In the afternoon, Li Zhen bought a fine silk horse in Nanshi, and urged the horse to come to Anye Fang, where Di's mansion is located

"Why are you here now?"

Di Yan complained to him a little and said, "I was about to look for you"

Li Zhen looked at the sky, "I thought it was still early, and it wouldn't be until evening—"

"Are you just here for a meal?"

Di Yan complained on her lips, but her eyes secretly looked at Li Zhen's horse bag, she was actually worried that Li Zhen would change her mind temporarily and stop buying silk, so she had to remind him that she saw that Li Zhen really had a wrapped silk in her horse bag, and her heart suddenly rejoiced, and the trace of complaint just now disappeared without a trace.

"Let's go, grandmother asked you just now. ”

"How's his old man's health?"

"She went to Songshan to incense, she only came back yesterday, she was a little tired, but she was in good spirits, she has always regretted it, why didn't she see you in the polo tournament final?"

"Did you explain it to her?"

Di Yan smiled and said, "I'm not here either, of course she understands." ”

The two soon came to the door of the Di Mansion, the two turned over and dismounted, Li Zhen was a little nervous, and whispered: "Ah Yan, your mother-"

Di Yanjiao laughed, "Don't worry, you got rid of Lai Junchen, my mother doesn't know how grateful you are, come with me." ”

The family in the house led the horses for them, and the two walked quickly towards the house, Li Zhen and Di Yan walked into the inner hall, only to see Mrs. Di sitting in the middle, surrounded by several maids and maids on both sides, and a lady sitting at the bottom, about fifty years old, with a beautiful face, a soft smile, looking very virtuous and gentle, Li Zhen knew that she was Di Renjie's wife Zhang.

Di Yan walked up to the inner hall with a smile, stepped forward and pulled her grandmother and said with a smile: "Old grandmother, your favorite polo player is here." ”

"This kid is so rude. ”

The old lady complained about her granddaughter, and looked at Li Zhen with a smile, Li Zhen hurriedly knelt down and bowed, "Junior Li Zhen, see the old lady, see the lady"

Although the old lady loves polo, she is not confused, Li Zhen is much more important than a polo player, she will be her grandson-in-law, she smiled and couldn't close her mouth, and said continuously: "Good boy, get up quickly"

Li Zhen stood up and saluted Di Yan's mother again, Zhang's is ten years younger than her husband Di Renjie, she is not the original partner, Di Renjie's original partner has long since died, Zhang is Di Renjie's second wife, but she has also been married to Di Renjie for almost 30 years, and gave birth to her husband's third son, Di Jinghui.

Although Di Yan was not born to her, she was brought up by herself, regarded as her own, and loved her very much, she had already heard of Li Zhen's deeds, and saw that Li Zhen looked like a talent, and she liked it even more, so she said to the maid next to her: "Lay a couch for Li Gongzi"

The two maids brought a couch and spread a cushion, and Zhang said softly: "Li Gongzi, please sit."

Seeing Li Zhen's hesitation, the old lady smiled and waved her hand, "Although you are a junior, you are also a guest, sit down."

"Then the junior is disrespectful. ”

Li Zhen gave a salute and sat down, at this time, a maid hugged the silk, Li Zhen hurriedly said to Zhang: "This is a small gift from the younger generation to the aunt, please aunt smile." ”

Zhang took the silk, she understood in her heart, so she glanced at her daughter meaningfully, Di Yan's pretty face suddenly turned red, at this time, Di Yan suddenly remembered something, it was bad, she forgot to tell Li Zhen to buy a gift for her grandmother, this is not okay She suddenly panicked in her heart.

I saw Li Zhen take out a box from his arms and give it to the old lady with both hands, "This is the intention of the younger generation to honor their grandmother." ”

Di Yan was overjoyed in her heart, this guy was not stupid, she actually thought of it herself, she hurriedly took the box, secretly glanced inside, and was shocked, how could she give it to her grandmother, the old lady saw that Li Zhen was still thinking about herself, and she was even more happy, and took it with a smile, "What is this?"

