The spring of the third year of Shengkun was the best time of the year for flowers to bloom. Empress Hua invited the womenfolk of the Imperial Family and first-rank noble ladies to a banquet in the Imperial Garden. Those who received the invitation were overjoyed and treated it seriously.
After the new emperor ascended the throne, he suddenly swept away his previous warm personality and completely overhauled the court. If the new emperor's foundation was not stable after ascending the throne, he would have some concerns. But the new emperor had many supporters behind him and had a firm grip on the entire court. Therefore, in less than two years, he had taken care of everything that needed to be taken care of. This caused the entire court to be even more respectful of the new emperor.
Other than being supported by the people in politics, Emperor Shengkun's love life was also something that everyone was interested in. Why?
Because the new emperor had ascended the throne for more than three years. Other than Empress Hua, there really wasn't any other woman in the inner palace. There wasn't even a female official that served him. This kind of man was rare.
Many men in the world, after gaining power, would be greedy for women. No matter how beautiful Empress Hua was, one would get tired after looking at her for a long time. Could the emperor protect his lower body?
Everyone's guesses were fruitless. Empress Hua was going to invite the womenfolk to a banquet. Everyone in Jing knew that Empress Hua was a lazy person and did not like to worry about other people's business. This satisfied the officials. The emperor favored Empress Hua so much. If Empress Hua interfered in politics, that would be a great disaster.
The result was that she was a lazy person, so everyone was happy. Empress Hua was favored, and her paternal family's status also rose. Nghi An Marquis was made a duke, his eldest son was the shizi of the duke's fu, and his second son was also made a marquis. But this duke was a tactful person. After helping the new emperor clean up the court, he resigned from his position in court. No matter how the new emperor urged him to stay, he did not change his position. In the end, he returned home with the titles of duke and Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince to live a leisurely life.
As to his two sons, they were still young. Their positions in court were not high or low, and they were staunchly loyal to the emperor. Usually, they were modest and polite. No one could say that the empress' paternal family was a bully. Compared to the paternal family of the empress who had been abolished by the previous emperor, they were eighteen streets ahead of the previous emperor.
Thinking about it, it was no wonder that the emperor favored her so much. Everything in the world had its reasons.
At this time, the imperial garden was bustling with people.................
"Princess, we're here."
Hearing the gentle reminder of her personal maidservant, Princess Duan He suddenly came back to her senses. Seeing that there were already many womenfolk in the Imperial Garden, she silently chose a seat and sat down, not wanting to talk to anyone.
Last winter, when the barbarians invaded, there were courtiers who proposed a marriage for peace. They wanted her, the princess, to marry the king of the barbarians, who was almost seventy years old. She hid in the princess's residence, terrified. However, she had acted in a high-profile manner and did not have many people close to her. Now that her father and brother were no longer around and her mother's family had been demoted to commoners, she could not find anyone who was willing to stand up for her.
Although she was fond of handsome men, she was extremely fond of her children. If she were to marry into the barbarians, her two children would be left in the capital. What kind of good days would they have in the future?
Just as she was in despair and fear, she heard that Yan Jinqiu had rejected the marriage proposal in front of all the civil and military officials.
"My grand dynasty would rather have men die in a bloody battle than lower their spines. The barbarians have wild ambitions. Could it be that sacrificing half of an innocent woman's life in exchange for the peace of my dynasty?! "
She had always felt that Yan Jinqiu was a hypocrite, but after hearing his words, she was somewhat perplexed. She could not help but think, if her younger brother had not died and ascended the throne, would he have said these words at this time?
Perhaps … for his safety, she, as his older sister, would soon embark on the path of marriage for peace.
It was laughable that she had lived half of her life recklessly and arrogantly, but in the end, she was protected by a person who she had schemed against in every way.
Man proposes, God disposes. After all, it was just a joke. Later, hearing the praises of Yan Jinqiu from the common people of the capital, as well as the aristocratic families that had been suppressed by Yan Jinqiu, she gradually understood that Yan Jinqiu was indeed the most suitable person for the throne.
Whether it was her younger brother or Prince Sheng, their breadth of mind, vision, talent, and virtue could not be compared to him. Right now, she was still the Princess Royal and lived a peaceful life. Her son had also been titled as the heir, which was quite good.
Everyone knew that the current Emperor had an older sister. It was a pity that the Emperor never talked about his sister, and the Empress had never summoned this sister-in-law. Instead, Princess Duan He still held the title of Princess Royal. This was clearly telling the world that the current Emperor did not like his older sister.
Naturally, no one would tactfully mention someone that the Emperor did not like. Therefore, when the figure of the Emperor's older sister was not present at this banquet, no one expressed curiosity or surprise.
Princess Duan He had just raised her teacup to take a sip when she heard the taijian standing in the corner clap. She quickly put down her teacup, tidied up her embroidery, and stood up with the others around her.
Hua Xi Wan was already twenty years old, but in Princess Duan He's view, this Empress who had already given birth to an imperial son was not much different from when she had just married Yan Jinqiu. No matter how complicated or grand the clothing was, it would look perfect on her and not cause people to overlook her.
After bowing, Princess Duan He sat down in her seat. She silently looked at the womenfolk around her carefully currying favor with the Empress. She raised the corners of her mouth and her eyes were indifferent.
