I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 360 Zhang Chun: I have all the skills to pick up girls, but unfortunately I'm a girl myself.

...

Don't assume that unmarried men and women in ancient times never had the opportunity to meet.

In fact, there are indeed a few places where unmarried men and women, especially young men and women from high-ranking officials, noble families, and gentry families, meet.

The first place is a temple.

Do you think the Mahavira Hall only accepts donations?
wrong.

This is the wildest matchmaking corner of our time.

Although it is a place for quiet meditation.

However, not all the devout men and women who come to burn incense are seeking purity of mind and body. For example, Zhang Sheng and Cui Yingying fell in love at first sight in a temple.

Why? Because temples have a natural advantage: they are filled with those subtle, flirtatious moments that happen right under the noses of the Buddhas.

This feeling of excitement was succinctly summarized by Bai Juyi as: "On the seventh day of the seventh month, in the Hall of Eternal Life, at midnight when no one was around, we whispered among ourselves."

Zhao Huan and Zhao Ji were two completely opposite types of people. For example, Zhao Ji believed in Taoism, while Zhao Huan believed in Buddhism.

From a very young age, Zhao Huan loved Buddhist culture and often went to temples to burn incense and worship Buddha.

Last year, Zhao Huan went to a temple to burn incense.

As the morning bell rang, the scent of incense from the Great Xiangguo Temple, mingled with the coolness of early autumn, wafted from the eaves. Zhao Huan, clutching his prayer beads, climbed the steps and arrived at the Great Buddha Hall.

As soon as he entered, Zhao Huan's gaze was drawn to two figures in front of the main hall.

They are two sisters, standing side by side in front of the lotus lantern.

The young lady in front, dressed in a lotus-colored ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), with a fresh white jasmine flower tucked into her hair, was tiptoeing to adjust the lamp wick. The hanging beaded curtain swayed gently with her movements, and the scattered light fell on her profile, making even the downy hairs at her temples clearly visible. It was Zhu Lian.

Zhu Lian's younger sister, Zhu Xuan, wore a moon-white shirt and held half a half-eaten pastry in her hand. Seeing Zhu Lian struggling to stand on tiptoe, she reached out and quietly supported the lampstand. When her fingertips touched her sister's sleeve, both of them smiled, their laughter as soft as raindrops falling from the eaves.

Zhao Huan paused behind the incense table, his prayer beads having stopped spinning. Worshippers brushed past his sleeves, but he couldn't look away—watching Zhu Lian's fingertips trace the edge of the lamp, watching her furrow her brow slightly as the smoke choked her, and how, as she raised her hand to tidy her hair, the silver bracelet on her wrist slipped down to her forearm, revealing a small patch of fair skin. Zhu Xuan whispered something in Zhu Lian's ear, and he turned his head to listen. Just then, a breeze blew by, carrying the scent of jasmine from them, mingling with the incense, creating a more comforting aroma than the sandalwood before the Buddha.

The abbot came over to guide Zhao Huan to offer incense, and his hand tightened slightly as he took the incense. Looking past the candlelight, he saw that the Zhu sisters, Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan, had moved to the donation box. Zhu Xuan was counting copper coins, while Zhu Lian looked up at the Buddha statue in the hall. Sunlight streamed in through the window, falling on her slightly raised chin, even her outline was bathed in soft light.

Zhao Huan stared at Zhu Lian's back, not even hearing the abbot speak to him—at this moment, his mind was filled with Zhu Lian's profile as he adjusted the lights.

When the incense had burned halfway, Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan turned and walked out. Zhu Lian walked behind, and as she passed Zhao Huan, perhaps her skirt was caught on the corner of the incense table, she stumbled and dropped her handkerchief to the ground.

Zhao Huan almost immediately bent down to pick it up. Just as his fingertips touched the embroidery thread on the corner of the handkerchief, he saw Zhu Lian also squat down. When they looked up, their eyes met.

Zhu Lian's eyes were bright, like the autumn waters outside the temple. She hurriedly said "thank you," took the handkerchief, and quickly caught up with Zhu Xuan, becoming a blurry shadow in Zhao Huan's eyes.

