"Kong Taichang, congratulations."
People from Xuanpinghou's party gathered around Kong Taichang and congratulated him.
"Kong Taichang, we will be in-laws in the future, and we need to keep in touch with each other." Marquis Xuanping said to Kong Taichang very politely, "Kong Taichang, if you don't mind, why don't you go to my house to drink tea now."
Kong Taichang said with a stiff face: "Thank you Marquis Xuanping for the invitation, but I have something to do today, so I will leave first." After that, he left in a hurry.
Prince Xuanping looked at Kong Taichang's leaving figure, frowned with dissatisfaction and said, "Dad, Kong Taichang seems to be very dissatisfied with this marriage."
"So what if he is not satisfied." Marquis Xuanping was not angry because of Kong Taichang's cold attitude. On the contrary, he was in a very good mood with a smile on his face. "This is a marriage given by the emperor himself. Kong Taichang has to accept it even if he doesn't want to." , otherwise it would be rebellion.”
However, Prince Xuanping couldn't stand Kong Taichang's behavior just now. He said angrily: "It is a blessing for the Kong family that his youngest daughter will marry His Highness the King of Dai as a concubine, but he is still unwilling!"
"The Kong family does not want to participate in the fight between His Highness the King of Dai and the Crown Prince, and is unwilling to marry their daughter to His Highness the King of Dai as a concubine." Marquis Xuanping said, with a puzzled look on his face, "Your Majesty, before They were also unwilling to let the Kong family get involved in the fight between the Crown Prince and His Highness King Dai, so when the Crown Prince and His Highness King Dai got married, they did not marry the daughter of the Kong family to the Crown Prince and His Highness King Dai. But why have they changed their minds now? What?" When His Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness King Dai got married, the eldest son and second daughter of the Kong family were similar in age to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness King Dai. At that time, the ministers thought that Emperor Wu of Zhou would marry the eldest daughter of the Kong family to the prince, and the second daughter of the Kong family to the king. However, Emperor Wu of Zhou did not grant the marriage.
Emperor Wu of Zhou betrothed the legitimate daughter of Duke Zhen to the crown prince as his concubine, and married the legitimate daughter of Marquis Xuanping to the acting king. Last year, Emperor Wu of Zhou gave Da Honglu's daughter in marriage to the prince as a concubine. Dai Wang only got married two years ago, and since then he has been away from home to quell chaos, rarely in the capital, so Emperor Wu of Zhou did not give Dai Wang a concubine.
In the past two years, many ministers have been eyeing the position of the acting king's concubine, hoping that their daughters or nieces can become the acting king's concubine.
Although she is a side princess and not a main concubine, she is very popular. Many ministers are willing to marry their legitimate daughter to the acting king as a side princess.
In the eyes of the ministers, being the concubine of the acting king is only temporary. In the future, the acting king's concubine will become a concubine, and may even become a queen.
Concubine Rong was also very concerned about the choice of the king's concubine. In the past two years, she has been choosing. After choosing, she fell in love with Kong Taichang's youngest daughter, but she knew that Emperor Zhou Wu would not agree. And King Dai himself also took a fancy to Kong Taichang's youngest daughter. To be precise, he was interested in the Kong family.
Although she knew that Emperor Zhou Wu would not agree, Concubine Rong still mentioned it once in front of Emperor Zhou Wu. At that time, Emperor Wu of Zhou did not speak, but only glanced at Concubine Rong. Concubine Rong knew that Emperor Wu of Zhou did not agree, and she never mentioned the matter again from then on.
"In order to compensate His Highness Dai Wang." Prince Xuanping Hou guessed, "The emperor did not agree to give His Highness Dai Wang a bead, so he gave Kong Taichang's youngest daughter a marriage to His Highness Dai Wang."
"It should be like this. The emperor has always doted on His Highness Dai Wang." Xuanping Hou said with a smile on his face, "Compared with Jiazhu, marrying Kong Taichang's youngest daughter as a concubine is really more beneficial to His Highness Dai Wang."
Prince Xuanpinghou said with a smile: "With the support of the Confucius family, it means that we have the support of most of the scholars in the world. His Highness the King of the Times..." At this point, Prince Xuanpinghou did not say any more.
