A Thousand Hills

Chapter 92

Xie Shangshu handed over the booklet for Xie Moru, and then, no matter at home or in the yamen, Xie Shangshu was quite cautious, secretly paying attention to the movement of the imperial capital, wondering when King Jingjiang would make a big move.

As a result, from the end of spring to the beginning of summer, until the emperor's eldest son opened his mansion, Princess Yongfu, and Princess Changtai bestowed marriages, until the end of summer and autumn came, when the yellow leaves fell, the end of autumn, and when the snowflakes were dancing, he was sent away by the second son. The family letters brought by the servants... no matter whether it is the imperial capital, the imperial government office, or King Jingjiang, they are all in a stable state.According to Xie Shangshu's status, he has never noticed anything wrong, so it can be seen that there is really nothing wrong.

Xie Shangshu's old heart, which has been hanging for more than half a year, feels that this time Xie Moru's deduction may be wrong.Back then when the pro-government was so chaotic, Prince Jingjiang's mansion didn't do anything. What's more, the world has been at peace for a long time, and now the world has been firmly established. Moreover, Prince Jingjiang is at his age, and at most he will last another 20 years. This prince is going to die in peace, so why bother.

Could it be that Xie Moru guessed wrong?
Thinking of the family letter brought by the second son, no, it may be that the time has not come yet.

Xie Shangshu asked his old wife if there was anything wrong with Xie Moru these days. Mrs. Xie put a hand stove with a red plum cover on a white background, peeled a few pine nuts, rubbed off the skin, and said, "Mo Ru is very good. Yes, what's the matter?" Mrs. Xie didn't realize that there was something wrong with her eldest granddaughter, and then talked about family affairs with her husband, "I also said that His Highness and Abo are outside, and Princess Yongfu and Princess Changtai are getting married, and His Highness is not here. , let’s send out a congratulatory gift for His Highness, I don’t want His Highness to send someone back in advance.” Speaking of this, Mrs. Xie remembered, “Oh, isn’t it because she is acquainted with Li Shizi? She discussed it with me. , I plan to add a separate gift to Li Shizi in the gift list at home." Mrs. Xie asked her husband, "Is there anything wrong with that?"

Not really.Xie Shangshu asked again, "How is the lady in the palace?"

"Okay. I'm just busy with the wedding of the two princesses." Mrs. Xie smiled, "This year is really festive. I married an emperor's eldest concubine and married two princesses. I heard that the empress dowager is already marrying the second prince. Look at the princess."

Mrs. Xie didn't care about the second prince's marriage. She said, "The third prince will be fourteen during the Chinese New Year. When the second prince's marriage is settled, we should talk about the third prince's marriage." She cared about her own grandson.

Xie Shangshu said, "Send someone to inform the princess mansion to tidy up the mansion and heat up the house in advance."

"Is there still a need to inform?" In the princess mansion, Princess Yi'an has left a reliable nanny to take care of her, so she won't be mean to her servants.

"It's not this." Xie Shangshu said, "Abo and the others may come back a few years ago."

Mrs. Xie was both surprised and delighted, "But really?"

Xie Shangshu smiled and nodded, "I should be able to come back years ago."

Mrs. Xie will not hide such a happy event, soon Xie Moru and Xie Moyou will know, Xie Moyou smiled, "Second Uncle came back so soon, I thought Second Uncle would have to stay outside for several years? "

Mrs. Xie smiled, "I don't know the details. I heard from your grandfather that there were envoys from the West Man who came to pay his respects to His Majesty. Your second uncle probably sent them to the imperial capital together, and he probably took them with him when he returned home."

Xie Moru frowned slightly, and quickly smiled, "This year is a year of reunion."

"Yes." Mrs. Xie was delighted that the second son would return home, and she said to Xie Moru, "Please draw up a list of gifts for Li Shizi and show me the gift list. Just send it."

Thank you Moru.

Xie Moyou was already talking to Mrs. Xie about tidying up Xie Bai's yard.

