After a long while, Jiang Yashuang, who had changed into green summer clothes, returned to the Duke of Qin's mansion. She adjusted her robe slightly outside the study. After entering the door, she respectfully saluted and said, "Grandpa!"
Duke Guo of Qin stroked his long beard and lazily ordered: "Get up, come and tell me, why did you go to Xihe Prince's Mansion two days ago to bother you? All of your brothers were scolded as a result. , even your aunt and I often make people complain about the lax housekeeping!"
The old man is already in his sixties, but he has a ruddy complexion and is energetic. He can still dance a halberd weighing several dozen kilograms without splashing water. He was wearing a half-worn Confucian shirt, and when he sat behind his desk, he looked elegant, not like a military general but more like a civil servant. In fact, Jiang Qianchuan's talents and learning were better than those of ordinary civil servants, otherwise he would not be able to teach his grandson personally.
Jiang Yashuang has been reporting her studies to her grandfather face to face every day since she painted red. There has never been any gap between grandfather and grandson. Now she was not nervous after hearing this accusation. She walked up to him and said seriously: "Sun My son is planning to come to apologize to his grandfather!"
"After that, go into the palace to plead guilty to your fourth aunt - and then make amends with your brothers, and the matter is over like this?" Qin Guogong looked at him sideways, "Is it so easy to get through?"
Jiang Yashuang looked innocent: "I didn't say anything when my brothers hurt me in the past!"
"What about me and your fourth aunt?" Qin Guogong snorted.
"Grandpa and Fourth Aunt have always loved me..." Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Qin Guogong: "You know we love you, but you still drag us into trouble? What did I say before? We will handle the big head for you, leaving only the finishing touches. You go and try your hand at this trivial matter! What happened after going around a lot, you still hit us on the head? It hurts you, doesn’t it? I don’t want my sweetheart to be scolded, so I pushed my grandfather and aunt out to be scolded - you are such an unfilial grandson. ! It’s all for nothing!”
Jiang Yashuang was stunned by him and laughed instead: "You said at the beginning that I would handle the finishing touches. You don't care what I do..."
"You lazy boy!" Qin Guogong scolded, "How can you be so scheming against your elders!"
Even so, Qin Guogong actually didn't take it seriously and said, "Let's forget about it... If you are so unfilial in the future, I will deal with you again!"
Jiang Yashuang responded with a smile and asked, "Isn't it just for this reason that my grandfather called me here today?"
"Of course not." Qin Guogong said casually, "Those unsatisfactory things in our family... If they cause trouble, they will be called over and scolded. I don't have to do anything else!" He took out a letter from his sleeve and said, "There is a letter from Northern Xinjiang, please read it."
Jiang Yashuang was overjoyed when she heard this: "Is it my father's?" She took it and looked at it and said blankly, "Is it my uncle's?"
The Marquis of Jibei is a boy from Kui County and the younger brother of the Duke of Qin, so it is not unusual for him to correspond with the Duke of Qin. However, the letters between the older generation brothers are rarely shown to the younger generation.
Jiang Yashuang is the closest grandson to Duke Qin, but this is the first time she has directly seen a letter from her uncle, so she does not dare to neglect it. After reading the letter, he handed his hands back to Qin Guogong, and then asked in surprise: "My uncle is going to become an official?"
"Three years ago, when his old injury broke out, I wanted to call him back to the capital to take care of himself!" Qin Guogong caressed his thigh and sighed, "Back then, he was chopped by Hu Nu, and his whole leg was almost broken... Although He said that he was rescued by the soldiers, but he was suffering from the disease! On rainy days, the sun is rarely seen in the north! But he was worried that your father could not control the thorns in the Zhenbei Army... I have to hold on for a few more years!”
At this point, the old man sighed, "Now that your father has gained a firm footing, he can't hold on anymore... but he is willing to come to Beijing!" The Jiang family's Sangzikui County has been raining all year round, which is not suitable for Hou Andu of Jibei. The place of old age. Therefore, after the Marquis became an official, the most suitable place to live was Chang Qing's capital.
Jiang Yashuang muttered: "My uncle has been in the army all his life. Now he is injured and has to serve. It is impossible for the court to express his disapproval. However, my uncle is already a marquis. The three nobles of our Jiang family are already a serious problem for many people. So Gu The Queen Mother will never agree to give my uncle another promotion! Out of balance, Prime Minister Xue will not agree - but the reward in money and silk is not enough to express my uncle's contribution..."
