Si Tian Guan

For Liu Chongming, the holidays are not something to look forward to.

He had to go back to the Hou's Mansion, not to mention his family members who usually only saw him a few times a month, because his father was not a lively character, and he needed to take care of many entertainments and situations.

The only people my father met with were the respected elders of the clan and the old ministers of the court, so the separation of other clansmen, the many visitors who handed over postcards, and many other trivial matters required Liu Chongming to come forward.

So even though he doesn't serve in the court, many people in the court and the family are very familiar with Liu Chongming.

He is still young now, and he is undecided. His father also said that he respects his choice, and getting to know these people is a good choice, and he has to deal with them.

On the other hand, more people don't want Prince Andinghou to be separated from court affairs, and of course no one would believe it.

After being busy until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Liu Weizheng took over these matters and asked his son to go out to breathe.

According to the usual practice, there are many juniors of the same generation in the branches of the main family of Bailiu, not to mention distant relatives.

Liu Chongming would say hello to have a lively and relaxing time, and then drive a few boats, floating aimlessly on the inland river along Xijing Street.

The older ones like to stay in the cabin and drink to the poems, while the younger ones are crowded on the deck, vying to put the river lanterns on.

This is a rare time of year when you can relax and play.

After Liu Chongming and Bai Shiyan had a round of drinking with the people below, they went up to the deck to enjoy the breeze. As the night fell, many river lanterns had been dotted on the river surface, reflecting bright red dots in the dark water.

There are still many people on both sides of the strait calling for friends, buying lanterns and guessing riddles, which is very lively.

Liu Chongming leaned against the ship's side with his hand stove in his hands, quietly looking at the shore, watching the candied fruit buyers push their wheelbarrows and walk away yelling all the way.

At this time last year, the juniors were clamoring for sugar, and he would not buy these things in the market on weekdays. He also enthusiastically called the sellers on the boat and bought a lot for everyone on the boat.

But now that I saw it, I couldn't even arouse any interest.Thinking about it carefully, it seems that he hasn't had the idea of ​​trying these things on his own initiative for a long time.

Maybe it's because there are too many troubles.

"What are you thinking about?" Bai Shiyan leaned aside, as if he was not afraid of the cold. In this weather, he only wore a layer of fine fleece quilted, not even a cloak.

"Don't be brave." Liu Chongming signaled his servants to bring over a cloak: "Put on more, if you get sick, aunt will stay up all night to take care of you."

"There's wine." Bai Shiyan didn't reject his offer, put on his clothes obediently, shook the wine jug at him, saw the other party shake his head, and continued with the previous question: "This year has just started, is it hard to make it?" Are you starting to think about getting money into the account this year?"

Liu Chongming looked at him with a smile: "So what's the matter? Who would think that money is too little?"

"How much can the Qisheng Tower earn?" Bai Shiyan didn't go around with him, and asked directly: "I remember that you were not optimistic about it before."

For this question, Liu Chongming was not surprised, he knew that the other party would not be able to help asking sooner or later.

"It doesn't work like this now. In the spring of next year, we need to do some construction work and re-organize the layout. I plan to drink tea and rest downstairs. Half of the upstairs will be divided into the Treasure Pavilion for appreciating and playing, and the other half will recruit some dancers from the Western Regions, Storyteller or something."

Bai Shiyan was very dissatisfied with his answer, which was obviously avoiding the important ones.

"Chongming, you know what I'm asking."

"I didn't buy Qisheng Building with money. Don't you know about it? So what if you don't like it? Some people give it away for free, why don't I want it?"

"Why did Pan He send you Qisheng Tower?"

"Last year, he made a boat trip with someone. If it wasn't for me, he would have lost all his money. He owed me a favor. He planned to run away this year, but he was afraid that it would be too risky to go by himself, so he wanted to follow me in spring. How can you beg me if you don’t show me that the merchant ship is going on the waterway?”

Liu Chongming said it simply, but he didn't tell his friend the deeper matter - Pan He would take the initiative to reach out to buy Qisheng Tower, and he bought it to curry favor with him after gaining insight into his plan while chatting with him.

The ins and outs sounded very clear. After thinking about it, Bai Shiyan also felt that he was making a fuss over a molehill.

But thinking about the fact that the Qisheng Building was going around and actually fell into Chongming's hands, he felt uneasy no matter how he thought about it.

"Are you worried about me being plotted against?" Liu Chongming asked him.

Baishi Yanxin nodded unwillingly, but he also felt that what Chongming said before had some truth.

