Time flies by for a few days, Lu Jue can already handle the affairs of the government and politics with ease, and the big and small affairs are also arranged properly, and the strength proves that everything can be handled in just a few days, which undoubtedly proves that he is a natural king. Gradually, those hypothetical courtiers were very obviously biased towards him, but he couldn't be happy when he got such a good achievement, because Zhou Ruoshui, who was supposed to be reunited with him early, had no news for more than three days.

It was another morning when the morning sun had risen high, and a ray of sunlight shone on this splendid imperial city, making it look solemn and magnificent and yearning.

Not long after that, from outside the imperial city, a number of jade-topped powder carriages came, neatly and neatly stepping on the rhythm of the story, the splendid curtain beads and strings of beads were decorated faintly and faintly revealing the fat powder, I couldn't help but think that there must be a young woman here.

These carriages passed through the east gate, drove directly to the harem until the gate of the harem, Kunmen, and then no longer moved forward, and the young and beautiful women came down from the carriage, these women were led in by the waiting palace people in the morning, these women were all official women and were not ignorant, but the first time they entered this place that most women yearn for, it was still difficult to suppress the fluttering in their hearts, although they tried to be reserved, they still looked left and right, looking forward to the day when they could become the most noble woman in the harem; You can get the love of the future monarch! People are good at swallowing elephants, but what they don't know is what fate is about to meet them.

Nine bends and eighteen bends, not long ago, Yonggan Hall is already in front of you.

This day is the best weather in the past month, the warm winter sun shines on the body, Zhongzong temporarily decided to set this draft outside the palace, and also ordered the palace people to spread the table refreshments outside, and notified the mothers of the palace masters.

In addition to this emperor and queen, there are several adult princes and concubines of the harem assistant, as well as the four concubines, the most noble people in the palace are all here, which can't help but make people think how much Zhongzong attaches importance to this lifelong event of the son of the world, but everyone looks at these official women carefully selected by the queen's mother, who is not a little suspicious in their hearts, and there is still no escape from a calculation after all.

These officials and women came to the front, followed the appearance of the palace people and the emperor and the palace ladies to salute, at this time Lang Lang, the women who heard the sound looked sideways, from the long corridor came a glorious person, this person was wearing a dark green fur cloak, under the cloak the bamboo-green brocade robe loomed, a black hair was not fully bundled, there were a few restless swaying with the wind, plus his smile like a spring breeze, under the illumination of the sun, the body was full of virtual light, just like the immortal stepped on the colorful glow.

Although these women grew up in the deep boudoir, after all, they are the children of the official family, and they have long heard about the affairs of the court, and they have fantasized about this prince who is only known and has not met, and now they see that they are a very good man, which one is not blushing on his cheeks, his heart jumps a few times, and they all whisper to greet him: "The courtiers have seen His Royal Highness the Prince, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is blessed." ”

Originally, I didn't know why the emperor was in a hurry to summon him, but at this time, when he saw the woman kneeling on the ground, he already knew it, Lu Jue raised his hand and gently brushed his face and said, "You don't need to be polite." Then he turned sideways and asked knowingly: "I don't know what Your Majesty and the Queen Mother have to summon their ministers." ”

But Zhongzong didn't explain everything, but praised his achievements in the court, and praised: "Your affairs in the court, Yang Wei has already told me, just a few days you can handle the government handy, it seems that you have also put in a lot of hard work, your health is not good, remember not to work." ”

After hearing this, Lu Jue raised his eyebrows, glanced at everyone, and simply talked to him about his monarchs and ministers, and said with a pair of responsibilities neither to invite merit nor to be proud: "Weichen is stupid, and I don't know a lot of things in the court, if it weren't for a few princes and a group of courtiers, it would be a lot of effort for the ministers to deal with it." ”

Zhongzong turned his head to look at the sons sitting on the side and said, "You listen to how you evaluate the prince as brothers, and how the prince evaluates you, you remember that only when brothers are united can the country be stable." This sentence has also told everyone with certainty that this throne is no longer Lu Jue, you should do your duty as a minister, and you should not have the heart of not being a minister.

These words were like piercing steel needles, which made those princes and mothers extremely uncomfortable to hear, and all kinds of faces were available. However, everything must be swallowed into the stomach, and it is still necessary to put on a humble and obedient appearance, and they have to get up and Mingzhi: "Sons and concubines remember the emperor's teachings. ”

But Lu Jue heard other meanings of these words, frowned and thought to himself.

