67 Chapter 67
◎Two chapters in one◎
But after Pei Shuo's family settled down, Pei Shuo got up early every day to practice boxing and swordplay, and also taught Gu'er and Jing'er how to box. Xin came over to talk to Huiyin, and they felt much more at ease.
Huiyin wrote another letter to Li Cheng, informing him of the arrangements for her brother's family and waiting for his reply.
However, it is said that when the spies on the prince's side found out about this, they were very happy. Pei Shuo was the son of Pei Ye, a famous cavalryman. He had been taught by Zheng Fang for many years and was brave and good at fighting. He was considered a fierce general in Jizhou. Now that he was missing because of his failure to suppress the bandits, how could they not be happy.
Perhaps because she was in a good mood, she smiled when she saw Deyin, which made Deyin feel flattered: "I pay my respects to the prince."
Li Heng helped Deyin up. He had his own yardstick for judging people. For example, Zheng in front of him was neither good nor bad, just like all the women in the harem. If he smiled at them, they would be happy for three days.
But do they really like themselves? No, they like the prince. If the person sitting on the prince's throne is not him, Li Heng, they will love anyone else.
"I've been busy these days and haven't come to the harem. How are you? I heard that you caught a cold a few days ago." Li Heng said casually.
Deyin smiled and said, "I was a little unwell, but now I am well again. I would like to thank you for coming to see me, Your Highness."
Before, when Deyin had just gotten married, Li Heng was very gentle to her and was good at talking. He could almost say the next sentence for every sentence she said. But now, the two of them didn't know what to say.
Because Deyin was becoming more and more numb, many things seemed unable to resonate with her. She could no longer be as natural as when she first entered the palace. Now that Li Heng came to her, she was even trembling with fear, fearing that if she said a wrong word, the servants would suffer.
In fact, she knew in her heart that Yunzhi betrayed her, most likely because of Lianzhi.
Of course Li Heng also found it boring. Moreover, Deyin was getting older and seemed to be numb, which made him feel dull.
Even when the two of them were having a meal together, she couldn't taste the food as if it were wax.
Fortunately, she carefully asked for her grandmother, Mrs. Xu, to come visit, and Li Heng agreed. This was the only comfort she could get.
After meeting Deyin, Madam Xu first criticized Ji's mother and son, saying, "If I were to say that this child is not a biological child, then it's different. Pei Shuo ran away with someone, and now the relationship between your father and brother is not as good as it used to be."
"He left? Could he have gone to seek refuge with Prince Huaiyin?" Deyin guessed it immediately.
In his previous life, Pei Shuo helped the prince conquer the world because Huiyin married him, but he died in the end.
Madam Xu thought to herself, this is an internal matter of my family. Even Ji and Zheng Fang only told her privately and asked her not to spread it to others, otherwise it would easily shake the morale of the army. How did Deyin know about it?
But seeing Madam Xu's expression, Deyin couldn't help but laugh and said, "It's obvious that Pei Shuo won't return to Hedong. His father died a long time ago, and his clansmen are busy taking care of themselves, so how can they have the time to care about him?"
Seeing that her granddaughter had guessed it, Madam Xu no longer concealed it: "Yes, he went to Xuzhou. I said that although Li Cheng took advantage of the death of the King of Wei to occupy the land, he is just a young man, what can he do? In the past, he relied on the King of Wei and really regarded these as his own abilities."
"Grandmother, do you mean that Li Cheng did not assist the son of King Wei?" Deyin remembered that Li Cheng was very loyal to King Yuzhang in his previous life, and the reason he died was because he helped King Yuzhang conquer the world.
How come this life is different?
Madam Xu also understood this point: "The King of Wei is only his uncle, not his master. The current Prince of Yuzhang is young, and who would be willing to have an elder brother assist his younger brother? Even Pei Shuoye is unwilling to assist Heng'er. He is from the same mother. Your father raised Pei Shuoye. The King of Huaiyin and the King of Wei are one level apart."