Pan He's boat accident involved a lot of things before and after, like a mess, if that person could even figure this out, why bother to suffer so much, and was almost killed several times.

Chongming couldn't figure out all these contradictions, let alone him.

"If it's a calculation, what good is it for him? Even the deed of sale is in my hands. I can use it if I want to use it, sell it if I want to, and sell it if I want to. If I want his life, he has no room for resistance. What flowers are there?"

It's okay if Liu Chongming didn't explain, but when he explained, it made Bai Shiyan feel uneasy: "Chongming, who are you talking about?"

"Shi Yan, don't play charades with me, we grew up together, I know you are worried about me."

Liu Chongming was silent for a moment: "I admit that he is indeed a bit interesting, but it is not too much to let people down. I have people watching him over there in Qisheng Building. If there is any situation, I will tell me in time."

Bai Shiyan kicked the railing up and down, and he sighed after a while.

"It's good if you have a plan in your heart. You were busy in the mansion a few days ago, and Fang Wuyang didn't want to harass you. He replied to me and said that except for six of the people in the brochure, I couldn't find them. It is……"

Even if he didn’t say anything later, Liu Chongming knew what to say. Of the 48 divination cases, 42 of them were fulfilled. Although Du Quan didn’t have the guts to clearly record what the divination words said, the accuracy is enough to make people worry. shock.

"When I see him sometime, please say thank you to me, and tell him not to talk nonsense." In fact, the last sentence was superfluous, as Liu Chongming knew that Fang Wuyang was not a big-mouthed person.

He tapped his fingers on the side of the boat and looked at the water.

"Shi Yan, in fact, I wasn't really thinking about Qisheng Tower just now. Have you heard about the two princes a year ago?"

"Why?" Bai Shiyan was very happy to listen to Liu Chongming talk about the affairs of the court, knowing that Chongming didn't really have no desire for official career, and that was what he wanted to see.

If Chongming really has no intention of official career, even if Liu Qingchi gets promoted step by step, the Liu family will probably start to go downhill. At that time, the Bai family may try to split up and act independently, and he doesn't want to see this situation.

"Last year, King Ning's subordinates were not good at suppressing the bandits, and they provoked rioters. The emperor had already dealt with it, and he even reminded King Ning to restrain his subordinates. Zhezi, it has been making trouble until Kuanniangen."

Bai Shiyan sneered: "The emperor is concentrating on praying for blessings at this time, chasing the dog in the water like this, the dog can't hit it, which makes the emperor unhappy, who has no eyesight is dragging the queen's legs."

"Do you have eyesight? Everyone has a mirror in their hearts. I'm just curious. With Jiang Xingzhi beside King Qi, why didn't he stop him?"

"Perhaps he thinks it's a good time to get rid of King Ning? After all, the matter of King Ning's affair with King Huai hasn't been turned over yet. Punishment for multiple crimes can suppress people?"

"Are you kidding? King Ning is the first prince, and this matter alone can be suppressed. What else are they playing? Jiang Xingzhi is not so stupid. However, King Ning's Si Tianguan is taken down, and King Qi is a little bit better. , I just don’t know which one came up this time.”

Bai Shiyan looked at the river, and suddenly said: "The last time Jiang Xingshang changed the banquet to Qisheng Tower, and sent someone to Brother Xiaoqu's hometown to inquire. Tell me...does he plan to get Brother Xiaoqu there?"

"I also thought about it before, what you said is not impossible," Liu Chongming let out a long breath: "But he may have miscalculated a little bit."

"Which point?"

"It's not that you haven't seen Qu Shenzhou's dumbness. He is not someone Jiang Xingzhi can fiddle with if he wants to. What's more, it's unknown whether he has the ability to fool the emperor."

Liu Chongming thought about how many times he was furious with anger, and smiled helplessly: "Qu Chenzhou, he can't get a fart with three sticks, he is stubborn and hard, do you think the emperor can bear him? He is full of doubts, if the morning Entering the palace, someone should collect his body at noon, does Jiang Xingzhi still want his head?"

"I just said that I'm not smart enough in this area, and you always talk to me about these things." Bai Shiyan laughed: "After that year, there will probably be another big show. I bet this time that King Ning will win."

"Then I can't gamble anymore. I'll bet on King Ning too. My father said that the servants of Tang have always made small moves recently, and their hands are about to reach out from the gate to my father. Looking at that posture, they not only want to guard the gate, but also want to get the minister. The province also swallowed it."

