In the Tai Chi Palace.

Zhao Jie had not been able to properly handle state affairs the whole day. It was not until he went to have dinner with Queen Mother Zhou in the evening that Zhao Jie put aside the distracting thoughts lingering in his mind.

Queen Mother Zhou picked up some food for Zhao Jie and said, "Jie'er, this is your favorite. Eat more. I heard that the Regent King found portraits of more than a dozen girls for you to choose a queen from. Have you chosen one?"

Zhao Jie said: "The child has already refused."

Queen Mother Zhou nodded and said, "You have rejected the offer well. It is obvious that the Regent has bad intentions. You must choose the queen yourself! You cannot follow the arrangements of the Lu and Qi families. They may want to support someone from the Qi family as the queen so that they can establish a puppet in the future."

I heard from your second cousin that her brother-in-law has a niece who is extremely beautiful and most importantly, of noble status. She is the eldest daughter of the Chu family. She is exactly fourteen this year and will be the queen..."

Zhao Jie frowned slightly and said, "Mother, I refused because I am still young, not because I think my cousin has bad intentions."

Queen Mother Zhou said, "Why don't you understand, kid? Do you think Lu Ze would be so kind as to let you rule the country? He has held the power of the country for nearly ten years. Will he let it go easily? He just wants to use your harem.

I heard that Chu Chi, the new maid in the harem, is a maid from Prince Qi's mansion. Don't you understand? They want to control your future harem too!"

Zhao Jie just frowned and said, "Mother, you worry too much."

Queen Mother Zhou sighed, "Ah, you should be more careful."

On the way back to Taiji Hall, Zhao Jie happened to meet Chu Chi who came to give Chu Qing a sachet. The wind was still cold on the second night of February. Chu Chi was still wearing the thin long gown he wore when he was out for a walk during the day.

Zhao Jie took off his cloak and walked forward to put it on Chu Chi.

Chu Chi was startled. She turned around and looked up, only to see Zhao Jie. Zhao Jie, who was several years younger than her, was already half a head taller than her.

"His Majesty."

Zhao Jie said: "It's cold, be careful not to catch a cold."

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I will take my leave now."

After Chu Chi returned the cloak to Zhao Jie, he took it off again.

Zhao Jie entered the Taiji Palace and smelled the faint peony fragrance on the cloak. In his dream at night, he seemed to have entered a field of peony flowers, and the peony in the middle transformed into the appearance of Chu Chi.

Zhao Jie instinctively went over and lowered his head to inhale the scent of the peony flowers...

Under the blue sky, there was a cluster of peonies, the fragrance was fragrant, Chu Chi's eyebrows and eyes gradually became blurred among the peonies...

When Zhao Jie woke up early in the morning, his brows were tightly furrowed.

The palace maid who came to make Zhao Jie's bed saw the marks on the bed and happily went to report to Queen Dowager Zhou.

Queen Mother Zhou heard this and said, "This child still says he is young. Now that it has come to this, it is time to find a queen to marry, so that he can rule the country as soon as possible."

…

The end of February was Lu Ze’s 30th birthday, so he took three days off to have a good vacation.

Qi Yuning was brought to the Shengjing manor, but she did not bring her two children with her. However, she had the most satisfying birthday there.

On a spring night, Qi Yuning and Lu Ze lay in the courtyard of the manor, looking at the setting sun. Beside them was a peach tree in full bloom. It was a rare opportunity to watch the clouds roll by, and Qi Yuning felt very comfortable.

Lu Ze stroked Qi Yuning's hair and said, "It's been a long time since I felt so peaceful. I really hope Zhao Jie can get married soon so I can spend more time with you and the children."

Qi Yuning said: "Zhao Jie is only fourteen, it is a little early for him to get married now, but he should get married when he is sixteen or seventeen, but I don't know what it will be like when he takes power.

Now I think the Zhou family is tied to the same boat with those noble families. The Shen, Ning, Yang and Chu families are intermarrying with each other, and they are already a connected thread. I also heard that the eldest daughter of the Chu family is well-known for her virtues in the Jiangnan area, and her reputation in Jiangnan has spread to Shengjing City.

