The queen mother passed away three years ago. On this day, on the third anniversary of the ceremony, the prince personally went to the Royal Ci'en Temple to preside over the ceremony, and returned to the palace at night to see Emperor Wei.
At the beginning of the year, Emperor Wei contracted a cold, which caused an old illness. Although the imperial physician tried his best to treat him, his condition not only did not improve, but after a year, it turned into a worsening trend. As the end of the year approached, he had not attended court for many days. Just a few days ago, I received a good news from outside the customs. I learned that Duke Wei led the army to defeat the Hu people. The battle that lasted for a year and a half ended with the victory of the Great Wei. The courtiers celebrated, and the whole country rejoiced. Just better. When the prince came to see him, he ordered it to be passed in.
The prince entered, performed the ceremony of kneeling and worshipped, and reported the daytime sacrifice. Emperor Wei forwarded the report he had just received today to the prince, the Dao army was about to pull back in the spring, and he sighed with emotion in his tone: "Over the years, the Hu people have been fiercely fighting to capture the Hetao, and this is for me. One of the major concerns. Now that the war has finally been won, the Hu people have retreated in a hurry to the north, and their vitality has been severely damaged.
"I rely on my ancestor Fu Yin and my father Hong Fu Qitian, and I have General Pei and other soldiers allegiance. My great Wei side is invincible, and the world is level." The prince replied respectfully.
Emperor Wei looked at the prince: "I have another thing on my mind, which is the choice of the prince concubine. My illness, I am afraid it will not get better. You are the prince, and the East Palace has only a side concubine so far, but there is no main concubine. The matter of the concubine must not be delayed any longer..."
"Father, the auspicious person of the heaven, has the blessing of God. The matter of the son and the minister will not be too late until the father's illness recovers!"
The prince knelt down with a "pop".
Wei Di waved his hand.
"I know that you are sincere and filial, but this matter cannot be delayed any longer. You used to be filial piety to your mother, but now that the period of filial piety has expired, let's get married as soon as possible after the decision is made. In this way, I can feel at ease, and the courtiers can also feel at ease."
The crown prince kowtowed and choked: "My son, obey the arrangement of the father and the emperor."
Emperor Wei motioned to the eunuch to pass the Yizhezi to the crown prince.
"These three families, not only the family Langui, but also the daughter in the boudoir, also have the virtue of mother etiquette."
The prince took it, Zhan Zhe quickly read it, and he was silent for a while without seeing the person he was thinking of.
In his mind, the figure of another woman appeared.
Her mother, Madam Pei, and his mother-in-law used to be friends in the boudoir. The queen mother loved Mrs. Pei's daughter, and used to call Mrs. Pei to take her into the palace to talk.
In this way, the slowly growing daughter of the Pei family gradually entered his heart, which made him always remember.
It was only then that he was already engaged.
Later, the woman with whom he had a marriage contract died, and at that time, she had not yet reached the wedding.
The prince found an excuse to delay Concubine Li and waited silently for the day when she grew up.
Later, her mother died unfortunately, and three years later, she finally grew up.
After his mother's filial piety expired, and his father's health was deteriorating, he would definitely have a concubine for him at this time, which was what he expected.
But what he didn't expect was, why wasn't she among the candidates for the crown princess
Not to mention her own boudoir reputation, just in terms of family background, the Pei family has been loyal and good for generations, and now the Duke of Wei is known to be prestige in the court, and he knows how to advance and retreat. In addition to this northern expedition, he has made great achievements.
It is logical and beneficial for him to make his daughter the crown princess.
As far as he knew, Emperor Wei had designated the daughter of the four ministers this time, and her name ranked first among the four daughters.
At this moment, she was not among the candidates for the crown princess, and the crown prince couldn't believe it for a while.
Emperor Wei said: "Among these three families, I think that your Taifu's daughter is the most suitable. Naturally, the other two are fine. You can choose from them."
How could the crown prince not hear the emperor's tone of voice, and the emperor's last intention was to appoint the daughter of the Taifu as the crown prince.
The prince finally reluctantly suppressed the infinite loss in his heart, kowtowed, and respectfully said: "My son, I will obey the orders of the father and the emperor."
