In the next three days, Xue Shao became an otaku once, almost staying at home with his wife and children, and almost greedily enjoyed the beauty of family affection. Shangguan Wan'er was inconvenient to stay in Xue's house, so she settled in Luoyang Taichu Palace, but she would come to Xue's mansion every day.

The fat boy Xue Linyu began to recognize life a little, and Xue Shao cried when he touched him. But after all, it is connected by blood and bones, and it has only been three days that he has completely adapted to Xue Shao's father. Xue Shao likes this baby son very much, and he has to hold on to him all day long.

That afternoon, Princess Taiping, who felt that she was "left out", pulled Xue Shao to the backyard polo field and asked him to play crossbow with her. Xue Shao only felt funny, no matter how mature Princess Taiping was in front of outsiders, she always looked like a child who didn't grow up in front of her, and she would actually eat her own child's vinegar!

So Xue Shao played the role of a coolie, responsible for winding the crossbow, arranging the arrows, and then fixing the crossbow on the support, and finally aiming properly, and then letting Princess Taiping pull the plane to launch.

With such a way of playing, it is extremely difficult for a pure novice princess Taiping to shoot off. Seeing that the arrow hit the target, Princess Taiping laughed with a sense of accomplishment, and threatened to claim that "the marksman is nothing more than that"!

Xue Shao smiled with her stupidly, "I didn't expect my beloved wife to have such an amazing talent in archery, I'm afraid Xue Chuyu will be ashamed of herself when she sees it!" ”

"Needless to say!" Princess Taiping laughed loudly, laughing heartlessly.

It's obviously a trick to coax children, but one will deceive and the other will be coaxed, and the mood of the two people is quite relaxed and happy, and they feel more intimate and tacit understanding with each other.

The two played with the crossbow for a while, Xue Shao pulled the strings and sweated, and Princess Taiping was also a little tired of laughing. At this time, Lin'er came to report that the Kudi clan was coming.

"Didn't she work in the Chang'an Palace, why did she come to Luoyang?" Princess Taiping was a little surprised, and said to Xue Shao, "Xue Lang, did you say she came for you?" ”

"I don't know." Xue Shao frowned and said, "I've been away from Chang'an for so long, and I really don't know much about some people and things in the capital and the palace. ”

Princess Taiping said: "For nearly a year, the Kudi clan has been living in the inner court and accompanied my mother day and night, and the two are quite close. Since the last time you had an awkward fight with Queen Wei Xiang'er, the Kudi clan has been fighting with Wei Xiang'er. The two of them were very happy to kill each other in the inner court, and they caused a lot of lives. Several of Wei Xiang'er's henchmen and maids were killed, and several of Kudi's henchmen and friends also suffered. The two of them caught and killed each other, and now everyone knows about it. It's a pair of rivals who are alive! ”

"Being able to pinch each other with the queen and not fall behind proves that the Kudi clan is still somewhat capable." Xue Shao smiled indifferently, there is a sentence that everyone knows in their hearts, the current Kudi clan is an out-of-body incarnation of Wu Zetian. Otherwise, as the widow of a minister, what qualifications and necessity does she have to fight with Wei Xiang'er?

The inner court of the imperial palace was a gladiatorial arena for women and eunuchs. There were thousands of people who had nothing to do, and they had fun fighting each other all day long. All kinds of conspiracies are plotting to live and die, but they are too anxious to sympathize with each other. This makes later generations have such an exclusive term as "Gong Dou".

Compared with Shangguan Wan'er, who handled the folds, made the edicts, and was in charge of the "field service", the Kudi clan was more like a confidant and personal assistant of Wu Zetian. Xue Shao didn't have a dime of interest in the women's palace fights, but he didn't mind getting a little "high-level internal reference" news from the Kudi clan.

Xue Shao asked Lin'er to invite the Kudi clan to the main hall to entertain, and he and Princess Taiping went to change their clothes and then go to meet guests.

