Chapter 133: Lighting candles for the emperor
Wang Dequan watched the emperor grow up. He had been with him for decades and had feelings for him. He couldn't bear to see the emperor so worried every day. He sighed and said, "The emperor only has Concubine Zhen in his heart, but Concubine Zhen doesn't know it! You have to let her feel your sincerity."
This was already an overstep. He, a eunuch, shouldn't have been asked to give advice on the emperor's emotional affairs.
But what to do?
His emperor lost his father at a young age. In fact, even if he didn't lose his father at a young age, the late emperor would not have taught him how to love a woman. The emperor never learned those useless things, but only learned how to weigh and rule the country.
The late emperor knew how to play with people's hearts, but how to truly love a woman, something that the late emperor himself had never experienced, how could he teach the emperor?
After the death of the previous emperor, the imperial relatives were in power, and the Empress Dowager was a person of that kind. She only taught the Emperor how to fight back when someone betrayed her, and she never taught him how to love someone.
He is the Son of Heaven, the Holy Lord, and everything he wants is presented to him, so there is nothing he cannot get. He
has been like this since he was a child, so he has developed the character he has now, and it is not his fault.
Wang Dequan watched coldly. He really liked Concubine Zhen, a love he had never had for Concubine Shu and Concubine Li before.
But the Emperor himself did not realize it, and as a eunuch he did not dare to say anything.
There are so many concubines in the palace, if it gets out that he was the one who woke the Emperor up, his life will be over.
But now the Emperor himself said that he only has Concubine Zhen in his heart, and it has nothing to do with him.
"How can I let her know?"
Wang Dequan said as if he was a mirror in his heart: "Your Majesty, you have done so much for Concubine Zhen in private, you have to let her know!"
Concubine Zhen only saw that the emperor always abandoned her and always weighed the pros and cons, but did not see what the emperor did in private to protect her!
Isn't it sad?
Just like before when Concubine Li fell into the water, Jiang Zhaoyi and others forced the emperor to banish Concubine Zhen to the cold palace.
Concubine Zhen only saw the emperor protecting Concubine Li, but she didn't know that in the court, Prime Minister Song led the group of civil officials to force the emperor to execute Concubine Zhen, and even suspended court for three days to force the emperor to compromise.
But the emperor ignored it, and instead ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs to take good care of Concubine Zhen and meet all her requirements. She must not be allowed to be hot or cold, and food must not be short of food. Only then could Concubine Zhen live so well in the cold palace.
If the emperor had not sent her to the cold palace at that time, the Song family would definitely find ways to kill her. This was the emperor's protection for her.
But Concubine Zhen was unaware of all this.
There were many times when the means of the harem were used on Concubine Zhen. After the emperor knew about it, he helped her resolve it, so that Concubine Zhen could safely and healthily conceive a dragon fetus.
She only knew that her protective measures were very good, and she thought that being pregnant with a dragon fetus was the result of her own carefulness.
In fact, if there was no emperor, Concubine Zhen's dragon fetus would have been killed by someone before she even knew it.
Concubine Zhen loves to eat lychees and tribute oranges. This summer, almost all the tribute oranges were delivered to the Hexi Palace, and the emperor himself did not eat more than two.
The lychees were sent from Guangdong and Guangxi at full speed. Every time they passed through a post station, they were refrigerated to ensure that the lychees were still fresh when they were delivered to the palace.
The Empress also loves to eat lychees, but this year she only got a small basket, and the rest all went into Concubine Zhen's stomach.
In previous years, the emperor never did such things that cost the people money and labor, but he broke the rule for the people he liked.
Concubine Zhen saw and remembered all the bad things the emperor did. He never let her know about the good things he did. Wang Dequan really lit candles for the emperor silently.
"Your Majesty, the Emperor asked Eunuch Wang to send you some ambergris for protection, saying that he was afraid that other fragrances might not be used properly by Your Majesty, so he separated them from his spices and gave them to Your Majesty in the future."
Ambergris is a kind of pure and gentle animal fragrance, and its quality is the highest among animal spices.
The fragrance is as beautiful as musk, with a slight earthy scent, and some like seaweed, wood, and moss. It has a special sweetness and an extremely long-lasting fragrance base. It is a very complex fragrance combination.
Although the momentum is not strong, it is subtle and soft, and the fragrance lasts thirty times longer than ordinary spices.
Jiang Xinyue likes it very much.
She did not refuse the gift, but she did not agree to see Emperor Xuanwu. Instead, she asked Xiao Xuanzi to take the reward. She did not even let Wang Dequan in through the gate, so he naturally could not see Jiang Xinyue and speak well of the emperor.
"Empress Zhen, this is a set of longevity locks made by the emperor for the sixth prince or the third princess. They are exquisitely made and beautiful. Let me deliver them to you!"
"Empress Zhen, Fusang sent a tribute gift. There is a beautiful Fusang skirt inside. Concubine Liang and the others like it very much. The emperor asked me to deliver it to you."
...
Wang Dequan would send the emperor's reward to Hexi Palace every now and then. Gold, silver, jewelry, and rare toys were like a stream of water. They were thrown into Hexi Palace as if they were free, trying to break open the palace door.
However, Jiang Xinyue accepted the things but was determined not to see the person.
She had suffered so much for the emperor since entering the palace, so what's wrong with some compensation?
The Pei family thought that since Jiang Xinyue had fallen out of favor, Pei Wu could take the opportunity to ascend to the throne, but they didn't expect that the Shen family would have a lovesick person this time. Not only was the emperor not angry, but he also carefully coaxed the empress in Hexi Palace.
This is completely different from what they expected!
Pei Zhongshu originally wanted to host a banquet for the emperor on his sixtieth birthday, and then arrange for Pei Wu to perform and celebrate Pei Zhongshu's birthday, but he was directly rejected by the emperor.
It was said that after the death of Prime Minister Song, the court affairs were busy and he couldn't spare time.
These are all excuses. After Prime Minister Song was beheaded, he was also dismissed from his post. Only small fish and shrimps in the Song family escaped the fate of being liquidated, and all officials above the fifth rank were in trouble.
Not to mention saving the wealth, it would be good enough to save the lives of the whole family.
But this matter has no effect on the emperor at all.
It was his long-planned plan to liquidate the Song family, and the emperor had already decided on the replacements for the major officials.
As soon as the officials of the Song family fell, the emperor had already arranged his own people to take over.
The important affairs of the court were not delayed at all, so why didn't he have time to attend the 60th birthday banquet of Secretary Pei?
He just felt it was unnecessary.
Pei Wu's first appearance was stillborn, but Pei Zhongshu obviously would not give up and planned the second first meeting between the emperor and Pei Wu. The
very busy Emperor Xuanwu summoned Prince Ruyang and Princess Ruyang, as well as the former Hanlin Academy Bachelor Lu Lao, who was already 70 years old and had resigned with his wife to live in the countryside, to the palace.
The reason was simple. Prince Ruyang and Princess Ruyang were a loving couple, and they were a pair of perfect couples that the people of the Great Yan Dynasty talked about with relish.
Lu Lao had only one wife in his life. He and his wife were young and old, and they always respected each other and never quarreled. After Lu Lao resigned, the common people liked to find this old couple as guests when they got married.
It seemed that with their blessings, they could also grow old together like them.