Chapter 23 second quarter

"saint." "Hmm." Empress Xiang woke up suddenly, looking at Concubine Zhu suspiciously.But seeing Concubine Zhu frowning, standing in front of her with a heavy heart. "Sister, what's the matter?" "We need to ask the sage to come up with an idea on this matter." Concubine Zhu hesitated. "What matter?" Empress Xiang looked at Concubine Zhu in puzzlement. Concubine Zhu lowered her head, and said softly: "It's what Zi Shantang said directly..." Whether you can choose a good teacher for Maid Zhao has a great relationship.But Concubine Zhu lived in the deep palace all year round, and her natal family didn't have any outstanding people to rely on. She herself was just a concubine who abided by the rules of women's morals. How could she know who was a "good teacher"?She cared about the fate of Maid Zhao, but she was afraid of being suspicious of the queen—after all, the sixth and seventh brothers were still the queen's sons in name.Women are extremely sensitive about this kind of thing.But all kinds of concerns were nothing compared to her concern for her son, so she still mustered up the courage to ask the queen for an idea.

"It's this matter..." Xiang Huang nodded lightly.Concubine Zhu's usual respectfulness and aloofness—at least on the surface, offset most of the jealousy in her heart.In fact, from the moment she adopted Sixth Brother, she and Concubine Zhu have become a community of destiny——she somehow burst out her long-hidden maternal love and linked her destiny with Sixth and Seventh Brothers. Together, originally, she could be aloof and indifferent.No matter who will inherit the throne in the future, she will be the empress dowager, and their biological mother will always be the empress dowager.But when she adopted Sixth Brother and Seventh Brother, everything changed.The balance of her feelings will inevitably lean towards these two princes, especially the sixth brother Zhao Mai who has the status of heir.In fact, this will not bring her and the Xiang family any benefits - the more the prince who has no relationship with her inherits as emperor, on the surface, it may be better for her and the Xiang family.However, knowing in her heart that she would never have another child, Queen Xiang had already devoted all her maternal love to the three children, Shushou, Sixth Brother, and Seventh Brother.Now her occasional jealousy towards Concubine Zhu is only because she is the biological mother of Sixth Brother.

"Sister, don't worry." Xiang Queen comforted her. "But..." Concubine Zhu murmured, she didn't dare to ask.There are rumors everywhere that both Sang Chongguo and Cheng Yi were chosen by the Queen Mother.But she didn't dare to ask if it was true - Empress Dowager Gao's majesty was not something Concubine Zhu dared to challenge.She also didn't know if Sang Chongguo and Cheng Yi's straight talk would be a good thing for Sixth Brother?She had heard of Sang Chongguo's name, but she was completely unfamiliar with Cheng Yi. After hesitating for a while, Concubine Zhu finally asked politely: "However, there are rumors about Sang Chongguo and Cheng Yi... I don't know..."

"If you don't know, how would I know?" Queen Xiang smiled wryly in her heart.She has worried much more about this matter than Concubine Zhu.Of course the Queen Mother can't ask, but after all, the Queen has more servants who can be used on errands. According to the news from the servants of Baoci Palace, this matter may have nothing to do with the Queen Mother.However, the ministers outside all said that Sang Chongguo and Cheng Yi were good friends, and several servants who came back after inquiring about it all praised him very much.Queen Xiang only knew that Sang Chongguo was Wang Anshi's son-in-law and Shi Yue's brother-in-law-influenced by Empress Dowager Cao and Empress Dowager Gao, she had a bad impression of Wang Anshi; but she valued Shi Yue very much.And that Cheng Yi seems to be just a learned Confucian who leans towards the old party.Empress Xiang didn't have too many opinions on the struggle between the old and new parties, but in the atmosphere of the harem, she naturally sympathized with the old party faction emotionally.Therefore, she couldn't say anything bad about it.

However, as long as he thinks of King Yong, Empress Xiang can't help but feel a little bit in his heart.She and Zhao Xu had been husband and wife for decades, and the emperor refused to accept the recommendation praised by the government and the public because of illness. It is impossible that he did not have his own ideas in his heart. "I think these two are also very good." Queen Xiang could only comfort Concubine Zhu, "This matter is up to the officials and the princes outside. You can rest assured, younger sister." Concubine Zhu reluctantly nodded her head, but after a while, she couldn't feel at ease, and said, "The sage thought, should I ask Eleven Niang? Although she doesn't talk too much, she is very assertive. And She knows a lot about the outside world..."

