the first lady

Chapter 12

Rumors said it was dystocia, but in that deep palace, there were many tricks, and who knew if it was a conspiracy or a deliberate murder?But no matter what kind it is, it is not the turn of this ruthless emperor to commemorate it. If he is really affectionate, it will not be so many years late.

"Your Majesty, what happened in the past is in the past. I can only blame my sister's poor fortune." Qiao Zhan obviously didn't want to mention the deceased sister again, but the resentment in his eyes did not escape Qiao Ling'er's eyes.

Emperor Wu squinted his eyes, and said in a deep voice: "Brother is still blaming me for not treating Concubine Shu well?"

"Grassmen don't dare!" Qiao Zhan immediately took over the words.

Emperor Wu asked this with a strong sense of remorse, and he called Qiao Zhan the "big brother" of ordinary people, but it's not hard to hear the reluctance.It is impossible for him to come here today without purpose.

Qiao Ling'er stood aside, always feeling that the emperor's scheming was unfathomable. 20 years ago, he married his aunt for his own power, to get the power of the Qiao family to ascend to the throne of the emperor. This is actually a normal way for a person who has ambitions for the throne; but now?Now that he has ascended the throne and his aunt passed away 15 years ago, what is the importance of the Qiao family to him, and what else can he use?
Emperor Wu's gaze fell on Qiao Ling'er, which immediately sent a chill down her spine.

"Ling'er, I remember that your aunt always mentioned you in front of me. When I saw you, you were still a baby. I didn't expect that ten years later, you have become such a big girl!" Emperor Wu Said with a smile.

Qiao Ling'er smiled lightly and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your compliment!" She raised her heart at the same time, and she was sure that the next thing he wanted to say was what he wanted to say.

"I don't know if you have betrothed to someone else?" Emperor Wu also quickly revealed the real purpose of his trip, as Qiao Linger Qiao Zhan expected.

Qiao Ling'er and Qiao Zhan looked at each other, Qiao Zhan cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, Ling'er has been engaged to the son of the Feng family of the first family since childhood..."

Emperor Wu narrowed his eyes slightly, and the eunuch standing behind him immediately took up the conversation, saying: "Master Qiao, there are rumors on the street that Miss Qiao has divorced Young Master Feng recently, I don't know..."

Qiao Zhan's scalp tightened, and he said in a slightly trembling voice: "Ten days ago, the little girl did break off the engagement with Mr. Feng."

"For a girl's family, alas... wouldn't Ling'er's reputation be damaged?" Emperor Wu looked regretful.

"Your Majesty, you don't have to worry about Ling'er." Qiao Ling'er immediately interrupted the pretentious words, "Daddy and Mother only have one daughter, Linger. Linger still wants to serve Father and Mother more, even if she can't get married..."

"My daughter's family always wants to find a good husband's family. The eldest brother and the three sisters-in-law must also hope that Ling'er will entrust her to a beloved man and live happily ever after. Brother, do you mean?" Emperor Wu threw the source back in front of Qiao Zhan, It also paved the way for his next words.

"Yes..." Qiao Zhan became more and more uneasy. He hoped that his daughter could be happy, but if her happiness had to be blocked by others, how could he...

Qiao Ling'er immediately understood what Emperor Wu meant. After all, he just wanted the power of the Qiao family to fall into his hands. Although she didn't know who owned the power in the end, the economic status of the Qiao family did not matter. Not low.

"Your Majesty, the girl has no nostalgia for the relationship between a man and a woman after retiring with Mr. Feng before. I'm afraid it's..." Qiao Linger chose a reasonable explanation. Fear due to resignation is something that any woman should have. normal response.

It's a pity that Emperor Wu didn't accept this.

"Linger is not in the mood for men and women because he has never met a man worthy of Linger's attention. If he met, Linger would not say that!"

"What does the emperor mean..." Qiao Zhan raised his eyes and asked, sure enough, the purpose of the emperor coming to Qiao's house this time was not for his sister, but for other purposes.

"I have a good candidate." Emperor Wu almost guessed Qiao Zhan's father and daughter, and didn't want to beat around the bush.Without waiting for them to ask questions, he said directly: "The young and promising young prime minister Zong Zhengyi."

Hearing this, Qiao Zhan was shocked, and Qiao Linger frowned.

Zongzheng Yi, who was only twenty-two years old, was a prime minister with a man under one man and over ten thousand people. He inherited his father's ability, and he was even better at the later stage in his own training.Even at a young age, he is a household name.Gentle and elegant, with outstanding abilities, his reputation surpasses that of his father, Zongzheng Wudi.

Qiao Ling'er is not a person who likes to pay attention to celebrities, but this young prime minister is circulating in the streets and alleys, so it's hard for her not to know.

Emperor Wu actually proposed a marriage for the Qiao family and the Zongzheng family?You must know that this politician is not just Zongzhengyi, Zongzhengyi is only ranked second, and his elder brother Zongzhengye, the dignified general of Nanwu, controls half of the military power of Nanwu Kingdom; In one fell swoop, Zongzheng family developed into Zongzhengyan of the third family.If Zongzheng's family is put out, who in the whole Nanwu Kingdom doesn't know?

But it was also because of this that the Zongzheng family made it clear to those who understand that such a family with so many forces and powers is a contradictory and dangerous family.

