Golden Branch

Wang Heng raised her beautiful willow-shaped eyebrows slightly. "Lu Huaijin? This name seems familiar!"

"Brother, is our new governor also from the Bu Liugu family?"

Is he from the same family as the former Hedong County Magistrate?

You really can't blame Wang Heng for her divergent thinking. The fact is that Lu Huaijin and Lu Huaixin only differ by one letter, which makes it easy for people to connect them together.

Lou Yu nodded, then shook his head.

Wang Heng understood instantly and asked tentatively, "Brother, are you saying that Lu Huaijin is indeed from the Bu Liugu family, but he and Lu Huaixin are just relatives?"

They are not blood brothers, but just have the same surname and clan!

Lou Yu smiled slightly, indicating that his fat girl had guessed everything correctly.

So, he still likes to be with the fat girl, because they can communicate smoothly without him saying anything.

Lou Yu really hated hearing his own voice now. It sounded like a noisy drake, which was really inconsistent with his image as a gentle little exiled immortal.

Wang Heng dragged over a table and leaned against it casually. "If you count carefully, it's been almost four years since Lu Huaixin was beheaded and the Lu family was exiled."

"Last month, the Saint issued a general amnesty. Was the Lu family also on the list of pardoned?"

Wang Heng quickly thought of a friend from Lu Huaijin. Is Lu Jialan also coming back?

Lou Yu nodded slightly.

The Lu family was pardoned, and Lu Huaijin was promoted to Governor of Yizhou. These were all signals that the struggle between the Saint and the King of Qi had officially begun.

After all, Lu Huaixin was sent to the execution ground by Yang Rui himself, and the Lu family also fell into silence because of the Prince Qi's Mansion.

Now, Lu Huaijin has been reinstated and specially sent to Yizhou...

Although Wang Heng was far away from the capital, she still felt the pressure and urgency of the impending storm.

Lou Yu noticed that Wang Heng was a little nervous, so he wanted to change the subject.

He will be the one to deal with the storms in the capital.

He would never let the fat girl get hurt in the slightest.

The fat girl doesn't need to worry or be anxious about these things. She just needs to eat, drink and have fun as usual.

Lou Yu would also help the fat girl deal with Wang Lin and many other matters related to the Wang family.

Thinking of Wang Lin, Lou Yu turned his head and looked towards the main courtyard of the central axis.

Wang Heng always left the main courtyard of Wangjiazhuangzi empty, as she showed respect to her elders.

Even if my father doesn't live in the manor for long and the main courtyard is empty, it must be kept for him.

Lou Yu had been going in and out of Wang's manor since he was a child, and he knew the layout of the place and Wang Heng's arrangements best.

At this moment, Lou Yu, who was unwilling to say another word, looked towards the main courtyard, hinting at Wang Lin.

Wang Heng noticed his gaze and immediately understood what he meant.

Wang Heng thought about her conversation with Wang Lin that morning and told Lou Yu everything:

"My father was going to Beijing and wanted to take me with him."

"But, my father seemed disappointed with my obesity, and he was a little hesitant because of it."

"I didn't want to go to Beijing, so I said that the teacher was writing a book and needed my help."

When Wang Heng mentioned her overweight body, she did not feel any inferiority or shame. She was graceful, generous and calm.

She never thought that being fat or ugly was a bad thing.

If you don't care, you won't be hurt.

When Lou Yu saw such a fat girl, he frowned.

Lou Yu, who is about to become an adult, is still ignorant and does not know much about matters between men and women.

But he raised the fat girl. When she was young, he didn't dislike her. When she grew up, he got used to it.

In fact, to him, it didn’t make much difference whether Wang Heng was fat or thin, beautiful or ugly.

Lou Yu himself is an extremely handsome young boy, and he doesn't care much about his appearance.

If you want to see a beautiful woman, just look in the mirror.

No matter how beautiful others are, can they be more beautiful than him?

Besides, the fat girl is not ugly.

She has skin as white as cream and delicate features. She may not be that stunning, but she is still pleasing to the eye.

Lou Yu frowned, not because he disliked Wang Heng, but because Wang Heng was disliked and because she destroyed her own appearance——

I'm still not strong enough to truly protect the fat girl.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have to torture herself like this!

For example, at this moment, if Wang Lin did not despise Wang Heng and insisted on taking Wang Heng to the capital, or even chose a so-called good husband for her, Lou Yu could not stop it openly except to make moves in secret.

He had no official position, no soldiers, and no power, so he was unable to intimidate Wang Lin at all!

Realizing this again, Lou Yu's desire for power reached its threshold again.

“…No rush! It’ll be here soon!”

The opportunity that Lou Yu has been waiting for is about to come.

Lou Yu desperately told himself that this time, he would not miss it, he must climb to the pinnacle of power!

Wang Heng seemed not to notice Lou Yu's slightly furrowed brows as she continued blabbering:

"In half a month, my father will come to Beijing."

"The Wang family has 'relatives' coming to Hedong. One is Cui Zai, and the other is Xie Yanzhi!"

Having said this, Wang Heng looked at Lou Yu intently.

She wanted detailed information on both men.

In the past few years, Lou Yu not only studied with Yang Rui and Shen Du, but also secretly raised many people.

He is rich and Hedong is not short of people. He has his own team of secret guards, spies, etc.

Lou Yu not only operated in Yizhou, he also extended his tentacles to the capital.

