Chapter 226 225. A wife is not as good as a concubine, a concubine is not as good as a secret lover
all in all.
No matter what the people of the world speculated, the new emperor's empress had been confirmed. She was the general of the Eastern Expedition - Xiang Chong, the first male empress in the history of the Dayou Dynasty.
Lei Li and Zhou Yi were a little surprised by this, but not particularly unexpected.
On the contrary, Meng Luo, who had come to Sanlihe Village specifically to deliver the news and chat about gossip with the couple, was still shocked. Seeing that the couple did not seem surprised, he was even more surprised.
"Why aren't you surprised at all?"
"This is the ruler and queen of a country. It's even more shocking than the previous dynasty's Queen Mother who ruled the country from behind the curtain and controlled the court for nearly thirty years."
"What's so strange about that?"
Lei Li glanced at him strangely, and while talking to Xiao Zhouzhou who came to him to ask for snacks, he took a piece of mung bean cake and white cloud cake and gave them to the little brother, telling him to eat slowly.
Then he continued, "Haven't these two been together for a long time? I was still thinking about the Third Prince—no, now he's the new emperor. I was still thinking that sooner or later he would establish a queen and take concubines, expanding the royal family. What would General Xiang do?"
"Did she break up with General Xiang, and the general turned from love to hatred and turned against her, or did she do that thing with the general behind the Queen's back... What was the word you said to me the other day?"
Lei Li suddenly forgot what he was saying halfway through. The word was on the tip of his tongue but he just couldn't remember it.
"Underground love."
Knowing that Lei Li was like Zhou Yi, Zhou Yi took over the conversation before Lei Li finished speaking.
"Yes, an underground love."
Lei Li nodded. "I thought the new emperor would have a secret affair with the general. After all, what's the saying? A wife is not as good as a concubine, a concubine is not as good as a secret lover, and a secret lover is not as good as not being able to have a secret lover. Isn't that what all you men are like?"
He glanced at Mengluo with a smile, and then gave Mei and Qing beside him a mischievous look.
Mei Yuqing was a sensitive person, and if they were not familiar with each other, they would have thought too much when they heard it, but he knew that Lei Li liked to joke, so he took a sip of tea slowly, put down the teacup, and wiped the corner of his lips with a handkerchief.
Meng Luo's chubby face flushed red immediately. He looked at Mei Yuqing hurriedly and waved his hands, saying, "Xiaoqing, I'm not like that. Those shady guys said that. The world can bear witness to my sincerity towards you!"
"I know."
Mei Yuqing pursed her lips and smiled, gently patted Meng Luo's hand to comfort him, and then whispered to Lei Li, "Stop teasing him, he can't stand being teased."
"It's funny if you can't help but laugh."
Lei Li smiled, his peach blossom eyes slightly raised, and it was unclear whether he was talking about Meng Luo or a tall man who was often bullied by him.
“…”
I always feel like the conversation will turn to me.
Zhou Yi silently poured a glass of water for Lei Li, then poured another, picked it up and said, "I'll go see if Zhou Zhou choked on his snacks. Give him some water."
Xiao Zhouzhou is a lively little boy who can't sit still. He took the snacks and ran away. Now he should be playing with his sister Meng Tian from Mengluo's family and the puppies in the backyard.
"Go ahead."
Lei Li took the glass of water, glanced at Zhou Yi with a smile, and slowly drank a sip of water. His eyes seemed as if he was not drinking water, but something else.
Zhou Yi's ears felt slightly hot, he nodded, took a plate of snacks and water and went to the backyard.
"You just said that the new emperor and General Xiang have been together for a long time. How come I didn't know about this?"
Meng Luo was appeased by Mei and Qing, and ate this shocking melon again.
"That's easy to guess."
Lei Li analyzed, "When the Third Prince first ascended the throne and his position was unstable, Xiang Chong led his troops to fight for him, defeating foreign tribes and forcing them to submit. He was praised by the common people, especially Dongyuan."
"Xiang Chong used to be known as Xiang Chong, your cousin. He traveled extensively on behalf of the Third Prince to resolve the affairs of the Meng family and lay the foundation for him to accumulate financial resources."
"These funds were transferred from the new emperor's private treasury to the national treasury, and then converted into disaster relief funds and distributed to various prefectures and cities. The rice, grain, and medicinal materials distributed to the disaster victims and the poor were all sourced from this."
"After the world stabilized, the new emperor placed emphasis on agriculture and culture, and successively issued and implemented a series of policies."
Lei Li and Zhou Yi were in the remote Sanlihe Village where news was delayed. Although Qingmi County had developed river transportation and merchants were traveling frequently, it was impossible for them to know the movements of the imperial court and other prefectures in real time or in a comprehensive manner.
The Meng family has stores in every prefecture, city, and county in Dayou Dynasty, so they can get the latest news at the first time and then summarize and send it to the Meng family in Zhongchuan.
Mengluo has now taken charge of some household affairs, mainly responsible for the business in Xiling, so he knows a lot of important affairs of the court.
He is a chatterbox.
He has friends in Zhongchuan, but none of them are like Lei Li, who can talk about anything, who can always reply to his words, and who will not flatter him.
After the Meng family became the first imperial merchant, they enjoyed an extraordinary status in the business circle of the Dayou Dynasty. Countless people flattered the Meng family and wanted to get benefits from them.
When Mengluo was in Zhongchuan, he had to think carefully before speaking to people, for fear that his unintentional words would be used as an excuse by someone with ulterior motives.
