Chapter 1 Who are they? Xuan and Xi 5. Feast
On March 12, the 13th year of Jianwu, Han Xin, the governor of Pei County, was promoted to the position of Grand Tutor. Five days later, Ma Cheng was removed from his temporary position as Grand Marshal and appointed as General Yangwu instead.
In recent years, the only stable person among the Three Dukes is Grand Marshal Wu Han. Although I have complaints about Wu Han's habitual brutality and massacres, I have to admit that in the entire political situation, as a backbone member of the powerful aristocratic families in Nanyang, I need his support to compete with the forces of the descendants of the Guo family in Hebei.
Because of this, when he reverted to his old ways last year and massacred the entire clan of Gongsun Shu who had surrendered, I did not impulsively slam the table in anger like I did ten years ago. Ten years ago, Deng Feng was sacrificed, which led to my unusually cold-blooded sobriety today. I don't know whether this change is an improvement in consciousness or a degeneration of human nature, but I have finally learned to walk through bumps and bruises, and gradually become stronger through stumbling. At the end of last year, Wu Han massacred Gongsun Shu's wife and children, young and old, and truly eradicated the roots. This bloody method eventually brought Liu Xiu's wrath.
Ten years ago, faced with this situation, I would have strongly demanded the execution of Wu Han to show justice. However, ten years later, as a member of the Nanyang gentry, I was secretly protecting Wu Han to Liu Xiu.
Wu Han is of great value to me. He can commit all kinds of immoral atrocities, but I cannot take the opportunity to kill him. Instead, I have to protect him everywhere.
In late spring, Wu Han returned from Shu. I suggested to Liu Xiu that Wu Han should go back to his hometown, Wancheng. He had been working hard to restore the Han Dynasty in recent years, and he had made great contributions. Liu Xiu readily agreed, and allowed Wu Han to return to his hometown to pay homage to his ancestors, and also rewarded him with 20,000 bushels of rice.
In April, Wu Han returned to Luoyang from Wancheng, and along with him arrived in the capital were all the luxurious items that were originally used by the Chengjiaguo court, including blind musicians, musical instruments for suburban temples, carriages, and chariots. I had heard Ma Yuan mention before that Gongsun Shu loved to act like an emperor after he became emperor, and the items and ceremonial instruments used in the palace were truly extraordinary. But I had only heard of these, but never seen them. I had lived in this so-called imperial palace for more than ten years with Liu Xiu, the Han emperor who started from scratch and was as frugal as ever, and the pomp I had seen was far less than half of the Changle Palace in Chang'an back then.
When the luxury items that Gongsun Shu had prepared arrived in Luoyang, the first person to be shocked was Empress Guo Shengtong. Among them, the instruments for rituals and music were particularly complete, and these were not found in the Nan Palace before. So Empress Guo, who was quite shocked, decided to hold a banquet in the palace to show off her family's style.
Somehow this idea later reached Liu Xiu's ears, and a small banquet originally planned for a small gathering in the harem was eventually expanded into a banquet for all civil and military officials in the Han court.
I keenly smelled something unusual, and I believe there are many people who are as sensitive as me. The day before the banquet, I sent out business cards as Yin Guiren, inviting Liang Hou Deng Yu and Jianwei General Geng Yan to the palace for a chat. As a result, Deng Yu never showed up, but sent someone to bring four words as a message; Geng Yan hurried into the palace, and I met him outside the Xuande Hall. I only said a few words to him briefly, and half an hour later, he left the palace with a pale face and staggered.
While chatting at night, Liu Xiu asked me casually, "Has Geng Bozhao entered the palace?"
I thought about it and replied using Deng Yu's words: "As you wish."
Liu Xiu held my hand, his smile full of vicissitudes, and the smile lines at the corners of his eyes deepened: "It's a pity that you don't become the queen."
"You can only say this, and I can only say it behind closed doors." I held his hand with my backhand, interlacing our fingers. I had something in mind, so I couldn't help but say, "Aren't you worried that I'll become another Queen Gao?"
He didn't answer, but just laughed twice, then suddenly came over, put his other hand around my waist, and placed his palm on my lower abdomen.
"Your period is half a month late."
"Wow, you know this too?" I teased in an exaggerated manner. Since he wanted to change the subject, why wouldn't it be wrong for me to cooperate with him tacitly?
