Golden Branch

"What a great Cui family! They actually attached themselves to the Li family!"

Wang Lin held the letter in his hand, and he had mixed feelings about the marriage with the Cui family.

Back then, Wang Lin married Cui because he valued the Cui family's status as the first foreign relative in the northern border and their extensive network of in-laws.

Unfortunately, the Cui family suffered a great impact in the storm of dynastic change.

The girl from the Cui family whom Wang Lin married later was also a cruel and stupid woman.

Not only did it not help Wang Lin much, it also made the Wang family's inner courtyard a mess.

The only use was probably that through Cui, Wang Lin and Lou Jin reached a cooperation.

However, with Lou Jin's departure from Yizhou, the alliance between Wang and Lou came to an end.

Wang Lin once again became a poor man who could only rely on Jiang.

Jiang is a person who is difficult to control.

Wang Lin has bargaining chips, but he dare not go too far.

During the Yi River Incident, Wang Lin thought he was in great trouble, but unexpectedly, Jiang still took action at the critical moment.

Unlike Lu Huaixin, Li Shishi and others, he did not lose his head or have his entire family confiscated. Instead, he was promoted to Shishi.

According to the Dayu Dynasty's setting of prefectures and counties, Yizhou belonged to Zhongzhou.

The governor of Zhongzhou was of the lower rank of the fourth grade.

The next promotion would be to be transferred to a higher state and become a real frontier official.

Or, be transferred back to the capital, enter the three provinces and six ministries and other important government offices, and slowly enter the core!

God knows how excited Wang Lin was when he was feeling anxious and restless, he suddenly received a promotion document from the Ministry of Personnel.

Originally, he should be happy and excited, but the bloodstains on the bluestone floor at the street corner had not dried yet, and the exiled prisoners at the city gate were still crying... Wang Lin knew that Jiang did it on purpose!

She clearly had the ability to get him promoted, but she just refused to help.

She also knew that he deliberately remained "neutral" in the Yi River Incident and almost harmed Jiu Niang.

For the sake of her daughter, Jiang had to take action, but she didn't want Wang Lin to suffer and be happy.

She specifically waited for the court to issue the results of its handling of the relevant personnel in Yizhou, waited until some people lost their heads and their families were destroyed, and waited until Wang Lin could not sleep at night and was in a state of panic all day long, before she took quick action!

Jiang wanted to tell Wang Lin: I can help you, but I won't do as you wish or let you blackmail me.

What Jiang gave Wang Lin was not a warning, but was meant to make him feel uncomfortable and uneasy.

Therefore, even though Wang Lin was promoted due to a blessing in disguise, he did not feel much joy in his heart.

Wang Lin also realized one thing from this: Jiang really hated him.

This backer is unreliable!

Jiu Niang is his bargaining chip to control Jiang Shi, but it may not always be the case.

Jiu Niang has grown up and is going to get married.

When she marries someone else, Wang Lin, the bastard, will have to give way.

At that time, can he still rely on Jiu Niang to coerce Jiang again?

If not Jiang, who else can he rely on?

Wang Lin was far away in Yizhou, while his mother, wife, other family members, and many in-laws were in the capital.

In recent years, despite the tremendous changes in the capital, Wang Lin was still able to receive timely and detailed information.

Especially with the relocation of the capital to Chang'an and the conquest of the southern border, the rivalry between the King of Qi and the King of Chu (the sage) became increasingly fierce.

This is a crisis, but also an opportunity.

Wang Lin had been shaken by the incident on the Yi River.

now--

Wang Lin's eyes fell on the letter from Cui again:

In the letter, the second wife, Cui, mentioned that her nephew, Cui Zai, the great-nephew of the wife of the Lou family, a student of the Imperial College, would follow Lou Rang to Yihe to take up his post.

Cui Zai is seventeen years old this year and has been in the Imperial College for less than two years. He has mediocre qualifications and cannot get a recommendation place in the Imperial College on his own, so he cannot take the imperial examination and become an official.

But, I have a good in-law.

In other words, Cui Zai's relative (Lou Rang) had a good relative.

Lou Rang accidentally fell off a horse and broke his leg, which should have ended his official career.

