Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 37 Loyalty and Disloyalty
Although the imperial concubine would sometimes bring her children with her when she entered the palace, the Duchess of England always refused to bring her daughter into the palace on the grounds that her daughter was still young.

He did bring it with him when he went to the palace to pay New Year's greetings on the first day of the New Year, but unfortunately Zhao Xing was with his father and did not see it.

This was the first time the two met.

Zhang Guifen is more than one year older than Zhao Xing. If calculated by her age in lunar calendar, she is already ten years old this year.

But if we count the age in years, it will take several more months to turn eight years old.

She was wearing a light blue double-breasted jacket and had her hair in a bun.

Although he has a childish face, he does not have the agility that his peers should have.

Zhao Xing didn't want to look at her any more, so he nodded slightly, looked at Empress Cao and said with a smile: "Mother said she was talking about me just now, I wonder what she was talking about me."

"Haha, talk about your childhood." Queen Cao said with a smile.

Zhao Xing was speechless. It seemed that in ancient times, elders liked to tell stories about children's embarrassing moments when they were little. Fortunately, he didn't have any embarrassing moments when he was little.

"Fuer, please sit down and talk. Miss Zhang, you should sit down too."

Queen Cao asked people to add two soft stools to the side.

"Thank you, Queen Mother!"

"Thank you, Queen!"

"What is Your Majesty doing over there? Are you bored and come here?" Queen Cao and the other two sat down and asked.

"My father asked you to write poems and lyrics to liven up the atmosphere. I am still not well educated and I don't quite understand what you are saying. I find it a bit boring," said Zhao Xing.

Concubine Zhu on the left heard this and said angrily: "You know that you are still not well-educated. You should stay over there and learn with an open mind."

Concubine Rong on the right did not speak, but there was a hint of resentment and envy in the depths of her eyes.

Before, she was the most favored by the emperor, and the emperor visited her most often on weekdays.

Except for Empress Cao, she is the most honorable one in the entire harem.

The emperor had no children, so Rong Fei also thought about getting pregnant and giving birth to a prince.

Although it is impossible for the emperor to depose Queen Cao and make her the queen.

But Empress Cao was more than ten years older than her and would definitely not be able to survive her.

When Queen Cao dies in the future, she will be the most honorable woman in the Song Dynasty.

Unfortunately, despite the emperor's frequent watering, she was unable to conceive. On the contrary, Concubine Zhu, who was only favored a few times a year, became pregnant and gave birth to a prince. Because of her son, her status now exceeds that of Concubine Zhu.

Not only did the emperor visit her less and less often, but even the seating arrangement was so that Concubine Zhu was on the left and she was on the right.

But even if she was extremely unwilling, what could she do?

No one present paid attention to Rong Fei's expression.

Empress Cao smiled when she heard this and said, "Fuer started studying when he was three years old, and he has never complained. Scholar Hai has praised him many times in front of the emperor, so you shouldn't be too harsh on him."

"Your Highness is right." Upon hearing this, Concubine Zhu did not refute but nodded with a smile.

The lantern viewing lasted until late at night, and Zhao Xing stayed there to talk with Queen Cao and his mother.

Zhang Guifen would only say a few words when she was asked, and would remain silent the rest of the time.

Zhao Xing had been keeping an eye on his future daughter-in-law. He saw that she had a heroic look between her brows and she looked very quiet.

After the show, Zhao Xing followed Empress Cao back to Renming Palace. On the way, Empress Cao smiled and said, "Just now I saw you secretly looking at the girl from the Zhang family. Are you satisfied with this future Crown Princess?"

"Mother, the person was chosen by Father, so he must be excellent."

Zhao Xing's face turned red when he heard this. He didn't expect that even though he was so careful, he was still discovered by Queen Cao.

"Fuer, a girl from a noble family, has a slightly stronger temperament, not as delicate and lovable as those daughters of scholarly families. But you are going to be crowned the crown prince soon, and in the future you will be the official of all the people in the world, and a role model for the subjects of the world. Even if you don't like her, you can't neglect her because of this." Queen Cao warned.

Although many of the noble families no longer serve in the army, their ancestors were all military generals, and the education of their children is somewhat different from that of civil servants.

What's more, a military family like the British Duke.

The Cao family was also a military family. When she married the official, their relationship was not very good.

As a man, who doesn’t like a gentle and virtuous woman?

However, girls from noble families are certainly virtuous, but they are not as gentle as those girls from civil officials' families.

Because of her own background, Empress Cao had a good impression of Zhang Guifen, so she gave her a few instructions.

"Don't worry, mother. I understand." Zhao Xing nodded.

