Eunuch's Declaration of Loyalty

Chapter 43

In order to lead the red line for the capable general and his friend Wei Zheng, as well as the lady of Wu Shangshu's family, the two lovers who failed to die well in the previous life, Liu Qingtang organized a flower viewing party in this season when the apricot blossoms were burning, and invited wives and nine Ladies over the age of [-] who have not left the pavilion come to enjoy the flowers.

As soon as the age limit came out, various families speculated that the empress dowager was a concubine who was going to be the emperor's favorite concubine, and even looked for the queen in advance.Suddenly several families were happy and some were sad. Some of the Fuyin family wanted to rely on their daughters to soar into the sky and become queens. After getting the news excitedly, they went around looking for people to inquire about the preferences of the empress dowager, so that their daughters could enter the palace when they were visiting the garden. Queen's eyes.

There are also those who feel sorry for their daughter and don't want her to live a lifetime inside the palace walls, but worry about telling their daughter to be quiet and do their duty, try not to speak in the crowd, and try not to attract the eyes of the queen mother.

Because of the Empress Dowager's will to visit the garden, the city of Yujing became turbulent, and the palace was not peaceful.Officials with certain relations came to the door to buy some court ladies and eunuchs, especially the servants of the Ci'an Palace and the emperor's Chang'an Palace.

The emperor himself could bear it, and he didn't mention this at all when he came to pay respects to Liu Qingtang, as if he didn't know anything about it.

Liu Qingtang also didn't take the initiative to mention it. In fact, this matter is not urgent for her. After all, no matter whether it is a concubine or a concubine, it will be more than two years later, in the seventh year of Yuanning. After the plague is over, the emperor will be 15 years old. just work.

Now she just wants a name to hold a garden party, and discuss with Miss Wu about her relationship with Wei Zheng.By the way, let's see if those women who fought in this palace in the previous life still want to fight for the wealth and honor they imagined in this life.

The candidates to hold each other have already been decided, but she is still willing to give them a chance, if some people don't want to come to this palace this time, she will let them go.If you want to come, whether you like it or not, it has become a pawn in her hand.After all, to make the emperor's harem restless, it would be a big show if some ambitious and capable women gathered together.

The garden party was really lively that day. There were young ladies ranging from nine to sixteen or seventeen years old. Yingying and Yanyan were dressed in red and green, and they were a little bit brighter than this early spring.

Liu Qingtang didn't put on airs either, it was rare for her to show some gentleness, but she had a lot of prestige, and she still didn't dare to openly show her courtesy in front of her.It's just that the secret contest between the ladies below has never stopped. Liu Qingtang took all those situations into his eyes, and his eyes seemed to ignore the past or future ones one by one—— Concubine Concubine Xian and Concubine Shu, There are also several concubines, Jieyu and others.She didn't care much about the beauties below, like Baolin.

Among them, the noble concubine who was loved by the emperor for many years in her previous life was not there, because that was the concubine's granddaughter of Wang Shoufu, and this banquet was full of daughters from various families.That even at this time was not qualified to participate in this kind of banquet, but many girls who looked proud at the banquet were defeated by her one by one.

Seeing those faces that were still young, Liu Qingtang couldn't help sighing that time is ruthless.Who would have thought that these women with bright eyes and cheerful smiles would turn into women wearing masks and smiling, fighting to the death for a man's favor in the future.Comparing herself with these women in the emperor's harem in her previous life, she didn't know who was more pitiful than the other.

Appreciating flowers naturally leads to poetry and painting.Women in the Southern Dynasties were not too restrained. These women who had received good education from childhood could almost learn some poetry, calligraphy and painting from the teachers at home. At this moment, they all tried their best to compete with others.Liu Qingtang glanced over, and there were really not many people who were quiet and didn't want to stand out.

What makes her most happy is that the chess pieces she is optimistic about are almost all trying to attract her attention at this time, showing their ambitions.Liu Qingtang smiled with satisfaction in her heart, and said a few words to some of them with a majestic expression on her face, and even gave some rare rewards.

She will wait for them in this palace, come and put on a big show for her.

After visiting the garden and enjoying the flowers in the afternoon, Liu Qingtang asked the girls from all families to go and enjoy the flowers without restraint. After all, they are still a group of fresh and curious girls. After hearing what the Queen Mother said, they separated into the flower forest in twos and threes .

