The Chen family, Chang Song Tang.
The men of the Chen family were all there, and the one sitting at the top was Chen Jian, the patriarch of the Chen family.
Chen Jian was nearly seventy years old, and he was already very old. He was wearing a gray robe, and his gray hair was tied in a bun on the top of his head, which was only held in place by a bamboo hairpin.
At first glance, he looked like a senile old man, but just because his old eyes flickered when he spoke, it could be seen that this person was unusual.
At this time, his expression was quite dignified, his eyes were half closed, and he leaned back in the chair, as if he was thinking about something.
Next, Master Chen and Second Master Chen did not speak, but Master Chen Third and Fourth Master Chen kept talking about the current state of the court.
Master Chen San, Chen Pingzhang, has been on the outside all the time, and he only returned to Beijing recently. He came back to Beijing to report on his work, and the other one also planned to stay in Beijing. But at that time, the Chen family was on the cusp of the limelight, and it was not appropriate to make any big moves, so he temporarily used the excuse of being sick to recuperate at home, in fact, he was waiting for the next step of the Chen family.
After all, the Chen family is one body, and it should be a prosperity and a loss.
The second master Chen Pingwu has not done the errand of the fifth-rank petty official since he became the Marquis of Chengen. It is an idle errand in itself, and it doesn’t matter whether he does it or not. The key now is the important matter of Chen Pingwen and the old master Chen Jian .
The original plan of the Chen family was that after Chen Jian retired, the great lord Chen Pingwen would fill in the cabinet, but Chen Jian never retired, so this matter has been dragging on.
Chen Jian saw that he was almost seventy years old, he should have retired a long time ago, he had been procrastinating for the crown prince's ascension to the throne, and now he is not old, but for the future of the Chen family.
After all, Emperor Jianping hadn't made a prince yet, and the Chen family hadn't had a grandson of a prince yet, so how could Chen Shoufu be able to retire with peace of mind.
"Let my son see it. It seems that His Majesty has no plans to establish a crown prince now." Chen Pingwen said suddenly.
His words made Chen Pingzhang and Chen Pingqian's scattered chatter stop immediately, and Chen Jian also opened his eyes. Chen Pingzhang and Chen Pingqian went to see their father, Chen Shoufu stroked his long beard, took a sip of tea, and said: "Boss is right, His Majesty really has no plans to establish a crown prince now."
There was a faint sigh in his voice, and there was a special kind of twilight and vicissitudes, which belonged to the tempering of the annual rings.
"If His Majesty really intends to establish a crown prince, he would not have failed to respond to the call from the court. Appointing a crown prince is no small matter, but a major matter for the country, and Duo'er's body is indeed weak, so it is no wonder that His Majesty hesitated."
"But Duo'er is both the eldest son and the eldest son. If you don't make him, why not make him the second prince?" Fourth Master Chen Pingqian said, with a sense of inconceivability and irony.
He was telling the truth. The Chen family has been thinking about it, but no one is willing to tell this sentence.
Why did the queen urge her repeatedly, didn't it just confirm this sentence
"No matter what, the crown prince must belong to Duo'er." Chen Pingzhang said. Otherwise, what is the reason for the Chen family's hard work and hard work for so many years, and why has he been released outside? It's not that in order not to arouse suspicion, he deliberately created an honest and peaceful attitude of the Chen family.
And Chen Pingwu, why has he been doing nothing all this time? Is it just that he has no ambitions and disdains mundane affairs
In fact, the path of the Chen family has been decided long ago. If Mrs. Chen stepped down one day, Chen Pingwen would definitely take his place.
Chen Pingzhang was released, Chen Si and Chen Pingqian were the youngest, and they stayed in the Imperial Academy, where they could advance and retreat, while the second room produced a princess.
How can an extremely human minister? After all, the Chen family already had Chen Shoufu, who was an extremely human minister, and one step further, the emperor also came from the Chen family. This did not mean rebellion, but meant that the emperor had the blood of the Chen family.
"There is no need to rush this matter. Your Majesty has made a lot of moves in the court recently. In the cabinet, he looks at Mr. Wang Ge differently. He may have the intention of letting him take over my position. If we encourage the courtiers to appoint Duo'er as the crown prince, it will be too obvious. Some are too conspicuous."
