I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 47 Who is the third party?
...

Ma Xiaojiao understood that Zhang Chun didn't want to wait any longer and wanted to come to Zhao Ya right away.

"Why? Didn't we agree that you would come with Empress Xiansu and Concubine Yisu? Also, can't you better help Zhao Ya fight for the throne in the palace?" Ma Xiaojiao asked.

Zhang Chun didn't say, "This is what Li Lin agreed to. I didn't agree to it." Instead, he said to Ma Xiaojiao, "Silly girl, I did this to help you, for our greater goal."

"Help me? A lofty goal?" Ma Xiaojiao was puzzled.

"Remember, I told you that your top priority is to get pregnant with Zhao Ma's child as soon as possible and give birth to a son for Zhao Ma. I also told you that, except for Zhao Ji, all the emperors of the Song Dynasty had few offspring. Five emperors had a lot of twists and turns in the succession of the throne because they had no offspring. Therefore, the sooner you give birth to a son for Zhao Ma, and the more sons you give birth to for Zhao Ma, the more advantages we will have politically." Zhang Chun said.

"You did say that, but what does this have to do with you coming to Zhao Ya now?" Ma Xiaojiao asked.

"Why don't you understand?"

"If I go, our chances of giving birth to a son for Zhao Ya will increase, and we can give Zhao Ya more sons."

"In this era, the survival rate of young children was low. Take Song Shenzong, for example. He had a total of fourteen sons, but only six survived to adulthood. Of these six, three died in their twenties, and only three lived to be over forty."

"Given this probability, if we have fewer children, there's no guarantee that there won't be accidents."

"The three of them, especially Li Lin and Qingcheng, refused to listen to me. Otherwise, if the five of us attacked together, the chances of Zhao Ya giving birth to a son would definitely be greater, and we would definitely give birth to more sons. In that case, we would definitely be able to gain the most and biggest political trump cards."

"What's funny is that they are so self-righteous that they think they can carve out a niche for themselves in this male-dominated feudal society."

"Little do they know that in this era, without the support and protection of strong men, they are just three weak women, unable to even sit at the table for a meal, so how can they have the opportunity to showcase their talents?"

"Recently, Li Lin and Qingcheng have been flirting with Empress Xiansu. This woman is known in history as a master of harem politics, manipulating tens of thousands of women in Zhao Ji's harem. Even a hundred Li Lins and a hundred Qingchengs combined wouldn't get any benefits from her."

"It's fine if they don't understand history or politics, but they refuse to obey my orders. They are doomed to achieve nothing."

"Jiaojiao, don't be like them. They think they're smart, but they're always doing the exact opposite of what they want."

"After you left, the main reason we've been stuck in the same place is because they didn't listen to my instructions. Otherwise, if we worked together, we would definitely be able to achieve something in this era."

"..."

Seeing that Zhang Chun was full of complaints, Ma Xiaojiao really couldn't tell who was right and who was wrong, and she didn't know whether she should help Zhang Chun?

The key point is that Ma Xiaojiao felt a little uncomfortable: "Sister Chun knew that Zhao Ya was my man, but she still wanted to sleep with him. Isn't that too disrespectful to me?"

Yes.

Zhao Ya has many women, and there will be more in the future, possibly even tens of thousands. It seems that having one more Zhang Chun would not make a difference.

But the other women were all natives of this era, and the key point was that they were outsiders. Ma Xiaojiao had no control over them, nor did she dare to stop Zhao Ya from sleeping with them.

But Zhang Chun is different. She is his friend for many years, but she wants to sleep with his man openly. Is there any good sister or best friend like this?

Ok.

Ma Xiaojiao understood that Zhang Chun didn't regard Zhao Ya as her man at all, or even as a man, but just as a chess piece.

Ma Xiaojiao also understood that Zhang Chun wanted to sleep with Zhao Ya not to release her female hormones, but for political purposes.

But even though she understood all this, Ma Xiaojiao still found it hard to accept that Zhang Chun slept with her man, and that she had to pimp him for them.

Based on this twisted mentality, Ma Xiaojiao "kindly" advised Zhang Chun: "Sister Chun, if you want to come to Zhao Ya, I have no objection, but should we get the consent of the three of them first? Otherwise, we will definitely quarrel over this matter again."

