Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty: Please say long live His Majesty

Chapter 540: A Talented Person, What Kind of Concubine? (First Update)
The night is hazy and the ground is covered with snow.

At Chengtian Gate, Xu Jingzong, holding a bamboo umbrella, looked back sideways and whispered, "Family status!"

Li Yifu had already taken two steps when he heard this. He stopped and turned around and said, "Brother, you are from the Xu family of Hangzhou, and your father was the Minister of Rites during the Sui Dynasty. Your family background is quite impressive. Why do you say that?"

"The truly distinguished family is the Anlu Xu family, the lineage of the Duke of Qiao." Xu Jingzong shook his head and said, "In fact, the Hangzhou Xu family and the Anlu Xu family are one family, both aristocratic families from Gaoyang, Hebei. After the Yongjia Southern Migration, the families in Jiangnan were ordinary. However, when Duke of Qiao was young, he was a classmate of Emperor Gaozu. Later, he surrendered Yiling and was promoted from Duke of Anlu to Duke of Qiao, greatly increasing his family's status."

"So what? Ever since Duke Qiao's death, the Anlu Xu family's relationship with the court has become less close. It's you, brother, who's the one who's doing it." Li Yifu looked at Xu Jingzong, gritted his teeth, and shook his head. "Your experience is too great. The next step is to become the Imperial Court Minister. Who knows, you might even become the Prime Minister right away."

Li Yifu was so envious of everything Xu Jingzong had.

He has been serving as the Imperial Secretary and Recorder, and in two years it will be ten years.

After ten years, he will definitely be promoted to the fourth rank Huangmen Shilang.

The last person to take this path was Chu Suiliang.

Chu Suiliang, who was the Yellow Gate Minister, happened to catch up with the previous emperor's eastern expedition to Goguryeo. When he returned, he had already become the prime minister.

"So what if we are prime ministers? Do you think the Guanzhong families like the Dou family, the Wei family, and the Pei family will look down on us?" Xu Jingzong raised his head slightly, his eyes helpless.

"That's because their family has produced several generations of prime ministers. How can one generation be compared to them... Huh!" Li Yifu suddenly exclaimed, looking at Xu Jingzong and said, "I heard that you have a little daughter, thirteen years old, who is still unengaged. A few days ago, there was news that your family appeared outside the Feng family's memorial hall. Could it be that your brother..."

Xu Jingzong's face turned cold, he looked up at Li Yifu and asked, "Who said that?"

"Who else could have said that?" Li Yifu raised his eyes slightly and looked behind Xu Jingzong.

What is behind Xu Jingzong? It is Chengtian Gate and the imperial palace.

"Your Majesty knows?" Xu Jingzong's face turned pale.

"Of course, otherwise why did Your Majesty say today that he wanted to find a daughter from the royal family to marry into the Feng family of Lingnan in the future?" Li Yifu suddenly turned around and walked outside.

Xu Jingzong was startled, then quickly followed, whispering, "Please enlighten me, my foolish brother. My mind is completely confused."

Li Yifu slowed down his pace and said as he walked, "Your Majesty married a daughter of the royal family into the Feng family of Lingnan in order to better stabilize the southern border and for the sake of the overall situation. And you, brother, are planning to marry your daughter into the Feng family. I'm afraid it's partly for the pleasure of Your Majesty and partly for the wealth of the Feng family."

Xu Jingzong sighed softly and said, "I have inquired deeply about my daughter's marriage, but even with my current position in the officialdom and the favor of His Majesty, it is still difficult for me to be taken seriously by the wealthy and powerful families. So, if I can't get a family background, can I still get reality?"

Li Yifu nodded silently.

He has a deep understanding of this kind of thing.

"My dear brother, your idea is good, but have you ever thought about this: if you really marry your daughter to the local chieftain family of the Feng clan in Lingnan, and if someone impeaches you and disrupts the family rules in the court, you will probably be expelled from Chang'an." Li Yifu looked at Xu Jingzong and shook his head slightly.

"They care about this too?" Xu Jingzong frowned.

"Hehe, brother, you don't really think that the ministers in the court are harmonious now, do you?" Li Yifu looked at Xu Jingzong with some amusement.

