As soon as these words came out, there was a lot of discussion at the table.
The other generals under Feng Shuo were talking in low voices, but Chu Changping remained silent. His already resolute facial features looked even colder at this moment.
If Feng Shuo agreed to Xing'an Hou's request, he would have no way to rebuke him.
It was Feng Shuo's kindness that enabled the Chu family to escape from the capital, and it was also Feng Shuo's help that enabled his only son to escape from the clutches of the imperial court.
But if all this had to be exchanged for his niece's lifetime of compromise, Chu Changping would feel very uncomfortable.
Chi Qing looked at Feng Shuo, only to see Feng Shuo put down the wine bottle. He sat on a high seat, with a look of dignity from an imperial family, and a hint of indifference as if he was born with it: "How can I have a family if my great cause is not accomplished? But I can understand that the Marquis is worried about his beloved daughter."
When Xing'an Hou heard the first half of the sentence, his heart skipped a beat, but the second half made him feel relieved for a moment.
He said: "Then the prince..."
Feng Shuo took over the conversation: "This prince is willing to recognize the county lady as his sister. If anyone dares to bully her in the future, this prince will be the first to kill him. Can the Marquis rest assured?"
Chi Qing hadn't expected Feng Shuo to come up with such a dirty trick. He was having a hard time trying to hold back his laughter and just concentrated on eating.
Marquis Xing'an's face stiffened slightly. Feng Shuo acknowledged his daughter as his sister, which completely blocked the way for marriage.
Since he had decided to rebel, there was no turning back. The military forces of Fan Wei and King Xinyang in the south were not as strong as those of King Liaonan. If he turned against them and formed an alliance with Fan Wei and King Xinyang now, he didn't know what kind of mess he would face. Although the marriage proposal failed, he was now in the territory of Xizhou and had no choice but to accept it.
After all, he was an old fox who had experienced several dynasties. He showed no anger on his face and said with a cupped hand: "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty."
Feng Shuo didn't care whether Xing'an Hou was sincere in forming an alliance with him or was temporarily constrained. The two of them were now in the same boat. Xing'an Hou was a smart man, and they had common interests. He would not be angry because his children's in-laws had not achieved anything.
A big part of the reason why Xing'an Hou was instigated by Lu Linyuan to rebel was that he knew that Feng Shuo would capture Yuzhou at all costs in order to protect the food supply route.
He has turned against us, and by forming an alliance with Feng Shuo he can help keep his troops.
If he was blindly loyal to the court, a large part of the court's military power was in the hands of the Empress Dowager's relatives, the Gao family. In recent years, the emperor has promoted the Fan family to check and balance the Gao family, and there has long been a rift between the emperor and the Gao family.
If Yuzhou went to war, the Gao family would not easily intervene as long as the 50,000 soldiers and horses he had were not killed. The emperor had to keep the army in his hands to prevent the Gao family from seizing power, and he did not dare to use it to support Yuzhou, so his only fate at that time would be to completely disband the army in his hands.
This meal was not a very pleasant one for Xing'an Hou and his entourage. After the meal, Feng Shuo sent a large amount of gold, silver and jewelry to the inn where Xing'an Hou was staying.
If you give someone a slap in the face and then give him a sweet date, the person may feel unhappy, but if you don't give him the sweet date, he will only be more angry.
**
Chu Changping returned to the Chu family with mixed feelings. He first went to see Old Madam Chu.
"You've been gone for nearly a month, and you didn't even send a letter home..." Mrs. Chu complained mostly, but she looked at Chu Changping with heartache: "Take good care of yourself outside. Wan Niang has been gone for more than ten years. I know you are a man of loyalty, but Mao Ge'er has grown up, and you still don't have anyone who cares about you. If Mao Ge'er gets married in the future, it would be a shame to have only his father-in-law and no mother-in-law at home. It's better to find a second wife as soon as possible..."
Chu Changping's mind was now full of the fact that the King of Liaonan had taken a fancy to his niece, so he just evaded the old lady and said, "Mother, I don't need to worry about what you said. Now is a time of trouble, not the time to think about these things. I will be content as long as you and father are healthy and live long."
