After the young master of the prince finished speaking, Li Shan was stunned for a long time. After he realized it, he suddenly lowered his face: "No. She is the orphan's own sister. She was accidentally lost in the early years, and she was already outside. She has suffered a lot. Now It was so hard to find it, how could Gu let her go to a different race to get married?"
"Your Highness!" the Crown Princess said, frowning and persuading, "You should be? She is a younger sister, but she may not be? You are an elder brother. A daughter's family is outside all day? Showing her face? Fighting and killing, what does it look like?" ?Princess Shengyuan always wants to marry someone. She can only recruit a son-in-law if she stays in Dongdu, but she can become a queen after marrying. Princess Shengyuan treats her more preferentially. She has money and wealth to support her, and her son can be the king of Tubo in the future, which is also considered her blessing."
Previously, the young master of the prince hadn't talked to the concubine, and the concubine didn't know that the young master had the idea of letting Li Chaoge go and get married. After the young master of the prince said it just now, the princess was taken aback for a moment, and immediately thought? This idea is very good.
Since ancient times, countless emperors have killed queens, but no one has killed princesses or eldest princesses. As long as Li Chaoge doesn't get involved in major crimes such as treason, she will be rich and prosperous in this life. The Empress Dowager is strong, among her daughter and daughter-in-law, doesn't the Crown Princess think? The Empress will favor her daughter-in-law. If Li Chaoge stayed in the Eastern Capital, the Crown Princess would be completely predictable. Even if she ascended to the throne in the future, she would have to worship three Buddhas—Tianhou, Li Chaoge, and Li Changle.
The Empress is a mother-in-law, the Crown Princess endured it, Li Changle is lively and cute, and will not cause trouble for her sister-in-law, and the Crown Princess can accept it, but Li Chaoge is not a fuel-efficient lamp. The Crown Princess has never seen a princess like Li Chaoge, who fights and fights for power and profit, without the docileness of a woman at all.
What's more, the Crown Princess still minds that Li Chaoge kicked Lu Sanlang? Lu Sanlang is still lying on the bed unable to move. The doctor said that several ribs were broken and he might need to rest for a long time. After taking the medicine, Lu Sanlang's condition improved a lot, but news came from Lu's family yesterday that Lu Sanlang had developed hysteria for some reason, talking nonsense on the bed, or itching all over his body.
The doctor told Lu Sanlang not to move around, but Lu Sanlang couldn't help scratching himself, he couldn't stop once he scratched, he had to scratch his skin until it was bleeding. As a result, the bones that Lu Sanlang had finally connected were misplaced again. The Lu family had no choice but to tie Lu Sanlang up with a rope so that Lu Sanlang would not scratch himself. But he couldn't scratch the itchy body all over, crying and screaming in pain, and couldn't sleep day and night.
Don't worry too much about it when the princess hears these things. And the culprit was still holding the military talisman in a glorious manner, and was flattered by various forces. The princess and the prince complained, and Li Shan sighed and asked her to bear it. The Crown Princess didn't believe that the Emperor Tianhou didn't know what happened in Shangyang Palace, but neither of the couple said anything. Li Chaoge didn't even have a decent punishment, and he was still walking in the Eastern Capital in high spirits.
The princess was so angry that she didn't fall asleep for several days. Today, when she heard the words of the young master of the prince, the princess suddenly realized that this was a way out. Li Chaoge has a conflict of interest with Donggong, and has a personal grievance with the princess. If Li Chaoge is allowed to get married, the benefits to Donggong far outweigh the disadvantages.
The princess had already agreed in her heart, but Li Shan couldn't turn the corner for a while because of the brother-sister friendship. The concubine persuaded: "Your Highness, in the face of righteousness, how can you allow your children to love each other? The Queen of Heaven keeps suppressing the East Palace and sending Princess Sheng Yuan away. This can not only break the Queen of Heaven's arm, but also remind the Queen of Heaven not to interfere in politics. Princess Sheng Yuan She is His Highness's younger sister, but so many people in the East Palace are also His Highness's subjects. Our whole body and family are tied to His Highness. If His Highness makes the slightest mistake, everyone will have to follow the family and die. When the time comes The East Palace is unstable, the political situation is turbulent, and the people are displaced. This is the real catastrophe. For the sake of the country, why not sacrifice a princess? Besides, we are not harming her. Princess Sheng Yuan will marry someone sooner or later. There is nothing wrong with being queen in the past. If His Highness is really sorry, you can wait for Zanpu to pass away in the future, and take Princess Sheng Yuan back to Beijing to raise her."
