Princess, he is rich enough to rival the country

As soon as Wen Xuefei said this, the brothers in the study didn't know what to say.

What does it mean to catch up early rather than catch up?

Can this word be used like this?

Also, is it really okay to directly discuss this kind of important matter that is related to the life and death of the entire family?

As it turns out, not only can it be, it's even quite possible.

Wen Xuefei was obviously not joking. After saying that, he paused for a moment. After giving his sons some time to sort out their thoughts, he began to roll the roll:

"Qingshu, you are the eldest brother, so you can talk about it first."

As soon as the roll call came out, the brothers of the Wen family felt like they were dreaming back to their childhood.

While feeling sorry for him, he did not forget to cast a sympathetic look at his eldest brother.

Outsiders all say that Wen Xuefei is very lucky. The six sons in the family are all dragons and phoenixes among the people, and they are talented and educated.

But in fact, how can there be so many geniuses in this world?Even if there were, how could they all come from their Wen family?

The so-called self-knowledge of their own affairs, the reason why the young masters of the Wen family are so outstanding now is all due to their hard work since childhood.

Except for Wen Qingxiao, who is really talented, the others have all been punished by their own father.

When the young masters were enlightened, Wen Xuefei could be said to be a veritable strict father.

Wen Wu, who was the youngest, was the one with the deepest memory. At that time, what the brothers feared most was the day when their father Hugh Mu.

Because every time my father rests and takes a bath, he always calls the brothers into the study and randomly checks their studies.

Children are playful by nature, and the brothers of the Wen family are no exception.

Although the homework of several of them is usually good, but children, there will always be occasional times when their homework is not satisfactory because of their playfulness.

However, Wen Xuefei has been in the officialdom for a long time, and his eyes are like torches. Whenever this is the case, he can sense it.

Whenever this time, the brothers will be punished.

Although Wen Xuefei did not have the habit of corporal punishment, he would never beat or scold a few people.

But it's enough to grind everyone's daily energy limit and assign homework to a few people.

However, every time Wen Xuefei punishes, he likes to implement the continuous sitting system.

One is to let the brothers understand that as brothers, they should share weal and woe and advance and retreat together.

The second reason is that if anyone fails to do their homework because of being playful, the others at least failed to fulfill their supervisory duties and should be punished.

The left and right are punished together, so when the brothers are lazy, they also like to advance and retreat together.

But it's cool to be lazy for a while, and the exam homework crematorium.

Every time the brothers felt that they did not do well in their homework, when the day of being spot-checked, they began to regret and feel guilty.

At this time, the brothers like you to push me, I push you, no one wants to be the first person to be drawn, and bear the greatest anger of his father.

Under such a situation, Wen Xuefei would start to roll call and spot check just like now.

As for Wen Da, who was named, perhaps because he was mentally prepared, the expression on his face did not show any panic.

After pondering for a moment, he directly spoke out his point of view:

"In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with agreeing to the solicitation of Princess Li."

As soon as these words came out, the other brothers in the room were shocked:

No, can this kind of thing be directly concluded as soon as it comes up?

The son of the same father, why can the eldest brother be so handsome?

Did the father secretly make up lessons for the eldest brother?

Unlike his sons, Wen Xuefei didn't have much expression on his face, and even raised his eyebrows slightly:

"Huh? Tell me the reason?"

"Firstly, the Wen family has been getting closer to Prince Li's residence recently. Whether it is about the sixth brother or the fourth brother, in the eyes of outsiders, there is more or less the shadow of Prince Li's residence."

Wen Qingshu couldn't figure out what was going on in his father's mind, so he lowered his eyes slightly, and slowly expressed his thoughts:

"Especially after the fourth brother entered the Ministry of Household Affairs, in order to gain a firm foothold, he often fought against the eldest prince's lineage. Even if he rejected Princess Li today, in the eyes of outsiders, the Wen family and Prince Li's residence are already inseparable."

