"Master Gu, please wait." He Ming trotted forward and saluted Gu Cunjing.
"Eunuch He," Gu Cunjing stopped and cupped his hands at him, "What's the matter with you?" He just finished his shift and was about to go home, and he didn't know what He Ming asked him to do.
"To disturb, to disturb," He Ming squeezed out a smile, "Your Majesty invites you to come to the Zichen Palace for tea, and please don't refuse." If there are other people, He Ming only needs to say that His Majesty has summoned him, but this is the future The Queen's elder brother is also highly valued by His Majesty, so you have to be careful.
"It turns out that Eunuch Lao deliberately went here." Gu Cunjing smiled politely at He Ming and walked towards the Zichen Palace.
Although Gu Cunjing has a bright personality, he has always been rough and subtle, and has good etiquette. Even in the face of an eunuch like He Ming, he wouldn't show the pedigree of a noble son of an aristocratic family, which would make people feel embarrassed.
As the eunuch who served in front of the royal family, He Ming was used to seeing all kinds of expressions, some were polite on the outside, some were disdainful on the inside, some were servile and courteous to him, and some didn't look at them from the beginning to the end. On the contrary, the nobles of the Gu family did not show any deliberate gestures towards them, but instead made people feel at ease.
Gu Shangshuling, Mrs. Gu, the son of the Gu family, Erlang of the Gu family, and the county magistrate of Changyan, he all went to greet them in person. After welcoming them, he understood why there were not many people in the Gu family, but they were still standing.
Being human is also a great advantage.
Entering the Zichen Hall, Gu Cunjing just gave Jin Yang a half-salutation when he was called up, but he still insisted on completing the ceremony before saying: "Your Majesty, I didn't know you asked Weichen to come here, but..."
"Gu Qing uses tea first," Jin Yang asked Gu Cunjing to sit down, and then asked the maid to serve him tea, "I specially called Gu Qing over today because I wanted to talk to you about family affairs."
Gu Cunjing put down the teacup that had been held up, and said with a serious face: "Your Majesty, please speak."
"Gu Qing doesn't have to be so serious. According to the folk names, you are my uncle and brother, and my family doesn't need to be so particular." Jin Yang coughed dryly, "I just want to ask, is Jiu Jiu ok recently? Last time she entered the palace. When I lived, I saw that she lost a lot of weight, did she not get a good rest?"
Gu Cunjing said in his heart, my sister hasn't married you yet, so don't be in such a hurry to get into a relationship, okay
But it's good to think about this kind of words in your heart, you can't say it out of your mouth.
"Sister, she's been doing well recently," Gu Cunjing raised his head and saw that His Majesty was still staring at him, and added, "Maybe it's because she's in a good mood, so she eats too much."
Jin Yang suddenly smiled, and then said: "Recently, the vassal state has paid tribute to a batch of fruits. If my uncle doesn't dislike it, I will bring some back to taste."
Bai Xian walked in with a package of fruit, and stood behind Gu Cunjing.
Now that it is winter, there are not many fresh fruits and vegetables. Gu Cunjing is not stupid. He knows that Jiujiu usually likes to eat some fruits and vegetables, and now His Majesty asked him to bring these things back, let him taste whether it is fake, and give Jiujiu fruit is real.
It is a good thing that His Majesty can think of his sister. After Gu Cunjing thanked him, he returned to Gu's house with a bulging bag of fruit, and went straight to the small courtyard where his sister lived.
"Second brother, what are you doing?" Seeing Gu Cunjing come in with a huge cloth bag, Gu Rujiu was confused by him.
"I've brought you something delicious." Gu Cunjing put the cloth bag on the table and opened it to see that there were fragrant pears, oranges, longan and two pomelo in it.
"Where did you buy so many fruits?" Gu Rujiu walked to the table in surprise and picked up a longan, "Is there still this in the capital?"
"I am entrusted by others to be loyal," Gu Cunjing sat down on the stool, "These things may not be available outside, but there is a place where they are not lacking."
