My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 322 Go, Go...

"Wei Zifu..."

···
"A smart one."

Weiyang Palace, Jiaofang Palace.

Hearing the Grand Chamberlain of the Pepper Palace beside her talking about what 'Wei Zhonglang' had brought to her on behalf of her sister Wei Zifu, Empress Cao Shu looked thoughtful, and after a moment, she smiled helplessly and shook her head.

As a noble lady of the Pingyang Marquis's Mansion - especially the descendant of the previous generation of Pingyang Marquis and the younger sister of the current Pingyang Marquis, Cao Shu's status in the Marquis' Mansion, although not as high as that of the direct male descendants of the Cao family, is definitely not something that a slave-born child like Wei Zifu or a concubine who is still in the "training period" can challenge.

To be honest: from the time Cao Shu was born and raised in the marquis's mansion until she was canonized into the palace and became the Empress of Han, she had never met Wei Zifu at all during these more than ten years.

Maybe he had met her, or his eyes had passed over Wei Zifu;

But Cao Shu didn't remember.

Cao Shu still has no impression of this little singer and slave-born son named Wei Zifu.

To this day, whenever Cao Shu thinks of Emperor Rong's favor and preference for Wei Zifu, what pops up in her mind are not questions or complaints like "Why?" or "Does she deserve it?"
Instead, there was not a trace of sarcasm in his voice, but it was full of sincerity: Who is Wei Zifu?
Some time ago, when her brother Cao Shou came to visit her, he mentioned this matter tactfully. Cao Shu then learned that Wei Zifu was not an "outsider" but an ordinary singer in the Pingyang Marquis Mansion where she grew up.

——And she is still underage, not old enough to get married;

When Cao Shu first learned about this, she was of course a little resentful.

Your Majesty kept saying things like "the queen is still young" and "fertility is not safe", but in the end, you ended up finding someone younger than you?
Why was it Wei Zifu, who came from the same Pingyang Marquis Mansion as Cao Shu but was just a slave-born singing girl?
If Cao Shu said that she did not feel uncomfortable and did not feel that Emperor Rong was humiliating her, then she was lying with her eyes open.

Especially after hearing that the current Liu Rong doted on even Wei Zifu's three younger brothers - bringing the three brothers who were around ten years old into the palace, and allowing the eldest, Wei Qing, to enter and leave Shiqu Pavilion freely, Cao Shu felt an extremely strong sense of humiliation in her heart.

Deceiving too much!

He brought the daughter of a noble family from the Marquis' Mansion into the Pepper Room in such a grand manner, but in the end, he used the slave-born singing girl of the Marquis' Mansion to humiliate his own queen!
No matter what is said, Liu Rong is absolutely not right in this matter.

But later, after calming down, Cao Shu gradually felt relieved.

In fact, long before she had anything to do with the word "Pepper Room" and was still just one of the many legitimate daughters of the Pingyang Marquis' Mansion, Cao Shu had already had a rough prediction of her future life.

——As the legitimate daughter of a marquis, Cao Shu is definitely not qualified to pursue "love" in her life.

It was nothing more than an alliance with the current Han family, a family of meritorious officials that was once equally prominent but had also faded from the center of the court.

After that, naturally, as the mistress of the house, she would tolerate and even take the initiative to enrich her husband's backyard in order to fulfill the clan's mission of "expanding its branches and leaves".

But later, she was unexpectedly chosen as the queen of the current Liu Rong, which made Cao Shu subconsciously forget her past and her prospects for future life.

Now that I think about it, joining another marquisate is actually different from marrying into the Weiyang Palace.

all the same.

Whether marrying into other Chehou families, marrying into Weiyang, or entering the imperial concubine's room, Cao Shu's fate was to become the first wife of a great man.
Since you are the principal wife - especially the principal wife in this era, you must be aware of tolerating concubines.

Even though the 'big shot' who married Cao Shu changed from the originally expected marquis and marquis' son to the current emperor, it still cannot change this.

In this way, Cao Shu's thoughts became very smooth.

——As the queen, Cao Shu would sooner or later have to actively or passively accept the reality that Emperor Rong was promiscuous and his harem was gradually filled.

Since it was inevitable that there would be many more "sisters" in Weiyang Palace anyway;
Then, compared to those concubines in the harem who had different temperaments and whose backgrounds were probably not much worse than Cao Shu's, Wei Zifu, who belonged to the same Pingyang Marquis Mansion as Cao Shu, was born a slave and had slave status, and had a master-servant relationship with Cao Shu, was more acceptable to Cao Shu.

At least if something happens in the future, with this master-servant relationship in place, Wei Zifu would never dare to play tricks like kicking Cao Shu when she's down or flirting with her to win her favor.

The only uncertain factor is whether Wei Zifu is smart enough to figure this out - to understand that in this palace, Queen Cao Shu is her biggest and only supporter and connection.

