readytorunbook Chapter 154: Lanling Prince's Mother
Chapter 154: Lanling Prince's Mother
As soon as Gao Changgong left, many chattering voices of girls came from the surrounding area.
"I heard that she is an illegitimate daughter, and her biological father is a eunuch like Han Zigao. How can such a person be worthy of Lanling King?"
"That's right. No matter how beautiful she is, she is just a beauty who uses her beauty to please others! And her appearance has been damaged a little. She will be despised one day."
"That's right, that's right. How can such a woman be as noble as us Xianbei noble women? Prince Lanling should marry a legitimate daughter of an aristocratic family like us!"
"Speaking of the daughters of noble families, Zheng Ayue, didn't you want to marry Lanling King? How come your family hasn't found a partner for you yet?"
"What a pity! Prince Lanling only made a diplomatic mission to Southern Chen, but someone got there first!"
"Zheng Ayue, I'm afraid you won't have a chance in this life!"
Zheng Yue was mocked by a group of noble ladies at this time, and she looked even more pitiful. She dropped two pearls and retorted in a crisp voice: "Not necessarily. I heard that Xiao Guan only proposed to Miss Xiao in the south. The emperor of the Southern Dynasty gave the girl of the Xiao family to him, but they haven't held a wedding yet, so they haven't officially become husband and wife... However, this girl is so beautiful, it's only natural that she can be liked by Chang Gong. I don't mind..."
Before she could finish her words, she heard a loud shout: "Get out!"
A boy of about eleven or twelve jumped out from somewhere and stared at her with eyes wide open.
Although this young man was extremely beautiful, his aura was extremely terrifying!
"With all your strength, you are not worthy of making fun of me in front of my brother Qing. I tell you, my brother Qing deserves the best man in the world. There is no one she doesn't deserve, only others who don't deserve her!"
"If anyone dares to say another word, I will pull out his tongue!"
"Get out of here!"
After Fenghuang shouted a few times like this, the noble ladies who were watching dared not say anything anymore and all fled away. However, Zheng Yue stayed where she was, looking very aggrieved.
Gao Yanzong said, "In my opinion, forget it. You saw how the fourth brother feels about my fourth sister-in-law just now. He really loves this Xiao girl, Zheng Yue. You should just give up!"
She cherishes me so much that she doesn't even allow him to look at me for a second!
Zheng Yue's tears fell, she looked at Gao Yanzong and cried, "But I feel so heartbroken and uncomfortable. I have waited for him for so many years. I wanted him to come to my house and ask my parents for marriage when he returned from his diplomatic mission to Chen State, but... why did it turn out like this?"
"Zheng Yue, stop crying and go!"
Gao Yanzong felt a little embarrassed. To be honest, it was Zheng Yue who insisted on him bringing her along, and now he actually embarrassed his fourth brother's new sister-in-law.
He looked at Xiao Jinyu with some shame and waved his hand.
"Sorry, sister-in-law, I'll take her away now and come visit you and Fourth Brother another day!"
After saying that, he pulled Zheng Yue and ran away, followed closely by a group of soldiers.
Fenghuang looked at Xiao Jinyu with a little anger and some heartache.
"Brother Qing, will you regret it?
You are such a proud person, and yet you are pointed at and criticized by these ignorant women!
Xiao Jinyu shook her head and smiled.
"Phoenix, wasn't it the same when we first arrived in Southern Chen? The situation back then wasn't much better than it is now, right?"
Thinking of the grievances he suffered when he first arrived in the State of Chen, Fenghuang's nose felt sore again.
"Phoenix, let's go in first and help me change my appearance again!" she whispered in a low voice.
She knew that this low voice could not be heard by others, but Phoenix would definitely be able to hear it.
……
The Northern Qi imperial palace was entered through the Zhuming Gate. A road went northwards and led directly to the Zhiche Gate, Duanmen, Changhe Gate, etc., a distance of nearly two miles. When arriving at the Zhiche Gate, one had to dismount, pass through the Duanmen, and enter the Changhe Gate before reaching the Zhaoyang Hall where the emperor and his ministers held meetings.
