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Chapter 833: King Ping (Part )

Establishing a crown prince is not a trivial matter and the procedures are complicated.

The ceremony of enthroning the crown prince was the job of the Ministry of Rites, and the busiest person was Minister Dong. The Ministry of Rites was busy for three months, and on the sixth day of April, the ceremony of enthroning the crown prince was held in the Jinluan Palace.

The eight-year-old prince, wearing bright yellow prince clothes, had a solemn look on his face and looked quite majestic. Standing next to the empress, he looked like Jiang Shaohua, two sizes smaller.

Changning Marquis Cui Du stood with the other ministers and witnessed with his own eyes that his daughter became the Crown Prince of Daliang. His heart was filled with pride, almost overflowing from his chest.

After the ceremony, there was a grand palace banquet.

Queen Mother Li brought His Royal Highness Prince Ping to the banquet.

After taking charge of the palace affairs, Empress Dowager Li kept a low profile and never interfered in the government affairs of the previous dynasty. In addition to taking care of the palace affairs, she usually accompanied Prince Ping.

King Ping is already seventeen years old this year, with handsome features, fair skin and a full face of happy smiles. His eyes are as clear as water, the kind that can see through everything.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince sat close to Prince Ping and from time to time he picked up food for Prince Ping: "Second Uncle, these are your favorite meatballs."

"Eat some vegetables, don't just eat meat. If you get fatter, you won't look good."

Baoer went to Ning'an Palace to pay respects every few days, and often played with Prince Heping. The uncle and nephew had a good relationship.

King Ping listened to Bao'er very much. He ate whatever Bao'er picked for him. After he was full, King Ping could not sit still and soon jumped out of the palace to play.

In terms of physique, King Ping was already an adult, tall and strong, and very healthy.

In terms of intelligence, King Ping barely looked like he was about four or five years old. He could understand clear instructions, but looked confused when it came to more complex ones.

The ministers were also used to King Ping's extravagance, so as long as he didn't take off his clothes in public, they would just let him do as he pleased!

"Your Highness Prince Ping is also seventeen years old. It's time for him to get married." After eating and drinking, the ministers chatted under the influence of alcohol: "I wonder which girl will be lucky enough to become the Princess of Ping."

"I heard that the Queen Mother started arranging a marriage for His Royal Highness Prince Ping last year. There should be a suitable candidate!"

"I heard that a girl from the Li family was chosen."

"Good things should be kept within the family. Although Prince Ping is not very smart, his status is very noble. Her Majesty the Empress feeds Prince Ping with good food and drink. As long as Prince Ping does not make trouble, he will be rich and noble for the rest of his life. When the Empress Dowager selects a consort for Prince Ping, she will of course give priority to the prince's family."

"In fact, this is also a good thing for Prince Ping. With Miss Li as Prince Ping's wife, the Queen Mother will naturally be more sympathetic and compassionate to Prince Ping."

General Fan acted like a loyal minister, and ignored Prince Ping, clearly wanting to draw a clear line. Concubine Fan Gui had been imprisoned for many years, and her mind was already somewhat disturbed, and she had not appeared in public for a long time.

Prince Ping lived in Ning'an Palace, and his biggest supporter was Queen Mother Li. Queen Mother Li chose her niece's granddaughter as the Princess of Prince Ping, which showed that she had developed a true friendship with Prince Ping after raising him for many years, and that she was truly considering Prince Ping.

After the palace banquet, Her Majesty the Empress and Marquis Changning brought His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to escort Queen Mother Li and Prince Heping back to Ning'an Palace.

King Ping was having a great time today. He skipped along the way and picked a flower from the flowerpot under the eaves of the corridor and put it on his niece Baoer with great interest.

Bao'er also indulged King Ping and leaned forward to let King Ping put flowers on her head.

Queen Mother Li looked at this scene with a smile in her eyes: "Bao'er is a kind-hearted child."

Baoer is kind-hearted. After becoming the crown prince, he can also treat Prince Ping well. This is what makes Queen Mother Li most satisfied. Jiang Shaohua understood and smiled at Queen Mother Li: "Mother, you are thinking about Prince Ping wholeheartedly."

Empress Dowager Li also smiled: "I have raised him for seven years and watched him all day. Now I think that fools have good fortune. It is not a bad thing for him to live a happy life like this."

After a pause, he continued softly: "In a few days, it will be my birthday. I plan to summon the women of the Li family to the palace. When the time comes, the emperor can come to Ning'an Palace to take a look when he is free."

What to look at?
Of course, it is to see whether the person chosen by Empress Dowager Li is suitable.

To become the Princess of Ping, nothing else matters, what matters is the attitude of the emperor. Only if she is willing to accept, can the daughter of the Li family enter the royal family.

As for whether Queen Mother Li had an inhumane ambition and wanted Li's daughter to give birth to Jiang's bloodline, so that she could help the emperor's grandson to seize the throne in the future... Of course, there was such a possibility. In fact, as long as Prince Ping married and had children, the succession to the throne would be an unstable factor.

Empress Dowager Li was testing Jiang Shaohua's attitude.

If you don't want to take this risk, there are many ways you can use. For example, King Ping suddenly died of a serious illness, died unexpectedly after the marriage, or used a gentler method, and King Ping's wife could not give birth to a child, thus avoiding future troubles.

Jiang Shaohua glanced at Queen Mother Li and smiled faintly: "Okay, when it's your mother's birthday, I will definitely come to Ning'an Palace to join in the fun."

Empress Dowager Li secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Jiang Shaohua is a wise emperor with a broad mind and a broad vision. He disdains to do sneaky things. In the nine years since he ascended the throne, he has indeed been good to King Ping. He is also respectful to her, the queen mother.

However, it would be a big mistake to think that the emperor is gentle.

Think about the Empress Dowager Zheng, who was under house arrest for six years. Jiang Shaohua had no intention of letting the Empress Dowager out.

……

Six days later, Empress Dowager Li held her birthday banquet.

Ning'an Palace held a palace banquet, and the women of the Li family were summoned to the palace. Everyone knew the real purpose. However, in order to look decent, in addition to the designated Princess Ping, several young ladies also entered the palace to celebrate the birthday of Queen Mother Li.

There were girls from the Cui family, daughters from the Wang family, and young ladies from the Dong family. The new nobles of the capital, the Chen and Feng families, were not prosperous, and without girls from the direct lineage, they could not refuse the good intentions of the empress dowager, so they each picked a girl of the right age from the side branches to enter the palace for the banquet.

The girl from the Chen family is beautiful and gentle, while the girl from the Feng family is innocent and has a childish and cute smile.

The two of them knew that they were supporting roles, so after entering Ning'an Palace, they stayed in a corner and talked in low voices. They neither tried to get in front of the Queen Mother nor tried to steal the limelight from Miss Li.

This Miss Li is the cousin of Li Fangfei, Li Sheren. All the girls of the Li family are good-looking. Li Fangfei is beautiful and charming, and the future Princess Ping, Li Fanghua, also has almond eyes and peach cheeks, and is very pretty. Moreover, Li Fanghua is outstanding in talent and can play the zither very well.

At today's birthday banquet, Li Fanghua, who was carefully dressed, sat in the center, her slender fingers gently plucking the strings of the piano. The sound of the piano was gurgling and pleasant to the ears, and her grace was charming.

The crowd exclaimed in admiration from time to time.

Unfortunately, King Ping did not appreciate it at all. He sat there for a while, twisting and turning as if there was a thorn in his buttocks.

Empress Dowager Li smiled and turned to ask him: "Does this zither music sound good?"

King Ping nodded randomly, then stood up and ran out.