Lanling City, located in the south of Wuguo, is the confluence of three major rivers, and the traffic extends in all directions, known as the thoroughfare of ten roads.

At the same time, outside Lanling City, it is a thousand miles of fertile fields in Jiangnan Road, a land of ointment.

The whole Lanling City, known as "the crown of the southern country, the wealth of the capital", is a large city with a population of millions.

In this Lanling City, the most conspicuous and prosperous area is a big mansion that covers the sky and the sun.

The scale of this mansion is almost the same as that of the imperial palace, and the specifications of various architectural pavilions and pavilions are also comparable to or even exceed the regulations of the palace, and there is a city wall outside, which is completely a city within a city.

It is the ancestral residence of the Xu family in Lanling.

The Xu clan mansion covers a huge area, and there are lakes and forests among them, like an independent kingdom.

At this time, in a bamboo forest in the center of the Xu family's mansion, there was a sedan chair slowly moving forward.

The sedan chair is carried by eight beautiful faces, wearing gauze girls, the gauze clothes on the body are light and thin, blown by the wind, showing the exquisite figure and graceful spring, the girl's expression is low eyebrows, obedient, a look of Ren Jun picking.

Next to the sedan chair, there are two more pretty girls on the left and right, one holding a scroll and the other holding a hole flute, with the temperament of a talented woman.

And sitting on the sedan chair was an old man in his fifties and sixties.

This old man has a thin appearance, with a mustache and a goatee, looking sick, wearing a crown of loyalty, wearing a velvet crane, covered with a white silk robe, and shaking a fan, but with a fierce look in his eyes, he does not give people the feeling of fairy wind and bones, but is cruel and violent.

At this moment, the old man heard a phlegm-coughing "snoring" sound in his throat, and turned his head to look to the left.

The girl who followed the sedan chair next to her and held the hole flute immediately stepped forward, followed the sedan chair steadily, the cherry mouth opened slightly, and a pretty face faced the old man in the sedan chair.

The old man immediately spat the phlegm from his mouth into the girl's mouth, and then turned his head to close his eyes and recuperate.

The girl with the flute's eyes fluttered, her throat moved slightly, her face turned away as usual, and she continued to follow the sedan chair.

Apparently used to it for a long time.

At this time, the sedan chair reached the depths of the bamboo forest, and the winding path was quiet, showing a quiet lake, and a quaint cyan pavilion by the lake.

Around the pavilion, there were several rows of elegantly dressed young girls standing at this time, and in the pavilion was an old man wearing a plain white robe, with fairy wind bones, who was making tea around the stove under the service of several maidservants.

Seeing the sedan chair appear, the old man in the pavilion immediately laughed loudly:

"Brother Qiancheng, there is a loss of welcome! Today, there is snow tea from the Lingmiao Peak of the Great Snow Mountain, come and drink it. The old man is making tea, and he can't greet him, so don't be surprised. ”

The person in the sedan chair was none other than Cui Qiancheng, the current patriarch of the Boling Cui clan, one of the nine surnames and ten clans!

The sedan chair slowly fell, and the two beautiful maids who carried the sedan chair knelt in front of the sedan chair, allowing Cui Qiancheng to step on their backs and walk down as stepping stones.

Cui Qiancheng didn't seem to see the maid next to him at all, with a smile on his face, he strode into the pavilion and said:

"Brother Yun and the old man still need to see outside? Don't hurry up and pour a cup of snow tea from this Lingmiao Peak, this wind is not small today. ”

In this pavilion is the patriarch of the Xu clan of Lanling, Xu Yunjie, who is also one of the nine surnames and ten clans.

Today, Cui Qiancheng came to the Xu family's mansion in Lanling City, and he had something important to discuss with Xu Yunjie.

Several beautiful maids in the pavilion immediately took off the tea on the stove and poured it into a white jade cup and a green jade cup, and a beautiful maid knelt on the ground and presented the jade cup to Cui Qiancheng with a pair of slender jade hands as a tray.

Cui Qiancheng picked up the green jade cup and smelled it gently, put it down casually, and then took a sip of the white jade cup gently, and sighed:

"The aroma enters the soul, moistens the lungs, and deserves to be the Lingmiao Peak Snow Tea that only gets three taels a year."

Then he looked at the bamboo forest of this lake and exclaimed:

"Brother Yunjie is so enjoyable, if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, who would have thought that there would be such a beautiful place in the Xu clan mansion in Lanling City......"

