Chapter 1288 Admonishment
Although the hottest summer has passed, the lingering power of the heat is still there.
Wearing formal attire, Quan Cong stood under the palace gate. After a while, small beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
The sun, which had already passed its zenith, shone on the tall palace palace, casting a huge shadow.
But Quan Cong stood respectfully, not daring to go to the shadows.
I don’t know how long it took, but Quan Cong’s back and heavy Chinese clothes gradually began to seep with sweat stains, growing from small to large, and finally stained the entire back.
In a certain apse of the Taichu Palace, Bing Jian was exuding bursts of cool air.
The heat outside has not dissipated, but it is cool and pleasant inside the temple.
On the incense couch, there is a light gauze curtain.
There is a strange smell permeating the palace.
It is the residual smell of love between a man and a woman, as well as some lingering spice smell, mixed together in the air, forming an indescribable and lustful fragrance.
A snow arm stretched out from the gauze tent, hooked its slender fingers on a piece of tulle, and then pulled it back again, and the tulle was slowly pulled into the gauze tent.
Hummy gauze curtain, you can see a graceful body sitting up.
But I saw her reach out her hand to cover her mouth lightly, and then a lazy yawn came from the gauze tent:
“Haha…”
Although the wonderful man inside the gauze tent cannot be seen clearly, just seeing the figure and movements, as well as the seductive yawn, is enough to make people imagine endlessly.
After yawning, the people in the gauze tent put on gauze clothes.
Then, a straight and snow-white calf stuck out of the gauze tent, and the instep was so tight that one could clearly see the veins under the skin.
The toes, with nails painted red, first tapped lightly on the wooden floor, as if to test the heat and coldness of the ground.
Maybe he felt satisfied, and then he continued to put the jade feet down with confidence.
The round thighs wrapped in tulle were then exposed outside the gauze tent, and it seemed that the wonderful woman was about to reveal her true face in Lushan.
Unexpectedly, another man's voice suddenly came from behind her:
“Where do you want to go, my beloved concubine?”
At the same time, a big hand wrapped around her slim waist, and with a little force, he pulled her back into the tent.
“嘤咛!”
Following the gasping sound, a charming voice sounded in the gauze tent:
“Your Majesty, I can’t survive this concubine, please spare me!”
"Hahaha!"
It seemed that Sun Quan was greatly satisfied by his plea for mercy, "Since my beloved concubine is tired, please sleep with me for a while."
Mrs. Pan obediently lay in Sun Quan's arms, her slender hands rubbed circles on Sun Quan's chest, and said softly:
“Your Majesty, the Grand Governor has been waiting outside the palace for a long time. Why don’t you see him?”
Hearing this, Sun Quan had a look of displeasure on his face and snorted:
“What’s there to see? Don’t worry about him!”
Normally, Mrs. Pan would definitely not mention this matter again when she saw that Sun Quan was unhappy.
But at this time, her face showed a bit of bitterness, and she continued to persuade:
"Your Majesty has been staying in my concubine's palace for many days. The ladies in the harem are already very dissatisfied. They only say that I am too greedy and want to monopolize your majesty. I will not give them some rain and dew."
“If Your Majesty does not see the foreign minister now, I am afraid that there will be rumors inside and outside the palace that my concubine seduces Your Majesty, causing Your Majesty to indulge in beauty and ignore state affairs.”
As he spoke, Mrs. Pan was about to cry, and her appearance was even more charming.
Sun Quan couldn't help but feel pity, and at the same time he became angry:
“I am the emperor, the Son of Heaven! Do you need to look at other people’s faces to favor whom you want to favor and what you want to do?”
As he spoke, he let go of Mrs. Pan in his arms and tried to stand up.
Unexpectedly, there was a burst of soreness and numbness in his waist, which almost made Sun Quan miss his waist.
Mrs. Pan quickly supported Sun Quan:
“Your Majesty, are you okay?”
Sun Quan, who had just laughed bravely in front of Mrs. Pan and said that his sword was immortal, naturally could not admit that his old waist was sick.
