Section XXXI

"Palm Lamp."

With He Xiaotian's order, several pro-soldiers entered and lit a few oil lamps in the corner. The council chamber was huge, and even the oil lamps were not small. Red flames danced in the room, reflecting the whole hall as if it were day. He Xiaotian stood for a long time, and then said, "I have been in and out of this council hall since I was ten years old. At that time, the first exam was still there, and there was one other person besides me, and that was Xiaoyun. ”

When he talked about He Xiaoyun, his tone was unusually gentle. He Xiaotian and He Xiaoyun, the relationship between the brothers must have been very good at first, otherwise He Xiaotian would not have made He Zhi the young master. But the world is unpredictable, and finally came to this point, Wu Ming also felt a little uncomfortable in his heart.

He Xiaotian closed his eyes, sighed and continued: "Since the first exam passed away, Xiaoyun and I turned against each other, I am the only one here, every time I think alone at night, it is false to say that I am not sad." I hope that you will always be with me in this chamber to discuss military aircraft until the end of my life. ”

Although the two are Weng sons-in-law, Wu Ming's roots are in China and the West, and He Xiaotian is the governor of the northwest. But He Xiaotian's implication was that he hoped that the two would not go to the step of fighting each other. Wu Ming immediately said in a deep voice: "This is also what the son-in-law wants. ”

He Xiaotian smiled loudly, swept around and said, "There are just you and me in this room, there is a sentence like a fish in the throat, it is really not unpleasant." Now that he is shy, don't be surprised. ”

Although the two are Weng sons-in-law, they are not familiar with each other, and it is the first time that they have had such a private relationship. He Xiaotian has always been unscrupulous, but this time it is rare to be serious, Wu Ming felt a pang in his heart, and bowed and said: "Father-in-law, please speak, and the son-in-law listens." ”

He Xiaotian looked up at the sky, and said leisurely for a while: "My He family has been operating in the northwest for thousands of years, deep-rooted, passed down from generation to generation, and in my generation, it is already two out of twenty. But I have no heirs under my knees, as the saying goes, 'there are three unfilial pieties, and no queen is great', He family incense, I don't want to end up with me. So you and Xiaoyi's children, the old man hopes that in the future, there will be a man who will follow his mother's surname and succeed me in the mantle, do you think it's good? ”

Wu Ming's heart was shocked, and he reacted and immediately refused: "Father-in-law, absolutely not." ”

He Xiaotian turned his head and said strangely: "Why not?" Explain why. ”

Wu Ming took a long breath and said slowly: "In my son-in-law's opinion, there are two things that are wrong with doing this. His heart turned quickly, sorted out his thoughts a little, and continued: "First of all, as you said, the He family in the northwest has been in business for thousands of years, with deep roots and many side branches. They attach great importance to bloodlines, and if you keep doing this, I'm afraid they will not be convinced. ”

He Xiaotian put his hands behind his back and said domineeringly: "What is not convinced, if you don't accept Lao Tzu, you just don't accept Lao Tzu." Seeing that Wu Ming was still frowning, he patiently explained: "The strong enemy in the northwest, in order to reduce internal friction, the He family needs to establish a strong lineage centralized system to ensure that orders are issued from top to bottom and improve efficiency. The ancestors were far-sighted, and at the beginning of the defense of the northwest, they formulated a strict hierarchy system, stipulating that the He family should be a martial art, and the male should not be passed on to the female, the inside but not the outside, and the descendants not to be passed on. and explicitly ordered that the He family has no right to inherit the position of the head of the family, and must unconditionally obey the direct leadership, otherwise it will be punished for the crime of betraying the family. ”

Throughout the ages, if you want to survive and develop in a harsh environment, centralization is always the best choice. However, He Xiaotian said that the martial arts of the He family were not passed on internally and externally, which first made Wu Ming extinguish and let Wu Siting follow He Xiaotian's heart to learn art. Seeing that He Xiaotian was full of confidence, Wu Ming suddenly knelt on the ground and said: "There are some things that the son-in-law doesn't like to hear, but he has to say it, and I hope that my father-in-law will not be strange." ”

He Xiaotian was stunned for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "Stand up and say, it's okay to speak up!" ”

Wu Ming got up, gritted his teeth and said, "My father-in-law is prosperous in the Spring and Autumn Period, and it seems too early to talk about the heir now." If you have something to do in the future, what can you do? ”

He Xiaotian was stunned again, and only after a while did he smile bitterly: "You kid thinks too much, are you worried that after the heir, if I have another heir in the future, there will be trouble, right?" ”

This is a very realistic question, Wu Ming simply turned his heart to the end: "Yes, twenty years ago, the incident between you and Uncle Xiaoyun was a bloody example. Rather than tearing your face afterwards, it is better to take precautions and prevent the possibility from budding. Speaking of this, he stared at He Xiaotian and said seriously: "Lord Governor, the last general is unwilling to go that far with you, for you and for Xiaoyi." ”

"Well said!"

