In the harem, Lady Huarui was waiting for Meng Chang to return from the court. She dressed up carefully early in the morning.
The decoration here is very beautiful. A lot of Shu brocade is used in the curtains and silk decorations. Shu brocade is famous for its bright colors. The palace looks colorful, as if you are in the bright spring. The curtains sway gently, and the spring breeze from outside brings the fragrance of flowers. It is a scene of wealth and beauty.
Lady Huarui picked up a jade bracelet and looked at it through the window. It was crystal green, as if it contained all the colors of early spring. As the saying goes, gold has a price, but jade is priceless. This bracelet was worth a lot of money and was a gift from the emperor.
But Lady Huarui still put it down gently and changed it for a pair of gold bracelets. Compared with jade, she prefers gold and gemstones because jade is too fragile.
In fact, compared with the palaces built for her, the status granted, and the fertile lands awarded to her, a little gold jewelry is not valuable. But Lady Huarui's hobbies have not changed. She doesn't care much about the mansions and fertile lands, but she is particularly obsessed with gold jewelry. When she was a singing girl, she had no fixed place to live, and only the jewelry she wore on her body could follow her, so she liked those things the most.
When she was alone, many memories would always come to her mind unexpectedly. What she learned in the music school was the most impressive thing in her life. The instructor said, why should men spend a lot of money on you? You have to know your worth. Otherwise, those with low worth can only work as prostitutes in brothels, and you will not get much money even if you work hard. Beauty, fame, singing, dancing, and music can all be charged. You must understand what is expensive and what is cheap.
Her most valuable thing has always been her body, so she likes to use all kinds of expensive clothes and accessories to highlight the value of her body.
Madam Huarui picked up a gold waist chain inlaid with gemstones and decorated her soft waist. When she looked down, her fair and smooth skin was set off to look even more exquisite and noble. There was also a small hole on her belly button. She picked it up in the shiny wooden box and found a small ornament inlaid with red gemstones. She held it on her fingertips and looked at it. She felt that the color did not match, so she changed it to a green one and was immediately satisfied.
She stayed in front of the bronze mirror for an hour before she dressed herself up. For a moment, she saw the person in the mirror was exquisite and colorful, and she looked very different from an ordinary woman.
After waiting for a long time, Meng Chang finally came back, surrounded by people and people, and Lady Huarui knelt down to greet him. He sat down on the imperial couch, sighed, and seemed very tired. The maid brought tea, and Lady Huarui stretched out her jade hand and said: I will come, you go down.
Yes. Everyone left.
The light red pattern on Madam Huarui's fingers matched her white hands perfectly. The hands held the jade-white teacup with emerald green tea leaves in the water, which made the cup of tea look very beautiful. As expected, Meng Chang couldn't help but want to drink it, so he took it.
Lady Huarui put down the teacup, reached out and gently rubbed Meng Chang's temple, and said softly: Your Majesty, you have worked hard for state affairs.
Meng Chang was immediately filled with the spirit of a real man: Of course I have to work hard for my empire.
After saying this, he straightened his chest, but his voice was still weak.
Madam Huarui took a look at him. Meng Chang had a full forehead, regular facial features, fair skin, and a pretty good face. But Madam Huarui knew that his body under his clothes was actually in very bad condition. Because of his long-term indulgence in alcohol and sex, his five internal organs were weak, and he had a lot of fat on his body, and his skin was also loose. People who knew him well knew that he had many minor illnesses. Madam Huarui certainly didn't care about these. Meng Chang had power and money, which was the key. But if men were to be picked and chosen like singing girls, Madam Huarui would not like men who looked good at first glance but were ugly inside.
Her concept of selecting people is also formed by trying to figure out men's minds. Just like when men choose singing girls, they will not only look at the face, but also look at various real places, such as skin, chest, waist, legs and other specific things. Men do not have so many specious intuitions. This is also the reason why Lady Huarui does not wear too much makeup, because men who can afford it do not care about what they put on their faces, and it is not very useful.
Madam Huarui collected those useless thoughts, observed Meng Chang's expression, and asked softly: "I heard that the Zhou army is attacking our country. Has the court discussed a countermeasure?"
Meng Chang was no longer as panicked as he was in the morning, and said calmly: I have made all the arrangements, from the defense strategy to the personnel, so my beloved concubine, there is no need to worry.
Madam Huarui asked: How is it arranged
Meng Chang said: "It is nothing more than the north and east routes, Jianzhou and Kuizhou. Han Baozheng was sent to the north route last year, and I asked Wang Zhaoyuan to be the military supervisor of the east route to urge the garrison to adopt the general strategy of the court. Shu has natural defenses and will definitely be able to keep the Zhou army out of the country.
Lady Huarui groaned and said: Your Majesty, you should not take it lightly. Since the Zhou Dynasty dares to use a large-scale military force, they must have some confidence.
