The street drums were beating and the gates were closing a little every once in a while.
Fortunately, Yongxingfang is close to the East Palace, otherwise Huaiyu wouldn't be able to return home today.
Seeing that it was getting late, Huaiyu planned to visit his friend Qin Qiong's house tomorrow.
The entrance to Duke Yi's Mansion.
There were many carriages parked. Qiu Yingqi, the founder of Linji County who had a conflict outside the city today, was waiting at the door. When he saw Wu Huaiyu coming back, he and another person immediately came forward to greet him.
"Qiu Yingqi paid homage to Duke Yi."
Huaiyu didn't expect them to come so quickly, "Hello, General Qiu."
"This is my uncle, the Duke of Yuanling County, a member of the Ministry of Industry."
The man seemed to be about the same age as Qiu Yingqi. He was about thirty, with a smile on his face and handed over his hands, "Qiu Xingqi, a member of the Ministry of Industry, paid homage to Duke Yi."
"Hello, Mr. Qiu. I'm sorry. After the interview, I was summoned by the prince and I'm going back now."
"It doesn't matter."
"Look, it's getting late. The gate is about to close. Why don't you two go back first? How about we talk about it tomorrow if you have anything to do?"
As a result, Qiu Xingqian was not in a hurry, "We do have a courtyard in Yongxingfang, and we will stay in the courtyard later."
Faced with such guests, Huaiyu had no choice but to invite them into his house.
As soon as he entered the door, Qiu Xingqian first presented a gift list. Although it was prepared in a hurry, the gifts were quite sufficient. All kinds of silk fabrics and even gold and silverware were all common.
What's special is that there are a lot of ivory, sugar, and spices on this list.
Upon further inquiry, it turns out that Qiu He was not in vain when he was the governor of Jiaozhi for so many years. Although he could not defeat Xiao Mian at the end of the Sui Dynasty, he was forced to rely on Xiao Mian, but it was only a superficial attachment, and he was still dependent on Xiao Mian.
It was the actual separatist rule of Annan.
Xiao Xian originally asked Ning Changzhen, who was separatist in Qinzhou Bay, to attack Qiuhe, but Qiuhe sent Gao Shilian to defeat him.
It was not until the fourth year of Wude that Xiao Mian was destroyed by the Tang army, and Li Jing went to Lingnan. Qiu He then sent Gao Shilian to Beijing to ask for help. Annan had been separatist for many years, and there were many good local products there, such as spices, ivory, etc.
Another thing is that Annan grew a lot of sugar cane. Although the Tang Dynasty had not yet mastered the white sugar method in Tianzhu Asan's hands at this time, the sucrose produced by it was relatively famous.
Even though Qiu He has entered the court, the Qiu family still has a strong influence in Annan, where they have a large number of sugar cane plantations and control many sugar mills.
There are also spices and seafood coming from the South China Sea, and the Qiu family also occupies a large share of them.
The Qiu family has taken over a cash cow.
They gave away valuable things like pepper and cane sugar directly by the stone.
He generously showed the upstart Wu Huaiyu what an old valve is.
There were also Kunlun slaves on the gift list, and fifty of them were given as gifts.
Qiu Yingqi sat in the hall of the Wu family, feeling a little proud but also a little embarrassed. After all, they only had conflicts during the day and made harsh words, so in the afternoon they had to take the initiative to give gifts.
But this was the message sent by the old man of the Qiu family himself. Even the gift was chosen by this old man. He also asked him to accompany his fifteenth uncle by name. It would be impossible if he didn't come.
The emperor sent an eunuch to visit Qiu Mansion in Chang'an. After Qiu He received the order, he immediately summoned his disciples in Beijing to discuss the matter, and then directly made a decision. Whatever grievances he had with Wu Huaiyu before were wiped out.
In addition, he immediately sent gifts to Wu Huaiyu and came to apologize.
Qiu Yingqi just stood up and objected, but was scolded by the old man.
An old man who has lived through five dynasties, is capable of both literary and military skills, and has served as an important official in three dynasties. How can his vision be compared to that of a junior like him?
In the end, I had no choice but to follow my uncle.
As a result, we waited for two hours before seeing anyone after dark.
Fortunately, Wu Huaiyu didn't ridicule him, but kept smiling, which made him feel a little better, otherwise he would have been too young and energetic to bear it.
