Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 832: Pointing out the way?
At this moment, Zhang Shou really felt a little bit of pain in his teeth. The emperor actually gave his subjects advice on how to fall in love. Is this reliable? Moreover, what does it mean to use him as an example? However, he thought that the emperor was just giving some advice, but who knew that the emperor would become even more excited when he saw Zhang Chen's dumbfounded look.
"Yingying once told me that Jiuzhang avoided her at first, as if he was afraid of trouble. But she was persistent and kept pestering him. She also moved Jiuzhang's adoptive mother, who was very satisfied with her daughter-in-law who came to her doorstep. Over time, Jiuzhang saw her good points and changed his attitude unconsciously."
"If you work hard enough, you can grind an iron rod into a needle!"
This is not the right thing to say, Emperor! Zhang Shou really couldn't stand it this time. Seeing Zhang Chen actually looking at him, he could only cough heavily. Then, under the extremely strange gazes of the Third and Fourth Princes, he said seriously, "Your Majesty, Miss Ye is not Yingying, and Zhang Chen and I are not the same."
" Do we have to ask Zhang Chen to go directly to Miss Ye's house to impress her elders and then ask for marriage?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the emperor laughed and said, "Why not? Although Yingying is now on my behalf to consult with the families of those women who participated in the selection and passed the re-selection, only one of the twelve has been married, and she didn't marry well. The rest have almost all been invited by Yingying to be female tutors in the women's school."
"I am not against the girls' school recruiting people to be female tutors. After all, these girls can pass the second level, so their character and talent are naturally first-class. Even if they are married, they can also go to the girls' school to be female tutors. What's the matter with the men in the capital not daring to marry them? No matter how good they are, I can't leave them to Sanlang and Silang! As for the ordinary royal family sons marrying them, I think it's a pity for them!"
"If it weren't for you, Zhang Chen, being ambitious and willing to work hard, and having a different temper from your usual arrogant and domineering self, I wouldn't have said this! Zhang Chen, you wouldn't tell me that you still miss Yingying in your heart, right? According to the status, she is already your junior master's wife!"
Zhang Chen felt that he shouldn't have come to Ciqing Palace today. He never thought that one day would be forced to marry, and by the emperor! He did stand up today, but it was not a heroic act to save the beauty. He just couldn't stand the character of the widow Gu. The two swords Ye stabbed before leaving were really satisfying. He couldn't propose marriage just because her behavior suited his taste!
He was tired of those ladies who cried or pretended to be nice when something happened, so he liked Zhu Ying's pride and cheerfulness before. But he didn't go to that extent with Ye, and he had only met her a few times... Of course, the most important thing was that she didn't seem to have a good impression of him, so why should he give in? However, it seemed that Zhu Ying treated him the same as others, and he still responded to her call.
In this way, although he had said to Zhang Shou that he wanted a beautiful woman to be his wife, and even his father had asked Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying to help him find a match, he did not seem to be motivated enough. Back then, he was not the kind of person who would give up after a setback. He would ask about Zhu Ying's whereabouts every day and chase her. Zhu Ying even scolded him for being wishful thinking!
Seeing that Zhang Chen's face was like a kaleidoscope, constantly changing, and even showing an obvious distracted expression, Zhang Shou couldn't help but hold his forehead.
Even though Zhang Chen no longer cared about Zhu Ying, who had already become his wife, Emperor, but the emperor, you keep mentioning it, even if Zhang Chen had no grudges... I'm going to be jealous, okay? He took a deep breath and finally decided to cut the Gordian knot. Since the emperor was obviously planning to match people up, he might as well add fuel to the fire!
"The Emperor said to propose marriage directly, but he forgot Miss Ye's personality. She has a strong temper. If someone came to propose marriage and forced her to submit with the words of her parents and the matchmaker, her reaction would definitely not be to accept it happily. Zhang Chen, if you have some feelings for Miss Ye and you are not prepared to be single for the rest of your life, you only need to do one thing."
He paused, and seeing Zhang Chen looking at him, he said word by word: "You should meet her again and ask her directly whether she plans to be single or to get married. If she still plans to get married, would she be willing to marry blindly, at the behest of her parents or the matchmaker, or would she be willing to try to get to know you better?"
"For example, meet in person or write some letters to each other. I believe that a person as generous as her would not worry about any private communication. If she did, she could have the letters delivered through her elders. I think with your and her personalities, you wouldn't talk about love in a meeting or in a letter."
