Li Xianhui was in high spirits and did not notice the change in her little sister's expression. She only said, "That Brigade Commander Jia was killed by someone sent by the Wu family. They said it was because the Emperor only ordered him to look after us, but he gave a fake imperial edict. He was disrespectful to our family in Luling, so he was executed. Humph, wasn't it because he did not do his job well and let father escape … "
Li Guo 'er muttered to herself, "Dead? Killed by the Wu family? "
Li Xianhui saw her expression and said, "Little sister, don't be sad. Although Jia Xing treats you quite well, how cruel is he to our family? He would come and threaten us every now and then. Last winter, he even used the excuse of not having enough firewood and needed to take it from us and moved all our firewood away. Wasn't it because he hoped that the weather would be cold and father's body would freeze? If such a bad person died, then so be it. What's there to feel pity about? "
Li Guo 'er suddenly felt a little nervous. She grabbed Li Xianhui's hand and asked, "Sister, is he really dead?"
Li Xianhui said, "Of course it's true. Father managed to escape. Not only did he die, but the few team leaders were also killed by the people sent by the Wu family. Their heads were hung all over the bamboo poles. It was so scary."
Li Guo 'er suddenly heaved a sigh of relief and showed a sincere expression of joy. It was as if she had let go of a burden.
She held Li Xianhui's hand and said in high spirits, "Of course I'm not sad. That Jia Xing treated our family worse than the jailer treated the prisoners. Why would I be sad? Back then, I tried to curry favor with him because I wanted our family to have a better life. Forget it, let's not talk about him. Where are my brothers and sisters? After being separated for so long, I miss them. Quick, take me to see them. "
Concubine Wei arrived at the capital. Accompanied by her husband, she went to visit her mother-in-law with trepidation.
Wu Zetian and her son's relationship was extremely indifferent. Naturally, she did not have a good impression of this daughter-in-law. Even with Guo 'er's jesting, it could not dissolve the cold atmosphere. When the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law met, they casually chatted for a while. Then, Wu Zetian used the excuse that she was not feeling well to send the couple away.
Originally, Wei Fei had great expectations for this trip back to the capital, but seeing Wu Zetian's indifference, she could not help feeling frightened.
She came from a large family. When she had been the Crown Princess and Empress, she had lived in the palace for a long time. Naturally, she would not be like her children who grew up in the wilderness and were ignorant. When they saw the atmosphere of the capital and the solemnity of the palace, they would be surprised.
Consort Wei didn't even look at the palace that had been temporarily arranged for her husband and wife. As soon as she returned to her room, she dismissed the palace eunuchs sent by Fu Qingqing. She said to Li Xian, "Although Husband has returned to the capital, Empress Mother is still very cold. There's no need to talk about the Wu Clan. If we want to establish a foothold and have a firm foothold, it seems like we have to follow the plan and get closer to the Wu Clan. Have you had any contact with the Wu family while you were in the capital? "
Li Xian replied, "On the day I arrived in the capital and the day after, I met with the Wu family's people a few times. After that, I did not have any contact with them."
Consort Wei's expression darkened. Li Xian hurriedly explained, "I see that Eighth Lang is now in seclusion and is very well-behaved. I believe that he understands the situation in the capital. We can't go wrong learning from Eighth Lang."
Consort Wei frowned. Displeased, she said, "Husband, you are gravely mistaken. If you make friends with high-ranking officials now, Empress Mother will naturally be displeased. However, if you are willing to interact more with the Wu family, then you will definitely be in line with Empress Mother's intentions. "
Li Xian smiled bitterly and said, "Wife may not know, but along the way, the Wu family's assassins have emerged one after another. You don't know how many disasters your husband has encountered and how many times I have narrowly escaped death. This is all because of the Wu family. How could your husband dare to have any contact with them? I'm afraid that if I am not careful, I will be harmed by them. Look, this is an invitation from Prince Liang. Originally, he wanted to invite me to his manor for a banquet. Later, because of Di Renjie's death, Empress Mother stopped court for three days. The entire country mourned and this banquet could no longer be held. That's why he sent someone to ask for another date. I was just thinking about how I should refuse. "
As Li Xian spoke, he took out Prince Liang's invitation and showed it to Consort Wei.
Consort Wei resolutely said, "Go! You must go! This is an opportunity to mend our relationship with the Wu family. However, you cannot go. The Wu family's intentions are truly difficult to fathom. If something bad really happens to you, our family will be finished. Didn't Empress Mother tell you to return to the capital to recuperate? You can use this as an excuse to tactfully decline the invitation and have your son go in your place. This way, not only will there be no loss of etiquette, there won't be any danger. "
Li Xian was overjoyed and said, "Wife's brilliant plan! Your husband is completely at a loss. Only Wife's presence can help your husband make a decision."
Consort Wei sighed and said, "But in the end, this is not a long-term plan."
Li Xian hesitated and said, "What can we do?"
Consort Wei said, "On the way back to the capital, qie has already thought about it carefully. If we want to change our situation, there is actually a good way."
Li Xian was overjoyed and said, "Wife, quickly say it. Wife's idea is definitely good!"
Consort Wei said, "Marriage alliance!"
Li Xian was startled and suddenly said, "You mean … let our daughters marry?"
Consort Wei said, "That's right! If we want a marriage alliance, it must be with the most powerful person in the Wu family. Only then will it be of help to us. On the way to the capital, qie has carefully inquired. Right now, the most powerful families in the Wu family are Wu Chengsi and Wu Sansi. However, these two families currently do not have any girls of suitable age to marry. Otherwise, if we marry one of them back to be our daughter-in-law and become the Imperial Crown Princess in the future, we will be able to obtain even more support from the Wu family.
