Chapter 341 Helping each other

The fourth day of June is the mild summer heat.

As the saying goes, "The first time the warm wind arrives; the second time the crickets take up residence; the third time the eagles begin to fly." The wind blowing in the Xiaoshu season is always warm. Soon, cricket fights will be seen everywhere in Chang'an City.

Xue Bai was sitting in his study, looking at the map and making preparations to leave Chang'an.

The door creaked, and along with the sound of soft footsteps, a pair of warm hands covered his eyes.

"Sister, please stop making trouble, Yan Yan is not as naive as you."

"I haven't spoken yet, how do you know it's me?" Yang Yuyao asked with a smile.

"Who else in this house would dare except Sister?" Xue Bai naturally rolled up the map of Nanzhao on the desk and put it aside, "Didn't you agree not to disturb me during the day?"

"Do I want to disturb you? Yang Guozhong is here, please let me know."

"It's just for entertainment. I'm going to see him."

"You don't have to be too polite to him." Yang Yuyao sneered slightly.

Not long ago, the imperial concubine left the palace, and the Yang family was in some trouble. Not long after that, the imperial court restored Zhang Yizhi's official title and gave an official position to the descendants of the Zhang family. There were vague rumors in the market that Yang Guozhong was Zhang Yizhi's illegitimate son.

Others may not understand this matter, but Yang Yuyao knew that Yang Guozhong was paving an escape route, so that if the Yang family fell one day, he, the emperor's favorite, would not be implicated.

In the final analysis, my brother's character is not good enough, and he is far inferior to Xue Bai, his sworn brother, who can share the joys and sorrows together.

Moreover, the adopted brother is not only reliable, but also trustworthy.

~~

The front yard is already filled with gifts.

Xue Bai had just arrived, and a long gift list had been handed to him. He glanced at it briefly and said, "Brother, why are you so polite?"

"This is to express my gratitude to Ah Bai for recommending me as an entertainment envoy before the emperor." Yang Guozhong stepped forward with an eager look on his face, took Xue Bai's hand, and said with emotion: "Although your surname is not Yang, you are from the Yang family.

Lucky star."

It's a pity that although his surname is Yang, the Yang family already thinks that his surname is Zhang.

Xue Bai asked: "The sage has decreed that you should take over?"

"That's not the case yet." Yang Guozhong said: "I think in the heart of the saint, only you can handle this job well. I am here to ask you for advice. I have an idea. I will also build a secret room..."

"Just in time, I also have something I want to ask you about, about Jiannan Jiedu Envoy."

Yang Guozhong laughed loudly and said: "You go to Nanzhao, I serve the saint well, and you and I can help each other run the errands."

He was originally from Sichuan and Sichuan, and had extensive connections in Sichuan and Sichuan, so he had an idea after thinking about it for a while.

"Let's go, I'll take you to meet someone, take my carriage, and we'll talk in detail on the way..."

Yang Guozhong did not come by carriage, but the two families lived close to each other, so Xue Bai went to his house to board the carriage and set off together.

The carriage was very spacious, but there were four plump maids sitting there, occupying the seats so much that Xue Bai didn't know where to sit.

"Abai please."

Yang Guozhong sat down in the arms of two fat maids, raised his hand and asked Xue Bai to sit on the other side.

Xue Bai shook his head and said: "It's too hot, please get down."

"They'll fan you."

Speaking of which, there are many dignitaries in Chang'an who keep their maids around to keep themselves warm in the winter, but the maids of the Yang Guozhong family are the most famous because they are fat and beautiful. They are called the "meat array". It is not easy to raise such maids.

Select those with outstanding looks and fatten them up, but they have to lose weight.

After finally setting off, Xue Bai asked: "Who are we going to see?"

"Do you know Zhangchou Jianqiong?"

"I've heard a little bit about it."

"It was through his recommendation that I returned to Chang'an from Sichuan and Shu to serve as an official." Yang Guozhong said: "He stayed in Sichuan and Shu for eight years, and Tianbao returned to Chang'an for five years to serve as the Minister of Household Affairs."

"In recent years, it is rare to see Zhangchou Jianqiong involved in major court affairs."

"He is sick." Yang Guozhong said, "He is sick. He always feels that the right prime minister wants to harm him. Oh, that's why he asked me to bring gifts back to the court to take care of him."

As he spoke, he laughed, changed the topic, and said: "We will discuss the Sichuan-Sichuan matter after meeting Zhangchou Jianqiong. Let's talk about the entertainment envoy first."

"That's fine."

"I have an idea. I want to change "Youxian Cave" into a secret room."

Xue Bai was surprised when he heard this. He had also read "Youxian Cave" and said it was a fairy tale. In fact, it was basically about the process of raping a prostitute.

He then said: "If this is the case, it would be better to take the saint to Nanqu."

"That's so indecent." Yang Guozhong was very confident in his idea and said: "I plan to arrange a god in the secret room, so that the saint can gain cultivation as long as he passes the test of the god. At the end of the secret room,

There will be a goddess who will answer the saint with poems and music. If the saint can answer the question, he can practice both..."

"This is really...a genius idea."

"Do you think it's feasible?"

