Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 453: Anyang County Princess
"But she is not my daughter after all. If her husband becomes powerful in the future, how can she help Hualan and others?" said Madam Wang.

"Madam, no matter what, the Sixth Miss's surname is Sheng. Her mother and brother are both in the Sheng family. You are her stepmother, so she can't get around you. And this matter should not be false. The national mourning has just passed, and it is not convenient for the emperor to grant a marriage now. Isn't it rumored outside that the emperor was going to grant a marriage between Duke Yingguo's niece and Uncle Shen, but he didn't grant the marriage, did he?" said Mother Liu.

"Yeah, forget it. If it's true, I can't get anyone in, so let's not talk about it." Madam Wang waved her hand.

Upon learning that Minglan was not living as well as she had imagined and that there was going to be a big trouble soon, although Madam Wang failed to get people in trouble, she was in a good mood.

……

"what happened?"

Li An felt the carriage stopped, so he lifted the curtain and looked out.

It takes almost the same amount of time to get home every day, and I probably haven’t even left the inner city yet.

"I've met Mr. Li!"

A girl dressed as a maid, about fourteen or fifteen years old, walked up to the car window and bowed.

"Who are you?" Li An looked at the woman puzzledly.

"I am Caiyun, the maid of Anyang County Princess. The county princess is in the teahouse and would like to invite Lord Li to come up and see her." Caiyun said, pointing to the teahouse next to her.

Li An hesitated for a moment, got off the carriage, and said, "Lead the way."

"Master Li, please come this way."

Caiyun led Li An into the teahouse, only to find that it was very quiet inside. There were only a few guards guarding it, and no customers.

"The county lady is upstairs."

Caiyun said something and went up the stairs.

Li An nodded and followed him up, but Desheng behind him was stopped.

"What does this mean?" Li An frowned.

"The county lady has something to say to Lord Li alone, and it is not convenient for others to be present." Caiyun said.

"Desheng, wait for me here." Li An said.

"Yes!" Desheng replied.

Li An followed Caiyun up to the second floor. Caiyun took Li An to a private room, opened the door and said, "Master Li, please come in."

Li An walked in and Caiyun closed the door behind him.

Li An looked back, then continued walking forward, walking around the screen and saw a woman in a purple-blue dress sitting on a couch.

The woman stood up when she saw Li An, a hint of joy appeared in her eyes, and she bowed and said, "Hello, Lord Li."

"Greetings, Princess Anyang!" Li An quickly returned the greeting.

"Please take a seat, Lord Li," said Princess Anyang.

"Please, County Lady!"

After the two sat down, Princess Anyang smiled and said, "Master Li, please wait a moment. I will make you a cup of tea."

"I'm not thirsty, so please stop bothering me." Li An said, "I wonder why the county lady invited me here?"

Princess Anyang did not stop what she was doing. She looked up at Li An, blushed, lowered her head, and whispered, "I heard from the Empress Dowager that the Emperor has already told you about us?"

"Yeah." Li An nodded and asked, "I don't understand, the county lady is a beautiful woman, I already have a wife, why do you have to marry me?"

He originally thought that this was arranged by Zhao Zongquan, but from what Princess Anyang said, it was indeed her own insistence.

This made him a little confused. He asked himself why Princess Anyang insisted on marrying him since he was not as handsome as Pan An.

"I am not a royal family. I was originally a tea-serving maid. My family suffered a disaster, but I was lucky enough to survive and enter the palace, where I have a place to live. One time, I was careless and forgot to prepare tea. The late emperor was thirsty when he was visiting the imperial garden. Seeing that I forgot to prepare tea, he endured his thirst and went to the Empress Dowager's palace to have tea. At first, I thought it was good luck and felt fortunate. Later, I realized that the late emperor sympathized with me and couldn't bear to see me punished, so he didn't say anything.

I wanted to deliver the blood edict in order to repay the late emperor's kindness, and I didn't think about any rewards.

At that time, I was ready to die, but I didn't expect to meet Lord Li. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to deliver the blood edict alive." said the Princess of Anyang County.

The Song Dynasty suffered from serious land annexation, and the common people became tenants. After the disaster, the landlords did not care about them, so they had no choice but to become refugees.

In order to prevent the refugees from causing unrest, the imperial court would recruit the young and strong among them into the army. On the one hand, this could replenish the manpower, and on the other hand, without the young and strong, these refugees would not be able to cause unrest.

Young refugees without parents would be selected to enter the palace to serve as maids and eunuchs.

This is how Princess Anyang entered the palace.

The palace maid who served tea was responsible for preparing tea for the officials to drink at any time.

