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◎The emperor went on a southern tour, and the crown prince governed the country!◎
Concubine Li was only seventeen years old when she left home with Emperor Xingwu, and now her little daughter is almost the same age.
Her biological mother died early, and Concubine Li was just an insignificant one among her father's many children. When she was a child, she longed for her father's company. She would be very happy when her father came to visit her when she was sick. She would also be happy for a long time when she learned needlework to make a robe for her father and received his praise.
When she was thirteen or fourteen years old and had grown into the most beautiful of her sisters, her father gradually showed more concern for her. However, Concubine Li was afraid because she had completely realized her father's "painstaking efforts" from her sister's marriage. His daughters were just objects for him to please his superiors and keep his official position.
Perhaps because he had the highest expectations for her, her father kept her until the end, leaving her to the unstoppable Emperor Xingwu.
Concubine Li still remembered her father's advice to her on the eve of their separation, telling her not to forget her father and brothers at home after she became rich.
After all, she had been raised by Emperor Xingwu for more than ten years, and Concubine Li had not forgotten her father. She just did not want to take advantage of Emperor Xingwu's kindness to her to seek an official position for her father who had no talent or achievements, and did not want to be the seductive concubine who bewitched the emperor in history books.
Concubine Li was much more wary than she was happy about the father-daughter reunion today. But when she saw her father whom she had not seen for twenty years, saw the father with a familiar face but already old, saw the tearful eyes of the old father who wanted to recognize her but did not dare to, Concubine Li could not help but throw herself into the arms of the visitor.
Qin Ren was about to be moved when he suddenly heard his grandfather holding his mother and calling her "Lin'er" several times.
Qin Ren was stunned and looked at his sister beside him.
Qingyang: “…”
Luo Pan naturally called his mother by her maiden name, "Ling'er", but the old lady's Mandarin was not very accurate, and the pronunciations of words like "Lin" and "Ling" were unclear.
After a while, Concubine Li stopped crying and asked her old father to sit down.
Luo Pan insisted on paying great respects to the daughter of the emperor's favorite concubine before sitting down stiffly.
Concubine Li subconsciously looked at her daughter, and then she also turned her gaze towards the little princess along with Qin Ren and Luo Pan.
Qingyang said, "Mother and we are all doing well in the palace. Why don't you tell me about the Luo family's recent situation? Mother has always been concerned about my stepmother and all my brothers and sisters."
Luo Pan could only talk about these things with Concubine Li. After all, his grandchildren didn't know who the other members of the Luo family were.
The Qingyang siblings listened as Luo Pan first recounted his wife's illness, then listed the marriages of his seven uncles and five aunts, noting that his second and fourth aunts had died young due to illness. The aunts had married far away, and Luo Pan didn't know much about their marriages. However, the seven uncles who had always been around had given the Qingyang siblings thirteen male and female cousins and nine female cousins...
Qingyang discovered that his mother was quite interested in the affairs of his uncles and aunts, but she only listened casually to the stories of the next generation whom she had hardly met.
Qin Ren: "...The Luo family is really prosperous."
Luo Pan's face was filled with shame. He had been handsome in his youth, sometimes because of his own lust, sometimes because women deliberately seduced him. As time went by, he ended up having more women, and with more women came more children. Fortunately, the Emperor had simply not transferred him to the capital for the past twenty years, and the financial rewards had always been there. Otherwise, the marriages of his descendants would have bankrupted him.
Qingyang: "How many people in your family have passed the imperial examinations?"
Luo Pan said ashamedly, "There are only six scholars. Young and old have taken the exam for so many years, but not a single one has passed. Fortunately, they are all diligent. They have helped me share a lot of government affairs over the years, and they have accumulated some practical skills."
Concubine Li secretly winked at her daughter.
Qingyang smiled and continued to ask Luo Pan, "As far as I know, you only really made some achievements during your three years as magistrate in Xingwu, from the eighth to the tenth year. The two subsequent terms as county governor also performed well. With all due respect, I wonder if you, sir, have accumulated a lot of experience and achieved great success late in life, or have you had some experts around you to guide you?"
