The soft curtains were like a thin layer of mist.
On the small table made of cyan jade in front of the bed, the agarwood turned into green smoke and slowly escaped from the hole of the incense burner, calming one's mind.
Ning Ke was lying on the bed, biting a piece of cork tightly. Suddenly, she took out a blue satin ribbon from under the pillow and tied it to her forehead. Then she tightened it!
The expected pain came. She was like a small fish that jumped ashore. Her thin and weak body would bend sharply when she could not bear it anymore. Her strength was amazing.
Her head was about to explode. Her bones seemed to be broken inch by inch. She was completely out of control. Sweat oozed out little by little and quickly covered her pale cheeks.
She had used up too much of her strength today. Traveling was a luxury for her, and it was fine for her to take a stroll once in a while. However, the physical exertion today was a little too much for her weak body. When she was still in Furong Restaurant, she had already predicted that she would experience a pain worse than death today.
Strangely, the pain that made her want to pull out her hair and hit her head against the wall didn't come today. Her mind didn't have the urge to end her life every time she was in so much pain that she wanted to die. There seemed to be an opening in her mind. Traces of agarwood floated up and seeped into her mind, like the fragrance of lotus seeds.
"Well … that person, what was his name again …"
Ning Ke bit her lips in pain and clutched the bedsheets tightly. Her small and delicate face was covered with fine beads of sweat. She couldn't remember who she was thinking of or what he looked like. She could only vaguely remember his sunny smile, which made her feel a little warm and happy.
Dugu Yu walked along the winding and deep corridor of the Zhu Pavilion to Ning Ke's boudoir. Seeing two maids in cyan standing at the door, he stopped and asked in a low voice, "Ning Ke … is' resting '?"
The two maids in cyan didn't dare to speak and just nodded gently.
Dugu Yu wanted to say something but stopped. He lowered his head and kept silent for a while. Then he sighed softly and turned away.
He came with brisk steps but left with heavy steps.
After suffering for a long time, maybe as long as a century, Ning Ke exhausted her last bit of strength and the splitting headache finally disappeared. She didn't even have the strength to open her eyes. Her white teeth gently loosened the cork, on which there was a row of deep teeth marks …
Looking at her slender figure and elegant face, most people would think that she was seven or eight years younger than her brother, and that she was only a fifteen or sixteen year old young girl. Only the people of the Dugu Family and those who were familiar with the Dugu Family knew that she and Dugu Yu were twin siblings.
The heavens had given the Dugu Family a pair of twins. The siblings were both good-looking, and the younger sister was especially intelligent. She had displayed extraordinary intelligence since she was young. Her father and grandfather hadn't lived long. Her brother had become the lord of a clan in his twenties and led the entire clan back to its former glory. It was all thanks to her, the female Zhuge Liang, that she had schemed in secret.
She, the seemingly fragile girl, was the real soul of this generation of the Dugu family.
God gave her extraordinary wisdom but also gave her a disease that would haunt her for the rest of her life. She was fine when she was young. She could run and jump like an ordinary girl and was just as naughty. But as she grew older, the disease hidden deep inside her body began to wreak havoc. Her headaches became more and more frequent and her body became weaker and weaker.
With the financial resources of the Dugu Family, they could invite famous doctors from all over the world. But no one could cure her. Even the best doctors could only prescribe some medicine to relieve the pain and some medicinal diet to nourish the body. Her appetite was also affected because of her frequent headaches. Without the nourishment of medicinal diet, her normal intake of food couldn't support her life.
Ning Ke would suffer every time she had a headache. But today's attack was still light. Since she knew that no one could cure her headaches, Ning Ke refused to let anyone be around her. She had an unusual self-esteem and didn't want anyone to see her in pain and weakness.
Ning Ke had the most fragile body but also the most tenacious spirit …
The pain gradually disappeared. The bone-piercing feeling of imminent death also gradually weakened. The frown on her delicate face disappeared. Ning Ke suddenly remembered who she had just thought of. It was that Yang Fan. He was sometimes resolute, sometimes awe-inspiring, sometimes rascally, and sometimes cunning.
Ning Ke thought of how he pretended to compliment Lu Binzhi in the Furong Restaurant, how Lu Binzhi had to cooperate with him in pretending to be his rival in love even though he wanted to bite him to death, and how Liu Biantian, the magistrate of the Chang 'an Local Government, had a weird expression on his face. Ning Ke slowly smiled.
This smile consumed all the strength she had just saved up. But she still had to smile.
Laughter was a very luxurious thing for her. How could she give it up when she had the opportunity to get it?
…
In the early morning, Dugu Yu came to his younger sister's boudoir again.
Ning Ke had already washed up and had breakfast. It was a bowl of crepe shrimp wonton with four small wontons and a small bowl of fresh soup.
"Ning Ke, are you going to see Taiping?"
"Yes!"
Dugu Yu frowned and said, "You'd better not go. Taiping knows your situation. He won't blame you."
Ning Ke smiled and said, "If you want to go, I will go. You also go! Not for Taiping, but for Yang Fan. "
Dugu Yu said doubtfully, "Yesterday, he offended both the Lu and Li families. Offending these two families is equal to offending all the aristocratic families in Shandong. We all avoid them. Do you still want to be allies with them?"
Ning Ke sighed and said softly, "Silly brother, go get ready first. Let's talk in the car, okay?"
