half volume

In the war between the Zhou army and the Huns in the second year of Xihe, the Huns suffered the most losses, followed by the princes and kings of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Although the Zhou army was victorious, it lost a lot of soldiers and generals, especially the princes and kings who had invested their blood.It was impossible to make up for the lost army, so the emperor generously distributed the spoils of war to his father and brothers as compensation.The Huns basically had nothing but livestock and a few horses. Zhao Yan only kept horses for himself, and distributed all the cattle, sheep and livestock to the princes and kings.

As for money, the treasury of the country that has just experienced a great war is empty, and almost all savings have been exhausted by rewarding soldiers. The princes and kings are all their own family members.

For a time, the flood of cattle and sheep in various vassal states almost became a disaster.However, the emperor reneged on his debt with reason and evidence, and no one else could do anything about him.

After Xie Qing appointed Da Sima, Zhao Yanzhi could no longer justifiably arrange for him to serve him 25 days a month.Besides, Xie Qing was really busy, and Zhao Yanzhi spent more and more days sleeping alone in the dormitory.But during festivals, or some special occasions, Zhao Yan only insisted on staying with Xie Qing to spend the night with him.

Xie Qing's promotion and fortune also brought him an unexpected benefit: Nan Ji no longer ridiculed him, but became more pleasant.Even one day when Xie Qing came home late, Nan Ji warmed a bowl of sweet soup and waited for him.Xie Qing was really flattered by this kind of treatment that he had only received from Zhao Yanzhi.

The days when Xie Qing went home gradually increased, and the relationship with Nan Ji became better and better, but this made Zhao Yanzhi even more uneasy.On Xie Qing's birthday, because he himself insisted not to make any fuss, and because he didn't have a whole life expectancy, Zhao Yanzhi asked Empress Xie to hold a family banquet in Jiaofang Hall, and there were only him and Empress Xie, Xie Qing and Nan Ji, and four other children, Xie Xiang did not show up, and only asked Xie Yuan to come to celebrate the eldest son's birthday on behalf of his family.

The dishes were picked by Zhao Yanzhi himself, and Xie Qing liked them all.During the dinner, he observed Xie Qing and his wife talking occasionally, and Xie Qing occasionally smiled, his heart sank more and more.Nan Ji didn't speak ill of Xie Qing anymore like before, and even made him see Nan Ji touch Xie Qing intentionally or unintentionally several times, but Xie Qing didn't say anything.In Zhao Yanzhi's eyes, this was extremely ambiguous and heinous.

Now Nan Ji puts all her heart on Xie Qing, but ignores her son and daughter.Moreover, the two children have been raised by Empress Xie since they were infants, and now they are gradually becoming more sensible, and they are not as close to their biological mother as they are to Empress Xie.

Huaiqing probably saw someone new at the banquet, so she sat upright all the time with a dignified face.Now she looks like the eldest sister, and the three younger siblings seem to follow her lead.At this moment, apart from glancing contemptuously at her younger siblings who are out of the circle from time to time, she has always been courteous and attentively eating the food in front of her.

Ah Sui still needs to be fed.He is no less picky eater than Xie Qing, he will not eat most of what Fu's mother feeds him.Zhao Yanzhi couldn't help laughing, and jokingly said: "Huaifang, Ah Sui is really up to you. Do you think this is my son, or your son?"

In front of so many people, Xie Qing swallowed the sentence "Stop talking nonsense" that he almost blurted out.He secretly glared at Zhao Yanzhi, then smiled calmly and said, "What's so special about your nephew looking like an uncle?" While speaking, he waved to the crown prince's mother and said, "Mrs. Song, please bring the crown prince here. Come and feed him."

Holding Zhao Sui in Xie Qing's arms, he was actually quite obedient. He ate almost all the food Xie Qing fed him, even the bitter vegetable soup that he would never touch, he actually ate a couple of mouthfuls.

Zhao Yanzhi's interest was also aroused.He walked up to Xie Qing and hugged his son, then scooped up a spoonful of vegetable soup and fed it to his mouth, but the little guy turned his head aside in a very shameless manner.Zhao Yanzhi didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Hey, Huaifang, why is my son closer to you?"

Xie Qing felt that Zhao Yanzhi hadn't said a single right word during the whole meal, so he quietly lowered his hand to the desk a few times, and patted his leg warningly.

As a result, Zhao Yanzhi blatantly put his head next to Da Sima's ear in front of the whole room. After a while, everyone felt that Da Sima's ears seemed to have changed color, and there was an imperceptible anger in his expression.

Zhao Yan only whispered in Xie Qing's ear, "Huaifang, you seduce me."

Hou'er has been very active these past few months, compared to Ah Sui and Cheng Ming, Empress Xie thinks she should be a boy.When the meal was halfway through, Yu'er, who had been patient for a long time, could no longer sit still.She ran to Huai Qing's table with brisk steps, tugged at Huai Qing's sleeve and staggered, "Sister, play."