"What His Highness the King of Dai lacks most is the support of scholars all over the world. Now the Emperor has solved this problem for His Highness." A few days ago, His Highness the King of Dai wrote to him, saying that he was going to Yangzhou to quell the chaos. The main reason was to go to Yangzhou to make acquaintances. Literary students from Jiangnan. Now that the emperor has given Kong Taichang's youngest daughter in marriage to His Highness King Dai as a concubine, there is no need for His Highness Dai Wang to go to Yangzhou to meet literati. "His Royal Highness, there is no need to go to Yangzhou."
Prince Xuanpinghou said, "Father, His Highness Dai Wang still has to go to Yangzhou, otherwise he will slap the Xie family in the face."
Marquis Xuanping forgot about this matter: "You are right."
"Dad, even if Kong Taichang doesn't want to, we must have a good relationship with the Kong family."
"This is natural." Marquis Xuanping nodded and said, "After returning to the mansion, ask your mother to write an invitation to invite Mrs. Kong and Miss Kong to visit the mansion."
Here, Xuanping Hou and his son were happily discussing how to establish a good relationship with Kong Taichang. Over there, the prince and Zhenguo Zheng were angry in the East Palace.
As soon as the prince returned to the East Palace, he could no longer control his anger and broke many things.
This time the Duke of Zhen did not stop the prince from throwing things angrily. He sat aside with a frown on his face and a gloomy face.
The eunuchs and maids serving in the East Palace were so frightened that they fell silent when they saw that the faces of the prince and Duke Zhen were not good-looking.
After the prince threw things for a while, the anger in his heart decreased a little, but his face was still ugly.
"Uncle, what does my father mean? He finally can't wait to replace me with the acting king?"
The Duke of Zhenguo did not speak. The emperor suddenly gave Kong Taichang's youngest daughter in marriage to the king as his concubine, which he did not expect. He now has no idea what Emperor Wu of Zhou meant by his marriage decree.
"Uncle, that's the Kong family." The prince became more and more angry and unwilling as he thought about it, and his handsome face became distorted. "The acting king has always been unsupported by the civil servants, but now my father has given Kong Taichang's youngest daughter to marry him as a concubine. Isn't it because he wants the civil servants and scholars all over the world to support the acting king to replace me?"
The prince raised his lips and said with a sneer: "In order for the king to replace me as the crown prince, my father has really worked hard. I'd better be wise and take the initiative to propose to my father that I will not be the prince and let the king be the prince."
Zhen Guogong raised his eyes, his eyes became stern, and he sneered: "It's not that simple for the emperor to replace you with the king."
Hearing what Duke Zhen Guo said, the prince's eyes suddenly lit up and he hurriedly asked: "Uncle, have you thought of a way?"
"It's very simple, just destroy the marriage." Zhen Guogong said with a cold face, "The emperor wants the king to marry Kong Taichang's youngest daughter as a concubine, so we will make it impossible for Kong Taichang's youngest daughter to marry the king. "
The prince instantly understood what Duke Zhen Guo meant, "Uncle, what do you mean..."
Duke Zhen Guo said with a profound look on his face: "I think Kong Taichang doesn't want his youngest daughter to marry the king as a concubine. We can cooperate with him."
"Uncle, Kong Taichang should understand the purpose of his father giving his youngest daughter to the king. Do you think he will be unwilling?" The prince did not think that Kong Taichang was willing to cooperate with them and refuse the marriage.
"Kong Taichang does not want to participate in the fight between Ni Hao and Dai Wang." Duke Zhen Guo said firmly, "He cannot accept this marriage just like us."
"If the Kong family succeeds in helping Dai Wang replace me and take the position of crown prince, his little daughter and the Kong family's status will become noble in the future. Do you think he will refuse?" If it were him, he wouldn't Rejected.
"If it were anyone else, they would definitely not be willing to refuse this marriage, but Kong Taichang will definitely find a way to refuse."
Seeing what Duke Zhen Guo said so categorically, the prince was surprised and asked: "Uncle, why are you so sure?"
"Because Kong Taichang is very concerned about the good reputation of the Kong family." Duke Zhenguo chuckled, "If he supports Dai Wang to replace you as the crown prince, then he will violate the ancestral precepts of the Kong family and ruin the rare opportunity of the Kong family. Save your reputation."
Hearing what the Duke of Zhen said, the prince felt that it made sense.
"The most important thing is that in the previous dynasty, the Kong family did a very ridiculous thing, which completely disgraced the Kong family. Many people still remember this incident." Zhen Guogong continued, "Kong The family's reputation gradually improved because of its support for the late emperor, and now it has finally regained the respect of scholars all over the world. How could Kong Taichang dare to support a concubine as king?"
