Zhurou

Chapter 259 True Intention

Pei Yong had pointed out his intentions so bluntly, Zhao Hongnian was too shy to ask any further questions. After thinking for a long time, he managed to utter, "I heard that Pei Qing has never been married, but I don't know why. What are your plans?"

Pei Yong said, "Since I am waiting to be recruited, I will come when summoned. Even if Your Majesty has questions, no matter how much I want to ask, I should not answer them - there are others who can answer them."

He kept making excuses and was unwilling to speak directly, but the meaning of his words was vague, and there was no rejection at all. Instead, he seemed very sincere and cooperative, which made Zhao Hong confused and had to sit there at a loss.

Pei Yong couldn't explain the reason, so he could only say: "Since the princess is choosing a prince consort, why don't you ask His Highness what he thinks?"

Zhao Hong just frowned.

He had been repeatedly advised against and had read so many memorials these days. No matter how much he resisted, he knew in his heart that if the royal family married the governor in front of him, the benefits would far outweigh the disadvantages for the court and his own family.

But it was all hard for my sister.

But my sister always takes herself seriously. In the critical moment before, knowing that the road ahead was full of difficulties and dangers and that there was a high risk of death, she still went to the northwest with only a team of soldiers to ask for reinforcements.

Now if she knew that she could use the matter of recruiting a prince consort to control the northwest, she might not be willing to sacrifice herself.

How could Zhao Hong dare to gamble?

Before, the Di people were right in front of us. If we didn't ask for troops, our lives would be in danger. We couldn't just watch the collapse of our powerful empire. But the situation is different now. At most it's an internal strife, not an external threat.

  I still remember that when he was in Caizhou a few months ago, my sister asked him a question before she left, and he just said "take it if you want to." Now he still thinks the same way - if the northwest really rebels, and the court can't pacify or suppress it, then what will happen if he doesn't become the emperor?

Just admit defeat.

  As far as the common people are concerned, no matter who is the emperor, as long as they can live on, what difference does it make?

Therefore, no matter how the two governments exaggerated the dangers of ruling the northwest independently, he could not empathize with them - he had tried hard to learn to be an emperor, and if he did a good job, he would definitely not give up the position, especially to the one in Xiazhou. But if he did not do a good job and could not beat others, why should he occupy such a position?

If that’s the case, how could I possibly sacrifice my sister for such a thing?

He really didn't want to ask, for fear that if he did, he would no longer be able to stop it.

Zhao Hong feels sorry for his elder sister, who is of the same blood as him, but that doesn't mean others feel the same way.

He was reluctant to ask, but there were always people who were eager to ask.

Zhao Mingzhi's menstrual period lasted a long time this time and she was very tired. Just when she finally felt a little better, she heard someone say that Concubine Li had arrived.

After all, he was an elder and was visiting, so it was difficult to stop him. She had no choice but to change into clothes for meeting guests and asked him to sit in the outer room for a while.

After Li Taifei entered the palace, she could not help looking around, looking at the furnishings in the room, the roof, the tiles, and even the teacups and tea brought by the palace servants. She only smiled and said, "I heard that your highness has not been feeling well these days. Are you feeling better today?"

Zhao Mingzhi had to say a few polite words and extend his greetings.

Concubine Li said, "There's nothing else to worry about. After I returned to the palace, the side hall was always leaking. It's far from the central palace. It's so hot, and the food has lost its taste. I thought there were a few empty places, so I wanted to move closer. I was also afraid that Your Highness might have other arrangements, so I came to ask."

Zhao Mingzhi said, "Since the Di people destroyed and burned the capital several times a few years ago, there is no intact house in the palace. Although the place where the Concubine Dowager lives is far away, fortunately the main hall is intact. If you want to move to a nearby place, it will take at least ten days to renovate it. I wonder what the Concubine Dowager thinks?"

Concubine Li was very disappointed and said, "Why does it take another ten days to arrange for a few more craftsmen?"

Zhao Mingzhi explained to her that there was a shortage of materials. Many people in the city had no roof over their heads. Even half of the city gate and city walls were in ruins. Ordinary materials could not be found, let alone suitable materials to build a palace.

After all, the roof beams used in the palace are made of unusual wood and need to be transported from the north. Otherwise, they will not be installed stably and the beams will collapse. In addition, the bricks and tiles are also different and need to be made separately.

Secondly, many places cannot be repaired by ordinary craftsmen. Those techniques are unique. The craftsmen are originally in Xingqing Prefecture, and they are about to look for them elsewhere.

