White Hedge Dream

Chapter 6 Private Talk

Five years ago, the emperor was seriously ill. Empress Chiang closed the palace and turned away all officials. Prime Minister Zhu Xingjian and General Li Chengyuan surrounded King Changyang and led more than 100 Qianniu Guards to rush into the imperial city. They killed Empress Chiang on the spot and the emperor granted Changyang the title. The king became the crown prince. The emperor died the next day, and King Changyang ascended the throne as emperor.

The chaos of Empress Chiang's reign ended here, and the new emperor granted amnesty to the world. However, at the same time as the amnesty was being granted, the remnants of Empress Chiang were eliminated. Zhang Ze, the commander of the Qianniu Guards who helped King Changyang enter the imperial city, was responsible for this matter. Of course, Zhang Ze was not responsible for this matter. He was no longer just a small official, but was appointed as the censor by the new emperor, and a new supervisory board was established under the supervision of Zhang Ze to investigate the unjust cases caused by Empress Chiang and correct the chaos.

Although the original intention of the Board of Supervisors was to clear up grievances, in Zhang Ze's hands it became a special investigation of Empress Chiang's accomplices.

In recent years, many princes and nobles have been found out by Zhang Ze to be involved with Empress Chiang, and their homes have been confiscated and their families destroyed.

There were many traitors and traitors following Chiang Kai-shek in those days, and many people had no choice but to succumb, and there were even some unexplained unreasonable disasters.

But in Zhang Ze's hands, they are all unforgivable sins.

At the beginning of the year, Bai Xun, the governor of Shuofang, was discovered by Zhang Ze to have a painting made by Empress Chiang in his home. Bai Xun said that it was a reward from Empress Chiang when he had an audience with him, so he had to accept it. Moreover, Bai Xun's daughter was Baolin of the King of Changyang, and was now granted the title of Xian. Concubine, Bai Xun can be said to be a relative of the emperor.

However, in Zhang Ze's hands, he was still convicted of commemorating the Demon Queen, was dissatisfied with his current situation, and had evil intentions. He was sentenced to the crime of treason. Bai Xun and his son were beheaded, his female family members were exiled to the Jiaofang Division, and all the clan members were exiled as sin slaves.

The virtuous concubine in the palace could escape the death penalty, but could not escape the living penalty, and was relegated to the cold palace.

Zhang Ze was addicted to killing. After dealing with Bai Xun's matter, he refused to return to the capital. He asked the Holy Order to patrol the place. There was a tremor wherever he went. When the Qingzhou Prefect heard that Zhang Ze wanted to question him, he was frightened and took poison first. committed suicide.

So Zhang Ze has arrived at where Zhou Jingyun is?

"He, he is going after my son?" Mrs. Dongyang Hou said with a pale face.

Dongyang Hou said hurriedly: "No, no." Thinking that he had just received the letter and saw his son standing up in fright when mentioning this matter, he comforted his wife, "Madam, don't be afraid, we have always been cautious about our duties. I resigned early, Jingyun He also went out to serve as an official and had nothing to do with Empress Chiang's party. He was innocent and could not find the reason. "

Although this is said, for those who are good at setting up traps, there are many ways to find excuses.

Mrs. Dongyang Hou clenched her hands and turned white: "Then what is he going to do?"

Marquis Dongyang sighed: "He said a joke."

The joke is: "The Prince of Zhou has not yet gotten married again. Could it be that he is waiting for His Majesty to act as a matchmaker to marry him? Yes, only in this way can he be worthy of the Crown Prince of Zhou. After all, Prince Zhou's previous marriage was a marriage granted by the late emperor."

After hearing what Dongyang Hou said, the standing Mrs. Dongyang Hou's voice trembled: "What does he mean? Did he say that Jingyun's marriage is related to Empress Chiang? That is nonsense. Ding'an Bo and the late emperor are distant relatives. This matter is The late emperor made the decision."

Perhaps referring to the late emperor, Dongyang Hou looked a little sad: "At that time, the late emperor still liked to meet us old ministers, until the charm of the Jiang family confused the late emperor's mind..."

Mrs. Dongyang Hou snorted: "Master Marquis, it is not the time to reminisce about the past." She snorted in her heart. An emperor who fought out from among his brothers to seize the throne and held the throne for decades, if he hadn't lost it first How can the mind be deceived by beauty? It was obviously the late emperor who was confused and absurd first, and then the Chiang family had the opportunity to climb over the heads of the Zhou courtiers and dominate them.

Nowadays, it is a bit dangerous to mention the past. Dongyang Hou put away his reverie, looked at his wife's frightened and uneasy expression, and said hurriedly: "Don't be afraid of him. Jingyun's previous marriage was a gift from the late emperor. Now the emperor is forced to marry him, so he doesn't want to I want to be filial and leave a stain in the history books. Although I dig three feet in the ground to avenge the Chiang family's chaos, I will not touch the matters involving the late emperor. "

He looked solemn when he said this.

