Chapter 479 Aunt-in-law
Chapter 479 Aunt-in-law
At noon, Xiao Xia was going to host a banquet for the Wumen family. A total of thirteen families were invited, and the banquet was held in the famous Wumen Restaurant, which was the Zhu family's business and also the largest restaurant in Wu County.
Xiao Xia and Xiao Lin took a carriage to the restaurant together. In the carriage, Xiao Lin said to Xiao Xia, "The local forces in Jiangnan are very powerful. Not only was it difficult for the Sui Dynasty to control them, but even the Southern Dynasty back then was also out of control. The Southern Dynasty fell because they could not get the support of the powerful people in the south. The great rebellion in the tenth year of Kaihuang was also dominated by the powerful people in the south. What we call the instability of Jiangnan refers to the instability of the powerful people in the south."
Xiao Xia pondered for a moment and asked, "When you say powerful southerners, do you mean the entire Jiangnan Road, or just the eastern part of Jiangnan Road?"
"Your Highness, the western part of Jiangnan Road is mainly mountainous, with poor transportation and information, a small population, and frequent banditry. The government is relatively strong. As long as Your Highness controls the government, you can control the western part of Jiangnan Road. But Jiangdong is different. When I say that Jiangnan is unstable, I am referring to Jiangdong. First of all, the government is not strong. Jiangdong has actually been controlled by aristocratic families and powerful people. The government has to ask them for cooperation in everything it does. If Your Highness is willing to listen, I can tell you about Jiangdong in detail."
Xiao Xia nodded, "Go ahead!"
Xiao Lin sorted out his thoughts and said slowly: "There are three major forces in Jiangdong. The first is the northern gentry, that is, the Yiguan Nandu faction. Our Xiao family is a northern gentry. The second largest force is the local family, centered on the Wu family. The third largest force is the local tyrants, centered on Yuhang County and Kuaiji County. In fact, they are the two major forces of Wu and Yue. In the past, the Wu and Yue forces joined forces to fight against the northern gentry.
The great rebellion in the south in the tenth year of Kaihuang was the dividing point. The two major local forces parted ways. The local noble families began to move closer to the Sui Dynasty, and the local tyrants still hated the court. Your Highness was assassinated in Piling County. I think this is an important signal that the local tyrants have begun to rebel against Your Highness. "
Xiao Xia asked puzzledly: "Why do you want to resist me?"
"Your Highness, can't you imagine it?"
Xiao Xia thought for a moment and said slowly, "Could it be salt?"
Xiao Lin nodded. "In the past, the Guanlong nobles controlled the salt in Jiangnan Road, but they shared the profits with local tyrants. But after Your Highness intervened, he opened a shop directly, and the local tyrants lost all the salt profits. The tyrants in the west dared not resist, but the tyrants in Jiangdong are not easy to mess with. I got a message that someone in Kuaiji County is selling private salt, and refined salt only costs ten coins per pound."
Xiao Xia frowned, "Have the Jiangdong tyrants started boiling seawater to make salt?"
Xiao Lin sighed and said, "Your Highness's guess is absolutely correct, so I advise Your Highness to cancel the trip to Yuhang County and return to Jiangdu as soon as possible to prepare for war!"
At this time, the carriage slowly stopped and they arrived at the Four Seasons Restaurant. The county government had booked the restaurant for noon today, and more than a dozen family owners had been waiting for a long time.
In the afternoon, Xiao Xia stayed in the Plum Garden to rest and review documents.
At this time, Xiao Xia faintly heard Xiao Wanzi's voice, "Girl, those guys still recognize you!"
He put down his pen, stood up and walked to the window, only to see that on the opposite side of the lotus pond, Chibi Maruko was feeding the fish with a young woman in a yellow dress.
Xiao Xia smiled slightly. She was really tall, at least 1.75 meters! It looked like she was taller than that, probably almost 1.80 meters. No wonder the sons of the Jiangnan families looked down on her. Their wives were taller than them and they couldn't take them out!
Xiao Xia had also seen many tall women in Chang'an. For example, Chai Shao's wife Li Sanniang was about 1.75 meters tall, and Yuan Yao was 1.78 meters tall. Xiao Xia's second sister Yang Feiyan was also over 1.7 meters tall.
