Rewind the clock to fifteen years ago......

In the first year of Zhaoxuan of Chu State, at the age of twenty-eight, the crown prince Xiang Ding, who was in his youth, ascended the throne as the emperor, canonized the crown princess Mingzhu as the queen, awarded the treasure, and centered the palace. Xiang Jingcheng, the son born to Empress Ming, was canonized as the crown prince, and the princess Xiang Jingyao was named Princess Chenghuan.

The emperor and his wife have a son and a daughter, Qin Se and Ming. When Xiang Ding was still the crown prince, he married the general Ming Chenghuai, who was one year older than him, as the crown princess. The prince loves the princess wholeheartedly, refuses to accept any more concubines, and only has a beautiful pearl in his eyes. Soon after the marriage, the crown princess gave birth to a royal daughter. Two years later, the prince was finally born. After Mingzhu gave birth to a son and a daughter, she never came out again.

The ministers were worried that the lack of royal heirs would affect the safety of the country, and the call for the emperor to enrich the harem became louder and louder.

"Your Majesty, the continuation of the heir is related to the royal inheritance, and Your Majesty must not be sloppy." At the beginning of the early dynasty, Prime Minister Shen Yuanrun took the lead in admonishing him.

Prime Minister Shen is the brother of the Empress Dowager Shen and the emperor's maternal uncle.

"Your Majesty, it is imminent for the draft girl to enter the palace, it is the most important event in the imperial court, and the strength of the royal family lies in the reproduction of future generations."

"Your Majesty has more than a dozen half-brothers, a group of wives and concubines, a big basket of princes and grandchildren, and Your Majesty only has the crown prince ......"

"The kings of Fanwai are growing their wings, and they are eyeing the royal family, Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty is bent on going his own way, not accepting concubines, and the six palaces are fictitious, there is no one before and no one after him!"

……

For the sake of the royal family's incense, all the upright ministers are all aimed at the emperor, so that he has nowhere to escape.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the queen is still very young when she is not yet established. This is my harem family matter, don't worry too much about Aiqing. Whenever he heard the minister advise him to draft a wide range of draft girls to enrich the harem, the emperor's mind swelled and prevaricated on the grounds that the queen was still young.

"Your Majesty, the queen mother has long passed the peach and plum years, please think twice!"

"I beg your majesty to think twice!" All the ministers said in unison: "I beg Your Majesty to think twice!" I beg your majesty to think twice! ……”

"Don't say more, retreat!" Xiang Ding said sharply.

Once again, the monarch and the ministers parted unhappily.

Ignoring the emperor, the ministers walked out of the hall dejectedly. After all, the thunder is loud and the rain is small, so it doesn't help.

Prime Minister Shen Yuanrun looked up at the sky, shook his head helplessly, and said with a wry smile: "The rain can't fall." ”

He walked in the direction of the Queen Mother's Hall and talked to his sister.

Empress Dowager Shen is the emperor's biological mother, and gave birth to the emperor's son Xiang Ding and two princesses for the emperor, and her life was smooth. The son ascended the throne and succeeded to the throne and was honored as the queen mother. The emperor and empress are extremely filial, and the queen mother is happy to live in Cining Palace, but she asks about political affairs.

The emperor's heirs are not abundant, it has always been the heart disease of the Empress Dowager Shen, which emperor is not the seventy-two concubines of the three palaces and six courts? However, his emperor's son only married Empress Ming, and Empress Dowager Shen saw it in her eyes and was anxious.

When she was the queen, the first emperor Chu Cheng had twenty-six concubines, and Xiang Ding had seventeen half-brothers. If that happens, she, the Queen Mother and Empress Ming, will become an ornament in the palace.

"Queen Mother, the Prime Minister is here." Notification from outside the palace.

"Invite him in." Empress Dowager Shen commanded.

After Prime Minister Shen Cheng saluted the Queen Mother, the Queen Mother gave her a seat.

"Brother, you're here." Empress Dowager Shen was very happy to see her brother coming, smiled happily, and said straight to the point: "My brother came to mourn today, it must be that the prime minister has encountered difficulties, hehehehe......"

"Yes, the Queen Mother, the Queen Mother is clever." Prime Minister Shen knew that he was able to climb to this high position because of his sister, who was a fellow mother.

Empress Dowager Shen's words box opened: "The mourning family is the queen and the queen mother, and she has eaten all the delicacies of the mountains and seas, and has enjoyed all the glory and wealth. When she was a queen, she was able to keep the position in the middle palace, all by giving birth to Ding'er, and in the court where the mother and son were precious, if the prince was not born, it would be difficult to gain a foothold in the huge harem. Now that she is the queen mother and the emperor's biological mother, she can live a pampered life calmly. If it weren't for Ding'er succeeding to the throne, the mourning family would be sitting on this seat, which would be like sitting on pins and needles. So, brother, don't worry, the story of the ancestor Chu Xiao Emperor Xiao Kangwen Empress can't be repeated. The political affairs of the vestibule, the mourning family does not ask. The matter of choosing a concubine in the harem is a royal family matter, and there is no reason for the mourning family to stand idly by. ”

"Does the Queen Mother have a clever plan to convince the emperor?" Shen Cheng was powerless compared to the emperor's arbitrariness.

He pinned his hopes for the turn of the peak on the Queen Mother's sister.

"Brother, you just wait patiently for news." Empress Dowager Shen made no secret of her ability to take the helm.

Out of Cining Palace, Prime Minister Shen Cheng did not forget to look back at the palace where the Queen Mother lived, nodded with a smile, stroked his beard, and said to himself: "Brother believes in you, Queen Mother." ”

His younger sister has been extremely talented and talented since she was a child, and no matter how many concubines her husband Chu Cheng marries, she can't shake her status at all. She has her advantages, so she sits on the phoenix seat for a long time, and she will always be the mistress in the middle palace.