A Thousand Hills

Chapter 62

Xie Moru left the lecture hall and simply took a walk outside.

There are no flowers and plants in the Guozijian, but there are many trees, and the species of trees are extremely monotonous, just like the locust tree.The locust tree has always been regarded as the tree of the public officials, which means auspiciousness.The locust trees of Guozijian are in patches, and in this early spring, there is also a pleasant greenness.It should be a beautiful scene when Sophora japonica is in full bloom.

Xie Moru was leisurely admiring the scenery of the Imperial College, when he heard the footsteps of several people behind him, Xie Moru avoided the right side of the road, stopped the leader and said, "Miss Xie."

Xie Moru saw that it was Master Ning who was leading several officials from the Imperial Academy, and nodded slightly, "Master Ning."

Master Ning brought his unique gentleness, he didn't talk much, he was polite just right, completely showing the demeanor of a third-rank official, he said, "If the girl wants to listen to Mr. Beiling's lecture, I will arrange a seat for the girl .”

"No need." Xie Moru said, "Master Ning is going to meet Mr. Beiling, you go first."

Master Ning nodded, and hurried away with the officials of the Imperial College.An official from the Imperial College said, "Mr. Beiling is coming to give lectures, and our Imperial College students have to wait in line. How can women be allowed to enter a place like the Banquet Hall. My lord, don't waste the public because of personal interests." .”

Master Ning didn't think it was disobedient, and said with a smile, "I just said that Miss Xie won't go. Even if she goes, she has her own seat. Why do you need me to say more."

The official really wanted to comment on the Xie family, but was pulled by the sleeves of the colleagues around him. Master Ning looked forward, his eyes lit up, and he smiled, "Mr. Beiling is here." So everyone together Step forward and meet Mr. Beiling.

According to legend, Mr. Beiling had three thousand disciples. Xie Moru thought that this gentleman was surrounded by at least 72 sages like Confucius in those days. In fact, Mr. Beiling didn’t have much ostentation. One should be a big or small official.Xie Moru had just left the courtyard of the lecture hall, when he saw a group of Hulala, all white-bearded and hair-haired, thin and energetic, dressed in green shirts and clothed, coming towards the lecture hall.Mr. Beiling's own entourage fell behind, only three or four people. According to Mr. Beiling's current status, it is not an exaggeration.

There are many students in the Imperial College, and those who can get the lecture certificate are limited. Many students who don't have the lecture certificate come to the entrance of the banquet hall to have a look at the rumored Mr. Beiling.Therefore, the scene was quite lively.Xie Moru was in the crowd, seeing Mr. Beiling being surrounded into the lecture hall, she just waved her sleeves and went home first.

Mrs. Xie and Xie Shangshu are playing chess under the apricot tree, and Xie Moyou is helping with the fortune teller, having fun.Seeing Xie Moru coming back, Mrs. Xie thought something was wrong, Xie Moru said, "A friend of the second uncle has no seat, so I will give him the seat and come back first."

Mrs. Xie felt relieved, and smiled, "That's true. They are scholars, and they rely on their fame to make a living." Xie Moru is doing good deeds every day.

Xie Shangshu held a white jade chess piece between his fingers, and the sunlight fell on Xie Shangshu's body speckled through a tree of apricot blossoms. Xie Shangshu narrowed his eyes, glanced at Xie Moru with a smile, and raised his hand to drop the chess piece, "The one who can make Moru give up his seat, no Wait for idlers."

Xie Moyou was a little sensitive, she got up to give up her seat, Xie Moru lightly pressed her shoulder, Xie Moyou sat back down again.Suxin moved a stool, Xie Moru sat down, brushed his hem casually, showing a bit of sass, and said, "Grandfather is rarely at home." Xie Shangshu is a busy person, and Xie Mu is often involved in affairs.

"Stealing Fusheng for half a day." Xie Shangshu asked, "Have you seen Mr. Beiling?"

"In a hurry, it doesn't seem like a rumor." Xie Moru said, "There are no three thousand disciples, so it can be seen that the rumors are not true."

Xie Shangshu smiled, "Even if there are three thousand disciples, is it possible that they are still with me?"

"Mr. Beiling is not such a person."

Xie Shangshu was surprised, "It doesn't look like it?" Xie Moru saw when people used to describe people like or not, Xie Moru always spoke according to factual evidence.

Xie Moru's eyes moved, the corners of his lips slightly raised, and the tails of his eyes showed a hint of flying, and asked Xie Shangshu, "Grandfather, is Mr. Beiling coming to the imperial capital for the first time since returning to his hometown in Beiling when the late emperor?"