What else could Deyin say? In fact, she had always thought so, but she had no say in front of Li Cheng. Li Cheng doted on Yin Lijun, who was originally the daughter of a small clerk. Her sister Yin Lifang was lucky enough to give birth to Prince Yuzhang. She was so spoiled that she was always submissive to Li Cheng.
"Grandma, does the Prince of Huaiyin have a concubine?" Deyin suddenly asked.
Madam Xu didn't want her granddaughter to be sad, so she just said, "It's common for men to have three wives and four concubines, so how could the Prince of Huaiyin not have one? I heard your father say a few days ago that he wanted to marry the daughter of Governor Song of Yanzhou to Li Cheng. Who knows, she might even be a concubine at that time."
When she said this, Deyin breathed a sigh of relief and thought to himself, the world is as black as crows.
But Madam Xu asked again, "How is Yunzhi's little hoof?"
"During the birth season in early spring next year, the prince treated her indifferently, even worse than the singer mentioned earlier." Deyin also found it strange that the prince only favored those low-class people, while both Wei Liangdi and her were favored for a while and then let go of them.
Madam Xu said, "If you ask me, Yunzhi is just a servant of our family. Although she has risen to a high position, she can never become a phoenix. Now that she has given birth to a child, she is incapable of taking care of the child. You don't have to get angry with her. Just let her make a fool of herself while the prince is here, and the prince will take care of the child."
In Madam Xu's opinion, if servants who betrayed their masters were not punished, how would Deyin be able to control the servants in the future? Wouldn't everyone in Liangdi's room rebel?
Let's not talk about how the grandfather and grandson discussed it. Three days before Huiyin's letter was sent, Li Cheng came back. Yanzhou asked Guo Zhao's Yuzhou to help, and they made a thunderbolt move. Song Laoer took his daughter and ran to Wei Duo, so he let others occupy Yanzhou.
When he came back, he saw Huiyin and said, "I think Wei Duo will definitely confront this old man. I'm afraid there will be a fierce battle in the future."
Seeing that he was exhausted, Huiyin helped him wash up first. The couple talked about private matters in the bathroom, such as Pei Shuo's coming to seek refuge and bringing a message. She wiped the water off him and then asked, "What kind of bandit do you think he is to have such a thing in his hands?"
Li Cheng closed his eyes and rested, enjoying his wife's service. After listening to her, he said, "This does seem strange. Now your brother has come to me. I have heard of his reputation. Don't worry, I will use him well."
"Although he is my brother, this territory is yours, and you have the final say on how to employ people. But my husband is the best at knowing how to employ people, so don't show favoritism, which will cause chaos in the army." Huiyin said.
This is reasonable. Pei Shuo came to Xuzhou with his 300 troops from the Pei family. These 300 people were his personal soldiers. Huiyin asked the chief secretary to properly arrange for them to stay outside the city. After Li Cheng finished bathing, he thought of these things and was about to do them, but was stopped by Huiyin.
"Look at you, you're so quick to act. I've already asked someone to prepare some wine and food. Eat some first, and I'll have someone come over later."
When Li Cheng saw Huiyin's brother coming, she still put herself in charge and felt relieved. Some girls don't know what kind of love potion their parents have given them, but they only care about their parents.
So he readily agreed.
Huiyin had someone prepare the meal, all of which were Li Cheng's favorite dishes, and she also accompanied him to eat.
"These shrimp balls are fried crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. They are served with coriander soup. It's light and tasty. Try it." Huiyin served them in a small bowl and placed it in front of him.
Li Cheng took it, tasted a meatball, and somehow he started laughing again.
Huiyin was still puzzled: "What are you laughing at?"
"I am laughing at why so many people are trying to seduce me with their beauty. They all think that wine and women cannot seduce me." After Li Cheng finished speaking, he glanced at Huiyin.
Huiyin knew that he was confessing his feelings in a roundabout way, so she didn't say anything sarcastic. She just smiled and said, "You are a hero, you won't be fascinated by these things." After that, she held his hand again and said, "But I know you are doing this for me."
If it wasn't for her, why would he make such an excuse? Men usually accept such things.
Whether it was her father or her husband in her previous life, they were all like this. Li Heng loved Lu Xiao, but Lu Xiao was dead. She was just a woman. She didn't want this kind of love.
