The Prince of the Historian of the Red Chamber

108 Cheng En Gong

Yuan Che really didn't expect that he got mixed up with Zhu Yong'an when he was a teenager, and in the 20 years of ups and downs, even the Holy Majesty who liquidated the big group of moths in the previous dynasty and controlled the power of the world didn't give him the slightest bit of embarrassment. Today, the charming master of Cheng'en Gong's family, who is getting increasingly down and out, ran up to him and started pointing fingers!

Cheng En Gong or Cheng En Hou is a gift from the emperors of the Daqing Dynasty to the father of their queens. If the father of the queen dies, it can also be granted to his brother.Generally speaking, the family of the empress of the Yuan Dynasty is the first-class Cheng Engong, and the family of the successor mother is the third-class Cheng Engong, but there are exceptions. The Lord of Grace.However, no matter whether it is Cheng Engong or Cheng Enhou, they all end in one generation, and they cannot be inherited by descendants. If they want to continue the title, they can only hope that their own family will have another queen. There are many such situations. If The queen mother is always willing to choose a queen for her son in her natal family, firstly to consolidate her position, secondly to support the honor of the mother's family, and thirdly, without worrying that the emperor's son will be seduced by concubines in the harem. Self-centrifugal, the power of the two empress dowagers and empresses who came from the same family to control the harem of the dynasty has been greatly enhanced.

The present majesty has not bestowed the title of Duke Cheng'en—when the emperor paid homage to the Taimiao for the first time after cleaning the harem, there was a shrine for the Yuan Emperor in the west side hall of the Taimiao Xiangdian, which enshrined the meritorious ministers. Dissatisfied with the fact that the "Empress" was going to be buried in the concubine's garden, the officials of the Taoist priests suppressed their thoughts and notes, for fear of arousing the murderous nature of the emperor. The Empress Daxing became famous for "maintaining orthodoxy" and was promoted, but she didn't want to lose her head because of it: Now that the Supreme Emperor is still alive, the case of the Yuan family's injustice No. 1, which was wrongly judged by the Supreme Emperor and his old man The old master of the Yuan Dynasty was enshrined in the Hall of Heroes of the Taimiao, which shows that the blood in the heart of the Holy Spirit has not faded. Whoever comes out first will die early. ——Zaiyang, the younger brother of the former "Queen" jumped up and down several times to encourage him, and the veterans in the court remained calm. Zaiyang's heart to be a duke did not stop until the time when Queen Daxing was buried in the concubine's garden with a royal concubine ceremony. It didn't happen, and it was not the first time in history that a queen was buried in a concubine's garden, but the inscription on the cinnabar stele in Minglou was "Concubine Jie"!Fortunately, the concubine's garden where the royal family buried concubines was not accessible to ordinary people, and the palace guards who guarded the tomb were so frightened that they kept silent. Otherwise, if the news spread, it would definitely cause an uproar.

It was precisely because Zaiyang, who thought he was the queen's younger brother, did not get the title of Duke Cheng'en, this made the previous generation of Duke Cheng'en's mansion, which had been declining with the death of the empress dowager, become prominent again.Speaking of which, the two generations of empresses were the ones whose fathers died early, because the Supreme Emperor loved beauties, especially those fresh and tender beauties who were like delicate flowers. Due to her identity, her natal family was supposed to confer first-class Cheng En Gong, but the Taishanghuang gave her a third-class conferment.Old Cheng Enzheng is the elder brother of Empress Dowager Xianxi, he is more than ten years older than Xianxie, he has lived longer than successively, and he is still alive and trembling now—if his brother-in-law is appointed as Cheng Engong today He, Cheng Engong of the previous generation, is bound to be embarrassed, but the emperor has not been named, which makes the minds of the people in Cheng'en Gong's mansion active, thinking: Maybe the Holy One remembers the kindness of the former Empress Dowager?This is an omen that their Cheng'en government will prosper!

Another large group of stalking villains approached them, and they flattered and flattered Cheng Engong and his family with all kinds of flattery. They all puffed up their chests full of pride, and put on arrogant ostentation on various occasions in the capital, but The water in the pool was disturbed, and many middle-class and upper-class people thought that the Cheng'en family was really going to gain power. At that time, Cheng'en's family received countless invitations and banquets, and even more people came to the door with heavy gifts to make connections. Let the servant at the concierge of Cheng'en's mansion take the 'reward' to get soft.After a few times, not only the people in the capital believed the news of Cheng Engong's superiority, but also Cheng Engong's family believed it even more.

