Song Gexing

Chapter 42 The person named Zhao is in a dilemma
"Zhao Qian! Who is Yang Yanzhao's subordinate in Tianbo Mansion?"

Queen Cao frowned and asked.

The female officer bowed respectfully and replied "yes", and Queen Cao frowned even more.

Yu asked in confusion: "Is there something wrong with the queen?"

Zhao Fang became nervous at this question and looked at Queen Cao eagerly with an anxious look on his face. He didn't want to lose Zhao Pan'er, she was too beautiful to let go.

After a long while, Queen Cao breathed a sigh of relief and said: "Zhao Qian is from Dengzhou and his ancestral home is Luozhou. It's wrong for my eldest brother to fall in love with her!"

"Why not..."

After just half of his retort, Zhao Fang choked, his eyes widened, and he turned back to look at Zhao Pan'er.

Yu said in surprise: "Zhao from Luozhou, aren't they from our royal family? Who dares to send a royal woman to the Jiaofangsi?"

When Zhao Fang heard this, he suddenly woke up, jumped up and said loudly: "Yes! How brave, Xiao Wang wants to kill all nine of his clans! Even if he is not a close relative of the royal family, he is a member of my royal family. Who did it, Xiao Wang..."

"Okay bro."

Empress Cao interrupted him, glared at him and said: "You dare to say murder, grounding is not enough, right?"

Zhao Fang's arrogance was instantly knocked away, and he muttered helplessly: "But they are such bastards. They actually sentenced a royal woman. This is disloyal and disobedient, and is no different from a traitor."

Empress Cao rolled her eyes at him and said, "Zhao Qian is not a branch of the royal family. Brother, isn't he familiar with classics and history? Forgot that Luozhou has two branches of Zhao?"

Zhao Fang was stunned for a moment before he remembered that this was indeed the case. Zhao Kuangyin's branch was the descendant of Zhao Gui, one of the Eight Pillar States of the Western Wei Dynasty, who moved here from the Zhao family in Tianshui.

The other Zhao family also moved from Gansu, but it was far away from this bloodline. After the founding of the Song Dynasty, this family was not included in the royal family.

Thinking of this, Zhao Fang became happy: "Hey, it would be better not to belong to the royal family, otherwise I will suffer a big loss."

"You can't have one if you're not a royal eldest brother. If you get married with the same surname, you'll have two years of probation!"

With a blow to the head, Zhao Fang was stunned, and he happily forgot that this was the Song Dynasty, not the Ming Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty basically inherited the legal provisions of the Tang Dynasty. It was the first time in the Tang Dynasty that it was explicitly stipulated that people with the same surname should not marry, and it was not until the Ming Dynasty that it was changed to people of the same clan.

The latter is more reasonable than the former, but people don't care about it in this era. The same clan refers to the same family tree and the same ancestor.

But people with the same surname are far apart. If nothing else, just because the Han surname was changed during the Sinicization of the Northern Wei Dynasty, how many Xianbei people became Han Chinese, even though they have the same surname and are not from the same ancestor at all.

There are also surnames given by emperors of various dynasties, such as Liu and Li. There are countless ethnic minorities, and Li Yuanhao is one of them.

There is also Xu Maogong, who was given the surname Li by Li Shimin, so Li Ji stipulated that Li Xu should not intermarry. Although the people in the Song Dynasty no longer cared about this, the officialdom still had to pay attention, otherwise the gain would not be worth the loss of being impeached.

Zhao Fang is the crown prince, so he cannot do this, otherwise he will be in big trouble.

"Mother... two mothers! If my son is not the prince, is it okay if he doesn't want the throne?"

Unable to think of a way, Zhao Fang had no choice but to act out. Empress Cao glared and scolded: "No nonsense!"

Mrs. Yu even extended her hand, but fortunately she thought there was someone else here, so she took it back, otherwise his ears would suffer again.

"My son likes her, he just likes her. If my mother doesn't allow it, my son won't want a wife." Staring at their angry son, the two ladies rubbed their teeth with a headache and wanted to beat him.