Seeing that Ma Xiaojiao didn't listen to her, Zhang Chun felt upset. She squeezed twice before forcing out a smile:
"I never thought that Jiaojiao would think the same of me, thinking that I was destroying our unity. To be honest with you, the reason I wanted to go to Zhao Ya through you was to maintain our friendship."

Then, Zhang Chun, who was somewhat defeated, said vindictively:

"You may not know this, but Zhao Ya and I were already in love long before you went to his side. He kissed me so hard that my lips were swollen."

"Your place as a palace maid originally belonged to me. It was Empress Xiansu who was afraid of me, so she tricked you into taking my place." "But because you were the one who stole my place, not only did I not resist, I took the initiative to guide you down the right path."

"Let me be frank. Everything you have now should be mine!"

"Have I ever argued with you?"

"For the sake of our sisterly bond, and to make you feel better, I didn't go directly to Zhao Ya. I wasn't even going to tell you about our relationship. Instead, I wanted to compromise and work together with you to build something great in this era."

"I don't want to, in the end, in your heart, it's me who destroyed the unity?!"

"Jiaojiao, I'm sad!"

"Okay, I don't need you anymore. I'm going to go find Zhao Ya and see if he'll do something like denying his guilt even after pulling up his pants!"

After saying that, Zhang Chun walked towards the front yard angrily.

Ma Xiaojiao never expected that there was such a story between Zhao Ya and Zhang Chun.

Moreover, from what Zhang Chun said, Zhao Ya and Zhang Chun might have slept together.

"I am the third party?!"

At this time, Zhang Chun had already walked out more than ten steps.

Ma Xiaojiao didn't have time to think about it. She hurriedly chased after him and said, "Sister Chun, don't be like this. I was wrong. Isn't it okay for me to help you?"

Zhang Chun said resolutely, "No need. I'll go find Zhao Ya and show you if I've lied to you. I'll show you who's been thinking about the overall situation all along!"

After saying these words, Zhang Chun ignored Ma Xiaojiao no matter what she said.

Soon, Zhang Chun and Ma Xiaojiao entered the front hall one after another.

At this time, Zhao Ya was accompanying Empress Dowager Xiang to admire a floor-to-ceiling window that had been replaced by a craftsman.

Bright sunlight shines into the originally dim and gloomy hall through the floor-to-ceiling windows, making it bright and lively.

Zhao Ya and Empress Dowager Xiang stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, the warm sun shining on them, casting a faint halo.

The Queen Mother gently stroked the pure crystal-like glass, her eyes full of curiosity and admiration.

Zhao Ya said to Empress Dowager Xiang, "This glass window is stronger and more durable than paper windows. It is windproof and rainproof, and it has excellent light transmittance. It can make the room as bright as spring all year round..."

The reason why Zhang Chun wanted Ma Xiaojiao to help her get to Zhao Ya instead of personally going to Zhao Ya to offer herself to him was:

On the one hand, she is shy and reserved, and she doesn't want to appear too eager;
On the other hand, it was because she had messed up the good opportunity that Zhao Ya had fought for her, and she was embarrassed to ask Zhao Ya for anything again. At the same time, she was afraid that Zhao Ya would doubt her ability and underestimate her, so she planned to get close to Zhao Ya first, find an opportunity to make some merit, restore her image in Zhao Ya's heart, and then be with Zhao Ya, and then achieve her goal step by step.

But now, Zhang Chun has been deserted by everyone and has been framed by herself. Apart from personally going to Zhao Ya to offer herself to him, she really has no other way to go.

So, Zhang Chun took a deep breath, then walked to where Zhao Ya could see her, and gave Zhao Ya a look, indicating Zhao Ya: "I have something to talk to you about. Let's meet later."

What Zhang Chun didn't expect was that Zhao Ya actually waved at her, motioning her to come over.

To be honest, Zhang Chunzhen was afraid of the strict Empress Dowager Xiang and didn't want to get close to her anymore.

But Zhao Ya asked her to go, and she couldn't refuse.

In the end, Zhang Chun, who still had Zhao Ya to ask for help, had no choice but to go to Zhao Ya and Empress Dowager Xiang...

……

(End of this chapter)