Madam Chu sighed, "Mao Ge'er is only a few years younger than Bai Ge'er. Bai Ge'er already has a child, but Mao Ge'er's marriage is still unsettled. Both of you, father and son, are things that I worry about. When Mao Ge'er gets married, I'll find a good marriage for Shu Bao. That girl is so noisy, I need to find her a gentle child so that we can live in harmony in the future."
"Yi is talented, beautiful, and has her own ideas. I would say she is the most promising of the girls. Now that she has changed her identity, she should keep her past a secret. You should try to find a good family for her. Jiabao is sensitive, but she is not a bad person. I hope to find her a kind and loving husband. Huibao is still young, and I want to keep her by my side for a few more years. I am not worried about her marriage now."
Chu Changping felt a little depressed when he heard his mother talking about the children's marriages and thought of the attitude of King Liaonan at today's banquet.
He ended the topic with a few words. Seeing that he was still in his armor, Old Lady Chu felt sorry for her son and let him go.
Chu Changping left the old lady's yard and went straight to see Jiang Yanyi and his sister.
Chu Yangui never leaves his books wherever he goes. Duke Chen looks cheerful and easy to talk to, but he is many times more severe than the sharp-tongued Chi Qing. When he scolds people, he always quotes from classics without using a single dirty word.
It was only after Duke Chen personally gave him lessons that Chu Yangui suddenly realized how good his senior brother had been to him.
Jiang Yanyi and the three sisters of the Chu family were in the outer room. They sat around the Arhat table and chattered about the design of the teahouse.
Jiang Yanyi suggested that not only should a counter be placed in a prominent position at the store entrance, but a special room should also be set up upstairs for Chu Shubao to teach female customers how to put on makeup, and to store rouge that could not fit in the counter downstairs.
Chu Jiabao is good at embroidery. Jiang Yanyi wants Chu Jiabao to use silk to embroider some bags for packaging rouge boxes. With the template, she can take it to the embroidery studio and find an embroiderer to embroider it according to the template, which will be much more efficient.
Rouge and powder are considered as light luxury goods. They spend more time on packaging than other shops, and even if the price is several times higher, people will buy them. After all, the female customers who have money to buy these things are attracted by the surprise that rouge can bring them. Otherwise, the same thing will be the same no matter where you buy it.
The servant came in from the outer room holding a bag of cakes and said, "These are the cakes that the Second Young Master bought. He heard that the young ladies were all here, so he specially asked me to deliver them."
Chu Shubao was listening with great interest and asked the servant to put it down without even raising her head. Chu Jiabao was discussing the pattern to be embroidered on the packaging bag with Jiang Yanyi and had no time to pay attention to the servant.
Only Chu Huibao was sitting on the embroidered cushion. She picked up the pastry with her chubby little hands and nibbled on it with a look of satisfaction on her face.
The servant turned around and told Chu Chengmao, who was so depressed that he almost became autistic.
There is a pond outside the corridor of the Chu family. After the winter, a thin layer of ice formed in the pond.
He sat on the railing of the corridor, breaking the thin ice on the surface of the pond with pebbles, looking somewhat nonchalant.
Chu Changping happened to see him when he was walking through the corridor. This place was closest to Chu Yangui's yard. Chu Changping said, "I want to see Yangui, why don't you go in?"
Chu Chengmao threw the last stone in his hand, jumped down from the railing, and said hypocritically: "I'm not familiar with the mansion yet, I'm just looking around. I have never liked them, why do I go to see them?"
Chu Changping raised his hand and tapped Chu Chengmao on the forehead: "They are your sisters and brothers now. If you dare to give them a cold shoulder, I will kick you out of the house first."
Chu Chengmao rubbed his forehead which was hurt by Chu Changping's knock. "If they are polite and don't cause trouble, why should I be so rude to them? But if they are stupid and don't know it, and make a mess, I won't be as kind as you, my father, to indulge them without asking right or wrong."
Chu Changping pretended to beat his son again, but in the end he didn't. He just patted him on the shoulder and said, "After all these changes, these two children are really pitiful. Didn't you make mistakes when you were a teenager? Now that we are a family, let's not talk about each other. As an elder brother, you should discipline them when they do something wrong, but don't act so polite. Whose children are obedient from birth? They are all well-educated."
