Biography of Concubine Shujia

Chapter 178

On the first day of April in the first year of Jian'an, the Empress Dowager Zhaojia, who had been ill after the death of the first emperor, officially started her first step in her seven-year political affairs behind closed doors.

The Empress Dowager Zhaojia had already started to get in touch with government affairs in the later years of Emperor Rui. Most of the memorials of Emperor Rui in his later years were personally approved by the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager's political sensitivity and insight were taught by the late Emperor.Much more reliable than the newly crowned regent and the young emperor.

After the queen mother came to court, she issued the first imperial decree, allowing the married princess to take her mother and concubine out of the palace to support her.The third princess who married far away, the fifth and sixth princesses in Beijing wrote letters to pick up their mother and concubine from the palace and go to the princess to take care of them.After Madam Huimin, Madam Duanxian, Lan Shuyuan and Bai Jieyu packed up their things, thanked the emperor and the queen mother, they left the palace without looking back, and left this gorgeous cage that had imprisoned them for half their lives.

The four imperial concubines and concubines who left the palace were not considered to be the longest-lived among the concubines left by the late emperor, but they were always the freest.The eldest princess of the royal family was originally freer and nobler than the prince. As the mother of the princess, one can imagine how they were treated.

The first emperor was not lustful all his life, and there were not many concubines in the harem.Young concubines who have no children below the fifth rank will be released from the palace by the Queen Mother, and they can marry freely.

The two nobles from the fifth grade were sent to the imperial nunnery Ganye Temple to become nuns.Of the two of them, one is Mrs. Zhao Taigui, the biological mother of the second princess who died early, and the other is Mrs. Jing Taigui who offended the Queen Mother and didn't know how to behave.

There are six concubines and concubines with sons, Taiyi, who moved into the Yongshou Palace with the Queen Mother and lived in the side hall of the Yongshou Palace.They are the foster mothers of the fifth, seventh, eighth, and ninth princes, and the biological mothers and foster mothers of the ninth and tenth princes.Among them, the five princes were detained, and the adoptive mother and Tai Guiyi had nowhere to go, so they also stayed in the palace.

The new emperor was young and had no concubines in the harem. The empress dowager was busy with affairs in the court, so he ordered Tai Guiyi to take care of the harem, responsible for the trivial matters of the princes and princesses and only a few old concubines left in the palace.

The eighth day of April is Buddha's birthday, the birthday of the regent and princess.The Empress Dowager held a dinner for her children in the Yaoguang Hall, and the Emperor personally came to congratulate her elder brother and elder sister.Seeing the harmony between her sons and daughters, and the harmony between the emperor and the regent, the queen mother drank a few more cups of peach blossom wine, a little drunk, and went back to the palace to rest first.

Passing by the imperial garden, through a little bit of starlight, I saw the delicate and beautiful white pear blossoms on the pear trees. I was stunned for a while, and went around to Yaohua Palace, where she lived as a noble concubine, and sat for a long time before returning to Yongshou Palace.

After the next day, the Empress Dowager and the Regent reviewed the memorial in the Hall of Mental Cultivation and received the comfort envoy Chen from Kunsang.Kunsang Chenwei envoy came to Daliang in the first month of the first year of Jian'an.First, I participated in the funeral of the late emperor, and performed filial piety for the late emperor instead of Kunsang Khan. Later, I witnessed the enthronement of the new emperor and the canonization ceremony of the empress dowager.

Because Da Yan's birthday was in April, the queen mother was reluctant to part with the eldest daughter whom she had not seen for many years, and ordered them to stay for an extra month.Now that Da Yan's birthday is over, it's time for them to return to Kunsang.

The queen mother pressed her reluctance and agreed to Chen Weishi's farewell.

In the afternoon of that day, the Empress Dowager had lunch at Yongshou Palace, and after taking a nap, the Eldest Princess Mu Jinghan arrived.

Mu Jinghan was dressed in a dress that was only worn for major festivals in Kunsang, and brought her eldest daughter Lili Juci (Princess) to bid farewell to the queen in person.

