Chapter 84 The prince consort has another love.
The top scholar and the princess become a pair.
The original owner was the most beloved princess of the Emperor of Dayan. With all the love and favor from the emperor, she naturally had to find the best man to entrust the princess to.
The original owner met Xie Ziqing when she was out for fun. The innocent original owner was attracted by Xie Ziqing's gentleness and thoughtfulness. Under Xie Ziqing's suggestion, the original owner thought Xie Ziqing liked her, and then fell deeper and deeper.
In the end, I will not marry anyone else but you.
Xie Ziqing was just a scholar from a poor family. He only had a handsome appearance and his knowledge was only slightly better than those who had no background, otherwise he would not have passed the imperial examination.
For the sake of his daughter, the emperor acquiesced to the original owner and secretly gave the questions for the palace examination to Xie Ziqing. Xie Ziqing answered the questions fluently in the palace examination, and the emperor took the opportunity to select him as the top scorer.
Afterwards, Xie Ziqing and the original owner were arranged to get married.
But unexpectedly, after getting married, Xie Ziqing brought his cousin Bai Xinyue to the princess's mansion, and had a relationship with Bai Xinyue by "accident". The original owner had to compromise and made Bai Xinyue his concubine.
But Xie Ziqing "felt" sorry for his cousin and treated her even better.
Whenever he had a conflict with the original owner, he would sleep in his cousin's room.
Later, the original owner and Bai Xinyue became pregnant and gave birth at the same time. In order to improve the status of his and Bai Xinyue's son, Xie Ziqing replaced the original owner's son.
He was also worried that the original owner would become suspicious, so he bribed the midwife and put medicine in the original owner's birth canal, taking advantage of the original owner's weak body after giving birth, so that the original owner would bleed profusely and would not come back.
A month later, the original owner's son who was replaced died.
Five years later, Xie Ziqing helped King Cheng to rebel, and with the help of both inside and outside forces, they killed the emperor. After King Cheng ascended the throne, he was named Duke of Zhenguo, and Bai Xinyue was promoted to the position of legitimate heir and granted the title of first-rank imperial minister.
The family of three is happily reunited.
……
*
"Princess, there is a pavilion up ahead. Let's go in and take a rest."
The maid Xiaotao was holding an umbrella for Zhang Shan and fanning herself at the same time, with beads of sweat on her face.
"Alright."
She was followed by more than twenty guards, four maids, and six eunuchs. Climbing a mountain was quite a big deal, but some people were not tactful enough to leave on their own, knowing that she was of noble status.
When she arrived at the pavilion, there was a young man there, reading a book in one hand and with the other hand behind his back, shaking his head. He looked very hardworking, but he had recited several paragraphs wrong, which was also funny.
Xie Ziqing: "My name is Xie Min, and I am Ziqing. Nice to meet you, young lady."
When he saw the visitor, Xie Ziqing bowed to Zhang Shan and introduced himself.
"Xie Ziqing? That Xie family? Yangxia Xie family or Taoxi Xie family?"
Xie Ziqing lowered his head even lower, trying to hide the resentment and hatred in his eyes, "It's Liu En Xie family."
"Liu En Xie Clan? How come this princess has never heard of it?"
She looked at the maids around her, and they also shook their heads. However, a young eunuch stepped forward to answer: "Liu En Xie family ranks fourth among the Liu En nobles. The previous Minister of Rites was Liu En Xie family."
"That's right. Xie Kuan, the former Minister of Rites, is my cousin." Xie Ziqing said.
"If I remember correctly, Xie Kuan was dismissed from his post because he was convicted of a crime. This shows that your Xie family's vision is not very good. Xie Kuan held a wedding for my eldest brother according to the specifications of a prince, and you, knowing that I am a princess, not only did you not avoid suspicion, but also stayed to introduce yourself."
Xie Ziqing didn't expect that the naive princess would think of him like this, so he knelt down and said, "I didn't know you were the princess, please forgive me."
