At the beginning of November, Chang'an had just snowed, and the sky was still filled with fine snowflakes, falling on the roofs and trees one after another, wrapping Chang'an in winter in silver, and the towering city wall was like a giant snake with a white back, stretching out into the gray haze in the distance.

At noon, Zhang Huan and his entourage from afar finally arrived in Chang'an City, Zhang Huan immediately in the wide Mingde Gate, looking at the spectacular buildings in Chang'an City for a long time, he has been absent from this city for three years.

"Master, shall we go back to the Spring Mansion?" Inside a carriage, concubine Yang Chunshui pulled the curtain and asked cautiously.

This time back to Beijing, Pei Ying did not come with her, but took her son to stay in Jincheng County, she asked Yang Chunshui to take care of Zhang Huan's daily life, although Zhang Huan entered the cabinet, it does not mean that he will always stay in Chang'an, most of the time he will still be in Longyou.

"Naturally, it's back to the spring house, otherwise where are we going?" Although he said so, Zhang Huan was also a little embarrassed, the spring house was indeed a little smaller, and he couldn't live with his own five hundred personal soldiers at all, so did he have to let the soldiers stay in the inn?

Just thinking about it, a line of carriages and horses came quickly, more than a hundred guards were guarding both sides of the carriage, the carriage stopped not far from Zhang Huan, and one person walked out of the door and laughed: "Does Zhang Dudu remember me?" ”

I saw that he was more than fifty years old, with a brocade robe and a face like a crown of jade, it was Chu Xingshui, the secretary of the criminal department of the dynasty, who had not seen him for several years, and his demeanor was still the same, but if you looked carefully, you would find that his sideburns had been slightly frosty.

Zhang Huan hurriedly dismounted, stepped forward and bowed, "I haven't seen you for a few years, how is my uncle's health?" ”

Chu Xingshui heard Zhang Huan still call him uncle. A heart was put down. He stroked his long beard lightly and shook his head and sighed: "In the past two years, his body has been far worse than before, after all, people are old, how is your mother?" ”

"Mother is in Jincheng County, and she is in good health." Zhang Huan looked behind Chu Xingshui, and asked with a smile, "Uncle came to pick me up?" ”

Chu Xingshui nodded, and said with a slight smile: "How can the dignified King of Zhangye County and the servant of the door live in Yongjiafang again, the Queen Mother will give you a house in Yongle Fang, and I have decorated it for you." I'm here to pick you up. ”

Zhang Huan was overjoyed, and he gave a deep salute, "Thank you uncle for thinking thoughtfully." ”

"You don't have to take it to heart."

The two joined forces, talking and laughing and went to Yongle Fang. Yongle Square is located in the middle of Suzaku Street. The transportation is very convenient. After walking for less than half an hour, I saw the white wall in the distance, the snow had stopped completely, and the street was sparsely populated, and a horse-drawn carriage could be seen speeding by.

However, there is a bit of excitement in front of the gate of Yongle Fang, more than 20 farmers selling rice and vegetables will line up baskets on the side of the road, and many residents in the square squat in front of the vegetables to pick. Noisy. A few guards turned a blind eye, as if this had already become the norm.

Chu Xingshui saw it. He only shook his head, did not interfere, and ordered the soldiers to pull aside.

At this moment, a carriage galloped from the middle of the fang, more than 20 family members were rampage in front, the road was very domineering, the small vendors selling vegetables were so frightened that they dodged to the corner of the wall, Chu Xingshui's guards were furious, and they drew their swords and glared, those family members saw that it was Chu Shangshu's carriage, and saw that there were hundreds of fierce cavalry, so frightened that they immediately restrained their arrogance and slowed down their horses to pass.

The carriage is very luxuriously decorated, all kinds of gold and silver threads are inlaid in it, when the carriage passes by Zhang Huan, the curtain happened to open, behind the curtain revealed a woman's face, curiously looked at them, only to see her face like a peach blossom, eyebrows like Yuandai, a pair of eyes as hazy as mist, she happened to touch Zhang Huan's eyes, she was stunned at first, and her beautiful eyes suddenly showed a frightened look, brushed the curtain closed, the carriage sped up, and soon disappeared in the vast snow.

