4 004
◎The eldest princess's arranged marriage.◎
Under Concubine Li's worried gaze, Emperor Xingwu mounted his horse while holding his little princess in one hand. The ministers farther away were not prepared. As soon as they took a breath, Emperor Xingwu had already sat steadily on the horse. He didn't look anywhere else, but concentrated on adjusting his daughter's position on the saddle.
A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger. Qingyang, who was riding a horse for the first time, felt it was a novelty. He held the saddle with both hands and looked down curiously.
Emperor Xingwu held the reins with his left hand and his right hand around his daughter's waist. It's called waist because a three-year-old child is too small. Emperor Xingwu's broad palm can fully protect his daughter's entire chest and abdomen. Even if the war horse runs madly, he will not fall his little princess.
But Emperor Xingwu still warned: "Sit still and don't move."
Qingyang nodded obediently. She even listened to her mother's gentle words, and she had to be even more honest in front of her father, whom even her mother was afraid of.
After confirming that his daughter was sensible and cooperative, Emperor Xingwu glanced around, breathed a sigh of relief, and said with a smile, "Let's go into the city!"
The ministers had already lined up neatly on both sides of the official road, looking up with admiration and pride at the heroic figure of the founding emperor as he returned triumphantly to the capital.
Emperor Xingwu's gaze drifted towards the city gates and the citizens, who were blocked by imperial guards on both sides of Tianmen Street, eagerly awaiting their emperor. During the war years, the capital's emperors had changed hands several times. When he first proclaimed himself emperor three years ago, these people might not have taken him seriously. Now that he had conquered the entire world, surely the people would submit?
The people were more than simply convinced. When Emperor Xingwu ascended the throne, he ended their hard days of being oppressed and harassed by various princes. They were grateful to him. Now that Emperor Xingwu had ended the chaos in the whole world, they sincerely hoped that Emperor Xingwu could sit firmly on the throne for a long time. Only when the dynasty was stable could the people live and work in peace.
Therefore, wherever Emperor Xingwu passed, the people knelt down in waves, shouting "Long live the emperor". Most of them shouted happily, feeling honored to participate in such a grand event, but there were also wrinkled old men, thin men or haggard women who shed tears and sobbed as they spoke.
Qingyang pointed at a white-haired old woman who kept wiping her tears and asked, "Father, why is she crying?"
Emperor Xingwu sighed, "Perhaps her husband or child died in the war a few years ago. Now that peace has come, her loved ones are gone, and she must be feeling distressed."
Because his daughter's gesture of pointing at someone was too obvious, Emperor Xingwu urged his horse to come to the old woman and asked her in a gentle voice why she was crying.
The old woman explained in panic and sadness that she was indeed thinking about her two sons who were conscripted but died in the battlefield.
Emperor Xingwu looked at the increasing number of weeping people around him and said with a resolute face, "The previous dynasty, under the rule of a foolish emperor and treacherous ministers, led to the people's miserable lives everywhere. I have witnessed the suffering of the people and am filled with indignation, so I raised an army to save them from suffering. Thanks to Heaven's blessing, I have been able to unify the country and fulfill the first half of my life's ambition to quell the world's war. From now on, I will work hard to govern the country and enrich the people. This is my lifelong wish. I hope you will trust me and help me, and join me in creating a prosperous and peaceful era for future generations to see!"
"I believe in the Emperor!"
"Your Majesty is truly a wise ruler!"
After a few chaotic voices, someone took the lead, and the people in this area gradually shouted in unison: "Xingwu Mingjun, Kaiping prosperous era! Xingwu Mingjun, Kaiping prosperous era!"
The sound was like a flood, and finally all the people in Tianmen Street shouted like this, which was deafening.
Qingyang didn't quite understand these words, but she knew that the people were praising her father.
The little princess raised her head high again, and her big dark eyes looked at her father above her head.
Emperor Xingwu: "What's wrong?"
Qingyang: "Father is really amazing."
Emperor Xingwu smiled and looked ahead, saying, "It is indeed powerful, but whether it can be even more powerful remains to be seen."