Duke Qin nodded: "That's a problem. If the reward is too heavy, neither the Queen Mother nor Xue Chang will agree! Although our family is known as 'Jiang Banchao', we can't stop these two parties from joining forces! If the reward is light, even if your uncle doesn't care, our family will But I can’t ignore my face.”
This is not only a battle of wills, but more importantly, it means the strength of the Jiang family - even the younger brother of Duke Qin and the uncle of the queen did not have much glory in their official career. What is the future of the queen's party
For this centripetal force, the Jiang family will also force the court to give the Marquis of Ji Bei dignity!
"Furthermore, the fourth aunt has just promised his fifteenth sister to His Highness Prince Qi." Jiang Yashuang frowned and said, "At this time, my uncle is serving as an official and returning to Beijing. The Queen Mother will definitely suspect that this move was done intentionally by our family for the purpose of blackmailing him. With the strength of Zhenbei Army, come back to help King Qi win the crown prince!"
Qin Guogong said: "Of course. But there is nothing wrong with this. The King of Qi is indeed not good enough compared to the King of Yan and the King of Zhou. What he can use is that his biological mother is humble and he has the status of the eldest son. He must be promoted How can it be possible without careful planning?"
Obviously, Duke Qin planned to take advantage of Ji Beihou's retirement to help the candidate for the crown prince supported by his daughter.
"The wedding of King Qi and his fifteenth sister will be after the summer vacation." Jiang Yashuang counted the days and said, "My uncle also plans to return at that time. I heard from the fourth aunt that the Queen Mother plans to bring Princess Changping to Kuang Qingwu - this is the town. The Northern Army and the Zhenxi Army each sided with each other. The choice of the crown prince still depends on the competition between the DPRK and China! "
"That old fox Xue Chang is just sitting back and watching!" Qin Guogong shook his head slightly and said, "If he doesn't intervene, our family will fight back and forth with the Queen Mother. If there is no accident, the outcome is hard to say."
Jiang Yashuang thought for a while and said: "Today is different from the past. In the past, he did not take sides, not only because he was a loyal minister of the late emperor, but also because he was smart and had a deep foundation. It was also because he still had the guise of Your Majesty, so he could reject the relationship between Fourth Aunt and the Fourth Aunt. The Queen Mother's win-over! But now... My grandson has a heart-wrenching word for his grandfather: If the crown prince is established, no matter which side wins, I'm afraid your majesty... Even if Xue Xiang doesn't care about the evaluation of his self-proclaimed 'loyal king' in the history books, he will sit back and watch your majesty fall into crisis. , he also needs to think about how to continue to hold on without the guise of Your Majesty!"
If the Jiang family wins in this battle for the crown prince, the emperor's life will definitely not be saved. After all, Empress Dowager Gu was able to serve as regent because her son was the emperor. The Jiang family, which had long been annoyed by Empress Dowager Gu, would definitely choose to let King Qi ascend the throne as soon as possible, and use the merit of his support to kill the Gu family in the name of the new king!
Even if someone from Queen Mother Gu's side wins the position of prince, the emperor will not be much better off! Even if Queen Mother Gu would not kill her own flesh and blood, she would not mind abdicating her son to become the Supreme Emperor or even deposing him! Husband and wife are one, so naturally Queen Jiang will not end well!
All in all, the power of Empress Dowager Gu, Empress Jiang, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was based on the fact that the emperor was their son or husband. Once the current emperor is gone and the new emperor is not appointed by them, then they will have no chance to continue to control the government!
Under such circumstances, if the neutral party, which relies on the banner of "loyalty to the emperor" to live and die without being recruited by the second queen, does not get involved in seizing the throne, it will have to wait for the winner to deal with it!
Qin Guogong said noncommittally: "According to what you said, Xue Chang is more likely to choose the Queen Mother? At least the Queen Mother will not hurt your Majesty's life."
Jiang Yashuang shook his head and said: "Not necessarily! After all, the King of Qi chosen by Fourth Aunt is the eldest son! When Xue Xiang pulled up the banner of His Majesty to politely refuse the recruitment of Fourth Aunt and the Queen Mother, he brought out the ancient system! Isn't it the ancient system? There are direct descendants, but there are no direct descendants?”
