Sweet Beauty Chapter 66: Please give me marriage
August 12, Biluan Palace.
Xiang Guifei's face was pale, her eyes were red and swollen, and she was obviously haggard and had cried and had not rested well.
Her confidant, the maid Qiuhuan, looked at the bird's nest porridge that had not been touched at all on the table, and advised: "Niangniang, you must not waste your body like this. I don't know, if Niangniang you fell now, wouldn't it make the relatives hurt and the enemies quick? The Marquis also needs Niangniang to deal more with her in front of her majesty."
Xiang Guifei gave a wry smile and whispered: "Qiuhuan, you don't know, how long has it been since Your Majesty has stayed in my palace..."
The scenery outside has attracted much hatred. The empress who is said to be the most generous, generous, and dignified and virtuous, sees her eyes are full of poisoned scum.
But only I know how much His Majesty's so-called "favorite" is...
What's more, His Majesty, who has not been drafted for many years, is going to audition. When she thinks of the fresh and tender faces in the rookie girls that can be squeezed out of water with a pinch of flowers, her heart is full of small fires. , But at this time, my father also had that incident!
Queen Hua, Hua Family! My father sent a message that the Hua family did not want Laner to marry Jiang Huaizhi, so it happened at the juncture of the draft. Otherwise, how could the old things from ten years ago be turned up just now?
And one of my father's trusted subordinates married a side branch of the Hua family not long ago! Really hateful hateful!
Actually, Concubine Xiang felt that Jiang Huaizhi was so important? Thinking of the face of the girl in the Rong family who did not put on the plain clothes, people couldn't help but lose her soul, and Concubine Xiang's heart was twisted again.
Unexpectedly, she was not able to kill and maim her even with her ruthless hand. With such rumors flying all over the sky, the Majesty and the Queen Mother insisted on letting her enter the palace to participate in the re-election. She really had to be on guard.
But her father actually said that she would rather let her enter the harem to protect Lan'er from marrying Jiang Huaizhi.... Concubine Xiang couldn't understand why she couldn't make a plan to marry Jiang Jue when she married Jiang Huaizhi, she didn't believe that Jiang Jue How much true feelings do you have for Huayu Rong that pretty girl...
August 13, Cishou Palace.
The sixteen girls who entered the palace for re-election have lived in the palace for eleven days. After the eleventh day, many of the girls lost a lot of weight.
Because, where did they come to the palace to draft, they simply came to the palace to suffer and serve!
In these days, each of them wore the same ordinary muslin embroidered piping and the same ordinary palace flower hairpin rings every day. That's all, even the proudest and most fond of gorgeous clothes. Hua Yurong was also told by Queen Hua to abide by the rules, not to be rude or arrogant, and to endure the Mid-Autumn Festival marriage no matter what.
But the most unbearable thing for these girls who have been raised by gold and jade is that their daily diet is also configured according to specifications. Those who are well-informed and know some things will know that the specifications are actually the same as that of the women's shantang outside the city. It's the same food.
Although most of the girls have learned the rules very well, they dare not be arrogant in the palace, show their bad temperament and fall in the eyes of the queen mother and the concubines. , The emaciated face and the dish that the ordinary rouge allotted could not cover up could not deceive anyone.
And then there are high-intensity palace etiquette training and hard work in the afternoon every day. There are really few who can't lose any weight...
The Empress Dowager Zhuang sat on the Feng couch, next to her sat Princess Changrong from Concubine Xiang Gui, Empress Hua and several high-ranking concubines were seated on both sides, and below was Qi Qi's seat. Two rows of show girls.
Empress Dowager Zhuang didn't seem to feel the bitterness under the smiling faces of the girls at all. She talked to Queen Hua sporadically, and then occasionally clicked on the girls below to ask them how they were doing.
These days in the palace, Empress Dowager Zhuang did not have any special affection for Jingshu, treating her like any other inconspicuous daughter of the official family.
Only at this time, the name of Jingshu was called.
The Empress Dowager Zhuang asked Jingshu with a smile: "Miss Rong, I heard that yesterday you taught the little palace maids about accounting, how did you think of teaching them this?"