It's okay if it's just like this, but Cheng Engong's six sons, who are more than sixty years old, uncharacteristically let go of their usual intrigue and get together to plan "big things". This is the continuation of the promise The "glory" move of the Engong Mansion—these six people don't want to urge their children and grandchildren to study and practice martial arts, but they still have the idea of ​​​​the Duke of Chengen.And listening to the crazy words of the sixth master, it seems that they want to cover all the "exports" of the empresses of the Daqing Dynasty, and the demeanor, as if the "hereditary" Cheng Engong is already in their pockets .

Today's sixth son, Zhu Bin, is already a legitimate prince, not only a prince, but also a prince who holds great power!Even if the emperor ordered the world to pray and sacrifice to the Taimiao to seal the prince, the emperor did not accept the power of the prince because "the son is strong and the father is weak". The prince still holds all the rights he had when he was the prince of Duansu. Only his prestige in the army and the military power in his hands occupying one-third of the world, no one would dare to overthrow him!With such favor and influence, the civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty can say that the prince is sure to be the next emperor.

The birth of a prince without a concubine seems to be confusing even for his heirs--in the eyes of people, wouldn't it be unbearable for those who don't scratch?It's just that after the previous big cleansing, now the first-class mansion families in the Daqing Dynasty have some ideas in their hearts, no matter how greedy they are, they just sigh behind their backs. The family didn't know the inside story, but seeing the actions of the above-mentioned families was enough for them not to dare to act rashly, so they just came out with the unscrupulous Cheng'engong Luo's family.

Old Cheng Engong is old, deaf and blind, and has long since ignored family affairs. The six sons of Cheng Engong's mansion stand side by side, and they have always been arguing endlessly: Old Cheng Engong married five wives successively, and all the concubines born to concubines There are more than [-] sons, more than any emperor's son since the founding of the Daqing Dynasty.The bastards had already been squeezed out of the mansion. Excluding the dead sons, there were only six lords left in Cheng Engong's mansion. After so many decades, the mansion simply dropped their ranking among the brothers. , directly according to age to call "Elder Master", "Second Master" ... "Sixth Master", among the several masters, the first master and the fourth and fifth masters belong to the same group, the third master belongs to the group, and the second master and the sixth master belong to the same group.

Although on the surface it looks like the Eldest Master is in power, in fact it is not the case. The Fourth Master and the Fifth Master are brothers from the same mother, and their mother is the fourth wife who is the most unfavorable to the Old Master. Being treated badly, he had no choice but to take refuge in the Elder Master, and the Elder Master only occupied the title of being the son of the original wife's concubine, and the combination of the three of them was worthy of a tie with the other two factions.The third master does not have brothers from the same mother, nor does he have any other brothers to help, but he has a powerful natal family and is most favored by Cheng Engong.As for the Second Master and the Sixth Master, although these two are on the same side on the surface, they are often at odds on the inside. The fifth wife is still alive, and these two have their own calculations in their hearts. It is the second master whose sister is a concubine who proposed the measurement of "first the princess and then the queen".

This burst of limelight also made the eyes and ears of Duke Cheng'en's mansion much clearer, and it didn't take much effort to find out the names of the concubines in the Prince's East Palace.

It surprised several masters Luo who were quite like fathers: the dignified prince, there are only two old concubines and a few old concubines in the backyard!

Those two side concubines were only conferred when they were crown princes. Every family in the capital knew that this was only for the crown prince to manage the backyard and receive orders from the clan's wife. After all, the prince's mansion could not go out The hostess who meets the guests, but it would be unreasonable if the crown prince’s East Palace is not there—for this, each family knows very well that these two side concubines are just in the position of meeting each other, and let them accept the clan wives, It is not qualified to kneel down to ask for peace, and the crown prince's move also tells him his attitude: thinking of taking advantage of the lady in the backyard to make diplomacy, and taking advantage of the wind around the pillow to make a law, it is better to rest early. It depends on the actions of the previous dynasty!

As the saying goes, one force can reduce ten meetings, the current prince obviously has such courage and skill, he doesn't need a concubine who can turn around and deal with the ladies of various families.It can be seen from this that after the crown prince succeeds to the throne in the future, even if a queen is established, the queen is probably just a piece of wood with gold thread and jade clothes on the luxurious throne. The two will be irrelevant to the greatest extent. It is pure delusion to imagine that the whole family soared into the sky because of the favor of the harem concubines when the emperor was too emperor!

