After leaving the Li Mansion, Xue Bai kept thinking about what Li Shizhi said.

As the prime minister, Li Shizhi is straightforward, just too straightforward. The direct gaze, the undisguised temptation in the words, was almost said to the face.

- "Yes, I do get close to the waste prince Li Ying. I heard that you are the son of Xue Rust? But Zhang Jiuling and He Zhizhang protected you to survive? ”

Xue Bai didn't know the answer to this question, when he woke up, he was already at the end of the fifth year of the snowy Tianbao, and he didn't remember everything that happened in the ten years after the palace change in the twenty-fifth year of Kaiyuan.

In short, this is the first contact with Li Ying's family, they are naturally the closest to his forces, and they are the foundation of the party, but they are too weak at the moment.

These people were once the core of the Tang Dynasty, and protecting the prince may be in the hope that the Tang Dynasty would have a precedent-setting and smooth transition to the throne for the first time. As a result, it failed again, and even the prince was wiped out with his siblings and brothers.

To the death of the dead, the dismissal of the official, how much energy is left? At most, these people are trying to protect a few innocent people who have been implicated, and they can't do anything.

Li Shizhi himself is about to finish.

Even Xue Bai felt that Du Fu's meeting with Li Shizhi would affect the future of the imperial examination.

As for the officials of this department, they even needed to rely on Xue Bai's bluff and hard work to convince Yang Yuyao, so that Li Linfu was jealous and postponed dealing with them.

It looks more like it's dragging its feet.

But things can't just look at this side, temporary dormancy doesn't mean they're useless.

After the Sanshu case, a large number of people must have transferred their hopes for realizing their ambitions to Li Heng, and a large number of people have been degraded and temporarily left the center of power...... They will abandon Li Ying, but their political views have not changed, and their power is still there.

Then, what Xue Bai should do is to find Zhang Jiuling and He Zhizhang's protégés and form friends.

One day, even if the identity of his rusty outer chamber is revealed to the world, his friends will naturally get close to him and try their best to protect him.

Thinking of this, a person suddenly floated in Xue Bai's mind...... Zheng Qian.

Previously, he had always thought that Zheng Qian was a person from the East Palace, and thought that it was the East Palace that arranged Zheng Qian to the Guozijian to investigate him and monitor him.

But is that all there is to it?

~~

Du Fu traveled extensively, and when he left Yongle Fang, he went to visit other friends, but Xue Bai did not follow, and directly returned to Wubenfang Guozijian.

Taixue Hall, the "Book of Filial Piety" is being taught in the school.

Zheng Qian is famous all over the world for his talents, but when he teaches, he always just holds the scroll and reads it again, asking the students to memorize it. If he doesn't ask, he never explains the meaning of the book, thinking that "if you read it a hundred times, you will see its meaning."

Therefore, every time he lectured, many of the students fell asleep.

Du Wulang has already arrived at the school, but Zheng Qian seems to have completely forgotten about last night's turmoil, and has returned to his old-fashioned and serious appearance, and the ring ruler in his hand is merciless.

Xue Bai looked from a distance when he arrived, and found that there was also a person sitting on his seat...... It turned out to be Xue Xian, who was wearing a robe, couldn't sleep again, lowered his head and scratched his ears and cheeks.

He then thought that it was time to send his younger siblings to private school.

"The matter of filial piety is also pro, the residence is to pay respect, the raising is to be happy, the illness is to be worried, the mourning is to mourn, and the sacrifice is to be ......severe."

After Xue Xian heard this, he finally fell asleep, and when he woke up and turned his head, he found that Xue Bai was sitting in the back and reading seriously.

After finishing the lecture, he went over and asked, "Sixth brother, what are you doing here?" ”

"Sixth Brother Ling is a filial son." Du Wulang also came around.

Yang Xuan, who was passing by, snorted coldly: "Can you compare with me? ”

Xue Bai smiled and asked why Xue Xian came, so he asked him to wait, and he wanted to ask Mr. a few questions.

