Taiping Inn

There were four great masters in the imperial capital back then, namely Su Lianrong's zither, Yuan Feixue's singing, Murong Hua's dancing, and Qian Jin'er's pipa.

The four people had different identities. Su Lianrong was a female Taoist priest, Yuan Feixue was an actor, Murong Hua was a prostitute who sold her art but not her body, and Qian Jin'er was the eldest daughter of the Qian family. The four were called the four great masters because each of them had a skill that was the best in the imperial capital, and no one could match them.

Status determines fate, so the fates of the four were also different. Although Yuan Feixue was a man, he attracted powerful people with homosexual tendencies to fight for him, and finally had to flee the imperial capital and his whereabouts were unknown. Su Lianrong was taken into the private residence of His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin, and it seems that she has been promoted to a concubine in recent years, which is also a happy ending. Murong Hua married the cabinet's deputy assistant who had lost his wife for many years. Although he was not promoted to the main wife, and the two were 30 years apart in age, it was also a good story among the literati.

The first three had their own misfortunes and helplessness, but Qian Jiner was not one of them.

When Qian Jiner went to Beijing, she was originally carrying out the family mission to communicate with many dignitaries and nobles for the family. The reason why the Qian family let a woman show up was because the Qian family wanted to start with many noble ladies at that time. Therefore, Qian Jiner's reputation did not rise from a group of powerful men, but spread among the noble ladies in the deep mansions. Later, even Empress Dowager Xie, who was still the queen at that time, knew Qian Jiner's name and summoned her to the palace. Qian Jiner played a pipa in front of Empress Dowager Xie, which earned her the reputation of "big pearls and small pearls falling on a jade plate".

After completing her family mission, Qian Jiner returned to the Qian family in Jiangnan and became the youngest elder in the Elders' Hall. She still maintained a deep friendship with many dignitaries in the imperial capital, and had a close relationship with the Governor of Jingchu. She was praised by many Jiangnan scholars as the most beautiful woman in Jiangnan.

Qian Jin'er shook her head and said, "I don't deserve the title of 'Master' of Purple Mansion Sword Immortal."

Li Xuandu said, "I have heard of Master Qian's name for a long time, but when I went to the Imperial Capital, Master Qian had already returned to Jiangnan and disappeared without a trace, which is a pity."

Qian Jin'er was not arrogant. Perhaps women who are good at dancing are like this. They can always make people feel like spring breeze. She said, "I didn't know that there was a young master who missed me. If I had known earlier, I would have returned to Jiangnan a few years later."

This is a polite remark that cannot be taken seriously.

Li Xuandu said: "It's better to leave earlier, after all, the imperial capital has become a place of trouble."

Qian Jin'er sighed: "The imperial capital has changed a lot, and many old friends have passed away. It is indeed a touching thing. I don't know if I can visit the imperial capital again in my lifetime."

Li Xuandu said with certainty: "Yes."

"Why is Mr. Li so sure?" Qian Jin'er asked with a smile. Without waiting for Li Xuandu to answer, she continued: "Since Mr. Li is so sure, then according to Mr. Li, is this time long or short?"

Li Xuandu said: "It's not long, it's not short, wait until the peaceful time, and revisit the old place."

Qian Jin'er sighed: "The old mountains and rivers are all new sorrows. I want to buy osmanthus flowers and carry wine together, but it's not like... young people's travel."

Just While the two were talking, Qian Yulong had already walked around the dungeon, looked at the women who were stunned one by one, patted his palms with his folding fan, and chuckled: "With these witnesses, even if the old man wants to protect his precious daughter, I'm afraid he has nothing to say. Since ancient times, whether it is the court or the rivers and lakes, treason is the greatest crime. I want to see what he has to say in the elders' hall."

The head of the Qian family is not Qian Yulong now, but the father of Qian Yulong and Qian Yulou. When the old man was young, he was a romantic and handsome man who was famous in Jiangdong. As the saying goes, Jiangnan is a beautiful place. In such a good place with so many beauties, the old man of the Qian family has such favorable conditions. Naturally, there is no shortage of beauties around him, and he has caused many romantic debts.

However, for him, there are only two most important women.

