Chapter 297: 297 split
Chapter 297 Chapter 297 Separation
"Inexplicable!" Prince Li judged with a cold tone.
He evaluated not only the emperor, but also those Nanhao people.
Princess Li thought of something, frowned slightly, called the old nanny over, and asked her to go back to her parents' home immediately to report the news.
There was no need for Princess Li to say anything else. Prince Li understood what was going on. He hurriedly said goodbye to his parents and planned to tell Princess Li about the matter so that her family would be prepared.
At dusk, the cold wind intensified, and light snow began to fall in the sky again. The needle-prick snow particles smashed on the roof tiles, rustling until dawn the next day.
Early the next morning, there was light snow mixed with rain.
In the early morning, the emperor discussed the matter with the civil and military officials of the court with a sullen face in the Jinluan Palace. It was like a stone causing a thousand waves, and the whole court was shaken.
For a time, there was quite a sense of depression that everyone felt in danger.
In this regard, some people objected, some agreed, and some did not say a word. There was a lively quarrel in the morning, but no matter how the opposing parties argued, no one could shake the emperor's will.
In the next few days, the Ministry of Rites and the Zongren Mansion took the lead in sorting out the unengaged ladies in the capital.
It is conceivable that not just anyone can be a concubine to marry the third princess, and the status of the concubine cannot be too low, so the Ministry of Rites selects suitable girls from the families of nobles of the third rank or above; the status cannot be Too tall, so they are mainly concubines, aged between thirteen and eighteen.
This matter was so urgent that the emperor asked the Ministry of Rites to sort out the list within three days. All the officials in the Ministry of Rites were so busy that they wished they could grow three heads and six arms.
The officials of the Ministry of Rites worked overtime for three days without entering the house, and finally gave the emperor a list of names on the third day of the twelfth lunar month.
However, the emperor didn't care at all about the results of the Ministry of Rites, and didn't bother to look at it. He directly asked Eunuch Ni to forward the list to the queen. The queen urgently summoned most of the ladies on the list into the palace that day and asked them one by one.
Because this time she wanted to choose a concubine for the third princess, the queen asked very carefully when choosing a concubine. She not only chose her birth status, but also looked at her appearance, virtue, speech, talents, and so on.
The queen spent most of the day asking questions, taking exams, and carefully selecting, and finally decided on two candidates, the sixth granddaughter of Changxing Marquis and the fourth daughter of Changping Bo.
These two girls are both gentle in temperament, generous in words and deeds, quite talented, and beautiful in appearance, but they are not so outstanding that they steal the limelight of the third princess.
After the queen decided on the candidates, she first handed them to the emperor for review, and then the Ministry of Rites sent the list to the post house and handed it over to the king of Andaman.
This was originally Gu Jin's errand. After Gu Jin resigned, the emperor temporarily placed the second prince Gu Nanzhao in the Ministry of Rites to be responsible for this matter.
Gu Nanzhao took the list and went to the post house in person. Half an hour later he came out of the post house with a sullen face, and rushed to the royal study to report back to the emperor:
"Father, the King of Andaman County read the list, but he felt it was inappropriate."
"The county king said that they want to choose it themselves."
The emperor was so angry that he threw out the list and gave Gu Nanzhao only three words:
"Keep picking."
What the emperor meant was that since Andaman was not satisfied, he should continue to choose until he was satisfied.
In any case, the emperor would never agree to let the Nanhao people choose. After all, he, the emperor of Daqi, still wanted to be embarrassed!
This incident became another game between the emperor and the king of Andaman, and the unlucky one was naturally Gu Nanzhao, who was caught between the two.
For this reason, Gu Nanzhao ran back and forth between the post house and the palace several times, submitting new lists to the King of Andaman again and again, but was rejected again and again, and so it was the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month.
This repeated setback made the emperor really impatient, and he couldn't help but think about the prince's kindness.
He, the second child, is really indecisive. If he were the prince, he would not ask him again and again for such a trivial matter.
This time, the King of Andaman finally "selected" two candidates -
One is the third girl from Yan'an House, and the other is Chu Qianhuang, the eldest daughter of Marquis Yongding.
When the emperor saw Chu Qianhuang's name appearing on the list, he couldn't believe his eyes and his face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.
The emperor's face was as heavy as water, and he sat there motionless, his slightly cloudy eyes fixed on the list, staring at the three words "Chu Qianhuang" on it, and his sharp eyes seemed to want to capture that list. The three words seemed to be crushed into pieces.
"Crack!"
The emperor slapped the imperial desk heavily with one palm after another, with veins twitching in his forehead, and asked in a cold voice: "Gu Nanzhao, why is Chu Qianhuang's name on it?"