Chu Chengmao was just talking about it. After all, he followed Chu Changping around all year round and had few opportunities to see Jiang Yanyi and her brother. His impression of them now was still the unruly and domineering look they had a few years ago.
When he first got home, he found that the whole family had changed their attitude towards Jiang Yanyi and his sister. The two siblings didn't seem as annoying as before, but the stereotype in his mind had not been changed yet, so he felt awkward.
When he heard that the two dishes were made by Jiang Yanyi at noon today, he specially sent someone to inquire about it. He learned that Jiang Yanyi had moved out with Chu Yangui early in the morning, and opened an antique soup shop and a noodle shop with her own ability. Now she has also taken over a teahouse. Now she is a well-known female boss in Xizhou City. He felt a little subtle.
Jiang Yanyi and his sister seemed to realize that he was distancing himself from them, so they tried not to get close to him.
He sent someone to buy some cakes and send them over, as a brother trying to take the initiative to show goodwill to his younger siblings.
But! It was ignored!
Chu Chengmao was still a little annoyed in his heart.
After hearing what Chu Changping said, he softened his tone and said, "Father is right."
Chu Changping said, "I'm going to Yan Gui's place, you can come with me."
Following Chu Changping was a good reason. Chu Chengmao hesitated for a moment and followed him.
Jiang Yanyi was not surprised that the father and son came over suddenly.
Chu Changping saw them calculating the expenses for setting up the teahouse. As an elder, he didn't know how to interrupt the little girls, so he could only say with a big heart: "If you don't have enough money, ask me for it."
Jiang Yanyi would not take his money, and said, "The current budget is still enough."
Chu Shubao deliberately said, "Hey, Third Uncle, my rouge shop doesn't have enough money, can you give me some?"
Chu Chengmao answered for his father: "Forget it. Don't lose all your money in business."
Chu Shubao said angrily: "I made money! Second brother, you are so mean, and you haven't been able to find me a sister-in-law until now. There must be a reason!"
Chu Chengmao rolled his eyes at her: "Don't bother with that. No young master would dare to marry you because of your bad temper."
It was rare that Chu Shubao couldn't win an argument, so she turned to Chu Changping for help: "Uncle San, look at him!"
Chu Changping immediately shouted: "Chengmao, how do you talk to your sister?"
Chu Shubao straightened her back with pride.
Chu Chengmao looked disgusted and was too lazy to pay attention to her. He went into the inner room to see Chu Yangui.
Jiang Yanyi watched the cousins bickering and laughed with joy.
Chu Shubao's personality is really different from that of the first wife. When she is with Chu Changping and Chu Chengmao, they are more like a family.
Chu Shubao didn't think it was shameful to complain to Chu Changping when she couldn't win the argument with Chu Chengmao. Instead, she said to Jiang Yanyi, "Second brother is just a bad-mouthed person. It doesn't matter if you can't win the argument with him. Just complain to Third Uncle and he will beat him up."
Jiang Yanyi, Chu Jiabao and Chu Huibao all laughed.
Chu Chengmao's voice came from the inner room: "I heard it."
Chu Shubao made a face towards the inner room.
The author has something to say: Chu Chengmao: I'd better not have a sister like this. (sad.jpg)
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2021-01-05 23:58:54~2021-01-06 23:58:07~
Thanks to the little angel who threw the rocket launcher: pp 1;
Thanks to the little angel who cast the mine: I have a habitual toothache, but the only thing I can’t miss is the beautiful scenery and delicious food;
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: Li Li Yuan Shang Cao 100 bottles; Xia Mo Ye 40 bottles; Maimai 29 bottles; Elie, Xunxun 20 bottles; Liang Madam 15 bottles; Yuan Yuanxi26, Qi Yan Le 10 bottles; Ah Li Ah Li, Shi Yu Yuan Wei 5 bottles; Xiao Buyuyu 2 bottles; Yiduo Xiaohua, Today Wuhua is picky about food, Tao Shengsheng, Panda Milk Cover Oolong Tea, Vinyl Chloride 1 bottle;
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