Zhang Huan was also very surprised, this woman was vaguely familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere, and while she was pondering, Chu Xingshui smiled beside her: "This is the new wife of Lu Qi, the servant of the household department, and the virtuous nephew should not know her." ”

As soon as he said this, Chu Xingshui suddenly changed his words, "That's not right! Her ex-husband is the county magistrate of Tianbao County, Wuwei County, maybe the virtuous nephew has really seen her? ”

Tianbao County Order? Zhang Huan muttered twice, and suddenly, a name flashed out of his brain like lightning, "Yang Feiyu!" ”

Zhang Huandi's new house covers a huge area, about hundreds of acres, tall courtyard walls, dense trees, courtyards are stacked on top of each other, there are hundreds of houses, and even better is that it is next to the mansion is a school field that can garrison troops, and it can be seen that Cui Xiaofu is very thoughtful.

"This was originally the mansion of Zhang Shuo, the famous minister of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, and his descendants returned to their ancestral home ten years ago, and the house was taken back by the imperial court, and it has been empty until now."

After walking a few steps, Chu Xingshui pointed to the barracks again and said to Zhang Huan: "It was originally the Jinwuwei station, but now it is vacant, since the Queen Mother gave you this house, that is, she acquiesced to the fact that your soldiers can enter the city, as for other people's ideas, you don't have to pay attention to it." ”

From Chu Xingshui's mouth, Zhang Huan heard a trace of dissatisfaction, he couldn't help but smile faintly, took out a gold medal and handed it to his guard: "Let all the brothers enter the city." ”

The two entered the house, and unexpectedly all the people in Zhang Huanquan's house had moved over, Steward Sun had already cleaned up the various rooms, Yang Chunshui took people to clean up the accommodation, and Zhang Huan invited Chu Xingshui into the study.

The study is very comfortable, everything is moved from the old house as it is, even the rattan chair that Zhang Huan loves is placed in front of the window, and there is a plum tree and a laurel tree planted outside the house, the plum has bloomed, exuding a refreshing fragrance.

Zhang Huan closed the window, ordered the maid who offered the tea to go out first, he asked Chu Xingshui to sit down, and without waiting for Zhang Huan to speak, Chu Xingshui said calmly: "I have something to say first, this time I came to greet you and clean up the house for you, it was my own intention, not anyone's instructions." ”

Zhang Huan heard that he took the initiative to draw a line with Pei Jun, so he smiled and asked, "Uncle Shicai asked me not to pay attention to any prohibitions, but I heard a trace of dissatisfaction, why is this?" ”

Chu Xingshui was silent for a long time, and after a while. He sighed and said, "The embarrassment of the imperial court." Don't you know anything about the virtuous nephew? ”

Zhang Huan shook his head, "I only know that Pei Jun is in power in the middle of the court, and the local Jianghuai is in chaos, and other places are not very clear, please ask my uncle to sue one or two." ”

"What is there to say!" Chu Xingshui said hatefully: "I thought that he would be different from Cui Yuan when he came to power, play less with power and do more things for the benefit of the country and the people, but the fact is the opposite. He not only destroyed the checks and balances of power reached by the seven great families, and did everything possible to take all the power for himself, but also used people as relatives, on the one hand, he said that most of the children of the family were anointed, and demoted the children of the Cui family and the Wei family to the East Palace and the Prince's Mansion as idle officials. On the one hand, Ling wantonly placed the children of the Pei family in various important positions. A few people who are not surnamed Pei are also his confidants. These people don't think about state affairs, they only bent on seeking power, and they have made the court into a miasma, and he himself knows that some things have gone too far, so he only said that he will correct it slowly, but this delay is three years, and these people have long been deeply rooted. Where can it be changed! ”

Zhang Huan listened silently. Is the matter really as serious as Chu Xingshui said? Not necessarily, Pei Jun has installed only eighteen children of the Pei family in the past three years. It is by no means what Chu Xingshui said, and there are only seven officials who belittled Cui and Wei, and they were indeed caught, for example, Cui Xian was elevated as a guest of the prince of the East Palace from the Ministry of Officials because his wife and brother leaked Xuanren's four-year imperial examination questions; And Wei Zhen was demoted from Shangshu Youcheng to the head of King Ying's mansion, which was the impeachment of the imperial history for discussing the private affairs of the queen mother.

Chu Xingshui's big move was nothing more than that after Pei Jun came to power, not only did he not give him half of the benefits, but damaged his interests, and gave the post of salt and iron supervisor who was closely related to the interests of the Chu family to others, not only that, Pei Jun also set up the cabinet and put his hand into the criminal department, greatly reducing Chu Xingshui's power.

