At night, a carriage slowly stopped in front of the palace, and out of the carriage came out of a thirty-year-old official, this person has a white face and long beard, and is polite, this person's name is Liu Xuanmao, the son of Liu Shu of Emperor Wen of Sui, born in Hedong County, Xie Liang Famous Family, and his mother is Yang Guang's sister Princess Lanling.

Liu Xuanmao studied in Wang's family when he was a teenager, and later studied under the great Confucian Wang Tong, who was outstanding in learning, served as the magistrate of Hedong County, and lived in seclusion at home because of the rebellion at the end of the Sui Dynasty.

Liu Xuanmao's expression was grim, today he heard a news that was extremely unfavorable to the Wang family, he was very worried, and hurriedly walked up the steps, Liu Xuanmao and Wang Xu had a very good relationship, and often came to the palace, almost everyone in the palace knew him, and there was no need to report it, the porter immediately opened the door and invited him into the mansion.

Wang Xu has not been in a very good mood in the past two days, his bad mood has nothing to do with the assassination of Princess Chu, but from his eldest son Wang Ling, the eldest son is now enshrined in the East Palace Literature Museum, this matter is only known to very few people in the clan, and even the court has been concealed.

When Li Yuan raised troops in Taiyuan, he received strong support from the Wang family, and Li Yuan promised him that the Tang Dynasty would stand, and the Wang family would be the prime minister, if Yang Yuanqing did not capture Taiyuan, then he Wang Xu would be an important minister of the Tang Dynasty at this time, and even enter the prime minister.

But the establishment of the new Sui changed the fate of the Wang family, the Wang brothers finally decided to take refuge in the new Sui after the final discussion, on the one hand, they were worried that it would be difficult to compete with the Guanlong nobles and the Guanlong clan in the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty lost Hedong, and their Wang family had no foundation in the Tang Dynasty.

On the other hand, as one of the two major scholar clans in Hedong, it is impossible for the new Sui based on Hedong not to attach importance to them, and it turns out that their decision is completely correct, Wang Xu is in the prime minister, and the Wang family is all honored, and there is another deep-seated reason, Wang Xu is the uncle of the princess of Chu. In the future, Princess Chu will be the queen, which will be beneficial to the Wang family.

But as a famous family, it is impossible for the Wang family to bet on the fate of the Sui Dynasty, and Wang Xu's eldest son Wang Ling is studying in Chang'an. Under Wang Xu's arrangement, Wang Ling entered the East Palace and became the East Palace Literature Museum.

Of course, Wang Xu also knows very well that only the world-famous scholars and Confucians are eligible to enter the Literature Museum, and there are only ten people at present, and his son is just a student, so he may not even have the qualifications to serve tea and water in the Literature Museum. Becoming an enshrinement is nothing more than the Tang Dynasty enveloping the royal family.

The day before yesterday he received a letter from his son, in which he told him that the crown prince was very interested in some internal affairs of the Sui Dynasty, and Wang Xu understood the meaning of the letter, that is, to ask him to provide some secrets of the Sui Dynasty, although the letter did not explicitly state. But Wang Xu's heart is like a mirror.

This is his distress, as the Xiangguo of Ziwei Pavilion, of course he has a lot of secrets. If he chooses to tell the Tang Dynasty, he won't be discovered, but he is worried that there will be a second time with the first time, and in the end he was controlled by the Tang Dynasty and became the biggest traitor in the Sui Dynasty.

Wang Xu was pacing back and forth in the study with his hands behind his back, thinking about what to do. At this moment, the voice of the third son, Wang Qi, came from outside the door, "Father." Uncle Liu came and said that he had something important to see his father. ”

Wang Xu immediately withdrew his thoughts and nodded, "Please let him in!" ”

Soon, Liu Xuanmao walked quickly into the study, although he worshipped Wang Tong as his teacher. But in terms of seniority, he is the same generation of the Wang brothers, so Wang Xu has never treated him as a junior, as soon as he entered the house, Liu Xuanmao said coldly: "Look at the good things you have done!" ”

Wang Xu was stunned for a moment, "Brother Xian, where did you start with this?" ”

"Humph! You're still pretending to be confused, do you think everyone is stupid? ”

Liu Xuanmao knew that Wang Xu's eldest son, Wang Ling, was worshipping the literature of the East Palace, and he thought that the assassination of the princess of Chu was committed by the Tang Dynasty, and the Wang family provided convenience, the assassins could be deployed calmly, and one person could escape.

Wang Xu was even more confused, and asked with some displeasure: "What are you talking about?" ”

"Princess Chu's assassination case, you dare to say that you are innocent?" Liu Xuanmao sneered.

Wang Xu was taken aback, how could he have anything to do with the assassination of Princess Chu, he suddenly had an inexplicable panic, he knew that Liu Xuanmao was not talking nonsense, he must have gotten some news, he hurriedly closed the door.

"Sit down, let's talk slowly."

Liu Xuanmao sat down, watching the changes in Wang Xu's every expression, seeing that there was no panic in his eyes that was revealed, but a kind of surprise, he had some doubts in his heart, is there no such thing? But with Su Wei's identity, how could he talk nonsense.

"Just tell me one thing, does the assassination of Princess Chu have anything to do with the Wang family?"

Wang Xu shook his head, "It definitely has nothing to do with me." ”

He was even more suspicious in his heart, and hurriedly asked: "Who did you listen to that the assassination of Princess Chu was actually committed by the Wang family?" ”

Liu Xuanmao frowned, "Last night at the Qibaozhai Wine Shop, Su Xiangguo and several ministers were drinking and chatting, and it was revealed that the assassination of the princess and the prince in Anjin Temple this time may be related to the Wang family. ”

"What!"

