Xia Houshu and Yun Xi rushed to the agreed lakeside, but Xia Houyi still hadn't arrived yet. There was only a small cruise ship docked on the shore waiting for people.
The boat was booked by Xia Houyi early in the morning. The boatman was an old man in his fifties, surnamed Luo, with a half-white beard and half-white hair. His skin was tanned and his arms were strong due to years of boating work. He was probably waiting for
It had been so long that the old man was half-lying on the bow of the boat, covered with a bamboo hat, dozing off.
Yunxi was naughty, so he pulled a piece of dogtail grass on the roadside, walked over quietly, slowly uncovered the bamboo hat covering Old Man Luo's face, and then scratched his nose with the dogtail grass, causing the old man to wake up.
He also sneezed loudly, but she was laughing next to him.
Old Man Luo took a closer look and saw that it was a girl. He laughed and said, "Girls are so rude." When he learned that they were the people on the boat, he led them aboard with a smile.
Yunxi was naughty, so she sincerely gave some of the cakes she brought to the old man as an apology.
Old Man Luo accepted it with a smile, thanked them repeatedly, and enthusiastically helped them light a charcoal fire to make tea.
The weather was not good, and the wind on the lake was very strong. The willow branches on the lakeside were blown back and forth, as if they were dancing in the water. They were graceful and graceful, making the entire lake come alive.
Old Man Luo helped light the fire, then came into the cabin, bowed his hands politely, and said: "The young man who came to order the boat yesterday said that the girl will arrive first, and it is up to you to decide whether to sail. But it has been raining recently.
I think the sky will change in less than half an hour. Would you like to take a tour along the lake first? If it rains, the lake will be foggy and there won’t be much to see."
Xia Houshu carefully observed the sky. The clouds that were still bright in the morning had dimmed now, and there were thick clouds in the sky. It was impossible to tell when a hole would break through and let out a heavy downpour. She thought about Old Man Luo all the year round.
Living in the open air, watching the sky and eating, they are naturally more sensitive to changes in the weather than themselves, and Xia Houyi doesn't know when he will arrive. It's pointless for them to stay where they are, so they might as well go shopping by themselves first, so they agreed to the old man's suggestion.
proposal.
As the boat cruised along the lake, the sky became darker and darker. Just as the old man expected, it started raining outside soon. Water mist soon appeared on the lake, and everywhere you looked, it was covered with mist and rain. Nearby, it started to rain.
Several willow trees hang down their green branches, swaying in the breeze, contrasting with the ripples on the lake.
The scenery on both sides of the strait drifted backwards in turn, with mountains reflecting in the water, water flowing around the mountains, and flowers blooming like brocade, performing a beautiful transformation. In the mist of water vapor, Xia Houshu took out a white cloth strip from his sleeve, rubbed it gently with his fingertips, and thought
It also gradually flew away.
Historical records record that at the beginning of the founding of the Nanqi Kingdom, Emperor Taizong Dugujing made an exception and granted ten vassal kings with different surnames in order to commend several outstanding officials, so as to show that the monarch and his ministers were one family and shared peace.
These ten vassal kings with different surnames are Xiang Wang Changsun Duo, Jing Wang Kong Chengqin, Su Wang Luo Kedun, Hui Wang Zhang Mingying, Jing Wang Zheng Jia, Xin Wang Zhang Huaisu, Ling Wang Yuwen Hui, Gong Wang Zhong Shuozhi, Shun Wang Situ Xian, Yi
Wang Xue Congji. Among them, Prince Gong Zhong Shuozhi is the great-grandfather of the current Prince Gong Zhong Zan and Zhong Yuqing, the great-great-grandfather of Xia Houshu, and the son-in-law of Emperor Taizong.
Although Prince Gong ranked relatively low among the ten vassal kings with different surnames and had no military exploits, he won the trust and reliance of all the emperors of Nanqi.
One of the three hereditary kings with different surnames. This honor is not only because Zhong Shuozhi is the son-in-law of Emperor Taizong Dugujing, but also because Prince Gong is in charge of the mysterious organization Changqing Sect.
