Chapter 691 The Bait Is Set

The Tang Dynasty had been established for twenty years.

Many civil officials and military generals are old.

Every time there was a grand court meeting, Su Mingzhe sat on the dragon throne and looked down, and saw a sea of ​​white beards in the court.

There are both advantages and disadvantages when the court is controlled by a group of white-bearded men.

The good thing is that Whitebeard likes stability and doesn't like disputes, so when he encounters problems, he settles them quietly and rarely takes the initiative to cause trouble.

With the help of this group of white-bearded men, Su Mingzhe's idea of ​​not wanting to work hard and ruling the country without doing anything was easily realized.

But there are many disadvantages as well. Once Su Mingzhe has any new ideas, these old guys will always talk about the previous dynasty and tell Su Mingzhe not to have wild ideas or make reckless reforms.

This also led to the fact that Su Mingzhe didn't like being with them very much.

On July 15th, the grand court meeting ended hastily.

Su Mingzhe was about to go back to Ganlu Temple to rest, but halfway there, he was caught up by Zhang Ananda, who was panting:
"Your Majesty, Duke Liang is requesting an audience at the gate of Hanyuan Palace."

"understood."

When Su Mingzhe heard that it was Fang Xuanling who wanted to see him, he had no choice but to return to Hanyuan Hall.

After a while, the emperor and his ministers entered the hall.

"Give Xuanling a seat."

Su Mingzhe smiled and asked Fang Xuanling to sit down. Without waiting for the first prime minister to speak, he spoke first:

"Xuanling, if you don't come to find me, I will also prepare to find you."

Fang Xuanling wanted to speak, but was blocked at the corner of his mouth. He could only follow the etiquette and ask:
"I wonder what your majesty wants to see me for?"

"It's like this. The queen has passed away for two years. In three months, the mourning period for the princes and princesses in the harem will be over, and it's time to put their marriage on the agenda. I heard that you have a daughter and a son in your family who are of similar age, so I want to ask you which of my sons or daughters you like, so that we can become relatives."

Su Mingzhe's smiling words moved Fang Xuanling so much that he quickly stood up from the cushion and bowed:

"Your Majesty has entrusted you with state affairs for ten years, and your eldest daughter is now the Princess of Han. You are already extremely powerful and favored..."

"Xuan Ling, we have known each other for many years, so there is no need to say more. I know your heart, and you know mine. We are a good match for each other, and it will be a good story for all eternity."

Su Mingzhe smiled and told Fang Xuanling not to think too much, and asked him again which royal princess he wanted to marry and which prince he wanted his daughter to marry.

Seeing that the emperor was determined to form a marriage alliance, Fang Xuanling hesitated for a long time, but finally sighed and bowed his hands, saying:

"I am willing to marry my daughter to your majesty. As for my sons, they are really naughty and unruly. I cannot let the princess suffer any injustice."

To marry the emperor is both an honorable and dangerous thing.

Before, Fang Xuanling married his daughter to the King of Han, which was a marriage forced upon him.

Now, the emperor gave another difficult problem, and Fang Xuanling was really unwilling to accept it.

However, since the emperor had spoken, Fang Xuanling had to make a choice.

In the end, Fang Xuanling chose to marry his daughter off for an alliance rather than finding a princess as his daughter-in-law.

Su Mingzhe's choice of Fang Xuanling can also be understood.

In history, Princess Gaoyang married Fang Yiai and brought great harm to the Fang family.

In this case, Su Mingzhe did not force Fang Xuanling, and asked again:
"I now have princes of the right age: Prince Jiang, Prince Yue, and Prince Jin... Forget it, Prince Jiang, this kid is also very naughty. If you let your daughter marry this kid, I am afraid I will not be able to see you in the future. Xuanling, you should choose one of the Princes Yue and Jin as your son-in-law."

After hearing Su Mingzhe's words, Fang Xuanling was immediately moved to tears of gratitude.

He said that his son was too naughty to marry the princess because he was afraid that the princess would cause unrest in the family.

