of course not.
It was only because the emperor put the news that the daughter of the East Palace was leaving the country to get married, and then asked the kings one by one about their attitudes, that people felt that this matter was particularly important.
But in fact, this is just a marriage.
Whether it succeeds or fails, only Dong Gong and Ying Niang will be affected.
What really matters is the words that the emperor only briefly mentioned.
I am determined to establish a reserve this year!
However, under the influence of the marriage incident, the influence of this sentence was weakened intentionally or unintentionally. Everyone felt as a matter of course:
Oh, the emperor finally decided to establish a heir apparent?
That's great.
After all, the emperor is an old man in his seventies, and there is no successor to such a huge empire. How is this possible?
King Chu and Yan are gone, and King Xin and King Wu are dead. Let us remaining princes behave well and try to eat this big pie.
Before this, even the Crown Princess understood this.
But just now, after listening to her confidant say the words "the authorities are obsessed with it", an idea flashed in the princess's mind - the prince and the princess are getting married. These two seemingly unrelated things are connected. together!
The princess's marriage was essentially an investigation, and the emperor was using this to consider the kings' opinions and responses to the matter.
In short, this is a question used to select princes, so the emperor will ask the princes in turn what they think about the marriage!
And the marriage with the daughter of Donggong is a blow to Donggong's possible involvement in the case of King Wu and King Xin!
Asking the kings about their attitude towards marriage is a test of their political opinions, and asking them about their attitude towards the marriage of the daughter of Edom is a test of their integrity!
This is not selecting the prince, but what is it doing? !
But what to do?
The Crown Princess almost panicked when she thought - Chunlang, her son is destined to never have another chance to answer questions in front of the Emperor!
He is now a "dead man"!
But just watching the opportunity slip away...
How can you be willing to do so? !
Although the Chengning County Lord was young, she was more stable than her mother. She took hold of the Crown Princess's hand and squeezed it hard: "Mom, if there is really no chance, Chunlang will not agree to let Ying Niang Got married."
But even though she understood this section clearly, she was still puzzled: "Chunlang seems to have decided that until now, no one has given the answer that the emperor wants... But what is the answer that the emperor wants? What exactly does the emperor want? What kind of prince do you want?"
The Crown Princess was also at a loss.
The king's heart is like the sea, and the emperor's thoughts cannot be easily guessed!
…
The East Palace cannot guess the emperor's thoughts, and neither can the kings.
Although Concubine Shu had accompanied him for many years and flattered the emperor at the palace banquet, she could not guess the emperor's true thoughts.
After the palace banquet was over, all the kings were muttering in their hearts, what on earth was the old man thinking?
It's so good, why do you suddenly want to marry Ding'an away?
That's my granddaughter!
How many years has it been since there was no marriage?
Moreover, although the emperor has many granddaughters, there are only a few daughters who can't stand up to the East Palace. Compared with their dysentery sons, the East Palace is nothing but a white moonlight in the old man's heart.
The queen loved and respected the queen when she was there. After the queen died of illness, she took Dong Gong to her side and raised her personally. After Dong Gong died of illness, the emperor also fell ill and did not go to court for a month. After that, for the Crown Princess and Dong Gong, His three children also value him very much.
Even if Ying Niang didn't like her when she was young, she still remembered to tell the Shang Palace Bureau not to be disrespectful. Later, under the arrangement of the Crown Princess, Ying Niang gained face in front of the emperor. Although not many were summoned, she The reward is one of the richest among many princes and county owners.
Was it really because he was suspicious of King Dai that he deliberately sent King Dai’s compatriot sister out of the country to die?
Tiger poison does not even eat seeds...
Um?
I said something secretly in my heart - this is indeed something that the emperor can do!
What’s a granddaughter? She can kill her son without fail!
The case is solved, dad is just crazy every day.
What, do you want to persuade me?
Do I use my life to persuade you?
It's better to wash up and sleep.
…
The timeline comes after Su Xiangnian was interrogated overnight.
The news that the king of the previous generation and the lord of Ding'an County went out to the capital to pay homage to their late father, but were attacked and died on the way, finally reached the ears of the emperor.
The commander of the internal guards urgently dispatched his confidants to go out of the capital to find King Dai and his entourage, while he himself went into the palace to reply.
As a confidant of the Emperor, he was naturally aware of the turmoil at the palace banquet not long ago, and he had some understanding of why the Emperor chose Lord An to marry him, but...
But no one expected that King Dai was dead!
If this is the case, then the affairs of King Wu and King Xin may have nothing to do with the East Palace!
In this case, would the emperor still insist on sending the Lord of Ding'an County out of the fortress to get married?
Incense was lit in the quiet room, and the people of the inner palace stood on both sides like puppets, while the emperor was meditating on the futon. After a long time, the commander of the inner guard heard him say lightly: "I know."
Then he asked: "Have you sent someone to look for it?"
The commander of the inner guard felt a little cold in his heart and paused, "We have already sent someone over."
The emperor said "hmm" without even opening his eyes.
The attendant observed the words and gestures, gently waved his hand to the commander of the inner guard, and he bowed once more, and withdrew with a gentle movement.
It was late autumn at that time, and the cold wind was blowing. The commander of the inner guard turned his head and took a look at this simple and elegant quiet room, lowered his eyes and left quickly.
The people who went out of the capital to search for King Dai and the Lord of Ding'an County met the officers who went to Beijing to report the news. They found the bodies of many servants of the East Palace on the way back to the capital. King Dai was missing and Ding'an was determined. County Lord An also suffered some injuries.
