After two months, Hsu Fengnian didn't return from outside the pass until the end of winter. It was snowing heavily. If nothing unexpected happened, this should be the last snow in Beiliang's second year of Xiangfu.
Entering the city in the dead of night, neither Hsu Fengnian nor Xu Beizhi rode in a carriage. Behind them were eight hundred white horses with white armor and white horses, blending into the snowy night.
On this snowy morning, Hsu Fengnian put on a fox fur coat that he hadn't changed for many years and walked out of the much expanded Wutongin. Alone, he went to the pavilion in the middle of Tidehark Lake. Leaning against a pillar, he gazed at the surface of the lake. He heard that in the early days, the two women in his residence used the lotus flowers on the lake as small wishing ponds, often throwing copper coins into the lake. In the end, it didn't take long for them to smash into a hornet's nest. When he was young, there were four children surnamed Xu in Mount Qingliang, two boys and two girls. Including Xu Xiao himself, it didn't seem like there were too many women. Now, things were different. Hsu Fengnian and Huang Man'er weren't in Mount Qingliang all year round, but there were many more women. Not only Lu Chengyan and Wang Chudong, there were also Xu Ying who liked to wear red robes, Miss Hehe who wore a mink hat, the national beauty Chen Yu, the little girl who Chen Xiliang brought with him when he went to the cold, and the green robe left behind by Yu Groom. Occasionally, the daughter of Huyan Daguan would secretly come to Mount Qingliang to play. Even the Wutongin had gained seven female scholars. Nominally, they were the second and third class maids of the Wutongin. They had different names for firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea. It seemed to be Lu Chengyan's bad idea. Compared to the names he gave his maids in the early years, such as Green Ant, White Wine, Cucumber, and so on, these names were comparable.
Hsu Fengnian stayed in the yamen of Song Dongming and Bai Yu until very late last night. Not to mention the general affairs, even if it involved the promotion of fourth or fifth class officials, as long as it didn't involve sensitive local military affairs, Hsu Fengnian gave the two of them the power to do whatever they wanted. Therefore, last night, it was mostly Song Dongming and Bai Yu who carried out the routine of a monarch's memorial to the emperor. Hsu Fengnian, as a hands-off shopkeeper, just nodded his head. However, there was one troublesome thing that Deputy Administrator Song Dongming specifically threw to Hsu Fengnian as the final difficult problem. At that time, Mr. White Lotus was drinking hot tea with his head lowered and a playful smile on his face. When Hsu Fengnian heard this, he also had a headache. It turned out that after Lu Chengyan was confirmed as the Princess of Beiliang, Lu Dongjiang, the old father-in-law who was famous in the Central Plains in the past, had an active mind. He wanted to compete for the position of the Provincial Governor of Liangzhou. Regardless of the original intention of the original Provincial Governor, Tian Peifang, tactfully retreated at the last moment, or was forced by the situation. After returning to Liangzhou from North Resisting City, she submitted her resignation to Mount Qingliangshan. Subsequently, the Provincial Governor of Liangzhou was inside and outside. The situation of "internal and external Provincial Governors" was already set in stone. This made Lu Dongjiang, who originally only coveted the position of the Provincial Governor of Beiliang, suddenly change his mind. Taking advantage of the good momentum of a father relying on his daughter, he hoped to take the position in one step and become the third in command of the civil officials in Beiliang. Hsu Fengnian couldn't do anything about this and could only use the tactic of delaying. As for the actions of the Lu Family's children after they entered the cold, Hsu Fengnian was actually very clear about them. Those arrogant scholars either couldn't be helped, or the few talents that could be counted on one's fingers could be counted on one's fingers. It was also not that Lu Dongjiang didn't think so. Even though Hsu Fengnian had already compensated the Lu Family for the construction of the new city, Lu Dongjiang clearly didn't feel that this was the treatment that the Lu Family of Qingzhou deserved. Unfortunately, Beiliang was not the imperial court after all. There was no Hanlin Academy to support idle people, and there were also no palace pavilions or academies to give to people. In the end, Hsu Fengnian, the son-in-law of Beiliang, was the master of the family. It wasn't that he didn't want the Lu Family to be able to hold their heads high in Beiliang, but he really couldn't afford to give them this face.
