Li Shengxuan has been a lot busy since he came to the throne. Fang Zilan has not seen him for several days, not even Xia Houzhang, let alone talking about remuneration. Fang Zilan was trying to find a way to meet Li Shengxuan, but Fang Ziqin sent someone to ask her to help prepare for the ceremony.
It was natural for King Xiang to ascend the throne and consort Princess Xiang to become a queen, and the courtiers naturally had no objections. However, Fang Zilan heard from Qiu Shui next to Fang Ziqin that although the courtiers didn't say anything on the surface, secretly they all wanted to send their sisters, daughters, etc. to Li Shengxuan, and she was afraid that they would rush to arrange one soon after the ceremony. field draft.
"Miss Qiu Shui, why should you worry about getting angry? You might as well let nature take its course." Fang Zilan comforted Qiu Shui next to her while checking the list just sent by the Ministry of Etiquette. On the other side, Qiu Shui was counting the items to be used in the ceremony. Hearing her words, he couldn't help but He frowned and said, "Don't you know that those group of imperial censors publicly congratulated the new emperor on his enthronement and made my lady the queen, but secretly said some unreasonable things? Don't they just think that my lady has no heirs?"
"Miss Qiu Shui!" Fang Zilan shouted in a gentle tone. Qiu Shui suddenly realized that she had made a mistake and hurriedly kept silent. "This kind of thing is not something we can discuss. Let's do the thing at hand." Fang Zilan said and brought the list to Qiu Shui. "I've got this right. There's no problem."
"Thank you for your hard work, Miss." Qiu Shui took the list and was about to say something else when someone outside announced that the Queen Mother had arrived. Qiu Shui was stunned for a moment after hearing the announcement, "Why did the Empress Dowager come here suddenly?"
"Anyway, Miss Qiu Shui, hurry up and inform the Queen." Fang Zilan patted Qiu Shui beside her, and she nodded and turned around and ran into the inner hall.
The Empress Dowager is the biological mother of Emperor Ning Shun, and can also be regarded as the queen mother of Li Shengxuan. But she came to see the queen at this time, most likely to show off her power, Fang Zilan thought, and saw that Fang Ziqin had already walked out.
The bustling palace guard of honor at the door had also arrived. After a while of salutes and greetings, Fang Zilan finally saw clearly the appearance of the Queen Mother. She was a graceful and luxurious old woman, with a majestic look in her gestures and gestures. She was also a beauty when she was young.
"Ever since you followed that child Shengxuan into the palace, the Ai family hasn't had time to come see you once, and now that you have time, can you blame the Ai family?" The Empress Dowager said as she took Fang Ziqin's hand with a smile. Holding hands, with an affectionate look on his face, Fang Ziqin smiled slightly and said dignifiedly: "What are you talking about, the Empress Dowager? Ziqin can't afford it."
"The Ai family knows that Ziqin is the most sensible person." The Empress Dowager patted Fang Ziqin's hand, "It's just that the Queen Mother is not in good health and has been resting for the past few days. Otherwise, she would have to stay with the Ai family today. Come and see you."
"Is the Queen Mother sick? Ziqin will ask the imperial doctor to come over and take a look later." Fang Ziqin looked concerned, but the Queen Mother shook her head, "It doesn't matter, Qiyou and Qiye have two children these days. She's already in the palace and has been taking care of her, so you don't have to worry too much."
Fang Zilan's heart tightened when she heard this. The Empress Dowager mentioned that the two princes, Prince Yucheng Li Qiyou and Prince Yuming Li Qiye, were probably not on a whim. In addition, what Qiu Shui had just said to her made her feel bad. She looked at Fang Ziqin and saw that the smile on her face had faded a bit. It seemed that they had thought of getting together.
As expected, the Empress Dowager, who was talking and laughing, suddenly sighed, "It has been difficult for Shengxuan to fight on the battlefield these years. You still don't have a son and a half." Fang Ziqin was about to say something, but the Empress Dowager The Empress Dowager did not give her a chance and continued speaking, "But how can you do it if you are the only one around Shengxuan? If the Aijia is to say that you should be more generous and think more about Shengxuan."
The Empress Dowager said this as if it was Fang Ziqin's fault for not having children. Fang Zilan couldn't help but frown slightly, but Fang Ziqin just responded lightly, "What the Empress Dowager teaches is that Zi Qin noted it down."
"Now that I have written it down, I must do it." The Empress Dowager suppressed a smile and looked a little more serious. "The Ai family has been looking for several girls these days. They are all from good families. They will be sent to the palace tomorrow. , let Shengxuan take a look, and if you like it, keep it by your side."
From a good family? Fang Zilan frowned even more tightly. A woman who can enter the palace and be sent to the emperor should be from an official family. What does it mean to be a good family?
Fang Ziqin all agreed. Perhaps seeing that Fang Ziqin looked obedient and allowed others to manipulate him, the Empress Dowager didn't say anything more and left after saying a few polite words.
As soon as the Empress Dowager left, Qiu Shui couldn't help but murmured a few words, but Fang Ziqin didn't say anything. She just turned to look at Fang Zilan, "It seems that I have to trouble Miss Xiu to help this time."
