Chapter 277: A stopgap measure? Conscripting men
"Yunlan, go to the room and call Rujin over."

At this point, Mrs. Chen had no choice but to accept it.

Not long after, Yang Ruijin rushed into the room with a surprised expression on her face.

Apparently, Yun Lan had reminded Yang Ruijin in advance on the way here, so as soon as he entered the door, Yang Ruijin apologized.

Wang Ruofu didn't mind and agreed happily with a smile.

lobby.

Yang Wenyuan and Changbai were walking together in the corridor, talking about the war that Yang Yuqing had rushed to the south for a few months ago.

"My uncle sent a letter home a few days ago, detailing the situation in the south."

Yang Wenyuan knew that Changbai was most concerned about the stability of the court, so he was willing to give advice while admiring the snowy scenery.

"When my uncle first arrived, all the states in Guangnan West and Guangnan East were under siege. Afterwards, my uncle strengthened military discipline and prepared for battle. Now, most of the lost territory has been recovered."

"Commander Yang is an outstanding military tactician." Changbai complimented with a look of delight on his face.

Yang Wenyuan nodded without comment.

Yang Yuqing brought the elite troops of the Central Imperial Guard with him when he went south this time. The Nong bandits were a native tribe that was caught in a dilemma, so this kind of record was not surprising. It was just a matter of time.

Changbai then asked in detail about the war in the south, and Yang Wenyuan answered his questions one by one.

At this time, Changqing came over to report that Gu Tingye had arrived.

Yang Wenyuan ordered Changqing to go and greet them, while looking at Changbai in surprise:

"Did you tell him that you were coming today?"

Changbai also looked confused and replied:

"I just found out about this this morning."

After a while, Gu Tingye arrived with a hearty laugh.

When Gu Tingye came closer, Yang Wenyuan immediately asked out his doubts. Unexpectedly, Gu Tingye showed a mysterious expression, glanced at Changbai, and said:

"There are ingenious plans in the mountains, and the joy here is not worth telling to outsiders!"

"Mysterious."

Changbai muttered something, but then he glared at Gu Tingye and asked loudly:
"You're not going to plant any spies in my house, are you?"

Changbai knew that Gu Tingye was someone who could do such a thing.

"What do you miss about me?"

Gu Tingye glanced at Changbai and said with a hint of grievance:
"You are my beloved relative, why would I place a spy around you?"

Changbai's expression froze.

Yes, Gu Tingye is quite clear-headed about this matter.

Seeing this, Yang Wenyuan said silently:

"It's impossible to plant spies, but he can send someone to watch at your door."

Gu Tingye immediately laughed dryly:
"Haha, let's not talk about this, let's not talk about this!"

"Tell me, what happy event do you have today that requires your whole family to come over?"

Hearing this, Changbai glared at Gu Tingye fiercely again.

And you said you didn't plant any spies?!

Yang Wenyuan did not hide it and immediately told him that Hualan was pregnant.

After hearing this, Gu Tingye immediately congratulated her with a few words, and then began to murmur and rub her body.

"What are you doing?" Changbai asked.

"Find a good item for my future nephew!"

As he spoke, Gu Tingye seemed to remember something, and immediately lifted up the cuffs of his thick winter coat, untied a jade Buddha tied with a red string from his wrist, and handed it to Yang Wenyuan, saying reluctantly:
"Don't say I don't remember your kindness, brother. This jade Buddha was specially obtained for me by my mother from the temple before she gave birth. I have kept it with me all these years. Today I am giving it to my little nephew."

"This thing is suitable for children. Changbai and I haven't married yet, and it's still a long way to go before we have children. I'll give it to you today."

If not for this, and thinking of the support of Yang Wenyuan and Hualan in his and Yu Yanran's marriage, and the fact that he did not have any suitable gifts on him at the moment, Gu Tingye was reluctant to take out this thing.

"Forget it. A gentleman should not take away what others like. After all, this thing was left to you by your mother. It is not good to pass it on to outsiders."

The fact that he could take out this thing showed Gu Tingye's sincerity. Yang Wenyuan appreciated the kindness, but he was reluctant to accept the thing.

Upon hearing this, Gu Tingye thought that Yang Wenyuan felt reluctant to let him go, and immediately tried to force the jade pendant into Yang Wenyuan's hand.

In order to avoid further entanglement, Yang Wenyuan immediately said:
"If you really want to give your future nephew a wedding gift, then just continue to draw up the account books for me for a few months."

"..."

Hearing Yang Wenyuan's words, Gu Tingye felt the corners of his mouth twitching unconsciously.