"Your Majesty asked you to bring it?" Gu Rujiu suddenly understood that there were vassal states paying tribute a few days ago. Needless to say, gold and silver jewelry, local wild treasures and fruits were also sent by two trucks, although most of them were on the way. Damaged, but there is always a small part left intact.
The royal family of these fruits has to reward some of them, and there are probably not many that can really be left to Jin Yang.
"It must be because Your Majesty knew that you like to eat fruit, so I brought it here specially." Gu Cunjing took a sip of the tea brought by Qiuluo, and said with a smile, "It is not bad that Your Majesty has such a heart."
Gu Rujiu reached out and touched the two big pomelo, and smiled.
The next day, Brother Gu went to the palace with a small bag of things to meet Jin Yang.
Jin Yang opened the packet, and there was a food box inside. There were four cakes in the food box, and a sour plum was lit in the center of the cake. Judging from the appearance, it could only be regarded as normal.
But these sour plum cakes made Jin Yang laugh without any scruples. He picked up one and tasted it. The cakes in his mouth were soft and delicious, with moderate sweetness, and even his heart softened.
Gu Cunjing was taken aback when he saw His Majesty and put the cake in his mouth. What about the food eunuch
After a piece of cake the size of a baby's fist was used up, Jin Yang said, "I have Uncle Lao."
"Weichen dare not." Gu Cunjing was shocked by Jin Yang's behavior, and after leaving the Zichen Palace, he still couldn't react.
"Brother Gu, what's the matter with you?" Hu Yunqi asked in a low voice after avoiding the others when he saw that his expression was a little off.
Gu Cunjing shook his head and hung the dragon guard's saber on his waist: "It's nothing."
Seeing that he didn't plan to say anything, Hu Yunqi didn't ask any more, and talked about another matter: "Did you hear about it when you came?"
Gu Cunjing put his hand on the cold scabbard. The scabbard was tattooed with patterns of flying fish and auspicious clouds. It was a weapon exclusively used by the Dragon Imperial Guard. "You are talking about Cao Lingwei's incident."
There are three hundred dragon guards in the palace. Most of them are of noble birth and extraordinary skills, otherwise they would not be able to take the responsibility of protecting the emperor. All the dragon guards are subordinate to the dragon guards, and Cao Lingwei is the head of the dragon guards and holds the post of the third-rank commander.
"He committed a lot of things this time," Hu Yunqi looked around and whispered, "I'm afraid I won't be able to keep the position of commander." The matter has not been revealed yet, many people don't know it yet, and he also happened to have some news. .
The Cao clan had flourished for a while more than ten years ago, and they could be regarded as the upstarts in the court, but in recent years, they have declined. They only relied on Cao Lingwei to serve in the palace, barely maintaining the dignity of the nobles. It's a pity that Cao Lingwei is not very smart. It was good to be the leader of the emperor's personal attendant in peace, but he chose to curry favor with the aristocratic family and leaked the whereabouts of the majesty.
As a Dragon Guard, the first priority is His Majesty's personal safety, and he can't reveal the slightest bit about His Majesty's whereabouts.
"He was in a hurry to make trouble for himself, and others couldn't stop him," Gu Cunjing raised his voice when he noticed that someone was coming, "Then I'll go out first, and I'll be changing shifts soon."
Hu Yunqi nodded with a smile, if it was seen by others, they would just think that these two good buddies were chatting casually.
During dinner, Jin Yang specially ordered the imperial kitchen to prepare a bowl of vegetarian porridge for him, and then ate the remaining three sour plum cakes into his stomach.
When the eunuchs stepped forward to clear the table, Jin Yang took the box containing the sour jujube cake in his hand, and handed it to Bai Xian: "Put it away."
Bai Xian held the food box, which was not much bigger than an adult slap, and bowed back.
The food box is very ordinary, but the pattern on the box is very beautiful, and the flowers and branches are intertwined, bringing out a bit of lingering and gorgeous.
