Struggle in the early Tang Dynasty

Changsun Wuji was depressed. It is true that Guo Ye made great contributions in Tubo, but isn't he dead?Where can we talk about a triumphant return?Since he died in Tubo and even the body was not found, why should he give him the title of Duke of Pingyang?

But in front of His Majesty Li Er, he dared not say that.

Because the emperor has said so, he is determined to give glory and grace to Guo Ye behind him, and he jumped out to sing the opposite tune at this time. This is not to put eye drops on the emperor, to prove that his mind is smaller than the tip of a needle, and his narrow-mindedness is so narrow that he can even die Don't let it go?

So, he nodded repeatedly and said: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, the first seven days of the Marquis of Yizhou have not yet passed, and I will inform King Jiangxia of this matter when I leave the palace in a while, so that he can draw up an agreement to award Guoye the Duke of Pingyang County earlier. Waiting for the first July of the Hou Mansion to pass and the day when Guo Ye's clothes are undressed and buried in the earth, I will personally announce this decree to show the emperor's favor."

"Well, this matter will be handed over to the auxiliary machine."

His Majesty Li Er looked at the Chang'an snow scene outside the palace wall with a somewhat desolate expression, and said to himself: "On the day of Guo Qing's funeral, I will personally go to the mansion and see him off. It can be regarded as a fulfillment of my relationship with him." The friendship between monarch and minister. Alas, his death is my fault!"

"what?"

When Changsun Wuji heard that the emperor wanted to send Guo Ye's clothes to the funeral, he was obviously taken aback. He looked at himself, the emperor's brother-in-law, in astonishment, and said jealously, it seems that Guo Ye was really right this time. If he didn't die, with the emperor's favor for him, he would definitely be among the generation of prime ministers in the future.Hey, good death, good death!

Then, he suppressed his astonishment, cupped his hands and praised: "The emperor is so considerate of his ministers and workers, we are very fortunate as sons, and the country of the Tang Dynasty is very fortunate!"

His Majesty Li Er waved his hand again, he really didn't like his flattery today, and shouted at Eunuch Shun in a dispirited way: "Dong Shun, wave your car, let's go back to Ganlu Palace!"

"Here!"

Eunuch Shun hurriedly called out the servants and eunuchs who served on the left and right to get up and drive back to the Ganlu Hall.

At this time, His Majesty Li Er suddenly stopped and turned his head to look at Changsun Wuji again, and asked slowly: "Auxiliary machine, when is Guo Qing's first seven?"

Changsun Wuji didn't dare to hide this matter, and replied honestly: "There are still three days, Your Majesty."

"Three days? Alright, auxiliary machine, pass it on for me."

His Majesty Li Er took a deep breath, and said in a deep voice: "From now on, I will suspend court for three days, until the end of Guo Qing's first seven days, to express my condolences. Also, Guo Ye was martyred for my Tang Dynasty. Anyone in Chang'an Officials, regardless of whether there was any quarrel with Guo Ye before, they will all go to the Guo Mansion to express their condolences. Now there are only wives, children and widows left in the Guo Mansion. Don’t ask anyone to go to the tea, the house is deserted. If anyone doesn’t go, huh, Don't blame me for vengeance!"

"Ah? Your Majesty, this... this..."

Changsun Wuji was too shocked to say a complete sentence, but saw His Majesty Li Er turned around again, waved his hands and shouted: "Dong Shun, drive back to Ganlu Palace!"

"Here!"

Eunuch Shun flicked his fly whisk and yelled at the top of his voice: "Your Majesty has an order, drive back to the Palace of Manna..."

In an instant, the sound of people walking heard that the golden canopy was moving down the palace gate tower.

On the city wall, only Changsun Wuji was left here alone, dumbfounded, and despite the heavy snow falling on his body, he remained as motionless as a clay sculpture.

……

……

Snow is still falling.

The cold continued to rage in the city of Chang'an. Every household closed their doors and windows tightly and surrounded the fire in the house to keep warm.Only the Guo Mansion in Taipingfang, the middle door is open, the white lanterns are hung, and the people in the mansion are all dressed in linen and mourning, standing at the door to welcome and see off the guests who came to Guo Mansion to express their condolences, but the number of guests is sparse. , very deserted.

At this moment, the twilight is heavy, and it is almost the evening when the lanterns are first lit. It should be the time for a family to sit around the stove for dinner.

But the Guo Mansion has a mournful and solemn atmosphere from inside to outside, from top to bottom.

The mourning hall was placed in the main hall of the Guo Mansion. Since there were not many guests who came to express their condolences, only some colleagues from the Qingliu Department of Shilin who Guo Ye had been in contact with were helping to maintain it. Even Yu Shinan and Kong Yingda did not show up for a long time.

Taking advantage of this spare time, Xiuxiu helped the old lady, Mrs. Guo Liu, to the flower hall to rest for a while to refresh her spirit.

In the flower hall, the old lady sits in the center with a dragon head and a cane, Wu Xiuxiu sits on the left, and Zhenniang and Kang Zhiru sit on the right.

