In the imperial capital, the spring snow has not yet disappeared.
On the bank of Spring Grass Lake, on the sunny shore, looking from a distance, there are faint light yellow and tender greens among the gray willow branches.
Under the willow branches, rows of soldiers with complete armor and swords surrounded a courtyard in silence.
At noon, a carriage came from a distance.
Before reaching the gate of the other courtyard, he was stopped: "The Grand Master has an order..."
Before he finished speaking, the coachman threw out an official document and shouted: "My lord is here to visit on the order of the Grand Master, why don't you get out of the way?!"
The soldier blocking the road picked up the official document and glanced at it in a hurry. As expected, it was stamped with Huo Zhaoyu's private seal at the end, and then he let it go.
The carriage stopped in front of the courtyard, and the driver jumped out of the car and made a report. A moment later, he saw a young man with a slightly pale face being supported by a bookboy.
This man seemed to be in poor health, and was so thin that people suspected that he was frail, but his eyes were calm and his behavior was elegant, and he didn't look like a common man. After he entered, some soldiers were surprised and whispered: "That man just now is not the young master of the Zhang family." ? You are so filial. After these two years of mourning, you are so haggard! You are a completely different person than before!"
"Which young master of the Zhang family?"
"How many young masters of the Zhang family are still alive now? Naturally, it is Zhang Pingxu, a talented man from the imperial capital in his early years, whose name is Luo Ning. It is not that he has always been a filial piety at home. He has rejected several invitations from the Grand Master and several attempts to win love from the Emperor. Why are you here suddenly?"
"Perhaps you have figured it out? After all, the Grand Master is now..."
"Don't talk too much!" The chief who had just stopped Zhang Luoning heard the voice and came over with a frown and scolded him.
At this time, Zhang Luoning had already turned around the screen wall and entered the atrium.
After all, the courtyard was small. After passing the first level of the courtyard, I saw a woman in plain clothes, wearing a veil, only showing a pair of ice-like eyes, leading a large group of people to stand on the corridor, looking at him coldly.
As soon as Zhang Luoning entered the courtyard, he looked at her. He was stunned for a moment, and looked away almost subconsciously. Then he turned back, and before entering the courtyard, he bowed his arms from a distance and said loudly: "I have seen Mrs. Song...!" "
Song Zaishui looked at him indifferently and said, "My lord, I look at this stranger, and I don't know how to call him?"
Zhang Luoning was startled by these words, and then he smiled self-deprecatingly, and then said: "I am a lowly official, Zhang Luoning, and I am telling the truth." When he said this, he tightly grasped his sleeves, and he didn't know how he felt.
But Song Zaishui didn't know. She might not care at this moment if she knew. She just nodded and said, "Oh, it's Mr. Zhang. Mr. Zhang, please tell me. Is it Huo Zhaoyu who wants to attack us?"
"Madam has misunderstood." Zhang Luoning frowned and said, "Huo... Master, he has no intention of embarrassing Madam."
"Really?" Song Zaishui smiled lightly, "What about the heavy troops surrounding the other courtyard?"
Zhang Luoning smiled bitterly and said something that even he felt was meaningless: "Nowadays, the war is in chaos. The Grand Master is also worried that my wife lives here alone, and I am afraid that someone will covet her."
"I am the wife of the Su family, and I have the Qingzhou Army to protect me." Song Zaishui waved his sleeves coldly, "You killed my nursing fellows and trapped me here, and you still act in such a cowardly manner?!"
Zhang Luoning was speechless for a long time, and then said: "The Grand Master wants Madam to edit a letter."
"Don't even think about it!" Song Zaishui refused without even thinking, "Huo Zhaoyu wants to take my head and just send people to do it. He wants me to do things for him. That's absolutely impossible!"
Because of her words, the already stiff atmosphere in the courtyard suddenly became tense.
