To be honest, Chen Ruchang is even more panicked now than when he heard that the Wu and Zhou allied forces captured Jiangling and then besieged Canghe County. The most powerful country today suddenly sent a mission to his small, unpopular country to propose marriage for the princess. Logically speaking, it should be a happy event, and a very happy event, but Chen Ruchang didn't dare to be too happy before he figured out the reason. As the saying goes, it's better to know a son than a father. How could he not know how much his two sons weighed? Why would the Great Qin Empire condescend to come to propose marriage? To say the least, even if they wanted to propose marriage, they should go to Qi State, Chu State, or even Wu State. Now that they suddenly come to Chen State to propose marriage for the princess of Qin State, this is not what Emperor Qin is doing. What's the idea? It's weird if you want people not to think too much!
It's a blessing, not a curse. It's a curse that can't be avoided. Chen Ruchang suppressed his uneasy thoughts and ordered Feng Baobao to take the two princes Chen Ying and Chen Hong to the palace embroidery room to use the best materials to make a new set of clothes for them. He also sent someone to call Queen Zhou Anan, and prepared to lead them ten miles out of the city to meet Qin's marriage proposal envoy.
In the evening, by the ten-mile long pavilion outside Chenduluo City, Emperor Chen Ruchang, who had already led all the civil and military officials of the dynasty to wait for the Qin State's envoy to propose marriage, finally saw in the eyes of Chen Ruchang a banner covering the sky on the horizon. Chen Ruchang hurriedly straightened his back and led the two princes, Queen Zhou An'an and Chen Ying and Chen Hong, to greet the mighty team from a distance.
Gao Jianli was originally riding in the middle of the team. When he heard the report from the outpost, saying that a large group of people were coming this way, including chariots with yellow umbrellas and the flag of the King of Heaven on the hub, Gao Jianli heard this. They knew that this was Chen Ruchang, the emperor of Chen State, who had personally led his people to greet them, so he immediately urged his horse to come to the front of the motorcade. Although Chen State was a small country, Chen Ruchang was also the king of a country. According to etiquette, he, the prime minister, must Come here first to pay homage to the king, Chen Ruchang.
Being far away from Chen Ruchang, Gao Jianli got off his horse and walked towards Chen Ruchang. He was about ten steps away from Chen Ruchang and bowed to Chen Ruchang. Chen Ruchang was also unambiguous and was busy walking. After a few steps, he stretched out his hands to help Gao Jianli up, and said with a smile: "If I weren't blind, you would be the Prime Minister of Qin, Mr. Gao."
"Your Majesty has really good eyesight. He is none other than Gao Jianli." Gao Jianli laughed.
"Oh, it turns out it's really Master Zaifu. I've been fascinated by him for a long time!" Chen Ruchang hurriedly stepped forward and held Gao Jianli's hand.
Gao Jianli took Chen Ruchang to a phoenix chariot in the middle of the motorcade, which was pulled by six horses. The entire phoenix chariot was covered with a golden canopy with three layers of phoenix patterns embroidered with gold threads. The vermilion carriage door was opened. Queen Lu Yan of the Qin Kingdom stepped out of the phoenix chariot with the support of several palace maids. She softly said a blessing to Chen Rushang. She lightly opened her red lips and said in a low voice: "Lü Yan rashly came to Chen Guoluo City to cause trouble. I am begging for forgiveness for causing inconvenience to His Majesty."
Chen Ruchang hurriedly raised his hands to Lu Yan and said: "The queen is worth a thousand pieces of gold. Now that she condescends to come to the Chen Kingdom, she is a rare blessing for the Chen Kingdom! Why bother?"
At this time, Queen Zhou An'an also followed Chen Ruchang. Lu Yan knew that Zhou An'an was the queen of Chen Kingdom when she saw Zhou An'an wearing a harem and a phoenix crown. Before Zhou Shuangshuang could greet her, Lu Yan took Zhou An'an in her arms. Zhou Anan raised her arm and said with a sweet smile: "If Lu Yan guessed right, this is the Queen's sister!"
