivolous.
Not long after he came to the world, all the officials participated in the song "Looking forward to having fun during the day, resting at dusk, and doing business at night, which may not be beneficial to the Holy Dynasty." They hoped that if the saint wanted to play, he would play during the day, and everyone would play at night.
I can't stay with you anymore.
It didn’t change back then, and it’s even less likely to change now.
Even if you are over sixty years old, you still have to come to Xingqing Palace for a banquet at midnight. During the ugly time, you will burn the night in the Huaxianhui Tower, feast and drink till midnight, and stay up all night...
"Alang, tea is here."
A bowl of tonic was brought up, with a bitter taste.
Li Linfu raised his eyelids and watched the maid test the poison first, thinking that he would just survive the night.
In the hall, an official reported softly: "Right Chancellor, I have news from Bozhou. Huangfu Weiming has been eliminated."
"Um."
Li Linfu drank the medicine and responded calmly.
During last year's Shangyuan Festival, Wei Jian and Huangfu Weiming's crimes were committed, and their relegations were not enough to allow them to survive this year's Shangyuan Festival.
~~
Jiaonu led Xue Bai out of the lobby and into the west courtyard. She stopped when she heard the noise inside.
"Xue Langjun, please, it is inconvenient for me to go in."
It was a rare blessing. She watched Xue Bai enter the west courtyard and hurried to the backyard.
After passing through the courtyard gates, bypassing the paths of flowers and trees, we arrived at an elegant courtyard, entered the boudoir, and saw Li Qiniang sitting in front of the bronze mirror, being dressed by Mian'er.
Mian'er said with some regret, "Hey, I have to go to Xingqing Palace for a banquet at midnight, and I can only visit for three hours after dark."
"There is no curfew for three days during the Lantern Festival."
"That's true, and Xue Langjun will also go to Xingqing Palace..."
Li Tengkong's makeup didn't change much today, but he put some little thought into it that's hard to see.
For example, there is a flower patch on her forehead, and for example, her top is deliberately made thicker to make her thin figure a little fuller.
"The Seventeenth Mother is in good health."
"You're here, there's a gift box for you over there, let's get some luck." Li Tengkong sat in front of the bronze mirror, endured it, and then asked: "Has anything interesting happened since January? You sit and say .”
Jiao Nu usually has a bad attitude towards Xue Bai, but for the sake of his own future, he is ready to say good things. For example, he has been working hard recently and is a man with both civil and military skills.
Of course, these have to be discussed one by one.
"When Fengwei Restaurant opened, I also went there and tried a few stir-fried dishes. The same ingredients, steamed and stir-fried have really different tastes..."
"Really? Everyone in Chang'an City is talking about it, but I haven't eaten it."
"Then what's the big deal?" Mian'er said sweetly, and immediately said: "No matter how popular it is, this business was only opened to recruit people for the prime minister's house."
Li Tengkong was thin-skinned and quickly stopped her.
"No nonsense."
~~
Xue Bai had something to say to Li Linfu in private, but it was inconvenient to do so in the lobby.
With a little worry on his face and no expression on his face, he calmly walked into the west courtyard. Looking around, the gathering of hundreds of noble disciples made people feel numb.
Most of the people present were the children, grandchildren, sons-in-law, and nephews of the Youxiang Mansion. Their family business was prosperous. Li Linfu must have been extremely pleased to see such children and grandchildren in the house.
"Xue Bai."
Li Xiu was holding a wine glass and chatting and joking with an outstanding young man. When he saw Xue Bai, he immediately waved.
"Come, let me introduce you to him. This is the perfect son-in-law of my eleventh mother."
There was a pause at this point, and it was Li Xiu's etiquette to let the person being introduced decide whether to introduce himself or not.
"Yang Qixuan." The young man crossed his hands and saluted, smiled reservedly and refused to say anything.
"My sister-in-law is an extraordinary person. She is a direct descendant of the Yang family of Hongnong and a close relative of the Duke of Hongnong." Li Xiu smiled and said, "You can get closer to me in the future."