This was clearly far from today's purpose, so Webster interrupted and preached: "This is a happy event, why should Your Majesty make a fuss. You father and son will talk about the affairs of the government later, let's solve the lifelong affairs of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince first! After everyone sat down, he continued: "Today, the palace and the emperor summoned the prince to come, not to ask about the court but to choose a concubine. ”

As soon as the queen's voice fell, one of the people changed his face suddenly, and then looked at one of the women, who also looked at him with a face full of self-blame and helplessness.

Now that he has returned to the truth, Lu Jue no longer disguised it, and said bluntly: "The ministers who spoke that day will not make any changes." ”

Hearing this, Empress Wei's face was obviously not good-looking, and her tone was also stern: "Zhou Ruoshui is the daughter of a businessman, and she can't afford to enjoy the position of the crown princess, so it's better to give it to her!" If the prince is reluctant to her, he will allow her to serve as a concubine and a good yuan, and when the prince ascends the throne in the future, she can also get the title of nobleman and Jieyu, so it will not be a loss to her. ”

Everything else is easy to say, Lu Jue will not give in to this matter, his face is fierce, and he has a correct attitude: "My wife Zhou is married to the Ming media, and the position of the main wife is naturally her, if you can't even fight for the position that my wife deserves, what kind of face can she call her husband." ”

Empress Wei still refused to give in, pressing step by step: "You are the prince of Daqi, and your son-in-law's bloodline must be justified, and Zhou Ruoshui is not worthy of this mother-in-law's identity." His eyes swept away and he said: "These women are all daughters of famous families and women from official families, and the wives and mothers will be selected from among them!" ”

Without waiting for Lu Jue to pick up the topic, Fu Shun, the eunuch beside the queen's mother, began to report these women one by one, from left to right, the woman wearing brightly colored clothes and a face like a hibiscus is Wei Yuan'er, the second daughter of the queen Wei's second brother, the second daughter of the left governor Yu Shi Wei, who is nineteen years old; Moreover, a woman dressed in clothes with a beautiful face and an elegant and quiet face, this woman is Mei Hanxue, the eldest daughter of the right prime minister Mei Qianqin, Mei Hanxue Nianfang, eighteen; Next is a woman with a beautiful face in a light green palace dress, this woman is Cao Kexin, the daughter of Cao Buzhi, the head of the household、、、、、、

The eunuch was energetic in the introduction, but Lu Jue didn't have the heart to listen carefully one by one, listened attentively to the introduction, and secretly figured out to himself, this is Webster's trick, these women are all high-ranking officials or sisters, if he refuses, you can imagine how difficult it will be to deal with the future, and then these people are Webster's party, Webster's is also a killer feature to consolidate himself, no matter which woman gets the favor, the future of Daqi is his Webster's bag.

After the introduction, Lu Jue didn't reply for a long time, Wei raised his eyes and saw that he lowered his eyes and didn't know what he was thinking, put down the hot tea in his hand, coughed lightly twice to interrupt his thoughts: "These women are satisfied with the palace and the emperor, and the prince will choose one of them as the concubine, and the others will be Liangdi and Liangyuan." ”

"The minister first thanked the queen for her good intentions, and also thanked the girls for their favor, but there is an ugly sentence I want to say in front, I have been terminally ill since I was a child, and I will soon be a person who will die soon. My heart is only my wife, and you cherish it! Tepid but showed all his intentions, and also told everyone his actual situation, so that they would not be delusional and retreat.

After hearing this, Wei got up indignantly and reprimanded: "How can you be the prince of Great Qi who said this, and abandoned your responsibilities for a woman, wouldn't you smile for a thousand years in future generations." ”

Hearing this, the ladies and princes began to talk to each other, and the position of the harem, which had been silent, was only second to the queen's concubine, and lazily glanced at the thunderous and angry Empress Wei, and interjected with a smile: "Why is the queen so angry, no matter who is the emperor and queen, the position of the queen mother is none other than the mother, we who have no hope have not argued about the long and short, why should the mother be obsessed with this!" ”

Wei Shi shook his eyes over and said: "Yuan Guifei's intention is that this palace has done something more." ”

Concubine Yuan got up and didn't answer, she bowed sideways to Zhongzong and said, "The concubine is unwell, so she will retire first." With Zhongzong's permission, he ignored Wei Hou and left directly, and when he walked to Lu Jue's side, he took a short step, and said a few words in a voice that the two of them could hear: "Cao Yun's reason" and then left with a mysterious smile.

