Time flies, and five years have passed. The government and the country have been calm and calm in the past five years. Although Li Wushi had a secret fight, it did not affect the other party's basic balance. Both sides maintained a dynamic balance, which was also the result that Wu Zetian expected.

However, the Empress Wu Zetian seemed to be a little unrestrained. She was completely addicted to the debauchery with Er Zhang. The power of the Zhang brothers became increasingly powerful. Wu Zetian founded the Guanhe Mansion for the Zhang brothers. It was nominally a place for research and knowledge, but in fact it became the center of the second court. All Wu Zetian's instructions and decrees were issued by the Guanhe Mansion. Due to the weakening of the prime minister's power, the Guanhe Mansion and the Political Affairs Hall gradually formed an opposition.

However, Chang'an was very calm. Perhaps because he was far away from the court, Zhang Changzong's hatred for Li Zhen gradually faded, and they forgot each other in the world. Li Zhen had a calm life in the past five years. Two years ago, he was promoted from deputy left-behind to Xijing Left-behind, and his title was also promoted to Dunhuang County Duke, and Zhang Shuo was promoted to Xijing Left-behind Chief Secretary.

However, Li Zhen's family has changed a lot. Five years ago, Di Yan gave birth to a son and a daughter for him, and Wang Qingyu also gave birth to a son three years ago. Li Zhen has become the father of three children.

That evening, Li Zhen returned home from the government office as usual. As soon as he entered the house, his youngest daughter Li Hui ran out like a gust of wind and shouted in a sweet voice: "Dad!"

Li Hui is only three years old this year, half a year younger than her second son Li Yan. Li Zhen loves this little daughter the most. He squatted down and picked up his daughter, laughed, stabbed her little face with a short stubble, and asked, "Is the little guy naughty again today?"

"Hui'er is very well-behaved, not naughty, her brother is very naughty, and she was spanked by her mother."

"Which brother is naughty?" Li Zhen asked with a smile.

"Both brothers are naughty."

Li Zhen kissed her again, walked into the inner house with his daughter in his arms, and Di Yan smiled and greeted her, "Husband is back."

"Well! I ran for a day today and was a little tired."

Di Yan took his daughter over and said with a smile: "Husband, go to the study to rest for a while. I'll prepare dinner and let Qingyu pour you a cup of tea later."

Li Zhen returned to his study and sat down, lay down weakly. Today he went to several military camps to inspect the recruits for training, and ran more than 100 miles, which really made him exhausted.

After a moment, Wang Qingyu brought in a cup of ginseng tea, smiled and said, "The husband seems to be very tired!"

Li Zhen took the ginseng tea and took a sip and said, "I went to Bashang today, and then to Xianyang. I ran for a day and was so tired that I couldn't stand up."

"This morning, Sister Yan and I also went to see my eldest sister's new store, which is really grand."

Li Quan's business is getting bigger and bigger. Not only is he the largest wine merchant and Hufen merchant in Chang'an, but he also started to get involved in restaurants last year. He successively acquired more than a dozen wine shops in Chang'an, Luoyang and Chengdu. Recently, he just built a ten-acre restaurant next to the gate of Xishi City. It is four-story high and has more than a dozen small courtyards called Jiuquanlou, which has become one of the three major wine shops in Chang'an.

"oh!"

Li Zhen was not interested in the eldest sister's business, so he agreed casually and asked with a smile: "I heard from Huier that her two brothers were spanked, what's going on?"

"Hey! The two little guys are so naughty. They teased Butler Lin. While Butler Lin was having lunch, one led Butler Lin away, and the other secretly mixed sand in his bowl. When Sister Yan saw it, she was so angry that she taught them a lesson."

Li Zhen laughed silently. Are his two sons so naughty?

"What about now?" Li Zhen asked again.

"Sister Yan punished them to write, each of whom wrote 500 words. I guess she is still writing with tears in her eyes!"

Li Zhen originally wanted to plead for his son, but after a change of thought, he thought it would be good. If he did not strictly control it, the two of them would become mosquitoes and flies when they grew up.