Now it seems that this worry is unnecessary.

Wei Zifu is obviously smart enough.

Even a little too smart, which made Cao Shu feel inexplicably worried...

"Is Wei Qing - Wei Zhonglang - still waiting outside the palace?"

After thinking for a long time, Cao Shu finally opened her red lips and asked a question;
Upon learning that Wei Qing was indeed waiting outside the palace, he had Wei Qing summoned into the Pepper Room.

Logically speaking, Cao Shugui was the queen and was in charge of the imperial palace. It would not be convenient for her to meet with male relatives who were not related to her by blood, except for the elders from her maternal family.

Fortunately, Wei Qing was young enough, and was also an old friend of Cao Shu in Pingyang Marquis's mansion;
As the legitimate daughter of the Marquis's family, she met the former servant of the Marquis's family - and with the relationship with Wei Zifu as a bridge, there was nothing to be shy about.

"You are Wei Qing?"

This was the first time Wei Qing set foot in the Pepper Palace.

To be precise, in this era, except for the queen's parents, children, and the emperor of the time, basically no one had the opportunity to see what the legendary pepper room looked like.

As soon as he entered the Pepper Room, Wei Qing smelled the faint fragrance of pepper paste in the palace.

——The Pepper Room, as the name suggests, refers to the Queen’s residence. It requires mixing pepper, incense and other ingredients with mud and then applying it on the walls.

But at this moment, Wei Qing did not dare to look up at the wall painted with pepper mud to see what it looked like...

"Slave, I pay my respects to the Queen..."

"Your lowly name has tarnished the Queen's ears, punishable by death..."

Ok?
Just two casual replies made Cao Shu raise her eyebrows subconsciously, and she felt a strong interest in Wei Zifu and Wei Qing's family.

——The elder sister, Wei Zifu, a slave-born singer, was favored by the emperor, but she was able to clearly recognize her situation and bowed to the queen at the first opportunity;

My younger brother Wei Qing is not bad either!
Logically speaking, although Wei Qing was still young and born of a slave, he had been appointed as a palace attendant by the current emperor Liu Rong and was doted on.
When he met Empress Cao Shu, he addressed himself as "minister" or "lowest commander" in a neither humble nor arrogant manner, and no one could find fault with him.

But Wei Qing called himself a 'slave';
The lunchbox was reminding Cao Shu: We are not completely unrelated, after all, we both came from the Pingyang Marquis's Mansion...

Obviously, Wei Qing's self-proclaimed "slave" was an attempt to establish a relationship with Cao Shu.

But then, there was the just-right sentence 'Meet the Queen', which fulfilled the etiquette between the monarch and his subjects and established the relationship just right without being excessive at all.

With just these two simple sentences, Cao Shu immediately made a judgment: Wei Qing, this young palace attendant, is also a character!

So, Cao Shu inevitably became curious about Wei Zifu and Wei Qing's family.

——Not to mention this family of slaves and slave-born children;
Even in the ordinary Chehou family in Shangguanli, with dozens of sons and nephews in a generation, if they could produce a male heir who could make decisions, it would be the envy of others! Even if the male heirs were few and far between, if they had a daughter who could make decisions and see things clearly, it would be a great blessing to ensure that the family would not prosper for twenty years.

Take the Pingyang Marquis Mansion where Cao Shu was born, for example. Ever since the death of the first generation Pingyang Yi Marquis, the Pingyang Marquis Cao family has never produced even one male son or nephew who can stand on his own and support the marquisate.

Even if there was a female, there was only one during the reign of Emperor Taizong. But she was only in her teens and lived in the Pingyang Marquis Mansion for three to five years. When she reached a certain age, she got married, which benefited the Pingyang Marquis family, which was also beginning to decline.

By the time of Cao Shu's generation, if Cao Shu had not entered the imperial concubine's chamber, the complete decline of the Pingyang Marquis' family might have happened in the next twenty years.

This shows how rare it is that Wei Zifu and Wei Qing, two siblings who were not even 'farmers' children' - they were born into a slave family that started their life in hell, could show such talent.

Since she was interested, Cao Shu started chatting with Wei Qing under the pretext of idle talk.

Not just to satisfy my curiosity;
At the same time, it was also to understand what kind of family the ally in this huge harem was born into...

"Your Majesty."

"Besides my old mother and elder sister, I have one elder brother, two elder sisters, and two younger brothers."

"——My mother, Wei Ai, is still a concubine in the mansion of Marquis Pingyang;"

"My elder brother, Lord Wei, is the cavalry attendant of the Marquis' son;"

"My sisters Wei Junru, Wei Shaoer, and Wei Zifu were all singers in the mansion of Marquis Pingyang.

"My brothers Wei Bu and Wei Guang were originally servants in the Marquis's mansion. Your Majesty trusted and appointed them as Lieutenants. They lived with me in the palace to learn the art of war..."