Jing Shu replied respectfully, "Returning to the Empress Dowager's words, because the ministers and daughters have consulted the training courses for the female officials and the little palace ladies, and learned that there are special people who teach reading and writing, and have also learned some basic arithmetic, but the accounting In terms of aspects, it is not involved at all, the ministers think that in the future these little palace ladies will be distributed to various palaces, and it may be useful to know some basic accounts, and these ministers are familiar with them, so they are lazy and teach some, it is considered opportunistic."
The Empress Dowager Zhuang nodded and said: "This idea is not bad, they really should learn some of these. I have heard from the female teacher, you teach very well, and it seems that you have been systematically trained when discussing details with her. Did you learn this at home?"
Jing Shu replied: "Yes, the Empress Dowager. My mother hired a female accountant to teach the ministers and daughters these things when their daughters were at home."
At this time, Princess Changrong, who had been silent for a while, suddenly interjected and said curiously: "Grandmother, granddaughter heard that when the ladies are at home, they will learn some housekeeping directors, but this is the first time that she has heard about the accountant. Is it the granddaughter who learns to settle accounts is ignorant?"
The Empress Dowager Zhuang turned her head and clapped her hand with a smile, but she didn't answer. Instead, she looked at Concubine Xiang with a smile, and said, "Come and tell Chang Rong, even if you're a princess, you should know more about the outside world. family.”
In the future, I will marry out of the palace.
Xiang Guifei bowed to Empress Dowager Zhuang and answered "Yes, Empress Mother."
Only then turned to his daughter and said warmly: "Actually, a lot of learning can be learned, but most of the ladies are learning piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and the mother will also teach some housekeepers. In the future, when my daughter gets married, she will be able to choose a housekeeper who can be used. Mammy follows, so there is no need to spend time to learn from the accountant. But there are exceptions in the private sector, such as merchants’ homes, which require special study, which is also their daily needs.”
Added, "This girl Rong's mother is from the Chen family, a famous big businessman in Shu. The daughter of a businessman, especially the daughter of a big businessman, if there is no accident, will most likely marry a big businessman in the future. Yes, so many of them will be trained in the system of accounting and even business when they are young, so that they can help their husbands and manage some businesses in the future.”
Xiang Guifei's tone was gentle and serious, and she was completely dispelling her daughter's confusion, without any discrimination.
Princess Changrong said "oh" and looked at Jingshu with a thoughtful look. She actually had doubts in her heart, but she stopped knowingly.
Empress Dowager Zhuang didn't seem to be able to hear any of them, she still nodded with a smile, turned her eyes to the other beautiful girls, and then looked at Xiang Yilan and said gently: "Lady Lan, I heard that you taught me yesterday. The little palace maids are studying calligraphy. As Miss Rong said earlier, these little palace ladies are all taught by special people. Wouldn’t it be superfluous if you spend more time teaching them? Tell me what you think.”
Xiang Yilan saluted: "Back to the empress dowager's words, the maids are still young, although the tutors in the palace teach them to read characters, but it is to make them literate and memorize characters, but the ministers teach them, but it is hope They can practice their state of mind. In the future, they will all have to do things in the palace, learn to do things, and be human first. The ministers and daughters hope that they can guard against arrogance and impatience, and have a peaceful state of mind, so that they can do their duty well..."
The Empress Dowager Zhuang nodded with satisfaction and smiled: "Guo is a girl with a deep mind and full of wisdom."
The Queen Mother then asked the other girls what they thought about it.
Because Xiang Yilan is the niece of Concubine Xiang, she is easy-going and low-key. Although she was born to be outstanding, everyone knows that she was appointed to the third son of the king of Shu by default. , there is no conflict of interest, so they are very friendly to Xiang Yilan.
Although Jingshu's family background is not obvious, but under the same plain clothes and hairpin rings, she has become more and more ice skinned and jaded, and her face is threatening, which makes people feel ashamed. hostility.
At this time, when the queen mother asked, many people secretly belittled Jingshu, and turned the corner to praise Yilan, to Xiang Yilan and Xiang Guifei, just because the knowledge of the accounts just invited a palace steward They can all be taught. The ladies who ask them to teach the little palace maids naturally want to teach them mood and tolerance, which ordinary teaching can't teach...
