Taiping Inn

Because of the assassin, Zixuebie Khan did not rashly leave the old site of the royal court, but sent someone to report the news to the royal court first. He "held on and waited for help", and set up camp in this city, waiting for Yaomuhu Khan's response.

Zixuebie Khan could not leave, but the caravans had to leave. It had just snowed heavily, and they finally waited for the snow to stop. If they did not hurry up while the weather was clear, they would not be able to leave until the second heavy snow fell. If they missed the date and Xiao Yanshi's birthday, they would have no place to buy regret medicine.

Along the way, Li Xuan learned a lot about the recent situation of the royal court from Yue Libie.

According to Yue Libie, because the royal court was where the old Khan was stationed, although the other kings had their own soldiers, their strength was about a thousand people. The royal court was mainly guarded by the Qiexue Army, and the Qiexue Army was led by the Grand Commandant, who was now Ili Khan. In addition, there was the shaman force. The number of these shamans is naturally not as large as the tens of thousands of Qiexue troops, but they are respected and have good cultivation. Compared with the Central Plains court, they have the functions of the Ministry of Rites, the Imperial Observatory, the Honglu Temple, and the Ministry of Shrines, which should not be underestimated. Both families support Da Yanshi.

Logically speaking, with the support of Ili Khan and the shaman priests, Da Yanshi should have completely controlled the situation in the royal court. But the key lies in the attitude of the old Khan. After all, the old Khan is the master of the Golden Tent, the Qiexue troops are the old Khan's guards, and the shamans are the old Khan's servants. If the old Khan supports Xiao Yanshi and his young son, then Ili Khan and the shamans cannot openly oppose the old Khan, which gives Xiao Yanshi an opportunity. In the past ten years, Xiao Yanshi's power has developed rapidly, and many royal court dignitaries have turned to Xiao Yanshi. After accumulating a small number, she is not inferior to Ili Khan and many shamans who are in charge of the Qiexue troops. Seriously speaking, Zixuebie Khan and Yuejibie Khan both support Xiao Yanshi.

As for the female servants of the royal court under Xiao Yanshi's control, they are extremely mysterious. Even Yue Libie is not very clear. He only knows that there are also power divisions among these female servants. Some serve as guards beside Xiao Yanshi, while others conceal their identities and are distributed around the dignitaries of the royal court. Generally speaking, the female servants guarding Xiao Yanshi are very ugly and have dark skin, while those who sneak into the dignitaries of the royal court are very beautiful. Some are lowly female slaves, and some are the concubines of the Nayans. After all, many Nayans cannot be as pure as monks and not close to women. As long as they are greedy for beauty, they will be taken advantage of by these mysterious female servants. Xiao Yanshi controls the dignitaries of the royal court through these female servants.

Hearing this, Li Xuandu thought of the female sect. Why are the methods of the two so similar? Then he thought of Xie Zhi again. Could it be that this little Yanshi was also of a similar status to Xie Zhi?

Thinking of this, Li Xuandu followed the caravan closer and closer to the royal court, with only five days left.

…

Youzhou, Chaoyang Mansion, Qin Family.

A light snow drifted in, making the entire mansion covered in silver. The large lake in the mansion had frozen, making the three-story pavilion on the island in the middle of the lake look a little deserted. This was because the lake was privately owned by the eldest lady. According to the rules set by the eldest master himself, even the eldest master could not go up to the building without the eldest lady's permission, and strangers were not allowed to enter the lake without permission. The eldest lady also had a few maids in her early years, but as she got older, they were all dismissed, so this place was naturally deserted.

At this time, there were a few children skating and playing in the snow on the lake. They were all from the second branch of the Qin family, and they were at an innocent age, so Qin Su, the sister and aunt, made a leniency and did not refuse them to play here.

The cold weather could not stop the hot-tempered child, but the cat was afraid of the cold and had stopped going out. It curled up in the owner's arms, folded its hands, and dozed with its eyes squinting.

A white hand stroked the cat from time to time, and occasionally scratched its chin, which caused a comfortable "gurgling" sound.

Qin Su was lying on the couch on the third floor, holding Huang Lihua, whose name was "Golden Beans", in her arms. She was wearing a plain moon-white dress with floating cloud patterns embroidered on it, a stone blue jacket, and a jade bracelet on her right hand, which was emerald green, adding the finishing touch.

This bracelet was not given by Li Xuandu. The two bracelets given by Li Xuandu had long been kept by Qin Su. This bracelet was given by Li Feiyan. Although it was a Xumi treasure in itself, it was not a valuable thing for Qin Su. The key was that the meaning was different. This bracelet was originally a pair, passed down from Li Feiyan's mother to her and her sister Li Qingyun, one for each, waiting for them to pass it down to their daughters or daughters-in-law in the future. Li Qingyun's bracelet was passed down to Situ Xuance, but Li Feiyan's bracelet has been preserved to this day and then passed down to Qin Su, which shows that Qin Su is the daughter-in-law of the Li family.

