Linque

Changning Dachang Princess Mansion is located in the southeast of the imperial city, adjacent to the inner city, covering a vast area. It was the mansion built by the Ministry of Industry for the eldest sister when the late emperor was alive. There are all kinds of pavilions, carved beams and painted buildings, cornices and brackets, exquisite and gorgeous .

During the late Emperor's reign, Princess Changning and Empress Chengde Gu Huiyin had a good relationship, but she and her successor, the Zhong family, had a lot of quarrels and did not deal with each other.Later, the first emperor passed away, and the new emperor was young. As the empress dowager, the Zhong family became the real ruler of Dayin Kyushu.

Now that the times have changed, Kyushu has changed to a new world, Princess Changning is an elder highly respected by His Majesty, and most of her birthdays are people who want to come to give gifts.What's more, every year on the [-]th day of the twelfth lunar month, His Majesty will personally come to the Dachang Princess' mansion to celebrate his aunt's birthday. It has been like this since Long Qian's time, and it has become a well-known practice.

In the past, with the Queen Mother and King Qi around, not many people really cared about this practice, but now it is different from the past. In the past two years, seeing that the emperor's throne has gradually stabilized, the harem is still empty. There are indeed many.Helplessly, the emperor always kept silent about this, and the ministers had no choice, so they directed their ideas to the elders of the royal family.

Princess Changning has always been concerned about His Majesty's marriage. She is His Majesty's aunt, and His Majesty always listens to her opinions.Therefore, every time there is a banquet in the Dachang Princess' Mansion, the wives of the famous families in the imperial capital will always lead their girls of the right age to go there, especially on birthdays.Looking from the far side of the corridor, the whole garden is full of red flowers and green flowers, and a hundred flowers are in full bloom, which is not much worse than the Winter Festival. This is a beautiful scenery that is usually seen at the banquets of the Grand Princess Mansion.

But today was surprisingly different.

The noble ladies who came to the banquet were still dressed up beautifully, but instead of gathering in twos and threes in the garden to fold flowers and hold willows, and circle around the eldest princess in the garden, many of them sat on the seats for viewing flowers , the eyes gathered together from time to time, looking forward to the right.

The girl seated on the right seat is wearing a gold thread skirt in the color of a concubine of Xiang, her face is like a lotus, she is beautiful and gorgeous, she still sits with her back straight in the face of countless scrutinizing eyes, and her demeanor is elegant and calm.

Her surname is Shen, her name is Dai, and she is the eldest daughter of the Yanhe Shen family. Her father is Shen Wende, Marquis of Wenxin of the dynasty, and her grandfather is Shen Liangji, a scholar of Jixian Temple and Grand Tutor.

But if it's just like this, it's not enough to attract the attention of so many noble ladies present.The young ladies of these aristocratic families gather here, their thoughts are self-evident, and what they want is a "matchmaker's words" from the eldest princess.

And Shen Dai is different from all of them.

She has "the order of her parents"——

In the 13th year of Tianhe, the first emperor became seriously ill. At that time, the young prince Ling Ye would become the new master of the empire in the near future.

The first emperor selected three talented, loyal and reliable auxiliary ministers for him. In addition, before his death, the first emperor also set up another guarantee for the new emperor.

He pointed out two people from the roster of noble girls of the sixteenth family who were of the right age, as the first candidates for the queen and concubine when the new emperor came of age.

One of them is Gu Rouze, the eldest daughter of the Gu family in the northern region, and the other is Shen Dai, the eldest daughter of Marquis Wenxin who is sitting here today.

It's just that the new emperor was young at that time, and there was still a few years' gap between the age of the emperor's big marriage stipulated by the Dayin ancestral system. Out of time considerations, the first emperor did not make an explicit decree, fearing that the world would change and the situation would change easily.