The young master of the prince also persuaded him, and put the benefit analysis in front of Li Shan. Even if Li Shan still couldn't pass his test, he knew from the bottom of his heart that sending Li Chaoge to marry him had become a big trend.
All the courtiers of the Eastern Palace think so. Li Shan is not a polished prince who fights alone. Many times, he has to worry about the hearts of the people in the East Palace.
Li Shan remembered that many years ago, when her mother was still Wu Zhaoyi, she gave birth to a little sister on a sunny autumn day. At that time, their situation was not good. Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu pressed on every step of the way, and Queen Wang joined forces with the foreign court to put pressure on the emperor. Mother was busy with seeing no one around every day, so Li Shan stayed alone in the hall, lying on the wooden bed and staring at the younger sister.
At that time, he really liked this sister. Later, her mother named her "Chaoge". Li Shan asked her mother what the name meant, and her mother said that this was the capital of the Yin and Shang Dynasties. In the name of the capital city, I hope that she will be prosperous and prosperous in the future like the rising sun, with high strides and high singing.
After Li Chaoge was lost, Li Shan cried for a long time. However, how can the brother-sister friendship of adolescence be worth it? Over the years of erosion and power change. In the face of real interests, those family and warmth are really not worth mentioning.
·
In the Hall of Renshou, the emperor sent away a group of courtiers who were visiting sick, and pressed his eyebrows with a headache.
Tubo once again proposed a marriage, and they wanted to marry Li Chaoge.
The map of Feitian was retrieved by Li Chaoge, and it was Li Chaoge who solved the chaos caused by the cat demon in Shangyang Palace. The Tubo people saw Li Chaoge's supernatural powers, and thought that Li Chaoge was capable of writing and martial arts, and would be a good queen in the future, so he decided to welcome Li Chaoge back to Tubo.
The emperor could only sneer at this. A mere barbarian country that doesn't even have a complete political system so far, where does it come from? Picking the princess of the Tang Dynasty? Can Li Chaoge really be a queen? But, is Tubo Zanpu worthy
The emperor did not agree with the marriage in his heart, and if he wanted to make a marriage, it would not be his daughter. In history, only weak countries and small countries would send imperial daughters to barbarians. In the great Tang Dynasty, it was flattering to confer a clan daughter to Tubo. How could they deserve to let Datang marry a real princess
But Tubo has never been civilized, and the wars are very brutal. Now the Eastern Capital is in a critical situation and has no time to spend with Tubo. However, Tubo kept saying that they wanted to marry the real princess. Among the emperor's three daughters, Dagong Yi'an was married, and Li Changle was engaged to the Pei family. Among the princesses, only Li Chaoge was left. The emperor wanted to find an excuse to refuse, and the matter remained deadlocked.
The emperor leaned on the bed and thought about the things outside. The servant came in and said softly: "Sage, the prince and the prince's master are here."
When the emperor heard that it was the prince, he didn't think much about it, and said, "Let them come in."
Li Shan and Prince Shaoshi entered the door to say hello to the emperor. The emperor looked at the prince on the sickbed. For some reason, the emperor always felt that the prince's gesture of saluting today was very low, as if he felt ashamed.
The emperor was surprised, and he asked: "A few days ago, I heard that you were not feeling well. Are you feeling better now?"
Li Shan lowered his head and said, "Your minister is much better, thank you saint for your concern."
When? Once the seeds of suspicion are planted, every word will encourage the gap to grow wildly, and the original small cracks will gradually become gaps. This is a very common sentence, in the usual way, Li Shan would not pay attention at all. But today, Li Shan couldn't help thinking, what is the purpose of Tianhou repeatedly repeating that the prince is weak in front of the emperor
The emperor knew that Li Shan's body was like this, and he repeated it repeatedly, and it was rare for him to be neat throughout the year. The emperor asked: "You and the young master came here today, what's the matter?"