If not, wouldn’t it be showing cowardice and slapping yourself in the face?
He quickly used his arms to support his body, forming a half-lying sideways position:
“Come here!”
The palace servant who had been guarding the door quickly walked in quietly:
“Your Majesty?”
“Go, send someone to tell the great governor outside that I am tired today and want to rest early and let him come back another day.”
“Here.”
After giving the instructions, Sun Quan lay back down and hugged Mrs. Pan again:
"Okay, it's okay. Tell me, who in the harem is talking nonsense again?"
Mrs. Pan took the initiative to fall into Sun Quan's arms again and whispered:
"This is Sister Yuan. Sister Yuan said that in the harem, harmony should be the top priority, and you should not be preoccupied with rain and dew..."
Hearing Mrs. Pan’s words, Sun Quan relaxed and said nonchalantly:
"It turns out it's her. It doesn't matter, just don't take it to heart. She is the most boring."
After a pause, his tone could not help but contain a hint of alienation and disgust:
“She considers herself to be an ominous person. Before, I thought she was being modest, but who would have expected that the prince..."
At this point, Sun Quan snorted and said nothing.
Mrs. Pan quickly said in a panic:
"It's my fault. I shouldn't have mentioned her in front of His Majesty. It ruined His Majesty's mood."
Sun Quan sighed and shook his head slightly:
“It’s not your fault. In fact, Yuan’s character is good, but it’s just a pity..."
He didn't say it was a pity.
Mrs. Pan, who was hiding in Sun Quan's arms, knew what Sun Quan meant by "a pity".
Out of sight of Sun Quan, her eyes flickered and she finally stopped talking.
Among the ladies and concubines in Sun Quan's harem, Mrs. Pan was the youngest.
But her ambition is not small.
It has been decades since the founding of the Kingdom of Wu, but there has never been a real queen - Mrs. Bu was posthumously granted the title, and strictly speaking she was not considered a real queen.
Seeing that His Majesty is already over sixty years old, Wu can't continue to not establish a queen, right?
In other words, your Majesty can’t stay away from having a queen for the rest of his life, right?
Mrs. Pan, who has been practicing dual cultivation with His Majesty for these days and is known as the Immortal Couple in private by His Majesty, has been growing in ambition and she also wants to become the queen.
It’s just that she knows that it is not easy to achieve her goal.
In her eyes, there were at least two people standing in front of her.
One is the Yuan family and the other is the Wang family.
When Mrs. Bu, who was most favored by Sun Quan, was still alive, Sun Quan wanted to make her his queen.
But the prince Sun Deng and the ministers in the court insisted on following the etiquette and rules and believed that the position of queen should belong to the Xu family.
The two sides were in a stalemate and refused to give in to each other, resulting in Wu State never having a harem master.
Until Xu died of illness, it was thought that Bu would finally take over.
Who would have expected that Bu died of illness immediately after Xu.
The battle for the Queen of Wu ended with neither of them getting what they wanted.
After both the Xu family and the Bu family died of illness, the huge differences between the monarchs and ministers of Wu State, especially Sun Quan and the prince Sun Deng, on the choice of queen naturally disappeared.
The matter of establishing a post-war period was put on the agenda.
Yuan, who is famous for his integrity, is a candidate that can be recognized by the kings and ministers of Wu State.
Prince Sun Deng even went to Mrs. Yuan's palace in person to ask her to agree to be his queen, and even called her his mother.
It's a pity that everything is good for Yuan, but his life is not so good.
She was originally the daughter of Yuan Shu. When Yuan Shu became emperor, she became the princess.
Who would have expected that Yuan Shu would be attacked by all the princes and eventually defeated and died of vomiting blood.
Yuan was also captured by Sun Ce and became a prisoner.
It was not until Sun Quan became the King of Wei and Wu that Yuan was admitted to the palace and granted the title of Madam.
Although he is called virtuous, he has never had children.
