concubines

Jingyang Palace.

Li Chen pointed to the map and said, "The coastal area of ​​Jiaodong has a pleasant climate and rich products. I plan to let my fourth brother build a mansion here. I don't know what the queen mother wants?"

The Empress Dowager Zhou's face was ashen, and said: "Jiaodong is barren! There are some fishing villages along the coast, what's so good? Xu'er is your own brother, and you actually let him go to that kind of place!"

Li Chen said calmly, "I don't know what the queen mother is looking for."

The Empress Dowager Zhou said without thinking, "Liaodi."

Li Chen smiled, "Mother's mother, the Liao land is comfortable and comfortable, so my fourth brother may feel tired."

The Empress Dowager Zhou said: "There are pirates in Jiaodong, it's not comfortable, but what if those pirates are bold enough to go ashore and hurt your fourth brother?"

Li Chen said: "My fourth brother reads a lot of poetry and books, which just happens to educate the common people."

Empress Dowager Zhou's heart trembled. After these words of "education" in poetry and books, she always reminded her of the incident that Xu'er was bewitched by Cheng Sijie in the northwest, but even the previous emperor didn't deal with Xu'er. Now the emperor is going to settle the old score?But who didn't resort to some tricks when fighting for the crown prince?Xu'er has already lost to the emperor on the throne, why is the emperor unwilling to give Xu'er a way out?However, if the emperor started to attack the brothers shortly after the death of the first emperor, the Queen Mother Zhou would not have watched all this happen.

Li Chen looked at Empress Dowager Zhou, still waiting for her reaction. Empress Dowager Zhou coughed lightly, and said, "Don't worry about this, Your Majesty, you don't have a queen now, and no one presides over palace affairs. You can choose a lady in advance, too."

Li Chen glanced at the Empress Dowager Zhou, and asked with a smile, "I don't know which lady the Empress Mother has taken a fancy to?"

The Empress Dowager Zhou said: "You don't have a good person around you. The Ai family has always been worried. Your grandfather's family has a granddaughter. She is 15 years old, which is the best age. This girl is gentle and virtuous, with a generous demeanor. She is suitable for the middle palace." Candidate, if you think it is suitable, you can take a look at her when she comes to pay her respects to Ai's family some other day, and after two months your filial piety expires, then you will be brought into the palace."

Li Chen said indifferently: "The four disciples have no heirs. Su Wangfei's family has a moth of a country like Su Yuan. It can be seen that the Su family's family education is average. Since the daughter of the Zhou family is gentle and virtuous, I will decree that she will be the side concubine of King Yong. , Go directly to Jiaodong after finishing the country's filial piety."

The Empress Dowager Zhou's complexion sank again.

Li Chen said: "I don't want to hide it from my mother, I have an idea in my mind about the queen's candidate."

"Oh? May I ask which side concubine in your mansion is it, or which family's lady?" The Queen Mother Zhou has already found out that the Lan family also has daughters of the right age. If the emperor married someone from the Lan family, he would not be more inclined to the Lan family. what?I'm afraid that before I die, the Zhou family will fall down.

Li Chen said lightly: "Grandmother has already nodded her head on this matter."

Empress Dowager Zhou's heart tightened, it really had something to do with the Empress Dowager!Without her, I could still make demands on the emperor with filial piety, but in front of the empress dowager, I am still a daughter-in-law after all, so I have to follow her wishes!Empress Dowager Zhou asked after a while, "Which girl is it from the Lan family? If you bring her into the palace some other day, the Empress Dowager will be the gatekeeper for you."

Li Chen shook his head and said, "It's not Miss Lan's."

The Empress Dowager Zhou looked at him and asked suspiciously, "Isn't it a girl from the Lan family? Is it a young lady from the Lan family's trusted family?"

Li Chen said indifferently: "It's an old man from Prince Chun's residence."

Concubine Ji and Concubine Wei of Prince Chun's Mansion are now conferred the title of Concubine De and the other Concubine Xian. There is no need for the emperor to go through the trouble again, the Queen Mother Zhou thought, and she has never heard that the emperor loves either of them. But the three concubines of Prince Chun's Mansion were all sent away by the emperor, and the concubines were all born as palace maids, their status was too low... Could it be that the emperor ever took in any woman without telling him?

Li Chen didn't wait for the Empress Dowager Zhou to speak, and said, "I don't know if the Empress Dowager remembers that when the princess got married, she brought her escort into the mansion."

"Ok?"

Li Chen said: "I am going to make Princess Xianchun's younger brother Shi Qi Yunruo, the chief of the prince's residence, as the queen."

The atmosphere suddenly fell silent, and after a long time, the Empress Dowager Zhou said in a daze, "Say it again!"

Li Chen smiled and said: "The queen mother should know that Xiao Qi entered the mansion with the concubine five years ago, served his son and made meritorious service in the northwest, and later took care of the princes and daughters in the mansion, and was respected and loved by my sons and daughters."

The Empress Dowager Zhou took a deep breath and said, "Your Majesty, that's a man."

"Well, I know."

