Chang'an is good

Chapter 663 Extra 1——(Li Rong & Chang Kuo)
When Li Rong was young, she was the most willful princess in the Li family.

Her father was the most noble man in Dasheng, her mother was the most noble woman in Dasheng, and her brother from the same mother was the crown prince of Dasheng.

What's even more rare is that her father and mother can be described as a loving pair of emperor and empress of the royal family. Li Rong has never seen any dispute or coldness between her father and mother.

However, this did not prevent her father's harem from being filled with women. Often, before Li Rong could recognize all the old ones, a new group of people would come in, and then the new ones would become old ones again.

The answer is that the emperor has to balance the political situation and has no choice.

Although Li Rong could not understand why his father favored palace maids and sent envoys to search for beautiful women among the people, he wondered what kind of hidden and profound connection all this had with balancing the court.

When Li Rong grew up a little, he finally figured out the connection between them - there was no connection at all.

Her father, the emperor, just likes beautiful women.

But her mother told her that this was already good. His Majesty was lustful but not stupid or violent. He was diligent in his work and loved the people. Moreover, among all the beauties he had collected, if anyone was to feast their eyes on them, wasn't she, the queen living in the harem? How could the emperor, who was busy with all sorts of affairs, take a few glances at them?

The Queen Mother sighed that managing the harem was very tiring, and getting up early was even more torturous. Every time she saw the concubines who came to pay their respects, she was pleasing to the eye and her mood improved a lot after waking up.

Li Rong seemed to understand the biggest reason why his father and mother loved each other so much: they had the same interests.

Influenced by his surroundings, Li Rong naturally developed the same interests and hobbies, as well as quite demanding aesthetic standards.

Li Rong's childhood life was very lively in her memory. The beauties in the harem were all beautiful in various ways and had different temperaments. Some were devoted to currying favor with the queen, some were devoted to the emperor, some were devoted to fighting with other concubines, some were dissatisfied with the status quo and wanted to teach the emperor a lesson, and some usually loved the most vibrant oil green color.

There is another type of concubine who does nothing, hardly ever speaks, keeps her head down all year round, and never fights back when people mock or trip her up - in Li Rong's impression, Liu Zhaoyi is such a submissive person.

This Liu Zhaoyi was born a palace maid and gave birth to the youngest prince for her father.

Although Concubine Liu was extremely useless, no one wanted to harm her son. This had a lot to do with the fact that the crown prince's position was too stable. There was no point in harming Concubine Liu's son. Moreover, the emperor was already quite old at that time, and the concubines who loved fighting the most in the harem gradually lost their energy and began to think about health preservation. The entire harem seemed to have no interest in harming other people's children.

Liu Zhaoyi's son Li Yin grew up safely in such an environment, although he was not immune from being bullied and looked down upon by the princes.

In contrast, Li Rong, the queen's biological son, grew up in splendor.

This kind of support once made the twelve- or thirteen-year-old Li Rongsheng have some fantasies - she read the history books of Dasheng and knew that Dasheng had a female emperor who was born a princess. As a daughter of the queen, she thought her brother was just like that, so if that was the case, did she have a chance too?
Li Rong's bold fantasy did not stir up the queen's emotions at all. The queen told her daughter calmly that it was precisely because Dasheng had produced a female emperor that all the officials of the aristocracy were now on high alert against this. If you dare to have such thoughts, I can't guarantee anything else, but I can guarantee one thing - you will die.

At that time, the power of the aristocracy was at its peak and the emperor was restricted in every way. It was for this reason that he appointed a crown prince so early.

The emperor can only feel at ease if he can make the gentry feel at ease first.

However, Li Rong still liked living, so the spark that had just risen in his heart was extinguished early, and he enjoyed the wealth and glory with peace of mind.

Her brother, who was responsible for reassuring people, had a Crown Princess a year before he ascended the throne. The Crown Princess was from the Changsun clan, and she and her brother were childhood sweethearts. They had a very deep relationship after marriage.

But Li Rong’s marriage was not so lucky afterwards.

The princess of the royal family was destined to have no control over her marriage, and at first, this marriage seemed to be quite good.

Her husband was the son of the then Minister of the Central Secretariat and also from the Pei family.

This young man from the Pei family was very talented and had decent looks, but he was too sensitive and thoughtful. Whenever he interacted with Li Rong, he felt as if his spine was broken.

Li Rong couldn't help but reflect on whether he was too arrogant and self-indulgent, making this noble prince consort feel humiliated?
Li Rong thought it was very possible, but she didn't plan to change it - it was a political marriage, and she was not satisfied with it, but did she say anything? Happiness and sorrow are determined by fate, and they can just get by together.

