"Your Royal Highness, today's itinerary is as follows: at eight o'clock in the morning, attend the breakfast meeting of the hand-appointed women in this building; At 9:30 a.m., he met with the returning London Olympic delegation at the Ziguang Pavilion and presented medalists with medals of all grades. At 12:30 p.m., return to the hospital to have lunch with His Majesty the Emperor and the Empress; At 3 p.m., he attended the inauguration ceremony of the Chinese Tzu Chi Association; At seven o'clock in the evening, on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor, he attended the birthday banquet of Lord Yang Zhengjin, Duke of Wuren......"

Zhongnanhai Annex, Haiyan Building, Yuehua Princess Liu Qianhua Palace.

Ye Jingying, a first-class female official in the palace and secretary of the crown prince's office, is holding a folder printed with the royal dragon coat of arms, reporting the day's itinerary to Her Royal Highness Princess Yuehua, who is dressed up.

"It's breathless." Qianhua's tone didn't look like a complaint.

"There's still ...... here The Princess's Letter. ”

"Who's?"

"From Africa."

Qianhua casually swept her eyebrows: "Let's put it aside." ”

"Why aren't there any other female officers waiting?" Ye Jingying watched curiously as the princess made up herself.

"Sometimes I want to do it myself...... What's wrong? ”

"I didn't ...... Nothing, I'm here to help, okay? ”

Chibirch did not refuse.

Ye Jingying hesitated to pick up the croissant comb, and casually stroked it twice, but still couldn't help but speak: "Princess, you also know that Li Shishi got married in his hometown three years ago. ”

"I know it."

"The princess is also twenty-eight this year, is she not planning for the future at all?"

Qianhua didn't mind the personal female official and secretary next to her, who was as close as a sister, pointed directly at the age issue that seemed too sensitive to others, and just smiled faintly at the mirror: "Do you know the Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom?" ”

"The queen who never married? Princess, don't you want to learn from her......"

Ye Jingying was originally talented and quick-witted, and after entering the palace, she read a lot of books under the guidance of Qianhua, and she still knew a little about the British queen in European history mentioned by Qianhua.

Elizabeth I was the Tudor queen of England, reigning from 1558 to 1603, during her reign, she supported Protestantism and tolerated Catholicism. Economically, it focused on the development of the wool trade, and the enclosure movement of "sheep eating people" arose, which laid the foundation for the development of British capitalism; On the military side, the privateering adventures of pirates Hawkins, Drake and others gradually weakened the Spanish Empire, which was in full swing at the time, and at the same time made every effort to develop its naval strength, and finally defeated the invading Spanish Armada in 1588...... In the "glorious Elizabethan era" that she pioneered, Britain gradually rose to its peak and prosperity.

However, the legend of this queen lies in the fact that she never married, and she faced many suitors from the French, German, Spanish, and Swiss royal families, and has been skillfully maneuvering, and finally announced the total destruction of the suitors by announcing "I have married the whole country of England". Although this prevented the country from being drawn into a complicated power struggle (her sister Mary's marriage to King Philip II of Spain had drawn Britain into a war with France, which had resulted in the loss of Calais, the last fiefdom on the continent), the queen herself was lonely and lonely, and she had caused trouble over the succession.

At this time, facing the personal female official with a surprised face in the mirror, Qianhua combed the hair hanging from her ears and said indifferently: "It's okay for me to marry this Chinese Empire." ”

"Princess...... His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, this is related to the happiness of His Royal Highness's life, and also related to the future reputation of His Royal Highness, a high-ranking unmarried woman will always cause all kinds of rumors, Queen Elizabeth was attacked and slandered by all kinds of rumors before her death, and our previous female emperor Wu Zetian in China was famous for raising male pets, you are not afraid of ......"

"The one who cleans himself cleans, and it doesn't matter who loves to chew his tongue and let him chew it."

Ye Jingying fell to the side of the dresser, showing pity and pity on her face: "Princess, there is not only Li Shishi and a man in the world, besides, even if Li Shishi gets married, it is not enough to persuade him to divorce, why do you bother to ......"

