As soon as the end of Xiang Xu's army, there was a serious civil strife in the Qi State, which responded to the old famous saying quoted by Shi Xie: "Only the saint has neither external troubles nor internal worries." ”

Civil strife occurred twice in two years: this year the Choi clan was destroyed by the Qing clan; The following year, the Qing clan was expelled by Erhui, and Qingfeng went into exile in Wu. The two events are separated in time, but they are inextricably linked.

Cui Zhu's original partner died after giving birth to two brothers, Cui Qiang and Cui Cheng. Cui Shu's temperament is very similar to Luanshu's, he is obsessed with the pursuit of power and likes to study knowledge, and he spends most of his time on official business or in his study. Since he is not the kind of person who can't live without a woman, he has never continued the string.

Cui Zhu's old name is Dong Guo Yan, a descendant of Qi Huangong. Dong Guo Yan's sister married the doctor Tang Gong, and later gave birth to Tang Wujiao. Duke Tang had a bad fate and died young; After the death of Duke Tang, Dong Guo Yan drove Cui Shu to Tang's house to mourn.

Cui Zhu walked into the mourning hall and saw the deceased's widow at a glance, the beautiful and touching hostess with a plain face and tearful eyes. Cui Zhu's sad and melancholy mood suddenly disappeared, and he suddenly felt that he had broken out in the second spring; In his heart, he couldn't help but feel a strong sense of mission to take on the unfinished responsibility for Tang Gong.

Cui Zhu was in a trance on the way home, and his soul was not reluctant; It wasn't until he stopped his car that he finally woke up his master from his state of confusion. Cui Shu said to Dong Guo Yan that he was going to marry the poor widow, and asked Dong Guo Yan to make sure that this good thing happened.

Dong Guo Yan disagreed: the reason was that Cui Shu was moody and unscrupulous; Cui Zhu's behavior sometimes frightened him, and sometimes flattered him; If my sister marries Cui Zhu, she may be rich and noble because of her sister's favor, or she may be ruined because of her fall from grace - this kind of thing has happened to other people!

Dong Guo Yan replied: "I'm afraid this is not suitable! Your family is from Ding Gong, and Dongguo is from Huan Gong; Zhou Li is against marriage with the same surname, and this is also known to you. Besides, 'if you marry with the same surname, you will not be born', aren't you afraid of influencing your children and grandchildren? ”

Cui Shu said: "Jin Chong'er will be unhappy if he hears your words!" In fact, I'm not happy about it too! Do you think I'm not worthy of being the sister of a retainer, or am I not worthy of the widow of a doctor? Or do you want to marry her off to my enemies? Or marry abroad? Would you rather do that than make her the wife of your master? ”

Dong Guo Yan couldn't help but shudder when he heard his threatening, emotionless voice. He immediately pleaded guilty, saying that he was only doing his duty to remind him, and that he would unconditionally obey his master's orders.

Dong Guo Yan reminded again: "But before marrying a wife, let's do divination!" Although the minister cannot ask for it, the master should also obey the judgment of Heaven. ”

Cui Zhu then divined a hexagram, and the hexagram changed from "Sleepy" to "Da Guo", and he showed the results to some diviners, but did not tell those people the reason for the divination. Some of the officials like to befriend the powerful, and some hate him to the core; In short, everyone said in unison: "Good luck, good luck!" They only take the explanations that show auspiciousness, and avoid talking about the rest.

The authority to interpret "Zhou Yi" in Qi should belong to the Chen family, Cui Shu asked around among the officials, and finally went to visit Chen Xuwu.

Chen Xuwu said: "This kind of hexagram has different interpretations when asking different things, and it is natural that there is evil and auspicious. Therefore, if the Master does not explain what is going on, I cannot easily draw conclusions. ”

Cui Zhu was a little hesitant at first, because after all, this matter would not see the light of day, but when he thought of his glamorous and moving future wife, he could no longer care about the problem of face and explained everything.

In fact, the hexagram has nothing to do with the problem of divination, Chen Xuwu is just too curious and wants to use the identity of "authority" to reveal the other party's secrets.

Chen Xuwu said: "Master, please see, the husband follows the wind, the wind falls, and the wife cannot be married." The words of "Xuan" say: "Trapped in the stone, according to the thistle, entered the palace, did not see his wife, fierce." If you insist on going your own way, you will become a tribulus terrestris, and if you enter the thorn bushes, you will be covered with scars, and in the end, you will not even be able to go back to your own home! ”

Cui Zhu said: "That's right, it's so correct! The master is talking about Tang Gong! He bears all the bad luck, and I'm going to enjoy the luck! ”

It turned out that when Tang Gong died, Tang Jiang just went home to save his relatives, and Tang Gong did not see his wife for the last time until he died. This is the answer to "enter his palace and not see his wife, fierce." ’”

Cui Shu left the Chen Mansion happily, but Chen Xuwu shook his head and said, "What you divinate is not marriage, but your own fate!" If you don't know how to change, you won't get a good death if you are a bachelor for a lifetime! ”

Soon, Cui Zhu gave a dowry to the Dongguo family, and Tang Jiang took the young Tang Wuyi into the Cui family's house. A year later, the couple got a son, and the baby's eyes were big and bright, so Cui Shu named the son "Cui Ming".

Time passed year by year, Cui Zhu defeated Gao and Guo, and assassinated Qi Zhuang Gong; His status is getting higher and higher, and his power is growing. His three sons and one adopted son have also grown up, and they have all reached the age where they can hate anyone for their own benefit.

The first to be hated by his brothers was Cui Cheng. Cui Cheng is the eldest son and heir of the Cui family, and his temperament is irritable, and he doesn't care about anyone except his father. In his eyes, there was no difference between a servant and a slave, and there was no difference between a brother and a servant. It is not uncommon to see a brother herding a horse or sharpening a weapon for him under his coercion.

But then an encounter with him changed the situation completely.

It turned out that Cui Cheng broke his leg during a hunting activity, and Cui Zhu found a "Donghu (now Inner Mongolia) Langzhong" who specialized in treating bruises and injuries to give him a bone. That Lang Zhong secretly accepted Cui Qiang's benefits and gave him the wrong bone, and as a result, he became a cripple.

Choi Sung was no longer able to board the chariot and command the army to fight, and was soon ousted by his father from the position of the son. Since the current hostess of the Cui family is Tang Jiang, Cui Ming was naturally made the heir.

Cui Cheng and Cui Qiang vehemently opposed their father's decision, and Cui Qiang said: "Isn't my mother your wife?" Am I not older than Cui Ming? Is my virtue worse than his? Have you forgotten the old adage that 'marriage with the same surname will not give birth to a child'? Why should you abandon your second son and make the youngest? ”

Cui Zhu said: "Your mother is no longer there, and the current wife is Tang Jiang, and it is natural for Cui Ming to be established." My behavior is in accordance with the 'weekly rites'. Now he doesn't mention the indecent assault of the same-surname marriage.