Lili, who is less than five years old, has pigtails and is the most honorable little girl on the prairie. She has a pair of eyes that resemble her Erji (mother).She smiles like a sly little fox, her eyes are watery like peach blossoms in her mouth.And her Erji's eyes are exactly the same as her Gaqiboge (grandfather, referring to the first emperor), so the queen mother loves this granddaughter.

"What about Gaqier (grandmother), Shunhua brought you beautiful flowers, look how beautiful the flowers look, don't be unhappy." Lili held up a gentian iron mouth vase, Smiling towards the Queen Mother.

The second nickname, Shunhua, was obtained by her Eji herself.

Shunhua is the most common and most gorgeous hibiscus flower on the grassland, and this little flower was really loved by her father when she was born. Hedu personally named her Lili and regarded her as the glory of the grassland.Among the princes and daughters of Kunsang, Lili is the most favored by Hedu, even more favored than her younger brother.

Mu Jinghan left the capital in August 24 of Xijia and married Kunsang.Arrived at Kunsang King City in October and held a big wedding with Hedu.In the second month after marriage, she became pregnant with Dilijuci.Li Liju was born in July of Xijia's 25th year. He Du did not dislike Da Yan's family because she was a daughter, but doted on her young daughter everywhere.

Two years later, Da Yan's Mu Shi became pregnant for the second time, and Yu Xijia gave birth to her eldest son in May 28.When the first emperor passed away, she went back to Daliang for the funeral for her own daughter, and entrusted her son who was under three years old to Haosu Wang Moku and his wife.Moku was rescued by Hedu himself back then, and he has been with Hedu all the time, and gained Hedu's trust, he has been in charge of the Khan Court garrison all the way, the king Haosu who has the right to call the council of nobles to deliver Shanyu's edict.His wife is also from Daliang. She is the step-sister of Dayan's mother and concubine. She has taken care of Dayan since she was a child. Later, Dayan married Moku to win over Moku, who was the left envoy of Kunsang .

Da Yan took Lili to the funeral for thousands of miles, so he was naturally worried about his son's safety. Compared with Hedu Khan, Haosu Wang Moku and his wife were more trusted by her.

Lili Juci's small mouth seemed to be smeared with honey, and it was so nice to talk around her quacky forehead.Ten Niang held her little granddaughter in her arms, smiling and teasing her.

The Empress Dowager Zhaojia was still very young, only 34 years old, and King Ze had no children for five years after getting married.The few princes who were imprisoned in the clan mansion gave birth to many children, but they were not their own.Except for the daughters of a few princes who were brought up by the queen mother and Tai Guiyi, the rest were still imprisoned in the clan mansion.

Lili Juci can be said to be the first grandchildren of the Empress Dowager, so she naturally dotes on her very much.Even the tenth prince had to stay away from this little niece.

Shi Niang and Lili Juci were having fun, until the little girl wanted to insert the pear blossoms in the vase into the Queen Mother's hair, and the Queen Mother raised her hand to stop it.Facing the little girl's puzzled gaze, he smiled sadly, but resolutely rejected his granddaughter's idea.In the end, it was Mu Jinghan who coaxed her daughter, and the maid beside the queen mother took Lili Juci to the side hall to play.

Mu Jinghan glanced at the empress mother who was holding a pear blossom branch in her hand, and thought of her daughter's displeased behavior just now, and sighed in her heart. When her father was alive, her mother and concubine didn't like pear blossoms, but now she still loves pear blossoms. hatred.I just want to have a knot in my heart, I can't open it, I can't let it go.

Seeing her daughter's worried eyes, the queen mother hurriedly put aside the flower branch in her hand, calmed down her sadness, and asked her daughter about her return trip arrangements with concern.

"Daughter thinks about it, I will leave Beijing and go back to Kunsang tomorrow." Seeing the mother's reluctant eyes, she hurriedly persuaded with a smile, "Azhi is young, and my daughter is worried that he is alone. Although uncle is taking care of him, it is always my way of life." It's not good for Erji to leave for too long."

