In the autumn of the seventeenth year of Yonghui, on the sixth day of September, Crown Prince Xiao Min ascended the throne as Emperor Mingde, and crowned Crown Princess Lu as Queen. On the same day, Empress Wen was conferred the title of Empress Dowager Wen, and the Empress Dowager Qi was conferred the title of Empress Dowager Qi. The remaining concubines of the late emperor were conferred the title as usual.
Today's enthronement ceremony and empress establishment ceremony have been drastically cut off by the new emperor. However, when it comes to the emperor and empress jointly worshiping the ancestors of heaven and earth, the new emperor was particularly persistent in rejecting all the ceremony officials and attendants.
All the civil and military officials and noble clans were left far behind by the two of them. On the long steps leading to the place where ancestors of heaven and earth are worshiped, only Xiao Min and Lu Bingzhen slowly stepped up the steps step by step, embarking on the journey to create a history that belongs to them both.
At this moment, the two people don't know that they will start a new history of Ji Dynasty. Later generations called it the Mingde and Ming Dynasty, which was a glorious and prosperous age that was unique in history.
However, what is widely circulated in the streets outside the history books is not only the prosperous era created by Emperor Mingde and Empress Dunxi, but also the story of the two emperors and empresses who were united in their love and shared weal and woe.
The etiquette that day was complicated and lengthy. Later, Lu Bingzhen could not remember many things at that time. He only remembered that the two of them looked at each other and smiled on the long steps that day and then stepped onto the steps with determination. Qing Yan’s hand moved from He held her hand firmly and firmly from beginning to end.
Early this morning, the two of them got up to prepare for today's many matters. Fortunately, Xiao Min has realized the importance of simple etiquette since the wedding day. So just after noon, Xiao Min and Lu Bingzhen had already changed out of their layers of formal clothes and were about to put on their regular clothes to go and have a wedding. The queen mother ate together.
The Queen Mother has now moved to Rongan Palace, and the new palace has been decorated with a brand new look, sweeping away the previous dull atmosphere. Today I heard that the Queen Mother is also in high spirits on happy occasions. Seeing his son and daughter-in-law walking in together, he greeted them with a smile, "Min'er, Ah Rui, you must be tired today. Come on, come on, the Ai family has prepared a meal that you like. Please sit down."
As she spoke, Queen Mother Wen stopped the two of them from saluting and said, "Good children, we are all a family, so why be so polite."
"Mother, how do you like living in Rongan Palace? If there is anything wrong with it, you can ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs to change it to your liking. Now, no one will comment on your living expenses."
As if she had thought of something, Queen Wen was silent for a moment, and then said with a relieved smile, "It would be great if Min'er has this heart. The Ai family is now in a comfortable mood and doesn't care about things anymore."
The conversation between mother and son was like a riddle, which only lasted a short time.
Wen that the Queen Mother was a kind-hearted person, she invited the two of them to sit down, and the three members of the family finished the lunch happily.
After lunch, Queen Mother Wen also knew that the two of them must have a lot of things to do these days. The family was too lazy to say more polite words to each other, and they didn't spend much time with Xiao Min and Lu Bingzhen.
When they were in the East Palace, Xiao Min and Lu Bingzhen lived together in Jinghe Hall. Today in the harem, Xiao Min and A Rui still live together as before, living, sitting and lying in the same place, just like an ordinary couple.
Although the new queen's palace has been newly decorated, Xiao Min is a little reluctant for A Rui to live in it now. It is true that the late emperor once left too many shadows on Queen Mother Wen and her son here.
"A Rui, you should live with me in the Yangxin Palace now. I used the East Palace as a recreational garden and will not close it for the time being. As for this palace, I intend to renovate it." Xiao Min He said this while pointing to the Queen's Palace on the sand table.
In fact, Xiao Min should logically call himself me after he ascended the throne, but he heard that A Rui kept calling herself me, which made him feel more cordial. Before, as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the East Palace, his every move, word and deed had countless pairs of eyes watching him. Now that he has ascended the throne, he no longer has to be cautious in everything.
Nowadays, Xiao Min also prefers to call himself me when getting along with A Rui in private, instead of me, who has a more distant sense of distance.
Ah Rui didn't care much about this. Her eyes lingered on the furnishings in the Yangxin Hall and asked hesitantly, "Qingyan, are all the night pearls inlaid on this lamp?"
The lamp she was talking about was about a foot tall and adorned with hundreds of fist-sized pearls. If all the pearls on the lamp are really luminous pearls, it is not an exaggeration to say that they are priceless.
"Yes." Hearing Xiao Min's answer, Ah Rui turned around and looked at him in disbelief, "This is too extravagant. What is good above is good, and what is good below is imitated. I am only worried that this move will cause the East China Sea to suffer Many fishermen and farmers lost their lives because of these dead things.”
Ah Rui's face was full of worry, and her expression didn't seem to be fake. What happened on the night of the palace change was like a dream. After that, A Rui huddled in the East Palace again, recuperating in peace and not worrying about trivial matters. Therefore, the storms of the power struggle before she ascended the throne did not affect her, and she still did not feel that she had become a queen until the ceremony of establishing the queen was over.
