Li Tong was speaking plausibly and seemed to make sense, but the next question raised by Right Prime Minister Shen Ru left him speechless, that is, what if Su Xingran still holds the engagement contract signed by Su Jincheng and Chen Ruchang in his hand now? ? If Su Xingran is forced to make this marriage contract public now, who among those countries will dare to sign various documents and treaties for us in the future? What's more, Shen Ru will visit Qi State as the special envoy of Emperor Chen in a few days. If the news of this engagement reaches Qi State, it will be very detrimental to our Chen State!
The words of Right Prime Minister Shen Ru made the huge Xuanzheng Hall so silent for a moment that it was as if you could hear a pin drop!
After waiting for a long time, seeing that no one could come up with better suggestions, Chen Ruchang took the hot towel handed over by Feng Baobao and wiped the sweat from time to time on his forehead, and said with difficulty: "My dear friends, since there is no better way, I think the marriage between Hong'er and Princess Qingfeng of Zheng has been arranged in the past two days!"
Upon hearing this, Li Tong, deputy envoy to the Privy Council and Minister of the Ministry of War, knelt down in front of Chen Ruchang's dragon chair and said, "Your Majesty, you must not do this! If you let the sixth prince marry the princess of Zheng State, wouldn't you put the sixth prince into danger? ?”
Chen Ruchang quietly wiped away a teardrop from the corner of his eye, "When the country is in crisis, who can let him be my son!"
"Your Majesty, I have something I don't know whether to say or not?" At this time, Yang Yi, the Minister of Rites, stood out of the class train holding a wat board.
"Yang Aiqing might as well say it straight." Chen Ruchang nodded towards Yang Yi.
"Your Majesty, I have thought over and over again that it would be better not to get married between the Sixth Prince and Princess Qingfeng. For one thing, Mr. Li, the Deputy Privy Councilor, is right. If the Sixth Prince and Princess Qingfeng get married now, then Chen Guo will be in trouble in the near future. In the future, we will definitely face the tiger and wolf troops of Chu State. Secondly, even if Qi State is willing to help us mediate the dispute with Chu State, in fact, the basis for this mediation disappeared after the sixth prince and Princess Qingfeng got married. Thirdly, after the sixth prince and Princess Qingfeng get married, if the Zheng Kingdom falls, should we take them in or not? If we take them in, what if we mediate with the Chu State in the future and ask us to hand them over? Hand them over or not? "
When Chen Ruchang heard this, his head suddenly felt as big as a bucket. He kept talking about this all the time and came back again. Everything he said about feelings this morning was all nonsense.
"My dear friends, if you have any other ways to get the best of both worlds, let's discuss it!" Chen Ruchang once again cast his hopeful eyes on the civil and military officials at all levels of the dynasty standing on both sides of the hall, wearing red and green official robes.
The civil and military officials couldn't help but look at each other with big eyes and small eyes. Who has the best of both worlds? If there really was one, I would have taken it out long ago to claim credit, and you don’t even have to ask!
Seeing that everyone was silent, Chen Ruchang waved his hand angrily, "After the court, all the members of the Qing family will go to the side rooms for dinner first, and then return to the Xuanzheng Hall in an hour to continue the court meeting!" After saying this, Chen Ruchang waved his sleeves and said to Feng Baobao The attendant guided him behind the screen.
As soon as she stepped into the royal study and sat down on the dragon chair, the imperial concubine Li Meiniang came in crying. Yingying fell at Zhu Ruchang's feet, "Your Majesty, I beg you, please don't push Hong'er into the fire bed!"
Chen Ruchang was angry and had nowhere to vent his anger. Li Meiniang came in to plead for her son at this moment. She hit him in anger and slammed the table, "As a woman, it is true that Chen Hong is your son, but he is even more so. As a prince of the Chen Dynasty, ordinary people know how to be loyal to the country. As a prince of the Chen Dynasty, he has enjoyed the supreme glory and wealth of the prince, so he should know how to be loyal to the country and serve the country. You really should Learn from the queen!"
"Your Majesty, sons are the flesh of their mothers. How can they not feel pain for their mothers? Look at the queen. Ever since the prince lost an arm in the state of Zheng, the third prince also sacrificed his life for the country during the war with the state of Wu. After that, she became depressed all day long, didn't want to eat, and was so thin that she lost her shape. Your Majesty, why don't you find someone else to marry Princess Qingfeng! I'm not as good as the Queen. If Hong'er marries Princess Qingfeng, Then I will die!" Imperial Concubine Li Meiniang really risked her life to save her son Chen Hong this time.
When Li Meiniang mentioned Queen Zhou Shuangshuang, Chen Ruchang couldn't help but feel pain. He could also see that every time the Queen saw his forced smile and his increasingly thin figure, he didn't want to get entangled with Li Meiniang anymore, so he waved his hand, "You Back off, I have my own theory!"
"Your Majesty..." Li Meiniang wanted to say something more!
Chen Ruchang stared and scolded loudly: "You are making trouble unreasonably. I will throw you into the cold palace immediately so that you will never see Hong'er again!"
Li Meiniang was frightened. She had never seen Chen Ruchang lose such a temper. In desperation, she had to get up from the ground, sobbing and retreated!
"Your Majesty..." Watching Li Meiniang's figure slowly disappearing, eunuch Feng Baobao looked like he was hesitant to speak!
"Say it!" Chen Ruchang glanced at Feng Baobao expressionlessly.
"Your Majesty, I don't dare to speak nonsense!" Feng Baobao quickly knelt down in fear.
