Tang Dynasty Hidden Guards

Around noon, Xue Wei returned to Nanshi and gave the crucian carp he had caught to Song'er and Xiao Guang to raise.

"Oh dear! Young master went to buy fish?"

Two young women surrounded them, startled and flustered.

Xue Wei despised the two women's eyesight. Couldn't they see that he was holding a fishing rod?

"Find a bucket to keep it in, and later give it to the girl to make soup."

The two young women covered their mouths and giggled.

"What's so funny? Hurry up and bring me a bowl of noodles. I have a banquet to attend this afternoon."

Song'er rushed off to serve the noodles, while Xiao Guang went to raise the fish.

After finishing his noodles, Xue Wei changed his clothes and boarded the VIP carriage arranged by Yuan Min for him at Mingyue Tower to go to the Dugu residence.

The Dugu Mansion, located in Anyefang, is a large residence covering thirty acres.

Unlike the Dugu family, Yuan Min's family, although the main branch of the family, was not the true main branch. They were the Yinchuan branch, descendants of Emperor Zhaocheng, Tuoba Shiyi.

This branch of the family is the most extensive, spreading to various places. There are several branches in Luoyang alone. Yuan Chen is just one of them. The most famous person in Yuan Chen's branch is Yuan Min, the richest woman in Luoyang. With Princess Taiping openly backing her, no one dares to touch her easily.

The main branch of the Yuan family was located in Chang'an. The head of the family, Yuan Daqian, was a descendant of the Prince of Changshan, Tuoba Zunzhi. Her daughter, Yuan, married Li Longji's elder brother, Li Chengqi, who was also known as Emperor Li Xian in history.

The head of the Dugu family in Luoyang was the main branch of the Dugu clan. The head of the family, Dugu Xu, held the official position of Left General of the Martial Guard, a position of great prestige.

Today marks his 60th birthday. He sent out hundreds of invitations and generously announced that he would not accept any gifts this year.

The Dugu family also owns more than a hundred shops and a large amount of land. If we do not consider Yuan Min's private shops and only consider the family property, the Dugu family's wealth ranks first among the Guanzhong nobles.

The area outside the mansion gate was filled with carriages. Xue Wei spotted Yuan Min's carriage at a glance. The carriage was very large, a size larger than all the other carriages.

However, Yuan Min was not in the carriage; she was presumably inside the mansion. After registering, Xue Wei went directly into the Dugu mansion.

Dugu Xu had eight sons, six daughters, more than twenty grandchildren, and more than a dozen maternal grandchildren.

Dugu Jiao is the ninth among her granddaughters, also known as Little Ninth Sister. She is seventeen years old, just like Yuan Min. She became a widow at the age of fifteen. Today is her second blind date, and she is dressed up in an exceptionally charming manner.

Yuan Min sat beside her. Dugu Jiao looked at Yuan Min, then at herself, and suddenly asked, "Amin, aren't you dressed too warmly?"

"It wasn't that thick! I just changed into a long white satin dress underneath. My husband thought the dress I was wearing was too short and the skirt was too see-through, so he was unhappy."

Dugu Jiao looked down at herself again. "That's right! My kimono is too loose. If I'm not careful, my little red dots will show. I need to change into a kimono skirt."

Beside her, Hou Mochen Xian'er curled her lips and said, "Ajiao, don't learn from this doting husband. I told you this morning that you're on a blind date. If you want to attract a man, you need to leave some room for doubt. Besides, everyone is indoors, so as long as there's no light, it's actually quite hazy. Isn't that better?"

Yuan Min shook her head. "I think we need to analyze this more specifically. Liu Fangru's father is a Doctor of the Imperial Academy, and he's known for his conservatism. He's always criticized women for showing their breasts. I suspect his son is just like his father. He'll definitely mind if you dress like this. If he doesn't like you, that's fine. But if you two like each other, and he gives up on you just because he thinks your clothes are too revealing, wouldn't that be a real shame?"

Dou Wenniang chimed in, "If a man thinks your clothes are too revealing, then he's not worth your time."

"That makes sense, but I think both parties should be considerate of each other's feelings. What's wrong with being a little conservative for the man you like?"

After being told by Hou Mochen Xian'er and Dou Wenniang, Dugu Jiao hesitated again. She always dressed rather boldly, and she was quite plump and very afraid of the heat. Changing to a thicker, long skirt would be too hot in this weather.

Yuan Min, of course, had her own ulterior motives. Dugu Jiao was dressed too revealingly today, practically too daring. The little red dot she mentioned was nothing compared to the fact that her dress was too thin. With light filtering through, it was as if she wasn't wearing anything at all. What if her lecherous husband saw her like that…

Thinking back to the last time we were drinking, that guy kept glancing at Gillian's chest. If we play together later, the consequences are unimaginable.

Yuan Min stepped forward and whispered to Dugu Jiao, "My third brother is also very conservative."

Yuan Min's third brother, Yuan Mao, and Dugu Jiao had always harbored feelings for each other. However, Dugu Jiao was a widow, and Yuan Mao's father, Yuan Qi, refused to agree to the relationship. Dugu Jiao was already seventeen years old and could not be delayed any longer, so the Dugu family began to arrange blind dates for her.

Dugu Jiao blushed and obediently got up to change into a thicker dress.