"How does Hedu treat you? Are the women in his king's tent still in peace?" Seeing the unnatural look in her daughter's eyes, Shi Niang couldn't help but get angry, "Your sixth brother is the emperor, your third brother is the regent, and you are the eldest son of Daliang." Eldest princess, it is the Da Yan clan whom Hedu personally proposed to marry, show your aura. I will see who dares to die!"

"The queen mother is angry. My daughter naturally knows that my brothers and the queen mother will make decisions for me. But this palace is not only the Dayan clan of Hedu, but also the queen of Kunsang, and the queen of the people of Kunsang. The women and daughters around him have never been afraid. However, the forces behind them cannot be moved easily, and they still need to be planned slowly. I have sons and daughters in this palace, so I plan slowly, and I can always achieve what I want."

"You, don't be a good princess, you have to compete with so many people. Look at your fifth sister and sixth sister, who dares to be disobedient with the princess money?"

"Aniang knows what I want." Mu Jinghan paused, "Sixth brother is a filial son, and the mother's good life is yet to come." Wishing to be like the mother's queen, standing at the pinnacle of power.

"If you have something to do, remember to ask someone to deliver a letter to the queen mother. The queen mother will always help you." Shi Niang reminded again.

"Aniang, Jinghan is leaving. I will leave this object for you as a thought." Mu Jinghan took out a white jade hairpin carved with pear blossoms from her wide sleeve, and put it in the Queen Mother's hand .

"This is not..." Ten Niang looked at the hairpin in her palm, her eyes full of nostalgia.

"This is what my daughter begged from you when she got married. It is the pear flower hairpin that my father rewarded you with, and you have worn it for many years. Now my daughter returns to Zhao."

"Yesterday, you went to Yaohua Palace, and Shunhua saw you sad." Mu Jinghan inserted the white jade pear flower hairpin into the empress dowager's hair, "My daughter thinks you will like it."

"You girl, you know that the mother concubine likes plum blossoms!" To the late emperor, she said the words that had been stuffed in her heart for so many years, so naturally, into those eyes that resembled the late emperor's.

"Aniang, do you know that I like pear blossoms?" Mu Jinghan asked. She grew up in the palace, and her mother and concubine were favored by the late emperor, and the one she saw most was pear blossoms.

The flowering period of pear blossom is from April to May every year, and it is not such a rare flower.But Leng was made famous by Emperor Rui, just because Emperor Rui said that Du Shi loves pear blossoms.

In order to please the beauties, the first emperor specially built a greenhouse next to the imperial garden in the palace to cultivate pear blossoms.The skillful craftsmen in the palace even grafted white and pink double-color pear flowers, just because there are pear flowers blooming all year round in Yaohua Palace.

After Emperor Rui left, the Empress Dowager was still ill, seeing Lihua's indescribable pain, the emperor hurriedly ordered the palace staff to stop nurturing it.Everyone in the palace said that the Empress Dowager felt depressed because of seeing things and thinking about people. Only Mu Jinghan watched from a distance, and felt that her mother and concubine simply hated Lihua, but she was reluctant to abandon Lihua completely.Otherwise, how can the pear trees that bloom in April survive in the Imperial Garden?

"You are the same as your father, you obviously have a decisive temperament for wielding knives and guns, but you just like this delicate flower."

"Aniang, do you know? Hedu always likes to give me hibiscus flowers. At first I didn't understand what he did. He said that he had inquired and found out that I like pear flowers, but he still liked to give me hibiscus flowers. Until Shunhua I didn’t know until I was born that he likes to give me hibiscus flowers because when I first arrived in the grassland, the hibiscus flowers that were almost withered bloomed again. He thought that I was the hibiscus flower that brought hope and glory to Kunsang for him. That's why I named Lili Shunhua."

"Lili's name is very good. With her father and you, Erji, she can live a carefree life." Shi Niang rarely praised her son-in-law, because of his care for his granddaughter.

"Aniang, when did you and Dad first meet?"

Shiniang rarely spoke, "Aniang remembers that in Guanju Palace, your mother's palace, your father didn't even see the palace. But your father said it was under the pear tree in the imperial garden." Then he laughed, how could Mu Yunlan be Hedu?He likes pear blossoms only because Ouyang Ruixin likes them.