The ancestor of the Zhong family was originally an important minister of the Sima family of the former Dayi Dynasty. He was responsible for secretarial duties, supervising officials for the emperor, and collecting intelligence from the world.
Sima Gu, the last emperor of the Dayi Dynasty, was arrogant, extravagant and lewd, and was not good at governing the country. On the one hand, he sent envoys to collect beauties from all over the world and filled the six palaces, causing the phenomenon of "daughters from thousands of families dare not speak out, and pretend to be raised by sons against their will. Once the marriage is agreed upon, they take a bath."
The strange phenomenon of "dressing up and turning into a pretty girl"; at the same time, they forcibly acquired land to build palaces and intensified corvee labor. Such great achievements, wasted people and money, and forced the people to revolt.
Seeing that the Dayi Dynasty was declining day by day, the Zhong family saw that Sima Gu regarded human life as nothing but a piece of grass and was unpopular with the people. He repeatedly tried to persuade him to no avail, so he resolutely disbanded the intelligence network, resigned and returned to his fields.
However, although Sima Gu was mediocre, he was not stupid. He was afraid of the intelligence network in the hands of the Zhong family, and then sent people to assassinate Zhong Shuozhi. Unfortunately, Zhong Shuozhi's first wife and young son who was less than three years old were arrested and killed by the enemy. But Sima Gu did not
He gave up and even sent his own personal guards to pursue and intercept him many times in an attempt to drive out the Zhong family.
In order to protect themselves, the Zhong family joined the rebel army led by Dugu Jing in anger.
Dugu Jing was born in an aristocratic family, had great talent, was generous and righteous, employed people in an eclectic way, and was courteous to virtuous people. Not only did he spend all his wealth to treat his followers favorably, he also further consolidated the relationship with his allies through marriage, and even gave his only daughter to
Princess Jingting was betrothed to Zhong Shuozhi, who was the head of the Zhong family at the time, as her second wife.
Zhong Shuozhi did not live up to Dugu Jing's respect. With his longing for his original wife and son as well as his hatred and hatred for the Dayi Dynasty, he quickly summoned his old troops to rebuild the intelligence network, collect intelligence for Dugu Jing, and assist Dugu Jingdong along the way.
He conquered the west and established the Nanqi Kingdom.
After Dugu Jing became emperor, the first thing he did was to confer meritorious officials, which was known in history as "Taizong's Gift".
For hundreds of years, the Changqing Clan and the Zhong family of Prince Gong’s Mansion have relied on each other and shared weal and woe.
The Zhong family was favored by the emperor because of its control of the Changqing Clan, and became one of the royal aristocrats. The Changqing Clan also continued to grow and develop due to the succession of the Zhong family, and became the eyes, noses and ears of the successive monarchs of Nanqi.
It is also the sharpest weapon.
The core of the Evergreen Sect is divided into two parts: Dead Soldiers and Secret Agents. Most of the Dead Soldiers were street children and orphans who were born in humble or poor families. They were later taken in by the Evergreen Sect, taught martial arts, and became monarchs after rigorous training and selection.
The most loyal blade. The origins of secret agents are inconsistent. There are young masters from aristocratic families, and there are civilians with agile skills and quick minds, regardless of high or low. The inconsistent status makes it easier to hide and eavesdrop on information.
In addition, spies are also strictly divided into levels and authorities. According to the tokens, they are divided into four levels: purple ring, blue ring, green ring, and silver ring. Secret agents at all levels directly obey the orders of Prince Gong's Mansion, and everyone performs their own duties and has nothing to do with each other.
Even if you meet each other, you may not necessarily know each other.
When Zhong Shuozhi was alive, the Zhong family had contributed to the founding of the country, and had Princess Nanqi as his wife. It was unparalleled in the limelight, and it also achieved the glorious peak of the Changqing Sect. At that time, all the dead soldiers and spies of the Changqing Sect were governed by Gong.