At this time, footsteps came from outside the door, followed by a maid: "Master, the eldest lady has something urgent to look for, and it seems that someone has come from the capital."

"I got it, go right away."

Li Zhen stood up, hugged Wang Qingyu tightly, and then kissed her red lips. The two of them made a few jokes, and then Li Zhen quickly walked towards the outer house.

As soon as he arrived at the central hall, he happened to meet Di Yan who was coming quickly. Seeing that she was anxious, Li Zhen asked, "What happened?"

Di Yan's eyes suddenly turned red, and she threw herself into Li Zhen's arms and cried, "Grandma is almost out of reach. I want to see me for the last time, so I have to go back immediately."

Li Zhen was shocked. Di Yan's grandmother almost went there two years ago? Later, she was rescued. The imperial doctor said at that time that the old man had two or three years at most. As expected, he thought about it and said, "I happened to go back to Luoyang to report my work. Why not go together and the whole family will go back together."

Li Zhen planned to return to Luoyang in half a month to report his work. Since his grandmother was no longer able to do so, he would simply go back together.

Di Yan nodded red, "I'm just cleaning up now, we'll set off tomorrow morning."

"No problem!"

Li Zhen thought that he had some things to explain to Zhang, so he didn't have time to have supper and hurried out to Zhang Shuo's official residence.

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Although five years have passed, Luoyang has basically not changed much. Ordinary people are busy making money to support their families and work hard to get promoted. Every day has passed the same. Although five years have passed, everything seems to have happened yesterday.

However, during this period, the court still underwent some subtle changes. After Su Weidao's death, Wu Youning became the prime minister and also gave Li Zhen the position of left-behind Xijing. This was a balance. Moreover, Wu Youning belonged to the moderate faction of the Wu family because of Princess Taiping, and everyone could accept it. So in the end, Di Renjie and Lou Shide silently accepted the reality of the Wu family's prime minister.

Another reason is that the struggle between the Konghe Mansion and the Zhengshi Hall is becoming increasingly fierce. If the dispute between Li Wu is a deep-seated struggle, then the struggle between the Konghe Mansion and the Zhengshi Hall is superficial, and has become public and fierce.

If Wu Youning joins the Political Affairs Hall, invisibly some of the Wu family's forces will join the Prime Minister, which is also the result that Di Renjie is willing to see. It is precisely because of all kinds of considerations that Di Renjie did not strongly oppose Wu Youning's entry into the Prime Minister. Moreover, Su Wei Tao himself is an ambiguous person and has no status in the Political Affairs Hall. The moderate Wu Youning replaced him with little impact on the power balance of the Political Affairs Hall.

In the study, Di Renjie was pacing back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, looking worried. Although his mother's condition worsened put a lot of pressure on him, more importantly, the situation in the court was developing in a direction that was not conducive to him.

He received news yesterday that the emperor was already considering establishing Wu Sansi as his heir. If the emperor had been wise enough in the past, her condition had obviously declined in the past two days, and she had made many tricks to establish the Control Crane Mansion, allowing two ignorant bastards to take power.

Wu Sansi tried his best to please Zhang Yizhi. Under the wind blowing by the two Zhang's pillow, the emperor actually began to consider making Wu Sansi the crown prince. Once this matter really becomes a reality, the Tang Dynasty will face a drastic change of collapse and a civil war will surely break out.

Di Renjie was extremely worried. He must stop the civil war from breaking out and prevent Wu Sansi from taking office. Di Renjie also felt that he was unable to do so. He urgently needed help. First of all, he thought of his son-in-law Li Zhen. If he was in the capital, he might be able to help him turn the situation around.

At this moment, Di Renjie was looking forward to Li Zhen’s arrival. At this moment, Mrs. Di brought a cup of tea ginseng into the room. She put the ginseng tea on the table and said softly: “Master, take a break!”

Di Renjie knew that his wife was very tired to take care of her mother's condition. He held his wife's hand and sat down and asked, "How is your mother?"

