At night, the pedestrians on the streets of Chang'an decreased rapidly, and the bright lights and laughter were ringing, and the family members were reunited year after year.

Li Linfu has many heirs, sons-in-law are in groups, this year's reunion in Li Mansion is also particularly lively, the house is full of lanterns inside and outside, bright as day, several halls are laughing and noisy, children are running back and forth, in the New Year, they are always the happiest, wearing new clothes, groups of people begging for New Year's money, kowtowing around an uncle and uncle, getting a small silver bill, everyone scattered, and went to find the next target.

Li Linfu sat in the inner hall, he was wearing a moon-white robe, no hat, only a flat hair bundle, his complexion was ruddy, but under a closer look, this ruddy was actually a layer of oil paint, two maids supported him behind him, his weak body and dull eyes revealed that the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty had reached the state of twilight and running out of oil and lamps.

Li Linfu reclined on a high-backed teng chair, constantly panting, gasping with bursts of hissing, he watched silently through the bead curtain, listening to the children running outside, laughing, maybe only when people are about to leave this world, they suddenly found that home and family are the most precious, the most difficult things for him to give up, power and wealth are dissipated like a cloud, there is no ripple in his memories, at this moment, his mind is recalling the birth and growth of each child, going back to the bits and pieces of the past years.

His life is short, but he must leave something for this family before leaving, 'Peace! This is what Li Linfu has been thinking about for months.

Li Xianzhong's defection was not the most fatal blow to Li Linfu, it was just the last straw that bent the camel's back, and Li Longji's appointment of Yang Guozhong as the governor of Yizhou was a blow that made Li Linfu see the end of the world.

Yang Guozhong concurrently served as the governor of Yizhou as a servant of the ministry, which means that when he came back, it was the end of his career as prime minister.

Success is gratifying, but failure is not necessarily terrible. If failure is inevitable. Choosing the most appropriate time to make a move and minimize losses is the only experience that Li Linfu has learned from politics for many years.

Li Linfu raised his head slightly and looked at the sons-in-law who were at the same table with him, the eldest son Li Xiu was the general as the supervisor, the second son Li Wei was the chief prince Langzhong, the third son Li Yu was the Taichang Shaoqing, and the son-in-law Zhang Boji was the assassin of Yangzhou, the son-in-law Zheng Ping was the head of the household, and his favorite eighth son Li Yin was the governor of Suizhou, these were the backbone of his family. As long as they are kept, his family will prosper forever.

In the end, Li Linfu's eyes stopped at Li Yin, their family had just arrived in the morning, and he was also the latest son in the family to come back, but he hadn't asked him for peace until now, and even sent someone to find him when he was seated.

At this time, Li Yin also happened to look over. As soon as he made eye contact with his father, he immediately lowered his head in panic and his face was flushed, how could his gaffe hide from Li Linfu's eyes, Li Linfu was secretly surprised in his heart. He coughed lightly and signaled that he was going to 'change clothes', and the two maids immediately helped him up, and the eldest son Li Xiu, who was closest to him, also reached out to help, Li Linfu pushed his hand away and pointed at Li Yin. I want him to support himself.

"The old man called you!" Zhang Boji, who was sitting next to Li Yin, pushed him, Li Yin sighed secretly in his heart, stepped forward to support Li Linfu and said, "Father, let the child help you." ”

As soon as the words fell, Li Linfu firmly grabbed his wrist and did not allow him to leave under any pretext, until he entered the inner study, and Li Linfu drank the maid away. before he sat down on his favorite old rattan chair.

"Say it! What is there to hide from the father? ”

Li Yin slowly knelt in front of his father's knees, tears surging out of his eyes. Soon, he couldn't stop crying, whimpering and unable to say a word.

Li Linfu gently stroked his head and said with a smile: "Don't cry, what kind of suffering can our family bear until now?" You say! Have you done something rebellious? ”

"The child, the child had already obtained the correspondence between his father and Li Xianzhong, but he lost it again!" Li Yin finally couldn't help it and cried.

"What!" Sue, "When did it happen?" ”

"Yes. Born yesterday, but he couldn't say anything, "It was two months ago, the child got the letter, but it was gone that night." ”

"Nope! No.

