In Weiyang Palace, after Princess Zhaoyang returned, she was consulted by the Queen Mother.
She only said that she went to Prince Xiao's Mansion to see her unlucky brother.
The Queen Mother looked at her and sighed after a long time: "You don't need to be so submissive. If you don't want to, I have my own way to keep you by my side."
Princess Zhaoyang was deeply moved when she heard this.
She naturally understood what the Queen Mother meant. If she insists on objecting to this matter, I'm afraid the marriage may not go ahead.
But she herself didn't want the Queen Mother to lose her dignity because of her.
Marriage is something that the imperial court, the father, and even the grandmother, the concubine, strongly advocate for. She does not want the queen mother to get into an unfavorable situation with these people.
Moreover, the marriage is a matter of state. Although the Queen Mother is favored by the Emperor, if she interferes with this matter, I am afraid that the Emperor will be unhappy.
Therefore, this was the reason why she took the initiative to ask for a marriage before the Queen Mother spoke out.
The Queen Mother has loved her since she was a child and has already paid too much for her. She had been reminded before that she should choose a husband as soon as possible.
In other words, what she is today is entirely due to her own willfulness.
In this case, how could she be so selfish and put the Queen Mother into an unfavorable situation because of her own affairs? Forcibly suppressing the emotion in her heart, Princess Zhaoyang smiled and said: "Grandma Huang is too worried, Zhaoyang does not feel aggrieved, nor is she unwilling.
Didn’t the Imperial Grandmother want to marry Zhaoyang a long time ago? Now that her wish can finally come true, the Imperial Grandmother should be happy.
The royal grandmother has never met Prince Navarre. In fact, he is not as dirty and crude as the legend says. I think he understands our Central Plains etiquette quite well and can speak Chinese. In fact, marrying him is as different as marrying a Central Plains person. It's no different. "
The Queen Mother frowned and said, "Do you know how far away the Nawala Royal Court is from the Central Plains? It's thousands of miles away.
Once you go there, you may never have the chance to return to the Central Plains in this life. "
“Although it’s far away, how could there be no chance to come back again?
Hasn’t Prince Nawala arrived in the capital? Come to think of it, it's just a few more months of delay on the road..."
Princess Zhaoyang spoke so briskly that the Queen Mother couldn't tell for a moment whether she really didn't understand or was pretending to be innocent to comfort her.
"You really don't regret it?"
"I'm not even married yet, so why are there any regrets..."
Hearing the hint of shyness in Zhaoyang's tone, the Queen Mother felt very strange.
Could it be that this girl really has a crush on Prince Navarre?
If that was the case, she would feel better.
In fact, she had known for a long time that Zhaoyang would leave her side sooner or later when he grew up. It's just that she always wanted her to marry a talented man in the capital, so that he could often come to the palace to accompany her in the future.
But the Queen Mother herself was not a selfish person, and she had no intention of marrying Zhaoyang to a Beijing official. If Zhaoyang really meets the person he likes, even if it is a local general, it doesn't matter.
The last thing she wanted was for Zhaoyang to follow the same path as her eldest sister, who wanted to get married.
Unexpectedly, things were not going as she expected, and the situation she least expected to happen happened.
Thinking of this, the Queen Mother couldn't help but feel cold again.
She knew that Concubine Li's encouragement was indispensable in this matter. That crazy woman, in order to make herself uncomfortable, went so far as to kill Zhaoyang, who was her granddaughter!
It seems that what the ancients said is true, good people can be deceived. Over the years, I had indeed been too tolerant of her. As a result, when the emperor had just secured his throne, she couldn't help but provoke me again and again.
In this case, don't blame yourself for being cruel...
…
However, two days later, Jia Lian was indeed summoned by Emperor Ningkang.
Just as Princess Zhaoyang said, the emperor appointed him as the personal messenger, responsible for escorting the princess to the King's Court of Wala. Leader Shang Fang Si's sword, third grade or below, has the right to kill first and then report.
"The imperial court has agreed to escort the princess out of the capital in one month.
For related matters, you can go to the Etiquette Department and the person in charge will explain it to you in detail.