"There is no such thing." Qian Hua interrupted her without hesitation.

"Princess...... You're not ...... to Lee Seo-seok."

"Illusion, it's just an illusion."

"Delusion?"

Ye Jingying blinked her eyes vigorously in confusion.

Qianhua put down the comb and said peacefully to the perfect princess image in the mirror: "I once mistook him for someone else, but I understood three years ago that he is just him, and that person is just that person, and no one can replace anyone." ”

"Someone else? Was it the princess's lover when he went overseas? ”

"When I was sixteen years old, I met a man." Qianhua's voice suddenly became gentle and sad.

"When I was most desperate and helpless, he appeared in front of me in a neat military uniform, very safe and trustworthy. He asked me, do you want to help? Then ......"

"And then?" Ye Jingying knelt on Qianhua's lap and looked up at the face that was immersed in the past.

"We recognized each other, and it turned out that he was one of my father's old subordinates, but he didn't come here with my father."

"Is he good-looking?" Ye Jingying asked coldly.

"It's a bit like Li Ruishi, no, I don't know what Lu Dao said...... I can't even remember what he looked like now, but I remember everything he said. ”

"Well...... You recognize each other and it falls in love at first sight? ”

"Fool," Qianhua patted Ye Jingying's little head, "Is this the only thing in my head?" ”

The tenderness is doubled, but the sadness is added to half of the bitterness.

"At that time, I felt that I should not have the strength to cry anymore, so I cried on his chest for a long time, making a mess of his military uniform. Before I knew it, I told him everything about me, all the pain and pain, in the most hysterical way......"

"Is that the trouble solved? Since then, a good marriage has begun. Ye Jingying obviously didn't know what Qianhua meant by "things".

"He has a wife."

"So what?" Ye Jingying pursed her lips.

"I hurt him." Qianhua lowered her head, perhaps trying to cover her face with the hair strands in her ears.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He wants to help me, but he shouldn't help me, he can't do anything by himself...... I hurt him......"

Ye Jingying sensitively grabbed Qianhua's slightly cold hand: "There is no such thing, no matter what, everything he does is voluntarily done by him, there is a man who is willing to do anything for you, you should feel happy." ”

"But I have nothing to repay him, he has a wife, a stable job, and a normal life, and I have nothing, I will only affect him, he should be as far away from me as possible, everything he has paid will only make me more miserable......"

"But ......"

"He killed someone for me."

A chillingly calm tone.

Ye Jingying could feel Qianhua's hand trembling slightly.

"And he...... How's it going? Are you still alive now? ”

"Murder pays for life, he was arrested very quickly, we met before, I knew that everything he did was because of me, so I wanted to turn myself in and tell the police that I actually killed those people. But he told me that he was not for me, but for my father. ”

"Liar...... Even if it's for your father, it's definitely just a little bit, a little bit of fingernails......"

Qian Hua did not react to Ye Jingying's objection and continued: "He asked me to go to my father, and he said that I can have a new life by my father's side, and happiness. He believed that my father was still alive and well, and that he could even give me everything I wanted. ”

"He's right." Ye Jingying unconsciously raised her sleeves and wiped the corners of her eyes.

"He also said that if I can't go to my father, try to know him, understand him, even when I am old, I will only blame my father for all my suffering, and I will always live in the shadow of my father, but I will never find a clear self......"

"Princess......" A few drops of warm liquid dripped on Ye Jingying's hand, and she hurriedly went to get the handkerchief.

He added...... If I couldn't do any of the above, I would kill my father and die with him—that was what I really thought at the time. At the end of the day, he wanted me to live well and find a way to see my father. ”

"Wouldn't it be nice that you did what he wanted you to do?" Ye Jingying raised her head and smiled at Qianhua, with a little tear in the corner of her smiling eyes.

"But he didn't have anything, and he got into it because I even got my life! He could have been a good officer, he would have had a lovely and beautiful child, and he would have lived a very happy life......"

