There was a lot of chaos in the capital, but the emperor was leisurely playing chess in the Mingguang Palace, and sitting opposite the chessboard was Shen Shu, the king of Anjun.

"Now that there is a lot of commotion outside, the Jiang family is not in a hurry?" The emperor placed a white son, and casually picked up Shen Shu's two black seeds, "You husband and wife are stable." ”

Shen Shu pointed a sunspot on the other side with his backhand, and smiled slightly: "Actually, there is nothing to rush about, Taohua has a number." ”

The emperor snorted softly: "I have heard that several families who have invited you before have retreated. ”

"It's just that they'll regret it in the future." Shen Shu said lightly, "Brother Chen's brother has nothing to do anyway, it's interesting to see them these days like jumping to add officials." ”

"Jump to the officer?" The Emperor scoffed, "You have said this painfully. Isn't it just a group of people who jump to add officials, all looking forward to making blessings, money, and benefits from these things, hum! ”

Shen Shu owed: "Don't worry, the emperor, after the jump, there will be a real show." ”

Speaking of these things, the emperor was not interested in playing chess, and pushed the chessboard casually: "You played chess well." Since he ascended the throne, the early government was mostly controlled by the Yu family in the name of auxiliary government, and he didn't even see much of it, so he entertained himself by playing chess in his spare time, and honed his temperament. Yu Ge Lao was probably happy to see him lose his mind with playthings, and he also invited a national player to teach him, so the emperor's chess game was really good.

And Shen Shu's chess is obviously a wild way, wide open and closed, sometimes completely different from the truth of the chess game, but interspersed with vertical and horizontal, but it has its own reason. Although the emperor did not know how to use soldiers, he also vaguely felt that his chess game seemed to have something to do with fighting.

This is not the first time that the two have played chess, Shen Shu wins less and loses more, but if the identity of the emperor is counted, Shen Shu's chess strength is not much different from that of the emperor, maybe it is evenly matched. There is no national finger in the northwest, and Dingbei Hou is not a good chess person, Shen Shu can be regarded as good.

Shen Shu smiled, picked up the black and white chess pieces one by one from the chessboard, and replied: "The younger brother actually doesn't know how to play chess, but he knows a little bit about the truth of war. ”

The emperor raised his eyebrows: "I see that what you said is not playing chess, but the affairs of the world." Speaking of which, I am puzzled, it's just a matter of planting pox, after all, there are still people looking forward to planting pox, as long as a few are planted, it will be fine, and those rumors will naturally subside. It's Cui's girl, what are you going to do? I don't believe it, what kind of side concubine will the Jiang family allow you to set up? ”

The last sentence was a bit of a joke, and Shen Shu didn't guard against the emperor from saying such a sentence. Although they are brothers, they are naturally regarded as opponents by others, although since Shen Shu returned to the capital to complete the marriage, the two have joined forces in secret, but it is the first time to talk about the matter of the back house like today, and laugh so casually.

"The younger brother doesn't want any side concubines." Shen Shu thought about it for a while, and said solemnly, "It is enough to have a confidant in life." If a subordinate has a wife, what more can the husband ask for? ”

"It is enough to have a confidant in life...... the emperor repeated softly, and smiled, "Father is not wrong, you are a blessed man." ”

Shen Shu didn't dare to agree to this: "If you talk about blessings, who can compare with the emperor." "If the first emperor said that he was blessed, I am afraid that some people would want to go to the throne. It's okay that Yu Dang is still here, and in the future, Shen Shu doesn't want to hide all the birds and hide the rabbit and cook the dog, the best way is not to make the emperor suspicious.

The Emperor smiled again: "Your blessing is different from mine. Don't say these words, I only ask you, what should the Cui family daughter do? ”

This sentence made Shen Shu relax slightly, and after a little consideration, he said: "According to Taohua's thoughts, I still want the Cui family to retreat." "It's not for the Cui family, but for the face of the first emperor.

The emperor was puzzled: "How to make it difficult for his family to retreat?" If you are willing to retreat, how can you talk about marriage before the first seven days of your father's funeral? Do you want me to give them a message? ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty. However, the emperor should not go against the queen mother too much. Brother Chen-" Shen Shu pondered, and still said, "Brother Chen has a reluctant request, and I also ask the emperor ......for permission."

