In the past few years, the imperial court has sent a lot of documents to Yongzhou, and the holy decree has also issued a few times, most of which are to invite Li Xin to return to Beijing, but Li Xin has rejected it on the grounds of physical discomfort, and this time the holy decree is of course unlikely to recall Li Xin back to the capital.

But the holy decree that should be sent is still to be sent, this is a necessary statement, to clearly tell the world and the world, not that the king does not know the minister, but the minister does not want to serve the king.

This kind of right to speak is very important, you Li Changan resigned and recuperated in your hometown, and the imperial court summoned you back to Beijing one after another, but you refused to go back, so naturally it cannot be said that the imperial court suppressed you.

This kind of thing is one of the most basic and important means to be an emperor, not only Yuan Zhao Tianzi will do this, but Taikang Tianzi is still here, and he will also use this small means to control Li Xin.

The distance between the capital and Yongzhou is not close, when the messenger of the proclamation arrived in Qiyang County, it was already close to the end of the year, and the weather was already a little cold, but the weather in Yongzhou was far less cold than that of the capital and the north, even if it snowed, it would melt on the ground, and it was unlikely to produce snow, so although the clouds were thick, there was only a sparse light rain in Qiyang County, and there was no sign of snow.

At this time, Li Xin has already returned to Yongzhou from Ningling, accompanied his family for the New Year, this day is the twenty-ninth day of the lunar month, Li Xin got up early in the morning, after practicing boxing, he held his eldest daughter Ahan, sat in the front yard and waited for someone.

The ninth princess was also holding a child, and when she saw Li Xin sitting at the bottom of the corridor, she asked with some curiosity, "Husband is waiting for someone?" ”

Li Xin nodded and said with a smile: "This year, Brother You'an and Li Shuo came to our house for the New Year." ”

The three giants of the southwest, during the New Year's Festival these years, occasionally one or two people will come to Yongzhou to visit Li Xin and celebrate the New Year at Li Xin's house, but the three of them can't go out of the southwest together, so in previous years, most of them were Mu Ying or Zhao Jia, and Li Shuo came to Yongzhou for the first time.

The ninth princess nodded, suddenly remembered something, and asked, "Li Shuo...... It's my husband's brother, right? ”

Because Li Xin and his father have become enemies, and his relationship with his mother's Xiao family has become a passerby, and he has no brothers and sisters, so there have been no relatives in the Jing'an Hou Mansion all these years, and if Li Shuo wants to come, he will be the only relative in the Jing'an Hou Mansion.

Li Xin hugged his eldest daughter and shook his head.

"If you don't recognize each other, just treat it as a friend."

The Ninth Princess sighed, nodded and said, "Since I am going to have a guest, I will go down and let people prepare some more dishes." ”

Li Xin nodded and said, "Sixteen is also coming back, get more food, he hasn't come back for many years." ”

Chen Sixteen and his wife have been housekeepers in Jing'an Hou Mansion for more than ten years, and the ninth princess also regarded him as a family member, and they haven't seen each other for several years.

"It's good to be back, I haven't seen him in years."

With that, she took her little daughter, who was just over a year old, and went down to the kitchen to prepare the meal.

Li Xin took his eldest daughter and waited in the front yard for more than half an hour before he heard someone knocking on the door, the porter glanced at Li Xin who was waiting, and there was no movement, Li Xin took his eldest daughter, walked over in person, and opened the door.

At the door, there was a middle-aged man with only one arm, and after seeing Li Xin, he took a deep breath, bowed his head and said, "I've seen Master Hou." ”

Li Xin didn't say anything, reached out and patted him on the shoulder.

"Thank you for your hard work."

Chen Sixteen has been in the Li family for so many years, Ah Han naturally recognizes him, she has followed Li Xin since she was a child, and she doesn't have too much of the temperament of the eldest lady, so she immediately walked in front of Chen Sixteen and smiled sweetly.

"Uncle Sixteen, you're back."

