III Jiangshan

Yuan Youqi felt sorry for Empress Dowager Wei who was worried about herself, and she didn't want Empress Dowager Wei to continue to ask about Mochi, so she quickly changed the topic and said: "Cousin Hongpeng has been visiting relatives in his hometown these few days, has he ever come to the palace?" Greetings to the queen?"

Wei Hongpeng, the son of Wei Zhouyang, served as a military officer in Beiguan and was stationed at the border.Because the Ule people in the northern border have been relatively peaceful these years, and the northern pass is peaceful, the officers can return to their hometowns to visit their relatives once every two years as required.

"Didn't you come to greet Ai's family this morning!" Empress Dowager Wei said comfortingly.

Yuan Youqi nodded when he heard the words: "Cousin Hongpeng is very filial. Webster's family is the humerus of the country, and he is really good at teaching his children."

When Queen Mother Wei heard the words, she raised her eyebrows and said nothing.

Yuan Youqi asked again: "Cousin Hongpeng has been stationed in Beiguan for five or six years, right? My child is thinking about transferring him back to Beijing to work."

This is asking what Queen Mother Wei means.

"Transfer him back to Beijing?" Empress Dowager Wei was slightly startled, and immediately understood the emperor's thoughts.

Then, she shook her head and said, "The Ai family thinks it's inappropriate."

He also said: "The Wei family is a general, and what they are best at is protecting the environment and the people. It was expedient to transfer Wei Zhouyang back to Beijing to take charge of the imperial guards during the time of the late emperor. Now, the country is stable, but there are barbarians coveting in the four realms. It is really not suitable to transfer Wei Hongpeng back to Beijing."

Yuan Youqi pondered for a while, and then understood the deep meaning of Empress Dowager Wei's words——

Great Wei has been in peace for many years, and now the only people who can be regarded as frontier troubles are the Qiang people in the west who have been silent for many years, and the Ule people in the north who are ready to move but dare not move for a long time.And those stationed in the west and north were once the two most powerful families of generals in Wei Dynasty: the Qi family garrisoned in the west, and the Wei family garrisoned in the north.

But now, nearly 20 years have passed, and Qi Honglie and Wei Zhouyang, who were once stationed in the western and northern borders respectively, are both old and have already returned to Beijing to serve.However, the former members of the Qi family and the Wei family were still stationed on the western and northern borders to guard against the Qiang and Ule people.

These generals are either the old ministries of the two families, or they are married to the two families.In short, the relationship among them is intricate and cannot be stripped away overnight.

And Wei Hongpeng was in Beiguan these years, although he was not the chief general of the garrison, but in the eyes of those generals who completely obeyed Wei Zhouyang and respected Wei Zhouyang back then, he seemed to be a "major general".

Regardless of Wei Hongpeng's generals, because of his father Wei Zhouyang's Yu Ze, all officers and soldiers stationed at Beiguan will look up to him and even obey him.

Back then, during the time of the first emperor, Empress Dowager Wei, who was still a virtuous concubine, wanted to win the heir for Yuan Youqi. Just in case, she designed to lure the first emperor to transfer Wei Zhouyang, who was stationed at Beiguan, back to Beijing to take charge of the imperial army.But this is undoubtedly a stopgap measure.

Regardless of how overqualified the Wei family's internal and ancestral generals are for commanding the imperial army, if everyone knows the fact that "the empress dowager's surname is Wei, and the emperor's maternal ancestor is Wei", if Wei When the family members were transferred back to Beijing, it was undoubtedly putting the Wei family on the fire. It is hard to guarantee that the officials did not think about telling the emperor, "Beware of foreign relatives disrupting the government."

What's more, Wei Hongpeng has a special status, he is the one who will inherit the Duke of Wei in the future.The emperor transferred him back to Beijing, and he would not treat him badly, whether in public or private.I'm afraid that the rewards at that time will be even more eye-catching.

Therefore, for the sake of the Wei family's long-term plan, the Empress Dowager Wei will never let Wei Hongpeng come true.After all, the blood of the Wei family is also flowing on her body. She hopes that the Wei family will be well and that the Wei family will continue to prosper.

Now that he understood what his mother was thinking, Yuan Youqi gave up the idea of ​​transferring Wei Hongpeng back to Beijing.But in this way, I'm afraid she will have to make even greater sacrifices.

The Qi family is the Yue family of King Ning Yuan Chengxuan. King Ning and her are comparable to a mother and compatriot. King Ning married Qi Xuan, the eldest daughter of the Qi family, so that the Qi family can live stably, and she does not need to be the emperor. No matter how you win over.

However, for the Wei family, it is not enough to rely on the respect of the queen mother as the queen mother to win them over.

It should be noted that the Ule people are much fiercer and greedier than the Qiang people, and they are much harder to deal with.

Having been an emperor for more than ten years, Yuan Youqi's imperial heart has also been cultivated.She no longer purely believes in the so-called "old love".For the new generation of young officials and relatives, without the emotional ties of the older generation, what she believed in was to give them corresponding benefits and honor.

The Wei family and the Qi family...

Yuan Youqi sighed silently: Now there are two virtuous ministers who are loyal to the emperor and the country, but what about the future, decades or a hundred years from now?When a new generation replaces the old, will their descendants develop disobedience and become a disaster for the new Wei?Just like the vassals and towns of the previous dynasty, weren't they also loyal to the court and the emperor's courtiers at the beginning?

This problem has to be solved sooner or later.Yuan Youqi said to himself in his heart.

She temporarily suppressed this matter in her heart, and decided to face the matter at hand first.

