There once was a Du family in the capital. During the previous dynasty, they had three queens, making them the most noble clan except for the royal family.
Until the last emperor of the previous dynasty was overthrown by the Li clan due to his excessive debauchery, the Du family was implicated and was forced to be cautious in the capital, facing repeated oppression. The Du family was a family of scholars and a prestigious family. In order to protect the future of the Du family, Mr. Du gave up his inheritance in the capital and took the Du family away from the capital, away from the troubles.
This was indeed their best option at the time.
But some people are still wary of them.
The old emperor spared the Du family, but when the new emperor came to power, he began to be wary and suspicious of the Du family.
At that time, the Du family had only one daughter of marriageable age, Du Yueting. Du Yueting was intelligent, well-educated, and strikingly beautiful from a young age. Before her coming of age at fifteen, she was a carefree young lady of the Du family, doted on by her parents and relatives.
Everyone was wondering whether such a sensible woman like her would become the next queen?
But everyone guessed wrong.
The dog emperor did not choose to take a concubine to win over the Du family, but now forced the then-different Wang Qiao Shen to marry her.
The imperial edict came upon both families so suddenly, breaking up the two marriages that were originally meant to be.
Du Yueting had a childhood sweetheart, a student of her father's who had entered the Imperial Academy at a young age. Their feelings were born of affection, but they remained within the bounds of propriety. Their mutual affections were clear, and the only thing missing was a proposal of marriage.
But the dog emperor's edict came too quickly, catching them off guard.
When Du Yueting was young, although she was born into a scholarly family and was gentle and virtuous, she was unusually "rebellious" when faced with these things.
She had cried and fought over it before. This gentle young lady, raised in a prestigious family, had also fought hysterically for love, accusing fate of being unfair...
But no one could help her...
The mother hugged her helplessly and cried bitterly. They were also helpless and could only watch their daughter cry like a tearful person and see her torturing herself until she became much thinner.
Du Yueting made a fuss for a while, but finally accepted the fact.
All of this is just the emperor's way of controlling the Du family.
As a subject, who can resist?
For the first time, her father had a long talk with her all night long, telling her about the complicated relationship between the royal family and Prince Qiao's Mansion.
Prince Qiao was the late emperor's brother, sharing life and death with him. He had accompanied him step by step as he conquered the capital and established a new dynasty. However, after achieving his goal, the late emperor began to fear Prince Qiao. Every night, the old emperor would wake up in his dreams and deeply regret that he had been so hot-headed and thoughtless in making him a king of a different surname.
Once the seeds of doubt are planted, they will take root and sprout in the heart. When the old emperor reached his twilight years, he often suspected the intentions of the Qiao family. Even those in the harem knew the emperor's attitude towards the Qiao Palace and were very wary of it.
When it comes to the Dog Emperor, this fear and suspicion becomes even stronger.
The arranged marriage between the Qiao and Du families was a deliberate scheme on his part to kill three birds with one stone.
First, the two families were one civil and one military, and the more they were placed in the open, the less they dared to act rashly. This was just the emperor's trick of flattery.
Second, it was a show of force. The Du family secretly investigated Qiao Shen's situation, and the arranged marriage by the "dog emperor" was intended to inflict hatred on the Qiao family. It was widely known at the time that the emperor, out of gratitude for the recent demise of his brother, had arranged the marriage between him and Du Yueting. However, in reality, Qiao Shen's wife had been secretly murdered by the dog emperor. This meant that allowing Qiao Shen to marry would only inflict hatred on the Du family. The emperor, creating the impression that the Du family had orchestrated a coup to secure the Qiao Palace, was precisely the purpose of instilling hatred in Qiao Shen.
The third is to completely destroy the Du family's foundation for many years. After all, it is widely rumored among the people that the daughter of the Du family is expected to become the new queen. Only by arranging Du Yueting's marriage can the Du family's relationship in the capital be completely eradicated.
For the first time, young Du Yueting experienced the darkness behind the royal family and power.
For the sake of her family, she agreed to the marriage.
That childhood sweetheart also tried hard for her, but he was of too low status and too little ability, so he could only be stopped outside the Du family's door, shouting "Didn't you say you would go with me?" "Why don't you come out to see me!"... and his words were all drowned out by the servant's obstruction, just like the relationship between them was broken so suddenly, they didn't even have a good goodbye.
The fate between them is so deep and shallow.
Du Yueting married into Prince Qiao's mansion and became Qiao Shen's princess.
On her wedding night, she thought she would be facing a strange husband who hated her, and that she would be trapped in this false calculation for the rest of her life. However, she did not expect that the man was honest but sober.
Qiao Shen did not blame her for it all, and even told her about his own affairs.
He and his wife hadn't actually had a proper wedding. He hadn't had time to marry her. They'd met in a valley in the southwest. The woman was from the Nan tribe, skilled in treating poisons. He'd been leading his troops to the southwest when he met her. They'd fallen in love at first sight, and they'd been married in her tribe there.
Qiao Shen spent a long time in the southwest due to military service. When he returned to Beijing with his wife, who had already given birth to a son and a daughter, everyone around him only thought she was a concubine; no one truly recognized her as his wife. He had always wanted to hold a wedding for her and give her a proper status, but he never expected to lose her completely.
He had actually found out that she was killed by people sent by the emperor, but the Prince Qiao's Mansion had long been a thorn in the emperor's side, so he could only endure it.
He explained everything to Du Yueting, just because he didn't want the Qiao and Du families to have any grudges against each other as the emperor expected.
After they talked it out, it really saved a lot of trouble.
In their first year of marriage, they treated each other with respect. Du Yueting, seeing the two children so young and pitiful, raised them personally. Qiao Zhaoshu, then four years old and beginning to remember things, held a grudge against his new mother for his mother's death and spoke harshly to her. Qiao Lanyin, three years old, was a sweet and obedient girl who truly regarded her as her own mother, her eyes filled with admiration.
The following year, she and Qiao Shen grew closer, perhaps because they were more understanding of each other's situation. The Qiao family, the Du family, were all the same, even the other prominent families in the capital were the same. As soon as the emperor became suspicious, all their glory vanished, and they became the target of others' disparagement.
Only by supporting each other can they stand firm in this capital city where people are eaten without leaving any bones.
In the third year, she gave birth to Qiao San and Qiao Duzhou. At that time, Qiao Da was a very awkward person. He still hated her on the surface, but he was also moved by her tenderness over the years.
But when Qiao San arrived, he heard what the servants said about him. They said that Qiao San was the legitimate son and the future heir to the Qiao Palace, and he was an illegitimate son. They also talked about his mother, belittled his mother's status, and praised the princess's family background.
The relationship between Qiao Da and Du Yueting, which had just eased, became tense again. Qiao Er, on the other hand, was kind to Qiao San, who had some of Du Yueting's influence.
In the fourth year, Qiao Si was born.
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