Yang Wenyuan downplayed the "account books of a few months" he mentioned, but that was real, hard-earned money!

The last time he had a heavy bleeding, Gu Tingye had to live frugally for several months, and now it's happening again...

However, Gu Tingye finally nodded with a heavy expression on his face.

Never mind, never mind, just think of it as for my nephew...

"Hmm? That's not right!"

After Gu Tingye nodded, he suddenly reacted.

I wanted to prepare these things for my future nephew, so why did they fall on Yang Wenyuan's head now?

Besides, it would be hard to tell anyone about this, so I would wait until my nephew was born...

Don't I have to make up another one?
Gu Tingye frowned, wanting to take back what he had just said.

So he asked Changbai next to him:
"What have you prepared for your nephew?"

Changbai looked at Gu Tingye in confusion and replied:

"There's still more than half a year left, which is enough time for me to slowly get to know each other. Why are you in such a hurry now?"

Gu Tingye: "..."

Hastily!
I admit, I was impatient!

But I feel a little guilty about my appearance, so can't I just rush to find something to talk about?

Ok……

Gu Tingye thought about it and decided that this matter was still Yang Wenyuan's fault. It was Yang Wenyuan who first mentioned that his wife was pregnant, which made it natural for him to suggest preparing a gift for the unborn child.

Looking at Yang Wenyuan's half-smile on the side, Gu Tingye had no choice but to keep silent.

"I've finished talking about me, what about you?"

Yang Wenyuan asked Gu Tingye:
"Why are you in such a hurry to come to my place? Normally, you would not come to my place without a reason."

"Look at what you said, how can that be possible!"

After Gu Tingye simply refuted himself, he winked at Yang Wenyuan and asked:
"There... Did the eldest daughter of the Yu family come to visit today?"

Well, Yang Wenyuan knew that this kid Gu Tingye must have some plans.

"So, you saw the daughter of the Sheng family coming to your house, and thought that the eldest daughter of the Yu family might come as well, so you came to my house to take a look?" Yang Wenyuan said unhappily.

"You are really biased. That's just secondary. The main reason is that I have been busy with the renovation of the mansion and couldn't spare time. Now it's winter and the mansion is almost done. That's why I finally found time to meet you."

There were some things that Gu Tingye didn't say. That was that Yang Wenyuan and Changbai were now Shujishi, entering and leaving the palace, while he was still just a Juren, without an official position.

This doesn't mean that Gu Tingye feels inferior, that's not his personality, but he doesn't meet Yang Wenyuan and Changbai very often.

Since it's difficult for the brothers to get together here, they naturally have to focus on their wives.

"Not here!" Yang Wenyuan replied simply and swiftly.

Today is not an ordinary banquet, so Yu Yanran will naturally not be invited.

"Oh!" Gu Tingye nodded, without much surprise on his face.

When he heard from Yang Wenyuan that Hualan was pregnant, he knew that it was most likely impossible for Yu Yanran to be here.

"What were you talking about just now?" Gu Tingye asked again.

Yang Wenyuan briefly told Gu Tingye about the war in the south.

After listening, Gu Tingye patted the railing and said with a smile:
"I have long seen that these Nong rebels are just a bunch of rabble. Now that Commander Yang is leading the army to suppress the rebellion, they will naturally collapse."

Yang Wenyuan hesitated for a moment, then said:

"Although the war in the south is about to be settled, but..."

"What's wrong?" Gu Tingye couldn't help but ask.

Yang Wenyuan glanced at Gu Tingye.

Gu Tingye is busy with his own marriage now, and Xiao Qin is blocking any news from the court, so he is not very well informed.

Yang Wenyuan said calmly:

"However, the emperor seems to be moved by the idea of ​​establishing a crown prince, and is not as opposed to it as before. In the court recently, he did not issue an order to stop the adoption of a royal family member."

"Ah? Is there still such a thing?"

Gu Tingye really didn't know about this, and immediately continued to ask:

"But didn't the emperor want to appoint an heir before? He even specially ordered Commander Yang to quickly suppress the rebellion in order to shut up those high-ranking officials in the court? Why is it that now I am the one who..."

The ministers are about to fight to the death, why does Your Majesty surrender first?
But Gu Tingye was quite happy about this.

If the crown prince is appointed early, when His Majesty is not in good health, he may abdicate in advance, and then he can take the imperial examination earlier, and I can also take part in it earlier.

But he couldn't say such disrespectful words, so he just waited for Yang Wenyuan to continue speaking.

Although Gu Tingye didn't say anything, Yang Wenyuan saw the raised corner of his mouth clearly, so he immediately poured cold water on him:
"Although the emperor has agreed to appoint an heir, the candidate has not yet been decided."