Caressing the cool jade chess piece, Xie Shangshu casually replied, "Yes."

"I heard that Emperor Xue is still on the Jiangbei Ridge in Southern Xuebeijiang. I wonder if Emperor Xue also wrote a book and said that he recruited more disciples?"

It's true that one can know the elegance by listening to the stringed songs, and this kind of wit is second to none in Xie's family.Xie Shangshu chuckled, leisurely picked up the thin fetal element cup and took a sip, and put down another one, calling it to eat.Mrs. Xie was shocked, "Oh, I didn't pay attention." Seeing this, Xie Moru simply reached out and picked up a sunspot to drop for Mrs. Xie.

Xie Moru is not as good as Xie Shangshu in chess, and much stronger than Mrs. Xie, Xie Shangshu mustered up his energy to deal with it.

The breeze blew through a tree of weak apricot blossoms, the bees were busy among the flowers, the light and shadow on the chessboard flickered and flickered, and the shadow of the sun moved in, Xie Moru stretched out his hand to touch the chess pieces in the chess pot, but Xie Shangshu threw the chess pieces in his hand, Laugh, "lose, lose."

Xie Moru didn't notice that he had won at all, and calculated in his heart, he really won, and said, "Grandfather played chess with me, and he should have won. You are a dignified elder, and if you lose, you are the one who gave way to the younger generation. Why? Come to type a word?"

Xie Mo said worriedly, oh, she thought Xie Moru couldn't flatter, but it turned out that only the clapping was louder.

Xie Shangshu laughed loudly, and said, "Emperor Xue lives in seclusion in Qingcheng Mountain, and he also has many books, but he has never heard of accepting disciples."

Xie Moru had already figured it out, got up to say goodbye, and went back to Dujuan courtyard.

Xie Bai returned home in the evening, talked with Xie Moru in the study, and said with a smile, "Wait a minute?"

Xie Moru is really not in a hurry, she has done what she should do, as for Li Qiao, it depends on Li Qiao's own ability.Xie Moru smiled, "Second Uncle is trying to trick me?"

Xie Bai's smile is extremely comfortable, and it's really no fun to play tricks on Xie Moru, because you can't see how the word "anxiety" is written on her face that has been calm for thousands of years, so she bluntly said, "Beiling Mr. Li Jiujiang is very appreciative, Li Jiujiang and Li Xuan returned to Yong'an Hou Mansion today, Li Xuan asked me to thank you on his behalf."

"This is Mr. Li's own guts. If I change someone, I am willing to let him go, but he may not dare to sit." Xie Moru said calmly, "Since taking the seat I gave up, Mr. Li's imperial examination may not be much smoother than before."

"It's not as exaggerated as you said, nothing is more important than reputation." As long as Li Qiao's reputation is restored, he will have a future without the imperial examination.Xie Bai didn't want to thank Mo Ru for thinking too much, and said, "You really think of yourself as important, not to mention others, many ministers in the court were also promoted by the Eldest Princess when she was in power, as long as there is no loss in virtue, Your Majesty will still use it. .”

Xie Moru smiled, "That's true too. I'm always worried that Mr. Li will be involved."

"Since we are acquaintances, there is no one who is involved or not. If you are afraid of being involved, why did you know each other in the first place? Like you said, you let Li Jiujiang sit on it." Xie Baisu said with a smile, "You gave Li Jiujiang the seat. Giving up his seat made him famous. It is estimated that people who did not know him at the time would recognize him now. I reckon that people would have to think at that time, who is this kid who can make Miss Xie give up his seat for him? ?”

Xie Moru was amused, "So I'm so famous?"

"You are a famous person in the imperial capital." Xie Bai said with a nose and eyes, "When I was young, people would say that this was the second son of the Xie family. Later, when your grandfather was promoted and our family became glorious, others would say , This is the second son of Xie Shangshu. Later, people called me Xie Tanhua. After the Lord Shang, I became the son-in-law of Xie. Now, everyone says, oh, this is Miss Xie and her second uncle."

As long as Xie Bai wants to make someone happy, that person will be happy, and Xie Moru is no exception.It was rare for Xie Moru to be happy, and finally showed some youthful curiosity, she asked, "Second Uncle, tell me, is Mr. Li a shocking person, overwhelming all the heroes, so that he can attract Mr. Beiling's attention."