After saying that, she looked at Li Cheng. Li Cheng was embarrassed and just focused on eating, but the pink on the tips of his ears revealed his mood.
After Li Cheng finished his meal, he handed her another list. Huiyin led people to open the warehouse and asked people to check all the gold and silver jewelry, antique calligraphy and paintings, and boxes that Li Cheng brought. Among them were large and small pearls and jewelry. She had to make a list for each one to make jewelry for the New Year.
While she was busy, Li Cheng had already met Pei Shuo, "Uncle, please sit down."
Pei Shuo said to Li Cheng: "I want to join my brother-in-law, but I am afraid that he has too many talented generals under him. I really am -"
"Uncle, why do you have to say this? I have heard of your talents. Most of my subordinates are good at sailors, but few cavalry. It's a good thing that you are coming here. For me, it's like a blessing after a long drought." Li Cheng was very happy.
Pei Shuo was very happy and knelt down immediately: "In the future, I will obey your orders."
Li Cheng was pleased to have a good general, but was afraid that his brother-in-law would be too proud and would not listen to his orders. Seeing Pei Shuo kneeling down and sincerely serving him, the two talked about the situation on the battlefield. As a general of Jizhou, Pei Shuo also knew a lot about Yanzhou, and he had many contacts in Beijing, so this information was exactly what Li Cheng needed.
At that moment, Li Cheng gave a mansion to Pei Shuo and his wife, and said that his own army was in need of a center forward, so he asked Pei Shuo to employ the center forward and choose a day to meet with the other generals.
People like Pei Shuo, who came here with great difficulty, were most afraid of being left alone. Now that he had heard Li Cheng's words, he felt relieved and felt that he was being valued. He spoke to Li Cheng from the bottom of his heart.
現在淮陰王可不是以前那樣只有徐州了，人家還有豫州、兖州和半個青州，良臣也要得遇名主才行。