At this time, Xiuxiu looked lonely, with sad brows, and was holding Zhenniang's little Guo Xiang who was not yet one year old and didn't know anything about the world.

Zhenniang and Kang Zhiru were sitting opposite her, their faces pale as paper, weeping and wiping away their tears, almost dying from crying.

In the entire flower hall, because of the crying of the two, a deep sadness was shrouded.

Perhaps it was because the crying of the two disturbed the sleeping little Guo Xiang. As soon as the little girl opened her eyes, she burst into tears, her voice was loud enough to shake the house.

Boom~ boom~ boom~!

The old matriarch beat the ground hard with the crutches of the dragon's head, and shouted at Zhenniang and the two: "Have you cried enough? Let's rest when you have cried enough. My old woman has already cried to the point of tears. But today the old woman can't cry. I don’t want to cry anymore, because I have always believed that my son is not dead. My son has not yet found a dead body. Who can prove that my son is dead? Therefore, the old woman does not cry, because my son seems to be blessed with longevity, and he will never be so young Light and premature!"

"Wuuu, mother-in-law, don't lie to yourself, your husband is obviously dying in Tubo."

Kang Zhiru wiped her tears and choked with sobs, "Master Changsun Wuji has already said that my family's father-in-law died in the battle and was buried in a foreign country. Even the imperial court issued an obituary, saying that the minister of the Ministry of Rites and Yizhou Marquis Guo Ye were loyal and sacrificed their lives for the country. Woo Woo, woo, husband is gone, we are going to be widows..."

"presumptuous!"

The old matriarch slammed the dragon-headed crutch in his hand again, making a clanging sound, glaring at Kang Zhiru angrily, and scolded: "Nonsense, my son is short-lived?"

"Old Majesty, woo woo..." Zhen Niang also sobbed and said, "If my husband is still alive, why did Lord Changsun Wuji send someone to help us set up a mourning hall and set up a tomb for my husband? This... this Doesn't it mean that the husband died in battle and even the corpse was not found?"

"Cough cough... you, you two are really, cough cough..."

The old lady was so annoyed by the two daughters-in-law's words that she almost couldn't hold her breath. She coughed repeatedly, but couldn't utter a single word.

Seeing this, Xiuxiu, who was holding the child, immediately stood up and came behind the old matriarch, stroking her back, and then said sullenly to Zhenniang and Kang Zhiru: "You two are still silent? Do you have to talk to the old lady?" You are angry, aren't you? When is this? Are you still making trouble here?"

After several times of questioning, Xiuxiu immediately showed her demeanor as the princess of Pingyang and the main house of the Guo family.

Afterwards, Xiu Xiucai leaned over and whispered to the old matriarch in relief, "Grandmother, good-natured and auspicious people have their own looks, and nothing will happen. Zhenniang and Zhiru were also too sad, so they contradicted you. Your old man Calm down, go back to your room and rest for a while, this mansion has Xiuxiu to take care of it."

As everyone knows, when Xiuxiu said these words, her heart was broken. Why didn't she hope that Guo Yeji would be a man of heaven, but after so long, there was still no news of her husband.

As time went by, she also believed more and more that Guo Ye must be in trouble in Tubo.

However, at this time, she knew that she must be strong, calm and calm, and not chaotic in times of crisis, otherwise the family would be torn apart and never recovered.

Sure enough, after hearing Xiuxiu's words, the old matriarch finally saw some relief on his gloomy face, then stood up tremblingly and hugged little Guo Xiang in Xiuxiu's arms, and spoke to Xiuxiu earnestly. Xiuxiu asked: "Xiuxiu, I'm old and I can't help you. This family depends on you. As for the elder grandson who wants to set up a mourning hall, and the court wants to erect a monument for my son, it's all the grace of the emperor, so it's natural. .Hey, Xiuxiu, the whole Guo family is counting on you to manage it, child, you can't fail, understand?"

Suddenly, tears rolled out of Xiuxiu's eyes unstoppably, heartbroken, choked up and said: "Mother-in-law, daughter-in-law know, you old man take Xiang'er and go back to the room to rest first, I have everything here!"

"Okay, okay..."

The old matriarch was about to turn around with little Guo Xiang in her arms, when suddenly many servants came rushing from the flower hall one after another.

"Report to Madam, Lord Kong Yingda, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, has come to express condolences to our family's senior officials!"

"Report to the old matriarch, Ma Zhou Ma, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, has come to pay homage to the residence!"

"Report—General Li Jing, the Duke of Wei, came to visit the old lady."

"Ma'am, Madam, Cheng Zhijie, Duke of the State of Lu, and Qin Shubao, Duke of the Yi State, are here to pay homage to our Marquis!"

"Ma'am, there are many generals with silver helmets and bright armor outside the mansion, all of whom are close friends of our Marquis!"

"News-news-news, princess, outside our house, it is overcrowded. There are hundreds of poor students blocking the gate, burning paper and incense for Lord Hou. Go and have a look..."