At the end of the Han Dynasty, the custom of staying up late during the New Year had begun to take shape. Although it differed from place to place, the custom of lighting candles and keeping the whole family up late to celebrate the New Year still existed.

So, seeing that the New Year's banquet was calm and the weather was not getting too early, Gongsun Xun simply announced the dissolution of the banquet and asked all the ministers to go home to celebrate the New Year, which was also to facilitate his own private banquet to watch the New Year.

However, because the intentions of the several envoys who requested the request were very clear, at the end of the banquet, Gongsun Xun simply spent less than a quarter of an hour communicating with these people one by one and gave clear answers.

Of course he comforted the soldiers with kind words, and Gongsun Xun even asked him if he had any intention of staying as an official under his command?

If there is, he will directly join the Tai Pavilion as an official. If not, it doesn't matter, then he will reward the other party generously so that he can go back with peace of mind. The words were clear, but the soldiers and warriors were already prepared for this, and kowtowed directly to express gratitude, and changed their words on the spot.

He was called a minister of the State of Yan.

Gongsun Xun was naturally satisfied, and on the grounds that he had come a long way and had no place to watch the New Year's Eve, he left him to stay at the Tongque Tower, where he stayed with the guards and Yi Cong to watch the New Year's Eve together.

Next, regarding Liu Hao, Yan Gong reiterated the inevitability of conquering Shu in front of many envoys, and then persuaded him to surrender as before, but in the end he still maintained his dignity and left the embarrassing third son of Liu Yan to stay in Tongque

tower.

Next was Liu Biao's envoy Kuai Liang.

In fact, after the handover of Nanyang was completed and Gongsun Xun publicly expressed his willingness to conquer Shu, Hebei and Jingzhou no longer had too many core interests involved. The intention of Kuai Liang's trip was a political gesture to express submission and avoid war.

, plus a request to bring back Huang Zhong and his troops.

In response to this, Gongsun Xun refused very directly and refused to give it!

The reason was also very high. He wanted to use these Jingzhou soldiers to repair the old capital of Luoyang, so instead of giving them, he asked Kuai Liang to go back and inform Liu Biao, and send tens of thousands more people over to show Liu Biao and everyone in Jingzhou's loyalty to the Han Dynasty.

Sincerity and respect for him, the Duke of Yan.

Kuai Liang had no choice but to obey and sit back in his seat, but Gongsun Xun actually didn't say anything and left the man who also came from afar to stay at the Tongque Terrace.

Next, the conditions and requirements of Liu Bei's envoy Zhang Hong were very direct and very maneuverable... The conditions he brought were that the two sides should peacefully hand over the land of the Huaihe River to the Huaihe River with spring plowing as the boundary; the requirement was that

Return Liu Ye and the Guandu prisoners.

In this regard, Gongsun Xun was also very realistic. He recognized and even respected Liu Bei's excellent suggestion of avoiding casualties and taking care of agricultural production. He agreed in principle, but according to the amnesty order he personally issued after the war, Liu Ye and his troops

The surrendered soldiers have been pardoned, so their wishes should be respected... In a word, because Liu Bei put forward a very constructive opinion, he was willing to let go of the restrictions and would not retain those who wanted to go to Jiangnan with Liu Bei.

But Liu Bei has no reason to take away those who want to stay in Hebei or return to Huaihe and Huaihe for resettlement!

Zhang Hong seemed to have already obtained the bottom line of the negotiation. Seeing that Gongsun Xun was so direct and frank, he simply agreed on the spot.

Immediately, Zhang Hong was also detained and stayed on the Tongque Terrace.

Qin Song, Sun Quan's next envoy, did not surprise Gongsun Xun. He did not even give Yan Gong the chance to have a son like Sun Quan... Think about it, Sun Ce just died in Hebei, and the Sun family would not do anything.

Maybe he said the word "surrender" so quickly, even when Sun Quan had just ascended the throne, and the young master was doubtful. It was hard to say whether the internal opinions could be unified and whether they could be continued. How could there be any explanation?

