Madam Hou

Chapter 52

Outside is the flying white snow and plum blossoms with pink buds. In the room, the fire is burning, and the kettle above is steaming.

Lin Fengqi picked up the kettle on the stove, poured hot soup into the teapot, put the lid on it, and then gave it to Yinniang, then looked at Yinniang expectantly with eyes wide open.

To be honest, Yin Niang has never been very interested in such elegant things as 'making tea and enjoying the snow', and with the windows open, although charcoal was lit inside the house, the cold wind was blowing in from the window, it was really cold very.But seeing Elder Lin's high spirits, Yin Niang was too embarrassed to defeat his interest, so she reluctantly accompanied him to toss around here.

Yinniang took the tea bowl from Lin Fengqi's hand, and under Lin Shizi's expectant gaze, she blew a few mouthfuls of hot tea, took a sip and savored it carefully, then praised Lin Fengqi: "Good tea, the taste is sweet, drink it down Afterwards, it has a strong aroma and a lingering aftertaste... However, this Biluochun seems to taste a little different from the one I drank before, where is it grown?"

After listening to Yinniang's words, Lin Fengqi was stunned for a moment, and then said with a broken expression: "This is West Lake Longjing!"

Uh... It's really not her fault. Although she was not interested in distinguishing different kinds of tea since she was a child, she is not so confused between Biluochun and West Lake Longjing. What's more, after arriving in the capital, Mrs. Lin Hou wanted her to be the son of the prince in the future. For the position of Madam, I asked someone to teach her the knowledge of tea.Distinguishing different kinds of tea by the color and taste of the tea soup is a must for all wives. Otherwise, when they go out to socialize, they will come out with a cup of Maojian. If you tell them that Dahongpao is really delicious, it will be a shame. issued.But when she drank this cup of tea, she really didn't have the taste of West Lake Longjing, but it was a bit like Biluochun.

Yin Niang smiled awkwardly and said, "Uh... being able to brew the West Lake Dragon Well to taste like Biluochun is also a skill."

Lin Fengqi waved his hand and said in frustration: "Forget it, don't drink it if it doesn't taste good, pour it out, and I'll ask the servant girl to make you another cup." He just saw that she was not very happy these days, and wanted to make her happy.

Yinniang comforted Lin Fengqi, and said: "Don't, if you drink this tea as Biluochun, it still has a special flavor." After speaking, in order to prove her words, she drank all the tea soup in the bowl in one go, and after drinking it, she will only drink it. Show Lin Fengqi the teacup with leftover tea leaves.

Lin Fengqi put away the tea bowl in her hand, and said, "Don't make things difficult for yourself."

Because of this little episode, Lin Shizi lost interest in the game of 'making tea and enjoying the snow', so he closed the window and sat back on the kang, thinking of talking to Yin Niang.Thinking of Yinniang entering the palace today, he casually asked her: "How is your entering the palace today, so you can see Mrs. Concubine Chen and the little princess?"

Yin Niang nodded, and replied: "Yes, my sister looks okay, and the little princess is also very cute. I also met that Wanmei, who is really beautiful, especially those eyes. It's like seductive, no wonder the emperor likes her so much."

"What, are you worried about your sister?"

"Well, my sister is in the palace now, relying on the emperor's favor and the empress' protection, now the empress is imprisoned in Fengyi Palace, and the emperor has favored someone else, how can it be better in the future." Resting his chin on his hands, he looked distressed.

When Lin Fengqi saw her, he thought she was so cute and tight. He squeezed her cheek with a smile, and said with a smile: "I don't know what a big deal it is to make our little Yinniang so distressed. Look at our little Yinniang's face." The face is swollen like a frog."

Yin Niang waved Lin Fengqi's hand away and complained, "Oh, don't pinch my face, it hurts."

Lin Fengqi smiled and pinched Yinniang's face sneakily, then withdrew his hand, and said solemnly: "Don't worry, your sister is very smart, without the empress, it may not be calculated by others. Besides, the queen She has been closed in Fengyi Palace not long ago, and the emperor will let her out in a few days."

Yin Niang asked curiously: "Why do you say that? If that's the case, why did the emperor allow the empress to confine herself in the Fengyi Palace? What Young Master Jiang did that day, although a bit ugly, should not be considered too big for the emperor. Why do you need the empress to personally ask for your sin?"

Lin Fengqi stretched out his numb feet, found a comfortable posture and adjusted it again, and then said: "Things in the court are complicated, how can you understand clearly as a child, do you think the emperor did this because He is confused, he can fight out among the princes when he is not the eldest son, the emperor is not so easy to be confused, he wants to warn the queen and the Duke of Kang, the queen's plea is not for the Jiang family The matter of the young master is to show weakness to the emperor."

Yinniang was even more puzzled: "Why should the queen be warned? Only the queen's line and the concubine's line can stand against each other in the palace. Concubine Shu gave birth to the eldest son, and Duke Ning has flourishing descendants, who have won over a group of civil servants. , just proud, and the queen, apart from occupying a back seat, her mother's family is fine-tuned, Kang Guogong is old, the son of Kang Guogong and the second master of the Jiang family are not talented people, the queen's family has only two younger brothers, the grown-up I'm afraid the concubine will not be favored by the empress, otherwise I haven't heard that the second young master Jiang holds any important position. The empress's younger brother is only 11 years old, which is too young. Concubine Shu and the empress Looking up, it is obvious that Concubine Shu has the upper hand, even if there is a warning, it should be Concubine Shu, why would you warn the Empress?"

