Two days ago, it rained lightly in the early morning of the day Xuan Ji came, and then the temperature dropped sharply. Today, when Qin Liang got off the carriage halfway, the wind felt biting on his face. I guess, this
The weather is probably not far away from snowing.
The school office is in the southwest corner of the palace, and the Taifu's Mansion is in the east of the south of the palace. Qin Liang usually doesn't go to the Taifu's Mansion, but today he went to Tingwei's Mansion to negotiate the share, and happened to pass by the Taifu's Mansion when he came back.
Master Sima seemed to know that Qin Liang was passing through here, and happened to appear at the gate.
Qin Liang, a third-rank official at the Jiuqing level, could not greet others on the carriage. He could only stop the carriage first and get down to greet him. Let alone ancient times, modern people sit in cars and greet people of high status through the car window.
Saying hello feels a bit patronizing and not very polite; in some places, if you ask for directions while riding a bicycle, you will be pointed in the wrong direction.
There was only one person beside Master Sima, Deng Ai. When the three of them greeted each other, Qin Liang bowed and searched in his mind for some polite words for the occasion.
Unexpectedly, Master Sima was a neat person and spoke first: "I heard that Mrs. Wu was going to hold a banquet to thank Zhongming. Has Zhongming gone?"
Qin Liang was a little surprised and said honestly: "I don't know. Besides, I'm just doing my job and there's nothing to thank you for."
"That's it." Master Sima nodded, and after speaking, he looked back at the gate of Taifu's Mansion.
Qin Liang immediately took the initiative to bow and said: "I have to rush back to the school affairs office. Please take your leave."
Master Sima also held up his hands and said, "Okay, let's talk about it when we have the chance."
Qin Liang returned to the carriage, sat opposite Wu Xin, and asked Yinci in front to start. Qin Liang sat in the carriage for a moment, and suddenly realized that Master Sima's words might not have been said casually. The last time he met Master Sima, he said
Judging from experience, Master Sima doesn't seem to like talking nonsense, and likes to get straight to the point when meeting people, at least in front of people of lower status than him.
Wu was Sima Shi's ex-wife, who was divorced just after marriage. She was the daughter of Chou Hou Wu Zhi, one of Wei Wendi Cao Pi's "Four Friends".
Opposite Wu Xin usually didn't like to talk, and Qin Liang was not disturbed. He could sit in the carriage and calm down, thinking about the relationship between them.
Qin Liang also remembered something. When Yin Mo ran to Yongning Palace to rob the palace women, he said, "Do you know the past between the Chouhou family and the general?" It meant that the Wu Zhi family and the Cao Shuang family had an old grudge.
?
There are some old things that Qin Liang, an outsider who had been living in the countryside of Pingyuan County, really didn't know all about. For example, Qin Liang really didn't know what Yin Mo asked.
But Yin Mo probably wasn't lying. He went to harass the Wu family, and he probably thought he was trying to please the general, rather than just adding insult to injury and bullying those who were in trouble.
The Wu family has a grudge against Cao Shuang. However, it cannot be completely inferred that the Wu family and the Sima family are in the same group. It can only be said that the possibility is not small.
But one thing is very strange. Master Sima's divorce should be a humiliation to the Wu family. If the Wu family still follows the Sima family, then there is no other way to go. But what is the inside story, Qin Liang has no way of knowing.
When he arrived at the school affairs office, Qin Liang came back from his thoughts and saw Wu Xin staring at him silently. Wu Xin noticed that he raised his head and immediately cast his gaze out the car window...
Early the next morning, as soon as Qin Liang arrived at the school affairs office, he received an invitation from Mrs. Wu, saying that she had prepared a banquet in the evening for Qin Liang to enjoy.
For a while, Qin Liang couldn't figure out: whether Mrs. Wu prepared to host the banquet first, or whether Master Sima decided to host the banquet at Wu's house first?
Originally not optimistic about Cao Shuang, Qin Liang had already planned not to offend the Sima family, so he decided to go to the banquet and check out the situation first. The timing of the banquet was also interesting, as a lady who lived alone hosted a banquet for the man in the evening.
In the afternoon, Qin Liang asked Wang Kang to go to the Wang family to bring a message and tell the family that they would not go back to have dinner in the evening because someone was entertaining them.
When it was almost time, Qin Liang took Yinci Wu Xin to the banquet. He had been to many places before, so he was familiar with the road.
The three of them entered the gate, and the Wu family left Qin Liang's entourage in the front hall, saying that they had prepared additional meals. Qin Liang told Yinci that nothing would happen, and went to the courtyard alone. In front of a gatehouse, as expected,
I saw Mrs. Wu personally welcoming her to the gate tower.
Mrs. Wu has been carefully dressed up, with a top with wide sleeves and a full skirt. The color is blue and black, which is common in winter. Her hair is turned to one side and she has a beautiful golden gemstone. She is even more dressed than the last time I saw her.
Careful. She is also beautiful, with big eyes and a delicate figure.
When Qin Liang and her bowed to each other, he didn't stare at each other and paid attention to his own etiquette. In any case, this young lady is Sima Shi's ex-wife, and Qin Liang didn't want to find someone for him just because he was flirting with others.
trouble.
But in his peripheral vision, he noticed that Mrs. Wu was looking at him secretly. Mrs. Wu's tone was very gentle when she was greeting him, and she did not accuse him like last time.