At this moment, A Rui was only confused and doubtful about whether she could be a good leader for a country. That's why she was so careful about everything, to the point where she was a little bit dissatisfied.
Hearing A Rui's words, Xiao Min was deeply moved. Once ordinary people reach a high position, they will only be complacent and do not know how to give vent to the power in their hands. But the more A Rui suffered, the more frightened she became. She was only worried about whether she was worthy of becoming the queen of a country, and worried that she would become a person whose virtue was not worthy of her.
Gently hugging Ah Rui from behind, Xiao Min comforted her with a gentle voice, "A Rui, don't worry. Your sincerity is enough to make you the best queen in history."
This sentence did not give A Rui much sense of stability. She was no longer a child and could not be changed by other people's words.
Seeing that A Rui's expression was still worried, Xiao Min joked, "What is A Rui worried about? He just used more than a hundred luminous pearls. Think about it, there are no three thousand beauties in my harem, only you." One person. This is equivalent to the entire harem, using only more than a hundred luminous pearls. How frugal."
"Puch", A Rui finally couldn't hold back the expression on her face and laughed out loud.
Xiao Min, who was hugging Ah Rui, secretly said in his heart that it is just a lamp with night pearls. What I want to give you is the honor that everyone in the world looks up to.
This beating at the enthronement ceremony made all the noble families who were thinking of drafting the new emperor give up the idea for the time being. No one who can reach this position is a real fool. At the moment, the new emperor obviously only has Empress Lu in mind, so why should they try to hit this target?
Especially since there is competition among various companies, if they rush to the front, there is no guarantee that they will not be stepped on by those behind them and take advantage. By then, those people behind will probably smile crookedly.
Since the new emperor is so interested in Queen Lu right now, they might as well wait. If you want to send your daughter to the palace, there will always be a chance as time goes by. Why rush it for a while and make the new emperor unhappy.
I think that when they were in Qiandi, the late emperor was just like the new emperor now. He and Queen Wen were walking, sitting and lying like an ordinary couple. However, Concubine Gu came from behind and maintained her power in the harem for decades. This situation only lasted a few years. The young ladies and sisters are all waiting to watch it. Our variety show is so awesome, we ourselves.
They can afford to wait this long.
For this reason, everyone at the Double Ninth Family Banquet respected Queen Lu calmly. Even Wen Qiongying, the niece of the Empress Dowager Wen, was taciturn from beginning to end. She hardly made any movements except for toasting to the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager, His Majesty and the Empress.
Time flies, and soon the weather turns cooler and enters winter.
On the day of the winter solstice, Xiao Min and A Rui made an appointment to have lunch together, and then have dinner with the Queen Mother Wen in the evening. The mutton soup that the masters will use today has been prepared in the imperial kitchen.
However, Xiao Min was stymied by the ministers who came to remonstrate with him in the morning.
A minister said earnestly, "Your Majesty, you must not do this. It is so extravagant to serve the Queen for a thousand years. Isn't it going to be recorded by historians and be reviled through the ages."
Several more ministers echoed this, "Yes, yes, Your Majesty. This is absolutely impossible."
Xiao Min's face was ugly, and he felt extremely unhappy. However, considering the fact that these few people are old men from two dynasties, Xiao Min still explained patiently, "How can this be extravagant? There is only one queen in my harem, so she just holds an extremely extravagant banquet. This The annual expenses in the harem are less than half of what they were during the late emperor's time. Besides, hosting a Qianqiu banquet doesn't cost much silver."
Several ministers wanted to persuade them again, but Xiao Min had no patience. He strode out of the hall and said neatly, "In this case, the Queen's Qianqiu Banquet will be paid from my private treasury." Allocate money. There is no need to use the money in the treasury. This is fine. You don’t need to discuss this matter. Today’s morning meeting will end here.”
In fact, none of the monarchs and ministers present knew that what they were discussing was not the Queen's Qianqiu Banquet, but secretly expressing their extreme dissatisfaction with the exclusive favor that Queen Lu had received in the past few months. They can't wait to send their daughter to the palace, but the biggest obstacle at the moment is Queen Lu's special favor.
That's why in the morning court today, the officials used the excuse of Queen Lu's extravagance and criticized the Queen's behavior.
Today, Xiao Min was extremely anxious to leave the meeting hall and go back to see Ah Rui. The weather is getting colder, and A Rui has been coughing a lot these days, so she should have kept warm and rested. But when he was away, A Rui always didn't like to stay in the hall, but would go out for a walk from time to time.
Given this situation, the words and deeds of the ministers in the morning would not make him feel any dissatisfaction with A Rui, but would only make him more angry and angry at the officials' words and deeds that slandered A Rui.
Xiao Min returned to the Yangxin Hall and saw Lu Bingzhen sitting peacefully next to the smoker. The mutton soup on the table was already steaming, and his sister's mood gradually calmed down.
