Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 36: First Meeting with Zhang Guifen

Generally speaking, eunuchs in the palace would be released from the palace and allowed to return home to retire when they got old.

However, as the emperor's trusted eunuch, Eunuch Liu was destined to either be buried with the emperor after his death or die of old age in the palace, no matter what he handled or some secrets he learned inadvertently.

That's why he saw that Liu Sanshi was smart and adopted him as his adopted son.

Otherwise, if he were to adopt a son, he would have adopted one with good health, why would he have adopted a eunuch?

In the past, he admired Liu Sanshi’s intelligence. In the palace, only smart people could get along well and live long.

But now he realized that Liu Sanshi was indeed a little clever, but he was just being clever.

It was right for him to guess what was going on, but he shouldn't have taken the initiative to bring it up.

If Zhao Xing asked, he would tell them again, giving people the impression that he was clever but not overstepping the mark.

This can also prevent a wrong guess from leaving a bad impression on Zhao Xing.

But he just wanted to take credit for it and took the initiative to mention it, which backfired.

"My godfather has realized his mistake."

Although Liu Sanshi was punished, he was not too alert in his heart. Now that he heard Eunuch Liu said it so seriously, he truly realized the seriousness of the matter.

"It's only because His Highness is kind, otherwise beating you to death would be the least of your worries. When you go to His Highness to serve, you'd better put away your cleverness. Do what His Highness tells you to do, and don't do what His Highness doesn't tell you to do." Eunuch Liu said in a cold voice.

"I will remember my adoptive father's teachings and will never make the same mistake again!" Liu Sanshi said hurriedly.

When Eunuch Liu saw that Liu Sanshi admitted his mistake with a good attitude, his expression eased a little. He gave him a few more instructions, told him to take good care of his injuries, and left.

He entered Longtu Pavilion from the side door and stood quietly behind the official who was reviewing memorials.

The official reviewed the memorials tirelessly. After an unknown amount of time, he stopped because his eyes felt sore.

He rubbed his sore eyes and stretched.

"Your Majesty!" Eunuch Liu called softly.

"What's the matter?" asked the official.

"My adopted son has returned from Yangzhou. Before, Your Highness..."

Eunuch Liu recounted the story of how Liu Sanshi was punished by Zhao Xing.

After hearing this, the official smiled slightly and felt somewhat relieved.

Zhao Xing's little tricks naturally could not be hidden from him. Although the methods were a bit crude, it was rare for Zhao Xing to be able to achieve this at his age.

"By the way, didn't your adopted son tell you what Fu'er asked him to do?" asked the official.

Eunuch Liu said calmly, "This is about His Royal Highness the Prince, how dare I ask. My adopted son didn't say anything either. If Your Majesty wants to know, I can ask him to come over so Your Majesty can ask him in person."

"No need. Fu'er is basically in the palace. How could he have any connection with Yangzhou? It's just related to the Sheng family. It's not a big deal."

The official waved his hand, hesitated for a moment and said, "Send someone to the Ministry of Personnel to get the resume of the Yangzhou Tongpan."

His only impression of Sheng Hong was that he had good calligraphy, so he knew about this person, but he didn't know anything else.

There were so many officials in the Song Dynasty that it was impossible for him to remember them all. It was already very rare for someone to leave the slightest impression on him.

Previously, when Zhao Xing said he wanted to summon Sheng Changbai to be his study companion, including when Zhao Xing said he wanted the person sent to convey the imperial edict to meet him once before leaving, the emperor did not pay much attention.

Now that he heard Eunuch Liu mention it again, he became interested and wanted to see what was so special about the Sheng family.

……

When Sanshui came back after supervision, Zhao Xing asked Sanshui to go and handle the necessary procedures for Sheng Changbai to enter the palace as a companion and had someone send it over.

Considering that this was Sheng Changbai's first time entering the palace, someone was sent to inform Gu Tingye of Sheng Changbai's arrival in Beijing, and asked him to wait until the school started after the Lantern Festival and bring Sheng Changbai into the palace.

After arranging these things, Zhao Xing didn't bother with the matter anymore.

……

In ancient times, the Chinese New Year was not the most lively time of the year. The Lantern Festival was the most lively time of the year.