Zhao Huan held the cool, lingering handkerchief between his fingers, watching Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan's figures turn into the corridor. The hem of Yuebai and Ouhe's clothes flashed one last time before disappearing into the crowd of worshippers.

The incense ash landed on the back of his hand, burning Zhao Huan and bringing him back to his senses. He started spinning the prayer beads in his hand again, but his mind was in complete turmoil. He had come to worship Buddha, but in the end, it seemed that his heart was focused on the white jasmine flower that trembled gently by Zhu Lian's temple when he looked up at Buddha, and the light in Zhu Lian's eyes when he looked up.

From that day on, Zhao Huan fell ill with lovesickness.

Until this year's Lantern Festival, Zhao Huan, who was bored, went to visit the lantern market like many other single men and women.

The Lantern Festival was the golden time for men and women to date in this era. Young men and women from high-ranking officials, noble families, and gentry families would secretly meet under the guise of admiring the lanterns, which was quite exciting.

You think solving riddles is a test of intelligence? It's more like a modern-day truth or dare game. People use it to flirt while solving riddles.

The lights were as bright as day, and the crowds were as vast as the sea.

The moonlight illuminates the capital city, while carriages and canopies crowd the thoroughfares.

In other words, all those Rolls-Royces are stuck in traffic on the Second Ring Road watching girls.

The sea of ​​lights on the Lantern Festival illuminated the entire street. Zhao Huan sat in a rickshaw, following the flow of traffic. The revolving lantern in his hand swayed, but his heart felt empty. Ever since their parting at Xiangguo Temple last year, that lotus-colored figure would always appear when the prayer beads finished turning a full circle, and even the chanting of Buddhist prayers could not suppress it.

The riddle stalls at the street corner were bustling with activity. Zhao Huan looked up and saw a moon-white hem of clothing flashing past him.

It was Zhu Xuan, holding a rabbit lantern in her hand, pulling on the sleeve of the person next to her to hide in the shadows.

It is Zhu Lian.

Zhu Lian changed into a pomegranate-red ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), and instead of jasmine hairpins, she wore a pearl hairpin that swayed gently with her steps. The lantern light fell on her face, illuminating her features clearly—her eyebrows were slightly curved, and the corners of her eyes seemed to be glowing red from the lantern light. When she listened to Zhu Xuan speak, the curve of her lips was even more beautiful than a peach blossom.

Zhao Huan jumped off the carriage immediately, disregarding his usual composure, and hurried after Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan.

Zhao Huan is getting closer and closer to Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan.

Just as Zhao Huan was only a little over ten feet away from Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan, the crowd suddenly surged forward, pushing Zhao Huan forward two steps, almost touching Zhu Lian's sleeve.

Zhu Lian seemed to notice something and suddenly turned his head to the side.

Zhao Huan hurriedly lowered his head, staring at the tips of his boots—out of the corner of his eye, the hem of his pomegranate-red skirt brushed against his trouser leg, carrying a faint fragrance, the same jasmine scent from the Great Buddha Hall of the Great Xiangguo Temple.

When Zhao Huan looked up again, Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan had already reached the lantern shop across the street.

Zhu Xuan was tiptoeing to pick up the lantern, while Zhu Lian stood to the side waiting. Her fingers unconsciously touched the tassels of the lanterns hanging in front of the stall. A gust of wind blew, and the tassels brushed against the back of her hand. She pulled her hand back, and the dimples in her smile were filled with the shadows of the lanterns.

Zhao Huan watched Zhu Lian through the passing crowds, watching her accept the lotus lantern from Zhu Xuan, watching them walk side by side into the depths of the lantern market, their pomegranate red and moon white figures gradually merging into the sea of ​​lanterns, until only two swaying lights remained, just like the two lotus lanterns they had chosen in the temple last year.

Fortunately, Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan's beauty not only attracted Zhao Huan, but also many other unmarried men. Some said, "The two sisters are the daughters of the military governor of Wukang..."