While Wen Qingshu was speaking, the other brothers also put away those silly thoughts in their hearts, and began to seriously analyze and think about what their elder brother said.

Especially when Wen Qingshu talked about Wen Qingyan's various behaviors after entering the household department, there was a look of speechless expression on his face.

After Wen Qingyan entered the household department, he tried his best to make trouble for the eldest prince. Outsiders said that it was because of the close relationship between the Wen family and Prince Li's residence.

Who knew that since Wen Qingyan took office, Hubu Shangshu and others tried every means to drive Wen Qingshu away.

During this period, Wen Qingyan was given little shoes to wear.

Wen Qingyan wasn't made by a clay figurine, the Minister of the Household Department almost rode on his head and took off his black gauze hat. Could he not fight back?

After coming and going, it became what outsiders saw.

If it hadn't been confirmed that the emperor's appointment of Wen Qingyan as the servant of the household department was indeed beyond Gu Yanshu's expectations, the Wen family would have even suspected that this was a move made by Gu Yanshu.

After Wen Qingshu paused slightly, he continued to speak:

"Secondly, the current eldest prince really does not have the strength to compete with King Li."

This point, even if Wen Qing doesn't say anything, other people can see it clearly.

In the past, the Eldest Prince and the Third Prince were evenly matched, but in fact, they were only barely.

Because the third prince completely relied on his own strength to kill a bloody path among the many princes.

However, the eldest prince relied on the concubine's plan, his status as the eldest son and the assistance of the fourth prince, to have the strength to compete with the third prince.

Even earlier, some officials in the first prince's line had persuaded the fourth prince to start anew.

After all, many officials in the First Prince's lineage were former members of Duke Ning's Mansion.

The First Prince and the Fourth Prince are both the sons of noble concubines, and they both have the blood of Duke Ning's family. For these people, there is not much difference between their allegiance to the First Prince or the Fourth Prince.

However, these proposals were rejected by the fourth prince, saying that his ambition was not here, and he only wanted to help the elder brother well, and then become a wandering wild crane.

Everyone saw that the fourth prince had a firm attitude, and there were only two princes under the imperial concubine's knees, so they could only settle for the second best and assist the eldest prince wholeheartedly.

With so much external help from the eldest prince, he could barely draw with King Li.

Not to mention that now that King Li has won Concubine Li, it is even more powerful.

Let alone the Wen family, I am afraid that even the other ministers in the court, and even many officials from the First Prince's lineage, can see this clearly.

Otherwise, before King Li went to Yizhou, there would not be so many ministers who wanted to surrender to King Li overtly or secretly.

Officials in the lineage of the First Prince would not be so anxious.

It's just that for many officials in the First Prince's lineage, their interests have long been tied to the First Prince, and there is absolutely no possibility of changing course halfway, so they can only go one way to the dark.

Under such circumstances, if one had to choose a path, a fool would know how to choose.

It's one thing to know in your heart, but quite another to really make up your mind.

Wen Er thought for a moment, and finally couldn't hold back his opinion:

"But our Wen family didn't have such rules before..."

The other people, who were slightly biased because of Wen Qingshu's words, began to shake again.

That's right, the Wen family didn't have the rule of standing in line in the battle for succession.

Even in the previous dynasty, when the struggle between the princes was the most intense, the grandfather of the Wen family did not choose any prince.

It is also because of this that the Wen family was able to maintain its greatest strength when the king changed several times and the authority changed.

Being a pure minister seems to be an inborn choice of the Wen family.

The matter they are discussing now is obviously against their nature.

At this time, Wen Qingxiao, who had been silent all this time, spoke at the right time:

"But when doing something, you either don't do it, or you have to do it absolutely. The most taboo thing is to sway left and right, and your position is uncertain."

As soon as these words came out, there was silence in the room again.

That's right, either don't do it, or do it absolutely.