After Chen Sixteen broke an arm in his early years, he has been following Li Xin, he is an introverted and calm character, no matter what it is, as long as Li Xin explains it, he will do it without saying a word, even if Li Xin asked him to go to Jincheng to make gunpowder, he went without blinking his eyes.

But hearing Ah Han's voice Uncle Sixteen, Chen Sixteen, who watched her grow up, only felt that his eyes were a little red, he looked at Ah Han a few times, and said softly: "The eldest lady has grown a lot taller." ”

"Of course."

Ah Han hadn't seen Chen Sixteen for several years, so he was a little happy at this time, took Chen Sixteen's hand, and said with a smile: "Ah Niang gave birth to a little sister for me again, Uncle Sixteen hasn't seen it yet, I'll take Uncle Sixteen to have a look." ”

Chen Sixteen silently withdrew his hand and said softly, "Miss, my hands are dirty." ”

After Li Xin heard this, his eyes looked at Chen Sixteen's only remaining hand, and he saw that this hand was not only rough, but also had many cracks, and the cracks in the cracks were all black and gray medicinal powder.

It's like the charcoal seller back then.

The Marquis of Jing'an sighed and patted him on the shoulder again: "Hui Niang, I have already asked people to take her back for the New Year, this time in the backyard, you go and take a look." ”

Chen Sixteen nodded a little excitedly.

"Multi-...... Xie Houye. ”

With that, he walked towards the backyard, Ah Han originally wanted to go with him, but Li Xin pulled his sleeve and didn't let her leave.

"Don't leave yet, I'll take you to meet the guests."

As soon as he finished saying this, a young man with a face somewhat similar to Li Xin, but a little darker than Li Xin, walked in from outside, he glanced at Li Xin, and then bowed his head deeply.

"I've seen my brother."

Li Xin didn't respond, just said "um", and then said to Ah Han: "Call uncle." ”

Anyway, there is indeed a blood relationship between him and Li Shuo, although he has not recognized this younger brother for so many years, but Li Shuo has tirelessly called him brother for so many years, no matter what, this uncle should be.

Ah Han is very sensible, and after saluting Li Shuo, he called Uncle sweetly.

Li Shuo was very happy, groped in his clothes for a long time, and finally found a small wooden tag that he was wearing, hanging it around Ah Han's neck, and he said with a smile: "This is when my uncle was a child, you ...... Uh, the brand my mother gave me, which can ward off evil spirits, is given to you. ”

He originally wanted to say "grandmother", but thinking of the relationship between Li Xin and the Hou Mansion, he temporarily changed his words.

Li Shuo was talking to Xiao Ahan, and Zhao Jia, who was dressed in white, walked over with a smile and gave his hand to Li Xin from a distance.

"Yes."

After he finished saying this, he glanced back at the half-grown boy and said, "Why don't you call your father-in-law quickly?" ”

This half-grown son is obviously Zhao Jia's son, who looks like he is thirteen or fourteen years old, and he is also a stunned young man, so he really saluted Li Xin, and then opened his mouth to call his father-in-law.

Li Houye's face changed slightly, and he frowned: "Brother You'an? ”

Zhao Jia glanced at Xiao Ahan, who was already in his teens, with a smile, and said with a smile: "Master Hou, didn't you recognize Mu Ying's son as a son-in-law, in this case, what can you do if you recognize my son as a son-in-law." ”

"Could it be that the Hou Ye wants to favor one over the other?"

Marquis Li's face was a little not good-looking, and he coughed.

"My daughter is still young, Brother You'an don't mess around, it's really not good, I'll take another righteous son."

Zhao Youan smiled and stretched out his hand to greet his son.

"What are you doing in a daze, don't you kneel down and kowtow to your stepfather?"

This kid is not ambiguous, and he will immediately kneel down and kowtow.

Li Xin was a little speechless, and was about to speak, when Shen Gang trotted all the way over, bowed his head beside Li Xin and said: "Master Hou, the holy decree sent by the imperial court to Yongzhou has been fast into the boundary of Yongzhou at this time, and most of it was sent to Master Hou." ”

Li Xin frowned.

"Divine decree?"