The next day, Xue Shao and Princess Taiping went to Wang Yu's house for a banquet.

Originally, for Wang Yu, it was a great honor for Xue Shao to be able to come to his engagement banquet in person. Unexpectedly, even Princess Taiping came with her. At this time, Wang Yu's family was flattered, and even some were unexpected and panicked.

This is not surprising.

In previous dynasties and generations, the sons of emperors, that is, princes and princes, each had superior fame and power. But now is a strange era of "the heroine is in power", Wu Zetian's sons are unlucky one after another, but her baby daughter has been peaceful, rich, and honored since she was a child.

Now Wu Zetian's power and prestige are in full swing, and Princess Taiping's worth is also rising. In addition, she has a bullish husband who "Xue Zizhenguo dares to offend", the first princess of the Tang Dynasty, who originally favored the world, and now her status is even far more than that of the emperor of the current dynasty who lives in the side hall. Although she has not officially entered the political arena to participate in national politics, no one in the government and the opposition dares to underestimate her "potential strength". There are even some troubled rappers who make up nonsense to say that today's emperors, princes and princes of the imperial family are all puppets and ornaments, and Princess Taiping is the only prince worthy of the name.

- "Prince", not a princess.

Although Wang Yu's family is not too prosperous, their background is very noble, and Wang Fangyi is a relative of the Taiyuan Wang family. And his mother Zheng is also from the Guannei family, otherwise she would not be able to marry into the Wang family. It can also be seen from this that the Shangguan family was also a fan of Xuanhe back then, otherwise Shangguan Wan'er's mother, who is Wang Yu's own aunt, would not marry Wan'er's father, Shangguan Tingzhi, even if he is the son of the prime minister.

Princess Taiping and Xue Shao hadn't taken their seats yet, and Shangguan Wan'er came. Unlike in the past, when men always traveled in simple clothes, Shangguan Wan'er's appearance this time was a little pompous, and she brought a few eunuchs and maids who were talking about the Tao.

Now that Wu Zetian is dictatorial of the dynasty, many strict constraints in the palace have been relaxed (with a bit of feminist liberation), and a female official with status like Shangguan Wan'er can enter and exit the forbidden palace much easier than before. In the past, unless there was a formal dispatch from the Central Palace, Shangguan Wan'er could occasionally go out of the palace to breathe under the supervision of a group of guards. Now as long as she is happy and talks to the person in charge above, she can leave the palace at any time, provided that she returns in time.

Now there are only two people left who can control Shangguan Wan'er, one is Wu Zetian himself, and the other is Wu Zetian's spokesperson for power in the inner court, Huayang's wife Kudi. After Wu Zetian changed the official system, he also made some changes to the female official system of the inner court according to Zhou Li. Mrs. Huayang was named the "Imperial Justice" of the Inner Court, which was equivalent to the Prime Minister of the Imperial Court. And Shangguan Wan'er's current title is more puzzling - talented.

This is not only the emperor's concubine but also the female official in the palace, leading the five grades. Of course, Wu Zetian would not be so confused that he wanted to give Shangguan Wan'er to Li Dan as a concubine, she was a talented person who was named the first emperor Li Zhi. Of course, Shangguan Wan'er's talented person is in name only, and the first emperor Li Zhidu has been lying in the cold Qianling for a long time, and he probably doesn't have the spare time to pamper this concubine who was sealed by Wu Zetian.

This has only happened for a short time. Although Xue Shao is well-informed, he generally doesn't inquire about the affairs of the inner court, so he only found out today.

"No wonder she travels today, it's different from before." Xue Shao sat in the living room and looked at Shangguan Wan'er who walked in the door from a distance, and whispered to himself.

Princess Taiping glanced at Xue Shao, and her expression became very strange, as if she was distressed and gloating, "Oh, miserable, miserable!" ”

"What the hell is your name?" There were no idlers around, and Xue Shao reprimanded angrily.