After the emperor asked, the hall fell into a subtle silence. The prince's young master looked at Li Shan, silently urging in his eyes. Li Shan collected himself, and said, "Sage? My minister heard that Tubo proposed marriage again."
"Yes." The emperor got a headache when he mentioned it. He and the prince complained, "Tubo insisted on this matter and mentioned it over and over again. Moreover, they have learned smart over the years and know that the clan daughters It’s different from the princess, it’s not as easy to fool as it used to be. If not, I can make a clan daughter a princess, and it’s okay to marry to Tubo. But they don’t want to, it’s really embarrassing.”
Li Shan paused for a moment, and said: "A few days ago, the eldest sister was given a marriage by the Queen of Heaven, and Ah Le also made a marriage contract with Pei's family. Among the princesses, Sheng Yuan was the only unmarried princess. The Tubo Da Gonglun may have other intentions for such a request. "
The emperor has been the emperor for more than 20 years. Hearing this, the emperor felt that something was wrong. He sat up slowly and looked at Li Shan: "Prince, what do you mean?"
Seeing that the words had been spoken, Li Shan stopped going around in circles. He straightened up, bowed his hands in front of him, and said, "Sage, Tubo has invaded our border for a long time. Jiannan Dao goes to war every year. I don't know how many times every year." "Few innocent soldiers and civilians lost their lives. Too much blood was shed on the frontier, if we can exchange for more than four decades of peace between the two sides, wouldn't it be a merit?"
The emperor looked at the prince and didn't speak for a long time. To exchange a woman's life for 40-10 years of peace between the two countries is so right and righteous, because the person who was sacrificed was not themselves.
The emperor said: "Weak countries rely on kinship to maintain stability. In the early Han Dynasty, in order to survive, they kept sending princesses to the Xiongnu to humiliate them. They have always been shameless in history books. After Han Wu strengthened his army and became rich in Wu, the first thing he did was to swear never to send the princess to kinship again. The founding of the Tang Dynasty It's been more than fifty years now, and it's no longer a precarious new dynasty. Wouldn't it be ridiculous to send the princess to marry at this time?"
Li Shan stopped, and the prince's young master saw this, and then said: "Sage, a big country should have the bearing of a big country. We are not trying to compromise like the early Han Dynasty, but for future dominance. If we marry an ordinary clan daughter, then She is just an ordinary queen, and I am afraid that she will have to rely on the assistance of the Tang Dynasty to support her son in the future. But if it is Princess Sheng Yuan, the situation is completely different. With the ability of Princess Sheng Yuan, after going to Tubo, she will definitely be able to conquer the hearts of the people and control the military power After the death of Tubo Zanpu, Datang will support a child with the blood of Princess Sheng Yuan to ascend the throne, and Princess Sheng Yuan will be able to listen to the government in the name of assisting the government, and the military and political power of Tubo will be completely in the hands of Princess Sheng Yuan. At that time, Tubo was called a foreign country, and it was actually controlled by the Tang Dynasty. Only then can our two countries be truly as close as one family, and there will be no more wars. What's more, let Princess Shengyuan hold the military power of Tubo and vigorously promote Han culture. It is not impossible for Tubo to be incorporated into our territory of the Tang Dynasty. To subdue Tubo without a single soldier, this is a feat that will be famous for thousands of years. Hope you are a saint? Think twice."
Starting from the interests of the young prince, the young prince listed the benefits of marriage to the emperor one by one. If the marriage partner is an ordinary princess or the eldest daughter, the words of the prince and master are just a beautiful blueprint, which cannot be realized at all. But if that person is Li Chaoge, all this is not delusional.
However, the emperor remembered that Li Chaoge was lost at the age of six and was just found last year. She was displaced among the people, and finally returned to the palace, but it was too cruel to send her to marry in the blink of an eye. The emperor was unmoved, and said: "Princess Sheng Yuan is different from ordinary princesses. She has suffered a lot among the people. When she came back, I promised to double her compensation. It's only been a year, let her go to marry, Is it emotional or reasonable? You can’t justify it. This matter is inappropriate, let’s let it go.”
