Defense

All the imperial concubines in the six palaces who gave birth to princes and princesses were given titles, and the mothers' families of the empresses and concubines were all given titles and rewards.

On that day, ladies from all families came to the palace to express their gratitude. Everyone first bowed to Empress Feng in the Central Palace, and then to Concubine Xue in the Chengxiang Palace.

The imperial concubine claimed to be ill and did not see officials, ladies-in-waiting, concubines and relatives.

There was no need to pay a visit to Chengxiang Palace, so the ladies felt relieved and bid farewell to the Empress and went to pay their respects to their own imperial concubines.

The elder sister of Concubine Tong Shu was specially granted the title of Lady of Shu by the Queen, and the elder brother of Concubine Tong Shu was awarded the title of Earl by the Saint.

The three sisters-in-law of the Tong family sat together. The wife of the Shu Kingdom was uneasy, the wife of the Earl looked sad, and the Concubine Shu did not look happy either.

The three brothers and sisters were cautious and righteous in nature, and they felt unworthy of receiving the title without any merit.

The Tong family is conservative and timid, which the Li family cannot stand.

Princess Huayang dropped her gold hairpin and red hairpin and said with a smile, "Even a lowly earl needs to be cautious day and night? Tomorrow I will ask my father to reward my uncle with half a duke and my cousin with half a prime minister. Mother, please don't say any more discouraging words, or your aunt and uncle will cry again..."

Princess Huayang spoke nonsense.

When Concubine Shu, Madam, and Ladies were sitting around crying, I was taking a nap in Lizheng Hall.

That evening, it was just getting dark.

The Music Department and its entourage were all in the Queen's palace, playing the piano and enjoying the moonlight. Eunuch Dong, under the Queen's order, called me to go to the Lizheng Palace to enjoy the music.

I left with great enthusiasm and left with a sad face.

The palace maids brewed tea, the eunuch ground ink, the female official held the ruler, the musicians held the flute and the zither player played music, the queen rolled up the poems and books, and the four treasures were complete on the desk.

I have no knowledge of the Four Books and Five Classics. I only love the poems and essays of Li Hanlin and Wang Youcheng. I know every piece of them by heart, but I cannot recognize a single word of them.

The Queen used music to host banquets to lure me in, and used famous essays to coax me into learning more words.

The Empress Dowager taught me personally, so I dared not disobey and practiced pretending to be obedient.

After several cups of tea, I just learned two words, and the saint came in anger.

"Guo, Guo, Guo..."

The saint cursed.

From Chengxiang Hall to Lizheng Hall, the name of the Guo family as a criminal clan resounded throughout the Taiji Palace.

The six palace ladies knelt down, both men and women, for they were afraid of the emperor's wrath.

The palace maids knelt down, the female officials withdrew from the hall, and the zither player was about to leave with his zither...

The musician took a few steps, and the sage said, "Leave the zither behind."

I wanted to take advantage of the chaos and leave, but His Majesty said with great authority, "Cat slave, practice your calligraphy, don't stop!"

I dare not disobey the order of the saint. I will surrender immediately and will not stop.

That day, the sage was very angry and Empress Feng played music. I actually learned a few more words amid the anger and music.

After the king proclaimed himself emperor, he often stayed alone in the Yongle Palace or the Lizheng Palace.

One day, the emperor heard that the imperial concubine was ill, so he went to Chengxiang Palace to visit her in person. Unexpectedly, the imperial concubine claimed to be ill and used her illness as an excuse to ask for titles and official positions for her brother, sons and nephews.

During the day, families came to pay their respects, and the imperial concubine felt resentful.

The entire Tong family received gifts and rewards. Concubine Xu De's two nephews joined the army, one accompanying the emperor, the other accompanying the Crown Prince. Concubine Zhang Xian's uncle was promoted to the position of Shangshu Youcheng (Right Chancellor). Concubine Yue Zhaoyi's grandfather, Concubine Chen Xiuyi's father, and their nephews were all admitted to the Hongwen Academy or the Chongwen Academy, all receiving gifts and rewards...

The sage did not remember the Feng family's mistake of surrendering to the enemy when they were in danger, and wanted to give the Feng family high officials and titles. Queen Feng cried to stop him, and refused to allow His Majesty to bestow rewards on her mother's family, the Feng family.

The sage added, "The Empress's brother and the Prince's uncle deserve to be rewarded, and they deserve great rewards."

