Chapter 380: Temptation to Join
The two sat down as host and guest, and Dugutuo said with a smile: “First, congratulations to General Yuwen for giving up his military career and becoming a scholar, and then wishing Prime Minister Yuwen a happy new year!”

Yuwen Shu sneered in his heart. He had been the prime minister for nearly half a year. Coming to congratulate him at this time seemed a bit too perfunctory. Dugutuo must have other intentions for coming here.

Yuwen Shu laughed dryly and said, “Happy New Year with the Patriarch!”

“Does Prime Minister Yuwen think my visit is a bit abrupt?” Dugu Tuo said with a smile.

Yuwen Shu said calmly: “It’s not abrupt, it’s distant. The last time the head of the Dugu family came to my house was ten years ago!”

What Yuwen Shu meant was, I know you are here for a purpose.

Dugu Tuo shook his head. “Ten years sounds far away, but compared to our descendants, ten years is just a blink of an eye.”

Yuwen Shu’s face was solemn. “Could it be that Patriarch Dugu wants to discuss the matter of his descendants for generations to come?”

“Exactly!”

“Haha! Then I’m all ears.”

Dugu Tuo took out a silver key, put it on the table and pushed it to Yuwen Shu, “This is the key to Wuchuan Tower!”

Wuchuan Tower is a sacrificial tower for Guanlong nobles. It is located in Xuandu Temple in Chongyefang. The tablets of all the ancestors of Guanlong nobles are enshrined in the tower. It is the supreme spiritual territory of Guanlong nobles.

There are eight golden keys in Wuchuan Tower, representing the Eight Pillars of the State. Except for Yuwen Tai and Yuan Xin, there are four silver keys under each golden key of the other six pillars of the State, representing the Twelve Great Generals. A total of thirty-two families own the keys, and a sacrifice is held every ten years. The last one was the first year of Renshou. Even Emperor Yang Jian sent Crown Prince Yang Yong to participate in the sacrifice.

Yuwen Shu’s heart was pounding, this was the key to Wuchuan Tower!

He concealed his inner nervousness and excitement, pretending to be calm and asked: “Why did Patriarch Dugu give me the key to Wuchuan Tower?”

“Prime Minister Yuwen will know after a closer look!”

Yuwen Shu picked up the key and took a closer look, only to see the word “Yuwen” engraved on the other side of the key.

He was stunned, and after a while asked, “What does this mean?”

“This silver key originally belonged to Yuwen Dao’s family. Yuwen Dao’s family has been exterminated, and his family’s spirit tablets have been incorporated into Yuwen Tai’s tablet. The tablet is now vacant, and Prime Minister Yuwen can place the spirit tablets of his father and grandfather in it.”

“Do the other families agree?”

Dugu Tuo nodded, “The families of the Eight Pillar States all agreed.”

Yuwen Shu was extremely excited. This meant that his family was also a member of the Guanlong nobles and no longer Yuwen Tai’s slaves. This had been the pursuit of three generations of their family.

“Do you need me to do something?”

Dugu Tuo nodded, “We will discuss this in detail forty-nine days after the ancestral tablet of Prime Minister’s father is moved into the Wuchuan Pagoda!”

“Then when can I move in the spirit tablet?”

“It’ll be fine tomorrow!”

Dugu Tuo stood up to say goodbye, and Yuwen Shu saw him off respectfully before returning to his study.

Yuwen Shu sent people to find his three sons, the eldest son Yuwen Wenzhi, the second son Yuwen Shiji and the third son Yuwen Zhiji. Because the third son was still relatively young, only seventeen years old, he was generally not told anything, and his presence was very weak.
The three brothers were very excited when they heard that the Guanlong nobles had accepted their family. Yuwen Shiji was puzzled and asked, “The Guanlong nobles have always looked down on our family. Why are they suddenly so generous now? What are their conditions?”

Yu Wenzhi said: “It should be because my father is the prime minister!”

“ignorance!”

Yuwen Shu glared at him and asked, “When will the Guanlong nobles take a small prime minister seriously?”

“Then why do you think that is the case, father?” Yu Wenzhi asked unconvinced.

Yuwen Shu pondered for a long time and said: “I don’t know either, but I guess it has something to do with moving the capital!”

The New Year in Guzang County is also very lively, with lanterns and decorations everywhere, peach charms pasted on the wall, people wearing new clothes, every household setting up poles, drinking Tusu wine, and strong men pounding rice cakes everywhere. Two of them hold wooden mallets and vigorously pound the cooked glutinous rice and rice in a wooden trough to make rice cakes.

More than a dozen large tents were set up in the City God Temple, and more than 300 homeless beggars moved into the tents. They were also given hundreds of Three Treasures Cakes to keep warm by the fire.

But that was all. The elderly and children were forcibly sent to the orphanage by the county government, and the remaining beggars could have supported themselves, such as growing crops for the army. They would rather be beggars than work hard to make a living. This kind of laziness must not be encouraged, so apart from the Three Treasures Cakes, they were not given a single grain of food.

