Chapter 364 The general trend of the harem
Arriving at Hangu Pass, not far from the capital, the emperor finally returned safely, and all the entourages were relieved. Only the king of Donghai became more and more uneasy.
Princess Tan finally couldn't bear it anymore, she stretched out her hand and grabbed a piece of meat on the waist of King Donghai, and asked coldly, "What are you tossing about?"
"Oh, let go quickly, you know..." The king of Donghai was itchy and painful. There was his "life gate", and others dared not touch it, but Mr. Tan reached out and showed no pity.
After waiting for a while, Mr. Tan let go of his hand. King Donghai held back his laughter until his face turned red. Fortunately, it was night. He let out a long breath, "I am a prince, your husband..."
Tan's hand stretched out again, and the King of the East Sea hurriedly changed his words, "It's also your little follower, will it work this time?"
"Let me ask you, why are you tossing and turning if you don't sleep in the middle of the night?" Mr. Tan couldn't easily fool him.
"I'm thinking of your Tan family."
"Hey, is there still the Tan family?" Mrs Tan turned around and turned her back to the King of the East China Sea. The Tan family in the capital has now become the Tan family of the East China Sea. She is the only one who can go back to Beijing, and since she accepted the help of the ugly king of Luoyang, her status in the world has changed. plummeted.
"Life's ups and downs are originally like this. You, a smart person, can't even see through this?"
"I don't want to become a monk, why do I look so thoroughly?" Tan said angrily.
The King of Donghai turned his wife around and asked seriously, "Do you Tan family have any grudge against the Jincheng Deng family?"
He hid this sentence for several days, but couldn't find any clues, so he could only ask Mr. Tan.
"Deng's family? Deng Cui, the new cavalry general?"
"Yes, but he is no longer a general of chariots and cavalry. He has been dismissed by His Majesty. When he is guilty, he is waiting to go to the Western Regions to build a city. He will not be back in ten or eight years."
The Tan family is not interested in these things. "The Tan family used to be in Beijing, and the Deng family was in Jincheng. One is a citizen and the other is an official. They have never come to each other. Where can the hatred come from?"
"This is strange. Since there is no grudge with the Tan family, why does Deng Cui keep staring at the matter of the champion? He even publicly threatened to take revenge, who to seek revenge? It's definitely not your majesty..."
Tan was immediately alert, "It's been a few days since you came back, why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"I want to find the reason first."
"Didn't Deng Cui have to be sent to the Western Regions for several years before returning? What are you afraid of him?"
"This guy... is not an ordinary person. When he ambushed the Huns outside the Great Wall, he let go of Cui Zhao, indicating that he was not targeting the Cui family, so the Tan family and I were left. I asked His Majesty, Deng Cui was sure He will be sent to the Western Regions, but in order to reassure him, one of Deng Cui's younger sisters is likely to be able to enter the palace, which is a lot of trouble."
"Didn't His Majesty say that there will be no drafts within three years?"
"The daughter of the Deng family will enter the palace directly, and there is no need for a draft."
Tan was silent for a while, "Don't worry about it, I'll ask tomorrow."
The King of the East Sea was startled and regretted his eloquence, "Don't, we are living in the cracks now, and anyone who looks at them may be told to His Majesty, do you know how much effort I have spent to gain His Majesty's trust? "
"Don't Deng Cui have a younger sister? Since he is going to be sent to the palace, he must be in the team. It is easy for women to inquire about news."
"But you are the Tan family, in case the Deng family..."
Tan turned around.
The East Sea King was helpless, sighed softly, lay down quietly for a while, and said, "Why is there no one around me who can be sent to the palace?"
Tan turned around and kicked her husband, almost kicking him off the bed, "Why, what else are you going to ask me to do?"
The King of Donghai spoke to himself inadvertently, and hurriedly defended: "How is it possible? I'm not the kind of person from the Cui family. The daughter of the Deng family has a good show."
