Gradually, most of the Chang'an people have fallen asleep, a day's fatigue and joyful memories, in the dream to find another world without trouble, but there are still people who have difficulty sleeping, if not arranged early, the next day's troubles will be doubled.

Cui Qiao and his wife is one of them, Tianbao year an overly fierce family earthquake affected Cui Qiao's career, he was transferred from Dali Temple Qing to Shangshu Youcheng, this position is equivalent to the secretary general of Shangshu Province, if in the early decades, this position has great real power, then the emperor fashion book servant shooting gradually was elevated, Shangshu Youcheng in a sense on behalf of the right to shoot servants, but since Li Longji ascended the throne, strengthened the power of Xiangguo, originally only managed the left and right of the province and the province, the hand began to reach into the Shangshu Province, Directly in charge of the department, Shang Shu left and right became the administrative secretary in the real sense.

From the third rank of the first to the fourth rank of the lower rank, and is an idle official, the most difficult to balance in the heart is Cui Qiao's wife, although she is the old county lord, but the wife is expensive, other people's husbands are being promoted, and her husband has fallen two steps, and if it is uneven, it will be loud, but her loud and loud will not work, but Cui Qiao will be tortured to exhaustion, and he has repeatedly made mistakes in his work.

Mrs. Cui finally calmed down, and for the sake of her husband's future, she decided to sacrifice herself and began to exert her lady's diplomacy, haunting countless high-ranking courtyards, of course, not to find her best friends, but to find her old lovers when she was young.

It's a pity that the person is old and yellow, and the effect is a little worse, and then she heard rumors in the palace that this year's evaluation of the lower and lower court officials will be sent to Lingnan as magistrates, Lingnan, that is a wild and smoky place, how can her delicate body withstand it. Mrs. Cui was shocked. went to ask his in-laws Li Linfu again, Li Linfu naturally agreed to help, but Mrs. Cui also knew that what Li Linfu promised was just to help, and at this moment, Mrs. Guo's invitation was sent to the house.

Tomorrow is Mrs. Guo's birthday, but the matter of giving gifts has not yet been decided, and she is afraid that it will have no effect if she gives less, and she is reluctant to give it heavily. Mrs. Cui was in a dilemma, seeing that the time to sleep had arrived, she was anxious, and grabbed Cui Qiao, who was hiding in the study.

"Do you think it's better to send money directly, or to send some valuable jewels or antique calligraphy and paintings?" Mrs. Cui was in a dilemma with two gift lists, one was three hundred taels of gold, and the other was a number of celebrity calligraphy and paintings worth three hundred taels of gold. When it comes to gold, you have to be wordy, the rule of Mrs. Guo is to only accept gold, three hundred taels is the starting price, less than three hundred taels don't even want to enter the door.

Mrs. Cui originally took five hundred taels of gold. But under the pain, it was quietly changed to the starting price, "Maybe it's not a big deal to change the evaluation for Lao Cui." She comforted herself secretly.

Hearing Mrs. mention the word 'Zhuyu', Cui Qiao immediately thought of the precious jade in her study, and her heart beat violently, she didn't look at her own life.

"Ahem! When have you ever heard of that woman collecting antique calligraphy and paintings? How can she have that kind of Yaxing? Her rule is that only gold is used. Otherwise, diamonds, she wouldn't ask for anything else. ”

"How do you know so well, did you ever give her a gift?" Mrs. Cui is like this, she prides herself on being shrewd, but she often fails to grasp the essence of the problem, and her voice becomes sharp, like a malfunctioning alarm. "Say! You're not on the same leg as her. ”

She crossed her waist and her eyes widened. As if she was a leading member of the anti-pornography and anti-illegal group, she looked Cui Qiao up and down, and her husband had that woman's fat powder stuffed in any of her pores, and she didn't want to escape her professional eyes.