Chen Ruchang sighed softly, "Eunuch Feng, you have been with me for more than thirty years, right?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, I have been with you for a total of thirty-five years till this year!"
"Look, our hair is almost white!" Chen Ruchang sighed with emotion.
"Your Majesty, how dare I compare myself to you? Your hair is white because of hard work for the country and the people of the Chen Dynasty. Mine is naturally white because of my age!"
"Haha, you have such a clever mouth!" Chen Ruchang stretched out his index finger and tapped Feng Baobao gently from the air.
"Don't hide it, I won't hold you accountable for interfering in government affairs."
Feng Baobao climbed a few steps towards the dragon chair where Chen Ruchang was sitting, and whispered: "Your Majesty, do you still remember the beautiful girl who was brought back to the Prime Minister's Mansion by Prime Minister Zhao?"
Chen Rushang's heart moved, "You mean to let that child marry Su Xingran instead of Hong'er?"
Feng Baobao nodded, "Your Majesty, please think that Su Xingran has never met the Sixth Prince. Even if he discovers something is wrong in the future, he has already succeeded. Besides, after all, this child also has your dragon vein. Even if you think about it seriously, it is justified." ! To take a step back, if the Chu State pursues this matter during peace talks with the Chu State in the future, we can refuse to admit it, because after all, only a few of us know about this child, and the Chu State cannot get it. Any evidence to prove that we are married to Zheng Guo! This is called advancing to attack, retreating to defend!"
"What about the wedding etiquette? The prince's wedding requires a grand ceremony!"
"Your Majesty, what Su Xingran wants now is not a wedding ceremony. She came to marry the Sixth Prince. Her real purpose is to ask us for reinforcements to help them resist the Chu army. We can use a delaying tactic first and make it clear to her that it is war time. In this situation, keep everything simple. First, exchange the marriage certificate with her to form the marriage. First, reassure her, and then let her take the child back to visit her relatives in the country first, and then send her away. She must not be allowed to stay in our Chen country now. As for her request for reinforcements, we will delay her request on the grounds that it takes time to gather troops!"
Chen Ruchang stood up, walked silently in the room for two steps, and suddenly said: "Eunuch Feng, go and announce that Grand Master Zhao is here to see you!"
Zhao Gang, the Prime Minister of the Left, submitted his resignation to Chen Ruchang a few years ago because of his old age and frailty, requesting to resign and return to his hometown. However, Chen Ruchang was really reluctant to let him go, so he tried his best to persuade Zhao Gang's eldest son Zhao Hu to stay. He held the position of fifth-level commander in the Imperial Palace Department, and together with Wang Gan, the deputy commander of the Imperial Palace Department, led his troops to protect the crown prince Chen Ren and participated in the battle of Cicada City with the Chu army. He died on the battlefield with Wang Gan. His second son Zhao Biao died in battle together with the third prince Chen Heng on the battlefields of Chen and Wu. The third son Zhao Sheng was now sent to Jiangling Mansion by the imperial court. He was now appointed as the prefect of Jiangling Mansion, which requested the imperial court to send additional reinforcements. Now there is only one son left in the family. Daughter Zhao Yiqiu and the old couple stay together! Chen Ruchang felt sorry for Zhao Gang who had been loyal to the Chen Dynasty for most of his life, so he finally thought of a compromise, granting Zhao Gang the title of Grand Master of the Chen Dynasty. Until a suitable candidate could be found, he would also take charge of the affairs under the control of Prime Minister Zuo, but with additional One of them is that except for the emperor's call, they do not need to participate in the special treatment of the morning court and the big court meeting.
When Zhao Gang took Mei Yunniang back to the Prime Minister's Mansion according to Chen Ruchang's instructions, he vacated all the courtyards at the back of the Prime Minister's Mansion and arranged for Mei Yunniang to live there for eighteen years. At the end of each year, except for Chen Ruchang, who sent eunuchs Feng Baobao sent some belongings. Zhao Gang celebrated his seventieth birthday last year, and Chen Ruchang had never been to the Prime Minister's Mansion. According to previous practices, although Zhao Gang's Prime Minister's Mansion could not be called a family of loyal people, the words "high moral character and high prestige" were also responsible. It was more than enough. Zhao Gang and his wife Yu Shilan calculated it together and estimated that the current emperor had such a deep grudge in his heart because he met Mei Yunniang under helpless circumstances, so he had been trying to avoid meeting Mei Yunniang again!
One night, more than two months after Mei Yunniang entered the Prime Minister's Mansion, she suddenly suffered from severe stomach pain and her amniotic fluid broke. Because the situation was urgent, the Prime Minister's wife Yu Shilan personally acted as a stable mother to deliver the baby of Mei Yunniang, who weighed 5 pounds. Heavy boy! But when Zhao Gang reported the matter to Chen Ruchang, Chen Ruchang turned a blind eye and refused to even give the child a name, and did not allow the child to take his surname!
Zhao Gang had no choice but to discuss with his wife Yu Shilan and decided to take in the poor mother and son. A few years later, the child was already five or six years old and was old enough to go to school. He didn't have an official name yet. At that time, Chen Ruchang called him The right to name the child was given to Zhao Gang. Zhao Gang was so busy with government affairs all day that he neglected this matter. In addition, his wife Yu Shilan saw that the child was dull and always liked to look at one place in a daze. I joked with Mei Yunniang that this kid always loves to be in a daze, so why not call him Little Dumb? Mei Yunniang is illiterate, so she heard it quite smoothly and actually nodded in agreement with the name!