After the crown prince expressed such intentions, many first-class families paid less attention to the throne of the crown princess, but there were always those who couldn't see clearly, and the sad Luo family was the best of them.

"This is a great opportunity for our Luo family!" The second master blushed with excitement, stretched out two fat fingers and rapped vigorously on the small table, "Where there are foxes who don't steal fish, there are men who don't like to be cute!"

"Second, be careful!" The Eldest Master reprimanded pretendingly, thinking that the Second Master had no one to tell the truth, what would it look like to compare the prince to a fox!

"But what the second child said is also reasonable." The elder stroked his beard, and then said slowly: "The prince is so... cough, self-disciplined, presumably because the position of the crown prince was not stable a few years ago, We all know that the Supreme Emperor has always favored and promoted the fifth prince, and the fifth prince did have some fame a few years ago... The prince has been in the army since he was a child, and Princess Xiansu died early. It is common sense that the crown prince doesn’t like her palace servants...” Because the crown prince did not ask for the posthumous title of the Chang family who died early, the Chang family is still only the concubine of Xiansu, not the concubine of the first crown prince.

The third master was not to be outdone, squinted his old-fashioned eyes, and said with a smile: "The two elder brothers are right, but there are quite a lot of girls in our Luo family, which one should we choose?"

As soon as these words came out, the expressions of the several masters present were a little strange, yes, there are many girls of the right age in the Luo family, but there is only one crown princess.

It's like a pot is boiling, no one will let anyone get up, which house can become a princess, and which house can become Cheng Engong, and what's more, if there is a daughter or granddaughter who is a queen, isn't that the right thing to do? The prestige of several lifetimes—maybe there will be an emperor's grandson in the future?

Cheng Engong's salary is generous, but it is far from enough to support the master of this mansion. Besides, the Supreme Emperor has always treated Luo's family indifferently, and there are seasonal rewards, but they are all well-regulated. Therefore, although several masters Luo have many beautiful concubines, none of them can bear children like the old master Cheng Engong. The huge Cheng'en Gong Mansion was packed to the brim - this was the premise that the six masters of Luo sent all the unfavored bastards out to set up their own houses.

Because there was a queen in the family, the Luo family, which was quite noble, was completely defeated in the hands of the old man Cheng'en Gong. Don't let it go, fed up with the hard-pressed days in the past few years, after several masters Luo have tasted the sweetness of these days, they are more and more unwilling to give up the great good things to other houses.

Seeing that the Luo family had finally calmed down, they were about to fight like black corns - if they really fought on their own, it might have saved Zhu Bin and Yuan Che's troubles.

It’s just that the fifth master, who has always been whispering and echoing the old man, stood up and said something: "Our old man is the elder brother of the former empress, so the prince should belong to our son's generation, and the brothers are arguing over which house the girl should get this day." Great fortune, you can't think about changing the generation, the generation that deserves our daughter is the right one!"

The elder was startled, and then furious: "Fuck! Old fifth, don't you just have an old girl who hasn't married yet? What's the point! What kind of seniority is not seniority, when did the clan care about this?!"

This is true. Aunts and nephews are not uncommon in the emperor's harem, but this is the crown princess, the wife of the future emperor. Of course, she should pay more attention to it. , not a queen who has risen step by step from a low position, really considers this seniority, at least in general terms, it can't be wrong.Besides—

"Brothers, don't get angry, just listen to my brother." The fifth master didn't change his face when he was scolded that his daughter was an old girl who couldn't get married, and he still said with a smile: "Cheng Engong has always been granted to the queen's father. , if the father dies, the queen brother will be granted, but no..." I have never heard that it will be given to the queen's grandfather.

The elder master and the second master became embarrassed. They were dazzled by the good news of the ingot dropping from the sky, and forgot about it.Thinking back and forth, Luo Jiaoyan, the niece of Lao Wu's family who has not yet left the cabinet, is the most suitable one--could I let Lao Wu empty his hands for this great benefit?

The Eldest Master is fine, he has come to his senses at this time and is pulling the Fifth Master to make up for the rift that he committed just now with his unscrupulous words, but the Second Master and the Sixth Master are 1000 million unwilling.

The third master squinted his eyes and said to himself: The old saying is true, a dog that can't bark is the best at biting people!But the fifth child also thinks highly of himself, be careful to fetch water from the bamboo basket in vain!

