People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1827: Dou's Daughter, Things in Youzhou

On the sixth day of the first lunar month, red candles flicker.

In Ganlu Palace, Dou Yuer, wearing a bright red wedding gown and a golden Vermillion Bird crown, sat on the bed with her head raised, nervously holding the silk scroll in her hand.

Although she had drunk the wedding wine with the emperor, to be honest, Dou Yuer was still not familiar with everything in front of her, because she didn't know why the emperor chose her to be Xiuyuan, one of the nine concubines.

Three palaces, six courtyards and seventy-two concubines.

Empress, Imperial Concubine, Shufei, Virtuous Concubine, Virtuous Concubine, Zhaoyi, Zhaorong, Zhaoyuan, Xiuyi, Xiurong, Xiuyuan.

There were only eleven people in the emperor's harem including himself.

Dou Yuer couldn't help but think of the Emperor Saint Lord that her father had mentioned...

Light footsteps were heard from outside the hall. Dou Yuer's expression suddenly became nervous and she couldn't help but lower her head.

Then, a red-yellow figure sat down beside him, and the emperor's voice came clearly: "Raise your head!"

"Yes!" Dou Yuer responded softly, then quickly raised her head and looked at Li Xuan nervously.

Li Xuan smiled with satisfaction, then held Dou Yuer's left hand and asked, "Have you ever eaten?"

"It's already been used." Dou Yuer relaxed a little. She subconsciously wanted to lower her head, but quickly raised it.

"I heard that you practiced martial arts." Li Xuan gently stroked Dou Yuer's wrist, and fell on her wrist involuntarily. He could feel that her wrist muscles were quite strong.

"Yes!" Dou Yu'er's eyes flashed with worry, and then she said carefully: "My father served in the army for many years, and I learned some from him."

Dou Yuer's father, Dou Xun, was the General of the Right Guard, but he was stationed in Chang'an until today, when Dou Yuer married into the palace, when Dou Xun became the General of the Central Guard of the Right Guard.

Dou Xun was the grandson of Dou Kang, the cousin of Empress Taimu.

Dou Kang's lineage had a close relationship with the Li Tang royal family.

Dou Kang's third son Dou Dan married Emperor Gaozu's second daughter, Princess Xiangyang. The daughter of Dou Dan's sixth son Dou Xiaochen married Li Dan as a princess and even became the queen in the end.

Dou Xun's father Dou Jing was Dou Kang's second son. Dou Jing's eldest son Dou Kui married Princess Suian, the fourth daughter of Emperor Taizong.

But unfortunately, Dou Kui died too early, and Princess Suian later married Wang Dali.

However, Dou Kui and Princess Suian had a son, Dou Songtao, and Wang Dali and Princess Suian also had a son, Wang Xuanqi.

It is precisely because of this relationship that neither Dou Songtao nor Wang Xuanqi are interested in the affairs of Emperor Taizong.

Tang Jianri and Zhou Jitong had thought about contacting the two grandsons of Emperor Taizong, but unfortunately, the two of them didn't even attend the emperor's New Year's Eve banquet.

Dou Songtao's mother remarried later, and Wang Xuanqi was very close to the Wang family of Taiyuan.

During Li Xuan's reign, these two people were not discriminated against in their official promotions. On the contrary, they received some help.

Now they all serve as secretaries in the nine temples, all of which are fifth-rank officials.

Now that Li Xuan has married Dou Yuer, he has completely won over Dou Kang's lineage.

"Actually, if you think about it carefully, I am one generation older than you." Li Xuan gently touched Dou Yuer's arm, then gently moved it upwards. Dou Yuer's face became more and more flushed.

"Your Majesty!" Dou Yuer responded while biting her lower lip.

Li Xuan smiled. Although Li Xuan and Dou Yuer's father Dou Xun were of the same generation as Empress Taimu, they actually had no blood relationship at all.

Even if there is really a blood relationship, they are already beyond the five generations.

Even in this era, Li Xuan's surname is Li and Dou Yuer's surname is Dou, and there is no generation difference between them at all.

The so-called seniority is nothing but a forced connection.

"I heard that girls who practice martial arts have very thin waists." Li Xuan's hand passed over Dou Yuer's arm and went straight inward, pressing on her waist.

With a cry of "Ouch", Dou Yuer fell backwards.

Li Xuan waved his right hand lightly, and the next moment, the entire Ganlu Palace was plunged into complete darkness.

"Call me uncle!"

……

In the darkness, Dou Huaiqi pushed the door open with a creaky sound.

The candle was lit, and Dou Huaiqi instantly grasped the hilt of the knife, drew the knife out of its sheath, and the sharp blade was directly against Guo Huiyue's throat behind him.

Seeing that it was Guo who regretted it, Dou Huaiqi finally breathed a sigh of relief, then sheathed his knife and retreated, snorted coldly, and sat down on the main couch: "You are always so elusive, be careful that you will really be killed by mistake one day."

Guo regretted speaking calmly, "There are not many people in this world who can kill me."

"Ha!" Dou Huaiqi snorted coldly, then looked up at Guo Huiqi and said, "I originally thought that you would come on New Year's Day." Guo Huiqi took a step back and stood under the shadow of the curtain, then looked at Dou Huaiqi and said, "I went back to Taiyuan, but I didn't expect that when I returned to Chang'an, I would catch such a good show."