"Do you really think you are the only smart person in the world? Your abacus beads have jumped on my face, but you still refuse to admit it."
When everyone saw Zhang Shan getting angry, they all knelt down.
Xie Ziqing knelt on the ground, unable to utter a word.
"I have rested enough, let's go back to the palace."
Xie Ziqing thought Zhang Shan had let him go just like that, and he was still feeling disdainful in his heart. He thought the princess was just like that, so he didn't dare to do anything to him.
He saw that the little eunuch who had just spoken for him was also left behind.
The young eunuch was a benefactor of the Xie family and had met Xie Ziqing several times. He had also received favors from the Xie family in the past, so he revealed the original owner's itinerary to Xie Ziqing.
"Master Xie, I was abandoned by the princess because of you. It is not a pity for me to die, but I hope Master Xie can take care of my family."
He knew that the princess would never let him go back if she kept him here.
Not to mention returning to the princess, it would be difficult to even return to the palace.
The young eunuch is very regretful now. Why did he betray the princess?
The princess is such a kind person and never beats or scolds her servants. It is hard to find such a good master in the world!
But, nothing can go back to the way it was.
I just hope my family can be safe.
"Xiao Tao, when you go back, check carefully to see who else is serving the Second Master wholeheartedly. I don't need them to worry about this anymore. Send them all back."
"Yes."
Xiao Tao looked at Zhang Shan's face and felt somewhat relieved. The princess seemed to have grown up and could think about problems for herself.
This made her feel relieved.
Xiaotao is the eldest daughter of the original owner’s wet nurse. She is five years older than the original owner and is now twenty years old.
In her previous life, Xiao Tao also suspected that Xie Ziqing had impure intentions. The original owner was treated pitifully by Xie Ziqing and tried to sow discord between the master and servant. The original owner no longer trusted Xiao Tao, but as a maid for so many years, she still had feelings for her, so she married Xiao Tao off.
After returning to the palace, the emperor summoned Zhang Shan.
"I heard that you left a little eunuch in Qingcheng Mountain?"
"I don't want a disloyal servant. I will do him a favor and leave him to someone he wants to be loyal to. I am a princess, and I have palace maids and eunuchs to serve me."
"Hahahaha, my Shan'er has finally grown up!"
"I have grown up naturally and will help you share your worries."
"Oh? How does Shan'er want to share your father's worries?" the emperor asked with interest.
"I read an interesting picture book last night. The heroine in the book established a killer alliance to kill all the unfaithful men in the world. I also want to establish a killer alliance. I will not kill unfaithful men, but only kill corrupt officials. I will clean up the government, share my father's worries, and solve the problems of the people."
The emperor thought Zhang Shan was just acting on impulse, so he agreed with his idea and even sent people to train Zhang Shan as a killer.
Everyone knew that the emperor doted on the eldest princess. When the princes learned that the emperor had assigned General Shen Wang to the princess to practice fighting with her in order to keep her company, they became extremely jealous.
They were both in their twenties and had not yet been crowned kings, but Zhang Shan had his own private army and fiefdom.
But it was their bad luck that they were not born from the queen's belly.
Although the queen died, the throne remained vacant and no one dared to hope for it.
After that, Zhang Shan often lived in the princess's mansion outside the palace and often picked up children with good bones on the street.
When she formed the Killer Alliance, the first thing she did was to put Xie Ziqing in a sack and break his legs.
Because of his disabled legs, he lost the opportunity to take the imperial examination.
Now let’s see how he will become the top scholar.
Shen Wang was a little disappointed when he was sent to the princess's mansion. After all, a man's ambition is to be on the battlefield, fighting bloody battles and returning home wrapped in his horse's hide, rather than playing house games with the little princess.
After a few days of perfunctory treatment, Shen Wang finally discovered that this princess did have something up her sleeve.
She designed a series of training plans that were very suitable for the military. With the intention of seeing what else she could do, Shen Wang diligently helped Zhang Shan carry out training.