Moreover, Chen Jian didn't say anything cryptic. In his early years, he revealed that he was going to retire. After so many years of retreating, he formally wrote a letter to tell his old age when Emperor Jianping ascended the throne. He was retained by Emperor Jianping, but both of them knew each other. It shows that he can't stay for... how long, after all, he is old, and he has been occupying the position, which will give people the impression of being greedy for power.
Moreover, it is not suitable for the prince to have a great-grandfather who is in the position of chief assistant, so that he will be suspected of having a powerful relative. As a veteran minister who has been in the court for many years, Chen Jian knows all these things, even what his sons don't understand, he also understands.
So now an embarrassing situation has been formed. If Emperor Jianping does not confer the crown prince for a day, he will not dare to become an official, and if he does not resign for an official position, Emperor Jianping may not be crowned prince for a day.
Now what he was thinking about was this 'possibility'. As for the words of his sons that the second prince might be named, Chen Jian actually didn't listen to him at all.
With His Majesty's personality, he should either not be crowned as the crown prince. Since he wanted to be crowned, it was impossible to bypass Duo'er and become the second prince.
Chen Pingwen also thought of all this. He glanced at his father, hesitated for a moment, and didn't ask what he wanted to ask.
On the other side, Chen Pingqian and Chen Pingzhang were talking about the possibility that His Majesty would establish a second prince, and they inevitably talked about the extremely favored concubine Su Gui, whom everyone knew.
When it comes to Concubine Su Gui, it is natural to mention Empress Chen.
Chen Pingqian also felt that the reason why the Crown Prince could not be sealed now was related to Empress Chen's disfavor, so he couldn't help complaining: "Second brother, you should also let the second sister-in-law come to the palace to teach the empress, if she can learn the methods of the second sister-in-law Maybe it won’t be the case now.”
These words were suspected of being teasing, but Chen Pingwu didn't seem to hear it, and it was Chen Pingqian who called him again before he came back to his senses.
"Second brother, what are you thinking, I didn't even hear you talking."
Chen Pingwu concealed a smile and said, "I just got a painting recently..."
Chen Pingqian interrupted him and said: "Okay, don't talk about painting, now is not the time to taste paintings, and when my younger brother is free, I will accompany my second brother to taste paintings. Now I am talking about the empress, you should let the second sister-in-law do more painting." Go into the palace to teach the empress, otherwise, why would I be crushed on the head by a scrawny horse."
When mentioning this incident, everyone in the Chen family felt suffocated, but it was useless. It was the first time that they had thrown a rock at their own feet. Unfortunately, the men in the Chen family didn't care about it at all. Let the women run it. But it just happened to be a trivial matter that was inconspicuous and unconcerned, and now it has become a big mistake.
I knew it earlier.
But how could there be so many people in the world who knew this beforehand
This kind of matter that can affect the overall situation of the court must not be discussed for a while, and Chen Pingwen has always wanted to talk to his father, so Chang Songtang's place was soon disbanded.
Before leaving, Chen Jian told his sons to be cautious in their words and deeds, and would rather not do anything than make mistakes at this juncture.
On Chang Songtang's side, Chen Jian and his eldest son speculated on whether Chen Jian's official career might lead to the crown prince. On the other side, Chen Pingwu returned to Linbixuan, sat for a long time, lost in thought.
Chen Cai has been watching quietly by the side.
It was very quiet in the study, except for the occasional crackling of candlesticks.
"Chen Cai, do you think I should tell Dad about Yuan'er?"
Apparently, Chen Pingwu had been thinking about this for so long.
Chen Cai hesitated for a moment, thought for a while, and said, "Master has never said anything about this matter, and based on the words of a court lady, it is a bit too hasty to determine such a big matter? Of course, this is just a small person." In other words, it is up to the master to decide what to do.”
"It shouldn't be wrong. She looks so much like Liu'er, especially her eyes. When I first saw her, I thought she looked like her. Especially that piece of jade, which was a family heirloom of Liu'er. When she gave birth to Yuan After she gave birth, she asked someone to carve Yuaner's baby name on it and hang it on Yuaner's body, there should be no mistakes."
