Clan House

The first time Song Jingxin met Song Yi was at Yanqing Palace.

The 11-year-old boy was just at the age of disobedience, and he was lying on the ground to salute the emperor, but his head raised restlessly to follow the child's voice reading the memorial.

Song Yi was only five years old this year, and he looked round and white like a steamed bun just out of the pot, but he already knew a thousand characters and could write poems and prose.He was not as tall as the desk table, so the manager Derun carried him on his back, while his godson Delin stood beside him bowing and flipping the bag for the little prince.The father and son are both eunuchs who can talk to the imperial court, and even the father needs to be courted by the king on weekdays, but now they do not dare to neglect the little prince who has just been weaned.

Even if the son of the prince's mansion came to greet him, the emperor didn't stop, so Song Yi continued to read the memorial.The childish voice is naive, but the words are clear, and he speaks standard Mandarin.Xu was aware of the prying eyes, the little prince's attention was separated from state affairs, and he went to look at the lunatic who dared to glance in front of the emperor.Seeing that the other party was actually a half-grown child, Song Yi paused for a moment while reading, his grape-like black eyes showed a bit of curiosity.

Seeing that the little prince was so cute, Song Jingxin couldn't help but lowered his eyelids and made a nasty grimace.Naturally, the other party would not be frightened by him, but instead patted De Run on the shoulder, signaling the old eunuch to put him down.Song Jingxin was still waiting to continue teasing the child, but the sister who couldn't bear it pulled her clothes tightly, so she reluctantly lowered her head.

"Who's here?" The old emperor leaned on the bed with his eyes closed, and slowly opened his eyes when the voice of the reading stopped.Emperor Ningde reigned for more than [-] years, and now he is more than seventy years old. He is the longest-lived emperor since the founding of Luo.

"Great-grandsons Song Jingxin and Song Jingshi greet the emperor's great-grandfather." The two children rarely see the emperor on weekdays, but they are not as frightened by him as other clan members.

Emperor Ningde's beard and hair are all white, regardless of the bright yellow pajamas, he looks like an ordinary old man from a wealthy family.The old man waved his hand, and Delin stepped forward to help him up.Song Yi also got off the ground at this time, and asked De Run to hold him on the pedals and raised his two short hands, and the emperor took advantage of the situation to put his arms in Aizi's hands.Delin took another step back and knelt on the ground to put on the emperor's shoes.

"Second brother, Jing Xin and Jing Shi, get up and come over and let me have a look." The emperor was getting old, his energy was weak from time to time, but he was still full of energy when he spoke.After the eyes are opened, the majesty of the emperor is displayed, which makes people dare not look directly.

"Look, they are much taller than they were during the Chinese New Year. Obviously they are twins, Jing Shi is always half a head taller than Jing Xin, but why did you steal behind your brother's back?"

Song Jingshi was originally a girl who was raised by her mother pretending to be a prince since she was a child.The girl is precocious, so she can't help feeling flustered when she hears her great-grandfather's words, and is worried that this deceitful thing will be discovered.Fortunately, Song Jingxin reacted quickly, and replied before his sister: "You can't hide anything from your great-grandfather. This kid usually studies, rides and shoots with his great-grandson, but he has a stomach that he eats two times more than me every meal." Big bowl. Seeing how fast he is growing now, when he grows older, he will definitely be a big fat man!"

Emperor Ning De was amused and laughed, and his white beard trembled in a low voice.The two children of Qingjiang Wang's family were good-looking, and Emperor Ningde always liked the youthfulness of young children the most, and seeing the intelligent and sensible youngest beside him, he was even more delighted.

"This is your emperor's great-uncle, the King of Chu. You should have never seen him before. Get closer in the future."

Jing Xin and Jing Shi were recommended by the emperor, and immediately greeted Song Yi.Song Yi straightened his back and accepted the whole ceremony, and ordered De Lin to fetch the jade pendant and give it to him.The top-quality mutton fat jade is carved with a unicorn pattern, and the back is also engraved with words, one book "Xin Xin" and another book "Yi Shi", which imply the names of the two young masters, which have been prepared long ago.

Without waiting for the palace servants to collect it, Song Jingxin directly tied the jade pendant around his waist.He walked up to Song Yi in two steps, and first pulled the boy's little hand over and squeezed it. Seeing that the boy didn't feel disgusted, he tried to pinch his face again, but was slapped away.

