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There were milk stains on Lu Shiqing's clothes. He stood up with a mixture of pain and joy to change into clean clothes. When he came back, he saw Yuan Cihan sitting beside the couch, smiling and teasing her son with a clay dog.
The ceramic puppy was so lifelike that he almost took a step back.
Hearing footsteps, Yuan Cixian looked up at him and saw him standing far away and asked her, "Why are you giving him this to play with?"
"Of course I don't want him to repeat his father's tragedy. If you don't want to be afraid of dogs, you have to start from childhood."
She spoke confidently, and Lu Shiqing choked and sat down beside her in a sullen manner. He was not born afraid of dogs. Rather than saying he was afraid, it would be better to say that it was a psychological barrier caused by being licked by a dog.
Speaking of which, I wonder which family in the capital the girl who kicked the sky and dug the well and was naughty was from. He vaguely remembered that the girl was dressed in rich clothes and should not be from an ordinary family. She was about the same age as Yuan Cixian, so it was possible that she was acquainted with her.
Lu Shiqing was not a person who liked to get to the bottom of things, and he would not really argue with a child. But now that he remembered it, he was a little curious. He leaned on his knees and asked her, "When I was riding a horse in the parade, you were in the capital, right?"
Yuan Cixian's action of teasing the child paused, and she secretly thought something was wrong.
What's going on? Are you remembering the past and noticing something
She answered quickly: "No, I had already gone to Yaozhou with my father at that time."
Lu Shiqing said "Oh", and then she asked: "Why do you suddenly ask this?"
He shook his head: "I just thought that if you were in the capital, you would probably go and join in the fun."
Yuan Cixian's face was full of regret, and he said flatteringly: "Yes, I used to go there every year! It's a pity that I didn't get to see your youthful demeanor, otherwise, I might not want to go to Yaozhou!"
Hearing this, Lu Shiqing looked at her warily: "What dream are you having again?"
She sighed solemnly: "Even if I tell the truth, I will be suspected of having bad intentions. How little confidence do you have in yourself, Mr. Lu, Mr. Lu?"
Lu Shiqing looked at her with a smile, rubbed the two whorls of hair on her head, and naturally accepted the title of "elderly man". He also sighed: "I really don't have much confidence when I meet a little ancestor who is good in every way."
She held her son in her arms, smiling and leaning against him. She seemed to like his rare sweet words. Satisfied, she raised her mouth and gently bit his Adam's apple: "Does this make you more confident?"
Lu Shiqing's Adam's apple rolled, and he looked down at her with a hot face: "You just came out of confinement, be careful."
She patted her chest and said, "I'm fine now. Are you strong enough? Don't be too weak."
He couldn't help but let out a hiss and reached out to pinch her chin: "Do you want to try?" After that, he looked down at Lu Yuanzhen with his eyes wide open, signaling her to put her son down if she had the courage.
Yuan Cixian was timid and held her son as a shield. She was arguing with him when she heard a knock on the door. It was Xuan and Lu Shuangyu who heard that Yuan Zhen was brought back, so they came to inquire about the situation.
The couple restrained their expressions and looked at each other.
Yuan Cixian had vaguely noticed that the child had been switched during the month, but Xuan was completely unaware of it and only cared for the other child as her own grandson. Now that she heard the truth, she didn't know if she could let it go.
But Yuan Cixian knew that Lu Shiqing's choice was right. She and her son were abducted because of the midwife who came later. Xuan always felt that she was responsible for this and became mentally and physically exhausted and fell ill. If she had been told at that time that her grandson had not been rescued, she would have been afraid that she would have fallen ill.
The two men stood up and welcomed Xuan in. After hesitating for a while, they decided to speak the truth straight away.
It took Xuan a long time to recover. After carefully confirming what had happened with the couple several times, she asked where the child had gone.
Lu Shiqing knew that his mother had developed feelings for the child, so it would be fine to have another adopted son, but keeping him might bring trouble to the Lu family. After all, he didn't know who the child's biological parents were, so he could only send the child back to where he came from.
After hearing this, Xuan was still unable to come back to her senses. After a lot of wild thoughts, she asked if Yuan Zhen had some serious illness, so they took the child to deceive her.
Lu Shiqing had previously sent Cao An to swap the baby. The first thing he did when he received the baby was to confirm a red mole mark behind the baby's ear with the two experienced midwives. Seeing that Xuan Shi would not listen to his advice, he almost called them and the maids who had seen Lu Yuanzhen that day to testify.