And the first time they met in the palace was when Li Shi made things difficult for their cousins.At that time, he hid behind a tree to watch the excitement, and no one found him later.

She was learning Wu Qinxi from her stepmother back then, and she had sharp ears and eyes, and she had already spotted the hem of his black clothes. In the palace, there was a young man in black with golden threads. Who else could be the emperor?And she also clearly remembered that he was hiding behind a crabapple tree.

"Aniang, let me tell you a secret." Mu Jinghan thought for a while, but still broke the promise she made to the late emperor. "Father said that he met you when you were young."

The teacup in Shi Niang's hand fell to the ground with a bang. She was trapped in the palace all her life and had never traveled far.Counting several times, there were two times when she entered the palace as a concubine, one was to follow the emperor's southern tour to Nanluo, and the other was when Empress Xiaocheng was seriously ill and went to Los Angeles.There was only one time, before entering the palace and not knowing the emperor.And that time he stayed abroad for three years.

She tossed out the memories of when she was young and went to Nanshan to avoid disaster and kept filial piety for her mother.But she realized that Xu was so old that she couldn't think of when she met him?
"What else did he say?" All his life, he never told her the truth, and after he left, he didn't want to let her live in peace, trying to guess his intentions.

"He only said that he saw you playing the Yueqin under the pear tree. The sound of the qin was ugly, but the pear blossoms falling on your strings were very beautiful."

Shi Niang vaguely remembered that in Nanshan, she only played once in the pavilion on the mountain, and she was dissuaded by the servant beside her.But searching deep in the memory, there is still no trace of him.

She would never know that Emperor Rui, who was 17 years old back then, sneaked out of the palace to come to Nanshan to offer incense to his mother because he was tired of the audition held for him by his mother, the Empress Dowager, and happened to meet her who was only seven years old in the dark.Her eyes are very similar to the Empress Yuan, but they are more memorable than the Empress Yuan.In those eyes, there was not only a touch of sadness, but also vitality, which made people want to give her happiness.

"Aniang, I think he really loved you." Mu Jinghan picked up the flower branch on the ground, picked up the most beautiful and delicate white pear flower, and pinned it in her mother's hair, which complemented the white jade pear hairpin, " He likes you wearing it, you should come out."

Throughout her entire life, the Empress Dowager Zhaojia did not know the moment when she and Emperor Rui really met.But after Kunsang Dayan family bid farewell to their homeland, the queen mother fell in love with pear blossoms again.The Yongshou Palace where she lived during her lifetime is filled with pear blossoms all year round, filled with the sweet smell of pear blossoms.

She had worn the white jade pear flower hairpin for 36 years, and had not taken it off until she died. It followed her into the underground palace and was buried in the Shouxi Tomb on the west side of Emperor Rui's Xiaoling Mausoleum.

Of course, there is still a long way to go before the empress dowager Zhaojia is buried in the underground palace, so we might as well follow the pear hairpin to see how the empress dowager spends her time leisurely entertaining her grandchildren.

In the eighth year of Jian'an, on the second day of February, early in the morning, Yongshou Palace was busy.Shi Niang personally went to the small kitchen of Yongshou Palace to make longevity noodles for her son.

Today is the birthday of Emperor Mu Jing, who was born on the day when the dragon raised its head.The dinner was still held in the Yaoguang Palace, but during the day, the Empress Dowager's children would come to the Empress Dowager's Palace to celebrate the emperor.

The first person to come to Yongshou Palace was not the queen who was in charge of the harem, nor the ten princes who lived in the prince's residence, but Princess Ze Sang Zichen who came from Prince Ze's residence outside the palace.

After the emperor's wedding last year, Prince Ze returned to the emperor.He also wrote a letter stating that after years of hard work, he wanted to leave Yujing to rest.The emperor was afraid of the royal guards in Prince Ze's hands and tried to persuade him to keep them, but in order to dispel his brother's suspicion, Prince Ze handed over all the guards to the emperor, and only begged for them.