Princess Taiping covered her mouth and snickered, and whispered: "Shangguan Wan'er was originally my good sister and good friend, but now she has become my concubine, how pitiful I am!" ”

Xue Shao hated itchy. Princess Taiping rarely had a time when she could really stimulate Xue Shao, but this time she really succeeded. He thought about it along Princess Taiping's train of thought, and scolded in his heart - grandma's Shangguan Wan'er is now the concubine of the first emperor, who dares to beat her idea, isn't it cuckolding the first emperor and dying alive?

Sure enough...... Miserable, miserable!

"Wan'er, see Her Royal Highness the Princess, see Xue Juma." Shangguan Wan'er had already approached the living room, and graceful and graceful gave the two of them a salute.

"Shangguan talents don't have to be polite." Princess Taiping smiled and said, "You have a different identity now, and you are still my elder!" ”

Shangguan Wan'er's face instantly flashed a shocking red rhyme, and she subconsciously looked at Xue Shao secretly.

Xue Shao's expression was expressionless, and he said lightly: "Shangguan Cairen, please sit down, you don't have to be formal." ”

Princess Taiping was happy now, because she could see at a glance that Xue Shao was desperately pretending to be serious. She knew Xue Shao too well, and the more serious he was, the more he must be thinking desperately in his heart.

Interesting, interesting!

Princess Taiping couldn't help but laugh a few times, and coughed again, "Wan'er, sit down—come, sit next to me!" ”

"Wan'er doesn't dare."

"Come on, you don't have to be formal for a private banquet at home!"

Princess Taiping almost personally pulled Shangguan Wan'er and sat down next to her.

Xue Shao's heart was like a cat's paw scratching, and he was entangled tightly. Princess Taiping deliberately made a funny scene, which was clearly sarcastic and ridiculous. It is impossible for him to be so close to Shangguan Wan'er in front of Princess Taiping in public, but the more he pretends not to care, the more out of the corner of Xue Shao's eyes is that he wants to go to see Shangguan Wan'er.

The palace dress she wore today was so beautiful. Xue Shao rarely saw Shangguan Wan'er wearing such a formal and gorgeous palace dress, and her eyes were absolutely shocked.

Not long after, Wang Yu and his parents came to greet the guests, and they bowed to Xue Shao and Princess Taiping again and again. The people of the Wang family knew very well in their hearts that if it weren't for the relationship between Shangguan Wan'er and Xue Shao and his wife, their son Wang Yu would definitely still be staying at home now, waiting hard for the results of the election of officials.

Although the Wang family has a good background, they do not have any political capital. Now nine out of ten Shandong big-name families in the traditional sense have become de facto broken households. Some can't even eat, and are so poor that only their ancestors are left to show off. Although their Wang family was able to manage food and clothing, it was not much better. The Wang family is counting on Wang Yu to be able to make a little difference, so that he can rejuvenate his family with the glory of his ancestors. It is not easy to catch the line of Xue Shao and Princess Taiping through Shangguan Wan'er. Wang Yu's parents now can't wait to take out their hearts and livers for these three people to eat.

Shangguan Wan'er deliberately dressed up when she came today, and made an exception to bring three or five entourages, which was somewhat intended to support Wang Yu's scene. Although she knew that her pomp and circumstance was as small as dust to Xue Shao and Princess Taiping, Wang Yu's parents were happy to see it, and that was enough.

It can also be seen from this that Shangguan Wan'er still cares about and takes care of Wang Yu's aunt. After all, she really doesn't have many relatives in the world.

Except for some family relatives and the woman's family, Wang Yu was embarrassed to invite any colleagues. Except for a few small envoys who had a good relationship with him, he just invited Xue Shao. But a big Buddha is far better than eight hundred arhats, and the joint attendance of Xue Shao and Princess Taiping instantly made Wang Yu's slightly shabby home glorious.

At lunchtime, Wang Yu's home was still full of about a dozen guests. In the afternoon, all the officials and scribes of the military department took the initiative to come to the door to congratulate them. Even Zhang Guangfu, who has always been the most impersonal, sent his old butler to send a congratulatory gift, obviously he didn't want to be completely isolated in the military department.