"I don't know if there is peace in the palace, and I guess I ventilated it to the empress's side. There was a quarrel between the two sides in Nian Gen, and the emperor became sick with anger. The empress was afraid that the position of the crown prince had not yet been determined, and the emperor would let go. .”

"I really don't understand what the emperor is thinking." Bai Shiyan interrupted after seeing that there was no one around.

"Is there anything I don't understand? The three princes each have their strengths and weaknesses, and it's normal to be indecisive. If the emperor really suddenly disappears, I think King Qi has greater hopes."

Bai Shiyan also agrees: "Naturally, King Qi is in charge of the sixteen guards of Nanya, and the news in the palace is the most well-informed, but it's hard to say, the queen, Concubine Ming and Concubine Yu are also in the palace. , it’s not certain who will win the deer.”

"So, we are actually the farthest away," Liu Chongming glanced at him and said with a smile, "General Bai, work harder."

"Why should I try so hard?" Bai Shiyan laughed angrily, "I already have six armies in the Northern Yamen, and you still expect the emperor to give me the Nanya too?"

"Why is that impossible? I heard that the Nanbei Yamen and the Jinxiu Camp used to be in the hands of the same person."

"You mean Pei Dutong?" Bai Shiyan thought about it carefully: "Forget it, my father seems to have a very good relationship with Pei Dutong in the early years, and even he didn't know what happened to Pei Dutong in the end. It’s not good to die without a whole body, don’t even think about it.”

He looked at Liu Chongming, and asked again: "Don't just worry about running on me, what about yourself?"

Chongming is so concerned about what happened in the court, does he really have no plans to become an official?

After all, the coronation ceremony will be held in one year. With the Liu family's status and the emperor's attitude towards Chongming, it is possible to go anywhere, and it depends on how Chongming speaks.

"I haven't thought about it yet," Liu Chongming thought for a long time before slowly answering: "It doesn't matter to me whether I become an official or not. I just want to know what happened to my brother back then. Shi Yan, you think I should go Where? Where can I find the truth?"

Bai Shiyan covered his head: "Don't tell me these things, you can discuss it with others, I'm just a soldier."

Liu Chongming also smiled wryly, besides talking to Bai Shiyan, who else could talk about it.

If only someone could help him...

As soon as this thought came out, another shadow suddenly appeared in his mind, and that hand that was calmly and clangingly dropped made him even stop breathing for a moment.

If Shi Yan knew that he still thought of that person from time to time, he didn't know what he would be nagging him about.

"You didn't talk to your uncle about these things?" Bai Shiyan asked.

Liu Chongming shook his head, his father was completely different from him.

Although his father, apart from the hereditary Marquis of Anding, also held an important position in the imperial court, he seemed to be in the world but was actually born in the world. Apart from taking care of the things within his duties, he didn't talk too much about other things, so he was always regarded as a man of standing. Central figure in neutral position.

And he seems to be free from the imperial court, but he is more considerate than many people who have entered the officialdom, and he is simply born to worry about life.

"What about the second uncle?"

The second uncle Bai Shiyan mentioned was Liu Weizheng's younger brother Liu Weixian, and Liu Chongming's second uncle who served as the Minister of the Household Department. Like the Bai family, they were the most frequent branches.

Liu Chongming also shook his head.

It is not difficult to ask the second uncle to do something, but it is impossible to talk to the second uncle about serious matters.

Liu Weixian's romantic reputation is all over the capital, until now there is no official wife in the mansion, only a few maidservants, although there are also two concubines, they will inevitably shrink in front of Liu Chongming, the relationship is not very close.

The few times he saw the second uncle recently, the second uncle was smiling and wanted to exchange "things that men only understand" with him, and even planned to give him a few, which annoyed him terribly.

To be honest, if it weren't for the uncle Bai Shining and the aunt's husband and wife who were deeply in love, Liu Chongming would have no interest in starting a family just looking at the situation of his own family and his second uncle's family.

"If you can't figure it out, don't think about it. You'll make trouble for yourself before the year is over." Bai Shiyan called someone over, poured Liu Chongming a glass of wine, and handed it over: "Another year has passed, another year older , don't want to say something?"

Liu Chongming did not refuse his wine this time, but looked at the hazy lanterns reflected in the wine, and sighed softly: "Congratulations, it's been another year..."

During the Chinese New Year this year, the weather was cold, and it took nearly two months before it gradually warmed up and we could start work.

The Qisheng Building has not been touched by civil engineering for more than ten years. After this major renovation, it was discovered that many places have been decayed. It is lucky that there have been no accidents in these years. It just happened to be refurbished together with this change of layout.