Some excuses.
Wu Huaiyu accepted all the gifts.
He didn't refuse this marriage, he couldn't refuse it.
In fact, after Zhang Anan enlightened him, he also understood that the Qiu family was probably even more aggrieved. They were preparing to sue Wu Huaiyu and wanted to unseat him. However, the emperor suddenly suppressed them and asked their family to marry someone.
A legitimate daughter becomes a concubine.
Qiu He was a flexible and flexible person. With such a big foundation in Annan, he was able to join Xiao Mian first and then Li Tang. He was not greedy and stubborn like Liang Shidu, Xiao Mian and others.
Know the current situation and consider the overall situation, and have a vision.
The emperor asked the Qiu family to marry Qiu Xinggong's second daughter to Wu Huaiyu as a concubine. Qiu He not only agreed immediately, but also asked his eldest son Qiu Xingze to marry a daughter as well.
Buy one get one free.
The Qiu family was large, and Qiu and his own father gave birth to fifteen sons and more than twenty daughters. These fifteen sons also gave birth to dozens of grandchildren and granddaughters, making the family prosperous.
The Qiu family loves marriage.
The old man likes to take advantage of situations.
Following the trend, he had the courage to go to war with Wu Huaiyu, a young upstart, and he also had the courage to follow the trend and get married and reconcile with Wu Huaiyu.
"I will choose an auspicious day to visit Duke Fang Tan on another day."
After the matter was settled, Wu Huaiyu didn't leave the two of them alone. In fact, there was nothing more to say, especially with Qiu Ying. The two of them still felt a little awkward looking at each other.
During the day, he had people act as slaves of the Qiu family. Qiu Yingqi even chopped off the heads of the two slaves. But now they are becoming relatives. Even Qiu Yingqi's sister has to be Huaiyu's concubine and become his brother-in-law.
Already.
"The Qiu family will sweep the bed and come to visit."
Huaiyu didn't let them stay, even though the Wu family had a guest room in the guest house, they were delivered directly to the door. The uncles and nephews of the Qiu family left many gifts and left.
After they left, Dad came out.
"They were talking about giving gifts, and they were talking about getting married between the two families. I don't know the inside story, so I didn't see them." The warrior was confused, "The conflict just happened at noon, and we are going to get married soon. What do you mean?"
Huaiyu smiled and said, "This is the will of the saint, and it is not their original intention. However, the Laoqiu family is really powerful, and they can pick it up and put it down. Fortunately, the saint intervened this time, otherwise we would have really encountered a difficult opponent."
Dad heard about the situation. The emperor asked Qiu Xinggong to marry a daughter. As a result, Qiu He also asked his eldest son to marry a daughter. Then he gave so many gifts, one stone of pepper, two stones of sugar, fifty Kunlun slaves, and some ivory gold.
Corals and many more.
"The Qiu family is really rich."
The warrior Ke thought this was a good thing. After all, taking a concubine would not be a loss for the Wu family.
Huaiyu didn't explain anything to his father.
When he went to his own courtyard, Fan Xuanfu was waiting for him. After another explanation, she also understood, "The saint still favors you. This is to forcefully hold down the Qiu family and prevent them from causing trouble. You can't hide anything."
Supreme,"
"Since the Qiu family gives away gifts and accepts them, they can only add one concubine and one concubine. The Qiu family is still stingy. This kind of family should have one concubine and four concubines." She teased.
"Where's the Yuanbao?"
"I fell asleep after drinking enough. This guy has been out for a hundred days, but he still ate and slept."
"It's good if you can eat and sleep, don't make a fuss, and grow strong."
"That's true." Fan Xuanfu said with a motherly smile on his face, "Run Niang's child has been making a fuss, and it hasn't stopped during confinement."
The two of them sat in front of the stove chatting and making a pot of tea, which was a rare feeling.
Now she talks about her son, no longer in the world, and it can be seen that she has changed a lot. Holding her hand and talking to her about the child, she felt very happy and satisfied. It was hard to be pregnant in ten months, but she was a first-time mother. Fortunately, everything
Everything goes well, the child is healthy and there are many people at home to help with it.
"Let's have another baby. This time I want to have a daughter."
Late at night.
