After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 71 News from the deceased

When he got the news, Xie Wenzai was sleeping on the kang in his room.

He seemed to have some cold symptoms today, so he went home early, took medicine and went to bed.When Hai Xiya ran into his room excitedly to report the news, he stood up groggily and was in a daze for a while before he realized what his cousin was talking about.

By the time he had put on his outer robe and was able to cheer up and talk to his cousin, Cao Gengyun and Lu Bainian in the next room had heard the news and rushed over. They were surrounding Haixi Cliff asking for the list of peace talks officials.

Then Xie Wenzai heard the somewhat familiar name.

"Tao Yue? But Tao Nanshan?" A look of surprise appeared on Cao Gengyun's face, "It's him?! Now I can finally rest assured! He and Mr. Sun Ge are not the same people. With him in charge, I won't be afraid of this peace talks. What's wrong?"

Lu Bainian couldn't help but sigh: "I didn't expect... I thought I would never meet him again in this life after we said goodbye to the capital 31 years ago. I never thought that at this old age, I would be able to reunite with my old friend. . I remember that he is two years younger than Brother Wenzai. He is not young now, right? I don’t know how he has been in the court these years. "

Xie Wenzai sat up straight and looked at Haixi Ya: "Cousin, are you sure... is Tao Yue the leader of the peace talks?"

Hai Xiya nodded to him with a smile: "As soon as I heard this name, I remembered the old things from back then. Thanks to this friend of yours, if he hadn't found a way to help, you guys wouldn't have been exiled to the northwest so smoothly. , I was able to stay quietly in Chang'an City for many years without anyone causing trouble."

Xie Wenzai looked a little stunned, and then sighed: "It's a pity... He was still looking forward to us returning to the court as soon as possible, but in the end he was disappointed."

Cao Gengyun laughed twice: "It's no wonder that we... The emperor's pardon was issued only four years ago. We were already old at that time, so what else would we do if we went back... Besides, the Sun family is still very famous in Beijing. We So what if we go back? Aren't we just suppressed and neglected by others? Of those who were exiled with us at that time, many of them survived and returned after being pardoned four years ago. What is the situation now? If Tao Nanshan expects us to go back and share the burden for him, it would be faster than dreaming."

Lu Bainian suddenly remembered something: "Brother Hai just said... that the leader of the peace talks is Mr. Tao Yuetao, the Minister of Honglu Temple? Is Tao Nanshan actually the Minister of Honglu Temple?"

Hai Xiya nodded: "That's what the news said. I also confirmed with General Zhou and General Gu that it was indeed Lord Qingtao of Honglu Temple who led the team. This matter of peace talks with foreign countries... originally belonged to Honglu Temple. Responsibility, right?”

Lu Bainian smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with Tao Nanshan, as the minister of Honglu Temple, coming to preside over the peace talks. What I find strange is... he already entered the Hanlin Academy to observe politics 31 years ago, and now he is still just A minister from Honglu Temple? Isn’t this too unreasonable?”

Tao Yue was in the same year as Xie Wenzai, Xie Wenzai was the third best in that subject, and Tao Yue was the second best.The two had known each other since before the examination and became good friends. They took the examination together, were on the list together, participated in the palace examination together, and entered the Hanlin Academy as editors together. They were both well-known talents and had a deep friendship.

Xie Wenzai was deceived by his master. He was dismissed from his rank before he was young and was exiled to the northwest.Tao Yue did not get involved in the dispute between Wu and Sun, and his family background was unusual, so he has successfully entered the officialdom to this day.

It stands to reason that with Tao Yue's talent, family background and reputation, as well as his background in the Han Dynasty, he could be regarded as a minister's talent.At worst, he should be the Minister of the Sixth Department, right?As a result, 31 years later, he turned out to be just a fourth-rank minister of Honglu Temple.Even if he is one of the Nine Qings, it cannot conceal the fact that he does not have much real power and his official position is not high.

How is this possible?Considering his family background, this is too strange!