"Your majesty, the prime minister is young and promising, and has a high status, and the women of the people really don't dare to climb up!" Qiao Ling'er quickly reacted.What she knows better is that if she enters such a family that can almost compete with the royal family, there will be countless stakes involved, and in front of that conspiracy-packed person, there may be side effects.

"Yes, Your Majesty, the prime minister has a distinguished status, and the family of grassmen..." Before Qiao Zhan could finish speaking, Emperor Wu interrupted him with a wave of his hand.

There was a smile on Emperor Wu's face, but the aura that could not be refuted by others did not decrease at all, but became stronger.

"Brother is too modest. The Qiao family is the second family of my Nanwu Kingdom. They are well-matched with the prime minister's family. There is no reason to be superior. Let this matter be settled like this! Zong Zhengyi is a modest child. They are a natural couple, I believe that if Ling'er marries him, it will definitely be a good story!"

"But Your Majesty..." Qiao Zhan wanted to speak again, but unexpectedly, Emperor Wu had already given an order to the eunuch beside him.

"Xiao Zhouzi, follow me back to the palace to draw up an edict!" Emperor Wu said before leaving.

"Your Majesty, my Qiao family is definitely not allowed to climb high on the prime minister, please take back my life!" Qiao Zhan said nervously.

"You have no jokes!"

Without saying a word, Qiao Ling'er looked at the back of the arrogant man leaving, and smiled coldly.

He had already arranged everything when he came here, and even pretended to talk about his aunt. Is this the emperor?
The holy decree came down to Qiao's mansion on the second day. If the emperor proposed marriage for ordinary people or something was wrong, but if it was for the children related to the royal family, it was a matter of course.

In the name of Concubine Shu 20 years ago, it is most appropriate to propose marriage to Concubine Shu's niece, who is also the emperor's own niece.

Originally, everyone was laughing at Qiao Ling'er's abandonment behind her back, but at this moment, the imperial decree came to the Qiao family, and the emperor personally proposed marriage between Miss Qiao Fourth and the current prime minister, which greatly enhanced Qiao Ling'er's reputation.

The prime minister, Zong Zhengyi, is a man whose reputation is definitely not inferior to that of the first family's Fengqing son.Fengqing is in business, Zongzhengyi is in politics, Fengqing is both civil and military, Zongzhengyi has both ability and political integrity, he is humble and friendly, and he is absolutely not inferior to Fengqing.

The only thing that makes people feel regretful is that Zongzheng Yi is not good at martial arts, and on this point, he is not as good as Fengqing.

There was a lot of noise outside, and the imperial decree spread throughout the capital as soon as it arrived, but inside Qiao's house, the atmosphere was gloomy and terrifying.

"Master, what should we do now?" Qin asked Qiao Zhan nervously. They were also born in famous families. The emperor's decree completely connected their Qiao family with the royal family.

Qiao Zhan sighed without saying a word, this incident was far beyond his expectations, he originally thought that Qiao Linger would be happy after He Fengqing divorced, but he did not expect that he would attract the royal family.

"Father, does fourth sister really want to marry the prime minister?" Qiao Yichen's face was also gloomy, full of worry.

"Father, why does the emperor have to win over our Qiao family as a power?" What Qiao Yihe couldn't understand was that since Emperor Wu had ascended the throne in his early years, all the forces should have nothing to do with him, and the Qiao family was just a merchant. The family should not pose any threat to the imperial court.Even if it is the second family, there are also the first family and the other four great families.

Qiao Yishu walked up to the main hall and said, "Third brother, the emperor is not just trying to win power for himself, but for the prince to gather power."

"Second brother, what do you say?" Qiao Yilin asked.

Qiao Yishu paced lightly, and said: "No matter which dynasty it is, there must be a struggle for the throne in the royal family. In Emperor Wu's dynasty, only the crown prince and the third prince were able to ascend the throne."

"The prince is the son of the imperial concubine, not the son of the queen, but the emperor appointed the eldest son as the prince; the third prince was born of the queen, and he should be the prince and ascend to the throne of God. The heir to the throne, second brother, is this what you want to talk about?" Qiao Yilin asked.

"That's right." Qiao Yishu nodded and said, "It's precisely because of this that the emperor will draw power for the prince."

"The emperor wants to help the prince deal with the third prince?" Qiao Yichen asked in surprise.If the emperor really wins over the power of the Qiao family to the prince, then wouldn't it be to deal with the third prince?

Qiao Zhan sighed and said: "The Empress Chen's family is very powerful. She is the daughter of the head of the Yi clan in the north of our Nanwu Kingdom. The Yi clan has great ambitions for the Nanwu Kingdom. If the third prince ascends to the throne, the Yi clan will rise up."

"That's why the emperor wants to help the prince win the throne? Then why do we want the Qiao family?" Qiao Yihe frowned, their Qiao family was safe and sound, and they didn't stand out, but in this way, they were pushed to the cusp of the storm went.

"That's because the relationship between the fifth prince and the son of the first family Feng is very good, and the fifth prince and the third prince are siblings with the same mother. In terms of emotion and reason, the Feng family should stand on the side of the third prince!" Qiao Yishu gave They analyzed, "However, Feng Qing hides his secrets, and no one can be sure what he is thinking!"

(End of this chapter)