"Kong Taichang, congratulations."

The people of Xuanping Hou and his party gathered around Kong Taichang and congratulated him.

"Kong Taichang, we will be in-laws in the future, so we have to communicate more." Xuanping Hou said to Kong Taichang very politely, "Kong Taichang, if you don't mind, it's better to go to my house for tea now." ”

Kong Taichang said with a stiff face: "Thank you Xuanping Hou for the invitation, but I have something to do today, so I will leave first." With that, he left in a hurry.

Xuanping Hou Shizi looked at Kong Taichang's back leaving, frowned very dissatisfied, and said, "Dad, Kong Taichang seems to be very dissatisfied with such a marriage. ”

"What if he's not satisfied." Xuanping Hou was not angry because of Kong Taichang's cold attitude, on the contrary, he was in a very good mood, and he kept a smile on his face, "This is a marriage given by the emperor himself, Kong Taichang has to accept it if he is not willing to do so, otherwise it will be a rebellion." ”

Xuanping Hou Shizi couldn't get used to Kong Taichang's appearance just now, he said with some indignation: "His youngest daughter marrying His Royal Highness the Acting King as a side concubine is a blessing for their Kong family, and he is still unwilling!" ”

"The Kong family does not want to participate in the struggle between His Royal Highness the Acting King and the crown prince, and is unwilling to marry their daughter to His Royal Highness the Acting King as a side concubine." Xuanping Hou said, with a puzzled look on his face, "The emperor was unwilling to let the Kong family participate in the battle between the prince and His Royal Highness the Acting King, so when the prince and His Royal Highness the acting king got married, he did not give the daughter of the Kong family to the prince and His Royal Highness the acting king, but now why has he changed his mind?" "At the beginning, when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Royal Highness the Acting King got married, the eldest son and daughter of the Kong family and the second daughter were the same age as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Royal Highness the Acting King. At that time, the ministers thought that Emperor Wu of Zhou would give the eldest daughter of the Kong family to the crown prince and the second daughter of the Kong family to the acting king. However, Emperor Wu of Zhou did not grant marriage.

Emperor Wu of Zhou gave the concubine of the Duke of Zhenguo to the crown prince to be the crown princess, and gave the concubine of the Marquis of Xuanping to the acting king. Last year, Emperor Wu of Zhou gave the daughter of Da Honglu to the crown prince as a side concubine. The acting king only got married two years ago, and since then he has been in turmoil outside, rarely in Beijing, so Emperor Wu of Zhou did not give a side concubine to the acting king.

In the past two years, many ministers have been staring at the position of the acting princess, hoping that their daughters, nieces, and nieces can be the acting princess.

Although she is a side princess, not a concubine, she is very popular, and many ministers are willing to marry their daughters to the acting king as side princesses.

In the eyes of the ministers, being the side princess of the acting king is only temporary. In the future, the side princess of the acting king will become a concubine, and possibly even a queen.

Regarding the selection of the side princess of the acting king, Concubine Rong is also very concerned. In the past two years, she has been choosing, and she has taken a fancy to Kong Taichang's youngest daughter, but she knows that Emperor Wu of Zhou will not agree. And the acting king himself also took a fancy to Kong Taichang's youngest daughter. To be precise, he took a fancy to the Kong family.

Although she knew that Emperor Wu of Zhou would not agree, Concubine Rong still had it in front of Emperor Wu of Zhou once. At that time, Emperor Wu of Zhou didn't speak, just glanced at Concubine Rong. Concubine Rong knew that Emperor Wu of Zhou did not agree, and she never mentioned this matter since.

"To compensate His Royal Highness." Xuanping Hou Shizi guessed, "The emperor did not promise to add beads to His Royal Highness the Acting King, so he gave Kong Taichang's youngest daughter to His Royal Highness the Acting King." ”

"It should be like this, the emperor has always favored His Royal Highness the Acting King." Xuanping Hou said with a smile on his face, "Compared with Jiazhu, marrying Kong Taichang's youngest daughter as a side concubine is really beneficial to His Royal Highness the Acting King." ”

Xuanping Hou Shizi said with a smile: "With the support of the Kong family, it is equivalent to having the support of more than half of the scholars in the world, and His Royal Highness the King of the Era will ......" Speaking of this, Xuanping Hou Shizi did not say any more.

