The world of film and television begins with Ning'an as a dream

Of course, the emperor could also adopt several young children like Sheng Hong did.

Imperial Palace, Purple Palace

After a day's court meeting, although the emperor was a little tired, he suddenly realized that the ministers had not clamored for him to establish an heir to the throne in the past two days, which made him a little confused.

So, he said to his personal eunuch with some curiosity, "Things are a little strange today. What news can you get?"

As the emperor's most personal eunuch, Zhang Mao certainly understood what the emperor was worried about. He thought about it for a moment and immediately said, "Your Majesty, I heard from the man downstairs that when he was serving tea to the ministers today, he heard them discussing something. I wonder if this is related to this matter?"

The emperor was stunned for a moment, then asked in confusion, "What's the matter?"

Zhang Mao did not hesitate and told the truth immediately, "In order to please his stepmother, Chengzhilang Sheng transferred his three-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter to his deceased brother.

The ministers all said that Lord Sheng had good intentions, and that he just wanted to give the old lady of the Sheng family some hope, so that the old lady could probably live a little longer.

After all, the baby is only three years old. If the old lady wants to watch the baby grow up, she also has to take care of her own health."

Chapter 180: The Crown Prince?

After hearing this, the emperor asked in surprise, "I remember that old lady Sheng, she and Jing'an were close friends. I remember that she refused to remarry and registered Sheng Hong under her name, right?"

Zhang Mao shook his head and said uncertainly, "I think something must have happened that we don't know about, which made the old lady make this decision."

The emperor was thoughtful and felt that his situation seemed to be the same as that of Old Lady Sheng, which made him want to find out more clearly.

So he turned and went to Kunning Palace to meet Queen Cao.

Empress Cao was a little surprised to see the emperor coming. She still bowed to the emperor very politely, and then asked in confusion, "Your Majesty, did you encounter any troubles today?"

The reason she asked this was because she knew in her heart that if nothing happened, the emperor would probably have gone to Concubine Rong.

After Emperor Zhao Zhen sat down, he hesitated for a moment, then asked curiously, "Do you know the old lady of the Sheng family?"

Empress Cao didn't expect it was because of this, so she nodded and said, "We are not close friends, we just know each other. Your Majesty's concern today is related to her desire to adopt the two children under the name of her legitimate son?"

The official nodded and asked seriously, "Yes, didn't she adopt Cheng Zhilang as her own son in order to remain a widow? Why is there any need to do this again?"

Empress Cao was very smart and understood the emperor's thoughts immediately. She told the truth, "This is a long story. I only know that Sheng Hong is probably not as close to his stepmother as he seems to be."

The official asked curiously, "How did you come to this conclusion? Did anyone tell you anything?"

Empress Cao was speechless. Knowing that the emperor was suspicious again, she said helplessly, "I came to this conclusion when I heard a few ladies who entered the palace talk about an old story when the Sheng family's adoption incident occurred."

At this point, she took the tea from the servant and placed it in front of the emperor, then continued, "Mrs. Sheng probably had no daughter, so she kindly adopted the daughter of an old acquaintance. But at some point, Sheng Hong had an affair with this adopted daughter, and sent her pregnant to the Sheng family as a concubine. Since then, Mrs. Sheng has not been involved in the affairs of the Sheng family."

When the official heard this, his face changed drastically.

Sheng Hong and Old Madam Sheng have no blood relationship. In fact, she is almost like an adopted daughter, just a status. However, Sheng Hong actually had an affair with that adopted daughter, which clearly shows that he does not care about Old Madam Sheng and has not considered her feelings.

What if he registered a nephew under his own name, would he not be respected after he died? Would this nephew even respect his own father as the emperor?

His expression was uncertain, but he continued to ask, "Since Old Madam Sheng was so sad, why did she plan to adopt the two children under the name of her legitimate son?"

Empress Cao understood what the emperor was worried about, so she said helplessly, "I don't know about that either, but the wife of Sheng Hong's illegitimate son and daughter died, and they are not favored at home, so the old lady thinks that keeping them by her side may be an extra layer of insurance, right?"

After listening to what Queen Cao said, the emperor was given new ideas.

He was indeed very sad because he lost his own son, but he also understood that sooner or later he would have to face the issue of adopting a child.

However, if I directly adopt an older member of the royal family, I'm afraid he won't be too close to me. Only the younger ones will be close to me.

Even if the people of the younger generation than you are older, don’t they all have sons?

It seems that it is not impossible to adopt one of these people and make him the crown prince under the name of the deceased prince.