卻說謝九儀這邊差點失南郡，心急如焚，卻聽徐州傳來消息說李澄又收了裴朔于麾下。
殷麗儀不懂：“那裴朔在冀州好好地，怎麽又來徐州了？他可是時運不濟？”
“想也知曉，他是鄭放的養子，雖然得到重用，但總屈居自己親弟弟之下。再者，鄭家已經有一女入了東宮，如今又投淮陰王，恐怕也是打着奇貨可居的意思。”謝九儀如此道。
殷麗儀又問：“那裴朔才幹如何？你可知曉。”
謝九儀道：“傳聞中聽說他是個勇敢果斷，忠誠可靠又骁勇善戰的人。”
“真沒想到這樣的虎将竟然又被他得了。”殷麗儀隐約不安。
謝九儀笑道：“你別看李澄如今拿下了兖州，立馬就要大禍臨頭了，衛铎可不會放過他。”
“這我就不明白了，他拿下豫州也無事啊？”殷麗儀不懂。
謝九儀搖頭：“衛铎有雄霸中原之心，現在有并州、司隸、南陽郡、南鄉郡、襄陽郡，那兖州他早已視為板上魚肉，将來無論是收服青州、冀州、徐州、豫州等地，兖州就是關鍵，可現下除了冀州之外，其餘都被李澄占了，那冀州也是他老丈人家，若是衛铎失去兖州，那便是失了屏障。”
其實殷麗儀連堪輿圖都看的不甚清楚，只聽謝九儀如此說，遂道：“他若不敵，那咱們趁機把之前他搶占的土地拿回來。”
在他們看來這是當年魏王在的時候派李澄拿下的，這些地就是魏王的，李澄占久了，見豫章王年幼，自顧占了。
謝九儀笑道：“打下來不算有本事，守住了才算是有本事。”
裴朔有了封號之後，京中太子也很快知曉了，他看向正在點茶的德音一樣，似有所指：“你這位哥哥怎麽去投淮陰王了？”
德音原本想圓場的，但是想自己在宮中如履薄冰，自當撇清自己，故而道：“這位哥哥原本是如今的繼母改嫁帶來的，從小我就和他不甚親近，您說的這些妾身實在是不知道。但他和我那位妹妹，也就是淮陰王妃是一母同胞，感情自然比不得別人，我常聽祖母說他郁郁不得志。”
“他這麽一通跑，難道是想投名主，看不起孤？”李珩瞥了德音一眼。
德音趕緊跪下，只“砰砰砰”的磕頭。
待她嗑夠了，李珩才道：“此事和良娣無關，你起來吧，你父親的忠心我是知道的。”
德音卻愈發覺得宮中難捱了，心中埋怨家中從不幫自己，反倒是讓自己在宮中戰戰兢兢，不似那衛良娣之父，忠心事君。
她這麽話音剛落，就被打臉了，今年過年時節之前，李珩按例參加冰嬉，他是冰嬉高手，在冰嬉時也要得遇良才。
卻不曾想被衛铎所阻止，衛铎道：“太子萬萬不可玩物喪志啊。”
“丞相，孤選這幾人只不過是覺得有意思，放在身邊罷了。”李珩道。
衛铎強項的很：“皇上病久，太子若嬉鬧的過分了，別人還以為太子對君父不敬。”
李珩憋着氣回去了，但卻不敢對衛良娣如何，德音想說些心裏話，可環顧四周，都是宮裏派來的宮女，也就不敢了。
德音心中不服氣，為何衛铎對李珩這般橫，李珩對衛良娣不敢如何，自己對太子體貼恭順，父親也幫忙州牧冀州，卻遭到李珩嫌棄？
如今李珩對她也是越來越跟下人似的，再聽耳畔傳來賀喜，說周承徽生了個女兒，太子很是歡喜，何皇後已經有意要把這孩子養在膝下了。
雲枝好容易生下女兒，想起前些日子德音和太子念詩時，故意問自己典故，自己不會，出了醜。她還怕女兒生下來要送到德音這裏來，她是自己的舊主，眼見自己的背叛，不知道怎麽對待自己的孩子，還好是皇後娘娘養育。
尋常人家祖母養育孫女，孫女們都能自擡身價，或者像徐太夫人那樣養育鄭德音，那叫一個貼心，所以家俬都貼給孫女兒了。
自己本是個卑賤之人，女兒能養在皇後膝下，将來女兒前途無量，她這個做母親的，還不是跟着水漲船高。
德音這邊事事不順，怨天尤人，徽音卻是極高興。
今年有哥哥陪着過年，嫂嫂辛氏在閨中時就和她關系不錯，再者她又不是那等和嫂子争哥哥心裏地位的惡姑子，都相處的不錯。
“嫂嫂你看，這是一對古銅的彩花觚，能插名畫字帖，正好放哥哥的書房。還有這個博古架，我看實在是清雅，一并讓人拿去，這大的魚形磬擺件給嫂嫂擺在屋裏玩兒。”徽音笑着指着幾樣東西給辛氏看。
她們年後就可以住新宅了，那宅子三進三出還帶個精巧的小園子，再好的親戚，住久了容易産生龃龉。
辛氏本來這樣南下，覺得太過冒失，她是個精細伶俐的人，但丈夫素來在家說一不二，她不敢置喙。如今見李澄夫婦待她們親厚，她則盼着搬去新家。
外頭固哥兒和娴姐兒正和璟兒瞻兒還有郭钊之子郭興一起玩，郭興是郭钊之子，他聰明伶俐不說還很懂事，帶着一衆小的玩兒，也有分寸。
姑嫂隔着窗子看廳上，都在一起投壺，沒有亂跑。
“王妃，我瞧郭家這哥兒實在好，才比我家固哥兒大幾歲就這樣懂事。”辛氏道。
徽音點頭：“是啊，他這孩子為人極穩重，渾然不似七八歲的孩子。嫂嫂，我有句話和你說。”
辛氏忙正色：“王妃請說。”
“倒不必如此正經，我說的是你們剛來，別人不知道你們的秉性。徐州四戰之地，之前剛和魏王分開，不少探子刺探消息軍情的都有，你可要管好宅子。尋常若是無事，也帶着孩子們過來玩兒。”徽音叮囑。
其餘什麽人情往來，對于徽音而言反而不是她要吩咐辛氏的，辛氏一身都寄托在裴朔身上，裴朔若得力，她自然是妻憑夫貴，但裴朔要在此站住腳，也必須靠真材實料取信李澄。
