Chapter 184 Crack
"Greetings to the mistress."
Su Liang bowed down in front of the pearl curtain. Princess Nanyang was a member of the household, so they were separated by a pearl curtain.
"Is everything alright at Invesco's home?"
Su Liang's wife also often visited the Danyang Mansion and had a good relationship with Princess Nanyang. He responded to the princess' polite words. After a brief exchange, Princess Nanyang got to the point:
"Jingshun, does your husband have anything important to do these days?"
Su Liang was stunned for a moment. If it was Xiao Baoyin's conspiracy, then it was a layout in Guanzhong. However, this matter had been planned for a long time, and Princess Nanyang should not be talking about this matter.
Su Liang shook his head. There was a gap between him and Xiao Baoyin now, and Xiao Baoyin would not tell him many confidential matters.
Princess Nanyang was very disappointed. In fact, since that quarrel, Xiao Baoyin never stayed in Princess Nanyang's room again.
Although the two still maintained their previous respectful attitude towards each other, life in the mansion became a show. Princess Nanyang maintained this dignity with her acting skills and they were still the most enviable couple in Wei.
But Princess Nanyang knew the situation well. She wanted to repair her relationship with her husband, but she didn't know where to start.
Master Bian Ji of Longhua Temple became famous in Luoyang City after the duel, but the master was unwilling to enter the palace. Instead, he announced that he would practice in seclusion in Longhua Temple.
When Princess Nanyang thought of what Bian Ji had told her about her past life's marriage, she fell into deep confusion again.
But even if he wants to repay the debt of past life, Su Ze is far away in Hezhou, right?
Princess Nanyang wondered if Bian Ji had interpreted her marriage fate wrongly. She also didn't know when Su Ze would be able to return to Luoyang. Was there any previous fate between her and him that could be continued?
Recently, Princess Nanyang discovered that her husband Xiao Baoyin was behaving suspiciously, and she suspected that Xiao Baoyin had a mistress.
In fact, Princess Nanyang was not as domineering as her sister Princess Lanling. She was not against Xiao Baoyin having a concubine, but her husband treated her as an outsider and kept everything from her.
Su Liang could only comfort her by saying, "Since the mistress has asked, I will help her keep an eye out for it."
Princess Nanyang nodded, and asked her maid to reward Su Liang with something before letting him leave.
Su Liang originally lived in the Danyang Mansion, but now he has moved out. When he returned to his home, he saw his wife measuring silk.
Su Liang was a little confused. Although he was from a noble family, his family was not wealthy. It was very difficult to live in Luoyang, so he was very frugal in his daily life.
My wife was also a frugal person and there was no extra silk in the house.
"My dear, you are back. Come and take a look at this piece of silk. It is top-grade Shu brocade. I am going to make a brocade dress for you."
Su Liang smiled and asked calmly, "Shu brocade? Where did you get this Shu brocade, madam?"
Su Liang's wife immediately said, "This was sent by Princess Chenliu."
"Princess Chenliu?"
Su Liang's wife smiled and said, "Didn't I tell you the other day? I participated in the poetry competition at Princess Chenliu's mansion and won first place with a short poem. This Shu brocade is the prize sent by the princess herself."
Su Liang looked at his wife in surprise. Originally, he regarded the poetry reading as a small gathering among ladies and thought the reward was just a joke.
But I didn't expect that Princess Chenliu would offer such a generous reward.
Shu brocade is much more precious than ordinary silk. The brocade clothes Su Liang is wearing were sewn when he got married, and his family never bought any more brocade clothes after that.
But when Su Liang thought of the princesses of Wei, he was afraid that his wife would be involved in some political turmoil, so he asked again:
"Are there any important officials or ladies attending the poetry gathering?"
The wife shook her head and said, "Your Highness only invited ladies of the same age. There are no ladies of the imperial court."
Hearing this, Su Liang breathed a sigh of relief. As long as there were no big shots involved, it was just a small entertainment group. It was just that Princess Chenliu was generous.
The wife said proudly: "There was also the wife of Shangshu Lang Yangkan, whom my husband highly respects, at the poetry gathering. However, I was beaten by her this time and she only came in second."
Seeing his wife so happy, Su Liang also touched her hair and said, "In that case, my wife should get closer to Princess Chenliu in the future."
The wife said quickly, "Yes, my dear, you don't know that I am afraid of being summoned by Princess Nanyang recently."
"Why is that? Didn't the mistress treat you very well?"
"That's fine, but Her Highness has been too resentful recently. I feel suffocated every time I see her. It would be more comfortable for me to go to Princess Chenliu's mansion."
Su Liang thought of what Princess Nanyang had asked him to find out, and sighed, "Thank you for your hard work, my lady. If you don't want to go, just find an excuse to turn it down."
The wife said: "Princess Nanyang is a good person, but she is trapped in the Danyang Mansion."