"Thank you for your patience, Dowager Concubine. When autumn comes, I think she will be able to take care of everything. As for the food, why don't we set up a small kitchen in the Dowager Concubine's side hall and pick a few dishes that suit your taste from the imperial kitchen?"

Concubine Li felt that with her status, she was above everyone else, but she still had to be perfunctorily dealt with by Zhao Mingzhi with these words. She was extremely dissatisfied, but when she thought about what she was going to say, she was rarely not angry, and did not refute. She still smiled back and said, "In this case, I will wait a little longer."

She sat there and drank a full cup of tea, chatting about this and that for half a day, asking about the princess's affairs in the vassal state, the emperor's personality and preferences when he was a child, and how he mobilized the Western Army when he went to the northwest a few years ago, etc.

It was not until Mo Xiang, who was standing beside him, coughed lightly that a palace servant came in and reported that it was time for the princess to take her medicine.

Concubine Li just shut up, but she didn't leave. She just smiled and said, "I came here today just to help ask a question - Your Highness is also at the age of marriage, but he is always worrying about state affairs. Now that the Di people have left, the former court should be handed back to their husbands to manage."

As she spoke, she secretly looked at Zhao Mingzhi's expression. Seeing that she didn't look angry, she continued, "Others don't know what to think. Only I am a woman, and I have a daughter who is almost the same age as you. Every day I look at you as if you were my own daughter..."

At this point, Concubine Li couldn't help but frown, feeling uncomfortable. When she spoke again, her tone no longer showed the concern she had before, and inevitably sounded a little more urgent.

She said, "You don't have any elders around, no one to worry about you, so I have to help take care of you. I went to see His Majesty the day before yesterday and asked him to tell the front people to start choosing a prince consort for you. Otherwise, if you delay for too long, you will become an old maid. How can you be useful in the future?"

How could Zhao Mingzhi not know something that many people outside knew?

She had heard the rumors a few days ago, but she was not feeling well and did not have the energy to ask in detail. She also saw that her brother was cautious and careful, obviously not wanting her to know, so she simply turned a blind eye. She did not expect that Concubine Li would come to her house today, and she could not help but be shocked.

Perhaps it was because of Zhao Mingzhi's reaction that Concubine Li became more attentive. She hurriedly added, "When I mentioned this matter, except for His Majesty who is young and not very sensible, all the other officials in the court agreed. Someone immediately proposed a candidate. I have been helping to inquire about them in the past two days. Among them, one is particularly suitable - that is the Jiedushi Pei Yong. Not only is his age suitable, but I happened to see him with my own eyes that day. His appearance..."

"Appearance..." Li Taifei Ka was about to praise him, but she couldn't help but think of Pei Yong's cold eyes at that time. She shuddered for no reason and paused for a long time before reluctantly continuing, "He is a handsome man, tall and majestic..."

"This man is so young, yet he holds such a high position, can lead troops to fight, and is in charge of such a large area. He is very capable. The most rare thing is that when Your Highness went to Jingzhao Prefecture to request troops, it was this man who came forward. The princess and he have known each other for a long time." Concubine Li became more and more excited as she spoke, and she added: "He agreed to lead troops to rescue the emperor, so he must have liked the princess very much. Otherwise, such a useless thing..."

Zhao Mingzhi just frowned at first, but when he heard this, he immediately spoke up to stop her, "Please be careful with your words, Concubine."

Concubine Li opened her mouth, but she realized that what she had just said was not very appropriate. She quickly changed the subject and continued, "I have been asking around these days. It is said that he has great power, occupies a large area, is far away, and has many subordinates. The gentlemen are worried that they have no way to control him and monitor him. Now is the perfect time. If I marry him, with His Highness helping to watch over him, it will be the safest thing. Even the emperor and the officials can all rest assured!"

“So the best of both worlds…”

She talked so much that her saliva was almost dry. She was about to reach for a teacup beside her, but before she could pick it up, she heard the ceremonial officer at the door announce something.

Before the announcement even ended, Zhao Hong walked in quickly. He took a quick glance and saw Concubine Li sitting on the table. He immediately stepped forward and asked, "What does the Concubine do today? Why don't you come to the Chuigong Palace, but come here instead?"

When Concubine Li saw Zhao Hong and heard the anger in his voice, her fear of the imperial power got the better of her. Her hands trembled, and she naturally failed to pick up the teacup. The lid of the teacup was accidentally dropped on the table with a "bang". Although it did not break, it was very scary.

"I heard that the princess has been feeling unwell these days. It's nothing serious, so I came to check on her." Without caring about the teacup lid, Concubine Li said hurriedly.