It is easy to conquer the world but difficult to rule it. His journey to become an emperor has just begun.
.
When Emperor Xingwu brought his daughter into the palace, there was still more than half an hour before the palace banquet. The palace servants and ceremonial officers arranged for the civil and military officials to line up for their seats and other trivial matters. Emperor Xingwu would use this time to rest first.
Emperor Xingwu, exhausted from the journey, went to bathe first. By the time the second concubine, Princess Yongkang and her brother and sister, who were riding in a slower carriage, arrived, Emperor Xingwu had already washed clean and changed into a scarlet brocade dragon robe. He was sitting on the couch in the second room of the rear hall of Qianyuan Hall, holding the little princess in his arms, who had always behaved very well in front of her father.
The chief eunuch He Yuanjing bowed and announced, "Your Majesty, the Imperial Concubine and the others have arrived."
Emperor Xingwu made a "proclaim" gesture.
After a while, the Imperial Concubine, the Beautiful Concubine and their four children came in one after another.
After being away from the capital for more than a year, Emperor Xingwu was busy leading his troops and making plans during the day. Only when it was late at night and everyone was asleep did he have time to miss his family who stayed in the capital. What he missed most was the little fairy Concubine Li, whom he always wanted to take with him when he marched to war, and the beautiful and lovely little princess whom he watched grow up day by day. But he also often missed his well-educated and virtuous wife, Concubine Gui, and the other four children.
Sitting on the couch, Emperor Xingwu looked at each of them carefully in the order they came in.
The imperial concubine was still as dignified and beautiful as I remembered.
The two met three years after the Empress's death, the same year that Left Prime Minister Yan Xizheng surrendered to him as his military advisor. The Imperial Concubine was Prime Minister Yan's eldest daughter, only seventeen at the time. Emperor Xingwu, preoccupied with his grand ambitions, had little interest in amassing beauties, let alone his own military advisor's daughter. However, a few of his less sophisticated generals, however, got in a commotion and confronted Prime Minister Yan, who modestly claimed his daughter wasn't worthy of him. Emperor Xingwu, unable to tolerate such humility, explained that he was grateful for his first wife's kindness in saving his mother and didn't want to marry again. This, in turn, pleased Prime Minister Yan even more, and he married Yan's daughter as his concubine.
Emperor Xingwu had indeed read books and considered himself knowledgeable, but deep down he felt that he was still a rough man. He really didn't have much to say to the dignified and talented woman from a scholarly family. One was in charge of external affairs and the other was in charge of internal affairs, and they treated each other with respect. In terms of closeness, Emperor Xingwu was more relaxed in front of Prime Minister Yan. When he saw the imperial concubine, he had to be reserved, lest the imperial concubine be unhappy and resentful that her father had found him a rough husband.
Following closely behind was Concubine Li. After coming in, she looked at her daughter first and then at him. When their eyes met, Concubine Li lowered her eyes in panic.
Emperor Xingwu raised the corners of his lips unconsciously.
Every time he conquered a place, some smart people wanted to give him beauties. However, Emperor Xingwu had no such intention. Lust was a bad habit only among foolish rulers. If he could not resist the temptation of a few beauties, how could he accomplish great things in the future?
Emperor Xingwu kept refusing until he met Luo Ling, the concubine's daughter who was arranged by the surrendered county magistrate to deliver food to him, in a small county government office.
Emperor Xingwu then realized that the problem in the past ten years was not that he had strong self-control, but that the beauties he met were not extremely beautiful enough.
Beautiful and timid, Emperor Xingwu could have endless fun just teasing Concubine Li, not to mention...
There were still too many people, so Emperor Xingwu restrained himself and moved his gaze away from Concubine Li's gentle face and onto the face of his eldest daughter, Princess Yongkang.
The seventeen-year-old Princess Yongkang is quite similar to the late Empress Chunxiao. Just looking at her face, she looks gentle and virtuous. However, this child was born in a turbulent time, witnessed the death of her mother, and was raised by the Empress Dowager and the Imperial Concubine successively when she was old enough to understand things. As a result, Princess Yongkang learned to take care of herself early on, and there was a toughness and courage in her eyes that was more than that of Empress Chunxiao.
