"At Prince Su's Mansion in Hongrun a few days ago?"
At the end of May, when Concubine Shen Shu was waiting to return to the palace from Prince Su's Mansion, Emperor Wei came after hearing the news, and the couple, who had been separated for nearly ten days, had dinner together in the palace.
During this period, Emperor Wei asked about this matter.
"Well, I'm staying in Hongrun's palace for a few days to help him with some trivial matters."
Emperor Wei smiled lightly, not surprised.
After all, with the chamberlain serving as his spy, few things inside and outside the palace could be hidden from him. There were some things that the emperor just didn't want to get involved with.
At this time, Concubine Shen Shu sighed again and murmured: "Run'er has been pampered since he was a child. He has always stretched out his hands for food and opened his mouth for clothes. Now that he lives alone outside the palace, I am really worried..."
Emperor Wei put a chopstick of vegetables into his concubine's bowl, smiled and said comfortingly: "Which prince who has left the imperial court has not come this way? ... Now that he has left the imperial court, if his mother still has to work for him, how can he be qualified to become an emperor? Mansion?"
"That's what I said..." Concubine Shen Shu still looked hesitant on her face: "Now in Prince Su's Mansion, only Shen Yu and his ten clan guards, and two cooks were borrowed from the imperial dining room. Apart from that, there are only one person in the mansion. There is no one I can call..."
Emperor Wei smiled and said nothing.
It is true that after a prince leaves the pavilion and establishes a palace, the servants in his palace, whether it is the palace or the clan, will not be allocated, so that the servants, maids, nurses, etc. in the palace must rely on that person. The prince made arrangements for himself.
On this basis, the royal family and the court also allowed the prince's palace to set up private armor to guard the entire palace. As for the number of armor, it was about three tuns, or one hundred and fifty people.
However, there are no restrictions on staff and retainers.
To put it bluntly, the so-called opening of a palace does not only mean that a certain prince moves away from the palace to live in a palace in the city, but also means that the prince is qualified to establish a team loyal to him.
Just like Yong Wang Hongyu and Xiang Wang Hongjing, in addition to their ten clan guards, they also have a fully armored guard team to guard the palace and escort travel.
It is no exaggeration to say that for the princes, building a palace is not only a right and honor, but also a training process. After all, it is not an easy task to maintain such a large palace and support the large group of people under them. .
Furthermore, recruiting and absorbing talents is also a test of eyesight, and even how to control these people in the future is something that the princes must gradually master.
Therefore, Emperor Wei would not give any extra help in this matter. Borrowing two chefs from the imperial dining room was considered preferential treatment.
However, seeing the worried look on Concubine Shen Shu's face, Emperor Wei smiled and comforted her: "My dear concubine, please rest assured. Hongrun can support a huge smelting bureau, so why does Prince Su's palace care about it?"
It is a pity that Concubine Shen Shu did not take Emperor Wei's comfort at all, and complained with frown: "Your Majesty, please don't underestimate the maintenance of the family. Those officials in the court who are good at government affairs may not know how to manage the family as well as women!... ...Even though Run'er is talented, he has never shouldered the responsibility of the prince's palace. How would he know what to do?...The same goes for the daughters' families. I went to take a look. The whole house was in a mess, but it was Mi Jiang and that one. The little girl named Yang Yanxing is actually good at housework, but as for the others..."
Having said this, Concubine Shen Shu shook her head.
Seeing this, Emperor Wei secretly smiled bitterly. In order to prevent his concubine from chattering about it, he immediately changed the topic: "I heard that my concubine has met that Miss Su?"
The smile on Concubine Shen Shu's face faded slightly, and she asked cautiously: "Does your Majesty know?"
Emperor Wei found it a bit funny and thought to himself that the people I sent to serve as supervisors kept staring at the boy. How could they not know about this?
After thinking for a while, he asked: "What do you think, my beloved concubine?"
Concubine Shen Shu thought for a moment and said truthfully: "Miss Su is beautiful, well-educated, and knows how to play music, chess, calligraphy and painting. Except for her age, which does not meet my expectations, I am satisfied with the rest."
Emperor Wei looked at Concubine Shen Shu in surprise, then frowned and said: "Since my concubine is satisfied and Hongrun is very interested in Miss Su, why not take her to the palace from that waterside pavilion? Then wait for the fireworks
After all, Willow Alley is not a place where you have lived for a long time... Or is there something wrong with it?"
"Huh?" Concubine Shen Shu looked at Emperor Wei in surprise.
"Back then, that scoundrel boasted that he wanted to make the smelting bureau the standard for Wei's craftsmanship, but I have been sending people to keep an eye on it." As he said that, Emperor Wei's tone changed, and he frowned and said: "But in recent days, Hong
I am a little disappointed that Run frequently comes in and out of the waterside pavilion. As far as I know, the Smelting Bureau has almost finished testing the clay for those fire bricks. Logically speaking, that guy should be busy preparing for the melting of iron.
…Did something really happen?”
Concubine Shen Shu hesitated several times. After a long time, she sighed, shook her head and said, "Run'er didn't say anything to me about this matter. In fact, I was also very puzzled. He and Miss Su had a relationship the day before.
It's so good, why..."
Emperor Wei frowned slightly when he heard this. After pondering for a long time, he suddenly murmured in an unusual tone: "In half a year, Hongrun will be sixteen years old, right?"
…
Concubine Shen Shu was shocked for no reason when she heard that, and cautiously echoed: "Yes, Your Majesty."
