There are quite a few insiders in the palace. The conversation between Bai Changshan and the emperor reached the ears of several princes that afternoon. Everyone was in a complicated mood. Among them, the eldest prince and the second prince were most regretful and annoyed—I knew it would be so. Before, when Bai Fuling was still on the candidate list for the prince and concubine, he should have acted first.
Not only is she a peerless beauty, but she is also the only direct granddaughter of Bai Changshan, the second minister of the cabinet, the most beloved righteous sister of Zhenbei General Lu Ying, and the cousin of Duke Zhong. The three identities combined are enough to be equated with the crown princess.
But judging from what the emperor meant, it seemed that he did not intend to designate her as a concubine to any prince from the beginning to the end, otherwise the servants would not have crossed her name off the list of concubines just because of Princess Antai's few words.
The eldest prince was furious, and called Cui Zhenyi's elder brother to the mansion, but he did not meet him in person, and only sent his staff to hurl insults at him. The main content is to accuse him of being useless, his own sister-in-law can't handle it, and he doesn't know that he has a close adoptive father, adoptive mother and adoptive sister, so he married his sister to the Lu family for nothing, and as a result, Lu Ying completely ignored the Cui family , didn't even take the First Prince seriously.
Brother Cui was scolded to the point of depression. A dignified head of the military department of the sixth rank was pointed at the nose by a few staff members of the prince's mansion who had no rank. After going out and returning home, I couldn't help but blame my sister Cui Zhenyi and brother-in-law Lu Ying for this.
Lu Ying couldn't afford to offend him, so he sent his wife to the general's mansion to ridicule Cui Zhenyi severely.
The eldest prince relieved a little, and went into the palace to discuss with his mother, Concubine Mao.
Concubine Mao ordered her cronies to guard the door, and she dismissed the maids and eunuchs who were serving her, and then the eldest prince said angrily: "I understand that the emperor has never planned to establish a crown prince from the beginning to the end. After watching me fight with the second son for so many years You die, I don't know what kind of heart you have!"
Concubine Mao was also very annoyed: "If it wasn't for our Mao family back then, it would have been his turn to sit on the throne. He would have been lucky to become the emperor and set up that bitch of the Xia family as his empress, and he would overwhelm me everywhere. That's all. If the throne is also passed on to the son of the slut of the Xia family, will my Mao family still have a way to live? I will die in peace!"
The eldest prince walked back and forth a few times like a trapped beast, and said with a sullen expression: "Father is deliberately forcing the Mao family to fight with the Xia family, so as to seize the opportunity to cut power, maybe I will fight with the second child to the end, and the throne will be cheaper for others. "
They have been suspicious of this for a long time, but they know it is a trap, but they still have to jump. The bait is too tempting.
Moreover, after so many years, the Xia family and the Mao family have long since ceased to have a partnership of sincere cooperation and shared weal and woe. It should be said that since the emperor ascended the throne, the two families have become two completely opposite parties because of their respective interests. Even if you want to shake hands and make peace, you can no longer trust each other.
For the first time, on the issue of Li Hou, the two sides completely tore up their faces and attacked each other. In the end, the Xia family got the backseat because of the fact that they were pregnant with the dragon descendant first.
Every time Concubine Mao thinks of this, she is very angry. She was diagnosed as pregnant, but it was two months later than Xia's, so she missed the throne of empress. Fortunately, in the end, the Xia family's child was not able to give birth safely, and died in four months, otherwise the throne would have been impossible to contend for.
This has also become one of the important reasons for the feud between the Xia family and the Mao family. Everyone in the Xia family believes that the abortion of the fetus in the queen's womb was caused by the Mao family. In fact, the Mao family, the son of Concubine Mao, benefited the most. Became the eldest son of the emperor, although the queen conceived again soon and gave birth to a son, she has become the second prince.
The Xia family and the Mao family are not unaware of the emperor's various actions over the years, but they have been trapped in a quagmire and can no longer coexist peacefully. There can only be one prince. This is related to the current interests and power of the two families and the future. Life and death, even if you know there is fraud, you can only follow the emperor's will and fight to the death.
Concubine Mao heard her son's words, gritted her teeth and thought for a while, "I've never seen him get close to any son other than your second child... Could it be that he just doesn't want to delegate power?"
The eldest prince said bitterly: "Yeah, I don't want to delegate power... Hmph! Father is only over fifty, and he spends his days in the harem. He is in good health. How long will it take for him to abdicate?! Ten years? Twenty years? I'm afraid I won't be able to wait until that day if I continue to fight like this with my second child! Uncle is right, we must strike first!"
"What do you want to do?" Concubine Mao asked.
In the candlelight, the Eldest Prince's expression was cloudy, fierce and crazy. He slowly raised his palm and made a killing posture.
On the other side, the second prince was also very conflicted, but his thinking was relatively simple. He only wanted to get Bai Fuling now. As long as he had her, he would not be afraid that Bai Changshan, an old man who would not eat soft and hard, and would not eat oil and salt, would not give in. In addition, Lu Ying, the current number one general of Qi State and the general of Zhenbei, had to obediently be included under his command.