It took a little more time than expected. Bai Shiyan once laughed at him and said that Pan He had left him a mess, and he spent a lot of money like water before he made any money.

Of course Liu Chongming knew that he wouldn't make money-losing business, but he always had to put in more thought to make money. He couldn't be a hand-off shopkeeper in the process of rushing to work, so he had to come over from time to time to take a look.

Every time he was not far away, watching that figure busy together in the crowd.

Maybe it's because he hasn't received any harsh treatment anymore, and it's time to grow his body, but he hasn't seen him for more than half a year, and that person has grown a lot taller. He used to have the immature appearance of a child, but now he looks like a Pianpian boy.

Even with the hideous scars still shining brightly on his face, he stands out from the crowd and is very eye-catching.

Only those pair of calm demon pupils are still the same as before.

The first time he passed by, the man saw him, and after a brief eye contact, he looked away flatly, lowered his head and concentrated on doing his own thing.

It's been like this every time since.

Liu Chongming once suspected that the other party didn't see him, and when he went again, he called everyone to come over and give a lecture, and stood in front of Qu Chenzhou deliberately.

Unexpectedly, the other party just stared at it for a moment, and knelt down politely like everyone else, and kowtowed.

This made him feel a sense of frustration in his life, and he even somehow felt wronged like being prostituted for nothing.

He has been alone for more than ten years, and before encountering this disaster, he had never even touched anyone. Now he has been rumored by the streets and alleys for countless sexual affairs, and his reputation has been ruined for several years. He even defended himself. No chance.

After all, the instigator is himself, and this is the most damning thing.

Even Bai Shiyan sometimes winked at him and asked him if he had gone to the young lady in Linxing Huanyi Building again, and kindly suggested that he might as well try a few more restaurants. He could learn from Fang Wuyang for this kind of thing.

If he hadn't cultivated well enough, he really wanted to strangle Bai Shiyan and Qu Chenzhou to death.

From then on, he no longer took the initiative to look for that person's figure, even if he saw it occasionally, he told himself in his heart that he didn't see it on purpose.

Every time I go home, I feel belatedly... This kind of approach is really childish, but after a while, I will still pretend to be calm and think that the reconstruction of Qisheng Tower is still inseparable from him.

He came over to take a look without changing his mind, hoping that the other party would take another look at him, and then went home full of troubles.

He even wondered, did he spend those two months with a ghost?Now that a ghost has been reincarnated as a human, it doesn't remember anything at all?

The servants at the side saw him staring at the half-built Qisheng Tower, his expression gradually gloomy, and he didn't know what he was thinking, so he hurried forward and asked, "Master, what are you not satisfied with? Do you want to call the stewards to come over for you?" Tell me?"

"No, let's go back." He lifted the rein and turned the horse's head: "It's hot, bring them more water."

"Yes."

The horse's hooves hadn't started bumping yet, when the crowd in the distance suddenly started making noises, and everyone stopped their hands and rushed towards one direction.

"My lord, something seems to have happened over there."

The spectators were pushed aside by the attendants, and before Liu Chongming could see what was going on in the middle, a steward rushed to his horse in sweat, and bowed frequently in fear: "You have disturbed my son! "

"What happened?"

The steward wiped his sweat in embarrassment: "Master, there is...someone is fighting..."

Looking over the steward's shoulder, Liu Chongming saw the person in the crowd who was pushed to the ground. Although the person was lying on the ground with his hands twisted behind his back, his figure was familiar.

His voice paused, and just when he didn't know what to yell, there was a huge roar and choking billowing dust behind him.

The Qisheng Tower, which had already begun to take shape, suddenly collapsed, right where he had stopped not long ago.

The author has something to say: Let’s start the career line next, don’t blame Shizi for being slow, firstly, he needs to take on a lot, and secondly, Xiaoqu is indeed very suspicious. In fact, if we are together at once, there will be a feeling of abruptness and intellect. Regarding the people who appeared before, Pan He, King Qi, and Jiang Xingzhi, they all appeared later, and the situation and ability of Xiaoqu, I think it is in the conception I haven’t written at all in my daily life. I’ve been writing about the progress of the plot. The article will be very long. Don’t worry. Now a man who has been through a lot and has his own mind.And Liu Chongming himself has a lot of responsibilities, but he is still young and has not experienced anything. They need to get along with each other, don't worry. I love your comments very much, and I hope that I will not be affected as much as possible. I know that everyone wants to watch sweets right away. , read it slowly, I know from the previous article, there is sweetness, there is also abuse, follow the outline to develop