When changing clothes, Princess Taiping pondered thoughtfully for a long time, and suddenly said, "Xue Lang, why do I suddenly have a feeling of panic?" Kudi isn't here because something is going to happen, right? ”

Xue Shao blinked and said with a smile: "What can happen?" ”

"You think, with the relationship between the Kudi clan and the queen mother, if it weren't for a very serious matter, the mother wouldn't have sent the Kudi clan to run this trip in person." Princess Taiping said, "If it's a big deal, what could be bigger than the abolished emperor?" But isn't this matter already handled by Shangguan Wan'er? ”

When Xue Shao heard it, it made sense!

"Don't guess, we've gone to see the Kudi, won't it be clear?"

"That's right—let's go!"

The couple changed out of a crossbow suit and came to the main hall neatly. The Kudi clan came from Chang'an alone, and neither the demon nor her three children were brought with them. It's enough to see that she really didn't come because of a private visit!

"Your Highness, Childe, I won't go around the bush, just say it!" Kudi has always been such an upright and anxious son, and when he met, he didn't ask for warmth and politeness, and said directly: "Someone impeached Gongzi!" ”

"What?" Princess Taiping was taken aback, "Who is it?" ”

"It should be said that it is a group of people!" "Some of them are from Hebei and Bingzhou, some are from Xiazhou, Suizhou or Yinzhou in Helong, and of course there are people from Liangjing and other regions. This group of people seemed to have made an appointment, and they ran to the Yushitai together to denounce the various crimes of the childe! ”

Xue Shao frowned, "What crimes have you been sued for?" ”

Kudi let out a long sigh and said, "I can't remember everything. I heard that there were 'sixteen deadly sins' in total, and I only remember a few of them. For example, there is one that reported that the prince committed adultery with the women under his jurisdiction when he was serving as the temporary governor of the Governor's Office. ”

"What?" Princess Taiping's reaction was great, "Is there such a thing? ”

Kudi hurriedly helped, "Your Highness, don't be angry, it's Chen Xian'er!" ”

"How can this be considered adultery?" Princess Taiping said angrily, "Chen Xian'er is now Xue Lang's concubine!" ”

Xue Shao smiled indifferently and said, "Don't say it, according to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, it could barely be regarded as adultery at that time. ”

"Are you stupid?" Princess Taiping said angrily, "Why are you still helping others to speak and discredit yourself?" ”

Xue Shao laughed, "Since I said so, it proves that I have nothing to fear." ”

"How?" Princess Taiping and Kudi asked curiously.

Xue Shao said: "According to the detailed records of Yonghui Law, any woman from a good family who is not a wife, a concubine, a slave or a prostitute and commits adultery is considered adultery. If an incumbent official commits adultery with a woman under his control, the crime is increased by one degree. At that time, I was an official in Bingzhou, and Chen Xian'er was a woman from a good family. There was no clear name between me and her, and at first glance it did appear to be adultery. ”

"Then you still say, there is nothing to fear?" Kudi asked urgently.

Xue Shao said with a smile: "At that time, Liu Sheng gave Chen Xian'er to me in the name of the concubine, and the deed is still there." Despite this, I didn't spend the night with Chen Xian'er until I got married and married her, how can it really be considered adultery? -- Don't think about it, people are accusing me of this crime, and it's clear that they're here to ruin my reputation. Punishment, impossible! ”

"Fortunately, Childe knows the law well, and it seems that this crime is impossible! …… But ruining the son's name is also very hateful! The Kudi clan was indignant.

