Tang Dynasty Hidden Guards

The Yuan Mansion is located in Xiuwenfang. It is a large mansion covering an area of ​​30 acres. The mansion is very distinctive. It is shaped like a plum blossom, with the central courtyard as the heart of the flower and the five surrounding courtyards as the petals.

Yuan Chen had four sons, each with their own courtyard. In addition to Yuan Chen's own courtyard, there were a total of five courtyards. However, the fourth son, Yuan Chu, had a falling out with his father more than twenty years ago and moved away completely. Yuan Min and his mother, Yang Shi, only moved back last year after Yuan Chu passed away.

Today, Yuanmin's birthday celebration is being held in the main courtyard in the middle. Of course, Yuanmin is paying for all the expenses so that her three uncles won't complain.

Yuan Chen also took this opportunity to strengthen the bonds between the Guanzhong nobility.

This is their custom; they always gather on the grounds of birthdays, with more than 300 people from over twenty families converging at the Yuan residence.

Yuan Chen has fourteen grandsons and eight granddaughters. Yuan Min is only the seventh among the eight granddaughters. The reason for such a grand birthday celebration is simple: Yuan Min's status is extraordinary.

She was the queen of the commercial kingdom of Luoyang, the capital city, owning 246 shops. Even Princess Taiping had only about 40 private shops, and Shangguan Wan'er had only about 20.

This is a rare flower that was specially approved by Empress Wu Zetian and could only appear under the rule of an empress. If it were a society controlled by a male emperor, her shop would have disappeared long ago.

In the afternoon, the square in front of the Yuan Mansion was filled with carriages. All the members of the Yuan family were out directing the carriages, receiving guests, accepting congratulatory gifts, and guiding guests. They were very busy.

The granddaughters were responsible for accompanying the female guests. Today, all the female guests were gathered in the fourth courtyard, which was the courtyard of Yuanmin and her mother. Although her father had passed away, the courtyard still belonged to the mother and daughters.

Xue Wei arrived at the gate in Yuan Min's carriage. Zuo Qingling led him down from the carriage. Today, Xue Wei was wearing a moon-white robe, a leather belt around his waist, and a gauze hat. He was very tall, at least 1.9 meters.

Of course, men in the Sui and Tang dynasties were generally tall and fat. Men in the middle and lower classes averaged around 1.7 meters tall, while men in the upper class were well-nourished and practiced martial arts for a long time, and it was not uncommon for them to be over 1.8 or 1.9 meters tall. It was not until the Song and Yuan dynasties that the blood of Han people was greatly integrated with the blood of Donghu people such as Khitan and Jurchen, and the height of men was generally lowered.

Xue Wei waved his hand, indicating that Zuo Qingling didn't need to follow him. He went to the registration desk at the gate, showed his invitation, and the person in charge of registration was Yuan Min's third uncle, Yuan Jin. When he saw the invitation, he looked up at Xue Wei and was stunned. After a long while, he coldly said, "What are you doing here?"

"Third Uncle, he's my guest!"

Today, the birthday girl, Yuan Min, suddenly appeared at the door. She had made very thorough arrangements. When the carriage was almost at Xiuwenfang, Zuo Baiyun ran over to inform her, and she came out to greet her.

Everyone at the door looked at Yuan Min. She had come out to greet them, and everyone looked at her. Today, she had put on heavy makeup, her hair was styled in a high bun, and she wore a gold hairpin and a jade hair ornament. She wore a golden yellow wide-sleeved front-opening gauze shirt and a long pomegranate skirt with gold trim and floral patterns that reached her chest. She wore a necklace with a hundred pearls on her chest, which covered a large area of ​​her chest, while also highlighting her fair and smooth skin, which shimmered with a mutton fat-like luster.

She was already stunningly beautiful, and today her makeup made her even more radiant, like spring blossoms and the autumn moon. All other women paled in comparison to her exquisite beauty. It was fortunate that the emperor was a female ruler; otherwise, she would have been chosen to become a concubine long ago.

Yuan Min knew very well that Xue Wei could not enter the mansion. She stepped forward and bowed to Yuan Jin, "Third Uncle, Young Master Xue is my special guest. He does not need to register. I will bring him into the mansion."

After saying that, she gave Xue Wei a slight bow. "Let's go!"

Xue Wei smiled apologetically at Yuan Jin and followed Yuan Min into the mansion. Outside the gate, there was a flurry of discussion: Yuan Min's ex-husband had arrived, and their relationship was still so good.