The emperor was filled with anger and couldn't hold it back. He was so angry that he called Gu Nanzhao by his name. His eyes were fixed on Gu Nanzhao like razor blades, and he had to wonder what role he played in the whole thing.
The emperor felt that this second son really disappointed him. He was far inferior to the prince. However, he was placed in his current position by himself and he entrusted him with important responsibilities.
Gu Nanzhao lowered his head, with cold sweat oozing out from his forehead, and replied respectfully: "Father, the eldest girl from the Chu family was included in the first list submitted by the Ministry of Rites."
Gu Nanzhao has been extremely busy with this matter in the past few days. He has not had a good rest and looks a little haggard.
Eunuch Ni watched quietly from the side, crying tears of sympathy for the second prince in his heart.
He naturally understood the second prince's dilemma.
At that time, the emperor's request to the Ministry of Rites was that the families of noble clan members should be dominated by concubines of the right age, but the legitimate daughters were not completely eliminated.
In the Qi Dynasty, most girls from noble families, whether they were legitimate daughters or concubines, were used for marriage.
For any family to have a well-raised daughter become a concubine for a princess, and also have to marry off to distant Nanhao, this is really not a good thing for any family. It has no benefit, and most families should avoid it. For fear of falling short.
Moreover, most of the noble girls in Beijing got married when they were twelve or thirteen years old, and there were not many girls of the right age who were not engaged.
Those mansions in the court that had some connections had gone to the Ministry of Rites in advance, which meant that those without connections had no choice but to report their girls' names to the Ministry of Rites.
The Ministry of Rites had too few candidates to choose from. There were less than ten names and they really couldn't submit a message to the emperor, so they could only write down the names of a few more legitimate daughters.
Eunuch Ni had also seen the list presented by the Ministry of Rites on the third day of the twelfth lunar month, and immediately saw the clue, but it was impossible for him to remind the emperor.
The emperor didn't even look at the list at the time, so he forwarded it directly to the empress and asked her to pick someone.
Gu Nanzhao sighed deeply in his heart: Hey.
It was only after he accepted this errand that he learned that Chu Qianhuang's name was also on the list of the Ministry of Rites. For this reason, he made a special trip to the Yongding Marquis Mansion to remind his eldest aunt Shen about this.
At that time, Ms. Shen only said that she knew.
Gu Nanzhao thought that Shen knew it well, and the queen did not pick Chu Qianhuang, so he let the matter go. Unexpectedly, Chu Qianhuang's name was still not removed from the list.
Hey, since the eldest uncle Chu Lingxiao was convicted, the Yongding Hou Mansion has been away from the court. I am afraid that life in the Hou Mansion is not easy now. The eldest aunt is running into obstacles everywhere, and is afraid of embarrassing herself and finding it difficult to talk to herself, so she There's no way to get there.
Gu Nanzhao sighed secretly, feeling that he was careless. He should have gone to the Hou Mansion to take more care of him.
Gu Nanzhao raised his head, looked directly into the emperor's eyes, and explained in a sincere tone: "Father, please calm down. I also told Prince Andaman that Miss Chu is the eldest daughter of the Yongding Marquis Mansion, so it is not appropriate." ”
"However, the King of Andaman insists that Miss Chu is good."
Gu Nanzhao felt aggrieved in his heart, and more importantly, he felt guilty towards Shen and Chu Qianhuang mother and daughter.
Of course he didn't want his cousin to marry as a concubine and go to the country of Hao. He also sincerely told Andaman that Chu Qianhuang was not suitable, but despite all his efforts, Andaman still insisted on his opinion.
When Gu Nanzhao spoke, his expression was particularly sincere, and he did not avoid the emperor's scrutinizing gaze.
The father and son looked at each other, one aloof, the other respectful.
The emperor still had some understanding of the second son's temperament. Gu Nanzhao was gentle by nature, indecisive, hesitant in doing things, and simple-minded. The emperor could tell that Gu Nanzhao was not lying, he was telling the truth.
so-
It’s the Andaman County King who insists on Chu Qianhuang!
The emperor squinted his eyes, and a flash of coldness flashed in his shrunken pupils. The doubts in his heart became thicker and thicker, and became stagnant.
Why did Andaman suddenly ask for a concubine as a dowry? !
Why did he have to choose Chu Qianhuang from the Yongding Marquis Mansion? !
This Yongding Marquis Mansion is just a declining Marquis Mansion. Chu Lingxiao has been exiled. Up to now, the Marquis Mansion has not even decided who the attacker is.
The imperial study fell into a dead silence, silent and stiff atmosphere continued.
Eunuch Ni stood with his eyes and nose in mind, as motionless as a stone sculpture, not even moving the silver whisk in his hand.