Xie Bai smiled, "He is amazing. When discussing knowledge with Mr. Beiling, most of the people are confused." There are ghosts in confusion.Moreover, Li Qiao is indeed very knowledgeable, and it is easy to be unconstrained when he talks about knowledge. Most people only have the role of listening, and some people may not understand it, or only half understand it.

"It's good that the second uncle is not confused."

"Your second uncle is a dignified prospect. If he doesn't even have this knowledge, he can be dishonest for me." Xie Bai and Xie Moru briefly talked about the banquet. Mr. Beiling's blue eyes are all expected.Xie Bo was worried about other things, and said, "I'm only worried that someone will add fuel to the picture, which is not good for you or Li Jiujiang."

Xie Moru gave up his seat to Li Qiao, he was mentally prepared and said, "If you don't add oil and vinegar, it will be abnormal."

Xie Bo thought for a moment, "It's not easy for Princess Yi'an to come forward in this matter." The most direct connection with the royal family is not the son-in-law, but the princess.He is married to Princess Yi'an. Although there are still differences in political stances, the two are still willing to discuss some things.However, this matter is related to Princess Wenkang and Xie Moru, as well as Princess Wenkang's concubine Li Jiujiang. Princess Yi'an's temperament must avoid this trouble.

Xie Moru smiled, "Princess Yi'an is indeed difficult to come forward, but I don't need a princess for this matter. With Princess Wenkang, we can solve this trouble for us."

Xie Bai said, "Princess Wenkang is extremely indifferent to Li Jiujiang. At the beginning Li Xuan wanted to ask the princess to come forward, but she refused."

"Second uncle is a man, so it's inevitable that he looks down on women."

"Second uncle swear to God, how dare I look down on you."

Xie Moru pursed his lips and smiled, "The eldest princess is cold to Mr. Li, that's how the aunt treats the concubine. Doesn't Li Xuan know that the eldest princess is cold to Mr. Li? Why is he still willing to restore Li Jiujiang's reputation? Because they are brothers of the same father after all. If the Eldest Princess objects to this matter, she will never let Li Xuan come to the lecture hall today. Since Li Xuan has come, it means that the Eldest Princess at least acquiesces."

"Is it possible that Li Xuan hid it from the eldest princess?"

"It's unlikely. Li Xuan has a gentle temper. When the second uncle went to discuss with him, he agreed, which shows that this person is full of opinions. This is also in line with his status as the eldest son of the Marquis of Yong'an. He is the one who will inherit the Marquis Mansion in the future You must not be weak or have no opinion. A gentle person is rarely impulsive. This kind of person is generally thoughtful, thoughtful, and makes a decision before making a move. Today Li Xuan made it clear that he was well prepared, so I said he was not hiding it Parents." Xie Moru's eyes were calm, long eyelashes drooping, as if hiding countless wisdom, she said, "I said that the eldest princess can solve our troubles, and it is here. The eldest princess will not let People say that Li Xuan's is not."

According to the degree of Princess Wenkang's defense, this is very possible, Xie Bai said, "We can think of it, and I'm afraid others can think of it. As long as Li Xuan is not mentioned, the eldest princess will be happy to stand on the sidelines."

"As long as someone mentions Li Qiao, someone will definitely mention Marquis Yong'an, Princess Wenkang, and finally Li Xuan."

"Who?"

"The Empress Dowager." Xie Moru said, "Someone is rushing to put Li Qiao and me into a pile of eye drops, so of course they can dig a hole smoothly. The most important thing is not to have anything to do with the eldest princess , don’t even say that Li Qiao is not with me, just make a premise under your majesty lightly, and everything will be complete. In the future, everything will be like this, and as time goes on, no matter how deep the emperor’s favor will be exhausted , not to mention that I have no emperor's favor at all. When His Majesty gets annoyed one day, it will be a good opportunity to attack me."

Xie Moru just said the words lightly, her tone was flat, as if she was talking about other people's affairs, that kind of calm to cold indifference made Xie Bai's mouth sour, and his heart ached slightly.

"However, no matter how good the method is, it cannot be done by the Queen Mother." Xie Moru said, "The Queen Mother is a mother, and, besides, a mother who is not very smart. Have you ever seen those women who are not very smart? They are short-sighted and can only see the pros and cons of the moment. The most terrifying thing is that they are self-righteous and think they are the smartest people in the world."

