April 12, 1174, the fourth year of the Great Song Dynasty Jianxing, was Zhao Chen's twenty-year-old birthday.

A twenty-year-old man means a real **. Even if it is an ordinary person, it must be warmly celebrated, let alone the emperor. In addition, now that the Great Song Dynasty has just defeated the Western Xia, its prestige is far and wide, so the court believes that the emperor's birthday must be celebrated.

Since it is the emperor's birthday, congratulatory gifts are naturally indispensable, and it is easy for officials in Beijing to do it, just send them around the official day. But officials in other places, such as officials in some remote areas, are not so good, because congratulatory gifts are different from other things, and there can be no mistakes, once there is an accident on the way, there is no time to make up for it, so as early as two months ago, there were officials who sent congratulatory gifts to Jiankang. Therefore, when there were still ten days before Zhao Chen's birthday, he received hundreds of congratulatory gifts. There was even a large hall in the palace dedicated to these gifts.

Although Zhao Chen had already decreed that the congratulatory gifts offered by officials in various places should be handled simply. But the birthday gift to the emperor can naturally not be an ordinary thing, and the salary of the officials of the Great Song Dynasty is very rich, even if only relying on the official salary, you can live a very rich life, so the congratulatory gifts are worth a lot of money, all kinds of gold, silver and jade, painting antiques, everything, including many things of value. Fortunately, Zhao Chen finally greeted him in advance, and all the officials also understood that they did not offer anything too luxurious.

On this day, the Empress Dowager Zhou, who accompanied Zhao Chen's congratulatory gifts, looked at the dazzling congratulatory gifts in the hall, and couldn't help laughing: "I didn't expect that the official family made a fortune on this birthday." ”

Zhao Chen smiled bitterly and said, "I have already sent an edict to various places and ordered officials everywhere to handle it simply, but I didn't expect it to be like this. ”

Empress Dowager Zhou said with a smile: "This year is the twentieth birthday of the official family, which is naturally different from the past. This is also a part of the hearts of officials from all over the country to the official family, and it is also a piece of good intentions, not to mention that the mourning family looks at these things, although some of them are more valuable, but they are not too out of line, and the officials do not have to be too demanding of them. ”

Zhao Chen shook his head and said, "Niangniang, I didn't say that these gifts were too expensive, but that ......" Zhao Chen picked up a stone from the congratulatory gift, handed it to the Empress Dowager Zhou, and said, "These are auspicious things." ”

The Empress Dowager Zhou took it and held it in her hand to take a look, only to see that the stone was engraved with the four ancient seal characters of "the country is forever extended, and the life is long". Look at the list again, it is the auspicious Rui offered by Wang Quanjing, the governor of Taizhou. It is said to have been found on a local mountain.

In fact, as early as the beginning of this year, officials from all over the country know that this year is the time when the emperor is coming-of-age, and it just happens that the imperial court has just won the Western Xia, so there are many places that report to the imperial court, saying that there is an auspicious omen in the local area, not what is the color of the sun and the clouds, the purple gas is covered, it is what is the hail around the altar, the purple gas guard, or the sun is heavy, the moon is dizzy, and then it is the Ganoderma lucidum Ruigu, double-headed peng, Lianli wood, or the presentation of strange beasts, what cattle produce unicorns, poultry phoenixes, yellow dragons and white deer, six-legged turtles, Flounder, as if overnight, all the exotic beasts jumped out.

In fact, the monarchs of the Song Dynasty believed in Taoism, so the so-called Tianrui showed that there were all dynasties. In the period of Song Zhenzong, he even made a celestial auspicious charm and sealed the farce of Mount Tai.

Although Zhao Chen was still a little skeptical about these auspicious beasts, he never believed that because he had a twentieth birthday, they all appeared all at once, so he issued an edict to all places, saying: The auspicious omen is a vague and ethereal saying, I have not seen it in person, I can't take it seriously, and all places should rush in.

After the edict was issued, officials everywhere immediately understood that the emperor did not like this set, so they all stopped. However, some officials will mistakenly think that the emperor is not asking for ethereal good news, but some auspicious real things. So he was clever and began to make it himself. The auspicious signs of clouds and mist and purple qi protection are naturally not available, and the Yellow Dragon, Qilin, and Phoenix are also impossible to find, but there are a lot of stone carvings and wood carvings, and there are ancient seals, and more than a dozen of them were sent to Jiankang at once.

