Chapter 36 Girl
Yang Guang naturally knew his brother-in-law's drinking capacity best, so he directly ordered Li Jiancheng to send him back home. The Duke of Ju's Mansion was far away from the imperial palace, so Li Jiancheng helped Xiao Cong get on his family's carriage.

The wind blew over him, and Xiao Cong became slightly more awake. He leaned against the soft pillow and said, "You are famous in the capital at a young age, and you have achieved success. What do you want to do in the future?"

Li Jiancheng sat down opposite him and said, "Be an honest person and do your duty."

Xiao Cong smiled and shook his head, obviously not believing it. If he really wanted to live a peaceful life like this, why bother getting involved in the fight for the throne? He could just wait to inherit the title and become a duke.

But he didn't say anything else. He just closed his eyes and began to rest. Even if they became father-in-law and son-in-law, they each had their own families and there was always a layer of separation. What's more, even the in-laws had not been completely decided yet.

Li Jiancheng was not in a hurry to please his father-in-law. At that time, the Lanling Xiao family already had a prince's son-in-law. The entire family would increase their investment and flock to Yang Guang. The resources they could share with him or the help they could provide him would not be too much.

During this period, Xiao's main role in his career was to build closer relations with Yang Guang and, in critical moments, let Crown Princess Xiao help him persuade Yang Guang.

Until Yang Guang was at the end of his rope and the Li family formed its own faction, the Xiao family, like other relatives and old friends of the Li family, simply helped each other to gain a foothold in the court. Even when there was a conflict of interest, they still had to fight for their own family.

They soon arrived at Xuanyifang, where, in addition to the Duke of Ju's Mansion, there was also Chen Shubao's Duke of Changcheng County's Mansion. However, I heard that the two families had never interacted with each other. What they had in common was that both dukes loved to drink.

Li Jiancheng helped Xiao Cong get off the carriage, and then he was taken over by the Xiao family's servants. A man dressed as a steward came forward to thank Li Jiancheng, and then invited him, "Please trouble Mr. Li to escort the master back to the mansion. My wife invites you to come in and take a seat and rest for a while."

Li Jiancheng declined politely, "The Duke is drunk and needs to rest. I haven't had time to change my clothes yet. Please ask the steward to report to the Madam and ask Jiancheng to come and see me another day."

The steward bowed and said, "You have come from afar to see me off. How can my family not entertain you? Madam is waiting in the courtyard. There is also a soup in front of the hall to warm your stomach. Please move on, my dear."

At this point, Li Jiancheng could no longer refuse, and followed the steward into the mansion. The Duke of Ju's Mansion was elegant and neat, not as luxurious and imitating the palace as the Duke of Yue's Mansion.

As soon as he entered the mansion, he saw a graceful and beautiful lady standing not far away. Li Jiancheng lowered his head and stepped forward to salute. The wife of the Duke of Ju treated Li Jiancheng like her own son or nephew, and asked about the health of Dou and the old lady in a friendly and affectionate manner.

After entering the hall and sitting down, they were served hot hangover soup, candied fruits and various pastries. Xiao Cong had two sons, one was serving as the governor of Xiangcheng, and the other had become a monk in the Dazhuangyan Temple, so there was no one else who could receive Li Jiancheng.

Fortunately, he was still young, and the wife of the Duke of Ju did not have to be shy in her own house, so she sat down and chatted about family matters. Gradually, the topic shifted to Li Jiancheng, asking about his living habits and likes and dislikes.

As a former queen, her hospitality towards others was impeccable. There was nothing in her conversation that made Li Jiancheng feel uncomfortable, so he answered honestly and obediently.

After a few cups of tea, Li Jiancheng took the initiative to stand up and say goodbye while the atmosphere was still good and before he got into any awkwardness. Cai personally saw him out of the house and asked him to tell Dou that if she was free tomorrow, they could go to the Dazhuangyan Temple to burn incense together.