"Your Majesty...you have to understand the consequences of what you did." The Queen Mother Zhou said in a deep voice.

Li Chen glanced at the map on the table, it was not difficult to see the deep meaning in it, but a thought suddenly came to the Empress Dowager Zhou... She glanced at Li Chen and asked, "Are you really going to do this?"

"Yes."

The Empress Dowager Zhou nodded slowly and slowly.

The emperor has never issued a decree to call concubines into the palace. Concubine Ji gradually became restless, but she had no one to discuss with. It was just that the boredom was getting worse every day. She heard that Concubine Wei had invited her father to come into the palace over and over again, and she felt deeply I also did some activities, thinking about whether to invite my father or mother to come.

Who knows, before she could move, Mrs. Ji came into the mansion in a hurry, and when she saw her, she said anxiously: "Something happened in the mansion!"

"what happened?"

Mrs. Ji said sadly: "It's not your two unworthy brothers!"

Concubine Ji suddenly understood, and asked, "What happened to them?"

"I don't know why, but those two villains came together! Your second brother went to Huaxiang with your father without telling me a few days ago, and competed with others for a prostitute, and there was a lot of trouble. Our family is If you want to keep the country's filial piety, the government will take your second brother away..."

"Didn't my father tell Jing Zhaoyin to release him?"

"There are still a lot of young masters who have been arrested. The whole capital knows about the trouble, and Jing Zhaoyin is not good at favoritism... Who would have thought that there would be another trouble at this time? A few months ago, your third brother used usury to force people to death. ..."

Concubine Ji turned pale, and said: "How could this kind of thing happen in our house? Is the third brother still short of money?"

Mrs. Ji said fiercely: "It's not your father! Your father forced them to study hard and cut off their monthly silver. I don't know who secretly instigated them, but those two unworthy scoundrels did such a thing!"

"Really forced someone to death?!" Concubine Ji's head ached from the anger, "What did father say?"

Mrs. Ji whispered: "I hate Ji Huan the most! Your father wanted to ask someone to intercede, but Ji Huan said that the new emperor should not be disturbed by concubines and concubines' family affairs. use."

It turned out that concubine Ji was still a little annoyed with her younger brothers, but now she turned all her annoyance on Ji Huan, "He wished that the second and third younger brothers were not good! He is now an official of the Imperial Academy. If he can't be in his light, he is afraid that the matter of his younger brothers will lead to him!"

Mrs. Ji wiped her tears and said, "I'm a woman, and I really don't know what to do?"

Concubine Ji said resolutely: "Mother is going to find someone by herself, and she must rescue the younger brothers. The second and third brothers are also relatives of the emperor and the eldest prince's uncle. Mother just says that's what I mean."

This is also the purpose of Mrs. Ji's visit. She couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Concubine Ji thought about it and said, "I'll write a note to my mother, so she can take it to find someone."

"Okay, good daughter, if it wasn't for you, I really don't know what to do..."

Concubine Ji sneered and said: "Ji Huan is just waiting for our bad luck, I want him to take a look, my younger brothers are protected by me, nothing will happen!"

After Li Chen came to the throne, Yuanhuang noble concubine, mother and son were completely silent. It can be said that the current King Qing is eager to leave the capital and go to the fief immediately. He offended the emperor not lightly, and he is not the emperor's brother. There was nothing he could do by himself, he jumped up and down all day in a hurry, but he couldn't think of any way.

There is only one person in the world whose filial piety period is only three months, and that is the emperor, King Jing, etc. all have to stay for 27 months. Speaking of which, King Jing is the one who offends the emperor the most, but King Jing He didn't leave in a hurry, but waited and watched the changes in Beijing.

I don’t know when the turmoil about electing a queen appeared in the court. At first, it was a discussion among the civil servants, and then some people slowly began to formally submit a memorial, please set up the palace. Li Chen originally received one or two memorials. He laughed it off, and then he found that it had become a fashion in the court, and most of the memorials were for Concubine Wei Xian.

And the case of the two brothers of Concubine Ji's family was suddenly brought up in court one day—after ascending the throne, Li Chen had almost no time to relax, so he naturally didn't have time to stare at his original Prince's Mansion all the time. When Yu Shitai wrote letters to impeach Ji Shangshu for his lax family management, he didn't know what happened.

And the most surprising thing is yet to come. Some officials took out a handwritten note written by Concubine Ji De. Concubine Ji De's words were quite threatening, and she also called her two younger brothers "uncles of the country", as if she had regarded herself as a The meaning of the mother of a country——Ji Hansong is fighting with each other, and he can't even utter an apology.

Li Chen frowned and said, "At this moment, has Jing Zhaoyin found out?"

Jing Zhaoyin came out and said: "Report to the emperor, this matter has been verified to be true. One of the two sons of the Ji family is a country filial piety prostitute, and the other has persecuted someone's life."

Li Chen calmly said: "How should we deal with it according to the law?"

"...they flow three thousand miles."

"Fifty rods first, then exile."

Ji Hansong knelt on the ground, feeling all hope was lost, his two sons might not be able to bear fifty sticks, if it wasn't for his good wife to make a fuss, how could this happen.