The emperor's private treasury is very large, and ordinary people can't approach it at will. Bai Xian, as a close eunuch, and the eunuch guarding the treasury each have a key. If any of them are missing, and there is no emperor's personal order, then whoever comes, The door to this storeroom won't open either.
Entering the warehouse, Bai Xian glanced at the food box in his hand, thought for a while, and put it into the cabinet in the corner on the left.
This cabinet is very large, and it is neatly packed with precious or ordinary things, and even a lucky and longevity purse that has been washed white and embroidered.
The eunuch in charge of the lamp glanced at the things in the cabinet, and was a little puzzled. How could His Majesty and Eunuch Bai treat these worthless things as treasures? Every random thing in this room is worth more than this poplar food box.
Although he was curious in his heart, he didn't dare to say more. After sending Bai Xian away, he muttered to himself, "The thoughts of the nobles are really strange."
Days passed by in Jin Yang's expectation. From time to time, he has to debate with officials over the specifications of the welcome ceremony, so his life is full to the point of busyness.
Half a month later, he investigated and dealt with Cao Lingwei, relieved him of all his posts, and then named Gu Cunjing as the commander, making him the head of the Dragon Imperial Guard.
Although this job transfer caused people's attention, no one jumped out and said anything. Since His Majesty is going to marry Gu's daughter, he will naturally give some grace to her family. For example, the marquis on Gu Shangshuling, when his daughter becomes the queen, I am afraid that she will become a prince.
Dafeng's title can be downgraded to hereditary, so whether it is a new noble or an aristocratic family, the title is still very important. There are even some upstarts who are fighting to the death, shedding blood and tears, hoping to earn a title and go back.
So how can we not say that the emperor a hundred years ago in Dafeng had a cunning mind, rearranged the family tree, promoted the imperial examinations, and the title could be downgraded to hereditary. All have one purpose, which is to centralize power and weaken the influence of the family.
If you want a title awarded by the royal family, no problem, first of all you have to make the emperor happy and satisfied. This back and forth, invisibly, increased the influence of the royal family.
No matter how much effort the emperors of Dafeng had put into practice when they wanted to implement these policies, at least from the current point of view, those policies were all useful.
However, in just a few years, Gu Cunjing has changed from an ordinary dragon guard to a third-rank commander. For some people, the speed of this promotion is still somewhat envious. When jealous in this heart, it is inevitable that gossip will spread out.
What kind of nepotism, what to rely on women to climb up and so on, there are not many people talking behind their backs, but they can't hold back their harsh words.
If it was an ordinary person with a strong temperament, this would probably have been greatly dissatisfied. But for Gu Cunjing, these rumors are nothing at all.
Originally, Gu Rujiu was worried that he would be affected, but he was more open to him than Gu Rujiu.
"Those who gossip about me behind my back really show disdain for this kind of thing, they are jealous that others can get what they can't get, so they put on a lofty appearance and let others pay more attention to them. "Gu Cunjing shook his head and said quite complacently, "People who are not called mediocrity are mediocre. I care about what to do with these people."
To put it uglier, these people just rely on demeaning others to find a sense of existence. In fact, their sour taste is almost overflowing.
The words of persuasion were immediately blocked, Gu Rujiu peeled an orange and put it in Gu Cunjing's hand, "Yes, yes, you are right."
"It's my sister, don't let these gossips affect your mood," Gu Cunjing threw an orange into his mouth, so sour that he almost shed tears, "Sister, where did you find this?"
"The ones in my backyard," Gu Rujiu wiped the citrus oil on her hands with a handkerchief and said with a smile, "What's the matter, isn't it delicious?"
To say that this is delicious is simply unconscionable.