Zhou Anan was suddenly shocked when Lu Yan hugged her arms with both hands coquettishly. A feeling of being flattered arose spontaneously. She forced a smile and said, "If I had a sister like you, she would be my best friend for the rest of my life." What a blessing!"
When Lu Yan heard this, she immediately said seriously: "If Sister Meng doesn't give up, how about I treat you as sisters from now on?"
Zhou Anan was stunned for a moment. She had just said something to Lu Yan carelessly, but Lu Yan actually took her seriously. Before she could think of a reply, Gao Jianli, who was standing aside, clapped his hands and said with a smile: "Two queens It’s a happy event that we have recognized each other as sisters. In this way, our two countries, Qin and Chen, will become even closer!”
Chen Ruchang and the ministers behind him all echoed after hearing this. Then Zhou Anan introduced to Lu Yan one by one the concubines Li Meiniang, Zhaoyi Su Yun and others who were standing behind her. He also highlighted Chen Ying and Chen Hong. Prince, but this Lu Yan didn't seem to be interested in these people. She nodded perfunctorily without saying much, but her eyes were still scanning the crowd who came to greet her from time to time.
Seeing this scene, Chen Ruchang and Zhou Anan could not come forward to ask. They could only let Wang Pu lead the honor guard to clear the way and prepare to return to the city. At this time, Gao Jianli quietly walked up to Chen Ruchang and made a bow in front of him. , asked softly, "Your Majesty, I would like to ask you about someone, is it possible?"
Chen Ruchang was startled and thought to himself, could it be that the prime minister of the Qin State still had an old acquaintance among the civil and military officials of the Chen State? However, he turned around and smiled and said: "Master Gao, this is an outsider, isn't it? If you have an old acquaintance in the Chen State, If you want to talk to your friend, just say it, I will send someone to call him to meet with Mr. Gao."
Gao Jianli shook his head and said with a smile, "Your Majesty has misunderstood. I am not familiar with the place in your country, so I can be an old friend. It's just that I was entrusted by my emperor to come to propose marriage to Princess Changxing of Qin, our empress. I want to meet this child’s mother.”
"Oh," Chen Ruchang couldn't help but his heart skipped a beat, but he still asked with a smile as usual, "I wonder what the mother's name is for the child that the Queen and Lord Gao want to see? I might as well send someone to find it. "
"The mother's surname of the child the Queen wants to see is Yunniang!" Gao Jianli said softly.
"What, Mei Yunniang!" Chen Ruchang couldn't help but mutter the name again. He had almost forgotten this woman's name. Now that the name came out of Gao Jianli's mouth, he almost screamed The sound comes.
Gao Jianli smiled and nodded, "Exactly."
It wasn't Feng Baobao, the chief eunuch, who had the idea to let Mei Xiaomu replace the sixth prince Chen Hong in marrying Princess Zheng. Chen Ruchang had really forgotten about his illegitimate son, but he began to doubt in his heart that this Princess Qin would not want to marry Princess Zheng. Is this stupid illegitimate son like me going to get married?
Chen Ruchang suppressed the doubts in his heart and said with a forced smile: "Master Zaifu, it is really a coincidence that Mei Yunniang is living in Luo City now, but her child has gone away and may not be able to come back for a while! "
Gao Jianli nodded slightly and said, "That's right. Her son Chen Xiaomu is now leading the Zheng army to attack Yecheng, the capital of Chu. It won't take long to capture Chu Emperor Xiong Ze."
"Ah," Gao Jianli's soft words sounded like a thunder in Chen Ruchang's ears. After he couldn't help but let out a cry, he stared blankly at Gao Jianli's smiling face.