Immediately afterwards, Li Qiao, Du Xianyan and Cui Rong, who were famous in the capital, came to congratulate them. These three talents are as famous as Su Wei, known as the "Four Friends of the Article".

This is not an ordinary fame, and in today's words, their talents have alarmed the central government.

Su Wei's good article was favored by Pei Xingjian and recruited as a secretary to join the army (the secretary in charge of copywriting and also served as a staff officer). After Xue Shao took over Pei Xingjian, he was more entrusted to Su Wei, but whenever he gave orders or wanted to write a chapter for the imperial court, Su Wei basically took the pen on his behalf. Not long ago, when the Shuofang army changed its flag and changed its banner, Su Wei made a contribution because of his contribution to the change of flag, and was directly promoted from an eight-rank petty official to the Xiazhou Governor's Mansion from the four-rank Sima and the Shuofang army marching Sima, and he was absolutely on the rise. This caused quite a stir at the time, and the imperial history of the imperial court objected to it, but it was useless at all. Because of the joint support of Wu Zetian and Xue Shao, Su Wei's official has done a very stable job.

Now Su Wei is quite prestigious in the Helong area and in the Shuofang army, second only to Xue Shao's spokesperson who stayed there, Shi Liu Youqiu, the governor of Xiazhou.

Li Qiao is a twenty-year-old middle jinshi, and he is very talented, especially good at five-character near-body poems. Among the four friends, his words are the most gorgeous, and his career is also the smoothest. Now he is not yet thirty years old, he has already become a superintendent envoy, and he has had a beautiful experience that is talked about. That is, one year, there was a riot and uprising among the natives of Yongzhou and Yanzhou, and Li Qiao was ordered to supervise the army to go to conquer. But he did not advocate armed counterinsurgency, but went alone to lobby and persuade him to surrender, and he actually succeeded.

Xue Shao felt that this person's talent was a bit too awesome, and even the illiterate could be influenced by him.

As for Du Xianyan and Cui Rong, they are slightly inferior to Li Qiao in comparison.

Du Xianyan now serves as Luoyang Cheng and is a subordinate of Luoyang Ling Wei Yuanzhong. What is the relationship between Wei Yuanzhong and Xue Shao and Princess Taiping, of course, he knows best. So he hurried here today -- in the name of Wang Yu's classmate Wenyou, of course.

Cui Rong was once the East Palace attendant of Li Xian, the king of Luling, and whatever articles Li Xian wanted to write were all written by him. Li Xian was not the emperor for a long time, and Cui Rong did not have time to make a fortune, but he did not follow the bad luck. Now he is a palace gatekeeper, that is, a sesame little official in charge of the palace gate. The fall of Emperor Li Xian may have made Cui Rong deeply appreciate the ruthlessness and terror of power, and also made him recognize the current situation - standing tightly in the camp of Empress Dowager Wu is the right choice. So in the past few years, he has written a lot of articles praising virtues, which made Wu Zetian, who loves literature and history, quite pleased and liked. Many people say that his "official family" sesame little official was exchanged for poems and poems that praise virtue. Otherwise, he would have been exiled with King Luling.

The arrival of Li Qiao and the other three made the Wang family shine again.

Wang Yu's heart knew very well who they were running to. Although these three were his classmates and friends, before today, they had never looked at them in the eye. To put it bluntly, it's worthless, they all want to be the next Su Wei, and they want to get Xue Shao's light through their own relationship.

Xue Shao had a simple but accurate summary of the three of them - the royal literati.

This kind of person may not be a moral true monarch or a capable minister, but they can really play a great role, such as the eighteen bachelors in the Literature Museum of Li Shimin, the king of Qin, and Wu Zetian's subordinates also have Beimen bachelors. Now is an era of poetry and admiration for talents. The poems, articles, and remarks of talented people can guide the people's thoughts to a great extent, and even guide the political wind. This is not only an intangible intellectual wealth, but also an invisible murderous weapon.

Now the most important thing around Xue Shao is the shrewd and capable officials and the warriors with knives in both ribs, since these three characters who are known for their poetry and literary talents took the initiative to send them to the door, Xue Shao didn't mind packing them together and accepting them all!