"They are targeting Your Majesty!" Xu Jingzong couldn't help but take a breath.

Xu Jingzong's original plan was to help the emperor stabilize southern Xinjiang and make some money for himself at the same time, but he didn't expect that someone would actually take action in this regard.

"Your daughter is thirteen years old. Why don't you consider her as a candidate for the Crown Princess?" Li Yifu suddenly brought the subject back.

Xu Jingzong stopped and looked at Li Yifu in surprise: "My dear brother, are you kidding me? My daughter has no background. How could she possibly be the Crown Princess? Moreover, my daughter is two years older than the Crown Prince."

The Crown Princess, chosen by the Emperor, was definitely the best among the aristocratic families in Guanzhong, not to mention that she was even older.

"I was just saying it, pointing in a direction." Li Yifu suddenly smiled and said, "What else can improve your family status better than marrying into the royal family?"

"Royal family, you are talking about His Majesty!" Xu Jingzong finally understood what Li Yifu meant.

Li Yifu looked at Xu Jingzong calmly: "What do you think?"

Marry into the emperor's harem.

"My daughter, with our family background, can only be a concubine at most if she enters the harem. It is impossible for her to become one of the nine concubines or four imperial concubines." Xu Jingzong looked up and shook his head at Li Yifu.

The Four Concubines and Nine Imperial Concubines actually all had strict family background requirements.

Although the Hangzhou Xu family, from which Xu Jingzong came, was of high status, even Concubine Zhang, who was also from Jiangnan, was only one of the nine concubines, even though she already had a son and the Jiangnan Zhang family was of higher status than the Xu family.

This was due to the fact that the emperor had few concubines in his harem in those years, and Zhang had been with the emperor for a long time and had experienced many things, which led to her current status.

"Prince." Li Yifu glanced at Xu Jingzong, then turned and walked out of the palace. "Prince, give birth to a few more princes, add some auspicious signs, and endure for a few more years. Nine concubines will not be a problem. By then, will the families of the emperor's nine concubines, those aristocratic families, dare to look down on you? Will they dare not marry into your family? If so, they are looking down on Your Majesty and should be executed!"

In an instant, Xu Jingzong heard a hint of gnashing of teeth in Li Yifu's words.

Li Yifu noticed Xu Jingzong's gaze and sneered disdainfully: "If my surname wasn't Li, do you think I would give you such an opportunity?"

Xu Jingzong was stunned, then fell silent.

After a moment, Xu Jingzong continued, "That being said, my dear brother, you also know that according to court conventions, the emperor's father-in-law cannot be prime minister, and the prime minister's daughter cannot marry the emperor as a concubine. The example of Yang Jian is right in front of us."

"A talented woman, how can she be considered a concubine?" Li Yifu snorted coldly.

"Ah!" Xu Jingzong looked up suddenly.

Li Yifu looked at Xu Jingzong helplessly and shook his head, saying, "You think too much, old man. Even if your daughter enters the palace, she will at most be a talented person at first, and that's under the best circumstances. Otherwise, she can only be a Baolin, a Royal Concubine, or a Cainu. How can you be considered the emperor's father-in-law? The emperor has only one father-in-law, and that's the empress's father."

Xu Jingzong's hands and feet trembled slightly, and he said with some disappointment: "Is this the only way?"

"Otherwise, we must carefully manage the situation so that the daughter can enter the palace and become His Majesty's concubine." Li Yifu looked forward and said lightly as he walked, "You are still a censor, so it is naturally not possible at this time. If you want to make any move, you have to wait for a year or two to become the prime minister."

"Become the prime minister first?" Xu Jingzong suddenly remembered what Li Yifu said at the beginning. He said that he could become the prime minister within one or two years.

"Your Majesty is still in mourning this year, so don't even think about anything. But if nothing unexpected happens, you'll have the opportunity to advance further in a year." Li Yifu leaned closer to Xu Jingzong and whispered, "Once you become prime minister, no one will say you sold your daughter for fame."

Xu Jingzong couldn't help but recall that he had sent people to check outside Feng's house.