I don't know how long it took, but the emperor finally broke the silence and said every word as if from between his teeth: "Chu Qianhuang is Chu Lingxiao's daughter, right?"
"Yes." Gu Nanzhao replied succinctly and lowered his head again.
The emperor rolled his eyes, stared at Gu Nanzhao with burning eyes, and asked again: "Who is Princess Chen?"
When he heard the words "Princess Chen", Gu Nanzhao's lowered eyes flickered slightly, and a sad and lingering light flashed across them.
Gu Nanzhao tried hard to control his emotions and replied in a barely calm voice: "Sister."
The emperor opened his eyes wide, feeling as if all the blood in his body was rushing to his heart, and his limbs were cold.
I see!
The emperor felt that he had discovered the truth!
Recalling the previous events, the emperor was sure that his guess was indeed correct. There was indeed something fishy between Hao Ren and Gu Jue that he didn't know about. These Hao people are simply unreasonable. They even married their direct princess to their prince, and they are still not satisfied.
The more the emperor thought about it, the more he felt his chest became tight and his breathing became short, and he stood up.
The emperor strode back and forth in the imperial study several times, his thoughts spinning rapidly.
I'm afraid that the Nanhao people's suspicion that Wuhejialou was in Prince Chen's Mansion was just a cover-up. The Nanhao people just wanted to use this to get involved with Gu Jue.
Andaman told himself that his man died in Daqi and he wanted to give him an explanation.
It was also because of this that the emperor relented and agreed to Andaman's concubine for the third princess.
But now the emperor began to consider another possibility.
Maybe, those Hao people who were kidnapped from Jin Yiwei were not dead at all. This was just a game, but Andaman took the opportunity to ask for more benefits from himself.
Thinking of the many benefits he had promised because of this incident, the emperor felt aggrieved and felt a heavy sigh in his heart.
His expression became a little gloomier again, and he stopped in front of the window, looking out through the transparent glass window.
The emperor suddenly opened the window, and a biting cold wind came in, piercing the emperor's heart and lungs through his nose.
The cold wind howled outside, and there was silence in the house.
The second prince, Gu Nanzhao, still stood where he was, looking at the emperor's back motionlessly.
The emperor stared blankly at the few dead branches outside the window, his eyes filled with bone-deep coldness, as cold as ice.
If he could only think of the relationship between Haoren and Gu Jue as a guess before, now Chu Qianhuang has a clear piece of evidence.
The reason why the King of Andaman County chose Chu Qianhuang was probably to serve as an "alliance letter" for him to form an alliance with Gu Jue.
The emperor's heart was bright.
It wasn't until this moment that the emperor finally figured out the whole story. The Hao Emperor Wuhaduluo sent envoys to Daqi, ostensibly under the banner of marriage between the two countries, but in fact these Hao people were just wallflowers, always swinging between the two sides.
And now Haoren chose Gu Jue.
The emperor clenched his fist so tightly that the joints of his fingers made a "clunking" sound, and there was a heavy cloud on his forehead.
In this case, why do these Hao people marry his princess? !
They don't want to marry, and he doesn't want to marry his princess yet!
Just thinking about how he, the Emperor of Da Qi, was actually being used as a gunman, made the emperor feel even worse. He looked in the direction of the post house with a gloomy expression.
At this moment, the emperor even wanted to ask the Jin Yiwei to imprison all the Hao Kingdom envoys in prison.
"Crack!"
A heavy blow suddenly sounded in the imperial study room, and the atmosphere was almost tense to the extreme. It made the whisk in Eunuch Ni's hand tremble in shock.
Gu Nanzhao looked up and saw the emperor slapping his palm heavily on the window sill.
From Gu Nanzhao's perspective, he could only see the emperor's side face bathed in the faint winter sunshine, with unfathomable anger hanging from the corners of his brows and eyes. His expression was even more fierce and cold, and he released a sinister aura throughout his body. , like an evil ghost crawling back from hell.
Gu Nanzhao's heart sank again, and he could see that the emperor seemed even more angry than before.
The imperial study became quiet again, you could hear a needle drop, and the howling wind outside made the room feel more and more empty.
The silence seemed boundless and seemed to last forever.
After a while, Gu Nanzhao coughed dryly and spoke again cautiously: "Father, today the Jingjun Prince's House is splitting up..."
The reason why Gu Nanzhao mentioned this was because the emperor told him five days ago and asked him to go and have a look on the day of the separation of the Jingjun Palace.
Originally, Gu Nanzhao's errands did not include this, and he did not serve in the Zongren Mansion. In the past, this was usually the prince's errand. However, because the relationship between the emperor and the prince has not eased, the emperor took Prince Li to the throne when he came to ask for instructions. This errand was handed over to Gu Nanzhao.
