It's summer, and a ray of sunlight passes through the window and shines into the spacious room, bringing a gentle light.
I opened my sleepy eyes, moved my body a little, and found two pretty girls sleeping soundly on both sides of my body.
Wu Lingxuan was lying on the left side of the bed, her slender, white hands tightly holding Li Mingyuan's arms, her fair face with the tenderness and rosiness of a girl, her curved eyebrows slightly wrinkled, and the memory of last night still lingered under her trembling eyes.
Tears after having a baby for the first time.
He carefully removed his arms from the girl's body, and then rolled up a thin silk sheet to cover the girl's body to prevent the girl from catching cold and being exposed.
"Your Majesty, you are awake."
Zhang Baoyi woke up from her sleep and saw Li Mingyuan getting up and dressing with his back to the two of them, and said softly, "I will serve your Majesty in dressing."
"No need." Li Mingyuan gently held the girl's hand and said with concern, "You sisters are going through menstruation for the first time. Please rest in bed for a while. I can just get up and get dressed myself."
"Your Majesty takes pity on me, and my heart is filled with joy."
Zhang Baoyi used her right hand to lift the sheet to cover her chest, and said shyly, "It's just that I couldn't give His Majesty the pleasure last night. I feel guilty. Please forgive me."
"What a silly girl."
Li Mingyuan chuckled, his eyes full of pity and said, "Baoyi and Xuan'er are still young, and we have already wronged you by having sex last night. I can't bear to hurt your bodies just for the sake of fun."
We, husband and wife, will spend a lot of time together in the future. After a good rest in the morning, I feel almost recovered. It won’t be too late to go home in the afternoon to visit our relatives.”
Marrying and starting a family for the first time in two lives, Li Mingyuan was not only happy to marry his beloved, but also felt a responsibility as a husband and monarch. The fate of the country and the family was on his shoulders, and he looked at the young and cute faces of the two girls.
, Li Mingyuan knew clearly that if he had an accident or the country suffered a disaster, the two women and later their children would not be able to survive.
The country has initially stabilized. Li Mingyuan and his army have established a family, land, and ties to the people. It is no longer possible to wager a desperate war on the fate of the country as before.
Abandoning the early adventurous expansion strategy and choosing instead to improve national strength, taking advantage of the conflicts among Western countries, and using superior power to seek territorial expansion and improvement of national status will become the core of domestic and foreign strategies in the next twenty years.
After softly comforting Zhang Baoyi, before Li Mingyuan had time to get up, his wife Wu Lingxuan on the other side also woke up.
"Your Majesty, brother, please stay with Xuan'er for a while, I'm still a little sleepy."
"It's getting late, you guys need to rest for a while. My husband has to go to court today, so you can't sleep in the room."
Li Mingyuan kissed Wu Lingxuan on the face lovingly, causing the other party to feel shy.
"Your Majesty, today is a big court meeting. You have to wear several layers of robes inside and outside to go to court. Why not let Xiaolan and Ying'er help you get dressed? It will be faster that way."
Wu Lingxuan looked at Li Mingyuan with a smile and said softly.
"It's almost time, let Xiaolan and Ying'er come in."
Li Mingyuan looked up at the Western clock hanging on the wall and accepted Zhang Baoyi's suggestion.
Xiaolan and Ying'er were the dowry girls of Wu Lingxuan and Zhang Baoyi respectively. The two girls were two years younger, only fourteen or fifteen years old. Their figure and appearance were not that big, and they were about the same age as the little girls in the second and third grade of junior high school in later generations.
"Xiaolan, Yinger, is there anyone else in your family?"
Although the two maids were young, their hands and feet were nimble and they helped Li Mingyuan put on several court clothes inside and outside in a short time.
"Reporting to your Majesty, this slave was sold to a trafficker by his father when he was six years old. Later, by chance, he met the housekeeper of Mr. Zhang's family and bought the slave. From then on, the slave lived in the west courtyard with six older sisters.
, do some housework."
The maid Ying'er lowered her head, not daring to meet Li Mingyuan's gaze, and said cautiously, "When I left home, I was still young. I only remember that there were five people in the family: father, mother, younger brother, and younger sister. Later, after leaving home for a long time, my father
, I can’t remember the appearance of my brother and sister clearly. I only remember the way my mother held the slave and cried when she finally left home.”
"You were sold into slavery at the age of five or six, which is the age when your parents can have sex with you. It's also a pain for you."
"My slave is not suffering. At that time, there was a great disaster and there was no food in the family. My father sold my slave to get some food to survive. I don't blame my father at all."