"You want to see it so much, why don't you become the emperor?"
The King of Donghai immediately stretched out his hand to cover Mrs. Tan's mouth, and whispered, "You're crazy, how dare you say such a thing? Be careful that the walls have ears."
Mrs Tan got rid of her husband's hand, "I want to do things but have no courage, bah. Let me ask you, why are you so interested in things in the palace?"
Even to his wife, King Donghai didn't say anything about wanting to avenge his mother, and said with a smile, "Isn't it for us, for the Tan family? Your Majesty has not been in charge for a long time. A Martial Emperor, with such a majesty, it is almost impossible for foreign ministers to take power. But your majesty is also a human being, and his heart is kind. He is often unbearable, and it is difficult to suppress the harem disputes. Months, up to three or five years, whoever can win in the harem, his family will be in power."
"Does Wang Meiren have any family?"
"Hey, there are still many people in the rich family's family, not to mention the Queen Mother of Chu? And Wang Meiren may not be the final winner. She has been holding back for too long. ."
"Where's your queen cousin?"
King Donghai had been thinking about it for a long time, and he opened his mouth to come, "Cousin is gentle by nature, she seldom fights with others, and even takes the initiative to give things in her hands to the other party, just for peace of mind. But she was born in the Cui family and has been favored since childhood. She is extremely proud of her bones, the so-called indisputable is disdain, once she touches the bottom line, she will definitely surprise her opponents."
Mrs. Tan had seen the queen and fled with her in the palace. After thinking about it for a while, she felt that her husband was right, and asked, "Where is Deng Cui's sister? Will she participate in the struggle for power?"
"I haven't seen her, but as long as she has a three-point similarity with her brother Deng Cui, she must fight. I just don't understand. The Deng family has been in decline for a long time. Why is the fight for power?"
"I'll find out," said Tan, turning around again.
The King of the East Sea was excited, "Why didn't you ask the Queen Mother and Concubine Jin?"
"Too backward, the Xiongnu women stayed outside the fortress, what can I ask?"
"Not necessarily, one thing is going up and the other is going up and down. Now Wang Meiren hasn't done much, and those who follow the trend have already swarmed up. When she becomes the Queen Mother, who cares about the Queen Mother Shangguan? Remember, the Queen Mother Shangguan is not an ordinary person, she is angry. Come, but to kill."
The first thing Tan shi thought of was not her mother-in-law Taifei Cui, but the sister of the empress dowager Shangguan, as well as Emperor Huan, who was said to have died at the hands of the empress dowager, "Well, that is indeed a terrible person."
"Concubine Jin said that she would not return to the capital, but kept her second brother Jin Chunzhong by your Majesty's side, with the entire Xiongnu backing her back, who could attack and defend. To say that among the people in the harem, her position was the most stable, of course she had to If you sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, maybe one day you will drive straight in and enter the palace to take power."
"Your Majesty likes her very much, doesn't he?"
The King of the East Sea didn't pay much attention to this point, "Such a famous beauty, who..."
Tan's hand was pinched on his waist again, and the East Sea King immediately begged for mercy: "Don't...you asked me. Your Majesty is not the kind of person who is greedy for beauty. I listened to His Majesty and agreed that Concubine Jin would stay outside the fortress. There are many One of the reasons is that he is worried that he will fall into the land of gentleness and cannot extricate himself."
Mrs Tan snorted and sighed again, "What a beautiful concubine, what a decisive emperor."
"So you know, the harem is not a fuel-efficient lamp. This battle... It's a pity that we can't see it, let alone participate in it. When the truth comes out, we won't get any benefits."
Mrs. Tan always felt that her husband was not stoic enough to achieve great things. After listening to him tonight, she found that her husband actually had other advantages and was not useless. "Go to sleep, I won't let you worry about these things alone."
