Chapter 61: Sleeping (Subscription Request)

Just as the top scholar banquet in the Hall of Supreme Harmony was in full swing, there were even a large number of fireworks blooming in the sky outside the hall.

In the Yonghe Palace far to the northeast of the imperial city, Concubine Yang Huan was dressed in blue, gazing towards the direction of the Hall of Supreme Harmony with a sad look on her face.

Beside her, a palace maid holding the princess was looking at that direction with envy.

"Your Majesty, the Hall of Supreme Harmony is so lively. I heard that tonight is the banquet for the top scorer in the imperial examination, and there are hundreds of people attending."

"This year's top scorers in both civil and military examinations are all from the Cui family. They are truly amazing!"

"The Cui family..."

The palace maid's unintentional words made Yang Huan even more miserable.

If it were in the past, before their father did that kind of thing, it would be their Yang family who could enjoy such endless love!

now……

"Wow! Fireworks! Fireworks!"

"Sister Huan, look quickly..."

Yang Xueqing is now over three years old. She staggered over, her little face full of excitement.

"So, so beautiful..."

"Sister Huan, can we go there to play?"

"Woooooooo..."

Yang Huan finally couldn't hold it in anymore and hugged Yang Xueqing and started crying.

"Don't cry, Sister Huan. Don't cry, Sister Huan. Qing'er won't go. Qing'er won't go..."

Yang Xueqing was startled and quickly hugged Yang Huan's head to comfort her.

Although he is young, he is already sensible and obedient.

"Qing'er, it's my fault that I'm incompetent. If you had gone with father and elder brother that day, it would have been much better. You wouldn't have to suffer in the cold palace..."

Ever since Yang Xuansu's rebellion, Yonghe Palace has been regarded as a cold palace. All the palace maids, eunuchs, etc. who could find a way out of the palace ran away, and no one dared to stay here.

As His Majesty had forgotten about this place, the Ministry of Internal Affairs had already reduced all food, clothing and other expenses in Yonghe Palace.

Now in the cold winter, people in Yonghe Palace can’t even afford charcoal, and can only rely on cotton-padded clothes and quilts to keep warm.

My younger sister Yang Xue Ning was so cold that she had a fever. She had to use the gold hairpin she brought as her dowry to beg people from the Imperial Hospital to come and see her several times.

Otherwise, Ning'er might not even survive this winter.

"Sister, sister..."

At this time, Yang Xue Ning, who was over one year old, seemed to be awakened as well. She staggered out, looked at her two sisters who were hugging each other and crying, and immediately started crying too.

For a moment, the cries of women in Yonghe Palace were connected into one.

"My lady..."

The little palace maid was also extremely miserable. She had been raised by Yang Huan since she was a child, so she regarded Yang Huan as her own sister.

In this kind of environment, they still stick together and never abandon each other, which is enough to show the deep love between master and servant.

"Your Majesty, I, I heard that the Ministry of Internal Affairs wants to move us to Qianxi Palace."

"Qianxi Palace?"

Yang Huan stopped crying and hugged her two younger sisters and asked curiously, "W-what is that place and why did they ask us to move there?"

"Qian, Qianxi Palace is a cold palace. Only three or four abandoned concubines from the previous emperor's time live there, and most of them are crazy."

"I, I heard from the Ministry of Internal Affairs that the selected beauties have already entered the palace and are now living in Zhongcui Palace."

The little palace maid said, "Eunuchs from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, there are many concubines this year. If His Majesty values ​​any of them, they will be distributed to the various palaces. Our Yonghe Palace..."

"Wow wow wow..."

Before she finished speaking, her younger sister Yang Xue Ning burst into tears.

As if she was frozen, her little face was red and she kept snuggling into Yang Huan's arms.

"The showgirl..."

Yang Huan looked sad, but her eyes were full of stubbornness.

