The return of the son-in-law

Huo Yu was full of curiosity, but instead of asking Jiang Yannian, he went to see Guo Zhanan.

Guo Zhan'an ignored Jiang Yannian's complaints such as "You are too obedient brother, I want such an obedient brother too", took a small piece of fermented bean curd, put it in a small plate aside, and then put the small Pushing the plate in front of Huo Yu, he said, "You finish eating obediently first, and I'll tell you later."

Huo Yu listened, and really bowed his head obediently to eat.He was eager to know the answer, but he didn't dare to eat too fast - he knew that he had been eating irregularly during this period of time, and he had been reprimanded by Guo Zhan'an a lot - lest Guo Zhan'an would not tell him if he was unhappy.

Jiang Yannian was stunned and couldn't help giving Guo Zhanan a thumbs up: "Where did you get lucky in your life to find such an obedient younger brother?"

Guo Zhanan reached out and knocked on the table: "Shut up and eat."

Jiang Yannian was also hungry. He got up early in the morning, ran around the barracks five times, and told the adjutant about the matter. After eating a sweet potato, he came to Xuzhou.

He is the eldest son of the Jiang family, as long as there are no accidents, the Jiang family will be his in the future. Although the emperor doesn't like it, the Jiang family is always a century-old family.Jiang Yannian's temper is actually not small, although he thought that Huo Yu was very cute and attractive, and made people want to get close to him when they saw him, but seeing that he was getting bored in front of Huo Yu several times, he stopped.

After the three of them finished their meal, Huo Yu seemed to have thought of something, and asked, "Brother, aren't you going to work in the yamen today?"

"Take a rest today, and it's not too late to go tomorrow."

"Besides," Jiang Yannian interrupted, "You guys have to move today, how can you have time to go to the Yamen?"

"Today? Moving today?" Huo Yu didn't understand for a while, "But didn't Zhizhou send someone to say yesterday that brother's house is still being cleaned?"

Guo Zhan'an shook his head with a smile, and said: "Did I tell you yesterday that we won't live in the house he prepared? I have already asked Jiang Yannian to find a place for us. I originally wanted to take you there at night. Yes, but it’s okay to take you to see it now, Jia Huan and the others will send the things over later.”

Jiang Yannian washed his hands, and said from the side: "Time is short, this Xuzhou is not a rich place, although I'm not boasting, but it's hard to find such a suitable place, you will have to make do with it for a while .”

Xuzhou is huge, and the house Jiang Yannian is looking for occupies a much larger area than the county government in Tonghua County.This house is said to be the former residence of a certain general in the Northwest. Unfortunately, the general died in battle just after his thirties and left no heirs.Although there is a monthly payment from the imperial court, the family members of the general who have lost their pillars gradually cannot afford the huge daily expenses, so they have to sell the house and move to another place.

Jiang Yannian bought this house from a merchant whose business in the northwest was shrinking day by day, and recently decided to return to his hometown in the south of the Yangtze River.Because the general who lived in the past died in battle at a young age, it was very unlucky for everyone, and there were even rumors that the people who lived in this house would have bad luck in the future.Therefore, although merchants ask for extremely low prices, few people care about them.

Both Jiang Yannian and Guo Zhan'an didn't believe in such supernatural beings, and they disdained such rumors.And at this time, although Guo Zhan'an was rewarded by the emperor, except for gold and silver, those Ruyi jade stones could not be moved.Moreover, he didn't know how long he would stay in the Northwest, so he had to save some money and lowered the price a bit before buying it.

However, Guo Zhanan didn't intend to tell Huo Yu about this.When they came out from Cangshan Mountain, he knew that Huo Yu went to the temple to pray for his safety, if he told him about it, he might be so frightened.

The merchant has already left, leaving an old butler to guard.Jiang Yannian had only paid half of the deposit before, indicating that the remaining half would have to wait for Guo Zhanan to come.

Now that the real master finally came, the old butler led the three people around the house.

This is a courtyard with three entrances, bypassing the screen wall carved with auspicious beasts at the four corners, and walking for a while is the main hall.Turn left from the main hall, it is the place where the servants live, Wu Xin and the others live there when they come.

After passing through the main hall, Guo Zhan'an lived in the main room, and Huo Yu lived in the east wing. There was also a small study room specially prepared for Huo Yu to use for homework.

