Chapter 054

Since Kong Lihui followed Jiashan's path and Jiashan discussed the matter in detail with Emperor Zhanghe, the existence of Kong Lihui became a "secret" known to everyone in the palace.

At first, Shuxian had a quarrel with Concubine Zhuang over this matter.

Since Zhanyue and Jiashan's marriage was settled, Shuxian's temper has improved a little. Perhaps it was because she had lived too smoothly in the past, and now she suddenly suffered a setback, which had an unexpected effect.

However, her brains and plans are worthless in front of someone who can really fight.

During this time, the palace was full of rumors about Zhao Youze's eye problem. It seemed that he would be able to see again soon, and after seeing again, he would be made the crown prince.

Shuxian originally didn't think it was a big deal. The blind man had been blind for so many years. If he could really be cured, would her father have allowed him to remain blind until now?

But slowly, the rumors became more and more powerful, forcing Shuxian to face up to them. It seems that the saying "three people make a tiger" is true.

That afternoon, Shuxian and Hui'an were doing embroidery with Concubine Zhuang in Chengqian Palace, and Shuxian expressed her opinion with a little worry. Seeing that there were no outsiders around, she spoke in a neither low nor high tone, and even though she restrained her original domineering tone, there was still a sense of arrogance and coquettishness in her tone.

"Mother, have you heard about the rumors in the palace?" Shuxian pursed her lips and frowned, "It was fine at first, but these days, the rumors spread more and more outrageously, and I'm really upset. Father is worried about my brother's marriage recently, so how can any good family dare to marry us at this time?"

"Zhao Youze is already twelve years old this year. Even if he saw it, what can he do? Father has never given birth to a child—"

"Royal sister."

"Shuxian!"

Hearing that Shuxian was becoming more and more unreliable, Hui'an and Concubine Zhuang spoke up to stop her at the same time. Concubine Zhuang glanced at her and frowned slightly.

"Be careful with your words." Concubine Zhuang scolded unhappily, "I thought you would be more stable after what you've experienced. Why are you still so reckless? Can you say such nonsense just because you want to?"

Everyone understood the implication of Shuxian's words, which was that "the emperor had never thought of making Zhao Youze the crown prince." Even if this possibility existed in the past, at this critical juncture, no bad news could leak out of Chengqian Palace.

There were so many eyes in the harem. Even if Concubine Zhuang really hoped that Zhao Youze would never see her again, she still kept her face and often went to Changle Palace to greet him.

Not to mention those malicious and hurtful words.

Hui'an is four years younger than Shuxian. She is the same age as Princess Qinghe, the daughter of Concubine Jing, and is eleven this year. She is the youngest daughter of Concubine Zhuang. Because of Shuxian, Concubine Zhuang disciplined Hui'an a lot when she was growing up, fearing that this child would grow up to be a reckless person who could not distinguish the importance of things.

So even though she is young, she seems calmer and more sensible than Shuxian.

Hui An smiled and said, "My sister is about to get married, so just wait for her wedding with peace of mind. I'm sure my mother has an idea about this matter."

When Hui'an was born, the empress had already passed away in the palace. Although Concubine Zhuang had the upper hand among the concubines that year, Emperor Zhanghe still showed extra care to Jiashan, who had lost her mother at a young age, among all the princes and princesses.

People are always greedy. Even if the queen is gone, the blood she left behind can still take root and sprout. Seeing Jiashan was so favored, Concubine Zhuang took notice of him and specially taught Hui'an to be elegant and knowledgeable. It was almost the same model that Empress Pei taught Jiashan when he was a child.

The intention was to divert some of the emperor's attention away from Jiashan.

This method can be considered successful if you say it is successful, but it can also be considered unsuccessful if you say it is unsuccessful.

At least, the emperor's attitude towards Hui'an would not be as intriguing as his attitude towards Shuxian. However, Hui'an's popularity in the eyes of Emperor Zhanghe was not as high as Jiashan's, and could only be ranked with Qinghe.

Concubine Zhuang had two daughters. Shuxian was similar to her in appearance but not in spirit. Hui'an was taught by her and should have been more like Concubine Zhuang. But I don't know if it was because of her method or because Hui'an read too much since she was young, she is not very similar to Concubine Zhuang.

Her personality was somewhat similar to that of Concubine Jing or the early deceased Empress Pei. For this reason, even though Hui'an was younger and Shuxian was more arrogant than Hui'an, Concubine Zhuang always kept her eyes on Shuxian longer.

After growing up in Hui'an, the time mother and daughter spent together was far less than when they were children.

When Hui'an spoke just now, Concubine Zhuang even thought that Concubine Jing was chatting with her, and she couldn't help but pursed her lips tightly.

She said calmly, "Your sister is right."

"Just take care of yourself and don't worry about other things." Concubine Zhuang said patiently.

Shuxian glanced at Hui'an uncomfortably, then looked at Concubine Zhuang stiffly. She bit her lip and said, "I am also worried about my brother."

"Mother, has my brother's marriage been arranged now?" Shuxian asked.

Hearing this, Concubine Zhuang's eyes flickered and her face turned unusually pale. In fact, Concubine Zhuang's face has not been very good since Jiashan and Zhan Yue got married.

Although Shuxian was not very smart, she was right in saying one thing: Zhao Youze's eyes did cause some trouble in the aristocratic circles in Beijing.

Zhao Youcheng originally had a bright future and was almost certain to become the crown prince in the future. Many noble ladies were vying to marry him, but it was too late.

But ever since the news about Doctor Kong came out, those who had originally lined up in good order began to hesitate, looking back at the east wind when it came and looking back at the west wind when it came.