After a moment of stalemate, Zhang Luoning let out a long sigh and said, "Then I'll go and persuade him." After that, Chao Song bowed to the water and left.
Even though Song Zaishui had been prepared to die as a martyr after his father-in-law was assassinated and escaped, today he heard that Huo Zhaoyu sent someone and said that it was already the deadline and even the funeral arrangements had been arranged. At this moment, he couldn't help but froze for a moment and looked at His back is thoughtful.
Across the lake from the Su Family Courtyard, in a courtyard facing each other from a distance, there is a small building shaded by evergreen trees. The bamboo curtain was half-hidden, and a furnace of fragrant incense was mostly burned. Next to the incense burner, two people were playing chess.
All the pieces were falling like flying pieces, and in an instant, the black and white pieces were crisscrossed on the chessboard, making them indistinguishable.
The black man came down and said: "Huo Jiayao sent Zhang Pingxu to visit Mrs. Song in the Su Family Courtyard. Why are you not surprised at all?"
"Even if Huo Jiayao doesn't send Zhang Pingxu, he will take the initiative to ask for orders." After the white man dropped one piece, he immediately picked up another piece and said lightly, "It's not so much that Huo Jiayao sent him this time. Huo Jiayao took this opportunity to force him out. "
"Tsk, could it be that Zhang Pingxu has some secret affair with Mrs. Song? Huo Jiayao has wanted to invite Zhang Pingxu to come out several times. However, Zhang Pingxu is indeed not in good health. Secondly, he seems to have no intention of pursuing an official career and has never agreed."
"It's just one step away." The white man didn't seem to want to elaborate.
But the black man became interested. He suddenly stretched out his hand and flicked the chess game, saying: "It's rare to see us, and there's no point in just playing chess. Why don't we talk... I'll put down the bamboo curtain first. It's still cold today. It's freezing." I, Gu Xinian, don’t know how to compensate Wen Yazi for ruining your business, Mr. Wei!”
Wei Xinyong didn't care about the end of the chess game, and said calmly: "It's an old thing. When my niece entered the Shen family, Mrs. Song couldn't go to the wedding banquet, so she went to the restaurant where the wedding procession passed to watch. Standing against the railing The veil was blown up by the wind, and Zhang Pingxu saw her. She fell in love at first sight. After finding out that she was the eldest daughter of the Song family, she was afraid that her family background was not as good as that of the Song family, and she had a reputation for being romantic, so she spent a year. Duo Chenguang cut off ties with those confidants and tried to save his reputation. Unexpectedly, he felt that this was enough to show his loyalty, but when he told his parents, his mother firmly opposed it, and then the matter was postponed. The Su family proposed marriage, and the Song family agreed, so there was nothing wrong with the Zhang family. "
Gu Xinian was a little funny: "Then he is much worse off than Deng Zongqi!" Deng Zongqi had no hope from the beginning. Wei Changying was promised to the Shen family when he was still in his infancy; and Zhang Luoning had a chance to marry Song Zaishui. , but missed it because of his mother's fate... In comparison, anyone would find Zhang Luoning's case even more embarrassing.
"Hmm, Deng Zongqi?" Wei Xinyong didn't know about Deng Zongqi's crush on Wei Changying. The main reason was that Deng Zongqi had a silent temperament and seldom spoke, so it was difficult to formulate words. Hearing this, he was surprised and said, "Did he also miss a certain lady?"
Gu Xinian was quick to speak, but now he felt a little regretful, saying: "It's in the past. I promised not to tell others about this. But I just lost my mouth."
He didn't want to talk about Deng Zongqi anymore, so he continued to ask Zhang Luoning, "That Zhang Pingxu has not married in these years, is it for this reason?"
"I think so." Wei Xinyong took a sip of tea and said, "Otherwise he is the eldest son of the Zhang family, why would he not get married? It's just that he missed it because his mother objected, and his mother was interested in him. He didn't like it, so he became deadlocked."