Perhaps the late emperor himself did not expect that, at the critical moment, someone would be willing to die in return for his kindness.

Li An also knew the reason why Princess Anyang chose her, which was also to repay her gratitude.

The late emperor endured his thirst so that she would not be punished, and she was willing to die in return for his kindness.

Li An saved her life, so she repaid him with her own body.

Upon learning of this result, Li An was somewhat amused and said, "You don't have to be like this. I'm already married. With your current status, a prince's son can be a good match for you."

"Lord Li, although I am just an ordinary palace maid, I have learned some truths in the palace over the years. I, the county lord, only look noble on the surface. Who will really take me seriously?" The Anyang County Lord said self-deprecatingly.

"You have made great contributions to the government. Who dares to disrespect you?" Li An said.

"Let's not talk about this anymore. Sir Li, please try it."

Princess Anyang pushed the prepared tea in front of Li An and looked at him expectantly.

Li An took a sip and said, "It tastes very good."

He was not exaggerating when he said this. Princess Anyang was originally the palace maid who served tea to the previous emperor. She specialized in making tea for the emperor, so naturally her tea-making skills were not bad.

Upon hearing this, Princess Anyang smiled sweetly and said, "As long as you like it."

"County Lady, this matter has not been announced by the government yet, and no one knows about it. If you regret it now, it's not too late. I'm not afraid to tell you that my wife and I have a good relationship. Even if you marry, I..." Li An stopped here. He believed that the Anyang County Lady could understand what he meant. "It can't be changed. This matter is the Queen Mother's intention." The Anyang County Lady said.

"what?"

Li An was stunned when he heard this. What did the Queen Mother mean?
Do you want to win him over in this way?

However, when the emperor told him about this, there had not yet been a dispute between the empress dowager and the emperor over the issue of sending troops, otherwise the emperor would not have agreed.

Moreover, he was only a sixth-rank official, which was not low in theory, but in a place like Bian Jing, he was nothing. What was the value of winning him over?
"In the beginning, I was the one who went to ask the empress dowager, saying that I was willing to give up my status as a county princess and become Lord Li's concubine. The empress dowager suggested that I go and ask the queen. These days, the empress dowager often asked me to talk to her. The empress dowager told me that the late emperor had originally intended to promise me to you, but because you got married, the late emperor was afraid of wronging me, so he did not grant the marriage. The empress dowager also said that the late emperor left a will, asking the government to make important use of you and Deputy Commander Gu." said the Princess of Anyang County.

Li An frowned slightly when he heard this. The Queen Mother said this, obviously to tell Princess Anyang that her current situation was all due to the grace of the late emperor and had nothing to do with the current emperor.

There was even a suggestion that he should be told through the mouth of the Princess of Anyang County.

So what role does Princess Anyang play in this?

Is he trying to appear harmless, or is he pretending?

"Don't worry, Lord Li. I won't compete with the Madam for anything after I get married. I'm a co-wife to outsiders and a concubine at home. I will serve Lord Li and the Madam well." said the Princess of Anyang County.

……

"Did she really say that?" Minglan asked in surprise.

"Yeah." Li An nodded and said, "What she said seems reasonable, but I feel like she's not that simple."

"Sir, do you mean that she can see that the Queen Mother really wants her to marry you?" Minglan asked.

"Yes, she gave me the impression that she had a simple mind, but she could see the Queen Mother's intentions, which proved that she was not that simple. I couldn't figure out what her purpose was," said Li An.

"Maybe she didn't have any purpose at all?" Minglan said.

"Impossible. If she had no purpose, what was her purpose in coming to see me today?" Li An asked back.

Minglan pondered and said, "Sir, whether one's mind is pure or not has nothing to do with whether one is smart or not. Perhaps, Princess Anyang wants to marry you just to repay a favor, or because you saved her, she fell in love with you. And the purpose of her meeting you may be to remind you."

"To remind me?" Li An looked at Minglan puzzledly.

"When the emperor summoned you and said he wanted to grant you Anyang in marriage, there was no conflict between the emperor and the empress dowager, right?" Minglan said.

"Yeah." Li An thought about it carefully and nodded.

In the original drama, the Queen Mother and Zhao Zongquan had a bad relationship. Ultimately, it was because of their different political views, not because the Queen Mother was greedy for power.

The Queen Mother wanted Zhao Zongquan to follow the late emperor's principles and govern the country according to their father's ideas.

But Zhao Zongquan didn't want to do this, instead he wanted to achieve something to prove himself.

So a conflict arose between the two.

