The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

"Then - could it be that the young master from the Duke of Ying's Mansion, whose name is not clear, Deng Jihui or Deng something, thought that he and I read a few books together when we were young, and chatted for a few minutes, and he always regarded himself as my childhood sweetheart, and he was overconfident and wishful thinking, and asked my wise and great father for a marriage?"

Lu Weiyuan's words were like rolling balls, each one clear and cheerful, but he spoke a little slower in the last sentence, with a hint of sarcasm: "You don't really want him to be my consort, do you?"

The emperor listened to her chattering away. Even though he had long been accustomed to his precious daughter's speaking style, he still felt a buzzing in his ears: "He comes from a famous family, his appearance and knowledge are not much different, and in terms of age, he is only four or five years older than you..."

"I don't want to be a man who's almost 20 years old!" Lu Weiyuan opened his mouth. "As soon as men get married, they always like to learn from their elders to grow beards. Once they grow beards, their faces that used to be pretty good-looking become so ugly that I can't even look at them. Didn't our family's laws abolish the punishment of shaving the head a long time ago? But they insist on growing beards. They must grow beards. Otherwise, they feel uncomfortable all over!"

She spoke in an exaggerated tone, but her expression did not change much. She still disdained those "bearded men" for a while: "That Deng guy, skinny and thin, looks like he will fall down in the wind, but he likes to wear some soft gauze long-sleeved robes, wear a few strings of Buddhist beads, and recite Buddhist verses all the time, just like a big moth that can make noises."

"By the way, didn't those idle people give him a nickname, called "Buddha Son Lord"? "Lu Weiyuan crossed his arms, "Pretentious and serious, I didn't know that those masters who debated with him were actually some golden cicada monks. As long as they have money, anyone can brag about it. Even a dog, as long as you pay enough, they can quote scriptures and say it is the reincarnation of a living Buddha or a spirit dog sent from heaven..."

"Wait, the last time you wrote a letter, you said that you wanted to conduct a strict investigation of Buddhist temples and Taoist temples inside and outside the capital, and severely punish monks and Taoists who broke the precepts. Is that what you were talking about?" The emperor interrupted his daughter's muttering and brought up something serious.

Lu Weiyuan nodded: "Yes."

The father and daughter looked at each other, and they didn't continue the topic after knowing what was going on. Anyway, all the Taoist temples and Buddhist temples in and outside the capital had been cleaned up. Those who were truly devoted to practicing would naturally be fine, but some monks and Taoists who made money in the name of gods and Buddhas, and even repeatedly broke the precepts and harmed people... The best place to go might be in front of their gods and Buddhas.

"In short, I don't like his behavior of being a Buddhist. If he really wants to devote himself to Buddhism, he should be like my uncle, who got rid of all his worries, put on a blue cloth robe, and practice diligently in the morning and evening classes... instead of still holding on to his honorable position as the Duke of England and mixing with us worldly people." Lu Weiyuan's voice was filled with her disdain for Deng Jihui.

Xie Jingrong, Xie Ruzhen's elder brother, became a monk several years ago.

Although he became a monk, he was still Duke Cheng'en of Dasheng. However, he resigned from all his official positions and no longer lived in his mansion in the capital. Instead, he set up a place for meditation in a farm on the outskirts of the capital, where he chanted the Buddha's name as if he were escaping from the world.

Of course, he did not completely withdraw from the world. He occasionally wrote some storybooks or plays. The years he spent editing books in the Hanlin Academy gave Xie Jingrong an extremely rich reserve of material, and the great changes in the capital in recent years gave him countless inspirations.

In addition, rumors about him being a homosexual had never stopped in the capital, and he himself had no interest in getting married, so after discussing with Xie's mother, he simply granted him an official position, shaved his head, became a monk, and lived a leisurely life.

The emperor, who had never considered giving his daughter away to a minister, couldn't help but laugh. He just followed Lu Weiyuan's lead and teased the child: "Forget it, since you don't want to, I'll tell Duke Ying to stop guarding."

"Guarding?!" Lu Weiyuan knew that her father was just joking with her, but she was playful by nature, so she pretended to be surprised. "It is said that there must be rare animals guarding the side of the priceless treasures to prevent those with bad intentions from stealing the treasures. How come when it's my turn, I have to deal with such an annoying one?"

After she was "surprised", she pinched her sleeves and complained softly: "No wonder I'm already fifteen years old and haven't met any men who are interested in me... When my second, third and fourth sisters were my age, the men there were so attentive, reciting poems in the flower forest and singing songs by the stream... I was wondering why there was no one who could please me..."

These words...

The emperor, who had to warn the elders of the young masters in the capital every once in a while and strictly forbid these young men from coveting his precious daughter, cleared his throat awkwardly and said, "Okay, okay, father is here to talk to you about serious matters. This princess's mansion - will be built sooner or later. If it is built sooner, you will have a place to stay when you go out of the palace. Whether you want to live in the palace or live on your own, it is up to you."

Seeing their daughter growing up, the emperor and Xie Yuzhen both knew that they could not continue to strangle the young men outside the palace as before, so they built a princess mansion for Lu Weiyuan in advance. Firstly, as the emperor said, it would be convenient for her to go out for work, and secondly, they wanted to see how good Lu Weiyuan was at treating people. Nowadays, with many female officials entering the court, the mansions of the princesses of Dasheng are no longer marginal decorations like before, but have truly become a ladder of wealth and honor that leads directly to the court.

"So what is the important matter that your Majesty wants to talk to me about?" Lu Weiyuan slightly put away his previous unserious attitude and asked in a slightly lowered voice.

The emperor then handed her a memorial.

Lu Weiyuan raised his eyebrows and said, "How can there be such a conservative family in the capital, who want their daughter-in-law to divorce their son just because she passed the imperial examination and became an official?"

"His son doesn't want to divorce, but they actually want to kick the young couple out together and cut off all ties with them?!"

"Oh my, how confident are they? They don't even want to be a family member of an official. Let me see what this family does."

The girl's smile was very sweet, revealing a kind of joy that made people couldn't help but curl their lips: "Pingzhou aristocratic family? Pingzhou still has aristocratic families?"

Lu Weiyuan's eyes flickered with intelligence: "Where did this noble family in Pingzhou come from? Wasn't the last one implicated in the case of trying to kill the female candidate who was going to Beijing for the imperial examination? My mother sent my little cousin to deal with it. Now, another noble family from Pingzhou has appeared..."

She put down the memorial, and her sweet voice suddenly became low, like slowly flowing lava, heavy and steady, yet extremely hot: "Do you want to dig a hole in advance for the construction of official residences for women?"