"Father once said that the fighting in the harem is no less intense than that in the previous dynasty. I didn't fight for anything, but now I almost have no place to live."

"Father……!"

She gritted her teeth and said, "Why did you want to rebel? You left your daughter alone and helpless in this palace, suffering all kinds of torture."

"In order to survive, my daughter has no choice but to do this."

"You once said that the secret would ensure your daughter a lifetime of wealth and glory."

"But now, Qing'er, Ning'er and I are having trouble surviving, so why should we be rich and famous?"

"I just hope that Your Majesty can give the three of us a better life for the sake of your daughter Yuyao."

"Dong'er."

The little palace maid hurriedly said, "My lady, please give me your orders."

"Tomorrow I will go to see Liu Chengen of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and tell him that I have something important to report to His Majesty."

"This...Okay, my lady, I understand."

……

The fireworks were still there, illuminating the sky brightly, but on the roof of Zhongcui Palace, far to the south of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, there was a female figure standing.

The woman was wearing a moon-white gauze gown, and her black hair fell over her head like a waterfall, almost reaching the ground.

Her face is as delicate as snow, and her pair of black and white eyes are as bright as stars.

Unfortunately, half of her face was covered with white gauze, completely hiding the lower half of her face.

I wonder how stunningly beautiful she is beneath this veil.

"The Imperial Palace, Emperor Zhengyong, and both civil and military talents... Is this the man my master has called my destiny?"

The woman's voice was clear and pleasant, like the sound of pearls falling on a jade plate, more like the sound of a musical instrument.

"The court of Dayu is full of cliques and corruption, and the officials are greedy and have no ambition to make progress. The whole of Dayu is full of aristocratic families occupying land, and the people can't even get enough food to eat."

"This court should have been overthrown. But why did Master ask me to enter the palace to assist Emperor Zhengyong? Could it be that..."

"Giggle..."

Suddenly, a sweet laugh was heard, and another figure appeared on the top of the hall.

This figure was completely different from the woman in white gauze. She was wearing a pink palace dress, but her fair arms and calves were exposed, with miniature bells on her wrists and ankles.

With every movement, a crisp bell sounded.

"Who was I thinking? It turned out to be Fairy Qin from Cihang Temple."

"Doesn't your Cihang Temple claim to be the leader of the righteous path and is willing to help the world with a woman's body?"

"What? Fairy Qin from this Cihang Temple actually wants to enter the palace to serve the emperor. If those young heroes in the martial arts world knew about this..."

"Zhu Wanwan?"

Qin Qingxuan frowned and said, "What does my Cihang Temple do with your Baihua Sect?"

"If you don't want to die, leave quickly!"

"Death?"

Zhu Wanwan laughed sweetly and said, "I want to see who will die today?"

"This is the imperial palace. I don't believe that Fairy Qin dares to attack me."

"you……!"

Qin Qingxuan's eyes were even colder: "What is the purpose of the witch from the Hundred Flowers Sect entering the palace? Are you trying to deceive His Majesty by taking advantage of the chaos in the world? Believe it or not, I will immediately report your identity as the witch from the Hundred Flowers Sect to His Majesty..."

"I am the demon girl of the Hundred Flowers Sect?"

Zhu Wanwan also said in a cold voice: "The reason why I was able to enter the palace as a concubine, do you think the court doesn't know my identity?"

"To tell you the truth, the reason why my two junior sisters and I were able to enter the palace as concubines was because of the emperor's decree!"

“Hehehe… We in the Baihua Sect are obsessed with the art of sex and using our beauty to please men, but I never thought that I would have to serve the emperor today!”

"It's really... what I wanted!"

"you……!"

Qin Qingxuan's face looked even uglier. This witch actually said such filthy things in public.

It’s really... unreasonable!
"Sisters, are you here to watch the fireworks too?"

"Who?!"

"Who is here!"

Qin Qingxuan and Zhu Wanwan shouted secretly and turned back.

