Spring is deep and Jingming is bright, and the rich families are splendid. The corridors meander and connect, and the maids are walking briskly in the courtyard wearing half-arm skirts and arms crossed. As the breeze blew, the bamboo curtains on the window shook slightly, and a few red petals fell into the window, and one of them happened to fall on the rouge.
A slender hand dipped in rouge with a pen, and carefully traced between the eyebrows. Li Chaoge was painting flowers, while making three chapters with Gu Mingke: "According to our previous agreement, before we reconcile and leave, you will play the role of my son-in-law, and you must not be promiscuous outside and damage my reputation; inside, you must be good friends with the royal family and ministers, and create Princess Shengyuan." The friendly image of the mansion. When you hold a banquet in the palace, you have to accompany me to the banquet as a son-in-law. You must not suffer bitterness, hatred, yin and yang, and make certain physical contact when necessary. You must create a good relationship between our husband and wife in front of the queen and relatives. As a reward, after reconciliation, I will give you generous compensation, gold and silver treasures, high-ranking officials and rich salary, good wine and beautiful women, you can choose. Do you have any objections?"
"No."
The color on the nib was gone, and Li Chaoge went to the rouge box to touch up while talking: "Okay. Today, the empress is hosting a banquet in the hall, and all civil and military officials, as well as wives inside and outside will be present. This is the empress's first feast after she ascended the throne. It is of great significance. There is no room for loss. As the princess who supports the empress, I will be watched by people for every move I make today, so after you get out, you have to act like a son-in-law, examine Duodu, be on call, and cooperate with me unconditionally on specific occasions."
This time there was no response for a long time. When Li Chaoge was mixing the rouge, a shower of flowers fell outside, and one petal happened to fall on the center of Li Chaoge's eyebrows and touched the wet rouge. Li Chaoge frowned, changed to a fine brush, and wanted to brush off the petals on the center of his eyebrows.
She finished the makeup with great difficulty. If the blush on her forehead faded, the makeup on her face would have to be repainted. It's almost time for the banquet, and I'm afraid it's too late to put on makeup.
Li Chaoge was carefully picking the petals when another person walked in the mirror. Gu Mingke stopped behind her, picked up the pen just now, dazed on the rouge, and said, "Don't move, it's time to smudge in a while."
After Gu Mingke finished speaking, he leaned over and raised his pen to caress the center of her eyebrows. Li Chaoge raised his eyebrows, and subconsciously wanted to back away, but Gu Mingke pressed his shoulders.
"do not move."
Li Chaoge stopped stiffly, she sat on the round stool, her back slightly tilted back. This pose is a test of waist strength. Li Chaoge persisted for a while, feeling a little sore. But Gu Mingke is now bending over and stopping in front of her. She was neither facing forward nor leaning back, when Li Chaoge was not knowing what to do, Gu Mingke raised the hand on her shoulder and gently supported her waist.
Chunri's clothes were light and thin, and through the thin gauze, Li Chaoge could feel Gu Mingke's cool palms and slender fingers. His fingers looked slender, but they were long and powerful. They were placed behind her waist, almost covering her entire waist.
Gu Mingke's palm greatly relieved the pressure on Li Chaoge's waist, but Li Chaoge became stiffer instead. She instinctively wanted to struggle, but Gu Mingke said clearly and shallowly: "Quiet. If the animation is crooked, we will be late for the banquet. Today is the first time the empress has hosted a banquet. If you, the eldest princess, are late, I'm afraid you won't be able to justify it. "
Li Chaoge was forced to freeze. She pursed her lips, and when she raised her eyes, she could see Gu Mingke's straight eyebrows and cold eyes. His eyelashes were slightly lowered, and he was looking at her seriously. Li Chaoge felt embarrassed at such a distance. She looked away and landed on Gu Mingke's beautifully shaped lips with a thin and cool color.
She had previously thought that staring into his eyes looked like a conspiracy, but now staring at his lips seemed even more suspicious. Li Chaoge could feel Gu Mingke's breathing, she really didn't know where to put her eyes, she glanced around for a while, trying to regain the dominance: "What are you doing?"
