Xue Bai is in the Youxiang Mansion and no longer cares about the curfew.
It’s hard to say whether it’s more free or less free.
Li Linfu spends his days dealing with government affairs in the palace, but today he took the time to see him.
"Your stupid method can actually find people?"
Xue Bai responded: "Documents will always leave traces. As long as you have patience, you will definitely find the traces."
"Jiwen can't find it."
"Jifacao is too impetuous." Xue Bai agreed bluntly, and added: "Now that it has been found out that Wu Kangcheng and the Jiang brothers were acquainted, he denied it without even thinking. In addition, he deliberately chatted and made me
The reason for delaying the curfew may be just to slow down my progress, or it may be that I am using my status as Jinwu Guard’s patrol envoy to notify the Longyou veterans during the curfew. We can arrange for someone to conduct a secret investigation in Jinwu Guard.”
Li Linfu coughed twice and someone would arrange it.
Later, he seemed to have changed his mind and took the initiative to offer benefits.
"You have done a good job in this matter. The truth is that I intend to recommend you as an official, but I wonder if you have ever recalled your life and whether you have a family background?"
Xue Bai was busy pretending to be flattered and responded: "I really can't think of it."
He knew that given Li Linfu's suspicion, such an answer could easily make him think that he was deliberately concealing something.
The already thin trust between the two became even more fragmented.
"It's okay, think about it slowly." Li Linfu said: "You can supervise and handle the matter regarding the Longyou veterans."
"Here."
Xue Bai turned around and left the hall, sitting down in the veranda in the front yard.
He is waiting for Jin Wuwei to make arrangements before going over to supervise.
Not long after, someone poked his head in, but it was Yang Zhao.
"I heard from the chief steward that you are going to Jinwu Guard. I wonder why I haven't seen you in the past two days. What's the gain?"
"I found some clues."
"Who asked you this?" Yang Zhao said: "I heard that you went to Wang Wei's house. He was from the Wang family in Taiyuan, so he didn't give you any good things?"
Xue Bai shook his head.
Yang Zhao said: "Don't blame me for not reminding you that if you do things for your right minister, you have to reach out and get the benefits. In this way, you can make progress if you have the capital. Like me, I often give gifts to three ladies, and they will beautify me in front of the saint."
"Say, when the saint needs to employ people, he will think of me. Otherwise, if you work hard and just wait for the right prime minister to appoint you, won't you?"
He paused for a moment and then added.
"My brother's words today are worth a thousand pieces of gold."
Xue Bai was speechless for a moment, but the atmosphere in the officialdom is like this. Saints are so extravagant. The right prime minister has risen through the ranks with his ability to manage finances, and his actions are effective. It is inevitable that he will be more direct when he comes to Yang Zhao.
He had no choice but to thank Yang Zhao for the gift of gold and asked, "Why is my uncle here?"
"I am the lackey of the right prime minister." Yang Zhao smiled proudly and lowered his voice and said: "There is a big happy event. The imperial concubine has returned to the palace."
"Oh?"
Yang Zhao sat down next to Xue Bai and spoke in a proud tone.
"Let me tell you, I heard that after the imperial concubine came out of the palace, the saint didn't even eat the royal meal, and he got angry and whipped everyone around. When General Gao saw this, he presented the poem you ghostwritten for the imperial concubine. The saint said that the poem was not good, but instead
The royal meal was given to General Gao, and General Gao requested an order to summon the imperial concubine back to the palace."
Xue Bai asked: "How can uncle Guo know so carefully?"
Yang Zhao still had a proud smile on his face and whispered: "Mrs. Guo Guo can find out clearly."
Xue Bai nodded.
Yang Zhao added: "The imperial concubine said that she took note of the poem you sent."
In today's world, if there is another incident involving the Du family, Yang Guifei's words may be able to save dozens of lives.
Xue Bai then said: "I should thank my uncle for giving me the opportunity."
"Brothers, why are you so polite?"
Anyway, Yang Zhao has already returned Xue Bai’s words worth a thousand pieces of gold, so you’re welcome.
"This matter is over. Mrs. Guo Guo can finally let go of her worries. After you have finished your errands for your right minister, I will take you over to pay a visit and give you some guidance on your future."
"My uncle has supported me too much."
Yang Zhao said: "This is a good opportunity. If you seize it, don't imitate the Wang Wei you met today."
"Oh?"
"Don't you know?" Yang Zhao glanced at Xue Bai and felt that he still had to remind him, so he waved to Xue Bai and asked him, "Do you know Princess Yuzhen?"
"I don't know much about it."