The important thing is that after I die, there will be someone to inherit the country. Even if they ask to honor my father as the late emperor in the future, they will never include my grandfather in the list.

The emperor knows these ministers very well, and they do not treat the emperor's work as they would ordinary people, who can do it once or twice but not three times.

They believe in doing something only once and not twice. If it happens twice, they will try their best to stop it, for fear that after two times, it will become a normal rule.

When he thought of this, he made a decision in his heart. He asked the royal family to send some young children to the palace and select some with pure personalities and suitable to be emperor.

But the children cannot be too young. If we really send some three or two-year-old babies, who knows if they will get sick and die one day.

The age cannot be too old, otherwise it will be difficult to develop feelings. About six to ten years old is best.

But he couldn't bring up these words, as that would seem too deliberate, and the ministers had to bring them up on their own initiative.

The haze in his heart was mostly cleared, and he pondered seriously for a while, and then said to Zhang Mao, "Since Cheng Zhilang is so filial, please send someone to help me deliver a pair of calligraphy to the Sheng family. I want to commend this Cheng Zhilang."

……

Shengjia, Shouantang

When Madam Sheng heard that Old Lady Wang had come to the old lady's place, she thought that Wang Yue and Rulan's marriage was settled, so she hurried over.

As soon as she entered the room, she said with a smile, "I heard the laughter and joy in the old lady's room from a long distance away. It turned out that Mrs. Wang came.

Didn't Brother Yue pass the imperial examination? I'm afraid the matchmakers have been knocking on your doorstep. Why do you still have time to come here? Are you here to have some free time?"

After listening to Madam Sheng's three questions, Old Lady Wang knew that some things could not be concealed, so she pretended to be very depressed and said, "Who said it wasn't? There are too many people who proposed marriage, and most of them are hard to offend. Fortunately, Brother Yue has someone he likes, and I rejected them for this reason, which saved me some trouble."

Madam Sheng was stunned when she heard this. She felt a little uneasy. Could it be that her sister-in-law was not here to propose marriage but to apologize?

She quickly glanced at the old lady's face and found that she was smiling. She wondered in her heart, could it be that she guessed wrong?

But she was a straightforward person, and couldn't figure things out. She felt like she was being scratched by a cat, and was a little uneasy.

She certainly wouldn't be willing to just wait like this, so she asked curiously, "Brother Yue has someone he likes? Why haven't I heard Changbai mention it? Who is it?"

Old Lady Wang glanced at Old Lady Sheng and smiled, "Brother Yue just told me that. He said that he originally thought that he and that girl were not meant to be together, but he didn't expect things to turn around and now it seems like they are a good match."

Madam Shengda became even more curious, and asked impatiently, "Sister-in-law, just say what you want to say. I am not an outsider."

Seeing that Madam Shengda's appetite was almost whetted, Old Lady Wang said helplessly, "My monkey likes Minglan. He originally thought that Minglan was a concubine's daughter, and was afraid that I would not agree, so he did not mention this matter.

But now that Minglan has become the legitimate daughter, he couldn't help but tell me and asked me to come over and ask the old lady for her opinion. "

Madam Shengda's smile froze all of a sudden. She heard Mrs. Wang's refusal. She thought it was the legitimate daughter of Marquis Yongyi, but she didn't expect it was Minglan.

She said somewhat awkwardly, "Minglan, great! My sixth daughter is the most well-behaved."

What she really thought was that Brother Yue looked mature and steady, but she didn't expect him to be a pervert. Isn't it just that Minglan is prettier? They are all children of the Sheng family, so why did she choose Minglan?

Old Lady Wang didn't know what Madam Sheng was thinking, so she pretended to be very regretful and said, "I was originally thinking of Rulan, but after Brother Yue said that, I also think it's okay. After all, Minglan has been taken care of by her elder sister since she was a child, and she is also relatively close to her elder sister. Marrying Minglan and Rulan is actually the same."

Mrs. Sheng's heart was bleeding. This was her son-in-law who had won two prizes in a row, and now he just flew away like that. She was really heartbroken.

Although Minglan was originally her concubine's daughter, she has now been adopted by her eldest brother. From now on, he will probably have to call her aunt, since they are from the same family.

But she didn't dare say these words. After all, she could see that the old lady and the eldest lady seemed very satisfied.

Sheng Hong was not allowed to participate in Minglan's marriage, let alone her. They were just uncle and aunt now, and she could only put on a smile despite feeling very uncomfortable.