"What Jing Yun is worried about is that the emperor really wants to grant him a marriage, and people like Zhang Ze are causing trouble in it. You also know that the personnel in the court are complicated and chaotic nowadays, and there are all kinds of monsters and monsters. If they instigate His Majesty to give it to an inappropriate family, If we agree, we will have a hard time, if we don’t agree, we will offend the emperor.”

Mrs. Dongyang Hou understood and murmured: "Is that why Jingyun got married immediately outside?" She shed tears as she spoke, "You still want to trick me into being elegant, extraordinary, and falling in love at first sight."

Dongyang Hou couldn't help but laugh: "My son, I am afraid that you will be sad."

"Can I not be sad?" Mrs. Dongyang Hou choked with sobs, "My son is like this, but he is forced to marry such a person. It is really a miserable life."

"I think it's pretty good." Marquis Dongyang said, "It's a lot of trouble for us to choose from a well-matched family in the capital. Besides, this Zhuang family is also from a scholar's family, but his family background is a bit weak."

That's more than just a thin girl, she's an orphan, Mrs. Dongyang Hou said in her heart.

"Jingyun said that he will only care about the Lu family in this life." Dongyang Hou said.

The son had said this, and he was quite ready to never marry again. However, when he saw his mother turned pale with fright, he stopped saying it. Although he had not refused her choice in these years, he never relented. Mrs. Dongyang Hou Mutter something.

Dongyang Hou continued: "It's enough to have a wife. Marrying a wife is not just to pass on the family business. If you marry this wife, you can have children and Jingyun's future will be stable. This is enough. Our family motto is not to rely on in-laws to strengthen the family." Home." Looking at his wife's depressed expression, he added.

"Wouldn't it be nice if you could choose a good concubine for Jing Yun in the future?"

Mrs. Dongyang Hou's eyes lit up. There was only one concubine beside Jing Yun, and she didn't look like one. She was raised by a concubine.

Jingyun's status was a lot of trouble in marrying a wife, but taking a concubine was much easier. Although he was a concubine, with his status as the Marquis of Dongyang, it was no problem to choose a good girl with good family background, good looks, good talent, and good temperament.

The haze in Mrs. Dongyang Hou's eyes dissipated.

The Marquis of Dongyang said: "Ms. Zhuang, you don't need to pay attention to her. Just let others watch and don't make a joke."

Mrs. Dongyang Hou smiled and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Hou."

Seeing his wife smiling, Dongyang Hou also breathed a sigh of relief. His son said in the letter that he should comfort his mother. The mother missed her son and must be dissatisfied with this daughter-in-law. He was doing it for herself and the future of the Hou Mansion. Zhuang didn't know , although she is an orphan, but precisely because she is an orphan and arrogant, it would be terrible if the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law get into trouble, attracting the attention of the people in the capital, and causing someone to cause trouble.

In fact, he felt that quarrels between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were not a big deal, and it was common for a daughter-in-law to be wronged. How dare a daughter-in-law dare to quarrel? Making trouble is just a way to accuse yourself of being disobedient and unfilial.

Is Jingyun too cautious? Are you still a little concerned about Mr. Zhuang?

…

…

At this time, Mrs. Zhuang was meeting the mother who was in charge of the prince's courtyard.

After Xu's mother called everyone over, she excused herself on the pretext that Mrs. Dongyang Hou couldn't leave without her. She obviously didn't want to help Zhuang Li calm down the situation.

Because the prince is away from home all year round, and the wedding time is short, there are not many people here, there are two in total, Mother Lu and Mother Wei.

"The prince has been studying in the Hanlin Academy before getting married. Once we get married, everything will be arranged by the prince's wife." Mother Lu, who is about forty years old and wearing a blue and green coat and skirt, with a round face and small eyes, said calmly, " My wife is no longer here, and the rules have not changed over the years. If you see anything wrong, just give me your orders."

Zhuang Li looked calm: "I have just arrived. You should perform your duties first. If there is anything wrong, we will talk about it later."

Mrs. Xinzizi is very talkative.

Mother Lu, who left the yard, gritted her teeth angrily.

"What will happen to her if something goes wrong? Will she kick us out?" Mother Lu said, then pouted in the direction of Zhuang Li, "Who does she think she is? She deserves to put on airs in front of me!"

Mother Wei smiled.

"No matter who she was originally or what her background was." She said, "Now she is the Crown Prince's wife. We are the people of this courtyard, so she naturally has the final say."

Mother Lu lowered her raised eyebrows and sighed: "Of course I know this. This is what the prince loves, and I will respect it. It's just that it was too sudden. I thought of the young lady and felt sad for a moment."

The previous crown prince's wife was also his beloved, otherwise she wouldn't have been divorced for so many years. Of course, no one really wanted the crown prince to never marry again in his lifetime, but suddenly having a new love made him feel a little strange.

"Don't think about this." Mother Wei comforted her softly, "Now that there is a newcomer, let's just act as newcomers and work as errands."

Mother Lu muttered: "I think our days are not going to be stable."

Mother Wei laughed and said, "It's not that easy to live a stable life. Even Mrs. Hou survived." She looked at the inner courtyard, "Life has just begun after you enter the house."

(End of chapter)