How fierce was she? She was so fierce that even her father dared to look down on her. At least Emperor Xingwu caught the hidden emotions in his eldest daughter's eyes, which she couldn't hide in time. It seemed that she was mocking him for being too greedy for Concubine Li's beauty.
Emperor Xingwu did not care about his eldest daughter. In fact, the time he spent with his eldest daughter in his life was definitely the least among his children.
Next up are the three brothers Qin Hong, Qin Bing and Qin Ren.
Emperor Xingwu first asked the imperial concubine about the latest situation in the palace. There was nothing major worth paying attention to, so Emperor Xingwu focused his attention on his four older children.
"Yongkang had just started practicing the piano when I left Beijing. How is his progress?"
Yongkang pursed his red lips, lowered his eyes and said, "My daughter is not talented. She has only learned the basics so far."
Emperor Xingwu: “…”
It's obvious that he really has no talent for playing the piano, and he keeps bringing up things that are irrelevant to the topic.
The imperial concubine smiled and said, "Yongkang wasn't very interested in learning the qin, but later he switched to the flute and made rapid progress."
Emperor Xingwu nodded and said, "I will play a song for you some other day."
Yongkang's face looked much better.
Emperor Xingwu looked at his three sons and asked, "You just finished your monthly exam at the end of May, right? How did you do?"
The three princes looked at each other. Since the younger brothers were silent, the eldest prince Qin Hong had to answer first: "I got an A in the literature exam, but only an A in the martial arts exam."
Qin Ren's eyes twitched.
Emperor Xingwu signaled to his second son who should have spoken but was hesitant to do so.
Qin Bing said stubbornly, "I got an A in the martial arts exam, but only a C in the literature exam."
Emperor Xingwu snorted, "Looks like your uncle."
Qin Bing couldn't help but grin, but when he saw his father glaring at him, he quickly returned to his state of shame and reflection.
Seeing his father's gaze shift to him, Qin Ren smiled awkwardly and said, "Your son is stupid. I got B marks in both literature and martial arts."
Emperor Xingwu: "...You have a good character. You can still smile after such a bad test result."
Qin Ren lowered his head awkwardly.
Seeing his brother unhappy, Qingyang defended him, "Father, Third Brother is not lazy. He has been doing his homework every time."
Emperor Xingwu secretly thought that it was a good thing that the third son was lazy, because it meant that if he worked hard, he could get better grades. It would be worrying if he worked hard but got a bad grade.
Thinking of this, Emperor Xingwu glanced at Concubine Li. The eldest and second sons both had "A", and the third son must have inherited "B" from his mother. He only has a long face but no brain.
Concubine Li was not afraid at all. She thought it was good that her son was a little stupid. The emperor came to her side many times. Even if her son was extremely smart, wouldn’t he be the one who stood out?
The eldest prince holds the title of the eldest son and has long ago chosen the granddaughter of Duke Chengguo Lu as his princess consort. The second prince has a royal concubine mother and a prime minister grandfather. The crown prince will definitely be chosen from these two brothers. The third prince is destined to have no chance of that position and is no better than an ordinary one, unable to threaten any of his brothers.
.
The emperor and his family enjoyed a family reunion, and more than half an hour passed quickly. It was time for Emperor Xingwu to go to the Taiji Hall to host a banquet for his ministers.
Emperor Xingwu planned to take his three princes with him so that the princes could get used to facing the civil and military officials in advance.
Qingyang was fascinated by her father. As soon as she saw him put on his dragon boots, she stretched out her body from her mother's arms, opened her arms and called for her father to hold her. Concubine Li could hold her daughter's hands, but she couldn't bear to cover her daughter's mouth.
Qingyang called him "Father" twice, and Emperor Xingwu hesitated. Qingyang called him twice more, and seeing his daughter's pitiful appearance, Emperor Xingwu's heart softened completely. He took his little daughter from Concubine Li's arms again and said, "Forget it, forget it. Qingyang is still young anyway..."
