Red Tang

"Third brother!" Li Kuo's mouth twitched slightly, and he leaned forward, trembling.Happiness came too suddenly, the young man was really afraid that it was just a dream, he kept widening his eyes, afraid that the person in front of him would disappear with the wind.

The young man smiled slightly, and took a few steps forward to give Li Kuo a hug: "Seventh boy, I haven't seen you for so long, and I have grown so tall. I remember seven years ago when I went out with the old general Wang Zhongsi, you still cuddled Begging for sprouts at my waist."

Li Kuo smiled slyly and said: "Where is it? It's obviously the third brother, you lost to Kuo'er in the pot, so give me a lottery."

"You son of a bitch, I only count you as clever!" With a forced smile helplessly, the young man stopped revealing his cousin's faults.

"Brother Zigu, don't just chat with your cousin, my disciple is looking at you eagerly. Anyway, you are also my half master, and you will not forget what you promised?" Zhang Yanji squeezed in front of the two, The autumn wind was blowing rather tiredly.

How could Li Zigu forget Zhang Yanji, the "little devil". Ever since he was stalked by him and worshiped his master, he has no life in peace.Either pretending to be a strict teacher all day to teach this ghost boy how to build a foundation, or taking two little ghost heads to the countryside to race horses in his own farm.I only have two months of military leave every year, and I am afraid that what I leave to my wife has not been given to the two of them.

Unhappy, he punched Zhang Yanji on the shoulder, feigning anger, and said, "What did I promise you? Have you been practicing kung fu all these years when Master is away? You want to go to Hexi Road to fight with Turkic swordsmen with your bones?"

Zhang Yanji shrank back to Li Kuo's side aggrievedly, and murmured: "Why are you so fierce? I have been practicing the bloody swordsmanship you taught. Over the years, I have read the mediation book you left every afternoon. The book, and now I don’t suffer from shortness of breath anymore.”

Seeing his appearance was quite interesting, Li Zigu coughed lightly with his hands behind his back: "Actually, I brought the things back for you, but whether you can use them or not depends on your arm strength." Then a big man dressed as a soldier unloaded a two-and-a-half-foot-long horn bow from his back, and presented it in front of him with both hands.The whole body of this bow is dark brown, the ears are coated with waterproof varnish, and a silver-plated bowstring is stretched straight.

Li Zigu held the bow tightly with his left hand, and pulled it into a full circle with his right hand.There was only a ringing sound, and the bowstring was quickly ejected, vibrating and trembling at the bow ears.

"Good bow!" Zhang Yanji jumped up excitedly, rubbing his palms together, wishing he could step forward and try his skills immediately.

Seeing the happy look of the little guy, Li Zigu felt complacent, and said in a loud voice: "You know the goods, I bought them for you last year when I traded with Pugu. That herdsman is really black-hearted. Five catties of tea bricks." After a slight pause, he reminded: "This is a solid two-stone hard bow, don't rush to learn it. Practice drawing the bowstring every day, and change to a soft bow when you can draw it easily. .”

"I thank Master here!" Zhang Yanji bowed to Li Zigu, grabbed the horn bow, and began to play with it carefully.

"Stinky boy, there will be plenty of time for you to play in the future, so why don't you talk to Master right now!"

"Hey, hey." Zhang Yanji repeatedly agreed, but his eyes refused to move away from the horn bow.

"Go to my house, this is not a place to talk." Li Zigu fondled the heads of the two of them, and said in harmony.

The three of them got into the carriage, closed the curtain, and heard Li Zigu sigh softly: "I've heard about the second uncle, Kuo'er, don't be too sad."

Li Kuo's eye circles were a little red, he forced himself to smile and said, "I'm doing well, third brother, don't worry too much."

"You!" Li Zigu patted the young man's forehead affectionately, and said with a wry smile, "I watched you grow up when you were young, how can I not understand you? If you have a strong and unyielding temperament in your life, you will suffer sooner or later. The world is unpredictable, the second uncle was murdered by the murderer, our Li family saw the hope of revival and..."

"Third brother, you have to think of the best in everything! Didn't the uncle be promoted to the governor of Jiangzhou, and the third uncle was also appointed as the governor of Jiannan. I believe that one day, my grandfather's grievances will be resolved with pride, and our Li family will also be able to do so." Return to the ranks of the famous family."

Unable to bear to hit his cousin, Li Zigu took the opportunity and said: "Yes, Seventh Boy, you have been a guest of the East Palace since you were young, and you are the minister. Presumably in the future, you will have a prosperous official career, and you will be granted the title of Marquis and worship. What are you still worrying about here?"

"Third brother, you are making fun of Kuo'er again. How can Kuo'er's vacant position as a loose nobleman be compared with the third brother? The third brother is a Tang Zhonglang general with great military exploits. He is a real fourth-rank general. He was born with one sword and one arrow !"

Gently scratching the boy's nose, Li Zigu squinted his eyes slightly and said, "Well, you can listen to what you say. When I get back to the mansion, I'll ask Aunt Yun to make you your favorite crispy cheese."

Li Zigu's mansion in Chang'an is located in Zhaoguofang next to Ci'en Temple, and it is only used for his own return to Beijing to report on his duties.The Tang Dynasty has a custom that all top generals with a rank of four or more must leave their wives and family members in Chang'an.Therefore, even if he already had a house in Liangzhou, he had no choice but to buy a mansion in Chang'an, where every inch of land was expensive.

