This is Lu Bingzhen’s second visit to Yuanshan Hall.
The feeling of Yuan Shan Tang is very similar to that of Lu Zhi himself, with an old man's sullenness and shrewd calculation.
Lu Bingzhen knelt down in front of the desk and thought like this. She was actually quite afraid of this smiling grandfather.
Her mother, Mrs. Li, never hid the matter of her fifth cousin from her, so Lu Bingzhen knew how his grandfather easily gave up on the granddaughter he had doted on for more than ten years.
"Jiuniang, you have grown up, and there are many girls in your family. Do you have any thoughts?"
Hearing this, Lu Bingzhen replied cautiously, "I don't know about my granddaughter. I think it's just the wishes of the parents and the words of the matchmaker. How can the granddaughter make the decision herself?"
Lu Zhi was noncommittal about this. His tone was a little misleading, and he said casually, "That's right. Jiuniang is indeed a good child who understands the rules. I recently heard from my servant that you have been reading the Di newspaper. Have you read it? What's your opinion? Let me tell my grandfather."
"My granddaughter is not talented. She only has a rough understanding of the changes in officials and does not dare to express her opinions."
"Jiuniang is too self-effacing. You can think of the person who established Chang Pingcang, but you are definitely not an ordinary young lady."
Lu Zhi looked deeply at the granddaughter in front of him, thinking, "It would be a pity for such a smart person to only marry the seventh son of the Wang family. If she marries into the East Palace, Jiuniang will definitely be someone who can influence the prince and even the court in the future. .
If the crown prince ascends the throne with the support of the Fan Yang Lu family and is deeply influenced by Jiuniang, the princess who was born in the Fan Yang Lu family, then the Fan Yang Lu family can become a family comparable to the Langya Wang family in the previous dynasty. "
The temptation to regain the glory of the Fanyang Lu family as a wealthy family was too great, and Lu Zhidu continued to ignore the idea of his son Lu Qi being the next helmsman of the Fanyang Lu family.
In his opinion, as long as Jiuniang can be persuaded to voluntarily marry to the East Palace as the crown princess, his son Lu Qi has nothing to blame him for. It's all the children's own ideas. It has nothing to do with him as a grandfather.
What Lu Zhi didn't expect was that a single thought would actually accelerate the demise of the Fan Yang Lu family as a noble family. In the following decades, Lu Qi was indeed a virtuous minister and prime minister whose name was recorded in history books, but the perfect imperial examination system he single-handedly promoted did further accelerate the disintegration of the family.
As for Lu Zhi's desire to consolidate the status and prestige of a wealthy family, father and daughter Lu Qi and Lu Bingzhen did not work hard in this direction at all, but ran all the way in the opposite direction.
Seeing that his granddaughter was so defensive, Lu Zhi was not in a hurry to say anything. He slowly made a pot of tea and began to talk about the current situation in the court and the various disputes in the world.
Speaking of which, the prince is becoming more and more suspicious every day, and he has become more and more suspicious of the prince who has a reputation of being virtuous. Speaking of which, except for the prince, none of the princes had the virtue of being a king. He also said that Hu Lu, who led the troops to attack Xuanhua City in the North, had ascended to the position of Khan and was sharpening his sword towards the Central Plains.
As he spoke, Lu Zhi saw with satisfaction that Jiuniang's hands were shaking uncontrollably, and the calm and indifferent look on her face gradually disappeared.
Lu Bingzhen was rarely rude in front of her elders. She stood up hastily, said goodbye in a hurry, and walked out of Yuanshan Hall in a messy manner. Her speed became faster and faster, and in the end she was running without regard for etiquette.
The rings on his body jingled, and Cai Bing couldn't even keep up with his little lady's pace.
In Liuchunwu, Lu Bingzhen was rare and drove all the people waiting outside the house. She was the only one who stayed quietly in the house. Even when Cai Bing softly wanted to come in and light the lamp, Lu Bingzhen remained silent.
When dusk fell, Lu Qi hurriedly stepped into Lu's house. The servant sent by Li had already told him what happened today. As a son, Lu Qi could not comment much on what his father had done. He could only say that the son did not blame the father.
What Lu Qi is most worried about is what his daughter A Rui thinks. If her daughter really listens to her grandfather's words, she is determined to sacrifice her happiness for the rest of her life for the glory of the family. He really didn't know how to stop his father who was ambitious to restore his family.
"A'rui, open the door. It's dad and mom who are here. Is there anything you can't say to dad and mom?"
After opening the door and lighting the lights, what appeared in front of Lu Qi and his wife was A Rui, still wearing day clothes and with a blank look in his eyes.
Li stopped Lu Qi, who was about to talk, and ordered Manao to take Cai Bing and Rong Xue to help A Rui wash up and make up. Ms. Li stood outside the screen and said calmly, "A Rui, as a daughter of a noble family, you must never lose your dignity at any time."
Lu Bingzhen seemed to have finally come to her senses. Dressed as usual, she raised her eyes to look at her parents and asked in a low voice, "Did the family's foundations have been destroyed when the imperial examination system was introduced?"
"A Rui, you are just a young lady from a well-known family. You can neither be admitted to the imperial examination nor become a prince or prime minister. Naturally, the family's glory does not need you to maintain it. Ah Rui, listen to your parents and marry the seventh son of the Wang family. Wouldn't it be nice to go and live a carefree life outside Beijing, just like you did when you were a child?"