"Help the princess draw flower tins."
"I know." Li Chaoge's voice just amplified, and his breath hit Gu Mingke's neck. Li Chaoge couldn't help but turn down, and asked with a suppressed voice, "I can draw by myself. Why did you come here suddenly?"
The thin lips moved slightly, and the voice was cold and sweet, as recognizable as the others: "Since you want to play, then be more serious. The queen and everyone are not blind, they only pretend to be affectionate when they go out, how are they? Can't you see it? There are maids outside, so get involved."
Instead, Li Chaoge became the one being taught a lesson. Li Chaoge pursed his lips, feeling very depressed. Gu Mingke changed his brush again, and stroked along the outer edge of the flower tin. Their hands are extremely steady, with such a thin pen tip, their wrists are still in the air, and they can complete the stroke from beginning to end without the slightest stutter or tremor.
Gu Mingke put down his pen in satisfaction, and said, "Okay. It's getting late, let's go."
After drawing his eyebrows, Gu Mingke withdrew his hand, took a step back and walked out of the hall. Li Chaoge supported the dressing table and sat down slowly. She turned her head and looked at the bright, charming and lifelike plum blossom makeup in the mirror, almost thinking that it was just an illusion.
What is he doing, what is she doing
Today, the empress is hosting a banquet, and the road in front of the imperial city is blocked by cars and horses. The servants of each family crowded together, shouting at each other to make way. At this time, a group of guards of honor came from behind, walking on the road impartially, quite recklessly, the servants were about to scold someone's carriage for not looking at the road, when they turned around and saw the sign on the carriage, they all fell silent, obediently Give way to both sides.
The carriages of Li Chaoge and Gu Mingke drove all the way to the outside of Mingtang. When Li Chaoge got out of the car, the servant at the palace gate saw it and ran over in a hurry: "I will see the princess of Shengyuan Zhenguo, and the son-in-law. The two servants are here with you."
Li Chaoge and Gu Mingke nodded to the eunuch, and walked into the palace together. The Mingtang is a new building built by the Empress. It is 100 meters high and has three floors. The bottom floor is square, which symbolizes the four seasons. The middle layer is a round cover, on which nine golden dragons are built, and a phoenix stands on the top of the upper layer. The whole body of the phoenix is gold, it flaps its wings to fly, and sings loudly, it looks like a miracle from a distance.
The phoenix stands on the dragon, which is in line with the current atmosphere of the queen's reign.
The emperor sits in the bright hall, and the empress spends a lot of money on this bright hall that symbolizes the emperor's virtue, but no one knows what it looks like. The empress had people build it when she was still a queen. It took nearly two years and it was finally completed this year. Luoyang is known as the capital of ten thousand Buddhas, and you can see many pagodas in the city, which are elegant and holy, but now, Tianhou has built a Mingtang, which is taller and more conspicuous than the pagodas. Now when people in Luoyang look up, the first thing they see is Mingtang.
The queen was very satisfied with her masterpiece, which is also called Vientiane Shrine.
Today was Mingtang's first public appearance, the empress was very happy, and ordered the princes, princes and generals of the capital to attend the ceremony with their families.
The Vientiane Shrine is so majestic, and the palace people are walking quickly in the interlaced corridors, they are as insignificant as ants against the backdrop of the bright hall. Outside the bright hall, the spring breeze is April, the grass grows and the warblers fly, and the breeze blows? The willows are slightly green, and there is a greenery.
When the wind turned the blue waves, Li Chaoge and Gu Mingke came hand in hand. Li Chaoge was wearing a light green lower skirt, a light red upper jacket, a purple silk sash on his chest, and a cloak of the same color on his arms. Gu Mingke was wearing a cyan robe with a white coat on the outside. From a distance, it seemed that he was wearing spring on his body.
Li Chaoge put a lot of thought into this outfit. She has not passed her father's filial piety, so she cannot wear bright colors, but if she wears a white suit to attend the queen's banquet, the queen will definitely be unhappy if she doesn't say anything. Once the emperor and the courtiers, now the emperor is the empress, Li Chaoge wears mourning to the previous emperor, even if that person is her father, the empress will be an eyesore.