"That's the path he chose, just like the princess you chose to go back to your father, it's all fate. And ......" Ye Jingying got up and hugged Qianhua tightly, "I'm very happy, the princess really loved a man, even if she feels guilty about him now, and how painful she is when she thinks of him, but the princess's feelings at that time can't be measured by right or wrong, you really love him, that's enough." ”

"And, as he had expected, the princess had been given a new life by her father's side, and now, was it not best for the princess to summon up the courage to pursue happiness and fulfill his last wishes?"

Qianhua covered her face with her hands, but tears were still oozing from her fingers.

"I don't know what to do...... I can't get over it, now ...... I just want to spend all my energy on this empire that my father and they have created, maybe I will have a delusion about this and that person for a while, but, but I really can't do it......"

"It's okay to do the things at hand, man, you still have to talk about fate......" At this time, Ye Jingying, who was two or three years younger than Qianhua, became a confidant big sister, caressing Qianhua's hair and comforting softly.

"I really can't be tempted anymore, it's okay to follow the example of that Eliza White Queen, and it's not bad to create a big prosperous era and let the people live a good life. Men are actually quite troublesome, which is not a big carrot, uncontrollable slanderous cat, it is common to see strange thoughts......"

"Okay, okay, just say that, you little girl isn't thinking about men one day."

Although she was still covering her face, she could say the above words, and it was obvious that Her Royal Highness the Princess had calmed down.

Ye Jingying turned around and looked at the big grandfather clock in the corner, and jumped up: "Princess, there are still two minutes before the breakfast meeting starts." ”

"Oh no, the makeup just put on is ruined......"

"Quick, I'll help ......"

"This powder is not puffed like this......"

"What's the matter, the future Holy Monarch can't be late casually......"

……

Queen Elizabeth I, who is buried in Westminster Abbey, probably won't be able to hear the call of two foreign women 400 years later.

That night, before the end of Yang Zhengjin's birthday banquet, a person blocked Qianhua's way.

"Your Highness, can we talk privately? Not tonight. I hope to have a proper arrangement on the schedule. ”

The person who spoke was the current Minister of Culture and Education, Luo Sulan, and Qianhua knew very well who she was representing. Since the collapse of Zhang Zhigao's cabinet for the second time, with the complete turn of Mo Ning, a disciple of Yuan Yuan Yi and the current prime minister, the power of the Wen Yi system seems to have become non-mainstream, but Qianhua never thought that they would be depressed.

Moreover, their positions on certain issues have a certain degree of legitimacy, which is also an important weight to balance the overall concept of the group. The group needs to become more stable, and the overall concept of the group needs to become more stable, so it is necessary to carry out comprehensive coordination, organically integrate each member into the overall structure of the group, and make factional strife and small group conspiracy a permanent history, not to mention any distinction between mainstream and non-mainstream.

But before the right opportunity arises, Qianhua does not want to and cannot take the initiative to provoke reform, and she needs to seize the time to strengthen her prestige before she has established sufficient authority, and pointing fingers at the old ministers without establishing sufficient authority will only cause unilateral disgust and dissatisfaction.

Now may be the time.

In the three years since he became the crown prince, he has handled more and more tedious affairs in place of his father, from inspecting factories to attending the full moon wine of the children of important ministers, from visiting the people in the village to meeting with academicians of the Academy of Sciences, from reviewing the naval fleet to attending the meeting of the elders of the group, both in the private and within the group, his prestige has been increasing day by day, but is this enough?

In any case, the opportunity in front of you cannot be missed. At the very least, it's not a bad thing to hear what the other party thinks, let alone such a solemn request.

"I heard that Beijing's city wall renovation and greening project has been completed, doesn't Minister Luo want to go and see it?"

"That's exactly what I mean." Luo Sulan smiled with satisfaction.

"Then see you at seven o'clock in the evening the day after tomorrow, Chongwenmen Tower."

Qian Hua closed the Western-style folding fan in his hand.

"Your Highness Xie, can I take someone else with me?" Russell Land's inch.

"It doesn't matter how many people you bring except for the reporters, I don't think we want too many people to know about this meeting."

"Your Highness is wise."

Luo Sulan's tone was not so much respectful as it was with the mentality of "just know that you will say that".

each other. Such a beginning is normal.