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

Chapter 955 Unexpected Benefits

Haijiao had not heard any definite news about the choice of queen for the new king, but he had some idea in his mind.

The son of the Grand Secretary wanted to dig a tunnel to rescue his beloved, a woman from the Sun clan. Although this news was covered up by the big news that the Sun family was secretly digging a tunnel network, Lord Tao, who had received the news in advance, knew everything clearly. Even other members of the cabinet were aware of it.

As the leaders of the civil officials, they concealed the scandal for the sake of the civil officials' face, but they could not lie for the grand secretary's family in front of the new emperor and the Empress Dowager and Empress Dowager Xu. The grand secretary's daughter might be very outstanding, talented and beautiful, worthy of being the queen of a country, but her brother could do such a daring thing, which proved that the grand secretary's family was not well educated, so no matter how outstanding she was, she was not worthy of being the queen.

If it weren't for the fact that the Grand Secretary was impeccable in both knowledge and reputation, and his son's scandal had not been publicized, the cabinet would have probably removed him from the position of imperial tutor. Although the Grand Secretary can still take on the responsibility of teaching the new monarch, he is no longer the only candidate for imperial tutor. There are also two other Hanlin scholars with outstanding knowledge and reputation who have participated. If the Grand Secretary performs well enough and can convince the new monarch in the future, his daughter may still be made a concubine, but she can forget about becoming the empress.

The family of the Grand Secretary knew about this and did not resist at all. They just sent their eldest son back to their hometown to study in a low-key manner, and asked their daughter who failed to be selected to report illness and stay at home to recuperate, avoiding outsiders. At the same time, they told relatives and friends that the old lady in the family intended to travel and worship Buddha. When the spring comes next year, the old lady of the Grand Secretary's mansion will leave Beijing for a trip, and the Grand Secretary and his wife will send their children to accompany them to show their filial piety. After a year or two, when they return to Beijing, the matter will be over.

Anyway, the new emperor is still young, and he will have to wait at least another three years before he can officially marry the queen. In such a long period of time, anything can happen, so those who have ideas about the position of the queen do not need to rush.

This matter should have been decided before the late emperor's funeral. At that time, Hai Jiao was still guarding the palace gate, and could only hear some gossips that he didn't know whether they were true or false. After the assassination, he gained the trust of the new emperor and was transferred to guard the imperial court with his companions in the Jinyiwei. No one mentioned that the daughter of the Grand Secretary was a popular candidate for the new queen.

However, General Zhou Si's wife was summoned twice by the Grand Empress Dowager and Empress Dowager Xu recently, and was rewarded when she left the palace. General Zhou Si only said that it was because the Grand Empress Dowager missed her relatives in her natal family that she summoned her niece-in-law to the palace for an audience, but in fact, almost everyone knew that his daughter Zhou Xuejun had become a popular candidate for the new emperor's empress. As long as Zhou Xuejun did not have any problems in the next few years, her status as empress would basically be determined.

Haitang sighed again after hearing this: "Although Zhou Xuejun prefers reading and is not an extrovert, she is also a daughter of the Zhou family who grew up in the northwest. She would go out with her sisters from time to time and is good at riding and shooting. But once she enters the palace and becomes the queen, I'm afraid she will be trapped within the four palace walls for the rest of her life and will never be able to live the free life she used to. I don't know what she's feeling at the moment. If I want to go see her, I'm afraid I can't be frank when I talk to her, right?"

Hai Jiao said, "The palace has already sent a nanny to the Cheng'en Marquis's residence to teach her palace rules and etiquette. But now the new emperor is still in mourning, and the wedding is still a long way off. In addition, the nanny sent was appointed by the Grand Empress Dowager, so she won't be too strict with the Zhou family's daughter. If my little sister wants to visit her, it shouldn't be difficult, but she does need to be more careful when speaking, and can no longer treat her as a friend she knew before."

However, it was a good thing for the Hai family that Zhou Xuejun became the new emperor's empress. Zhou Xuejun was familiar with the Hai family, and had been a close friend of Haitang for many years. When Haitang married Jin Jiashu, Zhou Xuejun married into the palace and became the empress. The two became de facto sisters-in-law, and the bond between Jin Jiashu and the new emperor became even closer. If one day, Jin Jiashu did something that made Empress Dowager Xu dissatisfied, at least the new emperor would stand on his side, and he would not be neglected and ignored just because he lost the favor of his "aunt", and his wife and children would be implicated.

Therefore, Haijiao reminded Haitang: "Little sister, you should try your best to keep good friends with Zhou Xuejun in the future. Even if you two cannot talk as frankly as before, you must not alienate her. This is good for both you and Xiaojin. Although Queen Mother Xu accepted you as her daughter-in-law because of Xiaojin's health, she may find fault with you again when Xiaojin is cured. Even if you live in and out of the palace and don't see each other often, as an elder, she will always find a way to make things difficult for you if she wants to. At that time, if the current queen stands on your side, you will feel much better. At least when you enter the palace, there will be someone to take care of you."

Although there is still the Grand Empress Dowager in the palace, firstly, she is old and had passed away at this time in her previous life. It is unknown how many years she can last in this life. Even if she can protect Haitang, it may not last long. Secondly, the relationship between the Zhou family and the Hai family is just an ordinary in-law after all, not close. The Grand Empress Dowager is unlikely to break up with her daughter-in-law for the sake of the Hai family's daughter. In comparison, Zhou Xuejun is more reliable. She and Haitang have been best friends for several years, and their feelings are deeper.

Haitang listened to her brother's words and thought: "In fact, not only will Zhou Xuejun become the queen, but Wu Qiong will also become the Consort of Kang. They are both my good friends in Chang'an and we have always had a good relationship. My friendship with them is conducive to Big Brother Jin maintaining a friendly and close relationship with the brothers of Xinjun. In addition, with the merit of saving the emperor this time... Big Brother Jin's future will no longer rely on Queen Mother Xu alone."

This also indirectly reduced the importance of Empress Dowager Xu to Jin Jiashu, so that he did not have to be controlled by his biological mother in every way and could gain relatively more autonomy.

The bunch of marriage decrees left by the late emperor did bring quite a few unexpected benefits.

Haitang smiled: "Don't worry, brother. This matter concerns whether I can live comfortably in the future. I know what to do and I will never do anything stupid!"

Seeing that she knew what was going on, Hai Jiao felt relieved and even had the leisure to tell a few jokes: "The Zhang family wanted to send the daughter of the direct branch to the throne of the new emperor and empress, so they only wanted to marry the daughter of the side branch to Wu Ke. But in fact, neither the royal family nor the cabinet really considered his daughter. Even if the daughter of the Grand Secretary was not selected, the cabinet would only support the daughter of the general of the Zhou family instead, not the daughter of the Zhang family. Now the daughter of the side branch of the Zhang family has been arranged by the late emperor to marry Wu Ke, and she will have a stable imperial edict in the future, but the daughter of the direct branch has no place to go. Almost all the sons of the royal family, princes, ministers, and nobles in the capital have been married by the late emperor. The rest are mostly mediocre second sons, third sons, or illegitimate sons, who are not as good as Wu Ke! I don’t know what the Zhang family feels now, and how they plan to arrange the marriage of their direct daughter?"

The late emperor may have left so many marriage decrees in order to curb the marriage of the children of nobles and expand his power, but in disguise, it deceived the arrogant Zhang family. I am afraid that even the late emperor himself did not expect this?