In March, the swallows return, carrying mud under the eaves to build nests, chattering and quarreling.

Li Li looked up at the busy swallows under the eaves and smiled at Xiao Qin and said, "I still remember when you asked me how the swallows recognized their old nest when they came back."

Xiao Qin nodded: "You said, first of all, you have to make sure that this swallow is really the swallow that built a nest last year?"

The two then laughed and did not continue the topic.

Because that year, after the humble Yuliang official finished speaking, he was chased and beaten by the noble Eleven Men.

More than ten years have passed, and the former Yuliang official has become the important general of the Kaifu Yitong Sansi, and the Shiyilang is still the Shiyilang.

Generally speaking, after a person becomes rich, he will not like others to mention his humble past.

This kind of taboo will become more and more obvious as the person's status increases. If there is an "old friend" who is ungrateful and deliberately exposes the scars, it will attract this person's hatred.

Xiao Qin knew this, so when Li Li mentioned it, he was very careful and did not dare to say anything more, in case Li Li was unhappy.

He didn't know what Li Li wanted to mention the old story, so he could only respond and agree.

Li Li had no intention. He kept it a secret because he met old friends and talked about the past. When he remembered the incident, he mentioned it casually.

At this time, they were located in a temple courtyard on Jiangshan. The reason they were here was because they went out for a trip with their families and climbed up to Jiangshan to look far away. They happened to meet them near the temple.

Li Li, his nephew Li Xin and his family were on a trip, and Xiao Qin went on a trip with his elder brother Xiao Si, Wang Xiao of Poyang and several brothers, and the team was even larger.

Li Li, Li Xin and Liang Miao went to Xiao Si's side to talk for a while. Xiao Qin first sent Li Li out and reminisce about the past.

Outside the temple, someone was flying kites in the open space, and laughter came from time to time, and their respective children were playing.

So, without much thought, the two of them quickly went their separate ways to accompany their families.

Li Li walked slowly under the corridor, recalling what had happened in the past few months.

It is the first day of March, and in the blink of an eye, more than three months have passed.

Chen Baxian, the governor of Yuzhou, died while serving. His old subordinates had a settlement after the New Year and were appointed to each other.

These people have been properly arranged by the King of Xiangdong, so it is hard to say that they will be effective, but at least, it is difficult for others to win over in a short period of time.

The soil breakdown that began to be implemented last winter has now also achieved results.

Tens of thousands of new yellow households were added, and a group of powerful households with hidden households were cleaned up. The court used this to establish power, and the King of Xiangdong also established power.

Among those who were dealt with, there were many people who were close to the emperor's uncles of the dynasty. The king of Xiangdong used the name of the land and dynasty, and the emperor's uncles did not dare to say a few more words.

There is no doubt that the King of Xiangdong is unswervingly making arrangements. This situation is like a fishing net, which has slowly spread out, while the big and small fish in the water are still hesitating.

Several emperor uncles knew that their uncle was "repairing" them, but they kept hesitating, thinking that perhaps as long as they were honest, there would be nothing wrong.

King Xiao Si of Poyang still works in Beijing. Faced with the King of Xiangdong, he is constantly making moves and is weak in dealing with it. He is always poached, but he has never had any counterattack.

Li Li observed carefully for a year and found that Xiao Si had no substantial behavior of reorganizing and did not seem to intend to "operate" Le'an's large copper mine.

It can be seen that Xiao Si is hesitating, just like an old employee who is entering a mid-life crisis, being overwhelmed by mortgages, car loans, and children's schooling problems. Faced with the continuous exploitation of his superiors, he could only endure it and dare not overturn the table.

At the same time, there seemed to be someone hesitating, that is the Queen Mother.

At the beginning of the year, the envoy of Qi arrived in Jiankang and brought a request for peace. At the same time, he also formally informed the monarchs and ministers of Liang that the throne of Qi would change.

The "newly released" uncle took over the throne, and the empress dowager already knew.

As for the series of actions of King Dong of Xiang, Li Li believed that it was impossible for anyone to analyze the profound meaning of the Queen Mother, and the Queen Mother still regarded it as nothing, and had lived a life, and there seemed to be no specific countermeasures.

The once vague statement that "the daughter of Pengcheng entered the palace as the queen", and there was no movement on the Empress Dowager's side.

As for the other regents, no special actions were taken.

At the core of the power struggle, only the King of Xiangdong is unswervingly making arrangements, while the other parties are wasting their time. What's going on?

Li Li felt that these forces were probably waiting for others to stand up and take countermeasures according to the situation.

The emperors were waiting for the King of Poyang to fight with the King of Xiangdong. The empress dowager was worried that his actions would be too obvious and attracted the King of Xiangdong to fight back, so she hoped that his brother-in-law and King of Poyang would restrain the King of Xiangdong.

As for him who returned to Beijing to serve, the Empress Dowager might not believe it, so the words he mentioned at the beginning were probably just playing the edge ball.

The King of Poyang did not want to be the queen mother. The emperors of the dynasty were in trouble, but their uncles and younger brothers were unable to take the responsibility. Perhaps they felt that they would take out the Le'an copper mine and the benefits would be taken away by the King of Xiangdong, so they decided to "get away".

Everyone was hesitating, but the King of Xiangdong did not hesitate, established his authority with his territory, and acted as a power, arranged a place for Chen Baxian's old subordinates to win people's hearts.

