Chapter 243: Old friends come to welcome

It had just snowed in Chang'an in early November. The sky was still floating with tiny snowflakes, falling on the roofs and trees, wrapping the winter Chang'an in silver. The towering city walls were like giant snakes on their backs, stretching into the gray smoke far away.

At noon, Zhang Huan and his party, who came from afar, finally arrived in Chang'an City. Zhang Huan immediately looked at the spectacular buildings in Chang'an City for a long time, and he had been away from this city for three years.

"Master, are we going to go back to Quan's house?" In a carriage, the concubine Yang Chunshui opened the curtain and asked carefully.

This time when she returned to Beijing, Pei Ying did not come with her, but instead took her son to stay in Jincheng County. She asked Yang Chunshui to take care of Zhang Huan's daily life. Although Zhang Huan entered the pavilion, it did not mean that he would stay in Chang'an for the rest of the time. He would still be in Longyou for most of the time.

"Of course I'm going back to Quan House, otherwise where will we go?" Although Zhang Huan was a little embarrassed, Quan House was indeed a little smaller and could not accommodate his five hundred personal soldiers. Could it be that the soldiers would stay in the inn?

Just as he was thinking, a group of carriages came quickly in front of him. More than a hundred guards were escorting on both sides of the carriage. The carriage stopped not far from Zhang Huan. One of them walked out of the car door and laughed: "Do you still remember me?"

I saw him in his fifties, with long brocade clothes and long robe, and his face was like a crown of jade. He was the Minister of Justice Chu Xingshui. He hadn't seen him for several years. He was still in style, but if you look carefully, you will find that his temples were slightly frost.

Zhang Huan hurriedly dismounted, stepped forward and bowed, "I haven't seen you for several years, how can my uncle be in good health?"

When Chu Xingshui heard Zhang Huan still call his uncle, he let go of his heart. He gently stroked his long beard and shook his head and sighed: "The health in the past two years is far inferior to before. After all, people are old. How good is your mother?"

"My mother is in Jincheng County and she is in good health." Zhang Huan looked behind Chu Xingshui, then asked with a smile: "Did my uncle come to pick me up?"

Chu Xingshui nodded and smiled slightly, "Grand Prince Zhangye, how can the minister of the disciple live in Yongjiafang again? The Queen Mother specially gave you a house in Yonglefang. I have decorated you with a new decoration, and now I am here to pick you up."

Zhang Huan was overjoyed and he gave a deep tribute, "Thank you, uncle, for thinking carefully for me."

"You don't have to take it seriously."

The two of them joined forces and walked towards Yonglefang with a chatter and laughter. Yonglefang is located in the middle of Zhuque Street. The transportation is very convenient. After less than half an hour of travel, they saw the white walls from afar. At this time, the snow had completely stopped and there were few pedestrians on the street. By chance, a carriage was speeding past.

However, there was a bit of lively in front of the gate of Yonglefang. More than 20 rural farmers selling rice and vegetables lined up baskets beside the road. Many residents in the courtyard squatted in front of the vegetables and picked and clamored, and several servants guarding the gate turned a blind eye, as if this had been the norm.

When Chu Xingshui saw this, he shook his head and did not interfere. He ordered the soldiers to drive aside.

At this moment, a carriage galloped from the yard. More than 20 servants rushed forward, and the road was very domineering. The vendors selling vegetables were so scared that they dodged to the corner. Chu Xingshui's guards were furious and drew their swords and glared. When the servants saw that it was Chu Shangshu's carriage, they also saw hundreds of fierce cavalry. They were so scared that they immediately restrained their arrogance and slowed down their horses to pass.

The carriage was decorated very luxuriously, with various golden silk and silver threads embedded in it. When the carriage passed by Zhang Huan, the curtain happened to be opened, and a woman's face appeared behind the curtain. She looked at them curiously, and saw that her face was like peach blossoms, her eyebrows were as dark as a distant dawn, and her eyes were as hazy as mist. She happened to touch Zhang Huan's eyes. She was stunned at first, and her beautiful eyes suddenly showed a look of panic. She pulled the curtain on the carriage. The carriage accelerated and soon disappeared into the vast snow.

Zhang Huan was also very surprised. The woman looked familiar and seemed to have seen her somewhere. While thinking about it, Chu Xingshui smiled beside her and said, "This is the new wife of Lu Qi, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Her nephew should not know her."

