King Luhuang of the Ming Dynasty: My father, Ming Taizu

Among the concubines of the previous two emperors, there were many with outstanding looks, totaling more than twenty people.

In comparison, Emperor Zhu Youtang is even more so, as his only sister is his sister.

Not to mention the Ming Dynasty, even in ancient times, it was unique.

Empress Zhang suddenly winked at Zhu Tan, and Zhu Tan had to restrain his thoughts.

Finally, among the first guests at Zhou's birthday party was a young woman named Zhang Yuanying, the granddaughter of the British Duke Zhang Mao, whom he had once met.

Zhang Mao's wife, Zhang Lun's wife, and a group of daughters-in-law and children all came to congratulate Zhou.

Mrs. Zhou and Mrs. Zhang were of similar age. They were old acquaintances and distant relatives, so they were very polite to the Duke of England's people. After the formalities, they invited the Zhang family to a table closest to the main seat.

Empress Zhang nudged Chu Chu with her elbow and said, "My husband, this is Zhang Yuanying, the daughter of the Duke of Ying. What do you think?"

"Sister, when I first met her, I felt that her personality was difficult to get along with. This girl would go crazy as soon as someone came! She's too impulsive."

Zhu Tan remembered the last time he saw her and made an excuse.

Empress Zhang was more interested in Zhang Yuanying. No matter his family background or appearance, he was an excellent choice. However, she said that she had met Zhang Yuanying once and did not have a good impression of him, so she gave up the idea.

Then there were the nobles and relatives of the emperor, but either they had no women worthy of them or they were extremely ugly. Zhu Tan couldn't help but think of the terrible portraits of the imperial concubines in the Qing Dynasty's inner palace, which was really an eyesore.

Next came the women from the six ministries and nine officials. Ma Wensheng's wife and her daughter-in-law and daughter also came.

This was also the first time Zhu Tan met Ma Yuexian, the daughter of Ma Cong.

Ma Yuexian is 28 years old, with a round face, big eyes and a high nose bridge, but apart from this, she is only about 1.5 meters tall.

Chu Pipa secretly felt regretful in her heart, wishing that she could be ten centimeters taller.

Empress Zhang had only spoken to a few people. When she saw Ma Yuexian, she lowered her voice and said, "Ma Yuexian is talented and virtuous. She can be said to be the best of all women. With her around, our Li family will be safe for three generations. What do you think?"

Zhu Tan did not expect that Ma Yuexian could be so praised by her elder sister. She was indeed a person with both talent and beauty.

However, he addressed Ma Cong as brother, but always called his father-in-law "brother", which was a bit strange.

"Sister, I don't like short people. Everyone knows that my father is short, my mother is short, and so is I. Sister, don't you want your children to be short?"

Empress Zhang shook her head like a rattle. She didn't want to do that! Helplessly, Ma Yuexian took her relatives and walked aside.

However, among the family members of officials above the third rank who came to celebrate the birthday, only a few of them were decent looking.

Zhu Tan, however, looked uninterested. If that were the case, he could take the opportunity to tease Wang Yan!
The niece Wang Yan mentioned was mistakenly regarded by Li Yunmu as Pas.

He saw the face, which was pretty good-looking, but the mouth was really not that good, and she spoke unsteadily. If two people lived together, it would be worrying.

Seeing that Empress Zhang was about to turn against him, Zhu Tan was unwilling to let his brother-in-law Zhu Youtang arrange a marriage for him.

He was just about to say something to Queen Zhang, but suddenly her eyes widened, her mouth slightly opened, and she looked as if struck by lightning.

When Empress Zhang saw her brother like this, she also looked forward along Zhu Tan's line of sight, and her eyes suddenly narrowed.

She recognized the person Zhu Tan saw; it was Shen Qionglian, a maid in the secret court of the palace.

Zhu Youtang was infatuated with the beauties in the inner palace. He was devoted to them both physically and spiritually.

However, Zhu Youtang liked Shen Qionglian very much. Not only was Shen Qionglian beautiful, but she could also write poetry, and was quite loved by Zhu Youtang.

The emperor specially promoted Shen Qionglian to the fifth-rank university scholar, in charge of palace affairs and the emperor's personal property. Shen Qionglian was in charge.

Empress Zhang and Zhu Youtang were as close as sisters, but she was lying if she thought Shen Qionglian had no grudges because she saw that she was favored by her husband.

Only Zhu Youtang, with his own performance, made Empress Zhang full of confidence in her concubines.