The empress dowager, who had been listening to the government for many years, naturally knew of the private friction between their brothers, and issued the last imperial decree before returning to the emperor, ordering Prince Ze to stay in Beijing as the Zongzheng of the clan's mansion.Prince Ze finally agreed to stay in Beijing after resigning from the post of brother regent. He is in charge of the affairs of the royal family and does not usually go to court to participate in politics.However, most of the princes who were imprisoned during the reign of Emperor Xijia had many heirs, and he needed to arrange them, so he did not live a leisurely life during this time.

In order to show her filial piety for King Ze and dispel the suspicion of the emperor, Princess Ze entered the palace with a five-month-old body.

After entering the palace, she wanted to help in the kitchen, but was naturally stopped by the queen mother and the people serving her.She is very precious now, there can be no difference.

When Ze Wang was regent, the power was in the hands of the government and the public, and he was about to reach his thirties, but he had no children under his knees. This is why the royalist ministers felt so relieved about Ze Wang.

It was difficult for Prince Ze to have an heir. Since Xijia got married 25 years ago, she has been childless. It was not until Jian'an four years that Princess Ze became pregnant.

After eight years of marriage, the two are finally expecting their first child.On the fifth day of May in the fifth year of Jian'an, Princess Ze gave birth to Princess Qionghua.The couple thought it would be a long time before they had any more children, but they didn't realize that King Ze returned to the empress. In October of the seventh year of Jian'an, the princess was found to be two months pregnant again.

The concubine who was pregnant again became the most precious person. The queen mother was afraid that Princess Qionghua would be young, so she would offend the concubine and take the princess into the palace to be raised.

Concubine Ze loves her daughter as much as her life. Since the child in her belly was three months old, she often went to the palace to accompany the queen mother and visit her daughter.

The emperor was already closer to the emperor's wife than his emperor's brother, so he naturally rewarded Princess Ze with many supplements.On the emperor's birthday, as the elder sister-in-law, Princess Ze had to come here both emotionally and rationally.

Speaking of which, when the emperor was young and hadn't been personally raised by the late emperor, he was always brought by King Ze's side.To a certain extent, Princess Ze raised him like a mother, because at that time there was a younger tenth prince beside the queen mother.Princess Ze never had any children of her own, and she took care of her younger brother as a child, so she naturally had a deep relationship with the emperor.

There is also the tenth prince who also loves to cling to Princess Ze.Before the tenth prince was five years old, his father died.The Empress Dowager was busy asking about politics behind the curtain, so the Tenth Prince was naturally brought to Princess Ze as well.

Princess Ze didn't force her, and ordered someone to take the mille-feuille, cloud cake and small and delicate longevity peaches she brought to the small kitchen and put them on the steamer.She had anticipated the battle in the Queen Mother's palace early in the morning, and had already made preparations in the palace.

The palace people pursed their lips and laughed, no wonder the emperor respected Princess Ze. Not everyone dared to treat the emperor like a child and give cakes.

The second person to come to Yongshou Palace was the Eighth Princess Jingyue. She married the Empress Dowager's natal Lu family in the fourth year of Jian'an.The one who married was the grandson of the eldest son, and Hachiro of the Lu family was a handsome man.He is the most considerate person. When Jingyue and Jingshan teamed up to cause trouble in Beijing, he helped Mu Jingyue, who was still a princess, to get out of the siege.Jingyue has a wild personality and is the most transparent person. She doesn't like those twists and turns. Unlike her brothers and sisters, she doesn't like power.Lu Balang is the youngest son, and Shangzhu can't affect the family, so the two live comfortably after getting married.

In the second year after she got married, Jingyue had a son who was in the same grade as Princess Qionghua.Today, when entering the palace, it is natural to bring his son with him, but the son-in-law is a foreigner, so it is not easy to enter the palace to have an audience.I can only wait until night to go to Yaoguang Hall to celebrate the emperor's birthday.

Jingyue graded her son and went to the side hall to wake Princess Qionghua to wake up. The little girl practiced horseback riding and archery with her emperor uncle yesterday, and she kept screaming for pain when she came back at night.