Sun Quan repeatedly gave her the sons born to Zhu Ji to raise, but he was unable to raise any of them, and one of them died after raising them.
It is precisely because of this that Yuan felt that she was an unlucky person, so she refused to agree to be the queen.
But no matter what, the Yuan family was someone who Sun Quan wanted to make his queen.
For Mrs. Pan who wanted to ascend to the throne, the Yuan family was naturally a potential threat.
So the purpose of her speaking these words to Sun Quan at this time was to test Sun Quan's attitude.
Now that she got the answer from Sun Quan in person, a satisfied smile appeared on her lips.
In other words, there is only one main opponent left for her at the moment.
That is Mrs. Wang.
Mrs. Wang is much more difficult to deal with than Mrs. Yuan.
In other words, Mrs. Wang’s status cannot be easily shaken by Mrs. Pan.
First of all, Mrs. Wang was also quite favored before she entered the palace.
Second, she is now the mother of the crown prince Sun He, and her ascending to the throne has natural legal rationality.
With other thoughts in mind, Mrs. Pan closed her eyes slightly and slept with Sun Quan.
Just when Sun Quan hugged Wen Xiang Ruyu and fell asleep soundly tiredly, Quan Cong, who was under the palace gate, finally saw the small yellow gate sent by the palace.
“Grand Governor, Your Majesty said that we are tired today, so please come back another day.”
When Quan Cong heard this, he immediately looked disappointed.
He waited from noon until the sun turned west, although he had already expected that His Majesty would not summon him today.
But when he heard the words coming from the palace, he was still a little unwilling.
Just looking at the towering palace walls, Quan Cong could only let out a long sigh and turned around to leave.
The sun, which had turned westward, shone on him, casting a long shadow, making him look extremely lonely.
When I returned to my house, the sun had already set on the top of the mountain.
The dim sunlight fell deep into the courtyard of the mansion, illuminating a patchwork of golden yellow and shadows.
“Alang is back?”
Princess Quan personally greeted Quan Cong in the front yard and reached out to take off his robe.
The strong smell of sweat coming out of the robe made Princess Quan frown slightly.
“Alang stood outside the palace all day today?”
"Um."
Quan Cong replied somewhat sadly and walked towards the side hall.
Princess Quan handed the robe to the servant, followed him up, and continued to ask in a low voice:
“Alang didn’t see His Majesty?”
"No."
There was a chair from the Han Dynasty in the side hall. Quan Cong sat down, leaned on the back of the chair, closed his eyes tiredly, and slowly shook his head.
Princess Quan poured a cup of tea, handed it to Quan Cong, and sat down next to him:
“Your Majesty has always liked to hear rumors from overseas, and has always had the habit of sending troops overseas. It’s not like Alang doesn’t know about it.”
"This time your Majesty wants to send General Nie You and Colonel Lu Kai to sea again. I am afraid it is not impulsive, but has long been considered. I am afraid it will be difficult for Alang to dissuade Your Majesty."
Hearing this, Quan Cong opened his eyes and slapped his thigh hard:
“More than ten years ago, His Majesty sent generals Wei Wen and Zhuge Zhi to float thousands of soldiers on the sea on the pretext of plundering overseas populations in order to plunder overseas continents.”
“Although we later saw Yizhou, the number of soldiers who returned to Dawu was only a few thousand, and the number of people plundered was not enough to make up for the loss of all the soldiers.”
"Now that the general has captured Xiangyang, it is time to attack Hefei with all his strength. I really don't know why your majesty would send 30,000 people to sea at such a critical moment!"
“This, this…this is not, alas!”
Quan Cong said this and could say no more.
How many troops are there in the whole country from top to bottom in Wu Dynasty?
Those are naval officers who can sail overseas!
Why would Your Majesty send so many soldiers to sea at such a time?
Princess Quan could vaguely guess some of it.
But she couldn't say.
Wei Wen and others were ordered to go to sea to search for Qiu Yizhou and Danzhou, and finally found Yizhou, which can be said to be a meritorious service.