It is true that the problems in the DPRK and China are indeed very big now, with many factions and bloated institutions, which makes the people in the DPRK and China superficial and busy fighting for power and profit all day long, but these problems have always existed, but Cui Yuan is vigorous in exercising power and can suppress it, while Pei Jun treats people relatively leniently, so these problems have been exposed, not Pei Jundi's responsibility.

So when Chu Xingshui severely reprimanded Pei Jun, Zhang Huan just laughed and didn't say anything, he wanted to know what Chu Xingshui's real purpose was?

Chu Xingshui took a sip of tea, and said: "This time he named the virtuous nephew as the servant of the door, to put it nicely, it is the real power of the province under the door, but the power of supervision of the province has been hollowed out, and it is useless, not only that, Cui Yu is the servant of the door, you are the servant of the door, he can make you in the same room with a little trick, his intentions are spicy, didn't the virtuous nephew think of it?" ”

"Then what should we do according to my uncle's wishes?" Zhang Huan asked quietly.

Chu Xingshui's eyes narrowed slightly, he stared at Zhang Huan word by word and said: "There is no check and balance, there is no pattern, with your strength, you can completely compete with Pei Jun, and my uncle is willing to help you." ”

Chu Xingshui is gone, the night has fallen, the lights in the study are bright, Zhang Huan stood in front of the window with his hands behind his back for a long time and stared at the blooming plum, it should be said that Chu Xingshui was very accurate, or he had been waiting for his arrival for a long time.

Needless to say, in the past three years, Pei Jun has summoned him to Beijing several times as an official, but he politely refused, these years of ups and downs have made him finally understand a truth, if you want to step up to a high position, it is impossible to do it without a strong strength foundation, without strength, you can only become a chess piece in the hands of others, and you will never become a chess player.

When he finally became a great weapon after three years of hard work, the god of fate quietly opened the door to opportunities for him, didn't he? He has an army of 300,000, the rich Longyou and Bashu, and even the entire Western Regions, like a thick cornerstone, so that he can stand at the peak of the infinite scenery.

At this moment, a kind of conquering land ** emerged from the bottom of his heart, Chu Xingshui said it well, there is no check and balance, where is the pattern? If he didn't cross Pei Jun, how could he possibly step onto the highest throne of the Tang Empire, and the days of Taoguang and obscurity had passed.

Zhang Huan slowly closed his eyes, he needed to find a breakthrough now.

At this time, there was a gentle knock on the door, and Yang Chunshui's voice came from outside, "Master, can I come in?" ”

"Come in!"

Zhang Huan temporarily put down his thoughts, closed the window, sat back on the rattan chair, the door opened, and Yang Chunshui walked in from the outside, she was carrying a tray with a pot of wine and a few side dishes, and there seemed to be a letter.

It can be seen that Yang Chunshui has been carefully retouched, her well-proportioned figure is wrapped in a tight satin coat, which looks more plump and moving, especially the towering breasts, which sets off her beauty and charm, it should be said that Zhang Huan still likes Yang Chunshui very much, especially in bed, she is the kind of woman who uses her whole body and mind to meet men, and she can not only get the greatest pleasure in her, but also get a kind of satisfaction to conquer women.

"Sir, someone sent you an invitation." Yang Chunshui put down the tray and whispered coquettishly.

"What did you say above?" Zhang Huan leaned lazily on the rattan chair, squinting at her plump body, her white and greasy skin, her seductive eyes, her red mouth slightly pouting, and the blush on her cheeks after finding that she was staring at her, all of which made him excited.

"It's a man named Changsun Nanfang who invites you to his birthday banquet tomorrow."

The eldest grandson of the South? Zhang Huan suddenly remembered polo, but he hadn't seen him for several years, he nodded and smiled: "I know, what else?" ”

"And it's time for dinner, sir." Yang Chunshui picked up the plate, but saw Zhang Huan's ambiguous eyes, happy and ashamed in his heart, and couldn't help lowering his head.

"Put the plate down, you come here!" Zhang Huan hooked her with his index finger.

She slowly walked up to Zhang Huan with a twist, "The master hasn't eaten yet!" "I don't want to eat right now."

Yang Chunshui threw his soul-like eyes at him, pursed his bright red mouth, and said angrily: "The master doesn't want to eat dinner, so what do you want to eat?" ”

Zhang Huan liked her taste, and he couldn't help but smile ambiguously, "Then what do you say?" ”