Behind the main house is the garden.The northwest is windy and sandy, and it is prone to lack of water, so the plants in the garden are mostly cold and drought-resistant plants. Although they are not as colorful as the flowers and willows that Huo Yu has seen before, they still have a unique Northwest style.

Although the layout of the house is simple, each room is larger than that in Tonghua County. It took the three of them a half-day to stroll all the way to the garden.

"How about it? Isn't it grand enough?" Jiang Yannian pointed to the pond in the garden and said, "According to your request, people have already bought koi. When the time comes, Huo Yu, don't sneak around to eat the fish."

Huo Yu was tiptoeing to look at the pond curiously, when he heard Jiang Yannian call his name, he shook his head and said, "The brocade carp is not tasty, so I won't sneak up to eat it."

"You know that? That's much better than your brother." Jiang Yannian smiled and told Huo Yu about Guo Zhanan's childhood embarrassment, "He entered the palace for the first time, and he was very courageous. Empress, let the three of us go to the garden to play, but your brother took advantage of the hot weather to wear less clothes, so he rolled up his sleeves and went to the pond to catch the koi in it to eat."

Guo Zhanan glanced at Jiang Yannian with a half-smile: "I still remember that there was a person who heard that he was going to catch koi. Who was the first to jump down?"

Jiang Yannian's complexion changed, then he gritted his teeth and said, "It's me, what's the matter? Is it because you have a bad stomach and said that you can't forget the koi after eating it, so I went down to catch it?"

Guo Zhan'an accepted Jiang Yannian's evaluation of himself with a smile: "Although you haven't eaten, and you don't have a photographic memory, you are still well educated now, and I can count it as a great achievement."

Jiang Yannian smiled, and just about to open his mouth to speak, when he suddenly remembered the past events that followed, he felt his heart sink, and the smile on his face faded by three points: "If I knew this earlier, I shouldn't be so wild at the time, two years earlier It’s good to read, maybe it’s another scene now.”

Guo Zhanan knew what he was talking about.

Although Queen Jiang was not favored, she was very good at managing the harem. Although Li Chonghao favored Concubine Hua at that time, the Phoenix Seal was always firmly in Queen Jiang's hands.Therefore, Li Shaojun and the two of them at that time could almost be regarded as the three overlords of the harem, and they often did bad things such as scaring the crying palace ladies and crying the inner prisoner.

Times have changed, and the little overlords of the past have grown up individually, and what they have to face is no longer those trivial things that cannot be recited, but the sinister intentions and hard-to-defend cold arrows in the court.

Huo Yu saw that Guo Zhan'an and Jiang Yannian's interest suddenly dropped a lot. Although he didn't know why, he guessed that it was mostly because he recalled the years in the capital.

He reached out and tugged at Guo Zhanan's sleeve, and whispered, "Brother, I'm a little cold, let's go out."

Guo Zhanan reached out and touched the back of Huo Yu's head: "Okay, let's go out."

After finishing speaking, Guo Zhan'an turned his head and said to the old butler beside him: "This morning was a temporary idea, and I didn't bring so much money. According to the agreement, I will come again in the afternoon."

The old butler tied his hands and said, "Of course, Mr. Guo, don't be impatient. By the way, the temperature difference between day and night in the northwest is huge, and the young master is still young. He wants to be cool during the day and wear clothes, but he is easy to catch a cold at night."

Guo Zhanan nodded: "Thank you."

When the three left the house, Jiang Yannian pointed to the gate at the back and said, "I've already made the plaque for you. You are a general judge, and the merchant is not as good as you, so I specially made the gate bigger and opened three times, which is in line with your status." , lest there are people in Xuzhou who don't have eyes and offend you."

Huo Yu opened his eyes wide, looked at the imposing gate, and asked, "Is the gate also so particular?"

"Of course." Jiang Yannian pointed to the gate and told Huo Yu, "Look, the gate is opened at a corner, right? According to the rules of this dynasty, officials of the third rank and above in the capital, or local third rank Officials, their gates can only face the center line of the courtyard. There are five rooms with three doors. Your brother’s official is still too young, and the gate can only be opened at one corner. Although it is said to open three doors, it only occupies three rooms. The ones of the lion and unicorn are more particular. The third-rank ones are different from the second-rank ones, and the first-rank ones are also different from the royal family and nobles. Boy Huo Yu, you have to learn more, so as not to bring your brother a life-threatening disaster. do you know?"

