On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, the 70th birthday of Pei Qiu, the prince of Dingguo, the sky was beautiful, the sun was shining, the dark clouds were all harvested, and the haze of many days was swept away.

The sunlight shone on the city of Luodu after the heavy snow, and the golden light was shining, as if God was also congratulating the old man on his birthday.

Before dawn, Jingzhao Mansion drove the soldiers and civilians to the streets of Luodu City to clear the snow. When the people from all walks of life went out, they saw that the road had been cleaned, and if it weren't for the snow piled up on the side of the road, it would have been a mistake to think that the heavy snow had not fallen.

At the end of the day, as soon as the door of Pei Fangfang opened, the crowd of people who came to congratulate the birthday and give gifts poured in. Although Pei Valve only sent out a total of 5,000 invitations, those officials and gate valve side branches, juniors, subordinates, and vassals who were not qualified to receive invitations not only did not come, but had to come to the door early, taking advantage of the fact that the big men had not yet appeared, and strive to show their faces in Pei Valve and say two words of congratulations.

Fortunately, Pei Jiao had long expected this situation, and today he did not refuse to come, so that the clansmen invited these uninvited guests to the various houses in the fang to eat tea according to the thickness of the gifts, the grade of the gift, and the distance of the relationship.

When it was almost time, the guests with the invitations began to arrive one after another, and even if they couldn't enter the longevity garden, they would set up seats in the courtyard before and after the Iron Blood Hall. In fact, the treatment that Pei Valve gave to these thousands of guests was not as good as those who did not have invitations, not that Pei Valve did things in a different way, regardless of importance, but that although the Iron Blood Hall was large, there were only many buildings such as ancestral halls and side halls, and most of them were not convenient to receive guests.

But what the guests value is that the closer to the longevity garden is, the more important it is, so no one picks on it. Fortunately, Pei Valve has made a lot of money this time, and has already set up a huge reed shed in the front yard, back yard, side yard, and cross yard, the reed shed is covered with a thick blanket outside, and a brazier is set up at each table inside, the brazier is burning, and it is warm like spring. The guests sat in the shed to eat tea and chat, and their interest was not affected.

Pei Fang is full of people and is in full swing. Thousands of servants carried pots and fruit bowls, and fish ran through the shuttles, serving tea and pouring water in the guest rooms. It is also rare for the guests to get together so together, relatives and friends sit together to ask long and short questions, shouting five and drinking, and those 'clever ghosts' who take advantage of the opportunity to drill the camp are moving around in the seats, and they are greeted and patted at each other, and the morning is blinking away, and before you know it, it is about to enter noon.

But Pei Valve still had no intention of opening the banquet, because the real guest of honor had not yet arrived.

The guest who came to the door with the post was okay to say. Those uninvited guests, to say the least, have been waiting for two or three hours at this point. Just by drinking tea, I can't be full, my stomach is like thunder, and I am dizzy with hunger, but I can only sway and struggle.

。

At the end of the day, the valve owners finally went out.

Cui Yan also slowly walked out of Minglun Hall with the support of Cui Pingzhi. Standing in front of the carriage, Lao Lingjun tightened the fox fur on his body, and seemed to glance around casually, his face sank slightly.

"Where's your second brother?"

Cui Pingyi helped Cui Yan into the car, and replied softly: "My second brother has already gone with his sister-in-law first, no matter what he says, he is also Pei Valve's son-in-law, and he has to help Zhang Luo Zhang Luo." ”

"It's just an excuse." Cui Yan snorted coldly and said, "The Pei family is prosperous, how can he be blindly mixed?" ”

Cui Ping smiled bitterly in his heart, since you want the second brother to be by your side, just tell him directly? ignored him all day long, but at this time he provoked it again. But how dare he make a mistake in front of his old father, and when his father sat down in the carriage, Cui Pingzhi hurriedly ordered to set off, and then diverted the topic.

