Queen's Road in the Red House

Inside Mingzheng Palace.

The emperor patiently waited for the crowd to retreat, then he couldn't wait to say: "Father, Cheng'er's marriage should be discussed in the long term..."

The Supreme Emperor suddenly slapped the table, so forcefully that even the small incense burners on the four legs of the Shuanglong Tuzhu on the table jumped.

The servants in the inner hall had already retreated, leaving only the Supreme Emperor and his father and son.

"As an emperor, you will be punished for one crime and punish the emperor's line. As a father, it is a big mistake to favor one of the sons so much."

The emperor didn't dare to refute it, he just said: When the deposed prince was still there, your partiality was obvious to all.

The Supreme Emperor stared at the Emperor: "Even if there is no matter today, Cheng'er's marriage, I will not let your temper go! You have a good plan for him, either the granddaughter of the crown prince or the official minister's daughter, Comparing the wives of his elder brothers, wouldn't it tell the world that you have the heart to make Cheng'er the crown prince?"

The emperor said softly: "Father knows, I have this idea in the first place."

The Supreme Emperor thought about the past, and heaved a long sigh: "I understand your intentions, I value the son I raised with my own hands, and the courtiers often say that the country should be established early. But have you ever thought that it is inevitable that the crown prince you have put together so hard will be Lost in comfort and arrogance - he doesn't need to fight for anything, you, a father, suppress other sons for him, why should he be cautious and diligent."

"Although the crown prince of this dynasty also valued the eldest son, he valued the virtuous. If he is useless, you will not be able to sit still if you promote him to the position of crown prince!"

The Supreme Emperor pointed to the pile of calligraphy and paintings on the table next to him: "You still tried your best to find help for him in Beijing, and you insisted on marrying him a daughter who holds a powerful official. But think about it, his biological mother's family is already in the hands The important ministers who hold the military power! There were only three of my court navy, and now two of them are in the hands of Chang Yuanhou and his son, and they are his grandfather and uncle!"

"What's more, I look at it coldly. Your current queen treats him well. I have no heirs, so naturally I can only rely on Cheng'er. The Yang family is also a feudal official who holds the military power in the northwest. The queen's father has served as the governor of Gansu successively. Bing, Ningxia Soldier, Datong Soldier and several other important positions, the entire Northwest Army is almost becoming the Yang Family Army."

The Supreme Emperor said solemnly: "That's it, you still don't think it's enough? Do you want Cheng'er to have in-law contacts with some of the top civil servants?"

The emperor's momentum became weaker: "Father, the Zhong family is thousands of miles away after all, and the Yang family has nothing to do with Cheng'er. I just think that the mother's family of the imperial concubine and Ming concubine are all closely following the capital, and I feel sorry for Cheng'er who is alone. That's all."

The Supreme Emperor sneered: "I know what it means to be blinded by a leaf. You feel sorry for him because you love him! But you should also think about it, whether it is the real power or the distance that matters! Even the Zhou family and the Xu family have a large population. In the capital, is there anyone who is useful?! To put it bluntly, is it useful to fight for this dragon chair if there are more people?"

The emperor said nothing.

In fact, he also understood the truth of what the Supreme Emperor said, except that the Marquis of Changyuan was not located in Beijing, other than the Zhou family and the Xu family were much stronger.So when he was picking a concubine for Xin Hongcheng, his eyes were all on the civil servants, and he didn't have the idea of ​​fighting a general.

The Supreme Emperor is strong, so the emperor wants to win over the lower officials for his son, so that someone will speak for the fourth prince in the matter of establishing an heir in the future.

Now it seems that the Supreme Emperor is determined to disagree.

That's right, my father suffered the loss of setting up the prince too early, so I made up my mind to balance the power among the princes, and wanted to use the fight for the position of the prince as a sharpening stone to test the skills of several grandsons.Presumably, Xin Hongcheng would not be able to sit on the crown prince smoothly.

The emperor and the overlord had their own thoughts, and they were silent for a while.

"Father." The emperor's voice was troubled: "The daughter of the Lin family is still young, and she is still in the filial piety..."