Wang Sengbian was still in charge of Mianbei, obviously he wanted to stare at Jing, Xiang, and Sizhou on the north bank of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and shocked several emperors of the dynasty who were out of the town.

Once something happens in the capital, these Wang Sengbian, who are concerned about the situation in the capital, may have to pretend to be deaf and dumb about the matter in the capital, and cannot calmly raise an army and rush downstream to Jiankang.

If we judge based on the premise that the King of Xiangdong has ulterior motives, the layout in the past year can indeed prove that the King of Xiangdong is not small. Li Li thinks that the things he can see are unreasonable and cannot see them.

But they are all hesitating and wasting time.

Even himself was hesitating and wanted to adapt.

However, after waiting for three or four months, except for the King of Xiangdong who made obvious progress, all other parties were "involving".

The King of Xiangdong has cast a net, and the net is about to enter the water, but the big and small fish in the water still want to wait and see, thinking that they may still have an opportunity to take advantage of it.

Li Li didn't want to wait because he must be one of those fish.

Once you are trapped in the Internet, the next step is the "people are the slaughter and I am the fish" stage. At that time, you will fight back. It is not that you cannot win, but the price will be very high.

Walking out of the temple, Li Li saw the children flying kites in the open space outside, and they were having fun.

As the head of the family, the whole family pointed at Li Li to shelter from the wind and rain, so he could not make any mistakes.

When you are single, you can "wash" yourself. Now that you have wives, concubines and children, you cannot joke about your family's lives.

Li Li raised his head and looked at the kite flying high in the sky.

The kite is in the shape of a swallow and is constantly flying, like a real swallow.

However, once the kite string is broken, the kite will fall to the ground and show its true form.

Li Li felt that since he had repeatedly confirmed that the mess was hopeless, is it necessary to wait and see?

What are you still hesitating about?

At the critical moment of life and death, you cannot hesitate, because hesitation will lead to failure!

......

On the third day of the third month, Shangsi Festival, the banks of Jiangshan became a lively place for outings.

According to custom, people on Shangsi Festival have to go outings, bathe by the water, have sacrifices and feasts, and drink in the water.

Qushui Liushang needs to have flowing water, so many people gather in Jiangshan, located in the suburbs of Jiankang.

In a corner of Jiangshan, next to a stream, there are large open spaces that are pulled up to the ground, and there are children and guards around them.

When people approached, they learned that it was Wang Xiangdong and his family on an outing here, so they quickly walked around.

A banquet had been arranged inside the Buzhu. King Xiao Yi of Xiangdong sat upright and talked to the prince Xiao Fangzhu and several sons.

Sister Wang and several other concubines sat aside, watching their sons and Xiao Yi feel very happy.

Somehow, the surroundings suddenly became quiet, and several figures appeared at the entrance of the cloth gate.

However, it was Xu Zhaopei, the princess of Xiangdong who came with her widowed wife and her grandson Xiaozhuang.

Xu Zhao dressed well, wearing gold and silver, and looked nothing special, but her appearance made the atmosphere on the scene awkward.

Sister Wang put away her smiles and sat upright, making a "serious" look to prevent the princess from looking for trouble in a while.

When Xiao Fangzhu and his younger brothers saw their mother coming with a stern face, they felt a chill on their backs and were extremely uncomfortable. They subconsciously lowered their heads slightly and were wary of their hearts, so as not to be found by their mother later.

Xu Zhaopei took his seat and sat on Xiao Yi's right. Xiao Zhuang respectfully saluted to his grandfather. He was about to follow his mother to take a seat, but Xu Zhaopei pulled him to sit next to him.

Now, many people feel embarrassed.

Xiao Fangzhu and his younger brothers greeted his legitimate mother, while Xiao Zhuang sat next to his grandmother, which was equivalent to his uncles, and was paying his respects to him.

Xiao Yi's one-eyed eyes trembled slightly, but then he took a deep breath and said nothing.

Faced with the greetings of the concubines, Xu Zhaopei just nodded slightly and said nothing.

When Xiao Zhuang saw the uncles saluting in front of him, he wanted to stand up, but was pulled by his grandmother and couldn't move.

The atmosphere on the scene became more and more awkward. The family reunion that was supposed to be laughing and cheerful was quiet because of Xu Zhaopei alone.

Fortunately, after everyone took their seats, musicians and kabuki began to play music and perform, and at least dispersed the awkward atmosphere.

Xiao Yi looked at the singing and dancing performance without looking at him, but his head felt a little hurt.

For him, Xu Zhaopei was just a piece of mouse shit, which could make a large jar of delicious soup unpleasant.

He didn't want to see this bitch, even if it was just a glance.

Therefore, throughout the year, he and Xu Zhaopei can count the number of times he meets with one hand.

On weekdays, Xiao Yi would not ask about Xu Zhaopei's situation, and Xu Zhaopei did not come to provoke him, and he was no longer angry about the woman he slept with.

Every day, I just accompany my grandson Xiaozhuang, watch Xiaozhuang read and write, and accompany Xiaozhuang to play, instead of finding faults all day long and quarreling with Xiao Yi.

But even so, Xiao Yi's concubines were like mice and cats when they saw the princess, especially the Wang sisters. Every time they saw the princess, they felt that the princess' eyes were emitting cold light.

This is not surprising. After Xiao Fang and others were killed, Xu Zhaopei disappeared, and the son of the Great Wang clan, Xiao Fangzhu, became the prince of Xiangdong.

But Xiao Fang and others have a son.
To be continued...