Zhou Shuangshuang who was talking to Lu Yan, Zhao Gang, Shen Ru, Li Tong and others who were standing behind Chen Ruchang immediately gathered around, first looking at the pale Chen Ruchang, and then at the smiling Gao Jianli who was standing opposite. , I don’t know what happened.
It took a while before Chen Ruchang came to his senses and said with a forced smile: "Master Zaifu, as far as I know, this child named Chen Xiaomu is dull by nature. I don't expect him to do the things you said! Are you looking for a mistake? Are you here?"
"Your Majesty, if I didn't verify these things and just talked about it, wouldn't I be committing the crime of deceiving the emperor? Our border between Qin and Chu is very close. If the detective horses are sent out to report three times a day, there will definitely be no trace. Wrong."
This time Chen Ruchang really had nothing to say. What Gao Jianli said was too reasonable. How could he just talk nonsense about such important military and national affairs? Even if he is the prime minister, he can only blame himself these days for only caring about the war between the Chen Kingdom and the Wu and Zhou Allied Forces. As for what happened in other countries, he turned a deaf ear to it. But now that he wants to break his head, he can't think of his illegitimate son. With such great energy, he led the Zheng army, which was about to be destroyed by the Chu army, to fight back to Yecheng, the capital of Chu, whose national strength and military strength were ten times that of Zheng.
After the two teams returned to Yecheng, because Lu Yan and Queen Zhou An were considered sisters, Lu Yan moved into Zhou An'an's Anning Palace at Zhou An'an's invitation, Gao Jianli was invited by Zhou Pu, the Minister of Rites, to live in Shangshu Mansion, and the rest All the personnel were arranged by Wang Pu, the minister of Honglu Temple, to go to the official post to rest. The two parties agreed to hold a grand banquet at the Chen Palace at noon tomorrow to welcome the Qin State's marriage envoy.
After arranging the Qin envoy, Chen Ruchang summoned Zhao Gang, Shen Ru and Li Tong to his imperial study room to discuss matters. Because they had just heard Gao Jianli's narration, Zhao Gang said to Chen Ruchang as soon as he entered the imperial study room: "Your Majesty , I never expected that this child who I watched grow up and was a bit stubborn would now be as unstoppable as a dragon rising out of the sea. Could it be that God saw that our country, Chen State, was in a critical war situation and sent this child to relieve the emperor's worries!"
Chen Ruchang nodded happily, "Prime Minister, you have made indispensable contributions to this child and Chen Guo."
However, Li Tong, the Minister of War, snorted coldly and said: "What a great dragon who went to sea, but he went to Zheng State first, and I, Chen State, are now struggling to support it!"
The right prime minister Shen Ru raised his hands to Chen Ruchang and said: "Your Majesty, now our Chen State has reached an extremely critical moment. I sincerely ask your Majesty to immediately issue an order to recall Chen Xiaomu to save the war between our Chen State and the Wu and Zhou Allied Forces." Kuanglan!"
"Prime Minister Shen, the most urgent task to recruit Chen Xiaomu back now is that the emperor must give his mother Mei Yunniang a title. Otherwise, under what name will he return to the Chen Kingdom? How will he go to the front line to lead the troops to fight?"
"Your Majesty, how about making Mei Yunniang a noble person?" Li Tong suggested to Chen Ruchang.
"Your Majesty, I am willing to give up the title of Queen to Mei Yunniang!" Just as Chen Ruchang was about to speak, Queen Zhou Anan walked into the imperial study with Prince Chen Ren, and they both knelt down in front of Chen Ruchang.
Zhao Gang and Shen Ru stood up in a hurry and asked in shock, "Why did the queen say this? The emperor's establishment and removal of a queen is a national matter. The establishment and removal of a queen must be approved by all the courtiers!"
Zhou Anan knelt down motionless and said: "I just learned from our chat with Lu Yan that when the Zheng Kingdom was about to be destroyed, Chen Xiaomu, with only tens of thousands of remaining soldiers of the Zheng Army, defeated the enemy in just ten days. Almost wipe out all the more than 500,000 Chu troops in Zheng State, including 50,000 black-armored troops who made your faces change after hearing this!"
