Tibet

As the New Year approaches, a heavy snowfall comes from the north and sweeps across Xiangyang City. For two days in a row, the sky is gray and the entire northern part of Jingxiang is shrouded in dancing snowflakes.

This morning, a carriage drove through the snow and arrived in front of a vast mansion in the west of Xiangyang City.

This mansion is the main residence of the Du family in Xiangyang. At present, the head of the family, Du Kuan, has gone to Chang'an and has not returned yet. The person in charge of the Du family is Du Kuan's brother Du Yan.

The carriage slowly stopped in front of the gate. A young man was already waiting at the gate. The young man's name was Du Wensi. He was Du Kuan's eldest son. He had previously served as the county captain of Gucheng County and now resigned at home.

A middle-aged man came out of the carriage wearing an octagonal fur hat, a satin cotton robe, and a short fox fur coat. This man was slightly fat, with a wide face and slender eyes. He looked quite impressive. It was Huang Kai, the head of the Huang family in Xiangyang.

Several major families in Xiangzhou are married to each other. Their relationships are intricate and their interests are integrated.

For example, Du Wensi who greeted the guests at the door was Huang Kai's second son-in-law, and Huang Kai's wife was the sister of Zhang Feihong of the Zhang family.

In addition, Huang Kai's eldest son-in-law is the second son of Chang Lian, the former capital regiment training envoy. Although Huang Kai doesn't like the eldest son-in-law because he is rude and domineering, Chang Lian reliably safeguards the interests of the Huang family, and Huang Kai can do the same. accept.

But after the Chang family was wiped out by Li Ye, Huang Kai's eldest daughter became a widow. From then on, Huang Kaixin began to hate Li Ye.

Du Wensi hurriedly held an umbrella and greeted him, "It's snowing so heavily, why is my father-in-law here?"

Huang Kai glared at him, "Can't I come to visit my daughter?"

Du Wensi quickly laughed and said, "My son-in-law means that it's cold and snowy, so my father-in-law should rest at home. If anything happens, my son-in-law can just run errands."

After saying this, Huang Kai asked: "Is your uncle at home?"

"Yes, he is already waiting for his father-in-law in the hall. Father-in-law, please!"

Du Wensi held an umbrella to send his father-in-law into the house. Du Yan was already waiting in front of the distinguished guest hall. Du Yan was eleven years older than his brother Du Kuan. Because his father died young, Du Kuan was actually raised by Du Yan and was named brother. In fact, they are like father and son.

Du Yan once served as the magistrate of Xiangyang County and the Sima of Xiangzhou. However, due to poor health, he resigned and recuperated at home, leaving his brother Du Kuan to serve as an official. He was also the former head of the family and gave up the position of head of the family to his brother Du Kuan last year.

Although Du Yan lives in seclusion, he is the leader behind the Du family and the leader of the Xiangzhou family.

The old mother passed away three years ago, and the brothers had to observe mourning for three years. The term expired in June this year. Brother Du Kuan originally planned to apply for reinstatement, but Du Yan was cunning and asked his brothers to wait and see for a few more months.

It wasn't until the new emperor returned to Chang'an from Hanzhong that Du Yan decided to let his brothers go to Beijing to seek employment. Only under the background of deepening conflicts between Li Ye and the court would the value of the Jingxiang family be revealed and the greatest benefits achieved.

At this time, Huang Kai walked over quickly, Lao Yuan cupped his fists and said, "It's affecting my brother's rest!"

Du Yan smiled slightly and said: "They are all in-laws and relatives. It doesn't matter if relatives visit us, but it's really embarrassing for the head of the family to have to go out due to such heavy snow!"

"Brother is so polite!"

The two exchanged pleasantries and walked into the living room to sit down. The maid served them hot tea.

Just as Du Wensi was about to retreat, Du Yan waved his hand to him, "You also sit down and listen!"

Huang Kai nodded secretly. This was to train the younger generation of the family and let them participate in some important conversations. Of course, they could only listen in and not interrupt.

Huang Kai pointed to the couch next to him and motioned for his son-in-law to sit down next to him, and Du Wensi sat down.

Huang Kai then asked: "Is there any new news about San Lang in Chang'an?"

Sanlang is Du Kuan. There are three brothers in the Du family, and Du Kuan is the third.

Du Yan nodded and said with a smile: "Fang Xiangguo has already submitted our appeal to the emperor. The emperor took it very seriously and met with Sanlang specifically. They talked for more than half an hour. The emperor may be planning to appoint Sanlang as the governor of Dengzhou. !”