In fact, Xue Chang was also driven by the lobbyists sent by the second empress in turn at that time. He changed his mind and declared that he was a supporter of the ancient system. Since ancient times, all ministers were loyal to the emperor, not the queen mother or empress. -Yes, I, Xue Chang, am an imperialist! So don’t come to win over me. I will be the emperor’s ghost in my life!
... If there were a new emperor, he would probably be destroyed by the Queen Mother Party or the Queen Party. But the cowardice index of this Majesty is too high, and he cannot be helped at all! Therefore, both Empress Dowager Gu and Empress Jiang laughed off the Emperor's Party and classified all these people into the Neutral Party - anyway, if the Emperor fails to live up to expectations, it will be useless for the Emperor's Party to live up to their expectations!
Back to the topic, although Xue Chang's words were spoken out of desperation, many people knew about them. The problem then arises. If he wants to side with the Queen Mother in the dispute over the crown prince, he is tantamount to denying his previous vow to "advocate the ancient system"!
Although it is normal for politicians to talk nonsense, Xue Chang's claim to "advocate ancient systems" was a footnote to his definition of being an emperor's party. If he denies this admiration... it is also equivalent to indirectly denying his loyalty to the emperor!
When Xue Chang was in Xue Chang's position, he already had fame and fortune, and he also had good descendants, so what he considered was no longer the position of power, but the way forward - and the evaluation of history books.
"With Xue Chang's personality, it is indeed not easy to pass this test." Qin Guogong thought for a moment and nodded, "But he is not a pedantic person, so it's hard to say until the time comes." He pondered for a moment and said, " I can’t wait to talk about this now. Have you brought your homework for today?”
Jiang Yashuang was already prepared and took out a large roll of rice paper from her sleeve and presented it.
Duke Qin took it and spread it on the desk. He read it carefully and showed a trace of satisfaction. He called him to his side and pointed out a few places that could be modified. At the end, he sighed: "In terms of talent among your generation, in fact, Dan'er is not necessarily worse than you. When I taught him how to draw red, he learned it much faster than you did!"
Jiang Yashuang smiled helplessly: "Myna is just... a bit impatient and can't sit still."
"He is just spoiled!" Sure enough, Qin Guogong's face quickly turned cold. "It's all your mother's fault! She's not the only one in the world who has been separated from her husband for many years. How come everyone else can bear it, but she refuses? Suffering from this grievance, I went to Northern Xinjiang to reunite with your father! ! Firstly, it is natural for a grandmother to raise a grandchild. Secondly, although your current grandmother is not your biological cousin, she is the direct granddaughter of the late Tao Gong!
"Even though the Tao family has unworthy descendants, its glory of 'seven Jinshi from one family, three prime ministers from father to son', let alone this dynasty or the previous dynasty, how many people can compare with it since ancient times?! Their tutoring can't be worse! It’s better than the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty!”
"But she is such a fool! After listening to your eldest aunt's instigation, I thought your grandmother was such a stern person, so she forced Dan'er to be entrusted to the eldest family! It turned out that the eldest family was indeed not strict at all, and she studied hard. Seed has become a waste that only cares about flowers!”
Jiang Yashuang listened to her grandfather's complaints quietly for a long while before she said softly: "Actually, uncle is really worried. Grandpa, you love him far more than your third uncle, father, seventh uncle, and eighth uncle."
The Duke of Qin was stunned when he heard this, smiled bitterly for a while, and then weakly waved his hand: "I'm tired, you go ahead, remember not to slack off."
Both the grandfather and grandson knew in their hearts that Duke Qin was constantly scolding Mrs. Zhuang, but in fact, what he really wanted to scold was his eldest nephew Jiang Tianao - but remembering the kindness of Jiang Tianao's father, Jiang Qianshan, a man from Kui County, Duke Qin really couldn't curse this nephew. , I can only vent my anger on my daughter-in-law who was bewitched by Jiang Tianyao and his wife...
When Jiang Yashuang walked to the door, Qin Guogong stopped him again: "Tell your grandmother to formally propose marriage to the Qiu family and let her handle it for you... Once this matter is settled, you can also concentrate on writing books. No more distractions!”
"Yes!" Jiang Yashuang hurriedly promised, "My grandson will prepare well for the exam and will not let his grandfather down!"
"Go!" Qin Guogong looked at his handsome face that still contained childishness, and sighed a little lonely.