As soon as he said this, Chu Xingshui suddenly changed his words, "No! Her ex-husband is the magistrate of Tianbao County, Wuwei County. Maybe his nephew has really seen her?"

'Tianbao County Magistrate?' Zhang Huan murmured twice, and suddenly, a name flashed out of his mind like lightning, "Yang Feiyu!"

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Zhang Huan's new house covers a huge area, about hundreds of acres, with tall courtyard walls, dense trees, layered courtyards, hundreds of houses. What's more, it's close to the house, which is a schoolyard where you can garrison troops. It can be seen that Cui Xiaofu is very thoughtful.

"This place turned out to be the house of Zhang Shuo, the famous prime minister of Kaiyuan. His descendants returned to their ancestral home ten years ago, and the house was taken back by the court and has been empty to this day."

After walking a few steps, Chu Xingshui pointed to the military camp and said to Zhang Huan: "It was originally the base of Jinwu Guard, but now it is vacant. Since the Empress Dowager gave you this house, it means that your soldiers can enter the city. As for the ideas of others, you don't have to pay attention to it."

From Chu Xingshui's mouth, Zhang Huan heard a hint of dissatisfaction. He couldn't help but smile, took out a gold medal and handed it to his guards and said, "Let the brothers all enter the city."

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The two entered the mansion. Unexpectedly, all the servants of Zhang Huanquan's house had moved over. Butler Sun had already cleaned up the rooms and houses. Yang Chunshui took people to clean up the accommodation, and Zhang Huan invited Chu Xingshui into the study.

The study room was very comfortable to be decorated, and the things were moved from the old house. Even the rattan chair that Zhang Huan loved deeply was placed in front of the window. There was a wintersweet and a osmanthus tree planted outside the house. The wintersweet had already bloomed and emitted a refreshing fragrance.

Zhang Huan closed the window and ordered the maid who presented tea to go out first. He asked Chu Xingshui to sit down. Before Zhang Huan could speak, Chu Xingshui said calmly: "There is a saying that I want to say first. This time I come to greet you and clean up the house for you, it is all my own wishes, not someone's instructions."

When Zhang Huan heard him draw a clear line with Pei Jun on his own initiative, he smiled and asked, "Just this time, my uncle told me to ignore any ban, but I heard a little dissatisfaction. Why is this?"

Chu Xingshui didn't say anything for a long time. After a while, he sighed and said, "Does your nephew not know the embarrassment of the court?"

Zhang Huan shook his head, "I only know that Pei Jun is in power in the court, and the chaos in the Jianghuai area is on the rise, so I don't know much about the others. Please ask my uncle to sue you."

"What's there to say!" Chu Xingshui said angrily: "I thought he would be different from Cui Yuan when he came to power. He would play less power tricks and do more things that benefit the country and the people. But the facts are just the opposite. Not only did he destroy the power checks and balances reached by the seven major families, he tried every means to take all his power for himself, and he also used only relatives. On the one hand, he said that most of the children of the aristocratic families were rich, demoted the children of the Cui family and Wei family to the East Palace and became idle officials in the prince's palace. On the other hand, he ordered the children of the Pei family to be placed in various important positions. A few people who are not the Pei family were all his confidants. These people did not think about national affairs and were only focused on gaining power, making the court chaotic. He himself knew that some things were too much, and he only said that they would correct them slowly, but this delay was only three years. These people had long been deeply rooted, so they could not change them!"

Zhang Huan listened silently, is the matter really as serious as Chu Xingshui said? It may not be possible that Pei Jun has only eighteen children of the Pei family in the past three years, which is definitely not what Chu Xingshui said, but only seven officials from Cui and Wei families were demoted, so he was indeed caught. For example, Cui Xian was defeated by the Minister of Personnel and was defeated as a guest of the Prince of the East Palace because his wife and brother leaked the imperial examination questions for the fourth year of Xuanren; and Wei Zheng was demoted to the Chief Secretary of the Shangshu and the Chief Secretary of the Prince Ying's Mansion, which was the Censor who impeached him to discuss the private affairs of the Empress Dowager.

Chu Xingshui's great war was nothing more than that after Pei Jun came to power, he not only did not give him any benefits, but instead harmed his interests and gave the position of Salt and Iron Supervision Order, which was related to the interests of the Chu family, to others. Not only that, Pei Jun also undermined the cabinet and extended his hand into the Ministry of Justice, greatly reducing Chu Xingshui's power.