As he spoke, a cool breeze rose in the bamboo forest, blowing through the pavilion, and the chill suddenly appeared.

Xu Yunjie put down the teaspoon in his hand and clapped his hands gently.

Immediately, a group of beautiful maids standing outside the pavilion hurriedly stepped forward, just gathered around the pavilion, standing impermeable, blocking the cold wind for Xu Yunjie and Cui Qiancheng in the pavilion.

These maidservants were only wearing plain and light veils, and they were shivering from the cold wind, but they didn't dare to lose their temper at all.

The cold wind was blocked, coupled with the temperature of the human body, the pavilion suddenly became much warmer, and those maidservants bathed in fragrant leaves and herbs, with a strange fragrance on their bodies, which immediately made the pavilion fragrant and warm.

Cui Qiancheng stroked his palm and smiled:

"Brother Yunjie's beautiful maid's meat screen really lives up to its reputation, and there are really celebrities such as me, no wonder Brother Dongfang was full of praise when he came to my house as a guest before."

He laughed a little at this time, and immediately coughed, and there was a snoring sound in his throat, and the two girls with the flute and the book behind him hurriedly stepped forward, knelt in front of him, and opened their mouths.

Cui Qiancheng opened his mouth to aim at the cherry mouth of the girl holding the book and spat it in.

Seeing this scene, Xu Yunjie, who was cooking tea, couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and said with a surprised smile:

"Where did Brother Qiancheng find such good things? Inventive, fun and interesting. ”

Cui Qiancheng raised his hand and pointed to the two beautiful maids kneeling in front of him, a trace of triumph flashed in his eyes, and he said with a smile:

"This thing is called the beauty bowl, it is the old man's selection of cardamom girls, to be dignified and beautiful, first learn a year of poetry and books, take off the cheesiness of the body, and then learn a year of silk and bamboo, raise its charm, after a year of cultivation of Danqing, cultivate its Lingxiu, and finally learn a year of etiquette, end its virtue, so four years, piano, chess, calligraphy and painting are proficient, dignified and beautiful and wonderful, in order to be the beauty of the old man."

"These two beauties are quick to think, if you go to the test for fame, you can't say that you can also get a jinshi, and we are a famous person, and we are going to use these objects to show elegance."

Xu Yunjie couldn't help but applaud and exclaimed:

"It is worthy of being a brother of Qiancheng who is known as Boling Fengya, I might as well do it."

The two of them drank tea and drank for fun at the moment, and talked about the elegance and charm of several other families with nine surnames and ten clans, what Xijing Gongsun's meat table, and Longhu Cai's beauty paper, all sighed at its elegance.

After eating a few rounds of tea and wine, and calling a few maids to come, Cui Qiancheng and Xu Yunjie threw meat pots to make a scene, until they were a little tired from the pastime, and then they rested on the meat screen.

Cui Qiancheng asked:

"Brother Yunjie called me here, not just for the snow tea of this Lingmiao Peak, right?"

Xu Yunjie laughed and clapped his hands, and immediately a maid next to him walked up with a few boxy wooden boxes and put the wooden boxes on the tea table.

The smile on Xu Yunjie's face faded instantly, opened the wooden box, and said:

"Brother Qiancheng, please take a look."

A few bloody skulls cured in lime were revealed.

Cui Qiancheng frowned, took out a handkerchief to cover his mouth and nose, and looked at these heads carefully.

There are four heads in front of you.

He looked closely at the first head, and said:

"This Enhai is worthy of being the leader of the eunuch party, even if he is dead, there is still some unyielding intent on his face, but it's a pity."

Xu Yunjie nodded and said:

"The emperor's great politics have been returned, and the head of the eunuch party leader Enhai has been passed on to the first nine sides, and he has just arrived in my Lanling City, presumably Brother Qiancheng already knows."

Cui Qiancheng then looked at the second head, his eyes suddenly widened, and he said in a deep voice:

Xu Wen...... The rumors are true, the emperor lard was blinded, thinking that killing Enhai was a martial art, and he actually did it to the Dongzhu Party! ”

Xu Yunjie sighed and said:

"The Dongzhu Party is just a chess piece that we are waiting for in the court, a façade, if the emperor really only does something to the Dongzhu Party, Brother Qiancheng will continue to look down."