Who on earth could have gotten so close to them without them knowing?

If it's a life-and-death fight...

When I looked back, I found a girl who looked no more than fifteen or sixteen years old sitting on the eaves of the hall, swinging her little feet excitedly and looking at the fireworks in the sky.

The woman was not extremely beautiful, but she was very cute.

She was wearing the traditional costume of the Nanyue ethnic group, with some silver ornaments on her body, and her eyes were very bright.

Qin Qingxuan asked first: "Who are you?"

"Giggle..."

Zhu Wanwan smiled and said, "You must be Yuechan from the Nanyue tribe, right? You are so pitiful and lovable~"

"Sister is also very beautiful~"

Yuechan said seriously: "The fireworks are almost over. Are you sure you want to continue arguing instead of watching the fireworks?"

"watch fireworks……"

The two women looked at each other with strange expressions, but still nodded slightly. They stood on both sides of the hall and looked at the fireworks in the distance.

After a long time, the fireworks dissipated. Yuechan patted her butt and stood up, pouting and saying, "The fireworks in Zhongyuan are beautiful, but it's a pity that there are too few of them."

"Okay, sisters, Yuechan is going to rest now. Tomorrow she has to continue learning palace etiquette from Nanny. It's really abominable!"

"You guys continue chatting~"

After saying this, he fell down from the roof, and it was obvious that he also had advanced Qinggong skills.

Qin Qingxuan and Zhu Wanwan looked at each other again, and suddenly felt bored, so they left.

The entire Zhongcui Palace became silent again.

……Hall of Supreme Harmony.

"Chen Hongxiu, what about you?"

As soon as Zheng Yi finished speaking, the originally noisy hall immediately became silent.

Only outside the main hall, on one side of the examination hall, a group of martial arts candidates were still laughing and drinking loudly, and their voices could be vaguely heard.

Inside the hall, many ministers looked in the direction of Chen Hongxiu with thoughtful eyes.

Invisible pressure immediately fell on Chen Hongxiu.

In Dayu, there has never been a precedent of women serving as officials.

At most, female warriors would only appear in special departments such as the Temple of Worship and the Imperial City Administration.

Now that Chen Hongxiu is the runner-up in the martial arts exam, if she asks His Majesty for an official position...

Amidst countless pairs of scrutinizing and indifferent eyes, Chen Hongxiu slowly spoke, "Your Majesty! I am willing to carry on my father's last wish and rebuild the Cavalry Battalion!"

"Wow~!"

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a noise all around.

"The Cavalry Battalion? The barracks that was disbanded by the traitor Yang. How did she know about it?"

"Chen Hongxiu, Chen Hongxiu...sounds familiar?"

"The commander of the Cavalry Battalion back then seemed to be named Chen Dao!"

"I remember that the Cavalry Battalion was arrested by the traitor Yang for 'mutiny in the military camp and suspected treason', and the entire family was executed. The entire Cavalry Battalion also fell apart... Who is she?!"

The ministers around were discussing this, and Zheng Yi also spoke up, "Xiaoqi Battalion? Who is Chen Dao to you?"

"Chen Dao is my father!"

Chen Hongxiu continued, "Nine years ago, Yang Ni failed to win over my father, so he falsely accused my father of treason. All 38 members of my Chen family were killed by Yang Ni. Only I, who was studying abroad, was lucky enough to escape with my life."

"More than 800 of the 4,000-strong Cavalry Battalion were killed, and the remaining 3,000 were taken under the command of Yang Ni!"

"Before my father died, he sent me a pigeon, asking me to stay away from the capital and never work as an official in my life."

"But how can I forget the revenge for my parents? I have launched seven assassination attempts on Yang Ni in the past four years, but all of them failed."

"Now that your Majesty has destroyed the traitor Yang in one fell swoop, it is truly a blessing for our Great Yu."

"I am willing to follow my father's example and rebuild the Cavalry Battalion to protect Your Majesty!"