"What?" Before the emperor could finish listening to Shen Shu's words, his face changed, "The Cui family's daughter is not dead?" "It's bold! He dared to elope after making a family affair with the royal family, and the Cui family dared to fake the news of his death, which is simply a bully!

"The emperor is angry-" Shen Shu quickly stood up, "The younger brother concealed this matter, one is that he has not obtained empirical evidence, and the other is that this marriage is what the first emperor pointed out...... "The first emperor looked at the Cui family and pointed out the Cui family daughter to his son, if it is revealed that the Cui family girl has eloped now, it is undoubtedly saying that the first emperor is blind, and he is simply looking at the wrong person."

The emperor almost lifted the chessboard and paced in place for two steps before he could calm down: "Although for the sake of the first emperor, you should also tell me." "Even if you don't expose this matter, there is no way to rectify the Cui family.

Shen Shu smiled bitterly: "Brother Chen was only afraid of extraneous branches. "He and the emperor are of the same mind, and they both want to save the face of the first emperor, but others may not think so, so they can't use this matter to write a big book. Imagine a county king, whose fiancée eloped with someone, I am afraid that this face will not be thrown all over the world. If you are a little thin-skinned, I am afraid that it will not be easy to gain a foothold in the capital. If this goal can be achieved, those people may not be afraid of the first emperor.

The emperor let out a long breath and nodded, "You're right. It's just the Cui family, I can't let it go. "I actually gave Cui Jimin a reward for handwriting, it's good not to behead his whole family!

Although Cui Jimin had a lax family education, he reported a violent death after Cui's daughter left home, which is equivalent to expelling her from the house. Moreover, after all, he died in the Battle of the Acropolis, and the emperor's reward for him was not wrong. It is not appropriate to be a daughter of the Cui family, which chills the hearts of soldiers all over the world. ”

If Cui Xiuwan's elopement is not announced, Cui Zhifu is an authentic loyal martyr, if there is no reward, how can the soldiers be willing to fight and defend the country?

The Emperor sighed: "Yes. The family and the country are all over the world, and my family affairs are state affairs...... "You can't act rashly," no wonder you said that you want the Cui family to retreat by knowing the difficulty. In this way, the queen mother's plan was frustrated, and the face of the first emperor was saved.

"Yes." Shen Shu smiled, "The emperor doesn't have to be too angry. As long as the Cui family refuses to be the side concubine, the Yu family will naturally not support them anymore. "Don't look at the Cui family brothers, they are good at reading, but there are many people who can read but can't get fame, even if they get fame, I don't know how many people will be old. As soon as Cui Jimin died, the Cui brothers were rootless, as long as they lost the support of the queen mother, the emperor didn't even have to give them instructions, and the Cui family only had to lose.

The emperor was still angry: "Cui's daughter should sink into the pond!" "Such a promiscuous woman, even in a big family with stricter family rules, also wants to sink into the pond or enter the family temple.

"As long as the courtier's brother gets the evidence, even if she is in her own home, she will live like a year." ruined my sister's family affairs, ruined my brother's future, and said that life is light like a year, and life is better than death, perhaps it is the most accurate.

The emperor snorted: "To let her live is to bully the first emperor!" But in the end, he didn't say that he had to sink into the pond, but said, "It's just that you need to hurry, Qin Tianjian has already set the date, just on the third day after Cui Jimin's seventh day." If someone enters your mansion, even if the matter is made public, some people will still keep the Cui family in your mansion on the grounds that the crime is not enough to marry a daughter. It goes without saying who this "someone" refers to.

Shen Shu smiled slightly: "Your Majesty, don't worry, I don't think it will take that long." ”

The emperor's mood of watching the show was completely ruined by the Cui family's bullying, and he didn't have the heart to ask him about the pox again, so he just waved his hand and said, "That's it, you just have a number in your heart." You newlyweds, I don't keep you much, so that the Jiang family is alone at home, and I complain in my heart that I don't know each other. ”

Shen Shu coughed dryly and said embarrassedly: "The emperor said that he was laughing." Taohua went back to her parents' house today. ”

The emperor laughed: "Strange Dao I said that you are not in a hurry, I see. In this case, I can't keep you anymore, so get out of the palace quickly, don't be an eyesore in front of me. I'm going to have to see Lu Baolin, too. ”

Since Yuan Shufei's miscarriage, Lu Ying has become a living baby in the palace. After the emperor searched all over the people who murdered Concubine Yuan Shu to no avail, he finally became a little interested in Lu Ying's belly, and occasionally went to see it. However, some people rumored in private that the emperor did not value Lu Baolin, but wanted to wait for Lu Baolin to give birth to a child and take it to Concubine Yuan Shu to raise. Because I don't know if it was Qin Tianjian or someone who calculated a hexagram for the emperor, saying that Lu Baolin's child has "family relations", and whoever raises this child can bring his children here.