At that time, Gao Zhan had just sobered up from his excessive indulgence in alcohol and sex. He straightened his clothes and came lazily to see King Lanling.
It was at this time that Shizhong and Shikai were also by his side.
When Gao Zhan saw Lanling Wang, he yawned and asked, "I heard that Chang Gong arrived in Yecheng at midnight last night. It must have been hard work on this mission to Southern Chen!"
"It is the duty of a minister to serve his country without any hardship."
"Tell me, what did you gain and feel from this mission to the State of Chen?"
"Yes, although the population of Chen is small, it has a vast territory and abundant resources. Now the economy is booming. Not long ago, due to a debate at Fahua Mountain, the emperor of the Southern Dynasty accepted the advice of good ministers and implemented the policy of destroying Buddhism. Now the land and taxes handed over by Buddhist temples have filled the national treasury. Not long ago, my country suffered from insect and drought disasters. In terms of economy, my country is not as good as it!"
"The Southern Dynasty also values talent cultivation, and its emperor pays more attention to promoting poor families. When I returned to Qi, the emperor of the Southern Dynasty had reached an agreement with the Lanling Xiao family to recruit poor scholars to study together with the aristocracy and serve the court. I believe that in the near future, the Chen Kingdom should be full of talents..."
Gao Zhan was obviously unhappy when he heard this. At this time, Gao Changgong changed the subject and said, "However, the people of Chen still have the legacy of Wei and Jin Dynasties, and their temperament is weak. In addition, because the aristocratic families who migrated south have suffered from wars many times, their people are scattered, and the power of the aristocratic families has gradually weakened. They are not as good as our Qi State. The accumulated military force of Chen State is only hundreds of thousands at most, which is far less than the strong military and horses of our great Qi State."
After hearing the last sentence, Gao Zhan smiled with satisfaction and asked again, "What is the attitude of the newly appointed emperor of Chen towards our Qi State?"
"Your Majesty, the Emperor of Chen was once a hostage of Zhou and was bullied by the Zhou people. He still has old hatred for the Zhou people. This time, the letter of credence was submitted. Your Majesty of Chen is very happy to form an alliance with my Qi State and is willing to fight against the Northern Zhou together!"
"That's good, that's good! I really don't like fighting, but if Yuwen Hu insists on bullying me, I'm not afraid to fight him!"
At this point, he seemed to have thought of something and asked again, "You just said that after a debate at Fahua Mountain, the emperor of the Southern Dynasty issued an order to destroy Buddhism, forcing Buddhist temples to hand over land and taxes, and filling the treasury. But the rumor says that Xie Zhen of the Xie family of Chen County defeated the debaters alone, which made the emperor of the Southern Dynasty order the destruction of Buddhism?"
Gao Changgong's heart suddenly jumped, and after hesitating for a moment, he replied, "It's him!"
"What a sharp-tongued Xie Zhen! I also heard that he is your aide. When did you get such an aide?"
When asked this question, Gao Changgong caught a glimpse of He Shikai's slightly sinister look, so he answered: "During the battle with the Turks, I met this good friend by chance, and I took him in as my staff. Because he is a rather solitary person and doesn't like to interact with many people, I agreed to his request, but didn't make his name known until the day of the debate at Fahua Mountain."
"This man has such talent and learning, I wonder how he compares to the Zhongshu Jian Zu Ting?" Gao Zhan asked again.
Gao Changgong was silent again for a moment, and finally replied: "I dare not judge who is better, but if Your Majesty wants to know, why not let these two people compete? Let many famous scholars be the judges, and the result will be known in front of everyone, and it can also be judged fairly!"
