I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 113 Zhao Ya and Li Qingzhao
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Generally speaking, there were only eight prime ministers in the Song Dynasty at the same time.

For example, during the reign of Zhao Xu, there were only five prime ministers: Zhang Dun, Zeng Bu, Cai Bian, Han Zhongyan, and Xu Jiang.

During the reign of Zhao Ya, he not only retained all the prime ministers from the reign of Zhao Xu, but also recalled Su Zhe, Su Shi, and Lu Huiqing to serve as prime ministers. At the same time, he promoted Cai Jing, Li Qingchen, and Zhang Shangying to the position of prime ministers.

This means that there are currently eleven prime ministers, the most in the history of the Song Dynasty.

The reason why Zhao Ya brought out so many ministers was mainly because Empress Dowager Xiang wanted to take a middle road, and Zhao Ya lacked ministers who could get things done.

After a while, the current situation has emerged.

Because there are so many prime ministers, more than in previous dynasties, and there are new and old parties among them, and the new and old parties are constantly fighting and sabotaging each other, many people think that Zhao Ya will sooner or later choose to eliminate one side and solve the current messy and inefficient political situation.

It was precisely because of this that the ministers panicked and the war was brought to Zhao Ya's harem.

In theory, if Zhao Ya wanted to keep his harem quiet, he should not accept these women who were bound to cause trouble. No, it should be said that he should not accept these sugar-coated bullets. This may be the choice made by Zhao Ji in history.

But the path Zhao Ya wanted to take was different from the path taken by Zhao Ji in history, so he was not afraid of taking these sugar-coated bullets.

Moreover, for Zhao Ya, the most important thing at the moment is to secure his throne. Nothing else matters. Marrying into marriages with all the prime ministers will undoubtedly help Zhao Ya secure his throne.

As long as Zhao Ya married into the families of all the ministers, his regime would be completely stable. By then, even Empress Dowager Xiang would not be able to do anything to him.

The key point is that these ministers have already sent the person to Zhao Ya. If Zhao Ya does not accept him, they might think too much. If that happens, it is hard to guarantee that no accidents will happen.

So, Zhao Ya decided to accept it all.

But this matter certainly cannot be handled by Zhao Ya himself, otherwise it would seem that Zhao Ya's eating habits are too ugly.

Then, Zhao Ya's personal white glove Zheng Xiansu made a brilliant appearance.

In Kunning Palace.

Li Qingzhao, Chao Min, Wei Zhi, Cai Xuan, Zhang Nan, Han Yu and other twelve women recommended by the prime minister to take part in the imperial examinations in the palace stood in two rows, waiting for Zheng Xiansu to talk to them.

Among the eleven prime ministers, why are there twelve women?

That’s because Zhao Tingzhi, who was in charge of the money law reform that day, was also present.

Zhao Tingzhi consciously sent his daughter Zhao Yu to take part in the palace imperial examination, without considering at all that he was not the prime minister. Instead, he firmly grasped this opportunity and completely boarded Zhao Ya's chariot.

Zheng Xiansu did not talk to the twelve women together, but called them into the Dongnuan Palace one by one to talk to them individually.

Li Qingzhao discovered that no matter who it was, they were all shy when they came out of the East Warm Palace, and then went to the West Warm Palace to rest. It seemed that the Queen would invite them to have dinner with those who passed the imperial examination later, and Zhao Ya would also be present.

The eleventh to last person to enter was Chao Min, and Li Qingzhao was the last one.

In just a cup of tea, Chao Min shyly walked out of the East Warm Palace.

When passing by Li Qingzhao, Chao Min whispered to her, "I'm staying. Don't be nervous. The Empress is very easy to talk to."

When Li Qingzhao heard this, she was surprised and didn't know whether she should be happy that her good friend became the emperor's concubine, or sad that her good friend would be trapped in this deep palace in the future.

Li Qingzhao took a deep breath and entered the East Warm Hall.

As soon as she came in, Li Qingzhao saw Zheng Xiansu sitting upright on the couch. She had a gentle face and a kind smile. Beside her was an exquisite copper crane lamp. The wick swayed gently, casting a soft and warm light, adding a touch of warmth to this slightly solemn occasion.

Seeing Li Qingzhao come in, Zheng Xiansu raised his hand gently and motioned her to come forward.

Li Qingzhao walked slowly forward until she was only three steps away from Zheng Xiansu. She bowed and saluted, her voice as clear as a spring: "My servant Li pays respect to the Empress."

Zheng Xiansu smiled faintly, a gentle smile that revealed a subtle depth, as if it could see into people's hearts. "Please don't be polite. Although I have lived in the inner palace for a long time, I have heard your song "Ru Meng Ling: Last Night, the Rain Was Sparse and the Wind Was Rush." ​​Seeing it today, I can see that you are truly extraordinary, worthy of the title of 'talented woman'."

Li Qingzhao said modestly, "Your Majesty, you are too kind. I am only slightly versed in literature and writing. How can I claim to be talented? This is all just nonsense from outsiders."