"Presumptuous!" King Chu taught with a straight face.

"Hahaha..." Emperor Ningde was overjoyed, "It's rare that Yi'er likes you. In the past, I found many playmates for him, but he didn't allow them to get close to him. As expected, he still needs blood relatives. Jingxin will often come to Yanqing Palace in the future and bring you with your brother."

Song Jingxin was overjoyed, and immediately followed the words to make a fool of himself: "Great-grandson obeys the order, Jing Xin has long been looking forward to coming to Yanqing Palace to pay his respects to the great-grandfather and great-uncle. Mr. Gu read the article, and then he entered the gate of Yanqing Palace."

Emperor Ning De's smile faded, and the corners of his mouth were tense, and the white beard around his lips was tightened. "Looking for Gu Li to read the article? It's not that he doesn't go home, he is on duty for a few hours a day, and he has to go to Yanqing Palace to find him?"

The dignified emperor changed his face so quickly, Song Jingxin was so frightened that he let go of his hand playing with the child, the saliva in his throat was so itchy that he couldn't cough, his face turned red.Song Jingshi hurriedly pulled his elder brother to kneel down to plead guilty, while gently patting his back to help him calm down.

The emperor's anger has not dissipated, but he will not get angry at the child: "Gu Li is worthy of being your father's good grandfather, this is a reminder of me!"

Emperor Ning De suppressed his anger, the two children still did not dare to breathe, Song Jingxin could only cover his mouth with his sleeve and cough lightly.

"Father, calm down." Song Yi grabbed the emperor's arm with his small white hand and shook it gently, "They have also reached the age for entering school."

"What did Yi'er see?" Emperor Ning De gestured, and Derun Delin helped the two children up, and called the palace servants to bring tea to calm Song Jingxin.

"My father, since Gu Shangshu is the parent of Jing Xin and Jing Shi, if he wants to give advice to the younger generation, he can finish the article at home. Now he came to Yanqing Palace with great fanfare, just to gently remind his father that Zongxue needs to be opened. There is no need for outsiders to remind me about the sect of my Song family. The emperor will not follow the trend and order the affairs of the sect, but this Gu Li dares to mock the emperor, so he needs to be punished."

Emperor Ning De's eyes were deep, and he couldn't see his attitude towards these words.He patted the little hand on his arm lightly, and sent Derun to send the two brothers out.Before leaving, the emperor said to them: "Go back and tell your father that you don't have to worry about Zongxue. You two go back and study hard, and you don't have to come to Yanqing Palace if you have nothing to do."

Leaving the palace, both children were downcast.Song Ding, king of Qingjiang, was also panicked when he heard about it. The matter of the two children leaving the court was settled, but he lost the emperor's heart because of it.

"Great-great-grandfather was very happy to see the two of us at first, and told us to go to the palace more often to play with the King of Chu..." The Song family has few children, and it is rare for Song Jingxin to see a doll who is smaller than herself and is not annoying. Knead enough and you won't see it.

Gu Li didn't panic, he was also an old man with white beard and hair, and he was not much younger than Emperor Ningde. "Your Majesty is getting old, and we all know that he prefers the King of Chu, but he has been unable to do many things. Instead of fighting for favors in front of His Majesty, it is better to let the children show their faces in front of the courtiers. Our Luo clan has always had few children. It is the greatest competition..."

In the Yanqing Palace, the emperor changed into casual clothes and a coir raincoat, and led his son to fish by the lake.The curious fish saw the bait and were about to take the bait, but the emperor shook the fishing rod in his hand, scaring the fish away.

People in the court felt that he, the emperor, would not live long, and began to stand in line again.The youngest son in front of him is only five years old, even though he is clever, the father dare not speak lightly of his life or death. "In the previous dynasties, there were several long-lived emperors. No matter whether they were wise or not when they were young, the longer they were in power, the more they loved courtiers..."

"How can a wise monarch use courtiers? My son doesn't understand."

"You'd better never understand," Emperor Ning De startled a fish away again, and touched his youngest son's head with a smile, "Let's go, stop fishing, and go with your father to see your elder brother's illness. I dare not eat the fish I sent for my father..."