Du Wulang immediately became energetic when he heard this, waved his hand again and again, and refused: "Go again?" I can't drink anymore tonight......"

~~

When Xue Bai walked into the public house, Zheng Qian had just sharpened the ink, and took a pen to transcribe a few poems by Du Fu last night on the paper.

He is known as the "Three Uniques", and his writing is extremely smooth, and he is known as "the wind sends the clouds to harvest, and the sun urges the moon", but there are Li Beihai, Yan Zhenqing, Zhang Xu and others in the world, covering up the fame he should have.

"You are Yan Qingchen's disciple, and you are here to evaluate the old man's calligraphy." Zheng Qian pushed a piece of paper that had been written and smiled.

Xue Bai calmly responded: "Doctor, is this a joke about the student?" ”

"When the old man was young, his family was poor, but he was good at calligraphy and painting, and often suffered from no paper, but fortunately, there were several houses of persimmon leaves in the Temple of Mercy and Grace, so I often went over and practiced calligraphy and painting with persimmon leaves. Wrote all the leaves of several rooms. You young people, work harder. ”

"Thank you, Doctor, for your teaching."

Xue Bai was silent for a moment, making sure that there was no one around, and suddenly asked directly: "Doctor, can you know that Xue Rust has an outer room, named Xue Pingzhao." ”

The brush that was still writing in the "wind sends the clouds to collect" trembled and wrote the last word of the sentence "Qilin'er in the sky".

Zheng Qian raised his head and looked at Xue Bai in surprise.

He never imagined that this young man would be so open-minded.

"You, admit it?"

"I really don't remember." Xue Bai said: "But there is a deed of seal......"

"The old man knows." Zheng Qian said: "Someone told the old man about this, and said that you are the master of King Qing behind your back, so let the old man come to see you." ”

If this was the case, Xue Bai would never dare to open up this topic with Zheng Qian.

"But the doctor is not only here to spy on and test me, but also to protect and remind me in private." Xue Bai asked, "Did the doctor deliberately take me to see Du Fu, and then confessed that Du Fu was to introduce Li Shizhi?" ”

"Not bad." Zheng Qian said: "There are some things that I don't know, Li Shizhi may know better." ”

"What can I ask you about?"

Zheng Qian asked rhetorically: "Do you know the relationship between the old man and Zhang Qujianggong?" ”

"I want to hear about it."

"In the early years of Jingyun, the old man and Zhang Qujiang entered the department together......"

Zheng Qian's old eyes flashed with memory.

That year, he was only nineteen years old, Zhang Jiuling was thirty-two years old, and they were both appreciated by the important minister Wang Fangqing, who married the granddaughter of the Wang family, and Zhang Jiuling was vigorously cultivated by Wang Fangqing.

"Later, Zhang Qujiang was still involved in the battle for the storage position after all, and he never formed a party with the abolished prince, but Concubine Wu Hui was aggressive."

Speaking of this, Zheng Qian said word by word in Zhang Jiuling's tone: "The prince is the world, don't shake it lightly!" In the former Jin Dynasty, the public listened to Li Ji's slander and killed Shen Sheng, and the three generations were in chaos; Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Xinjiang was accused of the prince, and the capital was bloodied; Emperor Hui of Jin used Empress Jia's advice to abolish the crown prince, and the Central Plains was ruined; Emperor Wen of Sui deposed the prince Yong, established Emperor Yang, and lost the world. From this point of view, we must not be careless. Your Majesty will want to do this, and the minister will not dare to give the edict! ”

After this strong admonition, he was forced to the point of no end. In the past two years, the resignation, palace changes, and waste of reserves have come one after another, and when the Sanshu people were in the case, he had been demoted to Jingzhou and could not do anything. But the old man knew that he did let his protégé make a move. Although the brothers and sisters of Xue Rust and Concubine Xue died, the young sons of the three concubines were left alive and taken in by the clan; Princess Tangchang was forced to become a monk and was confined to Tang Changguan in Anyefang; Many of the family members who were implicated were bought by Zhang Qujiang, and you are not the only one. ”