After hearing the news, the inner guards who went forward knew that something was going to happen, so they left half of them to escort the Lord of Ding'an County back to Beijing, while he personally took the other half to survey the scene.
That was obviously the result of an attack on the way. The East Palace servants were naturally not ordinary people, and they were not good people either. After a fierce battle between the two sides, the assassins finally won with the advantage of numbers.
The internal guards determined the strategy of the East Palace followers based on the distribution of the corpses. Most of them entangled the assassins, while a few protected the king and the county lord and retreated. However, they were ultimately outnumbered...
When the news spread back to Chang'an, people were shocked.
Another prince is missing!
And more importantly...
The East Palace is extinct!
King Chen was the first to rush to the emperor, knelt down outside the palace and cried bitterly: "Father, the eldest brother only left so much blood and bones. Now that my nephew is gone, you send Ying Niang away... let your son's daughter Go and get married, father!"
King Ji and his wife went to the East Palace to comfort the bedridden princess after hearing the bad news. They took their youngest son to kowtow to the princess: "When I was young, my eldest brother treated me very well. How could I look at him?" There is no successor, and the incense is cut off? If my sister-in-law does not give up, he will be your child from now on..."
When the king of Dai died, all the kings mourned as if they were mourning their heirs.
They not only wanted to show the emperor their love for their brothers and nephews, but also wanted to show their benevolence and set an example for the world. They also wanted to use their own attitudes to show the emperor that they had nothing to do with this murder - it's really unbelievable. I did it, dad!
Compared to other kings, the emperor's attitude was very peaceful.
He first ordered the princess of Chengning County to be made a princess and betrothed to General Youwei Zhonglang and Song Qi, the eldest son of the Duke of Yue. Then someone carefully reminded the emperor that Princess Chengning and the eldest son of the Duke of Qi had not yet reconciled.
Then the emperor was awakened by this and sent the Duke of Qi's mansion to the west.
...Very good, this is very emperor.
When the Duke of Yue received the imperial edict granting marriage, he was even a little happy in his heart.
As an honorable nobleman, the prince also holds the important position of right-wing guard and general, so his wife must be chosen again and again, especially in the twilight years of the emperor, when kings are vying for the throne. If one of them is not good, he may be The whole family will be overthrown.
Isn’t the example of the Duke of Qi enough?
As the daughter of the East Palace, Princess Chengning's status is enough to match the heir apparent of the Duke's family.
To put it bluntly, the acting king is gone again. In the future, the emperor will favor the princess and the Yue government will benefit from this, but no one will be involved in the rebellion. The danger is that no matter which prince comes to power in the future, he will not treat this niece who is probably the only remaining one from the East Palace badly.
The title of Princess Chengning did not exceed everyone's expectations. On the contrary, the emperor did not comply with the kings and replaced Princess Ding'an with his own daughter. Instead, he insisted on the original decision to make Yingniang and Rong Di. This makes people feel even more... Surprised.
All the kings thought that the emperor could not change the decree because it was not easy to change it. Therefore, people soon came to the East Palace one after another to cry, willing to bear the responsibility for the emperor's betrayal. His reputation was so bad that a county magistrate, who was fed some kind of ecstasy by his parents, took the initiative to go outside the palace and ask for a marriage on behalf of his cousin.
There are also different opinions in the harem.
Some whispered in the emperor's ears, and some tentatively said which prince was better. The older concubines, such as Concubine Shu, preferred to behave in a homely manner, mending the emperor's clothes, and cooking for him. The dishes he liked when he was young, or talking to him about the late Yuan Dynasty who passed away many years ago...
The emperor turned a deaf ear to all the reactions from both inside and outside. Those who wanted to hear would just listen to a few words. Those who didn't want to hear would just raise their eyelids and the other party would meekly shut up.
Princess Ding'an was recuperating in the capital for two months, and then she got married with the honor of the emperor's legitimate daughter. In addition to the original entourage, the emperor sent an extra team of internal guards, the leader of which had taught Princess Ding'an her kung fu.
But no matter what, it can't change Princess Ding'an's fate of marrying a distant man, a Shanyu who is decades older than her.
Even if she is a legal wife, so what?
Children touch the mother's heart, and after the mighty procession of sending off relatives leaves, who else will remember Princess Ding'an except the Crown Princess.
As if no one would care, the outer room that King Wu once secretly left the capital to visit in violation of ancestral rules died quietly in a cold cell.
…
Tang Zuo, the loyal general who was ordered by the emperor to go to the wedding ceremony, was still a young man in his early twenties at the time. After inspecting the entire team as usual, he urged his horse to come to the side of the princess's car.
For this newly grown group of military generals, and even for their fathers, marriage seems to have been a thing of the previous generation. Although in recent years, the border defense is not as strong as before, but why? Are you in this situation?
The girl in the car was only fourteen years old at this time. She lost her father when she was young, and she had just lost her twin brothers not long ago...
He felt pity for this young princess, and there was a faint feeling of depression in his heart.
As a military general, he is not allowed to fight on the battlefield, and his body is wrapped in horse leather, but he has to send a weak woman to the outside of the Great Wall in order to seek peace and tranquility for the country. What a shame!
Looking back, I think that in the past, the cavalry of the imperial court galloped across the desert and looked at them with disdain. It was only twenty or thirty years ago!
Tang Zuo couldn't think about it any more.