After this rumor spread, the queen went to check, but no one in Qin Tianjian had calculated this hexagram at all, and she didn't know where this statement came from. If you want to say that the queen doesn't believe in this statement, people have two skins in their mouths, and they touch up and down, and they don't say whatever they want?

What wared her was the attitude of the emperor. After the rumors arose, the emperor also vigorously denied it, only saying that Lu Baolin was also the emperor's heir in his belly, and he naturally valued it. However, the fact is that before Concubine Yuan Shufei had a miscarriage, he didn't take much care of Lu Baolin at all, and the queen was completely taking care of it.

The more the emperor denied it, the more the queen felt that it was true. Of course, it doesn't mean any nonsense about "family popularity", but that the emperor may really want to take the child to Concubine Yuan Shu after Lu Baolin gives birth.

This, the queen will never allow it. Not to mention that Lu Baolin may give birth to a son, even if he gives birth to a daughter, the queen will not give it to Concubine Yuan Shu. To put it more clearly, even if Lu Baolin is allowed to raise it himself, it can't be cheaper than the Yuan family!

Speaking of which, if Lu Baolin gave birth to a son, as the only prince in the palace, it would be most legitimate for the queen to raise him. But if it is a daughter, if the queen wants to prevent Concubine Yuan Shu from raising her, she can only let Lu Baolin raise it herself, after all, the eldest princess is raised by Yu Zhaorong herself, and there is a precedent in front of her.

The only difficulty may be that Lu Baolin's status is too low, and according to example, a Baolin is not qualified to raise his own children at all. For this, the queen is already planning to promote Lu Ying to a talent. Although the status of a talented person is not high, if he gives birth to a daughter, he is not as expensive as the prince, and he is barely qualified to raise him.

When the emperor arrived at Tingyuju, the palace maid beside the queen sent two catties of bird's nest, and asked about Lu Ying's situation until she saw the emperor, and then she retired.

"Tired of listening to such nagging every day, right?" What the emperor said at this moment, if the queen heard it and was afraid that her eyes would fall out, she would be so casual that it seemed to be a folk chatter, and she sat on the chair so casually, and her body was half crooked, which was not the royal demeanor of sitting down with a straight back on weekdays.

Lu Ying held her waist up, did not squat down to salute, but came over to rub her temples for the emperor, and said with a smile: "It's nothing if you're used to hearing it, not to mention that you don't have to answer with a concubine, it's just a person who has worked hard." "Especially cherry, some words are like a wheel, every day is like that, from the beginning to the end, people are a little wooden.

The emperor smiled with his eyes half-closed: "It's also that there are too few people here because of you." Since one has gone out, it is time to bring in another one. I'll pick you a good one when I go back. Lu Ying brought two maids into the palace, one cherry was served to her since she was a child, and she was a confidant, and the other loquat was shoehorned by the eldest wife of the Lu family.

It was this loquat that was bought by the former Wu Cairen because it could not be reused by Lu Ying. Although the news she sent out in the end was not of much value, the emperor could not tolerate such a betrayal. One day, I casually pointed to an excuse and said that the loquat collided with the holy driver, and was directly assigned to the Huanyi Bureau. It made the concubines in the palace say that the emperor doesn't like Lu Baolin, and even her dowry maid doesn't save face.

Loquat is the son of the Lu family, and he has not done any rough work since he was a child, and he is carefully raised at home, and he was sent in as an errand at the age of nine, and he did some light work. Later, she became a big girl, and her fingers did not touch the spring water, where could she endure the drudgery of the Huanyi Bureau, and now she is so thin that she is skinny, and I am afraid that she will not live long.

However, these emperors naturally did not say to Lu Ying, but said: "When you give birth, you must use people." Although you are a good girl, there are some things you don't understand. "Although Cherry is loyal and can work, but after all, nothing has happened, and many selfishness does not know, let alone how to prevent it.