……

Next door, Wang's

When Changbai saw Wang Yue in the pavilion in Wang Yue's courtyard, he said with dissatisfaction, "Cousin, I just heard from the old lady that my aunt helped you to marry Minglan? Don't you like Rulan?"

Wang Yue was speechless. When did he like Rulan? He quickly explained, "When did I like Rulan? I just think Rulan is very honest and straightforward, and I think this sister is pretty good, but that's just the feeling of a brother towards his sister, don't get me wrong. But I feel differently towards Minglan, you should have known that a long time ago."

Changbai was stunned for a moment, then asked in surprise, "I know? What do I know?"

Wang Yue looked at Chang Bai's silly look and said with a headache, "I won't go into the details of the past few years. Do you remember how your mother took back the power to run the family?"

Changbai was very excited when he heard what Wang Yue said, "Of course I know. It was you who came up with the bad idea and made my family bear the reputation of favoring concubines over wives. In order to secure his position, my father hurriedly asked my mother to sell out the servants in a big way, so that everyone in Yangzhou would know that she was in charge of the family and just didn't bother to argue with the concubine.

My aunt helped me with this. How could I forget it?

After Changbai finished speaking, Wang Yue said very seriously, "In fact, half of the reason why I was so anxious to help my aunt get the power of housekeeper was because of Minglan.

Otherwise, I could have used other means to avoid making such a big fuss and forcing my uncle to return the housekeeping power to my aunt."

Chapter 181: Being fooled by an honest person!

Changbai was stunned for a moment. He recalled Wang Yue's methods in the past three years. They seemed to be very mature and sophisticated, making people fall into his trap without knowing it. It seemed that he rarely used radical methods like those in the past.

When he heard what Wang Yue said, he was awakened from his dream. He originally wanted to say that Wang Yue was cunning and even used their family for Minglan.

Just thinking of Minglan reminded Changbai of his purpose. He glanced at the rockery not far away and deliberately raised his voice and said excitedly, "No wonder, no wonder! I knew it! You have always been thoughtful and experienced in handling matters. It seems that you have only used such drastic measures like those back then once. Could it be that it was really for Minglan?"

Wang Yue didn't notice Changbai's little move. He was afraid that Changbai would have a grudge against him, so he said helplessly, "You also know that I don't have a biological sister. When I first went to your house, I went to the courtyard with you and met Minglan in the corridor. At that time, I fell in love with this pretty little girl. She was so soft and sweet, and I thought this sister was so lovable.

Later, when we were discussing in your study, I suddenly smelled a faint smell of cigarette smoke. I guessed that something bad had happened in Minglan Courtyard, so I deliberately reminded you. "

After hearing this, Changbai slapped the table and said, "That's what I said. The smell wasn't that strong at the time. I didn't smell it at first. It was only after you reminded me that I smelled it."

Wang Yue didn't know why Changbai spoke so loudly today, but he felt that Changbai was sincere and would not have any conspiracy, so he continued to fool her without any worries, "Actually, after that incident, I felt that Minglan was not living well at home, but I felt that my aunt would not be so harsh on a concubine's daughter, so this must be the work of that concubine.

So, I did some research later and found out that the head of your family was actually a concubine. This was really something I didn't expect.

After all, the eldest branch of the Wang family is an official in Runzhou on the other side of the river, and our second branch is doing business in Suzhou, which are very close to each other. The eldest lady has never mentioned this, and I didn't expect my uncle to be so bold.

Changbai, you may not know that according to my investigation, there was no charcoal fire in Minglan's house even in the middle of winter, and there were never enough other supplies.

But I am an outsider after all, and it is not easy for me to get involved in your family's affairs. If I give her money directly, I am afraid that given Aunt Wei's personality, she will not accept it.

I originally thought that I could help my aunt seize power when my uncle came to Beijing, but after investigating, I felt that I couldn't wait any longer.

At that time, Aunt Wei was already very pregnant, and I was really worried that she would have a miscarriage because of the concubine. If one of them was dead, Minglan would be completely alone and helpless.

It’s just a pity that although my aunt regained the power to manage the family, I didn’t expect that Minglan’s mother was injured during childbirth, and she only lived for another year or two.”

Hearing Wang Yue say this, Chang Bai sighed, and then said to the door, "Sixth sister, so many things have happened, why didn't you tell your brother?"

After Wang Yue heard what Chang Bai said, he suddenly woke up from his dream. This honest man actually played tricks on him and made him unable to defend himself.

He quickly looked towards the door and found that among the servants who followed Changbai, two of them were Minglan and Xiaotao in disguise.