Some people have secretly slandered in their hearts. It turns out that this daughter of the Rong family is not only a remnant of the previous dynasty, but her mother is also a businesswoman. Seeing how she was born, she must have inherited it from her mother. so that a superficial father would be ungrateful as soon as he found out about his life...
On this day, Concubine Xiang, who insisted on laughing, listened to Empress Dowager Zhuang's words and saw her warm admiration for Xiang Yilan, but she was very determined. It seems that the Empress Dowager did not deny Lan Jie'er because of her father. , The Queen Mother has always had the same attitude as Her Majesty, so... the matter of father should not be too serious.
August 15, Mid-Autumn Festival.
This morning, the palace specially held a small palace banquet for the beautiful ladies. At the palace banquet, everyone would send their own gifts to the empress dowager, and then the majesty, the empress dowager and the empresses would ask how many question, and finally evaluate their talents and dispositions, and decide whether they are suitable for several princes or into the harem.
Because the main purpose was to give marriages to several feudal princes, Emperor Jing Yuan specially invited three feudal princes to attend this palace banquet.
After the palace banquet, these beautiful girls will be sent home to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival with their families, waiting for the imperial edict to be granted.
Because of the limited materials and time, most of the congratulatory gifts sent by people are their own calligraphy and painting, simple embroidery, or an ingenious home-made dessert. To be true, I stepped forward and played a song and danced for the Empress Dowager directly.
Liang Mengru, the granddaughter of Liang Shoufu's family, presented a pair of exquisite and delicate Suzhou embroidery double-sided embroidered fans with red peach and blue leaves, which are lifelike. Although the pattern is simple, it only takes ten days. Time, only available at night, can actually embroider a pair of excellent double-sided embroidery, which shows that his embroidery skills are outstanding.
Among these beautiful girls, the empress dowager Zhuang has always treated Liang Mengru differently. She was even more happy to see her gift. She called her forward and took the gift from her hand and looked at it carefully. Fan, smiled and said to Emperor Jing Yuan: "In the past, I only heard that Liang Shoufu was familiar with hundreds of books and was able to make good decisions, but I didn't expect their granddaughter to be so beautiful, I'm afraid that a woman from a century-old scholarly family in the south of the Yangtze River would not be able to. Raised so well."
Liang Shoufu was an old confidant of Emperor Jing Yuan, and he was an old minister of the palace in the time of the old Nanping King.
Emperor Jing Yuan almost laughed when he heard it. He took the fan from Empress Dowager Zhuang, put on the mat, and said with a smile, "I really can't think of it."
"But mother, you said that this daughter was raised by a century-old scholarly family in the south of the Yangtze River, and I remembered the old Bai Hanlin family, which is said to be a century-old scholarly family in the south of the Yangtze River. It is said that the daughter of Mrs. Rong Zhongrong's family is not the daughter of the Bai family. Is it big?"
After he finished speaking, he looked down and asked, "Which girl is from the Rong family?"
Jing Shu stepped forward to salute, and Emperor Jing Yuan nodded and said, "Let's get rid of the ceremony. You can send your congratulations to the empress and I to see. I will compare with the empress."
Jing Shu felt a little speechless in her heart. Thinking of her own gift, she bravely gave it to her. As soon as she sent it up, Emperor Jing Yuan laughed even more, even Empress Dowager Zhuang couldn't help laughing.
However, it turned out that Jingshu gave a hand-carved golden nanmu Guanyin statue only the size of a finger and a palm. Take it for re-engraving.
The art of carving seal stone is considered elegant and indecent. It is okay for literati to have hobbies, but it is rare for ladies to be good at it.
Emperor Jing Yuan took a closer look and said with a smile: "The swordsmanship is good, although it's still a lot worse than Huai's. Haha, you really match Huaizhi, he likes martial arts rather than writing, and he cuts these things on weekdays. He is a knife craftsman, but he doesn't like to bother, every time I or my mother is born, he will use some of the things he carved to fool him..."
Speaking and shaking his head, he smiled and said, "If this is not a gift for the queen mother, I will directly give this thing to Huaizhi."
As soon as these words came out, the faces of several people on the field changed. The most powerful ones were naturally Xiang Yilan, who thought Wenwen would be married to the third son of the King of Shu, and her aunt Xiang Guifei.