She opened the box, her eyes lit up, and she took out a jade medal from it, which is a medal for the polo competition, the first is the gold medal, the second is the jade medal, and the silver medal again, this jade medal is the jade medal that Li Zhen's internal defense polo team won the second place, of course, one piece per person, although Li Zhen did not participate in the finals, he is the team leader and main force, of course, there is also one.

Li Zhen said with a smile: "The junior looked at the old grandmother's collection last time, and it seems that there is still a jade plate missing, so the junior specially made up for the old grandmother." ”

Where is the old lady missing a jade plate, she doesn't have gold, jade, or silver, the old lady knows that ordinary people are reluctant to take out this kind of honor, Li Zhen actually gave it to herself.

She was moved in her heart, nodded and said, "Good boy, thank you for your kindness, this is the best gift I have received this year, unless Ah Yan's father can return to Luoyang."

The old lady reminded Li Zhen in one sentence, and he hurriedly said: "Speaking of Di Xiangguo, I met Lou Xiangguo yesterday, and he told the younger generation that he had proposed a plan to the Holy Lord to avoid the deposition of Di Xiangguo. ”

"What is the result?" asked Di Yan's mother nervously, more than anyone else, about when her husband would be transferred back.

"I heard from Gao Fujun that the saint has relented and is ready to summon some old ministers back to Beijing, although there is no specific reference, but I estimate that there is Di Xiangguo among them. ”

Li Zhen only learned yesterday that he had fallen for Lou Shide, obviously Wu Zetian took the initiative to let some old ministers return to Beijing, but Lou Shide took it as a condition to exchange it with himself, but although he knew that he was in charge of Lou Shide, Li Zhen still fulfilled his promise and assassinated Liu Guangye.

Li Zhen's news made everyone in the inner hall overjoyed, and the old lady was even more overjoyed, and ordered the maid repeatedly: "Go and hang the lantern quickly, and pick up the joy."

The old lady and Li Zhen talked for a while, and her body was a little tired, the maid helped her back to the room to rest, and Mrs. Di went to Zhang Luo for a banquet, Di Yan took Li Zhen to the back garden, Di Yan walked into a pavilion and sat down and smiled: "It's too hot outside, you can also sit down and rest."

Di Yan was in a very good mood, Li Zhen's performance just now made her very satisfied, especially Li Zhen gave the jade medal of the polo game to her grandmother, which especially moved Di Yan's heart, she could feel Li Zhen's sincerity.

Li Zhen sat down in the pavilion, outside the pavilion is a water surface of seven or eight acres, the sun shines on the water, it looks sparkling, dazzling, at this time a cool breeze blows, Li Zhen suddenly felt relaxed and happy, and said with a smile: "I didn't tell your father about it in advance, you won't blame me, right?"

Di Yan shook her head, "I know you're very busy these days, and you don't have a clear list, if the list comes down, I think you'll be the first to tell me." ”

"That's right, there have been too many things in the past two days, and I don't know what I'm busy with?"

Di Yan smiled again and asked, "I haven't been out for the past two days, I don't know anything, what else happened?"

"It's mainly about the expansion of the internal guard. ”

Li Zhen told Di Yan in detail about the plan for the expansion of the internal guard, and finally said with a smile: "The internal guard will be expanded to 1,000 people, listen to the meaning of the saint, and I am not ready to transfer people to the internal guard, in addition to me, there will be three Lang generals below, responsible for the hidden guard, Ming Wei and external investigation, these three Lang generals I have determined Sister Zhao and Zhang Li, and there is one I originally wanted Jiu Zhi to serve, but I felt that it was inappropriate." ”

"Fat drunk"

Di Yan said without hesitation: "Although he is your confidant, he is more casual, being a lieutenant has made many people dissatisfied, if he is promoted to Lang General again, then your reputation will be ruined in his hands, I think you should still consider Lu Jin, he is upright, capable, and loyal to you, and his qualifications are older than Sister Zhao, he should be promoted." ”

Li Zhen nodded, "Sister Zhao also persuaded me like this, maybe I thought about it too hastily." ”

"What about you?"

