Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 834 Second Uncle Becomes Second Brother

Qian Mengdie was very pretty, and her manners were graceful and noble.

She was the second daughter of the Jizhou prefect. She was well-educated and well-mannered since childhood.

The Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager tested her musical skills and calligraphy respectively.

Both chess and painting require a long time, so they are naturally not suitable for this kind of assessment.

Qian Mengdie played the piano well and her handwriting was also good. Zhao Qi felt quite attracted by her, so he picked up the pen and put a dot under her name.

It's a pity that she's not the daughter of a military commander...

This is where Zhao Kai feels a little regretful.

Otherwise, he could have also considered Zhen Mengdie as a candidate for queen.

If there was anyone who could be more helpful to him as the new emperor, it would certainly be the daughter of a military general.

Or she could be the daughter of a minister who holds extremely high prestige in the military system.

The concubine system of the Song Dynasty was one empress, four concubines, six concubines at the top, nine concubines at the bottom, nine beauties and nine talented women.

There is no limit on the number of positions for the noble ladies, state ladies, ladies, hongxiapei, imperial attendants, etc., because they are all concubines of lower ranks.

After Zhao Gou's health deteriorated, he began to have fun with young girls.

After having the emperor's favor, he would just give those concubines who were not even thirteen years old the identity of "Hongxiapei".

Therefore, as long as the emperor is not particularly displeased, these beauties who have passed three levels will always be able to obtain a status, big or small.

Li Fengniang's name was about to be called. Zhao Kai thought of that bright and dazzling girl who had stunned him at first sight. His heart suddenly warmed up and he sat up straighter.

However, Empress Dowager Xie directly called the name of the concubine behind Li Fengniang: "Yang Qiaoqiao."

Zhao Qi was stunned and said hurriedly: "Mother, I'm wrong, the next one is Li Fengniang."

Xie smiled slightly and said, "Your Majesty, you don't know that Li Fengniang has a very grand name. The Empress Dowager was the first one to call her that."

Zhao Qi suddenly understood and said with a smile, "So that's how it is. What status did the Queen Mother and the Grand Empress Dowager give her?"

Empress Dowager Wu said, "Li Fengniang is not good at playing the zither, and her handwriting is even worse. It is too vulgar for her to be in my royal family. I have deleted her from the list of selected concubines."

When Zhao Qi heard this, his face suddenly froze.

Eliminated from the show?

How is this possible?

She is the daughter of the commander-in-chief of the imperial army stationed in Ezhou.

She was born so beautiful.

She, or rather the Li family, has such a close relationship with Yang Yuan.

All of this was his motivation to take down Li Fengniang.

How come...

Empress Dowager Xie said, "Your Majesty, what do you think of the test for the young lady Yang Qiaoqiao? She has a graceful figure, how about asking her to dance?"

"Ah? Ah, good, good!"

Zhao Kai came to his senses, smiled and nodded.

The emperor's dignity prevented him from arguing with his grandmother and mother on the spot about the fate of a concubine.

He was about to take power, and if he were to get a reputation as a womanizer, it would have a huge impact on his prestige as an emperor.

Besides, both his grandmother and his mother disliked Li Fengniang. If he argued with them in public, he would be embarrassed by the pressure of filial piety.

Anyway, I never thought of giving her the title of queen or fourth concubine, so there was no need to discuss it with my grandmother and mother.

There are eight more people to be selected. Then I will send someone to Helin Palace to bring Li Fengniang back into the palace.

However, she was the candidate unanimously selected by her grandmother and mother, so it was not convenient to give her the title of the Nine Concubines at first.

When the time comes, give her the status of "noble lady" first. Such a low-ranking concubine will not need to be approved by the Queen Mother.

Zhao Qi thought that when the next few beauties showed their talents, he lost interest.

……

Li Fengniang was removed from the list of concubines.

Moreover, he was eliminated with the unanimous consent of the two palaces after having passed the first three rounds.

When the young eunuch who escorted Li Fengniang out of the palace saw the chief eunuch of Helin Palace, he held back his laughter and said, "My dear, the concubine Li Fengniang is not liked by the two palaces and has been removed from the list of concubines."

During the Song Dynasty, "laogong" was a respectful title for eunuchs of status.

The eunuchs in the palace were all masters of changing faces. Originally, they were very considerate and kind to these ladies, but their faces immediately changed when they heard these words.

The eunuch in charge of Helin Palace looked up and said indifferently: "Li Fengniang, do you have any personal belongings in Helin Palace?
If so, wait aside. When the ladies' status is confirmed and they return to Helin Palace to get their personal belongings, you can go in the same car with them.

If not, you can leave now."

He flipped through the book and said, "When you came here, you were not sent by the Ezhou government bus. When you go back, there is no need for us to make arrangements."