"Then he had a hard life. I remember that his mother passed away around the time Mrs. Song married into the Su family?" Gu Xinian roughly counted the days and sighed, "Then his visit to the other courtyard today was just a trip. If his legs are broken, he might have to go back and plead with Huo Jiayao. That Mrs. Song is not an easy person to get along with. Zhang Pingxu has been in love with her for many years. How can he complete Huo Jiayao's errands in front of her without helping Mrs. Song in turn? Strange."
After a pause, Gu Xinian asked curiously, "How do you know about this kind of thing?"
When Zhang Luoning showed mercy, he was a very cheerful person. If he was interested, he could find out some clues about the woman he admired. But from the moment he changed his mind - even when everyone discovered that he suddenly stopped going to brothels and hiring prostitutes, prostitutes and concubines, and started playing around with young and beautiful women, he was very reticent!
Especially since he had never been familiar with Wei Xinyong.
"..." Regarding Gu Xinian's question, Wei Xinyong looked thoughtful. After a while, Gu Xinian thought he was going to refuse, but he said slowly, "Probably because I'm good at reading faces. "
Wei Xinyong's experience, except for the period in Wei Xintai, is not known to outsiders. It is recognized by everyone that his life in Zhibentang was not satisfactory. Otherwise, his blood relationship with Wei Qi is not that far apart and he is Wei Qi's biological nephew. Why would he adopt to Ruiyu Hall and become the heir of Wei Huan's brother who had been dead for decades
But in front of others, Wei Xinyong may be cunning or treacherous, or he may threaten or persuade, or talk eloquently, but generally speaking, he never mentions the days when he was down and out.
Even if there were exceptions, he would always speak with a sneer, a sharp and malicious tone.
Such a calm and poignant sentence...
Gu Xinian was a little dazed. He didn't know if he looked away or was injured
But I heard Wei Xinyong continue in an understatement, "I've seen too many expressions, and many things can be inferred even if no one tells me. Now that I know the general outline, it will be easier to find some evidence to prove it."
"You are no better now than before." Gu Xinian thought for a while and decided that it would be better to comfort him a few words to prove that he was also a conscientious person. Although he doubted that Wei Xinyong's tone was intentional, how could a person like this be seen or noticed even when he was really weak
So Gu Xinian said without sincerity, "Now I'm afraid Wen Yazi will look at your face?"
"I am his most trusted adviser, but he is still in charge. It is true that he treated me with courtesy, but it is impossible to say that he looked at my face. Otherwise, why would he be the lord?" Wei Xinyong recovered instantly. Normal and fast, just like the self-pitying boy who struggled to make ends meet with glances at everyone, he was completely different from him. He smiled lightly and said, "You don't need to trick me. I have a status with Wen Yaozi. If you don't Believe me, how can you attack the Su family? With me as a hostage, Wen Yaozi will never break his promise!"
He took a sip of tea and said, "It's Xu Zongwen's place. You can get some snacks."
"I don't need you to worry about this." Gu Xinian said with a smile, "My eldest brother is currently receiving the people over there!"
"Brother Ling?" Mentioning Gu Naizheng, a strange person in the family, even Wei Xinyong smiled half-smilingly and said, "So, Huo Jiayao sent you to receive me, but you were extra considerate to me."
"Where." Gu Xinian said seriously, "Huo Jiayao sent me to receive you, not because he cares about you, but because he thinks that my eldest brother is too straight-tempered, so it would be better for me to look after you to make him feel more at ease."
Wei Xinyong was not embarrassed and said with a smile: "I also feel more at ease with Ziyang in front of me."
The two of them laughed together for a while, and Gu Xinian suddenly asked: "With your talents, where in the world can you go, whether it is the Su family that was prosperous before, or Shen who is currently recuperating in Xiliang." It’s not difficult to get re-employed at home. Why did you choose Wen Yaozi? He couldn’t even get on the stage before you helped him, right?” (To be continued)