The first year of Chengping.

This is the first year of Qi Xiangyang's succession, he is seventeen years old, wise and decisive, and no one dares to treat him slowly.

At the beginning of his accession to the throne, there was a disturbance at the border. Disorderly.

It turned out that the group of barbarians in the northwest saw that he had just ascended the throne and was not very old, so they wanted to take the opportunity to make some trouble and forcibly occupy some land.

Qi Xiangyang decided to drive the expedition in person, which was opposed by many courtiers, and they admonished: "Your Majesty is a body of ten thousand gold, if something happens, what can the court do, how can we explain to the emperor and the ancestors?" ”

Qi Xiangyang's decision has been made, so he will naturally not waver: "Rest assured, since I have decided to drive the expedition in person, I am naturally sure of victory, and when the time comes, you just have to wait for me to return triumphantly." ”

After speaking, he ordered the ministers to retreat, prepare military rations and salaries, and led his troops to the northwest in a few days.

However, even his father Ye Xiao felt that this matter was inappropriate, and said to him in the imperial study in private: "Yang'er, I know that you will do such an absolute, there must be your reasons, but the royal driving is not a trivial matter in the end, in my opinion, it is better to think in the long run." ”

Qi Xiangyang said: "Father, I know that you are worried about my safety, but if you are a monarch, if you will only cower and hide in a safe place, how can it be a good thing?" Moreover, the invasion of the northwest this time is obviously to deceive me when I have just ascended the throne, and I will not bother with them because I want to stabilize internal affairs...... But father, I don't want them to be happy, this group of jackal villains, if they don't deter them fiercely, they will be even more wanton and rampant in the future. ”

"I know what you mean, but ......"

"Father, I don't need to say much, I've made up my mind. Pack up this group of people first, so that they don't dare to invade, and the border will be more stable. Speaking of this, he paused, "Father may not know yet, not only in the northwest, but also in the south, there are some signs of imminent movement, but I sent people to keep an eye on them, they are only in a wait-and-see state at the moment, and they do not use thunder tactics against the northwest, I am afraid that the group in the south will follow suit, and then they will really suffer from the enemy." ”

Ye Xiao was slightly stunned: "So that's the case." ”

Could it be that the son, who has always been calm and rational, would ignore the opposition of everyone and resolutely rectify the enemy of the invasion of the northwest, it turned out to be an example to kill chickens and monkeys, and first make the Quartet afraid of the strength of the Central Plains and dare not rebel.

After learning the inside story, Ye Xiao no longer objected, "Since you want to do it, do it, and I will guard the court side for you." ”

"There's a father."

Qi Xiangyang led hundreds of thousands of military horses, all the way to the northwest, the number of enemies and friends is huge, the group of enemies who came to tempt wanted to take advantage of the new monarch's accession to the throne, take advantage of the chaos to get some benefits, but I didn't expect to run into a hard bone, stealing chickens and not eating rice, the benefits were not occupied, and their nests were all taken out.

The enemy in the northwest was hit hard, and all the rest bowed down.

Qi Xiangyang divided the territory for them, and more than a dozen tribal leaders sat on an equal footing to check and balance each other.

Now, let alone a few decades, the northwest side will not become a big problem, and the infighting will consume their energy almost the same.

However, on the way back to the court, there was a small episode,

He met a girl in the border city who bought a body to bury his father.

She had a straw stuck in her head, a broken reed mat wrapped around the dead man, and a piece of paper next to her was crookedly written to bury her father.

To be honest, this kind of drama is often seen in the excerpts, but Qi Xiangyang is still the first time to meet it. The capital is a land of abundance, and it is very rare that people will fall into a family that does not even have the money for the burial of their families.

When he saw that the girl was also very old, and had a round face, he felt pity in his heart, so he stooped down and gave her a piece of silver, and asked if it was enough.

The girl sniffed, said enough, and asked him what his name was, and when she had finished her father's funeral, she would go and make him a maid to repay her kindness.

He smiled, there is no shortage of people to serve in the palace, and he has been independent since he was a child, and there are very few places that need to be served, so he really doesn't need this girl's kindness.

So Qi Xiangyang told her that she didn't need it.

But the girl was very persistent, saying that since he had given the money, he had bought her, and she would serve him for the rest of her life as she had promised.

Qi Xiangyang was a little touched in his heart, and felt that although this girl had a poor background, she was rare and had a pure character, but he sold it, but he didn't want to repay the favor of others, if he bought out other people's lives because of this ingot of silver, it was really outrageous.

Qi Xiangyang left quietly.

But the girl's stubborn voice was still ringing behind her, and she shouted, "Engong, you wait!" When I'm done with my dad's business, I'll go find you! ”

Looking for him?

Qi Xiangyang chuckled and shook his head, he will be returning to Beijing soon, the border city is far away from the Beijing Division, I am afraid that he will never meet again in this life.

Half a year later, Qi Xiangyang, who was traveling in Beijing in microservices, met the girl again, her round face had lost the tip of her chin, her clothes were very thin, and the whole person seemed to be blown down by a gust of wind, as soon as she saw him, she ran over with tears in her eyes: "Engong!" I've found you! ”

But before she could get to her, she was stopped by the little eunuch: "Who are you?" Dare to ...... us Disrespectful to our son-in-law. ”

The girl explained pitifully: "This eldest brother, I don't want to be disrespectful to my father, I am here to repay my kindness as a maid." ”

"Be a maid?"

The little eunuch is happy, even if she is a palace maid, she has to be selected layer by layer, this girl wants to be beautiful, she wants to be the maid next to their majesty, is it possible that she still wants to be a mother in the future?

