Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 459 The beginning of the new year
At the beginning of the new year, Su Ze was not in Yongle City, and the banquet at the Duke's Mansion that was hosted by Su Ze during the previous festivals was cancelled.

However, Princess Chenliu invited the wives of the ministers to a banquet in Yongle City. During the banquet, Princess Chenliu showed Su Ze's son Su Xian to the officials' wives. Yongle City was filled with praises for the "early wisdom" of Su Ze's heir.

In fact, it is impossible to tell whether a child of this age is precocious or not. These words were spread by the families of meritorious officials who attended the banquet.

The purpose is naturally very simple, which is to let all the ministers see that Su Ze's heir is in Yongle City, so that they can feel at ease.

It is disturbing for any group to have no successor.

The throne of the crown prince had already been decided, and Princess Chenliu was also very "generous". She recognized both Lady An and Lu Xiuning as Su Ze's concubines, and incorporated their daughters into the clan to become Su Ze's illegitimate daughters.

Princess Chenliu even thoughtfully sent Lu Xiuning to Dingzhou to serve Su Ze personally.

Among them, Madam An's daughter is Su Ze's eldest illegitimate daughter and the oldest. She is now four years old and has reached the age of babbling.

Duke Su suddenly had two illegitimate daughters, and this incident quickly caused a sensation in the official family circle of Yongle City.

The reason is naturally very simple. Su Ze does not have many relatives now, and these two concubines are the best marriage candidates for those ministers who want to be promoted!

However, ordinary subjects should not even think about such things. Only those who have made the greatest contributions and followed Su Ze the earliest have the opportunity to marry Su Ze's daughter.

The Government Affairs Hall was closed from the first day of the first lunar month, but because it was a time of war, it was only closed until the fifth day.

It was a rare opportunity for Su Chuo to rest at home, and he and his wife Xun chatted about family matters.

Xun also came from a noble family and was elegantly spoken and behaved. The two had always been in harmony with each other after their marriage. It was not known whether it was because Su Cho was too busy or for some other reason, but the couple still had children to this day.

Xun also tried to take a concubine for Su Cho, but was rejected by Su Cho.

Su Chao also proposed the idea of ​​adopting a son from his brother Su Liang, but Su Liang was late in having children, and his eldest son was born only last year.

There is absolutely no such thing as adopting the eldest son. Anyway, the Su family already has a successor, so Su Chao is not in a hurry.

In such a chaotic era, both civil officials and military generals had children late.

Xun said: "Sister-in-law originally wanted Mian'er to marry into the Feng family, but now she seems to have changed her mind."

Sister-in-law is Su Liang’s wife Lu, Mian’er is Su Liang’s eldest son Su Mian who was born last year, and the Feng family is the Feng Shu family.

Feng Shu is actually about the same age as Su Liang, but his wife is recognized as a blessed person, having given birth to three sons and two daughters so far.

Su Chao shook his head and said:

"Marrying a county duke may not be a good thing, and being a royal consort is not easy. I don't think my brother is willing to do that."

Xun also nodded repeatedly. If she could give birth to a son, she would definitely not want him to marry a royal lady.

The example of Princess Lanling of the Wei Dynasty is still before our eyes!

Xun retorted:
"Our mistress, and the Princess Nanyang who went to Shuzhong, are not very virtuous?"

Su Chao didn't know how to refute, so he just said:
"The Matron is different."

Xun thought about it and felt that Princess Chenliu was an outlier. Moreover, Princess Chenliu lost her father when she was young and might not have felt much gratitude from the royal family.

But I heard that Duke Su dotes on his two daughters very much, so I'm afraid it will be difficult for him to be the imperial concubine in the future.

Su Chao asked again: "Hou Jing's wife will be expecting a baby after the New Year, right?"

Xun nodded. She was a little surprised. Her husband never cared about the affairs between these women, but why did he care so much about Hou Jing's family giving birth to a child?
Su Cho said:

"Hou Jing is alone in Shu, so you should take good care of his family. This will make him feel at ease, and also make the county officials feel at ease."

Xun immediately understood what her husband meant.

She was also a girl from an aristocratic family, so she naturally knew that since ancient times, generals who went on expeditions would always make their lords wary.

Even if the lord is not afraid, the jealous ministers will still be jealous.

Su Chao naturally understood this truth. In the past, Su Ze had discussed the theory of "chain of suspicion" with his ministers.

As long as one side harbors ill intentions, any action can be interpreted as a harbinger of rebellion, and once mutual suspicion sets in, the situation will get out of control.

Deng Ai and Zhong Hui, who attacked Shu in the past, both ended up with a bad end.

Su Ze's attitude was also revealed in his private letter to Su Chao. As long as Hou Jing had no ulterior motives, he wanted Hou Jing to have a good end. After all, Su Ze was not Sima Zhao, and his military achievements were enough to suppress Hou Jing.

Fortunately, Hou Jing has become much more stable since his marriage. When he arrived in Shu, he did not learn Deng Ai's arrogance and domineering behavior, nor did he appoint any important officials. He also reported the achievements of his subordinates to the shogunate and did not interfere in the civil power of Shu.

The fact that Hou Jing knew when to advance and retreat might have something to do with his wife, Li.

Therefore, Su Cho specifically asked his wife to take good care of Li. As long as Li could give birth to a son and a daughter for Hou Jing, Hou Jing would be more obedient and serve Su Ze well.

