Tibet

Tianbao’s twelfth-year New Year ended in a bustle, and it was late January again in the blink of an eye.

On this morning, Li Dai walked hurriedly in a corridor of the Daming Palace in Chang'an. He resigned from the Ministry of Rites at the end of January last year to observe filial piety for his father. In the blink of an eye, a year passed. During this year, he stayed in the house and basically did not go out. Occasionally When I go out, I also go to the ancestral hall to meet the clan members.

But today, Gao Lishi invited him to come to the official room to talk.

Li Dai walked to the door of Gao Lishi's officer's room and waited for a while. A young eunuch came out and said: "Aweng, please let me in!"

Li Ye walked into the official room, and Gao Lishi was sitting behind the table reviewing the memorial. This was originally the emperor's business, but the emperor Li Longji indulged in pleasure and left it all to Gao Lishi.

"As for your humble position, please see the tall man!" Li Dai bowed and saluted.

Gao Lishi smiled and said: "Your Majesty, please take a seat!"

Li Dai sat down. He didn't know what would happen, and he felt quite uneasy.

"I haven't been out much this year! I haven't heard any news from the envoy."

Li Dai bowed slightly and said: "Basically I haven't gone out in my humble job. I occasionally go to the ancestral hall, but I haven't gone anywhere else."

"Is there any news about your master?"

"A few months ago, I received a letter from him flying eagle to Ganzhou, Hexi Province. His grandfather sent someone to deliver it to us in Ganzhou. He said that he originally planned to come back in the spring, but he probably won't come back in the spring, and he may not be able to come back until the summer. .”

Gao Lishi nodded, "The Hezhong Governor's Office has just been established. There must be a lot of things going on. They still have to find ways to solve military and financial problems. It's understandable that they are under a lot of pressure."

Li Dai also nodded silently. He believed that when Gao Lishi came to find him, it would not be as simple as asking about his son.

Gao Lishi returned to the topic, "The emperor gave you a special period of one year, and it will expire at the end of this month. I asked the emperor for instructions, and the emperor also asked you to continue to serve as the Minister of Rites. The current Minister of Rites is Wei Jiansu. He will serve concurrently until the end of the month, and on the first day of February, you will be officially reinstated as Minister of Rites."

Li Dai didn't say anything. He felt that his filial piety was not enough for Ding You's first year, so it usually lasted for Ding You's third year.

Gao Lishi said calmly: "The so-called loyalty and filial piety cannot have both ends. One year of Ding You does not mean being unfilial, and three years of Ding You does not mean filial piety. You need to serve the country, and the imperial system also allows exceptions. No one will accuse you!"

Li Dai nodded, "Thank you Gao Weng for your care. I will definitely take up my humble position as scheduled."

"That's it! The appointment letter from the Political Affairs Hall will come out soon. You first go to the Ministry of Personnel to go through the reinstatement procedures."

"Wei Chen resigns!"

Li Dai bowed and slowly retreated.

Gao Lishi shook his head secretly. He didn't expect that the emperor would still remember this incident, so he specifically told him that the emperor was still paying attention to Li Ye in the river.

The current rotating prime minister is Zhang Jun. Zhang Jun hurriedly walked into Yang Guozhong's official room and said with great dissatisfaction: "What is this? Now even the Minister of Rites has to be appointed. Let's make up for the formalities. The political hall has simply become a decoration."

Yang Guozhong narrowed his eyes and said coldly: "Zhang Xiangguo, be careful that trouble comes from your mouth!"

Zhang Jun was immediately frightened, and said angrily for a long time: "Others gave Ding You three years, but he only had one year to return to his post, as if he was begging him. It really makes people feel dissatisfied!"

"okay!"

Yang Guozhong said impatiently: "Just do what the Lord arranges? Don't talk these useless nonsense all day long. If you have the ability, collect his evidence and bring him down. I promise to support you!"

"Hmph! I don't believe he has no handle?"

Zhang Jun has a very small temper, and he is always worried about Li Linfu's use of him. After Li Linfu is dead, he can attack his descendants.

Zhang Jun was not interested in that idiot Li Xiu. He always kept his eyes on Li Dai and wanted to get rid of Li Dai and his son Li Ye so that Li Linfu could die in peace.

I originally thought that it would be difficult for Li Dai to return to his post after Ding's death, but he didn't expect that just one year later, he would come back again and serve as a high-ranking official like the Minister of Rites, which really made Zhang Jun unbalanced.

Since he couldn't object openly, he could only do it covertly.

In the backyard of Li Dai's house, Dugu Xinyue (also known as Suzaku) was drinking tea and chatting with Pei Sanniang. She came back from Qingcheng Mountain in October last year. Master Liefeng emerged in Qingcheng Mountain Wuji Palace in early September last year. After a whole month of busy work, Suzaku finally Returning to Chang'an with a tired body.