Several people in the imperial study were stunned when they heard this. They said to themselves, "Guaguai, if this child had been allowed to lead the army to fight against Wu and Zhou, it would be hard to say whether Wu and Zhou would be destroyed now. After all, Wu and Zhou have joined forces." If it can stand up to half the size of Chu State, it would be considered good!
However, Chen Ruchang pondered for a long time, and finally waved his hand and disagreed with Zhou Anan's proposal to give up the position of queen. He believed that Zhou Anan had done his best in the position of queen, and sent the two princes to the battlefield to fight for the country, and the harem The management is also in an orderly manner, and it is not an exaggeration to say that her mother has graced the world. Besides, the matter of abolishing the queen and establishing the queen is related to the state. If you are not careful, it will cause domestic turmoil. The price seems to be too high. Besides, we can definitely think of a compromise way to resolve this matter.
But Zhou An'an refused to give up and insisted on giving up the position of queen to Mei Yunniang. She cried: "Your Majesty, since I got the news that Heng'er died in the battle with Wu and Zhou, I secretly swore, As long as anyone can avenge my Heng'er, I will give my life to him without any regrets. Now it seems that only Chen Xiaomu can help me get rid of the hatred in my heart. Besides, even if the emperor abolishes Without me as the queen, I can still stay in the palace and continue to serve the emperor. I hope that the emperor will grant your request!"
Chen Ruchang couldn't help but hesitate after hearing this. Li Tong stood up at this time, cupped his hands to Chen Ruchang and said: "Your Majesty, I think this is a major matter for the country to abolish the queen and establish a queen. You must not mess up the laws of the Chen Kingdom because of this!"
Zhao Gang and Shen Ru also stood up one after another. They both agreed with Li Tong's opinion, and Chen Ruchang began to be in a dilemma.
At this time, Zhao Gang proposed a compromise method. He bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I think it is appropriate to confer Mei Yunniang as the imperial concubine first. Since the position of imperial concubine in this dynasty has been vacant for many years, There has been no suitable candidate. Secondly, there is no need to hold a court meeting, which has caused rumors in the city. All we need is an agreement among the monarchs and ministers. Thirdly, the Qin State's marriage proposal delegation has arrived. Changing the queen temporarily will cause ridicule from the people of Qin. and suspicion.”
Chen Ruchang nodded, "What Aiqing said is absolutely true, the matter of the replacement is not allowed to be mentioned or discussed again!"
Although Li Tong was dissatisfied, his sister Li Meiniang had been in the palace for nearly twenty years and had given birth to three princes for Chen Ruchang. For such great achievements, she was only granted the position of a noble concubine. Now it is better to be an unknown one. The wild woman from the countryside unexpectedly jumped to the position of imperial concubine that should have belonged to his younger sister Li Meiniang. He opened his mouth, but when he saw that Chen Ruchang had already issued a silence order, he had to swallow back what he wanted to say.
Originally, the prince Chen Ren came with his mother Zhou Anan and wanted to give up the throne to Chen Xiaomu, but in fact, the matter of establishing a prince was more complicated than establishing a queen. Even if he said it, it might be in vain, but it made people feel hypocritical. feeling, so I had to remain silent.
In the end, the monarch and his ministers agreed to confer Chen Xiaomu's mother, Mei Yunniang, as the royal concubine, and Chen Xiaomu as the auxiliary prince and the marshal of Chen's army. The eunuch chief Feng Baobao set off overnight with Chen Ruchang's imperial edict and gold medal. Yecheng of Chu State has called back Chen Xiaomu. Chen Ruchang will lead Queen Zhou Anan, Li Meiniang and others to Zhao Gang's Prime Minister's Mansion tomorrow morning, personally read the canonization edict to Mei Yunniang and take her back to the palace.