After the Empress Dowager Zhou found out, she couldn't help but be angry and funny, and said with leniency Zhao Chen: "According to the mourning family, these officials may not really be inflammatory, but they are just the bad practices of the previous dynasty and the habit of it." As the so-called line is effective, as long as the official family does not prosper this set, ignores it, and does not let the villain have a chance to take advantage of it, after a long time, naturally no one will send these auspicious things anymore. ”

Zhao Chen smiled bitterly and said, "It's still what Niangniang said." ”

As they were talking, someone suddenly came to report that Princess Yongning had come to the palace to send congratulatory gifts to Zhao Chenjin, and was now waiting for the decree outside the palace.

When Zhao Chen heard that his sister was coming, he hurriedly ordered someone to invite him in. After a while, Zhao Qian came to the palace and saluted Zhao Chen and the Empress Dowager Zhou, looking at the congratulatory gifts placed in the hall, she couldn't help but smile and said: "I can't imagine that the official family can receive so many congratulatory gifts on a birthday, if the court is short of money in the future, the official family can hold a few more birthdays if they don't visit." ”

Empress Dowager Zhou said with a smile: "I just said that the official family had a birthday, but they made a fortune. ”

Zhao Qianru said: "It seems that only the congratulatory gifts we sent are much more shabby." ”

Zhao Chen said: "What my sister said is there, we are all a family, only in my sister's heart, and how can it be in the weight of the gift." ”

Zhao Qianru smiled slightly, and then asked someone to bring the congratulatory gift, and it turned out that it was a statue of Guanyin. The whole statue is about two feet high, carved from a whole piece of jasper, and the handicraft techniques are very delicate and exquisite, and it can be seen that it has been carefully prepared, and the value is definitely not under any congratulatory gift. And the meaning of this congratulatory gift is also very clear, naturally I hope that the palace will give birth to the prince as soon as possible. Of course, such a willingness can only be expressed by Zhao Qianru, who is Zhao Chen's sister.

Zhao Chen was also taken aback and said, "Is such a statue still shabby?" It's too much for my sister and brother-in-law to break the bank, and I'm really a little upset. ”

Zhao Qianru said with a smile: "Is the official family's reward for our house still less over the years?" What is a mere statue? ”

Empress Dowager Zhou also smiled: "Official, this is also your sister and brother-in-law's heart." But don't let them down, tell someone to take it away? ”

Zhao Chen heard his mother say this, and nodded, the congratulatory gifts sent by Zhao Qianru naturally could not be put together with the congratulatory gifts sent by the ministers, Zhao Chen immediately ordered the attendants to carry this statue to the harem and worship it. Then I invited Zhao Qianru to sit down in the side hall. The maid knew that the three of them didn't like to be scratched when they talked with the mother and son, so after offering tea, they all consciously withdrew from the hall.

After the three of them sat down, the Empress Dowager Zhou said: "However, although the matter of the imperial heir is related to the national body, there is no need to be too anxious when the official family arrives, and the imperial doctor is not in a big deal to check the body of the official family." Your sister and brother-in-law also got pregnant three years after they got married, and they were a pair of dragon and phoenix fetuses at a time. What's more, the official family has just turned 20, and they are in their youth, so they will not have no heirs in the future? ”

Zhao Qianru also nodded and said, "What the mother said is that the doctor also said that pregnancy and childbirth should not be forced. It is also common for couples to become infertile for several years after marriage. As long as you recuperate slowly, when the time comes, it will naturally come to fruition, so the officials should not be too deliberate. ”

Zhao Chen's wedding has been almost a year, in addition to the queen and the other three concubines, there are a few palace maids, all of whom have been set up as partial concubines, and now there are seven or eight concubines in the harem, but not to mention that none of them come out, that is, there is not even one who is pregnant, although the emperor, queen and concubines are still young, and there is time, but it can't help but make people feel a little worried. Moreover, the emperor's heirs still have the important matter of inheriting the throne, so Zhao Chen himself is sometimes a little anxious.

But the Empress Dowager Zhou also understands that Zhao Chen has no heirs so far, on the one hand, the time is not enough, and on the other hand, it is also because the government affairs of Chaoniu were too busy some time ago, and Zhao Chen often checked the chapter every day until late at night, where there is still energy to conquer between the beds and the ground, and it is normal for nothing to come out. However, since the reform of the official system this year, all the recitals are drafted by the ministers first, and then submitted to the emperor for ruling, so only major matters will be carefully reviewed, and for general affairs, Zhao Chen only needs to roughly browse, it can be approved, and the government affairs have also been greatly reduced, so that there is enough time to recuperate and accompany the concubines in the harem. Therefore, the heirs should not be far away.

