Cui Shi arrived at the Liang Manor on Zhao Guo Lane. The carriage slowly came to a stop in front of the manor. The driver turned around and reported, "Young master, we have arrived at the Liang Manor."
"Oh?"
The perplexed Cui Shi suddenly came to his senses. He took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Present the visiting invitation!"
King Liang was respectfully seeing the emperor off at the corner gate.
There were no eternal enemies in politics. Not so long ago, Wu Sansi had wanted to put Li Xian to death. Yang Fan had thought of ways to protect Li Xian, and had gone to great lengths to escort him back to the capital. But now, in the face of a common enemy, the meritorious officials, they had quickly reconciled and were as good as family.
Recently, Li Xian often visited the Liang Manor. King Wu Sansi also visited the palace every few days. Today was the day that Li Xian would visit the Liang Manor again.
"This subject respectfully sees off Your Majesty!"
Because Li Xian had come incognito, Wu Sansi could not see him out of the mansion. Therefore, he stopped at the gate of the courtyard and bowed deeply to Li Xian. Behind him, the entire household, young and old, also bowed in unison. Li Xian sat in the carriage, smiling and waving his hand to Wu Sansi before gently lowering the curtain.
"Set off!"
Yang Fan quietly ordered. The corner gate of the Liang Manor opened wide, and a group of people quickly escorted Li Xian's carriage out of the Liang Manor. Many internal guards disguised as attendants surrounded the carriage, while Yang Fan led the thousands of cavalry soldiers with hidden blades, scattered among the crowd to secretly support them.
At this time, Ren Wei, who had been responsible for monitoring the Liang Manor while the emperor was incognito, rode up to Yang Fan's side and reported in a low voice, "Great General, just now, Cui Shi, a member of the Board of Appointments, came to the Liang Manor to pay a visit."
"Oh?"
Yang Fan was stunned. The factions in the officialdom were clearly divided. For example, when Wu Yanxiu returned from the Turks, Wu Sansi had held a banquet for her. All of the influential people in Chang 'an had sent invitations, but not a single person from Er Zhang's faction had come.
Er Zhang could come by himself because no one would think anything of them because of this. However, it was a big taboo for people under them to interact with people from other factions, even if it was just a courtesy visit. If they went, who knew what Er Zhang would think?
If they didn't go, they would be giving King Liang face. That was their duty after making their choice. If they still hesitated, it would give others the impression that they were stuck between a rock and a hard place. In the end, they wouldn't be able to please either side. Not even a political novice would make such a common sense mistake.
Cui Shi obviously wasn't a political idiot, but he was someone from Taiping. Now that he was paying King Liang a visit, what did this signify? Did he intentionally change the door, or was it Princess Taiping's idea? Yang Fan pondered for a moment. In a low voice he ordered, "Get ready. After escorting the Emperor back to the Palace, we will go to Princess Taiping's place."
…
Cui Shi stood respectfully in the main hall of the Liang Palace, also known as the Silver Imperial Hall among the common people, quietly waiting for Wu Sansi to summon him. Even though his official position wasn't high, he believed that with his status as a disciple of the Cui clan and a member of the Ministry of Appointments, unless King Liang didn't have any ulterior motives, he would still meet him out of curiosity.
Cui Shi had encountered too many unexpected events today, and every single one of them had a powerful impact on him.
He had originally believed that Zhang Jianzhi, Heng Yanfan, and the other meritorious subjects already held great power in the court, but when he lowered his status and prepared to completely submit to the meritorious subjects' faction, he suddenly discovered that the Wu clan's strength was so great that the meritorious subjects' faction had no choice but to use the method of imprisonment to guard against them.
His impression of Lu Binzhi was that of a shallow, arrogant, and ignorant child. However, after a few years of house arrest, he seemed to have been reborn. Lu Binzhi was just as arrogant as before, and he was even more arrogant than before. It almost made people think that his older brother, Young Master Jiang, had possessed his body. However, what followed was that he seemed to have inherited even Young Master Jiang's intelligence and ability.
