Duke of Zhenguan

Now that the salt issue has been resolved, why is Li Shimin looking for me?

Rewarding those who have made contributions?

But Cheng Yaojin hasn't returned yet.

Puzzled, I returned to the front yard and saw a young eunuch in a blue robe standing at the door like a door god.

Lin Jiu, who was trying to adapt to the role of steward, had never seen anyone from the emperor's side before, and stood aside somewhat at a loss.

Lin Chuan had never seen this eunuch before, but since he was wearing a blue robe, he must be of rank. He stepped forward and bowed to the eunuch.

"Greetings, eunuch!"

The eunuch straightened his clothes, bowed slightly to Lin Chuan, and said respectfully:

"Chief Secretary Lin, His Majesty summons you!"

Let's go!

On the way to the palace, Lin Chuan casually asked:

"May I ask, Your Majesty, do you know why He has summoned me to the palace?"

"Chief Secretary Lin, please don't make things difficult for me..." the young eunuch said with a troubled expression.

"Okay, I was being presumptuous!" Lin Chuan smiled awkwardly.

Upon entering the palace, we found ourselves in a side hall of the Xiande Hall.

Upon entering the side hall, besides Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji, and others, Lin Chuan's gaze fell on Liu Zhengqi standing in the corner, and he immediately had an ominous premonition.

Moreover, he felt that Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji and others were looking at him strangely.

Composing himself, Lin Chuan bowed respectfully to Li Shimin:

"Greetings, Your Majesty!"

"No need for formalities!"

Li Shimin stared at Lin Chuan for a long while before waving his hand.

Lin Chuan felt even more uneasy, so he straightened up and stood obediently next to Liu Zhengqi.

Then Li Shimin addressed the crowd:

"The Hundred Cavalry Division has investigated this matter thoroughly. Although the Imperial Medical Bureau cannot explain it either, what Liu Zhengqi said is indeed true!"

After speaking, he picked up a thick stack of files from the table and handed it to Zhang Anan beside him, instructing him:

"Show it to Lin Chuan!"

Lin Chuan took the dossier from Zhang Anan, opened it curiously, glanced at it, and then turned to glare at Liu Zhengqi.

Liu Zhengqi gave an awkward twitch of his lips.

Lin Chuan flipped through the files, which were filled with records of children born from consanguineous marriages who had defects.

Most of them are mentally challenged, and some are missing limbs.

In this era, there was no Down syndrome screening; you only knew what your child looked like after birth.

Moreover, consanguineous marriage does indeed easily result in deformed offspring, and this thick stack of files looks so shocking.

After Lin Chuan finished reading, Li Shimin asked with displeasure:

"Lin Chuan, since you knew that consanguineous marriages had such serious risks, why didn't you say so last time?"

Lin Chuan thought for a moment, but couldn't come up with a good reason, so he could only obediently bow and reply:

"Your Majesty, please forgive me, I truly couldn't recall..."

"Do you know why this is?" Li Shimin asked, frowning.

"Your Majesty, it is an ancient saying that if a man and a woman share the same surname, their offspring will not prosper. I only heard my teacher mention this by chance. In fact, the same applies to cousins, but my teacher did not explain the specific reason, so I do not know..." Lin Chuan did not want to give Li Shimin a popular science lesson on genetics or genes, so he could only bring up the ancient saying.

In fact, the ancients were not much less aware of this issue than modern people. As early as the Zhou Dynasty, there was an ancient precept against marriage between people with the same surname.

At this time, apart from a few abnormal families, most aristocratic families strictly adhered to the ancient precept of not marrying people with the same surname.

However, marriage between cousins ​​was not prohibited until the Ming and Qing dynasties. Even in the 1970s and 1980s, some backward areas still had cousins ​​getting married.

So Lin Chuan hadn't thought of this at all. If he hadn't happened to run into Liu Zhengqi at his house, he probably would never have remembered it.