It's a pity that Cui Qiao has been tested for a long time, he glanced at the big bed, and said with a wry smile: "Madam, don't you know that you have a secret illness for your husband?" ”

To put it bluntly, Mrs. Cui was relieved when she thought of her husband's silver-like wax gun head, and turned the topic back to business, she licked her dry lips and said a little unwillingly: "Then send gold!" I'm going to send three hundred taels, I think that's enough, what do you say? ”

Hum! Three hundred taels, it's too little to stuff that woman's teeth, let alone want to revise the evaluation that the ministry has already reported, but she thinks it's enough, and it's useless to say that it's not enough! She wanted nothing more than to get herself to agree with her wise decision.

However, Cui Qiao himself wants to go to Lingnan as an official, with his current official title, it is very likely that he will go to Guangzhou to do a history of assassination, as long as he makes political achievements, he will have the capital to climb up again, in addition, there is a more important reason, he knows that the woman in front of him will definitely not follow, in this way, he will really escape.

He touched his chin and pretended to think for a moment, "Hmm! Three hundred taels of gold, I think it should be enough. ”

Mrs. Cui's heart suddenly became happy, her fat body turned around lightly, walked out quickly, and when she came to the door, she smiled coquettishly: "Then you go to sleep first!" I'll go to your study to see if there's anything worth three hundred taels of gold, and we'll go to the cabinet shop tomorrow." ”

Cui Qiao's heart was like falling into a cold cave, and he was so frozen that even his blood coagulated.

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The eastern sky was gradually dyed red, and the rising sun seemed to know what it was today

, also poked his head out interestingly, the weather was fine, and the good city that went out to run errands began to be lively early.

Today it's Yang Huahua, no! This name is too earthy, she has long abandoned it in public, she is now Mrs. Guo, today is the day of the completion of her new house, and it is also her twenty-eighth birthday, many people have a little impression, it seems that she was also twenty-eight years old last year, but what does it matter, women! The point is that she only happens once a year, and that's what matters.

Yang Huahua got up early in the morning, the maid has opened a thick curtain, a wall to the east is empty, open the tent can go to the outside terrace, the spring breeze is cool, but also a trace of chill, a large piece of sunlight shines in, the room is painted with a layer of gold, this is the effect she wants, her bedroom is called the Golden Pavilion, as the name suggests is made of gold, in fact, the four walls of the building are covered with gold leaf, and then inlaid with pearl gems, from a distance it looks golden, rich, this is not counted, it is easy to slip in rainy days. She used the copper coin to spread it around the circle to prevent it from slipping. The cost of the entire building is 100,000 yuan, which is 20,000 yuan more expensive than the gold building of Chang'an rich man Wang Yuanbao, which can be called the crown of Chang'an.

Yang Huahua was not in a good mood last night, sleeping alone, and the young man who was summoned to accompany him to sleep had been kicked off by her before he entered the scene, the cause was a cry from the housekeeper last night, saying that he was kind enough to send an invitation, but he was humiliated by the household waiter, and he almost lost his life. Although he knew that he was exaggerating a little, Li Qing still didn't buy her account, that's for sure.

It has been three years since Tianbao proposed to Li Qing in the fifth year and was rejected, and in the past three years, Yang Huahua has been exiled and debauched, and Li Qing has done things silently, they seem to be people on two paths. Each goes its own way, and has nothing to do with each other.

But Yang Huahua gave herself an excuse: Who asked him to reject me, so I have to find another man to retaliate against him, but over time. Even she herself didn't believe in this excuse, and Li Qing, who was originally hidden in her heart, gradually disappeared, as if she had misplaced it, not in her heart, but in her stomach, which was corroded by gastric juice.

As for just wanting to marry two men, the argument is nothing more than a means of hype. Coating yourself with a layer of divine halo is like a virgin membrane, hanging the appetite of those suitors, it may be you or him.