"The Xue family, the Zhao family, the Huangfu family, the Liu family, the old man also took out money to make a little bit up and down back then, and Xue Pingzhao was just one of the children. Ten years have passed, but now some people say that there is someone behind the scenes, and it is related to King Qing. Zhang Qujiang has passed away, He Jizhen has also died, and Li Shizhi has resigned. Could it be that the mastermind behind this is the old man? ”

Zheng Qian looked at Xue Bai with a wry smile on his face, and finally asked: "The old man treats you insincerely, are you willing to repay the favor and tell the old man the truth?" ”

"In the fifth winter month of Tianbao, the student was almost strangled to death in Princess Xianyi's mansion, and he was lucky enough to fall into suspended animation and get out, forgetting all about the past."

"Okay." Zheng Qian said: "The old man knows that you want to protect yourself, so what you just said has never been told to others. There is only one sentence that you must remember. ”

"The students listened attentively."

"Ten years have passed, and in the future, you must keep to yourself, and wait for the day when the prince overturns the case for ......the Xue family."

~~

Sunset, Shengpingfang Du House.

Du Yan was sitting in the middle of the room, drawing a map of Chang'an by herself.

She referred to a few originally very concise diagrams, and wrote down the various Wanghuo Towers and officials' residences on her drawings in small block letters one by one.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded on the verandah, and Qu Shui said: "Erniang, Xue Langjun is back." ”

Du Yan's eyes lit up, and she stood up, but she first hid the picture in the dark compartment, changed her dress, and took a sip of rouge in front of the dresser in front of the bronze mirror before going out of the house.

In the side hall, the atmosphere was a little cheerful because Xue Bai had returned.

"Of course, the country is boring, but it is interesting to drink and talk with gentlemen." Du Wulang said: "Even Zheng Taixue and Su Siye call us New Year's friends......"

After dinner, everyone chatted for a while, and late at night, the Du family sisters and brothers stayed in Xue Bai's house again to talk.

Du Goro is now gradually able to participate in the discussion of some secrets.

"Zheng Qian's meaning is very clear, Donggong asked him to test me, but he has his own ideas."

"To put it simply, he will protect you and not expose you to the East Palace, but he also hopes that you will support the East Palace."

"This is normal, they supported Li Ying back then, and they will definitely support Li Heng now. We are so weak that finding this kind of emotional care is already a big step forward. ”

"Yes, the network should be spread out slowly."

"You're back just in time, and we just want to talk to you about the branch."

“……”

Speaking of late at night, the Du family sisters and brothers dispersed.

Du Yan walked to the boudoir, stopped, and said in a low voice: "I remember that there is something about the East Palace that I haven't told him yet." ”

"Hmm." Du Yan was stunned and said, "I'm sleepy and sleepy." ”

Du Yan then blew out the lantern and turned back into Xue Bai's house.

He hadn't fallen asleep yet, and was standing at the window admiring the moon, when she bolted the door and hugged him.

"Hmm."

"I have to tell you...... We must not support the East Palace. ”

"I know."

"You were buried alive by him, and he will never trust you. Also, Giwen could guess that others must have doubted our relationship for a long time, but they just didn't say it. Remember, whether it is Li Heng or his sons, once they sit on the dragon chair, they will definitely kill us. I don't want to be locked up in a deep palace like Webster, but if I haven't been out of the house for so long, they will kill me. No matter how nice they say, don't believe me, just believe me, I'm betting everything on you......"

"Don't worry, no matter how much benefit the East Palace gives, I will never waver in the slightest."

"Well, let me trust you, come."

“……”

At this point, that's enough.

Tonight, Du Yan was even more enthusiastic than usual, as if she wanted to make Xue Bai always stand firmly with her.

She wanted him to work with her completely, unreservedly, and with all his might.

In this way, she has a sense of security.

~~

The curtain was not raised.