"Very good, very good. This Zu Ting compares himself to Fan Monk and even scolds me for not being as good as Xiang Yu. If I hadn't thought of him being able to make the golden elixir for me, I would have killed him long ago. But I can give Xie Zhen a try. If Xie Zhen really has such talent, he can help me dampen his spirit!"
It turned out that he just wanted to dampen Zu Ting's temper.
Gao Changgong smiled bitterly inwardly.
At this time, Gao Zhan said, "Then let's find a time, maybe seven days later. After seven days, you bring Xie Zhen to Zhaoyang Palace!"
"Yes!"
After a moment of silence, Gao Changgong opened his mouth again and asked, "Empress Dowager..."
Just as he started, Gao Zhan suddenly seemed to think of something and interrupted, "By the way, I heard that you brought back a stunning beauty from your mission to Chen this time. Where is that beauty now?"
really……
With Gao Zhan's greedy nature, it is impossible for him not to mention this matter...
Gao Changgong was a little angry, but thinking of Xiao Jinyu's repeated instructions, he managed to calm down and replied calmly: "Your Majesty, I did bring a woman back, but this woman is already my wife. I want to hold a wedding in Yecheng, I hope Your Majesty..."
"Chang Gong, I just asked you to bring her here for a look. Why are you so nervous? I know you proposed to marry her in front of all the scholars in the world. She's just a girl from the south. Do you really have to marry her?
Go back and prepare yourself. I want to hold a banquet at Bingjing Terrace to welcome you. You have made great contributions in your mission to Chen State, so I want to reward you. You can bring your wife to the banquet to receive the reward!"
Having said this, Gao Zhan was already impatient and didn't want to continue talking to Gao Changgong.
Seeing his attitude, Gao Changgong stopped talking. After a long silence, he bowed and said, "Yes, I want to go see my grandmother, and then I'll take my leave!"
"go Go!"
Gao Changgong looked a little disappointed, as if he didn't want to talk any more. He glanced at He Shikai, who was standing beside him with an unclear expression but a smile on his lips, and walked out of Zhaoyang Palace.
After Gao Changgong left, He Shikai couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, thinking to himself: It's surprising that he didn't mention anything about what he encountered along the way.
"Yantong, tell me, if I ask Chang Gong for this woman he brought back, will he be willing to give her to me?"
"Your Majesty, you are the emperor, and you can choose all the women in the world. She is just a girl. If you want her, as a subject, I should offer her to Your Majesty. How can I be unwilling?"
Gao Zhan showed a satisfied smile on his face.
"Let's take a look first to see if it's as beautiful as the rumors say."
……
After leaving Zhaoyang Palace, Gao Changgong went directly to the empress dowager's bedroom. Seeing his grandmother, who was over 60 years old, lying on the couch, her hair was gray and her frail body looked even thinner, Gao Changgong felt his eyes moist and felt quite sad.
"The Prince——"
When the maid saw him coming, she was about to say something, but Gao Changgong silenced her, strode to the front of Empress Dowager Lou's bed, and called softly, "Grandma, your grandson is back!"
The sleeping Empress Dowager Lou seemed to hear his voice, and she slowly opened her eyes with a look of joy on her face.
"It's Chang Gong!"
"Yes! Grandma, what disease are you suffering from? How do you feel recently?"
"When people grow old, they will eventually return to nature. There is no need to be sad. When Zhuangzi's wife died, didn't he still sing and beat the drum? Grandmother, you are going to return to nature now!" Empress Dowager Lou sighed, "It is time for you to go meet your grandfather. Back then, you only took one look at him from a distance and decided that he would be my husband for this life. Later, I got what I wanted. I have many children and grandchildren in this life, but..."
At this point, he seemed to be somewhat sad and lamented, "But your father, my son who was so smart and resourceful, was assassinated at such a young age...
Chang Gong, don't blame your grandmother for not letting your mother's surname be included in the family tree. Your father later made many enemies, and a large part of the reason was because of her... For her, he even wanted to depose his wife and make her the queen, which made the court officials dissatisfied, so your grandmother...