Zhao Hong continued, "Oh, then I would like to thank the Concubine Dowager for her concern on behalf of my sister. But the Concubine Dowager has been here for half a day, I wonder what she talked about with my sister?"

His voice was hard.

Although Concubine Li was worried, she had to make things clear as soon as possible, so she said, "The rest are just trivial matters. There is only one thing. I happened to come here today, so I talked to the princess about the matter of selecting a son-in-law and recruiting a prince consort the day before yesterday."

Zhao Hong's face immediately darkened.

Concubine Li didn't dare to stay any longer. She made an excuse that she had other things to do and left in a hurry without asking any other questions.

Even after everyone left the palace, Zhao Hong's face still looked unhappy and gloomy, as if rain could be squeezed out of it immediately.

He stood there for a while, until only the brother and sister were left in the hall, then he slowly calmed down, took a few steps forward, and said with shame: "Sister, don't pay attention to her. This person has bad intentions, and I don't know what bad plans she has."

Zhao Mingzhi had already placed Concubine Li far away and had spies around her to ensure that she would not stir up any more trouble. He was more patient with her and just smiled and said, "Since she likes to complain, let her complain. Anyway, the selection of the envoys going north will be decided in the next few days. If everything goes well and we can bring back many people from Xiazhou first, we can then arrange for the princesses to go to Caizhou. I think the Concubine will have less to say."

Hearing the words "envoys heading north", Zhao Hong hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not comment. He changed the subject and asked about Zhao Mingzhi's health.

The two exchanged a few words. Seeing that Zhao Mingzhi was calm and composed, as if she was not affected at all, Zhao Hong could no longer hold back and spoke first: "Sister... that day, the Concubine Dowager came to ask for an audience and said in front of many ministers that she would find a prince consort for you. It caused a big uproar in the court. I couldn't hold back, so I had to give in... I didn't come to explain to you because I was afraid that you would be anxious after hearing it, and..."

He had a lot to say, but he didn't know how to say it.

Seeing his brother's anxious look, Zhao Mingzhi smiled and said, "It's not like you did anything wrong, why are you like this?"

Then he asked, "I heard that a list of candidates for the imperial consort has been drawn up. Where is that list?"

"I was afraid that my sister would see it, so I didn't bring it with me." Zhao Hong couldn't guess what Zhao Mingzhi was thinking, but he quickly asked someone to call Wang Shu in and asked him to present the list of candidates.

Zhao Mingzhi took it and glanced through it.

The Taichang Temple worked diligently and conducted a very thorough background check on everyone, and sure enough, all the talented unmarried young men in the capital were here.

The rest were ignored, except for a few pages with thin wooden sticks inserted in them, and the names circled with a red pen, and there were also a lot of red comments, which were obviously written by Zhao Hong. However, he criticized the good and bad of various people, pointed out problems, and said that certain places needed further investigation.

Seeing Zhao Mingzhi reading seriously, Zhao Hong hurried over and said to her, "There's no one to choose from these two books. I wanted to wait a few more years, but I'm afraid that if new people don't come, the old ones won't be enough, so I asked them to check these few first."

As he spoke, he introduced the situations of those people in the circle one by one. He seemed to have known them all by heart and could explain them clearly without looking at any books.

"The rest are fine. There are two of them. One is Lu Canzheng, and the other is... and Pei Yong, the Pei Qing family. I asked both of them."

"Mr. Lu said that there is no such thing as a chastity, but he is grateful for the loyalty of Mr. Peng, and because the Di people have not retreated, he really has no intention of getting married. Since the current situation is different from the past, he will follow the arrangements of the court. There is nothing wrong with it."

"As for Mr. Pei..." Zhao Hong hesitated, "He just said that he was waiting to be recruited and asked me to ask Sister what she thought."

"This is just a list of candidates. Just take a look at it. If you like someone, you can choose him. If you don't like someone or don't want to choose him, just pretend that this has never happened. It doesn't matter if you never get married or find a consort in your life!"

"Although there are many people talking nonsense in the court, you don't need to listen to them. I am not afraid of others, but I am afraid that you only care about me and force yourself to choose Pei Yong in order to balance the suppression of the northwest."

Zhao Mingzhi held the list in his hand and looked at his brother's anxious and ashamed expression. He hesitated for a few breaths and finally said, "How can I force myself? If I really choose Pei Yong in the end, it will only be out of my heart."

Zhao Hong was confused and looked at her blankly.

Zhao Mingzhi put the list aside and made room for his younger brother to sit next to him. He then said, "I went to Jingzhao Prefecture to request soldiers years ago. Several things happened on the way. I haven't had time to tell you in detail..."