Of course, the problems in the court are indeed very big now, with many factions and bloated institutions, which makes the people of the court overstaffed and busy fighting for power all day long, but these problems have always been there, but Cui Yuan's exercise of power is fierce and can be suppressed, while Pei Jun is relatively tolerant of others, so these problems are exposed one after another, not Pei Jun's responsibility.

So when Chu Xingshui severely scolded Pei Jun, Zhang Huan just smiled but said nothing. He wanted to know what Chu Xingshui's real purpose was?

Chu Xingshui took a sip of tea and said, "This time he appointed his nephew as his subordinate minister. To put it nicely, he is the head of the subordinate minister's real power, but the supervisor's power has been emptied and is useless. Not only that, Cui Yu is the subordinate minister, you are the subordinate minister, and he can use a little trick to make you fight in the same family. His intentions are so harsh. Didn't your nephew expect it?"

"How should we deal with it according to my uncle's intention?" Zhang Huan asked without saying a word.

Chu Xingshui narrowed his eyes slightly, and he stared at Zhang Huan and said word by word: "Without checks and balances, there is no pattern. With your strength, you can compete with Pei Jun. My uncle is willing to help you."

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Chu Xingshui left, night had already fallen, and the lights in the study were bright. Zhang Huan stood in front of the window with his hands behind his back and stared at the blooming wintersweets. It should be said that Chu Xingshui's bet was very accurate, or that he had been waiting for his arrival.

It is not necessary to hide it. In the past three years, Pei Jun called him to Beijing several times, but he politely refused. The bumpy experiences over the years made him finally understand one thing. If he wants to reach a high position step by step, it is impossible to do without strong strength. Without strength, he can only become a chess piece in the hands of others and will never become a chess player.

When he finally became a great man for three years, the God of Destiny quietly opened the door to opportunity for him, right? He had an army of 300,000, rich Longyou and Bashu, and even the entire Western Regions, like thick cornerstones, allowing him to stand on the peak of unlimited glory.

At this moment, a desire for conquest arises from the bottom of his heart. Chu Xingshui said it well. Without checks and balances, where can the pattern come from? Without crossing Pei Jun, how could he reach the highest throne of the Tang Empire? The days of keeping one's strength and resting a low profile have passed.

Zhang Huan slowly closed his eyes, and he now needed to find a breakthrough.

At this time, the door knocked gently, and Yang Chunshui's voice came from outside, "Master, can I come in?"

"Come in!"

Zhang Huan temporarily put down his thoughts, closed the window, sat back on the soft rattan chair, the door opened, Yang Chunshui walked in from outside, holding a tray, which contained a pot of wine and a few side dishes, and it seemed that there was a letter.

It can be seen that Yang Chunshui has been carefully decorated. Her well-proportioned figure is wrapped in tight satin clothes, making her look more plump and charming, especially her tall breasts, which further highlight her beauty and charm. It should be said that Zhang Huan still likes Yang Chunshui very much, especially in bed. She is the kind of woman who uses her whole body and mind to welcome men. She can not only get the greatest pleasure in her, but also get the satisfaction of conquering women.

"Master, someone has sent you an invitation." Yang Chunshui put down the tray and whispered shyly.

"What is it said?" Zhang Huan leaned lazily on the rattan chair, staring at her plump body with squinted eyes, her white and greasy skin, her soul-stirring eyes, her red little mouth slightly pouted, and her cheeks after being watched were flushed. All of this made him feel moved.

"It's a man named Changsun Nanfang who invites you to attend his birthday party tomorrow."

'Changsun Nanfang?' Zhang Huan suddenly remembered polo, but he hadn't seen him for several years. He nodded and smiled, "I understand, what else?"

"And it's time for dinner for the master." Yang Chunshui picked up the plate, but saw Zhang Huan's ambiguous look, and she was happy and ashamed in her heart, and she couldn't help but lower her head.

"Put down the plate, come here!" Zhang Huan hooked her with his index finger.

She walked slowly to Zhang Huan in a slight manner, "The master hasn't eaten yet!"

"I don't want to eat now."

Yang Chunshui threw his charming eyes at him, pouted his bright red mouth, and said in a coquettish voice: "The master doesn't want to have supper, so what do you want to eat?"
Chapter completed!