Young Master Jiang was admittedly arrogant, but he had the capital to be arrogant. He was the one who first proposed the idea of the Succession Hall, and he had single-handedly created it. Even though all of this ultimately went to Shen Mu and Yang Fan, time, luck, and fate still existed. Even if he failed and died, no one could deny his intelligence and ability. Among the younger generation of the seven great clans, he was publicly acknowledged as the number one talent.
Young Master Jiang's arrogance was arrogance because of his talent, and Lu Binzhi's arrogance was originally due to his ignorance. However, a few years of house arrest had tempered his mind. Whether he completely possessed the talent of the former Young Master Jiang was unknown to Cui Shi, but a few of his proposals had truly moved Cui Shi.
Lu Binzhi's conditions were really generous. According to Lu Binzhi's conditions, he did not need to personally contend with Shen Mu and Yang Fan, this pair of difficult opponents. He only needed to coordinate with them from a distance, secretly cooperate, and then use the close relationship between the Succession Hall and the seven great clans to reveal some information to Lu Binzhi.
In this process, he would be in direct contact with Lu Binzhi. If Lu Binzhi failed, there would be no evidence to implicate him. As long as there were no witnesses or material evidence, even if Lu Binzhi revealed him, with his identity, no one could do anything to him.
Moreover, with Lu Binzhi's arrogance, he would definitely not do such a thing. The Lu clans might be ambitious, or perhaps arrogant, but the Lu clans were not such despicable villains. The risk was very small, and what would he gain after succeeding?
Desire was endless. With Cui Shi's identity and status, could he have nothing to ask for?
If he persisted steadily, one day in the future, he would become the clan master of the Qinghe Cui clan. But when he took over the clan master's position, the Cui clan might not still be the head of the seven great clans. The ranking of the seven great clans was not fixed. When "Young Master Jiang" was alive, Cui Shi's grandfather once sighed that among the seven great clans, the Lu clan would be the first.
Now that "Young Master Jiang" was dead, would Lu Binzhi, who claimed to be the second Young Master Jiang, fulfill this prophecy again? Would the other great clans replace him? If he, Cui Shi, could not maintain the strong advantage of the Cui clan, would the other clans catch up?
This was not an alarmist talk. Let's not talk about the distant clans. Take Wang Tongjiao for example. He was the son-in-law of the current emperor and the vanguard who responded to Zhang Jianzhi's coup. He had the double identity of the emperor's party and the party of meritorious officials. His future was limitless. If he could climb to the position of Prime Minister, the Wang clan of Taiyuan might be able to challenge the leadership of the Qinghe Cui clan.
Moreover, the seven clans and five families had a common enemy of the Shandong gentry clans: the Guanlong clan.
Back then, Li Shimin used twenty years to suppress the Shandong gentry clans. When it came to Li Zhi and Wu Mei, he used the Shandong gentry clans to deal with the Guanlong clan, and then used the Guanlong clan to deal with the Shandong gentry clans, causing both sides to suffer losses.
The current emperor did not have the boldness and foresight of Taizong and Gaozong. It was very likely that he would use the Guanlong clan again. In ten years, the Guanlong clan would have the power to stand up to the Shandong gentry clans. Twenty years later, even if he was still the head of the Shandong gentry as the clan master, the Guanlong clan would still ride on his head.
And these were all facts that he had to consider. These were all problems that he would have to face in the future.
Therefore, he was convinced by Lu Binzhi.
He felt that Lu Binzhi's words made sense. As a dignified descendant of the Cui clan, why must he wait for the general situation to become clear before choosing the strongest person to rely on? The benefits obtained by the icing on the cake would never be as precious as providing help in the hour of need. Why were Huan Yanfan, Jing Hui, and the others so glorious today? Wasn't it all because of their contributions?