But things were not as simple as Li Rong had imagined.

Her husband has someone else outside.

But she was not a prostitute, nor a close friend or childhood sweetheart, but a man, or even a monk.

Li Rong was really enlightened.

It turns out that the prince consort and she are not completely without similarities. They both have a common hobby: they both like men.

The prince consort was obsessed with Buddhism and would go to the temple to worship Buddha and stay there every now and then. Li Rong was once worried that the prince consort would become a monk, but she never expected that he would fall into depravity in the Buddhist monastery.

Li Nun held his breath, waited for the right moment, and rushed to the meditation room in the temple with the maids and guards of the princess's mansion, and caught him red-handed on the spot.

It is not new for the powerful to secretly keep male favorites nowadays, but this does not mean that it is glorious, especially in the holy land of Buddhism, and even more so when the male favorite is a prince consort.

This was a scandal, and a huge scandal for Princess Li Rong, who had a strong sense of self-esteem.

That year, Li Rong was only nineteen years old.

Li Rong ordered the guards to escort the two men and not allow them to put on their clothes. He also ordered the maid to ask Pei Linggong and his wife to come and personally determine whether this was their son.

While waiting for the Pei family to arrive, Li Rong couldn't bear to look at the two annoying people any longer and turned outside to calm down.

Outside this Zen temple, there are several lush Bodhi trees planted. Under the trees is a jar half a person's height with water lilies planted in it. The tender green round lotus leaves in early summer float obediently on the water, which is quite quiet and Zen.

But Li Rong couldn't calm down no matter what. She pulled out the lotus leaves with a few handfuls and threw them all on the ground. Then she rubbed her hands vigorously over and over again. Thinking of the unbearable scene in the Zen room, she couldn't help feeling nauseous and retching.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She tore off the shawl that was in the way and threw it away. She rubbed her hands until they were raw, but she still felt that the dirt was hard to remove. She had no way to vent her anger, so she kicked the jar. However, perhaps because the jar was old, she kicked it and made a big hole. The jar broke and water came out, soaking her embroidered shoes. She was startled and stepped back with her skirt lifted. She heard a surprised voice from above: "Wow--"

Li Rong was startled and looked up, only to find a young man lying on the tall and dense Bodhi tree.

The other person exclaimed "Wow", and it was unclear whether he was surprised at her temper or her strength.

Li Rong asked angrily: "Who are you and why are you hiding here?"

This person must be hiding here just to laugh at her!

The young man sat up, and his entire appearance appeared in Li Rong's sight.

It was an extremely tough face, with a pair of big, black eyes, full of stern righteousness. He raised his eyebrows and asked her, "I am waiting for my general to burn incense and take a nap here for a while! Who are you and why are you damaging the things in the temple?"

"Ben..." Seeing that he didn't know, Li Rong didn't want to embarrass himself, so he simply didn't answer.

Just at this moment, the maid who was standing guard from afar ran over and said, "Your Highness, you are not hurt!"

Li Rong clenched his fists... It's okay, there is more than one princess.

"Amitabha! I hope Princess Xuan'an will calm down... It's all my fault for not disciplining my children properly!" The abbot came hurriedly, apologizing with a shameful look on his face.

Li Rong gritted his teeth: "..."

At this time, a shout came from not far away: "Chang Kuo! Gone!"

"Here comes the general!" The young man on the tree responded, jumped down swiftly, and walked away without looking back at Li Rong's embarrassed expression.

People seem to have particularly deep memories of times when they make a fool of themselves, and Li Rong inexplicably remembered this name.

What happened afterwards was terrible.

Even her brother, the emperor who had always indulged her, asked her to endure the matter and not make it public.

Li Rong forced herself to swallow the anger, but unfortunately, her husband couldn't swallow it.

Not long after that, news came that the monk had committed suicide by jumping into a well. The prince consort fell seriously ill and passed away soon after.

Li Rong came to his senses and felt that the couple had finally gotten married.

As a couple, this was the most righteous thing the prince consort had ever done.

Thanks to this sense of righteousness, she became the youngest and most powerful widow in Dasheng.

Afterwards, Li Rong went to his fiefdom Xuanzhou, and managed Xuanzhou in an orderly manner, especially the business was gradually flourishing.

Gradually, officials began to offer male favorites to Li Rong. When she thought of the disgusting things about being a princess consort, she felt disgusted when she saw those submissive and effeminate male favorites. She refused again and again until her mother sent a secret letter to remind her that even her own brothers and sisters should have a place to feel at ease.

