The prince is more stable

Chapter 516: Prelude to Partiality
Looking back on the past few years of his life, Zhao Xiaoqian suddenly realized that he had achieved the achievement of having many wives and concubines.

It sounds a bit scumbag, but Zhao Xiaoqian also knows that as his legal wife, Di Ying, she is actually not feeling very comfortable.

Which woman doesn't want to get all the love from her husband? But there is only one husband, but his heart is divided into many pieces, one piece for this woman and one piece for that woman. Naturally, the wife will not be happy.

However, the values ​​of ancient people were different from those of later generations because they received different education since childhood.

Di Ying was born into a wealthy family. She was influenced by the marriage views of wealthy families since childhood and read books such as "Instructions for Women" and "Virtue of Women". Therefore, although she was not happy about her husband taking a concubine, she could accept it.

After all, no matter how many concubines her husband has, no one can shake her status as the wife. Unless Di Ying has not given birth to a child for Zhao Xiaoqian when she is approaching middle age, her status will gradually be threatened.

Besides, Di Ying also has a very clear understanding of herself and her husband.

She was well aware that she had married a very capable husband who had everything, including ability, status and official rank.

The more outstanding a person is, the more resources he can occupy, including women. Sometimes, even if the husband refuses, the woman will still throw herself at him.

For example, there was Jiang Miaoxian, the new concubine Niao Niao from Zhending Prefecture, and the pair of Japanese sisters. Zhao Xiaoqian took them as concubines. If he said that he had begged them to come in, no one would believe it.

It was just that one of them had feelings for her and the other was interested in her. After exchanging glances, they walked into the room with a reluctant but welcoming attitude.

There have been people and things like this before, and there will be in the future.

As long as her husband continues to be outstanding, it is inevitable. Di Ying is very clear about this.

An excellent man is like a gorgeous peony, naturally able to attract bees and butterflies. Since Di Ying married him, she was mentally prepared.

Now Di Ying doesn't care how many women Zhao Xiaoqian has. She only cares about when she can get pregnant with her husband's child, and when she can firmly sit on the position of Princess Consort of the County Prince, thus putting an end to the thoughts of those coquettish and slutty women who want to get to the top.

So that night, after Zhao Xiaoqian had a reunion dinner with his mother and wives and concubines, the slightly drunk Zhao Xiaoqian was carried back to his room by the three women. After the door was closed, Di Ying began to rape him.

Zhao Xiaoqian, like a flower, was tossed and turned all night long, but it was just as he said: Do you know, do you know, it should be green and fat and red and thin. How much sorrow can you have? It is like flowers falling and water flowing...

For a whole night, Zhao Xiaoqian endured the humiliation and silently endured the torture of the three women.

There is no way. I have been greedy and found so many women. I have to swallow the bitter fruit with tears.

The next morning, the three women fell asleep exhausted, but Zhao Xiaoqian walked out leaning against the wall.

Walking out of the backyard, Feng, who was sipping tea under the shade of the tree in the front yard, was quite surprised: "Qian'er woke up so early?"

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled bitterly: "I'm not awake, I'm not asleep."

Feng was shocked: "Why? Ying'er and the others..."

Zhao Xiaoqian said in grief and indignation: "They, they... are not human!"

He ran away in tears.

…………

Zhang Dun walked out of Yanfu Palace with slow steps and a serious expression.

Early this morning, Zhao Xu suddenly announced the cancellation of the court meeting, and then summoned important officials such as Zhang Dun, Zeng Bu, and An Tao separately.

The Song Dynasty held court meetings every three days, with grand court meetings held on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month, but this was not a custom.

Sometimes, when there is no important matter that needs to be dealt with immediately in the court, or the emperor is ill, or it happens to be the New Year holiday, the palace servants will notify all officials in advance and exempt them from court for one day.

The environment in the court is actually quite relaxed.

Zhang Dun was not surprised that Zhao Xu suddenly canceled the court meeting today. There was indeed no major event that needed to be dealt with recently. The only important thing was that the Liao Kingdom sent envoys to request a border survey, but the government had already given the decision-making power on this matter to Zhao Xiaoqian.