"You, you still want to make progress." Yang Zhao complained softly and said: "Princess Yuzhen is the sister of the saint. She has won the saint's favor and is extremely noble."
Xue Bai knew that today's saint would kill his son whenever he asked, but he was kind to his brothers and sisters.
After all, this saint's biological mother was secretly executed after meeting Wu Zetian, and even her body could not be found. He has been dependent on his brothers and sisters since he was a child.
"Princess Yuzhen did not choose a consort, but became a nun. All the people she met were talented and famous people. It was because of Princess Yuzhen's recommendation that Li Bai was able to serve in the Imperial Academy."
Having said this, Yang Zhao shook his head and smiled and said: "I have heard about it too. It is said that Wang Wei failed the exam that year. King Deqi introduced him to Princess Yuzhen, dressed in white and holding a pipa.
A song "Yulun Pao" was played for the princess at the banquet. The princess saw that he was "white in his youth and beautiful in appearance" and asked King Qi who he was. King Qi smiled and replied, "He is a close friend". The princess ordered her to be a maid.
She took Wang Wei to the inner room and changed into colorful clothes, ascended to the guest seat, and treated him as a distinguished guest. During the dinner, the princess saw Wang Wei's romantic style and couldn't help but look sideways again and again."
After Xue Bai heard this, he was not unfamiliar with this situation. Instead, he remembered what he had seen in Mrs. Guo's house that day.
No wonder Wang Wei would say, "You look very much like me when we were young." They really do.
Yang Zhao said: "It seems that Princess Yuzhen had agreed to nominate Zhang Jiugao as the number one scholar that year. After meeting Wang Wei that day, she changed her mind and said, 'I will be the first to get rid of my head this year, and I can honestly say that I will be the most glorious country'."
The maids in the palace preached, and Wang Wei then rose to the top."
Xue Bai couldn't help but ask: "Can the princess decide the results of the imperial examination with just one word?"
"Of course."
Among the whole rumors, the part that shocked Xue Bai the most was that Yang Zhao responded with two words as a matter of course.
As for whether other rumors are true or false, I don’t know whether they are true or false.
"Wang Wei was twenty years old that year, and Princess Yuzhen was just over thirty. One was a handsome boy with many talents, and the other was a beautiful Taoist nun with noble status. I won't tell you what happened, you can think about it yourself."
Yang Zhao spoke with interest, and the smile on his face became brighter.
It can be seen that he usually chats with Mrs. Guo Guo and others, mostly about the affairs between these celebrities and nobles.
It’s rare to even appear knowledgeable and talented.
"It's a pity that Wang Wei doesn't know how to praise. Hehe, 'Don't forget the kindness of the past because of today's favor', it's probably like this poem. He went against Princess Yuzhen's wishes and married his childhood sweetheart's cousin Cui. No.
Not long after, he found an excuse and was demoted to Jeju. You see, later his wife died and he refused to renew their relationship. He said it was because he was infatuated, but why didn't he even dare to write a mourning poem?"
After saying that, Yang Zhao turned to look at Xue Bai, with a hint of caution in his eyes, and said: "If I had known this, why would I do it in the first place? People, you can't ruin your own future."
"Yes, the official career is like reaching the sky, so you can't always think that the road is not good."
From what Xue Bai saw today, Yang Zhao and Wang Wei were indeed worlds apart.
But in the Tang Dynasty, with Wang Wei's family background and talents, he still thought that clinging to the right prime minister was "not the right way" and that befriending the princess was "a shortcut that doesn't work."
Ordinary people can't even find a way.
Xue Bai is not Yang Zhao, but he is not Wang Wei either.
No matter how dirty or bumpy the road, he has to walk on it.
At this moment, a servant from the Prime Minister's Mansion came over outside the door and said, "Xue Xiaolang, the Jinwu Guards have made arrangements."
"Thanks for the reminder, let's go."
~~
As night falls, Chang'an City is under curfew.
Xue Bai climbed up to the fire-watching tower in the East Market and looked up, only to see the lights of every house in Chang'an City as neatly as a chessboard.
"Deng-deng-deng-deng."
A bearded Jinwu Guard general in his forties or fifties strode up to the fire watch tower, looked at Xue Bai with his sword in hand, and said: "Guo Qianli, the left middle lord of the Jinwu Guards, is here. You are from the Right Prime Minister's Mansion."
?"
When he opened his mouth, the smell of alcohol hit his face. Guo Qianli came here after drinking a lot of wine and was already a little tipsy.
"Xue Bai, I have been ordered by the right prime minister to investigate some matters."
"Oh, what a young man."
