The successful hereditary succession meant that there was a new vassal king in the Liyang Dynasty. Other than the coronation of the Crown Prince and the ascension of the new Emperor, there was nothing more important than this. Moreover, this new vassal king was the King of Beiliang. Not only Liangzhou, but Youling and Liangzhou were also decorated with lanterns and colored banners. The atmosphere was almost crazy. It was even more grand than the lantern market during the Lantern Festival to curry favor with the new king. In particular, those tyrannical families were secretly competing with each other to see which family had the largest number of lanterns. It was as if whoever dared to put up fewer lanterns would be exposed the next day and then dragged out to be beheaded. The result of the constant competition was that there were more and more festive red lanterns hanging in the house that didn't lack money. There were so many that people's eyes turned red and they felt sick of it. The Prince's Mansion on Mount Qingliang didn't have much of a fuss. The lanterns were added at the last minute, but it was much simpler than in previous years. However, the stewards and servants of the mansion were all happy and walked a little more briskly. These people were naturally happy. Who didn't want the new master of the mansion to be successful? When one person achieves the Dao, all his chickens and dogs will ascend to heaven. If the new king of the Prince's Mansion couldn't control Beiliang, it would become a situation where the guests bullied the masters. Everyone in the Prince's Mansion wouldn't have any good days.
After the father and son of the Xu Family returned to Liangzhou from the border, they could often see the young master, who was now called Prince Liang, walking around the mansion with the General. The sharp-eyed and attentive people secretly counted on their fingers to see which of the two future princesses accompanied the father and son more times. Later, they simply didn't care about it because the number of times the Lu Family woman of Qingzhou visited could be counted on one's fingers. Wang Dongxiang lost to that female literary master too many times. However, from time to time, they would bump into the daughter of the Lu Family helping Second Commandery Princess push the wheelchair. But when comparing the two, how could the people in the mansion not know which was more important? Moreover, in their hearts, they didn't like the woman of the Lu Family who lived in seclusion. She stank of money. Didn't she rely on her family's wealth to luckily enter the Prince's Mansion? Back then, Lin Quan was just a pawn who carried the flag. Everything he had was given to the Lu Family by the General out of charity. Mount Qing Liang had sent clever maidservants to serve the two young women. For a long time, the maidservants who worked in Wang Dongxiang's courtyard looked down on the maidservants in Lu Chengyan's courtyard. The maidservants of the Prince's Mansion in "Lu Courtyard" had internal strife and began to look askance at the maidservants who were outsiders brought into the Mansion by the Lu Family. Since ancient times, when there were many women, everywhere would become muddy water.
It had been less than half a day since they returned from the border. Today, the two generations of the Xu family, except for Huang Man 'er, who was practicing martial arts, were all gathered in the pavilion on Tidehark Lake to rest. Compared to before, there were more Wang Chudong and Lu Chengyan, the two future daughters-in-law who were about to marry into the Xu family. In addition, there was also Xu Weixiong, who was in a wheelchair, and Xu Longxiang was missing. With the decline of one party and the rise of the other, there was a bit of a yin overabundance and a yang decline. However, it could be seen that Xu Xiao's complexion was excellent. He was in high spirits, presumably because he was satisfied with both of his daughters-in-law. One of them was famous for her talent, while the other was born with a sense of propriety. Most importantly, the two women didn't show any signs of jealousy. This was because one didn't understand anything, while the other was too smart to do anything. With them guarding the Inner Residence, there wouldn't be any trouble, and it wouldn't be difficult for an upright official to distinguish right from wrong. Xu Xiao, who had deviated from the orthodoxy and removed his identity as Prince Liang without authorization, leaned lazily against the red pillar of the pavilion. He listened to Hsu Fengnian and Master Wang's conversation. Their witty banter made the old man laugh incessantly. When the little girl from the Wang family said, "How many worries can a gentleman have?", Hsu Fengnian added, "It seems like he lacks money to buy the Green Ant Wine." Wang Chudong smiled and his eyes narrowed into a pair of crescent moons. When he asked, "Suddenly looking back," Hsu Fengnian replied, "That fellow is climbing a tree." The female literary prodigy said, "His belt is gradually loosening, but he still doesn't regret it." The young man, who had already become the most powerful vassal of Liyang, smiled and said, "Go fetch a vat of water for the widow." The woman sitting quietly in the wheelchair, who was even more literary prodigy than Wang Chudong, also had a subtle and warm smile on her face. Lu Chengyan, who had been carefully nurtured by the aristocratic family, smiled without showing her teeth. When she couldn't help it, she would raise her hand to cover it.
However, even a person with poor eyesight could tell where Wang Chudong was. He naturally stood close to Xu Xiao and Hsu Fengnian. Lu Chengyan, on the other hand, could only side with Second Commandery Princess, who was in charge of the "Hanlin Academy of Red Women".
Xu Xiao smiled and said, "Nian 'er, send Chengyan out. I'll talk to your sister and Chudong."
