The candlelight in the lobby swayed slightly. Li Yuanxiu stood sideways at the top. Below him knelt a Shanyue messenger covered with animal bones and jade, his head pressed tightly to the ground, and he said respectfully:
"I have met the young master of the family. The king of my family has remembered the friendship between the two families, talked about the health of my aunt and uncle, and also kept in mind the alliance between the two families, and has sent us many products from the world. Now the queen is
There is still no vacancy, and the king still hopes to marry a daughter of the Li family..."
Li Yuanxiu stepped forward and walked down two steps from the top. The clan soldiers on both sides immediately fixed their gazes on Shan Yue in front of him. Chen Donghe stood at the bottom of the steps and also silently became vigilant to prevent the situation in front of him.
People riot.
"My Li family is located in the east. I only heard that there was a riot in the mountains. No heirs of Mujiaoman survived. The messenger came from afar. I wonder if you can explain my confusion."
Li Yuanxiu did not answer this man's words, but instead brought up the details of the turmoil in Shanyue, making the envoy of Shanyue in front of him hesitate and sweat profusely. Although the current king of Shanyue, Shenmu, had followed Mu Jiaoman's order to massacre his brothers, he
There were already a lot of doubts about such an excuse in Shanyue, let alone using it to deal with Li Yuanxiu, so the envoy could only say in a trembling voice:
"There was turmoil... the late king's heirs were lost, but the change of throne is inevitable... It was not my king's intention. He went out of his way to save his mother and concubine, and he deserves credit for it!"
The mother concubine naturally refers to the eldest daughter of the Li family who married back then. Although Mu Jiaoman gave the Li family the honor to stay in the palace of that eldest daughter, she acted cautiously and had no heirs. Her status in the palace was quite special. This turmoil
Every force in the country immediately sent people to protect her.
Li Yuanxiu didn't answer when he heard the words. He looked at the trembling Shanyue messenger in front of him, considered it in his heart, and thought to himself:
"Before Mori breaks through to practice Qi, he should focus on appeasing Shenmu. Don't let this person become suspicious, ask for help from everywhere, and cause trouble. Everything will remain as usual, so he can relax."
"It's easy to talk about worship and trade. It's just a matter of giving an order. But if this daughter of the clan gets married, won't she be a widow in a few years? There are many daughters in the small clan, but the uncles and elders of the clan will inevitably make noises.
"
The mountain at the bottom was not sure what was going on, thinking that Li Yuanxiu was angry and had shaken himself into chaff. He was sweating like pulp and accumulated into a small puddle on the stone bricks on the ground. Li Yuanxiu stopped being silent and said softly.
:
"Shanyue is willing to renew the marriage between the two families. My Li family also agrees with this. The matters of worship and trade will follow the old rules and there is no need to change them."
"Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you, Your Majesty!"
The envoy below, as if he had been granted amnesty, kowtowed heavily several times and called the king without hesitation. Unexpectedly, Li Yuanxiu raised his hand and said with a full smile:
"It's just that there are not many eldest daughters in my family now, and they have quite a certain status in the clan, so how can we marry as soon as they want? My father is now practicing in seclusion, but I, the young head of the family, is not as easy to talk to as my father. There is another in-law between Shanyue and my family.
condition."
"Your Majesty, please speak."
The envoy kept asking questions, and then Li Yuanxiu said with a full smile:
"My ancestral daughter is marrying to the west. How can she not have a fief to show her majesty? There are villages to the east and west of the mountains. Let that shenmu go west to conquer a few villages to congratulate my eldest daughter."
"This this……"
The envoy from Shanyue had never thought that Li Yuanxiu would make such a move, and was stunned for a moment. The so-called fiefdom or not was meaningless to a eldest daughter who was married off and had no real power. It was just to increase the tax revenue of the fiefdom, so he had to reply:
"My king will not be stingy if the fiefdom can take one or two places from the villages in Dongshanyue. The country is in turmoil, so I am afraid it is not suitable to use weapons rashly..."
Li Yuanxiu frowned, and before he could finish speaking, he interrupted aggressively:
"Is this the sincerity of your king?!"
Shanyue was weak and had to rely on the Li family to survive. This messenger naturally became a weak-legged shrimp. When Li Yuanxiu was bullied like this, he immediately kowtowed and shouted for mercy. He hurriedly said:
"I will report back to the king now, and I will get an answer in a few days... Please forgive me, young master!"
"Go down."
Li Yuanxiu waved his hand, and the man hurriedly retreated. Then a clan soldier led a man up. He was also wearing Shanyue clothes, but he knelt down with his fists clasped and said in a deep voice:
"Young Master!"
"What news did my clan sister bring back?"
