In the bridal chamber, Xiao Minghuan pulled Wan Qiuyu into his arms, caressing her soft and fair cheeks and holding her waist.
After the two of them whispered to each other for a while, Xiao Minghuan asked, "In your dream, was your sixth brother sitting on the throne?"
Wan Qiuyu shook her head. "My dream wasn't that detailed. When it ended, the Wei Dynasty was plunged into chaos. Although His Majesty had appointed the Sixth Prince as Crown Prince, he hadn't yet ascended the throne."
"A melee?" Xiao Minghuan asked, "Is there a rebellion?"
Wan Qiuyu nodded, "First it was Prince Guangling, then Prince Su."
Xiao Minghuan looked shocked. He never expected to hear this.
In his eyes, the Wei Kingdom was peaceful and prosperous.
Prince Guangling was not a man of great talent or strategy.
As for Prince Su, he has been guarding the northern border and has always been law-abiding. As for the relationship between the current Prince Su and Your Majesty, Prince Su is Your Majesty's cousin. Because the previous Prince Su had made military achievements, the current Prince Su was not demoted when he succeeded to the throne.
According to the Wei Dynasty's system of succession to vassal kings, if a vassal king did not make significant contributions to the country, the title would be demoted when the crown prince inherited it.
This law was also intended to control the excessive power of the vassal kings, which would threaten the imperial power and create a situation like in the previous dynasty where the vassal states were powerful and divided, threatening the central government.
The lineage of Prince Su was considered a promising vassal king in the Wei Dynasty, at least the second generation did not have its title demoted.
"I mentioned these two rebellions to remind Your Highness that Prince Guangling will surely fail. Your Highness can participate in suppressing the rebellion and gain military merit to build up reputation. Prince Su is powerful, and in my dream, Prince Shun died in a rebellion in the north."
Xiao Minghuan received too much information at once and was unable to cope with it.
Wan Qiuyu continued to work hard to demonstrate his talent. "Your Majesty truly loves Consort Lai, which is why he intends to appoint the Sixth Prince as the crown prince. Your Highness can spread the news to Prince An and Prince Shun, letting them fight each other, and Your Highness can reap the benefits."
Xiao Minghuan really looked up to Wan Qiuyu.
His current power was not as great as that of Prince Shun and Prince An, and the strategy he and his staff had devised was not to be revealed at this stage, waiting for the outcome of the fight between Prince An and Prince Shun. Now, the Sixth Prince had been added to his sights.
His good father was really scheming. No wonder he gave the daughter of the Marquis of Wuning to his sixth brother as his principal wife.
Marquis Wuning was a loyal royalist and he should have thought of this when he granted the marriage.
The night was dark. Xiao Minghuan picked up Wan Qiuyu and walked towards the wedding couch.
"Your Highness, I have something else to say. It's about Concubine Wan and Princess Anyang."
Xiao Minghuan said "Oh?" and put the man on the couch, "Go ahead."
Wan Qiuyu put his arms around his neck and whispered something in his ear. Xiao Minghuan widened his eyes in shock again.
"What about Anyang?"
Wan Qiuyu laughed sweetly, "I'd like to offer your Highness an idea. Princess Anyang is nominally your sister from the same mother. Your Highness might as well use her marriage to gather power and use it for your own benefit."
Xiao Minghuan said: "Speaking of candidates, I actually have one."
Wan Qiuyu knew who she was talking about: Chen Congbai, the only son of the declining Ningyuan Earl's Mansion.
Although it was a declining earl's mansion with only an empty title, the Ningyuan Earl's family had money and did a lot of business in the southwest. They were considered one of the richest families in Beijing.
In her previous life, Princess Anyang's husband was Chen Congbai, the only son of Earl Ningyuan. However, the two later divorced. Princess Anyang remarried and went to Beirong, where she contributed to Wan Jinlan's control of the government.