Before he finished speaking, he noticed that his eldest daughter Yongkang had a stern face. Emperor Xingwu smiled and said, "Okay, all five of you siblings will follow me. Yongkang and Qingyang will have a seat together, so they can take care of your younger sister."
Yongkang was satisfied. When they arrived at the Taiji Hall and were about to show up in front of all the officials, Yongkang cooperated and held his sister's hand. The two sisters walked side by side behind their father.
The palace servants who had received instructions in advance had added a seat to the right of Emperor Xingwu's royal seat, opposite the three princes.
The ministers did not pay much attention to it, thinking that Emperor Xingwu had just returned to the capital and was the one who doted on the princesses the most.
As soon as the banquet started, Emperor Xingwu concentrated on entertaining his ministers. Sometimes civil and military officials praised the emperor's great achievements one after another, and sometimes Emperor Xingwu rewarded the officials' contributions one by one.
Qingyang sat beside her elder sister, her wet nurse kneeling beside her, feeding her with a bowl. This kept her hands, feet, and eyes free, and she craned her neck to stare at whoever was speaking. When it was the turn of Duke Zhang Jie of Wei to be praised, Qingyang's ears twitched, and she immediately looked down to see a dashing man in armor rising from the table. He was surprisingly more handsome than her father, and like Zhang Su, he looked very cold, not like someone who liked to joke around.
Zhang Jie, who was known for his few words, quickly sat back down.
The next person to be praised was Fu Daonian, the newly-appointed Marquis of Zhennan, who had made great contributions in pacifying the south, along with his two sons Fu Shu and Fu Kui.
He wasn't particularly handsome. Qingyang recognized him and lowered his head to eat. Yongkang was casually sizing up the Fu family father and son when he suddenly heard his father say, "I see you like both of your sons very much. The Crown Prince is already married, and Fu Kui is twenty years old and very impressive. He's a perfect match for me as a son-in-law. Would you, father and son, agree?"
Yongkang was still in a daze when the father and son of the Fu family looked towards her.
Yongkang came back to his senses and almost dropped the chopsticks in his hand.
In Fu Kui's eyes, Yongkang had fair complexion and delicate features. Although not particularly beautiful, he was worthy of the dignity of a princess. He was naturally willing to be the son-in-law of Emperor Xingwu, and he knelt directly in the center of the hall to accept the decree and express his gratitude. Fu Daonian, the Marquis of Zhennan, was a step slower, but he was also grateful, but he was afraid that his son's lack of talent and knowledge would wrong the princess.
Emperor Xingwu smiled and said, "Since I like Fu Kui, he is worthy of being my son-in-law. I will arrange for the Ministry of Rites to prepare for the wedding. You can enjoy the feast without worry."
The father and son withdrew with profuse thanks.
Yongkang lowered his eyes, his posture still dignified, but the fruit wine left in his mouth had lost its taste.
She had only been a princess for three years, and the total time she had been raised by her father was less than three years, but her father was about to marry her off.
Yongkang was reluctant, but she knew clearly that her father needed to rely on marriage to win over these founding heroes so that they would continue to serve her father with peace of mind, just like her brother's marriage contract with the Lu family of Chengguo Mansion.
Qingyang didn't understand the marriage contract between men and women yet. Seeing that the people around her were motionless, she asked in confusion, "Why isn't Big Sister eating anymore?"
Yongkang looked at his three-year-old sister and said with a forced smile, "Sister, you're full."
The sound of zithers and harps began to play. Qingyang looked at the two rows of dancers fluttering into the hall like butterflies and said happily, "Then let's watch them dance together."
Yongkang nodded, but when she turned her head, she glanced at where her newly married son-in-law Fu Kui was. Seeing that the other party had regular features and was made to look extraordinary in his armor, her shaken heart slowly calmed down.
Just marry her. Even if the emperor is willing to let her leave the palace and marry, she will still be his eldest daughter and the first princess after the founding of the Great Qi Dynasty.
【Author’s words】
Here I come, 100 red envelopes, see you tomorrow [kiss]
ps: San Ge's B grade is equivalent to 70 or 80 points, not excellent but not stupid either [dog head]
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