For the next whole afternoon, Mu Ying did not come out of Li Xin's study, Li Xin asked Mu Ying in detail about the situation he saw in southern Xinjiang, and then closed his eyes and sorted out the situation in southern Xinjiang in his mind.

He opened his eyes and looked at Mu Ying,

"What does Uncle Mu mean?"

Mu Ying lowered her eyebrows and said: "Now many young people of the Mu family have entered Beijing, and they all have a livelihood in the capital, my father's meaning is very simple, as long as Hou Ye says a word, the Mu family in southern Xinjiang is willing to do anything for Hou Ye." ”

He bowed deeply to Li Xin.

"My father said that he wants the Mu family in the capital to have a way to live."

"Uncle Mu is afraid that I will cross the river and tear down the bridge?"

Li Xin smiled dumbly, then became serious, and said in a deep voice: "If the Jing'an Hou Mansion is here, it is impossible for the Mu family to have an accident." ”

Mu Ying sighed: "My father and Hou Ye have only met twice, so he entrusted the life and death of the Mu family to Hou Ye, he naturally trusts Hou Ye, but his old man is afraid that Hou Ye himself will not be able to protect himself." ”

As she spoke, Mu Ying glanced at Li Xin cautiously and lowered her voice.

"He's afraid...... Master Hou, you have been crossed the river and the bridge has been demolished. ”

Li Xin was silent.

After a while, he whispered to Mu Ying: "Brother Mu, don't worry, Li Xin is not a straightforward person, in addition to seeking things, he will also seek his life, the Jing'an Hou Mansion will not fall, and the Mu family will not fall." ”

Mu Ying smiled and said, "Then the humble position will be relieved." ”

"Relying on the big tree of Hou Ye, the Mu family will be able to spread its branches and leaves in the capital."

Li Xin pulled his sleeve and said with a smile: "Brother Mu has worked hard all the way, let's go, the two of us brothers go to have a drink, and we will treat it as a brother to pick you up." ”

Mu Ying is also a good drinker, and he will take two sips if he has nothing to do, and said with a smile when he heard this: "Master Hou invited, dare to disobey his fate?" ”

The two of them went out of the study one after the other, made a small table in the side hall, and placed a small stove next to it, on which an urn of wine was warmed, and it was steaming.

It's the depths of winter, and there's nothing more comfortable than drinking hot wine.

The two of them were talking and drinking at the same time, and it didn't take long for them to be hot.

Li Xin poured a cup for Mu Ying and exhaled a breath of white air.

"Brother Mu came back by coincidence, in ten days, I will get married, and I was worried that Brother Mu would not be able to come back."

Mu Ying picked up the wine glass, raised her head and drank it all.

He stretched out three fingers and said with a big tongue, "I...... Three horses ran and died on the road. ”

"Just to catch up with Master Hou's marriage."

In this winter, walking in the wild is a little unbearable, not to mention riding a horse on the official road, it can be seen that Mu Ying has indeed suffered a lot along the way.

Li Xin was stunned, then slowly exhaled, reached out and patted Mu Ying's back.

"Good brother."

Mu Ying bent down and poured Li Xin a glass of wine and smiled.

"It's mainly to shoot Hou Ye's ass, that's why I work so hard."

At this time, the cold wind was blowing outside the window, and although there was no snow, it was not much warmer than the winter of the seventeenth year of Chengde.

But the two people in the room, staggered, both laughed very happily.

………………

The next day, the tenth day of the first month of the first year of Taikang.

On this day last year, the Son of Heaven returned to heaven, the whole country grieved, and now it is the day of the death of the first emperor, and the current Son of Heaven first took the civil and military officials to the temple to worship, and then went to the emperor's tomb in person.

When I came back from the Imperial Tomb, it was already afternoon.

All day long, Li Xin followed behind Taikang Tianzi and never left an inch.

On the way back to Beijing, Li Xin was invited to the carriage of the Son of Heaven.

In the carriage, several stoves made this small space very warm.

Li Xin squatted beside the stove to roast the fire.

He is very afraid of the cold.

To be precise, since that snowy night in the seventeenth year of Chengde, Li Xin has become very afraid of the cold, and in winter, he has to stay by the fire, even if he goes out, he has to wear thick clothes.

Taikang Tianzi also followed Li Xin's example and put his hands on the stove to bake.

He said in a low voice: "Chang'an, when I visited the emperor's mausoleum, I had already made clear to my father about your marriage to Xiao Jiu, and when I returned to the palace, I decreed that the two of you should get married." ”

Because it is still in the mourning period, the marriage is subject to the permission of the first emperor, of course, at this time, the first emperor can no longer speak, so this is just a formality.

Anyway, no matter what, the first emperor will "acquiesce".

Li Xin nodded and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty." ”

Because it was a sacrifice to his father, Taikang Tianzi had shed tears just now, and he couldn't laugh very much at this time, he patted Li Xin's shoulder and said softly: "From tomorrow, I will prepare for good life, but the time is too rushed, and there are not many people in your Hou Mansion, it is estimated that I will not be busy, I will ask the people from the Ministry of Rites to help you, and try to let Xiao Jiufeng marry beautifully." ”

"Your Majesty bothered."

Li Xin glanced up at the emperor and sighed: "Actually, at this moment, the minister should not be entangled in the affairs of these little children, if it is not a marriage, His Majesty will send the two Zhichong Mansions in the southwest, and the minister is the best candidate for the commander." ”

Ye Ming, as the main general, is going to sit in the Chinese army, and it is unlikely that he will be this "striker", so if Li Xin does not have to get married, he is indeed the best candidate.

The Son of Heaven shook his head a little embarrassed.

"I talked to Ye Shaobao, and he said that if he sent two Zhichong Mansion over, it was likely to be eaten by the Pingnan Army after finding out the truth and reality, so this method is enough."

Speaking of this, the Son of Heaven lowered his eyebrows and said.

"Once the army is moved with the southwest, it will be a protracted battle to be fought, but no matter how long this battle will take, the first battle must be won, otherwise it will greatly damage morale."

This sentence should have been said to him by Ye Ming.

This battle, in essence, is actually a continuation of the "battle for succession", both sides of the war have legal inheritance, so there is no "Han" and who is a "thief", so this first battle must be won, if lost, there may be many forces in the local area, falling to the side of Shu County.

Li Xin nodded.

"General Ye has become a countryman, and the minister didn't think of this."

"We're still young."

The Son of Heaven barely had a smile on his face.

"In more than ten years, Chang'an will not be inferior to any of them."

The two monarchs and ministers chatted without a word in the carriage.

But there is no such enthusiasm as in the Wei Palace.

Li Xinli knew very well that this time was not the time to get married at all, it was this Taikang Tianzi who forcibly asked him to marry the Ninth Princess, in order to put an extra shackle on his neck.

With Li Xin's affectionate character, the weight of this shackle will be very heavy.

But fortunately, Li Xin himself did not resist this marriage, after all, the ninth princess also liked it very much, so he should come down to this marriage.

Although this situation of being forced to get married is a little uncomfortable.

The carriage slowly drove into the capital, and Li Xin did not follow the emperor back to the palace, but got off at Yongle Fang, got into his own carriage, and went to Princess Qinghe's mansion.

According to the emperor's will, the holy decree of marriage will come down tomorrow, and then he and the ninth princess will have no way to meet before marriage, and while there is still half a day today, Li Xin has to go to the princess's mansion to accompany the ninth princess.

This year's winter was also very cold, and although there was no snow yet, the sky was overcast, and it seemed that a heavy snow would fall at any moment.

As is the case today.

The Great War is on the verge of breaking out.