If Zhao Ziyu wants to accomplish something, he doesn't rely on women, but other people will.
For example, the Queen Mother wanted to win over the General Zhenbei for the Crown Prince, and Mingxin was the best bargaining chip.
Once upon a time, Princess Mingxin said that she liked Lu Yunzheng, and Lu Yunzheng happened to be a member of the Lu family. The Queen Mother went with the flow and was willing to help her, creating a beautiful story.
But Princess Mingxin knew that Lu Yunzheng liked Liu Qiaoer, so she gave up the idea, and the Queen Mother had to choose a new husband for Princess Mingxin.
General Zhenbei was a tough guy. He was loyal to the emperor, did not participate in party struggles, and would not allow his daughter to marry into the royal family. That was why Princess Mingxin waited until she was seventeen to get engaged.
She had been in poor health before, but now that she is well, the Queen Mother also tried looking for young men from several families, but Princess Mingxin was not satisfied with any of them.
The Queen Mother knew that Princess Mingxin wanted a man like Lu Yunzheng, who was handsome and talented.
Are there many men like this? Actually, not many.
Looking at the children of the nobles in the capital, those who are good-looking but have poor family backgrounds, those who have good family backgrounds but are not well educated, and those who are well educated and have good family backgrounds, have all been married.
The empress dowager was in a dilemma as she could neither reach a high position nor settle for a low position.
After searching for a long time, the General Zhenbei arrived in the capital.
This day is also the busiest time in the capital city. The final of the Oiran competition, which is held every three years, begins on this day.
The selection of courtesans from various places began after the announcement of the imperial examination results in September.
Because there were too many participants, the competition was initially held in Lianyuan. Ten people participated every day and the top three were selected. After the first round, the remaining twenty or thirty courtesans would be selected again.
The competition was held every three days, and each time a hundred young men would sit down and cast lots for selection.
The ten courtesans performed in sequence, including singing, dancing, playing musical instruments, tea ceremony and sword dance. After the performance, the hundred young men cast lots for them according to their preferences.
Each young man has three lots in his hand. In the end, the courtesan who gets the most lots wins.
After one round, there were less than thirty courtesans left, and the second round began.
The rules for the second round of competition are the same, except that the number of programs performed by the courtesans has increased. Each person can perform three programs, and the final five will be selected to proceed to the third round.
Among the remaining five in the third round are Yue Nishang and Yue Niang.
However, Liu Qiaoer was too busy to take care of Yue Nishang and the others, nor did she have time to watch their competition. After all, not only did Zhao Ziyu not allow Zhao Ziyu to enter the Lotus Garden, she also did not allow Liu Qiaoer to enter.
On the day when General Zhenbei returned to Beijing, Mingxin came to find Liu Qiaoer early in the morning and took her to go to Shili Changting to welcome her father.
Liu Qiaoer was curious, so Zhao Ziyu asked Bai Chao to go with her. Since many people went to watch the fun today, he would not go alone.
They arrived at Shili Pavilion outside the capital, where General Zhenbei's troops were already waiting, because not only would Princess Mingxin come back, but the Crown Prince would also come, and the Third Prince would probably come as well.
Although Princess Mingxin had a new heart, she was still the daughter of General Zhenbei.
The father and daughter were naturally excited when they met, and Princess Mingxin gave all the credit for her recovery to Liu Qiaoer.
General Zhenbei was a rough man, but he doted on his only daughter. He just didn't expect that the miracle doctor who saved his daughter was actually a child about the same age as her.
Not long after, the Crown Prince and the Third Prince arrived.
The General Zhenbei only returned to the capital to report on his work, and he brought with him five hundred personal guards. After meeting the Crown Prince, they set off in a grand manner towards the capital.
Suddenly, Princess Mingxin pulled Liu Qiaoer's hand hard.
"Look, that young man has delicate features but is not a handsome man. Who is he?"
