The little girl fell asleep in Xuan Tianming's arms, but the man who was awake was driven away by her words. He held the little person in his arms, pondered over her words over and over again, and finally let out a bitter smile.
Is this country good? Is the throne good? Does he want it? —— He never wants it! Xuan Tianming never wanted to be an emperor since he was a child. Since he was sensible, since the day he clearly knew that he was a prince, he never thought that one day he would take over this important task from his father. He was determined to rule the world, but he did not sit on the throne and look down on the world and govern the world, but took this girl to travel around the world and gave her complete freedom.
After all, he is the child of Concubine Yun, and he has the same freedom sentiment in his bones that cannot be removed no matter how many years pass. But he is also the child of Emperor Tianwu, and he has the same innate imperial sentiment in his bones as Emperor Tianwu. For so many years, he has suppressed his desire for freedom, and tried his best to help Tianwu defend this country and love the people of the world. Everyone knows that among all the sons of Emperor Tianwu, he likes the ninth prince the most, and the ninth prince is also the one who is most likely to inherit the throne in the future. But no one knows that all this is not what the ninth prince really wants...
The next morning, Xuan Tianming got up early to attend court. The Dashun court began to be sealed after the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, and all affairs before the New Year had to be handled within these few days. Even Xuan Tianming, who had just returned to Beijing, could not rest for a day.
Feng Yuheng was fine. After Xuan Tianming left, she curled up and slept for a while. When she woke up, Madam Zhou told her that Xuan Tianming had left a message for her to wait in the mansion. After the court was dismissed, the two of them would go to Lu's mansion together to give Lu Yan some gifts that the Eighth Prince had asked her to bring back in advance.
Feng Yuheng only found it interesting that the Eighth Prince really listened to Concubine Yuan's words. He really took it seriously when she told him to marry Lv Yan, and even prepared gifts for the New Year. Such a child who listens to his mother still has the ambition to seize the throne. I don't know where the dividing line between childishness and maturity is. Or maybe in the Eighth Prince's heart, Concubine Yuan has a thorough understanding of the political situation, so that making the decision to let him marry Miss Lu is very correct. After all, Lv Song is still the left prime minister. He, the Eighth Prince, is well-known in the Biannan area, but his influence in the court, especially in the civil service, is a big lack.
She sat in the mansion peacefully for the whole morning until Xuan Tianming came back from the court at noon. After lunch, the two of them took the New Year gifts prepared by the Eighth Prince to the Lu family. The New Year gifts didn't look like much, Xuan Tianming said that it would be easier to carry them in a box, so as to avoid bringing too many servants. As a result, they filled two boxes, which made Feng Yuheng sigh at the sincerity of the Eighth Prince.
Xuan Tianming smiled and told her: "I also bought a lot of good things for you from the Southern Territory, and I will carry them to the Princess's Mansion for you later."
The two chatted and laughed all the way to the Lu family. Lu Song had just returned from the court. When he saw Xuan Tianming and Feng Yuheng coming to the door in person, he was frightened and thought something had happened again. The whole family knelt down in fear and saluted. Lu Song couldn't help but asked, "Your Highness and the Princess suddenly visited, is there something wrong?"
Xuan Tianming nodded and waved his hand. The servants carried two large boxes in. He then said to Lu Song, "I came back from the Southern Realm earlier this time. The Eighth Prince asked me to bring some things back for Miss Lu." After that, he pointed at the two boxes and said, "Mostly some jewelry and clothes. They are considered good things in the Southern Realm. Prime Minister Lu, please ask your daughter to accept them!"
Lu Song was stunned. He never thought that Xuan Tianming was here to help the Eighth Prince deliver gifts, and he never thought that the Eighth Prince would actually buy gifts for Lu Yan in the South Realm and bring them back to the capital. He originally thought that Xuan Tianming and Feng Yuheng were here to cause trouble, but suddenly a bad thing turned into a good thing, and he was a little confused for a while.
However, his wife, Madam Ge, pulled him and said with a smile, "Thank you, His Majesty the Ninth Prince and the Princess for making this special trip." Then she turned around and pulled Lu Yan forward, saying, "This is the daughter that the Emperor and the noble lady have promised to His Majesty the Eighth Prince. Her name is Lu Yan. Yan'er, you haven't met His Majesty the Ninth Prince and the Princess yet!"
Lu Yan quickly leaned forward and saluted Xuan Tianming and Feng Yuheng with great courtesy. While saluting, her eyes unconsciously drifted to the two large boxes. The boxes had not been opened yet, but she had just seen that the servants who carried them in had used a lot of strength, so she thought that there must be a lot of things in the boxes. She couldn't help but smile and felt better. "Yan'er thanks His Highness the Ninth Prince for bringing those things back from afar. Yan'er will definitely remember this favor."
Xuan Tianming waved his hand: "It's just a side trip, there's no gratitude or indebtedness. Miss Lu, please don't say such things. Let's go and take a look at the gifts." After he finished speaking, he pulled Feng Yuheng to the side and stepped back half a step. He then said to Lu Song: "I have already delivered the things. I won't keep them any longer. Prime Minister Lu's analysis of the situation in the south in the court today is very insightful. I will ask Prime Minister Lu for advice another day."
