Husband is extremely regent

Chapter 105 Hengdi Draft
The third year of Emperor Hengzhi, the middle ten days of September.

The imperial court issued an order: the emperor held a national draft in order to expand the harem, and all women of the right age in Nanliguo could participate in the election regardless of their origin.

There are still rumors in the market that this draft will not only expand the emperor's harem, but also choose the crown prince for the crown prince, and the marriageable prince will also choose the prince concubine.

The whole country was excited, and the most exciting thing was that the officials who had daughters of the right age at home prepared their daughters to participate in the draft. As a result, Nan Liguo was still in short supply of expensive cloth for a while, and even if he had money, he could not buy high-quality cloth to tailor new clothes.

"The emperor's selection, the crown prince's selection of concubines, and the precious fabrics in Kyoto are all sold out. If you are still awake, you will definitely make a big smile."

On Longyin Villa, Qingluan talked to Lu Xu about the outside affairs in front of the bed: "Miss, if you sleep, you won't be able to see the excitement, especially what a pity to miss the crown prince's concubine selection."

Thinking of Lu Xu's relationship with the prince, he would definitely take them to watch the fun.

But now she can only lie quietly on the bed, with long snowy hair spread under her body, looking like an elf who is not dyed by fireworks, but it is even more heartbreaking.

Suzaku also muttered to himself: "I missed the Mid-Autumn Festival Lantern Festival, I missed the Jiji ceremony, and now I missed the grand occasion of the Emperor's first draft, I will definitely regret it when I wake up."

"What are you regretting?" Qingniao leaned against the door frame, proudly said: "Send a special envoy to sneak in, and just write down the selection process."

"Send a special envoy, who is it?" Qingluan turned around and asked in surprise.

"Look for someone you know..."

"nonsense."

Jade Bird made a pause gesture and said: "What are you in a hurry for? It has only been a few days since the order was issued, and it will take a while for the order to spread to all places. It will take three months to get to the final holy election, but you can always find someone to help you."

"The only one in Jingdu who is willing to help is Ms. Liang." The only person Suzaku can think of is Liang Xi: "But Ms. Liang doesn't seem to plan to participate in the draft."

"You guys, really should remember or not, remember clearly."

Qingniao shook her head and said sarcastically: "You have forgotten that there is more than one young lady in Lu's mansion, there are also Fourth Miss and Fifth Miss. Based on what I know about Fifth Lady, she will definitely let Fifth Miss go for the draft."

"How to forget them, then there will be a good show."

Qingluan immediately reacted and said: "I sent a message to Zhu Xi, asking her to go to the fifth room immediately to check on the situation."

At this time, in the garden of the fifth room of the Lu Mansion, Qing Shi picked and picked among a pile of fabrics, took out a piece of pink fabric, and said: "The Empress and Mother are of the same generation, and when she was young, her favorite thing to wear was pink dresses. , I think it's because the emperor likes it... It's a pity that Liu Yatou is in Longyin Villa, otherwise you can ask her about the prince's preferences."

"Mother, do you want your daughter to be chosen by the emperor or by His Royal Highness?" Lu Jie asked impatiently, she didn't want to enter the palace at all.

"It doesn't matter whether he is the emperor or the prince, as long as he is elected, Lu Xu will have to bow to you and to me."

"Your words are very problematic." Lu Jie immediately retorted: "You are an elder, and your daughter is an older sister. Xu'er has always bowed to us first."

"Can the two salutes be the same?" The fifth lady draped the cloth on her daughter and said, "Sixth girl usually salutes us, but always with a superior attitude, as if saluting to us is a kind of reward. , we should be grateful to her."

"If you become the emperor's concubine, or the crown princess, Liang Di or something, then she has to bow to us obediently if she doesn't want to bow to us."

"Mother, don't be too fancy." Lu Jie said disapprovingly, "You know how big Nanli Kingdom is, how many women are participating in the draft, and the girl who participates in the draft is not one in a million. Why should the emperor and the crown prince fall in love with her?" daughter."

"Just because you are Lu Wenxiang's niece, they have to give us this face, and they have to choose you."

"The crown prince doesn't even have a crush on Xuer, how could he fall in love with his daughter."

Lu Jie was not stupid, and quickly retorted: "Maybe the crown prince is just pretending to choose the crown princess, do you know what Xuer said?"

"What did you say?" Qing asked.

"Xu'er said that His Highness the Crown Prince is even more beautiful than her, and my daughter doesn't want to face such a face, so I'm so embarrassed."

Thinking of the rumors circulating in the boudoir circle recently about the prince's beauty, Lu Jie would not want to enter the East Palace. Who would want to find a husband who is prettier than herself.

The Qing family was stunned and said: "That is to enter the palace and be the emperor's concubine. If you give birth to a prince, oh no... you'd better give birth to a princess. The current emperor has several princes, but there is no princess. A princess will be more favored."