Now the Wen family seems to have offended the eldest prince's lineage. If they want to continue to insist on neutrality, if they don't handle it properly, they will end up being inhumane.

At this time, the brothers of the Wen family realized that they didn't seem to have many options.

Just when the expressions of the brothers were unpredictable and their hearts were complicated, Wen Xuefei's chuckle sounded in the room:

"It seems that Qingxiao needs to be more transparent."

"Father?"

Wen Qingyan looked at Wen Xuefei in astonishment, the meaning of what he said clearly was that he had already made a decision!

Not only Wen Qingyan, but also the shock in the eyes of the others.

"Seeing you are so surprised, didn't you think of it?"

Wen Xuefei took a sip of tea, and different from the astonishment of his sons, he asked a question in a very flat tone:

"What do you think of the Wen family now?"

Although I don't know why my father asked this question, the brothers still gave an answer:

"Prosperous and bright future?"

It is not difficult to see from Wen Xuefei's expression that he is not satisfied with this answer:

"It does appear to be so, but is it really so?"

The brothers of the Wen family were a little surprised, weren't they?

The Wen family's poems and books are heirlooms, with hundreds of years of face, and the bells and whistles.

His status in the court also reached its peak when his father was a Hanlin scholar. Now there are seven members of the Wen family, and six of them are officials in the court.

That's all, without counting the cousins ​​in the collateral line.

Can't this be considered thriving?

Looking at the bewildered sons, Wen Xuefei sighed slightly in his heart.

It seems that his sons still have something to teach:

"Qing Xiao has been working with His Royal Highness Princess Li for a long time. There is a saying that His Highness often says, even after bringing Qing Xiao home, which sentence do you remember?"

Hearing the disappointment hidden in his father's tone, the brothers were afraid to answer for a while.

In the end, Wen Wu took the courage to say something uncertain:

"Rules are dead, but people are alive?"

"That's right, it's this sentence."

Seeing that he had guessed right, Wen Wu was slightly relieved in his heart, but what Wen Xuefei said next confused the brothers:

"What happened to Xiao Liu back then, why did the emperor refuse to let it go?"

The rules are so...

Wen San subconsciously wanted to open his mouth to answer.

But before he could say the words, he immediately thought of what Wen Wu said just now.

Rules are dead, people are alive.

Immediately, he seemed to understand something, but he also seemed to understand nothing.

Looking into Wen Xuefei's eyes, there was a trace of bewilderment in the shock.

"In Tianqi's dynasties, there is indeed no precedent for people with disabilities to become officials, but there has never been a precedent for officials to be dismissed because of physical disabilities."

Wen Xuefei closed his eyes, opened them and continued:

"Although Xiaoliu hadn't entered the Hanlin before, according to the convention, after the scientific examination, the new division Jinshi and fellow Jinshi were already officials, and Xiaoliu was Tanhua at the beginning."

Therefore, the rule that people with physical disabilities are not allowed to be an official does not apply to Wen Qingxiao.

Wen Xuefei also said that Tianqi has never had a precedent of dismissing officials due to physical disabilities.

Even generals whose limbs are so crippled that they can no longer go into battle to kill the enemy have not set a precedent for this.

Wen Qingxiao is a civil servant, so what hurt her leg was not her brain.

If the Wen family is really as colorful as it appears on the surface, why didn't the emperor show any kindness back then?

When the brothers of the Wen family tried their best to digest this fact, they discovered that things were far from being as simple as they thought:

"Look at the positions you are holding now. Besides Xiao Si, who holds the real power?"

Hearing this, the brothers looked at each other, thought about each other's positions, and finally came to their senses.

Hanlin Academy, Yushitai...

It seems that they are really some positions that are said to be expensive, but they are of no practical use at all.

Several people came from Wen's family, they considered themselves noble, and they were quite satisfied with such a position. Before this, they had never thought about this issue.

Now it seems that they really think too little!