Queen Mother Zhou also praised this Miss Zhou a few days ago, but she is not here just to gain fame. I think she is heading for the position of Queen."

Lu Ze held Qi Yuning's hand and said, "It's a rare two days of relaxation. Let's not talk about business."

Qi Yuning looked at Lu Ze and said, "It's not all business. Jie'er is also a child we have watched grow up."

Lu Ze said: "Let's take it one step at a time. We just need to have a clear conscience."

Qi Yuning looked at Lu Ze and said, "So, you really don't want to cling to the power of ruling the world for a few more years?"

Lu Ze chuckled and said, "Who doesn't like the feeling of power? But power is also a hot potato."

Qi Yuning said: "I don't know who His Majesty will choose as the queen. If he really chooses the one from the Chu family as the queen, oh well."

After Qi Yuning and Lu Ze left their two children behind and returned to the princess's mansion, Lingling was angry for several days.

It took Lu Ze and Qi Yuning several days to coax her into submission. Little Zhixiu was not angry at all, and seemed not to care whether his parents were with him or not.

Qi Yuning has never felt the feeling of being clingy when she is with her son. Instead, she misses Lingling when she was three years old. She would stick to her side every day and call her "Mom" and "Dear me", which was much cuter than her son.

In March, it was the first birthday party for Qi Yuning's niece. It was a big happy event for the Qi family to have a daughter again after 27 years, and the grandness of the party was no less than Lingling's.

Qi Yuning arrived at the Prince Qi's mansion next door early in the morning to help hold her little niece.

Qi Yuning liked her little niece very much. Seeing her soft and cute appearance, Qi Yuning had the idea of ​​giving Lingling a younger sister, but after thinking about it, she gave up.

Although the child is cute, she really doesn't want to suffer again.

When the auspicious time came for the one-year-old celebration, Qi Yuning put his little niece down. The little niece grabbed a handful of swords, which made Qi Yu'an extremely happy.

The Qi family naturally hopes that the Qi family army will have successors.

Lingling asked Qi Yuning, "Mom, what did I get when I was a kid?"

Qi Yuning thought of Lingling's one-year-old celebration and smiled, "It's better not to mention it. You won't want to know."

"What did I catch?"

Qi Zhiyuan covered his face and laughed, "You grabbed the steamed buns that other people had eaten. You snatched them away."

"Ah?" Lingling blushed immediately, "That must be because I was young and ignorant when I was little."

Qi Yuning smiled faintly: "You are still a child now."

Lingling waved her hands and said, "I'm almost eight years old now, I'm not a kid anymore. I'll be a marriageable girl in seven years. These seven years will pass in the blink of an eye. It will be very quick."

Qi Yuning looked at Lingling and saw that she was already as tall as her waist. She thought that growing up only took a moment. After all, Zhao Jie was almost as tall as Lu Ze now.

Thinking about it this way, Qi Yuning actually hoped that Lingling could grow up slower.

As spring passed and autumn came, a major event occurred in the court: the right prime minister died of a sudden illness. Lu Ze originally wanted to choose between Lin Jiang and Qian Yun to succeed him.

However, Zhao Jie proposed to Lu Ze to appoint Gu Wei as the right prime minister. Gu Wei was the governor of Jiangnan who succeeded the old man of the Zhou family. He had been in office for three years and had indeed made many achievements.

Lu Ze did not refuse, but it was not until Gu Wei came to Beijing that Qi Yuning found out about Gu Wei's background.

"This Gu Wei was promoted by Chu Yan. He is actually a member of the Chu family. Little Zhao Jie doesn't really want to repay kindness with enmity, does he? Or does he want to use the power of the Chu family to suppress us? To balance the relationship in the court?"

After hearing about Gu Wei's background, Lu Ze said, "The Chu family has really put a lot of thought into this. Chu Yan really can't be underestimated. Chu Yan is not the eldest son of the Chu family. In this family that values ​​the eldest branch and the eldest son, he is the fifth son. To be able to become the head of the Chu family, he must have extraordinary means."

Qi Yuning looked at Lu Ze worriedly and said, "You have to be more careful with him."

Lu Ze said: "Okay." (End of this chapter)