Both the husband and wife sighed deeply. Su Liang thought in his heart, isn't Xiao Baoyin, the Duke of Danyang, also trapped in the Duke of Danyang's Mansion?
The next day, Su Liang was still very influential in the Danyang Mansion. He found a few people and pieced together the information that Princess Nanyang wanted to find out.
It turns out that Xiao Baoyin was not cheating on his wife, but was secretly communicating with Nanchao.
This incident shocked Su Liang completely. He thought of Xiao Baoyin’s recent neurosis. Could it be that he was going to return to the Southern Dynasty?
As a representative of the Guanzhong scholars, Su Liang supported Xiao Baoyin's separatist regime in Guanzhong. This was because Guanzhong needed a spokesperson and umbrella, which was in line with the collective interests of the Guanxi gentry.
But if Xiao Baoyin returns to the south, Su Liang will not be able to accept it.
If Xiao Baoyin returns to the south, he will completely break with the Northern Wei Dynasty, and his subordinates and confidants will also be suspected and even punished by the court.
If Xiao Baoyin really did this, it would be tantamount to betraying all those who supported him.
Su Liang found that his trust in his lord had reached its lowest point.
Could it be that the samurai in Kansai have been betting on the wrong thing all along?
-
The female historian of Princess Chenliu's mansion walked through the corridor and came to the front of Princess Chenliu's bedroom.
The weather was getting hotter, and Princess Chenliu was wearing cooler clothes. These days she was dressed like a female Taoist priest and wore a loose Taoist robe.
The lady took out the booklet and said:
"Minister of Personnel Cui Liang recommended Li Yan, the governor of Qinzhou, to be promoted to the position of the Imperial Court Justice, but he was impeached by the Jiangyang King's faction. The Imperial Counselor Song Wei wrote a letter saying that Li Yan was cruel and corrupt in Qinzhou and that the Ministry of Personnel's examinations were unfair, and asked the Queen Mother to make a wise decision." Princess Chenliu sneered and said, "Given my sister-in-law's personality, I'm afraid she will not offend either side, and Li Yan will remain as the governor of Qinzhou, and the Ministry of Personnel's affairs will be put aside."
The female historian said, "That's right. I heard that Li Yan had a very bad reputation in Qinzhou. The officials of Qinzhou bribed Minister Cui in order to get Li Yan promoted and leave Qinzhou."
"It's really ridiculous that subordinates would pool their money to help their superiors get promoted."
The female historian continued, "The Prince of Qinghe also fought back. An official impeached Cui Yanbo, the governor of Qizhou, for corruption, but the Queen Mother suppressed it."
The fight between the two kings in the court was no longer a new thing in Luoyang, and what followed was that the court officials were taking sides at an even faster speed.
Stand on one side and someone will help you when you are attacked.
If you do not take sides, you may become a target of attack from both sides.
Among the important officials in the court today, except for the old minister Cui Guang, Henan Yin Li Daoyuan and a few others who have not taken sides, the other officials have joined the camp of one of the two kings.
Princess Chenliu asked again: "Is there no news from Hezhou?"
The female historian said, "There is no news from Hezhou, except that the Qiang people in Hezhou have been impeaching the general, but their impeachment is very weak and was easily suppressed."
"What is the backing of these Hexi Qiang people?"
The female historian said, "They should be the forces under the command of Danyang Duke Xiao Baoyin."
"Duke Danyang? Isn't Duke Danyang also in Brother Jiangyang's camp? Why is he going against Su Lang?"
"It should be that the Duke of Danyang once asked for the position of General Protector of the Qiang for the Qiang leader Liang Zhao, but the general got it first, so he holds a grudge against him."
Princess Chenliu nodded and said, "I see. Send someone to gather information about the Danyang Palace. The noisy dog must be taught a lesson."
Lu Zhu tried to hold back her laughter. Princess Chenliu was a protective person. Since Duke Danyang wanted to be an enemy of Su Ze, Princess Chenliu would naturally not let them go.
Princess Chenliu stretched lazily and said, "Luoyang is getting hotter and hotter. I really hope to find a cool place to spend the summer."
-
After dismissing his attendants, Duke Xiao Baoyin of Danyang opened a letter in his study.
This was a letter from the Southern Dynasty, but unlike what Su Liang expected, it was a "family letter".
This letter came from Xiao Zong, the second son of Emperor Xiao Yan of Southern Liang.
Xiao Zong's life experience is also very strange.
His mother was Wu, the concubine of Xiao Baojuan, the last emperor of Southern Qi. After Xiao Yan overthrew Southern Qi and conquered Jiankang, he saw the beauty of Concubine Wu in the palace and happily took her as his concubine.
Xiao Zong was the child born less than ten months after Concubine Wu was taken into Xiao Yan's harem.
There have always been rumors in Southern Liang that Xiao Zong is the posthumous son of Xiao Baojuan, the last emperor of the Former Qi Dynasty. It would have been fine if it was just talk, but the bizarre thing about Southern Liang was that after Xiao Zong's mother, Concubine Wu, fell out of favor, she actually told her son about this and told him that he was Xiao Baojuan's son.