Liu Qingtang called the lady from Wu Shangshu's house in private, and the two went to a small attic next to the apricot forest in the imperial garden.

Miss Wu's name is Wu Qin, and she is already 16 years old. Originally, she and her father thought that if the Empress Dowager wanted to find a concubine for the emperor this time, it should have nothing to do with her. After all, the age difference between her and the emperor is too big .Who would have thought that An Anxin, who was so young at all, would be called by the Empress Dowager in private to speak in private.

Wu Qin felt apprehensive, and couldn't help but look at the eminent empress dowager as he followed Liu Qingtang.She had heard a lot from her father about her deeds. She became the successor for her dead sister, single-handedly sent the emperor's nephew to the throne of God, and handled state affairs as a woman.Her father also said that this empress dowager knows how to appoint talents, is compassionate to the common people, is courageous and strong enough not to lose to men, if a man is a wise king, it is a pity that she was born as a woman, even if she holds power in her hands now, it is not justified.

In fact, she admired the empress dowager very much in her heart, and felt that she was really rare among women, and since she became the empress dowager in the past few years, the status of women in the Southern Dynasty has also improved.Wu Qin himself has become a standard lady under the guidance of his mother since he was a child. Sometimes he puts himself in the position of the empress dowager, thinking that he must not be able to be like the empress dowager, so he worships her more and more.

It's just that like most of the little sisters in the boudoir, this kind of respect and admiration is mixed with fear. After all, I heard that when the Queen Mother was her age, she already had a life in her hands.This is simply unimaginable for women like them who have never even seen a chicken killed.

So Wu Qin's mood at this moment is really complicated. On the one hand, he is afraid that the empress dowager really wants to choose her into the harem, and on the other hand, he feels that the empress dowager, who has worshiped her for so long, is very fond of her. It is an honor to only call her to speak alone. Excited.

Liu Qingtang has also been sizing up this Miss Wu. Although her words and deeds are in line with the Southern Dynasty's requirements for ladies, she doesn't look like a city mansion.Probably because she was taken care of so well by her family, what she thinks in her heart is what she looks like on the face, she is really a woman who is easy to see through.

For example, looking at her at this moment, I feel respect and fear at the same time.But with such innocence and sincerity, it's not hard for Liu Qingtang to understand why Wei Zheng has taken a fancy to this Miss Wu alone. It's always easier to relax with such a person.

"Miss Wu."

"Ah? Yes, Empress Dowager." Wu Qin sat slightly sideways on a stool, and when he heard the empress dowager above him suddenly calling her, his heart skipped a beat and he almost stood up.Fortunately, she held back in the end, and responded nervously with a handkerchief in one hand.

"You are sixteen now, and it's almost time to find your husband's family at this age. The Ai family intends to marry you."

"You are not much different in age, the Ai family sees you as dignified and virtuous..."

Wu Qin was still a little dazed when he heard this, but then his face became paler and paler.She is not stupid, at least she has some knowledge under the guidance of a shrewd father, so she immediately understood that the empress dowager meant the marriage, not the emperor.

But besides the emperor, who else can let the empress dowager personally bestow the marriage?Probably there is only the pure king left at the beginning of the year, who was granted the title of king and moved out of the palace.

Before, the second prince who was ignored by no one was named king and moved out of the palace. Every family was guessing which lady they would marry, but the empress dowager remained silent, and everyone gradually thought that she didn't want to care about that Pure king.Now that I think about it, Chun Wang is not the only one that the queen mother said she wanted to marry.When Wu Qin thought of this possibility, his heart suddenly became empty.

She has long known that she will marry a man she may never have met, which is probably the fate of most women.If you are lucky, you may be able to get a husband who respects your wife and is as respectful as you are. If you are unlucky, you will hate your husband, and you may spend the rest of your life struggling alone in the back house.

If she had wanted to marry Pure King before, Wu Qin might not have felt that there was nothing she couldn't bear, anyway, it might be the same for her to marry anyone.But now, she already has someone in her heart, and she has no way to marry other men indifferently.

"I am very frightened to be married by the Empress Dowager, but my daughter is stupid and ignorant, and I am afraid that I will fail the Queen Mother's expectations." Wu Qin summoned up his courage and said, but because he was too scared, he knelt on the ground and trembled.She closed her eyes and waited for the empress dowager to explode. Everyone knew that the empress dowager had a bad temper, and she was the most consistent. If she refused her like this, maybe what was waiting for her was the empress dowager's anger.