He immediately shook his head and said, "How can you marry your daughter into the palace when you're the prime minister?" "Who told you to marry your daughter?" Li Yifu rolled his eyes at Xu Jingzong and said, "The one you were going to marry was the granddaughter of Duke Qiao. It was just that your granddaughter accompanied her into the palace. But in the end, it was your granddaughter who stayed in the palace by mistake. In this way, no one can say anything wrong."

Xu Jingzong raised his eyes and looked at Li Yifu, his lips trembling slightly.

What Li Yifu just said was extremely problematic.

How could he guarantee that Xu Jingzong would be able to become prime minister within one or two years?

How could he guarantee that if he and his daughter accompanied Duke Qiao's granddaughter into the palace, his daughter would be the one who stayed behind?

There are many other areas where Xu Jingzong feels there are problems.

A question had already arisen in Xu Jingzong's mind.

This matter, these words.

Did the emperor ask him to say that?
Is all this what the emperor wants?
But Xu Jingzong never dared to ask.

He was a little scared. He was afraid that once he asked, everything would come to nothing.

……

Before they knew it, Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu had already walked out of Chengtian Gate.

Li Yifu stopped and looked at his horse parked on the side.

Horses and carriages of officials below the fifth rank were not allowed to enter the palace.

Li Yifu looked up at the Suzaku Street in front of him, which was dark and gloomy, and at the countless mansions of princes and nobles on both sides, which were lit up like day, and sighed softly, "Family status!"

After saying this, Li Yifu bowed, said goodbye, and then strode towards his horse.

In the blink of an eye, Li Yifu disappeared without a trace.

Xu Jingzong looked at Li Yifu's back and felt the same discomfort in his heart.

Xu Jingzong was okay, at least he came from a prominent family in Hangzhou.

His ancestor Xu Xun was a figure as famous as Wang Xizhi. His grandfather Xu Heng was Taizhong Daifu and Weiwei Temple Minister of the Southern Liang Dynasty. His father Xu Shanxin was the former Minister of Rites of the Sui Dynasty.

Xu Jingzong is now a Censor-in-Chief and Recorder-in-Chief. His qualifications are sufficient and he can become the Imperial Secretary or even the Prime Minister in the next step.

Even so, Xu Jingzong felt aggrieved in every way in Chang'an City.

But what about Li Yifu?

Although Li Yifu claimed to be from the Liaodong Li clan, which was a branch of the Zhaojun Li clan, the Zhaojun Li clan refused to acknowledge him.

This made it impossible for Li Yifu to tell others that he was from the Zhaojun Li family.

In addition, his father was only the magistrate of Yanting County, and his grandfather was only the magistrate of Shehong County.

The discrimination he suffered was much more severe than that suffered by Xu Jingzong.

The Li family of Zhaojun refused to even acknowledge him.

After all, although Li Yifu is now considered the emperor's confidant, he still has a long way to go before becoming the prime minister.

Normally, Li Yifu's official career would be at least five years slower than Xu Jingzong's.

But if it were someone from a high-ranking family with the same official position, he would have had a chance to become prime minister.

For example, Li Yiyan, who was born in the Longxi Li family.

Family background!
Xu Jingzong sighed softly, then turned and looked towards the Suzaku Gate.

Following the Suzaku Gate, his gaze fell on the Chengtian Gate, and even on the Taiji Hall and Liangyi Hall.

At this moment, with a "creak", the Suzaku Gate began to close slowly.

Completely cut off from Xu Jingzong's sight.

……

Snowflakes were falling, and Li Chengqian stood outside the Liangyi Palace with a calm expression.

His gaze passed over Chengtian Gate and Zhuque Gate, looking at the entire Chang'an City in the distance.

His expression was calm, but his eyes were indifferent.

He never taught Li Yifu to say anything, but he always gave hints intentionally or unintentionally.

Li Yifu is a man with a dagger hidden behind his smile.

Li Chengqian didn't know how long Li Yifu's knife could be used, but he hoped Xu Jingzong could last longer.

After all, Xu Jingzong is a member of the Jiangnan faction, and he has the support of the entire Jiangnan faction behind him.

However, Li Yifu had little support among the Hebei faction.

As for Xu Jingzong becoming prime minister, it would not be a bad idea if he could really accomplish something.

Li Chengqian smiled softly.

His eyes were cold.

Family background!
It is the biggest prejudice among the people of the Tang Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)