The Supreme Emperor raised his eyelids, and said lightly: "So what, Cheng'er is still young, just over 15 years old, what are you doing in such a hurry to get married? I remember that you were already seventeen when you made the marriage arrangement. Now he is still young. There are two elder brothers, after finishing his elder brother's marriage and planning his, two years have passed, and the timing is just right."

The emperor's face changed slightly.

In fact, just after realizing the meaning of the Supreme Emperor, the Emperor gave up on the idea of ​​marrying Qin Taifu or a girl from He Shangshu's family for Xin Hong.

But still don't want to get married to the Lin family.

It's not that Emperor Xuanhe had any opinion on Daiyu herself, on the contrary, he had met Daiyu before, and felt that she was very talented and beautiful.

But there is one thing that Emperor Xuanhe can't accept. She is still in the filial piety period and cannot get married as soon as possible.

According to the rules of this dynasty, the princes live in Wende Palace, and they all study in the study room before they get married.

In the future, when the palace is divided, he will move to live outside the palace.

The emperor is now provoking the marriages of the four princes together, so that Xin Hongcheng will not fall behind.

Otherwise, both the first prince and the second prince would go to court to participate in politics, and Xin Hongcheng would still be in the study to endorse, which would be a waste of time for two years.

The Taishanghuang's eyes were sharp, as if he could see through what the emperor was thinking.

He said directly: "Cheng'er's temperament is a little out of character, and his actions are not thoughtful enough. It's time to get married later, and after sharpening his temperament, he can go to the court to be an official. In the past two years, I will be investigating him."

At this point, the emperor had no choice but to nod: After all, the emperor is not discussing with himself, but just informing himself.

These two years can also be regarded as the investigation period of the Supreme Emperor on Xin Hongcheng.

If he continued to object, he would really annoy the Supreme Emperor, and it is estimated that Xin Hongcheng's probationary period would be over.

"Father is wise, and my son obeys the imperial decree."

Seeing that the emperor became obedient, the Taishang Emperor calmed down a lot, and his tone was a little nostalgic: "Besides, this little girl from the Lin family is worthy of Cheng'er. I still remember the situation when her father was selected as Tanhua, it was really a hug. Yu holds the pearl, sees and hears a lot, and answers the questions fluently in the Jinluan Hall, without showing any timidity. I said that day, he is talented and knowledgeable, and given time, he may not be able to go to the pavilion to pay homage to the prime minister. So later, he was handed over to be the inspector of salt and censor. Unfortunately, I just fell ill and died in office."

The emperor thought of the Lin family's private treasury that had solved his urgent need, and felt sympathetic, nodded and said: "What the father said is that the son later ordered the household department to check the accounts of the salt affairs over the years, but in the years when Lin Ruhai was here, The most clear. My son read the theory of water control a few days ago, remembering that the Yellow River has been flooding year after year, and the corruption on the side of the river has been repeatedly banned. I also regretted that if Lin Ruhai was still alive, he would be able to take on this important task and become a minister."

The Supreme Emperor glanced at him: "Hmph. If Lin Ruhai is still alive, I will not ask Lin's daughter to be Cheng'er's concubine today."

The implication is that your son-in-law should not follow the nepotism of his father-in-law, and fight hard on his own.

The emperor was so blocked that his heart ached.

--

Fengyi Palace.

Empress Yang was just like the old painter Zhang five days ago, her hands were trembling.

"Cheng'er, you are more courageous than the sky! How dare you give such a handle to Concubine Ming's mother and son!"

Xin Hongcheng helped Empress Yang to sit down, took down the teacup in her hand and put it away, and then said with a smile: "Mother, my son is also trying his best."

Empress Yang couldn't help but patted her heart: "I just said that all the palace people who served at the Dinghan Pavilion that day have been sent to the palace to serve, there is only one old painter, and this palace is also called Ruyi Pavilion. Please, how could this matter spread, it turned out that you made a fool of yourself!"