Zhao Zongquan had just ascended the throne and was very respectful to the empress dowager. He even took the initiative to suggest that the empress dowager rule the country from behind the scenes.

"Princess Anyang proposed to the Empress Dowager that she was willing to give up her position as a princess and become the emperor's concubine. The Empress Dowager could have made the decision, but she asked Princess Anyang to go to the Empress Dowager. This shows that the Empress Dowager was giving face to the Empress Dowager and did not want to interfere in the affairs of the harem. The attitudes of the Empress Dowager and the Emperor's wife are enough to show that they do not care about Princess Anyang." Minglan said.

"Why do you think so?" Li An asked.

Minglan smiled and said, "Master, do you think that if Princess Anyang is the real Princess, would the Queen Mother and the officials allow her to be someone else's concubine?"

"Of course not." Li An shook his head.

The real county princess is the daughter of the prince and a noble lady of the royal family. Even for the sake of the royal family's reputation, she would never allow such a thing to happen.

Whether it is Princess Pingning or Princess Anyang, it is actually just a title, which is no different from an imperial edict.

"But Princess Anyang agreed. This shows that neither the Empress Dowager nor the Emperor cares much about this," said Minglan.

"What does that have to do with her reminding me?" Li An asked puzzledly.

"Didn't the master say that the Empress Dowager and the Emperor were having some unpleasantness over the issue of war or peace? Princess Anyang is a smart person. She should have realized from the Empress Dowager's words that she intended to win you over through her, so she specifically reminded the master." Minglan said.

Li An frowned and said, "Remind me of what? Accept the Queen Mother's solicitation?"

"No." Minglan shook her head and said, "She wanted to remind you that the Queen Mother wanted to win you over, so that you could be prepared and find a way to refuse. The late emperor had no children, and no matter how the emperor and the Queen Mother fight, the emperor will definitely win in the end, because the officials in the court will not agree to the Queen Mother deposing the emperor."

Li An fell silent after hearing this. He had to say that what Ming Lan said made sense, but it was all just her guess.

"Sir, do you think these are just my guesses?" Minglan smiled as if she saw through Li An's thoughts.

"That's right." Li An nodded.

"You felt something was wrong before, but in fact, whatever you thought may not make sense. If the Queen Mother had used the Princess of Anyang to win you over from the beginning, not to mention that there was no conflict between you and the Queen Mother at that time, even if the Queen Mother wanted to win you over, she would not have used a Princess of Anyang to win you over.

Although the Princess of Anyang County was only noble on the surface, she was still a Princess, wasn't she? If the Queen Mother asked, it would be fine to give her to the second son of some duke or marquis.

The county magistrate of Anyang is a man of deep scheming, and would seek a high-ranking family. It makes no sense for her to be a concubine to the official. The most important thing is that it would not bring any benefit to her. Although I am just guessing, this guess is the most reasonable, isn't it? "Minglan said.

Ang Lee had to admit that what Minglan said made sense.

"Madam, why do I feel like you really want her to come in? Logically speaking, shouldn't you be happy that I suspect her?" Li An said.

"I really didn't want to let her marry in before. After all, even if her title of county princess is just an empty title, she is better than a concubine's daughter like me. After she marries, she will be a co-wife. If she makes things difficult for me, it will be too tiring to scheme against me all day long. But it is different now. If it is really as I guessed, there is nothing to worry about. The official will have to take a concubine anyway, and it is very common for officials to send concubines to each other. With the county princess as her tiger skin, those officials who send concubines will have reasons to refuse in the future." Minglan said with a smile.

"Miss!"

Li An held Minglan's shoulders, looked into her eyes and said, "I have never thought of taking a concubine. You are enough for me. You don't have to sacrifice yourself because of me."

"I really didn't stop you from taking a concubine. I'm not a jealous person. It's fine for you to take a concubine normally. I'm just afraid that my colleagues would send you off, and you wouldn't be able to refuse, so you might bring back some indecent concubines. And today..."

Minglan called Madam Wang over and told Li An about her rejection of Madam Wang, using the excuse of being the Princess of Anyang County.

Li An frowned after hearing this and said, "Next time I have a day off, I will go back with you and talk to Madam Wang in person to ask her to stop interfering in our family affairs."

"Sir, didn't we agree that you would go to your teacher's house during your vacation? You don't have to worry about the Madam. From what I know about her, she probably won't come back. I will talk to my elder sister when I have time and ask her to persuade the Madam. After all, you are the younger generation, and it won't sound good if things get too awkward." Minglan said.

"Madam Wang, I'm worried about you, but I'm afraid that Mrs. Kang will add fuel to the fire behind the scenes." Li An said.

(End of this chapter)