"Saint?" The young prince cupped his hands, looked at the emperor earnestly, and said passionately, "Even if you don't want to make great achievements for thousands of years, then you should always think about the changes of the moment. I know the saint "Benevolent, love my daughter, and can't bear her suffering. But the foundation of the Tang Dynasty is hard-won, and I have to? Don't be this villain? Say some harsh words. As a person? A minister, loyal to the emperor, sharing the emperor's worries, admonishing the emperor It is a mistake. The emperor is superior and the minister is humble. Although the minister makes suggestions, the saint? Doesn’t want to accept Tubo, and the minister dare not influence the saint? decision. However, the instability of the East Palace threatens the inheritance of the Tang Dynasty. Even if the minister dies, he must stop the saint.”
The emperor didn't think about it? When it came to the Tang Dynasty's inheritance, the emperor asked: "How do you say that?"
The young master of the prince bowed deeply, and said solemnly: "The saint? He trusts his wife and daughter, and delegates power to the Empress Dowager, but now his tail is too big, and he has already threatened the East Palace. Under the saint? All government orders come from the hands of the Empress Dowager, and the people only hear about the Empress Dowager. What did you hear about Li Tang? The prince is filial and cannot bear to disobey his mother. ? He thought, how should the prince protect himself?"
The emperor's face turned serious. He was not in good health, and he couldn't do many things by himself, so he had to find someone to help him. The emperor was worried about handing it over to his courtiers. In case a powerful minister was raised, how could Li Shan fight with his cowardly temperament? The emperor was worried about handing it over to the clan king, even Li Huai.
After thinking about it, the emperor can only choose the person next to his pillow. If people are divided into ranks, Tianhou is undoubtedly a first-class person. When she encounters an opportunity, she immediately seizes it and carries it forward. When the emperor realizes it, Tianhou's power has expanded to the point that even the emperor cannot contain it.
But after all, it was his wife, the mother of his child, and the emperor still chose to trust Tianhou to maintain the balance of power between him and Tianhou. But the emperor was able to suppress the Empress Dowager, but the prince could not. Later when Li Chaoge came back, the emperor wanted to check and balance, so he allocated part of the power to Li Chaoge.
How to check and balance the power of all parties is a compulsory skill for an emperor to learn all his life. The emperor thought that he would distribute power to all parties, and Li Shan would be able to sit firmly on the throne. But I didn't expect that the emperor had given away too much power, so much that the East Palace had no place to stand.
The emperor asked himself for the good of the prince, but are the prince and the people behind the prince willing to be weakened? The emperor was silent, and the crown prince's young teacher still spoke impassionedly, saying with certainty: "Sage? After all, the East Palace is the foundation of a country. I said something outrageous, if today and empress only cover the sky with one hand, you will naturally be able to suppress the empress when you are alive, but If Your Majesty is a hundred years old, and there is nothing to stop her, who can restrict her? For the sake of the crown prince, for the stability of the country, and for the foundation of the Tang Dynasty, invite a saint? Cut the mess quickly and cut off the left and right arms of the Queen of Heaven. This is not only the heart of An Donggong , it is the heart of the subjects of the world."
After finishing speaking, the young master of the prince bowed deeply to the ground, unable to kneel down. Li Shan sighed secretly, and bowed deeply: "Please saint? Think twice."
Now this is not a question of marriage, but a question of the emperor's attitude. Since last year, the Queen of Heaven has given great support to Li Chaoge, and Li Chaoge has also listened to the Queen of Heaven's advice, as if instructing her. These two people? are clearly squeezing the living space of the Eastern Palace. If the emperor agrees to marry Li Chaoge to Tubo at this time, then it is a statement to everyone. Among the Queen of Heaven and the prince, the emperor will always stand by the prince.
From the beginning to the end, this is the war between the queen and the prince. Li Chaoge, Zhenyaosi, and his relatives are all rafts.
Today it was Pei Ji'an's turn to be on duty. When he entered the hall, the servant said that the emperor was talking to several ministers and asked Pei Ji'an to wait in the side hall. Pei Ji'an went to the side hall to transcribe. After Xianggong went out, Pei Ji'an had writing in his hand, so he didn't move for a while, planning to greet the emperor after finishing writing. However, just for a moment, someone came outside again.
Pei Ji'an didn't take it seriously at first, but gradually, the movements of his hands stopped.
He heard the conversation between the prince and the emperor. The prince said that he wants to send Li Chaoge to marry him.
