The husband who forced her to marry her couldn't keep her warm, and she didn't want him to

Master Jiang Wu looked down at the little thing his niece brought over. After hearing Jin Chu's words, he responded softly and continued:

"Your Majesty is the current emperor. Whether he likes it or not, he has to be crowned as the queen. And filling the harem is his responsibility."

His tone was calm, but it carried an unquestionable certainty.

In the previous life, the new emperor who succeeded to the throne was the second prince Zhao Xu.

After the sacrificial ceremony for the previous emperor's burial, the previous dynasty began to prepare for the selection of concubines.

At present, although the officials of the previous dynasty have changed a lot from the previous life, the high-ranking Emperor Jianming has a completely different attitude towards the selection of concubines.

Gu Jinchu sat beside Master Jiang Wu, leaning against him gently, frowning and whispering, "My grandparents have prepared the house, saying that they can't let Yongle live in the general's house with the Zheng family after he gets married."

"My aunt also said that if the eldest princess feels uncomfortable in the Zheng family, she and her cousin can live in the princess's mansion in the future."

Jiang Wuye stretched out his arms and put them around her waist, and gently massaged her back with his five fingers, relieving her discomfort. He whispered, "Some things can't be rushed, just let it go."

The wedding date of the eldest princess and Zheng Kaicheng has become an excuse for the game between the emperor and his ministers.

The first decision the new emperor made when he ascended the throne was to build an official road leading to Tumu Fortress.

Not only is Tumubao far away from Shengjing City, the project is also extremely expensive and will take a long time to complete.

The renovation of the late emperor's tomb will be completed soon. If the eldest princess gets married, coupled with the selection of concubines that comes with the emperor's wedding, the national treasury will be empty.

If the fighting in Sanjiang Fort or Ningyuan City is tense at this time, the national treasury may not be able to maintain various military supplies for the front line.

After listening to Master Jiang Wu's explanation, Gu Jinchu sighed softly, then raised his hand and told the servants to serve dinner.

……

During the Qingming Festival, the sky was gloomy, adding a sense of solemnity to the entire imperial mausoleum.

Emperor Jianming brought civil and military officials to the imperial mausoleum to pay homage, and on that day, the previous emperor, Emperor Jianyuan, was buried.

Therefore, the garden outings and activities for sacrificial ceremonies in previous years were cancelled and everything was kept simple.

It was also on this day that the emperor agreed to establish a queen and to hold a grand selection of concubines after the wedding.

The ministers who heard the news knelt in the hall and shouted "Your Majesty is wise and wise". However, Jiang Nansheng saw a hint of complicated emotions on Emperor Jianming's face.

After the chief eunuch Huang Tong chanted "dismiss the court", Emperor Jianming stood up from the dragon throne and walked hurriedly towards the inner hall.

All the officials knelt on the ground, looking at the emperor's back, and only stood up after the bright yellow corners of his clothes disappeared.

"Your Majesty's decision this time is inseparable from Lord Yang's continued work for His Majesty." Wang Fengliang bowed to Lord Yang with a hint of flattery on his face.

Lord Yang waved his hand, and looked at the Prime Minister Zhang Qi beside him in a very humble manner: "The choice of the Empress should be discussed by Prime Minister Zhang, the Empress Dowager and the Emperor together."

Zhang Qi smiled lightly, "Lord Yang has made very thoughtful considerations."

When Wang Fengliang withdrew his hand, he couldn't help but stand up straight and looked at Yang Daxueshi and Zhang Qi who were walking and talking.

Then, like the other ministers around him, he surrounded them and walked towards the palace gate.

"The harem cannot be without a master for a day, and His Majesty also needs a suitable partner to share his joys and sorrows. Share the responsibilities of the royal family with him and give birth to the future crown prince as soon as possible."

Lord Yang's words were echoed by the officials accompanying him.

Thinking of the emperor's behavior in recent days, Yang Daxueshi couldn't help but feel a little worried: "Since the emperor has agreed, the selection of the queen should respect his wishes... Don't make the emperor unhappy, otherwise it will be counterproductive."

In the new emperor's will, Yang Daxueshi was the most important minister in assisting the new emperor. His words were naturally echoed by all the ministers.

Although Zhang Qi was the chief minister of the cabinet, he was attacked by the Minister of Works Wang Fengliang in front of him and Chen Zhengde in the cabinet was eyeing him covetously from behind.

The Minister of Revenue, Fu Chi, was a member of the faction of the late Prince Kang and Empress Cao when the late emperor was still alive.

