Chapter 316 Marriage
"Gong Lu and two staff were having a secret conversation in the study. His subordinates overheard him. Duke Lu said that if they lost Jiangnan this time, they would lose half of their power. Concubine Lu was furious and wanted to start with the marriage of the second and third princes. Pull up a few to help.”
Marriage between nobles supports each other and watches over each other. This is also a method that all aristocratic families have to do in order to protect themselves and strengthen their family power.
In the past two years, the Lu family has suffered successive losses, especially the Jiangnan corruption incident. If Duke Lu had not removed the Lu family quickly, even the Lu family would have been involved.
All the officials in Jiangnan were implicated. After Master Dai heard that all Dai's family members had been killed by the refugees, he had no hope of survival and committed suicide out of fear of crime.
Other officials were also sentenced to confiscation of their homes and exiled.
In short, Jiangnan's fall was too hard for the Lu family.
Only Wu Zongbing made a decisive decision when the second prince was fighting against the Japanese pirates, and he sent troops in time to help the second prince, which can be regarded as a credit. He also sent troops in time to suppress the victims and restored stability to the Jiangnan area as soon as possible. The emperor looked upon him For the sake of meritorious service, he will be punished with three years of salary confiscation as appropriate.
General Wu was the only minister in Jiangnan who retained his official position.
General Wu would do things for the Lu family before because of his relationship with the Dai family and because of Dai Yufen.
Now that the Dai family is gone, Dai Yufen's status in General Wu's heart has also dropped rapidly. A few days ago, Ao Tianchen thanked General Wu for sending troops to help, so he sent a Yangzhou thin horse to General Wu to relieve his boredom.
General Wu was very happy and took refuge with the Second Prince without saying a word.
The Lu family had completely lost control of Jiangnan and wanted to make up for it elsewhere, but the emperor was not stupid. Lu Guogong managed to insert a few secret moves, but the emperor blatantly found the faults and removed them one by one.
Duke Lu Guo had no other choice, so he discussed with Concubine Lu to form a marriage alliance to gain power.
"Did you hear that Duke Lu wanted to win over someone?"
Hua She glanced at Xia Zihan with a strange look.
Xia Zihan's heart skipped a beat, and a bad premonition came to mind.
Sure enough, Hua She said, "I didn't mention anyone directly, but Duke Lu mentioned Mr. Chu Ge's lofty status in the hearts of the people and his unparalleled prestige in the army."
Now, Mr. Chu Ge has been dead for four years, but the common people and military officers and soldiers still have regrets about Mr. Chu Ge's death.
The people and soldiers would also feel pity for the only bloodline left by Mr. Chu Ge, the Chu Yu County Lord.
Especially for the cotton-padded clothes for this disaster relief, County Lord Chuyu used his private money to make 5,000 new sets of cotton-padded clothes and trousers, which was equivalent to saving 5,000 people.
Not only did the emperor greatly reward County Master Chu Yu, even the people in the capital would raise their thumbs up when they mentioned the word County Master Chu Yu, praising Mr. Chu Ge’s granddaughter for being well taught by Mr. Chu Ge and Mr. Chu Yu. As always, he has the people in his heart.
Even Concubine Lu was envious of such a woman who had a status in the hearts of the people and the emperor.
At present, the only thing that County Master Chuyu lacks is that her mother's family has a lower backing. However, the relationship between the Chu family and the Chu family has also increased County Master Chuyu's status a bit.
Therefore, Duke Lu Guo and Concubine Lu would consider making County Lord Chu Yu one of their targets.
However, the second princess did not take a fancy to the identity of County Lord Chu Yu at first, and now Concubine Lu also does not. In Concubine Lu's eyes, County Lord Chu Yu is not worthy of the eldest son who will be offered the throne to her, but for Her second son would be a concubine and it would be a good match.
In Lu Guifei's view, the status of a concubine was given to County Lord Chuyu, and County Lord Chuyu would not suffer any loss.
Of course, the Lu family will not suffer even more.
Concubine Lu and Duke Lu are both equally good at calculating.
Two princes, one legitimate wife and two noble concubines could win over six major forces to the Lu family at once.
And Xia Zihan was just one of the people they wanted to win over.
"Hmph, their plans are quite good. I'm afraid they'll be in vain." Xia Zihan sneered.
Suddenly, she looked at Hua Snake, "Are you still in contact with the man in the palace?"
The corner of Hua She's mouth twitched, and she nodded silently after a while, "It has contact with his secret guards."
"Well, you think of a way to send this news to the palace."
She wanted to see if the queen in the palace would remain indifferent if she knew about Concubine Lu's plan.
In the previous life, when several princes were trying to earn heirs, the queen was not as powerful as Concubine Lu, and even the emperor had to act based on Lu Guogong's expression.
In the end, not only the emperor was plotted by Concubine Lu, but even the queen and the prince were plotted by Concubine Lu, and no one was left.
In the end, the cause of death of both mother and son was unknown, so they were hastily buried by the courtiers.
But in this life, the Lu family is in doom, and Concubine Lu has had her arms cut off. Under this situation, if the queen still loses at the hands of Concubine Lu, then she will doubt that the Chu family is on the side of the prince. , is it right?
After Hua She left, Xia Zihan was no longer in the mood to practice, so he sent Nuanyu to tell Zeng and Zhuo to take leave. He climbed onto the hot bed and picked up the blue robe that was half-sewed yesterday. , stitched together stitch by stitch.
