Chang'an is good

After Ma's old lady left, Ma Xingzhou said: "Get up and talk."

Ma Wan replied "Yes", stood up and stood aside, waiting for her grandfather to speak.

"Grandfather knows that you have always been obedient and sensible. Your father left early. Over the years, you and your mother have taken care of your younger brothers and sisters, shared housework, and handled middle-class care. You are always more careful and self-reliant than ordinary boudoir girls. These grandfathers have seen In the eyes..."

Because of this, his wife always favors the eldest granddaughter more, and he is no exception.

When Ma Wan was about to speak, her grandfather, who was over [-] years old, looked at her with a more solemn tone: "But you know nothing about court affairs, and you are deeply involved in the matter of being the crown prince and concubine, which has a lot to do with ordinary marriages." It’s different, grandpa still needs to explain the stakes to you in advance, you wait to hear it, and it’s not too late to make a decision.”

Seeing her grandfather's expression, Ma Wan was inexplicably nervous, so she nodded and listened quietly.

"Marrying a clan son as a wife, the rules are unavoidably onerous, but for this point, grandfather believes that you can handle it well, and the 'big difference' that grandfather said means something else—"

Ma Xingzhou had no intention of lying to his granddaughter, and said bluntly: "If you marry to Yizhou, you must always pay attention to the actions of Prince Rong and his son. If there is any change, you must send a letter back to Beijing in time."

Ma Wan was startled when she heard that, and after a while, she was able to ask: "What does grandfather mean..."

Ma Xingzhou nodded to her seriously: "Besides Prince Rong and Princess Concubine, you have another identity, and that is the eyes of a saint."

Ma Wan's complexion turned pale for a moment, she thought that a saint must have considerations in choosing the Ma family, but she didn't think so deeply.

"The Ma family bears the grace of the emperor, and has been trusted and reused by the saints. The fact that this prime minister's mansion can take root here is all thanks to the grace of the emperor." Ma Xingzhou and his granddaughter said in detail: "Give my granddaughter, the eldest daughter of the prime minister's mansion, to marry King Rong. My son, I have not only given enough dignity, but also shown a reminder."

"Although Yizhou is far away in the west, the sage never has to worry about the possibility of our Ma family's rebellion. Therefore, in the eyes of the sage, Wan'er, you are the best choice."

At this point, the old man's eyes softened slightly: "However, there are many burdens on this trip. Grandpa does not want to force you, and the saint does not want to weaken the relationship between the monarch and his subjects, so there is no intention of forcing it. This matter is still in favor right now." There is room for discussion."

"Grandfather told you this because he wants you to think carefully before making a decision."

Ma Wan came back to her senses late, with a trace of luck in her heart: "...Rongwangfu, do you really have a different intention?"

"Although there is no real evidence, since King Rong is now the only younger brother of the late emperor, the sage has no choice but to guard against it, and it is precisely because there is no real evidence that he needs such a pair of eyes to go to Yizhou together." Ma Xingzhou said slowly: "If Ruo Rong Wang Zhizhi is not here, maybe he is willing to restrain himself...for the sage and the overall situation of the world, it would be the best."

"Granddaughter also hopes that Prince Rong's Mansion will not be dissatisfied..." Ma Wan's mind fluctuated for a while.

Ma Xingzhou looked at his granddaughter, and asked thoughtfully, "Does Wan'er have any other thoughts? If so, you might as well talk to grandpa."

Ma Wan struggled in her heart for a moment, but she shook her head in the end, and said, "Wan'er just thinks that my grandfather is always thinking about Wan'er... As the eldest daughter of the family, how can Wan'er put her grandfather in the prime minister's house for disloyalty?" Righteousness? Let the sage have a quarrel with his grandfather because of this?"

Can she say that she is pleased with the prince's son?
She originally planned to express her heart to her grandfather, but since this trip was for the saint's eyeliner, that kind of heart would be trouble and misfortune for the saint.

If she said it, she would no longer be trusted, and she would no longer be the best candidate.

She would never betray the prime minister, but she really didn't want to miss the chance to marry her sweetheart... In this life, a bosom friend is hard to find, and she will never meet such a second person in this lifetime.

And she believes that there is a law of both ends.

Because a person's eyes and his music cannot lie, his temperament is indifferent and easy-going, and he is not a person who indulges in power struggles...

As long as Prince Rong's Mansion is in peace with the saint, everything will be fine!
The young man's gentle and pure smile flashed in front of her eyes again, and Ma Wan didn't have any hesitation in her heart.

"Wan'er is willing to go to Yizhou for the prime minister's mansion. This trip will live up to the entrustment of my grandfather and saint. I also ask my grandfather to fulfill Wan'er's heart!"

Ma Xingzhou looked at his granddaughter who knelt down again, and after a long while, he sighed softly, with distress and relief in his eyes.

……

After listening to her grandfather's many explanations, when Ma Wan left, the night was dark.

The moonlight was silent on the way back, but Ma Wan's mood could not be calmed down for a long time. There was joy, longing, and a hint of uneasiness.

"Girl... have you really thought about it?" The maid hesitated again and again, and finally couldn't help but speak.

