After entering the main hall, everyone took their seats one by one.
Today is Shen Qiuyu's birthday party, and the guests are basically the female relatives of officials from the prince's faction. Mrs. Mo and Lin's concubine Shen Qiuyu are accompanying all the female relatives in the main hall.
The prince and Gu Xinian couldn't stay here, so they simply went to the study to talk.
The men formed factions in the court and fought endlessly with the three princes, and the female family members also interacted frequently in private. Among them were Ma, the wife of the Minister of Rites, and Wang, the wife of the Minister of Personnel.
Lu Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites has always belonged to the prince's faction. The Ma family has always had close contacts with the female relatives of the prince's palace. It is not surprising that she came to support Shen Qiuyu's birthday banquet today. However, the Wang family came to the prince's palace for such a small-scale banquet. But it's the first time.
The Ministry of Personnel is responsible for the evaluation and promotion of officials, and is the first of the six. Shangshu Xie is one of the few neutral factions. He maintains a good relationship with the Prince Faction and is also in harmony with the Three Princes Faction... To put it simply, he can't fight against anyone. The idea of offending, I hope to find a solution. No matter who ascends the throne and inherits the throne in the future, he will be able to stand safely and securely in the court.
However, as the struggle between the two factions became increasingly fierce, almost all the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty were involved in this invisible but extremely cruel struggle. It has become impossible for Xie Shangshu to protect himself without offending anyone. Therefore, Xie Shangshu locked himself in his study and thought about it all day and night. After carefully weighing the pros and cons, he finally made a difficult choice. Wang's coming to the Prince's Mansion for the banquet was an obvious signal.
The prince was naturally very happy to be able to secure such a heavyweight support. All of this must be attributed to Gu Xinian!
If it weren't for Gu Xinian's clever plan, the third prince's land tax reform would not have ended in disgrace. Although the emperor did not reprimand him too much, anyone with a discerning eye could see the emperor's disappointment in the third prince. In this way, the prince His image in the minds of many officials immediately grew taller.
After all, the prince is the daughter of the queen. He has both the direct lineage and the eldership. In terms of status, he has more advantages than the third prince. The third prince can have many supporters in the court. In addition to his own shrewdness and ability, , more because of the favor of the Holy One. Once the third prince lost the Holy Heart, he was immediately at a disadvantage.
Therefore, ministers like Xie Shangshu, who are in important positions and are cautious in the DPRK, also showed their kindness to the prince after weighing the balance...
This is what people want! The prince thought excitedly, and the smile on his face became more and more cheerful. Gu Xinian seemed to have seen through his mind. He smiled softly and said: "Congratulations, Your Highness, half of the six films have been completed." It is in the hands of His Highness." The most important of the six departments, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Husbandry, have all leaned towards the prince's faction. And then there is the Ministry of Rites, which is exactly half of them.
As for the other three departments, the Ministry of War is independent and aloof and belongs to the military commander faction. Neither the prince nor the third prince dare to reach out to the Ministry of War for fear of arousing the emperor's suspicion. The Minister of the Ministry of Punishment is a cunning person and will never fight easily until the last moment. Only the Ministry of Industry is left. It is the iron-clad faction of the three princes. Although the Ministry of Industry is rich in oil and water, its influence in the court is the smallest, so it is not something to be afraid of. In this way, the Prince's faction actually has the upper hand this time!
The prince felt extremely relieved and said with a smile: "All this is thanks to your strategizing. I will mark your first achievement."
This is a fact! The prince is soft-hearted and has a gentle and mediocre temperament. Compared with the smart and capable third prince, he is really inferior. Although he occupies the position of prince, he is not very popular. At this time in his previous life, he was already the third prince.
The backbone of the faction, there are countless overt and covert displays of goodwill by officials in and out of the court. But in this life, with his advice and suggestions, he spared no effort to suppress the Third Prince's faction, and with this decisive victory, the direction of the court has been completely reversed.
come over.
Gu Xinian thought so in his heart, but smiled modestly on his face: "His Highness said this, which really scares me. All this is because of His Highness's wiseness and precise decision-making. I am just a pawn, fighting for His Highness.
That’s all.”
What is more valuable than having any merit is not taking any credit for it!
The prince became more and more moved, and in a moment of excitement, he held Gu Xinian's hand and sighed: "Cousin, with your help, there is no need to worry about the failure of great things!"
Gu Xinian disliked such physical contact the most in his life, but at this time he didn't show it at all. Instead, he smiled and said a few words of self-effacement: "Your Highness said that, it really makes me ashamed. Your Highness and I grew up together since childhood, and we are brothers.
Dingguo Gongfu is His Highness’s maternal family and His Highness’s most steadfast supporter. If I don’t help His Highness, who else can I help?”
It's a shame that he could say such disgusting words without changing his face or heartbeat.
If the prince was acting a bit before, after hearing these heartfelt words, he was truly moved. Now thinking about what he had done, he felt even more inexplicable guilt.
After a moment of silence, he suddenly said: "Cousin, do you still hate me?"