Huo Yu nodded half-understood, then turned to look at Guo Zhanan: "Brother, let's add these to my homework."

Guo Zhanan patted him on the shoulder and signaled him to be calm and calm: "You don't need to worry about these things, just leave them to Jia Huan. If it doesn't work, I'll still be there. Just study hard and practice martial arts."

Huo Yu thought it was the same, he didn't need to handle these things himself, but he was still a little worried: "In the future, my brother will also tell me about these things. If Jia Huan gets confused and doesn't investigate for a while, it will be bad for my brother .”

Jiang Yannian listened and watched, feeling sour in his heart.They are all cousins ​​who grew up together, so why does he have such an obedient and loving younger brother, while his own family only has two brothers who are like the devil king?

With such a comparison, Jiang Yannian felt more and more pitiful: "It's alright, alright, don't be brotherly on the street. Don't you want to go shopping in Xuzhou, are you familiar with it? Let's go, brother will take you there."

Although Jiang Yannian stayed in the barracks most of the time, he would come to Xuzhou City with Li Shaojun every time he rested.One is to improve the food, and the other is to inquire about the situation.

The northwest is poor in supplies, and there are very few small vendors on the street. There are not many customers in the shops on both sides of the road, but from time to time, you can see a few women and children who are obviously not dressed in the clothes of the dynasty coming out of the shop, with their backs behind their backs. with some bags.

"These are Tatar people, they come to buy rice and clothes." The three of them sat down on the second floor of the restaurant facing the street, and Jiang Yannian said as he watched the two middle-aged women hurrying along the road.

This restaurant is a hidden property of the Jiang family. The shopkeeper is the son of the Jiang family. The business was not good at first. Today, Jiang Yannian's order has been received in advance. The other guests are on the first floor, and there is a waiter on the stairs leading to the second floor watch.Therefore, their conversation today does not have to worry about being overheard by others.

Huo Yu asked puzzledly: "Isn't Tatar an enemy? Why didn't you arrest them?"

While counting the peanuts, Jiang Yannian said, "The Tatars are not so united. The Tatars who have been harassing our border are the stronger ones in the Tatars. They not only rob us, but also the weaker Tatars. The tribes are strong. Food, horses, women, they all want it. We have troops stationed anyway, and it is difficult for Tatar to get cheap from us. Compared with us, those weak tribes are even more miserable."

Huo Yu blinked and said, "Naturally, why don't those bullied tribes unite and fight those bullying tribes together?"

Jiang Yannian shook his head, and said, "Tata people don't have the concept of a country by nature. In their view, the tribe is everything, and they won't unite with other tribes. Thanks to this, if those tribes unite to attack us, I'm afraid It won't last three months."

Guo Zhanan raised his eyebrows, very surprised: "So miserable?"

"It's more than that?" Jiang Yannian sneered, "It's also thanks to that Shi Guogan, it was even worse when the third prince and I came here, not to mention other things, the soldiers can't even eat enough!"

Guo Zhanan was then furious: "If that's the case, why didn't you report it to the Ministry of War?"

"It's just a nest of snakes and rats," Jiang Yannian said in a low voice, "Shi Guogan is a member of the fourth prince, and the original sentence has been bribed by Tatar, and in the army, I watched coldly, several of them have their own Little Jiujiu."

Guo Zhanan asked: "Who withheld those military salaries?"

"Shi Guogan." Jiang Yannian pushed a plate of peanuts away, and said, "The fourth prince seems to have raised private soldiers, but it's a pity that Shi Guogan doesn't have any of us there. This is a crime of beheading. He must be very careful. Me and three The prince has thought of many ways in the past few months, but he can't find out."

Guo Zhan'an thought for a while and said, "It's different now. I'm the general judge, and many things can't be left to him."

Jiang Yannian nodded wearily: "After you come, I don't have to run around the Xuzhou military camp all the time. The shopkeeper of this restaurant is my confidant, so you can rest assured that if there is something urgent and you can't get away, let him He will do it."

Guo Zhanan agreed, and raised his glass: "Leave the next thing to me."

Jiang Yannian also raised his own, and the two of them drank it all together.