"Not the governor of Xiangzhou?"

Du Yan shook his head, "Li Ye is also the governor of Xiangzhou. The emperor should be more cautious! If you don't want to stab him with one blow, let's test it out by appointing him as the governor of the surrounding areas first."

Huang Kai quickly asked: "What about Lu Jiong, the governor of Dengzhou?"

Du Yan said calmly: "Lu Jiong has been appointed as deputy envoy of Huaixi Jiedu to assist Huai Wang Li Huan. The appointment has been announced."

"What if Li Ye appointed Dengzhou governor himself?"

"Isn't there a supervisor Feng Yanhuan in Xiangyang? He will tell Li Ye in time that the Dengzhou governor has been appointed by the imperial court and ask Li Ye not to make repeated appointments."

When the supervisor Feng Yanhuan was mentioned, Huang Kai became angry. He asked Feng Yanhuan many times to report the situation, but Feng Yanhuan was like a wooden man without any response.

"I have never seen such a supervisor. He is so incompetent and useless. He is just a puppet!"

Huang Kai scolded the supervisors and said, "What if Li Ye ignores the court and forces himself to appoint the governor of Dengzhou?"

"No, Li Ye is the prince of the Tang Dynasty after all, not An Lushan. He will not be so naive to fight against the imperial court for a mere governor. If he dares to do that, he will be no different from An Lushan. Li Mi, Liu Yan, Wang Wei, Wang Changling and other subordinates will leave him, and then it will be too late for him to regret."

Huang Kai nodded, he hesitated and said: "There is one more thing, I want to discuss it with my eldest brother. My cousin Huang Xinwu had a conflict with the inner guard in Hanyang over Yu Ze, and seven people from the inner guard died. Brother ,look."

Although Huang Kai had a tough talk, he knew that the matter was a bit serious, so Maoxue came to Du Yan to discuss it.

Du Yan was shocked, fought against the inner guards, and killed seven of them. This problem is very serious! This violated Li Ye's bottom line.

"Why are you so confused? Yu Ze caught you right away. Let's plead for mercy together and pay some compensation. After all, no one died. Li Ye will give us a face and won't kill Yu Ze. But if you kill the inner guard, then you will never die. He was the Ksitigarbha demon back then, killing people like crazy, how could he bear this tone, maybe he would kill the Huang family to establish his authority."

Huang Kai's face changed greatly, and he said with fear in his heart: "I just let Huang Xinwu rob Yu Ze, but I didn't let him kill. He ordered the killing without permission. Now I am also very confused. I don't know what to do. Brother, you must do it this time." Help."

"How can I help you? If you violate his bottom line, he will definitely kill someone."

"Brother, think of a way!"

Du Yan sighed, "The only way now is to give up the car to save the commander, give up Huang Xinwu and Yu Ze, and save the Huang family. Then I will go and intercede for you. The Huang family should be fine."

Huang Kai asked tentatively: "Can you hand over the specific person who did it to Li Ye, and just say that they did it without authorization?"

Du Yan sneered, "Do you think Li Ye is that stupid?"

Huang Kai almost cried, "But Huang Xinwu is my cousin! The deputy head of the Huang family, how can I explain to the family if I kill him?"

Du Yan also knew that Huang Xinwu had an important position in the Huang family, and killing Huang Xinwu would really be a big problem.

He walked a few steps with his hands behind his back: "Let's do this! You go to Li Ye to apologize for not educating the people well, which caused Huang Xinwu to cause a big disaster. Then you express your stance to Li Ye and let Li Ye handle it. Huang The family will never interfere."

Huang Kai suddenly became anxious, "If you let him handle it, wouldn't you still die?"

"Listen to what I have to say!"

Du Yan was really dissatisfied and Huang Kai didn't dare to say anything.

Du Yan then slowly said: "You shouldered the thorn to plead guilty and expressed your position that Li Ye would not touch the Huang family. Then you secretly sent someone to inform Huang Xinwu to flee eastward immediately to join Yong Wang Li Lin. This is called absconding in fear of crime. It has nothing to do with the Huang family."

This method is not bad, Huang Kai nodded, "Thank you, brother, I will go and apologize now."

Du Yan warned again: "You have to tell Li Ye that the warehouse will definitely lose money. You can pay as much as you should. We will pay the money together. We can stab Li Ye in the back, but on the surface we still can't fall out with Li Ye." !”