But why was he still killed on the charge of "disobeying the edict and failing to achieve merit" in the end?
Because the Yizhou they found was not what His Majesty wanted at all.
Not to mention that over the years, His Majesty has become more and more obsessed with cultivating immortals.
Sun Quan took Mrs. Pan, known as the "Goddess of Jiangdong", as his immortal companion and practiced double cultivation with her in the palace.
This matter has been circulated among the top leaders of Wu State.
As the eldest daughter of Mrs. Bu, Princess Quan naturally knew the news.
"Your Majesty naturally has reasons for doing this. Alang wants to dissuade him, but if your Majesty is unwilling to listen, just forcefully admonishing him will not work."
Quan Cong sighed:
“I am doing this for the sake of the country, but Your Majesty doesn’t want to see me. What should I do?”
Seeing her Alang looking worried about the country and the people, Princess Quan sneered:
“Is Alang the only one left in our great Wu Chaotang? Or is it just that Alang is the only loyal minister who dares to speak out his advice?”
Quan Cong was startled when he heard what Princess Quan said:
“Princess, what do you mean?”
Princess Quan said slowly:
“The Prime Minister (i.e. Gu Yong) is old and frail. He has been ill recently and is often unable to manage affairs. Therefore, Your Majesty recalled the general from Xiangyang to take over the duties of the Prime Minister.”
At this point, Princess Quan stared at Quan Cong and emphasized her tone:
"The prime ministers of this generation are not in a hurry. Why are you anxious? Are you afraid that others will not know your loyalty when you go to knock on the temple alone like this?"
Princess Quan’s words were unpleasant, but Quan Cong reacted quickly:
“On behalf of the prime minister? On behalf of the general?”
Then he immediately shook his head subconsciously:
“Although what the princess said makes sense, if you want me to bow to Lu Boyan, don’t even think about it!”
The whole family's contribution to Shouchun's military exploits was lower than others, and Lu Boyan's contribution was among them.
At that time, Quan Cong was the commander-in-chief of the army in the Shouchun battle. However, when discussing his merits after the war, he was overpowered by others.
Even the head of the family was the one who was suppressed.
This incident was a great shame and humiliation for Quan Cong, who was already the governor.
This matter has always been firmly kept in Quan Cong’s mind.
Now Princess Quan asks him to go find Lu Xun, how is that possible? !
After saying this, he suddenly remembered and looked at Princess Quan with some confusion:
"The princess was quite indignant about Shouchun's military exploits at the beginning. Why is she so uncharacteristic today?"
Princess Quan had a meaningful smile on her face:
“As far as I know, Your Majesty is very resolute in sending troops to sea this time. If anyone insists on admonishing, I am afraid that they will make Your Majesty unhappy.”
She stared at Quan Cong seriously:
"Alang has to persuade His Majesty for the sake of the country. I will not stop him, but I can't persuade Alang alone. I have to unite with all the ministers in the court to persuade him."
"Besides, what's the point of Ah Lang taking the lead on such a big thing? It's better to let the general take the lead. After all, this is his duty. Who asked him to be the acting prime minister now?"
“But, this…”
Quan Cong subconsciously felt that something was wrong with what Princess Quan said, but for a while, he couldn't think of what was wrong.
Seeing Quan Cong's appearance, Princess Quan emphasized her tone:
“Alang, let me ask you, how does your reputation compare with Lu Boyan’s in the court?”
“It’s not as good as that.”
"Then let me ask you again, how do you compare with Lu Boyan in the army?"
“It’s not as good as that.”
“In your Majesty’s view, who’s words carry more weight, you or Lu Boyan?”
“Well, it’s probably Lu Boyan…”
Princess Quan looked straight at Quan Cong:
“Then why did Alang hesitate?”
Quan Cong was silent for a while, then nodded heavily:
"In that case, I will go to Lu Boyan first and let him take the lead no matter what, to dissuade His Majesty from sending troops to sea."
(End of this chapter)