Thief Emperor

Chapter 242 The Bond of Power

During the imperial era, the illiteracy rate was too high and most people were basically illiterate. It was unrealistic to rely solely on a certain idea to achieve success.

In this era, the most stable relationship is none other than kinship and blood relationship.

As for Li Yun, his father had gone to Cangshan Mountain to become a bandit early on, and he had no family members except for an eldest brother who had disappeared.

The person who is closest to him by blood is Li Zheng, who is also one of the people Li Yun can completely trust.

As the business expands, Li Zheng alone is definitely not enough. He cannot take care of all aspects on his own. Therefore, Li Yun needs a large number of people who have exactly the same interests as him to help maintain his power.

A certain Ming Dynasty founder had a weak family bloodline at that time, so he frantically adopted sons and relied on this kinship relationship to consolidate his power.

After all, if you are the only one in a huge group, no matter how good your relationship is, if someone has bad intentions and wants to kill you one day, the entire group will immediately change its flag and in the end, it will just be a wedding dress for others.

In contrast to the Li family, the Xue family is very prosperous. Not to mention the Xue family's fellow clansmen, just the brothers Xue Shou and Xue Fang have more than ten children together. Although these children are still young now, they will grow up slowly in the future.

Li Yun got married to Xue Yun'er, and these little kids became his nephews and nieces. If Li's business becomes bigger in the future, these people will be able to help him.

But this does not mean that he is nepotism. It is just that it has always been like this in the imperial era. Only blood relatives who have the same interests as oneself will generally not have any ulterior motives and can be used with confidence.

Although he didn't know whether Mr. Xue had this idea at the moment, Li Yun was still very interested in getting to know the Xue family.

That evening, the Xue family held a family banquet. All the Xue family members who could sit at the table sat at the table. Before the dishes were served, several children of the Xue family came forward one by one to pay their respects to Li Yun, calling him "uncle" in a very straightforward manner.

Among these children, the oldest is eleven or twelve years old, and the youngest is three or four years old. The Xue brothers did not bring the younger ones with them and left them in their hometown.

Li Yun greeted the children one by one, then looked up at the brothers Xue Shou and Xue Fang and said with a smile, "Brother, you have so many children."

Xue Fang was a reserved person. He just nodded and smiled, and said nothing more. Xue Shou was much more outgoing. He sat next to Li Yun and said with a smile, "Brother-in-law, are there only two of you brothers in your family?"

Li Yun was stunned, then smiled and nodded: "Yes, there are only two of us brothers."

"Then you have to work harder. Your brother-in-law is now an official, and he will have a family business in the future. We have to expand it as soon as possible."

Li Yun chatted with Xue Shou for a while, then asked with a smile: "Brother, is everything okay in your hometown now?"

"It's not in the Central Plains, so it's naturally safe. Although there are occasional changes, it hasn't gotten into chaos yet."

The Xue family’s hometown is in Hongzhou, some distance away from Xuanzhou.

Xue Fang is now in his hometown, managing the Xue family's property, while Xue Shou, like his father, is an official in a state.

At this point, Xue Shou sighed silently and said, "I don't know when the war in the Central Plains will be quelled. People are in panic now, and it's difficult for us local officials to do our job."

Li Yun smiled and said, "I think Jiangdong is still quite safe now. Otherwise, my elder brother and father-in-law should both find a way to transfer to Jiangdong to serve as officials, so that we can take care of each other."

"It's not that easy to transfer officials."

Xue Shou smiled bitterly and said, "My brother, I was promoted to the position of deputy driver only last year. If you don't serve two terms, you can't move."

Li Yun smiled and said, "In the next two days, Pei Huang, the governor of Qiantang County, will come to Qingyang. As long as my elder brother and father-in-law are willing, I will find a way to talk to him."

"what?"

Xue Shou was stunned for a long time before he stammered, "This... this, I need to ask my father first."

"Not in a hurry."

Li Yun talked and laughed with him.

"If you really don't want to go to Jiangdong, just pretend I didn't say anything."

Xue Shou looked at Li Yun and said with a smile: "Brother-in-law, you have been in Yuezhou for only half a year, and you have already made great achievements. To be honest, I really want to go to Jiangdong to take a look, but my father's temper may not be willing to take this route."

Xue Song's character was indeed not flexible enough, otherwise he would not have been only a county magistrate at his age. Even his eldest son held a higher position than him.

While the two were talking, the Xue family's family banquet began. Mr. Xue sat in the seat of honor and invited everyone to take their seats.

Li Yun was arranged to sit on the left side of Xue Song, which was considered the second seat.

