Xue Shao and Princess Taiping took a cart of gifts to the Xue Mansion in Qinglongfang. When I arrived, the lintel here had changed, and it was obviously much more generous than before. The walls are all painted and heightened, and the gate plaque of "Xue Mansion" can be seen from a long distance.

Xue Shao thought to himself that it should be the eldest brother Xue Yi who asked someone to transform after he officially returned to Chang'an from Jeju. He is a more traditional Confucian doctor, who pays attention to the rules at a glance. Now that he is the prince of the country, and his younger brother has become a horse and has become a royal celebrity, then the Xue family's house can't be cold.

The young couple entered the Xue Mansion, and the elder brother Xue Yi and sister-in-law Xiao Shi were overjoyed together, and they forgot the etiquette of the eldest and youngest for a while. The third brother Xue Xu and his wife Cheng were also there, and the children of the two families also gathered together. A big family, very lively.

"Erlang, finally returned safely!" Sister-in-law Xiao Shi said with kindness, "In the days when you went on the expedition, you have worried us badly. In the future, you are not allowed to leave so suddenly, without even saying hello. It's better not to go on the expedition again, you see Her Royal Highness leaning on the door every day and looking forward to washing her face with tears, can you bear it? ”

Xue Shao had long expected that he would face a bunch of good-natured nagging as soon as he returned home, so he coped with it with a smile, and then began to distribute gifts.

Princess Taiping can be regarded as having found a good helper, she took Xiao's hand and attacked Xue Shao together, nagging and talking non-stop. I only said that Xue Shao was full of golden flowers and couldn't reply, thinking that I had signed so many unequal treaties with you, and I still said?

Xue Shao was once relatively unfamiliar with "family affection", but it still feels very good to return to this home. During the Chinese New Year, the family reunion garden has a particularly strong taste of family affection. He could clearly feel that the expectations and care of the eldest brother and sister-in-law and the third brother and wife made Xue Shao's heart extremely satisfied and warm. Even Princess Taiping didn't have any princess shelves when she arrived here, she enjoyed the warmth and relaxation in Xue's mansion very much. For her, "family affection" is also a very rare thing.

At the family banquet, Xue Shao inevitably talked with his eldest brother Xue Yi about the court and officialdom. Xue Yi said that he had been idle for a while when he returned to Chang'an after stepping down from Jeju Assassin History. I don't know what arrangements will be made by the imperial court?

Xue Shao knew that the idea of becoming an official again had been held back in the eldest brother's heart for a long time, after all, he was not yet forty years old, and he was in the year of active hard work of a gentleman. It's just that he doesn't want to cause trouble for himself, so he keeps it silent. Today, Princess Taiping was also there at the family banquet, and he brought it up so euphemistically, obviously he couldn't hold it anymore.

Xue Shao thought for a while and said, "After the junior brother was transferred to the Northern Yaqian Cavalry, he rarely went to the court. Recently, I just came back from another expedition, and I don't know much about the affairs of the DPRK and China. For a while, I didn't know where there was a vacancy in the official position, and after the spring was restored, I decided to pay attention to my brother. ”

"Husband, my brother is a dignified founder of Hedong, and he has served two terms as the assassin of Jeju. Now that I've been idle for so long, do I still need to pick up vacancies to fill the job? Princess Taiping spoke, and sure enough, the princess was extraordinary, she said, "Tomorrow's palace banquet, you and I will tell my father and mother about this matter, how can there be anything that can't be considered?" ”

"Her Royal Highness the princess has a good intention, and your subordinates have received it." Xue Yi hurriedly bowed his hand and said, "But Your Majesty does have something unspeakable, and it is inconvenient to steal a shortcut to seek an official in the palace." Please also princess, don't mention it to the two saints in private. Please! ”

"Unspeakable?" Princess Taiping blinked, "Okay, then I won't mix it - sister-in-law, brother and sister, let's go to the garden and take our nephews to build a snowman, shall we?" ”

"Okay." Seeing that the men were about to start discussing political affairs, the Xiao family, the Cheng family and Princess Taiping were very conscious, and they avoided the table and left.

The women were gone, and Xue Shao smiled and said, "Big brother, only you dare to say that." If I did, she would be angry with me. ”

Xue Yi smiled, "You little couple are really a happy couple. At first I thought you would have a hard time getting along after marriage. Now it seems that your relationship is really good, and Her Royal Highness the princess has taken the initiative to sacrifice and sacrifice many things for you. You need to treat her well. ”

"I will." Xue Shao agreed, and then said, "Big brother, what you just said about the unspeakable concealment means that someone reported to the Yushitai that impeachment was made against you, and you just resigned and returned to Beijing?" ”

"yes!" Xue Yi let out a long sigh and said, "I have been an official in Jeju for many years, and although I have no outstanding political achievements, I have never tasted any trouble, and I have not had the bad deeds of corrupting the law and perverting the law. Rao is so, and there are still people impeached. To this day, I don't know who filed a complaint against me. What a villain! ”