In the end, Lu Shuangyu skipped the whole process. She lay beside the rocking chair and looked at little Yuan Zhen for a while, then turned to Xuan and said, "Mother, come and take a look at this child's eyes. They are exactly the same as yours!"
It's no wonder that Lu Shuangyu noticed this first. After all, Yuan Cixian's peach blossom eyes were indeed very attractive. She fell in love with her eyes at the beginning.
Only then did Xuan hurriedly lean over to take a look.
It's a bit of an exaggeration to say that they are exactly the same, after all, the baby hasn't fully grown yet, but it does have some outlines. Thinking back to the eyebrows and eyes of the previous child, they really didn't look like Lu Shiqing and Yuan Cixian, but at that time the child was just born and his facial features were squeezed together, so she didn't think too much about it.
Seeing this, the mother and daughter were suddenly a little surprised.
Xuan looked at Yuan Zhen's nose and said to Lu Shuangyu, "This little nose is straight, a bit like your brother."
"She has a small face, just like my sister-in-law!"
"The upper lip looks like your brother, and the lower lip looks like your sister-in-law!"
"..." The couple, whose lips were torn apart alive, looked at each other with twitching lips, but sighed with satisfaction in their hearts, thinking that the matter was probably resolved.
*
After Xuan recognized her grandson as her own, she thought about the grievances that he might have suffered in the past month and had no time to think about her original child. She was so heartbroken that she kept circling around Lu Yuanzhen for several days.
Lu Shuangyu had always preferred Lu Yuanshu, who was so obedient that she could fall asleep in anyone's arms. She always felt that this girl was a good match for her name. But now, she wanted to try something new and tease Lu Yuanzhen, so she went to the West Market on purpose to buy some toys for the boy.
Unexpectedly, he ran into Dou Azhang on the street.
Lu Shuangyu dodged and hid in the alley, but was still discovered by his sharp eyes. He stood at the entrance of the alley, claiming that he had no ill intentions, and called her out to tell her a secret.
Seeing his silly look like he was trying to attract a cat, Lu Shuangyu was afraid of attracting other people's attention and embarrassing herself, so she could only sigh and leave.
After becoming Lu Shiqing's disciple, Dou Azhang had been studying very hard. This year, he remembered his last lesson and did not eat natto, so he was awarded the title of Jinshi and is about to enter officialdom.
As for Lu Shuangyu's identity, she couldn't keep it secret for long. After all, she couldn't stay at home all the time for Dou Azhang. As early as last autumn, she went out with her mother and ran into him by chance, and he knew about it.
After Dou A Zhang knew about this, she had to work harder because of her high status.
She came out of the alley with a gloomy look, handed the toy for Xiao Yuanzhen to the maid behind her, and looked at him with disdain: "Mr. Dou, if it is a secret, don't tell me, I'm afraid of being silenced."
Dou Azhang seemed very excited: "Don't be afraid, it's about the teacher. I just knew it a step ahead of time, and everyone will know it later."
Lu Shuangyu frowned: "About my brother? What secret?" Then she took a breath, "Could it be that my brother did something bad behind my sister-in-law's back..."
He waved his hand to stop her from talking and said mysteriously, "Come closer and listen."
Lu Shuangyu half-believed and half-believed as she leaned closer, she heard him say, "Teacher is going to be promoted from fourth-rank Menxia Assistant Minister to third-rank Zhongshu Assistant Minister, and officially become Prime Minister!"
She was shocked when she heard this and asked in surprise, "Really?"
Dou Azhang looked proud, as if he could immediately write an article titled "My Teacher is a Prime Minister". He nodded and said, "Of course it's true!"
*
Dou Azhang's news was indeed true. Within a few days, the news of Lu Shiqing's promotion spread from the Xuanzheng Hall to every corner of the street.
Passing the imperial examination at the age of 15 and becoming a government official at the age of 24, Lu Shiqing became a legend in Chang'an and even in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Although they still called him "Lu Shilang" when they met, the weight of this title was different nowadays.
While everyone in the court congratulated Lu Shiqing, flattering him outwardly but jealous of him in private, Yuan Cixian saw clearly that this was probably a promotion in name only but a demotion in reality by the old emperor.