However, when the emperor said that his son was naughty, he was truly concerned about his daughter.

After figuring out these reasons, Fang Xuanling thought about it again and again, and finally decided to marry his second daughter to King Li Zhen of Yue.

Li Zhen was named King of Yue, and his fief was moved to Hangzhou by Su Mingzhe. His mother was Concubine Yan.

When Su Mingzhe saw that Fang Xuanling had chosen his son-in-law, he smiled and asked him to sit down, and began to ask him why he came to see him.

Fang Xuanling then said seriously:

"Your Majesty, I heard a few days ago that Your Majesty asked the Imperial Medical Bureau to collect a lot of medicinal materials. Recently, I also heard that Your Majesty went to the Imperial Medical Bureau in person and refined a lot of elixirs. I wonder if this is true or not?"

"It's true."

When Su Mingzhe saw Fang Xuanling asking about this, he immediately smiled awkwardly and apologized:
"Xuanling, you can't blame me for this. I have inquired and no one in your family is sick. That's why I didn't leave two pills for you."

"Your Majesty, you have misunderstood me. I came to you not to ask for the elixir, but to ask you to give up refining the elixir."

As Fang Xuanling spoke, his expression became particularly serious.

"Your Majesty, since ancient times, the concept of alchemists and elixir recipes has always been illusory. Please do not place your hopes on them."

"I know everything Xuanling said. What I'm practicing is not an elixir of immortality, but a elixir that nourishes the body and replenishes the qi."

Su Mingzhe heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that Fang Xuanling was not here to ask for elixirs.

Ever since traveling through time to the Tang Dynasty, Su Mingzhe knew that medical conditions in ancient times were poor, and he was afraid that his child would die from a cold or fever.

In order to regulate the body of his child, Su Mingzhe asked the Imperial Medical Bureau to prepare medicinal materials and personally refined several batches of high-level Peiyuan Pills.

Just these few batches of high-grade Peiyuan Pills were enough to waste all the medicinal materials collected over several months.

As a man who loved children, Su Mingzhe gave all these furnaces of high-grade Peiyuan Pills to the princes and princesses, as well as their children. Not even the concubines in the harem got a single pill.

Although it is said that if a person does not work for himself, he will be punished by heaven and earth. However, Su Mingzhe also knew that he owed some ministers in the court by doing so.

However, for some purposes, when Su Mingzhe gave out the elixirs as rewards, he still ordered the eunuchs who delivered the elixirs to personally watch the princes and grandchildren take the elixirs before returning to report.

The court officials only knew that Su Mingzhe was making elixirs, so they thought that Su Mingzhe wanted to learn from the Qin Shi Huang and Han Wudi. They thought that the emperor was becoming obsessed with immortality and was becoming incompetent, but they didn't know that these elixirs were really effective.

Facing Fang Xuanling's advice.

Su Mingzhe could only smile bitterly and agree repeatedly, saying that he would never go to the Imperial Medical Bureau to make pills again.

Fang Xuanling did not notice the trap in Su Mingzhe's words, and immediately apologized and left.

After all, the emperor had agreed, and Fang Xuanling was too embarrassed to continue chasing the emperor to express his opinion.

Afterwards, Su Mingzhe did not continue to stay in Hanyuan Hall.

The weather in July is really hot.

When Su Mingzhe returned to Ganlu Temple, he saw Fadeng wearing only a chest wrap and a thin silk gauze dress. Her thin and fair figure immediately made the man feel hot.

Just as Su Mingzhe was about to teach Fa Deng some new moves, loud shouts from two girls came from outside the door.

"Wang De, let them in."

Su Mingzhe quickly waved his hand, signaling Fadeng to hide aside first. She was wearing too little and it might teach the children bad habits.

After a while, two little kids, Li Mingda and Li Yanran, came in first.

However, after the two little brats came in, they were followed by five or six princesses including Linchuan and Changshan, as well as the two little princes Li Shen and Li Fu.