The two people who have both gambled their lives seem to be fighting for life and death.

A hairpin fell to the ground, and the green silk sprinkled like a waterfall......

~~

There was a faint creaking sound in the night.

Du Wulang woke up from his sleep, and Xue Bai went back to Du's house to sleep and opened the window again.

He simply carried the futon through the courtyard, and lay down in the room in the west wing, so that it was much quieter.

As soon as the night breeze blew, he was much more sober, and he thought about the things that Xue Bai and his sisters were discussing, but there was not much turmoil in his heart.

These things seem to be a big trouble for them to say, but in his opinion, it is very simple, Xue Bai's life experience is nothing more than the same as Qinglan, but Xue Bai is more motivated......

Thinking of being motivated, sleepiness immediately came up, Du Wulang turned over, and fell asleep again after a while.

In the dream, Du Fu patted him on the shoulder and said, "He is worthy of being a child of the Du family, and he really has the talent of composing poetry", and was about to open his mouth to chant a song, but was woken up by a chirping magpie.

……

"The two of you remember that when you came back early on the day of the cold food, you asked the children of the Lu family and the Pei family to go out of the city to worship and sweep together. Hey, I see you've grown taller again, so you have to cut two new clothes quickly, and you have to cut them, and then people will be comfortable to look at......"

Early in the morning, Lu Fengniang was chattering about this matter and explaining it repeatedly.

Du Wulang and Xue Bai walked out of the courtyard and muttered: "Alas, the Pei family is a big family, if I am taken by the little lady of his family, I will be bullied." ”

"Well, you have to be cautious."

Du Wulang looked up at the bird's nest under the eaves, stunned, and really felt that poetry came up.

"It's early in February, and the magpies have already built their nests."

It's a pity that there are only residual sentences, Du Wulang pondered for a moment, and couldn't help sighing and muttering to himself: "I just call the poet of residual sentences." ”

Xue Bai saw that there were two magpies, so he added casually.

"Double flies under the eaves, and the breeze is unique in spring."

~~

On this day, when they arrived at Guozijian, Xue Bai and Zheng Qian never mentioned their life experience, but only talked about their studies.

But there is more of a tacit understanding between master and apprentice between each other.

With this relationship, he may become friends with Yuan Jie and Du Fu in the future.

Gather sand into a tower, gather armpits into fur, and the network has always spread out little by little.

~~

In the evening, Xue Bai finally returned to his home in Changshoufang.

He didn't return home for two days in a row, and Qinglan inevitably vented her dissatisfaction a little.

"Lang Jun said that he was going to study in the country, but he had a good time, and he was so tired that the housewife was so worried that he was ......"

"Come here."

Halfway through Qinglan's speech, she stepped forward to take a look, only to see Xue Bai take out a bag of green dates.

"I went to Du's house last night to get it, try it."

The complaining stopped immediately, Qinglan picked up a jujube and took a bite, it was crisp and raw, and her teeth and cheeks were fragrant.

"It's delicious, Lang Jun can taste it too."

She pinched another one and fed it to Xue Bai, feeling her fingers touching his lips, she panicked, quickly took the cloth bag, and said in a low voice, "I'll wash it." ”

When she turned around, she glanced at him with a stealing eye, only to feel that her fingers were still a little warm, and she felt ashamed to think about it.

When she came back from washing the green dates, she looked at Xue Bai and saw that Xue Bai had already fallen asleep, and she couldn't help but secretly say that Lang Jun was probably also shy.

"It's still early, is Lang Jun going to get up early to go to Guozijian?"

"I have to get up early to visit my teacher, he sent someone to find me?"

"Well, County Lieutenant Yan seems to have an urgent matter to find Lang Jun, and he also sent someone last night."

"The teacher is not in a hurry, otherwise he will let people go to the Guozijian."

Xue Bai thought to himself, the two teachers he worshipped recently, although Gong Zheng's official position was high, he was too close to the East Palace, after all, Duke Yan was more pure......