The empress is pregnant, and the emperor's incense continues

The shrewd Marquis Zhenyuan thought he had everyone's mind figured out and was just waiting for Meng Wenyao to become reluctant to give up this relationship and rush to go to the emperor with Chen Dingbei to ask for a marriage.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Meng Wen Yao saw Chen Dingbei leave, she went out happily to buy jewelry.

She knew that Mingyuan's people must have been keeping an eye on Chen Dingbei. If they saw Meng Wenyao so happy after Chen Dingbei left the Meng Mansion, anyone with a decent brain would be able to guess what was going on.

As expected, when she arrived at the jewelry store, Meng Wen Yao clearly felt that there were many people peeking around her.

She casually started chatting with the maid, "At that palace banquet, the prince gave the hairpin to the county lady. I was already disheartened, but I didn't expect the marquis and the prince to come to explain one after another. The prince was even more regretful and even dragged me to the emperor to ask for an order to grant me marriage and give me the greatest respect. Considering his infatuation, I will give him another chance."

"Miss, you did the right thing. The prince has loved you deeply over the years. How could he be taken away by someone just by beckoning? Miss, please don't believe those rumors outside."

Meng Wenyao nodded repeatedly as she listened, holding up a set of headgear and examining it, "How about this set of ruby ​​headgear? After all, we are going to the Emperor to ask for an imperial decree to grant us marriage, so we should dress in a more formal way."

After just a few words, everyone around held their breath. What did they hear? Chen Dingbei was actually going to ask the emperor for permission to marry Meng Wenyao?

Soon, they crawled to Mingyuan and reported everything.

"County Lady, Miss Meng looks so happy, it seems like she is not faking it. Does the Marquis of Zhenyuan really want to form a marriage alliance with the Meng family?"

"That's right. They teased the county lady like this. They knew that everyone in the capital knew that the county lady was the beloved of Chen Shizi, but they still wanted Chen Shizi to marry Miss Meng. It was obvious that they wanted to slap the county lady in the face."

"County Lady, we in the Jingwang Mansion cannot tolerate this tone, otherwise everyone in the capital will laugh at our Jingwang Mansion in the future."

These servants have been used to being the superior ones following County Lady Mingyuan for the past half month. When they heard that Mingyuan was going to be slapped in the face, they felt more uncomfortable than if they were slapped in the face. If they really were slapped in the face, they would have to look down on the sky when they go out in the future.

Mingyuan listened to the servants talking back and forth, and he was already extremely angry, but he laughed: "The Zhenyuan Marquis Mansion is just one of my many options. Now they dare to be so ungrateful. Let them know that I, Mingyuan, am not a soft persimmon that can be manipulated by everyone."

"Come here, prepare the carriage and go into the palace."

Mingyuan rushed to the palace and calmed down before meeting the queen. She didn't want to give the queen the impression that she was in love.

"My queen, my brother has been in the library for many days and has refused to show up. Many families in the capital have sent invitations to invite him to banquets. I have rejected them one by one in the past, but it is not good to continue in the long run, otherwise people will think that my brother is self-righteous."

"So," Mingyuan said shyly, "I want to go to my brother's house for a few days and meet some people from outside."

The queen nodded. When she was choosing her adopted son, she saw that Prince Jing was incompetent, while Crown Prince Mingshi was talentless and easy to control.

She also understood that Mingshi had been pretending to be fond of reading since he came to the capital, but it was just for the emperor and the ministers to see. Now that he had been pretending for more than half a month, it was probably enough time. It was time to make friends with the nobles in the capital.

"That's good. It's not good for young people to stay in their rooms and study all the time. It's more important to go out and make more friends."

Especially with Akashi's current status, if he could win over a few powerful figures among the court officials in the capital, it would also help him secure the throne of crown prince and emperor in the future.

Hearing the queen's full promise, Mingyuan was overjoyed, and tried to ask: "After you go out, which family should I visit? I have a few good friends, but you are a man, it's not good for you to go with me to visit the ladies in the boudoir."