現在李澄給了機會，就看裴朔如何立身了。
辛氏暗自揣摩徽音的話，又回去說給丈夫聽，裴朔聽了也對她道：“咱們去了新宅，下人不要多，但不要那等有問題的。以前爹只盤下冀州，冀州于我就難管了，如今王爺南征北戰，地盤恁大，豈有我不盡力之處？兖州我必定要去的，咱們若書信，都不要扯到軍情。”
夫妻二人合計一番，辛氏又羨慕道：“小姑那裏送的節禮年禮是手都插不下去，她倒渾然不放在心上，大家都看她的眼色，我看比那何皇後都有威儀。”
裴朔愛聽這話，妹子若有一日真的做了皇後，他的前程就不止這個了。
且不說過年如何熱鬧，年後裴朔一家搬去新宅，裴朔在外跟着李澄練兵，他是騎兵，出自武學世家，這麽多年經驗豐富，在李澄這裏也是一員猛将。
李澄在開春之際準備了一場比武，裴朔竟然和李澄底下的宇文當打個平手，但宇文當謀略過人，也讓裴朔折服。
男人們自有一番天地，女人們也都相處融洽，辛氏原本在娘家見到的徽音不是那種愛管閑事的，除了對親人好些之外，對外人都一般。
如今卻東家娶妻，西家生子，只要有人求到她這裏，她卻都能幫忙。
這裏的貴婦人們似乎都以她為中心，比紀氏在冀州的地位還要高，要知道婆母紀氏在冀州那可是一發火，大家都要看她臉色的人，但在這裏，大家都是信任妹妹，有事情就等她裁決，每每都讓人心服口服。
沒想到才三月，衛铎就從上京回來，奉了旨意讨伐李澄，李澄又要出征了。
“剛春天，種子還沒播，去歲又欠收，你們這一去，糧草可充足？”徽音問起。
李澄搖頭：“不是這個，衛铎比我父親歲數還要大，也是從微末起，經驗豐富，這可是一場惡戰，若打贏了，我會威望大增，若是打輸了，恐怕周圍的人都要群起而攻之。”
徽音笑道：“你有不世之才，以前屈居人下，如今卻是自己當家作主，我信你。”
“嗯，我原本心裏也有點怵，那可是我父親在的時候都覺得此人難纏，如今到我了，我當全力迎戰才是。”李澄這話說的洋溢着忐忑喜悅。
徽音替他整了整盔甲：“你的果斷我很是欣賞，不似別人瞻前顧後錯失機會，但是有時候事緩則圓。喏，護心鏡要戴好。”
“好，我這就去了。”李澄大步出去，否則一回頭就舍不得妻子。
裴朔此次也是要跟着去的，他是躊躇滿志，辛氏跟着緊張不已，李澄舒了一口氣，又變成一幅勝券在握的樣子，下面的将士們軍心大振。
However, the Guo family in Wei had been dissatisfied since Xie Jiuyi came to power, especially in Wu County. The original tax was collected by them, but they gave it to Li Cheng. They were really dissatisfied. Before Xie Jiuyi gave the order, their scouts knew that Li Cheng was going to Yanzhou to fight with Wei Duo, so they took the opportunity to take back Wu County.
When the troops were dispatched, Xie Jiuyi learned about it. Yin Liyi saw that he was panicking and couldn't help asking, "What's wrong with you? Although the Guo brothers will be arrogant after conquering Wu County, it's really a good thing if they can beat the small one?"
Xie Jiuyi frowned: "You underestimate Li Cheng. I'm afraid his brothers will suffer."
"He has gone to Yanzhou, how can he take care of it?" Yin Liyi didn't believe it.
Li Cheng, who was still in Yanzhou, curled his lips when he heard about this. They were really courting death. Wujun and Xuzhou were adjacent to each other. Even for Huiyin's safety, he could not easily let these people attack him.