Crossing the East Palace

During the Hundred Days Banquet of the Twelfth Prince, Tang Luojin did not try to get closer to the Twelfth Prince.

If we talk about temptation, then the temptation of those days before is enough now.

Since it was the [-]-day banquet for her "brother", Tang Luojin gave a heavy gift - a box of golden locks with a long life span, and two half-person-high white jade Guanyin statues.

Although the Twelve Princes are direct princes, they are not princes after all. Therefore, Emperor Tian Yuan ordered that only relatives of the emperor be invited to attend his hundred-day banquet.

Everyone laughed when they saw the prince's gift.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince really loves my younger brother. My younger brother is still young, so I gave him a box of gold as a private money."

"That's right, there is also the white jade Guanyin statue, tsk, that is really made by a good craftsman, and it is so lifelike. His Royal Highness sent these two white jade Guanyin statues, isn't it just for my younger brother and two adoptive mothers?" One for each, so that they can take care of their little brother?"

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince loves the younger brother and is a brother and brother. He is worthy of being praised by the emperor!"

"That's right, our Prime Minister also often said that the prince has a photographic memory, is extremely intelligent, is filial, and is friendly to brothers and sisters. There is no one as good as our prince! "

"It's exactly..."

……

When the queen appeared weakly, she just heard the words of these edicts.

She suddenly coughed a few times, her face pale.

Everyone turned around and greeted immediately.

The queen said: "Let's all get up. Today is a good day for the twelve princes, everyone should not be restrained."

Everyone should not mention it.

But when they turned their heads, they all started discussing in a strange whisper.

"What's going on here? Since the queen can still move, why did the Hundred Days Banquet be prepared in Yangde Palace?"

"That's right. If the queen can't move, it's fine if she can't participate in the hundred-day banquet. It's not uncommon to hold a hundred-day banquet at the concubine's place. But, looking at it now, although the queen is weaker, she can clearly stand up and move, but why? Do you want to hold the hundred-day banquet in Yangde Palace? You must know that Qingning Palace is the place where the son-in-law should hold the hundred-day banquet."

Several people were discussing in low voices, but when there were more people around, they shut up again.But the eyes of all the people were floating here and there, apparently they didn't understand why the empress would do such a thing to hit the twelve princes in the face.

She is obviously a descendant, but she has to be raised by the concubine.The queen is weak, so it is not impossible to be raised by concubine concubines, but the two concubine mothers who live in the concubine of the first rank and the concubine of the second rank are moved to another palace to be raised together.Even the full moon ceremony and the hundred-day banquet were not held in the Qingning Palace, but in the Yangde Palace of the concubine.This is obviously the first prince, but he can only enjoy the treatment of the concubine prince.What does this mean...

Some people didn't understand for a while, while others quickly thought of the rumor that the Twelve Princes were "hard-fated".

When the twelve princesses died, the queen found out that she was pregnant with the twelve princes.

At that time, the queen's fetus had not yet sat firmly, a concubine who was pregnant with a child went to pay her respects, and when she returned to her palace, the child in her stomach slipped, leaving a male and a female twins.

Before the twelve princes were born, the empress had an accident, the prince fell ill, and the princess-to-be died in Qingning Palace because of a "sudden illness".There were hundreds of people in the Qingning Palace serving the queen, the sticks were killed, and the Lingchi was Lingchi. The tragic situation is unbearable to look back on.

When the twelfth prince was born, it made the empress even more difficult to deliver. After giving birth, she was so weak that she couldn't even see her wife every day.Even if no one dared to speak easily on the surface, but in private, there were caring people who felt that the fate of the Twelfth Prince was too hard, and probably the Emperor also felt the same way, so he treated the Twelfth Prince as a concubine prince several times.

What everyone thinks in their hearts, the queen doesn't know.She is going to see her son.

When the twelve princes were in their mother's body, they were well raised.Now the body is extremely strong, white and fat, very flattering.

He seemed to know that today was his big day, and his two dark eyeballs were rolling around.

Seeing the queen coming, he opened his mouth, drooling, and opened his arms to the queen.

The queen saw it, and she was very happy in her heart.

She reached out to the Twelfth Prince as well, wanting to hug him.

"Second Sister, don't do anything." Yue Chongyuan's voice came over, "Second Sister is still sick, and the Twelfth Prince is heavy. Don't get tired and sick. Second Sister, let outsiders say that the Twelfth Prince's life is hard That's fine."

Yue Chongyuan is Ning Yueer.

She has been in the palace for several years, and now she understands that the emperor never liked her at all.It's just that she intended to stay in the palace back then, and the emperor happened to annoy the queen, so she got the chance to stay in the harem.But even so, the emperor gave her honor and rewards, but refused to give her grace and children.

Yue Chongyuan didn't understand the reason for this at first, but after staying in the palace for a long time and seeing a lot, she understood that as long as there is a queen, she will not have her own child.Today's twelve princes, the emperor is punishing the queen, so why not compensate her?

Yue Chongyuan understood clearly that she had finally climbed to the position of ninth concubine, and finally obtained the qualification to raise the twelve princes.In any case, she will keep the position of Chongyuan and the twelve princes in the future.

The Ning family is the Queen's Ning family, not her Ning Yueer's Ning family.The father handed over all the influence of the Ning family to the queen, but he only said one thing to her - listen to your second sister.Yue Chongyuan used to hate, but now, she only thinks about holding the things in her hands tightly.

"Min'er is good, my aunt hugged you." Yue Chongyuan hugged the twelve princes, his eyes were full of maternal love, "Today is Min'er's good day, is Min'er happy?"

The queen watched from the side, her eyes were red.

However, thinking of what the emperor said to her that day, she didn't even have the strength to snatch the twelve princes.

"Ah!"

The queen didn't try to grab it, but the twelve princes were smiling at her.

The queen immediately turned her face to the side, tears streaming down her face.

The daughter killed the daughter, the son could not be raised under her knees, and her own body was destroyed.

The Queen only felt pain in her heart.

What makes the empress sad is still to come. The hundred-day banquet of the prince's son, the empress dowager, the empress dowager and the emperor, none of the three came. They only sent someone close to them to give gifts, put down their things and left.

Everyone fell silent.

The empress only felt extremely embarrassed, Rao Concubine Rong and Yue Chongyuan didn't look good.

Because of this incident, the Hundred Days Banquet of the Twelve Princes was never lively.

The queen felt sad, but she couldn't help it.

When the queen got up early the next morning, she was about to leave the Qingning Palace and go for a walk in Baihuayuan or other places, when she received the imperial edict.

"Empress Ning's phoenix body is against harmony, and she has no time to deal with official duties... Promote Concubine Xin to Noble Concubine Xin, and assist Concubine Jiang De and Concubine Rong in the affairs of the Six Palaces."

The queen was still in a daze, so she heard Xu Youwei say: "The emperor has something else I want my servant to pass on to you." Then he looked around.

The surrounding palace people all walked away.

The queen asked what was the matter.

Xu Youwei paused slightly, and said: "The emperor said that what he said to you that day was not a joke. If you don't want to leave the Qingning Palace because of your unwell, then the emperor can only order you to restrain your feet."

The queen's face immediately turned pale.

Xu Youwei's words were not finished yet: "The emperor also said that the fifth princess went to the nunnery, her hair was shaved, her costumes and jewelry were thrown away, and she was not allowed to eat meat for the rest of her life. The empress must miss the fifth princess very much, and she will definitely miss it every day. She will also be like a girl in the nunnery, with a lot of morning and evening classes, eating vegetarian food and reciting Buddha, and not touching the slightest bit of meat. As for the matter of meeting wives and natal family members, the emperor also said that on the fifteenth day of every month, the empress can Let the palace maid pass the message to the servant, and the servant will ask the emperor if he will let the empress see people outside the palace."

The queen's face was pale: "The emperor, the emperor is so cruel? In this way, what is the difference between sending me to live in the cold palace?"

Xu Youwei lowered his head: "The emperor said, if you can't do it, then he doesn't mind sending you to the cold palace. It's just that when the time comes, no one will hug you ten times every three days. The second prince has come to see the empress. As for the fifth princess... don't even think about it in your life. Even if the fifth princess dies, she is still the daughter of the empress Xin."

The queen staggered a few steps, her eyes were desperate, and she almost fell to the ground.

The palace servants beside him helped her up with a blank expression.

Three days later, half of the palace people around the queen were replaced, and the other half were all deaf or dumb.The rest of them were all flat and flat, unable to utter a word with ten sticks.

To the empress, these punishments by Emperor Tianyuan were like a bolt from the blue.But for Emperor Tianyuan, he had endured all the time with the empress and compromised so far for the sake of the Ning family.

He could tolerate the daughter of the Ning family living, but he couldn't tolerate a woman who tried to kill his proudest son to live so recklessly and noblely.Even if he couldn't abolish the queen's status, Emperor Tianyuan took back one by one the honor of the queen, the rights of the queen, and the freedom and happiness that ordinary people should have.

With the fifth princess and the twelve princes in his hands, he is not afraid that the queen will be disobedient.Unless... on the premise that the queen will not be able to see the fifth princess in this life, even the twelve princes are unwilling to see each other.

Although Tang Luojin was not reconciled to Emperor Tianyuan's treatment of the queen.However, there are small countries or foreign clans coveting around Datang. To deter them, Datang must have generals who are loyal to the royal family.

The Ning family was so rare that not only Emperor Tianyuan was reluctant to give up, but Tang Luojin was also reluctant to give up until it was absolutely necessary.

Of course, even so, in order to expose his identity in the future, Tang Luojin still contemplated for a few days before handing over a booklet to Emperor Tianyuan.

Emperor Tianyuan was surprised at first, and then his expression became serious.

Datang has always lacked military generals, and the common people are not as strong as Turks and others.

In Tang Luojin's notes, he first analyzed the harm of these two problems, and then made suggestions.

Regarding Datang's lack of military geniuses, Tang Luojin felt that this matter was unthinkable, so he could only desperately search for talents.In this matter, the way he thinks is, one is to promote sparring in the current army.Teams of ten or a hundred people wrap arrowheads and gun heads in cotton and cloth, dye them with dye, and start fighting against each other.The winning party will be rewarded.In this way, the lieutenant soldiers are more familiar with the battle routines, and the second is to select the leading generals.

There are Turks in the north of Datang, Tubo and Nanzhao in the west, Koryo, Silla, and Japan in the east, and so on. The days of war in Datang are still far away, and there are many generals in need. I am not afraid that they will be useless if they are found. The place.

Emperor Tianyuan looked at this article, pondered for a moment, and said: "The method Xiaoqi said is indeed good. In this way, it can indeed make the soldiers in the army think about the war all the time, and it can also make the generals in the army fight more. Practical combat experience. However, everyone has selfishness. I am afraid that some people will not only fail to promote and recommend those talented generals, but will suppress them. Although I am the king of a country, even though we are separated by thousands of miles will know what's going on there."

Tang Luojin said: "Although there is suppression, the situation in the army is difficult. Who doesn't know? For example, Marshal Ning, who belonged to the Ning family, sacrificed a lot of sons and daughters for the border of Datang. If Marshal Ning sees a general who can be reused, How can there be any reason to suppress it? Besides, for the recommendation matter, if there is more reward, there is no need to increase the rank of the official, or if it is better to reward the family with more gold and silver, and then promise that one or two sons can come to the palace to meet the prince Let's study and practice martial arts together. What does the emperor think?"

"No matter how poor you are, you can't get poor education, and no matter how hard you are, you can't suffer children." This kind of thinking is deeply rooted even in the hearts of the ancients.

What's more, it's still a chance for my son to study with the prince!

As soon as Tang Luojin said this, Emperor Tianyuan changed his mind, and immediately laughed: "This method is feasible!"

Even if there are still generals who are narrow-minded and unable to tolerate others and refuse to report to talented people, those generals who are willing to report are probably enough for Datang to use temporarily.

"Many people in the army are illiterate. Although there are generals, I'm afraid they don't know the art of war. If there are people to be recommended, the emperor should tell them to read, read, and learn the art of war."

Emperor Tianyuan pondered slightly and nodded.

Tang Luojin's second suggestion is to open a place in the spacious outskirts of Chang'an City where the dandies and ladies of Chang'an City can "lead troops to fight".One is for them to have fun, the other is to find generals among them, the third is to promote martial arts from the nobles to the common people, and the fourth is to add some weight to the Crown Prince's treasury.

Emperor Tianyuan was noncommittal about this, thinking that his prince was suffocated in Chang'an City, so he nodded when he saw this.

As for Tang Luojin's third suggestion, Emperor Tianyuan thought it was funny after seeing it.Tang Luojin wrote in the booklet that the promotion of milk or goat milk can make children strong, so that when they grow up, they will not be weaker than those barbarians.

But let's not mention whether drinking milk or goat's milk can make people strong, just the various expenses involved in this matter and the various corruptions in the implementation process are enough for Emperor Tianyuan to shake his head and reject this matter.

However, when Emperor Tianyuan opened his mouth, he only said: "Although there is evidence from the imperial physician, there is no real example after all. If the prince is willing, why not find some children to test it out, and if he often drinks milk or goat's milk, it will really make the people of Datang happy." The body is better than before, when the time comes, you and my father and son, we will talk about this matter."

Tang Luojin thought of her orphan in the shantang in Fujian, and nodded upon hearing this.

Be it goat's milk or cow's milk, they are actually considered luxury items nowadays.Datang has been fighting for years, and the treasury is naturally not rich.Tang Luojin was not surprised that Emperor Tianyuan would reject this money-burning matter.

The father and son talked about other things, Tianyuan Emperor suddenly said: "Does Xiao Qi want to go to the army?"

The most important military exploits since ancient times.Once he has military merits and morale, the crown prince's position will naturally become more stable.

Tang Luojin couldn't tell whether Emperor Tianyuan was testing him or really asking him, so he just shook his head, his expression darkened: "Father, my son is still young. Besides, my son wants to spend more time with his great-grandmother."

When Emperor Tianyuan heard this, he let out a long sigh.

The empress dowager always paid attention to the way of keeping in good health.However, she is really old, and the empress dowager spent too much energy on taking power when she was young. The imperial physician once said that even if the empress dowager survived this winter, she might not be able to survive the next spring.

"That's all." Emperor Tianyuan said, "It's just that although your method is good, it is a good thing to select generals. But after all, this matter is somewhat aimed at the Ning family. Xiaoqi, you will leave the palace in these two days to see you Third Uncle, Fourth Uncle, please talk about this matter.”

Tang Luojin was originally worried that one day her identity would be exposed and the Ning family would monopolize the military power, so she came up with this idea, wanting to divide the military power of the Ning family.Hearing this, he nodded.

"My son will go right away. Speaking of which, my aunt will be getting married on the ninth day of February, and my son hasn't given me anything yet, so give my aunt more confidence."

Emperor Tianyuan laughed loudly: "On the day she gets married, you can personally send her off, that's her greatest confidence!"

Having said that, Tang Luojin went back to the East Palace, read through the gift list that Lianqiao had prepared, and left the palace with her things.

It was always Ning Junchi and Ning Junyu who went to the East Palace to accompany Tang Luojin, but it was rare for Tang Luojin to visit Ning's house.

When he arrived at the gate of Ning's house, the guard at the gate of Ning's house looked at him, and his legs went limp in fright—everyone knew that the prince had a red mole on his forehead, he was thirteen years old, and he looked better than Pan An Songyu.Therefore, there is no need for the prince to reveal his identity. He can tell that it is the prince with just one glance.

Tang Luojin: "..." For private visits on Weibo or something, it's decided that nothing will happen in the future.

Ning Junchi was not at home at the moment, Ning Junyu went out to pick him up in person, smiling all over his face.

"Ah, Xiaoqi is here! He brought so many presents, are they for your cousins?"

Although Ning Junyu is not willing to marry a wife and have children, but now his wife is pregnant, and the three concubines are also showing signs of pregnancy, but because the month is young, it is not yet possible to determine whether they are pregnant.But in the first half of the year, there will be more pregnant women in the family, so he can go directly to the battlefield. How can Ning Junyu be unhappy?

Tang Luojin glanced at him, expressionless: "It's for my aunt to add makeup." As for the gift for my cousins... Fourth Uncle, you married a wife and took a concubine all at once, and the wives and concubines conceived on very similar dates.If the wife gave birth to a son, then that's fine. If the wife gave birth to a daughter, and several concubines gave birth to sons, fourth uncle, can your backyard still not be on fire?

