Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 422 Melancholy Rulan

"Then let's make it 50,000. You go back and tell Nerugu to tell Yelu Chongyuan not to fool me with inferior horses. When we get the horses, the Song Dynasty will send troops!" Zhao Xing said indifferently.

Although Li Ge said it was between 50,000 and 80,000, Zhao Xing still hoped that Yelu Chongyuan could deplete the Liao Kingdom's strength and not exploit it too harshly.

The Song Dynasty originally had only 50,000 cavalrymen, but through transactions with Yelu Chongyuan over the years, it also obtained a large number of stallions.

If we get another 50,000 war horses, plus the war horses that the Song Dynasty has bred over the years, we can form another 50,000 cavalry.

Although one hundred thousand cavalrymen were still much fewer than those of the Liao Kingdom, it was not as difficult to deal with the Liao cavalry as before.

"Yes!"

Li Ge was delighted when he heard this. The Song Dynasty had previously asked for 200,000, but now it has been changed to 100,000. This is all thanks to him.

"Remember, don't play tricks on me, otherwise I have plenty of ways to take your life!" Zhao Xing said indifferently.

Li Ge chose to surrender because he saw that Yelu Chongyuan was in poor condition. Who knows if he would see that the Song Dynasty sent troops and think that Yelu Chongyuan was in good condition, and choose to pretend to surrender.

"I dare not!" Li Ge said quickly.

"Go!" Zhao Xing waved his hand.

After sending Li Ge away, Zhao Xing stood up and stretched.

Today's government affairs were almost dealt with, so Zhao Xing went to the harem.

Now in the harem, Zhang Guifen, Minglan and Yu Yanran are all pregnant. So, there are not many people who can be favored.

"By the way, how is the draft going?" Zhao Xing asked.

He found that the number of people in his harem was indeed a little small. Although Zhao Xing was not tired of those concubines, he always wanted to try something new.

"Your Majesty, there are a lot of women who have registered from all over the country. They have now undergone the preliminary screening and are just waiting for their identities to be verified. They will be sent to Bian Jing after the new year for further screening. The girls who pass the screening should be able to enter the palace in March or April next year." Sanshui replied.

"Yeah!" Zhao Xing nodded when he heard that.

It is said that one cannot eat hot tofu in a hurry, so he was not in a hurry at this moment.

But he was wondering in his heart whether he should do the final screening himself.

After all, he might not like what the officials chose, so screening them personally was a good pastime.

"Send someone to notify Yin Hanzhang and ask him to keep a close eye on the process to see if anyone has tampered with the draft."

Zhao Xing suddenly thought of something. He remembered that when he was watching TV series in his previous life, he seemed to have seen a plot about the emperor's selection of concubines.

It is said that when beauties from all over the country were being selected, some young men would use their connections to make the girls they liked from among the registered ladies from the public be eliminated, and then enjoy them themselves.

There are also some people who have connections and will use them to get their daughters through.

Zhao Xing didn’t care much about the latter, but he had to be on guard against the former.

If this really happens, wouldn't I be just picking up what others have left?

"Yes!"

Sanshui responded and gave an order to a eunuch behind him.

"Go to Huining Palace, and send someone to Lanxun Pavilion to invite Concubine Sheng over as well." Zhao Xing said.

"Yes!" Sanshui quickly gave the order.

"I pay my respects to Your Majesty!"

When Zhao Xing arrived at Huining Palace, Shulan, who had received the news, was already waiting at the palace gate.

"No need to be polite, my beloved concubine!"

Zhao Xing waved his hand, pulled Shulan inside, and asked, "Where's Sister Jing?"

"She was playing in the palace. The weather was cold, so I didn't bring her out!" Shulan said.

Sister Jing was sitting on the soft couch in the hall, walking with her short legs.

Several palace maids surrounded the couch, keeping their eyes on her and supporting her whenever she was about to fall.

Although the little girl couldn't speak, she was very smart. Sometimes she would even fall down on purpose while walking.

Every time the palace maid was scared, but she was not aware of it and just giggled.

Before Zhao Xing and Shu Lan entered the hall, they heard their daughter's laughter.

"It seems that Sister Jing is very happy." "Your Majesty, don't mention it. You named her Jing, but she is not quiet at all. She has been naughty since she learned to walk. She knows that even if she falls, the maids will help her. She falls on purpose. The maids in my palace have been tormented by her."

Upon hearing this, Shulan started to complain about her daughter, but the smile on her face was very bright.

"This proves that my daughter is smart!" Zhao Xing laughed when he heard it.

As they were talking, the two men entered the hall, and the palace maids in the hall bowed hurriedly.

Sister Jing, who was sitting on the couch, was also attracted by Zhao Xing's whisper.

“Ah…ah…”

Sister Jing couldn't speak yet, but she could recognize people. She pointed at Zhao Xing with her little hand and kept calling out, then she got up and walked towards Zhao Xing.

However, it took the little guy some effort to get up, and before he could take two steps, he was picked up by Zhao Xing.

"Giggle..."

The little guy giggled and reached out to grab Zhao Xing's clothes.

Zhao Xing sat down on the couch, pinched his daughter's face, and teased her, "Your mother said you were not obedient, but aren't you quite obedient?"

The little girl didn't understand anything and thought Zhao Xing was playing with her, so she reached out to grab Zhao Xing's hand.

Zhao Xing teased her for a few times before letting her grab hold of him.

The little guy grabbed Zhao Xing's finger and laughed even more happily.

"Call me Father."

“Ah…”

"It's Father!"

Seeing Zhao Xing correcting her over and over again, Shu Lan smiled and said, "Your Majesty, children usually learn to speak when they are over one year old. Sister Jing still has more than a month to go before she turns one year old."

"My daughter is gifted. It's normal for her to be able to speak before she's one year old."

Zhao Xing didn't care and continued teaching his daughter to speak.

He naturally knew that children would not be able to speak until they were over one year old, and some would not be able to speak until they were over two years old.

But most fathers are like this. They hold their children and keep calling them daddy before the child is even a month old.

After teasing for a while, Rulan came.

Seeing Rulan coming over, Shulan's face turned slightly red.

She naturally knew what Zhao Xing was planning.

Rulan is heartless and usually looks happy, but today she was out of character. After paying her respects, she sat quietly aside without saying a word.

Not only Zhao Xing noticed it, but Shulan also noticed it.

Jing Jie'er had been teased by Zhao Xing for a long time and was a little tired. She yawned and lay very quietly in Zhao Xing's arms.

"Your Majesty, Sister Jing has been playing for a long time and is a little tired. I will go and put her to sleep." Shulan said.

"Ok!"

Zhao Xing handed his daughter to Shulan, and when Shulan took her daughter to the inner room, he waved to Rulan and said, "Come and sit down!"

"Yes!"

Rulan responded and came to Zhao Xing. Before she sat down, Zhao Xing pulled her into his arms.

"Why do you look so depressed?" Zhao Xing asked while hugging Rulan.

It is said that women are very strange creatures, but in fact, men are the same.

Men hate women who often throw tantrums and need to be coaxed, but coaxing women occasionally is also a kind of romance.

Because of Zhao Xing's status, none of his concubines dared to show their temper in front of him.

Therefore, Zhao Xing was not annoyed by this, but was very happy to coax him.

Of course, the premise is that they don’t play any ulterior motives, otherwise Zhao Xing will not indulge them.

(End of this chapter)