Although she didn't know what the girl said to the old hostess specifically, but in the carriage returning from the music hall, the girl's thoughts were already obvious.

The maid whispered worriedly: "The servant is worried that the son of King Rong is not sincere, but deliberately tricked the girl..."

Ma Wan frowned very quickly: "Then tell me, what did he lie to me?"

Today he didn't say any nonsense words to her, and he even admitted that he didn't completely let go of the lady of the Chang family. Everything she did was done spontaneously, not coaxed by others.

The maidservant looked complicated: "The servant girl can't tell, it's just my intuition..."

Ma Wan: "There is no proof, and who taught you to slander others so casually?"

The maid panicked and admitted her mistake: "Miss, calm down, I know I was wrong."

"Besides, don't mention to anyone, including grandparents, the fact that I met Prince Rong's son in the music hall." Ma Wan ordered: "To avoid unnecessary gossip."

The maid didn't dare to say more, and she could only answer "yes" when she heard the words.

The master and servant were silent all the way, Ma Wan was immersed in her own thoughts, and the moment she stepped into her courtyard, she subconsciously glanced at the maid again.

Deliberately coaxing?Not sincere?
She thought about what the maid said again, and after thinking about it, she still found it funny.

What words is he trying to trick her?As for sincerity, when did he advertise that he treated her "sincerely"?

He didn't say or do anything, this matter was just her own decision to obey her own will.

……

Any clever calculation often does not make the person being calculated aware of it, but attributes the result of other people's silent induction as his own willingness, and indulges himself in this "willingness".

It was night, and the son of Prince Rong stood quietly in front of the window in his clothes.

He knew very well that the empress would not let him leave alone.

But Empress Ming probably couldn't think of anything, and the suitable candidate she selected after much deliberation was actually chosen by him himself.

In the eyes of Empress Ming, the Ma family will not have the possibility of turning against them. The right minister, Ma Xingzhou, is indeed a good minister who is upright and loyal to the emperor...

But his son died young, and he treated the eldest granddaughter with more compassion and love, so he couldn't make up his mind for a long time.

That being the case, he helped the other party. If Ma Wan could speak up in person, as a grandfather, he would naturally get the best of both worlds.

Everyone can get the best of both worlds, wouldn't everyone be happy?

Li Lu smiled and raised his head to look at the moon. After a while, the smile dissipated a little, and he seemed to see the boat on the lake under the moon at night, and the bow-wielding girl on the boat.

Goodbye, when and where?

But he thought we'd see each other anyway.

He waits for that day.

And what came earlier than that day was naturally the imperial decree of marriage.

Soon, the news spread that the sage had married Li Lu, the son of King Rong, and Ma Wan, the granddaughter of Ma Xiang's family.

"I will keep in mind what Ma Xiang did for me and the court today."

"Sharing your majesty's worries is the duty of a minister."

The Emperor Shengji looked at the loyal and useful minister, and promised: "I know the ambition of the horse minister, and I will never disappoint those poor students, and I will not let them wait for a long time."

Ma Xingzhou bowed deeply.

The emperor's words meant that the affairs of the Changsun clan were coming to an end.

In a few days, the Emperor Shengchi was dismissed from office and removed from office, deprived of family property, and beheaded Changsun Yuan and his two sons on the charge of Changsun Yuan's collusion with Xu Zhengye's rebellion, which had been verified.

The rest of the tribe were also sentenced to hanging, or dismissed from office and relegated to exile according to the severity of their crimes.

Considering the past achievements of the Changsun family, those under the age of sixteen will not be held accountable, but they will all have to move to Qianzhou with their relatives. From now on, their descendants will not leave Qianzhou for half a step without an edict.

It's not that Emperor Shengji never thought of cutting grass and roots, but the actions of cutting off people's blood all the time have damaged the reputation of yin and virtue, not to mention the deep roots of the Changsun family, which still has spare power behind it and the support of other gentry forces. Backlash.

Sometimes a little show of leniency, leaving room for life, is to stop the opponent's desperate counterattack in a desperate situation.

Now that the big tree has collapsed, the remaining branches and vines can be cut off later.

At this moment, the young grandson Ji, holding his grandfather's tablet in his arms, was already sitting in the carriage leaving Beijing for Qianzhou with several relatives.

In the past, the proud and dignified, mighty young man was now dressed in plain cloth, the tears in his eyes had already dried up, and his expression was gloomy and numb.

The carriage was rough and bumpy, and there was nothing else in the carriage except for a few bundles. Since he was born, everything he had used was fine, and he had never been in contact with such rough things.

But this is already a manifestation of the emperor's "benevolence and kindness".

Changsun Ji was silent for a long time.

He thought that the death of his sister-in-law was the most painful thing he could imagine in life, but he never thought that it was just the beginning.

Grandfather died, grandmother hanged herself, father died, mother died with father, and those uncles who watched him grow up also died...

"Aji, from now on, you will be the new Patriarch of the Changsun Clan. You must remember what your grandfather told you before he left." The clansmen's voices were sad and hoarse, but full of unwilling sustenance.

Changsun Ji was in a daze.

