Long live Emperor Wu!

Chapter 25 Concubine Wei

Concubine Wei is the first of the four concubines.

Since the death of Queen Changsun, His Majesty has not appointed another queen, and Concubine Wei has become the most noble woman in the harem.

She invited people to enjoy the flowers in the inner garden of the harem. It was naturally a great honor for the invited people, so those who received the imperial concubine's letter dressed up and arrived at the Xuanwu Gate early, waiting Enter the palace.

Xuanwu Gate is the north gate of Taiji Palace. It is closest to the inner garden of the palace and farthest from the Mingtang of Taiji Palace in front. It can be regarded as the back door of the entire palace.

Wu Rou and several female officials stood at the inner gate, watching the ladies outside getting off the gorgeous carriages, young or old, and led by the eunuchs who led them into the palace gate through the outer gate.

"Madams, I am the talented Wu Rou, who is responsible for the process of this flower viewing banquet. This is the first time A Rou has taken on an errand. If there is any negligence, please forgive me and give A Rou some guidance."

Wu Rou bowed respectfully to these first- to third-grade wives.

She is young and has a voice like an oriole, which is very endearing.

The ladies looked at her with a lot of consideration in their eyes, especially her appearance. Although no one said it clearly, her reputation as a "charming and talented person" must have spread outside the palace.

So much so that everyone was curious about the beauty that could make the sage emperor, who always loved talents and virtues, suddenly praise her profusely.

At this time, Wu Rou was already much plumper than when she was outside the palace, the flesh on her cheeks was well-proportioned, her eyes were no longer dark with despair, they were becoming more smoke-like, and her gorgeous red lips were lowered. With his head lowered and his eyebrows meekly lowered, he looked like the person in the painting.

A third-grade county lady said with a smile;

"Meicai has such a good appearance, no wonder His Majesty likes her."

Her tone was lively and meaningful, with a touch of teasing to the younger generation, which made the twenty wives all laugh.

Another older lady smiled and educated her:
"You dare to tease even His Majesty's women, be careful if someone blows the pillow and masturbates your third-grade county wife."

Then he turned to Wu Rou and said pleasantly:

"You don't have to be familiar with her. She has a straightforward mouth. Even when Queen Wende was alive, she could say a few crazy words."

Wu Rou blushed at the speculation that they had banned her because of the title "Mei".How could you possibly care?

A 14-year-old virgin girl has become the person in everyone's hearts who can make the Holy Lord fascinated in bed.

She felt guilty, she was panicked, and she really didn't deserve this title.

"Don't dare, Ah Rou will lead the way for you ladies." Wu Rou suppressed everyone's scrutiny and speculation, forcing herself to be mature, steady, and reliable.

……

……

The flower-viewing banquet was naturally held outdoors, with seats placed in two rows of water corridor pavilions.

As soon as everyone sat down, they could just see the surrounding scenery, as if they were in a sea of ​​flowers, without being exposed to the sun.

Then, Concubine Wei came with a guard of honor.

That was the first time Wu Rou saw Concubine Wei. From a distance, she saw two rows of palace maids, surrounded by a yellow sedan, arriving.

In the palace's ceremonial guard, the emperor and the empress share the same honor, with the number nine being the largest, and the number of maidservants serving the palace at the next rank decreasing in order.

The imperial concubine is the first of the four concubines, and there are eight ceremonial guards in two rows, a total of 16 people.

Some people hold long fans, incense burners, and hand purifiers... The palace maids' clothes are ethereal and orderly, as if the fairy family in the sky is clearing the way.

When everyone saw this, they stood on both sides and lined up to greet him.

Wu Rou stood at the back, together with the palace ladies, lowered her head and bowed in salute, not daring to take a closer look.

"The imperial concubine is here~" the eunuch in the chamber reminded loudly, which was also the signal for everyone to respond.

"Welcome to you, your honorable concubine." Everyone said in unison.

Concubine Wei was helped out of the sedan chair. After sitting down on the throne, she said softly:
"No gift, sit down."

Her voice was not loud, so the chamberlain told her again according to the rules before everyone sat down.

Only then did Wu Rou dare to raise her eyes to look at Concubine Wei and observe her appearance.

Although Concubine Wei is a bit stout, she is very tall and does not look bloated. Her exquisite and appropriate makeup makes her look even more graceful and luxurious.

Perhaps it was because the eldest grandson in the palace advocated frugality. It was rare for concubines in the harem to have hairpins all over their heads, and most of them were small and exquisite.

Therefore, since Wu Rou entered the palace, she has always tied her hair with a hair tie and has never worn a hairpin for fear of outdoing someone with a higher rank than her.

At this time, seeing that Concubine Wei only had two fan-shaped golden hairpins on her head, accompanied by flowers, she became more determined that she should not show off her makeup.

"The imperial concubine is getting younger and younger." Mrs. Jun, who had just been teasing Wu Rou outside, spoke first.

As soon as she spoke, the atmosphere immediately became lively, and several others responded.

Concubine Wei looked over with delicate eyebrows, a loving smile on her face, and said:

"I am almost 40 years old, and my grandson is so old. Wherever I am still young, you will make me happy." Her voice was soft and gentle, her tone was gentle, and it seemed to have the warmth of a spring breeze. People can't help but feel a lot of closeness in their hearts after listening to it.