The second prince's words suddenly brought the emperor back from his thoughts.
The emperor's eyes flashed and he slowly turned around. A few rays of sunlight passed by his cheeks. When he turned his back to the window, his face looked a little blurry in the backlight.
The emperor's mood was not much better. His thoughts turned to the separation of the Jingjun Prince's family, and his expression remained gloomy.
Until now, Gu Jin's resignation has always made the emperor unhappy, as if there was a thorn buried in his heart, which pricked the emperor's heart from time to time.
He felt that Gu Jin's move was just like telling others that he, Gu Lang, was a harsh king and could not tolerate the clan, forcing him to resign.
The emperor's eyes moved slightly, with a meaningful look in his eyes, and a cold smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
He wanted to see how the family would be divided if Gu Jin didn't want a title.
According to the rules of family division in Da Qi, the clan that inherits the title can get 70% of the family property, and the remaining property can be divided equally among the other sons. The legitimate sons will only have a little more than the concubines.
The emperor chuckled inaudibly, and finally said: "Second brother, go ahead."
"Yes, Father."
Gu Nanzhao felt relieved. After bowing to the emperor, he exited the imperial study.
After coming out, Gu Nanzhao stopped under the eaves with his hands behind his back, breathed a long sigh of relief, raised his hands and gently rubbed his eyebrows.
Gu Nanzhao raised his eyes and looked in the direction of the East Palace. He felt that his father's temper was getting worse and he was always getting angry. The eldest brother was really working hard.
A young chambermaid in green clothes who was waiting outside the house came up to him anxiously and saluted.
The little chamberlain had been waiting for a long time, but he couldn't go in to rush him. Fortunately, the second prince finally came out.
"Your Highness, are you going to Jingjun Prince's Mansion next?" the young chamberlain asked for instructions.
Gu Nanzhao came back to his senses, nodded, looked at the high winter sky, and strode toward the palace gate.
After Gu Nanzhao left the palace, he went to Prince Jingjun's Mansion as quickly as possible.
Even with all the speed, Gu Nanzhao felt that Jingjun Palace was still a stick of incense late.
Anyway, Gu Nanzhao was not a necessary person, so Prince Li didn't bother to wait for him.
When Gu Nanzhao walked outside the hall, he heard the righteous voice of Prince Li coming from inside: "...As the saying goes, when a tree branches out, the family branches out. As the population increases, it may harm the nature..."
Gu Nanzhao stopped under the eaves and glanced around the main hall.
The main hall was full and crowded. Except for Concubine Yang from Prince Jing's Mansion and the people in each room, everyone here today was from a distinguished clan, and their seniority was quite high.
When Gu Nanzhao's eyes fell on Gu Jue's face, his eyes flickered slightly, and then his eyes fell on Chu Qianchen who was sitting next to Gu Jue.
Chu Qianchen, who was wearing a begonia red trousers, was drinking tea from a pastel tea cup. She didn't seem to pay attention to what Prince Li said.
Chu Qianchen's thick eyelashes were slightly drooped, and the way he was sitting upright drinking tea looked particularly peaceful and graceful, like a painting of a lady painted by a famous artist.
Sister Chen is still so pretty! Gu Nanzhao stared at Chu Qianchen's figure, almost in a daze.
Suddenly, Chu Qianchen turned to look at Gu Jue beside him. While putting down the tea cup, he pursed his lips and smiled brightly at him. Gu Jue, who was sitting on the other side of her, was handing her a handkerchief. , pointed at the little finger of her right hand.
Outside the hall, Gu Nanzhao's pupils shrank slightly, but he was still looking at Chu Qianchen.
He knew deeply that Chu Qianchen's smile was not directed at him...
Gu Nanzhao couldn't help but take a step forward, but heard someone in the hall shout: "His Royal Highness the Second Prince."
As a result, other people in the hall also saw the belated arrival of the second prince, including Prince Li.
Most of the people in the room stood up and bowed to Gu Nanzhao, while the other half, such as Prince Li and Gu Jue, who were of higher seniority, sat calmly in their original positions.
Everyone met with Gu Nanzhao one after another, especially Concubine Yang, the third eldest son of the Gu family, Gu Ming, and others all looked happy. They felt that Gu Nanzhao's arrival was a sign that the emperor valued their Jingjun Palace.
Concubine Yang very diligently sent someone to bring an imperial chair for Gu Nanzhao and arranged his seat on the right side of Prince Li.
Gu Nanzhao felt empty, as if his heart had been ripped out.
He looked at Chu Qianchen again, who was holding a handkerchief and slowly wiping the little finger of his right hand, gently and carefully, with a warm smile on his lips.
Gu Nanzhao withdrew his gaze and sat down in despair, feeling lost.
(End of chapter)