Seeing Wu Qin kneeling there trembling in fear, Liu Qingtang innocently touched her forehead, she never thought of scaring this little sister.It just looked like she almost scared herself to tears.Liu Qingtang really doubted that Wei Zheng, that reckless man who stares at him when he gets angry, will scare people to tears at every turn after marrying him.

Wu Qin waited for a while but didn't hear the Queen Mother's voice. When she felt more and more afraid and desperate, she suddenly saw the corner of the Queen Mother's skirt appearing in front of her eyes, and she was helped up immediately.

"The Ai family said that it was unreasonable for Wei Zheng to come to Ai's house to ask for a marriage recklessly. Since you don't agree, Ms. Wu, the Ai family's refusal is a reckless man." In fact, Wei Zheng never came to her, but, Liu Qingtang felt that it was quite feasible for her to occasionally tell small lies in order to make her lover get married.

Wu Qin hadn't recovered from the shock of the Empress Dowager personally helping her up. Hearing this, he immediately widened his eyes and said, "It's Hero Wei... No, it's General Wei?!" The person in her heart?Wu Qin's heart jumped out of joy, but when he thought of his misunderstanding and rejection just now, he was in a hurry, and trembling, he didn't know what to do now.

Liu Qingtang choked on the hero Wei who she blurted out, and couldn't help but think that these two seem to have many stories.But looking at Wu Qin's anxious appearance of crying, she realized that she didn't intentionally scare people any more, and said with a smile: "Oh? Miss Wu seems to be interested in General Wei. If Miss Wu is willing, then Aijia In a few days, I will decree to marry you two."

The matter was much easier than Liu Qingtang imagined. Two days later, she told the public about this matter, and she also specially observed Wang Feng and the two chief assistants. What action.

Then look away at Wei Zheng, that guy's serious black face on weekdays has almost turned into a flower today, obviously he was so happy that he had to endure it, but he couldn't help it anymore, the corners of his mouth curled up , with that deliberate calm look, he changed from a black-faced Hades to a buffoon.

Looking away very subtly in his heart, Liu Qingtang saw that the officials around Wei Zheng seemed to look away as if they couldn't bear to look directly.And Wu Shangshu, the shrewd old fox who usually likes to put on the appearance of a Confucian scholar, can't help but quietly blow his beard and stare at his prospective son-in-law.

It seems that although Ms. Wu convinced her father, Wei Zheng still had problems getting along with his father-in-law, but Wei Zheng didn't know how to restrain himself, and smirked at his father-in-law, causing Wu Shangshu to stroke his chest even more angrily.

Liu Qingtang suddenly saw that his father standing in front of him didn't know what he was thinking, and couldn't help but glared at Wei Zheng, and then looked at Wu Shangshu with some sighs.

Maybe it was a look of sympathy?Liu Qingtang held back her smile and put on the most common serious expression, and then saw Wei Zheng cast a grateful look at her, the happy smile on his face deserved a beating for no reason.Could it be that she laughed like this when she was with Qin Shu?Thinking back, Liu Qingtang felt chills all over her body. If she laughed like this when she was with Qin Shu, it would be really bad.

Liu Qingtang sat at the head of the emperor, and below were the civil and military officials lined up in four rows on both sides.Amidst the eunuchs shouting to retreat from the court and the officials singing in harmony, Liu Qingtang suddenly felt that she missed Qin Shu for no reason.

Wei Zheng was finally able to marry his beloved Miss Wu in this life, but even if she and Qin Shu were in love, she would never be able to marry him.

No matter how you say it, Liu Qingtang is very happy that her friend can be happy. Thinking of the tragedy in her previous life, she specially gave Wei Zheng a vacation so that he could use the reason of discussing the marriage openly to protect his fiancée in Wu's mansion and provoke his father-in-law by the way. dislike.

And that night, when Qin Shu came, Liu Qingtang remembered his momentary sigh, and suddenly wanted to ask him if he wanted to marry her.He just called Qin Shu and didn't know what to say.

Even if Qin Shu replied that she wanted to, she had no choice but to wear a red wedding dress and marry him under the witness of family and friends.

In the end, Liu Qingtang just hooked Qin Shu's neck and rubbed against his neck with a smile, then, under his questioning eyes, smiled and said, "It's nothing."

(End of this chapter)