Su Mingzhe had naturally noticed these little guys a long time ago. He smiled and waved, motioning them to sit next to him, and then asked softly:

"The weather is so hot, why are you here to see Father instead of resting in your own palace?"

"Father, we came to see you because we want to ask you if you still have the Pei Yuan Dan from yesterday?"

As the emperor's favorite and most well-behaved princess, Li Mingda was the first to ask:

"Many ladies in the palace want to ask, if there are any left, can you give them one?"

Yesterday, each of these princes and princesses took a Peiyuan Pill. When they woke up today, they felt full of strength and very comfortable.

Especially the three little princesses Li Mingda, Li Yanran and Changshan. They were weak and sickly since childhood, and they didn’t eat much and were very weak.

Now when I wake up, I am no different from a healthy and naughty child, jumping and running, full of energy.

The concubines in the harem are not Fang Xuanling. They worship the emperor very much.

The emperor rewarded the princes and concubines with the Peiyuan Pills without testing whether they were effective or not. The concubines just wanted to have them and take them.

"Gone!"

Su Mingzhe flatly refused. After the children showed their disappointment, he coaxed them against his will:
"It is extremely difficult to refine this kind of Peiyuan Pill. Father also spent a lot of time to collect all the medicinal materials. If you want to refine it now, not only will you have to spend several years collecting medicinal materials, but you will also have to spend a lot of money to get it all together again."

"Oh, so this Pei Yuan Dan is so precious. If I had known this, I would not have eaten it."

Li Mingda is really well-behaved and filial.

The other princes and princesses knew that there was no more Peiyuan Dan, so they did not insist and left quickly.

After sending the children away, Su Mingzhe was about to pull the magic lamp over to continue, but Wang De reported that Princess Changle wanted to see her in Hanyuan Palace.

Princess Changle is Li Lizhi, the eldest daughter of Empress Changsun.

"Why are you asking for an audience in Hanyuan Palace?"

Although Su Mingzhe was surprised that Changle, as a princess, did not come to the harem but went to the main hall where state affairs were discussed, after thinking about it, he asked Fadeng to tidy up his casual clothes, and then sat in the carriage and headed towards Hanyuan Hall.

It is not far from Ganlu Hall to Hanyuan Hall, but you still need to pass through two palace gates.

By the time Su Mingzhe arrived at Hanyuan Palace, Princess Changle had been waiting for more than half an hour.

"Your Highness, I pay my respects to you, Father."

Li Lizhi knelt down and bowed solemnly.

Su Mingzhe quickly stepped forward to support him:
"You just had a baby. If you have anything to say, just ask your husband to come to the palace to tell him. Why do you have to make this trip in such hot weather?"

"Father, I came here this time to personally thank you for the gift of the elixir."

Like Li Mingda, Li Lizhi inherited Empress Changsun's rheumatism and has been weak and sickly since childhood. She has been married to her husband, Changsun Chong, for five years and only gave birth to a son at the beginning of this year.

After giving birth, Li Lizhi has been in poor health.

However, like Li Mingda, she was very well-behaved and filial. She did not want her father to worry about her, so she never told anyone about her poor health.

Even when she was seriously ill and needed to see a doctor or get medicine, Li Lizhi would go out to find the doctors.

Yesterday, Su Mingzhe prepared the Peiyuan Pill, packed two pills himself, and asked Zhang Ananda to deliver them to Princess Changle's residence. He watched Li Lizhi and his grandson Changsun Yan take them.

Today, when Li Lizhi woke up, she felt that her body was very different from before.

She looked at her son Changsun Yan again and found that he had the same rosy complexion and loud voice as herself.

At this point, she naturally understood that the reason she was in good health was because the Peiyuan Pill that her father had given her yesterday had taken effect.

As a child, Li Lizhi did not dare to enter the palace when she was not feeling well, for fear of frightening her parents and making them worry about her.

Now that she was well again, Li Lizhi naturally rushed to the palace to pay her respects to her father.

(End of this chapter)