Seeing Zhu Tan staring at Shen Qionglian, Empress Zhang came up with an idea and said softly, "This woman is a female official in the palace. She is now 24 years old. Her background is clean. I'm sure you have heard of her ancestor Shen Xiu, who is Shen Wansan."

what?
Zhu Tan did not expect that this beautiful woman was actually the descendant of the Third Master Shen.

Shen Wansan is a legendary figure. His name was created by Shen Wansan. His name was "Cornucopia". Later, he was beaten to pieces by someone, but he is still very famous!
"Erlang likes her?" Empress Zhang saw through Zhu Tan's thoughts and said, "However, it is not clear how old this woman was when she entered the palace. She may be around 25 or 26 years old. She is too old to have children and is not suitable to be the wife of the main wife. If you like, I can let her leave the palace and come to your house to be your concubine."

Zhu Tan curled his lips, cleared his throat, and said, "Sister, I already have a concubine named Teng, the daughter of Ye Shen, at home. She came to my house only to be a concubine."

"I'm old now, it's not bad to be a concubine. Let's do this."

Empress Zhang really wanted to release Shen Qionglian from the palace. Even though the emperor was loyal to her, she was afraid that something might go wrong.

The Queen's mother was once the storehouse manager of Emperor Xianzong. Later, by chance, she got her own husband! Be careful!
Zhu Tan really fell in love with Shen Qionglian at first sight. This can be described as a lie, or more precisely, he was attracted by her beauty.

Shen Qionglian met his standards in terms of both figure and appearance. She was twenty-four or twenty-five years old, which was the prime of her youth for someone who had traveled through time and space, and she could be as beautiful as she wanted!

"Sister, if you say that, I will be serious. Sister, you can't break your promise. Maybe you won't want to do it when the time comes."

Zhu Tan had long noticed Empress Zhang's vigilance towards Shen Qionglian, but he thought her worries were unnecessary.

Shen Qionglian entered the palace at the age of fourteen, which was after Zhu Youtang ascended the throne. If something had happened, it should have happened by now.

The fact that Shen Qionglian is still a female official is enough to show the emperor's loyalty to her!
"Look at you. You are already 20 years old. It is time for you to continue the Zhang family's bloodline. You already have four or five sons, but you still have no one here! This is terrible."

Zhu Tan sneered in his heart, his eldest brother was indeed a mess, wearing a green hat on his head, and he didn’t know if these five children were his sons!
But Zhu Tan agreed to Empress Zhang's request without hesitation, as long as it could make his elder sister happy.

At this point, the gifts were almost over.

Zhou nodded, and the imperial chef brought the food up. This was Chu Mu's "hanger-on", so he immediately said something to Empress Zhang and turned around to go out to entertain the guest.

In order to save Tang Bohu, Zhu Tan messed up his plan to clear his name.

All those present were daughters of officials. They were all outraged by the impeachment of Marquis Jianchang, and had all heard about it to some extent.

When they saw Zhu Tan, they either looked at him with disgust or avoided him, which made Zhu Tan very unhappy.

When Zhu Tan came to Ma Yuexian's table, the situation was better. Madam Ma and Ma Cong's wife and daughter had heard good news about Zhu Tan, and the smiles on their faces became more sincere.

To Zhu Tan's surprise, Ma Yuexian actually secretly stuffed a paper ball into his mouth, and Ma Yuexian accidentally touched her little hand, which made Ma Yuexian's face turn red.

Zhu Tan did not think that she had endless appeal that could make this young lady take the initiative. The first people she thought of were Ma Wensheng and his father. Perhaps there was something important to tell him.

He did not come home last night, so it was difficult for Ma Wensheng and his son to meet.

After leaving the palace, there was no one around. Zhu Tan opened the crumpled piece of paper and took a look. It was indeed Ma Wensheng's voice.

"Ma Cong has returned to the Beijing camp. We can put aside the matter of Dingxi Marquis Jiang He for now. Jiang Rong cannot attend tomorrow's imperial examination due to injury. Some scholars have even started selling the examination questions."

Due to time constraints, Ma Wensheng did not tell everything.

Zhu Tan was not sure whether Jiang Rong's injury was accidental or not, but since Ma Cong and Jiang Rong had already left the turmoil of the imperial examination, it would be safer for him and Ma Wensheng.

The matter of Jiang He is not the most important thing. Zhu Tan curled his lips. Since Ma Wensheng said it, it must have been verified and the questions should be true.

"Li Dongyang will definitely not take action, so Cheng Minzheng will have to take action."

Zhu Tan had no good feelings towards Li Dongyang or Cheng Minzheng. Li Dongyang made him feel a little gloomy, and Cheng Minzheng was the first to impeach him.