Xue Bai didn't know whether Li Longji's body could withstand Yang Guozhong's grinding, but the idea sounded really good, so he nodded.

Yang Guozhong was overjoyed and said: "I have thought about it for a long time. It will definitely make the saint like it, but some details are really difficult to control."

"It must be difficult to create a fairyland so realistic that a saint can enter the situation?"

"That's what I mean, please give me a helping hand..."

As long as they could take advantage of each other, neither of them minded such hypocrisy. After chatting for a while, the carriage drove into Anrenfang, turned into an alley, and stopped in front of a rather remote mansion.

The house is very large, but the side door is very small. This shows that Zhangchou Jianqiong is very low-key in Chang'an.

Yang Guozhong sent someone to lock the door, but the concierge opened the door a small crack and said directly: "My Alang is seriously ill and we won't see any guests."

"This is my uncle." The servant of the Yang family said very proudly with his nostrils turned upward.

The concierge of Zhang Chou's family quickly ran to open the door, greeted Yang Guozhong respectfully, and then ran to invite Zhang Chou Jianqiong to come out to meet him.

Yang Guozhong once served as Zhangchou Jianqiong's staff when he was in Sichuan and Shu. Now the status of the two has been reversed. He has no respect for Zhangchou Jianqiong. Instead, he is a little unhappy because of this unintentional neglect and swaggers to sit in the hall.

Wait next time.

After waiting for a while, when no one came, Yang Guozhong couldn't help but sneer slightly and said: "Don't forget that Zhangchou Jianqiong has a high official position now, but his family background is not very good."

"Really?" Xue Bai responded casually.

At a time when people in the world were very concerned about family background and sought after high-ranking nobles, Xue Bai didn't care at all and listened with the attitude of knowing more about Zhang Chou Jian Qiong.

"Zhangchou Jianqiong likes to pay tribute to his ancestors. He said that he was the descendant of Zhanghan, the Yong king of the Qin and Han Dynasties. He took the name Zhangqiu because he fled to Qiu Mountain. He also said that his ancestors had served as governors and high-ranking officials such as prefects for several generations. I

Tell you, it’s fake.”

"oh?"

"It's true that Zhang Qiu's family has only been homeless for more than six hundred years. They married a barbarian and their bloodline is impure." Yang Guozhong laughed and said: "There is another interesting thing that happened to me when I was in Sichuan. At that time

, Zhangchou Jianqiong has been appointed as the Jiedushi of Jiannan, and I serve as his assistant. There is another minister named Xu Yuan, who is the great-grandson of Prime Minister Xu Jingzong. Zhangchou Jianqiong saw that Xu Yuan's family was extraordinary, and wanted to marry his daughter to Xu Yuan.

Far, guess what?"

Xue Bai said: "Did Xu Yuan refuse?"

"As expected, I refused." Yang Guozhong said: "How can a high-ranking member of the Xu family marry the Zhangchou family? Even if she is the daughter of Jiannan Jiedushi."

After hearing this story, Xue Bai became more and more interested and asked: "So, Zhangchou Jianqiong was from a humble background, and in less than two years, he was able to move from being a sixth-grade host and guest official in the Ministry of Etiquette to a foreign minister.

The Jiannan Jiedu Envoy must have extraordinary abilities?"

"I just don't know." Yang Guozhong said, "When I arrived under his tent, he was already a military envoy. Who knows how he moved up there. Maybe he gave gifts, he is used to giving gifts."

After waiting for a while, the sound of hurried footsteps came from the back hall, and Zhangchou Jianqiong arrived.

"Uncle Lao Guo has been waiting for a long time. Sometimes we miss you from afar, sometimes you miss us from afar."

"Mr. Zhang Qiu." Yang Guozhong did not get up, but remained polite in his tone and said with a smile: "After you returned to Chang'an, you didn't go out for a long time. If I hadn't come to visit you in person, I would never have seen you again."

"Uncle Guo is laughing at me. I suffered from all kinds of illnesses in Sichuan in my early years. I came back to Chang'an to recuperate..."

Xue Bai knew that Zhangchou Jianqiong was only in his fifties, but looking at him, he looked like he was in his sixties, with sunken eye sockets and a sad look on his face. He did not look like the military commander who had once been a powerful military commander.

Over there, Yang Guozhong exchanged some pleasantries, introduced Xue Bai, and said: "This is my sworn brother, Xue Bai, whose name is Wujiu. Although Zhang Qiu Gong does not often go to royal banquets, he must know that the saint values ​​him very much."

"I've heard about Xue Lang for a long time." Zhangchou Jianqiong said hurriedly, "I play dominoes every day."

"I often hear the name Zhang Qiu Gong." Xue Bai bowed and said, "I have many things I would like to ask you."

Zhangchou Jianqiong asked in surprise: "Where did Mr. Xue often hear my name from?"

"Li Bai, Du Fu."

"Really?" Zhangchou Jianqiong was greatly surprised, with surprise on his tired face.

He was not from a high family and could not write poetry, so he envied people who could write poetry.

Xue Bai said: "Brother Taibai gave a friend a poem that said, 'I heard that you visited Jincheng in the past years, and Zhangqiu Shangshu walked over to welcome you.' He highly praised Zhangqiu Gong."
To be continued...