"Don't look at me. I don't know what's going on either." Dou Huaiqi shook his head and said, "They are also hiding this from me, especially my uncle."

Speaking of Dou Xuande, Dou Huaiqi couldn't help but clench his fists.

"Then what are you going to do?" Guo Hui looked at Dou Huaiqi and said softly, "Now your Dou family is deeply tied to the emperor. When Concubine Dou gives birth to a prince, the younger generation of your Dou family will have to prepare for the prince to open a palace in the future."

When Dou Yuer and Li Xuan's son grows up, they will definitely set up their own house.

There are dozens of official positions in a prince's palace alone.

If a member of the Dou family can get a hand in a position like Chief Clerk, General, or Clerk, it can be considered as having great abilities.

However, those officials such as the director of food, the director of medicine, the director of carriages, as well as the guards and team leaders, who are in positions of seventh, eighth, and ninth ranks, can interfere in many matters.

Especially for children of a certain age, these positions would not arouse the emperor's disgust and could also help them enter official careers.

This alone was enough to make dozens of direct descendants of the Dou family completely submit to the emperor's command.

Not to mention the appointments in other areas, the Dou family got a huge advantage.

Before, the Dou family was suspected by the emperor because of Li Chengqi's affairs. Now, all these suspicions are gone. The people of the Dou family will put everything aside and serve the emperor wholeheartedly.

"You know, they are them and I am me. I am different from them." Dou Huaiqi shook his head slightly.

Guo Huiqiu nodded slightly. Dou Huaiqi's great-grandfather Dou Zhao was the elder brother of Empress Taimu.

Dou Yuer's great-grandfather Dou Kang was the cousin of Empress Taimu.

The relationship between the two families is considered direct blood relationship only before five generations.

Of course, Dou Huaiqi was the grandson of Emperor Taizong, but he married Emperor Taizong's nineteenth daughter, Princess Lanling.

In other words, Dou Huaiqi's lineage was the main branch, but during the reign of Emperor Gaozong, Dou Kang was more trusted and even produced a queen.

But no matter what, Li Xuan marrying Dou Yuer will not affect him.

Not to mention, he had no son, and he and Princess Lanling only had one daughter, so his son-in-law Jiang Xia was his heir.

……

Guo looked at Dou Huaiqi regretfully, shook his head and said, "Why bother? The emperor married the daughter of the Dou family, you just need to get close to the emperor. Maybe you can return to the court and become a minister of six ministries, or even a prime minister."

"Impossible." Dou Huaiqi shook his head slightly and said, "The emperor did not gain the throne legitimately, so how could he possibly accommodate us, the sons-in-law of Emperor Taizong? Therefore, I will only be able to rotate around in various places for the rest of my life. Not to mention returning to the court, he won't even give me the position of Chief of the Four Military Governors' Offices."

Guo regretted his silence.

"You don't need to test me anymore. He and I will never be able to reconcile in this lifetime." Dou Huaiqi shook his head firmly.

If it was Princess Taiping or a descendant of Emperor Taizong like Li Chengqi who ascended the throne, Dou Huaiqi would have had a chance to return to the court and serve as prime minister. However, during the reign of Li Xuan, he definitely had no such opportunity.

"Okay." Guo Huiyue spoke again and said, "What are you going to do next? Without the support of the Dou family, your power will be much weaker."

"I am still the governor of Youzhou, and I am still a member of the Dou family. If I really make a move, it is not up to them whether they follow me or not." Dou Huaiqi shook his head gently. He looked up at Guo Hui and said directly, "I want to see the princess."

"Okay." Guo Hui nodded gently, but then he said, "But what about the location? The princess had already prepared to meet you in Youzhou last year, but in the end, Zhang Jianzhi went to Youzhou, Di Huaiying also went to Youzhou, and later Wang Dezhen also went. What about this year? Do you still have a chance?"

"Minister of Works Lu Dinglin will repair the highway to Yingzhou and Jingzhou this year, which will be a bit troublesome." Dou Huaiqi shook his head and said, "It may cause some trouble in Jingzhou later. Isn't the emperor going to inspect Jingzhou? What about the Xu family?"

"I'm not sure." Guo Huiyue shook his head and said, "I have some contact with them, but it's all with Xu Wang, Li Zhan, Liu Yangming and others. I really don't know how the Xu family operates internally. They are also very bold and dare to play tricks in Annan."

Xu Wang was the great-grandson of Xu Jingzong, Li Zhan was the youngest son of Li Yifu, and Liu Yangming was the eldest son of Liu Yizhi.

Xu Jingzong, Li Yifu, and Liu Yizhi were all close confidants of Empress Wu, but they died for various reasons.

Their descendants should have been highly valued by Empress Wu, but unfortunately, Luoyang was fallen before she could take any action.

After the Ziwei Palace was breached, many secret files fell into Li Xuan's hands, naturally including the stories of Xu Wang, Li Zhan, Liu Yangming and others.

Li Xuan naturally would not use them.

"Okay." Dou Huaiqi sighed softly, then sneered softly, "But no matter what, the emperor will not let them go. We will meet again next year when there is trouble in Jingzhou."

"Okay." Guo regretted and breathed a sigh of relief.

"By the way, do you have any contact with the Silla people?" Dou Huaiqi suddenly mentioned Qin Dunjiaogan.

"Yes, there is, but the Silla envoy has returned to Silla. We have to wait until he comes back to contact him again."

(End of this chapter)