He grabbed my hand and fiddled with my fingers, counting them one by one, muttering as he did so: "Prince Yi's eyes look like mine, Jing'er's face shape is a bit like mine, Cang'er looks more like Jun Ling, Zhongli, Hongfu... who do you think our Yang'er looks more like?"
What a gossipy question! I blinked and thought for a long time before finally saying, "It's nothing like that."
"Ahem." He coughed lightly, "So this time, do you want a son or a daughter?"
"A daughter." I thought about it carefully. "None of Prince Yi, Zhongli, and Hongfu look like me. I want to give birth to a girl who looks exactly like me. Then when she grows up, you can see her and think of me when I was young..."
He chuckled, and his fingers were entwined with mine even tighter: "How about this, you give me a son, exactly like me, and when he grows up, you can face him every day..."
"Tsk, do you think I'm a crazy fan?" Suddenly, it occurred to me that the word crazy fan was too "fresh" and too "energetic", so I quickly interrupted, "If I really gave birth to such a little Liu Xiu, what would you give me as a reward?"
"You really don't want to suffer even the slightest loss." He smiled and scratched my nose. "If that's the case, I'll grant you a wish. I'll give you whatever you want."
My heart moved. Although Liu Xiu's promise seemed more of a joke than serious, I always felt that there was an inexplicable emotion hidden under his smile, as if... this was not just a joking promise.
Liu Xiu was not a monarch who enjoyed himself. There was little singing and dancing in the harem, and even on major festivals such as the New Year's Day and the New Year's Day, the palace was not particularly lively. Therefore, when the feast was actually set up in the Xuande Hall, the smiles on the faces of every palace maid in the harem were more expectant and curious than usual.
"I've really grown old." I shook my head slightly at the mirror, sighing, and the moon-shaped pendant on my earlobe began to shake.
My fingertips stroked my cheeks. The powder on my face was made of high-quality rice. It felt very smooth and delicate when I twisted it on my fingertips. In fact, I rarely did anything to my face over the years. I was a typical person who didn't like makeup but loved clothes. However, time is unforgiving. Now it is a luxury to want to go back to my youth and spend my youth.
"No, you are just not used to putting on makeup." Chen Min's hands are very skillful. She used powder to cover all the brown spots and acne marks on my face, trimmed my eyebrows into a distant black eyebrow shape, applied a little rouge on my cheeks, and a little vermilion on my lips, making them look like a cherry. Although this kind of makeup is really not in line with my aesthetic point of view, at least in the eyes of others, my face has added an unspeakable surprise. "Your Highness, without makeup, is already better than many people."
My hair was tied up in a bun, and a golden hairpin with white beads shaped like a cassia branch was inserted into the bun. I was stunned for a moment and wanted to take it off. I raised my hand but put it down again. I looked up and smiled at the mirror: "Are you going to dress me up as a 28-year-old girl today? Do you think I'm still the same age as you?"
"Yes." Perhaps influenced by the festive atmosphere of the palace banquet, she spoke in a playful tone, "You noble lady and the little princesses are here together. I guarantee that those ministers will not recognize you as mother and daughter."
I can't stop the years from leaving traces of vicissitudes on me. I have also experienced the youth of fourteen or fifteen years old like Chen Min, and more than once. The self in the mirror was heavily made up, vaguely like the gorgeous dress on the wedding day. I pursed my lips and smiled, stood up and put on my robe, and said lightly: "Let the fourth prince follow me to the Changqiu Palace for the morning visit, and let the others let their nurses lead them to the Xuande Hall. Remember not to miss the time."
"promise."
The early summer wind blew on my body, bringing a sense of heat, and the sun had just risen. I held my head high, followed closely by my eldest son Liu Yang. When we were almost at the steps of Changqiu Palace, Liu Yang held my hand. I was stunned and stared at him for two seconds. Although I didn't think climbing these ten or so flights of stairs was a big deal, it was rare for this child to have such meticulous filial piety. I didn't pull back my hand, and let him hold my hand and walk up step by step.
"Mom, please give me another little brother."
"Hmm?" He walked at a steady pace, "Why do you want a younger brother?"
Liu Yang paused for a moment, then replied: "My father has stripped me of my title, and no one in the Han court is king anymore. No matter how many fiefs a vassal has, he is still just a marquis. With more brothers, the combined power will be greater."