"Eleventh Mother?" Empress Xiang couldn't help sighing. How could she not have thought of all the ideas that Concubine Zhu could think of?She had already asked Qinghe several times.But it was Qinghe who caused such a big event. How could she dare to comment on such a big event?Every time he talked about him from left to right, he would never say a word.But Queen Xiang refused to say these things, thought for a while, and finally said: "Forget it, let's go ask her together." She also had good intentions—since Concubine Zhu brought it up, she always wanted to give Qinghe a chance to answer by herself.In the future, whether Concubine Zhu thanked her or hated her, it was up to Qinghe to decide.But even though she said "go", she is the queen after all, and there is no reason to condescend to go to Jingyuan Manor.Immediately, he called the servant and ordered: "Go and invite Qinghe Princess to come."

Jingyuanzhuang. Qinghe and Wang Fang were talking hand in hand in the garden.Di Huan and Sang Chongguo's eldest son, Sang Yunwen, were watched by the servants and played beside them.The two children were riding a bamboo horse—a long and thin bamboo pole, holding it in their left hand, holding a wooden sword in each right hand, and wearing masks they bought on New Year’s Eve. They were shouting and chasing each other in the yard. Right chop.This is one of the children's favorite games since the Han Dynasty.The two children were about the same age, and they had fun playing happily, making a good Jingyuan Manor into a mess.Qinghe and Wang Fang seemed to be used to the children's noise, they just concentrated on playing chess and ignored them.

"Why hasn't Nineteen Niang come back?" After a while, Wang Fang saw that the game was lost, so he smiled and disturbed the game, refusing to play any more.In his mouth, he changed the topic to divert attention. Qinghe couldn't help but smile.She knew Wang Fang's temper, but she learned it from her father, it was the nature of a father and daughter, not bad at all.Yin smiled and said: "She may have gone to the palace. It seems that Brother Qi promised to teach him swordsmanship." "Nineteen Niang can also swordsmanship?" Wang Fang asked in surprise.She has known Roujia for more than ten years, she only knows that she can beat people with a whip, but she has never heard that she can also play swordsmanship.

Qinghe pursed her lips and smiled, and said: "She is just making a temporary use of the buddha's feet and selling them now. To save face in front of the sixth and seventh brothers, she temporarily finds a few class guards to learn a few tricks, and then goes to coax the children." "That's really hard for her." Wang Fang smiled gloatingly. There was a trace of worry in Qinghe's eyebrows.Since the founding of the People's Republic, the prince's education has its own formula. Although a gentleman should learn the six arts, and the royal family also attaches great importance to archery, Qinghe knows that Empress Dowager Gao doesn't like princes wielding swords and guns.What the princes want to learn is the ability to govern the country, and to learn moral articles. Even if they want to practice martial arts, what they want to learn is the ability to be enemies.Empress Dowager Gao often said that if a country wants the emperor to rely on his own swordsmanship to protect itself, then the country is not far from subjugation.Moreover, if a prince likes these things since he was a child, will he be violent when he grows up to be a king?Such precedents are not without precedent.Therefore, although Empress Dowager Gao also supported the promotion of martial arts among the people, she was extremely disgusted with teaching these things in the palace.Empress Dowager Gao's attitude is very clear, as long as the sixth brother can draw a bow and shoot an arrow, it is enough to be able to inspect on horseback.Because of this, it can be said that most of the palace guards from class guards to internal servants are martial arts masters, but no one dares to teach Sixth Brother and Seventh Brother.

Except Roujia. She dared to secretly teach Seventh Brother these things.But even Rou Jia did not dare to teach Sixth Brother "swordsmanship".Brother Seven and Brother Six are different. From the bottom of his heart, Qinghe doesn't take Roujia's behavior seriously.Even her own son, she didn't want him to learn martial arts in the future - she didn't want Di Huan to die in battle at a young age like his father.Moreover, there is already a precedent in the Di family. Di Huan had several uncles who became civil servants.But so far, her son has not fulfilled her wish - when he was studying, he couldn't beat him with lightning, but when it came time to learn horsemanship and archery, he was very happy and talented, and he often asked him to teach him martial arts. The teachers were amazed.