But Lu Jie said disapprovingly, "What's so good about a princess? It's not for marrying relatives far away, or marrying down to win over courtiers."

Mentioning that the princess did not end well, Qing immediately thought of the one in Luofeng Villa. Back then, Princess Songchang married King Yun for the purpose of spying on King Yun. After collecting the evidence, she would be convicted and killed immediately, otherwise there would be no such thing as later.

"These clothes are all good, you can pick and choose yourself, what kind of clothes are you wearing?"

The Qing family piled up several pieces of cloth in front of her daughter: "Lu Xu has a lot of clothes that are rewarded by the palace... It's a pity that she is not in the mansion."

Lu Jie originally wanted to use that peach-pink material, but suddenly remembered the flower fairy makeup last time, and picked out a piece of Tianshuibi material: "Let's just use it, Tianshuibi is clean and elegant, and it's neither too overpowering nor too overpowering." Disgrace the lintel."

"If you're more thoughtful, use Tianshuibi..." Qing thought for a while and said, "The clothes are plain, but they can't be all plain, and the hair has to be more gorgeous..."

"My dear, don't worry about my daughter dressing up by herself." Lu Jie said impatiently: "Our Lu family is a famous family, and our uncle is an extreme rightist. We don't need our daughter to marry into the royal family to seek wealth and status. That's it, entering the palace to compete with a bunch of women is not as good as marrying an ordinary family and being the mistress."

"You kid..."

When Qing heard this, she became anxious: "Do as you like, don't blame mother in the future."

At Longyin Villa, Qingluan and the others were a little disappointed and surprised when they received the news. They didn't expect Lu Jie to have such a bottom line.

The Lu family really doesn't need to rely on their daughters to exchange for glory and wealth. Apart from Lu Yiguan to the right minister, several sons of the younger generation of the Lu family are also very outstanding, and they are all working in other places.

Qingniao looked at Lu Xu, who was wrapped in dragon energy, and whispered: "Miss, don't sleep anymore, if you miss such an important event, you will definitely be annoyed when you wake up in the future. There is only one time to choose the crown princess."

They just want to watch the excitement, but some people want to make good use of this opportunity to solve the immediate troubles in one fell swoop.

In the dark room, Liu Zhaoran was tortured again to the point where he could only breathe a sigh of relief, and the queen mother finally let go of her hatred and left, and listened to the news reported by the spies.

"I want to win over the courtiers through the talent show..." The queen mother smiled sarcastically and said, "The Ai family will add some picks to them, hide a few knives inside, and then the big trouble in front of them will be solved without any effort. "

"People... have you chosen?"

"Please don't worry, Queen Mother, the servant's eyes will not let you down."

Aunt Liu accompanied the queen mother all the way, from a young talent to Zhaoyi, Jieyu, to the fourth concubine and then the queen, until now the queen mother, naturally she has extraordinary means.

The atmosphere in the imperial study room became more serious, the emperor handed a booklet to the servant and said: "Emperor Yuguang has sent another letter of state, saying that he is willing to give another phoenix bird in exchange for Princess Yundai to return to the court, I just want to ask What are your wishes?"

Lu Yi and Fan Xing glanced at each other, the servant had already delivered the brochure to them.

"Gu thinks this way..." Emperor Heng took a sip of tea, moistened his throat and said, "Princess Liu Yundai is to vent her anger for a while, but one more phoenix bird can replenish Xu'er's energy and blood, maybe because of this bird Fengniao, Xu'er can wake up from the coma sooner."

"I have no objection."

Lu Yi agreed without thinking, as long as it was for his daughter's benefit, he had no objections.

Fanxing didn't accept the brochure either: "A mere Princess Yundai, how can she be compared with Xu'er... It stands to reason that Beiluo Kingdom should also send a pair of unicorns."

"Is the orphan a person who can do business at a loss?" Emperor Heng said quite proudly: "Gu has told the prince a long time ago that if he wants one more, there is no need to be polite to them. This time they are the first to provoke us. Not even five parts can be let go."

"The members of Jin Guo and the Vulcan Department are all gone, but we can't let them go easily. It's time to settle the old scores."

Lu Yi's usual elegant face was also suffused with a trace of murderous intent. Jin Guo Qingmo pushed his daughter to such an extent that it could not be easily appeased by cession of land and compensation.

Emperor Heng nodded and said: "Gu has not forgotten what happened three years ago."

Everything was discussed and decided, and the atmosphere in Kyoto was like the silence before dawn, and everyone was looking forward to the moment of dawn.

Probably eager to exchange the hostages back, Qilin and Fengniao soon entered Nanli territory, and in order to speed up the progress, Fanxing took the hostages to the border town to exchange.

Fan Xing went out in person, Heng Di was naturally relieved.

Lu Xu's situation has been sealed off to the outside world. Even the queen and the others only know that she was injured and unconscious, and it is even more impossible for others to understand the situation.