He Xiaotian praised loudly: "The news of Xiaoyi's life, I have also hidden it from you in the past few years. Actually, the most important thing is that I am not very satisfied with your previous appearance. At that time, you were too soft-hearted and didn't say anything, and you were still a little muddy and muddy, which was not the way to survive. I, He Xiaotian, am such a daughter, if I really followed you four years ago, in this troubled world. After a pause, he then said loudly: "I'll tell you the truth, I'm not at ease!" ”

In fact, He Xiaotian didn't say this, Wu Ming had already guessed it. He is the governor of the northwest, and if he wants to say that there is no fine work in Nanning, no one will believe it. Even so, it is not necessarily difficult to inform Wu Ming secretly. The news of He Yi's death, Nanning didn't want Wu Ming to know, Shacheng didn't want Wu Ming to know, the two parties concealed it at the same time, plus they were thousands of miles apart, and there was no pigeon news, and the husband and wife had been resentful for three years, which was also reasonable.

He Xiao is free and easy by nature, although this way of opening the skylight and saying bright words is happy, it peels off the veil of warmth between each other. Now that he personally admitted that he had reservations about himself, even if Wu Ming had a good mentality, he would inevitably be disappointed.

He Xiaotian continued: "But since the Western Expedition, I know more or less what you have done. In the past few days, I have also observed you in many ways. Now it seems that your kid is barely qualified to be my son-in-law. That being the case, of course, I have to find a way to stabilize this relationship in case things change. ”

Speaking of this, he hurried through the house with his hands behind his back, and the two iron galls in his right hand turned faster and faster behind him: "Maybe you will think that it is unkind for me to slaughter He Xiaoyun's entire family in the past twenty years, but do you know that if He Xiaoyun does not raise the butcher's knife against Xiaotian and Xiaoyi first, I am not ready to abolish He Zhi's position as the young master." ”

Looking at the stunned Wu Ming, He Xiaotian raised his eyebrows and said: "Since he has done it, he has to bear the consequences, if I don't fight back, then everyone thinks that I He Xiaotian is weak and can be bullied, how can I lead the three northwestern provinces in the future?" How to convince people? The world only says that I am cold-faced and iron-hearted, but who knows the pain in my heart? ”

These words seemed to exhaust all his strength, and He Xiaotian's voice was low: "I have done things all my life, I have never explained to others, and I don't bother to explain to others, you are the first person I have seriously explained, I hope you can be worthy of this explanation." ”

Wu Ming was almost stunned. If another person says this, he may also doubt whether it is true or false. But from the mouth of this Northwest Flame Camel, it is a different matter, and there is almost no need to guess to be sure that this is true. Looking at He Xiaotian, who was standing in the middle of the hall, he respected him from his heart for the first time, and saluted: "The little son-in-law is flattered. ”

He Xiaotian waved his hand and said: "Don't say more about those crepe words, in the troubled times, the so-called family affection should not be true, but because of Xiaoyi's relationship, I don't want the two of us to be just a relationship of entanglement of interests, so if you say a little more, it is best if you can listen to it." I would like to tell you now that your second concern is just a mere mere nuisance. ”

Now that the conversation has turned back, the so-called second worry is nothing more than Wu Ming's fear that once he and He Yi's children are established, he is the young master of the He family. In the future, He Xiaotian will have another heir, and there will be a conflict. Wu Ming was silent, waiting for the following, He Xiaotian looked at him and said slowly: "Northwest sand boxing, extremely domineering, this kind of boxing hurts people like a double-edged sword, hurting others and hurting yourself." In the past generations, almost everyone has a secret disease, that's it. The He family is in a single line, and the incense is not prosperous, which is also related to this. ”

It seems that He Xiaotian really treats Wu Ming as his own, and says almost everything. Wu Ming exclaimed, "Is there any flaw in this boxing technique?" ”

"I can't talk about defects." He Xiaotian shook his head and said, "This fist method has progressed extremely fast in the early stage, and it is much easier to break through the seventh stage than other **. If you are a martial arts practitioner, you should know that those who achieve quick success have hidden dangers. The hidden danger of this kind of ** is that it is difficult for a woman to conceive, and once she is not confused, she will lose the ability to get his wife and concubine pregnant. This is also the reason why I promised that once I turned 40 years old, I would make He Zhi the young master without any heirs. ”

And such things?

Wu Ming was taken aback. Xiaoyi also plans to let Siting learn art from He Xiaotian, this is not good, wouldn't it hurt Siting? Now, even if the other party is willing to teach, he can't push this baby bump into the fire.

It seems that this matter is also a secret of the He family, and even He Yi doesn't know. Probably He Xiaotian was sure that Wu Ming would inherit the incense from a grandson, so he shook it out. He Xiaotian continued: "As long as you agree to this request, then we are truly a family." In the future, it will be your son and my grandson who will inherit the family business in the northwest. China and the West and the Northwest are truly one, and it is naturally impossible for us to come to the day when we turn against each other. Don't you see that? ”

Although this transaction is fruitful, this old man who is over half a hundred years old has made too many concessions, which can be described as well-intentioned. Wu Ming couldn't find any reason to prevaricate, just knelt down, and said with a big salute in his heart: "Father-in-law, please rest assured, the son-in-law will be the only one who will look forward to you, and you will not dare to disobey in the slightest!" ”

He Xiaotian stepped forward to help him up, and there was a slight wetness in his eyes: "Get up, good boy!" Don't say much about what the horse is looking for, I have worked hard all my life, I just hope that I will have something to rely on when I am old, and it can be regarded as a little selfishness. ”

He smiled, patted his right hand on Wu Ming's shoulder, and said arrogantly: "Xiaotian left early, you will be my son in the future, as long as our father and son are of the same heart, how can there be fear in this world?" ”