I was speechless. This child's intelligence has long surpassed that of an ordinary person. Looking at the majestic Changqiu Palace opposite, I laughed heartily. I will never become Lu Zhi. Lu Zhi worked hard for her son and was willing to bear all the infamy. But in the end, her honest and stupid son did not understand at all. Not only did he not appreciate it, but he blamed his mother for being cruel and even gave up on himself...
"Yang'er, you are my good son. I am proud of you."
The high and mighty Changqiu Palace was usually deserted, but today it was bustling with people. I had just arrived at the main hall and heard that Princess Huyang had arrived when I heard a loud shout from behind: "Third sister-in-law!"
Liu Boji took two quick steps and held my hand in amazement: "It's really my third sister-in-law. I couldn't recognize her. I looked at you from behind for a long time. I was just wondering in my mind, whose family is this girl? Why does she look so much like my third sister-in-law..."
"Just make fun of me." Although I knew that they were all flattering words, I still enjoyed hearing them very much.
Liu Bogi had just given birth to a son at the beginning of the year. Her body shape had not yet recovered after giving birth, so she looked much plumper than usual. She is four years older than me and is 37 years old this year. According to the average life expectancy in ancient times, she is already an out-and-out middle-aged aunt.
Looking at her and then thinking about myself, a very funny idea suddenly popped up in my mind: Do I have to continue to be an elderly mother and give birth until I am 40?
"I don't mean to tease you. What I said is true. I don't usually see you wearing powder, but now that you're dressed like this, don't you look as bright as when you were young?" She became more and more excited as she spoke, and regardless of the occasion, she laughed loudly, "It's just that you look too quiet in this outfit. I still remember the first time I saw you. At that time, you wanted to fight me with swords without saying a word..."
"And you said that it was you who provoked me first."
I chatted with her for a few words, and during the break, Liu Yang respectfully greeted his aunt. Liu Boji couldn't help but praise him: "Look at this posture, you don't look like a ten-year-old child. Your mother has taught you very well. You are quite like your father in the past."
"Stop praising him. He can't stand you praising him so much." I said a few polite words and bowed my head to Liu Yang, "Go in and greet your mother and your aunt first. When they ask about me, just say I had a chat with your aunt and will be here soon."
"promise."
After he left, Liu Boji quietly pulled me aside , lowered her eyes, and stared at my abdomen: "Is it true?"
I was shocked. I hadn't even informed the imperial physician to confirm the matter yet, but I didn't expect that even Liu Boji outside the palace had heard the news.
"not sure yet."
"Why this time..." She stopped talking halfway and stared at me blankly, a little embarrassed. "It's not your fault. No one can tell for sure. There's no way to deliberately rank them... Well, look at my poor tongue. What I mean is..."
"I understand." I smiled pretending not to care.
Liu Boji's implication was that she was blaming me for not following the "convention" this time. In the past four years, the birth order of the royal heirs in the harem was always Changqiu Palace first, and then the West Palace two or three months later. This obviously artificial balance could make everyone inside and outside the court, whether they were the Queen's party or the noble party, speechless and shut up.
In fact, I really wanted to tell Liu Boji that if you are serious about having children, you can deliberately decide the order of priority. But then I thought, she is already a mother of several children, so why should I gossip about such boudoir matters? She must have thought of this a long time ago, so she asked such a question just now.
Perhaps, what she wanted to ask more was what her third brother wanted to do.
"This time the Grand Marshal has returned from Wancheng after paying homage to his ancestors. When will Marquis Gushi go back to Wancheng to take a look? Princess Ningping is a blessed person. Marquis Gushi treats you well and His Majesty well... His Majesty treats him well..." That's all I can say. Whether she can understand the deeper meaning depends on herself.
Liu Boji was confused at first, then she took a breath and her surprised expression finally turned into a smile: "Yes, yes, Nanyang County..."
I knew she was definitely a smart woman, so I walked into the hall hand in hand with her, smiling.
When I entered, I realized that I was really late. The wives of the princes who came from outside the palace to pay their respects to the empress had already crowded the hall. The rush mat was spread out, but only a few people, such as Princess Huyang Liu Huang and Guo Shengtong's mother Guo Zhu, could sit on it. Sitting on the main seat was Guo Shengtong, who was wearing a long gown with curved hems, a golden hairpin, and a moon-shaped earring. She was dressed in the same formal attire, but her collar and cuffs had an extra layer of embroidery and a circle of decorations.
When I bowed to her, she said nothing, but stared at the golden hairpin on my head, until Master Guo smiled and tried to smooth things over: "Noble Lady Yin is in a delicate and precious body, please stand up quickly."
