NCCnovel Chapter 291 Prepare for a rainy day, the old lady kills three birds with one stone
Chapter 291 Prepare for a rainy day, the old lady kills three birds with one stone
The court purge, headed by the Minister of Revenue Pei Kunfu, continued until the twelfth lunar month when it was snowing heavily.
Early in the morning, Nanxing took the soldiers in the yard to clean the snow in the yard. Xie Zhaozhao put on a cloak and admired the plum blossoms and snow in the garden with Yuanyuanman and others.
Yuanyuan said, "Miss, the plum blossoms in the garden are in full bloom. The gardener has added many new varieties this year. We can also hold a plum blossom viewing banquet."
In fact, many people in Beijing want to come to Qingpu Garden to enjoy the scenery.
Some come for the scenery, some come for the people.
The situation in the court was turbulent now. A plum blossom viewing banquet? Xie Zhaozhao did not comment.
Mo Yan ran in from outside and reported: "Madam, the second master and the second mistress are back."
Xie Zhaozhao said happily: "Please come in."
Hongying and Hongshu took a letter to Yuzhou to meet Zhang Hexuan at the end of April. Zhang Hexuan's wife Jiang Ningning acted as a matchmaker for Gu Huanhuan and Gu Mianmian in the barracks of the Duke of Zhenguo who was guarding the western border.
In early September, the two returned with information on five husband candidates: three generals and two colonels.
In his reply, Zhang Hexuan told Gu Shaoyu and Xie Zhaozhao that the other party had simple family relationships, reliable character and good temper.
After receiving the letter, Xie Zhaozhao went to Gu's house and told Gu Zhongyu and Lu about the situation.
The two were overjoyed and immediately set off with Gu Huanhuan and Gu Mianmian.
With this trip, the two women were considered married.
Before leaving, Gu Huanhuan and Gu Mianmian came to Qingpu Garden to kowtow to Xie Zhaozhao to express their gratitude.
Xie Zhaozhao warned: "You are going to the west now, and I don't know when we will meet again. I just hope you will abide by the virtues of a wife and support your husband and children."
She also told them that fortune and misfortune are interdependent, a general may earn military merit but may also lose his life, so they should cherish their husbands, not despise them for being dirty or rough, and not demand of them according to the requirements of the powerful in Kyoto.
The journey was long, and Gu Zhongyu did not bring much dowry for his two daughters. He drove a total of ten carriages, with three carriages for each daughter's dowry.
Each of them brought two maids and some daily necessities for the journey.
Xie Zhaozhao added makeup to them: two sets of colorful brocade for each person, a set of head ornaments, hairpins, etc., and five hundred taels of silver as a gift.
More importantly, they were given four female soldiers as dowries, all of whom were skilled in martial arts and smart and capable.
The four female soldiers all signed indentures, and Xie Zhaozhao gave them each one of the four idioms: "half a sky of red clouds, the sun's pure jade, hiding one's light and jade, and the bright moon in one's arms."
They are called: Zhuxia, Yujie, Yunyu and Mingyue respectively.
Zhu Xia and Yu Jie followed Gu Huan Huan, while Yun Yu and Ming Yue followed Gu Mian Mian.
Gu Zhongyu and Lu were very grateful.
Back then, when Xie Zhaozhao got married, she was accompanied by four hundred majestic palace soldiers. Nowadays, bringing palace soldiers with her when getting married has become a part of a noble lady's dowry.
Yuanyuanman smiled as sweet as a flower. Are these four female soldiers given by the young lady given to Gu Huanhuan and Gu Mianmian as maids for free?
The eldest lady took this opportunity to place spies on the western frontier!
Gu Zhongyu and the Lu family sent their daughter to the west together. It was September when they left, and three months later, the couple finally returned.
I'll just tidy up the house and come back.
When she met Xie Zhaozhao, Mrs. Lu was so excited that tears welled up in her eyes, and she hurriedly talked about the marriage of Gu Huanhuan and Gu Mianmian.
Gu Huanhuan married a young general named Deng Changze, who was nineteen years old. His family was a scholarly family in Shu. His father only married his mother. He had two older brothers, both of whom were juren.
Gu Mianmian married a captain named Fu Jun, who was a little older, 26 years old this year. He was from Beidai and was a rural person. Both his parents had passed away, and he only had two younger sisters in the family, who were already married.
Generally speaking, both sons-in-law are honest people.
Xie Zhaozhao frowned and said, "Deng Changze sounds okay, but this Fu Jun is only a seventh-rank lieutenant at the age of 26. Why is his promotion so slow?"
She looked at Mrs. Lu indifferently. After all, Mrs. Lu still favored her biological daughter more.
Gu Mianmian was the illegitimate daughter of Gu Zhongyu's concubine Wen, but she was Gu Zhongyu's biological daughter after all. Why did Lu, the stepmother, choose a seventh-rank captain who was so old for her child?
