Everyone hurriedly hurriedly arrived at Wuyang on the day before the New Year Festival.
In the west of Beijing, the enemy troops in Heluo were busy organizing military households. Except for a small group of enemy cavalry crossing the border to harass, there were no large groups of soldiers and horses attacking the defense lines such as Pishan, Xiangcheng, and Qingyi Ridge. It was rare for Chushan to have a quiet and peaceful time.
new year.
In addition, Xu Huai married Wang Xuan and returned to Wuyang. For the first time in recent years, Wuyang City was decorated with lights and colorful decorations, full of festive atmosphere. A lion dance performance was also held on the street when the car and horse teams entered the city.
The contemporary lion dance combines performance with fighting, attaches great importance to martial arts, and also incorporates acrobatics such as blowing fireworks. The people in Wuyang are rarely so lively, and tens of thousands of people come to watch and enjoy it.
After Xu Huai and Wang Xuan watched the lion dance performance and received rewards, they went to their residence with the officials who greeted them.
Xu Huai had never built a Jingshenghou Mansion in Tongbai Mountain in the past. Several times when the camp was moved, he always chose a courtyard next to the camp as a residence - he and Liu Qiong'er didn't have many people around them.
In daily life, except for the guards and security, everything else is kept simple.
Now, in addition to Lu Xiong, Zhao Heng and others who have moved their families to Wuyang, the Wang family has also specially arranged for more than 20 maids and servants to marry along with them. Under Su Laochang's help, they will clean up several courtyards next to the row.
It was renovated into a mansion with five entrances and three spans.
In order to prevent assassins from sneaking in or enemies from peeking, there are no tall trees near the mansion and it is very spacious.
The road in front of the Hou Mansion has been carefully tidied up and paved with a layer of fine sand, and there is a thin layer of snow on the newly painted courtyard wall.
The scenery on the left and right is quite plain, with some Spring Festival signs and red lanterns hanging on the walls and under the gatehouse as decorations.
Wang Xuan got off the carriage and looked up at the hazy sky with light snow falling - in addition to Shi Zhen, Su Laochang, Wang Ju, Guo Junpan, Pan Chenghu and others who came to greet the South City Gate, there were also people standing inside and outside the house gate.
There were many people greeting her, but Liu Qiong'er was nowhere to be seen.
Although according to the rules, Liu Qiong'er should not come to the house to greet her, and although the relationship was harmonious before, Wang Xuan felt a little flustered now.
Xu Huai, Shi Zhen, Su Laochang, Xu Wujiang, Xu Wukun, Xu Wuliang, Wang Ju, Fan Yong, Pan Chenghu, Guo Junpan and others went to the lobby to meet the civil and military officials who were waiting in the house to attend the banquet.
In addition to Su Di and Xu Xiaohuan who accompanied her all the way, Tian Yanyan, Song Yuer and other female family members surrounded Wang Xuan and walked to the inner house.
Wang Xuan, surrounded by a group of female relatives, sat down in the small hall of the inner house, and Liu Qiong'er came in dressed up and carrying a tea tray.
"Sister, you are trying to hurt Xuan'er!" Wang Xuan quickly stood up, grabbed the tea tray from Liu Qiong'er's hand, asked the maid Cui'er to hold it, sat down with Liu Qiong'er's arm, and said,
"The situation is like a dead end. My husband is concerned about the war and is worried and busy. He needs my sister and me to support him at home. I have always regarded my sister as a close friend. I don't want to separate us, so I ask my sister to protect us..."
Su Di and other girls were most worried that Wang Xuan would not get along with Liu Qiong'er after she got married.
In recent years, Liu Qiong'er has taken care of the inner house, and the female family members have become close to her. The relocation of the generals was basically done by Liu Qiong'er, Su Di and other women in Zhangluo.
The emperor has decreed a marriage, and he has a third-grade imperial edict. If Liu Qiong'er and Wang Xuan are jealous of each other in the inner house, it will be the most difficult for them to behave themselves.
Now seeing that Wang Xuan did not take advantage of the eldest wife at all, and all the female relatives also believed in Liu Qiong'er's generosity, they all secretly breathed a sigh of relief. They all smiled and said that when the war was tense, more than half of the men in Wuyang City would be here.
To leave and go to the battlefield, the fear alone would be torturous if the women they left behind did not support each other.
When the banquet started in the front yard, the bride was invited to meet all the civil and military officials. Wang Xuan also took Liu Qiong'er's arm and went with her.
The New Year's Day in this world is also called New Year's Day.
Since the Tongbai Mountain Bandit Rebellion, Xu Huai had never had a proper New Year's Eve celebration. This time it was rare that there was no large army in the west of Beijing and Heluo. He and the generals also drank with open stomachs until early in the morning until they were as drunk as
Ni was carried back to the inner house.
At this time, the guests and female family members in the front yard of the inner house have dispersed, and Lu Xiong, Zhao Heng and others have also settled in the house near the Hou Mansion; in the back house, Liu Qiong'er, Wang Xuan and their 20 or 30 maids and servants are staying.
The Sword Girl Guard lives.
Wang Xuan looked at Xu Huai, who was so drunk that he was lying on the bedside and snoring slightly, and complained angrily to Liu Qiong'er:
"I drove all the way back to Wuyang from Nancai. The road was bumpy and unspeakably hard. I couldn't stay up late and couldn't take care of this drunkard, but I had to work hard for my sister all night!"
After Wang Xuan said that, she left with her two personal maids.