Li Yuanxiu raised his head and asked, and saw Na Shan Yue take out a thick stack of cloth from his arms and replied respectfully:
"The Queen Dowager has recorded many of the arrangements of Shen Mu's superior position and the distribution of Qi Lian Shanyue in the country, and they are all in this volume."
Li Pingyi, who was below, stepped forward to take it. Li Yuanxiu nodded with a smile and said softly:
"Go back and tell your sister of the same clan that you will be her mother-in-law first. In the next few years, we will find a way to reunite her with her family."
"yes."
The man thanked him and left. Li Yuanxiu took the stack of cloth from Li Pingyi who came up, spread it out and read for a while, and murmured:
"Three in the early stage of Qi training and one in the middle stage of Qi training are all miscellaneous Qi monks. This Shanyue is too weak. No wonder Haimu calmed down the country in one breath and didn't dare to wait, so he came to rely on him."
As Li Yuanxiu read, Li Yuanjiao was already standing in the courtyard, glanced at the Shanyue man who brought the letter, and waited until the man left the courtyard, then he said:
"Brother, although our clan sister is a little clan daughter, she is not a fuel-efficient lamp. Mu Jiaoman was so wary of her during her lifetime, but she was able to quickly gain support from the forces after Mu Jiaoman's death, collect information in such detail, and place people in her place.
It is not easy to return in a caravan."
"Um."
Li Yuanxiu nodded and replied while reading the letter in his hand:
"Back then, the daughter of a small sect was chosen to go to the west. She was carefully selected, and the people she brought with her were loyal. When she returns, she will be credited with merit for her branch."
The marriages of the Li family in the past were naturally not as good as those of Mu Yalu who married alone. Not only could the daughter of the clan come back every year to visit relatives, but she also brought many loyal people with her.
Li Yuanjiao listened to his brother's words, nodded in agreement, and then said:
"Brother, Suo Moli has broken through the fifth level of fetal breath, and I have persuaded him to go back to retreat. Those spiritual fruits have also been sent to Suo Moli. After passing the difficulty of the Yujing Wheel, and with the help of spiritual beings, it should be done within two years.
Try to break through and practice Qi.”
"good."
Li Yuanxiu nodded slightly, thought for a few moments, and said softly:
"I will also go to the mountain to talk about it myself, so that the family can prepare for the miscellaneous things."
Li Yuanjiao chuckled and replied:
"I listened outside for a while, and my brother's method is indeed good. If you force the new king of Shanyue, don't worry about him taking one or two towns to the west. In the end, it will belong to my Li family."
Li Yuanxiu and Li Yuanjiao's faces that were quite similar evoked a smile. Compared with Li Yuanjiao's sharp eyebrows, he looked more relaxed and freehand. He looked at the brothers below and replied:
"You and I both know the family's plan, but it's just to make up a link. Since Wushan is closed, the Shanyue villages in the west must have lost their support. According to the news coming back, Namu should also have the intention of invading the west. I think
He was just looking for some excuse."
"When he annexed a few more villages for my family, and the soldiers and horses under his command also wasted people and money, and committed more killings, it would be more legitimate for Mori to replace this person."
"Brother, it's better to think carefully."
Li Yuanjiao smiled and praised, Li Yuanxiu waved his hand and replied:
"It's just done casually. It won't have much impact on the situation. It just makes the subsequent calculations smoother."
"As for the married eldest daughter, who does your brother plan to let go?"
Li Yuanjiao asked, and then Li Yuanxiu looked away from the letter in front of him and said softly:
"No one is sent."
Li Yuanjiao was stunned for a moment, and immediately understood what his brother meant, and whispered:
"I know how much my brother cares for his people, but is this safe?"
"oh."
Li Yuanxiu nodded with a smile and replied:
"Go to the town to find a reliable family who is willing to give birth to a girl with wealth and wealth, train the girl and send it there. Not to mention whether the girl can notice it, but even if she notices something is wrong, she has to hold her nose and accept it. How dare she say something?
What? When Dongshan becomes more and more under the control of my family and we take her back, she can still get the name of a branch, and naturally a lot of people will be willing to do it."
Li Yuanjiao slightly lowered his eyebrows. His love for his tribe was different from that of Li Yuanxiu. It was all based on friendship rather than blood. In his heart, he preferred to really send a daughter of the clan to appease Qimu. Even if there was a chance, he did not want to alert the snake, but
Since Li Yuanxiu said this, he could only nod his head and said in a deep voice:
"Brother, it's good to be confident."
Li Yuanxiu looked at him and saw that he had different thoughts in his mind. He put down the things in his hands and said softly:
"Shemu is looking for the daughter of Xiao Zong. The people of Xiao Zong mainly have five meridians. These five meridians have been separated since my great-grandfather. There are a few elderly people who are very senior. They don't talk much on weekdays, but they have to pay attention."