Because of this mentality, she also persuaded Roujia several times, but although Roujia has matured a lot, her temperament cannot be changed fundamentally.The more she discouraged, the more motivated she became.Strange to say, Roujia's popularity in the palace seems to be getting better and better - she is so nonsense, and no one in the palace's maids accuses her of evil.Qinghe didn't bother to take care of it anymore, so he just muddled through.Anyway, the empress dowager, empress, emperor, and all the concubines all pitied her as an old girl who couldn't get married, so if something happened to her, she would not be severely punished. Thinking of these things, Qinghe immediately thought of the recent matter of finding a teacher for the sixth brother and the seventh brother.She couldn't help but glanced at Wang Fang. Although she heard that Sang Chongguo had always treated it indifferently, and almost pretended that this matter had nothing to do with him, Qinghe and Wang Fang were close friends in her boudoir, so they knew her temperament—she Will definitely try to find out the truth of the matter everywhere.She didn't know whether others cared whether the Queen Mother personally named Sang Chongguo, but Qinghe was sure that Wang Fang cared a lot. Sure enough, he heard Wang Fang gossiping with her occasionally, but Qinghe heard it clearly. Wang Fang was cleverly inquiring about the temperament and preferences of Sixth and Seventh Brothers.Qinghe also deliberately pretended to chat carelessly, and intentionally or unintentionally leaked some unimportant things in the palace to Wang Fang.She can understand Wang Fang's painstaking efforts, and is willing to help some small favors within her capacity. While the two were talking, Qinghe suddenly caught a glimpse of the butler leading an introspective servant over in a hurry.She recognized that it was someone from the Queen's Palace, she quickly got up to greet her, and said with a smile, "Why are you here?" "The sage invites the Princess to enter the palace to speak." This is not a very formal matter, it is common for Qinghe to come and go to the palace, and the servant is just a formality. When Qinghe heard that he was summoned to the queen, he couldn't help but feel another thump in his heart.While agreeing with a smile, he confessed to Wang Fang again, not daring to make Queen Xiang wait any longer, and hurriedly followed the servant into the palace. Empress Xiang and Concubine Zhu were talking absently while waiting for Qinghe's arrival.The two people's trust in Qinghe was actually established by some tiny things, such as dealing with the entrustment of relatives, going out of the palace to quietly buy fashionable accessories, and even the style of hairstyle... more is borrowing—— The palace is not as outsiders imagined, there are countless money to squander.Empress Dowager Gao took the initiative to reduce the expenses of the palace several times, and the expenses of the harem had been reduced to the point where it could no longer be reduced.But for Empress Xiang and Concubine Zhu who were less than forty years old, it was the time when they needed a lot of cosmetics, and they always had endless rewards to spend.The emperor's concern was how to rejuvenate his ancestors' foundation. The country's financial resources were difficult, so it was unwise to speak to the emperor; and the prestige of the Empress Dowager Gao in the palace could not be shaken.Although Xiang's family is very rich, but the queen reached out to ask her natal family for money, no matter what Xiang Queen could do.And Qinghe can help them solve this dilemma.It is not difficult for Qinghe to save the monthly money saved in the bank, sell outdated and unwanted utensils and curios, and buy cheap and fashionable accessories and materials... These are not difficult for Qinghe, because of Di Zi's relationship, everyone in Bianjing City As a businessman, no one dares to give Qinghe convenience.Moreover, Qinghe never asked for anything.She always asks Empress Dowager Gao directly for anything, and never puts Empress Xiang and Concubine Zhu in a difficult situation.It is not without reason that Eleven Niang's position in the palace is so strong.And for Concubine Zhu, who is so gentle and cowardly and lacks her own opinions, Qinghe's position in her heart is obviously even more important. Seeing Qinghe being led into the palace by the servants, Concubine Zhu's eyes lit up as if seeing a savior. She bowed to Queen Qinghe, smiled and let her sit down. Fang wanted to say a few gossips, but Concubine Zhu couldn't hold her breath any longer. During this period, we were originally a family, the sage and I, but we never treated you as an outsider. This is an important time, and you can't say outsider words to prevaricate me. " What a smart person Qing He is, her nonsensical words made Qing He cry out in pain.But he smiled and said, "Where did the empress come from? There is a folk saying that elder brothers are like fathers and elder sisters are like mothers. Over the years, it is all thanks to the saints and empresses who have taken good care of them..." Before Qinghe finished speaking, Concubine Zhu said softly, "Eleven Niang, don't talk too much about this. Although you are not a princess, the sage and I really regard you as more precious than a princess. You know, I am You have lived within the nine layers for nearly twenty years, and you are a member of your own family, and you are not afraid of making fun of you, so you really have no knowledge at all. You have to give me an idea on this matter. " Hearing that Queen Xiang was so thoughtless and only focused on forcing Qinghe to come up with an idea, Qinghe looked at him with a blank face, and couldn't help laughing: "She is concerned, but she is confused, and she is probably in a hurry. Regarding Sixth Brother’s finding a teacher, outsiders are talking about Sang Chongguo and Cheng Yi. We are in the palace, and we don’t know what’s going on, so we want Eleven Niang to give you an idea.” Queen Xiang had obviously asked Qinghe many times, but