Jingyue naturally sat at the side and talked with the third sister-in-law. She was married in Beijing and accompanied by other princesses and sisters. Naturally, her daily life would not be boring.It is also close to her third brother's house, and the relationship between the sister-in-law and sister-in-law is quite harmonious.

The sister-in-law and sister-in-law were really talking, and they heard the palace people singing "The empress is here."

The two hurriedly got up and saluted the queen.The queen personally stepped forward to help Princess Ze, be good, who dares to let this salute.The emperor said that she had a big belly, so she didn't need to salute.

As a queen, she naturally knew how much her husband cared about this sister-in-law.She was more nervous than facing the queen mother, so she naturally had to respect her.

The queen was born in a Zanying family, and the family has been officials for generations. Although she is not very prominent, her strategic nature is good.The Empress Dowager and King Ze started looking for a candidate for the empress for the emperor a few years ago, and after three years of careful selection, they finally settled on the current empress.

The queen has been in the palace for almost a year, and she is not pregnant yet. Next year will be the emperor's first year of elections after he ascended the throne, so naturally he is a little anxious.In the past, when Princess Rize entered the palace, she mostly put down the affairs in hand and came to Yongshou Palace to fulfill her filial piety.She heard the old man say that being close to pregnant people can bring good luck.The two sisters-in-law also have some friendship.

The last group of people came in at the same time, and there was a bunch of waiters behind them, all of them were Wu Yangyang.It turned out that the emperor brought King Ze and the ten princes together.

Coincidentally, when the tenth prince heard about King Ze entering the palace today, he made a fuss and asked his third brother to find the Hall of Mental Cultivation.The emperor took his elder brother and younger brother home to find his mother.

When Shi Niang came out of the small kitchen, Princess Qionghua and Brother Lu Jiafeng held her back, one on each side, and helped Shi Niang to sit at the table.

Mu Yao took out a bottle of glucose wine from Kunsang's tribute from his sleeve, and the tenth prince hurriedly ordered someone to fetch a luminous cup.Mu Yao poured a glass of wine for the emperor and the queen mother, and the rest was up to the ten princes.Except for the two children sitting on the ground, they are all his elders.

Mu Zhong poured wine for his sister-in-law and sister, and ordered his nephew and niece to drink milk.The emperor led the crowd to raise a glass to Ten Niang, "I take my brothers, sisters-in-law, sisters and nephews to thank my father and mother for their support."

Everyone poured the wine into the ground before drinking the second cup of exotic wine with full of joy.For the third cup, Shi Niang came in person and toasted the emperor, "The queen mother wishes the emperor good health, inherit your father's behest, and lead us to prosperity."

After saying that, he drank it in one gulp, and the emperor drank the cup with him.

"On behalf of the people of the world, I respect the emperor, and wish the emperor's life is like a Nanshan stone, and his body is healthy and straight. The prosperity of the age is a thousand ages, and the ancestors look forward to the world."

"Alright, alright, alright, 'The prosperity of the age of thousands of ages, the family's work is everywhere', then with the good words of the third brother, I will definitely live up to the entrustment of my father and the third brother."

After everyone drank the cup together, it was their common wish that "a prosperous age and a thousand ages will unite, and the ancestors will look forward to the world".

The atmosphere during the banquet was very good, the children were filial and harmonious, and in the future there will be children and grandchildren around their knees, and Daliang will create another creation.

She looked at the Longkou Iron Gallbladder Vase with white and pink two-color pear blossoms on the altar table, and when she was slightly drunk, she seemed to see the man in the black robe with raised eyebrows and a dazzling and mysterious smile holding a bouquet of pear blossoms.

She held up the wine glass and smiled silently. At this time, she was really "the colorful sleeves holding the jade bell attentively, but she was drunk when she fought hard. Dancing to the heart of the willow tower, singing to the end of the peach blossom fan. After the farewell, the memory of meeting again, A few times, the soul and dream are the same as the king. Today there are white pear photos left, and I am afraid that the reunion is a dream."

(End of this chapter)