The emperor did not break his promise, and before autumn, the affairs of Zongxue had been settled.The clan of the Luo Kingdom has always been underpopulated, and the Zongxue is not as long-term as it was in the previous dynasties.It is necessary to have children of the right age. The clan mansion draws up a list of students, and then the Imperial Academy recommends teachers.

The Song family of the royal family now has four generations under the same roof, and the emperor has few heirs. Now only the eldest son Song Xu and the seventh son Song Yi are alive.Song Xusheng had three sons and a daughter. Song Ding, king of Qingjiang, was the eldest son of the three generations, but his twins, Jing Shi and Jing Xin, were not the longest among the four generations.Song Xu's second son, Pingjiang Wang's family, still has a son who is sixteen years old, but he seldom goes out to meet people because of his poor health.The crown prince Song Xu was weak, and he had an overly tough father. He survived sixty and still refused to let go.Song Yi, the seventh son of the emperor, was much loved after he was born.The courtiers naturally saw the emperor's thoughts, but the factions in the court had already been established. Once the elders were abolished and the younger ones were established, the established forces would be reshuffled, and they each resorted to their own means.

Among the clans, there were no more than a dozen children of the right age, among them two sons of the Qingjiang Wang family, one son of the Pingjiang Wang family, three county heads, and two county heads of the Dongqing Wang family, the prince line accounted for half of them.Except for Song Yi, the king of Chu, the rest are all girls, so we can tell the pros and cons from the number of people.The purpose of Zongxue is to remind the emperor that although the prince is sick and weak, he has rich heirs, and the country will not have no successors.As for the king of Chu, it is still unknown whether he can live to adulthood.

The matter of Zongxue has always been handled by the clan mansion.Old Zong Renling is Emperor Ningde's cousin, and he was too sick to get out of bed the year before last.It stands to reason that if someone mentions this matter, the emperor will issue an order, and Zuo Zongzheng will be able to settle the matter.But Emperor Ningde kept pretending to be confused, and several grandsons of the prince's family were hiding from being inappropriate.

At this time, when the matter of Zongxue was brought up again, Emperor Ningde naturally did not say that he deliberately delayed it.However, King Wu, who hadn't shown up for a long time, took the initiative to take the initiative, saying that he was old and weak, and had no time to take care of the clan's affairs, so he asked to resign from the clan's post.The emperor naturally agreed, and rewarded many precious medicinal materials to comfort the king of Wu.As for the candidates for the new clan order, the clan has encountered difficulties.After King Wu retired, there was no other prince of the same generation as Emperor Ningde.In the next generation, apart from the prince, the only one who can barely be a senior is the King of Chu.

There is a saying in "Taizu Xun": "The order of the ancestors, non-princes are not allowed to be appointed, and the elders and virtuous ones do it. The emperor and the East Palace are not concurrent." Among the leaders, even the Taizu never said that he had to be an adult to serve as a patriarch, and the clan couldn't point out any problems for a while.As for the courtiers, the patriarch ordered them not to participate in politics, and the emperor could not make his beloved son the crown prince, so he gave in and fought for the position of patriarch for him. After that, although he held a vacant position, he was honored under one person and above ten thousand people.It's not bad that the monarch and his ministers are happy in this way.

The Zongxue was opened, and King Song Yi of Chu took this opportunity to accept the post of Zongren Ling at the age of five, and suddenly became a legend talked about by courtiers and common people after dinner.

In Qingjiang Wang's family, Song Jingxin and Song Jingshi are finally going to study in Zongxue.Before leaving the house, the side concubine Wen's exhorted and asked Song Jingxin to take good care of her younger sister and never expose her daughter's identity.Song Jingxin came to the school happily, but he didn't see the white steamed bun that he was thinking about, and the person sitting beside him was the sick and gloomy child of the Pingjiang Wang family.

All the palaces, the grandchildren of the emperor secretly rejoiced at the candidates chosen by the clan order.King Qingjiang had been cautious for half his life, and at this moment he couldn't help revealing the pride that he was about to stand up. "Grandfather took a step back and gave up the succession of King Chu, but it also guaranteed his lofty status in the future. Now he doesn't even ask the King of Chu to study with him. I heard that he asked a learned man in the field to teach him. It completely cut off the way for the king of Chu to participate in politics. Waiting for this king in the future..."