As for the choice of empress for Emperor Jianming, all the ministers had their own ideas.

Jiang Nansheng couldn't help but slow down his pace as he watched Lord Yang being surrounded and walked in front.

"Sir Jiang." After hearing the footsteps behind him, he stopped and looked sideways.

"Lord Chen." Jiang Nansheng smiled when he saw the person coming, "Prime Minister Zhang and Lord Wang from the Cabinet are both in front, why is Lord Chen so unhurried?"

Chen Zhengde raised his eyes and glanced at Jiang Nansheng, and saw that he still had the familiar elegant smile on his face, without any clues at all.

Following Jiang Nansheng's pace, he whispered beside him, "Sir Jiang is also... I remember that Sir Yang and Lord Wang were both students of Chang Daxueshi."

Jiang Nansheng withdrew his gaze from the scarlet official robes, and said calmly, "Lord Chen also said that was in the past. Besides, Lord Yang and Prime Minister Zhang were discussing the selection of the empress, which has nothing to do with me, a judge of the Dali Temple."

Chen Zhengde chuckled, "Master Jiang is quite outspoken." He turned his head to look at Jiang Nansheng, and said in a somewhat secretive manner:

"If the Duke Dingguo's Mansion wants to emulate the Cao family, I can help Lord Jiang solve the problem."

How to emulate?

Should the daughter of the Jiang family be sent to Shou'an Palace, or should she be arranged among the concubines in the grand selection?

It can't be possible that the daughter of the Jiang family could sit on the throne of Queen!

If the Duke Dingguo's Mansion wanted to do something, it would not require the Chen family to share the worry.

Jiang Nansheng turned his wrist slightly, and under his wide sleeves, the Buddhist beads on his wrist were hooked into his palm.

He gently rubbed the lines on the beads with his fingertips, and said with a smile on his face:

"Master Chen, you may want to think about it in your spare time. How much military pay should be allocated to Ningyuan City this year? After all, the wedding of His Majesty, the wedding of the eldest princess, and the selection of concubines in the future will all require a lot of money."

Chen Zhengde's pupils suddenly shrank and all his bones and muscles tensed up, only then could he maintain his composure.

Why did Jiang Nansheng suddenly mention the military pay?

Did he, or Zheng Wenyang, know something?

Chen Zhengde swallowed inconspicuously, and the smile lines at the corners of his lips were a little stiff:

"As Lord Jiang just said, Lord Yang's discussion with the cabinet is different from the duties of the Dali Temple. Since it is military pay, it concerns the expenditure of the national treasury, and it should be the matter that Minister Fu of the Ministry of Revenue should consider."

In addition to supervising the law enforcement of local officials, the Dali Temple is also responsible for hearing various cases and making the final judgment.

Jiang Nansheng initially started out as the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple. He had his own methods of interrogating criminals, so he could naturally observe Chen Zhengde's nervousness at this time.

The Chen family, like the Chiang family, came from a military background.

A few years ago, Chen Zhengde gave up literature and joined the military. If he wanted to be the Minister of War after returning to Beijing, Zheng Wenyang might not be the best candidate for the late emperor, judging from the situation at that time.

It can be seen that when the late emperor was alive, he had already begun to fear the Chen family.

Jiang Nansheng seemed not to notice his abnormality and smiled, "My family is still waiting for me to return home to worship my ancestors, so I can't chat with Master Chen."

Outside the palace gate, Second Master Jiang and Fourth Master Jiang were riding on tall horses, obviously waiting for their younger brother who had not come out yet.

Seeing this, Chen Zhengde bowed to Jiang Nanli and Jiang Nanxiang who were not far away, with a hint of apology on his face, and said to Jiang Nansheng: "It is Chen who has delayed Mr. Jiang's time."

Jiang Nansheng nodded, said "goodbye", and walked towards his two brothers.

When the Chen family's carriage with green curtains passed in front of them, Mr. Jiang nodded slightly to Chen Zhengde behind the curtains. Then he whispered to his fifth brother, "What did he want you to do?"

Chen Zhengde was the third son of the Chen family. When he was studying, he regarded his fifth brother as his rival. When the fifth brother won the first place in the imperial examination that spring, Chen Zhengde was so ashamed and angry that he went to Ningyuan City in anger.

This person is not a broad-minded gentleman.

Master Jiang Wu climbed onto the horse and pulled the reins, "Test me."

I want to test him to see if there are any girls from the Jiang family among the contestants in this year's beauty pageant.

What the Chen family is worried about right now is probably not just who will eventually become the queen.