The fake daughter of a fallen ghost is reborn

Jiang Xu was wearing a red robe and bowed straight, "Jiang Xu pays respect to Your Majesty. Long live the emperor."

As the top scholar, Jiang Xu had taken part in the palace examination, so the emperor had naturally seen him. At this moment, facing the top scholar he had chosen, he was also pleased.

"With such a talented person, the Yong Empire has a successor, and I am very pleased."

Empress Jiang Hanzhao also said: "Dayong has not had such a young number one scholar for many years. This year's winners are also many young talents. I think it is because of your majesty's rule that there are so many talented people today."

"Good!" The emperor was very satisfied with the words.

Whether it was the officials and their families in the guest seats, or the concubines, they all kept whispering about this young and handsome new top scholar.

Concubine Wu Lifei couldn't help but ask with a smile: "The number one scholar is both virtuous and talented, and he is also outstanding in appearance. I wonder if his family has already arranged a marriage?"

Who doesn't know that the only unmarried princess now is Princess Pingzhang, who was born to Concubine Li? Now that she sees that Jiang Xu is appreciated by the emperor, how could she not have such thoughts?

But Concubine Ge said, "The Qionglin Banquet is to reward the future pillars of Dayong, not an occasion for a visit. The people of Nan'an are simple and honest, but they are inevitably ignorant of etiquette. Concubine Li should not speak out of turn because of this."

Upon hearing this, the smile on Concubine Wu Life's face froze. Perhaps it was because her parents' home was far away and she had no one to rely on, which made her a relatively favored concubine. However, she was not as rebellious as her daughter, Princess Pingzhang. Even when she was ridiculed, she simply chose to keep the peace.

She lowered her eyes: "The Imperial Concubine taught me that."

The Queen Mother glanced in their direction and said, "Well, although the Qionglin Banquet is a state banquet, it is a reward after all. There is no need to be so nervous and tremble, or else our new number one scholar will be frightened."

Jiang Xu lowered his eyes and bowed deeply, "Your Majesty, I am ashamed to accept your praise. I only wish to use all my life's learning to establish my heart for the world, to establish my destiny for the people, to carry on the lost knowledge of the past sages, and to bring peace to the world for all eternity."

This little episode did not make the emperor unhappy. He just smiled and said, "What a good way to carry on the lost knowledge of the ancient sages and bring peace to the world. If everyone in the court can do this, the Great Yong Dynasty will last for thousands of years."

Suddenly, someone said, "Jiang Zhuangyuan was born in a farming and reading family. He has such a character. I think it is because he was born and raised among the people, so he can care about the people and understand their sufferings."

The person who spoke was Prince Cheng Gu Shimin, who was sitting with several princes.

Xue Zhiyi's heart skipped a beat, this person was one of her enemies in her previous life.

He looked tall and had the bearing of a military commander, and he always had a kind smile on his face. However, because of the murderous aura he exuded, people felt that his smile did not reach his eyes, which made people feel cold.

But to be honest, they are not really enemies. The tragedy in her previous life was indeed caused by King Cheng, but she and King Cheng were not familiar with each other. In the power struggle, neither of them was sorry for anyone, either publicly or privately. If they lost, it was only because they were not as skilled as their opponent.

What's more, King Sheng had already been defeated by Gu Shichong in his previous life, and she had helped in that process, so even if there was really a grudge, it had already been avenged in the previous life.

However, the absence of old grudges does not mean that there will be no new hatreds in this life.

Power struggles are always about interests. If King Cheng blocks her way, she will fight to the death even if it is just to protect herself.

But before that, this person played an important role in balancing her real enemy.

On this side, the Queen heard this and just smiled and said, "Prince Cheng has guarded the southern border for many years, isn't it because he cares about the people?"

Gu Shimin only said, "My Queen Mother, you are too kind. The people of Dayong are my father's subjects. As the prince of Dayong, the people are my brothers and sisters. I will do my best to protect them."

Several princes sat together, in order.

The eldest prince died young, the fourth prince was sent away, and several young princes sat together with their biological mothers. Among the princes, only the second, fourth, fifth and sixth princes were left.

The second prince, Prince Chang, was born to Concubine Li and had foreign blood. Knowing that he had no hope of winning the throne, he became as introverted as his mother and did not care about worldly affairs.

Gu Shichong is the third in the family, Gu Shimin is the sixth, and between them is the fifth prince, Prince Sheng, who is said to be "slow to speak".

Listening to Gu Shimin's words, Gu Shichong just chuckled and said, "Sixth brother, you are wrong. Under the rule of the emperor, the world is peaceful and prosperous. How can the people suffer?"

The two were used to fighting each other, so Gu Shimin just responded calmly, saying, "My royal brother has lived in Huajing for a long time, so he doesn't know that although the border of Yuzhou is under the wise governance of the emperor, it has been invaded by the Zhou Kingdom. The Zhou people are despicable and set fire to the farmland during the harvest season, causing the people to starve. Fortunately, the emperor had foresight and ordered me to guard the border and cultivate the land. The Zhou people did not dare to approach the official land, so I was able to save food in advance to cope with the hunger and cold in the winter last year."

After that, he showed his sincerity to Gu Shichong: "Your Majesty, you have never experienced these things, so you naturally don't know. Even if a wise ruler is alive, it is inevitable that the people will suffer because of foreign enemies. Fortunately, there is a wise ruler in the world, so that the suffering of the people will not be a disaster. Now the people on the border are all grateful for the wisdom of the emperor."

Although Gu Shichong was still smiling, his teeth were almost broken: this Gu Shimin, although in the army, was still eloquent and could always please his father the emperor every time he returned to the court. He was really as cunning as his mother.

But when he thought of something, he said, "According to what Sixth Brother said, Sixth Brother really cares about the people, regardless of gender, age, high or low status?"

"Of course." Gu Shimin said, "Isn't my brother the same?"

Gu Shichong chuckled again: "I hope that Sixth Brother can do what he says. Otherwise, if he doesn't mean what he said, I'm afraid that every word he just said will make people suspicious and make people doubt whether the livelihood of the people on the border is really like this."

The two men confronted each other and the atmosphere was awkward for a moment, but the emperor remained silent, as if he had always turned a blind eye to the open and secret struggles between his two sons.

Only the Queen tried to smooth things over: "Chong'er and Min'er are both worried about the country, and they understand Your Majesty. The hearts of a minister and a son are the same."

After that, he asked the fifth prince: "Feng'er, what do you think?"

The fifth prince had already been annoyed by the two people on his left and right and had been covering his ears. Suddenly, when his name was called, he put down his hands that were covering his ears and was slightly stunned.

Although it was rumored that the Fifth Prince was born mentally retarded, he only looked a little slower than other people. His slightly round face gave him a simple and honest look.

He just smiled and said, "I think it's best to start the meal first."

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but laugh, even Gu Shichong glanced at him and shook his head helplessly. The awkward atmosphere was temporarily eased.

Seeing everyone laughing, he explained, "Father, Mother, it's not that I'm hungry. I just saw that Jiang Zhuangyuan has been standing here for so long, he must be hungry and tired."

The emperor seemed to really like this silly son. Hearing this, he was not displeased. Instead, he smiled and said, "Feng'er is still the most considerate. However, we can't start the banquet until we are given palace flowers."

Then, the chief eunuch Peng Hui said, "Your Majesty and the Queen Mother are so gracious as to grant me palace flowers!"