Chen Cai still felt hasty. The key was that the matter was too big. He could almost predict what kind of shock it would cause in the Chen family if it broke out.
If you make a mistake, it will become a joke at that time.
"It's better for the master to copy the picture of Yu Jue and hand it out to the palace for the master to see, so how about the master make a decision?"
It wasn't that Chen Cai was too careful, but that the Chen family seemed harmonious, but in fact they were not monolithic, especially as the princess became a queen, and Chen Pingwu was enshrined as a marquis, the second wife inevitably rose. Although the mansion still can't... see it on the surface, some subtleties have already revealed contradictions.
Chen Pingwu disdains common affairs, and doesn't care about the affairs of the mansion, but as far as Chen Cai knows, in the recent period, the eldest lady and the second lady have fought several times overtly and secretly. This matter may not have much impact on Chen Pingwu, but it has a great impact on the first and second households. After all, the first and second households have children and wives and concubines, and sooner or later it will affect Chen Pingwen and Chen Pingwu.
Chen Cai decided to report these matters to the master as soon as he decided to let it go. In fact, he knew that Chen Pingwu's mind was not resolved. With his character, he would not spare his hands to deal with the affairs of the mansion.
Chen Pingwu also felt that Chen Cai's suggestion was good, so he decided to pass the message to the palace and ask someone to copy a picture.
This matter has to be handled by the second wife, so Chen Pingwu went to Yunxia Courtyard.
The second wife was a little surprised by her husband's arrival, but she was also very happy. She happily helped her husband change his clothes and wash up, and the husband and wife took a rest.
At this time, Chen Pingwu told the second wife to let her go to the palace to see the queen, saying that the queen is quite lonely in the palace alone, and the second wife should visit more often as a mother.
Thinking about it, the second lady hadn't visited the queen for a while, and recently the eldest lady has been fighting with her, so she just cared about fighting with the eldest lady in the mansion. However, the second wife will not tell her husband about these matters between women. Once he tells him, he will definitely care about his brother's face and let her respect the eldest lady. Does she have to suffer from the eldest lady's anger in vain
Obviously her daughter's life was bad, she married and became a widow, she still didn't say that the eldest lady didn't think it was bad luck, she took a newly widowed daughter to live in the mansion, and the filial piety hadn't come out yet, she was picky about her past. If she hadn't given up the position of crown princess to the second wife, her daughter would not have been a widow, and now it is her daughter who is the queen.
Although the eldest lady didn't say this clearly, the second lady would think, pointing at someone who can't see what she meant!
Entering the palace now is different from before. In the past, she was the mother-in-law of the crown prince. After all, the princess is not the real master of the palace. Now she is the mother-in-law of the empress.
The second wife immediately decided to enter the palace tomorrow, just to be angry with the mother and daughter.
There was nothing to say for a night, and the second lady was in charge of entering the palace the next day. Now that she is Mrs. Cheng Enhou and the queen's mother, she does not need to hand in a sign in advance when entering the palace.
In the past, she could only bring one person with her when she entered the palace, but now she no longer has such scruples when entering the palace, but the second wife is used to old people.
Now that Mother Liu is getting older, although she has not yet been raised, she is not as busy as she used to be. The maids around the Second Madam, the amber and jade that are needed, have all become daughter-in-laws, and they are still working by her side now. .
Amber is steady, and the second wife is used to her, so she took her with her, and brought along two steady little girls. Entering the palace is different in the mansion, so the second lady is still very cautious.
There were two cars in total, one with the second wife and the other with a few maids. When getting into the car, one of the maids found that Hu Po hadn't gotten into the car yet, so she looked around for her and saw Hu Po talking to Chen Cai from a distance.
"Sister Amber, I'll be waiting for you. That's Mr. Chen next to the second master. Does the second master have anything to say?"
Hu Po glanced at the servant girl, but didn't choose anything, and said, "Second Master has something to tell Madam."
At this time, the servant girl also realized that she had said something wrong, so she was too busy to say anything.