Haha. Meng Chang laughed and said that Guo the blacksmith was forced to come. Just now, the court officials all thought that he was not willing to come. The people of the Zhou Dynasty were poor and ambitious, and they were warlike. Now the internal situation was very unstable and they needed to occupy the local areas and plunder the fruits of war to maintain themselves. The Zhou court was unwilling to sit and wait for death, so it naturally forced Guo the blacksmith to come; because Guo the blacksmith was trusted by the marriage with the Fu family, and the military power was in his hands, who else could they trust if he didn't come
Madam Huarui recalled her understanding of Guo Shao, and a bearded man who was illiterate and came from a poor place appeared in her mind. After thinking for a while, she nodded and said: What the court officials said does make sense. Guo Shao has already sat in a high position and enjoyed wealth and glory. He doesn't look like a man with great ambitions.
Meng Chang sighed: "It's all because the Southern Tang Kingdom was so submissive. Not only did it pay tribute and give away land and money, but even the king listened to the Zhou Dynasty. Otherwise, if the Zhou Dynasty was forced into a corner, it could have attacked the Southern Tang Kingdom, and we would have been much better off. Do you also think that I should have given up my position to avoid the limelight?"
Madam Huarui shook her head: Your Majesty should not have given up your throne.
Meng Chang said: You are not saying this because you are afraid of disobeying me.
Madam Huarui was silent for a while, then she gently called out "Your Majesty", and then she said: The concubines in the harem often make a mistake when competing for favor, always wanting Your Majesty to be the final winner with all the favor; but such people often cannot get what they want. There are all kinds of women, and in fact, as long as they can be liked by Your Majesty, they don't have to compete with others.
Meng Chang had a puzzled look on his face. He didn't understand why Lady Huarui suddenly brought up the topic of competing for favor in the harem.
Lady Huarui glanced at him and said: If several men like a woman, then there will be a winner, and only one man can win the beauty. No matter how good he is, if he is slightly inferior to others, he will be eliminated. Is that right
Meng Chang nodded and followed her topic: That's right, unless the woman is immoral and has affairs with several people at the same time.
Lady Huarui said: The competition between women is easy, but the competition between men is much more cruel, and there is only one final winner. For example, in the Chu-Han War, the King of Western Chu was also a hero, but Emperor Gaozu of Han was slightly better; in the chaotic Three Kingdoms period, each country had its own strengths, but they could not coexist all the time. She looked at Meng Chang and advised him kindly, Your Majesty should make preparations as soon as possible, and when the opportunity comes, you should do your best to establish your rule in the Central Plains.
Meng Chang nodded slightly but said nothing.
Lady Huarui couldn't continue speaking, for she knew that any further words would be irritating to the ear. Honest advice should be spoken frankly and honestly, and she was not a minister, so there was no need for her to disobey the emperor and make him unhappy.
Anyway, in her opinion, although she is now a noble concubine, her mood has not changed from that of a wandering singing girl; she just lives a better life temporarily. Another difference is that she used to have to please many men who watched her singing and dancing, but now she only needs to please one man.
Although Shu was surrounded by mountains and was easy to defend, it could only sit and wait for death if it did not fight for the Central Plains when the country was in chaos. After all, there would only be one winner and that day would not be too far away. There had been a hundred years of chaos since the end of the Tang Dynasty, so there was no reason for the chaos to last for decades.
I am just a woman, I read some books just to be able to talk to Your Majesty and not let myself speak without knowledge. Lady Huarui advised implicitly that if I can understand the truth, Your Majesty must have understood it long ago.
Meng Chang said seriously: "You are right. All the civil and military officials in the court asked me to defend Shu, but Wang Zhaoyuan always said that he wanted to leave Shu and fight for the world. I like him for this reason."
Lady Huarui asked: There are many people who have high aspirations but poor skills. How well does Your Majesty know Wang Zhaoyuan? He is not the kind of person with great ambitions but little talent, right
Meng Chang hesitated and said thoughtfully: Wang Zhaoyuan is known as the Sleeping Dragon. To me, he is like Zhuge Kongming to Liu Bei. He should have some abilities.
Now that Guo Rong and Chai Rong have passed away, the Central Plains looks like it will be in chaos again. As long as they return empty-handed this time, the Central Plains will collapse from within. I should work hard to govern the country and prepare to leave Sichuan to dominate the world.
Meng Chang was so excited that he said seriously: According to Wang Zhaoyuan's strategy, after this battle, our country should counterattack from two directions. One direction is to recapture Qinfeng as a preparation for entering Guanzhong; the other direction is to go down the river to occupy Jingzhou as a prelude to leaving Sichuan. Now the Liao Dynasty is in civil strife, the Northern Han Dynasty and the Southern Tang Dynasty are weak and shrinking. Once the Central Plains collapses, it is a great opportunity for Dashu to compete for the Central Plains.
Lady Huarui acted very interested and listened to his plan patiently. But she couldn't help thinking of Meng Chang's efforts to govern the country at the end of last year. As a result, once the Zhou army withdrew and the pressure eased a little, Meng Chang continued to travel around the flowers. He really wanted to dominate
In any case, now that the Zhou army has put pressure on her, and Meng Chang is so dedicated to military and political affairs that he seems to be able to get through this hurdle, she is not worried about what will happen in the future.