As soon as he said this, Lu Song was shocked again. Today in the court, he had said all the things about the Southern Realm in favor of the Eighth Prince. Now the Ninth Prince suddenly said this, what exactly did he mean? He raised his hand to wipe the sweat off his face and said repeatedly, "I dare not, I dare not, this humble minister is wrong."
But Feng Yuheng chuckled at the side, "Absurdity? Lord Zuo Xiang is really good at joking. Do you know what absurdity means? Absurdity refers to absurd and wrong remarks. But in the court, such a solemn place, every word and sentence spoken by the ministers must focus on the unique analysis of the entire Dashun country. They must be responsible to the emperor and the country. Not to say that every word must be correct and impeccable, but they must be carefully considered before speaking to the emperor. But Lord Zuo Xiang said that what he said in the court was absurdity, so your behavior is... deceiving the emperor?"
Lu Song shuddered, his legs softened, and he knelt down with a plop. When he knelt, everyone in the Lu Mansion had to kneel down as well. Lu Song said, "My Lord, I don't mean that. I really don't mean that!" Then he looked at Xuan Tianming and said, "I was just terrified by His Highness the Ninth Prince's request to consult me, so... I didn't express my meaning well. Your Highness, my Lord, I don't mean that."
Xuan Tianming looked at him coldly, but didn't say much. He just gave him a support and said, "Prime Minister Lu, there's no need to be so polite. The princess was just joking with you."
Lu Song's heart was twitching. A joke? He was saying he was deceiving the emperor! Is this a good joke? But he didn't dare to argue with Feng Yuheng. First, he knew he couldn't win the argument. Second, he really used inappropriate words. How could he bring out such a fallacy? No wonder so many people in the court said that the Ninth Prince would inadvertently give people a sense of oppression. Often a few words would make people lose their composure. Today, he was knocked out of his "fallacy". It seems that what people say is really true!
Lu Song stood there awkwardly and nervously. It was his wife, Mrs. Ge, who came to her senses first and said, "Your Highness and the Princess, please come in and have a seat and some hot tea."
When she spoke, Lu Song hurriedly led the people into the house, but Xuan Tianming shook his head and said, "The prince and the princess have other things to do, so I won't bother you any more. I'll take my leave now."
To be honest, when Xuan Tianming said goodbye, everyone in the Lu family breathed a sigh of relief. Only after seeing the two men out of the house and seeing them get on the imperial carriage and drive away did Lu Song wipe away the sweat that had seeped out of him in the winter, and hurried back to the house with his wife and daughter. He turned around and ordered people to quickly close the house door, and only then did he feel at ease.
Mrs. Ge sighed and said while helping Lu Song wipe his sweat, "It's really difficult for you, Master."
Lu Song waved his hands and said helplessly: "As the saying goes, serving the emperor is like serving a tiger. Being an official in the court, there is no day that is not filled with fear."
Mrs. Ge continued, "In my opinion, the Ninth Prince is quite polite. It's the Princess Ji'an who is tricky. Once she opens her mouth, she can find fault with anything. The master's absurd remark just now was nothing more than a polite remark, but she heard so many tricks in it. Dealing with such a person is more terrifying than being with a tiger!" As she spoke, she became puzzled. "Princess Ji'an's personality is really hard to figure out. During the winter training, she seemed to be helping our Lu family, but why did she..."
Lu Song sighed, "How can we guess what that girl is thinking? In my opinion, she was not really trying to help us during the winter siege. The marriage between Yan'er and the Eighth Prince is already strange, and we still don't know what is going on here."
Lu Yan listened to her parents' words, but she was a little unconvinced: "No matter what she thinks, no matter what the matter is, the marriage between my daughter and the Eighth Prince was promised by the emperor himself. How can such a promise be false? Isn't this the result that father wanted in the first place?"
Mrs. Ge also said, "Yan'er is right. It was our original plan to marry her to the Eighth Prince. This marriage was personally granted by the Emperor. We are the Prime Minister's mansion, and Yan'er is the legitimate daughter. She will definitely be the principal wife. Now, no matter what, our goal has been achieved. Next, it depends on whether the Eighth Prince can live up to his expectations. The master will also do his best to help him in the court. Only when the Eighth Prince can ascend to the throne in the future can our Lu family be truly proud."
Lu Song nodded, "Madam is right. Now that we have come to this point, we can only grit our teeth and keep going. Success or failure will only take a few years. Even if the Eighth Prince is not as powerful as the Ninth Prince, we must find a way to help him turn the tide."
Hearing what Lu Song said, Lu Yan was very happy from the bottom of her heart and went to see the two boxes of gifts happily. However, Lu Song felt a little uneasy when he saw his daughter's happy face. Was this going too smoothly? It was so smooth that he felt it was unreal!
Just as he was thinking, he heard a knock on the door. The housekeeper went to open the door, talked to the visitor for a few words, and soon showed surprise. Then he hurried to him and said in a hurry: "Master, the Queen sent someone to deliver something to the third young lady..."
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