0p0 Chapter 182 The Emperor's Happiness
Chapter 182 The Emperor's Happiness
11
In the original history, Liu Rushi was one of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai in the late Ming Dynasty. She was poor when she was young and was sold to Guijiayuan, a training singing girl. Later, she was sold to Zhou Daodeng, the former prime minister of Chongzhen, as a concubine. She had a rough life and death, and after several transfers, she finally became a singing girl. Later, she married Qian Qianyi, a member of the Donglin Party, as a concubine.
Later, the Qing Dynasty captured Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself on Coal Hill, and the Southern Ming Dynasty was established. Liu Rushi supported Qian Qianyi and became the Minister of Rites of the Southern Ming Dynasty.
When the Qing army was approaching the city, Liu Rushi persuaded her husband Qian Qianyi to join her in drowning, but Qian Qianyi tried the water and said, "The water is too cold. I can't go in."
Later, Qian Qianyi decided to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. Liu Rushi was about to commit suicide by drowning herself, but was stopped by Qian Qianyi.
Qian Qianyi shaved his head and served the Qing court. Liu Rushi could not bear the humiliation and stayed at home, living apart from Qian Qianyi...
Originally, in history, although Liu Rushi was a woman, she had ideals and ambitions. Even though she had a rough life, she still faced life positively. However, she married the wrong person, a weak and incompetent man like Qian Qianyi, and eventually died of depression.
Lu Cheng had been busy with various affairs before and had never thought about the famous Eight Beauties of Qinhuai in history.
Unexpectedly, Liu Rushi's fate also changed because of me.
If Liu Rushi had still been a prostitute like she was in history, it would have been impossible for her to pass the audition and become a concubine, let alone come before Lu Cheng.
Perhaps Lu Cheng accidentally changed her fate and made her appear directly in front of him.
Thinking of this, Lu Cheng looked at the introduction about Liu Rushi again: ... She is good at poetry, music, painting, and has excellent literary talent. She has the ambition to serve the country. She admires Your Majesty's great talent and has written poems to praise Your Majesty's achievements...
After reading it, Lu Cheng circled Liu Rushi's name and then looked at the next one.
The following names are relatively unfamiliar. Some are from various parts of the Central Plains, the Mobei grasslands, the South, the Western Regions, and so on.
Especially among the beautiful girls from the Western Regions, there are two or three who look quite like Nazha, Reba, Liya and the like in later generations. They have good looks and are noted for being good at singing and dancing.
When he turned to the back, Lu Cheng saw a familiar name, Gu Mei, who called herself Hengbo, was good at Kunqu opera, painting, and poetry.
She is one of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai. Her childhood experience is somewhat similar to that of Liu Rushi. Her fate was also changed because of the uprising, and she was chosen as a concubine.
Apart from these two names, Lu Cheng didn't recognize the rest.
The age limit for this imperial selection was set at between 14 and 18 years old.
Among the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai, only these two meet the age requirements, the others are still little girls around eight, nine or ten years old.
Even Chen Yuanyuan, who was so angry that he risked his life for the beauty she loved, was only ten years old at this moment.
Being able to become a famous prostitute whose name is recorded in history books is definitely not just based on appearance.
Being able to stand out from the entire vast sea of talent shows further proves the excellence of Liu Rushi and Gu Hengbo.
After Lu Cheng looked through all the rosters, he waved to the eunuchs who were waiting on the side and said, "Notify them to bring in all the 100 beauties. I want to check them one by one."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Soon, hundreds of beauties were gathered outside the main hall. Each of them was dressed up beautifully, with some plump and some slim, competing with each other in beauty, forming the most beautiful scenery.
Lu Cheng waved his hand, and the one hundred beauties came forward in groups of ten, allowing Lu Cheng to check them one by one.
I have to say that the people below were really not fooling around, and the girls who were sent to Lu Cheng were all beautiful with great figures, and their temperament and manners were also excellent, and each of them was no less than the top actresses of later generations.
After Lu Cheng looked at them one by one, he nodded with satisfaction: "Stay all."
"Yes."
"Who are Liu Rushi and Gu Hengbo? Stand out individually and let me take a look. The others can go down first."
A young eunuch quickly led two young girls forward.
Lu Cheng looked at one of the girls and smiled: "I see how charming Qingshan is, and I think Qingshan sees me the same way. You are Liu Rushi, right?"
"I, the humble girl Liu Rushi, pay my respects to Your Majesty."
"No need to be polite, just come forward and raise your head so I can have a good look at you."
"Yes."
Liu Rushi took a few steps forward and came within 10 steps of Lu Cheng. Then she carefully raised her head and looked at Lu Cheng.
"Liu Rushi, I saw on the roster that you volunteered to participate in the draft. Can you tell me why?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. I was born in a humble family, and my family was poor since I was young. I had no food to eat, no clothes to wear, and I lived a hard life with my parents. I was almost sold to a brothel. Later, Your Majesty raised an army in Liaodong, pacified the barbarians, fought in Mobei, unified the country, and saved the people from the suffering of hunger and cold, and they didn't have to sell their children.
Although I grew up in the boudoir, I have long admired Your Majesty and respect Your Majesty as a contemporary hero. I yearn for Your Majesty. Therefore, I volunteered to participate in the selection, hoping to see Your Majesty and be with him forever. "
To be honest, since Lu Cheng became emperor, he has heard so much flattery every day that he has long been accustomed to it.