"Never mind..." Li Shimin waved his hand helplessly.

Even without knowing the reason, the results of the Hundred Knights' investigation made him restless and unable to eat or sleep.

It should be noted that during this period, he was discussing with Empress Zhangsun the possibility of betrothing his daughter, Li Lizhi, to Zhangsun Wuji's eldest son.

If it weren't for Liu Zhengqi's report, this matter might have been settled already.

It now seems that this matter needs to be considered more carefully.

Compared to the fact that young women are more prone to difficult childbirth, the dangers of consanguineous marriage are even harder to publicize, because the probability of giving birth to a mentally challenged child is much smaller than that of a woman experiencing a difficult childbirth.

Moreover, consanguineous marriage may produce more intelligent children, although the probability is even lower. But since it's a gamble, there are naturally people who like to gamble.

The emperor and his ministers discussed the matter for a long time in the side hall, but by evening they had not reached a conclusion.

After leaving Xiande Hall, Lin Chuan and Liu Zhengqi lagged behind. Lin Chuan said speechlessly:

"If this happens again, I won't admit it!"

"Master, this is a virtuous act, how can we not acknowledge it!" Liu Zhengqi replied in a deep voice.

"..."

Lin Chuan shook his head with a wry smile, speechless.

After taking a few steps forward, Lin Chuan saw Changsun Wuji, who was walking ahead, turn around and cup his hands in a respectful gesture.

"Chief Secretary Lin!"

"Greetings, Minister Changsun!" Lin Chuan was startled and quickly bowed.

"Chief Secretary Lin, there's no need for such formalities. I also think Physician Liu is right. This is a virtuous deed. In fact, I should thank Chief Secretary Lin!" Changsun Wuji said with a smile.

"Minister Changsun, you flatter me!" Lin Chuan replied awkwardly.

"Chief Secretary Lin is exceptionally talented, and I would like to learn from him. If you have time, Chief Secretary Lin, you are welcome to come to my home!" Changsun Wuji said with a smile.

"yes!"

Lin Chuan didn't know whether Changsun Wuji was sincerely inviting him or just being polite, so he could only bow and agree.

After finishing his sentence, Changsun Wuji strode away. Lin Chuan watched Changsun Wuji's departing figure, somewhat puzzled by his meaning.

Li Shimin and Changsun Wuji were already close enough, not only as relatives by marriage, but also as sworn brothers who had gone through life and death together at Xuanwu Gate.

However, Li Shimin was the emperor, and Changsun Wuji had the Guanlong Group behind him, involving the interests of too many people, making the relationship much more complicated.

Li Shimin wanted to win over Changsun Wuji and the Guanlong Group behind him, and Changsun Wuji and the Guanlong Group also wanted to strengthen their ties with Li Shimin.

By exposing this matter, Liu Zhengqi indirectly ruined Changsun Wuji's plans.

Changsun Wuji's status was different. If Li Shimin wanted to marry Changsun Wuji, none of his sisters were of high enough status. Among his daughters, only Li Lizhi was the right age, and Li Lizhi happened to be the daughter of Empress Changsun.

Of course, Lin Chuan is now taking the blame for this.

"It seems I still need to find a suitable time to visit Changsun Wuji's family..." Lin Chuan sighed inwardly.

At this moment, in the Lizheng Hall, Li Shimin was discussing the marriage alliance with the Zhangsun family with Empress Zhangsun.

The marriage is definitely going to happen; the original plan to strengthen ties between relatives cannot be changed. The current discussion revolves around the selection of the candidates.

"Your Majesty, how about Shu'er..." Empress Zhangsun said softly after thinking for a while.

"That's the only way. Let's bestow upon Shu'er the title of Princess of Gaoyang! We'll have Fuji come and discuss this another day..."

Li Shimin shared the same idea. Although there was a significant age difference, since it was a marriage alliance, age was not a factor to consider; suitability was what mattered.