bestfiction Chapter 276: Inviting You to a Banquet
Chapter 276: Inviting You to a Banquet
"Isn't it my decision who gets to have a son first?"
"..."
Yes, he did have the final say. Lu Mingyang suddenly raised his eyes and said loudly, "That depends on who is more important to His Highness."
"what for?"
He asked and she explained.
"If the Empress Dowager's support is more important to His Highness, then he should naturally choose Concubine Qin. If His Highness wants to reassure the Emperor, then he should naturally choose Lady Xu."
Chu Mingzheng laughed: "How do you know her last name is Xu?"
With a bang, Lu Mingyang slammed his teacup onto the table and snorted coldly, "I am your Highness's advisor, so naturally I care about everything you do."
I was seriously helping him with advice, but he treated it as a joke and laughed at me.
Chu Mingzheng realized that the girl in front of him was angry and looked away awkwardly: "Then tell me, who is more important, the Queen Mother or the Emperor?"
"Your Highness, no matter who you choose, they will accept it. So, the important thing is not who you choose, but that you choose as soon as possible." Lu Mingyang explained: "The reason why His Majesty wants you to appoint a principal wife after you have children is to prevent your backyard from being stable and to prevent you from taking care of other things. The saying "A harmonious family brings prosperity" is not just a blessing. Therefore, you must find a way to appoint a princess as soon as possible."
The sound lingered in the empty room for a long time.
"That makes sense. You are indeed my king's counselor. Every word you say is insightful and profound."
Lu Mingyang raised his glass and said with a smile, "Congratulations, Your Highness."
"But I don't want to choose." Chu Mingzheng looked at the girl in front of him with a burning gaze: "Because I know that no matter who I choose, you won't be truly happy in your heart."
After saying that, he stood up and left without waiting for Lu Mingyang to speak.
There was a sound of the door closing, and Lu Mingyang angrily threw his teacup against the door.
"Chu Mingzheng, you bastard, you came all the way here to tease a widow like me, is that fun?"
……
Not long after, good news came from the Ningyuan Palace. Someone was pregnant with the Ningyuan Prince's child, but it was not Concubine Qin, nor Lady Xu, but Ningxiang, who came from a brothel.
When Lu Mingyang got the news, he was playing with a rattle in the study to amuse Yin'er. The rattle hit Yin'er on the forehead, and he burst into tears.
"Auntie, I'm sorry, Auntie, I'm sorry, Yin'er, don't cry, don't cry." Lu Mingyang hurriedly picked up the child and comforted him. Although he knew that he would have children with someone else, hearing it in person was completely unbearable.
"Let me take a look." Leng Lingfeng knocked on the door and walked in, holding the child. The child smelled the herbal fragrance on the clothes and gradually calmed down.
"Why are you here?" Lu Mingyang asked.
Leng Lingfeng handed the child to the wet nurse. The wet nurse took the child away, and Leng Lingfeng said, "Ningxiang is not pregnant. I gave her the fake pregnancy medicine."
Lu Mingyang was embarrassed: "Why are you telling me this?"
Leng Lingfeng complained, "It wasn't me who came here, but someone insisted that I tell you, saying they were afraid you would be unhappy."
"Tsk!" Lu Mingyang sneered, "What does this have to do with me?"
"That's right," Leng Lingfeng said with a look of disgust, "He really thinks he's a treasure. Who cares about him? There are more than one good man in the world."
As he spoke, he sat down opposite Lu Mingyang and took out a sachet that smelled strongly of medicine.
"Now that spring has arrived, you'll be training in the woods outside every day. It's inevitable that you'll encounter poisonous snakes, insects, and ants. This medicine sac can protect you from poison."
Lu Mingyang looked at the man in front of her, feeling quite bewildered. He was helping another man pass on messages while also being so attentive to her. She coughed lightly, secretly hinting at her younger sister who was reading a book nearby.
"Thank you, Brother Leng." Yang Nianshu rushed over, snatched the sachet, and said with a smile, "I was bitten by a poisonous ant yesterday, and it's swollen."
"Really?" Leng Lingfeng was embarrassed.
"Brother Leng, please teach me how to make this medicine bag. I can make one for each of the female soldiers." Yang Nianshu dragged Leng Lingfeng out. "Come on, come on, come on, take me to get the medicine now."
Not long after, Yang Nianshu returned with a prescription and slapped it in front of Lu Mingyang. Lu Mingyang was staring at the hairpin in his hand in a daze. After waking up, he hurriedly hid the hairpin behind his back.
It was the red jade phoenix-head hairpin that was broken by Chu Mingzheng. Lu Mingyang picked it up piece by piece and found a top-notch craftsman to inlay it with gold.
Although she knew she shouldn't harbor illusions, she couldn't help but do so.
Yang Nianshu caught sight of this and said seriously, "Second sister, if you don't like Brother Leng, just say so directly. Don't keep him hanging."
"Who's hanging? I'm looking for the right opportunity." She didn't want to lose this friend, she really didn't want to.
"It's a rejection anyway. There's no such thing as a suitable time." Yang Nian'er suddenly had an idea: "Second sister, why don't you ask His Highness to go and talk to him?"
"Who is he to me? Why should he speak for me?" Lu Mingyang was furious.
"Okay, okay, it's your own business, you can handle it yourself." Yang Nianshu went back to read dejectedly. Through the gap in the book, she saw her second sister silently put the hairpin in her arms and covered it.
Yang Nian'er looked away distressedly, and happened to see the eldest son system in the book. She asked curiously, "Second sister, why didn't the emperor make Concubine Song the queen? There would be no dispute over the crown prince."
Lu Mingyang said, "When Concubine Song was pregnant, the Queen was still alive. She didn't even know whether the baby was a boy or a girl. We can't depose the Queen and make her the new one."
"But isn't the queen dead now?" Yang Nianshu asked.
"How do you read books?" Lu Mingyang said disdainfully, "According to the system of primogeniture, the children born to Concubine Song before she became empress are illegitimate children. Only the children born to her after she became empress are legitimate sons."
"Ah?" Yang Nianshu lowered his head to read and curled his lips: "What kind of rules are these? They are too..."
She thought about it for a long time but still couldn't find a suitable word.
Uncle Zhong knocked on the door and said, "Fourth Miss, Concubine Liu is here."
Lu Mingyang stood up and opened the door. "Uncle Zhong, what is she doing here?"
Uncle Zhong said, "Madam Liu said she wanted to thank you for saving her daughter."
Could it be that they were short of money? Thinking of Liu Mingqin's poor room, Lu Mingyang returned to Xunyang Pavilion and took two banknotes to the front hall. After all, she had grown up in the Chengyang Marquis's mansion, and surely her elder sister wouldn't want her to live such a miserable life.
"Fourth Miss, you can't do that. You've been very good to Qin'er."
Concubine Liu pushed it away twice, grabbed the banknote and put it into her sleeve, tears streaming down her face as she said, "Actually, the eldest lady also gave me some money later. But in a place like that, no amount of money would be enough. Qin'er is feeling much better now, so I brought some wine and food with me to thank the fourth lady. I came here today just to ask you to come over and do me a favor."
Lu Mingyang said, "I won't eat. Please tell her to take good care of herself."
"No, if you don't go, Qin'er will blame me." Aunt Liu was a little panicked when she saw that she couldn't persuade Lu Mingyang. "If you don't go, she will think you don't forgive her."