Hsu Fengnian raised his head and saw Bai Yu slowly walking over. Hsu Fengnian didn't deliberately adopt a courteous posture to welcome him. He only sat up straight. Bai Yu walked into the pavilion in the middle of the lake and stomped heavily on the steps, shaking off the snow. The two of them sat facing each other. Bai Yu was the first to speak with a smile. "Ever since I entered the mountains when I was young, in all these years, I've seen a few spectacular snowfalls in Jiangnan. It wasn't until I came to Beiliang that I realized that in the end, Jiangnan can't compare to the north."
Hsu Fengnian smiled slightly. "I heard Xu Xiao say that the winter snow in Liaodong is even heavier. Snow as big as a goose feather isn't enough to describe it."
Bai Yu joked, "The snowflakes are as big as a hand. Back in the day, when I was at Mount Longhu, I also heard of the poem written by the Great General."
The corners of Xu Fengnian's mouth curled up, "The civil officials in Northern Liang all feel that Xu Xiao is not easy to serve because flattery has always been done on the horse's hooves. Only my second sister's husband, Chancellor Wang, can flatter the right person. In fact, the heavenly secret here is very simple. It is to be as shameless as possible. He absolutely can't put on the airs of a scholar because Xu Xiao can't understand things that are too profound and implicit. Just thinking about how to reply is very difficult. Chancellor Wang went straight to the point. The two lousy chess players were evenly matched with Xu Xiao on the chessboard. They even praised Xu Xiao by saying, 'Great, great, this move is so domineering'. Xu Xiao naturally understood these compliments, so he was especially happy. En, there's also Huang Man'er's master, Zhao Xituan, who also knows Xu Xiao's weak spot. I remember the first time he came here, he said that Huang Man'er was born with innate intelligence and a handsome appearance, worthy of being the Great General's son, and so on. At that time, even I couldn't stand it and felt that this old man was most likely a jianghu swindler. In the end, I sent someone to bring a dog to scare the old celestial master. Now that I think about it, the saying 'the wise man doesn't show his true colors' is very true. "
Hsu Fengnian didn't know if it was because he started talking, but he couldn't stop himself. "I remember when I went to Mount Wudang to practice martial arts and met the old chief for the first time, Wang Zhonglou. At that time, I heard a lot of jianghu rumors about breaking the river with one finger and admired this Beiliang's celestial Daoist immortal. In the end, after meeting him, the old chief indeed had a celestial demeanor and didn't disappoint. However, he was soon exposed. Guess what it was?"
Bai Yu shook his head.
Hsu Fengnian smiled. He squinted his eyes and said softly, "At that time, I was curious and asked the old chief if he really broke the river with one finger. He first shook his head and said no. Then, he stretched out two fingers and said two fingers. At that time, other than being stunned, admiring, and fascinated, I also felt that this old chief was actually quite dignified despite his celestial aura. You didn't see the old man's expression after he said those two words. He was obviously trying his best to pretend to be an otherworldly expert, but he didn't do it well. When people thought about it afterwards, they felt that he was just an old man who had done great things in his early years. When he got older and was remembered by the young people, especially when they mentioned him face to face, he was so happy that he couldn't even hide it. "
Bai Yu said softly, "The celestial master's residence is different."
Hsu Fengnian looked at the lake and murmured, "Later on, I understood that Xu Xiao was also such an old man. However, when I was young, I never praised him face to face. Instead, I often scolded him and even beat him up, always wanting to embarrass him. At that time, I only thought that you were the one who caused my mother's death. Now that I have no manners and no manners, it's actually all your fault, Xu Xiao. Don't blame me, Hsu Fengnian. "
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