At this moment, Yuan Min felt a surge of sympathy for her friend. Why couldn't Ah Jiao and Third Brother be able to be a couple in the end?

No, she had to help them. She'd talk to Lao Xue later; maybe that guy had a solution.

..........

As luck would have it, Xue Wei walked into the courtyard of the Dugu residence and immediately saw Wu Sansi chatting with several officials in the pavilion.

Xue Wei had only met Wu Sansi once while playing polo, but he had an excellent eye and could remember anyone he had ever seen.

Xue Wei walked straight in and sat down opposite Wu Sansi without saying a word, looking at Wu Sansi with a half-smile.

Wu Sansi was stunned. It took him a while to realize that Xue Wei wanted to talk to him.

He chuckled to the officials and said, "Excuse me, Commandant Xue has something to discuss with me. Let's talk later."

Everyone was furious. They had finally found a chance to chat with Prime Minister Wu for a few days, but this scoundrel ruined it. Helpless, they could only leave in a huff.

Wu Sansi glanced at Xue Wei, his heart filled with hatred as he thought of how this man had crippled his son's leg. He coldly said, "Speak! What does Commander Xue want?"

"I've come to tell Prime Minister Wu something. Your son has fallen into two major traps in Chang'an, ruining the Emperor's important plans without even realizing it. I hope he will reflect on this carefully, otherwise the Emperor will not tolerate him again. Please be careful."

This is the lesson Xue Wei learned while fishing today: to catch big fish, you must first create a feeding area, so he created a large feeding area for Wu Sansi.

"Goodbye!" Xue Wei turned and left.

Wu Sansi was taken aback. What was this? He quickly stood up and grabbed him, "Captain Xue, wait!"

"Is there anything else, Prime Minister Wu?"

"Commander Xue still hasn't told me what kind of traps they are?"

"Your son should know perfectly well enough to understand! I don't need to say it."

No! He doesn't understand.

Wu Sansi knew his son well: he was shrewd in small matters but muddle-headed in big ones. In order to curry favor with the Zhang brothers, he actually revealed the secret guards to them, causing himself and Shangguan Wan to offend them.

Xue Wei turned to look at Wu Sansi. "I won't lie to you, nor will I exaggerate. If Prime Minister Wu wants to know this secret, we can make a deal."

"What kind of deal? Tell me."

"I will tell Prime Minister Wu that your son has fallen into a trap set by Li Longji. The terms of the deal are that Prime Minister Wu must approve the transfer application of Qingyun Store by tomorrow morning. That application is stuck in Prime Minister Wu's hands. I am very poor and cannot come up with two thousand strings of cash to bribe him."

Wu Sansi cursed under his breath for being shameless. He had held back the transfer of ownership of Qingyun Pawnshop, intending to extort a large sum of money from them, but he didn't expect them to try to sabotage him first.

Wu Sansi had been in officialdom for so many years, and Xue Wei couldn't easily control him with just a few words. He knew that Xue Wei was a hidden guard, and perhaps there was some basis for that.

However, he had to weigh the options: on one hand, he was preparing to extort tens of thousands of coins from Qingyun Pawnshop; on the other hand, his son might have committed some serious mistake.

Wu Sansi knew very well that Li Longji was a ruthless man. If his son really fell into Li Longji's trap...

After weighing the options for a long time, Wu Sansi nodded, "Alright! It's a deal."

"Your son instigated Zhu Kuan to assassinate me, but he didn't know that the real Zhu Kuan had long been dead. The Zhu Kuan he instigated was actually Li Longji's man. Li Longji used him, and in the end, it became that your son instigated Zhu Kuan to assassinate me. In a fit of anger, I killed Zhu Kuan and was then forced to kill Zhu Ling, which led to the failure of the investigation into Wu Chengsi's wealth. The cause was that your son instigated Zhu Kuan. I wrote it into my report to the emperor. I later learned that Zhu Kuan had long been dead, and your son had fallen into Li Longji's trap."

"Such a thing exists!"

A surge of anger welled up in Wu Sansi's heart. His son had never told him about his instigation of Zhu Kuan to assassinate Xue Wei, and he was even more unaware that his son had fallen into Li Longji's trap.

This trap may not seem to have serious consequences, but Wu Sansi was really annoyed that his son had kept it from him.

"Everything I said is true. Prime Minister Wu can send people to investigate the murder case in the locust grove of Qujiang Pond in Chang'an at the end of May last year. Eighteen people died, and it was Zhu Kuan and his men who were responsible."

The murder case in the locust grove was later told to Xue Wei by Princess Taiping. Xue Wei also used the matter of approving the transfer of ownership to tell Wu Sansi the truth, which can be regarded as a counterattack against Li Longji.

"I will send someone to investigate. Thank you, Commandant Xue, for telling me the truth. What else is there?"

"Another matter is that your son's foolishness ruined the Emperor's last chance to acquire Wu Chengsi's wealth. The Emperor is furious. As for the specifics, we will discuss them in detail tomorrow after Prime Minister Wu approves the transfer application for Qingyun Store. Farewell!"

Wu Sansi almost spat out a mouthful of blood. This guy was too wicked; he only told half of what he meant. Wu Sansi couldn't shout in time and could only watch helplessly as Xue Wei walked away.