Rebuild the Cavalry Battalion?
As soon as Chen Hongxiu finished her words, there were gasps of shock and heated discussions among the ministers around her.

An official from the Ministry of Rites immediately stood up and shouted, "Your Majesty! It has never happened before that a woman can be an official. This is absolutely not allowed!"

Another official from the Ministry of War stood up and said loudly, "Your Majesty! There is a military examination in Wu State, and the people in the northern border are in turmoil. The military expenditure is exceeding the budget. You must not add more troops!"

"Your Majesty! There are already the Imperial Guards, the Imperial Guards, the Embroidered Uniform Guards, the Five Cities Army, the Imperial City Army, the Divine Machine Battalion and other troops stationed in the capital, so there is no space for the Cavalry Battalion!"

"Your Majesty, the Cavalry Battalion is a cavalry battalion. There are no suitable horse farms around the capital for the Cavalry Battalion to raise and train horses, so it cannot be established."

"I hope your majesty will think twice!"

Suddenly, more than a dozen officials ran out, knelt in front of Zheng Yi, and rejected Chen Hongxiu's request.

Zheng Yi's face looked normal and he showed no expression.

Zheng Yi was not surprised at all that Chen Hongxiu wanted to rebuild the Cavalry Battalion.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard has found out everything that Chen Hongxiu has experienced in the past few years.

For so many years, he has been traveling in the north and practicing martial arts, determined to avenge his father.

Now that his great enemy was killed by Zheng Yi, and with his late father's will in mind, he immediately wanted to repay his country and rebuild the Cavalry Battalion.

Zheng Yi admires such heroic women very much.

As for the tight military budget and overstaffed barracks, these are just excuses made by officials.

After Yang Ni's property was confiscated, the national treasury was full. Let alone forming a cavalry battalion, even forming a hundred cavalry would be more than enough!

Of course, it was impossible for him to rebuild the Cavalry Battalion despite the opposition of so many ministers.

He can issue orders, but if the people below disobey him in secret, then he cannot control that.

After all, he does not have complete control over the government now.

"Since you are against it, I will not force you, but I cannot go back on my word. So..."

"Chen Hongxiu."

"The grass people are here."

"I want to establish a palace guard position, select people with clean family backgrounds, loyal to the emperor and the country to enter the palace, to protect me and my beloved concubines."

Zheng Yi said: "My dear, you are a first-class warrior, and now you have won the third place in the martial arts examination. You are also a descendant of a loyal and good man, so you are qualified for this task. What do you think?"

"This……"

As soon as Zheng Yi finished speaking, the faces of the ministers around him all changed slightly, and some of them even revealed inexplicable smiles.

Why are women allowed to be the imperial guards?

It's just an excuse for Your Majesty to find a woman.

One queen and four concubines are not enough, so they have selected beauties from all over the world, and now they want to accept this third place in the martial arts examination?

Our Majesty is really... impatient!
"The Imperial Guard?"

Chen Hongxiu's face also changed. When did Dayu get this position?
When she heard the ministers around her whispering, her face suddenly turned ugly.

Is he going to take me as his concubine?

Or... a plaything?
Although he was loyal to the emperor, his martial arts were meant to serve the court. How could he do something that just entertained others with his sex skills?

"Your Majesty, I ...

Chen Hongxiu was thinking of an excuse to refuse, but Zheng Yi had already seen through her thoughts and was speechless.

He does like beautiful women, but not to the point of being indifferent to them.

There are thousands of beauties in the palace, but Chen Hongxiu is not a stunning beauty, on the contrary, she is rather ordinary.

Moreover, the Jinyiwei reported that she had married a man in the army during the years when she disappeared. How could he be interested in Chen Hongxiu?
Recruiting her into the Imperial Guard was just a stepping stone for forming the Cavalry Battalion.