Zhao Huan's eyes were only filled with the swaying pearl hairpin by Zhu Lian's temple when she turned her head, and the unforgettable fragrance that wafted from her skirt as it brushed against his trouser leg.

No matter how bright the lanterns were on this Lantern Festival night, they couldn't outshine the light in Zhu Lian's eyes as he looked up at them.

It turns out that lovesickness isn't an illness, but rather the fire that still burns in your heart after all the streetlights have gone out. Zhao Huan is seventeen this year, and has reached the age for marriage.

After returning home, he told Zhao Ji that he wanted to marry Zhu Lian, and it would be even better if he could marry Zhu Xuan as well.

Emperor Huizong (Zhao Ji) also intended to support his only son, Zhao Huan.

As mentioned earlier, although Emperor Huizong intended to arrange a marriage between his son and Zhu Bocai, the matter was delayed because Zhu Bocai was the younger brother of Consort Zhu, and Emperor Huizong had a grudge against Consort Zhu. Emperor Huizong was unwilling to provoke Zhao Yu over this matter.

Unexpectedly, when Zhao Huan saw the Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan sisters again, they had already become imperial concubines, and judging from their positions, they had clearly been selected.

Zhao Huan immediately felt a sense of being robbed of his love. He looked at Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan, dressed in palace attire, standing with their heads bowed among the newly selected concubines, and the thought that Zhao Yu on the dragon throne would soon become their man pierced his heart like a needle.

The joy Zhao Huan felt when he went home and told his father, Zhao Ji, that he wanted to marry the sisters Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan was still lingering in his heart. At that time, he thought his father would definitely make it happen, and that his longing would finally find a home. But he forgot that everything in the world, including people's hearts and marriage, was in the hands of the person on the dragon throne.

Zhao Huan also resented his father Zhao Ji's indecisiveness. If it weren't for his hesitation, why would Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan have participated in the talent show?

Zhao Huan recalled the white jasmine at Daxiangguo Temple, the pearl hairpin on the Lantern Festival, and the light in Zhu Lian's eyes. Those scenes that had once kept him tossing and turning at night had now become thorns in his heart.

—It turns out that from the very beginning, his longing was just a one-man show that no one knew about, and he didn't even have the right to fight for it.

Zhao Huan had an impulse: to ask Zhao Yu to bestow Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan upon him.

But when Zhao Huan glanced at Zhao Gou, who was holding the golden mace beside him, he immediately backed down.

From how Zhao Yu dealt with Zhao Si and the others peeping at the imperial concubines, it's easy to see that Zhao Huan also had a strong possessive streak. If he dared to compete with Zhao Yu for women, he might anger Zhao Yu, and Zhao Gou could take this opportunity to establish his authority.

Zhao Huan didn't think so; he was overthinking it.

Zhao Yu did not allow Zhao Gou to continue to execute Zhao Si and the other three, which could be considered as Zhao Yu protecting them this time. But everyone could see that this was only a one-time thing. Next time, no matter if it was Zhao Si and the other three, or anyone else, who violated the law again, they would not be so lenient.

Given Zhao Gou's incorruptible character, he would definitely pursue the matter to the end, even if it meant killing him on the spot.

In Zhao Huan's view, Zhao Gou would definitely find an opportunity to establish his authority and prove himself; otherwise, how could he prove that Zhao Yu had not made a mistake in choosing a person?
Zhao Huan had no intention of being the first to test his skills.

So, despite his heartbreak, Zhao Huan reluctantly turned his gaze away.

When Zhao Kai and his group arrived, the talent show was already nearing its end.

After Zhao Si and his group finished dealing with this minor matter, Zhao Yu selected over a hundred more women to be chosen as candidates for the imperial concubine selection, thus concluding the selection process.

The remaining candidates will be registered by the Ministry of Rites and given to Zhao Yu's sons and nephews for selection.

Next, Zhao Yu issued an edict that the selected women be allowed to enter the palace directly.

The palace walls were very high, completely blocking Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan from view, and also keeping Zhao Huan's thoughts out of reach.