"Your Highness, be careful!" Gu Li coughed with a straight face, the old man's face was gloomy, and he didn't know what he was planning.

"Cough... When the new emperor ascends the throne in the future, for the sake of the king of Chu's low profile, he won't make things difficult for him. Besides, if the patriarch Ling does not lose his virtue, he has to ask to resign, and the king of Chu will always belong to the Song family. Patriarch..."

"Oh, Your Highness is too optimistic. Taizu Youyan Emperor and Donggong are not concurrently serving as clan orders, but he never said that the retiring clan orders cannot be emperor. Your Majesty is to stabilize people's hearts. Follow up!"

No matter how the outside world guesses, the new patriarchal order is buried in the file of the clan mansion, and is being compared with the file by the old and childlike father.

"My Luo Kingdom's royal family is thin, so why are there so many files?" Song Yi stood on tiptoe while holding the files on the floor, and saw the "Book of Boys and Girls" written on it, and was amazed that the three or two people in the royal family could compile such a large number of files. Brochures are coming.

"The affairs of the royal family have always been complicated. To compile the jade certificate, not only the sons, but also the daughters, sons, and daughters of the concubine, and the status and family history of their biological mother and adoptive mother are also included in it. The clan mansion manages the royal family and establishes a relationship with ordinary people The rules of repairing the family tree are different. Don't underestimate the responsibility of the clan order, you have a lot of power and responsibility now."

Emperor Ningde touched the top of Song Yi's hair, and seeing that the youngest son was soft, he bent down to hug him.Seeing this, Derun hurried forward two steps, looking at the trembling arm of the emperor, and dared not move. "Your Majesty, servants, come here."

"I'm old, I'm old." Emperor Ning De bent down slowly, and put Song Yi back on the ground, only to feel that his arms were sore.

"Father is not old, it is son who grows taller."

Song Yi opened the jade certificate, and saw that the lineage of the emperor had been passed down to the ninth generation, with seven sons and three daughters under Emperor Ningde, and the emperor's last book had the words "the seventh son, Prince Chu, Yi".This was compiled by Song Yi when he was two years old in the 45th year of Ningde. "Do you need to read all these files?"

"No need," Emperor Ningde sent the palace staff to collect the files, and the little eunuchs worked tirelessly to clean up the mess caused by the emperor's whim, "You need to understand, but you don't need to do everything yourself. The first thing you need to learn is to determine which ones you personally Look, tell the people below to look at them, the people below may deceive you when you are young, you can't let them fool you."

"Yes, my son will take the prosperity of the clan as his duty."

"Ruling a big country and ruling a small family lead to the same goal. Yi'er will learn first." Derun presented the newly compiled roster, and Emperor Ningde flipped through it in his hand, and then handed it to Song Yi. "Yi'er has a look at the roster of religious studies that King Xunyang handed over today."

Song Yi took the roster with both hands and opened it carefully.The room was already bright, but the old eunuch Derun was worried that he would hurt his eyes, so he ordered Delin to bring the candlestick closer.Four generations of children, counting side branches, there are only three males, two of whom Song Yi met not long ago.The twins looked alike, but not exactly alike.Although Song Jingxin showed affection to him, she was frizzy, but Song Jingshi looked more stable.

"King Xunyang will come back tomorrow, and you tell him that the ancestral studies of the fiefdoms of the vassals should also be done." Emperor Ningde said: "Let him order to go down and report the number of children of the right age in the clan. If there are those who need to study, There is no need to wait for the decree to go back, Wang Fu Ji Shan and Professor can start preparations first."

Song Yi put down the roster, straightened his clothes and kowtowed to the emperor: "Your minister leads the decree."

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Happy New Year's Day~

[1] Sort out the relationship between the characters of the imperial family

The first generation: Emperor Ningde and Laozong Renling (Wu Wang), these two people are cousins

The second generation: Song Xu (Prince), Song Yi (King of Chu), seven men and three women in the second generation, all those who did not appear in the scene died young

The third generation: King Qingjiang, King Pingjiang, King Dongqing

The fourth generation: Song Jingshi and Song Jingxin from the Wang family of Qingjiang, Song Jingrui and three county heads of the Wang family of Pingjiang, and two county heads of the Wang family of Dongqing

The protagonists are Song Yi and Song Jingxin, the others don't need to care, everything will change soon~