Liu Qiaoer looked in the direction her finger pointed. There were people on both sides of the street in the capital city, but that man was standing in front of the crowd so carelessly, as if he was deliberately hiding half of himself from view.
Liu Qiaoer saw someone pulling him from behind, and then she looked at the person pulling him and found that it was an old acquaintance, the Minister of Justice Pei Yuanshan. Next to Pei Yuanshan stood a delicate girl, who else could it be but Su Xueying.
"I am Pei Yuanshan's younger brother, Pei Yuanhai."
Pei Yuanshan was the Third Prince's man. It was he who discovered the Tang Clan's prison breakout in the Dali Temple. It could also be said that he was lying in ambush near the Dali Temple at that time.
Pei Yuanshan was the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. As luck would have it, that day he was on his way to the Dali Temple jail to pick up a prisoner and bring him to the Ministry of Justice for trial, when he happened to run into the Tang Clan prison break.
It was only then that Liu Qiaoer realized that Pei Yuanshan was actually the third prince Zhao Yangxu's man.
I heard that after Su Xueying came to the capital, the Su family was not very willing for her to marry Pei Yuanshan. After all, Pei Yuanshan was already married, and if Su Xueying married him, she could only be a concubine.
Although Su Xueying is from the Su family's branch, she is still a girl from the Su family.
In the end, all the Su family members were gone, and all their money was gone. The Su family probably thought she was of no use, so they let her become Pei Yuanshan's concubine.
This is her own choice, and no one else can interfere. A person without a mother's family has no one to rely on.
All in all, we can only blame the Su family for being too greedy.
But when did Pei Yuanshan have such a handsome brother, and what his brother does is unknown.
Shuang Jiang was straightforward: "Do you like it, young lady? If you do, I will go and ask. The Queen Mother said that as long as the person has good character and great talent, family background is not a problem. With our general here, he will become a pillar of the court sooner or later."
What he said is really true. Princess Mingxin is an only child. If General Zhenbei is gone, the military power will not fall into her hands. The court will have to send someone else to take over.
What everyone wants to see most is that Princess Mingxin has a dowry, marries into a good family, and takes care of her husband and children.
Liu Qiaoer doesn't have many acquaintances in the capital, so if she wants to find out anything, she has to ask people from Lu Yunzheng's side.
However, Liu Qiaoer hadn't seen Lu Yunzheng for a long time.
I heard that Madam Lu asked a doctor from Yaowang Valley to see him, and I heard that his health was getting better day by day. But since he was better, why didn't he come to see her
The group passed by the Lotus Garden again, and Princess Mingxin's eyes lit up.
"Qiao'er, I heard that the Oiran competition is coming to an end. Let's go and take a look sometime."
This... is fine.
Liu Qiao'er: "Tomorrow night, you have to move out of the palace today, you must be very tired at night. The night after tomorrow, the Queen Mother and the Emperor will welcome your father, you can't come out, so tomorrow night, I will take you to see, there are our people inside."
As soon as General Zhenbei came back, Princess Mingxin started to get busy.
She moved back home from the palace, and the empress dowager gave her a lot of rewards. The father and daughter wanted to form a group, so they sent Princess Mingxin home, and Liu Qiaoer returned to Prince Yi's Mansion.
Thinking about Lu Yunzheng in her heart, Liu Qiaoer thought about it. When it got dark, she changed into black clothes and prepared to go to Lu's house to find out what was going on.
It was already the twelfth lunar month and the weather was very cold. Ice had formed on the streets. The place where Lu Yunzheng rented was three streets away from Prince Yi's Mansion. It was dark and the roads were slippery. Liu Qiaoer was sweating from exhaustion after walking there.
Liu Qiaoer climbed over the wall, and the secret guards trained by Lu Yunzheng were alarmed, but when they saw that the person coming was Liu Qiaoer, they did not move.
Liu Qiaoer successfully arrived at Lu Yunzheng's bedroom.
But just when Liu Qiaoer was about to push open the bedroom door, she was stopped by Qi Ze.