Zheng Xiansu gently waved his hand, motioning Li Qingzhao to sit down. He said, "You don't have to be so modest. Your poems are full of fresh artistic conception, delicate emotions, and unique writing skills. Whether it's 'Ru Meng Ling: Last Night's Rain and Strong Winds' or 'Ru Meng Ling: Always Remembering the Sunset at the Stream Pavilion,' they are all masterpieces. Your talent is unique and on par with that of your predecessors."

Li Qingzhao wanted to be more modest, but Zheng Xiansu stopped her and said, "Since you have such talent, you should take the lead."

Without waiting for Li Qingzhao to speak again, Zheng Xiansu changed his tone and said, "Your Majesty has recently ascended the throne, and the harem is not yet full of concubines, so it is difficult to present a prosperous image. To continue the royal heir and enhance the glory of the palace, you have selected ladies to increase the number of concubines. This imperial examination is intended to select talents for the emperor to manage the harem and to enrich it and promote its prosperity. Although your overall ranking is not good, you are an exceptional talent in poetry. I am very pleased with you, and I believe that the emperor also appreciates your literary talent..."

The more Li Qingzhao listened, the more she felt something was wrong. She quickly stopped Zheng Xiansu from continuing, saying, "Your Majesty, you are mistaken. There is something else going on here..."

Then, Li Qingzhao told Zheng Xiansu the whole story that she was just there to have fun and not to participate in Zhao Ya's concubine selection.

Zheng Xiansu frowned as she listened. She thought to herself: Su Shi and Su Zhe are too unreliable. Li Qingzhao didn't want to enter the palace, so why did you send her here? Were you really sending her here just to have fun?
By the way, not all the ministers recommended their own daughters. Many of them, such as Su Shi, Su Zhe, Li Qingchen, Zhang Shangying, and Xu Jiang, recommended the daughters of their relatives and friends.

Those ministers who recommended their own daughters did so because, firstly, their daughters were both talented and beautiful and were presentable; secondly, they were greedy and wanted to take this opportunity to further bind themselves with Zhao Ya in order to preserve their own power and realize their political ambitions. To put it another way, with this relationship with Zhao Ya, even if they failed in the political struggle in the end, they would not end up in a too bleak situation.

Those who did not recommend their own daughters were not too proud to use marriage as a means of binding themselves to Zhao Ya. Most of them did not have suitable daughters and had to give this good opportunity to other families, or they could find women with both more talent and beauty.

Even General Xu, who was about to retire due to poor health, sent the most talented and beautiful girl in his clan to take part in the imperial examinations.

It can be said that there is no prime minister who does not attach importance to this matter.

Only Li Qingzhao, who was sent by Su Shi and Su Zhe, was not only of ordinary appearance, but also had no intention of staying.

"What is the name of this matter that Su Shi and Su Zhe were asked to handle?"

If Chao Min, sent by Su Shi and Su Zhe, was not of the highest quality in both talent and appearance and was not very willing to stay, Zheng Xiansu would have suspected that Su Shi and Su Zhe had fallen back into their old habit of being too aloof.

Li Qingzhao didn't want to stay, what else could Zheng Xiansu say?
Furthermore, Li Qingzhao's father, Li Kefei, was only a seventh-rank official, and her mother was the eldest daughter of Wang Gui, the prime minister of Yuanfeng, but she died when she was two years old. Although Li Qingzhao was born into a noble family, she was not qualified enough for a queen to use means to retain her.

Therefore, Zheng Xiansu graciously allowed Li Qingzhao to leave, and the methods she used to deal with the other eleven women were naturally not used on Li Qingzhao.

After Li Qingzhao came out of the East Warm Palace, she prepared to go to the West Warm Palace to meet up with the others.

Unexpectedly, a palace maid stopped Li Qingzhao and signaled her to leave the palace with her.

Only then did Li Qingzhao realize that except for her, the other eleven women who came to the palace to take the imperial examination had all stayed and become Zhao Ya's concubines.

"I didn't expect the Royal Family to be so realistic. Just because I didn't want to stay, they wouldn't even let me eat a bite!"

Li Qingzhao left the palace hungry, following the maid. The night was as dark as ink, with only a few palace lanterns emitting a faint light, stretching their shadows out...

When they reached the palace gate, just as Li Qingzhao was about to leave the palace with the palace maid, she unexpectedly ran into Zhao Ya who was returning to the harem.

Seeing from afar that it was Zhao Ya, Li Qingzhao's face flushed red! She quickly lowered her head and followed the palace maids to the side of the road to make way for Zhao Ya. Then she saluted and waited for Zhao Ya and his entourage to pass before they continued to leave.

Who would have thought that just as Zhao Ya and Li Qingzhao were about to pass each other, Zhao Ya suddenly stopped.

Li Qingzhao's heart suddenly started beating wildly!
Over the years, Li Qingzhao was not afraid to meet anyone, including the Queen Zheng Xiansu whom she had just met.

Only Zhao Ya made Li Qingzhao nervous to the point of being at a loss! She was not afraid of Zhao Ya's supreme and domineering power, but she was afraid that Zhao Ya would recognize her and bring up the most embarrassing and shameful thing in her life that night.

