Chapter 678 Twenty Letters
One person stood up, and immediately many others followed suit, all asking the emperor to pay attention to the selection of candidates.
The only minister who did not speak was Li Qingyan.
He just stood there quietly, saying nothing.
Luo Qinghan's gaze fell on him and asked lightly.
"Why isn't Minister Li talking?"
Now Li Qingyan is already the Minister of Personnel, an official of the fourth rank, and is qualified to enter the palace to discuss state affairs.
Li Qingyan said: "The selection of candidates is your majesty's private matter. I am just an outsider and have no right to interfere in your majesty's private affairs."
He knew very well that the emperor had someone in his heart, and even if that person was gone, the emperor still couldn't forget her. Since he couldn't forget her, how could he be willing to accept another woman?
When the others heard Li Qingyan's words, their faces turned unhappy.
Someone snorted coldly: "Minister Li, it's easy for you to say that. Your Majesty's offspring is related to the country and the people. As ministers, we should advise Your Majesty to have more children."
Li Qingyan did not argue, and just replied: "What you said makes sense."
In the end, the emperor still did not go to the Bigui Pavilion.
The eunuch who delivered the message did not dare to say that the emperor was unwilling to come, but only said that the emperor was busy with government affairs and could not get away for the time being.
The Empress Dowager felt a little dissatisfied when she heard this, but because of the presence of the concubines, she could not show her dissatisfaction and only spoke in a light tone.
"Since the emperor is so busy, I and the concubines will help take care of the selection.
I am old and my eyesight is not very good, so I might have seen something wrong or missed something.
You guys better watch carefully later.
If you see a suitable beauty, please remind me."
The concubines responded respectfully: "Yes."
The beauties entered the hall in batches and introduced their identities one by one.
When Concubine Bai thought that these women were here to snatch the emperor from her, she felt uncomfortable and disliked any of them.
But the Empress Dowager was still sitting at the top. She didn't dare reveal her feelings for fear of being accused of jealousy, so she could only hold it in.
Princess Jing felt uncomfortable looking at the pretty girls in front of her.
But she has always been good at handling things, and no matter what she thinks in her heart, she always looks dignified and generous.
She actively gave advice and helped the Empress Dowager select concubines.
Such generosity really won the appreciation of the Empress Dowager.
Seeing this, Chen Wanyi seemed to be inspired and imitated Concubine Jing's approach. She took the initiative to help come up with ideas and tried her best to please the Empress Dowager.
With the three of them talking, the entire audition process didn't seem too lonely.
In the end, there were six concubines left.
Among them was a great-niece of the Empress Dowager, named Lu Pei'er.
The Empress Dowager's maiden name was Lu. According to the Lu family, they planned to send both daughters of marriageable age to the palace, but the Empress Dowager refused.
If both of them were sent into the palace, outsiders would inevitably doubt the Empress Dowager's intentions.
She didn't want to cause any trouble, just one person coming in would be enough.
In addition to the six beauties who were kept in the palace, the Empress Dowager selected four more and gave them to the royal family members.
The concubines bowed their heads in thanks.
In this way, this year's small election was successfully concluded.
In the afternoon, the Empress Dowager went to the Weiyang Palace in person to inform the Emperor of the results of the selection.
Luo Qinghan responded calmly: "Thank you, Grandmother."
When the Empress Dowager saw him like this, she frowned and said, "If you have any opinions, just say it directly. There is no need to put on such an expression."
Luo Qinghan: "I have no opinion, I just don't want to choose a concubine."
The Empress Dowager became even more angry: "It's okay if you don't want to choose a concubine, then just give birth to a child! I don't even require a prince, a princess first will do, at least shut up those people outside and stop them from gossiping about this."
Luo Qinghan is twenty years old now.
Many people his age already have several children.
But he didn't have even one.
There are a lot of people out there talking about this, saying all kinds of nasty things.
Of course, no one dared to say those words openly, but they could still be discussed behind people's backs.
Luo Qinghan remained silent.
The Queen Mother: "Why don't you speak?"
Luo Qinghan: "I have nothing to say."
What can he say?
Are you saying he doesn't want to have kids?
If these words were really spoken, the Empress Dowager would be so angry that she would faint.
The Empress Dowager tried to hold back, but in the end she couldn't help it and asked what was in her heart.
"Are you still thinking about Concubine Xiao?"
Luo Qinghan stopped talking again.
The Empress Dowager asked: "With so many women in the harem, are they not as good as a dead person like her?"
When he heard the word "dead", Luo Qinghan's face turned pale instantly.
He wanted to refute and say that she was not dead, but when he thought of the letters he found in Li Qingyan's house, he couldn't say anything.
When the Empress Dowager saw his red eyes, her anger immediately subsided.
She was just talking in a rush and now she couldn't help but feel a little regretful.
You shouldn't say that.
The Empress Dowager sighed helplessly.
"Forget it, I won't talk about her anymore.
Think about it carefully.
You are the emperor, you cannot be without offspring.
Even if you don't think about yourself, you should think about the future of Dasheng."
After the Empress Dowager left, Luo Qinghan waved away the servants in the palace.
He opened the cabinet and took out a small locked wooden box.
He took out the key he carried with him, inserted it into the keyhole, and opened the small wooden box.
Twenty letters lay quietly in the box.
There are four words written on the envelope of each letter:
The prince wrote personally.
Even though the writer tried very hard to make the handwriting look nice, it still looked a bit ugly.
Actually, it’s not ugly, it’s just that the font is a bit fat and looks silly.
Luo Qinghan's fingertips gently stroked the envelope.
At the end of last year, the General Zhongwu’s Mansion received a letter with an envelope addressed to it saying “from the Crown Prince himself”.
Xiao Lingfeng was afraid that the letter might be unclean, so he opened it without permission. After reading the contents of the letter, he realized that the letter was written by Xiao Xixi to the prince.
Of course, the prince was already the emperor at that time.
Xiao Lingfeng handed the letter to the emperor.
At that time, Luo Qinghan thought that Xiao Xixi had returned to Xuanmen, so he asked people everywhere to find out the location of Xuanmen, hoping to find Xiao Xixi back.
When he first received the letter, he was both surprised and happy.
Xiao Xixi said in the letter that she had completed her master's mission and now had nothing to do, so she wanted to go out and have some fun.
She also talked about her recent situation, her words were very light.
At the end of the letter, she said that she was having a lot of fun outside and hoped that the prince would not look for her. She also hoped that the prince would be a good emperor after he ascended the throne and not waste her efforts.
This letter was written very casually, writing whatever came to mind, just like the feeling she gave people.
Luo Qinghan's first reaction after reading the letter was relief.
Judging from the content of the letter, Xiao Xixi is at least safe now.
As long as she is safe, everything else will be fine.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