Li Linfu shook his head slowly, what happened two months ago would never be said until today, he stared at his son's eyes, his dim gaze was still majestic, "Since the matter has happened, I won't blame you anymore, but you must tell the truth, it is related to the life of the whole family, and you must not hide it at all." ”

"Just last night, it happened in Xianyang." Li Yin didn't dare to hide it anymore, and said in a low voice.

Li Linfu lay down weakly in the rattan chair, he desperately opened his mouth to breathe, like a fish out of water, Li Yin panicked, he was about to turn around and shout, but Li Linfu grabbed his hand and told him not to shout, and after a while, he finally calmed down, the sudden situation disrupted his plan, originally planned to hold out until April, and then take the initiative to retire after the family was settled, but now the evidence has been caught by others, no matter who it is, he can't hold on anymore.

He waved his hand and said to Li Yin with difficulty: "You go!" Let the father think about it. ”

“

Li Yin got up and was just about to leave, when suddenly, the sound of running footsteps sounded outside the door, and he rushed in, his face was extremely excited, and he pointed to the outside and stammered: "Father!" The emperor is coming, coming! ”

Li Linfu stood up, and then sat down again, he never thought that Li Longji would be so ruthless, so that his Xiangguo could not be a Tianbao for ten years.

Maybe that's the best ending! He took out a letter from the drawer, which he had prepared for a long time to leave.

"Minister Li Linfu knocks on His Majesty the Emperor!" Li Linfu knelt down to Li Longji with the support of his son, at this time he had washed off his face and paint, his face was so white that there was no trace of blood, and his body was as thin as firewood, as if a piece of clothing was directly on the skeleton.

"Xiangguo, hurry up and be exempt!" Li Longji couldn't stop looking at this old man who was almost the same age as himself, he was extremely shocked in his heart, he hadn't seen him for more than a month, and he had actually weakened to such an extent. It's like running out of oil.

Li Longji looked away. glanced at the men, women and children kneeling all over the ground, and smiled at Li Linfu: "Being able to have a full house of children and grandchildren in our later years is the greatest blessing for us old people, which shows that Xiangguo is also a blessed person." ”

Li Linfu slowly stood up with the support of his son, and he sighed and said: "Your Majesty is right, and the old minister has only now slowly realized that he spent too little time with his family in the past. ”

Speaking of this, he suddenly pushed his two sons away, and knelt down in front of Li Longji again with a 'plop'. The old man said with tears: "Your Majesty, the old minister may not have much time, I am willing to beg for the bones of Your Majesty, so that the old minister can finally enjoy the joy of teasing his grandson for a few days." ”

Speaking of this, Li Linfu took the resignation from his son's hand, raised it above his head, and handed it to Li Longji.

Li Longji looked at Li Linfu silently. Although he handed over the reversal to Yang Guozhong, Yang Guozhong's performance really disappointed him, and in order to prevent the recurrence of Tianbao's eight-year reversal, he decided to go out in person. forced Li Linfu to retreat, he came tonight to reach a compromise with Li Linfu on New Year's Eve, not allowing him to have the opportunity to connect officials and find an opportunity to turn the tables during the New Year's recess.

But Li Linfu's sudden statement was beyond his expectations, the matter is so delicate, Li Linfu knew that the letter had been stolen, but he did not know that the letter had not yet reached Li Longji's hands. And Li Longji wanted to force Li Linfu back, but he didn't know that Yang Guozhong had obtained evidence from An Lushan.

Perhaps this is the gap between Yang Guozhong and Li Linfu, once Li Linfu heard that the letter was stolen, he immediately made a decision and took the initiative to retire, but Yang Guozhong did not notify Li Longji after getting the evidence, so that Li Longji lost the opportunity, and finally cheapened Li Linfu in vain, otherwise. Where could Li Linfu retreat with his whole body!

Although he didn't know Li Linfu's intentions, he was willing to take the initiative to retire. It is best to let the situation pass smoothly, from the eighth year of Tianbao to the tenth year of Tianbao, Li Longji has run out of patience, he does not want to drag things out until the eleventh year of Tianbao.