Guo Qianli looked startled and stuck his big head in front of Xue Bai and said: "I have received orders and have sent people to follow Wukang."
Xue Bai did not expect that among the Jinwu Guards, the person who switched to Li Linfu would be such a reckless man. It was a bit strange, but he couldn't ask, "I think you seem to be a good person, how can you do things for the right minister?"
"General Guo has worked hard, has he done anything strange?"
"No, he is leading people to patrol the streets in Anyifang."
Xue Bai looked south for a while. He could see nothing else in the night, only the faint light of fire behind the square building.
Guo Qianli said: "Don't worry, my people are watching him quietly."
Xue Bai nodded and asked: "General Guo, can you tell me about Wukang Cheng?"
"The veteran who came back from Longyou, the year I was transferred from Longyou to Chang'an, he hadn't gone there yet." Guo Qianli burped and said, "General Xue of our Zuojinwu Guard once made great achievements in Longyou, and many Longyou soldiers
He placed all the veterans on the right."
"General Xue? He has the same surname as me. Which General Xue is he?"
"General Xue Hui of the Zuojin Wu Guard, his grandfather is our famous general Xue Rengui of the Tang Dynasty, and his father is Pingyang County Duke, Xue Na Xue Jie Shuai, who defeated Tubo."
At this point, Guo Qianli started to smell drunk, and patted his chest and said: "I once made meritorious service under the command of Commander Xue Dajie, and Li Taibai even wrote poems praising me!"
Xue Bai's original intention was to investigate the Jiang brothers, but he did not expect that every person he met in Chang'an City would have such an extraordinary experience.
"Oh?"
"In the second year of Kaiyuan, I followed Marshal Xue Dajie in the battle against Tibet! In this battle, more than 17,000 people were beheaded, and 1.2 million cattle and sheep were seized. The Tibetan army suffered tens of thousands of casualties, and corpses littered the fields! Just wait, I'll give it to you
You read the poem Li Taibai wrote to me...and so on."
Xue Bai looked around and saw Guo Qianli taking out a crumpled piece of paper from his arms. He must have often read poems to others.
Guo Qianli coughed a few times and read loudly.
"The young general showed his martial prowess and entered the silver platform to protect Ziwei."
"Go to the sky with your sword in the morning, and return drunk with your whip in the dusk."
"The beloved son plays the jade flute in the wind, and the beauty dances in her robes to the moon."
"In the past, heroes were like in a dream. They met each other and wanted to be drunk by the light of spring."
His voice is ugly, but even a random poem written by Li Bai can appear elegant and heroic.
When Xue Bai looked at Guo Qianli again, he could tell some stories from the vicissitudes of his face.
The long night was silent, and Wu Kangcheng had not made any move, so they simply talked about the old events of the Longyou battlefield on the fire watch tower.
He doesn’t deliberately pursue anyone, Xue Bai just listens to whatever Guo Qianli says.
"In that battle, General Wang was the vanguard and chased the Tibetan army to the entrance of the ditch and into the Changcheng Castle. He was trapped in a tight siege. The generals were jealous of General Wang's military exploits and refused to come to the rescue. In the end, General Wang was outnumbered and died fighting.
”
"Which General Wang?"
"The prince's right guard led the Feng'an military envoy, General Wang Haibin." Guo Qianli said: "After General Wang died in the battle, his son was adopted as a false son by the saint and named a loyal heir, that is, the sworn brother of the prince. Today's
Wang Zhongsi, the Jiedushi of the four towns of Hexi, Longyou, Shuofang and Hedong."
Xue Bai then became more and more clear.
From Huangfu Weiming to Wang Zhongsi, Longyou Army and the East Palace have always been inextricably linked.
Jiedushi can be replaced, but this network of relationships will always exist.
What puzzled him was that, judging from Guo Qianli's tone, he must be someone in this network.
"You said that the prince is raising dead soldiers and is related to Longyou. I believe it." Guo Qianli said again: "But there are many veterans of Longyou in the Jinwu Guard. In recent years, I have secretly inquired under the order of the right prime minister, but from
No clues were found, and Wu Kangcheng never did anything unusual."
At this time, someone rushed to the Fire Watch Tower and reported: "General, Wu Kangcheng's night patrol is over and he has gone home."
"Did he do anything strange?"
"No."
Guo Qianli then asked: "Is it possible that Mr. Xue Langjun made a mistake?"
Xue Bai looked at Guo Qianli, who had thick eyebrows and big eyes in front of him, and wondered if Li Linfu had made a mistake. The person in front of him clearly looked like a prince.