Xiao Xia issued an order from the King of Chu in early November, requiring the county governments of the four prefectures in Hexi, Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan and Dunhuang to establish orphanages to take in elderly widows and orphans under the age of fourteen who had lost their ability to work, as the first item in the assessment of officials’ moral conduct. This was an order from the King of Chu, not an order from the Grand Commander, which meant that all future Grand Commanders of Liangzhou would have to inherit this order.

After the Spring Festival, it’s the 15th day of the lunar year and the Lantern Festival is coming.

The Lantern Festival in Guzang County is mainly concentrated on both sides of the central axis, Liangzhoumen Street, which stretches for several miles. Various official and folk lanterns compete with each other in splendor, shining brightly and dazzlingly. Although the scale is much smaller than that of Chang’an, it still attracts people from all over the city to go out and watch the lanterns.

Teams of patrolling officers and soldiers appeared in the streets and alleys. Xiao Xia issued a strict order that troublemakers would be arrested, even if they were his trusted generals. Soldiers who caused trouble would be severely punished. The Lantern Festival lasted for three days, and tens of thousands of soldiers were divided into three groups to leave the barracks to enjoy the lanterns and have fun with the people.

On the fifteenth night of the first lunar month, Xiao Xia took his wife to the streets to enjoy the lanterns. He did not bring any entourage, nor did he need one. Instead, Cui Mei and a few others came to accompany them to enjoy the lanterns, and Xiao Xia asked five female warriors to follow them.

Xiao Xia and Cui Yu held hands and walked slowly at the lantern festival. Xiao Xia was carrying a bag behind her, which was filled with lanterns bought by Cui Yu and various special gadgets.

Cui Yu liked calligraphy and painting, jade and porcelain. Basically all women from aristocratic families liked these things. Xiao Xia had several sets of official kiln porcelain, as well as Master Zhiyong’s “Thousand Character Classic in True and Cursive Script” and several calligraphy works by Yu Shinan. When Cui Yu discovered them, he happily collected them immediately.

At this time, Cui Yu saw an old couple selling baked rice cakes. Both of them were white-haired and hunched over, which made people feel pity for them. Mainly, rice cakes are available in every household and are not rare, so their business is not very good. There was no one in front of the small table, and occasionally someone would buy something while eating while walking.

Cui Yu felt pity for him, so she pulled her husband and said, “Let’s sit down and rest for a while, and buy some rice cakes to try!”

Xiao Xia nodded and sat down at the table with his wife.

The old lady immediately came forward to greet them and asked with a smile, “What would you like to eat, young couple?”

Xiao Xia said: “Give us four baked rice cakes. Do you have any fillings?”

The old lady nodded and said, “There are two kinds. One is without filling, but you can eat it with honey. It costs five cents a piece. The other is with sesame and honey filling, which costs ten cents.”

The price is okay. I asked several stores and they all said the price is the same. It is 50% more expensive during the Lantern Festival than usual, which is normal.

“Two pieces of each, please! Is there anything to drink?” Xiao Xia asked again.

“We have our own Tusu wine and goat’s milk, nothing else. A bowl of Tusu wine is ten cents, and a bowl of goat’s milk is five cents.”

Xiao Xia glanced at Cui Yu, who took out two small bowls from his bag and said, “Bring the wine, we’ll pour it ourselves!”

Cui Yu was very particular about hygiene. She always used her own bowl when eating at stalls outside and never used the bowls on the stalls. She didn’t know how many people had used them, and a small bucket of water was not enough to wash them clean.

“The young lady is from a wealthy family!”

The old lady smiled and placed an earthen jar on the table. The old man also placed four baked cakes on a wooden plate and placed them on the table. They were baked until they were golden brown and soft. The old lady scooped a spoonful of honey and poured it on the rice cakes.

Xiao Xia poured two bowls of wine, and the two of them held up the wine bowls and clinked them lightly under the light of the lanterns. Under the light, Cui Yu looked even more beautiful and charming.

The old couple sat aside and looked at this talented couple with a kind smile, as if they had returned to their youth.

“Do you two old people have a son?” Xiao Xia asked with a smile after taking a sip of wine.

“There was one before, but he passed away more than ten years ago. We live with our daughter, and her family is not well off, so we set up a stall to help her and her son-in-law as much as possible.”

Cui Yu only drank half a bowl of wine and ate a small piece of cake, and the rest all went to Xiao Xia.

Cui Yu took out a piece of fine cloth, wiped the bowl clean, and carefully put it back into the box. This bowl was also an official Shouzhou celadon, which Yang Guang gave to the Cui family as a gift, and the Cui family gave it as a dowry for their daughter. It was Cui Yu’s favorite porcelain.

“Sir, fifty cents in total!”

Cui Yu gently squeezed her husband’s hand, suggesting that he give more.

Xiao Xia took out a silver ingot of twenty taels and placed it on the table. The old man was shocked and said, “Sir, we can’t find it!”

Xiao Xia waved his hand and said, “No need to look for it, I’ll give it to you as a reward!”

Cui Yu picked up the silver and stuffed it into the old lady’s hand, “Auntie, keep it quickly and don’t let the bad guys see it!”

The old couple were extremely grateful and bowed deeply. Xiao Xia took his wife’s hand and left.

The old couple hid the silver and couldn’t help crying. This was twenty taels of silver! They had met a kind man. Now they had money for their coffin.

(End of this chapter)