A brief introduction to the family background undoubtedly allowed Cao Shu to find a key point.

——Military strategy!
Especially the military strategies of Shiquge!

You should know that the Han Shiqu Pavilion was enriched with the classics and documents preserved by Prime Minister Xiao from the Qin Shiqu Pavilion with all his might when Emperor Taizu Gao "entered Xianyang first".

Although there are innumerable fragments and chapters, and they have not yet been sorted out, at least the military book inventory in Shiqu Pavilion is the most comprehensive and complete in the world today.

The "Tai Gong Military Strategy" was received from Zhang Liang, the Marquis of Liu, and from Huang Shigong, the military book "Six Strategies";
It was left by Han Xin, Marquis of Huaiyin. Although half of it was destroyed by Empress Dowager Lu, the entire "Huaiyin Military Book", namely "Three Chapters of Military Strategy", was accidentally found.

Then there is the 'dragon-slaying technique' in the eyes of later generations: "The Art of War" and "Sun Bin's Art of War", etc.

It is no exaggeration to say that for all the Chinese military classics that have not been lost or out of print to this day, Shiqu Pavilion has the most complete rubbings preserved in the world!
However, the three brothers Wei Qing, Wei Bu, and Wei Guang were allowed by the current emperor Liu Rong to freely enter and leave the Shiqu Pavilion to read these military strategies that were enough to make people all over the world fight over them...

You know, even ordinary princes can’t get such permission;
If the Crown Prince wanted to study it, he had to ask for permission every time - he would read it once each time he was granted permission, and every time he wanted to read it again, he would have to ask for permission again.

"Your Majesty, you want your relatives to take charge of the army..."

Thinking of this, Cao Shu remained calm, with a gentle smile like a sister next door, and motioned Wei Qing to continue.

Seeing Cao Shu's reaction, Wei Qing couldn't help but feel relieved.

It seems that the queen does not seem to bear a grudge against her elder sister or the entire family because of her "competition for favor"?
With his mind at ease, Wei Qing became more frank when talking about his life experience.

"My mother was a concubine in the Marquis's mansion. In her early years, she used her beauty to serve the distinguished guests in the Marquis's mansion."

“So, none of my seven brothers and sisters know who their biological father is.”

"——Even if I knew, I wouldn't dare to break the rules and go to your house rashly."

"As for me, I was taken back to my biological father's house two years ago, but I was not liked by my legitimate brothers and sisters. They either beat or scolded me day and night."

"If it weren't for my sister..."

“Oh no;”

"If it weren't for the Queen's blessing, I would still be a slave in my biological father's house..."

Although these words did not surprise Cao Shu, they still made her feel a little worried for this family.

——There are eight people in the family, excluding a concubine who is specially employed to entertain guests in the Pingyang Marquis Mansion, there are seven slave-born children!

Judging from the current status of these seven brothers and sisters, it is not difficult to see the fate of such a family in the aristocratic mansion.

Men are mostly servants of the young master, or they follow the young master to build achievements and fight for the young master with their lives;
Or they exchange their energy for food and spend their entire lives doing heavy physical work.

As for women, it was even more straightforward - if they were pretty, they would be singing and dancing girls, and if they were liked by a customer in the future, they would be sent away openly, just as a favor.
Those with ordinary looks, like Wei Ai, were simply served as concubines, entertaining guests who were well fed and well fed and had sexual desires.

On weekdays, I also do some rough work like cleaning and cooking in the kitchen.

After learning this, Cao Shu already had a rough idea in his mind.

——This whole family, including Wei Qing in front of them, all had a hard time surviving in the marquis's mansion, and therefore they were all precocious and intelligent people.

At the same time, at least Wei Zifu and Wei Qing, brother and sister, were smart people who could judge the importance of things and see through the pros and cons.

If this brother and sister are like this, the others probably won't be much worse.

This family still belongs to the mother's family: servants of the Pingyang Marquis's Mansion...

"Maybe it can be used by me..."

Now that they had an idea and had finished talking about family matters, Cao Shu finally took over the conversation, bringing today's seemingly ordinary epic meeting to a fairly satisfactory end.

"When you leave the palace, give your third sister a message."

"——Since you have won the favor of His Majesty, you should take good care of yourself in the Marquis' Mansion, so as not to enter the palace in the future and have no luck in giving birth to children for the country."

"In your daily life, be more cautious when going out and about, so as not to bring disgrace upon yourself and cause His Majesty's displeasure."

···
"Your Majesty means that I am still a little young and I will not be able to receive your grace until next year."

"When I am pregnant, Your Majesty must have someone to take care of me."

"—about the next two years;"

"When the time comes, I will personally report to my brother and select a young lady from the Marquis's Mansion to be my concubine and live with me in the Pepper Room."

"Your brother can come to the Pepper Room from time to time when he is in the palace..."

(End of this chapter)