No matter what the history books say about these two guys, their relationship with me is extremely bad and it is already a hostile one.

"Me too, am I born a bad guy?"

Zhu Tan tore the note into pieces. Neither he nor Ma Wensheng saw the whole process. However, they had already made various protections and safeguards, so no matter how badly they were affected, they would not be affected.

As soon as he turned around, Zhu Tan was surprised.

It turned out to be Shen Qionglian, who had seduced his desire at first sight and followed him silently without even taking a step.

Shen Qionglian had her hair tied up in a bun, wearing a palace skirt, and there was a flower mark on her forehead.

Although he looks to be around 25 years old, for Chu Tian, ​​it is the prime of his life.

His eyebrows, his nose, his mouth, and his facial features are definitely not comparable to those of the Internet celebrities, which makes Zhu Tan very excited.

He made no secret of his curiosity about the girl and even gave her a name when he met her.

Shen Qionglian bowed with tears in her eyes. Her voice was slightly wet and she choked with sobs as she said, "My Lord, I entered the palace at the age of fourteen. It has been twelve years now. I have been away from home and have never seen my father and brother. I have spent most of my life in the palace. The Emperor and the Empress are very kind to me. I have already adapted to it and do not want to leave the palace. Otherwise, according to the palace's rules, I would have left the palace once every five or six years."

Zhu Tan did not expect Shen Qionglian to come to him and find such a plausible excuse.

But the problem is, it's a pity that such a beauty died here alone!
His behavior was very interesting. He ignored Shen Qionglian, walked past Shen Qionglian and returned to Qingning Palace.

This move naturally surprised Shen Qionglian. When she heard what Empress Zhang said, she immediately ran to confess her feelings to Zhu Tan, but he left her aside. She was suddenly at a loss.

Chu Tian and Shen Qionglian had no interactions, but from Shen Qionglian's description, he had some memories of her.

What does this mean? She's clearly a female intellectual!

If this is reasonable, is he still the annoying Second Uncle of Jianchang Marquis?

Ma Yuexian was called by her grandfather to help pass a note. She felt a little nervous but also excited, because being able to help her grandfather gave her a great sense of satisfaction.

She didn't understand what was on the note. When she saw Zhu Tan put the note away and come back soon after, walking towards her, her heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Zhu Tan walked to Ma Yuexian's desk, stopped, pretended to adjust his belt, lowered his head even lower, and leaned towards Ma Yuexian's head.

"Tell the old man to wait and see as planned."

Ma Yuexian nodded, meaning that she heard it. She didn't know what her grandfather and Marquis Jianchang were doing, but she also knew that the information they brought this time must be very important.

Coincidentally, the conversation between Zhu Tan and Ma Yuexian was seen by Zhang Yuanying, who was sitting at a nearby table, and he immediately showed a look of disdain.

"shameless."

Ma Yuexian and Zhu Tan both heard her voice. Zhu Tan didn't take it seriously, but Ma Yuexian's face turned pale and her hands were clenched into fists.

Generally speaking, a woman cannot have contact with a man.

If Zhang Yuanying told this matter to others, her reputation would be completely ruined.

"I didn't, don't talk nonsense." Since it concerns her reputation, Ma Yuexian naturally would not ignore it.

Zhang Yuanying sneered. Although she was not a child of destiny, she was from a famous family after all. She was arrogant and proud. How could she possibly look down on Zhu Tan and Ma Yuexian?

She didn't even know Ma Yuexian, but she didn't have any good feelings towards Zhu Tan. In her eyes, any woman who could flirt with Zhu Tan was not a good person.

"You adulterous couple, get out of here!"

Zhang Yuanying was Zhang Mao's most beloved son, so he was free to come and go, so he was still very confident about the rumors from the outside world.

She was very clear about Zhu Tan's use of the candidate to seek wealth and being impeached by the civil officials. Her last words were: "Don't pollute my eyes."

Ma Yuexian was so angry that her face turned red, and she jumped up, "You are slandering me, you——"

Chu Mu then understood why Ma Yuexian was so angry, but Ma Yuexian couldn't accept it. She subconsciously slapped Ma Yuexian on the shoulder.

"Sit down first and don't make the Queen Mother angry."

After hearing this, Ma Yuexian was speechless. She also understood that in such a situation, being punished was a small matter, but losing face for her parents would be a big loss. So she looked at Zhang Yuanying hatefully and sat back.

Zhu Tan glanced at Zhang Yuanying sideways. He had never had a good impression of Zhang Yuanying, and this was even more so at this moment.

In their eyes, she was just a spoiled young lady who had never seen the world and had never experienced any cruel things. (End of this chapter)