"What His Royal Highness lacks most is the support of scholars all over the world, and now this problem has been solved by His Royal Highness." A few days ago, His Royal Highness the Acting King wrote to him, saying that he was going to Yangzhou to quell the turmoil, and the main reason was to go to Yangzhou to get acquainted with literati students in Jiangnan. Now that the emperor has given Kong Taichang's youngest daughter to His Royal Highness the Acting King as a side concubine, His Royal Highness the Acting King has no need to go to Yangzhou to meet literati students. "There is no need for His Royal Highness the Acting King to go to Yangzhou."

Xuanping Hou Shizi said: "Dad, His Royal Highness the Acting King still has to go to Yangzhou, otherwise how to slap the Xie family in the face." ”

Xuanping Hou forgot about this matter: "You are right. ”

"Dad, even if Kong Taichang is unwilling, we have to have a good relationship with the Kong family."

"It's nature." Xuan Pinghou nodded and said, "After returning to the house, ask your mother to write an invitation to invite Mrs. Kong and Miss Kong to come to the mansion as guests." ”

Here, Xuanping Hou's father and son are happily discussing how to have a good relationship with Kong Taichang. Over there, the crown prince and Zhenguo Cheng were angry in the East Palace.

As soon as the prince returned to the East Palace, he could no longer control his anger and broke a lot of things.

This time, Zhen Guogong did not stop the prince's angry throwing of things, he sat on the side, frowning, and a gloomy face.

The eunuchs and palace maids who were waiting in the East Palace saw that the faces of the prince and the prince of Zhenguo were not good-looking, and they were so frightened that they were silent.

After the prince threw something for a while, the anger in his heart decreased a little, but his face was still ugly.

"Uncle, what does my father mean, he finally can't wait to let the acting king replace me?"

Zhen Guogong did not speak. The emperor suddenly gave Kong Taichang's youngest daughter to the acting king as a side concubine, which he did not expect. He couldn't figure out what Emperor Wu of Zhou's marriage decree meant now.

"Uncle, that's the Kong family." The more the prince thought about it, the more angry he became, and the more he thought about it, the more unwilling he became, and his handsome face became distorted. "The acting king has always been not supported by Wenchen, but now my father has given Kong Taichang's youngest daughter to him as a side concubine, doesn't he just want Wenchen and the literati students of the world to support the acting king to replace me?"

The crown prince raised the corners of his mouth and sneered: "In order to make the acting king rightfully replace me as the prince, my father really took great pains. I was still a little more sensible, and took the initiative to propose to my father that I would not be the prince and let the acting king be the prince. ”

Zhenguo raised his eyes publicly, his eyes became cold, and he sneered: "It's not so simple for the emperor to let the acting king replace you. ”

Hearing what Zhen Guogong said, the prince's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked, "Uncle, have you thought of a way?" ”

"It's very simple, just sabotage this marriage." Zhen Guogong said with a cold face, "The emperor wants the acting king to marry Kong Taichang's youngest daughter as a side concubine, then we will make Kong Taichang's youngest daughter unable to marry the acting king." ”

The crown prince instantly understood what Zhen Guogong meant, "Uncle, what do you mean ......?"

Zhen Guogong said with a deep face: "I think Kong Taichang also doesn't want his youngest daughter to marry the acting king as a side concubine, we can cooperate with him." ”

"Uncle, Kong Taichang should understand the purpose of his father to give his little daughter to the acting king, do you think he will be unwilling?" The crown prince did not think that Kong Taichang was willing to cooperate with them, and refused the marriage.

"Kong Taichang doesn't want to get involved in the battle between Hello and the acting king." Zhen Guogong said firmly, "He, like us, can't accept this marriage. ”

"If the Kong family succeeds in helping the acting king replace me and sit on the throne of the crown prince. In the future, his youngest daughter and the status of the Kong family will become noble, do you think he will refuse? "If it were him, he wouldn't refuse.

"If it were someone else, he would definitely not be willing to refuse this marriage, but Kong Taichang would definitely find a way to refuse."

Seeing that Zhen Guogong said so categorically, the prince was shocked: "Uncle, why are you so sure? ”

"Because Kong Taichang cares a lot about the reputation of their Kong family." Zhen Guogong chuckled, "If he supports the acting king to replace you as the crown prince, then he will violate the ancestral teachings of their Kong family, and also ruin their reputation that the Kong family rarely recovered." ”

Hearing what Zhen Guogong said, the prince felt that it made sense.

"The most important thing is that in the previous dynasty, their Kong family did a very ridiculous thing and lost the face of their Kong family, and many people still remember this incident." Zhen Guogong continued, "The reputation of the Kong family has gradually improved because of the support of the first emperor, and now it is not easy to regain the respect of the world's scholars. ”