That year, that cicada, that sword

Chapter 168

The so-called pair of food households is a vulgar saying, which was passed down from the previous dynasty. To put it bluntly, eunuchs have no wives and children, and court ladies have no husbands. The two form temporary couples to comfort the loneliness in the deep palace. This relationship is called pairing. Gourmet.

There is even a record in the "History of Zheng", "Palace people who have no children, each chooses an inner eunuch as a partner, which is called 'caihu'".

According to the "Bie History of Dazheng Shenzong", at first, due to the frequent contacts between the eunuchs on duty and the maids of the house, they gradually developed feelings.Based on this, eunuchs often take the initiative to purchase food, clothing, jewelry and daily sundries for court ladies to express their admiration.If the court ladies fall in love with this eunuch, they can form a partner, which is called a vegetable household.Caihu is openly allowed in the Dazheng Palace. Even the emperor and empress sometimes ask the eunuch, "Who are you Caihu?" The eunuch can only answer truthfully.

After eunuchs and maids became "vegetable households", they sang and followed each other, and they looked like husband and wife, and their property was connected like a family.Although the eunuch is willing to work hard for the maid he loves, if he is driven, the maid will feel sorry for the eunuch, and will not let him do too much work, but send other eunuchs to do it.Some low-status, ugly and older eunuchs in the palace knew that they could not be favored by the maids, so they willingly served as servants of the vegetable households, cooking, carrying, and washing for them, and the maids paid them a certain amount every month. of silver.

Moreover, most of the court ladies and eunuchs can stay together for life after they become vegetable households, and they all respect each other with respect to each other.If one of them dies, the other will not be matched for life, which is more loyal than ordinary couples.

Of course, at the level of young eunuchs and eunuchs, power eunuchs don’t have to be limited to maids in the palace, they can also buy mansions outside the palace, marry beautiful wives and concubines, and even adopt sons from uncles and brothers’ families, which is no different from ordinary powerful people. different.

However, Zhang Baisui, who is the chief eunuch in the palace, disdains this. In his opinion, this move is tantamount to deceiving himself and others, and he does not shy away from the fact that he is an eunuch. He also achieved today's achievements because of his stubbornness, so why cover it up?Therefore, in the tenth year of Taiping, he married Mo Shu, who was over [-] years old but never married, and this incident even alarmed Emperor Xiao and Empress Lin. .

Speaking of this, Xiao Zhinan said with emotion: "Do you know why Aunt Mo Shu didn't marry? It's just a sad person. I heard the old man in the palace mention that when the emperor's grandfather was still king in Zhongdu, Prime Minister Lan also She is not the Prime Minister, but she is called Mr. Lan, and she often goes to and from the palace. Aunt Mo Shu was already a female official in the palace at that time. When she was a printing officer in the camp, she married a daughter of the Tang family in Shuzhou. Aunt Moshu was sad for a long time because of this. She vowed not to marry for life, but was moved by Zhang Daban's repeated requests, so she formed a vegetable household with Zhang Daban. "

Xu Beiyou murmured: "It's no wonder that the outer minister and the inner minister have been at odds. So there is such a reason."

Hearing this, Xiao Zhinan couldn't help laughing and said: "How can the important affairs of the court change because of the children's personal relationship? It's just the current situation. If the outer minister and the inner minister live in harmony, how can the father use the way of the emperor's balance? I'm afraid they will join forces It’s empty!” Xu Beiyou didn’t quite agree, he shook his head and said, “Mr. once said that in the human world, dealing with people is all about dealing with people. Ping, there is always a disadvantage. Although Mr. Pingan is following the trend, he is also following his own heart. If it is the other way around, the so-called general trend is not in line with Mr. Pingan's heart, is he following the general trend or his heart?"

Xiao Zhinan was stunned for a moment, and said with a dumb smile: "Mr. Han said this? It's really interesting. If you say it according to your statement, the reason why Qiu Ye and your master Gongsun Zhongmou are so immortal is because your teacher's wife is here. The weight of it may not be light, after all, it is half of the hatred of taking his wife."

Xu Beiyou lowered his eyes and remained silent.

He knows the grievances and grievances of the elders very well. His mistress, who is close at hand but has never met, once made a marriage contract with Qiuye, the head teacher of the Taoist sect. It was only then that he married his master, Gongsun Zhongmou, after several twists and turns. Xiao Zhinan said it was the hatred of taking his wife, which is quite appropriate.