Guo Shengtong came back to his senses as if waking from a dream, and finally a gentle smile appeared on his pale face: "Noble Yin, please get up. Why don't you bring the three princesses with you?"
I smiled and stood up: "I was afraid they would make a noise, so I asked someone to lead them directly to Xuande Hall."
Guo Shengtong nodded casually, and the polite tricks between me and her ended there. When I stood up, some people immediately left the table and stood aside.
The order of the main and secondary seats was re-arranged, and there was a commotion below. I smiled and greeted each other, while glancing at Master Guo from the corner of my eye. She sat in the second seat, high up, but showed no sign of moving.
I kept my composure, pretending not to see anything, and sat down at the table. Sitting right next to me on the right was Concubine Xu.
"What's wrong?" I saw her staring at the top of my head in a daze, and couldn't help but ask with a smile.
"No, no... nothing." She lowered her head in a panic. Compared with me and Guo Shengtong, her makeup was much simpler. Her hair was not tied in a false knot, so she did not wear any accessories. If she had not been wearing makeup and sitting at the banquet, if she had been thrown into the crowd, it would have been difficult to tell whether she was a palace maid or a beauty. Any of those princes' wives were much more glamorous than her.
According to the rules, nobles can only wear black tortoise-shell hairpins in their hair, so I guess I've stunned many people today when I appeared. Well, let them be stunned, this is exactly the effect I want.
Some of the wives of the princes looked familiar, but some looked unfamiliar. I didn't recognize them, and Yanzhi couldn't recognize them either. Fortunately, the queen was there to block them, so no matter how they wanted to curry favor with me, they didn't dare to make friends with me in person.
After lingering in Changqiu Palace for about half an hour, at 15:25, a eunuch came to report that the emperor had finished his court session and was heading to Xuande Hall with his ministers and princes. So we all stood up, dressed, and followed Empress Guo to Xuande Hall.
I walked slowly, chatting with Liu Bogi from time to time. Liu Yang was being held close to Liu Huang at this moment. The two aunt and nephew were so affectionate that they seemed to have neglected Liu Ying and Liu Kang on the other side.
After a while, Liu Kang, who couldn't hold back any longer, ran away. When Liu Kang left, Liu Yang suddenly stopped talking to his aunt and turned to whisper something to Liu Ying. After hearing this, Liu Ying actually laughed, and the awkward atmosphere just now was easily dispelled.
I saw all of this happen without error, and I felt proud but also a little worried. I was just looking for an opportunity to give him some advice when suddenly a eunuch quietly came up to me and whispered in my ear, "The eunuch asked me to come and ask you to move..."
Before I could react, Liu Boji beside me had already noticed: "What happened?"
"It's okay. I left something in the palace, and the people in the palace couldn't find it, so I had to go back to get it."
She didn't doubt him, but just reminded him: "Then go quickly and come back soon."
I hurriedly followed the eunuch, but did not return to the West Palace. Instead, I took a shortcut and ran to the east side of Xuande Hall. Before I arrived, I saw a group of children of all ages gathered there, and several wet nurses and nursemaids were sweating profusely.
"No! I just want him to compensate!" The crisp female voice was filled with inexplicable arrogance.
I sighed and lowered my voice to shout, "King Yi!"
The crowd in front of me automatically parted, and then I saw that at the foot of the jade steps, King Liu Yi was grabbing a young man's collar with an angry look on his face. Less than ten feet away from their feet, there was a long spear and a small bow that had been broken into two pieces.
As soon as I saw this scene, I understood about 70% of what was going on. Everyone saluted in fear when they saw me, except for the young man, who stood straight without kneeling, with a pale face and twitching mouth. I don't know if he was scared or not.
I waived my greetings and asked, "Is the Zhonglang General here?"
After asking for a long time, no one answered, but the young man suddenly said, "Your servant Song, kowtows to the noble lady Yin." He knelt down and bowed, but King Yi did not give him the chance, grabbing his collar and twisting it hard.
I saw that this was really out of control, so I scolded her, "Why don't you let go? How can you still be a princess?" I rushed forward and chopped her on the inside of her wrist. When her hand softened, I picked her up and threw her to the wet nurse, "You don't have to go to the banquet today. Go back to the palace and reflect on your mistakes."