Xue Bai dealt with it appropriately and found an opportunity to whisper to Li Xiu: "I have something important to discuss with Shiro."
Li Xiu nodded and went to a quiet place with Xue Bai.
He smiled and said: "After tonight, Yang Qixuan will support you among Yang Shenjin's clan."
"Juro is too troublesome. But I heard that Yang Shenjin often goes to Changyuan Mausoleum on the outskirts of the city recently. Do you know why, Juro?"
"He is a very filial person. There is something wrong with his late father's tomb, so he is unavoidable to worry about." Li Xiu said, "He told me about this, and he will not miss the opportunity to recognize his relatives."
"Does the Prime Minister know about this?"
"Father knows." Li Xiu patted Xue Bai on the back, "Don't worry, joys and funerals are common sense, and the Youxiang Mansion won't even be able to deal with such a trivial matter... I'm still busy, so let me go and socialize."
Xue Bai squinted his eyes and understood what Li Linfu was thinking.
Turning back to the west courtyard, I didn't know which of the incompetent descendants of the Li family was yelling.
"Everyone, please listen to me. There was a family dinner earlier today. As soon as it gets dark, I will go to the lantern party to find a beautiful young lady!"
~~
evening.
Looking out through the window of the small building, many lanterns of different shapes have been set up on the long street in the distance. There are many young ladies wearing beautiful corset colored skirts eager to go out to play.
"Tonight is the Lantern Festival."
"nonsense."
"Mr. Pei, if you don't make arrangements early or later, why do you choose tonight?"
The man who spoke had a strong Liangzhou accent. He was Lao Liang, a veteran of Longyou. He was wearing armor from the Jinwu Guards. There was a token on the table beside him.
"Stupid." Tuoba Mao scolded: "There is no curfew tonight, and it is dark at night. It is easiest to escape after killing people."
"I don't understand. Everyone else has left, but only a few of us are left?"
After Jiang Hai finished speaking, he looked at Jiang Mao and asked, "Brother, what do you mean?"
Jiang Mao has recovered from his injuries, but there are many more scars on his face.
He thought for a long time and finally said: "I have thought about it a lot. Just do whatever Mr. Pei says. As long as he can take good care of our mother-in-law and our children."
Everyone then stopped talking and tied up their armor in an atmosphere of silence, making a clanging sound.
Lao Liang walked to the window again and stared at the street scene in the distance.
"Still reading?! Let's look at the pictures."
"I heard someone said that Xu Hezi is going to sing a big song in front of Xingqing Palace tonight?"
"The Hu Ji that Mr. Pei gave you, is there a shortage of Silla maids?"
"I'm not talking about women, do you understand Daqu?" Lao Liang cleared his phlegm and sang: "The flowers are falling, the flowers are falling..."
"Don't bother! It sounds so ugly. Do you even understand Li Taibai?"
Jiang Mao said: "Where is this Li Taibai? This is King Luo Bin. He used to sing, but General Huangfu loves to listen to it."
Everyone stopped chatting and looked at the drawings spread out by Tuoba Mao.
"This house is in Chongyifang. It is 150 steps square and occupies one-eighth of the square. A lady named Han will come to take us in. We will have our own armor, long-handled swords, and crossbows.
Already sent in..."
After saying that, Tuoba Mao looked out the window and whispered a few more instructions.
"Be careful. Wu San was killed last time. No one will die this time."
"Here."
"Find an appropriate time, commit a few murders first, and let the losers of the Sixteenth Guards run away."
"Here."
"Wait until it gets dark before leaving."
Six people dressed as Jinwu guards came out from the Shiwangzhai area of Anxingfang in the northeast of the city and walked south along the street. After passing Pingkangfang and Xuanyangfang, they turned west and reached Chongyifang.
~~
Night falls.
This night, there was no sound of dusk drums in Chang'an City.
Only one lantern lit up...
The 16,000 words are divided into three chapters. Thank you for your first order, and I bow to you~~