northernbook Chapter 163 Sending the Princess to Marry
Chapter 163 Sending the Princess to Marry
The royal family of the Dayin Dynasty was named Gu, which is a common surname used by the male protagonists of many romance novels.
The emperor and the empress flipped through the book again and again, and finally named the little prince "Gu Xiuqi", which means: cultivate oneself, manage the family, govern the country, and bring peace to the world.
Just from the name, it can be seen that the emperor has high hopes for the little prince.
The queen also liked the name and said:
"Just call me Gu Xiuqi."
"I've asked Concubine Xu to take care of the full moon banquet." The emperor added, "After all, you are still in confinement and your body has not recovered yet. You shouldn't overwork yourself."
The queen nodded, naturally agreeing with everything.
There are not many concubines in the palace. Apart from the Queen, there were only two high-ranking concubines in the past: Concubine Shu and Concubine Xu. Now that the Queen is in confinement after childbirth and Concubine Shu has died, only Concubine Xu can take on the responsibility.
Ever since the Fifth Prince broke his leg and was no longer eligible to compete for the throne, Concubine Xu seemed to have become listless.
In the past, she wanted to compete for everything, but now she has suddenly changed her personality. Every day, she either looks for other sisters in the harem to drink tea and chat, or looks for a troupe to perform in her own palace.
It is indeed a leisurely and comfortable retirement life.
Now that the Emperor had entrusted her with the task of hosting a full-moon banquet for the little prince, she did not refuse but did her best to do it.
Anyway, her son could not ascend to the throne. No matter who became the emperor in the future, her son would just be an idle prince. It would be better for him to curry favor with the queen. At least the queen was a fair, wise and good person.
The fact that the queen herself has no children for so many years, but almost every concubine in the harem has a child, is enough to prove the queen's character.
She did not monopolize the emperor and prevent him from getting equal treatment, nor was she the vicious queen who would perform abortions at every turn.
After Concubine Xu accepted the full-moon banquet, the whole palace became busy. Both the palace maids and eunuchs were immersed in joy. After all, because the legitimate prince was born, the emperor ordered an increase in their monthly wages.
In such a joyful situation in the palace, the sudden sound of crying was very strange.
Shi Lidie heard the crying on her way out of the palace. It was behind the rockery in the imperial garden. The crying was not obvious, just a little sobbing, as if the woman was deliberately suppressing herself.
Then she heard a voice saying:
"Princess, don't cry. If others see you, they will think you have a problem with the legitimate son born to the Queen."
Yes, at a time when everyone in the palace is happy, why are you crying here? Isn't that bringing bad luck to the Queen?
If people knew about this, they would definitely be unhappy.
"Can't I cry in hiding?" another voice said, "The Queen has given birth to a prince, everyone is happy, I am happy too, but I am about to go to marry a prince, can't I cry for myself?"
When Shi Lidie heard this conversation, she couldn't hold it in any longer.
Marriage?
The Dayin Dynasty was not completely peaceful and prosperous, but under the governance of His Majesty, it was also a powerful country in the Central Plains. Would a powerful country send a princess to marry?
Is it that the generals of the Pei family can no longer ride their horses?
Or is it that young generals like Qi Jingze are no longer able to carry the sword?
Moreover, based on Shi Lidie's understanding of the emperor, he is an ambitious king and very wise. He would never do such a thing as sending his own daughter to marry a foreign prince. Could it be that the princess made a mistake?
Judging from the voice, it sounds like the Fourth Princess.
Your Majesty, you have five princesses. The first two are already married, and the last two are too young. So the only one who is of the right age to be used in a marriage alliance is the fourth princess.
Shi Lidie thought about it, and couldn't hold back her gossipy thoughts, so she walked over and said:
"Fourth Princess, I'm Shi Lidie, can I talk to you for a moment?"
As soon as she opened her mouth, the crying stopped, and soon a palace maid came out and greeted her:
"Princess Yun'an, our princess invites you in."
Shi Lidie crawled into the rockery, where there was an open space. The fourth princess sat on the ground, leaning against the wall of the rockery, crying and looking totally out of shape.
Seeing Shi Lidie, the fourth princess pursed her lips and asked:
"Why are you here? I thought this place was remote enough."
"Originally, I didn't take this road to leave the palace, but the second princess asked me to deliver something to Concubine Mei. When I left her palace, I took this road as it was the closest to leaving the palace." Shi Lidie replied.
She followed the Fourth Princess's example and sat on the ground, side by side with her, and asked again:
"Why are you hiding here crying?"
"Nothing." The fourth princess shook her head. "I'm not crying, and don't tell anyone. I don't want people to think I'm disrespectful to the Queen."
Shi Lidie sighed.
She had met the Fourth Princess at a palace banquet before. She was a casual girl and more lively than the gentle Second Princess. But she didn't expect that she would hide and cry today.
"I know you have no intention of disrespecting the queen. I just heard your conversation with the palace maid and you said that you were going to be sent to marry a foreign prince. Can you tell me what's going on?" Shi Lidie asked.
"What's the point of telling you? You can't help me." said the fourth princess.
"That's not necessarily true. I have helped Your Majesty solve many problems. Who knows, maybe I can help you, too?"
When the fourth princess heard this, she thought it made sense, so she explained the whole story to Shi Lidie:
"During my second sister's wedding banquet, my third brother and Marquis Dingbei conspired to launch a mutiny in an attempt to force the emperor to abdicate. You know about this, right? Marquis Dingbei secretly transferred 100,000 troops from the northern border, leaving several cities in the northern border undefended."
"The Northern Di took advantage of the situation and seized this opportunity to attack the city with empty defenses."
"I heard that Ye State cooperated with Beidi. The crown prince of Ye State went to Beidi in person to serve as a military advisor to the Beidi people. He also asked his deputy general to lead the Ye State army to harass our northwest border."
"Although there are Pei family members on the border, the Pei family generals have been entrenched in the most important border defense strongholds and cannot be moved easily. We can only send a small number of people to provide support."
"We were fighting on two fronts and we were short of troops. The Pei family couldn't move without authorization. Under these circumstances, we lost three cities."
"The prince of Ye State controlled all the people in the city and made a request to my father, the emperor, to send a princess to marry him, redeem the city, and save the people. Otherwise, he would massacre the city."
"Although my father hasn't said it explicitly yet, I am the only princess of the right age, so shouldn't I be the one to marry?"
"I know that I was born into the royal family and am worshipped by the people. I should also shoulder my responsibilities as a princess, but when I thought about leaving my homeland to marry, I felt sad, so I hid and cried secretly."
Shi Lidie listened to the Fourth Princess's long speech and asked curiously:
"This is the military intelligence from the front line. How do you know it so clearly?"
"I have an aunt who married into the Pei family. She came to the palace a few days ago and told me. She asked my mother and I to be mentally prepared. I might be sent to marry."