Ying'er shook her head, and the expression on her face didn't look like she was being fake. "After entering the Zhang family, the young lady has always been very good to the slave, and His Majesty is also a good person. The slave is able to follow the young lady into the palace and serve His Majesty. It is the slave who has been cultivated for three lifetimes."
Such blessing, I don’t feel any pain at all.”
"Ying'er, you are still young. Stay in the palace and take good care of your lady. In a few years, when you are older, if you don't want to stay in the palace, tell your lady and we will arrange for you to leave the palace and find a good one.
She is married."
"I don't want to leave the palace. I want to stay in the palace to serve the young lady and Your Majesty."
Yinger shook her little head and said anxiously.
"Don't worry, no one is forcing you to leave. You can stay in the palace as long as you want."
Dowry maids are usually brought into the house by the male master. However, due to the reform and reform of the Han Dynasty and the influence of later generations' thoughts, Li Mingyuan thought that he should set an example and respect Ying'er and Xiaolan's own wishes. If they were unwilling to stay in the palace, he would let them go.
They go out to get married and start a family.
Different from Yinger's situation, Xiaolan's parents are Songkhla Chinese who are attached to the Wu family. Xiaolan stayed with Wu Lingxuan when she was four or five years old and was raised as a personal maid. Therefore, her family conditions are better than Yinger's.
a lot of.
Li Mingyuan, served by Xiaolan and Ying'er, put on his royal robes and went to court. On the other side, Zhang Baoyi dressed up and left the palace to go home to visit her relatives, escorted by a group of imperial guards.
In the central block of Chang'an City, a large house purchased by the Zhang family earlier had just been replaced with a plaque bearing the name of Yanling Bo. In front of the spacious Earl's mansion, the Zhang family members who were welcoming the imperial concubine to the royal family stood together. Together with the people watching the excitement around them, it was enough.
There are thousands of people.
"Miss is back." Two rows of imperial cavalry cleared the way, and the carriage in which the imperial concubine was riding walked among the guards. A servant who had served Zhang Baoyi before saw the imperial concubine's plaque and shouted excitedly.
"Congratulations to Uncle Yanling, the imperial concubine is deeply favored by your majesty. Soon the imperial concubine will give birth to a son, and the Zhang family will surely be even more prosperous."
"Everything is a gift from His Majesty. Zhang, a merchant, comes from a small wealthy family, and it is a great gift to get into the noble family. I don't dare to think any more of it."
Officials of all sizes in Gyeonggi Province frequently expressed their congratulations, but Jang Zhenxun could only respond with a smile.
"Sir, my lady's carriage has arrived at the street corner, and the adults who are visiting us are urging us to prepare for the reception."
A servant quickly ran to Zhang Zhenxun and reported.
"Several adults, the little girl's carriage has arrived at the street corner. I'm sorry that Zhang can no longer accompany these adults."
"It's important to welcome the imperial concubine. Even though Uncle Yanling is busy, we will also visit the imperial concubine in person later."......
"Miss, there are many people outside."
Ying'er opened the curtain of the carriage, revealing a pair of smart eyes looking outside.
"Ying'er, there are many officials at home today. When you get out of the car later, don't say too much, otherwise other officials will take advantage of you and may make His Majesty angry."
"You are a young lady, I must be careful."
Ying'er responded in a low voice, raised her head and continued, "But miss, my servant is dressing your majesty today. I feel that your majesty is very amiable, and your majesty likes the miss very much. Even if the officials outside deliberately use some etiquette to embarrass the miss, your majesty will not blame the miss."
of."
"Your Majesty has a lot of things to do every day. As a concubine, you should consider your Majesty. We should pay more attention to some small etiquette matters so as not to distract your Majesty."
Zhang Baoyi was dressed in a gorgeous Hanfu, and her fair little face was full of seriousness as she said, "Ying'er, although we are called masters and servants, I have always treated you as my sister. You follow me and marry into the royal family. In a few years, I will
I beg your majesty to admit you into the house and give you a formal title, so that you and I will not be in vain."
"This slave only wants to stay with the young lady and serve the young lady. She will never dare to have any inappropriate thoughts."
Ying'er's face turned pale, as if the other party had read through her thoughts.
"You follow me and marry into the palace. Sooner or later you will become His Majesty's. Unless you don't want to serve His Majesty. If that's the case, I will talk to Your Majesty and ask Your Majesty to let you out of the palace. Your Majesty is an enlightened person and will not force you to stay in the palace.
middle."
"No, miss, that's not what I meant."
"Okay, you have been with me for five or six years, and I still can't figure out your little thoughts. Don't worry, I will help you in the future."