Wang Xuhuo stood up and said angrily: "He is the right servant of the dignified Shangshu, how can he spew blood, nonsense!" ”

"I also think that as a high-ranking and powerful Xiangguo, it is impossible for him to talk nonsense, and Han Shouzhong, the scrivener who is in charge of investigating this case, is his person, and he must have some basis for saying this."

Liu Xuanmao still looked at Wang Xu with a little suspicion and reminded him: "In this matter, has Brother Mingda communicated with Shaoxuan?" ”

Shaoxuan refers to Wang Xu's third brother Wang Su, the official worships Jing Zhaoyin, Wang Xu is also a little apprehensive in his heart, it can't be his third brother who did something behind his back! Assassinating the princess and the prince is a great crime!

Wang Xu immediately instructed his son who was standing outside the door: "Qi'er, go and invite your third uncle!" ”

The room was quiet, neither of them spoke, each thinking about their own thoughts, although Liu Xuanmao was angry with Yang Guang because of his father's death, but his mother was the princess of Lanling after all, he was more inclined to the Sui Dynasty, and he did not approve of Wang Xu's practice of letting his eldest son defect to the Tang Dynasty.

As a big family, the clansmen served in two dynasties at the same time, which is not a problem in itself, but Wang Xu's problem is that when he was already in the Sui Dynasty, he secretly arranged for his eldest son to take refuge in Li Jiancheng of the East Palace, and his motives were obviously impure.

It's just that because of the situation, Liu Xuanmao didn't turn his face with the Wang family on Wang Ling's refuge in the East Palace, but some of the Wang family's practices made him more and more dissatisfied and worried about his career.

After a while, the door opened, and Wang Xu's third brother Wang Su walked in quickly.

"Is there anything that big brother is looking for me?"

Wang Xu gave his son Wang Qi a look and asked him to close the door, and then said to his brother: "You sit down first!" Sit down and talk. ”

Wang Su said hello to Liu Xuanmao and sat down, he saw that his brother and Liu Xuanmao both looked solemn, and he couldn't help but have some doubts in his heart.

"Did something happen?"

Wang Xu sighed and said solemnly to him: "You tell me the truth, does the assassination of Princess Chu have anything to do with you?" ”

Wang Su was stunned for a moment, he looked at his brother, and said slowly: "Does my brother think I did it?" ”

"I'm just asking you or not?" Wang Xu couldn't control his emotions a little and raised his tone.

Wang Su suddenly became angry, and said hatefully: "Of course not! What does this have to do with me? ”

He turned his gaze to Liu Xuanmao again, and his brother suspected that he must have something to do with Liu Xuanmao, "Liu Yuanjun, who said that this matter has something to do with me?" ”

Wang Xu felt the annoyance in his brother's tone, and his heart was relieved, this matter had nothing to do with his brother, at this time, he became more and more dissatisfied with Su Wei in his heart, and also stood up and said: "I want to make this matter clear to Su Wei, he can't talk like this and trap the Wang family in injustice, I estimate that there has been a lot of rumors in Taiyuan City." ”

Liu Xuanmao sighed, "Brother Mingda, please don't be impatient, Su Wei is a veteran of Xiangguo, the founder of the Great Sui, and he has long been a treacherous and cunning in the officialdom, how could he talk nonsense about such a major matter, he said this, there must be a reason, Brother Mingda still thinks about it, what is his motive for saying this?" ”

Wang Xu sat down slowly again, falling into deep thought...... At the same time that Liu Xuanmao visited Wang Xu, Xiangguo Suwei's mansion also came to a heavyweight guest, Han Shouzhong, the secretary of the imperial history, the current Sui Dynasty's imperial history of the doctor is concurrently served by Du Ruhui, with the deepening of the reform of the Sui Dynasty's imperial history system, the imperial history doctor gradually became a virtual position, and the real power began to be in the hands of the two scholars.

Han Shouzhong was one of them, responsible for the supervision of the hundred officials in the capital, and the other scrivener was Zhang Liang, a member of the Inner History House, who was responsible for supervising the local counties.

Han Shouzhong is a native of Jingzhao, a fellow villager of Su Wei, from a poor family since he was a child, he was about thirty-five or sixteen years old, he was originally Sima of Hanzhong County, he was an honest and honest official, and the officials of the court were quite satisfied with him, but because he was highly recommended by Su Wei, he was naturally branded with the Soviet Party.

In any court from ancient times to the present, factional struggles and power struggles have always been the main line of officialdom, and their fundamental purpose is to distribute interests, and as a superior, this kind of struggle is also needed to exist, as a means of controlling the courtiers.

Of course, any kind of power struggle must have a limit, once out of control, it will fall into a rebellion of friends, and the imperial court will have a crisis, historically, such a crisis occurred in the late Tang and Ming dynasties.

Yang Yuanqing also acquiesced in the emergence of factions in the imperial court, in fact, he couldn't stop it, as long as there were literati, there would be struggles, and they would not change with his will.

At present, the factions of the imperial court are relatively clear, mainly based on the major famous families, such as the Pei Party, the Wang Party, the Su Party, the Hebei Department and the Fengzhou Department.

The Su Party is a relatively weak faction, mainly because Su Wei does not have a strong family background, but with his qualifications and prestige, he has also successfully gathered a group of courtiers around him, such as Han Shouzhong, the secretary of the imperial history, Gao Dehong, the servant of the internal history, Xu Wenyuan, the priest of the country, and so on.

Han Shouzhong's visit tonight is of great significance to Su Wei......