This instantly reminded the Queen that Akashi had not yet married, and it was a good opportunity for her to make some contact with the daughters of the court officials while visiting them, so as to choose a capable in-law.

The queen couldn't help but look at Mingyuan. The reason why she chose Prince Jing's family was because she heard that Mingyuan had suddenly become talented since he fell ill, and he also gave out porridge and food, which won him a good reputation.

Among all the royal family members, it is rare to find such a person who has no talent or virtue but has a good reputation, which is just beneficial for her to take power in the future.

Looking at Mingyuan's sparkling eyes, she knew that this girl came today not just to pick up Mingshi, but to test the waters to choose a wife for Mingshi.

It’s a pity that all the families of the Queen’s clan were killed by the Emperor, otherwise Akashi would have to marry a girl from her clan.

Now, she lowered her head and thought about the ministers in the court. If Mingyuan has already grasped the son of Zhenyuan Marquis, then Mingshi had better choose a family from the civil officials to marry into.

In this way, both civil and military officials will have the support of important ministers, and if the emperor does not appoint Mingshi as the emperor in the future, there will be no better choice.

But Mingyuan was a little clever, so the Queen wanted to test him. She took a sip of the tea and asked with a smile, "What do you think, Mingyuan?"

Mingyuan had been active in the capital for so long that she naturally knew that among the court officials, Minister Meng was the most respected in terms of civil affairs, and Marquis Zhenyuan was the most respected in terms of military affairs. If she married Chen Dingbei and Mingshi married Meng Wenyao, then both the civil and military officials would naturally fall under the sphere of influence of their Prince Jing's Mansion.

She said confidently and flamboyantly, "I think that since my brother loves reading so much, he should go to Shangshu Meng's house to seek advice. I think Shangshu Meng and my brother will definitely get along well. Besides, Miss Meng and I have a good relationship, so we should get along well."

The queen thought that Chen Dingbei and Meng Wenyao were childhood sweethearts, and now he has turned to love Mingyuan. That means Meng Wenyao must have a close relationship with Mingyuan.

The Queen didn't want to figure out whether Mingyuan's little plans were for Chen Dingbei or to win over Meng Wenyao for Mingshi.

After all, they are all subjects, so as the queen, she can still issue an order to grant marriage.

Of course, it would be even better if the emperor issued an edict to grant the marriage.

She looked up at the sky and thought that the emperor might not be too busy at the moment.

"Go to the library and ask the prince to go to the Shangshufang, so that we can pay our respects to the emperor together."

Mingshi has been studying in the library for more than half a month, but the emperor has not paid any attention to him. In this case, they will take the initiative to find the emperor.

As long as Mingshi goes through the Shangshufang today and goes to Shangshu Meng's residence tomorrow, people will think it is the emperor's intention.

By then, Minister Meng will mistakenly think that the emperor asked Mingshi to get close to Meng Wenyao, and he will naturally agree to the marriage between Meng Wenyao and Mingshi.

As long as Minister Meng agrees, the Emperor will mistakenly think that Minister Meng is trying to get close to Mingshi. The Empress feels that as long as both parties can fool around, the marriage will most likely be successful.

As long as Mingshi marries Meng Wenyao, there will be no other candidates on Chen Dingbei's side. Add to that the rumors about her unclear relationship with Mingyuan, and the marriage is almost certain.

From then on, even though Prince Jing's lineage had gained a firm foothold in the court, when the Queen proposed to adopt Mingshi, even the Emperor could do nothing about it.

As long as Akashi gains a firm foothold, the court officials who were suppressed by the emperor because of the empress dowager will have a foundation for counterattack. With the support of court officials and a force formed, the empress will be able to indirectly control the court and have power. It is not certain who will have the final say in the world in the future.

While the Queen was thinking happily, the phoenix sedan chair arrived at the Shangshufang.