This also leaves room for many people and many things to be manipulated——

In the fourth year of Xuanxi, the time for the emperor's big wedding came, and the queen mother tried her best to obstruct it.At the same time that Shen Taifu's wife died of illness, Shen Dai mourned for her grandmother; and soon after, chaos broke out in the northern border, and Shuozhou governor Gu Chongshan "accidentally" died in battle under the secret action of King Qi, and the Gu family kept their filial piety.That year, the Empress Dowager postponed the emperor's wedding as she wished, on the grounds that the late emperor had left a will.

In the winter of the seventh year of Xuanxi, the emperor, who had regained the power of the emperor, appointed his eldest son Qingyan as the prince of Dayin. Facing the rising calls for a draft in the court, the emperor always refused on the grounds that the prince was young; "The first emperor's will" is also noncommittal.

And not long after, the first candidate for empress in the late emperor's will - Gu Rou, the eldest daughter of the Gu family in the north, suddenly began high-profile marriage discussions. The emperor promised marriage grace in the name of his cousin, which was equivalent to denying the late emperor's will exist.

But now, Shen Dai, the eldest daughter of Marquis Wenxin, who has been living in Gyeongju, suddenly came to the imperial capital. The first thing she did was to celebrate the birthday of Princess Changning, and she sat at the head of the noble lady's seat.

The intention is self-evident.

This is different from the concubine selection that was rumored during the Winter Festival. This time, Shen Dai, the "prospective imperial concubine", or even the "prospective empress" is really sitting here.

His Majesty will definitely be here today, but Gu Rou has never had a banquet with him, so Shen Dai has naturally become the only focus of everyone's attention.

At that time, the host of the birthday banquet, Princess Changning, had some headaches.

If it was normal, she would be very happy when Shen Dai came.But on the day of Qianqiu's court banquet, the emperor himself said that he had a sweetheart, and given how the eldest princess knew her nephew, she must have been sincerely moved.

The eldest princess didn't care much about the family power of these girls. All she wanted was to find a suitable person who could accompany the emperor so that he would not always be alone.

Now the emperor has his own choice, as long as he likes it, even if it is a man, the eldest princess does not intend to stop it. She doesn't think it will hinder the stability of Kyushu. She believes in Ling Ye's ability and is willing to respect him. Decide.

So for Shen Dai——

The eldest princess of Changning came here with several imperial wives, and the girls sitting around the garden got up to salute one after another.Walking beside the eldest princess is Mrs. Wen Xinhou's wife, Mrs. Lin, and Shen Dai's mother.

She beckoned for Shen Dai to come over, and said with a smile: "This is the eldest girl of my wife's family. She has been staying in Qingzhou all these years and has never had the opportunity to meet the princess. Today is the princess's birthday, and this girl is honored to meet you. "

Shen Dai stepped forward steadily, lowered her eyebrows and let her look at her.

The several imperial wives knew the purpose of this visit, after all, she was the "quasi-noble concubine" appointed by the late emperor, and immediately began to boast.

Sure enough, the eldest princess held Shen Dai's hand, looked at the girl's facial features, nodded frequently, and after a few compliments, asked: "This girl looks so good, is there any arrangement at home?"

Lin smiled and said, "Not yet."

According to everyone's thinking, the eldest princess should speak the words of the mediator next, not to mention the target, naturally the emperor.

But no one expected that the Eldest Princess said to Lin first: "I understand what you think about being parents. This girl is so good, I am willing to stay for two more years."

She patted Shen Dai's hand, and said with a smile: "But good girl, you listen to me about this matter, all the young and handsome sons of our Dayin Jiuzhou are here in my garden today, you young people gather together Let's play around, don't be embarrassed, with our family background, it's the kid's luck to see who we like."

As soon as the words fell, the ladies were all taken aback.

Lin's pupils constricted, the smile on her face froze immediately, even Shen Dai lowered her head and clenched her hands tightly.

At this moment, a servant from a distance rushed over, panting in front of the Eldest Princess, and said loudly: "Princess, the holy chariot has arrived."