Xun suddenly asked, "Could it be the Hou Jing family?"

Su Chao smiled and said:
"We don't know whether Hou Jing is a son or a daughter, and even if they want to get married, it will take until the child is three years old. Who can know what will happen by then?" Xun nodded, and she talked about another gossip:
"I heard that Princess Chenliu likes Lord Yu's daughter very much and often asks Lady Yu to take her daughter to Baizhang Tower to play with the prince."

The lady of the Yu family is Li Ruiniang, the daughter of Li Shizhe. Her two-year-old daughter with Yu Jin is their eldest daughter after marriage, and is said to be very much loved by Princess Chenliu.

Su Chao shook his head and said:

"Let's wait until he's three years old. Besides, the Duke is in his prime, and it won't be easy to be his in-law."

Xun also nodded. Facing a lord like Su Ze, it would be difficult to be the next generation of heirs.

And who knows how long he can live? Looking at Xiao Yan opposite him, he is almost outlasting his eldest son.

Given Li Ruiniang's personality, she probably wouldn't necessarily want to marry into the Duke's family. However, when Yu Jin reached this position, the marriage of his children was no longer a simple marriage, but a very important political event.

As the future royal family, even if these meritorious officials and nobles do not marry into their families, they will not be allowed to marry each other, as that would form a group of noble in-laws, which would be a huge threat to the royal family.

"We two brothers hold high positions, which is already very lonely. Fortunately, there are few descendants of the Su family, otherwise it would be dangerous."

In fact, the Su family's martial arts had already declined by the time it came to the two brothers.

Otherwise, Su Liang would not have served as Xiao Baoyin's aide, and Su Chao had to rely on Li Daoyuan to get an official position.

But if the Su family was a large and prosperous family, I'm afraid one of the Su brothers would take the initiative to resign.

The Su brothers are both smart people who know when to advance and when to retreat. They have always kept a low profile and tried their best to be a lone minister.

"Besides, I'm afraid it will be difficult for Mian'er's generation to make a name for themselves."

Xun said with some doubt:

"My dear husband and elder brother are both outstanding people who have revitalized the family. Mian'er's starting point should be much higher. How could he not have a chance to succeed?"

Su Cho said:

"I heard that Yuwen Tai has surrendered to the Duke of the County. Have you heard about Chen Chong's capture of a general in Youzhou? Wei Xiaokuan also did a great job."

"My brother and I are getting older, and we still have these people above us, so it's better to have children later."

Xun seemed to understand, but heard that these people were also top talents under Su Ze, and most importantly, they were very young.

They can be regarded as the first generation of meritorious officials who followed the emperor. It seems that the Xin Dynasty will be like the early Western Han Dynasty, and this group of meritorious officials will overshadow two entire generations.

"But these are things for the future. Who knows what will happen in the future?"

"My wife, we should rest early and give birth to an heir soon, so that our brother can rest assured."

Xun's face turned red. Her husband had never spoken to her like this since they got married. She responded softly and followed Su Cho to the bedroom.
-
The daughter of the Li family was pregnant and was handling the accounts at Hou Jing's mansion.

This year, because of Hou Jing's contribution in conquering Shu, many people sent gifts. Hou Jing's mansion was bustling with people before the New Year, making the neighbors around him envious.

However, the Li girl felt a huge pressure. She had to return all these gifts one by one. Hou Jing had made great contributions in the wars outside, which had already made people hate him. If she did not handle the gifts well, they would become weapons for others to attack her.

After finally preparing the return gifts, Ms. Li still had to personally deliver them to several families.

Hou Jing's reputation, which has gradually improved over the past year, was all due to the hard work of Li's daughter.

The good thing is that Duke Su advocates frugality, and Princess Chenliu also hates expensive gifts, so the gift-giving culture in Yongle City is not luxurious. The return gifts do not need to be too valuable, as long as they are thoughtful.

After finishing all these things, Ms. Li returned home and received news from her parents' home.

There was no other way. Her biological father Li Gou stayed in Chang'an to build a new city and did not return to Yongle City to celebrate the New Year. Although she was a concubine's daughter, Li's daughter was now the most respected person in the Li family in Yongle City, so naturally she had to take care of her mother's family affairs.

It turned out that his legitimate younger brother, Li Gou's legitimate son Li Jian, was causing trouble again.

His father Li Gou had worked so hard to get the opportunity to study in Chongwen Pavilion, but this guy got into a fight in the Chongwen Pavilion and was sent back by Chongwen Pavilion scholar Qi Tai.

The family was in turmoil over this ancestor, and Lady Li said to the maid:

"Go back and tell mother that my son-in-law's army is short of people. Let him go to Shuzhong for some training."

The maid grew up with the Li family's daughter. She said, "Madam, the Li family treats you badly. You are pregnant and have to help worry about your family's affairs. If the general knew about this, I'm afraid he would punish us for not caring about you."

"We are all family. Once we are in the army, the military orders are strict and Li Jian will not be allowed to lose his temper. The general will help me educate him well so that he will not cause trouble for Grandpa and the general in Yongle City."

The maid chuckled and happily went to deliver the message.

The daughter of the Li family held her belly, but she was thinking of Hou Jing in Shu.

However, Hou Jing did not have a good year.

(End of this chapter)