now he said it as if asking her for the first time, Qinghe naturally understood that this was Queen Xiang trying to save face in front of Concubine Zhu.She raised her head to look at the queen, but she saw that the queen was looking at herself tenderly and considerately, and then at Concubine Zhu, but her eyes were full of anticipation. She lowered her head and pursed her lips, feeling embarrassed.If I had known this earlier, I might as well have told the queen earlier.Qinghe regretted it in his heart, Queen Xiang was still a tight-lipped person, but Concubine Zhu lacked scheming, and couldn't control the people in the palace very well, if she told her, it would inevitably not reach the ears of the queen mother and the emperor Middle——She really doesn't want to get involved in this matter. No one knows what the Empress Dowager thinks, but the emperor has something awkward in his heart, so how can Qinghe not know?However, if he still refused to speak at this time, he might offend not only Concubine Zhu, but also Queen Xiang.In their eyes, how much face is this?Moreover, in the future, when the sixth brother ascends the throne, what will happen to this matter? Qinghe thought about it and knew that he couldn't escape, but he didn't dare to think for too long, he gritted his teeth, put his heart on the line, and didn't care about anything, but smiled and said: "I'm a woman, what kind of knowledge can I have? I'm afraid I'll miss the important matter of the saint and empress." "Just talk about it, what's the big deal?" Concubine Zhu hurriedly said. Qinghe turned his eyes to the queen again, and seeing the queen nod slightly, Fang said again: "Then Yunluo is bold. From Yunluo's point of view, Sang and Cheng are still very good." "Oh?" "According to Yunluo's opinion, there are several advantages to using these two people. First, both of them are professors of Baishuitan College, and they are probably not amateurs in teaching. Sixth brother should have an experienced and knowledgeable teacher to study in the cabinet. Good. Second, I often hear people say that these two people are really the leaders of the world, and they probably have good character. In charge of the "Bianjing News" - the sixth brother is talented, filial and honest, but after all, he is still young, and these benefits are not well known to the soldiers and civilians in the world. It is inevitable that there will be villains who want to say something provocative. The two are teachers, and the master and apprentice get along with each other every day, so if you think about it, the two should not be afraid to promote the virtue of the emperor..." Empress Xiang and Concubine Zhu had never thought of this, but when they remembered what happened not long ago, King Yong's words seemed to imply that the sixth brother had "lost virtue", and the two couldn't help but nodded. Qinghe said again: "The third benefit..." Empress Xiang and Concubine Zhu listened more intently, but Qinghe refused to speak for a while.Wondering to the queen: "What is the third benefit? Why didn't Eleven Niang say it?" Then Qinghe knelt down and said in a low voice: "This, Yunluo really dare not say." "There are no outsiders here. Our sister-in-law is talking gossip, and she is not involved in politics. What dare not say?" Queen Xiang said lightly. But how could this not be meddling in politics? !It's just that Qinghe really has no way out, so he can only bite the bullet and continue: "It's good that the sage knows Yunluo's intentions, otherwise Yunluo's nonsense will really die without a place to bury her. The third advantage is that Sang Chong Guo is not only the son-in-law of the former Wang Xianggong, but also the brother-in-law of Shi Xueshi. I heard that he and Cheng Yi are also valued by the gentlemen of Sima Xianggong. Yan Yu. These two are the masters of the Sixth Brother. Although the name of the Sixth Brother has been determined early, and no one dares to covet it, it is always a good thing. It won't be because of the master that there will be side issues..." Concubine Zhu half-understood Qinghe's words, but Queen Xiang nodded her head in her heart.The two have ties to the three forces of the court, the new, the old, and the stone, but if you think that the two are speaking directly from Zi Shantang, these three parties will gather under the banner of the sixth brother, and the status of the sixth brother will be consolidated from then on, then it is of course extremely Naive idea.But as Qinghe said, at least these two are the teachers of the prince, and the three parties will not find it too difficult to accept.If a person who is obviously biased towards the old party is the prince's teacher, then the new party will naturally have some ideas about the sixth brother's succession; and vice versa.These two people can avoid such disadvantages.Wind and dust sorting and proofreading. With these three reasons, in the opinion of Queen Xiang, they are actually enough.But I heard Qinghe say again: "Furthermore, Sang and Cheng are both commoners. How dare you not be excited by jumping from commoners to become the prince's teacher?" This again speaks directly to people's hearts.Queen Xiang and Concubine Zhu looked at each other, and they both nodded slightly.Empress Xiang and Concubine Zhu still lean towards the old party in terms of political feelings. At this time, I heard Qinghe say that both of them are valued by the gentlemen of Sima Guang, so I don't have any worries.They are different from the Empress Dowager Gao, their main sustenance is on the sixth elder brother Zhao Gong.Now that they have recognized that it is beneficial to Maid Zhao, the two of them made up their minds to try their best to facilitate this matter. And what happened that night made Empress Xiang and Concubine Zhu realize the urgency of choosing a teacher for Maid Zhao as soon as possible.At the beginning of the Hai Dynasty that night, the emperor had already seen the improvement of the wind disease, and suddenly there was a recurrence.

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