Li Chaoge chose and chose again, and finally chose a light but not rude dress. If someone asked, she would say it was for simplicity. Gu Mingke is much better, he? He was originally cold, and no one doubted him when he went out in light colors.
Li Chaoge and Gu Mingke were walking on the way to meet the queen. On the way, Li Chaoge once again stated to Gu Mingke: "Pay attention to behavior, be cautious in words and deeds, and when necessary..."
"Make a gesture of affection with you." Gu Mingke continued Li Chaoge's words lightly, "You have said it several times along the way, I know."
After hearing this, Li Chaoge didn't feel at ease. The current Gu Mingke always made Li Chaoge feel elusive, and Li Chaoge was particularly afraid of him making some strange moves.
Li Chaoge lowered his voice and was about to remind him "Don't do unnecessary things", when suddenly the sleeve beside him was grabbed. Li Chaoge's eyebrows twitched, yes, is this kind of superfluous thing
Before Li Chaoge said anything, Gu Mingke lowered his head and brushed a broken flower from the side of her hair: "Look at the road, someone is coming ahead."
Li Chaoge looked up, and sure enough, he saw a group of people coming towards him. Li Chaoge restrained his expression and looked at them indifferently.
The visitor was not affected by Li Chaoge's indifference at all, he still greeted him with a smile, and warmly said: "Chaoge, son-in-law, you are finally here. You two are really busy people. We have waited for a long time, and we have waited for you two." .”
Li Chaoge's voice was calm, and he greeted these people not far or near: "Concubine Xian, King Wei."
The visitors were the empress' eldest sister-in-law, concubine Xian Wu Meng, and Wu Yuanqing, the second son of Wu Meng. Among the queen's three siblings, only one half-brother, Wu Hong, passed away last year. After a person dies, the bad things he has done seem to fade away, and the good things are remembered more. After Tianhou proclaimed herself emperor, she wantonly entrusted everyone in the Wu family, even her older brother who had a feud was crowned king together.
The queen made Wuhong the king of Xian, and one of the two nephews was made the king of Liang and the other the king of Wei. As Wu Hong's widow, Wu Meng enjoys the honor of Xian Wangfei. Now, the one who came here with Wu Mengshi is Wei Wang Wu Yuanqing.
Looking at the radiant woman in front of her, Wu Meng felt a little bit in her heart? It's a pity. She smiled and said, "Chaoge, you are too polite. Our family, why are we still seeing each other like this? You can just call me aunt."
Li Chaoge just smiled detachedly at this: "Princess Xian is joking, etiquette cannot be discarded."
Wu Mengshi couldn't hide her disappointment. She called Wu Yuanqing over and said, "I saw you from a distance. Your cousins are about the same age, so you should get closer. Yuan Qing, come to see your cousin."
Wu Yuanqing was pulled to the front by Wu Mengshi. His eyes rolled around, but he felt a greasy head. Wu Yuanqing gave a salute to Li Chaoge: "Cousin Chaoge."
Li Chaoge looked at her expressionlessly: "King Wei, my title is given by the empress and granted by Emperor Gaozong, not to mention that I still have an official position. Please call me by title in public."
Embarrassed, Wu Yuanqing smiled stiffly and said, "Cousin Sheng Yuan, between us cousins, why should we pay attention to these things? Empty etiquette..."
A gust of wind blows from behind? Li Chaoge's belt flutters slightly. Gu Mingke turned his face sideways, grasped a petal with his fingers, and plucked it off from her sideburns. His sleeves were wide, and when he took the petal, he accidentally touched the hairpin.
Li Chaoge couldn't help frowning, and raised his hand to caress the hairpin. Gu Mingke held her hand, gently inserted the hairpin back into place, and said, "It's my fault for not paying attention to your hair. Did it hurt?"
In front of outsiders, Li Chaoge could only shake his head: "It's okay."
"That's good." Gu Mingke tidied up the hairpin. He held Li Chaoge's wrist earlier in order to prevent Li Chaoge from scratching his hair. Now that the petals were taken off, he naturally held Li Chaoge's hand, turned his head and smiled at Wu Yuanqing, "King Wei, we had something to do yesterday. We went out late today. If we don't pay our respects to the Queen, we will be late. Excuse me."