Li Jiancheng accepted the offer and left. In the backyard of the Duke of Ju's mansion, a little maid in green clothes hurriedly slipped into the girl's boudoir. Along the way, there were older maids who told her to slow down so as not to fall.

If Li Jiancheng saw her, he would definitely recognize her as the maid who served him the fruit.

When she broke into the boudoir, she saw a little girl in brightly dressed who was concentrating on playing pitch pot. Her hands were very steady and she was almost certain to win.

"Girl, I saw Mr. Li! He sent the master back home, and the mistress invited him into the house to talk. When I was delivering the fruit to the shop for Sister Wan'er, I took a close look at him." Princess Yongning Xiao Chanyan of the former Liang Dynasty did not respond, but was still concentrating on the pitcher. Soon the pot was filled up, and another maid replaced it with a new two-eared pot with unicorn patterns.

"Aren't you curious, girl? The wives of the Duke of Shenwu and the Duke of Zhao came here a few days ago. Aren't they talking about him?"

Xiao Chanyan stood looking back, pretty and charming, with rosy cheeks and pink eyes, bright black eyebrows, beautiful willow-shaped eyebrows, lips a bit like red cherry, red lips and clean teeth. Her eyebrows were fixed with beads on them, and her innocence was revealed after all the makeup was removed.

Although she is still young, her appearance seems to combine the beauty of her parents and the beauty of the south of the Yangtze River. What's more, she has experienced the destruction of her country and left her hometown to live in a foreign land. She is more free and calm than other girls who have experienced ups and downs.

"Since my aunt has already arranged a marriage for me, I will have to get married sooner or later. It's better for me to keep some curiosity about the person I will spend my whole life with."

...............

After the turmoil over the succession, peace seemed to have returned to the capital, and the new crown prince obediently began to try to handle some state affairs at the emperor's instruction.

And Yang Su, the Duke of Yue, succeeded Gao Zuo as the Shangshu Zuo Pushe as he wished and became the Prime Minister of the Sui Dynasty, truly the highest position among high-ranking officials.

He was originally a person who loved to enjoy luxury. When he was still under Emperor Gaozuo, he had thousands of servants in his household and thousands of concubines in his harem who were dressed in fine clothes. His house was lavish and extravagant, and he lived in a way that imitated the palace rules. Now it has become even more excessive.

According to the emperor's previous character, Yang Su should have been severely reprimanded and demoted for doing this, but for some reason, he became even more fond of Yang Su.

Perhaps it was because when Duke Gao Zuo of Qi was assisting in the administration, he would join forces with the Queen to restrict the Emperor's decrees, but Yang Su would never do so. Now Queen Dugu has begun to fade out of government affairs.

Your Majesty the Emperor at that time paid close attention to judicial trials and loved people like his own children. Whenever he decided a case, he would always consult with all the public officials. He was able to avoid excessive punishment, which showed his wisdom.

But now he became capricious in the judicial system. He even issued an order that anyone who stole more than one penny would be beheaded and thrown into the market. One penny was not even enough to buy a Hu pancake, but he could be sentenced to death.

Originally, the imperial court only beheaded dozens of criminals a year, but after the decree was issued, within a month, nearly a hundred petty thieves were beheaded in the capital alone. There were even three traveling merchants who were caught and killed for eating a melon in an orchard because they were thirsty.

This was a cruel policy that had never been heard of in previous dynasties, and the response to this decree when it was pushed to the world was that since stealing a penny would result in death, why not just do something big, since it would be death anyway.

As Your Majesty wished, there were immediately fewer petty thieves in the world, and no one dared to pick up money dropped on the road, which was quite similar to the spirit of the ancient sage kings and gods when they ruled the world.

However, there are many more thieves and bandits in the world, and there are countless murders, robberies, and house breaking and burnings. There are bandits and pirates in the mountains, rivers, and rivers, killing and looting along the way.

...............

(End of this chapter)