Luo Pan exclaimed in surprise, "The princess is so young, and indeed, she has a pair of sharp eyes as the rumors say. Those political achievements are indeed not the work of this old minister alone. It is all thanks to the counsel of my seventh grandson Wan Qing that I have earned some fame in my later years."
Qingyang remembered the name Luo Wanqing, who was one of the four scholars among the Luo family's grandchildren, and was only 24 years old.
Luo Pan had the ambition to go to Beijing, Luo Wanqing had the talent to govern, and with the concerted efforts of all the uncles, nephews and nieces of the Luo family, it was reasonable for the whole family to use their strength to help Luo Pan rank among the top among the more than one hundred county governors.
Luo Pan, the governor of Qingyang, said, "There are many famous teachers in the capital. Please hire a live-in tutor for your descendants. Let Luo Wanqing study hard for two years and strive to pass both the autumn and spring examinations next year. As your mother's nephew and a man of real talent, he should be admitted to the government through the imperial examinations. This will benefit his career and reputation throughout his life."
Luo Pan said excitedly, "Princess, don't worry. I will do my utmost to urge him to study. I would never dare to think of taking shortcuts by currying favor with the Queen, the Prince, or the Princess!"
Qingyang: "I'm relieved that you think this way. Your Majesty only appoints people with merit, and I recommend talents for your Majesty in the same way. They must be both talented and virtuous. I will not recommend someone who is talented but not virtuous. The Luo family is large, and since they moved to the capital thanks to your mother's influence, please control your family members. If any immoral or illegal behavior of the Luo family is reported to have affected the reputation of your mother, Prince Xian, and this princess, please do not blame me for disregarding our blood relationship."
If it weren't for my mother, how could my father tolerate a mediocre person like Luo Pan staying in the position of county magistrate for seven or eight years?
Luo Panlian said he dared not.
When Concubine Li saw that her daughter had finished her warning, she rewarded her daughter's family with five hundred taels of silver and a batch of silks and satins as she had agreed with her daughter a few days ago. She then arranged for a eunuch and a nanny to go to the Luo family to teach everyone the etiquette. Only after they learned the etiquette would the Luo family be qualified to enter the palace to pay their respects to her or to interact with Prince Xian's Mansion and the Princess' Mansion.
Luo Pan had indeed always wanted to use his daughter, but after just one trip to the palace, Luo Pan realized that the little princess was the one in charge of his daughter's family of three, and her eyes were sharp and would not be fooled. So if he really wanted to rely on his daughter to gain convenience for his descendants, he had to act according to the little princess's wishes. Otherwise, if he angered the little princess, the family might be expelled from the capital again.
.
In early February, King Xian got married.
Qingyang was going to attend her third brother's wedding, so she left the palace directly after coming out of the Ministry of Personnel in the evening of the previous day. Her third brother had already taken leave to stay at home to prepare for the wedding, and Qingyang didn't need her third brother to pick her up because she had chosen her own future prince consort.
Since the marriage was granted and they returned to the capital, Qingyang worked in the Ministry of Personnel and Zhang Su worked in the West Camp. The two could only see each other briefly during the court meetings on the third, sixth and ninth days of the lunar month. As for rest days, because of the severe cold in winter, Qingyang only occasionally left the palace. But even if she asked Zhang Su to accompany her, she was still followed by a team of guards, so the way they got along was not much different from when Zhang Su was their study partner.
Qingyang likes this kind of naturalness. If Zhang Su suddenly starts doing romantic things with her, she... can't imagine it.
However, Zhang Su had changed a little. For example, he used to consciously leave the task of helping her get on the carriage to Jie Yu. But after he became the future son-in-law of the emperor, he quietly took the task back.
Other officials were emerging from the palace gates. Qingyang boarded the carriage first. When the carriage reached a quiet section of the road, he parted the curtains and took a look at Zhang Su's silver-white brocade robe. He smiled and asked, "Did you bring this to the West Camp, or did you return to the Duke's Mansion specifically to change clothes?"