"The oranges you sent to the palace last year and this year are not the same, right?" Gu Cunjing stared at Gu Rujiu with wide eyes. He saw His Majesty eat the whole oranges. If every orange is so sour, what will His Majesty be? With what perseverance did you swallow them
"The ones that were sent to the palace, I deliberately chose the ones on the branches, they shouldn't be so sour," Gu Rujiu rolled an orange on the table, "The oranges that were picked were damaged a lot, and they can be preserved. It's not easy, don't think it's not sweet enough."
Gu Cunjing put the rest of the citrus in his hand back on the table, drank two big sips of tea, and said earnestly: "Sister, I think Your Majesty is a good husband chosen by everyone, and it would be good to marry him."
You can eat sour oranges, it must be true love.
Hearing this, Gu Rujiu covered her mouth and kept smiling, her eyes were very soft.
Then time silently approached the New Year's Eve, and the ministers in the DPRK and China began to seal their pens. The streets of the capital were filled with all kinds of New Year's goods, and the streets and alleys were full of the atmosphere of the New Year.
This year's New Year's Eve was very busy for the Gu family. The gifts they received were several times that of last year's. Some of them did not have enough identities to enter the gate of the Gu family. sense.
At this time in previous years, Gu Rujiu would go to various houses with the Yang family to pay New Year's greetings, but this year, except for her grandfather's house, she will not go anywhere.
Gu Rujiu's grandfather, the Yang family, like the Gu family, used to be a prominent family in other places, and only later moved into the capital.
Both grandfather and grandmother were very gentle old people, and they didn't take Gu Rujiu's attitude towards her very deliberately because she was about to become the queen. Although the two aunts became more cautious, they still cared about her with sincerity, and she did not become estranged from her cousins.
Because Yang Wenji and Hu Xi were engaged, Gu Rujiu even congratulated him on purpose, which made the mild-mannered Yang Wenji almost blushed.
Seeing that several juniors were still very close, Mrs. Yang smiled and said to Mrs. Yang, "Looking at it for a long time is a lot calmer than before."
Looking at her daughter who was chatting with several nephews and nieces, Yang sighed: "If she is like the previous temperament, I will really worry in my heart."
"I think your temperament is good in everything, even if you like to worry about it, you can't change it for decades," Mrs. Yang still knows her daughter very well, "Children and grandchildren have their own blessings. Did you cause trouble and make you sad?"
Hearing this, Mrs Yang was stunned. Since he was born for a long time, this child has always been very lovable, well-behaved, cute, charming and sensible, which made her and her husband love her, and raised her so carefree that she wished that all bad things would disappear. Don't let her get on it. But it is true that as his mother said, although Jiu Jiu's temperament is innocent and pure, he has never done anything that embarrassed his family.
Seeing her daughter's stunned look, Mrs. Yang smiled kindly: "So don't worry, this child is smarter than you think. Instead of worrying about her needlessly, it's better to think about the future."
Yang understood what her mother was worried about, and she said, "The family has already thought about it. After a long time to become the queen, the husband will resign as the minister."
"Well, that's fine." Madam Yang thought for a moment, then nodded, "Although he has retired, Zhi Yu and Cun Jing have made great achievements. Retreat is the way to go forward. This is the way to enduring prosperity."
If Gu Zhiyu and Gu Cunjing were two playboys, the Gu family might not dare to make a decision, but both brothers have real skills. Although Gu Changling's step is a bit risky, in the long run, it is indeed Baili. And no harm.
The queen mother family is too prominent, which is not a good thing.
Hearing this, Mrs Yang smiled and turned to look in the direction of her daughter. With a bit of power, he lived his life in full bloom, which is the behavior of the nouveau riche.
After the end of the year, the imperial court opened the seal, and the men of the Gu family began to get busy again.
At the end of the first month, the first daughter of Sima's family was married, and the groom was Shen Qinghe, the eldest grandson of the eldest princess of Deyi.
The dowry of a girl from the Sima family can be called a red makeup of ten miles, and it is extremely prominent. The first dowry was brought into the gate of Shen's house, and the dowry at the back was still placed in Sima's house, which made the people who were watching the lively tsk tsk amazement, even if it was a married queen, it was nothing more than that.