Xie Moru stretched out a plain white hand, this hand is as white as jade, without any blemishes, as delicate as a jade carving. "The biggest similarity between smart people and stupid people is that they are not easy to be controlled. If you want to use this hand to achieve something, you will immediately know what is not enough to succeed and more than to fail." Xie Moru's brows flashed a ray of determination, "This matter, the Queen Mother will definitely turn the corner."

Xie Bai wanted to ask, "What if the Queen Mother is not?"

Xie Moru raised his eyebrows and smiled lightly, "I don't do things without paying the price. Since I dare to help Li Qiao, I'm not afraid of this. If I were afraid, I wouldn't help him today. It's up to people to plan things, and it's up to God to make things happen. I also That's all I can think of."

"Don't worry." Xie Bo smiled, "I'm used to walking on Ping'an Street in the morning and drinking goji berry porridge in the morning, and some people are used to taking the harem route, so it's hard not to let him go."

"Yes."

Cheng En Gong Mansion.

Cheng Li listened to Princess Ningrong talk about the banquet, closed his eyes and thought for a moment, and said, "This matter has nothing to do with the government and His Highness."

Eldest Princess Ningrong said, "It's true that neither I nor the Duke's government has anything to do with it, but seeing Xie Moru recruiting troops and buying people's hearts like this, I always feel uneasy."

Cheng Li said with emotion, "Majestic and upright. Miss Xie's conspiracy ability should not be underestimated." To achieve great things, you must have this conspiracy.

Princess Ningrong suddenly laughed, "I don't know what His Majesty will think."

"Your Majesty's patience is always the best." Cheng Li poured cold water on Eldest Princess Ning Rong.

The smile on Princess Ningrong's face gradually disappeared, and she asked, "According to what Mr. said, should we just turn a blind eye?"

"How can you turn a blind eye? Everyone who went to the lecture hall that day saw it, and you can't hide it from His Majesty's eyes. If you want to say who doesn't know, it's nothing more than the Queen Mother in the palace." Cheng Li said, "Your Highness still remembers the lark that Miss Xie said The story of the bird? How did the lark die? Without the attention of the owner, it will die naturally. According to the wishes of the subordinates, never mention Miss Xie again, and no one should mention it. Miss Xie is unwilling to be mediocre, she wants to In her early days, she must do a few taboo things, and if she does too many taboo things, His Majesty will hate her, and then she will kill herself."

Princess Ning Rong said, "Sir, don't forget, the story of Bai Ling was told by that girl herself, how can she not understand this truth. Since she understands, how can she enter the story by herself?"

Cheng Li gently fiddled with the ashes in the sapphire incense burner with a copper whisk, took out a piece of warm incense and put it in, and said softly, "No one is perfect, Miss Xie's shortcoming is that she values ​​the word "bright" too much and is too conceited She hasn't experienced setbacks yet, she feels that she is fully prepared, and from the day she showed up in the imperial capital, she has been going forward indomitably, without defeat."

"Our disadvantage is that we are only relatives with little influence. There are many powerful families in the imperial capital. They are proud and conceited and do not agree with the Hu family. Only the Hu family's voice is too small. It is so small that it will be negligible when it reaches Jiuchong." Cheng Lidao , "It can be used to narrow our relationship with the wealthy family."

"What's the matter?"

"It's about Xie Moru." Cheng Li said, "Xie Moru is difficult to control, and even hard to get along with. She is too assertive and cunning. At first, I wanted His Highness to show favor to her, hoping to be able to do it." Subdue her, now it seems that she is not a submissive person. She even only uses the Cheng'eng Mansion as a stepping stone for her success. However, she is still young. In this world, there is a way of death that falls out of favor and then perishes like Bailing. There is another way to die, which is to let everyone see her lethality, the wood is as good as the forest, and the wind will destroy it."

Eldest Princess Ning Rong said, "Sir, what you mean is, let's praise her first."

"Your Highness, don't worry about it again. Miss Xie is not something ordinary people can lift up. She has to step on the faces, honors, corpses, and blood of countless people." Cheng Li laughed, "Your Highness, you might as well pay attention and see who this time is. Shall I disclose this matter to the empress dowager?"

Princess Ningrong frowned slightly, and the warm scent stained Cheng Li's pale face with blood. He said, "Which family can't calm down first, Xie Moru will be the first to step on it."

Princess Ning Rong was always worried, "I only worry that when her wings are full, it will be difficult to touch her."

"Your Highness, have you read the scriptures written by Su Buyu? If you want to be in the class of immortals, all the spirits must go through the catastrophe first. Many spirits will be smashed to pieces in this catastrophe, and they will be reduced to ashes."