Mrs. Lu explained: "Fu Jun is from Beidai. He is very tall and a bit dumb. But Magistrate Zhang said that he was very brave in battle. He was promoted slowly because he was too honest."
Gu Zhongyu also nodded: "Fu Jun is a little older, but he is sincere and takes special care of Mianmian. They married so far away, we can't take care of them, so we can only rely on our son-in-law to take care of them."
He could not forget the time when his two sons-in-law, Fu Jun and Deng Changze, accompanied him in drinking. Deng Changze fell down after just two or three glasses of wine, but Fu Jun drank three jars of wine without changing his expression.
Gu Zhongyu liked this son-in-law at once.
The two of them watched their wedding in Yuzhou and only returned after everything was settled.
Gu Zhongyu brought two letters, which were written by the two new sons-in-law to Gu Shaoyu.
Gu Shaoyu read the letter carefully, especially Fu Jun, who only wrote a few short sentences, but every word showed responsibility: My Lord, I will fight bravely, kill the enemies and defend our country, and take good care of Mianmian.
Normally, since he was a captain, he could call himself "Your Highness" or "nephew-in-law", but he called himself "Boy".
Deng Changze wrote two long pages of eloquent letters. As expected, he came from a scholarly family and his letter was quite remarkable.
Xie Zhaozhao pursed her lips and smiled. The Bo family was marrying off their daughter, and she made a lot of money again!
The marriage arrangements for the two daughters of the second branch of the Bo family have been settled!
He gave two noble ladies as wives to the border army generals and gained two military officer sons-in-law.
The four soldiers were quietly stationed on the western border.
We must prepare for a rainy day by fighting Wei Anyuan sooner or later, and we will inevitably attack him from both inside and outside, blocking him in the northwest.
I’m so happy today!
Xie Zhaozhao asked Nanxing to call Gu Zheng as well, and prepared a large banquet for the whole family to get together.
Not long after the banquet was served, Nanxing came over in a panic to report: "Lord, someone has come from the palace."
Gu Shaoyu knew that something big must have happened and hurried out.
Leng Luo came in person.
"Lord Gu, Prince Qi was assassinated."
"how is the situation?"
"The injuries are quite serious... Lord Liu, Lord Xie, and Duke Xun have all entered the palace."
"Did you catch the enemy?"
"No, the other side sent death squads, without any marks on their bodies."
Gu Shaoyu didn't say much. Nanxing drove the carriage and after leaving the garden, he found that there were more than 20 people from the Imperial City Bureau.
After a while, Leng Luo escorted Gu Shaoyu into the palace.
The Imperial Street was already filled with people from the three camps, and all the imperial guards were on duty. The palace was filled with imperial guards, both openly and secretly.
Gu Shaoyu hurried into the palace and said to Nanxing, "You go back first and protect the lady. Let the second master and the uncle go back to the house and close the door tightly. Don't go anywhere."
Nanxing responded and went back quickly.
Gu Shaoyu followed him into the Qinzheng Hall, where only a few of His Majesty's confidants were present.
The atmosphere was solemn, but Emperor Hui looked okay.
"Is Your Majesty well?" Gu Shaoyu went in and greeted Emperor Hui first.
Emperor Hui said, "I am fine. Someone used the excuse that Concubine De was suddenly seriously ill to trick Prince Qi out of the palace and assassinate him. Prince Qi and Princess Qi were seriously injured and their lives are unknown."
Concubine De was Prince Qi's biological mother.
Upon hearing that their mother was seriously ill, Prince Qi and Princess Qi immediately went to the palace. Not far from the palace, they were assassinated.
Prince Qi was rescued by the imperial guards and is now in a side hall, being treated by the imperial doctors from the Imperial Medical Bureau.
Emperor Hui said calmly: "It is only a matter of time before something happens to Prince Qi. You cannot guard against thieves for a thousand days."
No matter how much we guard against it, the prince can't stay at home all his life.
Therefore, omissions are inevitable.
Everyone understood that this was the Wei family's counterattack against the recent court purge.
Emperor Hui was obviously a little anxious: "My dear ministers, what should we do next? Do you have any good ideas?"
Ever since Gu Shaoyu heard about the assassination of Prince Qi, his expression has been cold and hard.
Where do these assassins come from?
He raised his eyebrows slightly and said calmly, "As a son, filial piety comes first. The assassination of Prince Qi is a serious matter. The Queen Mother must be extremely worried. I suggest that Your Majesty go and comfort her more."
Elder Liu, Xie Anfeng, and Emperor Hui all looked at him.
Your Majesty has always been at odds with the Queen Mother and they dislike each other. Why do you still want to get close to her and show your filial piety?
What medicine is Gu Fox selling?