A man is just a toy, what Yang Huahua really wants is money, only money is the most real and reliable thing, and her other hobby is matchmaking. It's as if she wants her own failures and regrets to make up for it on others, so the marriage of the clan brother and the marriage of the prince and minister must be approved by her. At the beginning, Xue Wangzhi ignored her warnings and married a woman she didn't want without authorization, Yang Huahua was furious and ran to Li Longji to complain, and the next day Xue Wangzhi, who had just married, was deposed from the title, divorced the bride, and fined the heir Xue Wang for ten years to worship, so that no one dared to disobey the matchmaker of this lady of the country.

Of course, Yang Huahua is not such an unreasonable person, if she is willing to symbolically pay her a little fee, life is still plain and happy, and the handling fee is not much, just a thousand taels of gold at a time, so that the two hobbies can be organically integrated together, Yang Huahua is naturally even more happy.

But recently she suddenly became interested in another 'marriage', in her eyes, Jinbi Brilliant East Palace is like a graceful and luxurious lady, just widowed, should find her a careful and considerate husband, she looks at King Qing, the reason is naturally that King Qing is generous, willing to spend money to please her, and this is also the unanimous opinion of the Yang family, except for the palace concubine, she doesn't like to care about this kind of thing.

Today is Yang Huahua thirty. A little bit of pension money, she decided to hold a grand event, the capital is not needed, Li Longji specially allocated 50,000 yuan for her expenses, and all the utensils and items, including the cost of the restaurant, are covered by King Qing, she Yang Huahua only needs to spend some money.

But the original comfortable birthday was overshadowed by a temporary thought of hers, yesterday Li Qing came back from Suzhou and injured Yang Qi, which caused a sensation in Chang'an, and also reminded Yang Huahua of the only man who rejected her.

"You have to let him see his scenery, and he has to regret it." Yang Huahua immediately decided to give the last invitation to Li Qing, but Li Qing seemed to be a little unappreciative, which made Yang Huahua both disappointed and a little annoyed.

"Mother! Do you think I look good in this dress? ”

The year-old Pei Hui Dong Dong ran upstairs, interrupting her train of thought, and also diluting her anger, Yang Huahua smiled, squatted down and pulled the placket of her clothes, "How can you be so excited to wear a new dress like a little girl." ”

"The master said that today is my mother's birthday, and I want to kowtow to my mother."

After speaking, Pei Hui knelt down and kowtowed to Yang Huahua twice.

"You kid.

Yang Huahua lovingly took him into her arms, wiped off an eye droppings from the corner of her eyes for him, scratched his nose with a smile and said, "Little monkey, you haven't washed your face again!" ”

Pei Hui twisted embarrassedly in his mother's arms and said, "Mother, the master wants me to go back and write a word after kowtowing, and then come back." ”

"Mother is going to the front too."

Yang Huahua took Er's hand and walked down the Golden Pavilion, and saw a maid running in a hurry, knowing that it was

When someone gave a gift to the door, he touched his head and said with a smile: "Go!" If it's good, there are a lot of people today, so don't come here. ”

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Yang Huahua's new house is located in Xuanyangfang, covering an area of 100 tilts, which was built for her by Li Longji with 300,000 yuan, using a thousand-year-old giant wood transported from Hongzhou, and building with all Suzhou gold bricks and Chizhou bluestones, with nearly 100 large and small buildings. Carved beams and painted columns. Extremely extravagant and extremely desirable things.

According to the rules, the morning is the time for the provinces to give gifts, and the guests will be released in the late afternoon to enter the house one after another to go to the banquet, it is still only early in the morning, but Xuanyangfang has been in a commotion, and teams of Yulin Army appear on the streets of Xuanyangfang, they drive away beggars, ban traders, and today Xuanyangfang mainland markets are not allowed to open, and every household is not allowed to go out behind closed doors. The doors were also closed, and all those who came in could only pass by invitation.

But that's it, from the gate of Xuanyangfang to the Yanghuahua homestead road, there is an endless stream of carriages, these are from various prefectures to give gifts, light sandalwood boxes, which are filled with gold ingots or diamonds collected from all over the country.

