"Since that incident, things have really settled down in Duke Ping's palace." Qin Zhuen continued, "Fang Yuting was brought into the palace by the Queen Mother and raised for nearly a year until he was three years old. Not only did his body recover, but his speech improved as well. He was also a lot smarter, and could at least complain to the nuns around him who had wronged him. The Queen Mother then let him go back to the house. When he was sent back to the house, in addition to arranging a group of wet nurses, he was also given a special name. In order to educate the people who are really masters in the field."
"A great master?" Yan Tian exclaimed, realizing that the situation at that time must have been extremely serious for the three-year-old Fang Yuting.
"Yes. A great master! I think the boy from the Fang family learned some self-defense from this person since he was a child. Later, he abandoned literature and turned to martial arts, and he must have become his teacher.
"But over the years, the Fang family has really not had any trouble. And it is said that the family rules are very strict. Internal words are not allowed to come out, and external words are not allowed to enter. The backyard is also famous for peace. Ping Guogong Fang Yong has never even made a A concubine or something. The Fang family seems to be harmonious and happy, and is a first-class role model among the aristocratic families in the capital. But... I always feel that Fang Yuting's life seems to be unsatisfactory..." Qin Zhuen recalled the tight little face and his whole body The alert young boy couldn't help but frown.
"Oh? Are there any specific examples?"
"I can't tell you the specific things at the moment, but there seem to be traces everywhere... For example, I once saw the two brothers following Mrs. Pingguo into the palace to pay respects to the Queen Mother. The atmosphere between the three of them ...It's very strange. Mrs. Ping Guogong seems to be more like mother and son with the eldest son. As for Fang Yuting... she is smiling and caring in front of everyone, but she always feels that something is missing.
"So much so that for a while I had wondered whether Fang Yuting was a romantic debt caused by Fang Yong, the Duke of Pingguo. Later, he quietly brought him back to the house and raised him as his legitimate son. Therefore, Duke Pingguo's wife Lu That's why I can't swallow this bad breath. When Fang Yuting was two years old, she was not the wet nurse but she personally planned that story..."
"Such a thing should be impossible." Before Lord Qin finished his words, Yan Tian retorted, "The etiquette of our dynasty attaches great importance to concubines. I remember reading a document. During the reign of Emperor Taizong, there was a family member who The concubine was sent to the palace to be elected as the prince and concubine. Unexpectedly, Emperor Taizong personally approved in his writing at that time, "The bloodline of this clan has been messed up, and women from this clan will not be allowed to enter the palace to participate in the election for generations to come."
"The honors and humbleness of concubines involve ancestral temple etiquette, blood inheritance, and important national affairs, which are by no means ordinary. Therefore, this dynasty has always strictly observed the concubines. If there is any violation of the rules, it will be deprived of the title, dismissed from the honor, or jailed and involved in the worst case. The whole clan.
"To the extent that this has never happened again under the recent generations of kings of our dynasty, even during the deposed Emperor Shunping's reign when the world was in turmoil, there has never been a case of using common people to disturb the heirs.
"The Duke of Pingguo is the first-class Duke of our dynasty. Many pairs of eyes in the whole country are watching. If you really dare to risk the disapproval of the world and use your concubine to mess with your direct descendants, let's not say whether the Queen Mother will let her go. Regarding this matter, I just want to talk about whether Duke Ping himself dares to take this risk with the foundation of the Fang family and the life of the entire clan!"
"I also think this idea is unreliable. If the Fang family used a concubine to mess with the legitimate children, they would definitely be unable to hide it from the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother has no room for disgrace in her eyes and would never allow such a thing to happen, let alone save a concubine who left the palace. , protect with all your strength.
"Furthermore, Duke Ping is not as daring as your old man." Qin Zhuen glanced at Yan Tian secretly, "Your grandfather, for your own grandmother, you Father, with the turmoil in the family, you did not say that you would pretend to be a legitimate son by pretending to be a legitimate son, and record your father in the name of Princess Kanghe and raise him as a legitimate son. After all, the difference between legitimate sons and concubines will be somewhat different in the future, both in official career and marriage and family property. Influenced.”
Yan Tian turned around and glared at him.
Qin Zhuen touched his nose and continued: "Pingguo Gong has an easy-going temperament. To put it bluntly, he is a soft man with no ideas. He dare not even do one-tenth of what your old man did. Let alone even your family. The old man wouldn’t even dare to do it. So what I just said was just a guess. As for now, except for the natural bias, I really can’t think of the reason. "
"Based on what you said, I have some doubts."
"Oh? What's the suspicion?"
"I was just looking through the files at my father's place. When I saw the life of Duke Ping, I found something very interesting. Duke Ping was born in the eleventh year of the reign of the late Emperor Chao Leqing. He was only two years younger than the Queen Mother, but why? The eldest son is about the same age as you and my second cousin, but the youngest son is one year younger than you? Based on seniority, you should have called Fang Yuting your cousin."
When Yan Tian calculated seniority like this, Qin Zhuen was immediately embarrassed. I have been involved in many lawsuits because of this title since I was a child, but now it has been brought up again.
"That's right, you don't have to be too rigid..." Master Qin said humbly, holding up his chopsticks to pick up the vegetables, but he didn't want to put his chopsticks into the dried fruit plate next to him. He coughed dryly and put down the chopsticks again.
Yan Tian found it quite interesting to see him like this, and he knew in his heart that there had been some story about this matter before. But he didn't hold on to it, and just suppressed a smile and continued: "This is one of them. Because of this, I was confused at the time, so I took a closer look at the lives of Ping Guogong and his wife, and discovered another... Something more interesting.”
"whats the matter?"