Mrs. Di shook her head, "The situation is very bad. The imperial doctor said that it has only been a few days at most, and my mother has been holding on, probably just to see A Yan for the last time."

"Is there any news about A Yan?" Di Renjie sighed and asked again.

"Although there is no news yet, in terms of time, they should have arrived in the capital in the next two days. Let's wait! By the way, Dalang will come back tomorrow morning."

Di Renjie felt really sad. He forced a smile and apologized to his wife: "I have been busy in the court these two days, so I'll ask my wife to take care of my mother's condition."

"Don't worry, lord! It's mainly because lord himself is also paying attention to his health."

"I know! I'll be careful."

At this moment, a burst of rapid running sounds came from outside. The housekeeper excitedly said outside the door: "Master, the son-in-law and the others are here, outside the door."

Di Renjie stood up suddenly, and he was overjoyed and said to his wife repeatedly: "Hurry! Hurry! Let's go out quickly."

Mrs. Di was also extremely happy. Without waiting for her husband's instructions, she went out first. Di Renjie put on a piece of clothing and hurried to the outside of the mansion.

It was very lively outside the gate of Di Mansion. Li Zhen and his family arrived in three carriages. Di Guangyuan, the second son who was re-elected as the magistrate of Chang'an County, also got up with them. Five or six carriages were parked outside, and dozens of personal guards were also killed.

Di Renjie and his wife quickly came out of the mansion. Li Zhen stepped forward to greet his father-in-law and mother-in-law. Di Yan cried happily and hugged his mother. At this time, Wang Qingyu brought her three children to the front and kowtowed to her grandfather and grandmother.

Wang Qingyu returned to Di's mansion with Di Yan the year before yesterday. Her gentleness and virtuousness also won the love of Di Renjie and his wife, and repeatedly instructed Di Yan to treat him with courtesy.

Di Renjie picked up his two grandchildren, and Mrs. Di also picked up her granddaughter. Both of them were so happy that they couldn't stop talking. At this time, Di Yan asked in a low voice: "What's the situation of grandmother?"

A word reminded Di Renjie, and he quickly said to his wife: "Madam takes them to see their grandmother."

Mrs. Di whispered: "My mother has already fallen asleep, so it's not easy to disturb her. It's time to see her tomorrow. I'll arrange their room first."

Mrs. Di waved to Di Yan and Di Guangyuan, and smiled and said, "Everyone brings the children with me!"

Di Yan pulled Wang Qingyu for a moment, and the two followed their mother with their children. Di Guangyuan and his wife and daughter also followed their mother into the mansion. At this time, Di Renjie said to Li Zhen: "The son-in-law comes to my study, I have something to say to you."

Li Zhen explained a few words to his personal soldiers and asked them to follow the housekeeper to rest and have dinner. Then he followed Di Renjie to the study.

In the study, Di Renjie asked Li Zhen to sit down and said with a smile: "I have read your performance report. I did a good job last year. It was not smooth to recruit Long March athletes to the Western Regions to reclaim borders. Only Guanzhong did the best and completed the plan one month in advance. The emperor praised you."

Li Zhen bowed and smiled, "Actually, going to the Western Regions to reclaim borders is mainly psychological resistance, and I feel that I am far away from my hometown and relatives, but I think as long as the benefits are enough and I give them hope to come back, I think everyone is willing to do it. In fact, it is these two things I did well that I can use them successfully."

"If they are allowed to come back, what's the point of going to the Western Regions?" Di Renjie asked with a smile on his beard.

Li Zhen smiled slightly, "This is a hope. In fact, when they have a family business in the Western Regions and have adapted to life in the Western Regions, they may not easily leave their family business and come back. Everyone will settle the score. Except for being far away from their hometown, everything else is better than their hometown. Who would throw their family business and run back to suffer? So promised them to come back is just to give them psychological comfort now, so that they can be willing to go to the border."

"That's right, that's the reason. Guanzhong's experience can be promoted in other prefectures and counties."
Chapter completed!