Wu Mengshi and Wu Yuanqing pulled Li Chaoge to speak, but they didn't expect Gu Mingke to speak out suddenly. Wu Yuanqing originally wanted to get close to Li Chaoge, but now Li Chaoge's official son-in-law pretends that we are going to pay his respects, and Wu Yuanqing can't stop him? They greeted the queen, so they had to make way: "It's my king's negligence, cousin and son-in-law, go quickly .”
Gu Mingke nodded to Wu Yuanqing and Wu Mengshi, and said gently and politely, "Farewell."
Afterwards, Gu Mingke didn't let go, and just pulled Li Chaoge away like that. Wu Mengshi and Wu Yuanqing stood at the back, watching the two walk through the courtyard full of spring, towards the tall and mighty Ming Hall.
Gu Mingke's robe fluttered, and his figure was like jade. The silk ribbon on Li Chaoge's clothes fluttered and rolled up with Gu Mingke's long sleeves. The two of them talked while walking, looking from the back, they looked like immortals descending from the earth.
Wu Mengshi looked at it for a while, and sighed: "I have heard about Gu Shaoqing's celestial appearance for a long time, but seeing him today, he really deserves his reputation. I heard that he was snatched by Princess Sheng Yuan, no wonder he is so affectionate."
Wu Yuanqing also looked at the backs of the two men, and said, "Mother, now that my aunt is the emperor, our Wu family is a royal family, and Miss Gongqing of the Manchu Dynasty can pick at will, so why focus on a married person?"
"What do you know?" Mrs. Wu Meng gave Wu Yuanqing a hard look, and said in a low voice, "Your aunt was born by Mrs. Yang, and she was not close to our family in the early years. Among the three daughters of Mrs. Yang, she is the one who holds the most grudges. Now that your father is gone, and Yang Shi is about to die of illness, if we don't think about it, should we wait for her to settle the score after the fall?"
"However, my aunt clearly sealed me and my elder brother as kings..."
"If she really doesn't mind what happened in the past, why did you make your father Xianwang? Xian is not a good word." Wu Mengshi pouted and said, "Besides, she made you kings, but that one Crown Prince. Silly boy, don't you understand the difference?"
Wu Yuanqing opened his eyes wide in surprise, the Wu family suddenly became prosperous, and his family became king. He? Immersed in the joy of being flattered, he didn't think about it deeply. Could it be that mother meant...
Seeing that Wu Yuanqing understood, Wu Mengshi smiled with satisfaction, and pointed out: "The queen's surname is Wu, and the crown prince's surname is Li. From ancient times to the present, there is no reason to pass the world to people with other surnames? But your father and the queen in the early years There is a estrangement, I'm afraid the empress still holds grudges. For the present plan, only if you marry the empress's princess, and the Wu and Li families become one, can the empress truly trust our family and entrust the heavy responsibility to your brothers."
When Wu Mengshi said this, he clapped his hands angrily: "It's a pity that your elder brother has already married a wife and had children. If not, he? Is the best candidate."
The empress's two nephews, Wu Yuanxiao and Wu Yuanqing, were both married, but Wu Yuanqing's wife died of an epidemic early on, and Wu Yuanqing didn't want to find someone to restrain him, so he never remarried. Wu Mengshi originally hated her youngest son for being incompetent, and was obsessed with flowers and willow alleys all day long, so she did not give birth to a grandson for her. Now, Wu Mengshi is glad that his youngest son has no wife and no children.