After returning to Chang'an, she completely took off her Taoist robe and resumed her real name of Dugu Xinyue. Zhuque was her name when she was a girl. Once she got married, she would resume her official name.

Perhaps because she is getting married, Dugu Xinyue spends most of her time at home. When she goes out, she comes to Li's Mansion to accompany Pei Sanniang. This is her future mother-in-law. Only by building a good relationship with her mother-in-law can she live a good life in the future.

"Hey! It's embarrassing to say it. At the time, it was called treasure hunting, but in fact it was just a piece of paper apart from stealing. After all, it was a house with an owner. If it was not discovered, it was called treasure hunting. If it was discovered by the owner, it was called theft."

Dugu Xinyue often chats with Pei Sanniang about treasure hunting stories. She has always had a strong interest in treasure hunting, but due to various conditions, she can only dare to think about it.

Pei Sanniang said with great interest: "Let me tell you another true story about treasure hunting. Just four years ago, Aye and I went treasure hunting together. That time we made 600 yuan."

Dugu Xinyue was immediately interested, "Aunt told me, Aye never told me."

"Xinyue, I told you, don't pass it on to him, he might not want to mention it."

Dugu Xinyue nodded repeatedly. Pei Sanniang was a person who couldn't hide things in her heart. She whispered: "This incident happened when Ye'er first met King Si Ning. There was a second housekeeper in the palace of Si Ning who hated Ye'er very much. He We spent money to bribe a notorious criminal thief named Wei Zizi. Wei Zizi wanted to burn down our house, but we caught him and handed him over to King Si Ning. King Si Ning was afraid of damaging his reputation, so he was killed with a stick and handed over to King Si Ning. The government closed the case."

Dugu Xinyue reacted very quickly and blurted out: "Did Wei Laizi's money become ownerless?"

"You are very smart!"

Pei Sanniang smiled and said: "Fortunately, I asked for his address during the interrogation. Then Ye'er and I took action and found Wei Zizi's residence in Changshou Fang. We found dozens of taels of gold and silver in an earthen jar under his bed. The details are I can’t remember how much it is, but it’s probably worth about six hundred guan.”

"Then Wei Laizi didn't arrange any hidden weapons? I heard from the master that some masters will arrange hidden weapons when protecting their property."

Pei Sanniang nodded, "He put a poisonous little snake in the earthen jar. Ye'er didn't understand, so he reached out to take it out."

"Ah!" Dugu Xinyue covered her mouth and exclaimed, "Has he been bitten?"

Pei Sanniang said proudly: "Can this little trick fool me? I stopped Ah Ye and picked out the little snake with my sword."

Dugu Xinyue gave a thumbs up, "Auntie still has experience. If it were me, I would definitely reach out and take it out."

Pei Sanniang sighed and said: "Experiences are not learned in a vacuum. They all have painful lessons. I once hunted for treasure and found someone else's house money, but I was stung by a scorpion arranged by the owner in advance. Fortunately, I am a doctor, otherwise it would have been terrible. .”

While the prospective mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were talking, Li Dai came back, and Dugu Xinyue hurriedly said goodbye and left in a hurry.

Seeing that her husband was worried, Pei Sanniang asked, "What happened? What is Gao Lishi doing with her husband?"

Li Dai sighed and said, "He asked me to end Ding You and continue to serve as the Minister of Rites. He said it was the emperor's wish."

"Isn't this a good thing?"

Pei Sanniang said in confusion: "You don't sleep well every night and are worried all day long. Isn't it because you are worried that your post after Ding You will be gone? Now that your post is reinstated, you should be happy. Why are you sighing?"

"Of course it's a good thing that my officer has been reinstated, and I'm happy too, but my eldest brother is probably even more unbalanced."

"You still call him big brother?"

Pei Sanniang was immediately dissatisfied and said, "Who gave you the black eye at the corner last year? I pretended not to see it to give you face. What will be the consequences if I tell Ye'er?"

Li Dai quickly clasped his hands and said: "Thank you, madam, for understanding me, but please don't tell Ye'er that the eldest brother has been treated unfairly, lost his official position, and lost his title. It's normal for him to be dissatisfied. Let's keep a low profile and don't irritate him anymore." .”

"We can keep a low profile, but if he dares to hit my husband again, don't blame me for being rude to him!"

It usually takes three years for Ding You to die after his father's death. However, if he is an important official of the imperial court and cannot live without the court, then the emperor will issue an edict to end Ding You early. This is allowed. For example, Zhang Juzheng ended Ding You early.