"You don't like those virtuous women in the inner chambers, and she probably dislikes the so-called talented men who are arrogant because of their talent, and even more dislikes the arrogant sons of the nobility. In this case, let's try to get along with each other and see if we have something in common."
At this point, Zhang Shou said nonchalantly, "For example, when I first met Yingying, she thought I was original and unique, but then I found out that she was genuine and had no affectation. In fact, if we can meet more often before getting married and get to know each other better, there will be fewer couples who treat each other with coldness and indifference after marriage."
Zhang Shou emphasized the tone of the word "bing". Of course, even if he heard it as "bin", it didn't matter much, because he always felt that couples like Liang Hong and Meng Guang, who treated each other with respect and treated each other with ice, were not positive examples of deep love at all, but negative examples of formalism to the extreme.
The third and fourth princes looked at each other at this moment, and almost at the same time thought of the deceased deposed queen. It was said that before the emperor appointed her as the empress, he had seen her more than once, and they had a happy marriage, but in the end, didn't they end up like this?
Just as they were thinking this, they did not expect Zhang Shou to say casually: "And if this is not enough, you might as well make another sentence clear in advance. If it is suitable, stay, if not, leave. If he feels that this marriage is not suitable, write a divorce letter and go your separate ways, and neither of you owes the other anything."
Seeing that the emperor and the third and fourth princes were all stunned, and Zhang Chen fell into deep thought immediately after being stunned, Zhang Shou laughed and said, "During the Han, Tang and Song dynasties, not only did women divorce their wives, but they also took the initiative to abandon their men. The Ye family might be ecstatic that Zhang Chen, the eldest son of the Duke of Qin, came to propose marriage, but a woman like Miss Ye would probably worry about failure before thinking about success."
"Zhang Chen, aren't you the same? Do you dare to say that you haven't thought about what to do if your personalities are not compatible after marriage?"
When he said this, Zhang Shou could not help but think of the Lantern Festival when Zhu Ying handed him the lantern she had made herself and she sang Wei Zhuang's "Thinking of the Imperial Hometown - Spring Day Tour" - Spring day tour, apricot blossoms blowing all over my head. Whose young man on the road is so romantic? I intend to marry you and spend my life with you. Even if you are heartlessly abandoned, I will not be ashamed.
Compared to Zhu Ying, who was passionate but had already considered the possibility of unhappy future when she was in love, Ye was a cold-hearted woman to the extreme. And with a personality like Zhang Chen, could he really be faithful to one person?
The emperor originally thought that Zhang Shou's suggestion of getting to know Zhu Ying more before marriage made sense, but when someone said that they could discuss it before marriage and divorce after marriage, he was completely stunned. He even wanted to ask Zhang Shou if he dared to say the same thing to Zhu Ying, but he didn't expect Zhang Chen to be angry, but clapped his hands hard.
"Yes, why didn't I think of that! She is indeed very special, but I was thinking before that if I feel special now, will I think she is too cold and weird in the future? Will she dislike me for not striving for progress... Young sir, you are really thoughtful!"
Zhang Chen took a deep breath and suddenly bowed to the emperor. "Thank you for your guidance. It is better to do it today than to wait for a better day. I will go to the Ye family in Tongzhou now. Bye!"
Before the emperor could say anything, Zhang Chen bowed again and turned away like a gust of wind, running and sprinting. What was he pointing out? Zhang Chen clearly heard what Zhang Shou said!
He glared at Zhang Shou with a bad look on his face, but he didn't expect Zhang Shou to show any fear. Instead, he looked back at him with an innocent look on his face: "Your Majesty, I absolutely did not mean to make any insinuations."
At this moment, the emperor's face suddenly became long. Isn't this a case of trying to cover up one's own faults? Ordinary people can divorce their wives, and perhaps the more open-minded ones can even divorce peacefully, but the royal family does not have divorce, only deposing the empress, or even deposing the concubines... Throughout the dynasties, the only deposed empress who had a better ending was probably Emperor Guangwu's deposed empress Guo Shengtong, who at least remained the Queen Mother of Zhongshan after being deposed.
Could it be that when the deposed empress and he had become strangers, she would be willing to abandon the throne and two sons who had the potential to be the crown prince, and become a Taoist monk, or live a leisurely life? No, for her, since she felt that he, her husband, was alienated, then the only thing worth fighting for with her life was this world.
What's more, even though they were talented women in the world, Xie Daoyuan did not divorce the mediocre and pedantic Wang Ningzhi, and Li Qingzhao did not divorce the cowardly and incompetent Zhao Mingcheng. Instead, Wang Xianzhi divorced Xi Daomao, and then left a regret for eternity.