"Okay," the little eunuch waved his hand, "where did you come from, hurry back, our son-in-law is not short of maids." ”

The girl sniffed, her eyes red like a rabbit, and she was homeless: "I can't go back." ”

"Can't go back?" Qi Xiangyang sensed the clue from his words, "Why do you say that?" Did something happen? "At the beginning, he gave her fifty taels of silver, excluding the funeral, there should be more than thirty taels left, enough for ordinary people to use for a few years, but this girl's appearance is obviously homeless, full and hungry, is that money taken away?

At this time, the girl's head hung very low: "I'm sorry Engong, I was going to return the rest of the silver to you, but I was robbed on the way to the capital." ”

At that time, she couldn't find Engong everywhere in the city, and when she heard that the officers and soldiers had returned to the capital, she thought that his appearance and accent should also be from the capital, so she took a caravan to the capital.

But who knows, the caravan was not a business at all, but in the name of doing business, it was specialized in fleeing everywhere to commit crimes, theft and robbery and block the way.

As luck would have it, she happened to take their car, the money was robbed, and the person was almost sold. She worked hard and was clever and escaped, otherwise she might have been sold to others as a daughter-in-law now.

Qi Xiangyang frowned slightly: "Then you...... How did you get to the capital? ”

Speaking of this, her eyes lit up slightly: "Engong, you don't know, I will have more skills, weaving bamboo baskets, folding grasshoppers, and kneading clay figures...... By the way, I can make kites. Along the way, she earned money piecemeal, saved up for the passage to the capital, and it took four or five months to come to Engong's hometown.

However, she didn't mention these things in detail, because she didn't want Engong to pity her, so she only said happily: "I have saved money, so I came to the capital to find Engong." ”

But Qi Xiangyang looked at her emaciated face, but he felt slightly uncomfortable in his heart.

Her eyes were so bright, there was no sorrow at all, and she was as happy as a little lark, but his heart was extremely heavy, and it was the first time he had such a strange feeling for a woman, was it pity? Maybe.

"If you want, go with me...... Go back to my house. ”

The girl was very happy, and her eyes were crooked: "Engong, of course I do." ”

But the little eunuch on the side was dumbfounded: "Childe, this ...... Isn't that right? ”

"It doesn't matter." Qi Xiangyang said softly, looking at the girl's undisguised joy, he only felt that his mood was better.

In the fourth year of Chengping, the new emperor performed a weak crown ceremony.

In all dynasties, at this age, the emperor already had a queen, and no matter how bad it was, there were always a few concubines in the harem.

But Qi Xiangyang is different, and no one in his harem is included.

The ministers began to admonish His Majesty to spread the branches and leaves as soon as possible, so that the royal heirs would prosper.

The excerpts that asked for the draft were stacked on the long case in the imperial study, and when the palace maids got together to be lazy and whisper, they would also chatter: "Why didn't Your Majesty choose a concubine?" I see that the ladies in Beijing are very good-looking. ”

"By the way, Sister Axiu, you usually belong to you and serve Your Majesty the longest, do you know why?"

Ah Xiu shook his head: "I don't know. ”

At this time, the eunuch shouted: "Ah Xiu, Your Majesty wants to drink tea, where have you been?" Come here. ”

Ah Xiu hurriedly got up, made tea and entered the imperial study.

Three years ago, she stupidly wanted to repay her kindness, but she didn't expect that Engong was actually the emperor! No wonder the little eunuch Fude wanted to drive her away with a disgusted face at that time, and anyone should think that this was not bad, and he wanted to persuade the noble to climb the high branches.

However, God is pitiful, she really thinks about repaying her kindness, and she never thought that Engong's identity could be so prominent, so she became the palace maid who served by Engong's side.

It is said that before she came, Eun Gong ...... Oh no, most of the things that His Majesty serves around are done by eunuchs, and the palace maids almost do ornaments, and there is very little place to get them.

However, after she came, perhaps to take care of her desire to repay her kindness, she often called her to serve by her side. In this regard, Ah Xiu felt that His Majesty was a very good-minded person.

She took her tea, and when she was about to reach the innermost room, she stopped thinking nonsense.

"Your Majesty, the tea is ready."

He was looking at the excerpts, and when Ah Xiu brought the tea, he even accidentally saw a few portraits of the girl's family inside.

I'm afraid that the ministers are too anxious to wait, and they began to recommend their daughters.

Ah Xiu felt that those adults were also quite brave.

At this time, His Majesty the young emperor took a sip of tea, and his eyes fell on her: "Ah Xiu, I am going to marry, who do you think is suitable." ”

How dare Ah Xiu answer this kind of thing, it's not as simple as choosing clothes, it's the future mother of the country.

She thought about it very seriously, and finally decided to answer honestly: "I don't know." Seeing that the emperor's gaze sank, he added the next sentence, "Actually, the ladies of the official family are very good, knowledgeable, and talented." Ah Xiu tried hard to think about the words that the palace maids usually said that praised the ladies in Beijing.

But who knows, the further down he goes, the more his majesty's face becomes heavier, and he interrupted her: "What about you? ”

Ah Xiu was stunned.

The young emperor's face softened, and he asked her with a slight smile: "What about you, are you willing to be my queen?" ”

*

In the fourth year of Chengping, the emperor got married, and welcomed the common people Liu's as the queen, and then vacant the harem, and did not accept a concubine and a concubine.

……

In the forty-third year of Chengping, the queen was buried in Qianling. Three years later, the emperor died in the palace, and the prince was buried with the queen in the Qianling Tomb.

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