Emperor Wei was seen playing with the wine bottle with great interest, and murmured: "Sometimes, I often regard Hongrun as someone like Hongyu, Hongjing, etc... but I forget that he is not yet sixteen."
"Your Majesty..." Concubine Shen Shu hesitated, her expression somewhat frightened.
Sure enough, Emperor Wei put down the wine bottle, looked at Concubine Shen Shu and said with a smile: "My beloved concubine, now that Hongrun has left the pavilion to find a new mansion, I think it is time to find a Concubine Su for his Prince Su's Mansion... What do you think, my beloved concubine?"
What she had been worrying about was finally going to happen. Concubine Shen Shu's face changed slightly, and she said with pleading and worry: "Isn't it... too early, Your Majesty? Run'er is not yet sixteen years old."
Emperor Wei slowly put away the smile on his face and said seriously: "It is precisely because he is still young and can easily get lost that I have this intention... My Hongrun should be my Great Wei Qingtian Jade
Zhu, how can I sit back and watch him being tied up by a concubine and delaying important events?"
Your Majesty, is he talking about...that Miss Su?
Concubine Shen Shu was slightly startled and was about to say something when she saw Emperor Wei's eyes turned cold and she lowered her voice and said coldly: "If this girl obediently obeys my son, I don't care about her origin or age; but if this girl
If you intend to influence my son's will, don't blame me for not being able to tolerate her!"
Concubine Shen Shu felt her heart beat faster when she heard this, and said quickly: "Your Majesty, it's just a quarrel among young people..."
However, before she could finish her words, she was interrupted by Emperor Wei raising his hand.
"My beloved, you don't know how much Hongrun has invested in the Metallurgical Bureau, and you also don't know how much I expect from the Metallurgical Bureau... It's nothing for young people to quarrel, but my son has nothing to do with it.
He spends so much free time coaxing a woman, he is a man who does great things, how can he be hindered by the love of his children?"
How come?
There was a hint of resentment in Concubine Shen Shu's eyes: "Your Majesty only considers Hongrun to contribute to our great Wei Dynasty, doesn't he also consider that he also has the life he wants to live?"
"This is the fate of being in the royal family!" Emperor Wei said categorically: "Isn't it just Hongrun? Right now, my fourth son, Hongjiang, is stationed at Shanyang, the most dangerous frontline in the Wei Dynasty, and may be attacked at any time.
The Korean attack..."
With the fourth son of the emperor, King Yan Hongjiang, as a comparison, Concubine Shen Shu could not refute. After all, as we all know, among the princes nowadays, the one who has the hardest life is this King of Yan, who firmly defends Shanyang County for the sake of the huge Wei Dynasty.
"Isn't the north... unstable?" Concubine Shen Shu asked tentatively.
After hearing this, Emperor Wei took a long breath, closed his eyes and nodded, sighing: "According to the news sent back by Shanyang, the Koreans have launched three tests on Shanyang so far..."
"His Royal Highness King Yan is at war with the Koreans?"
"Not yet." Emperor Wei said happily: "Hongjiang is not a brave person. He saw that the Koreans wanted to test Shanyang's strength, so he did not rashly engage the Korean cavalry. At the same time, he
Many false flags were set up in the city, and the Koreans did not dare to act rashly for a while."
Concubine Shen Shu breathed a sigh of relief when she heard this. After all, the war between Wei and Chu had just ended. If there was another war with South Korea in the north, it would not be a good thing for the country.
"Why is this happening? I heard from Shen Yu that Run'er defeated the army of Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng of Chu State, in one go. South Korea should not go to war against the Wei Dynasty."
"It stands to reason that this is correct..." Emperor Wei nodded and said with a smile: "Thanks to Hongrun, the Koreans are also a bit wary of Wei, so they are just testing my Wei in the Shanyang area.
The bottom line is to use this to judge our current military strength after the battle between Wei Jing and Chu..."
"If we find out the true and false strength of Wei Dynasty's military strength..."
"Then..." Emperor Wei gave a bitter smile and sighed: "I hope I am worrying in vain." At this point, he seemed to realize something, shook his head and laughed at himself: "I said this to my beloved concubine.
What are you doing... In short, I don't want Hongrun to have other thoughts. Since he boasted about Haikou, even I have secretly approved many of his things. I don't want him to let me down and Wei Wei because of a woman.
"
"I know..."
"By the way, I will send someone to make a list of portraits later and hand them over to my beloved concubine... In a few days, you will call Hongrun and talk about this matter."
"This..." Concubine Shen Shu knew her son Zhao Hongrun's character very well, and she was quite clear about his current situation. After hearing this, she hesitated and advised: "Why should your majesty be anxious?"
As if he had read through Concubine Shen Shu's thoughts, Emperor Wei waved his hand and said: "I'm not making plans immediately, I just asked him to take a look first. If there is someone he likes, it would be best. Otherwise, just look for him again...
…”
While Emperor Wei was talking, suddenly a young eunuch hurried in and said a few words to the senior eunuch Tong Xian. Tong Xian looked shocked.
"What's wrong, Tong Xian?" Emperor Wei asked with a frown. After all, if it wasn't a big deal, Tong Xian wouldn't show such a shocked expression.
Tong Xian took a few steps forward and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, there may be a rumor spread in Yingshui County, saying that the ambush of the Chu envoy Xiong Fen in Yongqiu last year was the result of Xu Yin, the general of Fenxing fortress.
for……"
"What?"
Emperor Wei's face was filled with astonishment, and soon his face showed deep shock and anger. (To be continued.)