A knife in love

Chapter 986

Li Qiufeng was a little surprised when he heard Xu Chengzong's story about the past.Just now when Xu Chengzong revealed his real surname, Li Qiufeng immediately thought of the Xu family, the nemesis of the Nie, Lu, Zhao, Du and Hua families in Fengmen Village.If this person is a descendant of the Xu family, it is not surprising that he sneaked into Xiuwu County as the county magistrate, and secretly dealt with the Nie, Lu, Zhao, and Du families.What puzzled Li Qiufeng was that Xu Chengzong didn't talk about the enmity between the Xu family and the Nie family and other aristocratic families, but instead talked about Meng Zhixiang, who was out of reach, which made Li Qiufeng very puzzled.

I only heard Xu Chengzong continue to say: "When Meng Zhixiang was in the capital, he dealt with Li Cunxu skillfully and won Li Cunxu's favor. Li Cunxu was naturally martial, and he only liked to dance with guns and sticks every day. During the day, he hung out with actors and eunuchs in the harem, so he was not obsessed with women. He had a concubine named Li, who was a maid in the family when he was not enthroned, and was later taken as a concubine. When Li Cunxu became emperor Later, the Li family was also promoted to concubine. However, Li Cunxu didn't dote on this concubine Li, and he always ignored her on weekdays.

"One day Li Cunxu summoned Meng Zhixiang in the palace to discuss important national affairs. After the two had finished talking, Li Cunxu gave Meng Zhixiang a banquet. When the wine was warm, Li Cunxu asked how the children born to Meng Zhixiang and Princess Qionghua were doing. Meng Zhixiang knelt down and replied, saying that most of the sons and daughters born to Princess Qionghua died young, and the surviving son was weak and sick, and he was very troubled by this.

"After Li Cunxu heard this, he said to Meng Zhixiang that a man must leave blood for his ancestors. Princess Qionghua is old and decrepit, and I am afraid that she will not have another child. He wants to reward Meng Zhixiang with a beauty to comfort her. Mr. Meng Zhixiang is loyal to the hard work of the country."

When Xu Chengzong said this, he paused for a while, and then continued: "What kind of person is Meng Zhixiang? Hearing this, he was not only not happy, but was horrified. Since ancient times, most emperors have given some rewards to their ministers, but the rewards It’s fine to pay back the money. If you reward beautiful women and servants, you probably don’t have any good intentions. Either you are worried about the chaos of the courtiers and send people to monitor them in the name of rewards, or you want to use the beauty to kill the ambitions of the courtiers, and then find an excuse to get rid of the courtiers. Meng Zhixiang knew that since Li Cunxu came to the throne, he was no longer the brave and invincible Thirteen Taibao who was determined to be a Mingjun. He raised a group of actors in the harem, and drank and sang with these actors every day, ignoring the government. The eunuch took the opportunity Gaining power and competing for power with the court ministers. Although Meng Zhixiang is very trusted by Li Cunxu, in recent years Li Cunxu lived in the deep palace, and the two rarely met. Those eunuchs feared that Meng Zhixiang held power and regarded Meng Zhixiang as an enemy. In front of Li Cunxu, he will surely make a lot of slander. Today, Li Cunxu suddenly wants to reward the beauty, I'm afraid it's not because of any good intentions.

"Thinking of this, Meng Zhixiang kowtowed again and again, saying that he is a humble minister, how dare he bother the emperor to worry about these trivial matters? Besides, he has a deep relationship with Princess Qionghua and his wife, and he is already old, so he doesn't want to delay the girl's youth Shaohua. The emperor's kindness is naturally a thousand thanks, but the courtiers couldn't bear it, so they asked the emperor to take back this order.

"After Li Cunxu heard this, he laughed loudly, and said to Meng Zhixiang that he had guessed that Meng Zhixiang was afraid that Princess Qionghua would be angry, so he didn't dare to take another concubine. He could make an imperial decree, and Meng Zhixiang would take a concubine according to the decree. Princess Qionghua naturally didn't say much. After Li Cunxu finished speaking, he saw that Meng Zhixiang still didn't dare to follow the order, so he put on a straight face and said to Meng Zhixiang, don't you want to resist the order? Meng Zhixiang was terrified He knew that if he persisted, he would be killed immediately, so he had no choice but to kowtow to thank him and agree to the matter.

"After the banquet, Li Cunxu asked someone to carry a small sedan chair and sent the beauty to Meng Zhixiang's mansion. Meng Zhixiang returned to the mansion and first told the matter to Princess Qionghua. Although the princess was not very happy, She was nothing but a beauty bestowed by the emperor, but after the maid helped the beauty out of the sedan chair, Meng Zhixiang paid it back, but Princess Qionghua was taken aback.