The atmosphere of the banquet was very lively. The food that was brought up was very exquisite, and looked, smelled, and tasted good. It should be said that ever since Emperor Shengkun had ascended the throne, the skills of the imperial chefs in the palace had increased, and there were more and more flavors. It really was a collection of all kinds of delicacies in the palace.
The upper levels of the nobility knew that the Empress liked good food. They also knew that Emperor Shengkun was willing to go along with the Empress's hobby. One was willing to hit, the other was willing to suffer. No one could say it was not good, but … many women envied Empress Hua's good fortune behind her back.
Hua Xi Wan rinsed her mouth, wiped her face, and cleaned her hands under the service of the palace maids. Then she smiled faintly at the womenfolk seated below and said: "I've eaten and drank to my fill. The scenery today is good. If you do not dislike, how about accompanying ben gong for a walk in the garden?"
Everyone said that they were honored and followed behind the Empress with interest. They praised the flowers and plants in the Imperial Garden from inside to outside with their tongues. They even wanted to praise the weeds in the cracks of the stone slabs to be different.
Everyone knew that the Empress might not really care about these praises, but they had to praise and compliment her. Everyone knew the Empress' position in the Emperor's heart. Who dared to make the Empress feel discontent?
They had heard that there had been a daring palace maid who had wanted to take the favor of the Emperor and had angered the Emperor. No one knew what had happened to her in the end, but some people who had other thoughts stopped and didn't dare to think of anything else.
Princess Duan He was slightly surprised that the Empress had suddenly invited the womenfolk to a banquet. With Empress Hua's personality, she had never liked to hold these banquets. She wouldn't believe that she did not have a purpose for suddenly hosting this flower viewing banquet.
"Ben gong had people plant these flowers here a few days ago," Hua Xi Wan's voice was always gentle and beautiful, "Ben gong likes these beautiful things the most." Finishing, she suddenly saw a cluster of flowers that extended to the side of the road. She couldn't help but frown, "Why did these flowers bloom here? Come, cut them away."
Then the womenfolk saw several taijian pick up the entire flower with scissors. They looked at the flower that had landed on the ground with thoughtful expressions.
"Such a pity," Hua Xi Wan glanced at the flower on the ground and then turned back to look at the womenfolk, "Let's keep looking."
Princess Rui He looked at the flower branch that had been trampled by the crowd until its original appearance could not be seen and slowly exhaled.
No matter how much one liked beautiful things, if they were not obedient, there was no need to keep them.
Just like after the new Emperor had ascended the throne, that little Empress Dowager of the Zhang Family had acted like a mother-in-law in front of Empress Hua. In the end, she had died of illness in less than a hundred days.
Sometimes, a person's greed was enough to swallow them.
The Empress did not say anything, but smart people knew that the Empress was not a soft person. She was just too lazy to manage things. If one touched her bottom line, then her methods were enough to be remembered for a lifetime.
This way, it was pretty good.
When they were almost done admiring the flowers, Princess Duan He heard clapping in front of her. She raised her hand slightly and saw the imperial carriage coming towards them. Seeing this, the womenfolk all bowed their heads and retreated, not looking directly at the dragon carriage.
However, the imperial carriage stopped when it was a dozen steps away from them. It was clear that the Emperor had considered the presence of many womenfolk and did not plan to go forward.
A taijian quickly came forward to bow to Empress Hua. It was the Wood-main Pipe that many people in front of the Emperor had to be respectful to.
The Wood-main Pipe said something to the Empress and the Empress smiled as she walked towards the imperial carriage.
When the Empress stepped onto the footstool, an arm covered in dark gold dragon patterns reached out from the imperial carriage. The Empress gave her hand to the other and was pulled into the imperial carriage by this hand.
Princess Duan He saw the situation and suddenly smiled. She turned to look at the female official who was preparing to send her out of the palace. She lowered her head slightly and left this luxurious palace without looking back.
Some people were fated to become men and women that people envied in legends. Even if she could not become the main character of the legends, at least she had the fortune to see a legend about the love between men and women.
She was born rich and had a rich life. She had a son and a daughter. She had no regrets.
Thousands of years later, countless dramas about Emperor Shengkun and Empress Sheng De would be created. However, some people focused on how extraordinary Emperor Shengkun was. Some people focused on how peerless Empress Sheng De was and how she had fallen for countless men, causing Emperor Shengkun to never take concubines and only have her in his life.
Some people said that Empress Sheng De was a successful woman. Some people said that Emperor Shengkun was a successful and great emperor. However, the only thing that could not be denied was that the two of them were the only emperors and empresses in history that were still in love.
The history books recorded that Emperor Shengkun had said in public that he would be in love with the Empress and would never leave her. The reality was that he had done it.
Emperor Shengkun had been on the throne for forty five years. When he was sixty-eight, he abdicated to the Crown Prince and became the leisurely Retired Emperor. He and Empress Sheng De were in love for their entire lives. They had three sons and one daughter. He recruited talents, pacified the barbarians, reformed agriculture, and greatly developed the navy. The surrounding countries were in awe of him and he was called a rare and wise emperor by historians. At least during the college entrance exams every year, this Emperor Shengkun would come out to make his presence known. Year after year, students would die for him.
Some people even came to the forum to say that this Emperor Shengkun might have been a time traveler. Otherwise, how could he be so powerful and have monogamy?
However, no one took this statement seriously. Even the person who posted it was just joking.
Time traveler?
Who would believe it!
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