Chapter 513 Xiaomei escapes from marriage
Chapter 513 Xiaomei escapes from marriage
A needle-like drizzle enveloped Luoyang. The fog brought by the fine and dense drizzle turned the sky gray and white, and also affected people's vision. There were not many people on the streets, and the few pedestrians walked hurriedly.
A horse-drawn carriage came from a distance and passed in front of the gate. The horse's hooves hit the stone slabs on the ground, making crisp clattering sounds. Inside the carriage, Yuan Xiaoju looked out the window with deep eyes.
The carriage finally stopped in front of a mansion. It was a wealthy mansion with a separate gate behind the broken wall. It was the Dugu Mansion. Dugu Tuo had been waiting for a long time holding an oil-paper umbrella.
"Sorry to have kept Brother Dugu waiting for so long!"
Yuan Xiaoju was helped down from the carriage by his attendants, and an umbrella appeared over his head in time.
Dugu Tuo laughed and said, "No problem, please, my dear brother!"
"Brother Dugu, please!"
The two of them came to the outer study and sat down as host and guest. A maid came in and served them hot tea.
Yuan Xiaoju said slowly: "I plan to go to Jiangdu!"
Dugu Tuo frowned, "Brother, do you really take the King of Jin's request seriously? He had no intention of spreading the news that we supported the Shanyue rebellion, otherwise he would have said it long ago. He was just using this incident to monopolize the Jiangnan salt industry."
Yuan Xiaoju smiled bitterly and said, "I admit that Brother Dugu is right. The Prince of Jin did want to monopolize the salt industry, but we should think about why he concealed it for us? He is a prince of the Sui Dynasty. We rebelled against the Sui Dynasty, but he actually concealed it for us, saying that it was for the salt profits. But if he kills us all, won't the salt profits belong to him too?"
"What do you think he means?"
"I don't know, but he is very scheming and thinks very far ahead. If we underestimate him, we will regret it in the future."
Dugu Tuo was silent for a moment and then said, "Then how do you plan to explain it to him, brother?"
"It's not a big problem to explain. He came to Luoyang last December, but we supported the Shanyue people in September last year. The time difference can be used to explain it. I went to Jiangdu to meet him not to explain, but to discuss cooperation."
"Brother, do you think there is still room for us to cooperate with him?"
"Of course, he only cut off our salt profits, but he didn't touch our other interests in Jiangnan, which means he still has room for maneuver. More importantly, "
Yuan Xiaoju lowered his voice and said, "He and the emperor are not on the same page!"
Dugu Tuo was shocked. "Why? Just because he showed leniency to us?"
"Brother, think about it. Doesn't he want to take another step up? The Crown Prince was his elder brother before, so he didn't want to compete for him out of consideration for their brotherly love. But now that the Crown Prince has become a fool, what else does he have to worry about? Does he really want to watch the King of Qi ascend to the throne?"
"But he's a bastard! How can he get to the top?"
"That's the problem!"
Yuan Xiaoju knocked on the table and said, "According to the succession of the throne in prosperous times, he really has no chance. The royal family will not recognize him, the ministers will not recognize him, and obviously, the emperor will not recognize him. If he is sent to Jiangnan, the emperor would rather establish the crown prince than consider him. No matter how capable the Prince of Jin is and how much he has contributed to the dynasty, the throne will not be his.
But if it is a chaotic era, it will be different. Once the Sui Dynasty enters a chaotic era, all kinds of heroes will have the opportunity to seize the world. Moreover, he is a member of the royal family, so I guess he also hopes for a chaotic era. Only in a chaotic era can he have a chance to ascend to the throne. "
Dugutuo nodded, "So he concealed the matter of the weapons and armor from us?"
"That's right. Since everyone hopes for a chaotic world, then both sides have a basis for cooperation, so I will go to Jiangdu in person."
Dugutuo pondered for a long time and said slowly: "Prince Jin is more terrible than his father. I am very worried that after killing a wolf, a tiger will spring up. My dear brother, we can't let a tiger become a threat to us!"
Yuan Xiaoju nodded gently, "I know, brother, don't worry, I will grasp the balance, making profits from Jiangnan, but not raising a tiger to cause trouble."