Yuan Jin's face was very grim. He whispered a few words to his son, Yuan Rui, who immediately ran into the mansion to report to his grandfather.

Upon entering the mansion, Xue Wei whispered, "You can't stay with me forever. You have so many guests to attend to. Go ahead! I'll manage on my own."

Yuan Min smiled and said, "What's the rush? I've got everything arranged for you."

At this moment, a man in his early twenties, dressed in a green robe embroidered with floral patterns, stepped forward and said with a smile, "Seventh Sister, leave A-Wei to me, you go!"

Yuan Min introduced Xue Wei, "This is my third brother, Yuan Mao, a Qianniu Beishen. You two have always had a good relationship, and he will be in charge of taking care of you today."

Xue Wei naturally didn't know, but the other party was also a Qianniu Beishen, so they must have been colleagues before and had a good relationship.

"I'm sorry, I've forgotten all the people and things from before."

"I know, Seventh Sister told me everything."

Yuan Mao patted Xue Wei's arm warmly, "You are a hero of our Left Thousand Bull Guard, it is my honor to take care of you."

"Third Brother, I'm entrusting this person to you. If anything goes wrong, I won't forgive you!"

"Don't worry, it'll be fine."

Yuan Min pulled Xue Wei's hand, smiled sweetly, and left under the protection of four female warriors.

Yuan Mao raised an eyebrow. "It seems you and Amin have made up. That's great! But it will be very difficult for you two to remarry, much more difficult than usual."

Xue Wei was taken aback. "Why?"

"Let's sit here!"

Yuan Mao led Xue Wei to sit down in a pavilion. "Don't you know that your divorce is an official act of severing ties?"

"I know, but can't we remarry after a complete break?"

Yuan Mao shook his head, "Remarriage is strictly forbidden after a complete break in marriage. Anyone who violates this rule will be exiled for one year, and the divorce will be reinstated."

Xue Wei was stunned. "Does Amin know?"

"Of course she knew. She even asked me if there were any exceptions. I told her no, it was stipulated by the Tang Dynasty law, and there were no successful precedents."

Xue Wei's heart sank into an abyss. He realized that he and Yuan Min could not remarry. No wonder Cui Shi was so confident and determined. It turned out that he knew that Yi Jue could not remarry.

If that's the case, why isn't Yuan Min worried? Did she find a solution?

Xue Wei thought about how Yuan Min and her mother had been very close before, and perhaps her mother had made her a promise.

He thought for a moment and said, "What if the emperor grants special permission for the remarriage?"

Yuan Mao smiled wryly, "How could the Emperor possibly grant special permission for something that so seriously violates the laws of the Tang Dynasty? Who has that much influence?"

"Regardless of saving face, I only ask if it's possible?"

Yuan Mao thought for a moment, "If the Emperor grants special permission, of course he can. She is supreme, who would dare to say she is breaking the law? And who would accuse the Emperor of breaking the law for such a trivial matter? They would be asking for trouble."

Yuan Mao suddenly remembered something, his eyes lighting up. "How could I have forgotten your mother? If Princess Taiping were to plead with the Emperor, perhaps he would actually grant a special request."

Xue Wei felt relieved, so Yuan Min didn't seem anxious; it must be because her mother had made a promise to her.

Just then, the head steward Liu Yun walked over, bowed to Xue Wei, and said, "Young Master Xue, I am the head steward Liu Yun. My master will give you a quarter of an hour to prepare. After that, please leave the Yuan residence. You are not welcome here."

Xue Wei did not expect the Yuan family's attitude to be so resolute; Yuan Chen actually kicked him out directly.

The so-called "15-minute preparation" means that Xue Wei should find a reason to leave gracefully, rather than being kicked out directly, which can be considered as giving Yuan Min some face.

Yuan Mao jumped up, about to speak, but Xue Wei grabbed him and pressed him down, "Don't make things difficult for him. He's just relaying a message; he can't make the decisions!"

Yuan Mao slumped down. "What are we going to do? You were just here and Grandfather kicked you out. How am I going to explain this to Amin?"

Xue Wei clasped his hands in a fist and smiled, "May I meet your old master?"

The old steward hesitated for a moment, then said, "How about this? Young master, come with me to the main hall. I'll relay your message: if the old master is willing to see you, that's fine. If he's not, I'll just escort you out the side gate. How does that sound?"

"That's settled then! Thank you, old butler."

Xue Wei followed the old steward toward the main hall, while Yuan Mao secretly slipped away to report to Yuan Min that he had to tell her about this.