"Chen Hongxiu, you don't have to worry about the position of Imperial Guard. You can go back and think about it. I am waiting for your reply."

Chen Hongxiu breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the matter could be discussed. She immediately said, "I obey your order!"

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, they have all been appointed to official positions, and where is I, Old Zhao?"

At this time, Zhao Tieshan on the side shouted hurriedly.

Cui Xiawu was appointed as Lieutenant General, which was a third-rank official position.

Chen Hongxiu was appointed as the Imperial Guard. Although no one knew what his position was, he was definitely a close minister to the emperor.

I don’t know myself…

Zheng Yi became interested and asked, "What kind of official do you want to be?"

Zhao Tieshan immediately said, "Your Majesty, it will be enough if you are promoted to a higher position than my previous position!"

"Oh? What was your previous official position?"

"I used to be a captain in the Imperial Guards!"

The battalion commander is a seventh-rank military officer who manages about a hundred people and is also a middle-level official in the military.

Zheng Yi immediately said: "Zhao Tieshan, you are born with supernatural powers and are a loyal person. Why don't you come and serve as my imperial guard?"

"The Imperial Guard?"

Zhao Tieshan blinked and said, "Your Majesty, I don't know many words, so I don't know what position this imperial guard holds."

Dayu does not have any palace guards. The guards who guard His Majesty on weekdays are all rotated on schedule by the Imperial Guards, the Forbidden Army or the Imperial City Administration. There is no official position dedicated to guarding the emperor.

The Imperial Guards were also first created by Zheng Yi.

"The Imperial Guards are guards dedicated to protecting me, and are not controlled by any military commander."

"I have specially set up a guard department, and each imperial guard is selected by me personally. The first-rank guards are third-rank military officers, the second-rank guards are fourth-rank military officers, and the third-rank guards are fifth-rank military officers."

Although Zheng Yi did not explain in detail, the ministers present had already guessed something.

The Imperial Guards...are an open armed force completely commanded by the emperor.

Independent of the Ministry of War, the Imperial Guards, the Imperial Household Department, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Overall, it is an organization that combines all the advantages of these organizations into one.

Moreover, he was close to the emperor all day long, protecting the emperor and was also the person the emperor trusted the most.

With such trust from the emperor, once he has made great contributions, he will surely be sent to serve as an official in a remote area.

In this case……

Zhao Tieshan didn't think so much, but when he heard about the third-rank military officer, he immediately said, "Your Majesty! Old Zhao, I'll do it! Hahaha, third-rank! Old Zhao is also a third-rank military officer!"

Zheng Yi smiled and said, "That's great!"

Chen Hongxiu, who was in a daze, also reacted at this time. It seemed that His Majesty really wanted to set up a new military system, not to take her into his room.

Without time to express regret, he immediately said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to serve as an official in the Imperial Guard."

"it is good!"

Zheng Yi immediately stood up and held up the wine, saying: "Today, I have been able to select talented people from the civil and military examinations. This is a blessing for Dayu."

"Gentlemen! Please drink this cup to the full!"

At this point, the emperor had spoken his mind, and the ministers could only stand up helplessly, holding their glasses high, and said:
"Congratulations to Your Majesty!"

Late at night, the ministers gradually dispersed, and the candidates for the civil and military examinations also left the palace under the guidance of the eunuchs.

However, Zheng Yi's sedan chair slowly arrived at the Pepper Palace, accompanied by Concubine Cui.

Under the dim light, the sandalwood is quiet.

Maybe it was because he drank too much, Zheng Yi felt his body suddenly become relaxed and soft.

The Concubine Cui in front of him was also extremely beautiful and charming, exuding endless charm.

"Your Majesty, I will help you undress and wash."

"Well……"

Zheng Yi staggered and hugged Concubine Cui in his arms.

"My dear, you are so beautiful. I, I..."

"Xiao Er, turn off the lights quickly!"

(End of this chapter)