The female officer next to her looked at the deadlock, rolled her eyes, stepped forward and said, "Empress, Empress Yu, why not let this child change his surname. He is not from the same clan in the first place, and it is not worth it to make the king sad."

"Change your surname!"

The empresses of the two palaces were startled and looked at Zhao Pan'er, only to see that she was hesitant to speak and looked unwilling.

However, Zhao Fang became happy and nodded repeatedly: "This is good, this is good, just change her mother's surname."

When Zhao Pan'er heard this, her eyes moved and she nodded slightly, seemingly not objecting.

Empress Cao kept looking at her, and sighed when she saw this appearance: "Oh my little enemy! Zhao Qian's wife has the same surname as me, and she is also from a well-known family. It was only today that I found out that she had joined the Jiaofang Division. If the officials knew about it, they would feel sad in their hearts. It will also make you uneasy."

"Does he have the same surname as his mother, or does he come from a famous family?"

Zhao Fang was surprised. He didn't know about this. There was no record of this in the original novel, TV series, or Guan Hanqing's original work in his previous life.

Seeing his surprise, Zhao Pan'er also looked puzzled and surprised. She didn't know what the queen said. Her mother's surname was Cao, but she was definitely not from the general Cao family.

Empress Cao sighed: "In the seventh year of Dazhong Xiangfu, the privy envoy Cao Lili committed suicide out of fear of crime after being demoted and returned home. Then his son Cao Yuan wrote a letter requesting to move to Dengzhou. The officials took pity on his father's meritorious service and allowed him to serve as Dengzhou. Tax Supervisor, Zhao Qian’s wife is Cao Yuan’s half-sister.”

"My half-sister, she is a concubine. No wonder Zhao Qian was imprisoned and was not rescued by Cao Yuan."

Zhao Fang thought to himself, but his expression gave him away. Yu smiled bitterly and said: "Brother, I was wrong. Cao Xiangtao was convicted of arrogance back then, and his son has been cautious since then, not daring to step beyond the boundaries. It shouldn't be that he didn't save him. But I don’t dare, for fear of implicating the Cao family’s newly restored reputation.”

Zhao Fang was right when he heard it. It was four years after Cao Li's death that the imperial court restored his previous official position, returned his property for burial, and truly sealed the coffin.

In consideration of his outstanding achievements in the past, Renzong ignored his faults and erected a Shinto monument for him.

He recorded his merits and wrote the four characters "Monument of Jing Gong" in his own handwriting, and gave him the posthumous title "Xiang Mourning".

This is a man who destroyed his own good cards. He was granted the title of Sikong, but he still outshone the prime minister. In his later years, he was so arrogant and domineering that the emperor had a headache.

Although his arrogance was not aimed at the emperor, but at the prime minister, it was really difficult for the emperor to be caught in the middle. He was a peacemaker every day. If it weren't for Zhao Zhen's good temper, any other emperor would have been questioned long ago.

In the end, his nephew committed a serious crime, which caused him to be demoted.

Because he had been at odds with the eunuchs in the past, the eunuchs who escorted him back to his hometown threatened him. He had a strong personality and committed suicide, ending his glorious and suicidal life. It was a pity.

Cao Lili was the highest peak that the new generation of military officials could reach after the founding of the Song Dynasty. Even the later Di Qing could not compare with him.

Only Cao Bin, the founding general, had the same official position as him. He was ranked as a military minister and a privy envoy, plus three ministers, and also served as a minister and a minister.

Therefore, his Cao family is definitely a famous family. Although the next generation will not be useful, it does not affect the status of the Cao family. Queen Cao is right to say that Zhao Paner's mother came from a famous family.

"Okay, if you like, you can stay in your palace as a maid. We've finished choosing two more people."

Empress Cao did not ask Zhao Paner to change her surname, but instead brought her into the palace as a maid. Zhao Fang was stunned, understanding that the matter was not over yet, but he did not insist on it at this time.

Nodding, he said, "Other mothers can do whatever they want, but my son will look the same anyway."

(End of this chapter)