Shen Qinghe is handsome and has an extraordinary bearing. People who know Sima Ling only think that he and Sima Ling are really a match made in heaven.
Sima Xiang stood in the courtyard of the Sima family's big house, watching the imposing son of the Shen family compose several poems to remind him to make up, and finally let his cousin open the door and went out of the courtyard with his cousin on his back, feeling a little sour and envious. .
The moment Sima Ling was carried out of the courtyard, the sound of firecrackers did not stop. Everyone's faces were full of smiles, and red paper was everywhere, showing that a big happy event was being held in the host's house.
Walking out of the inner courtyard behind the lively guests, Sima Xiang saw her cousin sitting in the sedan chair, and the young master of the Shen family turned his head to look at the sedan chair several times, his eyes full of tender affection.
The crackling sound of firecrackers sent off the sedan chair. Sima Xiang stood at the gate and watched the people around her run around. She suddenly felt as if she was separated by this scene. She was the only one locked in a square inch, with no daylight and no chance of making a comeback. time.
Looking at the boxes of dowry being carried out the door, she suddenly thought that with the grand scene of her cousin's marriage ahead, can Gu Rujiu, the future queen, be able to compare with her
One month is not long or short, at least for Gu Rujiu, a month is over in the blink of an eye. When she was called by the maids before dawn, her mind was still a little bit hard to turn.
Knowing that the super-quality female official in the palace held the wedding dress embroidered with the phoenix pattern in front of her, she opened her eyes that were still a little confused.
Today is her wedding day.
Then there's a shower and a change of clothes. The queen's wedding robe is very particular, layer upon layer, each one is very delicate, wearing several pieces on the body, but it will not look heavy.
The bun was pulled up, then decorated with a wig, and the bun was fixed. As soon as Feifeng put on the golden crown with pearls and tassel, Gu Rujiu felt her head sink a bit, but when she looked at herself in the mirror, she was a little surprised.
This extravagant woman, is that her
The Qiankun Palace was already covered with red silk at this time, and even the Zichen Palace had a big happy word on it, but any unlucky objects or colors were all replaced.
Originally, the wedding room should have been arranged in the Queen's bedroom, Luanhe Palace, but Jin Yang hesitated to think that the husband and wife were originally one body, and the bride should live in the husband's main house three days before she married. Because there was no precedent for this approach in Dafeng, it led him and the people from the Ministry of Rites to negotiate for several days before finally placing the wedding room in the Zichen Hall.
As the groom's official, Jin Yang didn't sleep well that night, woke up several times in the middle of the night, but hated the long night, he couldn't pick up the bride earlier.
After finally staying up until dawn, he let someone wait and take a bath, and then put on the bridegroom's clothes embroidered with dragon patterns.
"Why isn't the hour yet?" Jin Yang paced around the hall several times, "If it's late, will it miss the auspicious hour?"
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, today is clear water, and no one else can go to the street, so you won't miss the auspicious time." Hu Yunqi cupped his hands and said, "It's still early, presumably the Empress is still dressing, you If you go too early, wouldn't it bother the Gu family."
Hearing the words "Queen Empress", Jin Yang's anxiety eased a little, and then he said, "You're very right, I'm not thinking properly."
Hu Yunqi said with a smile: "Your mind, I understand, the night before I got married, I was so excited that I couldn't sleep, I just hated that the time passed too slowly. If it wasn't for my family's persuasion, I'm afraid I would have gone to meet the bride early in the morning."
Jin Yang nodded and said, "Yes, I only hate that the night is too long."
With Hu Yunqi talking with him, Jin Yang was finally quiet for a while, until the officials of the Ministry of Rites said outside that it was okay to travel, Hu Yunqi only felt a blur in front of his eyes, turned his head to look, and the emperor had already rushed out.
Doesn't it mean that His Majesty is weak, this speed is not slow.