"These people are very close to us and are powerful assistants in running the family. Several clan elders can speak well in front of their father and uncles. If the clan daughter is really married off in vain, the clan elders and uncles in the family will
I have a lot of opinions...the harmony at home is the most important."
Li Yuanjiao curled his lips and replied:
"Who cares what they think, they're just human beings."
"Jiao'er!"
Li Yuanxiu shook his head and said in a deep voice:
"The reason why the family can be closely connected is that the secrets of the skills are passed down in an orderly manner, and the second is that everyone in the family is respectful and respects the old and loves the young. Once these two things collapse, what is left will be endless bloodshed.
In a struggling and disorganized ethnic group, no matter how smart the descendants are, it will be useless."
"The younger generations are all well-educated. What you do today will be remembered by everyone. Don't look at the clan elders who are nagging and thinking about seeking some benefits for their descendants, but they also know the right and wrong, and restraint.
In order to prevent future generations from doing anything squandering, the existence of the clan's main courtyard is a result of their contribution."
Li Yuanxiu stared into his brother's eyes and explained:
"If these old people see their children doing something that is disgraceful to the family, they will even go to the clan's main courtyard with crutches to report it in person. They understand the importance of the family's ethos, and deep down they want the family to be good."
"What's more, Uncle Qiuyang and the monks of several small sects are working hard for the sake of the family. If you marry off their children like this today and slaughter Shenmu tomorrow, it will make these people feel cold."
Li Yuanjiao opened his mouth. He had never thought that Li Yuanxiu had such profound thoughts. He changed his mind towards those nagging clan bosses, nodded and whispered:
"My little brother has learned a lesson!"
Li Yuanxiu nodded approvingly and continued:
"In the past, the main line didn't have many capable monks, so it was necessary to be more prepared for the minor sect branches. Now that the main line is prosperous, and my uncle's swordsmanship is unparalleled, these minor sects and branches are the right assistants for running the family. What we need to do is
It’s to win over and favor them, and treat them as one of your own.”
Li Yuanjiao nodded in agreement, and the two brothers looked at each other and smiled. Li Yuanxiu said a few words of greeting, and then smiled:
"I have broken through the second level of fetal breath."
"really?"
Li Yuanxiu started training earlier than Li Yuanjiao. Li Yuanjiao quickly broke through the Xuanjing Wheel with the help of talismans. He also broke through the second-level Chengming Wheel of Fetal Breath a few months ago. Li Yuanxiu broke through a few months later, and his speed can be considered.
Not bad.
"You guy, what's so fake about this?"
Li Yuanxiu saw Li Yuanjiao laughing, counted the time, and said with some embarrassment:
"Seeing that the day of the sacrifice is getting closer day by day, several elders are retreating to break through, and the sacrifices have not been delivered. I have already made arrangements. I am afraid that if some elders do not come out, they will miss the time."
————
There are three stone chambers in the cave on Meichi Peak. Li Tongya, Li Xuanxuan, and Li Xuanfeng each retreated. Li Xuanling was practicing in the lobby, sitting cross-legged on a futon on the ground all night. The door at the door of the cave swayed slightly, and the two clan soldiers retreated and walked away.
A woman wearing a white robe came in with a dignified face and looked at him with a smile.
"Husband."
Lu Wanrong is now at the third level of fetal breath cultivation, and her strength is considered good among monks with other surnames. She stepped forward with a smile, holding a bamboo food box in her hand, and put it on the stone table. Li Xuanling saw this and said softly:
"Just ask them to bring it up, but I'll have to trouble you to make a trip."
The monks in the Fetal Breath Realm have strong qi and blood in the first four levels, and their appetite for food increases. Once they break through the particularly critical Yujing Wheel and transcend the mortal realm, their food intake suddenly decreases. When they break through the qi training, they become gods and live longer.
Those who are breath-eaters can only eat wind and drink dew. They only need to drink some clean water. If they want to eat, they must also eat some spiritual meat and spiritual rice. Ordinary food can easily hinder the advancement of cultivation.
Li Xuanling's fetal breath was at the fifth level, and he was still one or two steps away from Qi training. Naturally, he needed to eat, one meal in about a day or two. Now that his family was well off, he naturally ate not ordinary rice and noodles, but some spiritual rice and monster meat.
Lu Wanrong opened the food box and took out two cages. One box contained steamed white rice, and the other box contained a few slices of tender red monster meat.
Li Xuanling took the jade chopsticks from his wife's hand and chewed the food in front of him carefully. Lu Wanrong handed him the tea to drink, and then whispered:
"Yuan Yun has not gone down the mountain for more than a year. I have always been worried in my heart. This child is silent, but in fact he is very high-spirited. He has suffered such a blow and refuses to tell us..."
Li Xuanling paused for a moment, looking quite helpless and feeling vaguely guilty, and said in a harsh voice: