Queen's Road in the Red House

In the early morning of August [-]th, the air was crisp and clear in autumn, and the blue sky was as clear as it had been washed.

Because last night was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and there was a flower viewing banquet today, the emperor authorized several princes to go to their biological mothers to have breakfast and take half a day off.

The eldest prince Xin Hongyu threw down the tea cup he was gargling with after eating too much, and was about to get up in a hurry.

Concubine Zhou called him to stop, and said angrily: "Why are you in a hurry? Anyway, today's flower viewing banquet is not for you! When you and the second prince's marriage is not on track, the emperor will not see what the emperor said about Xuanjing. Now that everything is settled, the emperor started busying his first son, begging the queen mother to hold a flower feast! I have never seen such a partial father!"

The eldest prince didn't care at all: "It's not the first day that the mother and concubine know about the father's partiality. Aren't I in a hurry to see sister Ling!"

Concubine Zhou couldn't help laughing too.

Concubine Zhou's natal niece, Zhou Ling, daughter of General Zhou, the second wife of the Zhou family, and the eldest prince were childhood sweethearts.General Zhou is a military commander, and he rarely returns to Beijing. His wife and daughter have often returned to Beijing to visit the two sick elderly people in Yue's family in the past few years.On that day, Concubine Zhou Guifei often took Zhou Ling to Xunwang's mansion to play.

This time for the prince's marriage, Concubine Zhou begged the emperor to designate Zhou Ling to her son as the concubine.

The eldest prince's face was shining brightly: "Sister Ling hasn't returned to Beijing for two or three years, I don't know if her throwing pot is even better!"

Concubine Zhou reached out her hand to straighten her son's clothes: "I don't ask for anything else from my son, as long as you live a safe and comfortable life. You like Ling'er, so mother begged for you."

Contempt appeared on her face: "It's not like Concubine Ming, who is full of calculations. After all the calculations, she begged for a girl from the Zhen family for her son, and her eyes are only on the position of the crown prince!"

The eldest prince couldn't help but patted his head, and said a little shyly: "That's because the second brother has the ability, and the mother and concubine will fight. Mother concubine, son, son really can't do it. The second brother fights with the fourth brother, and the son listens." No. I had to come back and tell my concubine several times, only to realize that the second younger brother used me as a ladder to step on to tease the fourth younger brother."

Concubine Zhou couldn't help laughing: "Mother, I don't know you, I don't know you, you are just a straight person." Then she asked solemnly: "But since you don't want to be the crown prince, why do you sometimes want to talk to the second and fourth sons?" fight?"

The first prince was born tall and heroic, and when he stood up and looked down at Concubine Zhou, he suddenly saw a trace of unhidden white hair on top of his mother's hair, and his eyes almost turned red.

After a while, he asked: "Then why does the mother sometimes compete with the queen on purpose? Could it be that she wants to be the queen?"

Concubine Zhou immediately widened her eyes: "Who will be the queen? I have to be strong, otherwise, if I am weak, won't people look at me as an easy bully?"

The eldest prince smiled: "So does my son. Although I don't want to be a prince, they are all my younger brothers, and I want to fight for the face of being a big brother."

Concubine Zhou's eyes softened, and she patted her son's arm: "Okay, good son. Our mother and son are of one mind, we should fight for what we should fight, and we should not fight for what we shouldn't. We will live a decent and happy life in this life."

The First Prince nodded: "Yes! There is also Sister Ling."

Concubine Zhou pretended to be angry and said: "Forget it, you married a daughter-in-law and forgot your mother, so go!"

--

At the same time, in Fengyi Palace, Xin Hongcheng got up to leave.

The queen stopped talking several times, and finally stopped him when he stepped out the door: "Cheng'er, you, have you made up your mind?"

Xin Hongcheng turned his head and bowed to the queen: "I beg your mother to help you."

Empress Yang sighed and said, "Actually, if you become a crown prince, the side concubine is also honorable. If you treat Miss Lin better, it will make up for it."

Xin Hongcheng raised his head, looked at Queen Yang and smiled.

It was obviously a smiling look, but Empress Yang felt that it made him sad to look at it.

"It's not the same. The queen mother, the royal concubine and concubine are so distinct. When my mother passed away, the two side concubines couldn't be righted no matter how much they were favored. The emperor's grandfather still carefully selected a noble daughter like you for the father. Once he was a concubine. , the children are also concubines..." Xin Hongcheng stopped slowly, but saluted again: "Mother, my son will leave this matter to you. If Miss Lin can't be my son's main concubine, my son doesn't want her to be his side concubine."

Regarding the prince's marriage, the emperor will definitely discuss it with the empress, especially the side concubine, who was bestowed by the empress, if the empress insists on objecting, the emperor will not be willing to go her own way.

Empress Yang was full of sourness and nodded.

--

At the same time, the Zhong family in the Marquis Mansion of Changyuan, Fujian, thousands of miles away.

The eldest son Zhong Zhen is dealing with his wife.

Mrs. Liu, the wife of the eldest son, complained repeatedly: "You, uncle, don't care about the marriage of the Fourth Highness! I don't believe you didn't hear anything about this flower feast! Don't even think about it. Empress Xiaoyi has gone, and the Fourth Highness We haven't had any contact with our family these years, and you still don't want to be a relative, then after that, His Highness the Fourth Highness will have a future, what benefits can our Changyuan Hou's Mansion and you, a direct uncle, get?"

Zhong Zhen died wronged: "I really don't know at all. It is said that the prefectures in Beijing only received the post in early July."

By the time the news reached Fujian, it was already the beginning of August. Unless the Zhong family could fly, it would be impossible to catch up with the flower feast.

Mrs. Liu continued to complain: "I don't believe it. They are all in other places. How could the Zhen family's daughter catch up with the palace? It must have been rumored a long time ago. It's just that you can't get it. If it goes on like this, I'm afraid that the Fourth Highness will not be able to get it. You don't even recognize this uncle! Don't forget, Empress Yang has no children, and the Northwest Yang family also put the treasure on His Highness the Fourth Highness, and that is also his uncle in name!"

Zhong Zhen frowned: "What are you doing with these useless words!" He paused and explained to his wife: "If I'm not wrong, one of the other three princes must marry the daughter of the Zhen family, otherwise they won't be married." Outside of the capital, only her family received the news and had time to attend the Empress Dowager's flower viewing banquet."

Calculating the time, the Zhen family must have other sources of news, and they have prepared to send their daughter to Beijing early.

Mrs. Liu couldn't help asking: "Why the other three princes, not the Fourth Highness?"

Zhong Zhen was helpless by his wife's mind that only knows how to mess around and doesn't know how to think: "Don't even think about it. Although the Zhen family is powerful, our family and the Yang family are no worse than them in terms of real power! On the contrary, the Zhen family relies on more It's the old relationship with the Supreme Emperor."

"If the emperor wants to marry the daughter of the Zhen family who is far away in the south of the Yangtze River for His Royal Highness, it is better to marry the daughter of our Zhong family."

Zhong Zhen took a deep breath: "If my guess is correct, the reason why the Emperor is in such a hurry to hold the flower viewing banquet this time is that it is too late! The aristocratic families outside the capital will not come to the capital in time when they receive the news!"

Liu was stunned: "Huh?"

Zhong Zhen's eyes lit up: "It means that the emperor is determined to choose a daughter from a famous family in Beijing for the fourth prince! What does this mean?"

Although he was asking questions, he didn't expect his wife to follow his train of thought at all, and asked himself and answered directly: "It shows that the emperor has the heart to establish a prince! To support the forces behind His Royal Highness, since his mother's family, our Zhong family is not in Beijing." Now, the emperor will find him a supporter from Beijing!"

Liu's eyes widened, and then the circles around them became red again: "Isn't the Fourth Highness going to be the crown prince? Poor my daughter, she won't be able to be the crown prince."

Zhong Zhen: ...I am really playing the piano with a cow.

He didn't want to see his wife crying anymore, so he simply turned and left, and went to discuss the matter with Lord Zhonghou.If it is true that my younger sister's son becomes the crown prince, the day when Xin Hongcheng ascends the throne, the Zhong family will be rich and wealthy for three generations.

--

Daiyu sat at the head of the empress dowager.

From her point of view, the Empress Dowager has a kind of An Ran who looks down on everything.This kind of open-mindedness is different from Queen Yang.

Because Empress Yang was not suitable for the palace, she stumbled and stumbled too many times and suffered all kinds of grievances. In order not to force herself to death, she could only look at it.

As for the Empress Dowager, after being immersed in this palace for many years, she has a transparent feeling like she has become a crystal heart, and her gestures are calm, as if nothing in the world can disturb her.

She turned her head to look at Daiyu, and asked with a smile, "Do you remember all these girls?"

The flower viewing banquet will not start until after noon, and the Empress Dowager has ordered people to temporarily open up the Changchun Garden and the Liuli Pavilion a few days ago to make it a spacious place.He ordered the House of Internal Affairs to display countless precious flowers, and because it was autumn, the most colorful chrysanthemums were there.

Although the banquet will be after noon, but today is the Empress Dowager's birthday, each family ordered to bring their daughters in early to kowtow to the Empress Dowager.

Then he was led to the side hall of Shou'an Hall by the palace people for a short rest.

Daiyu has been standing by the queen mother's side all the time, and has seen all the reputable orders in Beijing and the homes of girls of the right age.

"Your servant remembers."

The queen mother continued to flip through the gift list in her hand, with a slight smile on her lips: "Just remember it, and I will remind this palace who is who."

Daiyu always had a feeling that it wasn't that the Empress Dowager couldn't remember, but she couldn't be bothered to remember at all.

Today's flower viewing banquet is an important event that can change the life of the girls present, and even change the generations of the family, but to the empress dowager, it is no different from the drama on the stage, she is just a casual spectator.

But why is the empress dowager willing to take her with her?

It's not that it's bad to be with the empress dowager, but it's so good that it's inexplicable.

Those present today are the concubines of various palaces, the wives of the clan and the top officials in Beijing.It can be said that super-rank orders are everywhere, and orders below the third rank can't be dragged.

On such an occasion, if Daiyu was able to follow the empress dowager, these noble ladies all looked at her differently.In addition, Daiyu's appearance is outstanding, and many wives and wives who have sons at home can't help but think about it, and plan to watch it for two years. If the royal family has no intentions, then it's good to ask such a girl to come to their own home!

Anyway, ever since Jia Min entered the side hall of the Shou'an Hall, many people have come up to him to inquire about Daiyu's situation.

Jia Min couldn't help thinking of the letter Xin Hongcheng had sent back that day.

The above is concise and to the point, stating that he will do his best and will never allow Miss Lin to be a concubine of the royal family.

In the end, I suggested that Jia Min should not deliberately refuse, and let Daiyu come to this flower viewing feast, after all, the empress dowager's blue eyes are really rare.

To put it in a very realistic way, because of Empress Yang's situation, the girls she likes cannot be given a high opinion of those in Beijing, but the girls that the Empress Dowager looks at are completely different.

At this time, Jia Min saw that all the wives were inquiring about Daiyu's situation, so she understood that what Xin Hongcheng said was true.

For some reason, what Yuanyang said at that time suddenly appeared in Jia Min's mind. She praised Xin Hongcheng for being good-looking, and if she stood with Miss Lin, they must be a couple.

Shaking his head, Jia Min threw out the thought.

Noble and safe, Jia Min will choose the latter for her daughter without hesitation.

--

When the princes visited the empress dowager, Daiyu hid in the inner room.

But he could still hear the Sixth Prince's stumbling birthday greetings, which sounded full of energy, which showed that he had a good life recently.

Daiyu smiled when she heard this.

The empress dowager has the same love for all her grandchildren—anyway, none of them are related to her by blood, so she will naturally not favor any one: "I heard that the emperor gave you half a day off today, go and have fun. Poor You are also not allowed to eat fine food in Wende Palace, and I will prepare delicious food for you at the family banquet in the evening."

The princes thanked one after another, and then took their leave.

After leaving the Shou'an Palace, the princes scattered and left.Only the sixth prince grabbed Xin Hongcheng's clothes: "Fourth brother."

Xin Hongcheng bent down to touch his now neatly combed hair: "Hey, do you know me as your fourth brother?"

Seeing that there was no one around, the sixth prince quietly asked: "Fourth brother, who are those two sisters?" Afraid that Xin Hongcheng would not remember, he continued to add: "Yes, it is sister Lizhi."

Xin Hongcheng just laughed: "I can't tell you this, just treat them as Sister Lizhi."

The sixth prince was dejected, and took out two hidden paper bags from his arms: "I also brought them plum candy." Now he can't be hungry anymore, he has hot meals to eat every day, and he can be full every day.But the new concubine and sister said that sugar should not be eaten too much, it will damage the teeth.

Therefore, in the eyes of the sixth prince, sugar is the most precious limited product, and he kept it secretly, wanting to share it with the sisters who gave him lychees.

Xin Hongcheng smiled at him, and took it away unceremoniously: "Give it to the fourth brother."

Then leave the sixth prince with a back view of leaving.

Xin Hongcheng walked out of the Shou'an Palace, only to realize that he had nowhere to go - the other three princes would probably go back to their mothers.

But he has no biological mother, and Empress Yang has already helped the Empress Dowager at this moment.

He had no choice but to go to Wende Palace.

Unexpectedly, he was on the way across the imperial garden, when suddenly a person jumped out from behind the rockery.

Subconsciously, Xin Hongcheng pinched him back with his arms behind his back.

I could only hear ghosts crying and howling: "My nephew, let go!"

Xin Hongcheng heard the movement, turned his head to look at his face, and then quickly let go: "Uncle Rui? Why are you here?"

The person who came was none other than Concubine Zhen Gui's own son, the most absurd prince in this dynasty, King Rui.

In fact, King Rui's appearance is not bad. He inherited the good looks of the Xin family.

However, with such a standard face of the Xin family, he did the bastard thing of kicking the widow's house and digging the family's grave, and the emperor repeatedly beat him in anger.

King Rui smiled and looked at Xin Hongcheng: "You look more and more like Brother Huang. No wonder he prefers you."

Xin Hongcheng was dealing with this Uncle Rui Wang privately for the first time, and he was a little uncertain about his routine.However, no one in Beijing has figured out King Zhunrui's tricks.

Seeing that he was the son of Concubine Zhen Gui, Xin Hongcheng didn't plan to say anything to him, and immediately prepared to leave.

However, King Rui held him tight: "Nephew, please do me a favor."

Xin Hongcheng spread his hands: "What Uncle Rui Wang can't do, let alone me." After finishing speaking, he remembered that men can't say no, so he quickly changed his words: "There is nothing I can do to help."

King Rui still firmly grasped one of his sleeves: "No, no, only you can help me. You also know that brother Huang won't believe what I say at all, and father will beat me when he sees him. But the emperor Believe me, brother, you are his favorite son, as long as you testify for me, he will know that I am not talking nonsense!"

Seeing that he couldn't get away, Xin Hongcheng simply asked, "What kind of proof does Uncle Rui want me to do?"

Anyway, there is an advantage in dealing with King Rui, even if you are really wrong, others will think that King Rui is wrong.The emperor is even more so: one is a precious son, the other is a bastard brother, it is hard to choose which one to believe.

King Rui was mysterious: "Come on, you come with me to catch the rape, you will know after reading it!"

As soon as he heard the word catching rape, and then thought of many noble ladies in the palace today, Xin Hongcheng immediately became solemn: "Uncle Rui Wang!"

Seeing his expression, King Rui knew that he didn't believe in himself. He had seen such an expression on too many people's faces.

So he simply stopped talking, and directly pulled Xin Hongcheng: "Keep your voice down, come with me, if you don't believe what I say, you have to trust your own eyes."

Xin Hongcheng didn't need him, and voluntarily followed up: The scale of this flower viewing banquet is very large, if there is a scandal in the palace, everyone from the empress dowager to his father will be ashamed.He didn't trust King Rui, and if something happened, he had to deal with it to minimize the impact of the matter.

The two of them walked along the rockery for a while, and then they saw a remote plum garden—none of the plum blossoms were in bloom at this time, and the place was remote and uninhabited.What's more, the Empress Dowager held a flower appreciation banquet today, people who know how to take care of flowers and plants have all gathered in Shou'an Palace, there is not even a guard eunuch and maid.

At the door, King Rui's personal eunuch was pressing a young eunuch, and the little eunuch was still stuffed with a white cloth.

Presumably this little eunuch was here to watch the wind, but he was beaten with a sap by King Rui's eunuch.