One is the wife who was married in a formal way. For him, whether the husband and wife like each other is not important. The key is that the wife is very important and is not a toy that can be thrown away at will.

In today's world, marriage is about marrying a woman from a lower family and marrying a woman from a higher family. Marrying a woman from a lower family means marrying a woman from a lower family than yourself, and marrying a woman from a higher family means marrying a woman from a higher family. But there is also a saying, "equal status", that is, the wife's family may be slightly inferior to your own, but not too much lower, at least they are at the same level.

Therefore, a man has three major relatives, namely: father's family, mother's family and wife's family. Why do big families have to establish the eldest son? One of the important reasons is that the eldest son is born by the wife, and the wife's family must also be a powerful family, so that both families can be satisfied.

Qian Yulong's mother is the old man's wife, and Qian Yulong's wife is also from a Jiangnan noble family. In other words, his uncles and elder brothers-in-law are not ordinary people. It is precisely because of the invisible help of these relatives and the natural traditional righteousness that his identity as the young master of the Qian family is so legitimate.

As for the other woman, she is the beloved of the old man of the Qian family, and also the biological mother of Qian Yulou. Perhaps because of his love for his daughter, the old man of the Qian family is extremely partial to this daughter. If she were not a girl, I am afraid that the old man of the Qian family would really want to depose the eldest and establish the youngest.

It is precisely because of this that Qian Yulou dares to attack Qian Yulong repeatedly.

Qian Yulong is not a fool. He can ignore his father's preference. He will not die for such a small matter. However, he cannot ignore the excessive power given to Qian Yulou by his father. This is a matter of life and death.

If Qian Yulou becomes the head of the Qian family, not only will he, his brother, have no way to survive, but his mother and others will also not get any good. With Qian Yulou's mind and pattern, the result can be imagined.

Therefore, he and his father have been drifting apart over the years.

In his opinion, his father's move is undoubtedly a disaster for the Qian family. There is no two suns in the sky, and there is no two masters in the country. The majority can form a check and balance on the head of a family, but the power of the majority must not be given to another person. In this way, it becomes a tit-for-tat confrontation between the two. Imagine if there are two emperors in the south and the north, wouldn't it be a matter of dividing the river and ruling separately? So this is splitting the Qian family.

Qian Yulou has been making various plans to seek the position of the head of the family over the years, and Qian Yulong has not been idle either. In addition to betting real money on various sects of the righteous path, he is mainly rooted in the Qian family. After all, the Qian family is the Qian family of the Qian family, not the Qian family of the twelve righteous sects and the ten evil sects.

From the beginning, Qian Yulong was very clear that the Qian family is the Qian family not because of anyone's support, nor does it exist in some kind of dependence. The reason why the Qian family can stand firm is that it has enough power to fight against outsiders and has the qualifications to be on an equal footing. Now Qian Yulou has attracted foreign enemies because the Qian family was not hers. To make an inappropriate analogy, this is a son selling his father's land without feeling sorry, but Qian Yulong cannot do this. If he also attracts foreign aid to fight, then the Qian family will become a battlefield for the battle between good and evil, and whether it wins or loses, it will be difficult to escape the pattern of decline.

Therefore, Qian Yulong did not intend to regard this matter as a struggle for power, but directly regarded it as a betrayal with outsiders. He wanted to use the power of the Qian family to deal with Qian Yulou.

Before this, some elders in the Qian family elder hall were also worried about Qian Yulou's behavior, so they hit it off with Qian Yulong and secretly planned this matter together. As long as Qian Yulou's crime was confirmed, they could convince other elders. At that time, the entire elder hall would put pressure on the head of the Qian family and take down Qian Yulou. As long as Qian Yulou was gone, these evil people would only be external threats. How to deal with them in the past, how to deal with them now.

If you think more deeply, Qian Yulong's father will inevitably suffer from the prestige after this incident, and even have to give up part of the power of the head of the family, and it is even possible that Qian Yulong will take over the power of the Qian family in advance.

After hearing Qian Yulou's words, Qian Jin'er couldn't help but sigh: "I didn't expect Yulou to go this far. In the final analysis, it's because my eldest brother indulged her too much. If she is willing to do her job for the family, she will always have a place in the elders' hall in the future."