It's simply ridiculous, how can there be any reason for the eldest princess of the Tang Dynasty to get married? Pei Ji'an was very angry, but now Li Chaoge is the only one among the princesses who has never been engaged. If she really wants to make a marriage, Li Chaoge is the only one to choose.
The voices of the prince and the prince's young teacher became faster and faster, but the emperor gradually fell silent, as if he had been persuaded. Pei Ji'an's heart skipped a beat, and he quietly glanced at the servants outside. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he got up quietly and walked outside the hall.
He wants to leave the palace quickly and remind Li Chaoge. If the emperor writes an imperial decree, then it will be over.
Pei Ji'an has been quietly staying in the side hall, plus he is a familiar face, so not many? Not many people? Pay attention to him. Pei Ji'an left the Hall of Renshou and immediately quickened his pace. A gust of wind blew from the long steps, and Pei Ji'an's sleeves bulged, and his breath was filled with damp moisture.
It is going to rain.
The summer rain came as soon as it was said. When Pei Ji'an came out of the palace, the wind was strong and mighty. When he walked to Zhenyaosi, the raindrops had already fallen. Seeing that Pei Ji'an was coming alone, the guard of the Zhenyaosi was startled, and hurriedly greeted him with an umbrella: "Pei Shiyi? It's raining so hard, why didn't Shiyi bring an umbrella?"
How could Pei Ji'an bother to find an umbrella, he didn't have time to clean up the water stains on his body, so he asked eagerly, "Where's Princess Sheng Yuan?"
"Ask the Commander?" The gate guard pointed in the direction of the city gate and said, "The Commander said that he found some new discoveries yesterday, and today he went to the murder scene for a second investigation."
"Whose family?"
"The Zheng family, a rich merchant in the west of the city. Hey, Pei Shiyi, it's raining so hard, where do you want to go?"
In the Zheng family, Li Chaoge stood in Miss Zheng's boudoir, searching for clues. She has been looking for the black cat in the city for the past few days, but the strange thing is that this cat has hidden somewhere. Li Chaoge has searched all over the palace and city, but found nothing.
If it is not in the city or the harem, where else can it hide
Li Chaoge asked people to continue the blanket search of the black cat, and brought people to Zheng's house to investigate the case. Yesterday she was inspired by the day and realized that she met the cat demon twice, once at Li Zhen's wedding banquet on the second day of July, and once at the Shangyang Palace banquet on July 14th? These two days are Ziri. Combined with the previous three murders that happened in Ziri, does it mean that the cat demon will look for prey every Ziri
Its target is Li Chaoge on the second day of July, and the fourteenth of July? Its target is Tianhou. The difference is that the cat demon succeeded in the previous few times, but failed in these two times.
Li Chaoge then thought that the mouse corresponded to the mouse, and the cat monster would attack on this day, maybe it was some kind of sacrifice or eating ceremony. Li Chaoge had been searching the victim's personal relationship before, and she had been troubled by it for a long time. What do these three women have in common? Now it seems that she has entered into a misunderstanding of thinking. Who said that female relatives must have actual contact? Their intersection may also lie in raising the same cat.
Li Chaoge immediately brought someone to the second investigation. She first visited the Zheng family who was the first to be victimized. When Zheng's father saw the princess coming to the door, he was terrified. When he heard Li Chaoge's intention, he burst into tears and brought Li Chaoge to his daughter's boudoir without saying a word.
Zheng Niang had been dead for a long time, her boudoir was empty, and everything remained as she had just left. Li Chaoge showed Mo Linlang around and asked, "Has Mrs. Zheng ever raised a cat?"
When Father Zheng heard this, he shook his head without even thinking about it: "No. Jiao Niang has been allergic to cat fur since she was a child, and she doesn't like keeping those cats and dogs."
Didn't raise it? Li Chaoge was a little surprised, and asked again: "Then? Are there any stray cats in your house?"
"No way." Father Zheng said, "When Jiao Niang sees a cat, she gets a rash all over her body. How dare I let wild cats from outside come in? I have issued a ban to the servants in the mansion not to secretly bring cats in. Once you see a stray cat, beat it away quickly. Look, princess, there is still a cat-beating pole in the corner."