"Pingguo Duke's wife Lu is actually the concubine daughter of the Lu family of Dongjing Bo! The first-rank duke of Da Qi, the head of a noble family, married a concubine to become the duke's direct wife..."
"It is said that marrying a virtuous wife is a good idea. If the two of them are in love and Ping Guogong Fang Yong is willing, it is not impossible to marry a concubine from a famous family as his wife." Qin Zhuen himself is not a person who values family status. , so I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.
"If this is the case, it would make sense. But there is something even more strange. The Lu family actually married into the Duke's palace in the tenth year of Yunhe, and five years later, that is, the third year of Yongzhi in the current dynasty, she was granted the first rank title. The imperial edict of the Duke’s wife.
"In the tenth year of Yunhe, the current Queen Mother was still the late emperor's empress. Your Majesty was nine years old at that time, and Duke Pingguo was already nearly thirty years old! Did you marry your first wife at the age of thirty?
"Furthermore, noble families with titles in this dynasty are in a hurry to apply for a title for their first wives. Most of the married people who receive a title will write to the court on the same day to request a title for their legitimate wives. Those who have already received a title will get married. Basically, it is the day after the wedding that the newlywed wife is given a seal.
"I remember that I also checked the time when Duke Ping assumed the title, it was the seventh year of Yunhe. In other words, in the tenth year of Yunhe, when Lu married into the Pingguo Mansion, Fang Yong had already inherited the title. But why didn't he become the first after marriage? Time to ask for a title for the Lu family? Instead, it was only after five years of marriage that the Lu family was given the title of first-class imperial concubine from the Duke's wife?
"Married a concubine from a third-class uncle's family as my legitimate wife. We didn't get married until we were thirty years old. We only asked for a royal title to my wife five years after the marriage... Each of these things seems to be trivial and insignificant, but if we connect them together When you get up, you will find that Mrs. Pingguo, Mrs. Lu, is by no means that simple!"
"It's really strange what you say." Lord Qin tapped his finger on the table, "I heard from the old man that in the past two generations, the Dukes of Ping Kingdom have had few heirs. Moreover, their family is not a high-ranking civil servant, and they don't pay much attention to what precedence After gaining fame and fame, you can start a family. Therefore, in these generations, Ping Guo Gong married young, but already got married at the age of sixteen or seventeen. But it is really strange to hear you say this."
"Brother Qin was born in the capital since he was a child. Don't you know the story of this generation of Duke Ping when he was young?"
"But you've got the point right. There are very few anecdotes about the princes and noble families in the capital that I don't know about. But I haven't heard anything about what you just said, and I've never even heard of it. I've noticed it. It stands to reason that if there are so many unreasonable things, there should be one or two rumors leaked out. But except for the story I just told, there are no rumors at all in Pingguo Duke's mansion, it's like... …”
"As if it was erased intentionally?" Yan Tian frowned and asked.
"Yes! You are right." Qin Zhuen nodded, and then frowned, "But who has the ability to erase all rumors? And what is the need to suppress Duke Ping? What about these rumors about the government...".
"I don't know why they suppressed me. But I can guess who suppressed them. I think it must be someone more powerful than Duke Pingguo, otherwise it won't work... Could it be, the Queen Mother? ?" Yan Tian looked at Qin Zhuen.
"It's very possible." Qin Zhuen nodded, "I heard my mother say that my grandmother's father and the previous generation Ping Guogong were brothers. When my grandmother was more than a year old, the family suffered a disaster and both parents died, so she was regarded as a fashionable person. Adopted by the childless couple Lao Ping Guo Gong and his wife.
"It's a coincidence that when my grandmother was adopted, Mrs. Ping Guogong was pregnant. The whole family was immediately overjoyed and regarded my grandmother as a lucky star. Therefore, she grew up in the Duke Ping's mansion and was extremely favored. , regarded as their own by Lao Ping and his wife.
"A ready example is that when my grandmother got married, the dowry purchased by Lao Pingguo Gong and his wife was the most generous in the whole capital except for the princesses of the clan. At that time, it far exceeded other princes and concubines, and no one can match it to this day. .
"My grandmother's feelings for the Duke of Pingguo, so she used some power means to suppress a past to ensure peace for her family. This is not a big deal."
"But, what kind of past is this?" Yan Tian's frown deepened.
Qin Zhuen really couldn't see her like this, and subconsciously wanted to stretch out his dog's paw to smooth the beauty's eyebrows. However, he still remembered that it hurt to be beaten by his own name, so he pressed down the paw that was about to move.
"Don't worry too much about guessing. Otherwise... I'll go back and ask my mother?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yan Tian gave him a huge white eye. Haha, go ask Her Royal Highness the Princess? Isn't that equivalent to asking the Queen Mother directly? ! Do you think the Queen Mother will reward you with a big nose pocket?
However, Qin Zhuen's words gave Yan Tian a wake-up call. She immediately picked up her chopsticks and while frantically picking up food for herself, she said eagerly to Qin Zhuen: "Quick! Take the time to eat! Let's go back after eating. My father?!"
"Going to see Uncle Yan?" Qin Zhuen was very puzzled. "Uncle Yan has been studying abroad since he was a child, and has been working outside the capital since he was a child. How can he know about the affairs of Duke Ping's Mansion? Besides, you were at his house just this morning. There was such a commotion right under your nose, how dare you go back?"
As Qin Zhuen asked, he looked at Yan Tian who was immersed in eating hard in the wind, and he felt more and more confused: "Also, are you... afraid that Uncle Yan will be angry, so you won't give you food at night?"
"No." Yan Tian ate hard without raising his head or eyes, "I think this cooking is too expensive to waste. I want seven to make up for it."
Qin Zhuen:...