You should go down and prepare yourself, and hand over the things that need to be handed over in advance. Escorting the princess to the King's Court of Wala this time is of great importance and cannot be missed.
Even if everything goes well, I expect it will be delayed for at least a year.
Don't rush to complain in your heart. As long as this errand goes well, when you come back, I will not only reinstate you to your post, but also..."
After saying that, Emperor Ningkang glanced at Jia Lian and said, "Moreover, haven't you always wanted to imitate your ancestors, serve on the battlefield, and make contributions to the country?
I can promise you that as long as you complete this errand, I can promote your general title to the equivalent fifth-class title! "
Jia Lian was shocked.
The so-called fifth-class nobleman is naturally the Duke Bozinan.
Since Taizu, this dynasty has created a new set of generals in order to avoid having too many duke families, which would be a burden to the court and the army.
Anyone who is awarded the title of fifth-class knight can only inherit the title of general if his descendants have not made meritorious service on the battlefield.
Among them, a duke is demoted to a first-class general, a marquis is demoted to a second-class general, and similarly, a male uncle is demoted to a third-, fourth-, or fifth-class general.
The fifth-class general is already the fifth rank, which is the lowest title.
If the family has not turned over after reaching the fifth-level general level, they will be expelled from the family if they go down further. This is the most direct manifestation of the noble man's zeal, which can be killed in five lifetimes.
In fact, the only one who can kill five generations is the prince. The brother-in-law below couldn't survive the fifth life, so he was gone.
Of course, if they perform well, after the fifth-level generals, the court will usually demote some hereditary military attache positions to the eldest son. This is the last preferential treatment given by the court to the family of meritorious officials.
Thanks to this strict system of demotion, in the past 100 years in the Wei Dynasty, fewer and fewer people have held titles, so that the nobles did not put too much pressure on the court.
Now Emperor Ningkang actually promised in person that he would convert Jia Lian's general title into a fifth-class title. He was already telling Jia Lian naked.
Boy, I'm very optimistic about you. If you work hard, you will achieve military success.
Therefore, Jia Lian immediately expressed his willingness to die in service to the emperor: "I thank you for your kindness, and I will swear to protect the princess's safety to the death!"
"Get up."
Emperor Ning Kang was very satisfied with Jia Lian's fierce reaction.
"The reason why I appointed you as the messenger this time is because I actually have another task for you."
When Jia Lian heard this, he bowed and listened to the instructions.
"This time when you go to the Oara Palace, you will have to pass through the northwest desert. You should pay attention to the local customs and landforms...
In addition, the imperial court has agreed with the Wala envoy that in order to maintain the majesty and dignity of our princess, a Han palace will be built in the Wala royal court for the princess to live in.
You are also responsible for this matter, but I will arrange for officials from the Ministry of Works to assist.
Therefore, you will stay in the Wala Palace for a long time. Taking advantage of this opportunity, you must find out as much as possible about the situation inside and outside King Wala's court. Moreover, we must determine whether the Wara Royal Court is sincere in its alliance with our court. If you find that they have second thoughts, you must send a message back to Beijing in time.
This is the most important thing, and it is also the reason why I appointed you as the messenger. Do you understand? "
Jia Lian was a little shocked when he heard this. Emperor Ningkang seemed to want to use troops against Wala.
Otherwise, why bother to inquire about the truth of the Wala Palace? If it was general news, some spies would have known it, but Emperor Ning Kang bothered to arrange for himself, the future general, to do this in person, obviously preparing for the future arrival of troops at the city.
On the contrary, since I am so young, I think I can lower the wariness of the Wala people...
From this point of view, Emperor Ningkang took great pains. However, since Emperor Ningkang intended to use troops against Wala, why was he willing to marry his daughter to Wala?
Is it true that the Tian family has no family ties, and sacrificing a woman in the face of the court's interests is a matter of course?
I almost asked this question, but finally held back.
Again, there was no room for him to talk about this matter. Asking him would only make Emperor Ningkang unhappy.
"I understand, I will live up to your majesty's trust!"
…