This time Xiao Zong went completely crazy. He secretly established the Seven Temples of the Qi Dynasty and visited Xiao Baojuan's tomb in disguise.
In order to confirm that he was really the son of Xiao Baojuan, Xiao Zong listened to the Taoist's method, secretly dug up Xiao Baojuan's grave, cut his arm, and dripped blood on the remains, and the blood seeped into the bones.
Then, in order to verify the effectiveness of this method of paternity testing, Xiao Zong killed one of his own sons and used the same method to test it, becoming even more convinced that he was Xiao Baojuan's son.
After confirming that he was Xiao Baojuan's son, Xiao Zong became even more crazy. He sent people to find Xiao Baoyin who had fled to the Northern Wei Dynasty. He wrote a letter to Xiao Baoyin calling him uncle, wanting to take refuge with Xiao Baoyin.
A while ago, Xiao Zong was appointed as the governor of Xuzhou by Xiao Yan. Xuzhou was the front line of the war between the North and the South, so Xiao Zong wanted to surrender Xuzhou to the Northern Wei Dynasty, hoping that Xiao Baoyin would act as a middleman and invite the Northern Wei army to take over Xuzhou.
Xiao Baoyin was also troubled by the request of this "nephew".
Xiao Baoyin could not say that he had any blood relationship with this nephew who suddenly appeared.
What made Xiao Baoyin feel even more threatened was that Xiao Zong was going to take Xuzhou and surrender to the Northern Wei.
Xuzhou, an important town in the north of the Yangtze River, is one of the most strategic locations in the entire Central Plains.
If Xiao Zong surrendered Xuzhou to the Northern Wei, he would definitely be taken seriously. What would he do then?
The Northern Wei Dynasty had already accepted enough members of the Southern Dynasty royal family, and Xiao Baoyin did not want his "nephew" to dilute the little trust that the Northern Wei royal family already had.
However, if this kind of thing is not handled properly, it will have a huge impact on yourself.
The "nephew" whom you have never met begged you to "abandon the dark and join the light" and surrender to the Wei Dynasty. However, as the Duke of Danyang of the Wei Dynasty, you tried to stop him. This would have an extremely negative impact on both Xiao Baoyin's personal reputation and the court's view of Xiao Baoyin.
Xiao Baoyin wanted to find someone to discuss things with. In the past, he could find his wife, Princess Nanyang, for internal matters, or find Su Liang for external matters. But now, he didn't know who to find for discussion.
Liang Lan? He was just the son of a Qiang leader from the border. It was fine if he did some dirty work, but how could he be allowed to participate in such a confidential matter?
Xiao Baoyin thought for a moment, then called his men over and asked, "Did Minister Yang accept the gift?"
The confidant said somewhat awkwardly: "Shangshulang Yang only accepted the military book, but not the other gifts."
Xiao Baoyin was a little disappointed. Yang Kan was a talent recommended by Su Liang. He was from the Yang family of Taishan. Yang Kan was a man of both civil and military talents. Xiao Baoyin really wanted to recruit him under his command.
It’s a pity that Yang Kan was very cautious. He sent people to deliver gifts several times but was rejected by Yang Kan. He finally managed to send in a volume of military book.
Xiao Baoyin was even more anxious. Why didn't he have any talented people under his command?
In contrast, Su Liang's younger brother Su Chao, just as he came of age, was already playing around with the powerful generals like Liang Zhao in Baohan, and managing Baohan City in no chaos. It was obvious that the Su family had such a talent but they didn't hire him to serve, so Xiao Baoyin felt even more resentful towards Su Liang.
At that time, Chang Jing commented on the two sons of the Su family, saying that the Su family had a dragon and a tiger. This was the comment on Zhuge Liang's three brothers during the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period. Zhuge Jin's younger brother Liang and his cousin Dan were both famous, each in his own country. At that time, it was believed that Shu got its dragon, Wu got its tiger, and Wei got its dog.
Xiao Baoyin thought that Su Liang, whom he had married, was a dragon, but he did not expect that the real dragon was his younger brother Su Chao. The Su family, who was good at martial arts, actually chose to let Su Chao serve Su Ze, a lowly martial artist from a poor family!
Xiao Baoyin had no choice but to pick up his pen and write a reply to his "nephew", persuading him to first take good control of Xuzhou and then surrender to the Northern Wei when he was confident enough.
Xiao Baoyin can only use this delaying tactic now.
He secretly made up his mind to lead his troops to war as soon as possible. As long as he could, he would no longer have to worry about the court's opinion.
-
Liangzhou, Dunhuang.
It’s purple?
After the last capture of Xiping City, Su Ze finally spawned a purple follower again.
Looking at Madam An in front of him, she actually also has luck to absorb?
Su Ze quickly gave Madam An a different look.
(End of this chapter)