In fact, the only thing about Qin Song that attracted the attention of the officials in Ye was that he, as an envoy from afar, was not allowed to stay at Tongque Terrace together with Kuai Liang... You must know that Duke Yan had not returned before

, Aunt Gongsun is the one who makes the decision here. According to her order, many single officials, officers, and even soldiers who are from other places are allowed to stay in Tongquetai today, and are rewarded with wine and meat to participate in the New Year's Eve!

It can only be said that the expulsion of these two people back to the post house directly reflects Duke Yan's personal likes and dislikes! I don't know if it is directed at these two people or the people behind them.

In fact, there is nothing much to say about staying up late on the New Year's Eve. It's just a matter of eating a meal and working hard. The only thing worth mentioning is that Duke Yan did not return for a whole seven months, but after he distributed the rewards and paid condolences to the officials who stayed at Tongquetai

, took the opportunity to go back to the back hall and talked a few more words with his family.

Especially Aunt Gongsun, after this battle, the mother and son should have had some communication.

In fact, I saw Gongsun Xun and Aunt Gongsun sitting together in the back corner of the hall. In addition to the maids serving fresh tea around them, the Queen of Yan (actually just the wife of the Duke) Zhao Yun and others were restraining their children.

Zhizhiqu did not disturb him, but the cats were carefully supervised for the time being.

"I just checked the reward list and found out that after my uncle's wife passed away in Chang'an a few years ago, he never renewed his relationship. Does mother know about this?"

Unexpectedly, neither mother nor son talked about the death of Cao Cao and Lu Bu. Instead, they started from an unexpected topic.

"I only found out a few days ago." Aunt Gongsun adjusted her glasses, which meant she looked a little embarrassed. "This may be my fault..."

"How do you say it?" Gongsun Xun couldn't help but be curious.

"Shortly after his wife passed away, I gave him two maids from Sanhan, originally intended to be concubines." Aunt Gongsun adjusted her glasses again. "You also know the origins of those maids from Sanhan. Yours

Basically, no one among the subordinates cares about him, and those who care about him keep it to themselves... But I never expected that he has never been admitted to his room, and he has never married again. He is just left to raise his two sons."

"This is quite..." Gongsun Xun also felt a little embarrassed. "I have to arrange a marriage for him."

"It's not easy to find." Aunt Gongsun shook her head repeatedly. "Given her status and age, how can there be such a suitable widow? But if you want to find a decent and hair-dressed young girl, you have to consider your seniority and status."

"There is nothing wrong with Uncle Zhi's character and appearance." Gongsun Xun shook his head repeatedly. "He is one of the seven dignified prime ministers. One day in the future, when the Ding Ding is decided and the term system is decided, he cannot say that he will serve another term like Shen Zhengnan.

How can the Prime Minister not find a wife? Isn't this ridiculous?"

"It's not that they can't be found." Aunt Gongsun also became more and more helpless. "There must be a lot of people who are willing to marry their daughters, but either they really want to be rich and high-ranking, or they are worried about being said to be trying to get rich and high-ranking... The main thing is

It's my uncle's age. If he's younger than thirty-five, he can easily remarry anyway. If he's older than forty-five, the child's hair will be tied up, so there's no need to look for him. Only now.

, it’s really difficult.”

"The more this happens, the more we have to find someone." Gongsun Xun raised his hands in response. "After all, he could have easily renewed his string in Chang'an... Didn't we cut him off?"

Aunt Gongsun was also helpless for a while.

But after a while, for some reason, Aunt Gongsun looked at the person in front of the hall thoughtfully. Mother and son were connected. Gongsun Xun followed his mother's gaze and immediately thought of a candidate.

"Is it feasible?" Gongsun Xun was a little worried. "The seniority is indeed a rare match, but that girl didn't discuss marriage when she was seventeen or eighteen years old. It was as if Old Cai wanted to find a good match... I have always thought that Sima Yi would be suitable.

When can I tell him about it?"

"Sima Yi went to Zhang Chunhua to ask for Cai's daughter?" Aunt Gongsun disagreed. "You are the same. Let's not talk about the mandarin ducks. Don't you think his Hanoi Township Party is not strong enough?"

Gongsun Xun smiled slightly but said nothing more.