Marrying the queen's daughter, it is impossible to make the princess a child, and it is a grievance to let others be the second wife. But who made Wu Yuanqing the closest blood relative of the Wu family and the queen, if Wu Yuanqing married the princess and gave birth to a child, wouldn't it be the common blood of the Wu family and the Li family? Passing the throne to Li Huai is called returning the government to the Tang Dynasty. The empress took such great efforts to ascend the throne, and finally passed it to Li Huai, why bother? But if the throne is passed on to Wu Yuanqing or Wu Yuanqing's son, the descendants will not only remember the Queen's merits, but also continue the Queen's blood, wouldn't everyone be happy
Thinking of this, Wu Meng felt regretful. Originally, the best choice was for Wu Yuanxiao to marry Li Chaoge, which is the real bloodline of the eldest son. Moreover, Li Chaoge is extremely powerful, holding the Imperial Army and the Demon Suppressor in his hands, and is most trusted by the Empress. Marrying her will be of great benefit to the Wu Family. It's a pity that Wu Yuanxiao has a wife, and Li Chaoge is married. In this case, the only option is to let Wu Yuanqing marry Li Changle.
Marrying a princess is just a bargaining chip. As long as they can give birth to a child with the blood of the Wu family and the Li family, the Wu Yuanxiao brothers will be invincible. As for who to marry, the icing on the cake is good, and it doesn't matter if you can't.
Although Wu Yuanqing is obsessed with beauty and does not want to make progress, his reaction is not slow. After hearing what their mother said, they also came back to their senses. He? When he thought that the supreme throne would soon belong to him, he suddenly felt his blood boil. In comparison, what is a mere king of Wei
Wu Yuanqing has already moved his mind, and Li Changle is not bad at all. Marrying her gains both benefits and sex, so he doesn't suffer. But?, Wu Yuanqing frowned, and asked in a low voice: "Mother, the empress is the most precious Guangning, will she agree to marry Guangning to me?"
"That's why I want you to fight for it." Wu Meng patted his son's hand meaningfully, "Women are the most independent, and they will fall in love with whoever treats them well. Guangning has just been divorced. When you are sad, let alone, even if Guangning disagrees, there is still your aunt."
Wu Yuanqing realized that the queen is the real caller, and it doesn't matter whether Li Changle is willing or not. How to please the queen has become the top priority.
Wu Meng asked softly, "Are you ready for what your brother asked you to prepare?"
"Mother, don't worry." Wu Yuanqing patted his chest and said, "I'm ready. My aunt likes Xiangrui the most. When there are more people, I will offer it to my aunt to please."
After Li Chaoge felt that he was out of sight of Wu Meng's mother and son, he gently struggled to pull his hand out. Gu Mingke exerted a little force on his fingers, but his cold palm still held her firmly: "Be more dedicated, there are so many people."
Li Chaoge slandered in his heart, and even felt absurd that she was acting with Gu Mingke. Li Chaoge couldn't move too much, so he could only pursed his lips and said, "My son-in-law, I'll be in front of the queen soon, pay attention to my image."
"You call me son-in-law in front of everyone, and that's it, you still want to pretend to be affectionate?"
Li Chaoge gave up, and said hesitantly, "Bingheng?"
"Um."
Gu Mingke responded briefly, but Li Chaoge inexplicably felt that he was in a good mood. Li Chaoge's mind shook slightly. At this time, the queen's palace arrived, and both of them cheered up. Gu Mingke opened his fingers lightly.
The queen had already guarded many people. They heard the messenger from the palace, and just turned around, they saw Li Chaoge and Gu Mingke let go of their hands at the door, and their sleeves fell down. There was a moment of silence in the hall, and then Mrs. Han said with a smile: "Sheng Yuan and the son-in-law have such a good relationship, they even have to hold hands for such a short distance."
Li Chaoge and Gu Mingke saluted the queen first, and then Li Chaoge looked in the direction of Mrs. Han: "Auntie was joking, there was something on my clothes just now, son-in-law... Bingheng help me remove it."
Mrs. Korea covered her lips and smiled softly, and the queen also smiled softly. Such an excuse is really too shallow.
Li Chaoge could tell from the expressions of these people that they didn't believe it. The heavens can learn from it. This is true. After ascending the throne, the queen's face was radiant? Her eyes were shining like torches, and her black hair grew back on her head. The whole figure seemed to be ten years younger. Sure enough, power is the best decoration, no matter for men or women.
The queen asked: "Bingheng is Gu Qing's name?"
Gu Mingke nodded: "Yes."
"Adhering to balance, the golden mean, this meaning is rare."