Right now, we can only settle for the next best thing and marry our daughters into the Wu family. Fortunately, we have been living deep in the mountains for sixteen years. Because of this, our daughters' marriages have been delayed. Even the eldest daughter's husband's family has not been found. Now that the youngest daughter is already sixteen, it is reasonable for us to quickly find them a husband's family. "
Li Xian said in shock, "This … you aren't planning to marry our daughters into the Wu family, right?"
Consort Wei rolled her eyes at him and said, "Naturally not. Does the Wu family have that many marriageable men? Even if we don't marry into the Wu family, our daughters will still have to marry, right? Other than the Wu family, we can also choose some of the aristocratic families in the court to marry. This way, we can ease our relationship with the Wu family and obtain a lot of help. Isn't this the best of both worlds? "
Li Xian thought about it carefully and nodded, "What my wife said is a good idea."
Consort Wei said cheerfully, "Since you also agree, then we must strike while the iron is hot and make arrangements as soon as possible. When you pay your respects to Empress Mother tomorrow, find an opportunity to bring up this matter. Remember, if Empress Mother asks about your plans, you must mention the Wu family first. Also, these two children, Xianhui and Guo 'er, must marry into Prince Wei and Prince Liang respectively! "
Li Xian had seven daughters. Among them, Lady Wei gave birth to three daughters. The eldest was Shu Xiu, the second was Xian Hui, and the third was Guo 'er. Each of them was more beautiful than the last. Consort Wei had purposely instructed him to marry her biological daughters into the families of Prince Liang and Prince Wei respectively. Li Xian did not think much of it when he heard this. As a mother, she would always be biased towards her biological daughter.
… …
While Li Xian and his wife were busy looking for a son-in-law, Yang Fan was recruiting soldiers.
The North Yamen Imperial Army was initially controlled by the South Yamen Imperial Army, but since the time of Emperor Gaozong, it became independent and became the Emperor's army. In fact, it was the Emperor's private army.
Now that Wu Zetian wanted to expand the Hundred Horsemen into the Thousand Horsemen, the whole thing was naturally just a word from the Emperor. The Imperial Army system, the Ministry of War, and even the Political Affairs Hall could not interfere. The recruitment of soldiers and horses was completely done by Yang Fan alone.
When Yang Fan wanted to recruit soldiers and horses, he first thought of a group of good friends in the army in the past. Needless to say, the people of the Hundred Horsemen were now the base of the Thousand Horsemen. But to expand to the Thousand Horsemen, he still needed to recruit people from outside.
The good friends in the army that Yang Fan had made in the past were of relatively high ranks. The real low-ranking officers were only Chu Kuangge, Maqiao, Li Dayin and a few others. Only these people could be recruited by him. As soon as Yang Fan got in touch with them, these people naturally agreed.
Chu Kuangge, Maqiao, Li Dayin and others had all come. Together with Huang Changxu, Xu Liang, Zhang Xitong and others, he had initially set up his base.
These people had been in the army for many years, and each of them had their own small group with a group of trusted brothers. Naturally, when they came, they also brought their brothers with them. In this way, the people under Yang Fan's command immediately expanded from 100 to more than 300 or 400 people, but it was still far from the number of 1,000 people.
On the one hand, Yang Fan carried out public selections from the North and South Yamen Imperial Armies. On the other hand, he made a notice, which was passed on by Bōshō in each workshop. He selected good families with clean backgrounds and proficient in martial arts from Luoyang to join the army. In order to avoid the complicated backgrounds of the soldiers recruited from the other Imperial Armies, Yang Fan specially stipulated that he would only recruit soldiers.
While the recruitment was in full swing, Maqiao returned home and actually revealed the news that the main officer in charge of the recruitment of the Imperial Army was Yang Fan to his mother. When his mother found out, naturally, the entire Xiuwen workshop also found out. Xiuwen workshop was immediately in an uproar.
The commoners of Xiuwen workshop only knew that the Imperial Army was recruiting soldiers because Su Fangzheng had gone to all the streets and alleys to talk about it. However, they didn't know that the general in charge of recruiting soldiers was Yang Fan. Now that they found out that Brother Fan was actually in charge of recruiting soldiers, the commoners of Xiuwen workshop immediately became enthusiastic about joining the army.
For a time, everyone from old men in their sixties to children as young as ten hurried to sign up. They wanted to eat a portion of the royal rations and receive a share of the royal salary. There were even people who specifically went to the Yang family to reminisce about old times.
When Yang Fan was at home, the old men chatted with Yang Fan. They talked about how harmonious the neighbors were when they were neighbors with Yang Fan. Towards Yang Fan, who was an outsider, the people in the workshop never rejected him. Instead, they took great care of him. Those who had daughters waiting to be married off would inevitably implicitly mention that if Great General Yang was interested, he could come and be a concubine. The more they talked, the more they seemed to have the intention of becoming Yang Fan's father-in-law.
Yang Fan was so scared that he fled and didn't even dare to return home. Therefore, the old women all came out one after another and pulled the eldest daughter of the Yang family over and chatted intimately with her. They praised her for being virtuous and beautiful, and even brought their granddaughters to acknowledge her as their godmother. This scared Xie Xiaoman so much that she fled to the southern city and used more than twenty shops to play hide and seek with the villagers.
… …
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