The Queen wept and said bluntly, "That Feng Erlang and I are not born of the same mother. In the past, my brother dared not acknowledge me, so why should I acknowledge him now? He has already expelled me from the Feng family. I am a woman of the Li family, not a descendant of the Feng family. How can I have any biological brother? The Crown Prince does not need such a cowardly uncle!"

The queen refused, and the emperor had no choice but to comply.

The imperial concubine lost her child due to a miscarriage caused by Guo. The emperor took pity on the Xue family and gave them a mansion, fertile land, gold, silver and servants. However, the Xue family still felt that it was not enough, and the imperial concubine also thought so.

Who in the harem can bear the bad reputation of Concubine Guo?

That night, Princess Jinyang, Princess Huaiyang, Prince Rong, Prince Liang, and Prince Rui knelt outside Lizheng Hall and pleaded for their mother.

The next morning, Prince Qi and Prince Ning of Yongfufang entered the palace and pleaded for their mother together.

The imperial concubine has many children, and the Li family's throne is like the Xue family's. How can the saint not be wary?

Li Er and Li Si entered the Taiji Palace, but I entered the East Palace.

The crown prince summoned me to the East Palace to receive instructions.

Every word Princess Huayang said was written down by the female official of the Siyansi.

The princess' words and deeds were inappropriate, and I am guilty as well. Huayang refused to enter the Eastern Palace to listen to the prince's instructions, and I am not the princess, so I was the only one left to enter the Eastern Palace to listen to the reprimand.

The officials in the East Palace are busy with government affairs. Not to mention scolding me, they don't even have time to look at me.

However, Eunuch Zhu, who was beside the crown prince, was really favored. He made tea, ground ink, and sewed clothes for the prince... These were the chores that the palace maids in the East Palace did, but Eunuch Zhu was too lazy to do them all and pushed them all to me. I didn't dare to offend Eunuch Zhu, so I had to do them one by one.

After I left the Eastern Palace, Princess Huayang asked me, "Did my elder brother scold me?"

If the princess continues to behave inappropriately, I will have to go to the Eastern Palace and be bullied by the eunuch. I don't want to see the eunuchs in the Eastern Palace, and I don't want to see the powerful eunuchs in the Eastern Palace.

Huayang asked me, but I didn't say anything. I just shed two tears in front of the palace maids. When the princess saw my tears, she became cautious in her words and actions for many years after that.

The Xue family had no official position or title, so they wanted to be royal relatives for a long time.

The sage pardoned Chengxiang Palace, but the imperial concubine wanted to let the Xue family marry a princess. The Xue family was of low status, and the imperial concubine's own daughter, Princess Huaiyang, was not satisfactory. The sage was even more unwilling, so he evaded the issue by saying that the descendants of meritorious officials and court officials were as numerous as the stars in the sea, and the princes and princesses could not distribute the rewards to them all.

In front of the Empress, the Saint had another set of rhetoric, "The Imperial Concubine refused to allow the daughter of the Xue family to marry into the royal palace as the principal wife. She looked down on the Xue family's common people. Instead, she used her own children, Jinyang and Huaiyang, to serve as the Xue family's door lintel. The prince is a son, but the princess is not? She only wants the throne of the Li family and wants to add to the reputation of the Xue family. She is indeed a dancing girl. She is not capable of taking charge of the family. I am giving her too much!"

In addition to the Xue family, the Feng family also wanted to marry a princess. The Feng family boasted of their noble family background and asked to enter the palace. They either wanted to marry the eldest princess Huayang, or the legitimate princess Leyang, or the favored daughter of the imperial concubine Jinyang, or the talented and virtuous princess Liyang.

The Queen disliked the Feng family's low status and questionable character, and feared that they would be disrespectful to her Majesty, so she refused to allow any of the royal family's daughters to marry her, let alone the royal princess.

Empress Feng did not allow the Feng family to marry a princess, so she simply sent four eunuchs to slap the emperor's brother-in-law and his wife several times.

One day, Princess Danyang came to me and asked me about her marriage hesitantly. She didn't want to marry into the Xue family, and even less did she want to marry into the Feng family.

The princess's mother died early, and she had no sisters or brothers, so she was raised by the concubine in the palace. Unlike Princess Liyang, she was not talented, well-known for her virtue, and deeply loved by the emperor and empress.

The Saint Queen carefully selected and chose the Liu family as the princess's husband. The descendants of the Liu family are outstanding in appearance, and the husband has both family background and literary talent and good character. There is no point in saying more. I can only say that the Saint Queen has always been wise and the princess will get what she wants.