Tianshun Dynasty, Longyu ten years.

Emperor Meng Hongyu has been on the throne for ten years, he bows to the people and is diligent in political affairs, so the Tianshun Dynasty is politically clear, the wind and rain are smooth, and the people live and work in peace and contentment.

The fly in the ointment is that Meng Hongyu is nearly 30 years old, but he only has a son and three daughters. In recent days, the Queen Mother and the Ministry of Rites have often mentioned to him the matter of choosing a concubine, and he always excuses himself with "heavy state affairs", "not to indulge in beauty" and "red face and trouble".

It is said that yesterday the queen mother was forced by a hunger strike, and the emperor finally agreed and began to announce that the world wanted to choose a concubine.

This coke spoiled the ministers who still had daughters to be written, and they were all busy climbing relatives and trying to let their daughters enter the palace.

Of course, who wouldn't want to be a relative of the emperor? What's more, the throne is still vacant, his daughter has entered the palace, and there is a chance to become the queen, at that time, the father is the national abbot!

In the imperial study, several important ministers stood quietly on the side, waiting for the emperor to choose the woman he liked from the many portraits.

I saw that the emperor was absent-minded and took a look at it from the many portraits at random. After a while, he pulled out one of the portraits, looked at it for a moment, a strange smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and then, picking out the portrait, he put it aside.

The Ministry of Rites Shangshu hurriedly asked, "Does the emperor like this girl?" ”

Meng Hongyu smiled coldly and said, "Joke! Such a mediocre-looking woman is not worthy of being my palace maid, and she even wants to fly on the branches as a phoenix? I just picked it out first, so I didn't have to see her ugly face again. ”

He threw the portrait to the Ministry of Rites, who hurriedly took the portrait and looked at it. I saw that the woman in the painting was not ugly, but ordinary in appearance. However, in the eyes of Meng Hongyu, who has just seen many beautiful pictures and the harem is full of stunning beauties, the woman in the painting is of course "ugly and unsalted".

Prime Minister Xiao Wanzhong, who was standing next to Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, had also seen that the woman in the painting was her baby daughter Xiao Ziling.

However, he said calmly: "Emperor Qi, this is a little girl. The little girl's appearance is mediocre, and she should not have presented a portrait to defile the holy eye, but because the national law stipulates that the daughters of officials above the fifth grade should be presented with portraits, so the old minister dared to present the portrait of the little girl, not wanting to anger the holy face, and the old minister was terrified. ”

Xiao Wanzhong's words made Meng Hongyu's face slightly embarrassed, but he quickly changed his words and said: "The prime minister is serious, presumably the painter's painting skills are not pure enough, and Miss Xiao is so ordinary." Besides, it is difficult to draw people and tigers, and the painters can only draw the appearance, not the temperament of Miss Xiao. I joked, Prime Minister Xiao Cheng didn't have to take it to heart. ”

It turned out that in order to avoid the secret operation of the officials in charge of choosing concubines, and to maintain the neutrality of the emperor when choosing concubines, all the portraits handed in did not indicate the name, age and background of the person in the painting. Therefore, Meng Hongyu didn't know that this woman was Xiao Wanzhong's daughter, so he would make inappropriate remarks.

Although this is just a trivial matter, Meng Hongyu still secretly complained: If it is the daughter of another family, it is the daughter of Prime Minister Xiao Cheng!

Prime Minister Xiao Cheng was the minister appointed by the first emperor when he was dying, and his two sons, one was the general of Zhenxi and the other was the general of Zhenbei, both of whom had heavy troops, and Meng Hongyu still had concerns about the Xiao family in his heart.

You must know that in the ten years since he ascended the throne, he has worked hard day and night to govern the country in an orderly manner, just to make Xiao Wanzhong recognize him, and then hand over most of the rights to him in accordance with the will of the first emperor. After all, the allure of power is so great, Xiao Wanzhong seems to be loyal, but who knows what he thinks in his heart!

Now, if he is careless, I don't know if he will displease Xiao Wanzhong? If he was angry, it would be miserable.

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In Cining Palace, that is, the queen mother's bedroom, the palace maids and eunuchs all retreated.

The Queen Mother sat on a chair and counted down the emperor while drinking tea.

"The emperor should know that as a monarch, he must be cautious in his words and deeds. No matter how much Prime Minister Xiao's daughter looks saltless, you shouldn't comment on a woman like this. When you say this, what is Miss Xiao's face? In the future, how will she get married? ”

"The queen mother, the son did not know that the woman in the painting was Miss Xiao at that time......" The emperor defended himself.

"No matter what the girl of the family is, the emperor can't say that. The mourning family heard that Miss Xiao committed suicide by throwing herself into the lake last night......"

Meng Hongyu thought, it turned out that she was still a stupid woman with a small heart, and because of other people's jokes, she didn't even want her life?

However, fortunately, he was found by the maids and rescued in time, and now he is fine. However, this palace still wants to order you to make Miss Xiao a noble concubine and let her live in Yongle Palace. The Queen Mother said.

What? Do you want him Meng Hongyu to marry that ugly girl? Do you want to make her a concubine?

You must know that his palace is very precious! Of course, it's going to be reserved for the stunning woman, how can it be given to that saltless woman?

According to the palace rules, the emperor can have one queen, three palaces, six courtyards, and seventy-two falls. Meng Hongyu only set up two palaces, four courtyards, and twenty-one falls, and who should sit in the back seat, the queen mother already has a heart. Therefore, this time the concubine is chosen, and the remaining palace is the highest gift.

"Queen Mother, Miss Xiao can be named a concubine, why bother to be a concubine? This Miss Xiao's appearance is really ......" He observed her words and looks, and saw that her mother was not angry, so he continued, "Besides, the Xiao family now has a heavy army, if another daughter becomes a concubine, then the Xiao family is probably even more powerful......"

"Emperor, it is precisely because the Xiao family is in power now that you should marry Miss Xiao!"

"Emperor, think about it, if Miss Xiao goes to look for a short time again, Xiao Wanzhong will be angry when she comes to mourn her daughter...... Then the country will be in jeopardy. Besides, I have already heard that Siu Wanzhong loves Miss Siu very much. If he loses his daughter in old age, can he afford it? ”

"Queen Mother, this ......"

The Queen Mother hesitated for a moment and continued to say to Meng Hongyuming: "The Xiao family has been an official for three generations, and they are loyal, so they really can't find anything wrong. I heard that Miss Xiao has been flying and domineering since she was a child, and she is willful. If she enters the palace, it will cause some trouble for the Xiao family...... The emperor can find a reason to deal with the Xiao family by the way, and the Xiao family will definitely not dare to act rashly. After all, Miss Xiao is still in the palace. ”

"The queen mother means to say...... In case the Xiao family rebels, then we will at least have Miss Xiao as a bargaining chip in our hands? ”

"Since the emperor already knows the meaning of the mourning family, let's do what the mourning family says. Named her a concubine, it will be beneficial to the emperor and harmless. ”

"Queen Mother Shengming!" Meng Hongyu really admired his mother for being able to come up with such a clever plan.

Three days later, a holy decree was delivered to the Prime Minister's Mansion:

Xiao Ziling, the daughter of Prime Minister Xiao, is gentle and graceful, has both ability and political integrity, and was named a noble concubine and lived in Yongle Palace.

As a result, there was a lot of discussion in the world: Prime Minister Xiao Cheng's ugly daughter threw herself into the lake because she was jokingly said to be too ugly by the emperor, and attempted suicide, and Prime Minister Xiao Cheng was afraid of losing his beloved daughter, so he forced the emperor to make Xiao Ziling a concubine.