Speaking of marriage, it is also called the good relationship between two surnames. Naturally, it is not as simple as a matter between two people, but it involves two families. For Li Xuandu and Qin Su, it is naturally the Li family and the Qin family. The Li family is different from the Zhang family and the Qin family. They do not value blood ties. They have always had the tradition of recruiting sons-in-law and adopted sons. It is precisely because of this that the Li family has endless talents. Take this generation for example. Although the Zhang family has the great master Zhang Jingxiu in charge, the next generation is in a state of lack of successors. On the other hand, the Li family is full of talents and even has spare energy for internal fighting. This shows the difference. You must know that even if the princes fight for the throne, they must have enough sons and be capable.

Li Daoxu and Li Daoshi married into the family and changed their surname to Li, becoming members of the Li family. Situ Xuance, Lu Yanbing and others were born in the Qingwei clan and were not considered members of the Li family. From this point of view, people in the Qingwei clan and people in the Li family cannot be generalized. The head of the Li family today is naturally Li Daoxu. Although he has no children, Li Yuanying, Li Xuandu and Li Taiyi are all registered under his and Li Qingyun's names, equivalent to sons. If this order is followed, Li Yuanying is the eldest son, but not the eldest son of the clan. The so-called eldest son is the eldest son of the clan, and his wife is the clan wife. Whether it is worshiping ancestors, funerals, weddings, or entertaining guests, the eldest son is the first. Under Li Yuanying, Li Xuandu is the second son, and Li Yuanyi is the youngest son. Although Li Daoxu expelled Li Xuandu from the clan and did not allow him to act in the name of the Qingwei clan, he did not remove him from the genealogy of the Li family. According to Li Daoxu's original idea, one of the two disciples would be the leader and the other would be the son of the clan, so it was not yet determined who would become the son of the Li family in the future.

Because of this, the engagement between Li Xuandu and Qin Su was really a marriage between the Qin and Li families, which was why Li Xuandu, who had no father or mother, said that he could not abandon his ancestors and marry into the family.

Speaking of engagement, it was Li Daoxu who agreed to it, and then the elder Li Feiyan came to the door in person, with no less courtesy, which was the order of the parents. Nowadays, the world pays attention to a formal marriage. If a couple gets married privately, it is inevitable that it is not legitimate, and the woman will be looked down upon. Qin Su has also figured it out these days. She thought it was simple before, and now it is right to follow the rules step by step. According to Li Feiyan, although Xie Zhi was the one who decided that Gu Yusheng should marry Li Yuanying, no elders from the Li family came forward, and Gu Yusheng's background was not clean, so it was a bit unclear. How could she compare with Qin Su, a lady from a well-off family who was married in a formal way? In the future, the son and daughter of the clan would still fall on the heads of Li Xuandu and Qin Su. She had no control over who would take charge of Qingwei Sect, but the position of the head of the Li family was crucial. Besides, if they controlled the Li family, they would control more than half of the halls of Qingwei Sect, and the head of the clan was just a flower stand.

These words made Qin Su blush and dared not respond. However, Qin Su also recognized this truth. Take Taiping Sect as an example. Although Li Xuandu was the head of Taiping Sect, he still had to make friends with Madam Lu to check and balance Shen Yuanzhong. He was not as free as when Mr. Shen was in charge of Taiping Sect. There was no other reason, but it was because the Shen family was powerful.

Qin Su is not a good person who will not tolerate insults. She has always remembered the fact that Li Yuanying plotted against Li Xuandu. How can she be willing to not take revenge? Even if she can bear it, she can't bear it for Li Xuandu. After listening to Li Feiyan's words, she thought that although Li Xuandu was not the leader of Qingwei Sect, he was surnamed Li after all. If he could inherit the position of the head of the Li family, and with the support of the second senior brother, it would be natural for him to intervene in Qingwei Sect in the future. At that time, it would be a personal grudge between brothers, not an enemy of the entire Qingwei Sect.

Thinking of this, Qin Su subconsciously stroked the golden bean in her arms, causing it to make an unhappy "ha" sound as a warning, but because it was too cold, it did not escape from Qin Su's arms.

Qin Su came back to her senses and quickly comforted the little guy in her arms, saying with a smile: "Doudou, maybe you will change your name to Daju in the future."

Jin Doudou glanced at her sideways, with disdain in his eyes, as if saying: "Stupid woman."