Zhao Xiaoqian replied with a memorial, deciding to use the word "drag" to deal with the Liao Kingdom.

Without making any statement or negotiating, the Longwei Camp still deployed its troops at the Juma River, ready to go to war at any time, which made the Liao Kingdom continue to worry.

In the past month, Liao Emperor Yelu Hongji has sent three groups of envoys to Bian Jing to seek an audience with the Song government.

Zhao Xu also learned a lot from Zhao Xiaoqian and used the same strategy of "dragging", asking officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple to deal with the Liao envoy, but Zhao Xu refused to summon him.

Apart from this incident, the rest of the Song Dynasty were just some trivial matters at home, such as river management, salt and iron, grain transport, public opinion, etc.

Although he was reluctant to admit it, Zhang Dun had to say that the Song Dynasty had entered a period of peace in the past year. Ever since Zhao Xiaoqian was ordered to take office in Zhending Prefecture and defeated the Liao army several times, there had been no war on the Song Dynasty's border for a long time.

The border threat had been resolved, and the Song Dynasty had a rich and stable national strength. The surrounding foreign countries also heard about the changes in the situation between Song and Liao and sent envoys to pay tribute.

Compared with the humiliation of having to pay annual tribute in previous years, the Song Dynasty now has some of the atmosphere of the Han and Tang dynasties, and its say in neighboring countries is much greater than in previous years.

Zhang Dun knew very well that all this was thanks to Zhao Xiaoqian.

If Zhao Xiaoqian had not led the Dragon Guard Camp to severely teach the Liao Kingdom a lesson on the border, how could the Song Dynasty have the peaceful years it has today?

Not only Zhao Xu was proud, but Zhang Dun, the prime minister, was also a beneficiary.

In other words, all the subjects of the Song Dynasty benefited from this, and everyone enjoyed peace, and Zhao Xiaoqian was the creator of this peaceful time. Zhang Dun and Zhao Xiaoqian had many disagreements in the past, and strictly speaking, they were political enemies, with several open and covert confrontations inside and outside the court.

But political enemies are political enemies, Zhang Dun is not a foolish person who cannot distinguish right from wrong, and he will not let personal grudges affect his emotions.

Since he has benefited from it and Zhao Xiaoqian is now a world-famous hero in the Song Dynasty, Zhang Dun has no reason to continue to be hostile to Zhao Xiaoqian. Whether from an emotional or interest perspective, it is extremely unwise to be hostile to Zhao Xiaoqian.

So a few days ago, when King Zhao Hao of Chu came to visit for unknown reasons, Zhang Dun still received him very warmly. The two of them exchanged greetings and chatted in the main hall of Zhang's mansion. Zhao Hao talked about this and that but didn't get to the point. Zhang Dun was confused and asked him several times in a subtle way, but Zhao Hao still avoided the question.

Before leaving, Zhao Hao left behind a valuable gift. After Zhang Dun left, he opened the gift box and was shocked to find that the gift was very valuable, estimated to be worth at least 200,000 strings of cash.

Zhang Dun was a little panicked. The King of Chu came to his house for inexplicable reasons. From the moment he entered the house to the moment he said goodbye, all he talked about was gossip. He never said a word about serious matters. He even left such a valuable gift before leaving. What on earth did this old playboy want to do?

No reward without merit. Although he didn't know the reason, Zhang Dun would not accept the King of Chu's generous gift for no reason, so as not to set a trap for himself.

Someone was sent to deliver the gift back to the Prince of Chu's Palace, but the door of the palace was closed and they refused to take it back, insisting that it was a gift from His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu and asked Prime Minister Zhang to accept it.

After several rejections and fights, the two big men were caught in an extreme tug of war like a melodramatic love idol drama.

In the end, Zhang Dun still couldn't return the gift. He had been worried for the past few days, fearing that the old playboy Zhao Hao would make some unreasonable demands, such as asking him to give up his position as prime minister and let His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu take over...

Don't doubt it, with the King of Chu's somewhat crazy and bastard character, he might really say it.

The issue of the King of Chu sending gifts has not been resolved yet. Early this morning, Zhao Xu ended the court meeting and summoned important officials such as Zhang Dun to Yanfu Palace.

