I do research in ancient times

The king of Dongshan washed the capital with blood, but he didn't love to fight. After looting, he burned the capital with a torch, leaving his cousin King Xihe in a mess.

When Xihe King Sima Liang arrived, what he saw was ruins, countless homeless refugees fleeing from place to place, as well as the children of aristocratic families who were struggling in the remnants of the soil, with rags and dusty faces, and no longer had the usual nobility and elegance. .

For the members of Xie Yuliu's family in the capital, the men were killed, the women were taken away, and the business of several generations was wiped out. It couldn't be worse.

The disappearance of Empress Xue and Yuxi did not know whether they fell into the hands of King Dongshan, which made Sima Liang very upset.

But the worst is yet to come.

Three days later, Sima Liang, king of Dongshan, proclaimed himself emperor in Daijun. It is said that he was holding a heaven-made jade seal handed down by the founding ancestors, dressed in a yellow robe, looked eastward to worship, and read a love story to the deceased emperor and empress. And Mao's sacrificial words.

As soon as the news came out, all forces were in shock.

Emperor Xianlong Cheng had indeed died for more than half a year, but what happened to the "Empress Xian"? !Empress Xue also went with the late emperor? !

As soon as the news came out, the most popular one was naturally the Hengshou Xue family.

Of course Xue Yiwei did not die. As soon as the news of adopting the eldest son leaked, the Xue family sent someone to contact Queen Xue in the palace, and took advantage of the opportunity of the three kings returning to the vassal to secretly transport them out of the city.

Now Empress Xue is on her way to Hengshou, in order to avoid attracting attention, the empress empress made up as a commoner's woman all the way, traveling lightly and not daring to hurry too much.

Naturally, Yuxi is also in Xue Yiwei's hands.

This is a symbol of imperial orthodoxy, and was kept by Xue Bi after the death of the first emperor.Xue Bi died suddenly in front of the coffin, and then the three kings seized the throne, the court fell into chaos, and Yuxi's whereabouts were unknown.

No one would have guessed that it was hidden by an undervalued queen.

With this trump card, the Xue family of Hengshou naturally has the confidence to persuade the queen to adopt an eldest son.Regardless of what happened before, now Xue Yiwei is still the woman with the highest status in the industry dynasty, and she also has a say in the matter of the throne.

This matter has been going on in secret all this time, who knows that it was leaked out, and the three feudal lords were alerted at the same time.

Being found out is tantamount to losing the opportunity. The second wife who has been separated from the family cannot bear the attack of the three vassal kings, so she can only take advantage of the chaos to take her daughter home, and use the queen and jade seal in her hand to estimate a good price.

Xue Yan took a fancy to the Lu family.

Ever since Xue Yixiao talked about Ding'an City, Xue Yan felt that the Lu family and Yongxiguan were inextricably linked.The Lu family is a century-old family, rich and famous, and if you add the Feng family's black armor army, it is no worse than a few vassal kings.

Years ago, he sent Xue Yixiao to give the Lu family a new year gift, and dropped by the Lu family's unicorn son, Lu Shiji.

Xue Yixiao used to study in Yunfu Academy, so he can be regarded as Lu Shiji's senior brother.Although the two of them didn't have much interaction in the academy, Xue Yixiao was eloquent and talked about the academy without being too abrupt.

As the new year approaches, the Lu family is very busy.Lu Tao met Xue Yixiao in person, and when he landed, he took his senior brother to play in Qijiang City for a few days, with very considerate etiquette.

During the period, Xue Yixiao half-jokingly talked about Lu Shiji's marriage, saying that there is a niece in the family who is in her young age, with a beautiful heart and a beautiful heart, she can be a good match.

He also mentioned the fate between Xue Huiyue and Lu Shiji by the river back then. Lu Shiji was stunned for a moment, then he laughed and said that all major matters of marriage are decided by his parents, and that he has not accomplished anything in his studies and has not done anything. Too many considerations.

In fact, this is already a refusal.

Xue Yixiao wasn't surprised by this answer at all, but he didn't feel ashamed either.

It's obvious that if Lu Shiji doesn't jump up and point his nose at someone who is a first-class lineage with a second-class subsidiary lineage, then that is already an example of how well-bred the Lu family is.

After thinking for a while, he took advantage of the opportunity to bring up the incident of the Nanjiang shipwreck.I didn't say too much, just said that the Nanjiang River is very windy and the waves are easy to capsize, and no matter how experienced the old man is, he can't resist the natural disaster, which leads to the tragedy of family destruction.