Lu Jue listened to it inexplicably, looked at the back of Yuan Guifei and thought for a long time, until he heard a few emperor's voices before he came back to his senses, he sorted out his thoughts and said: "Several daughters of official families are far away from my wife regardless of their appearance and background, but no matter how good they are, they are not my wives after all, and my whole heart is given to my wife, and it is difficult to tolerate others." It's not that I'm a decent gentleman and don't sit still, it's just that my wife is not easy for her to start from the beginning, what reason do I have to have three wives and four concubines! I am Zhou Ruoshui's husband, if I can't even give her the position she deserves, then His Majesty the Emperor of the crown prince will choose someone else! ”

Empress Wei said with a slight smugness: "You insist on this." ”

Lu Jue said: "If I am the emperor, she will be the queen; If I were king, she would be a concubine; If I am a commoner, she is his wife, let him be a beautiful woman, I only want this woman to be with me, and everything else can be compromised, only my wife and others act arbitrarily! ”

Empress Wei was just about to speak, but Zhongzong spoke first: "Okay, the position of the crown prince is a matter of the country, how can it be child's play." Not only do you insist on being the concubine of the Zhou family, but you should also convince everyone. ”

Lu Jue replied: "Back to Your Majesty, my father-in-law Zhou Wenfeng is Zhou Tan, one of the three heroes of the Great Qi, and my wife Zhou is his youngest daughter. The words are scorching, and the meanings make people think.

He is still a step ahead, Queen Wei made it difficult for him, and he couldn't advance or retreat with the backlash of everyone in the entire court, and in a blink of an eye, Lu Jue hit him with a backhand, taking all the soldiers and the people of the world as a bet, making it even more difficult for Wei to step down.

Now it's getting better and better, and the princes of the palaces are watching the fire from the other side to see how the two end.

Listening to his words, Zhongzong nodded and said: "Zhou Tan is the pillar of the country, and the first emperor had intended to allow him to be the prime minister of the left dynasty, but for some reason he insisted on going into hiding. If the Zhou family is his daughter, she will naturally be worthy of the position of the crown princess, and others will have doubts again, and I will make a holy decree to correct her name. He got up and wrote on the fold that Yang Wei brought and read: "Zhou Wenfeng is in the imperial court, and he is awarded the title of Earl of Loyalty and Bravery, and his young daughter Zhou Ruoshui is the lord of Roujia. Zhou's Ruoshui Yuxiu famous, gentle temperament, skillful and generous, outstanding appearance, I and the queen bowed to hear very happy, now the seventh prince Zhu Rui has been canonized as the prince, when the marriage is appropriate, when the choice of virtuous women and matching. Knowing that the Zhou family is in the boudoir, he specially matched Ru Xu with the prince as a concubine. After putting down the pen, he continued: "That is, you and the Zhou family have been married in the people, and the etiquette in the palace is simple, and you only need to choose a day to announce the decree to the world." ”

For the first time, Lu Jue thanked him sincerely, and knelt down in his robe and said: "The minister's wife, Zhou's thank the lord Longen, long live my emperor, long live, long live." "Bow down to the ground with full prostration.

The father and son made Empress Wei seem to realize something, and looked at Zhongzong in disbelief, and that look told everyone that he had been tricked by the father and son.

At this time, no one could see that something was wrong with the atmosphere, but no one said anything to break it, but a little eunuch with half a cup of tea hurriedly came, whispered a few words in Yang Wei's ear, Yang Wei sent him away, whispered a few words to Zhongzong, Zhongzong did not change too much expression and just said lightly: "Biography" Yang Wei took the order and retreated.

Just when everyone didn't know why, Liu Fuling came with Yang Wei, and after he saluted before many high-ranking people, he didn't care about etiquette and walked straight to Lu Jue's side, looking anxious: "The young master is not good, the young lady has an accident!" ”

Lu Jue's heart jumped and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong with Shui'er." ”

At this time, for some reason, Liu Fuling raised her voice and said: "The team traveled to the narrow valley, and due to the cold weather and slippery roads, the carriage that the young lady was riding accidentally fell to the bottom of the valley!" Although everyone tried their best to find it, two days later, the young lady's life and death were still uncertain. ”

"I see." Lu Jue didn't know how he suppressed his mood at that time, because of many coincidences, he realized something, his eyes looked at Empress Wei like a sharp blade, and this gaze inadvertently pointed the finger at her, the maker of this accident. said in a cold tone: "It's really good, then let's see if I have the guts!" Whether these women go or stay is up to the queen's mother, but I put down a sentence in advance, if the water is okay, then there will be no trouble, if she is unexpected, then I am not afraid of a few more people to be buried with her! The minister retired. Leaving behind the crowd, no matter what the expression was, it was convenient for Liu Fuling to leave together.

These embarrassed women looked at each other and looked at the various feelings in their hearts, going, who is willing to give up the glory of this life; Stay, and be widowed for a lifetime, but if you go or stay, who knows in your heart that you can't make your own decisions, the imperial power is a gap that no one can cross, and the fate is in the hands of others early on!