"Okay!"
Dugu Yu was so obedient to this younger sister that even his father was jealous of him when he was alive.
With steady steps, the two big green bulls pulled a green oil cleaning cart and slowly drove toward Yongkang Square.
In the carriage, Ning Ke leaned on a comfortable and soft semi-reclining soft couch and explained to her eldest brother in a low voice, "Why did I persuade you to get close to the seven sects and five families? Because the decline of our Guanlong aristocratic family is a foregone conclusion … "
Ning Ke was weak and spoke in a very low voice. Sometimes she had to drink water to moisten her throat and rest for a while. But Dugu Yu had long been used to talking with her like this. He neither urged nor rushed her. Sometimes when she talked too much, he would stop her and force her to rest for a while.
"When the world is stable, the military power will be concentrated in the emperor. Only civil officials can rule the world. Our Guanlong aristocratic family thrives on the military and will also perish because of the military. Since the death of Zhangsun Wuji, the imperial examination was abolished, and the military power was centralized. Our Guanlong aristocratic family no longer exists. But the aristocratic families in Shandong are different. "
Although Dugu Yu listened to his younger sister's words, it was only because he had been used to his younger sister's vision and wisdom since he was a child. But he was not an ignorant waste. Hearing this, he couldn't help saying, "Since the time of Taizong, the aristocratic families in Shandong have been suppressed. They are not what they used to be."
Ning Ke smiled and shook her head, "When the wind is strong, the grass and trees will fall. When the wind is gone, the grass and trees will rise. Taizong wrote the Annals of Clans to promote the Guanlong aristocratic family and demote the aristocratic families in Shandong. The Empress wanted to ascend the throne but was obstructed by the Guanlong aristocratic family. So she did the opposite and used the aristocratic families in Shandong to disintegrate the Guanlong aristocratic family.
After the Empress ascended the throne, she wanted to get rid of the aristocratic families in Shandong. Therefore, she vigorously promoted the Han aristocratic families. Unfortunately, it was useless. The power that the aristocratic families in Shandong had already grasped could not be taken back. The imperial examination system was not a panacea. The reason why the aristocratic families in Shandong had not declined for thousands of years was that they had mastered the inheritance of culture.
In order to resist the aristocratic families in Shandong, the Empress did promote a group of poor commoners through the imperial examination, but this was not enough to shake the aristocratic families in Shandong. The aristocratic families in Shandong had always entered officialdom through the imperial examination. At first, they were just disdainful and unwilling to enter officialdom through the imperial examination. When they realized that this was irreversible, how many people in the Han aristocratic families could surpass them?
Once they adapted to the imperial examination and entered officialdom, with the profound family customs and cultural traditions of the aristocratic families, they would have a great advantage. Just look at the number of scholars who passed the imperial examination in recent years, and you should know this clearly.
Moreover, the powerful ministers of humble origins were indeed hostile to the aristocratic families at first. However, their hatred of the rich was only due to envy, because they also wanted to be rich. Once they became a member of the rich, they would be assimilated, and those who were initially opposed to them would become their allies. The nouveau riche wanted to become an aristocratic family after gaining a foothold.
There were many talents in the seven sects and five families. How could they not see this? As long as they were willing to lower their statuses, these powerful officials of the Han Clan would fight to the death to become the son-in-law of the landowning households. They would befriend them and use this to raise their status. In the end, they would be assimilated into the landowning households. Can the imperial examination really destroy the aristocratic families? "
Ning Ke smiled faintly and said, "Even 500 years of effort can't do it! Unless, there is a great turmoil that will last for a hundred years and completely destroy the existence of the aristocratic families! "
Dugu Yu lowered his eyes and pondered, "So … you want me to get close to the seven sects and five families at all costs and be the first to get close to this big tree?"
Dugu Yu raised his eyebrows and asked, "But what does this have to do with Yang Fan?"
Ning Ke said, "Because the Shandong aristocratic families have always been wary of our Guanlong aristocratic families. Our sincere efforts to make friends with them have never dispelled their wariness. After a few years of hard work, we only managed to get closer to them and gain some benefits from mutual benefits. This is not the way for the Dugu family to survive! "
Dugu Yu's eyes flashed and he said, "Can Yang Fan do it?"
Ning Ke said, "That's right! After the Shandong aristocratic families were suppressed by the empress, they have already begun to fight back after many years of adaptation and preparation. Adapting to and responding to the imperial examinations is one thing, and absorbing outstanding talents from poor families and commoners for their own use is another. Because of our background, they are wary of us, but they will take the initiative to absorb people like Yang Fan. "
Dugu Yu said, "The Shandong aristocratic families have taken the initiative to absorb many talents, and Yang Fan is not the only one. If Yang Fan doesn't have great ability, what use is he to us?"
Ning Ke smiled and said, "This is the reason why I asked Elder Brother to gather information about the Shandong aristocratic families. From the information we have, perhaps Yang Fan was just a small fish in their wide net at the beginning, but now this small fish has grown into a big fish. "
Ning Ke's eyes were like two black gems set on his thin and delicate face, shining brightly, "When the wind and clouds gather, he can shed his scales and change his armor, leaping into the sky and becoming a dragon!"
Dugu Yu frowned and said, "Where will the wind and clouds come from?"
It was still that soft voice, "Although I can't move mountains and fill the seas, I still have the ability to summon wind and rain!"
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