Seeing that everyone in the room was staring at the two of them with interest, Huai Qing couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.She reprimanded Hou'er angrily: "Don't mess around, you will make people laugh if you have no rules."

Speaking of which, Hou'er's awe of this eldest sister is somewhat deeper than that of Empress Xie.When she heard this, she fell silent; but she didn't leave, and sat down beside Huai Qing in a dejected manner.

This time Huaiqing didn't chase her away and let her sit aside.Nan Ji was afraid that her daughter would offend the princess, so she greeted her with a smile: "Come here, mother, don't bother the princess, ugly girl."

Gu'er probably only understood the last three words, was taken aback for a moment, and then burst into tears with a "wow".

You'er is not afraid of anything, Zhao Yan only dares to grab her, but she is only jealous of others calling her ugly.

Huai Qing looks like Xie Qing, but her temper is like her father.Especially in the protection of weaknesses in the bones, Huai Qing almost followed Zhao Yan only [-]%.She can bully her siblings as much as she wants, but others can never say a word about them.

Zhao Yanzhi and Xie Xiang Xie Qing felt distressed when they saw Yu'er crying, especially Zhao Yanzhi's face sank immediately.But since it was her biological mother who made her cry, it is difficult for others to say much.Huai Qing didn't care about this, she put down the chopsticks in her hand, and sternly shouted at Nan Ji: "Who is Qing?"

Zhao Yanzhi felt secretly refreshed, he really wanted to hold his daughter in his arms and kiss her, and then boast about her beauty.He lamented in his heart that his daughter was indeed the caring little padded jacket, while insincerely reprimanding him: "Huiqing is rude, this is your aunt."

As a result, Huaiqing directly ignored his father's words.

She turned her head to comfort the sobbing Yu'er awkwardly: "Stop crying, you're useless. You look like Uncle, how can you be ugly?"

The words were not very angry, but Yu'er really gradually stopped crying.

After the banquet, Zhao Yanzhi kept Xie Qing on the pretext that he had something to discuss with Xie Qing.Before Nan Ji left, Zhao Yanzhi gave Xie Qing a warning look in a place where Xie Qing could not see.

Nan Ji shivered, and quickly reflected that she had been so dazed recently that she didn't realize the fact that she was robbing the emperor for a man.

A few days later, when it was Xie Yuan's turn to serve, Zhao Yan only saw that his playmate, who had always been heartless, looked a little sleepy today, and thought of Xie Qing's birthday a few days ago, he also didn't say a word the whole time, so he couldn't help but become curious .Zhao Yan only approached with interest and asked, "Zuobi, what's the matter with you these days?"

Xie Yuan glanced at him listlessly, and replied listlessly: "It's nothing, I'm just upset by being urged by my father to do serious errands."

Once the chatterbox started, Xie Yuan couldn't stop it.He cleared his throat, sat up a little bit, and said sadly and angrily, "Your Majesty, you know me. I have lived for more than 20 years. Apart from eating, drinking, whoring and gambling, you have nothing else to do." It can be seen which one I have done well? I have been doing this for more than 20 years, and my father suddenly asked me to be a county magistrate. Can you tell me, don’t all the people in that county have to be killed by me?”

Zhao Yan only nodded in agreement, and said in agreement: "Zhuo Bi is right."

Xie Yuan's expression became even more sad and indignant. He had no time to protest Zhao Yan's ridicule, and continued: "Father always thinks that the minister is not good enough. If he catches the minister, he has to give a few words. Please tell me, your majesty, there is an elder brother in the family." Don’t you just get it? This time is good, when my father resigns, can I still live a good life?”

Xie Yuan just sighed at the side, but Zhao Yan only keenly caught another piece of information.He raised his eyebrows and pretended to ask casually: "Mr. Xie wants to resign?"

"That's right, my father said that he has been the prime minister for many years, and now that the elder brother is the great Sima, the Xie family has too much power. He..." Xie Yuan followed Zhao Yanzhi's words, and only realized that this was not true in the middle of the sentence. It is not something that should be said to the emperor.

He quickly covered his mouth and looked at Zhao Yanzhi vigilantly.

Zhao Yan just thought it was funny, he pushed Xie Yuan nonchalantly, and said jokingly: "You just say it, anyway, you have already said the most important part."

Xie Yuan cried and said with a mournful face: "Isn't it, my father forbade Chen to speak out."

Zhao Yan only seduced from the side: "Zhuobi, you have already said more than half of it, so why not tell me the rest. Anyway, I probably know what Xiang Xie said, and the rest is just curiosity. As a minister, you should know everything and say everything; if you say it, I will give you the set of white jade Liubo chess that you have coveted for a long time, how about it?"

Xie Yuan weighed it up, gritted his teeth, and said: "Forget it. Anyway, it's almost the same. My father said that when the moon is full, you will lose. Now the Xie family has too much power. It can be done for a day or two, or a year or two, but If it takes a long time, even if His Majesty doesn't mind, there will always be others who are jealous, and I'm afraid it will end badly. He is getting old, so he simply resigned and let it go. Anyway, Xie family, as long as there is Big brother is enough."