After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 1076 Rumors
Although the scale of this year's New Year's Palace Banquet was not comparable to previous years, there were still quite a few people attending. What happened at the palace banquet gradually spread among the royal family, nobles and officials in the capital over the next few days.

Hai Chang'an went to the palace to take night duty in the evening of the second day of the first lunar month and returned home before noon on the third day. Hai Jiao was on duty during the day on the fourth day of the first lunar month. The uncle and nephew heard a lot of gossip in the palace. Later, when they were not on duty, they were visiting relatives and friends, or having banquets with colleagues and friends. Hai Jiao also went to the Cheng'en Marquis's Mansion, the Zhou Si General's House, and the third branch of the Zhou family once, and collected even more news.

Hai Jiao discussed with his younger sister in private: "Has the Zhang family lost their minds? They actually let the daughter of the royal family sing and dance at the palace banquet! If she really wants to show her talent, she can just play the piano or the flute! No matter how outstanding the daughter of the Zhang family is in singing and dancing, she shouldn't do it in public. By doing this, does she think of herself as a singer or dancer? Why does a good daughter of a royal family have to lower herself to such a low level?!"

Haitang had some guesses: "Didn't my brother say before that Miss Zhang had also entered the palace to accompany Concubine Zhang Gong? Zhou Xuejun and Wu Qiong were taken to the Cining Palace before, and the Zhang family must have been anxious, so they sent Miss Zhang in as well. The Zhang family was unwilling to see their daughter lose out in the selection of the new emperor's empress, and they wanted to send another girl from the Zhang family to the new emperor's harem, so they acted like this, right? It is probably because Miss Zhang has lived in the palace for so long and has not been able to get what she wanted, so she is anxious. The three young ladies were all sent out of the palace before the New Year, and the Zhang family didn't know if their daughter could enter the palace again, so they could only use the opportunity of the New Year's Palace Banquet to give her another push."

Hai Jiao thought about it and felt that it made sense: "Yes, there are not many concubines of the previous emperor in Shoukang Palace except Empress Dowager Xu and Concubine Zhang Gong. Concubine Zhang Gong was originally just a concubine, and her status was much lower than that of Empress Dowager Xu. Empress Dowager Xu was the only one in power in Shoukang Palace and lived a more comfortable life. There was really no need to bring out another concubine to get in the way. She had a mediocre relationship with Concubine Zhang Gong, but she still asked the new emperor to promote her position on New Year's Day, and allowed the head of the Zhang family to enter the palace to attend the palace banquet. These were all special favors! Maybe Empress Dowager Xu was warning Concubine Zhang Gong not to have any ideas about the new emperor. After the new year, even if Miss Zhou and Miss Wu will be taken to the Cining Palace for education, Miss Zhang will not be included. No matter how unwilling Concubine Zhang Gong is, she can only accept her fate. She still has two princesses, and it is impossible for her to offend the new emperor for her niece."

However, Concubine Zhang Gong could accept her fate, but the head of the Zhang family could not.

The ancestors of the Zhang family relied on their daughters to become queens and queen mothers, and the sons they gave birth to became the new emperors, which enabled them to gain decades of wealth and power. Having tasted the benefits, they followed this path again, sending generation after generation of daughters to the emperor's harem. If they could not become queens, they would become concubines. As long as they gave birth to sons, they could compete for that position, allowing the Zhang family to prosper for a long time. However, this path does not always work. The sons born to the daughters of the Zhang family in the previous generation lost in the battle for the throne and failed to inherit the throne. Now they can only bow their heads and be humble; the daughters of the Zhang family in this generation only gave birth to two princesses and fell out of favor early. Even if they wanted to stir up the situation, they were not qualified to compete; the daughters of the Zhang family in the next generation were kicked out of the selection of the new emperor and queen early, which means that the next generation of the Zhang family is likely to have no daughters entering the palace. How can the name of the Zhang family's descendants continue?

The Zhang family has no outstanding and talented children to support the family. If even his daughter cannot become the new emperor's concubine, his family will really fall into decline!

With this in mind, the head of the Zhang family made a desperate move, letting his daughter take his wife's place in the palace to attend the banquet and then perform at the banquet. There was no other way. Because during the time when his daughter accompanied Concubine Zhang Gong in the palace, she failed to gain the recognition of the Empress Dowager and the Queen Mother, and failed to leave a good impression on the new emperor. If she could not take this opportunity to show her outstanding talent and beauty to the new emperor again, she would really have no hope.