Controlling Lu Ying is equivalent to controlling more than half of the Royal Forest Army. In addition to Duke Zhong, he will have the support of three Dukes and one prince. At that time, let Lu Ying control the situation in the capital and ask the princes and Dukes to push for a new emperor. Isn't the throne in his pocket? How can the boss fight with him
Thinking of his own yellow robe and the proud scenery of being a great treasure, thinking of Bai Fuling's surprisingly beautiful little face, thinking of the charming scenery of the beauty in his arms, the second prince only felt hot all over, wishing to marry her into the door right away .
But the test of the father was very difficult...
Today, he also knows that his father has no intention of making him the crown prince, let alone make a clear statement on this issue, so it is impossible to point Bai Fuling to him or the boss, he has to find another way.
The simplest thing is to cook rice with raw rice. As long as he makes Bai Fuling have to marry her, then other things will be easy to handle. It doesn’t matter if the emperor doesn’t agree. Lu Ying can also explain the past.
This matter is done in private, which is more beneficial than openly accepting Bai Fuling as a concubine now.
The more the second prince thought about it, the more he felt that it made sense, so he summoned his cronies and began to figure out how to get the beauty first.
From the different coping strategies of the first prince and the second prince, it can be clearly seen that the background of their mothers is different. One mother is from a family of military generals, and only wants to kill people to seize power and force the palace, while the other is from a family of civil servants, who thinks about music. With twists and turns of conspiracy and tricks, he wanted to win over the prince's kingdom and go through the procedure to publicly elect him as emperor, and in the future he could play up as a generation of holy lords that everyone expected.
When Yang Heng heard the news, he was discussing with Liedang in the study where it would be more appropriate and inconspicuous to place the manpower.
"I really didn't expect..." Liedang smiled wryly. Who would have thought that a few months ago, a daughter of a merchant from a humble background in a border town would transform into the most valuable and prestigious daughter of the Qi State
At that time, he felt that being a concubine to his master was a bit reluctant girl, but now the first prince and the second prince are trying everything possible to marry her, but even if the other princes marry her, they can still compete with the first prince and the second prince for the position of crown prince. strength.
Such a woman who represents the power to rise to the sky in one step, and also possesses the beauty of the world that makes women envy and men envy, who can not be tempted
The value of the woman he likes suddenly skyrocketed, Yang Heng expressed that he was under a lot of pressure!
Originally, this little girl was already difficult to deal with, but now that there are so many big backers, it is even more difficult to get her. From the bottom of his heart, he would rather that Bai Fuling was just the daughter of an ordinary businessman, so that there would be fewer obstacles and difficulties in his pursuit of beauty.
Liedang looked at his expression carefully, and asked tentatively, "What's your Highness's plan for Miss Bai?"
Yang Heng shook his head and said: "The important thing is, she is still young, let's talk about it later..."
The date when the father appointed the prince and concubine is running out. When he saw Bai Fuling's name on the candidate list for the prince and concubine, for a moment, he hoped that she would become his concubine, but he also knew that this little woman She will not be so easy to be manipulated, she has always disdained and even hated sharing a husband with other women, let alone marrying into the royal family, becoming one of the many women of a man, even if this one is the one with the most noble status One, even this man will be the supreme emperor.
Things have developed to the present, even if he wants to fight for it, the father will not marry Bai Fuling to any of their brothers.
From the moment he vaguely noticed his father's intentions, he knew that his father would not let his heirs repeat the same mistakes and continue to let the forces of foreign relatives suppress Yang's imperial power.
The emperor spent most of his life trying to remove the authority of the Xia family and the Mao family, so how could he allow another relative, the Bai family, to sit on the throne? Moreover, after the downfall of Xia Clan and Mao Clan, there will be no one to check and balance Bai Changshan's power. No matter how loyal he is now, who can guarantee that he or his descendants will not have other ideas in the future
In the past, Bai Changshan had no children and no family backing, but now, he has an eldest son, Bai Chou. It is very likely that in the near future, Bai Chou and his wife will give birth to other children. Most importantly, Lu Ying is their Yoshiko!
The emperor needs loyal subordinates, but he will not be happy to see a few loyal subordinates who are too close.
Apart from his father's wishes and the consideration of the overall situation, he is also unwilling to propose to marry Bai Fuling at this time.
He has his pride, if the other party is just an ordinary daughter of a family, he doesn't mind trying to find ways to marry her back for practical considerations, as long as it helps his great cause.
But it was Bai Fuling, the only woman who moved his heart. He didn't want to marry her for such a reason, it was a blasphemy to her and an insult to him. This idea may be ridiculous and unrealistic, but he still insists.
In the future... in the future when he becomes the prince and the emperor, he will do everything possible to keep that little girl by his side.
Fortunately, she was still young, so he should have enough time to complete the things he had to do one by one.
The premise is that she won't be preempted by other men...