"The Queen wants to be a good person, but why do you want me to be the evil one?" Fang Zilan's lips curled up slightly. Of course she knew what Fang Ziqin wanted her to do. Since she had just agreed to the Empress Dowager, she would send it over tomorrow. At that time, Fang Ziqin couldn't refuse, so he had to find someone else to do such nitpicking, which was not a good job.
"The Empress does not want to offend the Empress Dowager, and I naturally don't want to either." Fang Zilan said calmly, without any sense of being a court lady, and Fang Ziqin was not annoyed, "Since Miss Xiu remains with the Emperor, I want to do something for him. The Emperor doesn’t want the Empress Dowager to have an informant around him. For Miss Xiu, this is an opportunity."
"What the Queen said is not unreasonable, I can consider it." Fang Zilan smiled, "It's just not a good thing to openly offend the Queen Mother. I have to have a name."
"You should be able to imagine this title." Fang Ziqin smiled, "Only women from official families can be sent to the palace, not from a good family."
"Since the Queen has even thought of the title for me, I can't refuse." Fang Zilan pretended to sigh helplessly. In fact, she would have agreed even if Fang Ziqin didn't say this. After all, this matter has given me She made an excuse to meet Li Shengxuan. She must discuss remuneration with Li Shengxuan as soon as possible.
The Empress Dowager sent five girls early the next day. Fang Ziqin refused and said that she wanted the Emperor to see him in person, so she delayed it until the afternoon. After sending a message to Li Shengxuan to confirm that Li Shengxuan agreed, Fang Ziqin also said that the Minister of Rites He wanted to talk to her about the process of the conferment ceremony, so he casually sent Fang Zilan and five girls to the Imperial Garden to meet Li Shengxuan.
On the one hand, Fang Zilan lamented that Fang Ziqin's whole show was really impeccable. Now the Empress Dowager 80% thinks that Fang Ziqin is a puppet queen who has no opinion and can't do anything. It is really a good idea. On the other hand, she is worried about what she will do when she meets Li Shengxuan. Help send these five girls away.
Although Fang Ziqin was stalling for time in the morning, he still helped her carefully check the financial background of the five girls. The result was that except for the fact that they were not from official families, everything else was good and nothing to say.
Fang Ziqin had comforted Fang Zilan a long time ago, and even this alone was enough to send him away. But since the person was sent by the Queen Mother, the Queen Mother must know better than them.
Knowing that she had to send it over, the Empress Dowager would not give up easily. Now that this hot potato has been thrust into her hands, Fang Zilan only feels a little regretful.
"These are the people the queen wants me to meet?" Li Shengxuan sat by the railing of the waterside pavilion, looking at Fang Zilan and the five girls standing beside her in the corridor. The half-smiling expression made Fang Zilan a little uncomfortable, and he hurriedly nodded. Headed. Seeing her nodding, Li Shengxuan glanced around and said calmly: "Since he is the one sent by the Empress Dowager, let him stay."
"Well..." Fang Zilan didn't expect that Li Shengxuan would agree, but she didn't expect that he would agree so quickly. It seemed that the villain really wanted her to do it. Thinking of this, she took a deep breath, "Although it is presumptuous, But I checked the financial background of the five girls, and none of them came from official families, so I hope Your Majesty will think twice."
"The people in the harem must be women from the official family, I still know this." Li Shengxuan glanced at Fang Zilan thoughtfully as he spoke, "That's all, you can send the person out of the palace."
Hearing this, Fang Zilan was just about to agree, when she heard the girl next to her kneeling down with a plop, "Please let the emperor let me stay in the palace. Even if I have no status, it is good as long as I can stay with the emperor."
This sudden situation made Fang Zilan stunned. How could she have forgotten this trick? It was indeed a troublesome task. She thought about this and went to help the girl kneeling on the ground. Unsurprisingly, the girl was still kneeling on the ground and refused to get up.
"Do you know what it means to have no status?" Fang Zilan couldn't help but shook her head. She didn't know what the Empress Dowager did to these silly girls, so she could say such a thing. The girl's voice had a hint of crying, "The slave family knows, but as long as they can stay with the emperor, the slave family doesn't care about anything."
Li Shengxuan opposite looked like he was watching a show, and Xia Houzhang beside him couldn't say anything. Fang Zilan couldn't help but sigh to herself that she was unlucky, and then she pretended to be fierce, "Girl, do you know that with your status? What are the consequences of becoming the emperor's woman? With so many pairs of eyes in the palace looking at you, I'm afraid you will never have peace. If you are lucky enough to survive or even become pregnant in the future, you may not even be able to save your life..." She paused as she spoke. After a pause, he saw the panic in the girl's eyes, "How could that happen?"
"Why not? It's a serious crime to tarnish the blood of the royal family." Fang Zilan looked at the person in front of her coldly, "Should it be executed in Lingchi or divided into five horses? Let me think about it." The second half of her sentence was just to scare the girl who didn't know the heights of the world. Unexpectedly, the girl seemed to have made a lot of determination, "I don't care."
Although the voice was small, everyone present could clearly hear it. Fang Zilan was a little annoyed. Could it be that she spoke too harshly and made the girl not afraid of anything? Or was it that the Empress Dowager had already guessed that they would do this? Have you given instructions to these girls in advance? Just when she was puzzled, she suddenly heard Li Shengxuan's voice, "You don't care, I care."
