Tang Dynasty Hidden Guards

"Old Xue, over here!"

As soon as he reached the front of a long corridor, Xue Wei heard a familiar voice ahead.

Overjoyed, his suppressed longing almost burst forth, and he ran towards it.

The beautiful woman standing in front of a small door was Yuan Min. When she saw her lover's excited face, her heart was filled with sweetness.

Xue Wei pulled her into his arms and refused to let go.

"Okay, okay! Someone saw us."

Yuan Min patted his strong arm, her beautiful eyes filled with tenderness and affection.

"Honey, please let me go?"

Xue Wei almost spurted blood from her nose. Did she know what her husband meant?

"Why do you call me husband?"

Yuan Min looked completely innocent. "Yu Xiangzi taught me that. That's what they call him in her hometown. 'Husband' is an affectionate term for an old man. Only old married couples call each other that."

That's true, but the way this title sounds completely different to me!

"Good girl! From now on, call me 'husband' at home and 'Old Xue' outside."

Fearing she would realize what was happening, Xue Wei released her and changed the subject with a smile, "I just spoke with Wu Sansi, and he'll approve the transfer first thing tomorrow morning, without asking for a single penny."

Yuan Min's beautiful eyes suddenly lit up, and joy welled up. "That's great! How did you negotiate? Steward Qiu said that it would be impossible to get it without 20,000 strings of cash."

"For Wu Sansi, there is something more important than money in the world: power. I used the serious mistake his son made in Chang'an as a bargaining chip, and added a little bit of the emperor's sentimentality to make this dish complete."

"My husband is the most capable!"

Yuan Min kissed him on the cheek, took his hand, and said with a smile, "Let's go play pitch-pot, and you can also play matchmaker for me!"

"Shall I play matchmaker for you?" Xue Wei tilted his head and looked at her.

Yuan Min playfully punched him on the shoulder and said coquettishly, "I misspoke! I meant to be a matchmaker for Ajiao."

"Isn't Gillian Chung going on a blind date today?"

As he spoke, Xue Wei quickly scanned her body and saw that she was wearing a long white satin inner dress under her gauze skirt, which was not see-through even in the sunlight. He was truly delighted that she was considerate of his feelings, which made him extremely gratified.

"My blind date didn't work out!"

Yuan Min said somewhat dejectedly, "The man didn't even come. It seems that his father heard that Ajiao was a widow from a young age and didn't want to marry her."

"Then what matchmaking will you do for Gillian Chung?"

"Ah Jiao and my third brother have liked each other for a long time, but my third brother's father, who is also my third uncle, has always opposed it, because he thinks Ah Jiao is a widow who will marry into a wealthy family."

Xue Wei hesitated for a moment before asking, "How much dowry did Ajiao have?"

Yuan Min held up three fingers. "Three shops, two thousand acres of farmland, ten thousand strings of cash, and a small house of three acres. This is the dowry the Dugu family gave her, totaling ninety thousand strings of cash. It's much more generous than our Yuan family's dowry. I only had ten thousand strings of cash as my dowry back then, which was given to me by my father. My father and grandfather also secretly gave me some treasures and jewelry, including that original work by Wang Xizhi."

Speaking of Wang Xizhi's authentic works, Xue Wei suddenly remembered something, "Amin, we haven't looked at those big boxes I put in the basement of Mingyue Tower since we came back!"

Yuan Min was also taken aback, and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I forgot too."

"Let's go check later to see if that original work by Wang Xizhi is still there?"

"Okay! We'll check it out when we get back."

Xue Wei nodded. "Continue with the matchmaking!"

"Yes! The key now is to convince Third Brother to dare to defy his father. Third Brother values ​​his father's attitude too much and has somewhat let Ah Jiao down."

Xue Wei thought for a moment, then asked, "What was your grandfather's attitude?"

Yuan Min shook her head. "Grandfather doesn't know about this, but he's been in a bad mood lately, and I don't want to cause him any trouble."

"Then I'll go talk to your third uncle."

"Can you convince him?"

Xue Wei laughed and said, "I just convinced Wu Sansi too. I even broke his son's leg."

"That's right! Maybe you really can do it."

"What is your third uncle's weakness? What does he want most?"

Yuan Min sighed, "He wants to be an official. Every man in our Yuan family wants to be an official."