After listening to the words of his mother and sister, Zhao Chenzhi was also a lot relieved, and said with a smile: "Niangniang is right, two days ago, I heard someone say, should you invite a Taoist priest with Taoism to come and see if I and the queen's fortune are against each other, otherwise why there are no children until now, it seems that I am really too worried." ”

Empress Dowager Zhou picked up the teacup and was about to drink tea, after listening to Zhao Chen's words, her brows furrowed slightly, she immediately put down the teacup, and said in a deep voice: "Where did the official family hear these words, in addition to talking about the official family and the queen, did you mention anyone else?" ”

Zhao Chen also found that the tone of the Empress Dowager Zhou had changed, and he couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart, and said: "It was two days ago, Guo Dada said to Erchen that he heard that Erchen and the queen were infertile after marriage, but he was afraid that it was luck that rushed to each other, and he heard that there was a Taoist priest named Zheng Xuanchang in Huangyunguan outside the city, who was quite Taoist and the best at looking at luck, so he suggested that Erchen invite him to take a look." ”

Guo Dada is a personal attendant who serves by Zhao Chen's side, and he is very clever, and he is also quite trusted by Zhao Chen.

Empress Dowager Zhou snorted and said, "This slave is so bold, isn't it difficult for the official family to understand?" This slave is asking people to see what kind of luck, it is clearly slandering the queen, and he also wants to introduce Taoist priests to the official family, is it difficult to regard the official family as Emperor Huizong? Do you still want to introduce Wang Zixi and Lin Lingsu in the palace? "Wang Tsaixi and Lin Lingsu were both warlocks during the Xuanhe period, and they were introduced to the palace by others, and they were quite favored by Huizong.

Zhao Chen couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart, he didn't care too much about the things in the palace, and he was not very interested in the first-class Taoist priests, after listening to Guo Dada, he only regarded it as a joke, and he didn't take it seriously, and he forgot about it after hearing it. I didn't think about anything else at all, but now after listening to my mother's words, I woke up a little.

Empress Dowager Zhou continued: "Don't say this, shouldn't this slave say, not to mention that after the official family got married, the unpregnant woman in the palace is not the queen alone, why do you want to say that the official family and the queen are lucky, if you let the queen know, wouldn't it be sad, the official family is not the same thing, why is it so careless, according to the mourning family, there must be someone behind the secret instigation, it must be strictly investigated." ”

Zhao Chen only remembered at this time that if Yue Ying heard these words, he would definitely feel uncomfortable. And since the two got married, Yue Ying has always adhered to her duty, neither fighting for Zhao Chen's favor, nor excluding others, and treating other concubines very kindly, and also very sympathetic to the palace maids, occasionally someone makes a mistake and rarely punishes her, and she is also very respectful to the Empress Dowager Zhou. Therefore, although she has been the queen for less than a year, in the palace, the vast majority of people respect the queen very much.

Zhao Chen was very fond of Yue Ying, and seeing that she was tolerant and generous, and behaved decently, he didn't love her more than her, but also had more respect. And the Empress Dowager Zhou also loves Yue Ying very much, the harem has always been an eventful place, from the example of Empress Li who is Emperor Guangzong, it is even more obvious that Yue Ying's bearing and character are not bad. thought that Zhao Chen had indeed found a virtuous queen, and he was relieved.

Zhao Chen said: "It was Erchen's negligence for a while, just as Niangniang wished, and immediately handed Guo Dada over to the Jingshifang for interrogation, to see who taught him to do this?" At the same time, it also warns the people in the palace not to talk nonsense in the future. ”

Empress Dowager Zhou nodded at this time, and said: "Official, you want to make the Great Song Dynasty rich and strong, so you have a lot of heart to do in the government, although this is good, but you can't ignore the family situation in the palace." Since ancient times, all wise lords must have a harmonious harem, so that the official family can have the energy to deal with national affairs. The ancients said: self-cultivation, Qi family, governing the country, and leveling the world. The palace is the home of the official family, if the family can't be stable, what can we talk about governing the country and leveling the world? ”

Zhao Chen was a little ashamed and said: "It's the son's carelessness, but fortunately, there is still a mother in the palace to maintain it." In the future, the ministers must pay more attention. ”

Empress Dowager Zhou shook her head and said, "Now the mourning family can help you take care of it, but I am also a person who is fifty years old, and I can still help you worry about it for a few days, not to mention that the affairs in this palace should be handled by you in the end, this time it will be a lesson." Then he sighed again and said: "Actually, these things were originally done by the queen, this kid is good at everything, but he is too kind-hearted, and he is too indulgent to the people below. It is the same whether it is to govern the palace or the country. ”

Because when it came to things in the palace, Zhao Qianru was not easy to interject, so she said: "The saint is still young, and sometimes it is inevitable that there will be some places that are not well taken care of. ”

Empress Dowager Zhou nodded and said, "That's right, Qianru, I have one more thing for you to do." ”