Liu Qiong'er sat on the edge of the bed, caressing Xu Huai's stubbled, angular cheeks, and said with a smile: "Don't pretend to be drunk. Girl Xuan knows very well. It's not that easy to fool! No one takes you seriously.
Zuobao, I must stay with you for the night!"
"Then shall I go find Xuan'er?" Xu Huai opened his eyes and asked with a shy smile.
"Don't be angry with me," Liu Qiong'er pressed Xu Huai on the bedside who was about to get up, leaned into his arms, hugged his broad shoulders, and said, "Although I am the oldest, sometimes
I still need people to feel sorry for me! Even if you stay with me for half an hour, then you pretend to be sober and leave."
"...I think this bed is quite spacious, enough to..." Xu Huaigang was about to make a better suggestion, but Liu Qiong'er pinched his cheek and shouted, "Ah, I mean the two of us should take a rest early.
The snow got a bit heavier at night, and the snow scene in the mountains should be excellent tomorrow. I will take you and Xuan'er into the mountains to watch the snow..."
…………
…………
Early the next morning, Xu Huai took advantage of his rare free time and took Wang Xuan and Liu Qiong'er with him to the villa at the southern foot of Dengtaijia Mountain without waiting for the maids and Zhao Heng's family to settle down in Wuyang.
However, Xu Huai and his two daughters were not able to stay quiet for two days when they went into the mountain. An urgent letter delivered by a fast horse broke the tranquility of Dengtaijia Mountain after the snow.
Xu Wei supported it until the imperial court dispatched Ge Boyi to Jinghu South Road to take over as the Zhizhi envoy. He suddenly died of illness in Yuezhou the day before he planned to return to Jianye.
Although Xu Huai was very critical of the policy of using culture to control military affairs carried out by Vietnam for more than a hundred years, officials like Xu Wei and Wang Zhen also sincerely admired it.
During the first southern invasion of the Chihu people, it is hard to imagine how bad the situation would have been if Xu Wei, who was the prefect of Taiyuan at the time, led Wen Hengyue and other generals and the entire army and people of Taiyuan to defend the isolated city for a year without surrender!
Perhaps the captive soldiers have already crossed the river and entered the south of the Yangtze River?
Maybe there is no chance to turn the tide?
Precisely because he personally led troops and horses to attack Taiyuan and saw with his own eyes the tragedy in Taiyuan City, Xu Huai knew more clearly how determined Xu Wei was when he led the entire city's soldiers and civilians to defend the isolated city for a year, and what a huge sacrifice he made!
Xu Wei's body collapsed when he was guarding Taiyuan, and he has been dragging his sick body to work since then. I'm afraid this time he also struggled to support himself until Ge Boyi came to Jinghu to take over, and then he breathed his last, right?
This time I rushed to Nancai to welcome the bride, and when I returned to Wuyang, I met Wen Hengyue via Xiangyang. Wen Hengyue was also in poor health. Wen Hengyue also wrote many times to explain his physical condition, hoping that the court could send ministers to take over Xiangyang to stay behind, but Jian Jian
There are only a limited number of ministers and generals that the emperor can truly trust and make great use of.
The only ones who were important enough were Zhu Hang, Qian Zerui and others, but Emperor Jianji needed them to serve in the central government, and he couldn't help but have three or five ministers he could trust and dispatch.
Of course, Xu Wei's sudden death also made Xu Huai think that Emperor Jianji's physical condition was also worrying. In the past few years, Emperor Jianji had been under tremendous pressure and worked hard day and night; he became ill due to overwork.
In July, he went to Jianye for an audience. Zheng Huaizhong, Prince Huai's Mansion, Zhou He, Gao Chunnian and others secretly stirred up quite a stir in order to establish a queen and compete for the position of Jing Hunan Road System envoy.
Xu Huai also realized at that time that many ministers in the imperial court were worried about the physical condition of Emperor Jianji and did not want a relative to take over the court by taking advantage of the power of the young emperor, so they all turned to support King Huai.
In the end, Emperor Jianji did not use Zheng Huaizhong, but replaced Xu Wei with Ge Boyi as the envoy of Jinghu South Road. In fact, it was a compromise with Zhou He, Gao Chunnian and others.
Although Xu Huai noticed this at the time, he did not really pay attention to it.
Xu Huai decided to stay out of the overt and covert fight between the Zheng family and Prince Huai's palace. In addition to his unwillingness by nature and not liking to get involved in such things, the more important reason was that he always felt that Emperor Jianji was still in the prime of life no matter how poor his health was.
, pay attention to the maintenance and there should be no major problems.
Regarding Emperor Jianji's health, Shi Zhen reminded Xu Huai, but Xu Huai didn't pay much attention to it at that time, so Shi Zhen didn't say much - this time he brought a messenger to deliver the news about Xu Wei's death, and rushed there in the snow.
Coming to the villa reminded Xu Huai once again to pay attention to this issue:
"The Red Husbands are about to conquer Dangxiang. If His Majesty's health develops at a certain time, and the new emperor cannot ascend the throne smoothly, the court cannot transition smoothly, and uncontrollable internal chaos occurs, the consequences may be more serious than the fall of Bianliang, and even worse.
out of hand……"
Of course Xu Huai knew that if a situation like what Shi Zhen said happened, the consequences could be said to be a complete disaster, and no one could turn the tide. He asked bitterly: "What can we do?"
"..." Shi Zhen offered advice, "It's not like I can't do anything at all, it's just that I need to make choices..."
