The great cause has added a territory since the founding of the country more than 100 years later, and Emperor Hongyuan has also become the first son of heaven who has made meritorious contributions to the opening of the territory since the founding emperor.

Xiao and Wei returned to the court, the Son of Heaven personally went to the Changxing City Gate to greet him, and immediately issued an edict after retracting the tiger talisman of Xiao and Wei, Jin Xiao Tingxiu was the general of the Sanpin Town Army, and served as a squire from the Sanpin Military Department in the court, and Wei Shaoqing was promoted to the champion general. A number of generals were rewarded, especially the Xiao retainer Qi Xu, who led the army to aid Wei Shaoqing, was favored by Emperor Hongyuan at a glance, and was named the general of the Sipin Yunlu, and entered the Northern Ya Imperial Forest Army and became the captain of the Son of Heaven.

Xiao and Wei are more important, and the edict of reward is clear at a glance.

Of course, Emperor Hongyuan had already made it clear at the beginning of Xiao Tingxiu's army that whoever could take the lead in capturing the base camp of the tribal army would be the first person in Qianzhongdao, Wei Shaoqing couldn't hold his breath after Xiao Tingxiu sent his troops, and he messed up his steady and steady position, and was intercepted by Xiao Tingxiu, and he had nothing to say, but instead of consolidating his power in the DPRK, this expedition lost his actual position in the DPRK, which made him depressed.

Before Wei Shaoqing set out on the expedition, he was the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, a rookie in the judicial field who held great power, and this time he wanted to return to the military department with military merits and take control of the military department, who knew that he killed a Xiao Tingxiu halfway, and now the important position of the military department was taken by Xiao Tingxiu, not only did he not get a star and a half, but even the original position of Shaoqing of Dali Temple was also taken away by Emperor Hongyuan after sending troops.

Wei Shaoqing's grievances were not caused by himself, but because of the Wei family.

Wei Yingshi entered the Zhongshu Province as the Zhongshu Order, and became the great prime minister of the Great Cause Country, and the Son of Heaven naturally could no longer handle the relationship between the two according to his previous cognition, and he should be wary of the same. Except for Wei Yingshi, the rest of the Wei family is naturally as far away from the court as possible, so as not to concentrate power and shake the country's foundation.

Xiao Tingxiu's position as the envoy of the Qianzhong Dao was rewarded by Emperor Hongyuan to Duan Zhenggang, who had meritorious service in the country, and the Duan family has risen in the Qianzhong Dao since then.

Xiao Hongming, the Duke of Chu, also returned to Changxing with Xiao Tingxiu to take root, and moved back to the Xiao family's old house in Changxing. The housewarming dinner that night was not extravagant, but the Xiao family had a casual dinner, and Xue Peiqi, as the son-in-law of the Xiao family, naturally accompanied his wife Xiao Tingchu to attend.

The atmosphere at the banquet was also harmonious, but Xue Peiqi was not as natural as he was in Luo'an, and Xiao Hongming also understood, after all, his identity was different, and now he was his own half-son, and it was normal for him to have a half-son and respect for his father-in-law.

During the banquet, Ji Shi, the concubine of Chu Guogong, asked about the income and expenditure of his brother Ji Shangyun's trip to the palace, Ji Shangyun understood, his sister asked him to take this opportunity to complain and complain in front of Xiao Hongming, okay, Xiao Hongming may change him to a position with a puff and eyebrows, even if it is not good, it can also let Xiao Hongming ask Xiao Yafei to say more good things about him in front of the Son of Heaven, so that he, the young eunuch, will have a long face in front of the hundred officials, and it will be convenient to move some silver in the future.

Who knew that before Ji Shangyun's words came out, Xiao Hongming asked, "Since it's a matter of talking, I want to ask you, have you returned the tens of thousands of taels of silver borrowed from Ye Cizhun?" His Majesty has only stayed in the palace for ten days, and he can't use so much money after calculating it, and he will quickly return the surplus to others, which is not a small amount. ”

Seeing Xiao Hongming's unangry and powerful appearance, the Ji brothers and sisters had already been frightened when they complained, so they had to nod their heads and say yes.

Xue Peiqi saw him like this, so he sold him face, and said, "Uncle did a very good job in the palace this time, Your Majesty is full of praise, I don't know what good things I can appreciate, I also took it out for us to see, open your eyes, haha." "The Ji family is just the concubine of the Duke of Chu, not a serious wife's room, so he can only be regarded as half a master, and this "uncle" can be regarded as Xue Peiqi giving him enough face and shouting at him.

"Lord Xue laughed, how can there be any good things that the Xue family has never seen, but he just rewarded a few taels of silver, Lord Ye's money, Grandpa Buguo said that he would also return it, and the silver has been prepared, and it will be sent to Taifu Siqing's Mansion in a few days."

Xiao Hongming nodded and said, "That's the case, Shang Yun, you have been in the Shaofu Prison for many years, and it is very tiring to be in charge of this poor and white Shaofu Eunuch, if you have the opportunity, I will say something for you in front of Your Majesty, and change you to a better position. ”

Ji Shangyun originally thought that he would be yellow before he opened his mouth, but he didn't want Xue Peiqi to say good things for himself in a few words, and he was suddenly overjoyed, thanked him again and again, and looked at Xue Peiqi very gratefully.