Mrs Tan was lying on her side with her hands on her husband's chest. King Donghai held his wife's hand, no longer tossing and turning, and slowly fell asleep. He dreamed of his mother again. After opening his eyes the next morning, his heart was still pounding, and he was really scared. One day, I will accidentally tell the truth of revenge in a dream.
After entering the customs, the ministers of the capital came to pick them up in batches, and the memorials sent to the emperor were no longer copies approved by Yang Feng and others, but the original ones, which required the emperor to personally approve, which was also a manifestation of returning to power.
The emperor became busy all of a sudden, often stopping to discuss state affairs with his ministers. The closer he got to the capital, the slower the team traveled, only dozens of miles a day.
The King of the East Sea still does not have a formal official position, and he does not seek an official position. He prefers to stay by the emperor's side in an ambiguous capacity as a staff officer and advisor, so he also gets busy.
After a full five days, the capital was in sight, and the King of the East Sea was a little free, and the Tan family also inquired about the news he wanted.
Deng Cui's sister went directly to Luoyang before, and then joined her brother and went to Beijing together.
Sure enough, the women were easy to talk to each other, so Tan tried a few times, and soon met with Deng Mei, chatted with each other, and became sisters.
"You can never guess what the Deng family is thinking." Tan said on the bed that she felt safe to talk only after the lights were turned off.
"That's why I wondered. When it comes to greed for power, the Deng family didn't come to the capital to assist the champion. When it comes to revenge, when Cui Zhao just went to Jincheng to send his son, the Deng family was very enthusiastic. Later, when I heard about the champion's son... …”
"That's the problem."
"What's the matter, didn't the Deng family just suspect that he was transferred in the palace?"
"The great general Deng Liao won many battles and killed many people during Emperor Wu's reign. It is said that he injured Yin Gai because of it. Not to mention his untimely death, the Deng family has only had daughters and not sons since then."
"so what?"
"So the Deng family wants to adopt the son of the champion Hou, and use the dragon son Longsun to drive away bad luck. If the son of the champion Hou is fake, it will naturally be invalid."
"This... this is too ridiculous, for I regard Deng Cui as a character, and His Majesty also expects him quite a bit, actually... actually..."
"Forget it if you don't believe it, don't laugh at others." Tan sternly said, she believed this kind of thing more.
The East Sea King let out a sigh of relief, "Then I can rest assured, it seems that the Deng family is not a threat."
"Not necessarily, as you said, Deng Cui's sister is not an ordinary woman. If she can enter the palace, there will be a fight."
"Unfortunately, we can only watch, no, we don't even have the qualifications to watch, we can only wait to hear the news."
"I thought about it, we should support the queen."
"Cousin Xiaojun?"
"Well, the queen is on the defensive for the time being, and has been giving way. Sooner or later, there will be a counterattack. After returning to Beijing, I will find a way to contact the queen. You don't have to participate. If you get into trouble, it has nothing to do with you."
"This...isn't it?"
"I've made up my mind, you don't need to say more." Tan Shi paused, "Wang Meiren has already started, you must be careful, Wang Meiren doesn't like you, and even fears you."
Of course, the King of Donghai understood this truth, "What did Wang Meiren do? Who did you listen to?"
"Have you noticed that after passing through Hangu Pass, the team walks slower every day?"
"Of course, this is because His Majesty often has to discuss government affairs with ministers, and there are many receptions on the road, one after another."
"In any case, Wang Meiren has made full use of these few days. His Majesty announced in Luoyang that he will not be drafted for three years. Before His Majesty has returned to Beijing, Wang Meiren has already brought a group of beautiful girls into the palace. Send it out?"
The King of Donghai was taken aback, "In order to squeeze out the queen, Wang Meiren really does everything she can."
"Will you tell Your Majesty?"
The King of the East Sea thought for a while, "No, I can't do anything like alienating His Majesty's mother-son relationship, and—if Xiaojun's cousin is not bullied more severely, why would you gain her trust and goodwill?"
Tan snorted coldly, but hugged her husband even tighter.