Xue Shao said indifferently: "What other charges are there?" ”

"That's a lot!" "Some people have accused you of corruption, saying that you have privately accepted money and gifts from many people during your time as an official, and each article and paragraph are listed quite clearly. Someone accused you of indiscriminately killing the secretary of state and showing disregard to your colleagues, don't you have the name of 'human slaughter' in Xiazhou, you must have offended a lot of people, right? Of course they're going to take revenge on you! ”

Xue Shao smiled, "What else?" ”

"Others such as abuse of power, cronyism, and corruption of the law...... Oh yes, there are also people who accuse you of privately greedy for the big golden Buddha that Bai Tieyu used to rebel! Kudi was surprised, "I'm afraid this charge is very troublesome, if you are accused of deliberately following Bai Tieyu's plot against it, it will be quite difficult!" ”

Hearing this, Princess Taiping was stunned, "Xue Lang, have you done so many bad things outside?" ”

Xue Shao smiled indifferently, "If you want to add to the crime, why bother?" But who is a ruler without the slightest fault? In fact, every time I win a battle or make some contributions, someone will stand up and criticize me. Therefore, I have developed a strange habit within a few years of joining the office, but whenever I finish some errand, regardless of the result, I will take the initiative to write to the court to ask for guilt. It's better to admit your mistakes than to be exposed! ”

Princess Taiping shook her head again and again, looking at the expression that was both angry and funny, "In that case, what are you still doing as this official?" Abandoning his wife and children, not to mention the hardships and hardships, he had to sacrifice his life and forget about death. In the end, if you have made a meritorious contribution but you will be framed by others, what do you want? ――Wouldn't it be okay to stay at home and spend a quiet life with me and my children? ”

Xue Shao smiled, "Your Highness, you don't have to worry. In fact, before I returned to Beijing, I expected that there would be such a big lawsuit waiting for me. ”

"Oh?" Both the Kudi clan and Princess Taiping were a little surprised.

Xue Shao smiled: "In all dynasties and generations, courtiers who shoulder heavy responsibilities and do practical things are often the most likely to make mistakes and even be controversial. On the contrary, those who try to occupy a vacant position and do not need to do anything often appear to be clean and morally noble. But in this world, someone has to do things after all. If you want to compete with moral articles, I am really not as good as others. I just want to do what I think I should do, and if I make some mistakes because of this, there's nothing I can't admit. Take the sixteen deadly sins in front of us, I'm afraid half of them are true. This shows that someone is organizing and planning behind the scenes, mobilizing a group of people to concentrate their forces on impeaching me, trying to bring me down in one fell swoop. ”

"That's right!" Princess Taiping said hatefully, "In those years, I lived with my mother, and I have seen many ministers use such tricks to bring down political opponents. They themselves did not come forward, and mobilized a large number of people to report and expose the same person at the same time. With so many people reporting it for a while, the imperial court will definitely pay attention to it. Once the power of the imperial history is launched, there is always a problem that can be found, and a small problem can be found into a big problem - Xue Lang, it seems that this time we have encountered a powerful big opponent! ”

Xue Shao smiled slightly, and said in his heart what "powerful big opponent", isn't it Pei Yan?

"You know who it is, right?" Princess Taiping looked at Xue Shao with bright eyes.

Xue Shao knew that she must have a heart like a mirror, and she didn't have to shy away from anything in front of the Kudi clan, so she simply broke her words, "Pei Yan and I are both ministers of Tuogu, and now that he wants to abolish the emperor, the first thing he has to do is to bring down me, the person who is most likely to sabotage his plan." Moreover, if the emperor is really abolished and a new monarch is established, then Pei Yan will have the merit of supporting the dragon, and his status and power will naturally rise to a higher level. But if I also take the opportunity to participate in the abolition of the establishment and win the merit of supporting the dragon, wouldn't I have to be on an equal footing with him again? In addition, I just came back from a victory in Hebei with military merits, what if I overpower him? ”

Princess Taiping and Kudi nodded in unison, "Reasonable!" ”

Xue Shao said with a smile: "To sum up, it is almost inevitable that Pei Yan will take action to rectify me at this juncture of deposing the emperor. Therefore, before I returned to Beijing, I was ready to see the move! ”