The Li family to which Li Kuo belonged was the descendant of King Hengshan, but he did not inherit any titles.King Hengshan has two sons, named Xiang and Jue.Li Xiang is the eldest son of Hengshan King. He has successively served as the governor of various states. He has three sons and two daughters.Li Jue did not become an official, but only gave birth to a son, Li Kuo's father, Li Shizhi, so Li Kuo can be regarded as the only seedling of Li Jue's lineage.And Li Zigu's father, Li Qingchen, is Li Xiang's eldest son, so Li Zigu should be the Zhengshuo blood of King Hengshan.It's just that Li Shizhi achieved the high position of the left prime minister of the Tang Dynasty and revitalized the Li family, so all the Li families follow Li Shizhi's leadership.It's a pity that there is an unexpected situation, just when everyone thought that the family was going to prosper, but Li Shizhi was framed by the traitor and died wronged.After Li Shizhi's death, the old house in Chongrenfang and the land beside the Wei River were also confiscated according to the law.Therefore, apart from Li Zigu's mansion in Qinrenfang, Li's family has no place of their own in Zhenghaohao Chang'an.It is embarrassing that a wealthy family in the past has declined so much now.

In a blink of an eye, the carriage had entered Qinrenfang, and the petty official who guarded the gate of the workshop saw that it was Mr. Zhonglang Jiang's carriage, and immediately greeted him with a smile on his face.Some greetings and courtesies are nothing more than praising General Zhonglang as worthy of admiration for defending the country and borders, and so on.Li Zigu felt nauseous, but he didn't want to slap him in the face. After a few words of thanks, he told the groom to go straight to the main entrance of the mansion.

Li Zigu's family members staying in Chang'an are not that many, counting household servants and servants, there are only a dozen of them, so the mansion is not big, it's just a two-entry courtyard.Li Kuo also knew the location of his third brother in the mansion of Qinrenfang, but the third brother was not in Beijing, and his sister-in-law was alone in the house, so he couldn't come to visit on his own.On the contrary, my sister-in-law brought food and jerky to her home in Andefang several times to visit.Therefore, Li Kuoduo is not very familiar with this mansion.

Before the carriage came to a complete stop around the corner of the alley, Li Zigu jumped off, dashed to the door and shouted loudly: "Uncle Chen, I'm back."

It didn't take long to hear a rush of footsteps, and the vermilion lacquered door was opened with a creak, and a man about fifty years old who looked like a housekeeper leaned out half of his body from the door.

"Yes, the third young master is back! Shen'er, hurry up and tell Madam that the third young master is back." He excitedly stepped forward and grabbed Li Zigu's sleeve and said, "Third young master, you are back. Sorry Ma'am..."

Li Zigu also feels guilty for his wife.According to the system, there will be two months of military leave every year, so that they can go to Beijing to report on their duties, and secondly, they can have time to reunite with their families.It's just that in recent years there have been constant wars on the frontier, first the rise of the Turks, and then the formation of beams with the Huihe people.The border is not stable, and this military leave has become a blank check.I thought the war would be over in two or three years, but the battle dragged on for seven years.

"Uncle Chen, we said in the room, is it possible that I can't enter the house even after I came back from such a long distance?" Uncle Chen is an old man in the Li family, and has been serving as the housekeeper since Li Zigu's father, Li Qingchen, came to build the mansion. .Unable to bear to see him cry, Li Zigu hurriedly joked with a smile on his face.

"Oh, look, I'm getting old and my brain can't work anymore, so I let the third young master stay outside the mansion and talk. If the master is in the mansion, I can't escape the scolding from Lao Chen." Zheng Yu invited Li Zigu to enter Uncle Chen saw Li Kuo and Zhang Yanji at the side: "Hey, the seventh young master and Mr. Zhang's young man are also here. Come on, let's enter the mansion together." Li Kuo didn't follow the etiquette much, and bowed his hands to Uncle Chen slightly. , Then stepped into the mansion.

As soon as you enter the mansion, you will face a rockery made of Taihu Lake stones, with waterfalls cascading down from it, splashing ripples from the starting point.Bypassing the rockery, you can see a main house with five conservatories connected together, and a plaque engraved with the inscription "Linjiatang" in cursive script is placed in the middle of the main house.There are three symmetrical rooms on the left and right hands, and they are not used much on weekdays, and they look quite deserted.

Everyone walked through a corridor and came to the back house.The backyard did not have a garden pond like other Chang'an dignitaries' mansions, but a flat area in the middle was set aside as a martial arts training ground.The main bedroom of the Li Mansion is directly behind the martial arts training ground. The mottled wooden door and faded lattice windows seem to be crying softly about the decline of the master after he left.Before Li Zigu went to visit his wife in the dormitory, he saw a young woman in a Suqing seru skirt stumbling out of the house.

Gaze with both eyes, but it is the fragrance of pear blossoms, the cold rain, and a touch of heavy makeup.

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Note 1: I have finally explained the detailed family background of Li Kuo clearly.In my opinion, the decline of the Li family was inevitable at that time.However, if it doesn't decline, what else is my Xiaoqi fighting for?

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