Every year during the Lantern Festival, the imperial court would spend a large amount of money to build a giant lantern made up of many lanterns, and light it in the square outside the palace gate.

Because the lanterns are so huge, like a giant turtle, they are also called Aoshan. At that time, not only the people of Bianjing can come to enjoy the lanterns, but also the government officials and their families will come to enjoy the lanterns in the palace and have fun with the people.

On the evening of the Lantern Festival, the emperor and the empress hosted banquets in Jiying Hall and Renming Palace respectively to entertain the officials and their families who came to the palace.

After half of the You hour, when it was getting dark, the emperor brought all the civil and military officials and members of the royal family to the Chenglou Hill of Xuande Gate.

Not long after the emperor and the civil and military ministers went up to the tower, Empress Cao, along with several concubines, also went up to the tower, surrounded by a group of officials and their wives.

Men and women are on the left and right, clearly distinguished.

Zhao Xing followed his father up to the city wall. Looking around, he saw that the entire city of Bianjing was brightly lit and looked very gorgeous.

The square outside the palace gate was packed with people.

There was a huge unlit lantern in the center of the square, and the imperial guards used the lantern as a center to isolate the people.

Following the official's order, after nearly an incense stick of time, all the candles in the giant lanterns were lit, illuminating the entire square as if it were daytime.

The emperor was very happy to see the lights, singing and dancing in front of him. He said with a smile: "Gentlemen, in this scene, there should be poetry to liven up the mood. All of you here are knowledgeable and talented. If you can write poetry, it will not only liven up the mood, but also be a good story."

"Your Majesty, I have some feelings and would like to offer my humble opinion." A middle-aged official stood up and saluted.

This kind of opportunity to show up in front of the emperor is rare. No matter how good the poem is, the emperor will not promote you on the spot.

But it's also good to leave an impression on the officials.

Today, only civil officials of the fifth rank or below are eligible to enter the palace and watch the lanterns with the emperor.

At their point in time, promotion could no longer be decided directly by the Ministry of Personnel, but needed to be reported to the government for review.

When an official position becomes vacant, the Ministry of Personnel will give several candidates and report them to the emperor, who will then choose one from them.

What matters at this time is who the government has the most impression of.

The official wrote a poem, which sounded quite good and was praised by the emperor.

Seeing this, the others were greatly encouraged and vied with each other in composing poems and lyrics.

After listening for a while, Zhao Xing lost interest. It was obvious that these people came prepared and did not perform on the spot.

"Your Majesty, I want to go and see my mother." Zhao Xing said in a low voice, tilting his head.

"Go ahead." The official nodded when he heard this.

Zhao Xing stood up and bowed, then, accompanied by Sanshui and others, went to the direction of the women on the right.

Compared to men, women are much more relaxed.

The noble ladies sitting next to each other were talking in groups of three or five. On the left and right of Empress Cao sat Concubine Rong and Zhao Xing's biological mother Concubine Zhu. At this moment, they were laughing and talking to a little girl in front of them who looked about seven or eight years old.

Seeing Zhao Xing coming, the imperial concubines who were chatting stood up and saluted one after another. The noise that was originally a bit noisy gradually quieted down.

When Empress Cao saw Zhao Xing, she smiled and waved, "Fuer, come here quickly."

"Your son greets the Queen Mother, the Concubine Mother, and the Concubine Rong." Zhao Xing bowed.

"No need to be so polite, just come in front of your mother." Queen Cao said with a smile.

Zhao Xing stepped forward upon hearing this, stopped beside the little girl, and said with a smile: "I feel a little bored over there, so I came to accompany the Queen Mother and the Consort."

"Haha, we were just talking about you."

Empress Cao smiled, pointed at the little girl and said, "This is the daughter of the Duke of Ying."

Zhang Guifen bowed and said, "Greetings, Your Highness."

"Miss Zhang, please don't be polite."

Zhao Xing stretched out his hand to support her and looked at Zhang Guifen.

Thanks to csj Zhuangzhuang for the reward.

感谢我爱吴蓓蓓、落尘、哥默然、萧莫风、三乡归途、大秦卫庄、七分甜就好、寂寞好了么、我是超声波、书友2024…4425、书友2017…8285、书友2023…8028的月票支持。

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(End of this chapter)