Isn't it Mrs. Wu who invited me to dinner tonight? Qin Liang thought for a while, but after thinking about it for a moment, he felt that it was impossible. Compared with later generations, women at this time were very conservative. Even if they had a good impression of men, it was almost impossible to do so.
initiative.
As expected, when Qin Liang was led to a rather narrow room, Sima Shi, a tall man with a long face, stood up from his seat. The two bowed to each other and then invited Qin Liang to take a seat at the west side of the banquet. Wu
The lady is on the east side.
At this time, the west side is the place of honor. On the morning after Qin Liang got married, he also noticed a detail. After Wang Lingjun paid a visit to his sister-in-law Zhang, Zhang came out from the west side of the steps.
Several dishes of meat and vegetables, a pot of wine, cups and chopsticks have been placed on tables for separate tables.
Master Sima picked up the wine glass and drank a glass with Qin Liang and Mrs. Wu. After all, it was a banquet. Qin Liang was thinking about it in advance. When Mrs. Wu thanked him later, she would reply with kind words.
Unexpectedly, Mrs. Wu had a glass of wine with her and asked to leave temporarily, leaving only two men in the room.
Master Sima was the first to speak: "The day before yesterday in the court, His Highness proposed the post of prefect to Zhong Ming."
Qin Liang was suddenly surprised: Could the Queen Mother Guo be able to read minds? I haven't said my request yet.
However, he quickly thought that the prefect is actually a big threshold in the officialdom. Once you reach this level, your official career is a completely different scenery, and the descendants of future generations will all have different backgrounds. So since Queen Mother Guo wants to sincerely help Qin Liang, Qin Liang is now
Since he has an official rank, it is the best way to win over him as a prefect.
The best solution. Everyone wants it, it’s normal.
Qin Liang felt that his heartbeat was accelerating, and he lost some of his usual calmness. The prefect was really a critical hurdle.
Sima Shidao: "Your Highness said that Zhongming has contributed a good recipe for making salt and has made great contributions to the country. He should be rewarded by being promoted to an official position. Please ask the Ministry of Civil Affairs if there is a vacancy for the governor of a certain county."
Qin Liang waited quietly and thought to himself: Keep talking.
Master Sima paused for a moment, then continued: "The general said that Qin Zhongming is weak at his age, so he can go ahead and make more achievements."
Qin Liang was stunned for a moment, his eyes widened, and his expression suddenly changed. Sometimes his emotions suddenly rise, and if he is not fully mentally prepared, it is really difficult to control his performance.
He almost cursed out loud and thought to himself: Cao Shuang, I'm going to bully your horse, Cao Shuang.
It was so quiet in the narrow room that you could almost hear a pin drop. Master Sima also remained silent for a while. He carefully studied the expression on Qin Liang's face, looking very attentively.
It is estimated that Qin Liang was shocked, disappointed, and angry, and his expression changed in an instant, and Master Sima could all see it.
After a while, Master Sima spoke again: "Cao Zhaobo (Shuang) still regards Zhongming as a member of the general's palace. If father and I speak for Zhongming, it may not be a good thing. But if Cao Zhaobo agrees to treat Zhongming's
We will definitely not object to the transfer, as long as we don't say anything, the matter will be settled."
Qin Liang had already calmed down from the momentary emotion and said: "The kindness of the Grand Tutor and the Lord is greatly appreciated."
But he thought in his heart: For those of you who are powerful officials who control the Wei Dynasty, you probably won't object to the position of governor, but Cao Shuang objects, you should be secretly happy, right?
Master Sima had the intention to win over, at least Tong Zhan, and Qin Liang had already noticed it. Cao Shuang and Qin Liang were at odds, which was certainly something Master Sima liked to hear. The banquet was held today, probably mainly because he wanted to talk about this matter.
Sure enough, Master Sima said: "When Zhongming killed Yin Mo, did he first convince Cao Zhaobo?"
Qin Liang nodded and said, "Yes."
Master Sima also nodded and said, "It's the same as our speculation. Although Cao Zhaobo was convinced, he still thought that Yin Mo was his. After he came to his senses, he might have resentment towards Zhong Ming."
"What you say makes sense." Qin Liang said, and his approval was not a duplicity. "But Yin Mo is not particular about his conduct. I just want to get rid of him. There is no other reason."
But Cao Shuang is really ignorant. Isn't it for the good of Cao Shuang that Qin Liang gets rid of people like Yin Mo?
If the Sima family hadn't been eyeing him, or if Cao Shuang was the emperor, then Cao Shuang's problem might not be big. But in the current situation, Qin Liang felt that he really couldn't place too much hope on Cao Shuang.
Moreover, Qin Liang cannot be trusted or reused at all in the General's Mansion, so he can no longer count on anything.
Master Sima said in a deep voice: "I have said before that people like Cao Zhaobo, Zhong Ming and others, do not need to be grateful to him."
Qin Liang was silent for a while and then said: "The servant and the general owe each other nothing. But if the servant is eager to fall out with the general, and if the king is still inconvenient to speak for the servant, the servant's career may come to an end.
"
Master Sima's big eyes immediately showed a pleasant smile, and he said seriously: "The reason for turning against me is just to publicly express your loyalty to the Taifu Palace. There is no other benefit. Please don't be impatient." He thought for a while, then remained calm.
Said: "So in the Wang family, you can say two appropriate words at the right time. Otherwise, everyone knows who you are speaking for. Is it still a pertinent statement?"
No matter who Qin Liang is, it doesn't seem to be important to the overall situation of the government. His greatest value at present is indeed his influence on the Wang family.