"Thank you very much. You won't have to see me off. I will send someone to get the items from Helin Palace."

Li Fengniang picked up her skirt and ran away.

The steward of the Li family was very confident that his daughter would be selected.

So, for the fourth round of assessment today, he was waiting outside the Meridian Gate with his carriage.

As soon as he got the accurate news that his daughter was conferred the title of concubine, he would rush back to Ezhou to announce the good news.

But he never expected that Li Fengniang, holding her pomegranate skirt, would come rushing over with the wind.

"Ah, girl, what are you doing..."

Li Fengniang panted and said, "Hurry, hurry, go to Prince Jin's Mansion immediately."

Li Fengniang was as cunning as a sieve. Although she only said one sentence to Zhao Kai, it was obvious that the little emperor had taken a liking to her. How could she not feel it?

Women tend to mature earlier than men. Although she and Zhao Kai are of similar age, she is much more mature mentally than Zhao Kai.

She was no stranger to the look of surprise and admiration in Zhao Qi's eyes when he saw her.

At Li Fengniang's age, love and a satisfactory lover are everything to her, so she would not consider anything else.

She didn't want that young man with acne all over his face.

Besides, is the person she likes bad?

The expenses of the female members of the Yang family are no less than those of the royal family.

It is the royal family, those above the rank of the fourth concubine, who can afford the same expenses as the women of the Yang family.

Moreover, the women of the Yang family were extremely free and would not be confined to a corner of the palace.

……

Zhao Qu has been staying in the palace these days, and officials from the Ministry of Rites have been coming in and out from time to time.

Because at the Emperor's personal throne ceremony on New Year's Day two days later, he, the regent, would play a role as important as the emperor.

In almost every link, he is the protagonist, and his leading role is even greater than that of the little emperor.

Until the last stage, when the Prince of Jin handed over power to the Emperor and the Emperor accepted the power and then received the worship of all officials, he would retreat to the ranks of ministers and pay homage together.

Such a grand palace ceremony naturally cannot afford to make mistakes.

Therefore, the usually lazy Prince Jin could only pull himself together and "rehearse" with the officials of the Ministry of Rites over and over again. "When the time comes, the Grand Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager's carriage, the Emperor's carriage, and your carriage will all arrive at the Daqing Palace. The Grand Empress Dowager's carriage will stop first..."

The official from the Ministry of Rites was patiently demonstrating the process to the King of Jin when a shrill voice came from a distance: "Hey, Miss Li, you can't barge in. The King is..."

Before she could finish her words, Li Fengniang ran in, holding up her skirt.

As soon as she saw the King of Jin, Li Fengniang cried out in sorrow: "Your Majesty..."

Before she even slid down to her knees, Zhao Yu "took the initiative" and said, "Shut up, talk to the side."

The official from the Ministry of Rites is right next to us.

Although these were all his father-in-law's old subordinates, he couldn't make public the fact that he helped to plot against the emperor's nephew.

After Zhao Qu finished speaking, he took the lead and walked to the side room.

……

Zhao Kai finally made it to the end of the talent show. A total of 37 girls were selected for the final review. One was eliminated, and the remaining 36 girls were all added to the harem.

Among them, all the daughters of officials were given titles, except for the empress and the four concubines, whose titles were vacant.

There is no need to rush the four concubines. When the emperor takes power, he will decide on the empress on the same day.

The selection of the empress is of great importance and needs to be discussed by the two palaces and the emperor.

What they were discussing was not just the candidate for the imperial concubine.

But it is directly related to her family background.

After leaving Zhong Meitang, the two palaces were respectfully escorted away, and the eunuch in charge of the selection came forward to apologize.

After all, Zhao Kai had ordered that Li Fengniang must be selected, but he messed it up.

Zhao Qi did not allow him to say more and said impatiently: "Alright, Li Fengniang's talent is mediocre and she is not liked by the two palaces. This is not your business.

But I am pleased with her, so you should go to Helin Palace quickly and bring her back to the palace, and never let her leave."

The audition queen overheard it, quickly agreed, and ran out.

The eunuch in charge of Helin Palace was waiting with a sly smile on his face for the selected beauties to get on the carriages, go back to Helin Palace to get their personal belongings, and wait for the emperor to take them into the palace.

The eunuch in charge of the selection hurriedly chased out.

Upon hearing that Li Fengniang had left on the spot, the eunuch in charge became very anxious. If he messed up this job again, he would fall out of favor in the future.

He hurriedly rode his horse and went back with the eunuch in charge of Helin Palace.

When they arrived at Helin Palace, Li Fengniang had not returned yet, but her personal belongings were still there.

A woman’s personal belongings, even if they are not very valuable, should not fall into the hands of others.