The status of a new son-in-law is always higher.

Because newlyweds were not allowed to meet before marriage, Li Yun did not see Xue Yun'er or Miss Liu during the meal. After the meal, it was already dark, but Li Yun insisted on leaving and returned to his own yard to live. In the next two days, Li was busy preparing wedding clothes and other things. In the blink of an eye, it was the day of the wedding. Li Yun went to the county government to welcome his bride early in the morning, surrounded by Li Zheng and others.

Li Yun's current status and position are different from before, so this wedding was quite lively. A buffet was set up at the door of Li's house, and the wedding procession was filled with loud gongs and drums, making the whole Qingyang lively.

In the back hall of the county government, in Xue Yun'er's boudoir, Miss Liu was helping her fix the hairpins on her head. Seeing Xue Yun'er in her wedding dress, Miss Liu's eyes revealed envy and she whispered, "Sister, you look really beautiful today."

Xue Yun'er was quite nervous at the moment. After hearing this, she turned around and looked at Miss Liu, and smiled softly, "Sister, if you dress up, I guarantee you will look better than me."

Miss Liu helped to comb the last lock of hair and whispered, "Sister is prettier than me."

"I went outside today and saw that the whole Qingyang was decorated with lights and it was very lively. From now on, no one will dare to gossip about my sister anymore."

This sentence is what Xue Yuner is worried about.

Because... this wasn't the first time she wore a wedding dress. Although her last marriage had been called off, there were bound to be people who would gossip about her behind her back.

This time, Mr. Xue tried his best to make the wedding as lively as possible, and he also wanted to cover up what happened two years ago.

Miss Xue pinched the corner of her clothes tightly and whispered, "From now on, even if I am the wife of the Li family, I won't be afraid of other people's gossip."

As she spoke, she looked up at Liu Su and said softly, "Sister, don't go looking for any aunt. Wait until I get married, and you can go to Yuezhou with me."

"Just take it as a way to relax."

Miss Liu shook her head slightly and was about to speak when someone outside shouted loudly, "The new son-in-law is coming in!"

Miss Liu's eyes flickered and she smiled softly, "My brother-in-law is here to pick me up. Should I let him in later?"

Xue Yun'er hesitated for a moment, but still shook her head and gritted her teeth and said, "I...I heard that he has been very busy recently. He just fought a group of rebels in Wuzhou and was injured. Don't bother him. Take it over early and let him rest early."

Liu Su smiled softly and said, "Sister, you can't wait any longer, right?"

"Hate."

Xue Yun'er blushed and scolded him, then sighed and said, "Sister really can't wait any longer."

She whispered, "Two years was really hard to endure..."

The bride kidnapping incident had a profound impact on her. After all, in this era, no woman could completely disregard her own reputation.

With the sound of gongs and drums outside, Li Yun and other members of the wedding procession rushed into the small courtyard like wolves and tigers. Before Miss Liu could block the door, a group of soldiers from the Yuezhou Army swiftly dismantled the door frame. Sima Li rushed in with a loud laugh and ran out carrying the screaming Miss Xue on his back.

Only after running outside did Li yell, "I'll come back to install the door in two days!"

After saying this, he carried his new bride on his back and ran out of the county government office amid the laughter of everyone.

Miss Liu followed all the way to the door, and watched the sedan chair being carried farther and farther away, lost in thought, standing there in a daze.

……

After the bride was brought back, since it was not yet dusk for the wedding ceremony, they spent the whole day drinking. Li Yun was outside accompanying many officials from various states who had come from Jiangdong to drink in the wedding. After a while, his face was flushed from drinking.

After drinking half a pot of wine, Li Yun looked up and saw Pei Huang talking to Du Qian, so he stepped forward to toast him and said with a smile: "I just saw Mr. Pei, please show some courtesy."

Pei Huang smiled and said, "Sima Li is the groom today, so it's normal for him to be busy. No one can accuse you of being lazy."

The two clinked their glasses, Pei Huang raised his head and drank it all, then looked at Li Yun and said with a smile: "I was right at the beginning. After Li Sima joined the army, he really stood out and shined in Jiangdong."

Mr. Li smiled calmly.

"A fluke, a fluke."

Pei Huang smiled and said, "I will go to Xuanzhou City with Envoy Cui tomorrow. When Li Sima is done with Qingyang's affairs, shall we meet in Xuanzhou?"

Li Yun first looked at Du Qian beside him, then thought about it, and finally nodded in agreement.

"Being respectful is worse than obeying orders."

(End of this chapter)