“This balance is difficult, how can we achieve it?”
Yuan Xiaoju sneered and said, "When the critical moment comes, we will find a way to transfer him away from Jiangnan, so that his painstaking efforts will end up in vain!" By June, Jiangdu was getting hotter day by day. Compared with the north, Jiangdu was not only hot but also stuffy. The huge humidity brought by the Yangtze River made people feel like they were in a steamer.
That morning, a fleet of ice-carrying ships from the north arrived in Jiangdu, finally bringing a touch of coolness to the scorching summer day.
Northern county towns all have ice storages, but southern cities do not. In winter, the ice here can't even form more than a few feet thick, but southern people have their own way of cooling off, which is deep well water. Drinks made from icy deep well water and paired with sour plum juice are extremely refreshing and heat-relief.
More importantly, the locals are accustomed to this kind of climate. People in the north cannot stand it, but people in the south of the Yangtze River can take it calmly.
The ice transported this time is for high-ranking officials in the north to cool down. The ice cellar was built a month ago, waiting for the ice to be transported from the north.
Xiao Xia finally placed ice cubes on the wall of his room. The stuffy room suddenly became cooler, and the irritability in his heart also subsided.
Lu Xieting returned to the Lu family five days ago, and Xiao Xia sent a fleet to Wujun to welcome the bride, in order to give the Lu family enough face.
His wife Cui Yu walked into the study room carrying a cup of iced sour plum soup, put the tea on the table and said with a smile: "It's rare for my husband to be so relaxed at home!"
Xiao Xia played with a piece of jade and said with a smile: "The weather is too hot, I really don't want to go out. Besides, today is a holiday, and I haven't rested for many holidays."
"Only a combination of work and rest can last long. Even a donkey has a chance to rest. Isn't your husband even worse than a donkey?"
Xiao Xia asked with a smile, "Does your husband have a relationship with the donkey?"
Cui Yu laughed out loud, "My husband is much better than the donkey, at least his face is not that long. Okay, I'll go see Xiaomei. This damn girl actually ran away from marriage. I really can't explain to my parents."
"How old is Xiaomei? She should be seventeen!"
"No, my father lied about her age by one year so that she could start school earlier. She is actually sixteen years old this year."
"Sixteen is not young anymore, why are you running away from marriage?"
"Who knows what this damn girl is thinking? I'll go talk to her."
Cui Yu turned and went out. Xiao Xia couldn't sit still anymore, so he took out a pen and paper and wrote a letter to his father.
Cui Mei came to Jiangdu the day before yesterday, which scared Cui Yu and Xiao Xia as well. It was not because Cui Mei came suddenly, but because Cui Mei had changed so much that Xiao Xia almost didn't recognize her.
Cui Mei develops relatively late. Generally, girls start to develop at the age of 11 or 12, and their height is basically determined by the age of 13 or 14. However, Cui Mei was still very small at the age of 11 or 12, and only started to develop rapidly at the age of 14 or 15.
She grew more than ten centimeters last year, and continued to grow this year, growing five centimeters in half a year. Originally, she was only about 1.5 meters tall, half a head shorter than her sister Cui Yu, but now she has grown a lot and is half a head taller than her sister.
Originally Xiaomei had a small nose and small eyes, but now her face has grown bigger. If the two sisters had not grown up together, Cui Yu would almost not recognize her own sister.
Now in the family, only Lu Xieting is taller than her, but not by much.
This little girl is tall and thin, with long thin legs and a pair of big feet. She looks a bit like Mickey Mouse.
The key point is that this girl has entered her rebellious period. Her hair is disheveled, and she has smoky makeup on. She looks like a ghost. She wears a loose skirt and walks carelessly. There has always been such a group of non-mainstream girls in the upper class society of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Yuan Yao in the past was a typical non-mainstream girl.
But Cui Mei is okay. Although she is rather rebellious, she is not dissolute. After all, she comes from a noble family and she sticks to her bottom line very well, unlike the Guanlong nobles who still have the legacy of the grassland.
At this time, Cui Mei was lying on the couch, drinking sour plum soup, and searching for treasures in her sister's jewelry box.
(End of this chapter)