However, Wen Xuefei seemed to be planning to wake up several people at once today, leaving no reaction time for them, so he continued:

"So why do you think, as a father, you insisted on letting Xiaosi and Xiaowu go outside? After Xiaosi returned to Beijing, why was he not appointed?"

Six years ago, Wen Xuefei saw a clue after Wen Qingyan's scientific research.

But at the beginning, Wen Xuefei didn't take it very seriously, and thought it could work out of it.

However, what happened to Wen Qingxiao three years ago made Wen Xuefei see clearly that the Wen family had begun to go downhill.

There are seven fathers and sons, and six are officials. It sounds really majestic, but in the eyes of the emperor, I am afraid it is not the case.

There are only a few important positions in the court, but these few of his sons are all dragons and phoenixes.

If everyone is entrusted with important responsibilities, and when a few people grow up in the future, each of them will occupy a crucial position, then wouldn't this court become the words of the Wen family?

At the time when the chief assistant, Mr. Pei, was also running around for Wen Qingxiao, but after several petitions were still rejected, and after careful analysis with Wen Xuefei, he figured out the truth.

So only there, Wen Xuefei seldom paved the way for his sons.

Anyway, he was very happy to see what his sons were doing at Yushitai.

But today, Wen Xuefei realized that he was still a little unwilling.

After seeing the scenery on the top of the mountain, how can you be willing to bow down to the foot of the mountain?

However, for the current Wen family, how easy is it to make a comeback?

From the Dragon's work, it is undoubtedly the fastest way.

I have to admit that when faced with the olive branch offered by Gu Yanshu, he was moved.

This was the first time for the brothers of the Wen family to hear these words from their father, and at this moment they finally understood why his father was more inclined to accept the solicitation of Prince Li's residence.

But in their hearts, there are still some concerns:

"But if in the end..."

The words are not finished, but the meaning is very obvious.

If King Li fails in the end, what about the Wen family?

Since ancient times, the courtiers who stand on the wrong team have no good end!

Wen Xuefei raised his eyes and glanced at his sons for a few moments, and said calmly and shockingly:

"The Wen family has the ability to protect themselves, and if the father is not mistaken, the Holy One probably already has a candidate in mind."

If one failure to stand in line can cause the Wen family to be ransacked and exterminated, then the centuries-old efforts of the Wen family's generations may be a joke.

But the emperor already has a candidate in mind...

Wen Qingxiao's pupils shrank slightly:

"How did father see it?"

Now that he has opened his mouth, Wen Xuefei decided to explain some truths to his sons today:

"Do you still remember what happened when the eldest prince returned to Beijing from Shaocheng?"

"Remember." It's only been a month or so, how can you not remember?

"At that time, my plan was to make the eldest prince a prince, to restrain the increasingly strong King Li, but in the end, I only rewarded him, why?"

Wen Xuefei didn't give his sons time to answer, and continued to say:

"Because of Princess Li's layout, Xiao Liu may be more aware of this matter. After all, you have got involved."

"Then how much do you think the emperor knows about this matter?"

"You should know all about it."

Wen Qingxiao gave the answer without thinking much about it.

At the beginning, because the emperor canceled the reward for the eldest prince because of the remarks in Beijing, but he didn't have any weird attitude of beating the eldest prince because of this matter. Gu Yanshu even came here to analyze it with Wen Qingxiao.

The final conclusion was that the emperor should know that Prince Li's mansion was behind this incident, so he would gently let go of the eldest prince.

As for why the emperor knew about it but didn't mention a word, he didn't even do the thing of playing [-] boards each.

Gu Yanshu and Wen Qingxiao agreed that it should also be for checks and balances.

After all, there seems to be no big difference between hitting [-] boards and not punishing each other.

After that, the matter was put aside by the two.

Now that he suddenly heard his father mentioning this matter, Wen Qingxiao couldn't help mentioning the analysis he had with Gu Yanshu back then.