"Princess Qionghua is a female family member. Sometimes she goes to the palace to greet the queen mother and the empress dowager. She is no stranger to the concubines in the harem of Emperor Li Cunxu. But Meng Zhixiang is a foreign minister. Except for the queen, the other concubines of the emperor He had never seen her before. So when they saw that beauty, Princess Qionghua recognized her as Li Cunxu's concubine, Li Shi, but Meng Zhixiang was ignorant, thinking that she was a maid in the palace. .

"Princess Qionghua didn't dare to say anything, and ordered her maid to help Mrs. Li into the back hall to rest, and then she told Meng Zhixiang about it. After hearing this, Meng Zhixiang was stupefied with fright, not knowing what Li Cunxu's intention was. Although Princess Qionghua didn't like Meng Zhixiang's concubine, she also knew that if Li Cunxu was offended, disaster would come. At that time, all families would be executed, and even if she didn't die, she could only be a widow living in seclusion. The lesser the harm, no matter what Li Cunxu's plans are, he can only deal with it carefully at this time.

"After the couple's discussion, they made up their minds that this matter must not be leaked out. They could only quietly accept Mrs. Li as Meng Zhixiang's concubine. However, in the Meng Mansion, Mrs. Li's status is not at all in Qiong's house. Under Princess Huachang, even Meng Zhixiang has great respect for Li Shi, and Li Shi does everything by Li Shi, never daring to restrain her."

When Xu Chengzong said this, he glanced at Li Qiufeng, and then said: "The matter about the Li family has only been mentioned briefly in the official history. For thousands of years, the world has never guessed what Li Cunxu's intention was when he bestowed his concubine on Meng Zhixiang. Sima Guang, Ouyang Xiu and others in the Song Dynasty talked about this matter in their articles and letters, but they couldn't guess what Li Cunxu's intention was. However, according to folklore, this Li family is a very knowledgeable and virtuous man. She saw that Li Cunxu was hanging out with actors and eunuchs in the harem all day long, ignoring government affairs, and was worried, so she repeatedly remonstrated bitterly. After the matter was known to those actors and eunuchs, they slandered Li Cunxu in front of Li Cunxu. Bad words about Mrs. Li. Li Cunxu was also very impatient with Mrs. Li's persuasion, and had long wanted to dismiss Mrs. Li from the palace. That day when he drank with Meng Zhixiang, seeing Meng Zhixiang's timid look, Suddenly, he gave the Li family to Meng Zhixiang. It was because he heard that Princess Qionghua was a jealous woman, and Meng Zhixiang was not allowed to take concubines. When Princess Huachang heard the news, she brought twenty or thirty rough-handed servants to the door and beat the outer room to death. If the Li family were rewarded to Meng Zhixiang, one would be able to buy Meng Zhixiang's heart. It made him even more devoted to himself. Second, he could send Li Shi out of the palace so that she would not make noise in his ears. Moreover, rewarding her to his courtiers was also a kind of humiliation to Li Shi, just to vent his anger. Three Sending Mrs. Li into the Meng Mansion would definitely make Princess Qionghua feel unhappy. It's very interesting that the Meng Mansion is jumping up and down.

"But this is just a folklore, and it can't be counted. But after Mrs. Li arrived in the Meng Mansion, she was not arrogant and domineering, and she was not dirty with Princess Qionghua. In November of that year, Mrs. Li gave birth to Meng Zhixiang. She gave birth to a son, named Meng Chang, who was later the last emperor of Houshu. However, there were many legends about Li's birth in the later Tang Dynasty. Some people said that Li was pregnant when she was in the palace. Li Cunxu deliberately rewarded Meng Zhixiang with the Li family, intending to make him a cheap father, and wanted to get all the wealth of Meng Zhixiang's family into his own hands. Some people also said that Li Cunxu was bewitched by an actor and deliberately humiliated Meng Zhixiang. He rebelled, so he had an excuse to slaughter Meng Zhixiang's family. In short, there are many doubts about this matter, and there is no statement that everyone in the world can believe.

"Later, Meng Zhixiang was appointed Yin of Chengdu by Li Cunxu and went to Shu to serve as an official. Li took Meng Chang with Princess Qionghua into Shu. Meng Zhixiang left the capital, lost many ties, and accumulated military supplies in Shu , had other plans. Later, he became Jiannan Xichuan Jiedushi, and his power became stronger and stronger. Although Meng Chang was young, he was also appointed by Meng Zhixiang as the marching commander and took control of the military power.

"Meng Chang is a very smart person, and he has been familiar with poetry and books since he was a child, and he is extremely talented. After arriving in Shu, Meng Chang had many contacts with scholars and celebrities in Shu, and his reputation grew. In addition, Meng Zhixiang His two older sons died of illness one after another, and Meng Chang became Meng Zhixiang's most important son."

(End of this chapter)