Minglan found out that she was discovered by Wang Yue, so she simply stopped hiding. She hurried into the house, bowed to Wang Yue first, and then said to Changbai very solemnly, "Second brother, I thought I could ask for help directly from Dad, so I didn't ask you for help."

Changbai knew why, and he didn't need his sister to cover up for him, so he bowed to Minglan and said sincerely, "Sixth sister, before my cousin came to our house, I always felt that men should not be involved in the affairs of the harem, so I didn't pay enough attention to you, which is why you have suffered for so many years. This is your fault, and you don't have to cover up for me."

Minglan shook her head and said sincerely, "Second brother, you don't have to feel so guilty. It's really not appropriate for a man to get involved in the affairs of the harem. What's more, given the situation in our family, even the eldest lady is living a miserable life, let alone you?"

Sheng Changbai shook his head. He understood that Minglan was trying to excuse him. After all, he was the eldest son. If he just took care of her a little, Minglan's life would be much better. However, he really didn't expect such a thing to happen in his family at that time, so he had no idea what to do.

However, he has made up his mind to take better care of his sister in the future so that Minglan can marry happily and peacefully.

He looked at Minglan, who was smiling sweetly, and said helplessly, "In that case, Sixth Sister, please have a good chat with your cousin. I will wait outside now."

Minglan had been studying with Zhuang Xuejiu for three years and had learned a lot from him. She knew she couldn't stay with Wang Yue for long, so she watched Changbai walk past the rockery, then turned to look at Wang Yue and asked, "Cousin, you have won two first prizes in a row and are about to take part in the palace examination. You actually have a better choice, why me?"

The reason why she asked this was because although Wang Yue often came to the Sheng family in the past three years, he treated all the Lans in the Sheng family the same. If she hadn't heard what Wang Yue and her elder brother said just now, she wouldn't believe that Wang Yue would be so special to her.

Moreover, she knew that she had been beautiful since she was a child, but there were so many beautiful people. Her fourth sister Molan was also very beautiful. She really didn't believe that a great talent like Wang Yue would fall in love with her and plan so much for her.

Yes, Minglan actually learned from the old lady when Old Lady Wang came last month that it was Old Lady Wang who suggested that the old lady adopt her under the name of her deceased son, and the old lady also asked for her opinion at that time.

Seeing Minglan's persistence, Wang Yue knew that if he didn't explain clearly, the girl would not be able to get married peacefully, so he shook his head helplessly and said, "If I say that I fell in love with you at first sight when you were a child, you might not believe it, but I like you very much, and you should know this.

I'm going to take part in the palace examination soon. I'm not bragging, but with my current results, if nothing goes wrong in the palace examination, I will definitely be a Jinshi.

According to my understanding, most of the top-ranked tribute students this time, except me, are already married.

When the time comes, I will have to face the demands of Prince Yong and Prince Yan’s connections to find a son-in-law, but I don’t want to have anything to do with them.

Therefore, I must resolve this hidden danger in advance. I just happen to like you, so I asked my mother to come and ask for marriage."

He was not joking. At that time, it was very popular to choose a son-in-law from the list. Even Ouyang Xiu could not escape it, let alone him.

Minglan saw that Wang Yue was very sincere, and she was very happy in her heart, so she also said sincerely, "Thank you for telling me the truth. Minglan feels guilty."

Wang Yue couldn't tell what Toulan was thinking, so he said sincerely, "I have admired you for a long time. I am willing to marry you, take care of the household chores, have children with you, and spend the rest of my life with you!"

When Minglan heard Wang Yue's serious words, her face turned red. She quickly said, "I am also pleased with your heart. I am grateful for your deep affection. However, I dare not take the initiative to arrange it according to my parents' orders and the matchmaker's words. I hope you will forgive me."

Wang Yue knew that Minglan was not rejecting him, but asking him to quickly propose marriage, so he said seriously, "In that case, when my mother comes back, I will ask her to send someone to propose marriage. But you are still young, so I am afraid you have to wait until you are 15 years old before marriage."

Minglan's face was red at this moment. She didn't answer this question, but still said in a mosquito-like voice, "Cousin, I'll take my leave now."

After she finished speaking, she bowed to Wang Yue, turned around and left.

But after she took a few steps, she found Xiaotao still standing there, holding a plate of fruit and eating it happily.

Her face turned even redder, and she said angrily, "Xiao Tao, are you leaving or not? If not, you can just stay here."

Xiao Tao was a little confused. She didn't know why the young lady and her cousin were getting along so well, so suddenly it became like this?