Raising a wife? The mistress of the Hou family divorced and remarried her younger uncle

Chapter 40 The Eldest Princess

The Hall of Nourishing Heart.

The current emperor ascended the throne at the age of sixteen, not yet thirty. In his early years, he suffered from internal strife in the Prince of Yan's palace, and his health was damaged. He was weak and sickly, and he had to take medicine all year round. There was always a strong smell of medicine in the Yangxin Palace.

It was hot in the summer, and even though ice was placed in the palace, it was still difficult to dispel the heat. The emperor sat on the couch by the window with his clothes loose, reviewing memorials with the window wide open.

Lu Jing stood in the hall and reported everything about the remnants of King Huainan.

Serving the emperor is like serving a tiger. After Lu Jing's report, the emperor said nothing and the atmosphere in the palace reached freezing point.

The emperor is weak and has few children. Over the past ten years, the children born to concubines have died one after another. Now, the only ones who have been raised are the eldest princess born to the queen, the eldest prince of Concubine Lu, and a little prince who is still crying for food in his swaddling clothes and looks too weak to survive the winter. Two months ago, the three-year-old second prince caught a cold and died after fainting due to a high fever. He was suspected of being poisoned. The Imperial Hospital was afraid of taking responsibility and put the blame on the remnants of Huainan, saying that the poison was caused by the remnants of Huainan in order to kill the heir for revenge.

The emperor received another secret letter, saying that there were still descendants of King Huainan alive. Thinking of his seven children who had died one after another, the emperor was furious, so he ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to thoroughly investigate the remnants of King Huainan and to capture the descendants of King Huainan and kill them to eliminate future troubles.

Several people died in the arrest of the remnants of the Huainan gang, but the main culprit was not arrested and brought to justice, and it was not found out whether there were any descendants of the King of Huainan alive. The emperor was not satisfied.

"Lu Jing, in your opinion, does the King of Huainan really have any descendants still alive?" The emperor asked coldly without even raising his head.

Lu Jing answered very cautiously, "The three sons and five daughters of the King of Huainan have all been executed. For many years, I have never heard of any descendants of the King of Huainan alive in the world. If there are true rumors, it is possible that some of the descendants of the King of Huainan have escaped and are using the remaining power of the King of Huainan to stir up trouble in the capital. Your Majesty, please give me some time, and I will eradicate them completely."

"My prince died at the hands of the remnants of the King of Huainan. They may have extended their hands into the palace. I don't have much patience." The emperor raised his head. He had a handsome face, but he looked decadent and pale due to his illness. His eyes were particularly sinister. "I want these remnants...to die without a burial place!"

Lu Jing's heart trembled, "Yes, I obey your order."

Lu Jing and Doctor Fang were familiar with each other. The old doctor was a dishonest one. He once said that if the doctor did not have an official position, could protect his descendants, and had a high salary and rewards, anyone who wanted to be a doctor could open a clinic in Beijing and live a rich life. One day, when he was drinking, I don't know if he was really drunk or pretending to be drunk. He told Lu Jing that there was no poisoning, and the princes and princesses died young because the emperor was weak and the children were born with deficiencies and difficult to raise.

Telling the truth would hurt the emperor's dignity, who dares to speak? They don't want to keep their heads, it's so hard to find the remnants of Huainan to take the blame, they wish they could throw it all on them.

"If you have nothing else to do, please leave." said the emperor.

Lu Jing hesitated for a moment, "Your Majesty, I have something to ask you."

"what's up?"

"The Emperor once issued an imperial decree to my eldest sister-in-law and awarded her an iron certificate. The Emperor's grace is so great that the entire Lu family is grateful for it. My eldest sister-in-law said that she saved the eldest princess, and this decree was requested by the eldest princess."