Lu Bingzhen's tone became calmer and calmer, "But the aristocratic families are in the same spirit. If the Lu family loses, even if the seventh son of the Wang family is a good man who can be entrusted to him for life, I'm afraid he won't be able to resist the elders of the Wang family to protect me." . What's more, the Fan Yang Lu family is now the head of every family. If the Lu family loses, how long can the Wang family maintain its glory?"
Lu Qi, who was familiar with the empty talk of the previous dynasty and harmed the country, but always controlled the officialdom, under heavy pressure, finally said with a sneer, "If the aristocratic family is like a maggot inhabiting the bones of the people of the dynasty, even the people of the aristocratic family themselves will If we want to make way for the glory of the aristocratic family, then the aristocratic family will no longer need to exist."
Mrs. Li, Lu Bingzhen and all the maids in the room were shocked by this statement, and the room was silent for a moment. Fortunately, the people who can be left in the house today are all close friends of a few people, so there is no need to worry about these words being leaked.
Lu Bingzhen was silent for a long time, and finally plucked up the courage to say, "Father, mother, tomorrow is the Shangsi Festival, and A Rui wants to ask His Royal Highness himself."
Lu Qi and Li still wanted to influence Lu Bingzhen's thoughts, but thinking that she had made up her mind since she was a child and had a temper that even nine cows could not control, they could only sigh.
On the second day, the young ladies of the Lu family led a group of maids and guards to play in Leyouyuan. Every house in Leyouyuan had already set up curtains with silk and satin. Looking around, Lu Bingzhen saw many familiar young ladies as expected.
Liu Niang was the most interested in the Shangsi Festival. As soon as she arrived at Leyouyuan, she started talking about going to the waterside to cure her illness. She held a handful of orchid grass in her hand, smiling as she prepared to dip it in river water and sprinkle it on the people around her.
Lu Bingzhen had something on his mind, but he was inevitably affected by Liu Niang's emotions. A faint smile appeared on his lips, "Sixth sister, seventh sister, you go to the river to play together first. I will go later."
Qiniang is a sharp-minded but reserved person. She is usually quiet, but she is actually very sensitive to changes in people's emotions. Ever since she left home today, Qiniang could sense that Sister Jiu was actually not in a good mood, as if something had been weighing on her heart.
Therefore, Qiniang asked without leaving any trace, "Jiu Sister, what about you? Today, on the Si Festival, I always go to the river to cure my illness."
Feeling her kindness, Lu Bingzhen smiled slightly and said, "I'm just a little late, don't worry about the seventh sister." After saying that, Lu Bingzhen winked playfully, "Don't the seventh sister worry about the sixth sister?"
Qiniang also smiled and blinked like Sister Ninth, and then she and Liu Niang went to the waterside to cure the disease.
Lu Bingzhen, who was sitting in the curtain, looked at the ceremonial guards traveling to the East Palace not far away, and secretly made up his mind. She raised her hand to summon Lu Chi and whispered a few instructions.
Lu Chi looked hesitant, but facing Jiu Niangzi's firm eyes, he remembered the clan leader's plan. Lu Chi could only comfort himself. It was a common thing nowadays for unmarried men to travel with their young ladies during the Shang Si Festival, and it was not out of the ordinary. As for the identity of the prince of the East Palace, Lu Chi could ignore it.
Lu Chi took a deep breath, clasped his fists in salute, and left, ready to do what Lu Bingzhen said.
Arriving outside the ceremony guard of the East Palace, Lu Chi first went to find Pei Jian, the official of the East Palace, and whispered a few words. Pei Jian originally held the status of an official in the East Palace and was quite arrogant and unwilling to talk to Lu Chi. But Pei Jian remembered His Highness's cold tone towards him on the night of the Lantern Festival, so he could only reluctantly go to His Highness the Crown Prince to respond to the matter.
Today, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was persuaded to leave the palace by his mother, the Queen. His majesty's suspicion has become more and more serious recently, to the point where he doubts the prince no matter what he does. At every moment, His Majesty is scrutinizing whether this growing son will raise the butcher knife to kill his brothers at the next moment, and whether he will raise the banner to kill his father and destroy the king at the next moment?
Under such scrutiny, the prince could only suppress his uneasiness day by day and act respectful and modest.
She knew her son better than her mother, and the Queen Mother couldn't see that her son was on the verge of depression. She deeply resented His Majesty's disregard for the love between a young couple and the relationship between father and son when he held the prince on his knees while studying. However, she was also deeply feared by His Majesty as the prince's arm.
The queen was resentful but had no choice but to let her son relax as much as possible.
"Today is the Shangsi Festival. Let's go out of the palace and take a look at the scenery on Leyouyuan."
The prince has also been exhausted by his father's capricious behavior recently. He was about to refuse but heard his mother say with a smile, "Since I entered the palace, it has been more than twenty years since I have seen the scenery during the Rakuyuhara Umi Festival. . You go out of the palace to have a look, and come back and tell your mother."
Xiao Min could not refuse his mother's request, so he had to agree. He originally wanted to stop for a while and then return to the palace, but unexpectedly he heard Pei Jian's unexpected response.
"What did you say? The ninth lady of the Lu family? She invited me to go to the Lu family's curtain to inquire about something?"
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince quickly agreed to the matter after a brief hesitation. He only ordered Pei Jian to follow him, and he drove lightly and slowly, led by Lu Chi, to the curtain where Lu Bingzhen was.
And Lu Bingzhen had been sitting inside the curtain waiting for a long time.