Hearing that Yuju was not big here, Lu Ying only felt that there were few people and lived comfortably, and there was no need to be afraid of this and that, so he never mentioned the matter of adding manpower. Now that I heard the emperor say this, I also felt that it made sense, so I said: "The concubine listens to the emperor." ”

The emperor closed his eyes and patted her hands: "Your craft is not bad, but you can't do it at home?" "The Lu family has a cheerful temperament, although he can't always have his own ideas as he thinks, but in this palace, in front of him, how many people dare to insist on their own intentions at all times? When you think about it this way, even if there are some shortcomings, there is nothing to be done.

"It's the ...... of Taohua Sect," Lu Ying blurted out, and only after saying that she realized that she had lost her words, "The concubine said that it was taught by the princess of the county." It is said that frequent massage can clear the liver and eyes, and dispel fire. The concubine used to learn to honor her mother, but she seemed to be a little irritable when she saw the emperor just now, so she tried to press the emperor. ”

"It turned out that it was taught by the Jiang family." The emperor smiled slightly, "I don't know what the Jiang family is doing, wait for her to be free every few days, and ask her to come to the palace again to diagnose your pulse." ”

Taohua is at Jiang's house at this time.

"Yes, do you want to let Bai Ge'er be the first to get pox?" Cao's eyes were wide open, as if he had seen something, and he stammered when he spoke.

Momoka wanted to remind her not to drop her eyeballs, but she didn't bother to talk to her, so she just nodded. If it weren't for the fact that she planned to inoculate Jiang Bohua on his next rest day, she wouldn't be able to come back to visit Cao's family at that time, so she didn't bother to inform her.

"Sister Tao'er, but, but now everyone is talking outside-" Halfway through Cao's words, seeing Taohua's face, he finally swallowed his words back with rare wisdom and changed his words, "I heard that the eldest princess in the palace, and the two little princes of Prince Cheng's mansion didn't have pox?" This, shouldn't it be planted for the emperor's children first? ”

Taohua was too lazy to correct the mistake of the "two little princes", and said lightly: "Pox is not suitable for everyone, and I have already reported this matter to the emperor." The eldest princess will recuperate for a few more years, and she will be able to get pox when she is about ten years old. ”

"Then Brother Bai is only six years old." Cao Shi can be regarded as finding a reason, "Why don't you wait until he turns ten years old?" ”

Taohua frowned: "Brother Bai'er is in good health, so you don't have to wait until then." ”

"But, but-" Cao Shi was anxious, "Sister Tao, I know you are in a hurry to find someone to plant pox, but you can't take your brother to ......" When it comes to children, her rusty head will always have a flash of inspiration from time to time, such as now.

Taohua's face sank suddenly: "It turns out that my wife still knows that it is my brother, don't I know?" ”

Cao Shi hurriedly said: "I didn't mean that, it's just-"

"Needless to say, ma'am." Taohua put the teacup down, "Brother Bai'er's affairs are arranged by me." Let's see, what is my brother doing? ”

Jiang Bohua actually has nothing to do when he returns to Jiang's house now, except to accompany the Cao family to say a few words, that is, to go to his yard to see the persimmon tree in the yard. The tree was planted by Jiang Xi when he was enlightened and went to school, saying that the persimmon leaves were so fat that he could practice calligraphy, and there were people who could not afford to buy paper in the past, so they used persimmon leaves to learn calligraphy, so as to encourage him to study hard.

Jiang Baihua has little interest in persimmon leaf learning - in fact, he really tried it at the beginning, but the persimmon leaf is actually hard and slippery, and it is not easy to write at all, he did it once and then he never did it again - but this tree was planted by Jiang Xi with him, and now that Jiang Xi is away, he can only think about this persimmon tree.

Every time I go back to Jiang's house, Cao's words are always the same, Jiang Bohua is still a child, where is he impatient to listen, but he spends more time taking care of this little tree. At this moment, Taohua was talking to Cao, and he was there watering and weeding the tree.

"When my brother is done, I will call him over, and I can go back."

"Sister Tao-" Cao was so anxious that he was about to say something more, when a maid came to report outside, "The second aunt and grandmother are back." ”

Chen Yan also inquired about Taohua's return, so she hurriedly came. Last time, she was sent back by Liu Zhijing, but the Cao family didn't know anything at all, and she had to ask Taohua herself.