Concubine Xiang didn't know whether to be happy or sad when she heard this. She has been Emperor Jing Yuan's favorite concubine for many years, but she doesn't know that Emperor Jing Yuan never does anything aimless or speaks words without meaning.
Does Guo still follow the way of the Hua family?
Emperor Jing Yuan handed the Avalokitesvara statue to Queen Mother Zhuang, and then smiled and asked the two of them a few words, both of which belonged to the same interests and hobbies of the two, but it was obvious that everyone could see that Emperor Jing Yuan was facing Liang Mengru's The attitude is to appreciate and appreciate a talented woman, but to Jing Shu is mostly a joke to a junior.
When everyone finished the congratulatory gifts and returned to their places, in the end, Emperor Jing Yuan did not discuss with Empress Dowager Zhuang and Empress Hua. Instead, he did not play cards according to common sense and directly asked several princes: "This draft, My original purpose was to choose wives for you, and now that you have all seen the beautiful girls and the gifts they gave to the queen mother, I will give you a chance today and let you choose a good match.”
Added, "Don't say anything, just follow the will of the royal uncle. You will regret it at that time. You will answer from the oldest to the youngest."
The three are the same age, but the difference is only a month.
Jiang Jue from the King Kang family is the biggest. He was a little embarrassed. He glanced at Hua Yurong, who was sitting diagonally across from him. He blushed and said, "Uncle Royal, if my nephew is willing to let him be the master, my nephew will definitely not. Sorry."
Hua Yurong, who was looking forward to it, felt Jiang Jue's eyes and hearts fly. As a result, he said this, and his face sank immediately.
Seeing this, Jiang Jue sighed in her heart, fearing that she might be coaxed later... To be honest, he would rather have His Majesty give him the young lady of Liang Shoufu's family, Hua Family and Hua Yurong, who have already let him He feels more and more tied up...
Next is Jiang Lian of the Minwang family, and finally Jiang Lian.
Jiang Lian lowered his eyes, thinking of the graceful figure just now, with bright eyes like cold stars, and his heart was extremely bitter.
He wanted to ask to marry Rong Jingshu, but he just glanced at her before, and the knife-like look of his cousin Jiang Yu who was sitting next to him killed him. Just kidding, what did he not understand with Jiang Yu's natural expression?
His mouth opened and closed, and the last thing he spit out was: "The uncle of the emperor, the grandmother of the emperor, and the concubine of the Cui family have always loved the cousin of the Cui family.
The cousin of the Cui family, Jiang Lian's aunt and cousin, and the granddaughter of Cui Zhe, the servant of the Ministry of Rites, is also one of the beautiful daughters.
Emperor Jing Yuan couldn't see the undercurrent between his two nephews. He was very satisfied with Jiang Lian's answer, nodded, and turned his eyes to Jiang Yan with a smile.
Jiang Yu stood up and saluted: "Uncle Royal, since you have said before that Miss Rong and nephew are the best match, the nephew does not dare to violate the wishes of the uncle and grandmother of the emperor, and Miss Rong grew up in the middle of Shu. His temperament and concubine are familiar, but the other girls and concubines have never met, so my nephew begged my uncle to marry Mr. Rong, the daughter of Mr. Rong Zhongrong in the Ministry of Industry and Nephew.”
Emperor Jing Yuan laughed and said, "This is just a joke. Your imperial grandmother once said that the young lady of the Xiang family, the Marquis of Anxi, has a gentle temperament, which best matches your irritable temperament. Why don't you say that?"
Jiang Yu said sternly: "I don't know what Miss Xiang's temperament is, but 10 years ago, as the head coach of the battle against Xiliang, the Marquis of Anxi deducted military salaries, embezzled military funds, delayed fighter planes, and caused tens of thousands of soldiers to starve in the winter. The death of illness has caused me a heavy loss. My nephew has been in the army for many years, and I know that every bit of military salaries and supplies are the blood and lives of soldiers in the frontier battlefield. The daughter of such a family, my nephew dare not ask for marriage. "
With a "bang", a teacup fell to the ground, with broken porcelain all over the floor.
Xiang Guifei knelt down on his knees, weeping at Emperor Jing Yuan: "Your Majesty, this matter has not yet been ascertained, and my father will never do such unfaithful things. Convicted on the body of my father, and as a result, even the niece of the concubine, Your Majesty..."