Xin Hongcheng smiled and begged: "So I ask my mother for the next thing. The father is annoyed this time, and he will definitely deal with the palace people of that day later. He also asks the mother to let go in private and don't make them suffer. After all, they have been wronged. Yes. Take the blame for my son."

Empress Yang sighed: "Okay. If you don't want to explain clearly, let alone your father, I will send people to the palace and send them to torture to see who dares to betray you!"

After speaking, he looked at Xin Hongcheng with a complicated expression: "Are you satisfied now?"

Xin Hongcheng nodded and said bluntly: "It's good."

Empress Yang was so angry and funny, she even couldn't help raising her hand to pat him twice: "Where did you get such courage, kid! Are you afraid of losing the favor of the Supreme Emperor and your father? You are not afraid of implicating Yu'er's reputation." ?”

Xin Hongcheng didn't hide, so he asked Empress Yang to pat him on the back twice: "Mother, you and father really love me, and you will never leave me alone just because of this matter. And the emperor's grandfather... treats his old man In other words, only if I marry Qin Taifu's daughter, the emperor's grandfather will really have a grudge against me."

"As for Miss Lin..." Xin Hongcheng said with a bright smile on his face when he talked about her now: "Second brother and Xu Ying have made a private decision for life, and the royal family is not allowed to spread it. What's more, my actions have nothing to do with Miss Lin. , It's all my own fault. If this matter is accomplished, we will be justified. If this matter is not accomplished, Father Emperor will be the first person who will not allow this matter to be leaked, so as not to delay my marriage. No matter what, I will not publicize it , is in the way of her."

"Fortunately, it's done!"

Empress Yang looked at the light in his eyes, shining like stars, and couldn't help being happy: "If you think it's good, the queen mother will think it's good!"

--

Rongguofu.

Daiyu turned over the last page of the book, and couldn't help resting her chin in reverie.

Zhou Xuanwei passed by with a mugwort pillow in her arms, and when she saw this, she smiled and said, "Miss, is this the end?"

On the table is a copy of "Strange Records in Luozhong" written by the Song Dynasty, and a copy of "The Record of Strange Stories in the Caotang", which is full of ghosts and spirits.

Daiyu has recently been obsessed with reading ghost stories.

In addition to the two books on the table, there are many more on the case.

Recently, Jia Min wanted to recognize her daughter, but she was afraid that she would be frightened by saying this suddenly, so she thought of making a side note.

It just so happened that during the Ghost Festival one month ago, Yuanyang told ghost stories to several girls in the house, scaring them so much that they dare not sleep alone at night, they huddled together like a nest of small quails.

When Jia Min saw it, she simply found a lot of strange novels to pave the way for her daughter.

Zhou Huangwei sat down and smiled, "Girl, I like the article "Resurrecting the Dead" in "Cao Tang Zhi Wei Lu" the most."

Next to him, Mo Ran was packing up Daiyu's clothes. Hearing this, he said, "Sister Ming's story is so scary. Someone wrote down such a story? Don't they feel afraid?"

Xiaoluo ran in from the corridor after hearing the words: "Story? What story?"

Zhou Xuanwei told them: "The resurrection of the dead is about the fifth wife of the Zhu family who was bullied to death by her husband's family. She didn't lose her soul, but woke up in the body of a princess who had just died. Then she raised the case with the prince without saying a word, and borrowed the power of the princess. , expose the crimes that killed her husband and mother-in-law, let them be punished with evil, and sent to prison and exile."

As women, after hearing such stories, most of them share the same hatred, Xiaoluo smiled and said: "It's really fun, if you can be a ghost, you can be so majestic. Instead of waiting to go to Yama to complain, it's better to take revenge yourself."

A few maids started chatting and discussing, and then went outside to dry clothes together.

Zhou Huangwei looked at Daiyu and asked softly, "Young lady, do you think the body is more important than the soul?"

Daiyu did not hesitate: "Naturally it is the soul, just like the story told by sister Caiming just now. Although everyone thinks that Zhu Wuniang died in the world, the one who survived is the princess, but it is not the case. The princess is just a body, how can she be considered alive?" Woolen cloth."