Cui Qiancheng's eyes narrowed, and he immediately saw the remaining two heads.

One with a bald head, the other with a bun.

It's a monk.

Facing Cui Qiancheng's slightly puzzled look, Xu Yunjie said slowly:

"The monk's legal name is Shide, the layman's name is Zhao Pu, he was born in the Shaolin Holy Land, the Taoist Taoist name is Daoren, the layman's name is Xu Zhonglin, he was born in the Wudang Holy Land, these two people, one is the Yuezhou Zhao family, and the other is from the Lanling Xu family, both of them are super-grade fourth realm transformation realm masters, these four heads, all sent by Emperor Shunlong."

Cui Qiancheng's eyes suddenly showed a trace of essence, and he said:

"The emperor dares to openly oppose my nine surnames and ten clans! Don't even the three major martial arts holy lands be taken into his eyes!? ”

He had heard about what Xu Yunjie said before, but he didn't expect that even the envoys of the three major martial arts holy lands would be beheaded by the emperor.

Xu Yunjie smiled slightly and said:

"The emperor's affairs are small, the family's affairs are big, the old man's purpose of inviting Brother Qiancheng to come, presumably Brother Qiancheng also understands."

Cui Qiancheng nodded, sighed and said:

"In this way, this court is going to make me and the family worry about it again...... It's just that in this way, if there is a dislike within my nine surnames and ten clans, it will not be beautiful. ”

For many years, although the royal family of the Li Dynasty was nominally the co-lord of the world, it was actually their nine surnames and ten clans that really controlled the entire Wu Kingdom.

With the royal family of the Li Dynasty as a cover on the surface, these families can also maintain peace and quiet, and everyone delineates their interests.

is more comfortable than the emperor, so naturally he doesn't have to be the emperor to ask for that trouble, and he is easy to be besieged by other families.

The existence of the Dongzhu Party is also a tool in the court that the nine surnames and ten clans have stabilized the current political framework.

Originally, the existence of Enhai was also tacitly approved by them.

If you have benefits, you can give a false name to the royal family.

It's just that what the emperor is doing now has touched the bottom line of nine surnames and ten clans, and it is inevitable to change the emperor, or directly change the court.

For Cui Qiancheng and Xu Yunjie, the patriarchs of nine surnames and ten clans, even if the emperor is brave, it is difficult to resist the three major martial arts holy lands, and the guards controlled by the emperor are also not to worry about in front of the elite private soldiers of the world's families.

The emperor is dead, but what he really worries about is that he is afraid that this matter will cause internal disputes among the nine surnames and ten clans.

This is also the main reason why Xu Yunjie invited Cui Qiancheng to come to discuss.

Xu Yunjie said with a smile:

"Brother Qiancheng can have this high opinion, and the old man will feel at ease, my Lanling Xu family and Boling Cui family are closest apart, and the old man also wants to talk to Brother Qiancheng in detail first. As for the Cai family, they still need the good words of Brother Qiancheng, and the Gongsun family has its own old man as a lobbyist, so that the world can be determined and big things can be accomplished. ”

Lanling Xu's family, Boling Cui's family, Xijing Gongsun's family, and Longhu Cai's family, and are known as the "upper four" among the nine surnames and ten clans, have the strongest strength, and have always been the leaders of the world's families.

As long as these four families can share the same hatred, there will naturally be no contradictions.

Cui Qiancheng nodded and said:

"That's very good...... I have always heard that Brother Yun has raised a lot of clans, and this time it came in handy, but I don't know how many of them can be used? ”

Xu Yunjie smiled slightly and said:

"Let Brother Qiancheng smile, after the rebellion of Emperor Ling, the old man has been collecting the wandering clans among the people, for so many years, it can be regarded as quite effective, and at present, there are one hundred and one people in my Xu clan's mansion, and there are one hundred and one people, known as the hundred kings in the stable."

Then he pointed to the beautiful maids who acted as meat screens next to him:

"The Li family has been established for more than 200 years, and there are many clans, all of which are the clan lords and princesses collected by the old man."

"As for the children of the clan who can be used...... Li Xun, the king of Xuan, is stupid and stupid, and can be established as the emperor. ”

~

(Author's note: The meat screen and the beauty bowl have all existed in history, the meat screen is from Yang Guozhong, and the beauty screen is from Yan Shifan, which can give a glimpse of the evil feudal society where the person eats people.) ）

(End of chapter)