"It is true!" The emperor was silent for a moment, put down his pen, and looked a little gloomy. "I owe a lot to my imperial sister. Whatever she asks for, will be granted. Your eldest sister-in-law has made great contributions in saving the emperor, so I gave her an imperial edict of commendation. Originally, there was no such thing as an iron certificate. It's just that the imperial sister said that she owed someone a life and didn't want to owe her a favor. I thought that you had also saved my life, and your Lu family has done me a great favor, so I gave you this iron certificate of commendation." "My minister and my eldest sister-in-law are both your majesty's subjects. Saving the emperor is our duty, and we dare not take credit for it." Lu Jing never expected that what the imperial edict said was actually true.

It was such a coincidence that the imperial edict was delivered to the mansion on the day when the eldest sister-in-law returned home. Everyone knew about it and it seemed like a premeditated plan. The iron certificate would not be granted to a minister easily, unless he had made an unprecedented contribution.

Why did the eldest princess ask for such an imperial decree for her eldest sister-in-law?
The emperor smiled suddenly, remembering the interesting things about the Lu family. "The eunuch came back with an imperial decree, saying that your eldest sister-in-law had come back to life and happened to return to the capital on the day of your brother's wedding, causing a huge uproar. Your brother remarried the eldest daughter of the Earl of Anping."

"It's true."

The emperor laughed and said, "There hasn't been such a joke in the capital for a long time."

Lu Jing thought to himself, who says it's not true? But it's a family scandal after all. The emperor was joking, so he couldn't say anything. The emperor said, "Your brother is very lucky. He has a wife who has won a golden seal and a concubine who is the daughter of the Earl of Anping. He also works in the Hanlin Academy. He has a bright future."

Lu Jing knelt down and bowed his head, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. This happened by mistake and it was definitely not my brother's intention."

The weather was hot and humid, and Lu Jing broke out in a cold sweat.

"Get up!" The emperor was silent for a long time, then shouted, "We are engaged and married, and we both agreed to it. There is nothing wrong with that."

Lu Jing was silent. The Jinyiwei had minions all over the capital. If the emperor wanted to know something, he would definitely know it. His brother ranked low in the imperial examination, but he was admitted to the Hanlin Academy, a treatment not even given to the new champion. This was a hint to the Li family, or someone was interfering with the civil service appointments in order to please him, the deputy commander of the Jinyiwei.

Things at home had gotten so ugly that the Emperor must have known about it a long time ago. He personally issued an imperial edict to his eldest sister-in-law to give her face. But now that his eldest sister-in-law was humiliated at home with the imperial edict, did the Lu family still take the royal family seriously?
Although the emperor did not say it explicitly, Lu Jing already understood his anger.

The emperor looked at Lu Jing standing in the hall. The young deputy commander of the Jinyiwei looked like Pan An, wearing a Feiyu suit, a jade belt, and surrounded by lush forests and bamboos, like the rising sun in the morning. He was only a few years older than Lu Jing, but his body was declining, like the setting sun. The emperor's eyes were cold and filled with inexplicable jealousy.

"I am tired, please leave."

"Yes, I obey your order!"

When Lu Jing was leaving the palace, he encountered the eldest princess's carriage. He stepped aside and waited for the eldest princess' carriage to pass. The eldest princesses in all dynasties had no real power and only enjoyed the offerings of the people.

Princess Duanyang was different. When the emperor ascended the throne, she was young. She married the youngest son of Prime Minister Lu and held great power. In the case of the rebellion of the King of Huainan, after the death of the Crown Prince and General Zhaowu on the battlefield, the northern border was in chaos and the military generals mutinied. The civil and military ministers in the court fought to the death, and no one cared about the border war. Xilin united with the Zamuhar tribe in the northern border and started the war from the southwest and the north at the same time. At one point, they fought to the north of Moshui and almost met at Moshui.

The northern and southwestern fronts were gradually tightened and all retreated back to the Moshui River. Large tracts of land were seized, and the northern front was covered with bones and blood flowed like a river. At that time, the court was in chaos because of the rebellion of the King of Huainan. The young emperor was coerced by the ministers of state affairs, who were controlled by the cabinet's Prime Minister Lu. They advocated peace talks and ceding the land north of the Moshui River to quell the war.

(End of this chapter)