Perhaps Lou Jin took into consideration the brotherhood, or perhaps he felt a little guilty, so he met the request of Madam Cui and Lou Rang and his son: to marry into the Li family.

Yes, Lou Rang had already discussed marriage with the famous Li family.

Because of the broken leg incident, the Li family retreated a little.

This is human nature. Why would someone's pampered daughter, who is well-preserved, talented and beautiful, marry a lame man who cannot enter the officialdom?

Moreover, a darker guess is that people with disabilities will inevitably have their mentalities affected.

Especially for a person like Lou Rang who was originally healthy, born rich, and spoiled, the "chosen one" suddenly became a cripple in the gutter. Such a huge psychological gap can easily distort his mentality and make it dark and terrifying.

In fact, the Li family's speculation was not groundless. After Lou Rang broke his leg, he did become moody, sensitive and cruel.

The slaves and servants around him were basically rotated every three months.

Most of these people had their legs broken before they were driven away.

Words like lame, crippled, fractured, broken leg, etc. are taboos for Lou Rang.

Once he is touched, he will go crazy and take it out on the people around him.

The Li family heard some rumors and was worried that if they married their daughter there, she might become a tool for Lou Rang to vent his anger, just like those servants.

Even if Lou Rang took his wife's identity into consideration and controlled himself from hitting her, such a dark and twisted person was not a good match at all.

Marriage is indeed for the benefit of both families, but one cannot ignore the happiness and life of the daughter.

In aristocratic families, sons are indeed important, but daughters are also the apple of their parents' and elders' eyes.

The Li family was thankful that the so-called marriage was just a tacit understanding between the two families, and they had not yet formally exchanged tokens or written engagement letters.

Without a formal engagement, there is no question of breaking off the engagement.

The Li family could just pretend to be ignorant and deny the previous “acquiescence”.

Mrs. Cui refused to agree. Her son was already useless and could not establish a career, so he could not afford to be without a good wife.

Get married!

You must marry someone of equal status and power!

Although there is no evidence to prove that Lou Rang's fall from his horse was related to Lou Yu, Madam Cui was not a man who solved cases in the yamen. She was just a widow with only one son left.

For the first time, she disregarded her status and cried in front of Lou Jin, saying bluntly: "If the general is unwilling to give Arang justice, I, an old woman, will hang myself in the Lou family ancestral hall!"

A stepmother is also a mother. Even if she did not raise Lou Jin, she is still his mother in name.

Killing siblings, forcing stepmother to death... Even the powerful General Lou Jinlou cannot bear such a bad reputation.

Lou Jin: ...Yeah, I really don’t care.

As a brave general who has fought for many years and experienced life and death, Lou Jin is not afraid of ghosts and gods, nor is he afraid of fame.

However, Lou Rang is a descendant of the Lou family after all, and the old man's bloodline.

Lou Jin married his beloved woman as he wished, and had twins, a boy and a girl... He felt fulfilled, but he couldn't help but think of his deceased father.

Well, let's just do it for the old man and to clean up the mess for that little beast.

We can't really push Madam Cui and Lou Rang and his mother into a corner. They are rubble, but that little beast is going to enter the officialdom and cannot have any stain.

Lou Jin then came forward to talk to the Li family, but unfortunately, the Li family loved their daughter so much that they politely declined.

If the Longxi Li family doesn’t work, then let’s change to another one.

There are many noble families in the North.

It just so happened that Lou Jin became a disciple of Yang Ji because of his relationship with the Dugu family.

Yang Ji's second wife was from the Zhaojun Li family, also a first-class family in the northern border.

The Li family is a prominent family, and a legitimate daughter of the direct line would certainly not compromise with a second son with a broken leg.

However, the Li family is very prosperous, with many collateral branches and illegitimate children.

After hearing the story of the Lou family, Yang Ji's second wife, Lady Li, now Queen Li, personally acted as a matchmaker and selected the daughter of a down-and-out member of the family.

Although they were down and out, as long as the other party had the surname Li, he was a member of the Li family and could represent the marriage between the Li family and the Lou family.

Madam Cui was a little dissatisfied. It was just a side branch, but a side branch of a noble family was much better than a poor bumpkin.

Moreover, Madam Cui could see that this was Lou Jin's greatest "concession".

If the mother and son don't appreciate it, Lou Jin will just give up.

