At the same time, in the Chonghua Hall, which is located at the north end of Lishan Hot Spring Palace and on the overlooking slope of the mountain; behind the warm spring-like inner hall, there is the Crown Princess Pei with half-wet hair in a bun and a toga, looking a little absent-minded. Listening to the speeches and reports from the female officials in the palace.
As one of the most enviable women in the world; she was originally just an ordinary eunuch's daughter. Pei Judao, his father, was born in the Eastern family of the Pei family in Hedong. He entered the officialdom with the help of his family background and was worshiped as General Zuo Jinwuwei. However, he never thought that one day he would be selected into the East Palace and get the opportunity to serve the prince.
In fact, Pei Judao, who entered the official position as Menyin, was able to be officially worshiped as General Zuojinwuwei; it was because Conglongbujiu, who was the former residence of Emperor Gaozong, served as the general of Prince Qingdao. Therefore, among the trusted courtiers of today's emperor, they are not considered to be particularly core members and are lost to the public.
Therefore, as the daughter of Pei Judao, Pei also practiced womanly virtues and housekeeping skills step by step, waiting for her time to leave the court; and marry a well-matched husband. However, the princess chosen by the Second Saint, the stunningly beautiful daughter of Si Wei Shaoqing Yang Sijian, had something go wrong before the wedding.
Although I don’t know what happened, it ended with Yang’s daughter secretly becoming a monk; but as the prince of the Tang Dynasty, the wedding date had already been announced to the world. Therefore, in order to prevent the prince's wedding from being postponed, it turns into a scandal/joke that raises questions and speculations.
In a short period of time, under the secret investigation of many internal ministers, Pei, who happened to be waiting in the boudoir, also became a candidate for the crown princess inexplicably after the selection and weighing of the two saints. You Zai received the appointment edict from the palace in a daze.
That night, her aunt, who had raised her since she was a child, almost burst into tears holding her in her arms; and her father, Pei Judao, was even more worried and could not sleep all night long with continuous sighs. But in the end, the imperial edict from Ouchi was irresistible to a family of ministers like them, so they had no choice but to obey it happily.
Therefore, Pei, who was not yet mentally prepared, almost completed the basic teaching and training of the Crown Princess within the deadline with the speed and efficiency of the internal officials and courtiers from the middle palace. Training, and was called into the university with envious eyes.
But fortunately, her worst fears didn't happen. The famous Queen of Heaven was very tolerant and loving towards her as a candidate bride; and as a present queen, she was even more satisfied with her fluent answers to questions. He expressed his position in person: "I have nothing to worry about in the internal affairs of the East Palace."
Immediately afterwards, another corresponding auspicious event occurred. The director of the memorial used white wild geese as zhi, and a white wild goose was found in the garden. Today, the emperor said happily: "The Han Dynasty got a red wild goose, so it became a Yuefu; now it got a white wild goose, and it became a wedding zhi. That ceremony has become a ballad, and this ceremony I respect human relations and look at each other from different generations, so I have no shame in my virtue."
During this period, Pei's only personal request was that he did not want any concubine from the family to dowry. Therefore, after such a hasty and unusually grand state ceremony, Pei became the unique crown princess and saw the sickly and emaciated crown prince.
But what was even more unexpected was the respectful relationship between her and the prince. Because Ms. Pei was patient and gentle enough to tolerate and take care of this husband, who was sensitive, meticulous, and knowledgeable under his frail and bleak appearance. It's like they have lived together for many years.
Although it has been more than two years since they got married in February of the fourth year of Xianheng (673), and there is still no relationship between them, the young prince and his wife are becoming more and more intimate and harmonious. However, this situation seems to have changed in the past two months.
These changes are naturally good and bad; first of all, the prince, who was always full of worries and thoughts, gradually became more active and hard-working; correspondingly, he no longer resisted and rejected medicine. And pay more attention to one's own conditioning and recovery.
However, as the prince became busy with the affairs of the East Palace and the duties of supervising the country, the time spent with Pei was naturally reduced; sometimes, Pei was even asked to take the initiative to send decoctions and medicines to the special Chongwen Pavilion or Only by visiting the Collection Department can it be possible to get a moment of solitude with the prince.
And the daily conversations and heart-to-heart conversations with Mr. Pei that they had in their private rooms, which they had known each other for, were also decreasing day by day; they seemed to be becoming more sophisticated and inner. If so, Mrs. Pei could only secretly congratulate and rejoice. After all, as a prince, it is a great blessing for the country to strive for progress and achievements.
However, in recent days, His Highness the Crown Prince often stayed alone in the back garden of the palace for an hour on the pretext of purity; instead of reading and interpreting essays with her, or listening to her read memorials on her behalf. There were even rumors in the East Palace that the Crown Princess was neglected and suspected of falling out of favor.
However, through the close servants and internal officials around him, Pei could be sure that Prince Li Hong was indeed cultivating alone. During this period, no one came to serve or had a private tryst. But as a royal concubine, Mrs. Pei would rather the prince have a new favorite who can be directly included in the palace.
After all, as a concubine in the East Palace, she is too indifferent; apart from the main concubine Pei, there is only one female history who has been accompanying her since she was a child, and was named a concubine to help manage the harem. So when the prince told her to secretly take care of the mother and daughter.