If the daughter of the head of the Zhang family cannot enter the palace, she can only marry someone else outside the palace. But who else can she marry? The emperor has granted marriage to all the decent sons of the royal family, the powerful and noble families in the capital. The remaining candidates are either ugly or mediocre. How can the Zhang family be interested in them?

The Zhang family first rejected the olive branch offered by Queen Mother Xu, and was only willing to marry the daughter of the side branch to the Queen Mother's nephew. Later, they felt that the Wu family had a more noble title, so they kicked out the Queen Mother's nephew and turned to Cheng Enbo. From the beginning to the end, the Zhang family never thought of using the daughter of the main branch for marriage, but only wanted her to become the concubine of the new monarch, so they used the daughter of the side branch as a tool for marriage. But now, the daughter of the side branch has been engaged to Cheng Enbo Wu Ke, and in the future she will be the wife of Cheng Enbo, a royal relative, rich and respectable; the daughter of the main branch has no marriage, could it be that she will marry worse than her sister of the side branch? !
Even if the head of the Zhang family could accept it, Miss Zhang would not. The father and daughter were unwilling to give up, even though they knew it was wrong, they still had to fight hard. Even if they lost face in front of others, so what? As long as they could make the new emperor interested in Miss Zhang and summon her to the palace as a concubine, the Zhang family would naturally have a chance to rise to power in the future. The Zhang family has a family background, and they have the support of Concubine Zhang Gong in the palace, as well as the help of the two princesses. Who says that the new daughter of the Zhang family will never succeed?

"What a pity!" Hai Jiao sighed, "No matter how well the Zhang family calculated, it was useless. The new king just had no interest in the girl from the Zhang family. The girl from the Zhang family was much older than the new king. No matter how beautiful, talented, and good at singing and dancing she was, in the eyes of the new king, what was the difference between her and an ordinary singer or dancer? Who would even take a second look at her when they knew that the Zhang family was incompetent but ambitious?"

The new emperor is still a child! He is still far from being able to be seduced by beauty! At that palace banquet, I am afraid that the delicious food on the table will attract the new emperor's attention more than the beautiful women singing and dancing in front of him.

Haitang found it funny and asked curiously, "What is the Zhang family going to do now? Miss Zhang can't enter the palace. I'm afraid that the better families are not willing to ask their sons and nephews to marry her, right?"

Hai Jiao said: "The news has spread to everyone in and outside the palace, and no one knows if there are people who are fanning the flames. Anyway, the reputation of the daughter of the Zhang family has been ruined. Those royal palaces, royal relatives, powerful families or wealthy families will never accept such a daughter-in-law. Of course, there may be people who are willing to marry Miss Zhang for their sons and nephews because of the Zhang family's concubines and princesses, but with the arrogance of the Zhang family's father and daughter, are they willing to accept such a marriage?"

If she could accept it, the daughter of the Zhang family's direct branch would be destined to be inferior to her cousin from the side branch after marriage; if she could not accept it, she didn't know whether she could find a better marriage in her life.

Miss Zhang is now too ashamed to see people. The Zhang family claimed that she had caught a cold and had her hidden away for the time being. However, the head of the Zhang family was depressed for only two days before he began to inquire about the foster nanny from the palace. It was said that she was planning to train her granddaughter.

The Zhang family has been rich for so long by sending their daughters to the palace. Even if they fail this time, they have no intention of giving up. If the daughter is not good enough, they will continue to train their granddaughter. It's just bad luck now, but the new emperor will grow up eventually. Who dares to say that the Zhang family will never have another queen or imperial concubine in the future?
Hai Jiao finished telling the news he had heard outside, and spread his hands to his younger sister: "Look, don't underestimate the Zhang family. This family of descendants and famous people will not lose their spirit so easily!"

Haitang couldn't help but roll her eyes at her brother, then sighed, "Fortunately, Miss Yingfeng from the Zhang family's side branch is marrying Wu Ke, not the son of a large family with a large population. Otherwise, if her family had made such a joke before she got married, she would have been implicated, and her future life would not be easy."