Wei Di smiled and said: "Very good, this matter is settled like this. I will issue an edict tomorrow, and choose a date to get married as soon as possible before the year before, so that the whole world can celebrate together."
The crown prince bowed his head again to thank him, and when he was about to retire, Emperor Wei suddenly said again: "Your third brother, now on his way back to Beijing, will arrive in a few days. He was naughty since he was a child, and last year he insisted on joining the army with General Pei. I thought he would return after a while, but I didn't expect to endure the hardships. Not only did he gain experience, but he also made military achievements. It can be seen that when he grew up, I was very relieved. When he came back, I named him king. "
The prince was stunned for a moment, and then said happily: "I also said that the third brother will return with General Pei next spring. I don't want to go back now, and then I will go out of the city to meet you."
Wei Di looked happy, nodded and said: "Brothers are of the same mind, and their profits will cut gold. When I go, I expect you will be able to treat your brothers kindly. In the future, you will rule the world and your two younger brothers will assist you. You can go and feel at ease.”
The crown prince replied respectfully, and when he came out that night, he was rewarded. Only then did he finally understand why she was not among the candidates for the crown prince at the last moment.
Just yesterday, while he was busy preparing for the sacrifice, something happened that he didn't know about.
Emperor Wei received a letter from his third emperor Xiao Lie.
That letter was sent by Xiao Lie to Beijing with 800 li in a hurry.
The others are still on the way, but that letter was delivered to Emperor Wei earlier than others.
No one knew what he said in the letter, but it seemed that it was because he received that letter that the emperor temporarily crossed the name of Pei's daughter from the list.
When the prince received this news, he couldn't sleep all night, and his mood was extremely complicated.
This third brother, because he was favored by his father, had a flamboyant personality since he was a child, and was like an alien in the palace.
Last year, he asked himself to join the army. In the eyes of the prince, this younger brother of the three emperors was nothing more than an impulsive and impulsive act who did not know the hardships of joining the army, was greedy for freshness. After joining the army, as Emperor Wei thought, the crown prince also determined that he would return to Beijing soon.
Unexpectedly, not only did he persevere, but in the end he even made military exploits, which made everyone admire him.
Xiao Lie's biological mother and Mrs. Pei brought some distant relatives, so Xiao Lie often went in and out of Pei's house since he was a child.
The prince knows this.
But what the prince didn't expect was that Xiao Lie also fell in love with Pei's daughter. I didn't even expect that the third emperor's younger brother, who was originally scheduled to come back next spring at the earliest, actually returned early at this moment.
Looking at his itinerary, it is like a temporary intention.
Especially that letter is suspicious.
Could it be that he came back early because he knew what he was thinking, because he wanted to beg her away before he could choose the daughter of the Pei family
A few days later, Xiao Lie returned to the capital and immediately entered the palace to meet Emperor Wei.
What happened next really confirmed the prince's inference.
It was indeed because of the letter he sent that Emperor Wei crossed out Pei Wenjing's name from the list.
Xiao Lie said in the letter that his biological mother died early, and he received the care of Mrs. Pei since he was a child, so he made a wish not to marry the daughter of the Pei family, but he knew that he was stubborn, and he was incapable of doing anything in the past, so he did not dare to speak rashly, and this time he followed. The army marched north, and luckily made an inch, and then Feixin returned to Beijing, begging the father and the emperor to propose marriage to the Pei family on his own behalf to fulfill his long-cherished wish.
…
The setting sun shines in through a perforated window pane, reflecting a pot of orchids placed in the corner of the dressing table. The green leaves are lush and lush, and a few plain white orchids have quietly bloomed among the leaves, secretly spitting fragrance. The girl was dressed in a moon-white shirt, sitting in front of the mirror, holding a wooden comb in her hand, and slowly combing a long lock of hair hanging on her chest, a silver bracelet hanging on her jade wrist, shaking gently with her movements. .
The girl seemed to have something on her mind, and finally put down the wooden comb in her hand, and her eyes fell on the carved lacquer makeup box.
