Xie Wanxin sued the wicked first at dinner, and Chen Ji's body was incomplete, Xie Huaichang really couldn't listen to it, and couldn't bear to interject: "Ah Xin, you do these bad things, and you are not afraid of ghosts knocking on the door in the middle of the night." ”

Wan Xin glanced at him: "What did I do? I'm trying to find out what kind of fiancé is for Sister Lan." Sister Lan, let me tell you, if you marry that person in the future, it is better to be with Master Jiang, I look at that person very pleasing to the eye, and I see that I am here to be my brother-in-law. ”

Wanlan smiled, pointed at her head and said: "How old are you, you talk about marriage all day long, and you are not afraid of other people's jokes." ”

She didn't know how ugly Wan Xin had lost her name, Xie Huaichang looked at the eldest sister's smiling face, and only felt frightened: "Wan Xin is going to have a whole person's mind today......

Wanlan raised her eyebrows, pointed at him with chopsticks, and said angrily: "You! still want to push the mistake on Ah Xin, why didn't you tell me yesterday that Chen Ji will also attend?"

Xie Huaichang said innocently: "Could it be that you know that Chen Ji is also there, so you will go?"

"Of course not," Wanlan said, "but I won't let you take Ah Xin to ruin my reputation." ”

She lowered her head and drank half of the soup, and said: "I didn't expect that after he returned to China, he would actually work in a foreign bank, no wonder he had to hide it from his parents, if he was Chen Shibo, he would have to take off his skin if he didn't die." ”

"I heard Baili say that he dropped out of the army non-commissioned officer school and changed careers to study," Xie Huaichang said: "It seems that he intends to engage in business, but he doesn't know how to explain to his family." ”

"No wonder I don't want to marry the Xie family, just one father is embarrassing enough, plus an official father-in-law," Wanlan smiled: "It's quite an idea, the children of the official family can give up their bodies to go into business, and their minds are lively, which is good." ”

Wan Xin frowned at her and shouted, "Sister Lan, you won't fall in love with that kid just because of this, will you?"

"Okay, the eldest girl's family, don't be ashamed at all," Wanlan poked her forehead again, turned her face and asked Xie Huaichang: "You have been out of the house lately, is there something wrong?"

Xie Huaichang obviously hesitated, and said half-concealedly: "I participated in an academic salon, and there will be students on the altar every day, so ......"

Wanlan seemed to have something on her mind, and when she heard this, she just said "um" faintly, and didn't notice his strangeness: "Anne is going back to China, George will take over from her to teach, you still have to focus on going abroad, don't put the cart before the horse." ”

Xie Huaichang responded, but he didn't take it to heart, he was young and new to everything, and he suddenly came into contact with a new world that he had never heard of, how could he still stay in the study? Zhenjiang's ethnology only talked about it, but the students in Beijing had already talked about democratic industry and social contract, and talked about every edict and every policy change issued by the imperial court. When he talked about national affairs with those young and energetic students, he always felt that his blood seemed to be boiling, and he couldn't wait to enter the cabinet immediately to pay homage to the prime minister, making China the richest and most powerful country overnight.

On 1 September, the Qing court issued the "Proclamation of the Preparatory Constitution", which caused an uproar in the capital, and the preparation of the constitution meant that the current bureaucratic system was about to be abolished, which meant that the existing official team was about to usher in a major purge. The Empress Dowager entrusted Yuan Shikai with the task of preparing for the new official system, and the minister of foreign affairs who succeeded Li Hongzhang finally completed the tasks that Li Hongzhang failed to accomplish - he trained the new army, founded the armed academy, patrolled the police in Tianjin, developed the mining industry in Beiyang, and even planned the construction of the first Beijing-Zhangjiakou railway, which was designed and built entirely by Chinese, which won him widespread praise in academic circles.

Now that he is going to preside over the preparation of a new official system and grasp greater power, this is undoubtedly a wise decision based on the current development momentum of Beiyang, and people have already believed that this Yuan Dashuai may really be able to bring a new atmosphere to the twilight government.

However, there will always be people who are not satisfied, and when Xie Daoyong pulled Xie Huaichang down from the simple pulpit, Xie Huaichang was making his speech hoarsely, accusing the government of this move as nothing more than a change of soup, and that as long as the names of the emperor and ministers are kept in their heads, the servility of the Chinese will not die one day, and the people will not be able to achieve true equality.

His pulpit was opened on a floor car at the entrance of the hall of Beijing Normal University, and most of the people who gathered around to listen to the lecture were students of the school, which was opened because of the Restoration, and the students in it accepted new ideas from the beginning of entering the school.

Xie Daoyong passed by in a sedan chair, and heard a familiar voice in the noisy noise, as hard as a cuckoo crying blood, saying "civil rights", saying "all people are born equal", and even saying "princes and generals, rather have a kind".

He opened the curtain of the sedan window and took a look, only to feel that his lungs were about to explode, so he immediately stopped the sedan chair man, squeezed over and dragged Xie Huaichang's braid and dragged him down, and dragged him straight into the small ancestral hall of Xie Mansion.

As soon as Wanlan Fang went out, he met the little girl sent by Mrs. Feng, saying that Xie Daoyong was furious, and asked Wanlan to go to the ancestral hall quickly. Wanlan inquired a few more words, and after learning about Xie Huaichang's great achievements in the day, George said goodbye first.

Wanlan suppressed her anxiety and politely sent him to the second gate.

"Ma'am, I have a little piece of advice I want to give you," George paused in front of the shadow wall, a smile on his lips, but there was no warmth in his eyes: "Oriental Rose should enjoy poetry and flowers to the fullest, and not get mixed with the complicated and dirty political issues." ”

Wanlan was stunned for a moment, and met his blue eyes: "You came to China, aren't you ......?"