Ning Junyu didn't know that Tang Luojin was complaining about him, and was happy to hear that: "Zhen'er is waiting for you. The second sister is not in good health these days, and Zhen'er is not going to the palace. Zhener is worried Look at Second Sister, if you tell her about Second Sister's body, she will definitely be happy. As for adding makeup...it's much better if it's all sent from the palace, Xiao Qi, why are you spending so much money?"

Then Ning Junyu happily walked past Tang Luojin, and asked the palace servants to open the boxes that Tang Luojin had brought, and inspect them one by one.

Tang Luojin: "..." Hehe.

Servant of the Ning family: "..." How embarrassing, Fourth Master!

Tang Luojin was not too old, and she was related to Ning Zhener, so she went directly to the backyard and looked at Ning Zhener.

Ning Zhener was also happy to see him.To be honest, she was able to talk about Prince Lan's relatives, thanks to the status of the prince.Otherwise, as soon as she enters the door, it will be such a good marriage as the princess of the county. How can she be chosen by someone who lost her mother when she was young?

Nowadays, outsiders are not allowed to enter Qingning Palace casually.Tang Luojin was different, he was able to step through one more door than outsiders, and went to the courtyard to "kowtow" to the queen every day.The reputation of the prince's filial piety naturally spread more and more.

After Ning Zhen'er and Tang Luojin talked a lot, they began to ask about the queen: "Is the second sister really in such a bad condition? When the second sister was pregnant with the twelfth prince, she was looking forward to this child every day. , now that the child is born, but the second sister can't even keep the child by her side..."

Ning Zhen'er paused for a moment before saying: "Second Sister likes the Twelfth Prince so much, she must be extremely sad, right?"

Tang Luojin said: "My aunt is too worried. The imperial doctor diagnosed the mother's illness, and there is absolutely no mistake. The imperial doctor said that the mother should not think too much, so naturally there is no way to raise a baby by her side. And," he fixed his eyes Looking at Ning Zhen'er intently, "Besides, before the birth of the twelfth emperor, there were rumors that the fate of the twelve emperors was harsh. The father refused to let the twelve emperors be raised by the mother's side. Maybe it was for the sake of the mother and the emperor. Good people."

Thinking of those rumors, Ning Zhener opened her mouth to refute.But he suddenly thought of how strange Miss Jiang's death was, and immediately shut up again, not mentioning it again.

The third brother said that the second sister is unable to go out of the palace due to illness, it is probably because the second sister is indeed in poor health, but also because the second sister has really done something wrong in the palace.

Although they can check the secrets of the palace, but the Ning family is special, so they can't and shouldn't.So just ask Tang Luojin a few questions incidentally, and don't say anything else.

Ning Zhen'er saw the gift from Tang Luojin, and heard Tang Luojin say that he would come to see off her relatives on the ninth day of February, and the only remaining doubts in Ning Zhener's heart were dispelled.

Met Ning Zhen'er, and Ning Junyu's wife.Tang Luojin looked at her, she was handsome, but very thin, her eyes were colder than ice and snow, it was obvious that Ning Junyu was doing such nonsense to go to the battlefield, regardless of the distinction between his wife and concubine, causing his wife and concubine to become pregnant almost at the same time Things made her cold-hearted.

This is not necessarily bad.

Tang Luojin thought that Ning Junyu couldn't wait for these wives and concubines to have their children born before going to the battlefield, so she refused to remind Ning Junyu.After all, even if reminded, it's useless, isn't it?

Since he didn't see Ning Junchi, Tang Luojin told Ning Junyu his first suggestion to Emperor Tianyuan.

After hearing this, Ning Junyu said: "This is a good thing! It's not that there are no generals in the army, but those generals sometimes don't know that they have such talents. Such a chance to compete, for them, already This is a very good opportunity. What's more, it can make them read and write. I'm afraid that once this method comes out, the hearts of the soldiers in the army will immediately open up."

Seeing that he didn't think much about it, Tang Luojin was relieved.

Before waiting for Ning Junchi, he refused to wait any longer, left Ning's house, and went to Qing Huan's place.

But I don't want Qinghuan to pick up a guest today.

The guest's clothes were slightly open, and when he came in, he flipped his clothes to the left, revealing a plum blossom birthmark.