Therefore, if Wang Heng wanted to get information or investigate someone, she could just go directly to Lou Yu.

Lou Yu: ...I understand what the fat girl means, but I don’t want to speak up myself!

He clenched his right hand slightly and tapped the table three times.

Swish!

A figure flashed in from outside.

The corner of Wang Heng's mouth twitched slightly.

Lou Yu always said that she was spoiled, but he was the one who was pretentious.

It's just the voice changing period, his throat is a little hoarse and unpleasant, so this person stopped talking!

Those who know you think you are aloof.

If someone doesn’t know, they would think you have been poisoned and made mute!

After silently complaining, Wang Heng generously decided not to bother with the little bully.

Looking up at the secret guard, Wang Heng asked, "Tell me, what's going on with Cui Zai and Xie Yanzhi?"

The secret guard glanced at Lou Yu, and seeing that he had no objection, he bowed and reported:

"So that the young lady knows, Cui Zai is the great-nephew of Madam Cui. His grandfather was Madam Cui's brother, and he was a fifth-rank doctor!"

"Cui Zainian entered the Imperial College at the age of sixteen, but his talent was mediocre..."

The secret guard introduced in a low voice.

Wang Heng quickly sorted out the relationship between Cui Zai and herself.

Strictly speaking, Wang Heng and Cui Zai have no blood relationship.

But in terms of status, Cui Zai, as the nephew of Wang Heng's stepmother Cui, is his legitimate cousin.

Oh, by the way, Cui Zai is also Lou Yu’s cousin, and he has no blood relationship with Lou Yu.

However, in Dayu, there are only so many families that are well-matched, and the major families marry each other, with blood relatives and non-blood relatives, and there are a lot of cousins.

Wang Heng had never met her cheap cousin Cui Zai.

She caught some key points from the secret guard's words:

First, the Cui family fell into decline.

Cui Zai's grandfather, the brother of Mrs. Cui, the uncle of his stepmother Cui, and the head of the Cui family, only got the rank of Chao San Da Fu, a doctor of the fifth rank.

The title of Chao San Da Fu sounds noble, but in fact he is just a civil official with no real power.

You can attend court and discuss politics, and then, nothing happens.

As the head of the family, he had no real power. The decline of the Cui family was self-evident.

Secondly, Cui Zai had no talent, was not outstanding enough, and his own family was not reliable - with Cui's grandfather's rank, he was not even qualified to have his descendants inherit his family's rank.

Cui Zai could only rely on his in-laws and old friends.

"Brother, the Lou family and the Wang family are both relatives of the Cui family. Cui Zai came to Hedong this time to -" Which one should he join?

The most likely person should be Wang Lin.

After all, Wang Lin's transfer order came suddenly, and Cui Zai was probably already on the road, so the Ministry of Personnel issued the transfer document.

Of course, it could also be Lou Yu. Lou Yu was young and did not enter the officialdom, but he had a famous scholar as his teacher.

The timing when Shen Du came to Hedong was somewhat "clever". There were too many major events in the north, such as the relocation of the capital and the southern expedition, and the attention of the powerful people in the capital was distracted.

The fact that Lou Yu and Wang Heng became Shen Du's disciples seemed insignificant compared to these major events concerning the court and the family.

At most, there are a few families related to Lou Yu and Wang Heng. The elders in the family can take the time to write a letter, but they cannot "come to the door" directly.

Now that several major issues have been settled, the two people's in-laws and old friends have the time and energy to "make trouble".

So, from this perspective, Cui Zai came to Hedong probably because of Shen Du, a famous scholar in the country.

Wang Heng thought about it while asking Lou Yu.

Uh, okay, actually the answer is from the secret guard.

After hearing Wang Heng's words, the secret guard looked at Lou Yu again.

Lou Yu nodded slightly, and the secret guard knew what his husband meant: there were certain things that did not need to be hidden from the young lady of the Wang family.

"Cui Zai came to Hedong with Lou Rang!"

The secret guard said in a deep voice, "The imperial court has established a river management office, and the sage has appointed Lou Rang as the first river management chief!"

"Lou Rang?"

Wang Heng's eyes narrowed. "Brother, isn't he lame?"

Can a disabled person become an official?

Oh no, that’s not the point. After all, for the truly powerful, the rules can be broken.

The point is, as a friend who grew up with Lou Yu, Wang Heng knows the secrets that outsiders don't know -

Lou Rang's leg was broken by Lou Yu.

Lou Yu and Lou Rang have long been mortal enemies.

Now, Lou Rang suddenly came to Hedong and transformed himself into the general manager of the river.

He, he will definitely cause trouble for Lou Yu.

And Yang Rui...

Could it be that he left not because he wanted to, but because he was forced to leave?

The person who squeezed out Yang Rui, the prince of Qi, was Lou Rang?

Lou Yu sensed Wang Heng's worry and smiled gently, a gentle spring breeze brushing her face. "Don't worry! The prince is fine! I'm fine too!"

Wang Heng felt relieved when she saw him smile.

"...What about Xie Yanzhi? What's his background?"

……

On the official road, a convoy was moving steadily.

Leading the way were several knights, followed by a carriage.

In the carriage, a gentle man of about seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a long robe with wide sleeves and holding a bamboo slip in his hand, was looking at it intently.

He was gentle, handsome, and had a delicate, scholarly air, making him somewhat androgynous...