Horse-drawn carriages were already parked in front of the gate. These carriages were for gifts, not for the owner's car, but nevertheless, all of them were dressed in gold and silver. It looks magnificent, almost every carriage has about three people, one is a butler, holding an invitation in one hand, and directing two small servants to carry down a heavy or light sandalwood box with the other, Yang Huahua is very thoughtful in the details of the invitation design. In each invitation, there is a matching envelope with the name and position of the official, which is regarded as a sub-coupon, which is specially used to pack gift lists and passes for officials.

"The gift is registered at the side door, please go this way." The two family members seemed to be traffic policemen, making a single gesture to guide the giver of the gift.

There were already two long queues in front of the side door. Behind the two tables sat a tent room, sitting in a precarious position with a solemn face. It is as if two judges who collect security deposits, while listening to the shouts of the master of ceremonies, while carefully checking the names and amounts on the gift list, stroke by stroke, without the slightest mistake.

"Zhang Yi, the servant under the door, 1,500 taels of gold, and 20 pearls." The master of ceremonies read it aloud and did not shy away from it at all, but this was specially instructed by Yang Huahua, in order to remind those who gave less gifts to make up for it afterwards.

'Fifteen hundred taels of gold!' As soon as the emcee's voice fell, it immediately attracted a buzz, and this gift was the most important so far, "Everyone borrow light!" The two men pushed aside the crowd, and under the gaze of many surprised eyes, they carried a large red sandalwood box weighing 100 catties into the courtyard.

"Giving such a heavy gift, I'm afraid there is something important to ask for!" A local housekeeper smacked his tongue.

The person in front of him glanced back at him, sneered disdainfully, put on a posture like a veteran political observer, and slowly said, "Can't you even think about this little thing?" ”

The corner of his eyes swept to both sides, and saw that everyone had gathered around, looking at him reverently, expecting the answer, he couldn't help but be very proud, and explained to everyone slowly and unquestionably, "Do you still remember the imperial examination case three years ago? At that time, Zhang Yi'er, the imperial historian, committed a crime, and Zhang Yi was deposed, but last year, he was suddenly reinstated, and last month he was promoted to a servant, which is actually what Mrs. Guo said to the emperor. ”

"Oh!" Everyone suddenly realized that now giving gifts is naturally to return favors, under the pretext of celebrating birthdays, giving money justifiably, and without leaving traces of bribery, it can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

"Shangshu right Cheng Cui Qiao, three hundred taels of gold."

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"His Royal Highness King Qing, 1,500 taels of gold and 20 diamonds."

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The long line in the master of ceremonies read out emotionlessly gradually shortened, one by one the gifts of the carriage began to turn around and go back to the house, two hours later, the square in front of the house gate was deserted again, the sun has been west, at this time, several horses galloped from a distance, the first person with a lion nose and a wide mouth, eyes gloomy, it is the Yang family's general representative Yang Guozhong, now the Yang family in the court influential figures in addition to Yang Guozhong, there are Yang Guifei's three sisters Mrs. Qin, Mrs. Han, Mrs. Guo, and Yang Qi, who served in Dali Temple, and Yang Tongue, who served in the Ministry of War, were collectively known as Yang Jiahu, and Yang Guozhong and Mrs. Guo had the greatest influence.

It's still early to leave the banquet, Yang Guozhong is not here to celebrate his birthday, he just came from King Qing's mansion, and he was holding his breath, as soon as Li Qing came back, he provoked their Yang family, and actually smashed Yang Qi's two legs, King Qing not only let them retaliate, but also asked him to go to the door to apologize to Li Qing, just because his son fell into Li Qing's hands.

Yang Guozhong will never go to apologize, but he can use the opportunity of Yang Huahua's birthday to test Li Qing, if he is willing to reconcile and hand over the evidence of King Qing's crime, he can let him go once, if he doesn't know how to advance and retreat, and blindly does it, then Zhang Qiu and Qiong will be his end.

Yang Guozhong flew off the horse, ran up the steps quickly, and without having to be reported, he broke directly into the gate, "Go and call the third lady to see me, just say that I have something big to do with her!" ”