The war in the northwest had been largely ended as early as ten days ago when the second prince was beheaded. Although the Turks were not completely defeated, they only had a few scattered soldiers who were fighting stubbornly. The coalition forces of the Uighurs and the Great Zhou had a better momentum, and it was only a matter of time before they completely defeated the enemy.
When the victory report reached the capital, of course Lu Shiqing would be credited with the greatest achievement.
Last year, he successfully repelled the Nanzhao army without a single soldier through a peace negotiation, and was rewarded with gold and silver when he returned. This time, Emperor Huining could have just rewarded him with some items, but unexpectedly, his immediate superior, the Minister of the Court, retired.
Menxia Shizhong was the head of the Menxia Province and one of the prime ministers who held real power in the court. As the second-in-command of Menxia, Lu Shiqing was the best candidate to replace him. When the time came to reward people according to their merits, his promotion was a natural thing.
But Emperor Huining did not allow him to be the Minister of the Imperial Court.
In the history of the Great Zhou Dynasty, there was an emperor who served as the head of the Secretariat before he ascended the throne. As a result, no one dared to take on the position of Zhongshu Ling, so it remained vacant for many years. Instead, the second-in-command of the Secretariat, that is, the Secretary of the Secretariat, acted as the head, leading the Secretariat and becoming one of the prime ministers of the court.
But the Secretary of the Central Secretariat was, after all, an acting position, and was slightly lower in rank among the prime ministers. Compared with the Minister of the Court, he could only be regarded as a deputy prime minister.
In other words, if Lu Shiqing had continued to stay in the Ministry of Personnel, he would have probably ascended to the position of Prime Minister soon, but with this "promotion", he was only made a Deputy Prime Minister. Although the ranks were comparable, they were still a little different.
But Yuan Cixian didn't feel disappointed. Because in her dream, Lu Shiqing finally became the Minister of the Central Secretariat, a position that no one dared to take. The Emperor Huining's decree was just to bring him one step closer to that position. If the old emperor hadn't asked him to transfer, she would have felt strange.
Yuan Cixian had a hunch that although her intervention had added many variables to the political situation of the Great Zhou in this life, such as the early fall of the Jiang family and the marriage relationship between the imperial court and Nanzhao, the torrent of history seemed to have its own direction. She could change the fate of the little people, but it was difficult to stop the torrent and the general trend. Therefore, many things that she thought had changed were still stubbornly walking on the original track.
*
On the first day after Lu Shiqing was promoted to prime minister, a team of Uighur envoys arrived in Chang'an.
Yuan Cixian then realized that when he went to the Uighurs, in addition to reaching an alliance with the Khan, he also had another mission, which was to bring a Uighur princess back to the capital to facilitate a marriage between the Great Zhou royal family and the princess.
But he was in a hurry to see her give birth, so after he had settled the matter with the Khan, he apologized and left first.
The Great Zhou is no longer as strong as it used to be. It has been getting weaker in recent years and has only been able to send its own princesses abroad for marriage. It is actually quite a rare thing to be able to welcome a princess from another country this time.
Now that the princess and the envoys have arrived in Chang'an, Lu Shiqing must go to receive them because he is the prime minister and he must apologize for what happened before.
Although Yuan Cixian knew that this marriage was with the royal family of the Great Zhou Dynasty and had nothing to do with Lu Shiqing, a married man, she still felt uncomfortable. After putting on the new official uniform for him personally, she tied the belt for him while sighing, "The purple official robe is really better looking than the dark scarlet one. It looks very noble at first glance. It's a pity that we will go out and attract other people's attention."
Lu Shiqing grabbed her hand that was fiddling with his belt and said, "What nonsense are you talking about."
She curled her lips and snorted at him: "I'll check carefully when I get back. If you're missing a hair, it must have been tampered with by someone."
Lu Shiqing smiled helplessly and pulled her into his arms: "If you are worried, come with me."
Yuan Cixian paused when she heard this and said seriously, "Isn't this a bit inappropriate?" After she finished speaking, the jade fingers on his waist began to pluck him very flexibly. It was obvious that she had been bored at home for too long and her hands were itching.
"I have a reputation, why is it not good?" Lu Shiqing raised his eyebrows and raised his chin, "Hurry up and change your clothes."
Yuan Cixian said "Oh" reluctantly, looking as if she was too lazy to go out, and turned around to smile.
But he said he asked her to join him, so don't blame her for putting on her prettiest clothes and going to outshine the Uighur girl!
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