Going to and from the girls' school every day, Lu Bingzhen's relationship with her two cousins became increasingly harmonious as they got along. In a few days, it will be the Shangsi Festival, and Lu Bingzhen made an appointment with his two cousins to go out together.
While she was enjoying her leisurely life in the boudoir without any worries, Lu Qi and Li were worried about her.
Because Lu Qi finally couldn't hide it from his father Lu Zhi, who had a sharp vision, and let Lu Zhi know that the Queen Empress and the Prince of the East Palace were interested in Jiuniang.
It seemed like an ordinary morning that day.
Lu Zhi himself didn't like red tape, and he didn't like juniors interrupting him to discuss official matters with his staff every day. Therefore, Lu Bingzhen and other younger generations only need to go to their parents every day to pay their respects, and there is no need to go to Lu Zhi's Yuanshan Hall.
But Lu Qi and his wife still need to go to Yuanshan Hall, firstly because the son wants to pay respects to his father, and secondly because Lu Zhi sometimes wants to give his son some advice on court affairs.
On this day, Lu Qi took his wife Li to pay respects to his father.
"Son/daughter-in-law send greetings to my father, and wish him a long and prosperous life."
Lu Zhi smiled and asked the two of them to stand up. After chatting for a few words, the conversation suddenly changed to talk about Lu Bingzhen's multiple marriages.
"Jiuniang is fourteen years old this year. She is good at learning and etiquette, and her reputation among the aristocratic families is outstanding. Have you parents chosen a husband for her?"
Li's heart tightened, and she subconsciously felt that Lu Zhi knew about the Empress and the Prince of the East Palace. She could only smile reluctantly and said, "I just returned to Beijing from outside the capital with my husband. My wife is still looking at this handsome man in the capital." There are many husbands out there, so it won’t take long to choose a good husband for A Rui.”
Lu Zhi did not comment on this. Of course, he could not have known that his daughter-in-law, Li, was interested in Wang Jia Qi Lang. If it were not for His Highness the Crown Prince's choice, Qi Lang of the Wang family would indeed be regarded as a quick son-in-law riding a dragon.
However, if Jiuniang marries into the East Palace, the Fanyang Lu family may have the possibility to go further.
As for those aristocratic families that had never had the custom of marrying a daughter into the East Palace, Lu Zhi only felt scornful in his heart. It's just a fig leaf created by a group of aristocratic families that are teetering on the edge of loneliness and claiming to be noble.
In the previous dynasty, the examination and examination system was prevalent, and the appointment and examination of officials were all in the hands of aristocratic families. Even the emperor had to share the world with aristocratic families.
However, the founder of the new dynasty, the founder of the new dynasty, was a heroic figure who rose up in troubled times. He was a man of great talent and foresight. At the beginning of the dynasty, he established the rule that the dynasty would select and appoint talents through the imperial examination system.
Although the great ancestor later died of overwork and illness due to hidden injuries from his campaigns, and the young new monarch had difficulty in convincing the public, which led to rebellions and traitors in various places, as time passed, the foundation of the empire began to become more and more stable.
When the imperial examination system first began, because the collection of books and classics and famous teachers were controlled by aristocratic families, the so-called imperial examination was just another manifestation of the imperial examination system. However, since the founding of Imperial College in the imperial court and the recruitment of disciples, the power of the family has been continuously weakened and has reached a precarious point.
At this point, the aristocratic family no longer regained the glory it had during the previous dynasty.
The new king gradually aged and became a scheming old emperor. He accumulated great power and began to speak out and be arbitrary in the court. He also began to become increasingly suspicious of the growing prince of the East Palace, and gradually became a puppet of power.
According to Lu Zhi's eyes, Prince Xiao Min is actually a qualified prince, and even a qualified emperor. The prince is courteous and virtuous, and the corporal is well-calculated, resolute and able to listen and understand. The most important thing is that he has the mind of a king.