Prince Yi burst into tears, twisting his body and crying, "It was obviously his fault, wuwu, he didn't let me enter the palace, he took my bow and my arrows, wuwu..."
"Take her back to the palace!" I didn't want to make a big deal out of this. If I invited those guests, it would be really fun to watch. There's no need to bother with any singing and dancing at the banquet today. We can just watch the Han princess crying.
After the young man got away, he straightened his clothes first, then picked up the long halberd from the ground and stood aside. In fact, from the first time I saw his attire, I knew that he was a guard in charge of guarding the Xuande Hall, but he looked very young, as if he was less than fifteen years old. Although Lang is not a high-ranking official, more than half of the current Lang officials in the Nan Palace are selected from the children of high-ranking officials and wealthy families. These people have some backgrounds behind them, especially the underage boy Lang in front of me, whose background can be concluded to be extraordinary.
"Your father is..."
"My father is Gao Shan Hou."
I gasped. My goodness, I never expected that this young man was the son of Liang Tong, Marquis of Gaoshan. Liang Tong, like Dou Rong, was from a noble family in Hexi. When Wei Xiang occupied Tianshui and Longxi, it was thanks to them that they were able to defeat Wei Xiang and successfully recover Hexi.
At present, the old ministers and meritorious officials in the court can be roughly divided into three categories, Hebei Group, Hexi Group, and Henan Group, with the Yellow River as the boundary. Further subdivided, the Henan Group is divided into Yingchuan County and Nanyang County. Liu Xiu and I, and even most of the royal family members are from Nanyang, while Empress Guo Shengtong is from Hebei. Therefore, once Guo Shengtong and I cause a conflict of interest, the first thing that will affect the court will definitely be the dispute between Henan and Hebei.
There have been many battles and conflicts over the years, but the country had not been restored at that time, and the focus was on suppressing the rebellion. Everyone was more busy with how to deal with wars and how to fight for territory. There is a saying that goes, you must first stabilize the country before you can resist foreign aggression, so major political orientations and conflicts of interest are not too obvious. However, now that the world is peaceful, there are not many brothers who fought for the country earlier. No one expected that the nine ministers who were filled in later would make the Hexi gentry emerge as a new force and occupy a very important position.
In the fifth year of Jianwu, Liang Tong was granted the title of General Xuande; in the eighth year of Jianwu he followed Liu Xiu in the expedition against Wei Xiang and was granted the title of Marquis of Chengyi. His elder brother Liang Xun and his cousin Liang Teng were both made Marquis of Guannei, and Liang Teng was also made the Commandant of Diannong in Jiuquan. In the twelfth year of Jianwu, which was last year, Liang Tong and other meritorious officials of Hexi were summoned to the capital Luoyang, and they served as marquises to discuss matters. Soon after, Liang Tong was granted the title of Marquis of Gaoshan and was appointed as the Grand Master of the Imperial Court. All four of his sons were summoned to the palace and granted the title of Langguan.
"Are you the eldest son of Gao Shanhou?"
"yes."
I couldn't help but glance at him again. He seemed to be not much older than Liu Yang, and should be about the same age as Liu Qiang. However, there was a heroic spirit between his brows, which was far from comparable to the pampered princes.
I pointed at the broken bow on the ground and sighed, "Do you know that this bow was made by the emperor?"
Liang Song's face turned pale and he knelt down with his spear in hand: "It is my duty. I hope that Lord Yin will forgive me." Although he spoke with a firm voice, he was still a child after all, and his voice trembled a little.
I didn't mean to make things difficult for him about this matter. I think it was probably my precious daughter's fault, so I can't blame anyone else.
"You should get up soon. Queen Yi is my daughter. If she makes any mistakes, it is because I failed to supervise her properly. I should apologize to you."
He raised his head in surprise and stared at me blankly.
I wanted to take this opportunity to chat with him for a few more words, but time waits for no one. From a distance, I saw Dai Ang coming out of the side door of Xuande Hall, looking around. So I reached out to help him up, patted his shoulder, and said in a friendly manner: "If she does anything wrong in the future, just scold her in person. In fact, she is not a bad person. It's just that because she is the eldest daughter, it is inevitable that she is spoiled by your majesty."
Without waiting for him to say anything, I signaled everyone to clear the area and leave. Dai Ang also saw me, and then he kept gesturing for me to enter the hall.
I didn't dare to stay, and immediately followed the palace maid to lead the way and hurried towards the main hall of Xuande Hall.