Grandpa's confession...

That's right, the night before the execution, my grandfather had something to tell him.

Grandfather did not hide from him anymore, and told him all the ins and outs. Grandfather indeed knew about Xu Zhengye's going to raise troops, and he did receive secret letters from Xue Ren and Luo Guanlin...

Although the grandfather did not agree to them, he still concealed the truth, because the grandfather saved the heart of repaying the power after being forced by Xu Zhengye.

The grandfather said that he knew that Xu Zhengye and others might have wolf ambitions, and he had no intention of being with them, but just wanted to borrow strength.

The grandfather said that the Changsun family is different from the five major clans headed by the Cui family, that is, the Changsun family and the Li family have the same prosperity and decline, and they are loyal to the Li family. No matter how they fight for power, this ambition has never changed.

Therefore, the grandfather handed over the seal of the head of the Changsun family to him, and ordered him to take up this responsibility to protect the Changsun family, and to find a good opportunity to choose the master of the Li family to help him revive the Li family.

He closed his eyes at this moment, and it seemed that he could still see his grandfather's unwilling and unwavering eyes.

Choose the Ming Lord of the Li family and revive the Li family...

With him alone, can he really fulfill his grandfather's will?

The young man looked down at the tablet wrapped in black cloth in his arms, and his eyes gradually turned red again.

He seemed to see his grandfather's old and embarrassing appearance in the prison again, and his grandfather used to whisper to himself like that——

"Back then, I chose to support the third prince with mediocre qualifications and suppress him in every possible way...was it really wrong?"

"Earlier, if my sister and I had chosen the poor and weak one who lived next to the elephant garden and had no one to care about, and had a good child under my sister's knee, wouldn't the scene today be completely different... "

"So, I made the wrong choice from the very beginning... Perhaps the Changsun Clan's defeat today may have been foreshadowed."

"A Ji, my grandfather missed the election, so you must keep your eyes open and choose carefully..."

……

In Anyifang, inside Cui's ancestral hall, an old and thin figure stood silently.

"Father."

Cui Wei came in from the outside to salute, and said in a low voice: "The members of the Changsun clan have successfully left the capital, everything has been properly arranged, and we will definitely escort them to Qianzhou safely."

Cui Ju nodded.

Those who openly show mercy may not be lenient in secret. Although the Changsun family is doomed to decline, if they can keep a trace of blood, they can still have a spark.

"Father..." Cui Wei hesitated for a moment, but still frowned and said, "The Empress Ming is acting more and more recklessly now, if this continues..."

"You can finally see this matter clearly." Cui Ju said: "I have already said that there can only be one of the gentry and the empress of the Ming Dynasty."

"But how dare she..." Cui Wei's tone was full of suppressed strange anger: "First it is the Pei family, and then the Changsun family, she will not be afraid of acting like this..."

"You want to kill people, but don't you allow people to fight back?" Cui Ju turned around and interrupted his son's words: "She can't back down on this matter, and I, Cui Shi, can't back down either. Survival wins or loses, and I will do my best and obey the destiny.

It is called to gather the clansmen to go to the governor's hall to discuss matters. "

Cui Wei agreed.

Cui Ju left the ancestral hall, followed by a confidant old servant.

"Has there been a letter from Bingzhou recently?" Cui Ju asked as he walked.

"Go home, Lord, no letter has been sent back recently."

Cui Ju frowned, showing a hint of worry.

Bingzhou?

Cui Wei couldn't help asking: "Father, who is in Bingzhou?"

Bingzhou is under the jurisdiction of Nanizi.

Cui Ju: "Ling'an had previously left Beijing for Bingzhou under a secret order. He was in a hurry when he left. He sent a letter back to the government ten days ago to explain the inside story."

Cui Wei was taken aback.

So, at that time, the traitor in his eyes led his troops to leave without saying goodbye, because he had given a secret decree to leave Beijing earlier?
Cui Wei frowned, and suddenly felt that he was a little wronged because of his anger.

Inevitably asked again: "Since there is a letter, why didn't the father tell the son?"

Cui Ju glanced at him: "If you care about his affairs, he will send this letter to you."

"..." Cui Wei's face changed, and he asked again after a while: "Why did you go to Bingzhou suddenly? Didn't you mean to go to the northern border to train troops and rebuild the border defense?"

Cui Ju's expression was serious: "There may be changes in Bingzhou."

And I'm afraid it's not the change of that long history.

At this moment, Ling An didn't know where he was, whether he was safe or not...

Cui Ju was worried, so he ordered people to go secretly to Bingzhou to find out the news.

……

On this day, the carriage of Chang Suining and his party arrived in Xuanzhou.

On the way, she noticed something strange, and she also sent someone to rush to Bingzhou to send a letter to Cui Jing, but she didn't know if it had been delivered to him at this time?
While Chang Suining was thinking, the carriage had passed the city gate of Xuanzhou, Ah Dian couldn't help but lift the curtain and looked out curiously.

Chang Suian, who was in the carriage behind, was not interested at all. As he got closer and closer to Xuanzhou these days, he became more and more nervous.

Good night everyone~
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