Wan Qiuyu wished she could tell Xiao Minghuan everything she had experienced in her past life today, so that he would feel that taking her into the mansion was definitely the right decision.
Recently, the mansion has been very lively because of Wan Muxing's marriage, and Shen Qing is in high spirits every day.
Wan Muxing came back a few days before his wedding. Three days after the wedding banquet, he and Pei returned home. After a few days, he took his wife Pei to the southwest.
Although Wan Muxing had honeymoon leave, it took nearly twenty days to travel back and forth from the southwest. The honeymoon leave was not enough and she had to ask for leave again, so she had to rush back in a hurry.
Wan Jinlan didn't even say a few words to his elder brother and sister-in-law before they left.
A few days later, the long-delayed appointment letter arrived, and Wan Zhijing was demoted to Xuzhou as a seventh-rank official. Meanwhile, Fang Xiu, the top scholar, was demoted to Luoyi.
My family was worried about me being demoted, so they set the wedding date in July. Now it’s still in time for me to take up the new post after the wedding.
The salt corruption case was also coming to an end, and King Qi Xiao Feng, who had been in Yangzhou for more than half a year, returned to Beijing to report on his work.
Wan Jinlan knew that he was back because two buckets of fresh long fish were sent to his house, which were brought back by Xiao Feng from Yangzhou.
In the past few months, Wan Jinlan would occasionally think of him and imagine the days in Prince Qi's Mansion after their marriage. The two of them could play the piano together, and she might even go with him when he went to the local area on business.
On this day, the Queen Mother ordered her to come to the palace for an audience.
As the saying goes, "first time is stranger, second time is familiar." This was not the first time that the Empress Dowager summoned her to the palace. Although she might meet the Empress every time she entered the palace, most of the time she was very happy in Ci'an Palace.
The sun is shining brightly, the sky is clear and blue, with occasional birds flying across the sky. This summer is particularly hot, and the cicadas in the trees are chirping again and again, sounding listless.
Wan Jinlan was wearing a light green wide-sleeved gauze dress embroidered with magnolia flowers. The material was very thin, and the color was light and pale, not heavy at all. It looked light and transparent, and had a soft luster in the sunlight.
The material was awarded by the Empress Dowager some time ago. I heard that there were only ten pieces in the palace, usually given by the Emperor as rewards to concubines. This year, she got two pieces.
"Miss Wan, the weather is hot, so the Empress Dowager has specially allowed you to ride in a sedan chair." The nanny who came to pick her up from Ci'an Palace said with a smile.
Wan Jinlan smiled and said, "Once we enter Ci'an Palace, I will have to thank the Empress Dowager."
The palace road is so long. Although it is not noon yet, I will sweat after walking for a long time. It is always uncomfortable to have a sticky body.
There were quite a lot of people in Ci'an Palace at this time, including the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, the Empress, Concubine Wan, and a concubine who looked as pure as a lily. She was wearing a light apricot palace dress and had a gentle fallen horse bun. She didn't have many jewelry on her, but she had a simple and elegant feeling.
She had seen this palace concubine before, she was Consort Lai.
There were also Princess Anyang, the Eighth Princess, and the Sixth Prince, who looked a little frail and had injuries on his face, sitting in the hall.
The atmosphere was a bit weird. The Queen looked unhappy, and Concubine Lai had red eyes and lowered her head slightly.
After the greetings, she sat in the empty seat next to Anyang.
After listening for a while, I finally understood what was going on in Ci'an Palace.
The Sixth Prince is about to set up a palace. Yesterday, he went out of the palace to see the renovation of the palace. On the way, he met a drunk boy from the Wang family. The Sixth Prince had an argument with the boy and was later beaten by the arrogant boy.
This is the first time in this dynasty that a minister's son beats a prince.
Lai Zhaoyi no longer had much presence in the palace, but she couldn't let her son suffer such a big loss. On the one hand, she felt heartbroken, and on the other hand, the Sixth Prince would be laughed at in the future.
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