The Wife is First - 37 Chapter 37 Summoning

In June of the 13th year of Hongzheng’s reign, the imperial court sent Fan Jie, the censor, to the southwest fiefdom to read out the imperial edict to reduce vassalage. The king of Southwest was dissatisfied and wrote a letter to defend himself.

In July, the King of Southwest killed the imperial envoy and proclaimed himself king, shocking both the government and the public! Emperor Hongzheng then decided to send troops to pacify the southwest!

“I heard from my Duke that the terrain in the southwest is steep and difficult to defend and difficult to attack, and the current king of the Southwest is quite cunning and good at using strange weapons, which is very difficult to deal with.” Mrs. Mao Guogong whispered to the queen.

The step-empress Wu looked at the pomegranate flowers blooming in front of her and frowned slightly: “The emperor wants to mobilize one hundred thousand troops this time. It would be inappropriate to let King Cheng go.”

“It is not easy to win a war in that difficult place in the southwest,” Mrs. Mao Guoguo carefully recalled what her husband had told her. “Once the withdrawal of the vassals begins, I am afraid that all three vassals will withdraw. When the King of Huainan is attacked, the four vassals will be Prince, the terrain south of the Yangtze River is flat, and we can attack it with enough troops and horses.”

When the queen heard this, she nodded slightly.

Mrs. Mao Guo secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The southwest is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Once this battle is fought, it will be unknown in what year. Her daughter has already been engaged to the fourth prince. If her husband goes to war just after they get married, wouldn’t it be wrong? If she had to live as a widow, she would be old and gloomy by the time the fourth prince returned. By then, he would lick a few high-born concubines, and even if he became the queen in the future, life would not be easy.

“There is one more thing, I don’t know whether I should tell you or not.” Mrs. Mao Guogong clasped her hands together, hesitating.

“There are no outsiders here, so there is nothing inappropriate to say.” The queen raised her hand to pick a bright red pomegranate flower, with a sneer on her lips. Back then, she also served Queen Yuan with such caution, saying “Concubine” “I don’t know whether to talk about something or not.” But just because she was wearing a pomegranate flower, she was pointed out that it was against the rules, and Empress Yuan made her kneel in front of Fengyi Palace for an hour in the dog days of summer!

“I heard that King Cheng Yue gave the fourth prince a royal concubine as a gift.” Mrs. Mao Guo glanced at the queen’s expression carefully and continued when she saw that she was not angry. “Originally, I shouldn’t have been involved in these matters. The Fourth Prince Yue was about to get married, but there were rumors in the capital that the Fourth Prince now doted on that woman.

I don’t know how this news leaked out. Anyway, Mrs. Beiwei Hou knew about it. When she met everyone, she said that the fourth prince doted on his concubine before they were married. She openly and secretly mocked her daughter for not being able to live well in the fourth prince’s house after she was married. Good times. Now, the woman who had been humiliated because of choosing the prince’s concubine was mingling among the ladies with a very happy expression, which made Duke Mao so angry that she couldn’t even eat two meals.

“Is this the case?” The queen crushed the pomegranate flowers in her hand, took the silk handkerchief from the palace maid’s hand and wiped her hands, “Just call Jing Yu back and ask. Don’t worry, I will not let the prince The princess is wronged.”

The weather in July was already very hot. Jing Shao was sweating profusely after practicing his sword for a while. He took off his wet clothes and ran shirtless under the tree. He took the wet cloth from Zhi Xi’s hand and wiped his face. , and sat next to his princess.

“The sun is poisonous, stop practicing.” Mu Hanzhang, who was sitting on the rattan bed to cool off, handed him a piece of watermelon.

Jing Shao nibbled the watermelon in his hand several times before he felt a little cooler: “This watermelon tastes ice cold, it’s really refreshing.”

“The princess asked the slave to stay in the well early in the morning.” Miao Xi said with a smile, and put a plate of freshly cut food on the table.

Yunzhu changed to a larger fan and fanned them hard behind their backs.

“When I was just practicing my sword, I suddenly remembered that my father must have sent Fan Jie on purpose.” Jing Shao ate another piece of watermelon.

“Why do you see it?” Mu Hanzhang leaned on the back of the couch and turned a page of the book in his hand.

“Fan Jie doesn’t know how to talk in a roundabout way. My father has long been dissatisfied with his bookishness. He would always splatter Panlongzhu with blood and reprimand him, but there was nothing he could do.” Think about what that treacherous villain like the Southwest King will do. Fan Jie was so angry that he trembled, and Jing Shao couldn’t help laughing.

Mu Hanzhang glanced at the prince who did not mourn for the loyal ministers and martyrs at all, and shook his head helplessly: “Sacrificing yourself for the country this time can be regarded as fulfilling Master Fan’s wish to leave his name forever.”

Jing Shao ate three pieces of watermelon, wiped his hands, and leaned back against his princess, looking at the little bits of sunlight leaking from the treetops and the cool breeze, making him feel drowsy.

“What do you want your father to do today?” His big head was just resting on his lower abdomen, and his long breaths kept blowing on his lower abdomen. Mu Hanzhang moved uncomfortably and let Jing Shao rest on his lap. He waved his hand to tell the maid and Yunzhu to retreat.

“Hmph, she said she wanted to give me another side room! The queen actually thought of letting me marry her niece!” Jing Shao snorted dissatisfied. The queen was so angry that he gave Yan Ji to Jing Yu. Now, I want to marry Yongchang Bo’s concubine to disgust him.