After hearing this, Wen Xuefei first gave Wen Qingxiao an appreciative look:

"Xiao Liu and His Highness' guesses are almost correct, but they guessed wrong about the reason."

"Huh?" Wen Qingxiao raised her eyes, since she guessed wrong, what was the real reason?

"The real reason is that the emperor knew it, and was even happy to see it succeed, so he didn't express anything."

Wen Xuefei's answer was really beyond Wen Qingxiao's expectation.

Before Wen Qingxiao could raise a question, Wen Xuefei asked another question:

"What kind of person do you think the emperor is?"

Saying this is actually a bit outrageous.

But since this was in their own study, it was impossible for outsiders to hear it, so the few of them started talking freely.

Of course, the answers given are almost the same:

"Diligence in government and love of the people."

"Be conscientious."

……

Regarding these answers, Wen Xuefei was a little noncommittal, and only focused on Wen Qingxiao, who had never spoken.

Noticing his father's gaze, Wen Qingxiao gave a different answer from the other brothers after a little thought:

"Extremely ambitious, but... born at the wrong time?"

The point of being extremely ambitious was analyzed by Wen Qingxiao himself.

When meeting Gu Yanshu for the first time, Wen Qingxiao directly pointed out this point.

Whether it is conscientiousness or diligence and love for the people, they all have their own goals and want to be famous in history.

Here is the emperor's ambition.

As for the untimely birth, Wen Qingxiao deduced Gu Yanshu's thoughts from Gu Yanshu's reaction and the few words that he usually revealed.

Before doing it, Wen Qingxiao would never have dared to say such a thing.

Perhaps it was because Wen Xuefei's previous words were shocking enough.

Or maybe it's because she has been with Gu Yanshu for a long time, and her bones are also tainted with some of the rebelliousness of Her Royal Highness Princess Li.

Now Wen Qingxiao almost didn't even think about it, so he blurted out this sentence.

But after finishing speaking, Wen Qingxiao regretted it a little.

I'm afraid my father will be reprimanded for saying such rebellious words.

However, what Wen Qingxiao didn't expect was that he got an appreciative look from his father.

"Since the emperor succeeded to the throne, he has been working hard, trying to bring Tianqi out of the current predicament, but has not succeeded. For more than [-] years, the emperor has basically accepted this reality, but he is still a little bit unwilling."

Wen Xuefei knocked on the table, his tone was a little emotional, he was born at an untimely time... It is not only the emperor's regret, but also their ministers' regret:

"If you are unwilling, how do you think the emperor will choose the crown prince?"

What Wen Xuefei said is already so clear, if the brothers need to let him clarify the words again, I will be sorry for the evaluation of "dragon and phoenix among people" by outsiders.

Therefore, the emperor's delay in appointing a crown prince is not because he is reluctant to bear the power in his hands, but because he is extremely cautious about this matter.

Because from the beginning, what the emperor wanted to find was not the prince, but the king who could bring Tianqi out of the predicament!

At this time, Wen Qingxiao finally understood why his father would say "the emperor knows, and is even happy to see it come true" just now!

The stronger King Li's mansion is, the more powerful King Li is, and the more likely King Li is the one who can lead Tianqi out of the predicament!

Thinking of this, even Wen Qingxiao didn't know how to react.

For the first time in his life, Wen Qingxiao felt completely unable to understand what it was like to be a person.

So not only he was wrong, but also Princess Li was wrong.

The emperor supported the eldest prince time and time again, handed over the household department to the eldest prince's management, and extended a helping hand when the eldest prince was in decline.

It's not because of water, and it's also not about checks and balances.

But in the emperor's heart, the heir to the heir has already made a conclusion, the eldest prince...is the whetstone arranged by the emperor for King Li!

At this moment, Wen Qingxiao didn't know whether to sympathize with the eldest prince who didn't know about it, or to be shocked by the emperor's arrangement and layout.

But after thinking about it, Wen Qingxiao felt a little unbelievable:

"How can father be sure that your guess is correct?"