Si Cao and Xiang Xiang came in to clean the house, folded the quilts and made the bed, wiped the tables and chairs. After cleaning up, Si Cao asked Xia Zihan, "County Master, where will breakfast be placed?"
"Just put it on the Kang table."
Xia Zihan felt lazy all over, not very willing to move, and his hands were sewing slowly, stitch by stitch.
After the vanilla and silk grass prepared the meal, she only drank half a bowl of blood swallow porridge and ate two crystal dumplings, then ordered the maid to take away the meal.
"County Master, you only eat a little. If the old lady finds out, she will be worried again." Nuan Yu came in and frowned worriedly when she saw that the food on the table had not been touched at all.
Xia Zihan had no choice but to say, "I really can't eat anymore. You guys should move out first and let the cook make some snacks and bring them over in the morning."
"What does the County Lord want to eat?"
What do you want to eat, but she doesn’t want to eat anything?
Her stomach is full even if she doesn't eat.
It was because of the popularity of the shameless Lu family.
When her grandfather was still alive, he had earned a good reputation. Concubine Lu was so greedy that she tried to go against her grandfather.
Maybe her grandfather was killed by Concubine Lu.
Now that her grandfather is dead, her grandfather's murderer, when he was almost at the end of his rope, decided to kill her.
She wants to make a comeback by relying on the legacy left to her by her grandfather.
Hum...
In this case, it's strange that she can still eat it.
Concubine Lu wanted to trick her, but she couldn't think of a way to avoid this disaster.
She is a noble concubine, high and mighty, but she is just a small and pitiful county head.
The name of County Lord was given to her by the emperor because of his pity, but in fact she was the legitimate daughter of a small fifth-rank Hanlin scholar.
Such identities can be found everywhere in the capital.
How could she defeat Concubine Lu?
Her only hope now is to use the Queen's hand to put an end to Concubine Lu's plot.
Nuanyu ordered Chu Kui and the others to take away the food. She sat on the edge of the Kang and helped Xia Zihan separate the lines. She said, "Second Aunt Grandma said that she will send a maid over to see you in a while. She also said that your body has always been healthy." Zhuangzhuang, why do you suddenly feel uncomfortable? The second aunt is worried.”
"Just say that my period is fine." Xia Zihan blushed.
In order to hide Mrs. Zeng and Mrs. Zhuo, there was only this excuse to excuse her from having breakfast with Mrs. Zeng and not going for a walk with Mrs. Zhuo.
Zeng and Zhuo are both shrewd people. It was impossible for her to cover up such a big thing, just for fear that they would notice something strange and suspect something.
She didn't want them to worry.
Mr. Zeng is getting old and is worried about it.
Zhuo's belly is also big, so she is not a suitable host for Xixin.
It's better to forget it, she can handle everything.
Nuan Yu responded, and when Yue Jin came to visit her, Nuan Yu blushed and gave her excuse. Yue Jin's face stiffened for a moment, and then she and Nuan Yu leaned their heads and muttered a few words.
Nuan Yu hummed, and Yue Jin excused herself to go out.
By chance, Hua Snake came to see Xia Zihan.
When Yue Jin saw Hua Snake appearing, she glanced at him. Her face turned red all of a sudden, her eyes were shy and charming, and her legs that were about to leave seemed to be fixed in place by nails, motionless.
Nuanyu blinked, looked at Yue Jin, and then at Hua She, who entered the outer room as if nothing happened. After a while, she seemed to understand something.
Hua She said, "Master, I have something to report."
Xia Zihan said yes and sent all the maids in the room out.
Hua She said, "It has been sent in. There is news from the palace, so you can rest assured."
In fact, when the prince said this to the secret guard, he also said that Xia Zihan was the daughter-in-law of his sworn brother. His brother was not in the capital, so he naturally had to guard his sister-in-law for his brother, and he would not let the second prince and his wife take care of him. The prince coveted it.
The secret guard said this to Hua Snake as a joke, but Hua Snake glared at the secret guard fiercely.
After all, Xia Zihan is a girl who has not yet left the court, and she is the daughter-in-law that his young master secretly likes. Now the prince said that he will protect her, huh, although the prince is kind-hearted to protect his wife for the sake of Chu Jingqi. Son, but his future mistress wants another man to protect her. How does he feel about this matter and how uncomfortable it is.
Xia Zihan didn't know what Hua She was thinking, but she was in a much better mood now. In the morning, the girl in the kitchen brought several plates of snacks. Xia Zihan had a big appetite and ate more than a dozen yuan.
She pointed to a plate of hibiscus crystal cake and told Si Cao, "This hibiscus crystal cake is well made. Please put a few plates on it and send one to each of my grandmother and aunt Zhang."
Silk Grass said yes and went down to prepare.
Half an hour later, Si Cao came in with a large glass of light yellow juice and said with a smile, "There is newly squeezed loquat juice in the kitchen to relieve coughs and soothe the throat. The slave specially brought a cup for the county master to drink."
A few days ago, Nuanxiang asked the escort agency to send ten boxes of loquats, a specialty of the south of the Yangtze River. Xia Zihan sent one box to the Liao family, another box to the Xia family, and one box to Qi Lan and the others. In the other courtyard, the Dou family and the Second Prince's Mansion also sent a box each.
There were five boxes left. The servants of the Chu family divided two boxes to eat, and the masters divided two boxes to eat. There was only one box left. The loquats were perishable and could not be kept, so the old lady asked the cook to squeeze them into juice. Several masters drank.
(End of chapter)