"Speaking of it," the third master smiled very happily, "Didn't the brothers forget that Sanfang has a niece called Jiaorong? Hey, that girl has been raised by her grandfather's house for several years, and even her uncle almost forgot. What about her?"

The third master married the cousin of his maternal grandfather's family, which can be said to be more intimate, so his maternal family still supported him after his mother died all these years after Mr. Luo married two consecutive spouses.The third wife's life is not prosperous, and she only gave birth to a son-in-law five years after entering the house, and then she stopped hearing about it. The third master did not dare to enjoy the concubine and beautiful concubine widely.Ten years later, the third wife's belly suddenly received news that she was pregnant in October and gave birth to a skinny girl named Luo Jiaorong.Luo Jiaorong was doted on by the third wife as soon as she landed, and the third master also valued this old lady very much. When Luo Jiaorong was less than six years old, she was sent back to her prosperous natal family by the third wife to be educated. She only came back twice a year during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The sudden masters really didn't remember it.

There was a haze in the eyes of the fifth master. He had thought about this niece early in the morning, but he thought that the third son would marry his daughter back to the Yue family and have another kiss. But there is that conflicting mind.

The third master smiled and glanced at the fifth child, and said in his heart, he did have the idea of ​​marrying his daughter back to the Yue family, otherwise he would not have allowed his daughter to stay in the Yue family all year round, but compared with the prince's father-in-law, those Ideas are worthless.What's more, the Yue family is also very willing to let their granddaughter sit on the phoenix seat, so they will follow suit, right?

"Of course Jiaorong is better, but this child has been raised in her grandfather's house, and she will become a princess in the future. I'm afraid she will also be closer to the Jin family than to our Luo family." Seeing this, the fourth master hurriedly stepped forward to replace her. Brother speaks.

The third master sneered, and said: "How valuable is the status of the princess, and Jiaoyan is the daughter of the fifth step-mother, so her status is quite different. What's more, she has only been raised by her fifth sibling since she grew up. The big guys also know that at most it’s just the knowledge of a small family, Jiaoyan can do well in the position of the princess, hmph, I’m afraid she will be eaten by the lady of the capital!"

Without looking at the embarrassing faces of the fourth master and the fifth master, he smiled again: "Jiao Rong was raised by her grandmother since she was a child. Everyone knows that Mrs. Jin is the eldest daughter of the first-class son. First of all, Jiao Rong's upbringing is reasonable, and more Don't mention that she is the prostitute of my third wife! Not to mention the virtues and merits, even the riding and arching beauty raised by the noble daughters of the capital is also good. The prince was born in the army, so I am more happy with such a woman! The beautiful niece Doesn't the crying appearance not please you? It is nonsense to say that she is closer to the Jin family, and our Luo family has never treated her badly. She has both parents and brothers, so why is she close to the Jin family? It is naturally her mother's family. headed by!"

The fifth master forced a smile on his face, but what he said was like a knife: "My niece Jiaorong has been in the Jin family for many years. When others say it, she is suspected of being a melon farmer. But the big guy knows that the Jin family still has two young masters." Unmarried, my niece looks like a flowery girl, and has been eating and sitting with my cousin in the Jin family for ten years, tsk tsk, mentioning this... If not, people will blame our Luo family!"

The fifth master is going all out, he has been useless for most of his life, and he has not been able to earn a bit of dignity seeing people who have been buried. Now is such a good time, he has to fight with all his strength. They are both sons, why should he and the fourth brother You have to be shorter than others!Besides—he knows his daughter, she is exactly like her mother, although the fourth wife is the stepmother, she is more favored by the fourth master than the former wife and concubines in the yard. What is the reason?Isn't it just the fragility and helplessness of a man who sees it to the bone!

To judge others by himself, the fifth master is sure that the prince will definitely like a girl like Jiaoyan.

The two sides couldn't agree, and they both wanted to fight and fight. The remaining elder masters and second masters were noncommittal, expressing that they would wait and see, while the sixth master, who had a weak sense of existence from the beginning to the end, was already thinking about it. Now it’s time to take good care of my granddaughters—from now on, favor is much better than a title that lasts for one generation. Didn’t the old man lose face after being Cheng Engong for decades, and the Supreme Emperor’s Those favorite concubines are all there, tsk tsk... Even today, when the original concubine Jia is favored, the Jia family is full of flowers, if it is not for the concubine Jia's brain is broken, she has come up with witchcraft tricks , maybe what good luck can the Jia family have...