His son is already useless. If he wants to continue to be rich and have descendants, he still needs the protection of his elder brother Lou Jin.

Madam Cui didn't dare to really offend Lou Jin.

It doesn’t matter if she is a side branch, she is still a daughter of the Li family after all.

In this way, Lou Rang married Li. After marriage, the couple got along with each other and had occasional disagreements, but they could barely get by.

Less than two years later, Yang Ji founded a new dynasty and appointed Li as the queen. The Li family became the first foreign relatives in Dayu.

After marrying a daughter of the Li family, Lou Rang's status naturally rose and he became more respectable.

After several years of operation, this time, Lou Rang relied on the help of the Li family and actually got the position of river manager.

"Head of the River? This is to snatch food from Yang Rui's tiger's mouth."

Wang Lin was well-versed in the affairs of the imperial court, so he naturally wouldn't just look at the surface of things.

On the surface, Lou Rang had the support of the Li and Lou families and got a low-ranking official position.

But in fact, this was a confrontation between the King of Chu (the sage) and the King of Qi.

The King of Qi still suspected that he had lost——

A few years ago, Yang Rui was responsible for dredging rivers and managing river affairs.

Over the years, Yang Rui not only repaired rivers, built ships and trained troops in Yizhou, but also in Qingzhou and other places.

After Yang Chong replaced Yang Yi, without the court's troops, food, etc., he was still able to successfully cross the river and pacify the southern border. Yang Rui made an indelible contribution.

Now that the world is unified and there are no external enemies, the struggles within the royal family have become increasingly fierce.

Relying on the saint, the King of Chu began to extend his claws little by little.

Lou Rang's position as the general manager of the river marked the beginning of his attempt to seize power from the Qi King's family.

Lou Rang has a special identity. He is Lou Jin's younger brother. Lou Jin has some connection with Yang Chong. Lou Jin's "nephew" follows Yang Rui to gain experience.

There is still some "friendship" between the Lou family and the Prince Qi's Mansion.

For the sake of Lou Jin and Lou Yu, even if Yang Rui was angry, he would not kill Lou Rang!

Therefore, there is a high probability that Lou Rang can successfully take over the river from Yang Rui.

"Humph, it really is easy to be an official if you have someone in the court."

Wang Lin is also an old friend of the Lou family, and he knows everything about the Lou family and Lou Rang.

Thinking that Lou Rang, a lame man, could actually become an official, and even hold such a powerful and lucrative position as the one in charge of the river, I couldn't help but feel envious and jealous.

He is obviously more talented and has a healthy body, but——

A governor of Zhongzhou is really not worthy of his talent in governing the country.

Not only was he frustrated, but even his family looked down on him.

Cui wrote this letter ostensibly to tell Wang Lin that her nephew was coming to Yizhou and asked her step-uncle Wang Lin to take good care of him.

However, Wang Lin could read the word "satisfied" between the lines of Cui's words.

Cui seemed to be saying that their Cui family was indeed a little declining, but their in-laws were very powerful.

The Lou family is no longer Wang Lin's ally, but a relative of the Cui family.

Look, any student who is still studying at the Imperial College has the opportunity to gain experience under Lou Rang.

If he could seize the opportunity to achieve some merits and have the help of his in-laws, Cui Zai could directly enter the officialdom!

The children of the Cui family can have a good future without any help from Wang Lin or the Wang family.

Wang Lin: ...

He knew that Cui did it on purpose.

Four years ago, Shen Du came to Hedong, and Wang Heng successfully became his apprentice, becoming the only female disciple under Shen Du.

This news soon spread to the capital.

Madam Xie, Mrs. Cui and others were all very tempted. They all had brothers and nephews. If the children of their families could become Shen Du's disciples, they would surely gain both fame and fortune!

The female relatives wrote letters one after another, asking Wang Lin to persuade Wang Heng to help.

Even if we can't persuade Mr. Shen to accept another disciple, we can at least ask Wang Heng to give up her spot.

A little girl with mediocre talent, greed and obesity has wasted the place of a famous scholar's disciple. It would be better to benefit her relatives and friends!

Wang Heng didn't even need to refuse, Wang Lin had already declined.

He's just selfish, not stupid.

How can adopted nieces and nephews compare to your own daughter?