But the height of northern women is different from that of southern women. Northern women are strong, with thick waists and big bones, just like men, while southern women look very well-proportioned. If they wear cheongsam, they will have plump curves and be extremely elegant. With their skin as white as fat, they are extremely beautiful.
Her face is in proportion to her figure. She has a long face with clear contours, a high and straight nose, slightly deep eyes, a pair of thin curved eyebrows, and skin as white as milk. She is not a Jiangnan beauty, but a kind of quiet and majestic beauty, quite like the elf princess in the Lord of the Rings.
This woman was none other than the famous Three-Withdrawal Lady in Gusu City. Her name was Lu Xieting. She was the eldest daughter of Lu Heming and the eldest granddaughter of Lu Shenyan. She had been promised to Zhu Lie's son Zhu Liangyu since she was a child, but Zhu Liangyu did not like her. He was infatuated with his cousin Zhang Yuan. Although the Zhu family knew about it, they had no way to cancel the engagement.
One month before the wedding, Zhu Liangyu ran away from home and became a monk. The Lu family had no choice but to cancel the marriage, but last year Zhu Liangyu returned to secular life and married his cousin Zhang Yuan.
This incident caused a lot of unpleasantness between the Lu and Zhu families. The Zhu family came to apologize twice before the two families were reluctantly reconciled, but there was still a small rift in the relationship between the two families.
Later, Lu Xieting's marriage with the Shen family failed again because her fiancé died of illness. The third time was last autumn. The poor scholar Fan Wensheng was unwilling to marry her and changed his name to Lu Wensheng. Since people with the same surname were not allowed to marry, the marriage was of course cancelled again.
A series of blows made Lu Xieting seriously ill. After the Chinese New Year, her health gradually improved, but she was still in a bad mood. Lu Xieting raised a few red carps in the lotus pond in the plum garden. She would come to feed them every day. These two days, her grandfather did not allow her to come to the garden, saying that there were distinguished guests. Last night, she played the piano and was scolded by her grandfather, which made her feel even worse.
Just now, Xiaowanzi came to find her and said that His Royal Highness Prince Jin was not at home, so she hurried over with the fish food.
She sprinkled the last handful of fish food into the lotus pond and whispered, "Eat happily! Don't be like me, being disliked all day long."
"Was this fish raised by a girl?" a young man's voice came from the side.
When Lu Xieting turned around, he saw a very tall young man standing not far away, half a head taller than him. He was wearing a gauze hat, a white gown, and a jade belt around his waist. He looked particularly tall and heroic, and was looking at him with a smile on his face.
Lu Xieting was startled, and quickly took two steps back, asking in a low voice: "Who are you?"
"I am a guest in your house!"
"Ah! You are His Royal Highness Prince Jin."
Lu Xieting felt flustered. Didn’t Xiaowanzi say that Prince Jin went to Changshu?
She quickly bowed and said, "I didn't know Your Highness was in the garden. Please forgive me!"
"This is your own home. I am the one who occupied the garden. I should be the one to say sorry."
Lu Xieting felt relieved. She lowered her head and said, "Your Highness is a distinguished guest and is busy with government affairs. I shouldn't disturb you."
"It doesn't matter. Were you playing the piano last night?"
Lu Xieting blushed, "I am sorry for disturbing Your Highness."
"No! No! I haven't heard such beautiful piano music for a long time. I really enjoy it. The girl is the best piano player I have ever heard."
Lu Xieting was rather shy and didn't know how to be modest, so she could only nod and say, "Thank you for the compliment, Your Highness!"
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "Miss, please play one more song tonight. I'm willing to listen!"
Lu Xieting hesitated. Should she refuse? After struggling for a moment, she still couldn't refuse.
"Very well! If your highness doesn't mind my poor playing, I can play another song. I will go back first."
Lu Xieting felt that the other person's gaze was bright and sharp, as if he could see through her heart. She felt flustered and turned around and walked away quickly.
"Don't be impatient, girl, wait for me!"
Xiaowanzi, who was hiding aside, came out and followed Lu Xieting. She turned around and secretly glanced at her new owner, only to see that the owner gave her a thumbs up.
She immediately understood that her master had taken a fancy to the eldest wife of the Lu family.
(End of this chapter)