On the evening of Chinese New Year's Eve in the fifteenth year of Tai'an, Empress Wang finally dressed up and walked out of the palace to participate in tonight's Chinese New Year's Eve banquet.

At the banquet, Queen Wang and the rest of the concubines talked and laughed, and they also respected Zhang Lingyang.

But Zhang Lingyang found that Queen Wang's eyes had changed when she looked at her.

Now, Queen Wang's eyes are full of indifference.

Not only to Zhang Lingyang, but to anyone, Queen Wang's eyes are like this.

Except for the crown prince Zhao Hao!

Only when the crown prince Zhao Hao is by his side will there be tenderness in the eyes of Queen Wang.

Now staying alone with Queen Wang, Zhang Lingyang also feels a little embarrassed.

However, on Chinese New Year's Eve, Zhang Lingyang still rested in the queen's bedchamber.

This is the first time that Zhang Lingyang has rested in the queen's bedroom this winter, and the eunuchs and palace maids in the dormitory are full of smiles on their faces.

In the afternoon, when the eunuchs of the celebrant came to give out red envelopes, I didn't see them so happy.

Zhang Lingyang and Queen Wang were lying on the bed like dead bodies, both looking at the top of the tent with their eyes open, no one was asleep, and no one spoke.

I don't know how long the time has passed, but I faintly heard the sound of firecrackers outside, Zhang Lingyang broke the silence and said to Queen Wang: "After the New Year, the prince will be fourteen years old, and it's time to get married."

Tomorrow at noon, I will order my wife to enter the palace to see you, you look carefully to see whose woman is suitable, set the marriage early, and hold the wedding when you become an adult! ”

When it came to her son's marriage, Queen Wang had to speak, "Your Majesty, rest assured, the concubines can be saved!" ”

After that, no more sound came out.

"The queen sleeps by herself, I can't sleep, go out for a walk!" With a sigh, Zhang Lingyang got off the bed, did not call the palace maid who was keeping vigil outside to come in, put on his clothes alone, and looked at the queen's bedroom.

At some point, snowflakes fell in the sky.

When Zhang Lingyang walked out of the queen's bedroom, the ground was already covered with snow, and everywhere was white.

Zhang Lingyang didn't feel cold, stepped on the snow-covered ground, and Zhang Lingyang walked back to Chen'an Hall step by step.

As the Son of Heaven, every Chinese New Year is the busiest time for Zhang Lingyang.

In addition to the banquet for the ministers and wives at noon on the first day of the Lunar New Year, it is also necessary to worship the heavens and express condolences to the people on the outskirts of the city and the troops stationed outside Luoyang, as well as some laborers who are building projects near Luoyang.

In addition, I visited the students who had not returned home from the Royal Academy and the National Prison, visited the lonely and widowed elderly, talked to the old farmers about this year's harvest, and visited the orphans of the martyrs by the way.

If you still have some free time, you will have to visit the homes of some important ministers, and you will talk to each other about the situation next year, and so on......

In short, during the Chinese New Year, Zhang Lingyang was very busy.

It is said that many of these activities are accompanied by the queen and the queen of a country.

However, this year's situation is special, except for the banquet at noon on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the king and queen routinely participated, and the rest did not participate in even one.

According to the meaning of Queen Wang's words, it is deduced that her body has not yet recovered, and she is busy choosing the crown princess for Zhao Hao, so she will not participate in other activities.

"Since the queen is inconvenient, let the noble concubine do it for her!" The expression on Zhang Lingyang's face did not change at all, and he simply ordered.

As a noble concubine, Concubine Gao is old enough to be qualified, so she is said to be a reasonable candidate.

But don't forget, in addition to the queen and queen, there are two imperial concubines.

Princess Victoria from the English Empire has just given birth to a prince for Zhang Lingyang, and she only knows how to play with her son every day, so how can she have the leisure to accompany Zhang Lingyang out to participate in condolence activities?

Princess Alice from the French Empire is more than four months pregnant, and it is naturally inconvenient to travel, so this matter naturally falls on the head of the noble concubine with the oldest qualifications and the same high status.

In fact, even if Princess Victoria and Princess Alice had free time and were in good health, they would not have participated in such an event.

The reason is very simple, no matter what, the throne of the prince of the Great Zhou will not fall into the hands of their children.

Therefore, for such activities, they naturally avoid them far away.

As for the queen and queen, when she heard the news, her face did not change, but she said lightly, "This palace knows", and continued to look down at the roster in her hand.

On the side, the palace maid said for the queen: "Queen Mother, in addition to the daughters of the official eunuchs above the fourth grade in Beijing, there are one hundred and twenty-five people on the roster who are carefully selected from famous families and superintendent families in various places.

I don't know which daughter you like, Queen Mother? ”

"It doesn't matter if the two side concubines are innocent, as long as the family background is innocent, the personality is deferential and gentle, and the person is good-looking.

Concubine Zheng is in some trouble.

In addition to the above conditions, the background must be prominent enough, otherwise she will not be worthy of the position of the crown princess at all.

The palace looked through it carefully, and only the eldest granddaughter of Ning Guogong and the youngest daughter of Zhen Guogong were suitable, and the age was very suitable.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, this palace has also seen the two of them, and they both like it very much, you can choose one of them, this palace is a little undecided, or you and the palace staff staff? ”

"What's so hard about that?" The palace maid smiled, "Since the two queens like it very much, why don't you just let both of them enter the palace?"

A concubine, a side concubine, in this way, isn't the queen satisfied! ”

"Nonsense!" Queen Wang said angrily, "The two daughters are both the concubines of the Guogong Mansion, and their status is equal, who is the right and who is the side?" If one is not good, he will summon trouble for the prince.

Besides, according to the practice handed down from the founding of the country, except for the concubines of the Son of Heaven, the concubines of the Guogong Mansion are not allowed to be concubines.

No matter how good the prince's side concubine is, it is also a concubine, and it won't work. ”

The palace maid said: "But the slave and maid clearly only saw one princess and daughter!"

Miss Sun of Ning Guofu is just the eldest granddaughter of the old man of Ning Guo, as long as the prince of Ning Guofu does not inherit the title for a day, then this convention will not work for a day, right? ”

"You're smart!" Queen Wang chuckled, although she was extremely moved by the suggestion of the palace maid, but she also knew in her heart that this was something that would not work at all.

Let's not say that Zhang Lingyang can't get over there, let's just say that Ning Guo's old man can't get by.

Is the old man Ning Guo a Hexu character? Although he has retired from the court for many years, his protégés and former officials are all over the Great Zhou army.

Not to mention anything else, in the military cabinet alone, there are two cabinet ministers, Zhang Guangzhi and Ma Jinzhong, who are the old subordinates of the old man of Ning Guo.

What's more, now that the old man of Ning Guo is one of the three princes, the prince's teacher, the queen does not dare to offend him easily......