Mu Hanzhang’s hand holding the book paused: “Then what did you say?”

“I’m just saying…” Jing Shao realized that he had been changed position, so he turned over in dissatisfaction, turned his face towards Jun Qing’s belly, and deliberately rubbed the tip of his nose there, “I only like men. , now I have no interest in women.”

“Hmm…” The rubbing through the fabric made him feel more clearly. Mu Hanzhang snorted and hid back, “How could you say that? Father should be angry.”

“It’s better than letting them stuff me with random women.” Jing Shao chased after him harshly and pressed the side of his face gently against Xiao Junqing.

Mu Hanzhang frowned, took the big head with both hands, moved it to the jade pillow beside him, and called it hot!

Jing Shao curled his lips in dissatisfaction, jumped up, took the spear beside him, and started practicing again.

Seeing Jing Shao working so hard, Mu Hanzhang gradually suppressed his smile. His father had summoned Jing Shao alone a few days ago, and the expedition to the Southwest was basically no longer his fault. However, the expedition was about to begin, but he had not felt any sorrow about parting these days. Perhaps it was commonplace for Jing Shao to leave home to fight, but seeing him looking like he was only thinking about fighting, he still couldn’t help but feel sad.

“Prince, Princess, someone is coming from the palace.” Duofu hurriedly ran into the garden.

“Who is it?” Jing Shao put away the silver gun in his hand.

“It’s Duolu from the Queen’s Palace.” Duofu frowned with dissatisfaction. He and Duolu entered the palace in the same batch. When he was the general manager with Empress Yuan, Duolu was just a young eunuch in Shufei Palace. , Now that Concubine Shu has become the heir, that boy dares to show off when he sees her.

“Invite him in.” Mu Hanzhang handed the coat to Jing Shao. Soon, a thin eunuch walked in and saluted them both, but his expression was arrogant.

Jing Shao frowned: “Father-in-law is here, but what’s the matter with mother and queen?”

“The Queen has decreed that Princess Xuan Cheng will go to Fengyi Palace immediately.” Duolu’s slightly shrill voice was quite uncomfortable in his ears.

“At this hour?” Jing Shao frowned. It’s just past noon. Doesn’t the queen need to take a nap? It is definitely not a good thing to summon Junqing in such a hurry.

Mu Hanzhang pursed his lips. Because he was a man, the queen never called him into the palace after they got married. Today, Jing Shao had just rejected Yongchang’s concubine as a concubine, and the queen hurriedly called him into the palace. She must have wanted to Starting from him, maybe it was just because I was angry and wanted to take out my anger on him. “I will change my clothes and come. My father-in-law will wait a moment.”

“Wait a minute!” Jing Shao grabbed Mu Hanzhang, who was about to change into court clothes, and looked coldly at Duolu, who came empty-handed, “Did the Queen Mother tell you what’s going on?”

“This slave doesn’t dare to inquire,” Duolu knew that Cheng Wang would be a tough opponent, so he relaxed and said, “The queen only announced the princess, and she must have chatted with the princess about family affairs. The prince does not need to worry.”

Jing Shao didn’t believe that the queen came over at this time just to chat about family affairs, but the queen had issued an order, and she didn’t say why. She couldn’t openly defy it, so he turned around and followed his princess into the house, took out the royal uniform and started to change. : “I’ll go with you.”

“How can you enter the palace at this hour?” Mu Hanzhang hurriedly stopped his movements. He was going to Fengyi Palace without being summoned. It would be reasonable to visit his mother in the morning and dusk. But if Jingshao enters the palace at this hour, I’m afraid it’s… If he wants to cause trouble, “Don’t worry, I can handle it myself if anything happens.” Na Duolu specifically emphasized that only Princess Xuancheng was the only one, and that she would not let Jing Shao follow her.

Jing Shao watched coldly as his princess followed Duolu into the carriage from the palace. He pulled Miao Xi and said, “Follow the princess. If anything happens, go to the south study to find me immediately!” Miao Xi was a palace maid. He is familiar with the roads in the palace and is also smart.

After hearing this, Miao Xi nodded heavily and followed quickly.

The south study room is where the underage princes study, and it is also the only place where Jingshao can hang out at this time. Emperor Hongzheng always valued filial piety and encouraged the adult princes to teach their younger brothers when they had time. However, the emperor’s heart was really unpredictable. If they went too often, they would be suspected of wooing these brothers, so the four of them went out to build a palace. After that, I rarely went to Nan Study Room.

After the carriage had gone far, Jing Shao got on Xiao Hei and followed from a distance. When the carriage actually entered the palace gate, he turned his horse’s head and entered through another side door.

“Your Majesty, why are you entering the palace at this hour?” Xiao Qian, the guard commander who came to inspect his post, saw Jing Shao and hurriedly came forward to say hello. Xiao Qian is a distant relative of Dingnanhou’s family, and he also has some friendship with Jing Shao.

“Xiao Qian!” Jing Shao put his arm around Commander Xiao’s neck, pulled him aside, and stuffed him with a golden brave the size of an egg. “If a maid runs out of Fengyi Palace and goes to the south study, please.” It’s convenient for you, I’ll take care of anything you need.”

Xiao Qian was still a little hesitant, but after hearing the last sentence, he felt relieved and put Pixiu in his arms: “Don’t worry, Your Majesty, it’s a trivial matter.” It was normal for a palace maid to move around in the palace. If it weren’t for the instructions from the nobles in the palace, it would There is absolutely no reason to stop him and prevent him from leaving.