"Father, I'm afraid there will be no good feast today." Cui Pingzhi said in a low voice: "With the temper of the old lady, eighty percent will take the opportunity to give you the old ugly." ”

"Hehe......" Cui Yan also showed a wry smile, nodded and said: "I was yin by Lu Xin'er, this time you really have to be careful." ”

"Yes, I see that Lu Xin took the initiative to help with the grain, but he didn't feel good." Cui Pingzhi thought so: "I must have already ventilated with the guard valve, and wanted to pull us into the water, creating the illusion that the three valves are advancing and retreating together." ”

Originally, Lu Xin patted his chest and promised that this matter would be kept absolutely confidential. No one will know that Cui Valve's 500,000 stone grain was given by himself. But a few days after Cui Valve handed over the grain, it spread in the capital, saying that Lu Valve helped Cui Valve and Wei Valve to produce food, and the three must have been mixed together, otherwise why should Lu Valve be this wronged leader?

However, Cui Yan received the benefits of others, and he couldn't pick up the bowl to eat, put down his chopsticks and scolded his mother, so he could only let the rumors spread all over the city, but he couldn't defend himself. As a result, after going to the court several times in a row, the old lady did not give Cui Yan a good face, and rejected the decision of Shangshu Province several times, slashing Lao Lingjun's face.

"From Lu Xin's standpoint, there is nothing wrong with this." Cui Yan looked very open and said: "And you should have understood that he has nothing to do, so he is naturally either a traitor or a thief." After a pause, Lao Lingjun changed his words and said: "However, the old man lost some face in exchange for 500,000 stone grain, who dares to say that my Cui Yan's face is not worth much?" Then ask him to give me 500,000 stones, and I wish I would lose face a few more times. ”

"Hehe......" Cui Pingzhi was amused by his father's witty words, and he believed that Cui Yan really didn't take this matter to heart. This is called desirelessness and rigidity. ”

"Yes, our Cui family has no ambition to be the king and hegemon, on the contrary, whoever wants to be the king and hegemon cannot do without our Cui family." Cui Yan was very satisfied with his son's understanding, and said with a slight bow: "As long as we figure this out, we don't need to be too wronged by ourselves, is it possible that the old man will be a slave for Xiahou Ba, and he will give me the Zhongshu Order?" ”

"Father wants Xiahou Ba to see clearly, my Cui Valve can only be an ally, not a slave?" Cui Ping's heart became more and more transparent.

"Not exactly." Cui Yan shook his head slowly, and said quietly: "My father has not been on good terms with Taishi these times, but he actually intends to distance himself from Xiahou Valve. ”

"Oh?" Cui Pingzhi looked at Cui Yan in horror, he only thought that his father was a crying child with milk to eat. deliberately used this method to make Xiahou Valve pay more attention to Cui Valve. Unexpectedly, the old lord actually hid this kind of thought.

"Isn't my father optimistic about Xiahou Valve?"

"Of course not." Cui Yan shook his head and said, "It's just so-called, the son of a daughter can't sit down." Seeing that His Majesty and the old lady are on the verge of becoming fire and water, and it will be necessary to repeat the scene eleven years ago in the future, the old man has thought about it for a long time. ”

"The child doesn't quite understand." Cui Pingzhi frowned and said, "Why did my father form an alliance with Xiahou Ba last time, but this time he ......?"

"No, last time I was loyal to His Royal Highness King Ping. If it changes hands again this time, won't my dignified Cui Valve become a slave of the three surnames? Cui Yan explained lightly: "And at this time, at that time, more than ten years ago, our Cui Valve was just a little brother ranked lower among the eight families and seven valves. Whether it is a land valve, a plum valve or a guard valve, it will press us on one head. At that time, it was still profitable to take a risk. But now the old man has six palms, and his protégés are all over the world, this great master can leave the old lady, but he can't do without me Cui Valve for a day. What is the old man doing in the troubled waters? will only cause a lot of trouble, but you can't find a favor. ”