Moreover, Lu Zhi could see that the prince Xiao Min was not a man crazy for power, at least not yet. There seemed to be something very important occupying a place in the prince's heart. This may not be a good thing for the imperial power, but it is perfect for the ministers.
However, the situation facing the prince now is also treacherous. There is the suspicion of the old emperor's father and the ill intentions of his grown-up brothers. He has to deal with various whirlpools in the emperor's family internally and complicated political affairs externally.
I heard that an ambitious Hulu Khan had been elected on the northern grassland and was waiting for an opportunity to send his troops south. This time is different from the helpless move a few years ago when they ran out of ammunition and food. They had been recuperating for many years and were about to come south to plunder the gold, silver, food and grass of the Han people.
It's time for the Fan Yanglu family to consider whether to place a bargaining chip.
Lu Zhi looked at his son who was pretending to be calm and his daughter-in-law who could no longer maintain a smile, and thought about whether to marry Jiuniang into the East Palace.
There are advantages and disadvantages to this matter. The prince seems to be quite interested in Jiuniang. If he wins the bet and ascends to the throne, perhaps the Fan Yanglu family can use the name of the descendant to reach a higher level.
But marrying a daughter into the East Palace will undoubtedly tell everyone that Fan Yang and the Lu family are siding with the Crown Prince of the East Palace, and may arouse the emperor's suspicion before the Crown Prince ascends the throne. Now that Fan Yang is favored by the Lu family, is it necessary to take risks?
Glancing at his son Lu Qi, who looked solemn and gradually became determined, Lu Zhi finally suppressed this plan for the time being.
When he gets old, the Fan Yang Lu family will be handed over to his son Lu Qi sooner or later. Lu Qi loves his only daughter Jiuniang very much and has no intention of letting her daughter into the East Palace.
He can push the situation along, but there is no need to separate his son from him for the sake of uncertain power. His Highness the Crown Prince is currently in a situation where he may not be sure of ascending to the throne. Perhaps the seventh son of the Wang family is a safer choice.
Thinking of this, Lu Zhi waved his hand and motioned for his son and daughter-in-law to go out.
Lu Qi and his wife quickly resigned and left Yuanshan Hall. They felt cold on their backs, and they broke out in a cold sweat without even realizing it.
The cold winter wind blew by, and Mrs. Li subconsciously tightened her scarlet cloak. She wanted to say something, but stopped under the look of her husband's eyes. The couple returned to the main courtyard in silence.
Lu Qi was going to court today. He could not stay at home to comfort his panicked wife, so he could only leave one sentence, "Ms. An, please talk to the Wang family as soon as possible."
Mrs. Li is also a sensible person. Today, her father-in-law Lu Zhi clearly wanted to marry Jiuniang into the East Palace. Although he later changed his mind for some unknown reason, Jiuniang's marriage must be settled as soon as possible. As the saying goes, things will change if things are delayed.
Mrs. Li composed herself, managed to calm down and said, "Don't worry, Sir, I will write a letter to the Li family today. If we can make an agreement with the seventh son of the Wang family, we will let them go out of the capital after the marriage, so as not to stir up the storm in the capital." among.”
The couple looked at each other and made up their minds.
Today, he stayed in Yuanshan Hall longer than usual. Lu Qi had no time to have breakfast with his wife and daughter before he hurried out to go to court. Li ordered his servants to bring some snacks to Lu Qi to satisfy his hunger, so that the morning court would not be too long. People can't stand it.
Lu Bingzhen has been waiting in the veranda of the main courtyard for a long time. Today is a day off every ten days. She doesn't have to go to school, so she came here to greet her parents and have breakfast.
After Mrs. Li sent Lu Qi out, she looked back at her daughter A Rui, who didn't know anything, and sighed deeply. Not wanting to let this kind of thing affect her daughter, Li worked hard to accompany her daughter to finish breakfast.