Xin Hongcheng looked at the face of the little eunuch, and couldn't help showing surprise: This is actually the second prince Xin Hongyuan's personal eunuch Xiao Puzi.

On the way here, he had thought about who King Rui was going to arrest.

As for these few princes, after excluding himself, the third elder brother is sick and takes medicine every day, and the second elder brother is a cautious person who wants to marry the daughter of the Zhen family, so he always thinks that he is the eldest prince. I heard that the eldest prince and the girl from the Zhou family are childhood sweethearts .

Maybe they just wanted to meet in private, Xin Hongcheng expressed his understanding and envy.

So when Xin Hongcheng came, he made up his mind to suppress King Rui and not allow the matter to become a big deal.

But he didn't expect that there would be the second prince inside!

King Rui looked excited, put his fingers in front of his lips, and pulled Xin Hongcheng into the plum garden.Regardless of his new clothes, he lay on his stomach and lay on the ground.

Xin Hongcheng looked at his clothes and decided to hide in the corner.

From this angle, you can see the silhouettes of two people standing opposite each other.

The woman's voice was sad, and she gently held the second prince's sleeve: "Cousin, you promised me before... Besides, my father has been speaking for you in the court all these years, you can't blame me."

The second prince stood straight and did not speak.

The woman seemed to be crying, her voice choked up: "Back then in Xunwang Mansion, I was bullied by the Zhou family, Zhou Ling, and my cousin stood up for me. From then on, I have recognized you for the rest of my life."

Xin Hongcheng held his sore cheeks and remembered who the woman in front of him was.

Concubine Ming's mother's family is a well-known family in Shu. Before the emperor ascended the throne, the Xu family had only one third-bedroom master in Beijing who was the censor.

At that time, Xu Ying, a girl from the Xu family, did visit Xunwang Mansion twice.

Did she have a relationship with the second prince at that time?But now...

The second prince finally spoke: "Cousin, I used to be a concubine of the royal palace, and you are only the daughter of a fifth-rank censor. I said I wanted to marry you, so I meant it seriously. But time has passed, and now I am a prince."

Xu Ying seemed stunned and did not speak.

Xin Hongyuan's voice was very steady, as if there was no emotion involved, he continued: "I will not betray you. After I get married, I will ask my father to point you to me as my side concubine."

"Side concubine?" Xu Ying's voice was trembling and sharp: "Cousin! If you were sincere to me, you wouldn't call me a concubine!"

Xin Hongyuan's voice became softer and colder: "Oh, then just pretend I'm not sincere."

Xin Hongcheng and King Rui who were eavesdropping: ...

Xin Hongyuan seemed to turn around to leave, but the woman grabbed him: "Cousin! Don't go, you promised me, you promised me, how can you go back on it!" She sobbed and cried: "Could it be that you can talk when you are a prince?" Doesn’t count? I’m going to ask the sage, if the emperor keeps his word, can the prince break his promise? I still keep the letter you wrote to me that day..."

A sneering smile appeared on Xin Hongyuan's face, and he pinched her wrist with his backhand: "You dare." His voice was as cold as ice: "If you dare to say a word to others, I will not be a prince. It is still very easy for you Sanfang to be expelled from Beijing and exiled to the border areas."

Xu Ying was afraid and angry: "You, you, my father has helped you so much! And he is also your uncle!"

Xin Hongyuan said coldly: "It's just the relative in the next room. Before my mother and concubine got married, I probably didn't speak a few words with him."

He was too lazy to entangle with Xu Ying any longer, and let go of her hand: "Wipe off your tears and go back. As long as it can be seen by others, it means that you have harmed your parents."

Xin Hongyuan knew Xu Ying too well. People with rich feelings are doomed to be weak. Xu Ying is just an ordinary girl.

He turned to go.

King Rui jumped out of the steps: "Don't move!"

Xin Hongyuan's face finally changed drastically.

King Rui is not only his uncle, but also the son of Concubine Zhen Gui.If he told the Zhen family what happened today...

Xin Hongyuan coughed twice before recovering his own voice: "Uncle Rui Wang." Then he had already listed countless reasons to explain and persuade Rui Wang in his mind.

But before he could speak, he saw a familiar figure turning from behind the wall.

Xin Hongcheng smiled and said, "Second brother, good morning."