After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 917: Xinjun's Marriage

Haitang was extremely disappointed.

It turns out that brother Haijiao didn't know the truth at all, so why was he keeping it a secret for so long? He was just teasing her on purpose!

She couldn't help but get annoyed. She stood up, snatched the plate of snacks in front of Haijiao, turned around and was about to walk out.

Just as Haijiao was about to take another piece of dessert, his plate was taken away, and his chopsticks fell empty. He looked up and knew that his sister was angry, so he quickly stood up and smiled apologetically to stop her: "Little sister, little sister, it's my fault. I shouldn't tease you. Don't be angry."

Haitang rolled her eyes at him, "You just came home, I felt sorry for you for all the suffering you've endured over the past ten days, so I took good care of you from head to toe, and this is how you repay me! You clearly know what I'm most concerned about, and I can't tell anyone else except you. I've been holding it in for so long, hoping that you'll give me a definite answer when you come home, but you deliberately keep me in suspense!"

Haijiao clasped his hands together, raised them above his head, and apologized: "I'm sorry, brother really knows I was wrong! I'll forgive you this time, brother won't dare to do it again!"

Haitang's purpose was just to get some information. Seeing that he sincerely repented, she calmed down a little: "Promise that you will never tease me like this again!"

"I promise, I won't do it again!" Haijiao tried his best to persuade his little sister with a smile, and then he took the snack plate and sat back at the table on the kang. "I've been really depressed in the palace these days. Although I asked people about things, I didn't dare to be too ostentatious, for fear of being talked about. I mainly tried to get others to talk, and I didn't talk much myself, let alone say anything from the heart. I've been depressed for so many days, and I have a lot to say. Who else can I talk to except my little sister? This is... when I get home, there's no one else in the room. I'm well fed and warm, so I want to vent my grievances..."

How could he be complaining? He was clearly complaining, wasn't he? I had eaten a lot of gossip, and it would be hard not to talk about it.

Haitang didn't dwell on his words and said with a straight face, "Brother, you didn't try to trick me before, did you? Are you telling the truth? Haven't you heard that the late emperor granted a marriage to Brother Jin, but Brother Jin didn't look depressed or sad?"

Hai Jiao said hurriedly: "The emperor may have really granted Xiao Jin a marriage, but there are too many people who have been granted marriages. Others have not paid attention to Xiao Jin and are too lazy to mention it. I guess the other party is not the daughter of a prominent family, so it is even less eye-catching. Although I have never had the opportunity to talk to Xiao Jin in private, he does not look angry or depressed, so I guess he has never been unable to get what he wants. Moreover, the palace is reluctant to announce the marriage decree. Empress Dowager Zhou, Imperial Noble Consort Xu, the concubines in the harem, the cabinet, and the officials are arguing endlessly. Even if a man and a woman are really granted a marriage, there may be variables. With Xiao Jin's current dignity in front of the emperor, it may not be difficult for him to marry any princess or noble lady, not to mention that he just wants to find a marriage with an equal status? I think that Empress Dowager Zhou and the cabinet will stand on our side, and the new emperor will give Xiao Jin a decent look. Even if Imperial Noble Consort Xu had any ideas, it is not important at this time."

Besides, Imperial Concubine Xu hoped that Jin Jiashu could marry the noble lady in order to borrow the power of the noble lady's family to ensure Jin Jiashu's bright future. But now Jin Jiashu already has an extremely bright future with his merits in supporting the throne, so why would he need to borrow the power of his wife's family? On the contrary, his wife's family might want to take advantage of him. He has made such a great contribution, can't he be satisfied for once?

Besides, the most important thing for Consort Xu right now is to stabilize the new emperor's position first, and everything else should take a back seat. Why should she have a conflict with Empress Dowager Zhou and the cabinet at this time, just to force her own son to marry an unwanted wife?

No matter how you look at it, the marriage of the new emperor is much more important than Jin Jiashu’s marriage!