She was a bit stubborn, and since she couldn’t be the legal wife, she left on her own…”
Unexpectedly, Empress Dowager Lou suddenly mentioned his mother. Gao Changgong was a little surprised, so he asked, "Grandma, who is my mother? Is she also a princess of the Northern Wei Dynasty?"
Empress Dowager Lou smiled and shook her head.
"She is not a princess of Northern Wei, but a princess of Southern Liang, the daughter of Emperor Jianwen... Xiao Gang!"
When Gao Changgong heard the words "Xiao Gang's daughter", surprise appeared in his eyes, as if a broken string was instantly connected, and many things that he could not understand were now explained.
"Princess Liyang?"
The princess who was given to Hou Jing by her father and grandfather before she reached the age of marriage due to the fall of her country was the most beautiful woman in the Southern Liang Dynasty. Hou Jing could not get a girl from the Wang and Xie clans from Emperor Wu of Liang, so he asked for the most beautiful young woman from the Xiao royal family to vent his anger.
No wonder... No wonder my mother would say that...
But...why did she follow her father again?
"She is the current emperor of the Southern Dynasty, and was presented to your father by Chen Xu, the then Minister of the Central Secretariat. Of course, there may be some things between your father and her that I don't know..."
Hearing this, Gao Changgong was even more shocked.
Thinking of how Chen Xu had once wanted to use his mother's information to make a deal with him, so that he would defect to the State of Chen and serve the Southern Dynasty Emperor...
But it turns out to be like this!
Gao Changgong was filled with emotion. At this moment, Queen Mother Lou turned her kind eyes to him again, stroked his face with her hand, and said earnestly, "My good boy, you must not follow in your father's footsteps. I know you are loyal, brave and talented. In this life, you must not be tempted by women and protect our Great Qi Kingdom well!"
"Yes, Grandma!"
Gao Changgong felt sad. After thinking for a long time, he finally spoke out what was in his heart.
"Grandma, my grandson has married a woman from the Southern Dynasty. She treats me very well and I love her very much. She also knows medical skills. I will bring her to see you tomorrow, okay?"
"You got married? Which girl did you marry? How can you make the decision on your own on such an important matter as getting married? Why are you so ridiculous?"
Lanling Wang hesitated for a moment again, and then answered truthfully:
"She is also the daughter of Lanling Xiao family, but her life experience is a bit complicated. I don't want to say more. I just want to get your approval. When you are in good health, I want to hold a wedding in Yecheng and invite you to be the witness! I don't know if you will..."
Before he could finish his words, Empress Dowager Lou suddenly started coughing. Gao Changgong nervously patted her on the back and asked a maid to bring a spittoon.
"I know that my grandmother has always wanted to find a legitimate daughter of a noble family in the North to be my wife, so that I can have help from my wife's family in the future. However, I have no ambitions and only want to be a general who guards the territory of Great Qi. So it doesn't matter whether I have a wife's family to help me or not. My greatest wish in this life is to live out my life in peace with the one I love."
After Gao Changgong said this, Empress Dowager Lou fell silent. She neither refuted nor agreed.
After that, they exchanged a few pleasantries, asked about some things in the Southern Dynasty, and then let Gao Changgong go back.
As soon as Lanling Wang left, she called her confidant and said, "Changgong is indeed a child with no ambition, but he is afraid of being influenced or instigated by others, especially the one next to him. Find someone to help me find out what kind of person this woman he married is."
"Queen Dowager, the prince just said that he will bring his princess to see the Queen Dowager tomorrow. Wouldn't it be better to see this woman's character by seeing her with your own eyes?"
Empress Dowager Lou smiled and said, "Sometimes what you see with your own eyes may not be true. There are so many people in this world who are good at lying. We always have to listen to the voices outside. I am just afraid that the woman he marries will be the same as his mother..."
"Yes, Queen Mother!"