Zhou Huangwei patted the newly made mugwort pillow in her hand, and the fragrance of the grass and trees was faint.

"Girl, do you know why I like this story the most?" Seeing that the maids had all gone out, she said softly, "The girl might not believe it, but I think I'm the same kind of person as Zhu Wuniang. When I woke up , I became an individual, confused in my mind, just like Zhu Wuniang, I don't know if being a princess is a dream, or Zhu Wuniang's life is a big dream."

After speaking, Zhou Huangwei looked at Daiyu, quite nervous about her reaction.

But Daiyu just smiled lightly: "That's right."

Zhou Huangwei was surprised instead: "Young lady, aren't you surprised?!"

Daiyu's voice was soft, like a gentle hand brushing her heart: "Sister Ming, don't you feel that? You speak and act differently from others. My grandmother told me before that you are the daughter of a doctor in a small medical clinic. , That’s why I have some medical skills. But both you and Imperial Physician Wu can answer the questions, and you once pointed out that the ginseng nourishing pills prescribed by Imperial Physician Wang for me contain too much honey, which is not good for the lungs, so it must be much better than your father’s medical skills.”

Daiyu closed the "Caotang Zhiguailu": "My sister brought this book to me, and today I specifically talked about resurrecting the dead." Daiyu smiled: "Even if my sister didn't tell the truth just now, I will There are also some guesses, but since my sister is willing to tell me, she believes me, and I won't tell others."

Zhou Huangwei only felt sore eyes, and asked involuntarily, "Aren't you afraid, girl?"

Daiyu's voice was full of sadness: "Afraid? Sister Ming, I'm not afraid. My father, mother, and younger brother are all underground, and they are just a strand of soul. When I was in Rongguo Mansion, I watched Baoyu act like a baby with my second aunt. , Seeing Aunt Xue protecting Sister Bao, feeling uncomfortable or after arguing with her sister, she would cry in the room for a while and then talk to the things left by her mother, as if she was still there. "

She lowered her eyes to hide the tears in her eyes, and looked at a suet white jade bracelet on her wrist: "Looking at this bracelet, I remembered the first time I came back to my grandmother's house. Because I didn't have any jade, Baoyu smashed him madly." In order to coax him, my grandmother told me that I have jade, but when my mother left, she was reluctant to part with me, so she took the jade underground. At that time, I really wanted my mother to be there, and told me not to look at others and send it to others.”

Zhou Xuanwei only felt sour from the sockets of her eyes to her heart: Perhaps compared to ghosts, the living malicious people in Rongguo Mansion are more terrifying to Daiyu.

Zhou Xuanwei stood up, ready to go to the old lady's room.

She heard from Yuanyang that the old lady wanted to reveal her identity to Daiyu, so she came to the front station in advance.

Looking at Daiyu's reaction now, it seems that she can accept this matter very well.

Daiyu called her to stop, looked up at her, her face was like a delicate new lotus flower: "Sister Ming, what is the world like after death?"

Zhou Huangwei was stunned: "It doesn't feel like it, it seems that I became someone else when I woke up."

Daiyu couldn't help laughing: "That's good. I really hope that my father, mother and younger brother will be like you and not suffer after leaving."

Zhou Xuanwei held back her tears and walked out, walked along the corridor all the way to the main hall in front, begging to see the old lady.

It was Hu Po who was sitting at the door guarding the door. When she saw her, she got up and said, "Miss Ming, the old lady is talking with Sister Yuanyang inside."

Zhou Huangwei said quickly, "Huber, please answer for me, I have something to tell the old lady."

Amber hesitated to speak, but after the old lady opened a letter, her complexion changed drastically, and she kicked everyone out except the mandarin ducks.

However, Amber looked up at Zhou Xuanwei, the old lady was always very polite to this Miss Zhou.Let's go in and report back.

--

Zhou Huangwei walked in, and before she could say what she had just said, she saw the old lady and Yuanyang's expressions were very serious, and she couldn't help asking: "What happened?"

Yuanyang came over and handed Xin Hongcheng's letter to her: "Miss Lin is going to be the fourth prince's concubine."