Gu Mingke's eyelids drooped, covering the color in his pupils: "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Li Chaoge secretly glanced at him from the side? After a glance, he always felt that the name seemed strange. After the queen finished asking, she asked the palace servants to give her a seat.
Li Chaoge and Gu Mingke were seated, and Li Changle happened to be opposite. Li Changle smiled awkwardly when he saw Li Chaoge and Gu Mingke, and said hello lightly: "Sister, brother-in-law."
Li Chaoge responded, but did not answer. Li Chaoge didn't know what Pei Ji'an and Li Ze said, but since that incident, Li Changle and her have become cold. In fact, we couldn't call it intimacy before, but now we can't even maintain the harmony on the surface.
Li Chaoge doesn't care, and she doesn't want to pretend to be intimate with Li Changle's sisters, so it's a good place to stay.
Li Changle glanced around, her mother was wearing a dragon robe, the martial arts family was flamboyant, Li Chaoge's husband and wife were loving, and none of her familiar playmates or brothers were there. All the courtiers above the fifth rank and their families were present today, but Li Huai did not come.
Li Huai became the crown prince again, but was locked in the palace and could not move freely. It's been so long, and Li Changle hasn't seen him yet? Brother.
Li Changle and Li Huai are very close, they? They almost grew up together as brother and sister. Now, Li Huai does not know whether he is alive or dead, whether he is safe or not, and whether he has been abused or not, but the accomplice who caused all this enjoys the praise of everyone openly.
Although Li Changle was angry with Pei Ji'an, at least he knew that Pei Ji'an was trying to rescue Li Huai. As for Li Chaoge, she murdered her siblings when her father's bones were still cold, and it was not enough to kill the prince brother, but now she has to step on Li Huai's blood and tears to climb up. When she was doing these things, did she ever think that her surname is Li
The corners of Li Changle's mouth were tense. She usually likes this kind of grand banquet the most, but now she has no interest at all. Li Chaoge was also thinking about something, the two had their own thoughts, neither of them spoke, only the voice of Mrs. Han could be heard in the hall.
During the cat demon last time, Mrs. Korea was possessed by a cat demon and almost died half of her life. The queen was very frightened by the cat demon, but she did not anger Mrs. Korea, and even gave Mrs. Korea many treasures. Mrs. Korea has been recuperating for a while. Now that the queen has ascended the throne, and the warriors are soaring, Mrs. Korea's illness has been stimulated all of a sudden, and she immediately goes out in a high-profile manner.
Mrs. Korea didn't know what to say, she giggled coquettishly? She covered the lower half of her face with a round fan, and the topic suddenly turned to Li Chaoge: "Sheng Yuan has been married for almost a year, and when will I let your mother hold my grandson?"
Li Chaoge was taken aback, why did he suddenly mention her? Li Chaoge considered his words, and said: "I'm still young, and I want to concentrate on sharing the empress's worries for the past two years. The matter of the heirs? There is no rush."
"There are so many officials in the court, how can you be missing one?" Mrs. Han's slender eyes glanced at Li Chaoge, and said in a slow and sweet tone, "Madam is not in good health, so she may not be able to survive? This year. Madam What I miss most is the second sister, now that the second sister is enthroned, A Niang has no regrets, she just wants to see her great-grandson before she dies."
Although Li Chaoge kept smiling, the light in his eyes was very faint. Less than a year after Li Ze's death, Li Chaoge's father hadn't passed his filial piety yet, and Mrs. Korea urged her to have a baby
Li Chaoge looked at the queen silently. The queen sat on the head, covered in gold and brocade, and was indifferent to Mrs. Han's words, as if she had forgotten Li Ze's filial piety. Li Chaoge understood that the empress had begun to fear the late emperor.
Today's emperor is Empress Wu, but the sons and daughters are still thinking about the filial piety of the former emperor. What does it mean? It was inconvenient for Li Chaoge to refuse directly, so he said tactfully: "Children are all predestined, this kind of thing? Don't rush."
Mrs. Han's red lips were hidden behind the fan, and she chuckled: "Sheng Yuan and the son-in-law sleep in separate rooms, how can the child come in such a hurry?"