Although many courtiers expressed their incomprehension to the emperor's exchange of hostages for divine beasts, it seemed that there was nothing wrong with it. It would not cross the bottom line to cause heartache to the other party, so people in the world would never think that these things were all for Lu Xu.

Although Fanxing was very careful, there was still a small flaw in one link.

Princess Yundai is a special existence in Fireworks and Willow Lane, but she suddenly disappeared, which naturally attracted the attention of the Queen Mother and the others.

In their plan, Princess Yun Dai was also a part. Unexpectedly, when Aunt Liu's people arrived, they found that Yun Dai had disappeared.

"Could Princess Yundai have escaped?" Aunt Liu was not sure.

"With Brahma and Lu Yi's temperament, we will never let Yun Dai escape easily. Is there something we don't know about?" The Queen Mother looked in the mirror, and the deep doubt on her wrinkled face still disappeared,

Aunt Liu said in a low voice, "It is said that not long ago, Yuguangguo sent another letter of credence. Could it be that she asked Princess Yundai to return to the country together?"

"Mo Chengqian pulled out Aijia's eyeliner, and rarely hears what's going on in the imperial study."

"It's the slaves who are incompetent."

Hearing what the Queen Mother said, Aunt Liu immediately knelt down and pleaded guilty.

The queen mother waved her hand and said, "It's not that you are incompetent, it's that their foundation is becoming more and more stable. I'm afraid more courtiers will fall to them once the draft is over."

"Is there no reply from Yao Shi?"

When mentioning the trend of the courtiers, the Queen Mother thought of Liu Ji, who was the key to this plan.

Aunt Liu said "No" and said: "Why don't I go see Yao Shi again, now it's September, and when October comes, Liu Zhaoran's head will fall to the ground, I don't believe that she really wants to see her daughter die."

"It's not necessary." The queen mother waved her hand and said, "You see Yao Shi too often, which will arouse the queen's suspicion."

"Shouldn't be..." Aunt Liu thought about it carefully and said, "Master Yao cares about her daughter, and the queen should not think too much about it when she sees her slaves and servants to ask about her situation several times."

"It's a critical juncture right now. One more thing is worse than one less thing, but..." The Empress Dowager said with a smile: "If the crown prince wants to choose the crown princess, according to the rules, he will also invite the first and second ranks to come to the palace for reference. Mrs. Yao will definitely Will enter the palace, Aijia will naturally have to go and have a look."

"The servant understands, it's still the queen mother who is thoughtful."

Unexpectedly, within seven days, the empress invited the imperial wives of the first and second ranks, as well as the concubines of the princes, to Kunhe Palace.

It turns out that according to the old practice, the candidates for the crown princess are all selected from the major families and officials in Kyoto. The empress is not in a hurry about the emperor's affairs, but she has to be in a hurry about her son's affairs.

With the excuse of admiring the hibiscus flowers, I made this post to invite all the concubines, wives, and ladies into the palace. In fact, I first observed the appearance and temperament of these ladies, so the ladies from all prefectures in Kyoto were invited into the palace, and they all gathered in the Royal Flower Palace. Enjoy the flowers in the end.

Naturally, Mrs. Yao was also the guest of honor, and brought the other two young ladies of the Liu family, who are also the daughters of the Liu family, but not in Liu Ji's room.

When approaching the imperial garden, suddenly two unfamiliar female officials came up to him and said, "See Mrs. Liu, this servant is a female official in the empress's palace, and the empress asked this servant to invite Mrs. Liu to a place."

Yao Shi wanted to refuse, but one of the female officers slowly spread her hand, and a gorgeous earring lay quietly on her palm.

Yao recognized it as belonging to his daughter at a glance, turned to the two nieces and said, "Go to the Royal Garden first, I will go find you later."

"You two ladies, please go with your servants." Another female officer immediately took the two ladies away.

"Who are you?" As soon as the two nieces walked away, Yao immediately asked anxiously, "Why are my daughter's things in your hands?"

"Mrs. Liu, don't be nervous. The empress just arranged for you to meet Miss Liu. There is no other meaning." The female officer made a gesture of invitation, and Yao Shi had no choice but to follow the female officer no matter how doubtful she was.

The path led by the female officer was a bit off, and there were only a few people walking wherever it passed.

After several twists and turns, they came to the outside of a small forest. The female officer saw that there was no one around, and led Yao Shi into the forest quietly.

The woods were very cold and damp, and it didn't seem like a place where people often walked around. Yao shi wanted to retreat, but suddenly there was a scream from the depths of the woods, and his feet seemed to be rooted and unable to move.

"Are you screaming?"

Yao shi is not sure, her daughter has been taken care of by the queen mother, so she shouldn't have screamed like this.

The female officer didn't answer, and raised her hand to ask her to go on, so Yao had no choice but to go on, and finally saw a dark room carved out of a whole stone.

(End of this chapter)