The commander of the palace is loyal to the monarch, and no king dares to look down on Prince Gong's palace.
However, to this day, although Prince Gong's Mansion is nominally in charge of the Changqing Sect, in fact the power of the Evergreen Sect has been split into two parts. Only the secret agents are commanded by Prince Gong's Mansion, while the dead men directly obey the orders of the monarch and serve as subordinates.
From screening to appointment, Prince Gong's Palace has no right to interfere.
The glory of Prince Gong's Mansion was short-lived. On the one hand, the Nanqi monarch was afraid of the secret power controlled by Prince Gong's Mansion. He was afraid that Prince Gong's Mansion and Changqing Gate would be out of control, posing a threat to the imperial power and repeating the mistakes of the Yi Dynasty;
It was also the existence of the Changqing Sect that harmed the interests of some noble families, who were thus excluded and framed, forcing Prince Gong's Mansion to keep a lower profile.
Of course, there is another reason that must be mentioned, that is, the Zhong family is not prosperous, and has been passed down from a single line for three consecutive generations. The successors have no choice but to choose, resulting in the loss of power.
Especially in Zhong Zan's generation, his descendants were withering away and his family was in decline.
Xiahou Shu's maternal grandfather, Zhong Jing, had only one son and one daughter. The eldest son Zhong Zan had the ambition to revitalize the family since he was a child. However, although he married several wives and concubines as an adult and gave birth to children respectively, none of them is healthy so far.
The grown-up son. Princess Gong and several other concubines had given birth to Lin'er earlier, but in the end they either died of illness or died strangely due to various other reasons. Her eldest son Zhong Xuanli was born weak, and it was not easy for him to
When he was fifteen years old, he was killed by a cold wind. Another concubine, Zhong Lanjiang, was healthy and lively. However, when he was twelve years old, he was riding a horse with others and accidentally fell off the horse and died. Only five daughters were left.
A pretty one.
There are rumors outside that no one in the Zhong family can inherit the incense because the dead men and spies supported by Prince Gong's Mansion have committed too many sins.
However, the affairs handled by the Changqing Sect are extremely secretive and full of dangers, so the position of the sect leader has always been passed down from male to female. When Zhong Zan found that his road to revitalization was very difficult, he wanted to entrust this important task to the next generation.
Continue to complete and realize his grand ambition. However, he never had a son who could inherit his will, which undoubtedly became a heartache for him.
As Zhong Zan got older, he gradually lost confidence in having a son to inherit the family business. Later, thinking that his sister Zhong Yuqing had two sons, he took the idea to his nephew Xia Hou, who was good at pretending.
After all, half of the blood of Prince Gong's family flows through Xia Houyi. Instead of adopting a descendant of the Zhong family who knows how many generations have passed to inherit the family business, it would be better to hand over the Changqing Sect to his nephew.
There is no successor.
At that time, Xia Houhui was still there, and Zhong Yuqing thought that his eldest son Xiahouhui would inherit the title of Duke of Yue in the future, and his second son Xiahouyi had no intention of military camp, so it would be a good idea to inherit the Changqing Clan under the command of Prince Gong's Mansion, so he had no objection to Zhong Zan.
However, he secretly cultivated Xia Houyi intentionally or unintentionally.
When Xia Houshu first returned to the Duke of Yue's mansion, he only knew that she was the only daughter of Xia Houyuan, Duke of Yue. Her mother was a princess personally granted by the late emperor. Her maternal grandfather and uncle had successively inherited the title of Prince Gong. She had a noble family background and a prominent family background.
Everyone is the center of attention wherever he goes. They don’t know what kind of power Prince Gong’s Mansion holds, and they don’t even know that Xia Houyi has long been selected as the heir to Prince Gong’s Mansion. Every time I see him chatting and laughing with three or five friends all day long, I can’t help but feel
Although Xia Houyi wanted to make progress, she only thought that he was a libertine with no ambitions and only wanted to wait for his father to seize the title a hundred years later.
It wasn't until later that she discovered something fishy. This chapter has been completed!