Xie Moru was invited to Jiangfu to drink tea. Jiang Xingyun doesn't like drinking tea very much, and she doesn't drink tea that is fragrant and elegant. She prefers strong tea, such as the kind that is boiled with salt, milk, and tea cakes , This kind of taste is really hard for ordinary people to bear, so Jiang Xingyun asked Xie Moru to taste it together. In Jiang Xingyun's view, Xie Moru is a very tasteful person.

Today, what I drink is not tea.Jiang Xingyun picked up the copper pot, poured a bowl for Xie Moru, and introduced, "This is authentic kumiss, try it, you can't drink it anywhere else."

Xie Moru sniffed it, took a sip, and said, "The wine just smells good, but if it tastes better, I think it's not as good as tea."

"You're not used to it. Once you're used to it, you'll know how delicious it is." Jiang Xingyun leaned comfortably on the soft couch, sipped slowly with a bowl of kumiss, and said to Xie Moru, "I'm new to training A few dancers, let me show you." As he spoke, he ordered people to perform singing and dancing.

Xie Moru hurriedly stopped him, "If you watch the song and dance again, you should be drunk in a while, I have something to ask you."

"What's the matter?" Jiang Xingyun sat upright, adjusted the white and soft fox collar around his neck, and looked at Xie Moru.

Xie Moru said, "My second uncle is going back to the imperial capital soon."

Jiang Xingyun is worthy of being an official, she has good common sense, and said, "Officials who are sent out usually have a term of three years, and they can only be promoted after the assessment after the term expires. Even if you return to the court to see your majesty, it's not time to thank your son-in-law. He is only a foreigner. More than two years?"

Xie Moru nodded and explained, "They are escorting the Western Man envoys to the imperial capital together."

Jiang Xingyun frowned, "So fast!"

Xie Moru raised his eyebrows, and Jiang Xingyun explained, "My family often deals with Ximan, and I know a little about Ximan. The people of Ximan are different from my dynasty. They ruled by tribes. Before the king of Ximan unified the grassland, the entire Ximan There are more than 15 large and small tribes. The Western Man King Aslan was originally the son of a small tribe leader. He was born brave and good at fighting. A tribe, and the leaders of the rest of the tribes also bowed their heads to him, and thus unified the Western Man. After that, Aslan ordered someone to oversee the construction of the royal city, and he became king from then on. My grandfather and father fought against him. This man has experienced many battles, Very difficult. My father always talked about Aslan. He is a natural warrior, but he is not without weaknesses as far as the Western Man is concerned. The founding time of the Western Man is similar to our dynasty. The difference is that the Western Man Although they have a royal city, their subjects still make a living by grazing horses and herding kings. Outside the royal city, people are more accustomed to living in tents. But my dynasty is different, and the founding of the country is not long, but our culture is from the same source. Long, there is inheritance, so the entire imperial court is more stable than Ximan."

"The biggest crisis in Ximan is that Aslan's lifespan is too long. He thus dominated the grassland, but he also gave birth to a lot of children. Aslan has four concubines, and the other concubine concubine I don’t know how much, there are many political marriages to consolidate power. Aslan personally yearns for our culture. He unified the grasslands, established a capital and became king, but he also sent his adult sons to various places according to the customs of the West. Divide the fief, leaving only the youngest son by his side. Like our dynasty, like the previous dynasty, the prince divides the fief, but the authority of the vassal king in the fief is actually restricted. Aslan's entrustment to his sons is all soldiers and horses. In the land of abundance, my father once said that once Aslan dies, the western barbarians will definitely face the crisis of splitting." Jiang Xingyun sipped his kumis and said, "Wars are not just about swords and swords on the battlefield. The second is to attack the soldiers, and the second is to attack the city. The method of attacking the city is a last resort. I am no longer in Ximan, so I don't know the current situation in Ximan, but if we can really take this opportunity to make Ximan Returning to the chaos of war and division, in our court, we will win without fighting."

Xie Moru said, "I also felt that the second uncle came back too soon, so I came to ask you about it. The year before last, the second uncle was sent as an envoy to the Ximan king's court, and the Ximan king had several attendants by his side, as if they were not in their respective fiefdoms. "

Jiang Xingyun put down the wine bowl painted with vermilion birds and said, "It's normal. Although I have many talents, Aslan is also a generation of heroes. Of course, he can see the problems we can see. Ximan It is impossible to be unprepared. As for Xie Consort's return to the court so soon... the specific reason, I am afraid that we will not know until Xie Consort returns."