"Let me think about it again!" Although Li Longji said so, he took Li Linfu's letter of resignation.

An hour later, the forbidden issued an edict that shocked the whole country, and the emperor accepted the resignation of the right minister Li Linfu, and removed him from his posts such as the secretary order, the official department Shangshu, and the protector of the Anxi capital, and crowned him as the Taishi, the Duke of Jin, and the 1,000 households in Wugong County.

At the same time, an edict was issued, and Yang Guozhong, the secretary of the Ministry of Promotion, was appointed as the secretary of the right minister and the secretary of the Ministry of Officials; Wei Jiansu, the squire of the Ministry of Promotion, is the secretary of the military department and the book of the same Zhongshu.

Tonight, Li Qingdi's mansion is also *** bright, although he does not have a group of wives and concubines like Li Linfu and many children, but the excitement is no less than Xiangguofu, more than 100 subordinates and 300 relatives and guards in the whole house, regardless of dignity and inferiority, each person has received a special reward of 50 yuan from his wife, and naturally they are all happy, those who are home in Chang'an can go home for reunion, and those who can't go home are still lively outside under the leadership of the housekeeper, the hall and the courtyard are full of tables, and the table is a sea of meat and wine, leaving a crystal hoof with long black hair, and a bowl of steamed lion heads with ground powder, the one-foot-long braised herring, especially the Lanling Guifei wine given by the emperor, is an eye-opener for everyone.

Li Qing and his wife and daughter sat in the warm pavilion, a small table was placed on a huge big bed, which was full of delicate side dishes, everyone sat around, Li Qing lazily leaned on the soft mattress, looking tired, it is no wonder that he spent the whole afternoon with his wives in their respective rooms, which is worse than running a marathon.

Daughter Li Tingyue snuggled tightly in her father's arms, and looked down at the gifts her father gave her from time to time, all kinds of headdress pendants, which were inlaid with precious gems, and a chest pendant was a red diamond escorted by Tocharian leaves, the size of which was like a pigeon's egg, dazzling and valuable.

The curtain sat on the right side, holding his two-year-old son in his hand, the little boy has not been quiet for a moment since he woke up in the morning, he has grasped all kinds of dishes in his hands, and is kneading hard, Xiaoyu just took it off, he opened his mouth and cried, everyone was helpless, and he could only go.

Lian'er seemed to be a little dissatisfied with her husband giving her daughter such an expensive thing, but she didn't want to ruin her husband's interest, so she shook her head and took the diamond from Li Tingyue's hand, handed it to Li Jingyan, who was sitting at the bottom, and said, "You are an expert, look at how much this thing is worth?" ”

Li Jingyan took it and looked at it carefully for a long time, and sighed: "This diamond is called Flame, and I have seen another

Both luster and purity are far inferior to it. It was also sold for 18,000 kan. You say it's money? ”

"Li Lang, did you hear it, how can you give such an expensive thing to a child!"

Li Qing only smiled slightly, pretended not to hear, and drank the wine in the cup, he didn't care how much it was worth, as long as his daughter liked it, even the moon in the sky he would order someone to pick it off.

Seeing that her husband was pretending to be deaf and dumb, she took the diamond from Li Jingyan's hand. When she was about to put it away, her son saw it, and he was attracted by the brilliance of the diamond, so he threw away the vegetables in his hand, and opened his little hands to grab them, and cried out: 'Give it to me, I want it!' ’

The curtain flashed. He grabbed the air, pouted, and suddenly cried out loud, Li Qing smiled. He took the diamond casually, picked up a pigeon egg from the table, pinched off the skin behind his back, and the diamond shook in front of the child's eyes, and said with a smile: "Daddy will make a trick for you!" Let it change color. ”

Three times and two times, the crimson diamond disappears. A porcelain-white pigeon egg appeared on the palm of his hand, and he handed it to him, "That's it, do you want it?" ”

The little boy grabbed the pigeon egg, pinched it into pieces, and giggled, Li Qing was relieved, secretly stuffed the diamond to his daughter, and whispered, "Take it." Don't let people fool you anymore. ”

Seeing that he doted on his daughter so much, several women all smiled bitterly and sighed together: "Li Lang." You can't do that! ”

Li Qing picked up the wine glass and smiled, "What's the matter, it's just a stone, come!" One by one, you have come to toast me. ”.