Zhang Su gripped the reins and said, "I'll change them back home."
In order to pick up the little princess from the palace, he had already left the camp half an hour in advance. If he continued to dress like this, the soldiers would definitely guess who he was going to meet.
Zhang Su didn't want others to talk about the little princess because of his behavior.
Qingyang: "You have so many family rules. If you suddenly leave early, will the Duke blame you?"
Zhang Su: "Protecting the princess is more important than my daily duties at the West Camp. Father won't blame me."
Qingyang asked him to come closer and asked softly, "Third brother is one year younger than you but got married earlier than you. Are you envious?"
Zhang Su glanced at the little princess' fair face half-hidden behind the curtain, lowered his eyes and said nothing.
Qingyang looked at his handsome face which had regained its fair complexion after being covered up for a whole winter, and suddenly became curious about how the two would get along after marriage. Although she and Zhang Su lived in two palaces next to each other in the East Palace when they were young, a companion who had to abide by the rules all the time and a prince consort who became a princess after a grand wedding would definitely behave differently towards her.
Just like before the wedding, Meng Yao would at most say a few words to dislike her second brother, but after the wedding, Meng Yao dared to scold her second brother and twist his ears, but her second brother didn't get really angry, instead he seemed to enjoy it.
When they arrived at Prince Xian's Mansion, Qin Ren came out to pick up his sister and warmly invited Zhang Su to have dinner with the brother and sister.
Zhang Su declined politely, glanced at the little princess quickly, and left.
Qin Ren couldn't do anything about him: "We're almost a family, and you're still so polite."
.
The wedding of Prince Xian made the people of the capital talk about it for a while, and Qingyang felt the sweetness of her third brother up close. Before he got married, her third brother would often come to the palace to visit her and his mother on his days off, but after he got married, he rarely came to the palace, and he would leave on time when he was on duty.
Qingyang told his mother about the difference between his third brother and Li Fei, who smiled and said, "It's just a newlywed relationship. You will be the same when you marry Su Ge'er."
Qingyang still couldn't figure it out. She and Zhang Su were very familiar with each other. No matter how close they were, they could only play chess and horse racing together. They had been doing this since they were young.
The little princess hadn't gotten used to her third brother's changed appearance yet. In late February, Emperor Xingwu announced at court that he would embark on a southern tour beginning in March. Besides allocating 3,000 elite troops from the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Front Army to escort him, led by Fan Zhong, he also appointed Prince Jing, the little princess, and young generals like Zhang Su and Fan Huaizhong to accompany him. During the emperor's southern tour, the crown prince would oversee the country, with two prime ministers assisting.
As soon as the decree was announced, some undercurrents began to arise in the hall.
Qin Hong, who was taking on this important task for the first time, felt under tremendous pressure, while Prince Yong, who was used to being the regent when his elder brother was away from Beijing, could not suppress the disappointment in his heart.
Qin Bing was both happy to be accompanying his father on his southern tour and regretful to be separated from his wife for some time. As for Qin Ren, although he had resented the hardships of the northern tour, the thought of his father abandoning him made him feel uncomfortable at the thought of being separated from his sister and Zhang Su for so long.
After the court was dismissed, Qin Ren followed his elder brother to see his father.
Emperor Xingwu asked the third son to speak first.
Qin Ren: "Father, I also want to accompany you on your southern tour. Please take me and Zhenzhen with you..."
Emperor Xingwu: "Take you two to travel around? You wish! No, get out." The third brother was like this. It would be useless to take him anywhere for training, so why would he waste his time?
Qin Ren left in disgrace.
Emperor Xingwu looked at the prince.
Qin Hong admitted that he was incapable and begged his father to continue to arrange for his uncle to govern the country.
Emperor Xingwu sneered: "If your uncle is responsible for everything, what use is there for me to have you as the crown prince?"
He just wanted to leave the state affairs to the prince to see if he had the talent to govern the country!
【Author’s words】
Here they come, 100 little red envelopes!
New stage, new plot, I'll prepare more, today I'll just update it alone, see you all tomorrow~
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