Empress Dowager Lu Fengqing slowly turned around, her eyes drooping, staring at Li Yunting's tired and haggard face, and an indescribable complex emotion surged in her heart.
Chang Bao held a whisk in his hand and wiped the chair carefully. Then he carefully helped her sit down and gently waved the whisk to remove the dust around. Such a simple place made him frown.
The reason why the Queen Mother could condescend to come here was simply because the envoys from the Western Rong would be arriving in Beijing soon. Within two days, they would enter the capital in a mighty procession.
His Majesty Li Longze not only received a secret report, but also learned that Nurhadu, the son of the Western Rong Zuoxian King, disguised himself as an entourage of the diplomatic corps and concealed his identity to enter the capital secretly.
There was also an urgent report delivered by express horses from the Western Regions Governor's Office, stating that the purpose of this delegation's visit was to seek a marriage alliance, hoping to marry a royal lady to become the princess of Zuo Xian Wang.
Although all matters of the court are decided by Your Majesty, the details of the marriage are entrusted to the Queen Mother to select the beauty.
Lu Fengqing did not feel too much indignation about the marriage.
The Zhou Dynasty had a hundred-year foundation. In order to stabilize the borders, there were many examples in the past of enfeoffing daughters of royal family members or selecting princesses born to low-ranking concubines to marry into other places.
Recalling the time of Taizu, when the Nine Provinces were just being pacified and the military strength had yet to recover, Taizu adopted the daughter of an important official as his adopted daughter and named her a princess, seeking peace for the country through the policy of marriage.
"I am sent to protect the country, but I don't know where the general is needed." To Lu Fengqing, these verses are just empty words.
Are so many mothers, wives, daughters, their children, husbands, and fathers in the world supposed to sacrifice their lives on the battlefield to protect the wealth and glory of others?
Will you be blamed for not sacrificing your life?
Since you are supported by the world, you should be aware of dedicating yourself to the world.
The same is true for marriages between foreign countries. There is no need to feel too much compassion or complaints.
However, not everyone can understand such a righteousness. Currently, the only women of marriageable age in the royal family are Princess Ning'an, the daughter of Concubine Shu, and Princess Pingde, the second daughter of King Julu.
If we consider the closeness of the relationship, Lu Fengqing would undoubtedly tend to choose Princess Pingde.
After all, King Julu was the cousin of the late emperor. He was mediocre and had many wives and concubines and children.
But fate always seems to catch people off guard. On the night when Princess Julu was summoned to the palace for questioning, the palace caught fire accidentally. Princess Pingde was unfortunately burned, and her cheeks were burned by the fire, disfiguring her appearance.
In this way, the only one left was Princess Ning'an, the daughter of Concubine Shu.
No one knew who leaked the news, but Concubine Shu had only this one daughter. In order to protect Ning'an, she knelt outside Ci'an Palace and tearfully begged Empress Dowager Lu Fengqing to allow Princess Ning'an to become a nun, to live with the ancient Buddha and the green lamp, and to pray for the Great Zhou.
Considering that Prince Zuo Xian was nearly seventy years old and four of his queens had passed away one after another, if Princess Ning'an was allowed to marry into the royal family, it would simply put her in a situation worse than death.
What's more, according to local customs, once Zuo Xian Wang passed away, she had to marry the next Zuo Xian Wang.
Rather than suffering such a fate, choosing to become a nun is undoubtedly a better destination.
Princess Ning'an is the only sister of the current Emperor Li Longze. Compared with Li Yunting, she is the true imperial sister.
When the late emperor was alive, Concubine Shu's status was not high. She was just a talented woman. Her situation was quite similar to Lu Fengqing's. Moreover, because she gave birth to a princess instead of a prince, she was even more insignificant in the harem.
However, she and Lu Fengqing had always had a good relationship. At that time, Princess Ning'an was just a toddler, and Concubine Shu often brought her to Lu Fengqing's palace to play together and share the joy of family.
It was precisely because of this harmonious friendship in the past that after the death of the previous emperor, Lu Fengqing asked her son Li Longze to promote her to one of the four concubines and honor her as Shu Taifei.
This also put Lu Fengqing in a dilemma.
This time, the Western Rong envoys will come to the capital and will take the princess away directly. Therefore, even if they hurriedly look for the daughter of a minister to adopt as their adopted daughter, they will inevitably be discovered.
Of course, this idea has been proposed by others. Some ministers have suggested that the granddaughter of the chief minister Xu Qian, the niece of General Dingyuan, the younger sister of the Minister of Rites, and the eldest daughter of the late Marquis Xingyuan can all be candidates for His Majesty to recognize as sisters.
On weekdays, the relationship in the court is complicated. Civil officials and military generals are not in harmony with each other, and they form cliques for their own interests.
However, this time everyone was surprisingly united, as if they shared a common enemy, and they all accused the minister.
In the end, His Majesty Li Longze had no choice but to order the guards to drag the minister out and give him twenty lashes of the cane as a warning to others.
The debate on the marriage alliance was in full swing in the court, and the ministers all held their own opinions and it was difficult to reach a consensus.
At the same time, the harem was filled with worry, and the empress dowager felt helpless about how to choose the right candidate.
At this critical moment, Eunuch Chang Bao made a unique suggestion to Lu Fengqing.
In the tradition of Xirong, widows who remarry are not discriminated against. What's more, the current queen mother of Xirong resolutely chose to marry her younger brother-in-law in order to consolidate her son's throne.
This move was not only not criticized in the Western Rong, but was instead regarded as a political act.
This suggestion was like a bolt from the blue, making Lu Fengqing suddenly enlightened.
Isn't Li Yunting the right person? She can't stand the life in the cold palace, so why not let her marry into the imperial family and find a new way out for her? It can also be regarded as repaying the kindness of Prince An.
It is rumored that the royal court of Xirong is magnificent. If she could go there, it would be much better than staying in the cold palace for the rest of her life.
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