So he smiled and said to Empress Dowager Wei: "The empress mother is very right. In this case, the boy thought that the matter of welcoming the cousin into the palace should be prepared intensively. I have seen cousin Hongpeng during the time at home. , Returning to Beiguan to continue his post in the future will also let the soldiers of Beiguan see clearly the sincerity of the boy's kindness to Webster."

This has been said very bluntly.

Empress Dowager Wei was heartbroken.

She still took Yuan Youqi's hand, looked at her for a long while, and said in confusion: "Baoxiang, you... If you don't like to marry Wei Zhen, the queen mother will go for you..."

"No! No baby!" Yuan Youqi shook his head, interrupting Queen Mother Wei's words.

But his eyes couldn't help but glanced away, and he pursed his lips and said: "Someone once said to the child that when the Tian family gets married, it is never the most important thing..."

Empress Dowager Wei felt a pain in her chest.

Yuan Youqi has quickly regained his confused emotions, and looked at Empress Dowager Wei again, half teasing and half serious, and said: "The queen mother is relieved, the child does not feel wronged! The child only asks for one thing from the mother, and the child will take it seriously in the future." When there is someone who likes you, the queen mother can agree."

Empress Dowager Wei was slightly startled, her eyes darkened.

Yuan Youqi no longer studied how the Empress Dowager Wei thought about herself.

She was still smiling, like all children who please their mothers, and said: "It's inconvenient for the imperial concubine to be in Jingning Palace at the moment, and I'd better ask the queen mother to trouble you to prepare to welcome Zhen's cousin into the palace!"

Empress Dowager Wei couldn't help frowning, which meant that the emperor didn't want to forgive Fengrou in a short time?

She wanted to try to persuade her again, but Yuan Youqi cut her off and said, "Cousin Zhen is the mother's niece, I think, maybe if the mother bothers you, she will like it better."

Empress Dowager Wei stopped.

As long as she is welcomed into the palace, Wei Zhen will like it.And if you ask for it yourself, how can you do it to please Wei Zhen?

That's to please the Wei family!

Empress Dowager Wei suddenly felt tired, thinking that it's all for nothing, the child is growing up, and she is getting old, why bother to worry about it and get angry?

After thinking this way, the expression on her face also showed a little relief.

Yuan Youqi said again: "The mother and concubine violate the harmony, and she has to worry about these things for the child. It is the child's disobedience."

Empress Dowager Wei sighed secretly, glanced at her, and said, "My mother and son, don't say such polite words!"

Yuan Youqi was as good as he was, and nodded in response: "If you don't say anything, the child will do it!"

Then he said again: "My child is thinking, Feng Zhen's cousin is Concubine An, what does the queen mother think?"

When Wei Zhen enters the palace, the title of concubine is certain.

Her identity is different from those harem women, so naturally she will not be like ordinary harem women who only seal a beauty when entering the palace.Empress Dowager Wei never expected that because Yuan Youqi never forgot Gu Heng, she would make Wei Zhen her queen.

Concubine Feng is the most appropriate.

But the word "an" can't help but arouse people's daydream.

This is to warn Wei Zhen to be more peaceful, and even more so to warn the Wei family to be more peaceful, right?

Empress Dowager Wei has a plan in mind.

It is true that her surname is Wei, but this great Wei country belongs to her child.She hoped that the Wei family would be well, and it would be good on the basis of being divided into ministers of the Great Wei.

The Wei family should not have any unreasonable thoughts, let alone any unreasonable actions. This is the bottom line of the Queen Mother Wei.

"Concubine An, um, it's so good." Empress Dowager Wei said.

Looking at Yuan Youqi's expression, she was obviously relaxed, and suddenly felt that the feeling of exhaustion became stronger.

"Aijia is a little tired, I want to sleep for a while." She said.

Yuan Youqi understood, knowing that the mother needs some space to digest these emotions.Why doesn't she feel that her chest is tight?

Therefore, Yuan Youqi got up and said goodbye, "Mother, please rest! My child will go back to Qinzheng Hall to approve papers."

Empress Dowager Wei told her a few words of "Pay attention to your health and don't get tired", and then let her leave Shoukang Palace.

The gate of Shoukang Palace is already a few feet away, and the guard of honor is in front of you.

Yuan Youqi looked at the neat and bright guard of honor, and immediately felt even more congested.

She began to miss those beautiful and happy experiences outside the palace, in Ningwang's other courtyard, and beside Mochi.

Slowly exhaling a foul breath, Yuan Youqi walked towards the Qinzheng Hall.

The emperor did not ride in the imperial chariot, but the guards of honor did not dare to leave the emperor alone.So they carefully followed behind the emperor, keeping a distance that was neither too far nor too close, neither to appear disrespected nor to be hated and disgusted.

Yuan Youqi walked ahead on his own, thinking about the conversation he had just had with the Empress Dowager Wei in Shoukang Palace.

Tan Shaoer, Wu Linlang, Feng Rou, Zhou Leshi... and Wei Zhen who is about to enter the palace, these women in the harem surround her, because of the so-called rules and etiquette, they surround her, but they have their own secrets in their hearts. thoughts.None of them could make her get along with her completely at ease!

Yuan Youqi felt tired, and an urge to get rid of these people and this terrifying circle of interests was faintly bumping in her chest.

She only likes to get along with Mochi without the slightest hindrance.

Is it the feeling of a couple for a lifetime, probably?

Could one day clean up the harem and share it with Ah Heng alone?Yuan Youqi thought foolishly.

The author has something to say: The world is never perfect.When a person is alive, it is inevitable that he has to bear some unavoidable grievances, even if his status is as noble as an emperor or a queen mother.