Hai Xiya didn't know what was going on in the capital, so he could only guess: "Is that Mr. Sun Ge deliberately suppressing him? Didn't Mr. Cao just say that? Some of the old brothers who were pardoned together at the time also returned to the court to serve as officials. , were suppressed miserably. Since Mr. Tao helped you a lot 31 years ago, Mr. Sun Ge must have regarded him as one of your group, and suppressed him overtly and covertly. But he is very capable. I can still sit on the position of Jiuqing..." "No, no, no." Lu Bainian waved his hand, "Even if Mr. Sun Ge deliberately suppresses Tao Nanshan, he may not be able to suppress Tao Nanshan. This Tao family is not an ordinary Tao family..." He lowered his voice, "He is Concubine Tao Hui's nephew!"

This was the first time Hai Xiya heard about Tao Yue's family background. In the past, he only knew that the latter was a son of a powerful person, but he never expected that he was the nephew of Concubine Tao Hui!He was stunned immediately and was speechless for a while.

Cao Gengyun speculated from the side: "Could it be that... Mr. Sun Ge said some slanderous words in front of the emperor? After all, with Tao Nanshan's background and talents, once he is reused by the emperor, who can surpass him? Mr. Sun Ge obviously wants to For his son to take over, if Tao Nanshan is in front of him, how can Sun Yongping have a chance to come forward? For the sake of his son and the family, Mr. Sun Ge cannot let Tao Nanshan gain power."

Lu Bainian disagreed with his idea: "No matter how powerful Mr. Sun Ge is, it was given to him by the emperor. Can the emperor still listen to the slanders of foreign ministers and alienate Tao Nanshan? That is a close relative of his mother's family. The Tao family is not a wealthy family to begin with. , there was only one Tao Nanshan who could do it 31 years ago, and it is impossible for many talents to emerge now. If even Tao Nanshan cannot catch the eye of the emperor, there will be no one left in the Tao family!"

"The Tao family doesn't seem to be full of people now." Cao Gengyun said, "Have you ever heard that there are high-ranking officials named Tao in the court in recent years? Tao Nanshan can be one of the nine ministers, which is already very good. If the emperor is interested, If you promote him, how can he be a genuine fourth-grade person?!"

The two were about to argue, but Xie Wenzai suppressed them: "Stop arguing! Even if Mr. Sun Ge was slandering the emperor, if Tao Nanshan didn't want him to succeed, couldn't he still find a way to resolve it? He was like that A smart man... As long as he is not happy, no one can plot against him! I think he is only serving as the Minister of Honglu Temple now, and for no other reason, he must be happy!"

Cao Gengyun and Lu Bainian both became quiet after hearing these words.

After a while, Cao Gengyun whispered: "You and he are indeed sworn friends. We have the same temperament! Could it be that Tao Nanshan also annoyed the emperor, so he was not willing to stand out and only wanted to be a decent person with few things to do? Lord Honglu Temple will be satisfied..."

The four people in the room were silent.

Outside the house, Haitang quietly stepped away from the window and winked at her brother Hai Jiao behind her.The brother and sister turned and left without disturbing anyone in the room.

They arrived at the east wing and closed the door.Haitang lowered her voice and asked Haijiao: "Have you heard of Master Tao of Tao Nanshan? He is the nephew of Concubine Tao Hui... Who is Concubine Tao Hui?"

Hai Jiao looked a little dazed: "Concubine Tao Hui... is the former emperor's concubine and the biological mother of the current emperor!"

Haitang was surprised: "So... Mr. Tao Nanshan is the nephew of the emperor's biological mother, that is, the emperor's cousin?" No wonder Lu Bainian thought that the emperor would not alienate him because of Mr. Sun Ge's slander. It’s Tao Nanshan.

Hai Jiao whispered: "The Empress Dowager Zhou is not the emperor's biological mother. She was originally the late emperor's empress. She also had a prince in her early years, but he died when she was ten years old. In the last years of the late emperor, the princes fought fiercely for the throne. At that time, the emperor was just a little prince who neither claimed eldest son nor legitimate son. He lost his mother when he was young and his maternal family was not prominent. If he had not become the adopted son of the queen and had the help of the Zhou family, how could he have surpassed the sons of the beloved concubines and successfully succeeded to the throne? Woolen cloth?"

Haitang blinked: "Then now Sun Ge is always embarrassing the Zhou family and trying to seize the Zhou family's military power. Why doesn't the emperor seem to have any reaction?"

(End of this chapter)