Mrs. Pei could not help but have some doubts and speculations for a while; could it be that the prince actually did not like those delicate and beautiful young female actors gifted by the Second Saint? Instead, he was plump and mature like the Zheng family of Shangguan Prime Minister, who was married and had children. A woman who has lived? Or a young girl who hasn’t even had hair extensions yet?
But what happened later also proved that the attitude and behavior shown by the prince were indeed, in a sense, the joint preferential treatment and care for his old friend, and there was no other superfluous meaning; even the Zheng family had not taken the initiative to summon him. Everything was given to Pei.
Therefore, in order to harmonize with the prince's wishes, Mrs. Pei did not mind using her identity as the prince's concubine to express her goodwill in private; to improve his treatment and supplies in disguise, and even let out some true and false information through the female officials and chamberlains around her. rumors; thought to be protection and thoughtfulness in disguise.
At least, she had seen the orphan of the Shangguan family with her own eyes. He was smart, cute, well-behaved and interesting. He was also an extraordinary talker and quite insightful. It was hard to imagine that Zheng, as a consort of the palace, was filled with the confusion of people's hearts. Among the eternal alleys, there can be cultivated out-and-out characters.
Therefore, she could somewhat understand the reason why the prince, after secretly hearing about the situation of Zheng's mother and daughter, privately asked her to come to the East Palace in the face of the Queen's little relationship. In fact, if there is a chance in the future, she would not mind adopting a little girl.
In this way, whether she has a relationship with the prince or obtains an heir from another family in the future, she can serve as an important assistant and helper in the palace. Therefore, when the last female official in the Nei Dian mentioned something hesitantly, it immediately cheered up the somewhat groggy Pei:
"I would like to inform Concubine Yuan that the servants in the Imperial Household have heard rumors about Zheng (Mother), the newly appointed bookkeeper. It is said that her daughter seems to be keeping raccoon slaves secretly. Some people accidentally overheard through the wall that this woman had spoken to the air. No one makes questions and answers on their own; therefore, it is quite alarming..."
"Absurd!" Mrs. Pei immediately yelled without hesitation after hearing this: All the female officials present did not know the reason, so they quickly knelt down to plead guilty. But he saw Mrs. Pei reaching out and beckoning, walking out from behind the scenes from the hands of the palace attendant, taking a furry meowing animal that looked yellow and white and said:
"With the responsibility of being in charge of the library, what kind of sin is it to keep a raccoon slave in private! Not to mention the daily prevention of rats and insects in books and classics; when a mere girl has nothing to do in the palace, she can only entertain herself with raccoon slaves Le, how can it be worth making a fuss about confiding your concerns in private?"
"Yes...it is exactly what Concubine Yuan taught." The female chief of the Siwei Bureau, who was headed by him, immediately agreed: "They are all those ignorant servants who are talking nonsense, let me teach you a lesson." ." However, they became more and more convinced that Shangguan's daughter was indeed highly valued.
However, not long after these female officials retired, Mrs. Pei came to the prince's bedroom in the inner hall. She put down the curled up kitten in her hand and said warmly to the prince Li Hong: "Your Highness, I have ordered you to follow me." Qingzhou sent some raccoon slaves and kept them in the palace for daily needs."
"I'm really sorry for bothering you, Zhirou." Prince Li Hong looked at Pei with tenderness and affection and said, "It's just that these raccoon slaves are just being kept in the palace, but privately they still want to trouble you to continue to pay attention to them; naturally, if It would be better if it can relieve your daily boredom and relieve your silence."
"Your Majesty's words are serious. Don't you hear that I and Your Majesty are the same as each other? Whatever your Majesty needs is what I like." Mrs. Pei also smiled politely and said: "Don't say it's just a few raccoons. As a slave, it is a more important relationship, and I can share the burden for His Highness again and again."
"Actually, there is a corresponding relationship..." After hearing this, Prince Li Hong couldn't help but be moved, and he hesitated to say: "It's just that many opportunities have not yet matured, and the matter is really big, so, I can’t tell you clearly yet, Zhirou…”
"But it doesn't matter. There is no need to say anything else. As long as I know it and Your Highness is willing, it will be fine." Mrs. Pei said with a smile: "Let me serve Your Highness with the medicine; sleep well! Since I took Meng Fengyu's After taking the therapeutic diet, His Highness seems to be sleeping more peacefully."
After Prince Li Hong drank the decoction and began to rest with his eyes closed, Pei, who was undressing and lying next to her, asked softly and seemingly casually: "Honglang, what do you think of Zheng Xiaoshu's daughter? I am concubine. I think that although this girl is young, she is a good seedling that can be cultivated and nurtured."
"She has special causes and effects, so don't interfere rashly." However, Li Hong, with his eyes closed, said in a low voice: "There is no need for special treatment or targeted solicitation. Just keep an eye on her and take care of her secretly every day..." …”
While he was whispering on the bedside, Jiang Tian also followed the thrown thing, crossing the palace wall and landing on the snow with it. The palace wall, which was several feet high, was just a few leaps for him; on the other hand, it took a lot of effort for Jiang Tian to climb back up.
At this time, a figure approaching quickly appeared outside the wall, as if it had been hiding nearby; he grabbed the object dropped in the snow and turned away, then stepped onto the grass and trees not far away. A strong horse galloped away in the wilderness, leaving Jiang Tian behind.
(End of chapter)