In fact, this is what he said about the human heart. It is said that Jianzong's destruction by the Daoist sect is the general trend, but the so-called general trend is not composed of individual hearts?

The direction of the people is the general trend.

Xu Beiyou knew very well why Xiao Zhinan wanted him to come to see Mo Shu, it was naturally out of kindness.

There are two biggest places in the world, one is the Taoist sect and the other is the imperial court. Now Xu Beiyou has no possibility of reconciliation with the Taoist sect.

There are many hills in His Majesty's court, and the Xiao family is undoubtedly the largest hill. It is divided into the royal family and the imperial family, and there are civil officials and military generals. Because of Han Xuan's re-entry into the court, the division of the two factions is a foregone conclusion. With Wei Jin getting old and Zhuge Gong seriously ill on the side of the military generals, almost all the frontier armies are in a situation of "reign change". In addition to the factions of nobles, relatives, secret guards, and eunuchs, it is really a mess elephant.

In this huge and complicated system, Xiao Zhinan is undoubtedly the group of people at the top. If she wants to move forward, she has no choice but to plot against the empress dowager, so she does not seek to break the situation on herself. , but guided Xu Beiyou into the imperial court, intending to gain his own "freedom" through Xu Beiyou's rise.For Xu Beiyou to gain a sufficient position within the imperial court, it is not enough to rely on the identity of the young master of Jianzong and Han Xuan alone, and more help is needed, such as Mr. Ping'an Zhang Baisui and eldest aunt Mo Shu.

These two people can be said to be the leaders of the faction of the 24 yamen in the inner court. Their status is not too high, and their power is not too heavy. The relationship between the key two is more interesting. If Xu Beiyou can get the support of Mo Shu, even if Zhang Baisui does not agree He will not deliberately oppose it, and the outer court has Han Xuan, and the combination of the two is a road to success.

After a while, Xiao Zhinan got up and left, but instead of going back to her own residence, she went to the courtyard where Mo Shu stayed.

Mo Shu seemed to have expected Xiao Zhinan's arrival, and he was skillfully playing with a set of tea sets sent by Qiu Guang, obviously waiting for a long time.

Xiao Zhinan sat across from Mo Shu, and asked softly, "Auntie, what do you think of this young man?"

Mo Shu remained calm, still fiddling with the tea set unhurriedly. In her opinion, the young man was indeed interesting, but that was all.

Xiao Zhinan didn't take it seriously, and continued: "Both Zhang Daban and Xie Suqing have already met him. I made it my own initiative to let him come to see Eldest Aunt this time. I did have the idea of ​​paving the way. Eldest Aunt should understand my current situation. It was a helpless act of last resort. Moreover, the kid from the Duanmu family was a little carried away. Since the emperor intends to marry me to him, he should restrain himself. Inside, that's all, but I just pretended not to see the details, but he has as many as eight outhouses in the imperial capital, Zhili Prefecture and other places, and even two women are pregnant. This move puts my face at a disadvantage Where? The girls of our Xiao family have never had the tradition of serving a husband with other girls."

Mo Shu raised his eyebrows, took a sip of the teacup with both hands, and was not furious at Duanmuyu's actions. After all, men are cats who steal sex, and any man with a certain status will not have a romantic affair , although Duanmuyu got it to this extent is a bit ugly, but in the eyes of His Majesty, this is just a small detail, and it does not affect the overall situation, so she didn't say a word to Duanmuyu, but asked calmly: "Your Highness, it seems that you are very happy. I value that young man named Xu Beiyou."

Xiao Zhinan glanced over Mo Shu's face indiscriminately, then picked up the teacup as well, and said with a smile: "Jade cannot be polished, Xu Beiyou is a piece of rough jade. I hope I can polish him with my own hands. If he becomes famous, he can still Think of me well, and you will be satisfied."

Mo Shu glanced at her, a meaningful smile appeared on his face, and said, "It seems that His Highness has made up his mind to personally train the man he likes."

"This is a bit vulgar, but it doesn't sound like the most polite Aunt Mo Shu said it." Xiao Zhinan said helplessly.

Mo Shu was noncommittal, just put down the teacup in his hand, and said as if pointing out: "The tea is too hot, I can't drink it."

Xiao Zhinan looked down at the teacup in his hand, his beautiful face was hidden in the curling heat, and said softly: "But if you don't drink it, the tea will be cold."

(End of this chapter)