It's just that Taohua felt even more tired when she heard that Chen Yan was back: "Call my brother over, give him a salute to his second sister and leave." ”

Chen Yan hurriedly entered the house, just when she heard this, she hurriedly said, "Sister, it's rare to come back, why don't you leave without food?" I brought homemade cured meat today, which is the flavor of our hometown, which is different from our south, and my sister can also taste it? ”

Taohua didn't bother to look at her: "No need." These days, rumors are rife, Jiang Jun is still refuting everywhere, but Liu Zhijing has often asked his mother to be unwell and unable to see anyone. It can be seen that this person is not only unable to take responsibility, but is simply irresponsible, much worse than Jiang Junshang, no wonder he will be a deserter in the northwest.

"Sister-" Chen Yan didn't know that Taohua didn't want to see her now, but for Liu Zhijing, she could only say with a smile, "I also know that my sister is busy, but no matter how busy she is, she has to pay attention to her body......"

This is said in a nondescript manner, Taohua knew why she came back when she thought about it, and suddenly had three evil thoughts when she was bored, glanced at her and said: "Thank you sister, it's just that I'm busy with things outside now, if my sister has this heart, it is better to ask the brother-in-law of the Liu family to come back to the pox place quickly." I heard that the old lady of the in-law family is unwell, if I say, my sister should serve the sick as a daughter-in-law, but there is no need to run home. You serve more, and the brother-in-law of the Liu family will also have more work to run errands. ”

After that, without waiting for Chen Yan to figure out the meaning of his words, he turned around and left. The Cao family wanted to stop it, but saw another maid running in from outside, it was the new Yuzhu: "Princess, the house has sent a message, please go back early if the princess has nothing to do." ”

"Let's go, prepare the horses." If there is nothing to do, Shen Shu will not send someone to urge, Taohua calculates the time - could it be that Cui Xiuwan's matter has eyebrows?

Since the king of Anjun sent someone to urge, how could the Cao family have an excuse to keep people, so he had to watch Taohua leave, and turned his head to Chen Yan and complained: "...... Bai Ge'er is only six years old, and the eldest princess in the palace will not have pox until she is ten years old, why does Bai Ge'er have to be so early? Anyway, that's my own brother, even if I'm not good, Brother Bai has been close to her since she was a child, how can I take this risk, just to show others......" said, his eyes turned red, "I only hate Brother Bai and I don't get close to me, spare me and don't listen to anything......"

Chen Yan only knew that the promotion of pox outside had stagnated, but she didn't know that she had reached the point where she wanted to use her younger brother as an example, so she hurriedly asked, "Is this true?" I've heard that children in the Northwest have pox at the age of five, and I think it shouldn't matter if I'm six years old, right? ”

Cao Shi cried: "I heard again! You just talk about the northwest and the northwest, but do you really know what's going on? ”

These words also knocked Chen Yan down. Don't talk about her, even Liu Zhijing didn't enter the northwest, how could she know?

At this time, Chen Yan didn't have the heart to eat anything, the bench was not hot, and she threw down a few catties of cured meat and pickled eggs as gifts, and hurriedly ran back to Liu's house.

"The princess told me to go back earlier?" Liu Zhijing is also at home today, the excuse is, of course, that Mrs. Liu is too sad to worship her deceased husband during the Qingming Festival, and she is sick in bed these days.

Of course, Mrs. Liu is not sick, in fact, she is alive and kicking, and she can eat two large bowls of a meal, but her son is in a bad mood these days, so she is just worried: "That means it's okay?" ”

Liu Zhijing thought for a while and shook his head: "The princess doesn't want to see me, according to me, if it's really okay, I'm afraid she won't ask me to go back." ”

"Is that really something?" Old Mrs. Liu was a little anxious, "It's also an in-law, what-" turned her head and slashed Liu Yan at the knife.

Liu Zhijing was also a little undecided: "Do you know when Brother Bai got pox?" "The best way is to see how effective Jiang Bohua is after the pox.

"This—as if it's not ...... accurate," Chen Yan forgot to ask.

"Why are you so confused-" Liu Zhijing said half a sentence and felt bored, "That's it, let's watch." If this matter is done immediately, it will be fine, and if it is delayed, it will be ...... "then the princess of the county has a ghost in her heart."