Salted Fish Lady Loves to Eat Melons

Chapter 175: The Son is Noble and the Mother Dies
Hearing this, the emperor took a deep look at the son born to his most beloved woman and liked him more and more.

For more than 20 years, even after he sat on the dragon throne, he dared not show his special love for Concubine De and her two children.

He had many beauties in his harem, and he had little desire to have sons with them. However, in order to stabilize the balance of the court, he still gave birth to seven princes and eight princesses.

This time, he made a big fuss and asked Xiaowu to enter the imperial study to help review memorials because he really wanted Yier to appear in front of everyone.

Then it was natural for me to ask the ministers to support his Yi'er, but those old foxes thought I was deceiving them.

The ministers all thought that the person I really wanted to support was the Third Prince, and deliberately used the Fifth Prince, who had no foundation at all, as bait.

So the people of the prince's faction tried to trick the third brother, and even disregarded the country and the people, and secretly demanded the military pay on the southern border.

Because the generals guarding the southern border were the third prince’s maternal grandfather and uncles.

The prince's faction demanded military pay for the southern troops in the hope that the General Zhennan would suffer a defeat, thereby weakening the power of the third prince.

The Third Prince has been forming cliques and factions over the years, and the Marquis of Zhennan is from a century-old family, so half of the ministers in the court support him.

As a result, he gradually became bolder and blatantly took the military pay from the North and brought it to the South.

My secret guards are very powerful, but they are only good at finding out what the ministers are doing. They are unable to prevent major events such as the misappropriation of military funds.

If one wants to stop it, he must bring it to the court. If he does that, it will easily lead to a fierce struggle for the throne and cause civil unrest.

Since I ascended the throne, I have used thundering means to deal with the ambitious imperial brothers and have worked hard to balance the infighting among ministers.

The Great Sheng Dynasty enjoyed peace and prosperity for several years, but neighboring countries saw that our people of Great Sheng were living a comfortable life and came to rob them.

If I am still healthy, or the crown prince is very capable, then I will definitely punish the third brother.

He then led several generals stationed in Dasheng to repel the foreign enemies who wanted to invade Dasheng's territory.

But now I have nothing to do with either. My health is not good, I have the will but not the strength, and the prince is obsessed with women and has no interest in state affairs.

Even though I know so much, I can only worry and train the fifth brother more attentively, hoping that he can stand on his own as soon as possible.

Taking advantage of the Crown Prince's misconduct today, I will order him to be confined to his home for a month at the court tomorrow morning.

Then throw all the useless matters in the crown prince's hands to the third brother, and let those old foxes guess the emperor's intentions at will.

Let the two factions fight each other in secret, and at the same time give my Yier some time to study.

I have been busy with government affairs and have been overwhelmed by the love in my heart, which has led to poor health.

If the Crown Prince is a little more capable, I don't want to depose him and cause instability in the court.

But now, looking at the Fifth Prince's learning speed, the Emperor no longer felt regretful, because he could see that the Fifth Prince had ambitions and wanted to be Emperor.

Since Yier likes him, I will do my best to help him while I live. Fortunately, Xiao Jin has recovered.

Before, it was because Yier didn’t have anyone reliable around him, so even if I wanted to support him, it would be difficult to do so.

The emperor thought about all this in the blink of an eye, "Yier, father wants to grant you a marriage, what do you want to say?"

The fifth prince looked at the emperor's loving eyes, and his recent interactions also made him understand his father's difficulties.

He said honestly: "Father, I have liked the eighth lady of the Fan family, Fan Yuxuan, for a long time."

"Yier, do you want to marry Miss Fan as your principal wife?" the emperor asked tentatively.

"Father, I have admired Yuxuan for many years and have always wanted to marry her as my wife." The fifth prince expressed his wish firmly.

"Yier, do you know that your father has tried his best but failed to bring peace and prosperity to the Great Sheng Dynasty? You will have a hard time becoming the emperor. Besides, our Zhao family has a family precept that if a son is noble, the mother dies. The wife gave birth to the eldest son.

If his father ascended the throne, he would make his eldest son the crown prince, and his mother would have to drink a cup of poisoned wine.

Can you bear to let the one you love leave you and your son for the position of legal wife?

Besides, since you like the Eighth Miss of the Fan Family so much, you can't bear to see her working herself to death to help you manage your harem!"

"Ah! I really didn't know there was such a thing?" Hearing his father's words, the Fifth Prince was at a loss.

No wonder his father and mother were childhood sweethearts, but he did not marry his mother as his wife.

Although the Fifth Prince did not dare to blame his father on the surface, deep down in his heart he still felt a little unfair for his mother.

If the Zhao family had such ancestral precepts, it shows that his father had the ambition to become emperor.

Seeing that his son was having trouble making a decision, the emperor patiently told his son Yi'er about his personal experience, hoping that he would make the right choice.

At the same time, he also hopes that his son will put the country first. Being an emperor and having a lover who loves each other is also a sweet burden.

Being an emperor not only means worrying about the people of the Great Sheng Dynasty, but also worrying about his loved ones and children.

The emperor told the fifth prince that he chose Su's daughter as his queen because he really liked her gentle and virtuous nature and the fact that she loved him dearly.

The queen was law-abiding and managed the palace in an orderly manner, so he always gave his princess contraceptive soup.

He made his clever concubine pregnant with his eldest son, and only after he ascended the throne did he let his queen give birth to a daughter.

The queen was also very sensible. She didn't make any noise and was very grateful to him. They had been treating each other with respect since they got married.

When choosing a wife, you must choose a woman who loves you as if your life, and only then will she devote herself to him wholeheartedly.

For example, my concubine has a distinguished family background and is beautiful and charming. She married me as a concubine because she loved me very much.

There are also the Virtuous Concubine, the Good Concubine, and the Shu Concubine. It was because of their powerful families that I was able to sit firmly on the throne.

During my reign, there were only external threats but no internal worries. I knew how to employ people, so even when faced with natural disasters, the people of Dasheng could have enough to eat and not starve to death.

If there is internal instability, the people will surely suffer if they are hit by natural disasters and external threats.

When I was choosing a concubine to give birth to my eldest son, I was overwhelmed by the choices, but in the end I found out that she was good at disguising herself.

In fact, she is a snobbish, vain, sarcastic and ignorant girl.

Even though the queen tried her best to cultivate the prince, the prince's behavior was still not satisfactory.

The emperor's heartfelt words left the fifth prince at a loss for words. After a long while he asked awkwardly.

"Father, the world says that Marquis Cheng'en relies on women for his livelihood. If I choose the prince's consort according to your wishes, how will it be different from Marquis Cheng'en?"

"The difference is huge. We choose concubines based on their family background, but at least we don't need to eat their dowry.

However, the Cheng'en Marquis's Mansion relied on women's dowries to maintain its superficial splendor. Although the mansion had fallen into decline, the mother and son of Cheng'en Marquis were unwilling to dismiss the servants.

It is said that there were three to four hundred slaves in the mansion alone. They were poor but still acted pretentiously.

There were servants like personal maids, first-class maids, second-class maids, cleaning maids, servants, etc.

Not counting the dining room, gardening, combing and other expenses, these expenses alone would cost thousands of taels a month."