Gu Tingye curled his lips indifferently:

“Once the door of many things is opened, they will continue to go downhill.”

What Gu Tingye said is true.

Once the emperor has expressed his intention to establish a crown prince, he can no longer maintain his previous attitude and ignore the Prince of Yong and the Prince of Yan.

However, Yang Wenyuan was somewhat doubtful at the moment.

He suspected that the government's sudden relaxation of its stance was probably a stopgap measure, or perhaps to let the two tigers fight each other.

After all, the spring of adopting a royal family has been suppressed for a long time, and now it has almost reached a limit. The court is treacherous, and ripples of whirlpools have already appeared under the seemingly calm surface.

The current situation is that the emperor is no longer able to suppress the young and energetic Prince Yong and Prince Yan, as well as the ministers who want a definite result.

Appropriately cooling down the situation or sitting back and watching the fight between the two are both good strategies at the moment.

But this is not necessarily the case.

Perhaps the emperor has had enough of the intrigues with court officials and is really thinking of establishing a crown prince.

In recent days, the emperor has begun to instruct the scholars of the Hongwenguan to start sorting out the matters related to the enthronement of the crown prince.

The court officials were also discussing the deeper meaning behind this.

Perhaps we can see something from this year's visit to the palace to pay homage.

"Then have you figured out what the emperor's current inclination is?" Gu Tingye asked curiously.

Yang Wenyuan rolled his eyes at him and said speechlessly:
"If even I can see it, then the court officials must have known it long ago and would have rushed to the prince's house to celebrate."

"Hey, don't underestimate yourself."

Gu Tingye laughed loudly, then rolled his eyes and said:
"Anyway, I think Prince Yong has a great chance of succeeding. The throne is inherited according to the principle of seniority, not to mention that this time the successor is a member of the royal family, so it is even more difficult to cause any trouble."

Changbai listened and nodded secretly.

However, he was not like the two "madmen" next to him, so he did not make any rash comments on the issue of establishing a crown prince.

"I just hope it's as you said." Yang Wenyuan replied.

At the same time, he was secretly thinking in his heart, his cousin Liu Chenghan's business should have reached Yuzhou, right?
Yang Wenyuan had made some arrangements in Yuzhou, whether intentionally or not.

If the Prince of Yan really starts a coup, then of course he cannot let the father and son of Yuzhou reap the benefits.

Otherwise, if Zhao Zongquan succeeds to the throne in the future, I...

A strange, powerful and noble family, a young and strong marquis...

In any case, he will become a thorn in the eyes and flesh of the new emperor.

For the sake of his family and also for his own considerations, Yang Wenyuan would never allow Yuzhou and his son to succeed to the throne.

If Zhao Zongquan was a person who would repay a drop of kindness with a spring of gratitude, Yang Wenyuan might consider supporting him to ascend to the throne, but he was a qualified monarch.

Even though Gu Tingye had served him well and saved his life, after Zhao Zongquan succeeded to the throne, he still treated Gu Tingye like an ox or a horse, and even put his life in danger.

If it were someone who had been brainwashed by "loyalty to the emperor and the country", he would probably think that this was the emperor's favor and grace.

But in Yang Wenyuan's opinion, this business is really a huge loss.

I have paid so much, but in the end I still can't lie down. Should I fight for your life and death?

Then why did I put in the effort in the first place? Did I really just throw it away?

After some more greetings, it was already noon.

There were a lot of female relatives at home today, so Gu Tingye couldn't have dinner there, so he took his leave first.

After lunch.

Yang Ruijin, with a mysterious look on her face, pulled all the sisters into her room.

Before leaving the house, Yang Ruijin politely asked Molan if she wanted to follow.

Molan glanced at Madam Chen, wanting to use this opportunity to establish herself as a well-educated, virtuous and kind person, so she chuckled and refused.

If she understood correctly, this Madam Chen had an older son who was unmarried and currently serving in the army in Lingzhou.

He was also the son of a noble family. Molan thought that he might be able to give himself a way out.

The sun sets and the sky darkens.

Wang Ruofu led all her children into the carriage and set off for home.

On the carriage.

Wang Ruofu looked at Rulan and Minglan, who looked a little depressed, and asked curiously:
"What did you two do this afternoon? Why do you look so tired?"

Hearing this, Rulan and Minglan looked at each other, both with bitter smiles on their faces, and looked down at their slightly red fingertips.

This isn't just because he's tired from playing; this is clearly because he's been forced to do hard labor!

(End of this chapter)