Contributions could only be fought for. Waiting was not something that could be obtained.
Thus, he made a firm decision: he would cooperate with Lu Binzhi! And the first step of this cooperation was to seek refuge with King Liang!
Thus, he had come, openly and honorably.
This was the mission that Jing Hui had given him in the first place, wasn't it?
… …
"Today, I only invited a few sisters from the Prince of Xiang's estate to tour the Qu River. Why are you, a man, following us?"
"Really? I'm just afraid that if I don't go, that Wu Yanxiu will appear, right? "
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting!"
Princess Anle flew into a rage. "That's your cousin! She's only treating him with courtesy out of consideration for her own family. In the end, isn't it just to protect you? Why are you randomly suspecting him? Is there really a bastard in this world who would slander his own head like you?!"
An Le's anger made Wu Chongxun wilt once more. He stammered, "I … I'm going with you anyway!"
"You're a mighty prince, yet you're always following behind a woman. What kind of future do you have? Scram!"
After sending off Emperor Li Xian and the crowd dispersed, Princess Anle became angry at Wu Chongxun. The reason for this was that An Le was going to attend a banquet on the Qu River. Even though Wu Chongxun had heard that they were all women, he still insisted on going. The reason for this was that he had developed suspicions about An Le and her cousin, Wu Yanxiu.
The moment the handsome Wu Yanxiu, who could sing and dance, returned from the Turks, Princess Anle's eyes brightened. In terms of character and appearance, this cousin of hers was far superior to her husband's. An Le had always been a woman who wore loose skirts. As she grew older, she gradually began to taste the pleasures between men and women, so she became even more restless in her room.
In the past, she might have seduced men because she had a favor to ask of them, or because she simply wanted to see her beauty succeed in every endeavor. Now, it was to enjoy the pleasures of the bed, so she began to seduce Wu Yanxiu.
Wu Yanxiu was not a good person. With such a peerless beauty throwing herself at him, how could he possibly be a virtuous man? Thus, he made a mistake that all men would make, and he made it again and again …
Although the two of them acted in secret, gradually, rumors began to spread. Now, even Wu Chongxun, who had already been a cuckold countless times, knew about it. Wu Chongxun had personally caught Du Wentian, the adulterer, and naturally believed this rumor without a doubt. However, he had always been afraid of Princess Anle. After hearing about it, he did not dare to question or get angry. He could only watch them all day, preventing the two of them from having the chance to interact.
Wu Chongxun insisted on following, and An Le really had no choice. This was her father-in-law's residence, so it was not good to make a move on her husband. Moreover, even if she did not bring Wu Chongxun along, Wu Chongxun could go by himself. Although she was not afraid of him seeing Wu Yanxiu, if he was there, it would not be good for her to be intimate with Wu Yanxiu in front of him, right?
Thinking of this, Princess Anle was extremely vexed and said, "Forget it! I'm not going anywhere else! I'm going back to Long Qing Square now. Don't follow me, I'm disgusted when I see you! "
Princess Anle angrily walked out. Wu Chongxun knew that once he returned to his residence and left his father's sight, An Le would definitely bully him even more fiercely. However, he still stuck behind An Le and did not leave her by even an inch. Seeing this, An Le became even more furious and walked faster and faster.
At the moon gate, the steward of the Wangfu raised his hand and said, "Doctor Cui, please!"
Cui Shi smiled and nodded. Just as he took a step, a delicate figure came out from the moon gate and almost crashed into his arms. Cui Shi was shocked and knew that it was a member of the Wangfu. He hurriedly took a step back and cupped his hands in apology.
Princess Anle raised her eyebrows and scolded, "You are so immature …"
Before she could finish her sentence, she had already clearly seen the appearance of the person in front of her. She saw that he was tall, elegant, and had a jade-like face and bright eyes. He was actually a mature and elegant handsome man. The anger in her eyes immediately turned into a pool of spring water, as charming as spring water.
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