Another official said: "It's hard for a concubine to be the word'de'."

Li Chen said slowly, "According to Qing's family, what should we do?"

After all, this is the emperor's family business, the official looked at Li Chen's expression, silently confessed his crime, and retreated.

It has been more than ten days since Qi Yunruo saw Li Chen again. While he was reading a book in the room, Li Chen walked in suddenly. Qi Yunruo was stunned for a moment, and said, "You..."

Li Chen smiled and sat down beside him, Qi Yunruo smiled and said, "Don't you have a lot to do today?"

Li Chen said, "I want to see you."

Qi Yunruo nodded, and asked, "Jing'er and the others okay?"

"They are all very good, Jing'er still misses you."

Qi Yunruo suppressed the sadness in his heart, and did not continue to ask, Li Chen asked: "What happened in the mansion recently?"

Qi Yunruo thought for a while, and said: "I heard about the incident at Concubine Ji's house, Your Majesty, how did you handle it?"

"Everything is according to the law."

Qi Yunruo sighed and said: "It's a pity that I didn't know about this earlier. If it was just that the offspring of the Ji family were unworthy and the concubine Ji wasn't involved, there wouldn't be such a bad consequence."

Li Chen said: "This has nothing to do with you, the Ji family is really too daring."

Qi Yunruo nodded, but he didn't know what to say after that, Li Chen kept looking at him, the two of them looked at each other silently, for a long time, Li Chen said, "Xiao Qi."

"Ok?"

Li Chen said, "I have one thing to do."

"What... can I help you with anything?"

"This thing really needs you, and I alone can't do it."

Qi Yunruo blinked and smiled, "As long as it's what you need, I can do it."

Li Chen didn't continue talking, but asked: "Xiao Qi, do you like being an official?"

Qi Yunruo thought for a while, and said: "I can't say, maybe I like it... It's okay not to be an official, because it's very tiring to be busy with things all day long." He guessed that Li Chen encountered a difficult thing, and he Unable to take up an official position, but this Qi Yunruo didn't care, what he thought at the beginning was not being an official, but being able to help the prince.

Li Chen nodded, he knew that Xiao Qi didn't care about fame and fortune, Qi Yunruo suddenly remembered something, and said to Li Chen: "Recently, Concubine Wei often calls his father over."

Li Chen nodded: "I already know."

"You know?"

This involves matters related to Li Hou, Li Chen Meiyu said a lot on this issue, and said casually: "Is there anything else in the mansion?"

Qi Yunruo's tone dropped, "These days, Concubine Ji has been asking me when they will enter the palace." Qi Yunruo was full of bitterness, Concubine Ji and Concubine Wei would both become masters of a certain palace in the palace, and live in the palace openly Concubine Ji was also arrogant when she came to ask, Qi Yunruo didn't know the answer to this question, but he didn't want to know the answer from Li Chen either.

Li Chen looked at him, with a deep meaning that Qi Yunruo couldn't see through his eyes, Qi Yunruo avoided his sight, but Li Chen pressed his face to let him look directly at him, "When do you want them to enter the palace? "

"...I," Qi Yunruo wanted to tell Li Chen that he didn't want them to enter the palace, but Qi Yunruo finally said, "I don't know."

It has only been a month and a half since Li Chen ascended the throne, but Qi Yunruo seems to have passed for many years, and the past is no longer clear. Qi Yunruo once regarded Li Chen as his own, but now he lacks such confidence. Li Chen sighed: "Power can always change. There are many people, like the father and grandmother, and also like the father and the queen... Do you remember what I said before?"

After the heavy snow that year, Li Chen walked in front without hesitation, saying—to ascend to the highest position is the most magnificent thing, and it is also the most desolate thing.

Qi Yunruo trembled all over.

"If even you can't tell me the truth, who else can tell me a word of heart."

After Li Chen finished speaking, Qi Yunruo shook his head and said eagerly: "Your Majesty, I didn't want to hide anything from you, but I didn't want to embarrass you..."

"Xiao Qi," Li Chen interrupted him, "If you don't want Concubine Ji and Concubine Wei to enter the palace, they will never appear in the palace."

"...Okay, Your Majesty, I don't want to, I don't want anyone to separate you anymore." Qi Yunruo took a deep breath and said loudly: "You promised me once, and you promised me when you came back from the northwest."

Li Chen finally smiled from the heart, he said: "Actually, I already have a candidate to be the queen."

Qi Yunruo looked at him stiffly, his heart was suddenly confused, Li Chen said: "Xiao Qi, are you willing? Accept the accusations of thousands of people, let the people look sideways, and stay by my side as a queen."

"... Queen?"

In an instant, Qi Yunruo seemed to have returned to the northwest under the sound of the horn. The yellow sand outside the pass was vast, and the beacon smoke was burning in the night. The prince talked to himself about his elder sister and grandmother. Said to myself: you will regret it...

What was your answer at that time?Yes I won't regret it.

"Your Majesty, this time, I still choose to stay by your side, and I still won't regret it."