"Forget it, big brother, since you have been named the prince of the country and have direct influence to the capital, it is inevitable that there will be such an encounter. Which root is in the end, the water depth of the capital. Xue Shao said, "Take the younger brother as an example, after my meritorious service in the Northern Expedition, I reorganized a thousand cavalry and was rewarded by His Majesty, but every time I made a little merit, I had to go to the Yushitai to be investigated, even if it was nitpicking, they would find fault with me, let me change it if I didn't, and beat me like this." If someone happens to want to rectify me at this time, then nitpicking will become a matter of investigation, even if I am leading the troops to eat a steamed bun given by the people, I can be found to be a huge greed for the country. In short, there are no saints in officialdom, and our imperial court will never allow even a flawless official to exist. This time I went to crusade against Bai Tieyu, I learned to be obedient, although I won the victory and made meritorious contributions, but before I came back, I had already sent the guilty recital to Chang'an, and I was invited to drink tea without making a fuss about the imperial history platform. ”

"It seems that Jingguan is really embarrassed!" Xue Yi stroked his beard and shook his head repeatedly, "The last time someone was impeached, it was the queen of heaven who guaranteed me from being investigated, so I resigned and returned to Beijing." As a result, I already owe the queen of heaven, where can I still have the face to go to the queen of heaven to ask for an official? Now, I can only wait for the court officials to elect officials, or if I can be reactivated. ”

Xue Shao smiled and whispered: "Big brother, the court of the Tang Dynasty is above the Wenxi Pei clan and the Fenyin Xue clan have always been fiercely competitive with each other. Previously, Pei Yan won a game against Xue Yuanchao, and since then he has dominated the political affairs hall, so he took advantage of the victory to pursue and wantonly suppress our Fenyin Xue clan. It was at that time that the eldest brother was unlucky. The younger brother happened to return from the Northern Expedition at that time, but instead of being rewarded, he was kicked out of the army, and he was also suppressed. But although the second saint reused and trusted Pei Yan, he couldn't help him dominate the dynasty. So Xue Yuanchao came back again, and the queen of heaven also bet on the impeachment of you, and it didn't take long for the younger brother to return to the army and take charge of the thousand horses. All the things before and after this are connected, in fact, it is the influence of the wind and waves caused by the continuous political game between the two saints and the prime minister of the family, and all of us must not be spared. Compared to Li Chongyi and Li Shangdan, we are lucky, aren't we? ”

"Now this court is really turbulent, and the situation is abrupt." Xue Yi's expression became solemn, and he whispered, "Erlang, you enter the palace tomorrow, you might as well take a good look at Your Majesty's dragon body." Brother Wei always feels that the court has been so turbulent, and sooner or later there will be chaos. As the old saying goes, a country cannot be without a king for a day! ”

Xue Shao nodded, he understood what his brother meant. The reason why the court of the Tang Dynasty was so chaotic was, in the final analysis, because Li Zhi was not in good health and had been unable to govern in person, which led to the sluggishness of the monarchy and the decentralization of the monarchy. As a result, it is inevitable that there will be fierce power struggles and power struggles in the court. If you want to solve this trouble, only Li Zhi has recovered and personally come forward to preside over the government.

Xue Shao thought to himself, there may be another old saying, the eldest brother was thinking about it, but he refused to say it. That is: there are no two heavens and no two kings in the country!

However, now these two bad situations have appeared in the court of the Tang Dynasty - the two saints are in the court, and Li Zhi cannot be pro-government.

Datang doesn't want to mess up, it's difficult!

"The shortcut of the two saints can't be taken, the election of officials has always been expected to be indefinite, and the government is so complicated, so the matter of reinstating the official for the brother will not stop for the time being." Xue Yi said, "Erlang, in this extraordinary period, you must be careful not to make mistakes or be miscalculated. Before you had to follow Rong, you have always been puzzled by your brother. In retrospect, that was a wise move. The situation in the DPRK is dangerous and killing every step of the way, but the army is relatively peaceful and promising. It can be seen from the fact that you were promoted to the rank of Qianqi Zhonglang and led the army alone to defeat Bai Tieyu, and the second saint still trusts and respects you. You've chosen the right path! ”

Xue Shao just smiled, although it is difficult to mix in the court, but can it be easy to fight? …… Forget it, there is no need to talk to the eldest brother about those dangerous and fatal things, so as not to increase his psychological burden.

"Wu Ming and the moon slave, why don't you see them coming with you?" Xue Yi suddenly asked about it.

Xue Shao was slightly stunned, there are so many complicated things, and I will forget if my eldest brother doesn't mention it. After returning to Beijing, Wu Ming and Yuenu went to find a place to settle Guo An and his men. I haven't seen anyone come back until now, so I guess I went with them for the New Year.

So Xue Shao said to Xue Yi, I have received a new group of retainers and subordinates, and sent the two of them to take care of the settlement.

Xue Yi smiled and said that Erlang is really a big family now. In the future, our old Xue family and even the Fenyin Xue clan will rely on you!

One person has ascended to heaven, and Xue Shao estimates that his family and clansmen are probably thinking so in their hearts now. This kind of thing is understandable, a man can be prominent and glorious, and let his family and clansmen follow him, which is both a responsibility and an honor.

This feeling of being cared for and respected and relied on at the same time, Xue Shao has really not been seen for a long time. This may be the taste of family affection!