Princess Ningrong laughed, "Then let's see how Xie Moru survives this little catastrophe."

Cheng Li sighed, "Once the Empress Dowager passes by, the catastrophe will naturally be solved, why bother to thank the lady for her action."

Princess Ning Rong didn't quite understand, Cheng Lidao said, "We have missed several times, but all of them were in Ci'an Palace. The Empress Dowager is definitely someone who can conspire with her. It is difficult to bet the treasure on the Empress Dowager."

Princess Ning Rong soon understood what Cheng Li meant.

This time Princess Ningrong didn't go to Ci'an Palace to hear rumors, but she didn't want to do it, someone else would do it.The person who did this was not low in status. It was Concubine Liu who had just given birth to the sixth prince. If the two concubines of Zhao Xie were favored, Emperor Mu Yuan did not expect that the status of the prince's birth mother would be too low, and after thinking about it, he was promoted to the concubine of the Liu family.

Ningping Yingwei, the fourth founder of the country, was only ranked third by the British government at the beginning. Later, the British government married Princess Ningping.When the old British Duke was alive, he killed the number one Duke Ningguo. The remaining two Dukes, Pingwei, pretended to be a coward for many years, until they came to power today, and then began to show their faces again, regaining the glory of the past.

Mrs. Liu is a smart person, and she didn't talk about Princess Wenkang at all, but just like that, Empress Dowager Hu even said when Princess Wenkang entered the palace, "Why did the son-in-law get involved with that girl of the Xie family? .As the saying goes, learn from whoever you are, and dance with Duan Gong. Ah Xuan is an honest boy, so you have to be careful."

"What should I do? What's the big deal? As Xuan knows it, and I know it too." Princess Wenkang didn't take it seriously at all.

Empress Dowager Hu said, "It's imperative to be on guard against others. Can it be good to get involved with the girl of the Xie family? Besides, the son-in-law, the son-in-law, made the old Hou Ye mad at the first time, what kind of character is that? Yo, thank you for being able to bear it."

Princess Wenkang said, "He's not in my way, should I strangle him to death?"

Empress Dowager Hu really wanted to say, you don't need to pinch it yourself, it's the same if you send someone to pinch it.

Empress Dowager Hu was very worried about her daughter, so she called her son to chat with her, "Tell me, our imperial capital can't tolerate that girl surnamed Xie. She wants to intervene when Mr. Confucianism from the Imperial College comes to give lectures. And The concubine in your sister's house is also unclear about her, tell me, is this an enemy of our family in the previous life, why is she everywhere? She is also specially harming our family." Her darling Princess Yongfu is still in Jingxin Nunnery I haven't come back yet.Empress Dowager Hu was furious when she mentioned Xie Moru.

The identity of Emperor Mu Yuan never cared about Li Qiao's affairs.What's more, the Marquis of Yong'an is an important minister of the court, but he is just a little bastard.Emperor Mu Yuan said, "With the face of Marquis Yong'an, as long as Wenkang's peace is not disturbed, why bother with a bastard?"

Empress Dowager Hu frowned, "It's an eyesore just thinking about it."

Emperor Mu Yuan laughed, "It's fine if you don't let him see you."

"If he is a dutiful person, I can't tolerate it. Emperor, don't you know that kid was mad at the old Marquis back then."

Princess Wenkang first said, "That's just a lowly servant girl harming the master. I told the queen mother a long time ago. Think about it, Li Qiao was only a child at that time. He knew what Tang Sancai was. It was nothing more than being fooled. Said, if you don't teach, you call it abuse, although I don't like him, I don't bother to force this kind of thing on him."

Empress Dowager Hu said earnestly, "I just want you to be careful, and Ah Xuan, don't always show such useless kindness, you are good to everyone."

"How can this be a useless kindness. How old is Ah Xuan, Li Qiao is also his brother-in-law. At this age, he will be cold-hearted to his brothers, so I have to worry." Princess Wenkang has her own insights "I don't like Li Qiao. It's my business. What Ah Xuan wants is his business. From now on, Ah Xuan will be the patriarch of the Li family, and Li Qiao will be a side branch. If you can't tolerate your own brothers, you can still count on him to be tolerant." Who?"

Empress Dowager Hu felt that her hard work was going eastward, but Emperor Mu Yuan nodded repeatedly, "Wen Kang's words are reasonable."

Naturally, it is reasonable, the children of Emperor Mu Yuan's concubine are piled up in groups.

(End of this chapter)