Seeing her daughter happily chatting about various things about the Shangsi Festival, Mrs. Li didn't want to dampen her interest. She responded with a smile and asked Agate to prepare various things needed for the Shangsi Festival.
This was A Rui's third appearance since she returned to Beijing, and Mrs. Li was not willing to let her show her timidity in front of everyone.
In Liuchunwu, Lu Bingzhen almost couldn't laugh or cry. She looked at the various silk and satin jewelry that were brought into her yard like flowing water and said, "Aunt Agate, it doesn't have to be like this. We are going to the river during the Shangsi Festival. It will be inconvenient to have so many things." .”
Agate said firmly, "Ninth Lady, of course this won't work. These are simply not enough. You need other things."
Thinking back to the experience of going to the palace for a banquet when he first entered the capital, Man Nao said with sadness, "Ninth lady, you don't know. The people in this capital range from an eighty-year-old woman to a Children as young as three or five years old, all of them are sunshine and cruel masters, they all respect Luo Yi first and then others."
Thinking of Jiu Niangzi's outing this time, she doesn't have to dress up according to her rank like she did when she went to the palace for a banquet during the Laba Festival last time. Agate is even more geared up to dress up Jiu Niangzi well, and she must let her beauty shine. Become famous in the capital.
Mrs. Li did not ignore Liu Niang and Qiniang, who were going out together. She each selected a set of hair jewelry from her own private treasury and sent it over, and directed two maids to help them dress up.
Lu Bingzhen was looking forward to this Shangsi Festival very much. She had rarely had the chance to go out since she returned to the capital, and the sporadic opportunities to go out were quite a lot for a lady in the capital.
But Lu Bingzhen grew up with her parents living in various places. When she was in Fangzhou, Lingzhou and other places, she was the daughter of a local governor and was treated politely wherever she went. In addition, there are not as many rules as in Beijing, and there are no grandparents or relatives to watch, so Lu Qi and his wife let their daughter go out to play from time to time.
The Lu couple already felt guilty because Lu Bingzhen was unable to stay in the capital with her parents at a young age. How could they stop their daughter from doing something as trivial as going out? The most they could do was send more people to follow her.
Moreover, this Shangsi Festival is not as formal as the previous two palace banquets. Even girls from aristocratic families must be more careful everywhere when entering the palace and cannot be casual.
As for the free Lantern Festival trip, Lu Bingzhen was frightened several times that day, so she ignored it.
The day before the Shangsi Festival, Mrs. Li saw that the three young ladies were trying their best to suppress their excitement in class. Mrs. Li, who had also come from the age of a young girl, simply took the holiday early.
Liu Niang, Qiniang and Lu Bingzhen left happily after thanking Mrs. Li, preparing to go back to their rooms to prepare things for the Shangsi Festival tomorrow.
Lu Bingzhen had just separated from her two cousins at the fork in the garden, and was about to go back to Liuchunwu to change clothes, when she saw Lu Chi, her grandfather's personal guard, coming to invite her to Yuanshan Hall.
Although she didn't know why her grandfather suddenly invited her to go, Lu Bingzhen didn't dare to disobey her grandfather's orders, so she could only follow Lu Chi to Yuanshan Hall with suspicion.
Rong Xue, who was holding various boxes of books for Jiuniang behind him, was smart. He immediately made an excuse to send something back to Liuchunwu, but in fact, he quickly ran to the main courtyard where the Li family was located to report the news.
Lu Chi saw Rong Xue's little plan, but didn't stop him. Jiu Niangzi was frightened by the lit lanterns last time, but she deliberately suppressed the matter. Lu Chi himself was deeply trusted by Lu Zhi and would not be punished for this matter.
But that's not necessarily the case for Lu Chi's brothers, who can be regarded as repaying the kindness. Lu Chi pretended not to notice and just strode behind Lu Bingzhen to Yuanshan Hall with her.