But when these words came from a girl of about fourteen or fifteen years old, it felt completely different, as if there was a greater sense of accomplishment.
Lu Cheng was delighted, so he naturally gave Liu Rushi a title directly: "Xiao Dezi, confer the title of Zhaoyi on Liu Rushi, and list her among the concubines."
In Lu Cheng's harem, the queen was of the first rank, the imperial concubine was of the second rank, the concubine was of the second rank, the imperial concubine was of the third rank, and the beauty was of the fourth rank.
The levels were set simply and roughly. Although they were based on the levels of harems in past dynasties, they were only for reference. The actual setting depended entirely on Lu Cheng's preferences.
Anyway, Lu Cheng was the founding monarch and held great power. He was arbitrary in many state affairs and did not listen to the opinions of his ministers, let alone in the harem.
At the beginning, some people brought up the harem system and suggested that Lu Cheng refer to the Tang, Song, and Zhou dynasties, but Lu Cheng directly rejected it.
You have to make your own decisions about your harem and decide it however you want.
If he can't even have full control over the affairs of his own harem, then what's the point of being an emperor?
Of course, the first, second, and third ranks in the harem are ranked in order of hierarchy on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is also related to the interest distributed every month.
In Lu Cheng's harem, Hai Lanzhu and Dayuer have served him wholeheartedly for so long, but they are still beauties and have not been upgraded.
Liu Rushi was appointed as a concubine when she first arrived, which was already quite good.
The girls selected in the same period of the imperial selection were only one level higher than palace maids before they served the emperor in bed, and were not even considered beauties.
Queen Ding Baiying and Imperial Noble Consort Zhang Yan have absolute status in the harem. Sisters Zhou Miaoxuan and Zhou Miaotong have given birth to children for Lu Cheng in the past two years. Now they are both concubines, and the only two concubines.
There are few people in the harem, and Lu Cheng has a good physique and endurance, so he can take care of everything. There is nothing to worry about.
Moreover, Lu Cheng is confident that he can live to be a hundred years old in the future. The women around him may not even live as long as Lu Cheng, so everything will be easy to deal with in the future.
After Liu Rushi was conferred the title of imperial concubine, she immediately accepted the imperial decree and expressed her gratitude.
Lu Cheng looked at Gu Hengbo, asked Gu Hengbo to perform Kunqu Opera, and also gave Gu Hengbo the title of Beauty.
However, these two are still too young and their bodies haven't fully developed yet, so they can only be raised for the time being.
That night, Lu Cheng flipped through two cards and found two adult beauties from the Western Regions. He watched a flying dance and felt it was pretty good. So he kept the two of them to sleep with him that night. Plum blossoms fell all night long, and he enjoyed the tenderness to the fullest.
The next morning, Lu Cheng woke up from the arms of comfort and couldn't help but sigh. No wonder the kings of all dynasties were so keen on conquering the Western Regions. It was really not for those few pounds of raisins.
With Reba on the left hand, Nazha on the right hand, and Hani and Liya in front, which man can withstand such a test?
After coming out of the land of comfort with great willpower, Lu Cheng started practicing health-preserving boxing in the imperial garden. He was determined to keep his body in good shape, as there would be many good days ahead.
At this time, Empress Ding Baiying and Imperial Noble Consort Zhang Yan came to the back garden together. Seeing Lu Cheng doing boxing, Ding Baiying couldn't help but say, "Oh, your Majesty can actually get up and do boxing. That's amazing. I thought your Majesty was intoxicated by the gentleness and couldn't get up."
Lu Cheng laughed, walked forward, and put his arm around Ding Baiying's waist: "Is my queen jealous?"
"I am not jealous. I am just worried that Your Majesty might get tired, so I came with Yan'er to bring ginseng soup to Your Majesty."
"Then Queen, will you accompany me for a few moves first?"
"Just two moves, I don't believe that Your Majesty can beat me after working so hard all night."
"Then why don't we make a bet? If I win, the Queen and Yan'er will be together tonight. How about that?"
"Just bet, who is afraid of whom?"
Zhang Yan, who was standing by, waved her hand quickly, asking all the maids to leave. She then gave Lu Cheng a complaining look and said, "Your Majesty, there are so many maids watching."
"What are you afraid of? We are an old married couple. Besides, which girl dares to say anything nonsense?"
After Lu Cheng became emperor, he did not add any new eunuchs to the palace, and still used the more than 300 eunuchs from the previous dynasty.
The number of palace maids in the harem was increased to about 1,500.
Because the palace is so large, part of it is sealed off and cleaned and maintained regularly.
Most of the palace maids lived near Lu Cheng's family, making it convenient for them to serve them.
I have to say, the emperor's happiness is unimaginable to ordinary people.
If Lu Cheng wanted, he could even be the groom every night and change the bride every day.
Of course, Lu Cheng also tried his best to restrain himself and not forget the old ones when he had new ones.
Besides, Ding Baiying, Zhang Yan and others followed Lu Cheng all the way from Liaodong, and their relationship is even deeper.
Moreover, Ding Baiying and Zhang Yan are only in their twenties or thirties now, which is a mature age. Compared with those little girls who have just entered the palace, they are indeed more feminine.
You can eat ripe peaches or sweet and sour green apples. You can eat them in turn, eat them together, or arrange them on a plate...