At that time, wars were frequent, the imperial court was in decline, while the Western Region of Jiangnan, headed by Xuanzhou, was thriving.

Li Rong came to his senses and accepted those male favorites.

Some officials began to impeach her for her inappropriate behavior and obsession with men, but Li Rong not only did not restrain herself, but even went further and openly searched for handsome men.

In the blink of an eye, her brother's children grew up. One of them, Li Xiao, was very promising and good-looking.

On the Queen Mother's birthday, Li Rong returned to the capital and met his nephew, as well as a general who was following him... Li Rong recognized him almost at first sight.

And the other party also recognized Li Rong.

Halfway through the banquet, Li Rong left the hall and walked in front of the general. The general took two steps back, raised his hand to press the non-existent knife at his waist, and with an unwilling look on his face, asked her, the princess, to respect herself.

Li Rong sneered. She didn't intend to do anything.

A long time later, Li Rong couldn't help thinking that this person might have been playing hard to get and deliberately provoking her in an attempt to attract her attention.

They met many times after that, and each time Chang Kuo showed an attitude of preferring death to submission and keeping people at a distance. Li Rong found out that Chang Kuo had made many military achievements and was promoted to a higher official position, but he had never married.

Another year, Li Rong encountered a group of fierce mountain bandits on his way back to Xuanzhou. Chang Kuo, who was returning home with dozens of his men after the war, suddenly appeared, rescued Li Rong, and eliminated the bandits.

However, many of Chang Kuo's subordinates were also injured. This place was less than a hundred miles away from Xuanzhou, and Li Rong had a villa nearby, so he took the people there to treat their injuries.

Chang Kuo also had something to ask for, so he agreed reluctantly - when he was chasing those bandits, he picked up a surviving baby girl, several months old, in the bushes. It was inconvenient for him to take the baby with him, so he wanted to give her to Li Rong.

Li Rong found it funny: "Leave it to me? I have no moral integrity at all."

Chang Kuo: "What's the use of reputation? Living freely is better than anything else."

Li Rong was stunned for no reason, and then said to Chang Kuo: "Then you give her a name."

Chang Kuo scratched his head. He and his prince were afraid of this.

After thinking about it, I remembered that there was a river called Tong River in my hometown, so I said the word "Tong".

Li Rong nodded: "Just call me Li Tong."

Chang Kuo was stunned. She wanted to raise the child as her own, so she wasn't afraid of others criticizing her reputation.

Now it was Li Rong's turn to say, "You didn't say that - what's the use of reputation? Go ahead and criticize."

She just wanted to have a daughter to raise, so it was her destiny.

Seeing her being so willful, Chang Kuo was inexplicably distracted: "We are both princesses..."

Li Rong was puzzled when he heard this, and he grabbed the jar of wine beside him and took two sips.

That was strong liquor used to clean wounds, and Li Rong asked someone to bring some good wine.

The wine was mellow, but Chang Kuo, who had a good alcohol tolerance, felt tipsy after drinking two pots. Thinking of the princess's style, he was suddenly startled, grabbed the knife that had not been unsheathed, and asked her: "What did you do to the wine!"

Li Rong leaned closer to him fearlessly: "Didn't you guess everything?"

Chang Kuo was very annoyed: "How despicable!"

Li Rong smiled and moved closer: "I heard that General Chang has never married. Is there something he cannot tell you?"

Scholars can be killed but not humiliated.

Under the influence of alcohol and drugs, everything seemed to be going smoothly.

When Chang Kuo woke up the next day, he saw Li Rong lying on his side beside him, with black hair draped over his head. He supported his head with one hand and stroked his naked chest with a firm and superior texture with the other hand.

Chang Kuo was horrified, he pulled the quilt over himself and jumped off the bed: "Evil woman!"

Watching Chang Kuo fleeing in panic, Li Rong slowly sat up and said to himself with a smile: "Who am I? Where did such a despicable thing come from..."

She didn't drug it.

She felt that this person was most likely in love with her.

At that time, Li Rong was just attracted by the beauty and wanted something new, but he didn't think so far ahead.

Later, when she found out she was pregnant, she didn't plan to tell Chang Kuo.

Who would have thought that I could give birth but not keep the baby.

Chang Kuo carried his son who had fallen from the sky and left with a curse. When he got on the carriage, he laughed and kissed the child fiercely, and the child cried loudly because of his beard.

With the child, their relationship deepened, and the two always had reasons to meet. Chang Kuo always had battle injuries, so Li Rong kept a doctor who was good at treating bone injuries in his house.