Lu Shiji didn't seem to understand, there was nothing unusual on his face, and he was a little bit emotional about the impermanence of the world.Third Young Master Xue felt that this unicorn from the Lu family probably didn't know about the twins, and he didn't think about the relationship between the Nanjiang capsized boat and his own life experience.

When Xue Yixiao returned to Hengshou City, Xue Yan was very satisfied with the reaction of Lu Shiji and the Lu family.

As expected of a man with the surname Gao who has been in business for a century and is full of books, he doesn't have to pick on his self-cultivation and heart.

The family genealogy clearly divides the gentry into three, six, and nine classes, and the right family is the match.If someone tells his own son that he is a collateral of a third-rate family, it's not marriage, it's enmity.

So he told Xue Yixiao to arrange the detailed work in Ding'an City, grasp the traces of the twins as soon as possible, and wait for the opportunity to strike.

It's just that this matter has been progressing slowly. Those Xihai people have not come back since they returned to their hometown before the beginning of spring. Even if they searched carefully, there is no definite news at all.

Surprised, Xue Yan couldn't help but wonder if the third son went to Nanjun to say something, which made the Lu family vigilant.

He wanted to ask his third son to come over to question him, but the matter of his youngest daughter Queen Xue's adoption of the eldest son was missed first.Fortunately, Xue Yiwei was shrewd and brought the jade seal with her when she left the palace.As long as they can return to Hengshou safely, the Xue family will have a heavy weight.

Before he had time to be happy, Dongshan King rebelled.

On the fifth day after King Dongshan bloodbathed the capital, King Xihe, who was "supported as emperor", succeeded to the throne in front of the ruins of the imperial palace in the capital.

After that, he sent envoys to report the news of his ascension to the throne to the governors of various places and all the Yi tribes, and planned to hold a sacrificial ceremony in the first month of next year.

It is self-evident that it is upright and upright, orthodox and bright.

Dongshan King, who ascended the throne in Daijun, was not to be outdone, changed Yuan Guangtong, and established Dingfeng City as his capital.

Dongshan King's mansion in Dingfeng City was originally very luxurious. This time, he simply let go of the grade restrictions and changed it to a diligent office. Tai Fu Shi Lun read out the emperor's list, and the former minister ordered He Yueqian to present the imperial seal, the emperor's golden seal and other imperial treasures. On that day, the king of Dongshan personally read out the imperial edict and the call to action against the rebel King Xihe.

Afterwards, the king of Shouping County also came to join in the fun, designated a place to ascend the throne, named Nanxing as his reign, and established Tinghai as his capital.

King Shouping County knew that his strength was worse than the above two, and he didn't do any troublesome papers against rebellion, so he prepared to settle down and be a dutiful emperor.

Three emperors, three reigns, and three courts.

Since then, the Daye Dynasty, which lasted for 160 years, has been completely disintegrated since Emperor Longcheng, and fell into the era of separatist rule.

After receiving the news, Xue Yan couldn't sit still anymore. He called the clan members in Hengshou overnight to discuss it for a day and a night, and finally decided to visit Lu's house in Nanjun in person.

He was accompanied by his third son, Xue Yixiao. Originally, he would be more confident in catching the twins of the Lu family, but the situation was developing too fast. Xue Yan really couldn't wait for the fine work in Ding'an City, so he took his son to Nanjun to have a secret talk with Lu Tao.

Xue Yan didn't tell the people about the West Sea Trade Route and the Twins, and now only Xue Huiyue and her brother know about it.

But this time they went to Nanjun just to discuss cooperation with the Lu family, and they became Xue Huiyue or could climb up to the Lu family. I believe the two siblings will not leak the news.

All the way was tedious, full of fear and fear, and finally arrived at Qijiang City in Nanjun safely.

Lu Tao was as gentle and kind as usual. He not only arranged a comfortable place for the Xue family, but also held a welcome banquet for Xue Yan. I have to say that in the chaotic current situation, Qijiang City is still singing and dancing, and it is elegant. as ever.

Xue Yan was very envious, and wanted to get in touch with the Lu family more and more in his heart, so he invited Lu Tao to have a night chat with him on the grounds of gratitude.

Naturally, what they were talking about was the matter of the West Sea.

On the way here, Xue Yan and his third son, Xue Yixiao, had discussed it, first leading the topic to the West Sea Trade Road, and if that didn't work out, then point out the secret of the twins.

It's best if you don't turn your face, if Lu Tao doesn't agree, he will take out the last bargaining chip to threaten.

After all, the West Sea Trade Road is the property of the Lu family, and the land in the grassland is not run by other aristocratic families. At most, it is to splash some muddy water on the noble shell of the Lu family.

But twins are different.

If one is not careful, it is possible to overthrow Lu Tao's position as the head of the family, otherwise he would not have been so cruel and merciless back then, directly sinking a side branch of a boat on the Nanjiang River.