The moon is getting higher and higher, and it is shining brightly under the moonlight. The whole of Chang'an is immersed in the Chinese New Year's Eve of family reunion, the streets are empty, and even homeless beggars look for a leeward place to hide and drink a few sips of wine.

At this moment, a carriage drove into the gate of Xuanyi Fang under the protection of more than a dozen palace guards, slowing down, as if to let everyone see its existence, indeed, many windows were gently pushed open a crack, and then closed again, the carriage stopped in front of Li Qing's mansion, and an old man who looked like a eunuch came down from the car, and he was followed by a small eunuch, with a lantern, and the orange light reflected a clear ' Gao', this old man is naturally Gao Lishi, he was ordered by Li Longji to read the holy decree to Li Qing, Gao Lishi slowly walked up the steps, stood for a while, and then ordered his subordinates to go up and call the door, so that the people on the opposite side of Yang Guozhong's mansion could see clearly, and there were already people who specially monitored Li Qing's mansion to fly to report to Yang Guozhong, and Gao Lishi visited Li Qing on Chinese New Year's Eve.

Gao Lishi stood in front of the steps with his hands behind his back, looking at Yang Guozhong's mansion and sneering slightly, just now when he came out of Xingqing Palace, Li Longji had already issued an edict, sealing Yang Guozhong as the right minister, the middle book order, the person who announced the decree was Yu Chaoen, presumably out of the palace, on the way to come, Yang Guozhong was ambitious, he would inevitably promote his henchmen and crack down on dissidents, in order not to let Li Qing suffer unnecessary losses, Gao Lishi decided to show his position to Yang Guozhong, so that he acted with scruples.

'Squeak quack! The door opened, and Li Qing, who was full of redness, walked out of the mansion quickly, bowed to Gao Lishi, and bowed, "I haven't seen you for many years, how is the general?" ”

Gao Lishi smiled and waved his hand, "You are the real general, Li Yuanjun still call me Gao Weng!" It also pleases my ears. ”

"Then it's better to be respectful." Li Qingyi waved his hand and put on a gesture of invitation, "Gao Weng, please come in!" ”

Colliers walked into the gate with his hands behind his back, but instead he went inside, but turned and walked to an open space against the courtyard wall, which was already full of large and small boxes, more than two hundred.

He looked at these boxes and said with a smile: "Li Yuanjun will make a fortune when he goes home!" ”

Li Qingyi smiled and said: "Everyone is embarrassed, so I have to accept it, and I am going to use this money to recruit landless people to move west to Dawan." ”

"Moving westward to Dawan, you are so generous!"

Gao Lishi sighed from the bottom of his heart, and when he saw that there was no one left and right, he said in a low voice: "You have done a bit risky in the matter of moving west, you must keep a low profile, otherwise it is easy to be impeached!" ”

Li Qing nodded lightly and said in a low voice: "What is the emperor's attitude towards this matter?" ”

"You are very lucky, the emperor is supporting you in this matter."

Gao Lishi suddenly pulled out a scroll of jute edict from his sleeve and said loudly: "Li Qing takes the order!" ”

Li Qing hurriedly knelt on the ground, "Minister Li Qing takes the order!" ”

"Anxi Jiedu made Li Qing to restrain the countries of the Western Regions with merit, so that my prestige in the country became more and more important, and I was deeply commended, and I specially added the deputy capital of Anxi, and Li Qing was appointed as the protector of Anxi Dadu in Anxi, and all military and political affairs in Anxi and Beiting were subject to its control, and Wangqing was always diligent and self-disciplined, cautious as an official, and lived up to my expectations. Chin this! ”

"Obey the order!" Li Qing bowed and respectfully accepted the holy decree, the capital of Anxi has always been led by Li Linfu, but now it has been given to himself, Li Qing pondered for a moment, he suddenly asked: "Gao Weng, but Li Xiangguo has resigned?" ”

Gao Lishi nodded slowly, "A lot of big things happened tonight, and tomorrow will shock the whole country." ”