The emperor became more and more angry and immediately slapped the armrest and said, "Go away, go away, I don't want to see you today!"
Seeing Zhang Shou really walked away after paying his respects, the Third and Fourth Princes didn't know whether they should persuade him or plead for their teacher... To them, the topic that the Emperor and Zhang Shou and Zhang Chen just discussed was too far away from them. So, the Third Prince just moved his lips and called out the word "Father" when he was interrupted by the Emperor.
"Don't speak for your teacher, he is here just to piss me off!"
Thinking about the last time Zhang Shou instigated the third prince to hug his legs and cry, and this time sending the fourth prince to Baijia Village for a month, and after he came back, he looked like he thought the teacher was very good and very hardworking, the emperor couldn't help but feel angry.
However, when the Third Prince was so obedient and careful that he didn't say anything, and then he pulled the Fourth Prince forward, one for his shoulders and the other for his legs, his inexplicable emotions finally dissipated. He even felt a little dazed, and then he began to recite in a low voice.
"On a spring day, apricot blossoms blow all over my head. Who is the young man on the road who is so romantic? I am ready to marry him and spend my whole life with him. Even if he abandons me mercilessly, I will not be ashamed."
He recited it over and over again several times, and finally he laughed in silence as he looked at his two sons in front of him who were still completely ignorant of the relationship between men and women, and then shook his head in defeat.
"Not everyone can live in harmony like Jiuzhang and Yingying do now. Even if a couple can live together for a while, they may not live together forever. So, don't take their current life as your future life. There is only one Yingying in this world, and there is only one Zhang Jiuzhang. Zhang Chen is entangled until now because of this."
"Look at the little fat boy from the Lu family. He just confronted Erlang in the street, and the marriage was settled. It wasn't love at first sight. It was just two people appearing in the right place at the right time. But no matter what, I hope you can live a happy life in the future. So, if you see a girl you like outside, remember to tell me as soon as possible. I will make the decision for you."
The fourth prince's eyes rolled around, and he shouted that his son would leave it to his father to make the decision. The third prince thought more carefully, and after hesitating for a while, he lowered his eyelids. After a long while, he whispered: "Father, I have listened to the teachers' history lectures these days and read the story of Empress Wende. I don't understand why there are so few empresses like Empress Wende in the past dynasties?"
The emperor was stunned. Why are there not many empresses like Empress Changsun? Yes, Empress Changsun was able to enter the palace to help her husband in times of crisis, stabilize the overall situation in the rear during the Xuanwu Gate Incident, and after becoming the mother of the country, she was able to release the palace maids, treat concubines and illegitimate children well, and advise the king at critical moments. From ancient times to the present, no historian has said anything bad about her.
Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, was a wise ruler with great talent and strategy, but he also had many flaws. He was hot- lustful, and vindictive. However, he had one great advantage: he knew how to identify and employ people, including civil officials and military commanders, as well as his own wife. Therefore, no matter how many beauties he had in his harem, they could not outshine his eldest grandson, and no matter how many princes he had, they could not outshine his legitimate son.
"A virtuous queen always needs a wise ruler to match her... There are few queens in the world like Empress Changsun, and that's because there are few emperors in the world like Emperor Taizong of Tang. If Changsun were still alive, there wouldn't have been a failure in the expedition to Goguryeo."
Zhang Shou naturally didn't know that the Third Prince, at such a young age, hoped to have a virtuous wife like Empress Zhangsun who would go down in history. If he knew, he might have patted the Crown Prince on the head and told him that she was the template for virtuous women throughout the ages, so she was beautified every time she was written about in history books. After all, let alone the emperor, which scholar-official didn't want to have such a virtuous wife?
You can settle down, be a staff member, and not be jealous. You can take concubines and maids as you like, and even take the illegitimate children who have lost their mothers to raise with you... Who wouldn't want such a wife? But you have to be Emperor Taizong of Tang first!
"Ah Shou!" When he walked out of the palace and arrived at Donghua Gate, he heard a crisp voice. He looked out and saw Zhu Ying sticking her head out of the car he had just come from. He smiled and went forward to greet her. He held her hand with his slightly cold hand. Before he could ask her why she came, she was pulled into the car. As soon as he sat down, he heard Zhu Ying hurriedly say: "Ah Shou, the Goryeo envoys have sent a group of women as tribute this time . They are all daughters of nobles. They said they were tributed by imperial decree!"