On the way back, Xue Peiqi and Xiao Tingchu sat in the carriage, silent, Xiao Tingchu's question broke the silence, "Usually you don't say a word when you see your father, how can you say good things for Ji's now?" ”

"What do you say about Ji's is also the aunt of the Duke of Chu, she has served her father for many years, and she has given birth to a child, but now she just wants to find a better position for her brother, and she doesn't want to be promoted and make a fortune, this matter is not difficult for her father, so I will make the decision to ask her for this favor. What, Madame is upset? ”

"No, I'll just ask casually...... You know, I'll ...... you whatever you're going to do."

Xue Peiqi hooked her lips and smiled, took her soft wattle and held it in the palm of her hand. Xiao Tingchu bowed his head shyly and snuggled into his arms.

The carriage stopped suddenly, and Xue Peiqi was about to ask what was going on, Xuexun had already come to the window on a horse and replied, "The front is the Yi'an County Lord's Mansion, and there are a lot of large things at the door, blocking the way, and now the people in the mansion are stepping up to move, and it is estimated that it will take a while." ”

The Lord of Yi'an County! Xue Peiqi's body stiffened unconsciously after hearing this name, and the hand holding Xiao Tingchu also subconsciously let go, Xiao Tingchu had to leave his embrace, and the slightly ambiguous atmosphere just now was gone. Yes, almost all of Changxing's Gaomen nobles live in the square near the palace, and there are horizontal and vertical official roads between the squares, and the coachman generally chooses a convenient road to walk, but he unexpectedly passed by her mansion.

After a while, Xue Peiqi straightened up and said, "Don't worry, wait until they finish moving, if there are not enough people, you can call a few entourages to go up and help." Xuexun agreed, dismounted and brought a few people forward to check.

There was another awkward silence in the carriage, and finally Xue Peiqi couldn't help but open the curtain and look at the door of the mansion. Xiao Tingchu lowered his eyes, and a mist had already formed in his clear and bright eyes.

After a while, Yi'an, the owner of the county lord's mansion, walked out with the maid Ying'er, and personally took some broken silver to reward the porters who carried them, which made Xue Peiqi a little surprised. After receiving this extra income, the dozen or so porters all looked happy and thanked them. Xuexun was inconvenient to show up, so he had to hide in the group of porters, bowing his head and keeping silent.

Looking at the face that was both familiar and unfamiliar, Xue Peiqi's hand holding the curtain gradually clenched into a fist, a bleak look appeared on his face, and his brows were deeply locked.

After the front of the door was cleaned up, a housekeeper-like person stepped forward and whispered a few words in Yi'an's ear, and then guided her to look here, and she should have told Yi'an about blocking the way of people. After Yi An looked at the carriage here, he actually got down the steps of the mansion gate and walked this way!

Xue Peiqi panicked, hurriedly lowered the curtain, and shouted to the coachman, "Hurry up!" ”

But the county lord had already come, and if he galloped away from her, it would be disrespectful, and the coachman was a little embarrassed, and he didn't know whether to stop or get out of the car to salute, in short, he was cramped and uneasy.

Yi'an didn't pay attention to it, and smiled into the car, "In the lower Yi'an county lord, I moved some large things from my old residence, and I didn't have time to clean it up for a while, and I don't want to block the nobleman's car, I'm really sorry." ”

When a familiar voice came, a thin layer of sweat appeared on Xue Peiqi's forehead, and he was so nervous that he didn't dare to make a sound. Yi'an saw that there was no response in the carriage, and felt a little strange, and was about to say more, but after thinking about it, she guessed that the people in the carriage might be angry, but when she heard her name, she didn't dare to be angry, so she used silence to express her dissatisfaction. Therefore, Yi An could only purse her lips, and after saying "I'm very sorry", she turned around and left.

When I went back, the group of porters had already dispersed, and Xuexun had no way to avoid it, so I had to bow my head and bow my head after taking a look at Yi'an. The moment he saw Xuexun, Yi An suddenly understood something, and unconsciously turned around and looked at the carriage. A sour feeling came over him, but Yi'an calmly turned around, nodded to Xuexun in return, and then resolutely walked into the mansion.

With a "bang", the door of the mansion closed, and Xue Peiqi's heart twitched violently with the sound of the door closing......

One month later is the twentieth birthday of King Sheng, the son of Concubine Wu Xian, according to the laws of the great cause, the prince will open a mansion at the age of 20 and the crown, that is, set up another palace outside the palace and move out of the residence, which is called self-reliance. After the opening of the palace, the prince can start a family, and if the emperor thinks that he is a material that can be made, he will also be allowed to enter the court and be listed with hundreds of officials.

Although Concubine Wu Xian has high hopes for her son, King Sheng is stubborn by nature and can't succeed, and she has nothing to do. Emperor Hongyuan was also disappointed in this son, and he was relieved less, and he originally thought that the birthday and crown ceremony here were just routine, and he didn't want to do a big deal, but he didn't want to encounter the rare event of the great victory in the southwest and the expansion of the territory this year, and Emperor Hongyuan wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate the whole country and promote his prestige, so the Ministry of Rites carefully organized it, and it must be perfect.