Is it the killer alliance she wants?
Naturally not.
But a powerful army.
If she told the emperor that she wanted to join the army for training, not only would the emperor be worried about her, but even the soldiers in the army would not take her seriously.
Swords and spears are blind on the battlefield. No normal person would blindly believe in the method proposed by someone who doesn't seem very reliable.
And Zhang Shan is the one who looks unreliable.
Therefore, Zhang Shan did not choose to start from scratch, but instead conquered the main generals first. As long as Shen Wang surrendered, the other small soldiers would also choose to believe.
A powerful official does not build up her own power step by step, but rather fully taps into talents and lets others help her build her prestige.
……
White Horse Lane in the west of the city.
Xie Ziqing had become extremely gloomy ever since Zhang Shan tore off his hypocritical face at Qingcheng Mountain. Even to his beloved cousin, Xie Ziqing did not smile.
"Cousin, did Yue'er do something wrong that made you dislike her so much?"
Bai Xinyue cried so hard that her eyes were filled with tears, which made people feel pity for her. Xie Ziqing knew that he shouldn't vent his anger on Yue'er, and he also reflected on his coldness towards Yue'er these days, which made Yue'er panic.
He coaxed softly, "I'm sorry, Yue'er, I've had some difficulties with my studies these days. I didn't mean to be cold to you, Yue'er, please forgive me."
Bai Xinyue lay on Xie Ziqing's shoulder and stopped crying. Her eyes were red and I felt pity for her.
But the corners of her mouth turned up, revealing a smug and sarcastic smile, which made her look a little discordant.
Don't think she doesn't know that Xie Ziqing wants to marry the princess, rely on the emperor's favor for the princess, get the top spot in the imperial examination, and revive the Liuen Xie family.
She was not anxious nor afraid, because she thought she had already won Xie Ziqing's heart and the princess could not compare to her.
If the princess marries Xie Ziqing, she can kill the princess. Then, won’t she have the final say?
In their previous life, the two people’s conspiracy succeeded. Not only did they kill the princess, they also killed the emperor.
After comforting Bai Xinyue for an hour, Xie Ziqing saw that it was time to go out and socialize, so he grabbed a few books and hurried out.
When returning from drinking with his friends and passing through a dimly lit alley, Xie Ziqing was put in a sack and had his leg broken by a stick.
In the middle of the night, when everyone was enjoying life in harmony, they were suddenly frightened by a terrible sound. They immediately lost their energy and started cursing in anger, "Damn it, do you still have any sense of public morality? Why don't you just die!"
Men from every household went out cursing and getting dressed to see that bastard who had ruined their plans. Then they saw Xie Ziqing lying in the alley with his legs forming a strange arc.
"Xie Xiucai? Why are you lying here so late at night?"
The men were extremely angry with Xie Ziqing, but since he was a scholar and they were common people, they did not dare to do anything to him.
"It's bad. Mr. Xie was put into a sack and his legs were broken. Call a doctor immediately."
The sack and stick used as tools for the crime were placed next to Xie Ziqing. I wonder if he didn't have time to take them away.
"Did Mr. Xie offend someone?"
"He's been out making friends every day these days. Maybe some people can't stand him, so they put him in a sack."
"It is also possible that he is jealous of Xie Xiucai's talent and is clearing obstacles for himself in advance."
"Maybe. I can hear Mr. Xie studying every morning when I wake up. He is so diligent. He must be a very learned man."
There are different opinions.
But they don't know.
Sometimes hard work is useless, talent is also needed.
People like Xie Ziqing are the kind of people who have no talent.
Even if he studied twelve hours a day, he would still recite sentences incorrectly.
Maybe he also knew that if he relied on himself alone, he could only pass the imperial examination and become a juren, which was the best he could do.
The top scholar is something I dare not even think about.
But he had to be the top scholar in the imperial examination, and most people had the status of a juren. The best he could achieve was a fourth-rank official.