Lin Fengqi was a little surprised, he had always treated Yinniang as a child who hadn't grown up, and he just thought that she was smarter than other people of the same age.But her analysis today, although it is not enough to spur her into the inside, is only superficial, but she is only 14 years old after all, and she has only been in the capital for half a year, and she is able to analyze the superficial situation, which is enough for him to be surprised that's it.What's more, many women in the inner house are tabooed from being called the morning rooster, and they are reluctant to learn about the affairs of the court, but his Yin Niang can keenly pay attention to the news of the inner court and the outer court, which makes him very proud.Perhaps it was influenced by Mrs. Lin Hou who was more in charge of the house than Lord Lin Hou since he was a child. Lin Fengqi did not shy away from women paying attention to court affairs like men. He even felt that if women knew more about these things, it would not be easy for men to hold back , can even help men.

Lin Fengqi patted Yinniang's head with some pride, and explained: "That's just on the surface. Although the queen's family is not powerful, Kang Guogong has gathered many forces in the court through marriage. Look, the queen My younger sister married into Weibeihou’s family, and my natal cousin married the eldest son of General Su, plus our Yongninghou’s mansion, the empress formed an alliance with Chen Concubine, and we won over our Yongninghou’s mansion through you, don’t look at us The Hou Mansion is already in decline, but more than ten years later, when the prince grows up and the battle for the reserve position comes, I, a young general, may grow into a general. These families are all military generals, Weibei Hou Mansion In charge of the military power of the Habayashi Army, General Su and I are local generals. When the time comes to really fight, it will depend on the strength of our fists, not the sharpness of someone's mouth. Besides, the Queen's maternal ancestor is the Jiangnan Ying family. Scholars are very influential. Although the old lady Ying immediately stepped back from the high position after helping the emperor ascend the throne to avoid the taboo, but these years, Ying's children have held many important positions in the local area. , counting these capitals, the queen's bargaining chip is no less than that of concubine Shu. What the queen lacks now is a prince who is by her side... We can think of these, and the emperor can naturally think of them. He is also a little dissatisfied with the queen. It has been moving frequently since the day."

"Then since the emperor doesn't like the queen, why didn't the emperor stop the marriage?"

"That's because the emperor's bottom line has not yet been reached, and the emperor needs the queen to have some power to compete with Concubine Shu. The Tian family likes two-phase checks and balances, and the most taboo is the dominance of one family."

Yin Niang nodded, expressing her understanding.In fact, the emperor's idea is also very simple, I allow you to unite some forces to fight another power group that is about to threaten my status, but you can't go too far, I won't be happy if you go too far.

Yin Niang asked again: "Compared to the empress and Duke Kang's mansion, the emperor should be more jealous of Concubine Shu and Duke Ning's mansion, or else Concubine Shu gave birth to the eldest son of the emperor, and Duke Ning was responsible for supporting the emperor's succession. My minister, Concubine Shu should not be just Concubine Shu." No matter what, she must be a noble concubine.

Lin Fengqi was pleasantly surprised after hearing this, pinched Yinniang's nose and smiled and said, "What a smart girl!" Then continued: "At the beginning, the emperor was able to ascend to the throne, mainly thanks to the Ningguo Mansion, Kang Guogong Mansion and Jiangnan Ying's family. Three families, after the emperor succeeded to the throne, both Kang Guogong and Mrs. Ying begged for their old age with knowledge and interest. Only Ning Guogong became the grand teacher of the three princes. Over the years, Ningguo Gong’s family has become even more dominant in the court by virtue of Conglong’s merits. , I don’t know how to restrain myself, the emperor may have been dissatisfied long ago.”

"Is it because of this that although the emperor is jealous of the empress, he still agrees to adopt a prince under his name, in order to check and balance Concubine Shu and Ningguo government?"

"This is one of the reasons. The other reason is the battle for the throne. It can be said that half of the credit for the emperor's ascension to the throne is due to the empress. Do you know why the empress can't give birth? ?”

Yin Niang shook her head.

Lin Fengqi continued: "Back then, the second prince forced the palace, but the Imperial Forest Army did not have time to save him. At that time, the empress, who was Princess Jing, blocked the arrow for the late emperor. At that time, the queen was pregnant with Liujia, and the second prince's arrow feathers were straight. It was shot into the queen's stomach. Although the queen gave birth regardless of the arrow wound, it was a dead baby boy. The queen was also unable to have another child because of the injury to the palace. After the rebellion was put down, the first emperor tried to comfort the daughter-in-law , made a decree to seal Prince Jing as the crown prince and Concubine Jing as the crown princess. In order to express his gratitude to the queen, the emperor personally promised the queen that she would never depose the queen unless the king was murdered and rebelled against, and he could choose to adopt a prince in the future."

(End of this chapter)