Chapter 16: Childhood

Empress Dowager Xu said: "Back then, your father went to the enemy country as a hostage and married back to the lord of the enemy country, which is now Concubine Tian, how wise and brave he was!" Holy Lord, with your intellect, in your own country, in your own court, you should be able to deal with it. What's more, after you became in power, the main energy of the mourning family was in the inner court, and the queen may not be able to set off any waves. Besides, we don't know what the hoopoe man is like, maybe he is gentle and virtuous, but we don't know. ”

Qian Hongzuo said in disgust: "Dai Yun is ruthless and arrogant, how good can his daughter be?" ”

Empress Dowager Xu admonished euphemistically: "Holy Lord, ordinary people all look forward to the love of husband and wife, but the marriage of the royal family rarely considers these. I had never seen your father before I married him, and he was both a queen and a wife, and he was surrounded by a large number of daughters. Even if I am the princess of Fujian, I am only one of your father's many concubines when I marry. But Wu Yue and Min need this marriage, the people of the two countries need peace, I came to Wu Yue not for myself, but for the alliance of the two countries, as long as this purpose is achieved, what is the personal honor and disgrace? At that time, the Min royal family had a daughter of the clan who was more suitable for her relatives than me, but she already had a sweetheart and refused to marry far away to Wu Yueguo. As a last resort, I will marry as a princess with a different surname. The royal family is supported by the people, and the starting point of their work should be the well-being of the people, including marriage. I only want to enjoy wealth and wealth in ordinary times, and I have a heavy responsibility on my shoulders, but I only care about my own pleasure, what is the benefit of the country and the people? ”

Qian Hongzuo could hear that his mother's words implied dissatisfaction with him, but after all, he was just a teenager, and he had a prejudice against the Dai family, and he suspected that they were young men who did all kinds of evil in order to seize the royal power, so he couldn't accept it for a while, so he said: "Mother, let the child think about it, I am in turmoil today, and I ask my mother to allow me to retire." ”

Empress Dowager Xu snorted, and Qian Hongzuo left after giving a salute. Looking at the back of her son's departure, Empress Dowager Xu felt unbearable in her heart and sighed heavily.

The events that followed made Qian Hongzuo upset, but he couldn't get rid of it. Qian Hongzuo had many ministers, many guards, many slaves, and many of his relatives in the palace. But except for the Empress Dowager Xu, he has no other person to say. And the suggestion to make a hoopoe man the queen was precisely put forward by the Empress Dowager Xu, so all the worries had to be suppressed in Qian Hongzuo's heart.

Qian Hongzuo was the only son of Empress Dowager Xu, had no half-siblings, and almost never had a private relationship with his half-siblings. These princes, princesses, and their mothers, Qian Hongzuo, all knew that at the royal sacrifices and at the banquets of the New Year's Festival, they politely exchanged greetings and courtesy, all the movements were trained, all the words were scrutinized, and every sentence was said just right, that is, not a word was said from the bottom of the heart.

Qian Hongzuo's entire childhood was spent in gray. In the palace, not only Qian Hongzuo is like this, except for the two biological children of the Ma family, Hongxu and Hongliang, who were abolished by the first king, almost all the other princes grew up in fear. Before the queen was deposed, she relied on her father's military power to poison the inner court of the palace. Not only are there many innocent victims of concubines, but many princes born in the side rooms also died unexplained. In order to protect Qian Hongzuo, Concubine Xu never let her son leave her sight, except for being led by her regularly to worship the Buddha in the Huguo Temple in the palace, the rest of the time, she stayed in the palace of Concubine Min almost all day. Most of the people in Concubine Min's palace are the chamberlains and palace maids brought from Fujian when Empress Dowager Xu got married, they are all adults, saying what they should say, taking care of Qian Hongzuo's life, and even teaching him to read and practice martial arts. Qian Hongzuo was so steady that he could be expressionless when he was angry, but he was also so lonely that when he was in a daze, no one dared to ask him what he was thinking.

There is too much heaviness in his mother's love for Qian Hongzuo, squeezing the joys, sorrows, and sorrows to very little. When Qian Hongzuo was a child, he encountered an incident on the way to worship Buddha with his mother, which became his eternal desire. As they passed by a pond in the palace, he found his father on a cruise with a favorite concubine, and his father was holding the son of the favorite concubine in his arms, kissing and kissing, and making the little prince laugh. Qian Hongzuo on the shore was stunned with envy, his father had never hugged him so affectionately, and he had never made him laugh. My father rarely came to my mother's Concubine Min's palace, and even if he came occasionally, facing Qian Hongzuo, he usually just asked: How are you reading? Has there been any progress in martial arts training? It's like he's asking the minister how the errand is going. Qian Hongzuo once asked his mother suspiciously: Does his father not like him? His mother said that he was a little lucky star of Wu Yue and Fujian, and of course his father liked him. Qian Hongzuo begged his mother to let his father take him on a cruise. His mother told him that if she did that, the queen would be displeased. Later, the favorite concubine died, and so did her little prince. Qian Hongzuo knew that the queen would be unhappy and the result would be miserable, but he still longed for his father to hug him, even if only once or twice.

No matter how bright Miss Dai looked, he didn't want it. When he was a child, the palace was full of fear. That was his nightmare, and it was the nightmare of this palace. In the palace shrouded by military power, he was as smart as a mother and did not dare to be pampered; Happiness is like that little brother Wang, and he will only die in the end. Even those closest to you have to be suspicious and vigilant, then this nightmare will never wake up. Qian Hongzuo would rather work all day in government affairs, and would rather fight on the battlefield for the country and shed his last drop of blood than accept such a queen with military power. He wanted to tell others what was in his heart, but he had no choice but to keep it in his heart.

The more depressed he was, the more Qian Hongzuo missed Xie Xiangcun who went to Taizhou to find relatives. Xie Xiangcun's appearance was like a strong light suddenly shining into the deep cave, and he made Qian Hongzuo want to get closer, want to understand, and want to converge so strongly. When someone opened Qian Hongzuo's long-closed heart, Qian Hongzuo found that he was so eager to have someone worthy of his trust, able to listen to him, and understand his feelings. But now that Xie Xiangcun is far away in Taizhou, the only thing Qian Hongzuo can do is to often take out the copper amulet he gave him when he was leaving, wipe it, and pray to this amulet in his heart over and over again: Mother can change her plan to make a hoopoe man the queen.

A month has passed, and the Empress Dowager Xu has only asked Qian Hongzuo once what he thinks after the confrontation, and Qian Hongzuo said perfunctorily: I haven't thought about it yet. He really didn't have a better way than to procrastinate.