Zhao Huan dared not turn around, afraid that others would see his reddened eyes, and even more afraid of seeing the tightly closed palace gate—behind that gate was Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan's new home, and outside that gate were his unspoken thoughts that he could only keep hidden in his heart.

From then on, Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan became Zhao Yu's concubines, while he could only be Zhao Huan, the emperor's nephew.

When they meet again at a palace banquet, he will bow from afar across the crowd, watch them smile at Zhao Yu, and swallow all the unspoken words and unexpressed feelings, brewing them into a bitter wine unknown to anyone.

"The pain of having your love stolen away isn't in the loss itself, but in the fact that even with a heart full of resentment, you can only smile and say 'Your subject obeys,' hiding your heartbreak and grievances in a silent forbearance unseen by others..."

……

Zhao Huan thought he had hidden his feelings well, but little did he know that Zhao Yu and Zhang Chun had both seen his lingering affection for Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan.

This is normal.

Others may not know, but Zhao Yu and Zhang Chun, who are well-versed in history, certainly did not know how good the relationship was between Zhao Huan and Zhu Lian in history.

Historically, the relationship between Zhao Huan and Zhu Lian lacked the grand romance of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and Yang Guifei, and the exclusive affection of Emperor Xiaozong of Ming and Empress Zhang. However, the backdrop of the Jingkang Incident made their relationship seem more real: their love began with propriety and law, but it was sublimated into a bond of life and death in times of hardship. Zhu Lian sacrificed her life for the Song Dynasty and for Zhao Huan, doing the ultimate protection for their relationship. When Zhao Huan learned of Zhu Lian's death, he was also heartbroken and did not eat for several days.

However, in the eyes of Zhao Yu and Zhang Chun, who were well-versed in history, Zhu Lian was truly a good woman, and the stubborn, foolish, cowardly, and weak Zhao Huan was simply not worthy of her.

It is worth noting that later generations held Zhu Lian in extremely high regard, and even Emperor Shizong of Jin, who was her enemy, referred to her as the "Chaste and Loyal Empress".

Zhang Chun couldn't bear to see such a great historical figure fall into the hands of a man who was not worthy of her.

That said, Zhang Chun was just a woman; otherwise, she would definitely have been even more promiscuous than Zhao Yu.

In Zhang Chun's words, "I have all the skills to pick up girls, but unfortunately, I'm a girl myself."

Since Zhang Chun wanted to break up the couple, she could only rely on Zhao Yu's help.

Here's the thing: as soon as they returned to the inner palace, Zhang Chun said to Zhao Yu, "Among the young ladies who entered the palace this time, the most wonderful ones are none other than the Zhu sisters."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yu followed Zhang Chun's gaze and saw Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan, who were looking down with meek and obedient expressions.

Zhao Yu nodded: "Yes, they are indeed quite good. Then let's teach them to serve you in bed tonight."

Upon entering the palace, Zhao Yu immediately summoned the two sisters, Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan. Some of the more precocious newly appointed palace maids, who already knew that Zhao Yu was their emperor, couldn't help but feel jealous of Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan's good fortune.

Of course, there were also many newly recruited palace maids who were unaware of their situation, the rules of survival in the harem, and what it meant to be chosen by Zhao Yu, and were therefore indifferent to the good fortune of Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan.

Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan were very well-mannered and knew what it meant for them to receive Zhao Yu's favor.

Therefore, upon confirming that Zhao Yu had indeed chosen them, Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan gracefully bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Standing nearby, seeing Zhao Yu select the palace maid she had recommended in front of so many newly recruited palace women, Zhang Chun smiled radiantly. She thought to herself, 'Seeing my influence, won't these little girls obediently come and pledge their allegiance to me?'

Why do you think Zhang Chun was in such a hurry to recommend Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan?
This was not only because Zhang Chun didn't want Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan to be taken away by that good-for-nothing Zhao Huan again, and because she wanted to take these two extraordinary women, Zhu Lian and Zhu Xuan, as her henchmen, but also because she was demonstrating her power so that these palace maids would serve her and that their children would be used by her and her son in the future...

……

(End of this chapter)