Knowing a son is better than a mother. When Aunt Gongsun saw her son laughing, she immediately understood: "Don't laugh at me for being sensitive. Isn't it the same if you kill Lu Bu?"

Gongsun Xun didn't speak. It would be wrong to say anything at this time.

"Let's put it this way." Aunt Gongsun suddenly felt relaxed. "After the New Year, I will go and talk to Old Man Cai. If he really doesn't want to marry, forget it. If he is hesitant, I will just go with the flow for my mother's sake.

…”

Gongsun Xun nodded slightly, but continued to look at the hall, which was gradually getting lively because of too many children and too many cats, and hesitated to speak.

"What did A Li say?" Aunt Gongsun made it clear. "You were worried about Lu Fu before and never agreed. Now Lu Fu is no longer like that on the battlefield. You have given Lu Ziheng such a big compensation, so you won't be able to do it again."

Have you hesitated?"

"Then Zhuge Liang!" Gongsun Xun took a sip of tea and sighed slightly. "Didn't my mother say it many times? There really is no better candidate."

"Then it's settled!" Aunt Gongsun also breathed a sigh of relief. "I remember when that girl was a child, I thought about Zhou Yu and Sun Ce, but you killed them all in this battle and chopped off their heads!"

"Everyone was already married before the killing. How could someone who is a prince and the head of the new generation of the first family in Yangzhou not be engaged since childhood? And with Sun Ce's kind of character, you would not be happy to see your mother.

"

"That's true, I don't know where Xiao Qiao is?"

"Don't think about Xiao Qiao, just let them live a peaceful life. It's not a good thing if you don't marry those two people."

"What about... Ading? From the Zhen family... Zhen Ji?" The mother and son talked more smoothly.

"Does this need to be said? I promised this marriage more than ten years ago, and I can't change my mind."

"A Ping is Dong Bai...if you are over fifteen, you are still short of A Zhen."

"Does mother have anyone to choose?"

"What do you think of Wen Hui? He is a very well-educated child, but he is still an orphan and his family is clean."

"Okay..." Gongsun Xun had a good impression of Wen Hui, so he nodded directly after thinking for a moment.

In other words, this was not because he looked down upon Gongsun Zhen, but mainly because when he came back this time, his son was promoted to the rank of General of the Five-Fun Zhonglang. As a father, he had already gained some consciousness and had to let go.

"Actually, according to 'experience', the children of the royal family should have married with the children of meritorious officials, especially after Yuan Cong and Wu Xun." Aunt Gongsun sighed slightly again. "When the news of Lu Fu's death came, I thought about Lu Zhi.

Lu Ju is actually a pretty good kid, but his personality is a bit impatient."

"There are many girls in Ayue, let's give him one." Gongsun Xun said disapprovingly. "The main reason is that my own children, especially the four eldest ones, have been raised by me since they were young. Fortunately, I have many children. In the future,

Let’s talk more slowly.”

"But if you say so, what about A Ping's marriage? Wasn't it used by you to appease Dong Zhuo's old men?"

"Half and half, I still have some personal relationship with Dong Zhuo. He also helped me a lot when I was in Bingzhou. Moreover, I had made up my mind that day to kill his brother and nephew to thank the world... In other words, at that time,

The Dong family is already regarded as the last descendant, so I couldn’t bear it for a while.”

"It still seems a bit unfair to Aping. Because of this marriage, he is often kept at a distance in school."

"Why?"

"Why? Careful people always think that you want to support him to restrict Ading, but Ading's status is unshakable in the long run, so smart people can't help but worry that one day he will be thrown out by you to sacrifice."

"Why is this so?"

"This is an ordinary 'story' of the emperor's family."

The mother and son suddenly fell into silence.

Although it was an imperial family, it was transformed from an ordinary family after all. The head of the family, Gongsun Auntie, had never been successful, so the situation in the hall not far away had long been out of control. At this time, Gongsun Xun’s youngest daughter, who was also known as Mrs. Cai,

The one who came out was only three years old. He didn't even have a name. He could barely walk and was learning to talk. He escaped directly from his sister Gongsun Zhen's arms. Gongsun Zhen was talking to his sister Gongsun Li, so
To be continued...