In order to be sure, before meeting with Lu Tao, he checked the script with his son again, and after confirming that there was nothing missing, he sent someone to invite Lu Tao to play chess in another courtyard.

Lu Tao is good at chess, and I heard that Xue Yan is also a master of black and white.The two set up the chessboard without saying much, and soon they will be killed together.

Although Xue Yan is narrow-minded, his ability to play chess is very good.

Back then, his father Xue Bi saw that the youngest son was quite talented in chess, and thought it was a piece of material for a game pusher.After the eldest son Xue Jue died unexpectedly, she once placed her hopes on the youngest son Xue Yan.As a result, after a period of time, I found that Xue Yan was really only good at playing chess, and couldn't figure out anything else, so he had to turn around and train his eldest grandson.

Lu Tao's chess style is very steady. He was overwhelmed by Xue Yan at the beginning of the game, but he quickly figured out the opponent's chess style.Several sieges gradually turned the tide of the battle.

In the middle of the chess game, Xue Yan chatted about current affairs.

The two biggest events in the industry today are the rebellion of the three kings and the southward march of Hu Qi.The Lu family's consistent stance was to be neutral and not to take sides. Lu Tao's answer was watertight, without revealing the slightest hint.

But Xue Yan didn't mean that, and naturally turned the topic to the grassland.

He dropped a sunspot on the plate and said casually.

"Recently, the Hu Department has changed frequently. I heard that the grassland seems to be unsafe, and the business of the caravan is not easy to do."

"Ah."

Lu Tao was concentrating on the chess game, and answered half casually, half seriously.

"It's not easy to do business, not to mention the current situation is chaotic. If you can live on, it's better to farm and grow food. It's safer than running around in troubled times."

"Oh?"

Xue Yan was shocked, and consciously found a breakthrough in the topic.

"Brother Xiping is wrong to say that. I heard recently that the trade route in the West Sea is very prosperous."

"The gentlemen's soap Xiping likes to use costs a few taels of silver for a box, but it's hard to make money!"

"Exotic goods are available to live in, and you will naturally make money."

Lu Tao tapped the chessboard.

"Brother Xue, it's your turn."

Xue Yan casually placed a chess piece, then moved closer to Lu Tao, deliberately lowering his voice.

"Brother Xiping, the business in the grasslands of the Western Regions is quite profitable, right?"

Hearing what he said, the chess piece in Lu Tao's hand suddenly stopped.

He remained motionless, his eyes fixed on Xue Yan.

"Brother Xue, what do you say?"

"Haha."

Xue Yan smiled and patted Lu Tao's shoulder pretending to be intimate.

"Brother Lu, why do you need to hide it from me? My Xue family saw that your house is over there..."

He paused and pointed to the north.

"Do business with there. It's all..."

Pausing again, Xue Yan made a chopping gesture.

"They're all good things, otherwise, how can they have the ability to fight hard?"

Lu Tao lowered his brows and eyes, and looked puzzled when he raised his eyes again.

"Brother Xue, I don't understand what you said."

When he said this, Xue Yan was not happy.

It's all about this, why is Lu Tao still pretending?

"Brother Xiping, you don't have to worry too much. I, Xue Yan, never do bad things to anyone."

"Recently, the current situation is chaotic. There may be a big battle between the three kings. There are Hu Qi in the north. My Xue family is famous all over the world. If you want, the Xue family of Hengshou can produce a batch of swords at any time. Cooperation is better than fighting alone. It's easier to fight alone."

Hearing what he said, Lu Tao's face remained unchanged.

"The Xue family's swords have never been sold outside. I don't know how much my Lu family will have to pay for cooperating with Brother Xue?"

Xue Yan smiled, lowered her voice and whispered something next to Lu Tao's ear.

Lu Tao shook his head.

"This is impossible."

"Da Lang is the next Patriarch of my Lu family. The direct branch of the Lu family has always married only first-class families."

He didn't say the following words, but the meaning of the intention to refuse was very clear.

Xue Yan was angry.

He felt that the words had reached this point, and Lu Tao still pretended to be with him, because he didn't think highly of his Hengshou Xue family at all!

Pooh!You ungrateful animal!

Gritting his teeth, he simply lifted the hole card.

"What's the next Patriarch? It's just that the whole family is wiped out..."

Before he finished speaking, he saw Lu Tao get up abruptly.

"Brother Xue."

The Patriarch of the Lu family looked cold.

"I treat you like an honored guest. If you slander my Lu family's direct branch with gossip, forgive Tao for not entertaining me!"

With that said, he got up directly and walked away.