"Of course not, I'm here for an oriental rose like you," George smiled deeply, but the look in his eyes was even more disappointed, he took a step back and saluted Wanlan's chest, "Goodbye, ma'am, good luck." ”

Wanlan was keenly aware of the subtle changes in his eyes, and hurriedly stepped forward: "George, will you come again tomorrow?"

George looked at her with a smile, kind and gentle, and personable: "Of course, why not? See you tomorrow." ”

Wanlan put her mind at ease, sent George away, and hurried to the ancestral hall, she lived in Xie Daoyong's house for a long time, and had never heard that there was an ancestral hall in the house, and this ancestral hall was exactly the same as the ancestral hall of the old house in Zhenjiang, when she entered the door, she thought that she was still in Zhenjiang.

Xie Daoyong's anger had been put away, and when he saw Wanlan, he nodded back at her: "Ah Lan is here." ”

Wanlan curtsied to Xie Daoyong and said softly: "What's the matter?" Huaichang, what have you done to make your uncle angry like this? Uncle has worked so hard for you, how can you still be so unfilial, and don't you apologize like your uncle!"

Xie Huaichang knelt on the ground motionless, and did not speak, but Xie Daoyong waved his hand: "That's it, Ah Lan, your younger brother is stubborn, more terrible than your father, I can't control it." ”

Wanlan walked over with a smile and squeezed his back and shoulders behind Xie Daoyong: "Young people are not sensible, why should my uncle be angry with him? ”

Xie Daoyong pushed away Wanlan's hand and stood up: "You are indeed young, you can keep up with the trend, and you can understand changes, but history from ancient times to the present is in the hands of the old guys, and these old guys you look down on have formulated the rules of history, even if it is the Jade Emperor, you have to follow the rules." ”

"Uncle misunderstood, I never wanted to act in the rules," Xie Huaichang raised his head, half of his cheeks were red and swollen, but his eyes were shining. The voice was low, but full of power: "What I want is to break this rule. ”

"Destroy the rules? Who have you ever seen who can break the rules?" Xie Daoyong asked rhetorically: "Sun Wen, whom you respect and support, is now collecting donations in Japan to raise money to buy guns and ammunition, intending to overthrow the Qing Empire, this is what you call breaking the rules? What a joke, two thousand years ago, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang did exactly the same thing as him, first put out slogans and then recruit soldiers, this rule has not dared to be followed since ancient times. ”

"I ......" Xie Huaichang stuck a card, and Xie Daoyong waved his hand tiredly to interrupt him: "Huaichang, to put it mildly, I have eaten more salt than you have eaten, what is the essence of everything in this world, I don't say that you can see everything clearly, but at least you can see it better than you." I'm bringing you back from the street today, not to stop you from doing anything, but to hope that you can have a better brain, what you can and can't do, and you have to have a number in your own heart. ”

After he finished speaking, he didn't wait for Xie Huaichang to answer, so he walked outside the ancestral hall alone, but accidentally tripped on the threshold and almost fell, Wanlan screamed and pressed on the side of his mouth, and took a few steps to help him, but Xie Daoyong pushed his hand away: "I am an outsider after all, Ah Lan, you can persuade him." ”

Wanlan responded, watched Xie Daoyong leave, and returned to put three sticks of incense on the ancestors and ancestors who were offered on the case, Xie Huaichang stood up from the ground with all his heart, Wanlan turned around and saw it, and reprimanded in a cold tone: "Kneel." ”

Xie Huaichang looked at the eldest sister in surprise, and slowly knelt down again.

Wanlan said, "What did you do today?"

Xie Huaichang seemed to be more nervous in front of her than in front of Xie Daoyong just now, and his previous hardness was swept away, and he only said in a low voice: "Today, the imperial court promulgated the constitutional edict, I ...... I...... I gave a speech in front of the hall of Kyoto Normal University. ”

Wanlan asked again, "Do you know why Uncle wants to stop you?"

Xie Huaichang said gloomily: "He is afraid that I will recruit officers and soldiers." ”

Wanlan said: "Do you remember that when we were still in Zhenjiang, my uncle once said that indifferent sacrifice is not only not a contribution, but also a disaster for the living?"

Xie Huaichang nodded: "Remember, but I won't bring disaster to anyone!"

"Isn't my father a human being? Isn't my uncle a human being? Am I not a human being?" Wan Lan asked: "If you are just an ordinary student, maybe the worst situation is to die, but you are the second young master of the Xie family, and you are the nephew of the squire of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, think about it, if you alarm the official government, what will your uncle do? As an official of the imperial court, he has such a rebellious nephew in the palace. ”

Xie Huaichang never seemed to have considered this question, and he was speechless when she asked him like this.

"Huaichang, my uncle brought you from Zhenjiang to the capital and sent you to stay in the foreign country, so that you could find a way to protect the family, not let you take this life and take the whole family to death. You men are very heroic when you speak, and I listen to the rise and fall of any major national event, I listen to it ridiculously," Wanlan took a step closer to him, and her calm tone became more and more stern: "Your biggest problem now is that you think you know a lot, but you can do too little, how much ability do you think? Don't talk about a country, that is, Zhenjiang, a small place, can you manage it well? Do you think the empty slogan of the Three People's Principles can save a single thing? It's just a nice thing to say." Nothing, nothing, nothing, and vain trying to save China, is there anything more ridiculous in this world?"

As she spoke, she sighed deeply and calmed her excitement: "From this day forward, all your friends, every party you attend, must be reported to me, and you must not go to participate without my permission. ”