This kind of thing happens all the time among businessmen. Trouble comes from the mouth. Sometimes you are hated by others, excluded and bullied, and you don’t even know which sentence offended them.
Mengluo is not worried about anyone squeezing out his family now, but it would be bad if he brought trouble to other small merchants and made them the target of public criticism because of his words.
What's more, the Meng family is now a big tree that attracts wind, and the third brother Meng has not yet established himself in the court, so it is better to be careful.
So Mengluo came to Sanlihe Village.
It was pleasant to chat with Lei Li, he was a trustworthy person and he could say whatever he wanted to say. Once he knew something, he would tell Lei Li everything.
He even brought up the story of his father getting drunk and accidentally falling into a pigpen, then falling asleep and spending the entire night with the pigs. He laughed for a long time while talking about it.
Therefore, although Lei Li did not know everything about family affairs, national affairs and world affairs, he had heard about them. All the decrees issued by the third prince after he ascended the throne were of paramount importance.
For example, funds are allocated to governments at all levels to distribute grain seeds to farmers, encourage people to reclaim large amounts of wasteland, reduce grain taxes, and alleviate the burden on farmers.
At the same time, he attached importance to cultural education in various prefectures and cities, and successively built Wanjia School to promote basic education. As for higher education, the new emperor increased support for county schools and prefecture schools, and allocated funds to support outstanding poor students to study and take imperial examinations.
The new emperor also held special examinations for two consecutive years and presided over the examinations personally, so that the new scholars and officials in these years were all disciples of the emperor. This greatly consolidated his power in the court and did a lot of practical things for the people.
And in these policies and decrees, there is more or less the shadow of Xiang Chong.
Or it was Xiang Chong who proposed to reduce farmers' taxes; or it was General Xiang Chong who stood up for the wronged candidates, being upright and incorruptible and not shielding the children of the powerful at all.
Or perhaps General Xiang personally visited Baihui Prefecture, conducted a private investigation, and then executed a group of corrupt officials, eradicating the unhealthy trend of collusion between officials and businessmen in Baihui, and preventing the farmers in Baihui from being oppressed and exploited by corrupt officials and profiteers.
General Xiang Chong also proposed lifting the maritime ban, encouraging merchants to go out to sea and trade with foreign countries. However, due to strong resistance from relatives in the imperial court, this proposal remains on the agenda and may take some time to reach a decision.
"There is no doubt that the new emperor is gaining popularity among the people."
Lei Li said nonchalantly, "The new emperor has a queen. No matter who she is, she will only give the common people some gossip to talk about after dinner."
"Besides, this queen is General Xiang, who has done a lot of practical things for the people. The people are really looking forward to having such a good queen."
Lei Li smiled. "There are also rumors among the people that the general is handsome, heroic, and tall, and that he is a martial god from heaven who has come to assist the new emperor."
"This is much more eye-catching than the old story of the emperor going incognito and falling in love with a commoner girl, or the emperor and a noble lady having a consensual relationship."
Erotic stories and love stories about emperors and empresses appeared in large numbers in the market and sold very well.
"It seems so."
After hearing what Lei Li said, Meng Luo thought about it and was not so shocked anymore.
"It's just that General Xiang is the new emperor's right-hand man, and he's a few years older than the new emperor. I used to think that no matter how close they were, they were just good friends or brothers. I didn't expect them to be like that..."
Mengluo has an older brother.
He has several biological brothers.
Among his friends, many who were older than him called themselves brothers, so it was a little hard for him to imagine that someone would be with their siblings.
...Isn't it said that serving the king is like serving a tiger, and that the king and his subject become a perfect couple? How do they get along in daily life?
General Xiang saw the new emperor when he went to court, and saw the new emperor again when he returned home after court. When he woke up in the morning, he opened his eyes to the new emperor. Wouldn't he feel scared?
Mengluo thought about it, and his chubby face wrinkled unconsciously.
"How can a brother be closer than a husband?"
Lei Li took a sip of water, feeling a bit gloating. "Besides—how do you know the new emperor hasn't been targeting General Xiang from the beginning?"
"Didn't you see that when the new emperor came back, he kept staring at General Xiang out of the corner of his eye. That look, tsk, even a blind person could see what he was thinking."
"ah?"
Meng Luo was a little confused, "Why can't I see it? I'm not blind."
"What's the difference?"
Lei Li said these cool words with a smile, and drank a sip of water slowly.
“Hmm.”
Meng Luo covered his chest, pretending to be hurt by an arrow, and said in an exaggerated and pitiful manner, "This is really chilling. When we first met, you kept praising me by calling me Young Master Meng."
“…”
Lei Li rolled his eyes.
"etc."
Meng Luo realized it belatedly, his eyes widening in surprise. "New Emperor? Has he been here before? When did he come? And just now you said... Xiang Chong, General Xiang, using the alias Xiang Chong, became my cousin?"
"It sounds like a story, haha. If General Xiang is really my cousin, my father would kneel down in fear, trembling with trepidation, afraid that he might have done something wrong..."
The more Meng Luo spoke, the softer his voice became, and his grinning expression slowly disappeared, gradually revealing a look of fear.
"Me, you, last time? The last time my cousin came, the boss Wan he brought with him, couldn't he be... the person I'm thinking of?"
"Yes."
Lei Li looked at him with a smile, and with foresight, covered his ears to avoid Meng Luo's scream of disbelief and fear.
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