Hsu Fengnian nodded and walked out of the pavilion with Lu Chengyan, who stood up. However, they didn't speak on the way to the courtyard. Lu Chengyan pursed her lips and followed behind him. When they turned around at the entrance of the courtyard, she was already smiling at him. Hsu Fengnian wanted to say something but stopped. After hesitating for a moment, he chuckled and said, "Remember to go out and relax more. It's not good to always be cooped up at home. Beiliang's scenery isn't as beautiful as Jiangnan's, but the North also has its own unique scenery. It'll be a pity if you don't ride a horse and see it yourself. I should be accompanying you, but I'm tied up with work right now and can't be lazy. Furthermore, I'll have to go out very soon to clean up the mess caused by the two hundred thousand refugees. If you're still in the mood when I come back, I'll take you to Mount Wudang. "
Lu Chengyan's eyes became charming after her heartfelt joy. She had just blurted out the word "Feng" when she quickly swallowed back the word "Nian" that was supposed to follow. She said softly, "King of Beiliang, you don't have to be so polite."
Hsu Fengnian made a gesture as if he was going to knock her on the forehead. He said with a helpless expression, "Tell me honestly, who's more polite?"
Lu Chengyan curled the corners of her mouth. Hsu Fengnian smiled and turned around. When he turned around again, he saw her standing at the door with her hands twisted in her sleeves. He waved at her and then left. Hsu Fengnian didn't see Xu Xiao at Tide-listening Lake, so he walked towards the Mausoleum of Wangfei, which had always been cold and cheerless. He walked quietly into the mausoleum that was said to be "more solemn than the vassal kings". He reached out his hand and drew across the stone statues with solemn postures. At the end of the mausoleum, there was a hunchbacked old man sitting in front of a tombstone. There were very few ancient trees in the mausoleum. It was rumored in Beiliang that it was because the sword aura of the Sword Fairy's mother was too strong. Even after she passed away, she still had the vigorous aura of a Sword Fairy. Therefore, there weren't many ancient trees left in the Mausoleum of Wangfei. When Hsu Fengnian was young, he heard that after becoming an immortal, he could cast beans to form soldiers and even bring people back to life. During that period of time, he read through almost all the ancient texts of Buddhism and Taoism in the Tide-listening Pavilion. Afterwards, he was scolded badly by his master, Li Yishan, who had never believed in ghosts and gods. It seemed that even if he wanted to be scolded, no one would scold him anymore. In the future, no one would dare to scold him, the King of Beiliang, Hsu Fengnian. Xu Xiao heard the footsteps and said with a smile, "You're here." He didn't say anything else. At this moment, the family of three was here. He was standing, Xu Xiao was sitting, and the King of Beiliang was lying down.
Hsu Fengnian didn't show any grief. He only stood silently in front of the tombstone. It was early spring, and the branches of the ancient trees were light yellow and light green. Hsu Fengnian walked under the tree and reached out to pluck a leaf. He played the "Ballad of the Spring Goddess" that his mother had taught him when he was young. If he hummed the lyrics, then the general meaning was that a country girl left home and went down the mountain. She met a man she liked and they grew old together. The hunchbacked old man closed his eyes and listened to the little tune that he couldn't be more familiar with. One of his hands leisurely tapped the beat on his knee.
After the little ballad, father and son silently walked out of the mausoleum. Xu Xiao suddenly said, "Nian 'er, you can let Huang Man'er go home now."
Hsu Fengnian bit his lip. He stopped and quickly followed, nodding his head.
— —
In Great Peace City, there was still the lingering charm of the Lantern Festival. The streets were full of people. In the palace, after the head eunuch Han Shengxuan "suddenly died in the Royal Palace," Song Tanglu of the Great Marten Temple took over as the head eunuch of the Great Marten Temple. He was so young that it was frightening. In the first year of the Auspicious Talisman, the Great Marten Temple's Song Tanglu of the Great Marten Temple had all come from him. It was watertight. Originally, he had very good relations with the people of the Twelve Directorates. After he resigned from the Internal Officials Directorate, he focused on handling the duties of the head eunuch of the Ceremony Directorate. He gradually distanced himself from many of the old eunuchs who had worked their way up to the title of Mink Temple. As a result, Song Tanglu didn't even go to the master who had given him his name. Since he had entered the Palace and become a eunuch, he had to respect his master far more than his father. This was an unshakeable rule. The reputation that Song Tanglu had worked so hard to build was like water in a copper hourglass. Drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, there would be a day when it would run out. However, Song Tanglu, who seemed extremely intelligent, did not care. Today, he carefully followed the father and son to the tall building. The Imperial Observatory was a place where prophecies would be passed down every few years. These prophecies were all solemnly written on gold talisman paper and placed in an ancient yellow box that had been passed down by the Zhao family for a hundred years. In the end, it was given to the Emperor after he had bathed and changed his clothes. After he finished reading it, the Emperor had to personally burn it to ashes.
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