No, there is no hatred anymore, only joy and pity.
Gu Xinian was thinking in his heart, but he responded naturally: "Where did your highness come from? Does it mean that your highness still doesn't trust me?"
Since resuming contact, the two of them have been trying their best to repair their relationship, at least on the surface they are as harmonious as before. Only the person involved knows best in his heart that some things can never go back to the past! At least, these three words Shen Qiuyu, two
People never mention it when they are alone.
But today, the prince took the initiative to mention Shen Qiuyu: "I'm sorry for you about Yu'er. If you weren't angry with me and hated me, you wouldn't have wasted the whole four years..."
Gu Xinian took the words with a calm expression: "Your Highness, this is all in the past. There is no need to worry about it anymore. Back then, I was too young and stubborn, and I couldn't pull myself out. However, I have long thought about it now.
I understand. Cousin Shen was still young and couldn't tell the difference between a man and a woman. She only had a brother-sister relationship with me that we grew up with. The one she really liked in her heart has always been His Highness. Therefore, His Highness really doesn't need to worry about it anymore.
"After a pause, he said jokingly: "Unless His Highness himself mind..."
Of course the prince would not admit that he really cared about the past between Shen Qiuyu and Gu Xinian, and immediately responded righteously: "Am I the kind of narrow-minded person who cares about everything? As long as my cousin doesn't mind, I won't let him go.
In my heart.”
"Your Highness is truly admirable for his broad-mindedness!" Gu Xinian said something against his will without blinking an eye.
The prince grinned, and finally felt a lot more at ease. After thinking about it, he smiled and said, "Speaking of which, I really can't figure it out. You always have your eyes set high above your head, how could you fall in love with a young girl with yellow hair?"
Gu Xinian smiled leisurely, and his eyes suddenly softened a lot: "This is the fate between me and her." The kind of tenderness that only people have when talking about the one they love can't be faked!
The prince was completely relieved and joked: "Then you have time to wait. She hasn't got hairpins yet! If you want to marry someone home, you have to wait at least another year or two! Are you sure that you really Can you wait so long?" When he said the last sentence, the ambiguous and vulgar taste between men was fully exposed.
Gu Xinian has not been close to women for so many years, and he is well-known in the capital. The prince has heard about it for a long time, and occasionally jokes about it. In fact, this is also something that bothers the prince. If Gu Xinian hadn't been If you still miss Shen Qiuyu, how can you keep yourself as pure as a jade and not be close to women?
Gu Xinian was well aware of the prince's shady thoughts and couldn't help but twitch his lips. Does the prince really think that everyone can't live without a woman like him?
...Of course, he is actually secretly planning to marry someone into the house as soon as possible!
The two men exchanged a tacit smile. The prince laughed again and said in a low voice: "The queen mother has agreed to marry you, and the decree will soon be sent to Changyuan Uncle's Mansion and Dingguo Duke's Mansion."
Gu Xinian smiled and said, "Thanks to your highness's help." Sun's attitude was resolute at that time, so Gu Xinian had to ask Queen Gu to intervene. If the prince hadn't interceded on the side, Queen Gu would not have agreed so readily. Of course, it is not ruled out that Queen Gu did it on purpose. She deliberately sent this favor to the prince, so that Gu Xinian would be grateful and be more determined to work for the prince from now on...
The prince laughed, finally let go of his hand, and patted Gu Xinian's shoulder hard: "It's just a trivial matter, it's nothing to worry about. I'm still waiting for you to return home as a beautiful woman as soon as possible, and I'll ask for a wedding drink by the way."
What's more important is that as long as Gu Xinian gets married, Shen Qiuyu won't miss him any more.
Therefore, in fact, the more cold and distant Gu Xinian was towards Shen Qiuyu, the more relieved the prince felt.
Seeing the prince smiling with satisfaction, Gu Xinian also laughed happily.
In the main hall of the Prince's Mansion, it was very lively with people coming and going.
Mrs. Mo sat in the middle, and Shen Qiuyu and Concubine Lin each sat beside her. The female guests who came to the banquet naturally sat in order of age. Ye Qinglan and Gu Xiyu were the youngest, so they naturally sat in the corner. .
However, even so, there are not a lot of glances at the two of them. Because these two girls are the hottest topics in the capital recently.
Xie Peng fell in love with Gu Xiyu at first sight and made a fuss about going to the Duke Dingguo's mansion to propose marriage. However, the Xie family refused to agree and even locked Xie Peng in the mansion and refused to let him out. As soon as the news spread, the news about Gu Xiyu Naturally, topics that are different from ordinary people were brought up again, and the situation became more and more intense.
As for Ye Qinglan, let alone it. Because of Queen Gu's summons and Mrs. Zheng's intention to get married, this little-known girl suddenly became the most popular aristocratic lady in the aristocratic circle of the capital.
Unexpectedly, these two girls actually appeared together today. How could they not make the gossip-loving aristocratic women excited? (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations, monthly votes, and your support. , is my biggest motivation.)