Speaking of which, your majesty is now in his prime, and the princes are also at a stage of neither too young nor too young. Zhao Youcheng is fifteen, and Zhao Youze is twelve. If Zhao Youze can really recover, and your majesty is willing to cultivate him, nothing is impossible.

Emperor Zhanghe himself was made crown prince when he was about to reach adulthood.

What's more, the two princes have not even married yet.

As more and more people think this way, more and more people will inevitably wait and see.

What's worse is that the ministers hesitated and stopped. Once the imperial edict was issued, it had to be carried out even if it was against their will. Only a few extremely blind people would disobey the order.

The real trouble right now is that the emperor has taken some kind of drug that has made him hesitate.

Emperor Zhanghe felt that if the wife chosen for Zhao Youcheng had too high a family background, how would Zhao Youze deal with it when he got married in the future?

He originally planned to marry Shouning Marquis's daughter Wei to Zhao Youcheng. Shouning Marquis was old, and although his official position was not the highest, he had a very promising son who was now working as a transport envoy in the Salt Transport Department.

Salt transportation has been the economic lifeline of the country since ancient times, and the post of salt transport envoy is a very lucrative one. "Three years as a clean magistrate, 100,000 silver dollars" is probably a description of this kind of official position.

Although Concubine Zhuang hoped that Zhao Youcheng's marriage would be related to a military general's family, Wei An, the son of Marquis Shouning, had been re-elected as the transport commissioner of the Salt Transport Department for two consecutive terms. From this alone, it can be seen that he must be a trusted and beloved general of Emperor Zhanghe.

Apart from other things, if they could marry into the Shouning Marquis's Mansion, it would show the world an attitude - the emperor loves the eldest prince very much. Otherwise, how could the eldest prince's uncle continue to enjoy the emperor's favor in the salt tax?

Moreover, if Wei An can be re-elected in the salt class, he must not be an incompetent person. With such people helping them, Concubine Zhuang and Zhao Youcheng will feel more confident.

So when Emperor Zhanghe brought up this, Concubine Zhuang responded with a smile.

Unexpectedly, within two days, Emperor Zhanghe came to Chengqian Palace again. At that time, the decree had not been issued yet, and Marquis Shouning had not received any definite news. It was just that Concubine Zhuang invited the wife of Marquis Shouning and his daughter to the palace and took a look secretly.

Everything is calm and peaceful.

This time, Emperor Zhanghe said, "After I told you that day, I thought about it. The daughter of the Marquis of Shouning is only thirteen this year. If Youcheng wants to marry her, he will have to wait for two years. I think I have wronged Youcheng a little."

He looked at Concubine Zhuang meaningfully.

Concubine Zhuang had been with Emperor Zhanghe for more than ten years. She knew what the emperor was thinking. She knew that he felt that this marriage was inappropriate and was looking for excuses from her.

The corners of her mouth froze, and she replied, "Then, what do you think, Your Majesty?"

"The eldest daughter of Marquis Pingyang, or the granddaughter of Duke Weiguo," Emperor Zhanghe said as soon as he made the decision to change the bride. "These two will be married next year, and they will be a good match for Youcheng."

Concubine Zhuang straightened her expression and began to analyze the two candidates mentioned by Emperor Zhang He.

Zhao Youcheng and Shuxian are now of marriageable age, and Concubine Zhuang has been paying attention to the famous families in the capital in recent years. When she heard Emperor Zhanghe mention it, she quickly began to screen in her mind.

The Duke of Wei and the Duke of An were both members of the family that had made contributions to the founding of the country, and the Duke's family had been passed down for several generations. However, among the younger generation of the Duke of An, there was an outstanding Zhan Yue, while the most outstanding descendants of the Duke of Wei were only employed in the Honglu Temple.

The Honglu Temple was responsible for the imperial court meetings and the tributes from the four barbarians. Although it was a central department, it was of little use to her.

Pingyang Hou is a man of some dignity. He was the governor of Zhejiang and Fujian during the reign of the previous emperor. He was transferred back to Beijing a few years ago and now works in the Dali Temple. But he is also old and will retire in a few years.

As for the younger generation, some served as deputy envoys to Guangdong and Guangxi, but Guangdong and Guangxi were so far away from the capital that if something happened, they would be out of reach.

With Wei An, the Salt Transport Bureau's fortune-changing envoy, as an example, Concubine Zhuang was not very satisfied with either of the two candidates.

But she still smiled and said, "I think both of these ladies are good. I'm afraid you're overwhelmed by the choice. Your Majesty should decide."

As an emperor, Zhanghe felt a little ashamed for changing his mind so suddenly, so he said, "This winter is long, and the plum blossoms in the palace are in full bloom. You can use this as an excuse to summon them to the palace to see them."

Concubine Zhuang responded: "Yes."

She agreed, but of course she had other thoughts in mind. If we were to invite ladies from outside the palace to come to the palace to see the plum blossoms, we couldn't just invite the Marquis of Pingyang and the Duke of Wei, right?

The palace is such a big place, it would be too petty to only invite the two of them.

Neither Zhang nor Emperor would allow her to do such a thing.

Concubine Zhuang wanted to take this opportunity to see more of the noble ladies in the capital, and to take a step further with the ladies of the court. She also wanted to let those who couldn't stand on the same side see -

Zhao Youze hasn't seen it yet, and none of the former and harem emperors have his last name. You guys should not be so timid and afraid to act at the first sign of trouble!

What Concubine Zhuang could not have imagined was that the eunuch came to announce the good news, which happened to be on this day and arrived in Chengqian Palace in a grand manner.