"I understand. I'll visit him later and also see your grandfather."

Yuan Min whispered, "Third Uncle is right here. Why don't you talk to him today?"

Xue Wei asked with a grin, "If the deal goes through, what's in it for me?"

Yuan Min leaned closer and whispered in his ear, "I'll allow you to sleep with me for one night, except for that, everything else is fine."

Xue Wei felt a surge of emotion; he was filled with the passion to have children.

"Where is Yuan Qi? I'll go there right now."

.........

Xue Wei felt that he had come today solely for negotiation. Inside a room, Yuan Qi stared at Xue Wei with a gloomy gaze, his lips pressed into a thin line, revealing his inner meanness.

"The head of the Dugu family told me that you are qualified to talk to me. I want to know what your qualifications are? Show me your qualifications, and then we can talk."

Xue Wei placed the first imperial gold medal in front of him. This was his hidden guard gold medal. The word "hidden guard" was engraved on the back, and it was only two very small characters, no bigger than a sesame seed, that could only be seen if you got very close.

"Is this okay?"

Yuan Qi stared at the gold medal for a long time before nodding. "What do you want to talk to me about?"

"Regarding your son's marriage to Dugu Jiao, I know you don't really care about being a widow. Tell me, what do you care about?"

Yuan Qi sneered, "Do you think I'd tell you?"

"Mr. Yuan, I am no longer your nephew-in-law. Don't try to intimidate me with your seniority. You don't know my identity. Do you think a mere Fengche Duwei can produce an imperial gold medal? There are five imperial gold medals in total. Let me tell you, I have two. They have nothing to do with my mother. I am negotiating a deal with you, not begging you."

"Why do you have two imperial gold medals?"

"This is one of the biggest secrets of the Wu Zhou dynasty. You don't need to know it. You just need to know that I am qualified to talk to you. That's enough."

Why are you concerned about my son's marriage?

"I don't care, it's Yuanmin who cares. Your son and Dugu Jiao are in love, and he's her best friend. She wants to help them. I'm doing this for Yuanmin."

Yuan Qi gently stroked his face, then looked at the Emperor's gold medal, his gaze towards Xue Wei becoming cunning. "I'll only ask you three questions. Answer me truthfully, and I'll judge the rest myself."

"Can!"

"First, what does Dugu Jiao have?"

"She has three shops, two thousand acres of fertile land, ten thousand strings of cash, and a small house of three acres. This is the dowry given to her by the Dugu family, with a total value of ninety thousand strings of cash."

"Ninety thousand strings of cash!" This number greatly surprised Yuan Qi, and his eyes lit up.

"Really?"

"You can verify it yourself."

"Okay! My second question is, what can you give Yuan Mao?"

"He can follow me. I need an assistant. I promise to help him cross the fifth-rank official line before he turns thirty."

What promises do you have?

Xue Wei took out the second gold medal and placed it on the table. "Use this as a promise!"

Upon seeing the words "as if I were personally present," Yuan Qi was so frightened that he jumped to his feet, only to sit down again in fear.

"Who exactly are you?"

"I am Xue Wei, you know me, but my identity is not important."

Xue Wei put away the gold medal and said calmly, "What you just saw is one of the secrets of Wu Zhou. I hope you don't tell anyone, or it will bring you death."

Yuan Qi nodded gently, "I know, I won't tell anyone."

Yuan Qi was now completely convinced by Xue Wei's words. He pondered for a moment and said, "My third question is, I want to become an official. Can you grant that wish?"

"We may not be able to give it to you now, but we can in three years. We don't have high-ranking officials, but we can guarantee a seventh-rank official."

"I don't want a high-ranking official position, I just want to be a county magistrate, it's been my dream since I was a child."

"The county magistrate is not a problem. In three years, my mother will have the authority to arrange things for you. This is my promise to you."

Yuan Qi nodded, extended his hand, and said, "We've made a deal!"

The two exchanged a high five, and Yuan Qi said calmly, "I will find a matchmaker to propose marriage to the Dugu family tomorrow."

Xue Wei certainly had his own ideas. On the surface, he was facilitating the marriage, but in reality, he was trying to win over Yuan Qi and drive a wedge into the Yuan family. In the future, when the Yuan family and Yuan Min fought over the property, Yuan Qi would definitely be an important pawn.