However, this is often the case: the more you fear something, the more likely it is to happen.

Zhao Ya exclaimed, "Huh?" and then looked at Li Qingzhao: "You are Concubine Zhang's..."

Coincidentally.

Li Qingzhao participated in many palace imperial examinations, and Zhao Ya occasionally came to the palace imperial examinations as a guest examiner, but the two never met each other once in the palace imperial examinations.

In fact, Zhao Ya knew that Li Qingzhao had come to take part in the imperial examination, and he was also looking forward to meeting this most talented woman in history, but he was not in a hurry to meet Li Qingzhao.

As for the reason?

Of course, Zhao Ya knew that Li Qingzhao and other women were concubines given to him by a group of prime ministers. In other words, Li Qingzhao would also be his woman, and he would meet her sooner or later, so there was no need to rush.

In this way, Zhao Ya and Li Qingzhao missed each other perfectly.

No.

To be precise, Zhao Ya and Li Qingzhao had already met, but until now, Zhao Ya didn't know that the woman who was awakened by his slapping of the butt and who served him for a long time that night was Li Qingzhao.

But then again, although Zhao Ya didn't know that she was Li Qingzhao, this did not prevent her from leaving a deep impression on Zhao Ya, even though she was not particularly beautiful.

how to say?

Li Qingzhao had a temperament that Zhao Ya had never seen in other women.

Intellectual, elegant, graceful, hard to describe.

And this kind of Li Qingzhao, who was shy and timid, and "wanted to refuse but also to accept", really gave Zhao Ya a different feeling.

Especially later, Li Qingzhao was so shy that she didn't even dare to look at him, which made Zhao Ya feel that she was both funny and interesting.

These unique features of Li Qingzhao allowed Zhao Ya to recognize her at a glance.

Let me put it this way, the way Li Qingzhao tried desperately to hide from Zhao Ya now was exactly the same as when she helped Zhao Ya push the cart that night.

It’s a pity that Zhao Ya forgot to ask Li Qingzhao’s name that day.

When they met today, Zhao Ya wanted to ask her the truth so that he could take her in one day when he felt like it but didn't know where to find her.

Li Qingzhao really didn't want to tell Zhao Ya who she was. She hoped that Zhao Ya would forget her and let her unbearable experience remain forever in this isolated harem.

However, this could only be Li Qingzhao's wishful thinking. How could she dare to commit the crime of deceiving the emperor? Besides, Zhang Chun and the others knew who she was. Zhao Ya had only to ask casually, and she would have no way to hide.

Li Qingzhao had no choice but to answer honestly: "I am the daughter of Li Kefei, a deputy minister of the Ministry of Revenue... Li Qingzhao."

Zhao Ya was stunned. He was a little bit incredulous: "You are Li Qingzhao?! The Li Qingzhao who wrote "Ru Meng Ling: Last Night's Rain Sparse and Wind Sudden"?

For the first time, Li Qingzhao hated herself for being so famous. 'This time, there's no escaping it!'

Li Qingzhao bowed gracefully and said, "It is I who am."

Zhao Ya's expression was extremely rich. Fortunately, it was dark and the light was not very good, so no one could see his surprised and happy expression.

To be honest, Zhao Ya really didn't expect that the person who served him and helped him develop Zhang Chun that night would be Li Qingzhao.

This feeling is like accidentally opening a dusty ancient book in your ordinary life, and suddenly discovering that it contains priceless treasures. It is both surprising and joyful, and it is hard to describe.

Zhao Ya's eyes moved over Li Qingzhao, his face full of amusement.

He made small talk and asked, "Are you leaving the palace?"

Li Qingzhao quickly explained to Zheng Xiansu why she came to take part in the imperial examination and how she became friends with Zhang Chun and others. She had already explained everything to him and was now preparing to leave the palace and go home. She told Zhao Ya everything in detail.

After listening to Li Qingzhao, Zhao Ya suddenly felt like "the cooked duck flew away".

If this had happened in his previous life, Zhao Ya would have had no choice but to endure this helplessness.

But this life is different.

In this life, Zhao Ya is the emperor. How could he let the woman he wants run away?
But then again, Li Qingzhao's temper was quite strong, and if she was forceful, she might end up losing everything.

Zhao Ya rolled his eyes and came up with a plan. He said to Liang Shicheng beside him, "Take a token."

Liang Shicheng was very clever and immediately brought out a gold-lettered plaque.

Zhao Ya glanced at Liang Shicheng and said nothing. He then gave the gold plaque to Li Qingzhao as a reward: "This is for you."

Li Qingzhao took the golden plaque and asked Zhao Ya in confusion, "I wonder why Your Majesty gave me this plaque?"

Zhao Ya smiled and said, "Aren't you close friends with Concubine Zhang and the others? With this, you can come and go freely in the palace and play with them anytime. Moreover, with this, your father won't spank you when you return home."

After saying that, Zhao Ya and his party left.

Li Qingzhao was left puzzled, "Why did my father spank me?"

Thinking of spanking, Li Qingzhao couldn't help but think of the night when Zhao Ya spanked her buttocks, "He really spanked me..."

……

(End of this chapter)