Although the ancient rules were feudal, many of them had their reasons for existence.

Not to mention that he liked Zhang Guifen when he watched the drama in his previous life. Even if he didn't like her, he would not do such a thing as favoring his concubine and destroying his wife.

Empress Cao nodded with satisfaction and said, "It's getting late. You should go back and rest. You have to go to class tomorrow."

"Mother, you should also go to bed early. I will take my leave now." Zhao Xing bowed. ...

The next day, Zhao Xing began to learn martial arts with Gu Yan again.

Gu Tingye did not come with Gu Yankai because he was going to bring Sheng Changbai into the palace.

After practicing martial arts, Zhao Xing returned to Renming Palace for breakfast and then took a sedan chair to Zishan Hall.

When Zhao Xing arrived, all his study companions had already arrived.

He also saw the unfamiliar face next to Gu Tingye.

There is no doubt that this person is Sheng Changbai.

Sheng Changbai is just over ten years old, but his eyes are very calm, giving people the feeling that he is mature beyond his years.

If it weren't for his childish appearance, at first glance you would have thought he was an adult.

"Greetings to Your Highness!"

When the people who were chatting in the school saw Zhao Xing coming in, they hurriedly stood up and saluted.

"No need for formalities." Zhao Xing waved his hand and sat down at the front seat.

Gu Tingye brought Sheng Changbai over and saluted, saying, "Your Highness, this is Sheng Changbai."

"I, Sheng Changbai, pay my respects to Your Highness." Sheng Changbai bowed.

Zhao Xing waved his hand and smiled, "Zhong Huai recommended you to me, saying that you are extremely talented, so I asked my father to summon you to the palace to be my study companion. Are you used to coming to Bianjing?"

"Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I am not feeling unwell." Sheng Changbai said.

"Well, the time is almost up, please take a seat." Zhao Xing nodded.

Sheng Changbai is already here, so there will be plenty of time in the future.

It was their first meeting, so Zhao Xing didn't want to show too much importance.

Moreover, Sheng Changbai is a man of integrity and does not need to be won over specially.

After a while, Hai Wenyou arrived at the school. After everyone bowed, the class officially began.

For a period of time, Zhao Xing resumed his previous life, practicing martial arts every morning to exercise his body, and then going to school. On his days off, he studied etiquette and manners.

During breaks in the school, Zhao Xing would also chat with Gu Tingye, Sheng Changbai and others, talking about the past and present.

What they talked about most was the pros and cons of the rules and regulations of each dynasty, and Zhao Xing would instill some ideas into them during the discussion.

This was the reason why he summoned Sheng Changbai to Beijing to be his study companion.

Thoughts have no direct relationship with loyalty or not.

Although some people are loyal, they are very stubborn and have their own ideas and principles.

When they believe something is right, they will not back down even if they know the pros and cons.

What impressed Zhao Xing most was a cheating case in the imperial examination in the early Ming Dynasty.

At that time, because all the students admitted were from the south, the students from the north suspected that there was cheating. They were so angry that they blocked the palace gate and demanded an explanation.

Zhu Yuanzhang was furious when he heard this and ordered a thorough investigation.

The result left Zhu Yuanzhang dumbfounded. There was no problem with this imperial examination.

As the saying goes, there is no best article. Some people may think that the same article is well written and give it high praise.

Some people may think that the article is too flowery and empty and give it a low score.

Disputes may arise, including the examiner's preferences.

It can be said that if you really take it seriously, you can find some problems even if there are no problems.

But he sent a bunch of people to investigate, but they didn't find any problems.

Zhu Yuanzhang was very pleased with the fairness of these people, but he knew that the northern students would definitely not accept such a result, and it would not be conducive to the stability of the north, let alone the stability of the court.

So he thought of asking the chief examiner to re-mark the papers, admit some students from the north, and then find some scapegoats to give an explanation to the northern students.

However, those who were in charge of the imperial examinations at the time would rather die than do so, saying that doing so would be unfair to the students in the south.

Can you say these people are unfaithful?
An official chosen by Zhu Yuanzhang to be in charge of the imperial examinations is naturally not stupid. Couldn't he see the harm of only admitting students from the south?
However, their thoughts and personalities make them stubbornly stick to their principles and unwilling to make compromises.

Zhao Xing not only needed loyal people, but also people who shared the same ideas as him.

The best time to instill ideas in people is before their ideas are fully formed. Once their ideas are formed, it is difficult to influence them.

Thanks to 1211…9792, Zi Yan A, and Wei Zhan Zai Zai for their monthly ticket support.

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(End of this chapter)