The jade pendant is emerald green and has orchid patterns on it. Although the carving is not exquisite, it is simple and pleasant. The girl made a silk sash for it, which just matched it. Lying quietly in the palm of the girl's hand, the light of Yingbiyu almost penetrated the slender hand, which complemented the wrist bracelet, which was extraordinarily gentle and moving.
The girl lowered her head slightly, stared at the jade pendant in her palm, and remembered the scene where the rogue boy forcibly gave it to himself on the night of Shangyuan that year.
After that night, she originally wanted to find a chance to pay him back, but either it was unfortunate, there were always outsiders nearby, or he just didn't pick it up. Day by day passed, this jade pendant was eventually left behind. Keeping it became one of her minds, and she kept cutting it, and the rationale was still messed up.
Before he left last year, he left in a hurry. The night before he left, he had asked the little eunuch named Li Yuangui beside him to pass a letter to her, in which he said that he would wait for her outside the side door in the southwest corner of her back garden.
He said he wanted to meet her.
This was the first time he had made a private appointment with her in the past few years after the first night of the Yuan Dynasty.
Still remember that night, after dark, her heart was like a deer. He also tried new makeup on the mirror and tried on Luo Yi.
But when it came, in the end, he still hadn't taken a step to the appointment.
She only asked her personal girl to go there on her behalf, and passed on a word, telling him to take care of himself and return as soon as possible.
In the year and a half after he left, he heard news from his mother about his father and brother, and then imagined what he had done in the army, which became her little sweet pleasure every day.
It was also after he left that she felt deeply for the first time that, for the first time, this scoundrel, who used to make her feel embarrassed and annoyed, had quietly occupied her heart.
She could never forget him again.
What she didn't expect was that things would turn out like this now.
The prince's filial piety has expired for three years, and recently, she has faintly heard some rumors. The emperor wants to choose a concubine for the prince. It is said that he is also one of the candidates, and he is very likely to be selected.
The supreme Rong En, which many people envied, made her feel uneasy all day long and had trouble sleeping and eating.
I hope it's all just falsehoods. Hope she loses. Wish...
She can wait until the day he returns to Beijing.
"A Jing! A Jing!"
Accompanied by the sound of footsteps, a mother's voice calling to him suddenly came from outside the door.
Pei Wenjing was startled, regained his senses, quickly put the jade pendant in his hand back into the box, turned his head, saw that the door had been pushed open, and his mother came in surrounded by a group of maids, looking at himself with a smile on his face.
"Congratulations, little lady. Just now someone has come to the palace, and there is good news!"
A nanny next to her mother smiled and said hurriedly.
The girls also looked at her, all smiling.
Pei Wenjing immediately remembered the rumor, his cheeks suddenly lost color, he held the edge of the dresser with one hand, stood up slowly, looked at his mother, his eyes were slightly empty.
Mrs. Pei immediately noticed her daughter's abnormality and hurried to her side.
"Ajing, what's wrong with you? Even your palms are so cold? But what's wrong with your body?"
Mrs. Pei held her daughter's hand and helped her sit down.
Pei Wenjing shook his head, saying that he was fine, and finally managed to stabilize his mind, and said softly, "Mother, what news is coming from the palace?"
"Just now, Li Yuangui came and said that the Third Highness returned to Beijing today. Long live, I want to marry the Third Highness and betroth you to him."
Pei Wenjing was stunned, his heart was beating so fast, he could hardly believe his ears.
She slowly raised her eyes and looked at her mother, as if in a dream: "Mother, what did you say?"
"Long live, I want to marry you and the third highness. Li Yuangui said that long live means that after the prince gets married, he will arrange the marriage of the third prince, and the imperial decree will be issued soon. The news is a bit sudden, but the mother thought, you and the third highness. acquaintances…”
"Ajing, mother thought, this is a good thing, you should be happy."
Mrs. Pei took her daughter to the side of the bed and sat down, put her in her arms, and looked at her with relief and relief in her eyes, and said softly.
On Pei Wenjing's pale cheeks, a blush gradually appeared, bright as flowers.
"The daughter is left to the mother's discretion..."
She buried a face in her mother's arms, closed her eyes shyly, and said in a low voice.