Haitang pondered and said, "Royal Concubine Xu should be more concerned about the coronation ceremony of the new emperor right now, right? Also, she and the Queen Mother have been reluctant to announce the late emperor's decree of marriage. It's not only because the will involves members of the royal family who plotted treason, but also because she is dissatisfied with the new emperor's marriage, right? Otherwise, it would only take a few inappropriate marriage decrees to delete the late emperor's will, and the will can be issued as usual. What is there to argue about? With such an important matter in front of her, how could Royal Concubine Xu care about others?" The candidate for the new emperor's marriage in the will is most likely not the one supported by Queen Mother Zhou and Royal Concubine Xu. Would it be the daughter of the Zhang family, or the famous lady supported by the cabinet?
If it was the one from the Zhang family, she was four years older than the new emperor, so she was not suitable. It was normal for Empress Dowager Zhou and Imperial Noble Consort Xu to disagree, and the cabinet had no reason to agree. If both parties were against it, how could the supporters of the Zhang family's legitimate daughter have the confidence to fight? Zhang Gongpin, the imperial concubine and the imperial concubine, and others in this faction had no real power, and the royal family members who supported them had to keep a low profile and avoid suspicion. Even if there were a large number of people, they would not have the confidence to fight against the empress dowager, the cabinet, and the new emperor's biological mother, and they would not be able to fight at all.

From this point of view, the one written in the will should be the daughter supported by the cabinet.

Haitang asked her brother quietly, "Whose daughter is this rich girl?"

Hai Jiao also whispered to his sister: "She is the daughter of a university scholar, and has a long-standing reputation in the capital. She is both talented and beautiful, and her mother is the daughter of a marquis." This girl's grandfather was the second assistant of the cabinet in the previous emperor's dynasty, her grandmother came from a famous scholar family, her father was a university scholar, her mother was the legitimate daughter of a marquis, her brother was famous for his talent since childhood, and she herself was praised as a lady of both virtue and talent. Moreover, whether on her father's side or her mother's side, she had no close ties with the Sun faction or the old students of the Wu school, and was a rare neutral faction. The Minister of Rites was her great-uncle, so he also strongly supported her to become the first wife of the new emperor.

If there is any shortcoming, it is that the girl is three years older than the new emperor. In fact, they were engaged in their early years, but the man died young, so the engagement was naturally aborted. When the late emperor was selecting a wife for his heir, after repeated consideration, he chose to ignore this clause and included this neutral girl in the list of daughter-in-law candidates.

After all, there are very few girls who can meet so many conditions, have talent and beauty, and have the right family background and temperament, so some minor problems are insignificant.

Haitang listened and felt that this girl was very competitive. Why did Empress Dowager Zhou and Imperial Noble Consort Xu disagree? Which daughter did they like?

Haitang asked her brother, and Haijiao said, "To be honest, I really don't know which girl the Queen Mother and Lady Xu support. There has been no news in the palace. But listening to the movement of the cabinet, it is likely that she is the daughter of a general. I wonder if it is a girl from the Zhou family..."

If it was a girl from the Zhou family, Haitang would immediately think of Zhou Xuejun. It has been almost a year since she came to Beijing to reunite with her family. I wonder how she is doing now. Although she is older than the new emperor, she seems to be only one or two years older. In terms of family background, appearance and talent, she seems to be not bad. Moreover, as a relative by marriage, the Zhou family is responsible enough and restrained enough. They will not be greedy for power, but they always keep in mind the mission of guarding the border. No matter how you look at it, they are high-quality candidates for relatives by marriage.

In this palace coup, General Zhou of the Zhou family also made great contributions, and Zhou Xuejun was his eldest daughter. If Queen Mother Zhou and Imperial Noble Consort Xu firmly chose Zhou Xuejun as the first wife of the new emperor for this reason, it is very reasonable. No matter how good the background of the neutral faction is, it is no longer so important when the Sun faction is weak and even about to fall. The daughter of a meritorious official who has served the emperor is a better choice.

However, the civil officials may have a different view. The Zhou family is certainly a meritorious official, but they are also military generals. If the queen is from a military family, will it weaken the influence of the civil officials on the new monarch?

The current controversy over the new monarch's marriage is actually a struggle between civil officials and military generals.

(End of this chapter)