There was another burst of serious praise from everyone, like old friends, with a sense of casualness and bursts of laughter.

Fortunately, there weren't many people there, and we didn't feel upset.

Just listen to Concubine Wei continue to say:

"You came early in the morning and walked such a long way. Thank you for your hard work. Let's drink tea and chat first. Later I will take you to the garden for a walk. A few days ago, I found a tree with two branches. Purple chrysanthemum, they are so well-raised that they are rare to you."

She was drinking water from a tea bowl. She was obviously graceful and elegant, but there was a little bit of pride in her words, and it was because of a flower that made everyone smile.

"Hahaha... Your Majesty, don't you like to make things happen? In the past, none of us who wanted to enter the palace had a chance to see you." asked a lady from the palace.

After hearing this, Concubine Wei looked a little tired. She put down the tea bowl in her hand and said:
"It used to be the Queen who took care of all this. I was lazy. Now that she's gone, I'm even less interested."

As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere suddenly became sad, and everyone seemed to be immersed in nostalgia and sorrow for the queen.

Wu Rou observed their reactions... Although the queen held a high status in her heart, she was still very surprised to see that most of these people were sincerely mourning.

Especially Concubine Wei, she seemed... really sad.

Concubine Wei smiled like she was remembering and said:

"Back then, not long after she ascended the throne, she held a spring outing banquet. Those of you who are young may not know this. At that time, we old people were all young and walked through the flowers together. The queen sat under the pavilion and took a nap, smiling. He looked at us and composed that poem."

The oldest lady here with some gray hair answered her words with a smile:
"I remember it was called "Spring Outing Song"

The peach blossoms in Shangyuan rise to the bright sun,
Lan Gui's beautiful concubine is in love.

Inoue Arata steals the look

Tender willows on the eaves learn to be light

Come and watch the dancing butterflies among the flowers,
There are many singing warblers in the trees.

Why do you need to ask questions under the forest?

Being outstanding and romantic has always been famous. "

After hearing this last sentence, Wu Rou couldn't help but think of the scene when everyone was having a banquet in the past.

At that time, they must have been young, energetic, outstanding and famous.

Wu Rou couldn't help but laugh, infected by such poems.

Concubine Wei turned away from her memories, her eyes moved slightly, and she said with a smile:

"You are all active and capable people in various families today, so I will say something straightforward.

A few days ago, His Majesty was in a bad mood after reading the "Chronicles of the Clan" presented by Gao Shilian.It took two years, but the Cui family still ranked first on the list. When His Majesty asked why, they replied that it was popular.

His Majesty told me sadly that in the "Chronicles of Clan" formulated by the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the surnames of the heroes who followed him to conquer and govern the country were not ranked in the list. Instead, the surnames of the old clans who had made little contribution were ranked first. He I really feel aggrieved for those heroes. "

As soon as these words came out, some of the married ladies were surprised, some were moved, and all fell silent.

The wife of a general said softly:

"Your Majesty is a saint and the emperor. He loves and cares for his senior ministers, and his concubines and concubines are inexplicably grateful. However, the families of Cui, Wang, Zheng, and Lu have been passed down for a long time and their reputations are far-reaching. How can we, a small family, compare with it?"

Concubine Wei saw that all the ladies had their heads lowered, looking helpless, and said softly:
"You know that your Majesty cares about my veteran minister, so you should not belittle yourselves. Since your Majesty followed Gaozu's uprising, he has charged into battle and made friends with heroes from all walks of life. Only then was he able to help the world and calm down the chaos and tyranny everywhere.

During this period, which of your fathers, brothers, husbands and sons are not truly talented people?Is it not as good as the reputation of Cui, Lu, Zheng, and Wang?

If there were a few talented people in their family who had the world in mind, they would have been won over by His Majesty long ago. Why is it that there are no high-ranking officials with these surnames in the court now? "

When everyone heard this, several people looked at each other with dark expressions and said nothing.

In fact, no one from those families has become a high-ranking official, and there are a few secrets.The first is the Xuanwu Gate Incident. Now that His Majesty has eradicated his own brother, he will naturally expel those who support Li Jiancheng from the core of the court.

Concubine Wei seemed to have anticipated what they were thinking, and continued:

"Your Majesty has a generous heart, not to mention that the camp is different... As long as he is a person with both talents and virtues, even if he is an enemy, he has the courage and mind to include him in the account.

Let me give you an example that we women all know. Concubine Yin De, her father General Yin, in order to repay the favor of the Sui Dynasty, knew that he was defeated, and in order to protect the national destiny of the Sui Dynasty, he even dug up the ancestral graves of the Li family.

In the end, he died in battle and sacrificed his country for his loyalty.The female family members were condemned to slavery and suffered.

At that time, His Majesty admired his virtue and persistence, so he took his only daughter Yin into the care of the Prince of Qin.

His Majesty doesn't care about such a big grudge as digging into ancestral graves. This shows that he will not turn away anyone who is truly talented and virtuous.

The reason for rejection is that some people may have false reputations and there will be smart people to replace them. "

(End of this chapter)