The king and his ministers sat in the Funing Palace, engaging in another meaningless chat, from poetry and songs to love and romance. Zhao Xu did not mention business for a long time, just like the King of Chu.

Finally, Zhao Xu finally talked about Zhao Xiaoqian.

The topic was very strange. Zhao Xu kept praising Zhao Xiaoqian in front of Zhang Dun, Zeng Bu, An Tao and others.

From his literary talent to his achievements, from the Song-Xia War in which he led his army to capture the enemy capital, to the later Song-Liao War, in which he defeated the Liao army twice, annihilated over 80,000 enemies, and expanded the territory by over 400 miles, the morale of the soldiers was high and they still had more courage to be praised...

The more Zhang Dun and others listened, the more confused they became. They didn't know why Zhao Xu suddenly mentioned Zhao Xiaoqian, and praised Zhao Xiaoqian as a flower, saying that she was so beautiful that he couldn't die.

Although confused, everyone still agreed with great emotional intelligence. After all, Zhao Xiaoqian's contribution was real and not too exaggerated, so it was not against their conscience for everyone to agree with the emperor.

After praising Zhao Xiaoqian for most of the hour, Zhao Xu's mouth was dry. Finally, he sighed and made a closing statement.

In summary, Zhao Xiaoqian was a loyal minister and a pillar of the country. He was very important to the Song Dynasty. While we, the emperor and his ministers, enjoy peace in the rear, we must also remember the border generals and soldiers on the front line who fought for our peace.

Changing the subject, Zhao Xu said emotionally that the soldiers had a very hard time, and the court should not only treat them well, but also be considerate and tolerant of them.

If the soldiers accidentally get into trouble or cause any trouble, we must try to be tolerant of them and not let them down!

Having said this, Zhang Dun and several other important officials smacked their lips, vaguely realizing something, but still only having a clue.

Zhao Xu spoke very implicitly. As an emperor, he could not say it explicitly, let alone tell Zhang Dun and others with a big fanfare that Zhao Xiaoqian was in trouble and they all had to protect him.

So what he said could only be a skillful step-by-step preparation. In two days, when the news breaks out, everyone will think back on what Zhao Xu had prepared today, and they will probably understand Zhao Xu's attitude and know what to do.

Zhao Xu did not leave anyone with the impression that he was biased towards his meritorious officials. The Song government remained wise, fair and impartial.

The art of language was clearly mastered by the emperor and his ministers.

Zhang Dun, who was confused, left the palace and said goodbye to Zeng Bu'antai and others. Before getting on the carriage, Zhang Dun was suddenly stunned and stood there motionless.

Zhang Dun suddenly thought of the Chu King Zhao Hao who came to his house for no reason a few days ago, showed his courtesy for no reason, and gave expensive gifts for no reason.

Combined with today's vague official praise of Zhao Xiaoqian...

Zhang Dun was indeed a prime minister, his mind was extremely clever. He connected the two seemingly unrelated things in his mind. After a while, Zhang Dun opened his eyes wide and took a deep breath.

This scoundrel Zhao Xiaoqian must have gotten into trouble, and a big one at that! This trouble must have shocked the court. Otherwise, the King of Chu wouldn't have given him a gift of two hundred thousand strings of cash for no reason, and the emperor wouldn't have praised Zhao Xiaoqian so much in front of everyone for no reason.

It's all a routine! And Zhang Dun, Zeng Bu, An Tao and others are just part of the PLAY between the emperor and the King of Chu...

This was the conclusion Zhang Dun came to after careful consideration.

I have to say that the conclusion is correct. Zhang Dun had guessed it before the news broke out.

Anyone who can become a prime minister must have some ability after all.

After figuring it out, Zhang Dun's expression suddenly became a little panicked.

The question now is, what exactly did this scoundrel Zhao Xiaoqian do? And just how serious a problem was he?

Can the disaster that requires the emperor and the King of Chu to clean up the mess be small?

Then Zhang Dun suddenly remembered that the streets of Bianjing were bustling with activity yesterday. It was said that Zhao Xiaoqian had suddenly returned to the capital...

(End of this chapter)