The eunuch in charge of the selection knew that Li Fengniang would definitely send someone to take it, so he waited in Helin Palace.

They waited and waited until sunset, when the imperial palace was about to be locked and sealed. Only then did the maid and guards who came to fetch Li Fengniang's personal belongings arrive at Helin Palace.

The eunuchs who were in charge of the selection had been waiting impatiently for a long time. They were overjoyed and hurried forward to greet her: "Where is your Miss Feng Niang? You don't have to leave, you don't have to leave. We congratulate Miss Feng Niang..."

The head maid was shocked and said, "Congratulations? My husband, you also know about my daughter's affairs?"

The eunuch in charge of the selection was stunned: "I am the selection envoy, how could I not know. But... this matter has not been made public yet, young lady, you... you also know about it?"

The head maid hesitated and said, "Are you sure what my husband knows is the same as what I know?"

The eunuch who was in charge of the selection also hesitated: "What is it that the young lady knows?"

The head maid said, "My daughter passed all three selections, but was eliminated from the list of selected girls in the last selection.

My husband should know that this is extremely bad for my daughter’s reputation.”

The eunuch in charge of the selection smiled and said, "Not bad, not bad, so..."

The head maid said: "So, Prince Jin helped my girl."

The eunuch who was in charge of the selection was surprised and asked, "Prince Jin? What does Prince Jin have to do with this?"

The head maid said, “My girl was once taught etiquette by Princess Jin, and she has a very close relationship with her.

In order to restore my daughter's reputation, His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin, out of love for my daughter, married her to him!"

"what?"

……

Frankly speaking, when Li Fengniang first heard about the marriage, she was also confused.

As soon as she arrived at the side room, Li Fengniang told the emperor that she had noticed his interest in her.

Then, the gourd bee nest, Li Fengniang, who was full of tricks, stammered:
"Fortunately... Fortunately, the two palaces have already removed me from the list of concubines. If I marry now, it won't be considered as deceiving the emperor.

By the time the government issues another decree, it will be too late..."

After Li Fengniang finished speaking, she secretly glanced at Zhao Yu.

She had begged Zhao Qiu for help before, and then found Zhao Ning'er, but she just said that she already had someone in her heart.

But she was still a virgin after all, and Yang Yuan was already married. She didn't have the face to tell Princess Jin and Zhao Ning'er that the person she loved was Yang Yuan.

Of course, this was an unexpected success for her.

If she had told him at that time that the person she liked was Yang Yuan, Zhao Ning'er might have become jealous and might not have been willing to work so hard for her.

Besides, with Li Fengniang's personality, she has to conquer the man she wants on her own.

She just didn't expect to "cheat and control" the draft, and was actively fooled, but things didn't go as she expected.

The arrogant Li Fengniang had no choice but to ask Zhao Yu for help.

At this time, she had already hinted at it, and just waited for Zhao Yu to pick up on her words and then said, "Well, I will make the decision and arrange your marriage as soon as possible."

She could first kowtow to thank King Jin, and then shyly say Yang Yuan's name.

Yang Yuan is a king now. A prince is like an emperor, and his wives and concubines also have titles.

Princess, concubine (second rank), concubine (third rank), princess (fourth rank), maid (fifth rank), lowly concubine (sixth rank), etc.

Therefore, marrying Yang Yuan now would not be considered a disgrace to the Li family.

With the Prince of Jin acting as a matchmaker, it would be even more natural.

However, she did not expect that His Royal Highness the Goose King's thinking would be so unconventional.

The Goose King thought, the person you love must be in Ezhou, thousands of miles away, how can it be faster than the official order to bring him back?

Got it!

The Goose King suddenly realized, stroked his short beard, and said with a proud smile: "Okay, then I will marry you. I will take you as my adopted daughter, goose, goose, goose..."

Li Fengniang was so angry that she could only patiently enlighten him: "If I become your adopted daughter, it would seem that I would become a cousin with you, but an adopted daughter is not your biological daughter after all. We are not related by blood. Can I still enter the palace?"

The Goose King slapped his forehead and suddenly realized: "Yes, yes, this won't work. Hmm? Got it!"

Li Fengniang's eyes lit up again and she looked at the Goose King expectantly.

Zhao Yu said word by word: "This prince acknowledges you as his sister! Now, you become the emperor's aunt. There is a generation difference between you, so he will never be able to make plans against you again!"

Li Fengniang was angry and anxious, but she couldn't say it out loud about the person she truly loved.

If I keep trying to evade the question, what if this Goose King suddenly gets crazy and thinks that I want to marry him? That would be really bad.

Then I thought again, eh? If I acknowledge the King of Jin as my sworn brother, then my second uncle will become my second brother, and my second aunt will become my second sister-in-law!
So, Li Fengniang happily accepted the marriage.

(End of this chapter)