Fan Xuanfu's eyes looked at Huaiyu with affection and water dripping from his eyes.
"The daughters they gave birth to are so cute, especially Irina. Her big eyes are as beautiful as gems, twinkling, her hair, and her little nose. They are so beautiful. I want to have one too."
"She is of mixed Han and Hu heritage, so she is naturally pretty."
"Don't I look good?"
"Good-looking. My wife is also very good-looking. She is the most beautiful woman in the capital."
"Hmph," Fan Xuanfu pinched him, "I also have to give birth to a lovely daughter."
"Giving birth, giving birth tonight."
"Then I will serve Alang to take a bath."
The water in the silver pot boiled and bubbled, but the two of them put down their teacups and led them to the backyard soup house to take a bath.
······
Dawn.
Wu Huaiyu opened his eyes and found that Fan Xuanfu had long disappeared.
Hearing the commotion inside, the maid came in to serve.
I brought tea and water, and also scalded the towels with hot water.
Wash and change clothes.
When we arrived at the hall, people from all the rooms came to say hello.
One wife, four concubines, six concubines, three sons and two daughters.
Not counting the two sisters from the Qiu family.
Wu Huaiyu now has a prosperous family business, many wives and concubines, and many children.
Duan Wan, Cao Shisanniang, Fan Wuniang, and Fan Shiniang, these four concubines who came back from Xiazhou, are now pregnant, and will soon have four more children.
"Let's have breakfast together."
Huaiyu invited the wives and concubines in each room to have breakfast together. When he was not at home, each room basically ate by themselves.
Today is also unusually lively.
The breakfast is rich with yellow-noodle steamed buns, jujube cakes, steamed cakes, mutton soup, and dumplings.
Wu Huaiyu's appetite was particularly good today, probably because he had been traveling for many days and had to work overtime last night.
I ate several cakes in one go and drank two bowls of mutton soup.
After eating, Huaiyu realized that the women at home were all staring at him while eating breakfast, which made him feel like a sheep among wolves.
Among these wives, four concubines and six concubines, not counting the maids and maids each brought, five of the eleven women were pregnant and four were pregnant.
Now the only two women left, Gao Yanzhi and Tang Liuniang, still had no children, and they looked at Huaiyu with particularly 'hungry' eyes.
As for Lady Han and other women, they stood aside to serve. Now they don’t even have the status of concubines, and they are only maids. Jianyi, Fan Xuanfu and the others are personal maids, and they want to take over the marriage for themselves when it is inconvenient.
Yes, although the monthly salary is higher than that of ordinary maids, Huaiyu still has the energy to take care of them.
"I'll go to Aye's mother-in-law to say hello." Huaiyu felt deeply in crisis.
"We also go to say hello." Fan Xuanfu said.
They took them to the North Courtyard to say hello. When they saw Huaiyu now having wives and concubines and many children, the warriors Ke and Liu smiled from ear to ear. When they heard that all four of them were pregnant after returning from Xiazhou, they immediately asked them to take care of them.
Give them jewelry as a reward.
Regarding the arrival of two more generals from the Qiu family, Liu had the same attitude as the warrior Ke. It would be a good thing to add new members to the family.
Lao Wu's face was red. He had not been idle last year. The two concubines that Yang Shidao gave him had brought them back after they got pregnant. Now they have all given birth to sons. Lao Wu has contributed to the Wu family again, and Wu Huaiyu also has more children.
Fourth brother and fifth brother.
On the other hand, the girl he redeemed from Pingkangfang brothel was already very simple and unpretentious by the Liu family. She gave birth to a daughter for Lao Wu, and the Wu family lost more and more money.
On the other hand, Mrs. Wang, after not giving birth for six or seven years, is now pregnant again.
The eldest brother Huaiyi has not yet returned to Beijing. His wives and concubines left in Beijing, his eldest sister-in-law gave birth to a daughter, Zhenzhu, and several concubines gave birth to him two daughters.
"After returning to Beijing, I will go to various places." Lao Wu confessed.
"Well, I'll go to my adoptive father's house first, then my father-in-law's house, and visit each family."
There are too many people to visit. Qin Qiong, Fan Xing, Li Jingcheng, Jin Shishi, Tong Shishi Leng, I estimate that I will have to give gifts and be guests for many days in the future.