Jiang Xingyun became curious, and asked Xie Moru, "This actually has little to do with us, why are you asking about this?"

Xie Moru said, "It's like hunting in the jungle. You dug a hole in the forest in advance. If you want to drive the prey to fall into the hole you dug, you may have to use all kinds of methods."

Jiang Xingyun has always been smart. She looked at Xie Moru and thought twice, "Mo Ru, you don't take yourself too seriously, do you? Can you compare with the situation in the Western Man? Although you have a certain importance, you can't compare with it at all. Let’s compare it to the Western Barbarian situation.”

Jiang Xingyun's words have always been straightforward and unappealing, but they are the truth. Jiang Xingyun said, "Don't say that you are just a courtier's daughter, or a princess. I'm afraid you are not as important as Ximan!"

"No, don't think about things that way." Xie Moru said, "You have to think about it this way, the West Man, in my court, naturally hope it will be in chaos, and in Tibet, I'm afraid it will also be in chaos , but what about Jingjiang Palace? What about Beiliang? A little further away, what about Nanyue? Countries have always been far away and close to attack. These countries or palaces, I am afraid that they still hope that Ximan will become a strong enemy of the imperial court in a safe and stable manner. , thus restraining the imperial court's finances and military strength, they will not want Ximan to fall into division again."

"This is the general trend. Countless people are driven by the general trend, and fame, wealth, and future are all born from this." Xie Moru said, "There is a saying that heroes make the times, and the times make heroes. These two sentences seem to be On the contrary, it is actually the same. It is nothing more than a truth. A trend is formed by people. It can affect people and will be influenced by others. Xingyun, a person is naturally small compared to the general trend, but in the final analysis, what the general trend is still determined by People decide, but it is not one person who decides it, but countless people. You and I are all in it, so it depends on whether it is a key link or not?"

Jiang Xingyun stared at a pair of beautiful eyes and asked, "Do you think you are the key link?"

"Yes." Xie Moru's decisive word made Jiang Xingyun speechless for a long time. After a long while, Jiang Xingyun said, "If there is anything that needs my help, why not, you can tell me."

Xie Moru asked with a smile, "Is there kindness or friendship between my ancestors and your family?"

Jiang Xingyun curled his lips, this indecent gesture was a bit more playful if it was done by a beautiful woman, she poured herself another bowl of wine, and said in no hurry, "To be honest, the Fang family is the founding father's mansion Now, there are several wealthy families in the imperial capital who have no friendship with his family, let alone Princess Ningping. There are many families that were destroyed by her, but there are also many families that have received her grace. How do these people treat you? ?”

"Friendship and friendship are not long-lasting, even father and son brothers and blood compatriots, there are many people who break their heads for a little profit." Jiang Xingyun took a sip of the slightly hot kumiss and said, "The last days of the former dynasty , All kinds of tyrants rose up against each other. Emperor Taizu was inferior to Wu Wang, who was from the royal family of the previous dynasty at that time, and the Jiang family was inferior to Jiangnan King in terms of soldiers and horses. His grandfather was practicing martial arts in Qingcheng Mountain. Seeing the chaos in the world, he also knew that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. When he went down the mountain, he first took refuge in the king of Wu. Later, he felt that the king of Wu was narrow-minded, and then he took refuge in the Jiang family. There are not many soldiers, limited food, even the smallest territory, and the payment of money cannot compare with the former two, but my grandfather has always been loyal to Emperor Taizu. Don't say what the fate of Emperor Taizu belongs to, or what about Emperor Taizu There is a way to control people. I am afraid that the king of Wu and the king of Jiangnan will not lack these two, but in the end, my grandfather still chose to be loyal to the emperor Taizu. Mo Ru, I want to help you for this reason, just because you are worthy of help."

"It is said in the book that a gentleman is not a party, and a villain is not a party. I often think about it, whether it is a party or a party, there must be a 'worthy' reason."

(End of this chapter)