Jiao Niang is the nickname of Zheng's daughter. Li Chaoge glanced through the window, and indeed saw a bamboo pole at the corner of the courtyard wall. The situation of the Zheng family was quite different from what they had expected. Mo Linlang was a little anxious, and looked at Li Chaoge: "Commander?..."
Li Chaoge waved his hand, signaling her to be calm. Afterwards, Li Chaoge asked: "I don't intend to be disrespectful to the deceased, but in order to solve the case as soon as possible, I still have to? May I ask, before Madam Zheng died, did she have any unusual behavior?"
Mother Zheng wiped her tears beside her: "What are you talking about, Princess? You can personally investigate the cause of Jiaoniang's death. It's too late for us to be grateful. How can we not know what's good?"
Father Zheng followed suit. He thought for a while, didn't notice anything unusual about his daughter before she died, and turned to look at his wife: "Ma'am, did you notice anything different about Jiao Niang before she died?" Zheng's mother thought for a while, then hesitated. Said: "It doesn't seem to be. If I have to say it, she was not in good spirits during that period of time. She was always lazy and weak during the day, but couldn't sleep at night. I also hired a doctor for her and prescribed several medicines. Then she started to have abdominal pain and cough up blood, and she went away within a few days. Could it be that there is something wrong with those medicines?"
Mother Zheng's expression was uncertain, but Li Chaoge didn't respond, but said, "Madam Zheng, don't want it? Suspicion. The truth about Ling Qianjin's death will definitely be found out by Zhen Yaosi. Before that, please wait at ease."
Zheng's father and Zheng's mother are grateful and grateful. Although the Zheng family is still relatively small in the Eastern Capital and has a family background, it is not enough to compare with the emperor's relatives. The Zheng family has never been in contact with the class of princesses. Zheng's father winked at Zheng's mother, and then accompanied Li Chaoge himself, and said, "Thank you, Princess, for avenging Jiaoniang. When I was an imperial merchant in the early years, I gave back Shu brocade was delivered in Miyagi, but I never expected to see the real princess today. Today, Princess Lao and all the officials are busy, and the grass people have already prepared meals. Please respect the princess and all the officials, and stay Some wine and food."
According to Li Chaoge's idea, he was going to refuse, but at this time there was a muffled thunder outside, a gust of wind blew past, and soon it began to rain. The heavens are not beautiful? If this is the case, there is no way for Li Chaoge to leave. Li Chaoge has no choice but to say: "My master. But the court has an order, and the officials in the court are not allowed? Occupying the people and anointing the people, there is no need for meals, and some tea is enough. carry on."
Father Zheng agreed. Although Li Chaoge said that there is no need to serve meals, how could the Zheng family let the officials drink water? After a while, the table was full of meat and vegetable cold dishes. Father Zheng also said that these were just snacks, and they were used to relieve the boredom of the officials. .
Li Chaoge himself was fine, but the others ran with her for a long time, and it was unreasonable not to let his subordinates eat at noon. Li Chaoge acquiesced, and planned to settle the money for the meal with the Zheng family when he left.
Outside, the sound of the rain was roaring. Anyway, I couldn't leave. Everyone was eating and drinking while drinking, and it soon became lively. Li Chaoge didn't touch anything from the beginning to the end, and Mo Linlang sat behind Li Chaoge, picking vegetables and eating in small mouthfuls.
Seeing that it was almost time, Father Zheng signaled to Mother Zheng, and brought a person up from the side door. After all, Li Chaoge is the commander. There is a screen between the place where she sits and the outside. She is bored waiting for the rain to stop. When she looked up, she saw a well-painted man walking in from the side door. She was stunned. up.
Mo Linlang spouted the tea with a puff, almost choking herself to death. God, it's not what she imagined, is it
Li Chaoge listened to Mo Linlang's deliberately suppressed coughing, how could he not guess that Mo Linlang was holding back his laughter. At that moment, Li Chaoge felt that her official career was over, and there were still so many soldiers sitting outside. When she returned to the town of demons, the news would definitely spread within a day. And there are no secrets in the imperial city, and soon, other government offices will know.
Li Chaoge felt suffocated just thinking about it. In her previous life, she was also given away as a male favor by others, but after she got married, at that time, the empress was already in power, and the male favor was prevalent, so it was nothing for Li Chaoge to mix in the general environment. But at what point in this life, why was she given away as a favor by men