Di Yan smiled: "Since you want to be promoted to a higher level, are you still the commander?"

Li Zhen also smiled: "I just wonder, why other guards are called generals, generals, but the internal guard is called the commander, and later I learned that because the level of the internal guard is low, if the leader is called Zhonglang General, it seems that the authority is too low, so it is called the commander, after this expansion, the internal guard will be promoted by one level, and the title of commander is estimated to be gone, and you can call me General Li in the future." ”

"To go and call himself a general is simply cheeky. ”

Having said that, Li Zhen was about to be promoted to general, and Di Yan was also very happy in her heart, who didn't want her lover to rise higher and higher? She asked in a low voice, "Is this a reward for you to eradicate Lai Junchen?"

"It should be, after all, I was promoted once last time because I put down Li Yuanjia's rebellion, and if I was promoted again, it would be too fast, so the Holy Lord rewarded me with the method of expanding the establishment, although she didn't say it explicitly, but I think that's what it means. ”

As he was talking, a maid walked over quickly, and gave a salute outside the pavilion: "Girl, Madame asked you to take Li Gongzi to Wenxiang Building." ”

"Got it"

Di Yan smiled: "Let's go, our family banquet is about to start, you can be casual, but drink less wine." ”

Li Zhen got up and followed Di Yan towards the middle courtyard.

Di Fu's family banquet is actually very simple, Di Renjie's three sons are not at home, the eldest son Di Guangsi served as the assassin of Beizhou, the second son Di Guangyuan followed his father in Pengze County, and the third son Di Jinghui also served as a county lieutenant in other places, and there were only old lady, Mrs. Zhang and daughter Di Yan at home, so there was no pomp and circumstance when Li Zhen was invited to dinner, as usual, in the Wenxiang Building where the family had dinner.

The Tang banquet is mainly based on the meal system, even if you sit at the same long table, it is also a meal for each person, and the meal system gradually appeared after the Song and Yuan dynasties, and the stool is also exquisite, sitting on the chair like today, with the legs placed below, this is called Hu sitting, that is, the sitting posture of the Hu people, which has been more popular in the Middle and Tang Dynasty, mainly when friends gather for dinner in wine shops, or eat at small households.

But on formal occasions, etiquette is still emphasized, and you must sit upright, that is, kneel and sit, the Di family is a scholarly family and pays great attention to etiquette, so Li Zhen also needs to sit down in a proper manner when dining in Di's house, and a small table is placed in front of him, and there are drinks and dishes on the table, and the old lady and Mrs. Di are the same.

Although it is a banquet, it is actually mainly a conversation, and the dinner in Di Mansion pays attention to light and less food, even if it is a treat, it will not be too rich, but the dishes are very exquisite, and the tableware is also famous porcelain.

The old lady was very attentive when eating, and basically didn't say anything, mainly Mrs. Di was asking Li Zhen.

"I heard that Li Gongzi is from Dunhuang, is there any family in Dunhuang?"

"The parents of the younger generation died early, and it has always been my grandfather who raised our sister and brother to grow up, after the death of my grandfather, only our sister and brother, and now the eldest sister is also in Luoyang, and there are only some clansmen in Dunhuang. ”

"Oh-"

Mrs. Di was slightly apologetic, "I shouldn't have mentioned the sadness of my son." ”

"It's nothing, it's been many years ago. ”

Li Zhen felt a little strange in his heart, Mrs. Di actually asked about these little things, didn't Di Yan never tell her mother? He secretly looked at Di Yan, only to see Di Yan's face flushed, and he bowed his head to eat without saying a word.

In fact, Mrs. Di just wanted to ask Li Zhen if he still had uncles and elders, after all, talking about marriage needs to be discussed between elders, Di Yan understood what her mother meant, but Li Zhen didn't understand.