During those years, the two of them were getting along from a distance, and neither of them was willing to give in. Yaojin, who was the messenger, endured too much love, hate and sorrow.

What few people know is that in the year when Chang Kuo returned victorious from the Northern Di but was punished by military law, Princess Xuan'an went to Beijing in private.

At that time, Chang Kuo was so depressed that he seemed like a different person. Li Rong didn't understand why he would rather disobey military orders and kill the surrendered Beidi Khan. Others said that he was bloodthirsty, but she didn't believe it.

There must be a reason for this, but he refused to say anything.

Li Rong stayed in Beijing for several months until Chang Kuo's injury healed, but as the New Year was approaching, she had to leave.

It snowed heavily on the day we left Chang Mansion.

Just like today.

Today is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month in the first year of Changhua.

Li Rong, wearing a cloak, stood in the corridor, looking at the snow scene in the courtyard. She felt that it was exactly the same as when she left that year. Many years later, she knew what Chang Kuo had experienced that year.

It turned out that his lord did not die in the year Li Xiao passed away, but in the year he won a great victory over Beidi.

Fortunately, the old friend has returned and there is no need to mention this matter again.

Li Rong pointed to the yard next door: "Your yard is too cramped. Open it up later so I can move in..."

Chang Kuo, who was wrapped in a thick black fox fur cape and leaning on a tiger-headed cane, turned to look at her: "Why, you really are not going back to Xuanzhou?"

"I've handed it all over to Li Tong. It's time for me to enjoy my retirement... Over the years, I haven't even spent a few days with Sui'an."

Chang Kuo raised his eyebrows: "Then those of you in Xuanzhou..."

Li Rong interrupted him with a sullen voice: "We were dismissed a long time ago, why are you still bringing this up?"

Chang Kuo snorted, but raised his eyebrows: "I'm afraid my small temple can't accommodate a big Buddha like you."

"Who wants to stay here every day? I'll come over whenever I want to, and I can live in both the Marquis' Mansion and the Grand Princess' Mansion."

"I'm afraid of being laughed at..." Chang Kuo gathered his cloak and said, "I have no name or status."

Li Rong: "At our age, our sons are about to get married, do you really want to hold another wedding banquet and become a prince consort?"

Chang Kuo imagined himself in wedding attire toasting a group of young people and found it ridiculous, so he couldn't help laughing.

He doesn't have such an obsession.

The so-called status is given to those who have no confidence in themselves.

Now that Li Rong is staying in the capital, he has made up his mind.

Their experiences are different from others, so there is no need to explain to anyone. It is good for them to just stay together.

My hair has turned white. I only have a few years to live.

Chang Kuo said seriously: "We don't have to hold a wedding banquet...but we can't do without the betrothal gifts."

Li Rong: "Who gives betrothal gifts to whom?"

Chang Kuo's face turned serious: "Of course you give it to me!"

"..." Li Rong looked at him: "Are you short of money?"

Chang Kuo's tone was very glorious: "For your majesty to marry an emperor!"

Now there are many things to be done, and Your Majesty is concerned about the country's affairs, but the officials do not agree with the emperor's simple wedding, so the wedding date has not yet been set, and we have to wait for the Ministry of Revenue to save up more money.

Chang Kuo was extremely anxious, so he came up with the idea of ​​"selling himself in exchange for betrothal money to finance the emperor's wedding."

Li Rong was also very generous and said leisurely, "Tell me the number."

Chang Kuo had planned this long ago and at this moment he held up three fingers.

"——Three million strings of cash?" Li Rong rolled his eyes: "You dare to ask for this price at your age!"

Although Chang Kuo was scolded, he felt secretly happy. He wanted to say 300,000 strings of cash, but the woman's reaction clearly indicated that 3 million strings of cash was also possible! Hey, she really is rich!
"I have to leave some assets for Li Tong and Sui'an! Sui'an still needs to arrange a marriage!" Li Rong found it ridiculous. Which princess at her age would spend all her family fortune to marry an old prince consort?
The two of them were bargaining in the corridor.

"Dad! Aniang!"

Chang Sui'an came back from outside in the snow.

Li Rong turned around and smiled when he heard the voice: "Come quickly, I'm talking to your father about your marriage!"

Chang Sui'an walked over, Li Rong raised his hand to brush away the snowflakes on his head, and Chang Kuo turned around and asked the servant to warm a pot of wine.

Snow was falling heavily between the sky and the earth. The three of them talked and turned around and walked into the warm house.

Extras that drop from time to time +1
(The characters will be marked in the extra chapters, they are all trivial matters, you can choose whether to click on them according to your preferences)

Good night.