The Travelers of the Heavens

On the fifth day of the first lunar month in the ninth year of the Zhongyuan Dynasty of the Great Zhou Empire (AD 388), Huangji Hall of the Luoyi Imperial Palace.

Ji Kai, the emperor of Zhou, sat on the golden dragon chair and accepted the worship of hundreds of officials.

I wish His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Zhou Empire good health, and may His Majesty the Emperor live long live.

I wish the Great Zhou Empire prosperity forever.

I wish Her Royal Highness the Queen Mother good health, happiness and longevity.

After some congratulations, the Moon God began to report on the financial income and expenditure of the Zhou Empire, including the royal family, in the past year. There is no doubt that the eighth year of the Chinese Yuan Dynasty that just passed was just an ordinary harvest year, nothing special. There have been hundreds of such years.

Ji Kai was tired of hearing this, so he interrupted Yueshen.

"Please give me your Majesty’s holy instruction." Moon Goddess stopped and responded respectfully.

"Grand Master does not need to report these trivial matters to me, it is a waste of time," Ji Kai said.

Since he took the throne, he has to listen to the Moon God nagging here every year on the first or fifth day of the first lunar month. He is a little tired of it.

"Your Majesty, this is the ancestral system followed by all the emperors since the founding of the Zhou Dynasty." The complicated process of reporting financial status by the Moon God has become the ancestral system.

"Ancestral system, ancestral system, ancestral system everywhere, the late emperor is no longer here, I am the emperor of the current dynasty." Ji Kai was very dissatisfied, he scolded

"Your Majesty, please calm down." The Moon God immediately bowed his head to the ground.

"Your Majesty, please calm down." All the civil and military officials, nobles and ministers followed the Moon God and fell down.

"It will take several hours to read out so many official documents. The Grand Master is getting older and has been ill recently. Why not skip these complicated ancestral arrangements this time?" Ji Kai said

"Your Majesty, the ancestral system was established by the ancestors. If it is abolished for no reason, wouldn't it be disrespectful to the previous emperors?" What the Moon God said is quite similar.

"Grand Master, I have something to ask the Grand Master." At this time, the Queen Mother sitting next to Ji Kai interrupted.

"Queen Mother, please give me your instructions." Luna raised her head and responded to Queen Mother

"Grand Master, all noble ministers, please rise quickly." The Queen Mother first signaled

""Everyone, please get up." Ji Kai glanced at his mother and signaled.

The Moon God and a group of ministers got up one after another.

""Sit down," the Queen Mother said again.

""Yes." Everyone took their seats one after another

"The emperor is thirty and one this year, and he still has no sons and a half daughters. I am very anxious."

"Queen Mother, it’s not too late to talk about this kind of thing after the dynasty is over." Before the Queen Mother finished speaking, Ji Kai interrupted.

This is a very rude behavior. The Queen Mother has a respected position and her words carry great weight.

""Your Majesty, what the Empress Dowager just said about the royal family's succession of heirs is also a state matter," Yueshen said. Ji

Kai did not respond after hearing this. He changed his position and sat with his head in his hands, looking very casual.

"Three years ago, the queen unfortunately passed away. Last year, His Majesty issued an edict to establish a new queen. Now, I have found several women for Your Majesty and the Queen Mother to choose from," Moon God said

"oh? Why don't you bring it up quickly and let me have a look?" When the Queen Mother heard this, she was very looking forward to it.

"Queen Mother, I have ordered skilled craftsmen to draw the figures of several women." After saying this, the Moon God winked at Wang Yu.

""Okay." Wang Yu understood and left the hall.

At this time, Wang Ying was waiting outside the hall for a long time holding several scrolls.

Wang Yu came out and took his son into the hall.

"Wang Ying, the eldest son of Prince Xining, pays homage to His Majesty the Emperor and Her Royal Highness the Queen Mother. I present the scroll at the order of my father and mother." Wang Ying knelt down on one knee and presented the scroll.

"Come closer and let me have a look." This is the first time for the Queen Mother to see Wang Ying.

""Yes" handed the scroll to several eunuchs, and Wang Ying stepped forward respectfully.

"Well, the appearance is somewhat similar to your mother." The Queen Mother looked at Wang Ying, then at Luna, and said

""Yes" Wang Ying replied respectfully. Then he went down.

The Moon God ordered the eunuchs to open the scroll.

Only eight girls who were as real as photos appeared on the painting.

"this.."This is really lifelike." The Queen Mother stood up in shock.

Although there are many portraits of Zhou emperors in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, they are all realistic meticulous paintings painted by palace painters. This realistic meticulous painting method was passed down by Wang Yu. The eight figures in front of her are The portrait of a girl was painted by Wang Yu himself, and the realism of the characters is far better than the realistic meticulous paintings of the court painters.

Some people may think that this is a Western oil painting, but in fact it is not. The ink and paint used in Wang Yu's paintings are the same as those of Eastern traditional Chinese paintings. It’s the same, just the color matching and painting method are different

"Grand Master, which aristocratic ministers are the daughters of these women?" Ji Kai asked.

"This is Liu Huan, the daughter of Dr. Liu Xie, the history of Zhisu Neishi. She is fifteen years old this year."

"This is Zhao Xia, the daughter of Zhao Pushe, who is 14 years old."

"Who is this"

The moon god introduced the identity of the girl in the painting to the Emperor Zhou and the Queen Mother in turn.

"Um? Is the Sima family the Sima family who fled from Jin?"When the last girl was introduced, Ji Kai asked

"Yes, Sima Qilan is the descendant of the Sima family of the Jin Dynasty," Moon God said

"Please move her portrait out," Ji Kai said.

"Your Majesty, Sima Qilan has a gentle and considerate personality, and she is excellent at playing chess, calligraphy and painting. I think"

"Since the grand master thinks she is good, I think it is better to match her with the second son of King Xining as his concubine."

Before Yueshen could finish speaking, Emperor Zhou immediately interrupted her painting.

"Your Majesty was joking. Since Your Majesty doesn't like this girl, I will put away her portrait," said the Moon God.

So Sima Qilan's portrait was put away.

What happened just now, the Queen Mother did not stop her son, despite this. Sima Qilan was praised by the Moon God for everything, but after all, she was not a local aristocrat of the Great Zhou Empire, and the Queen Mother also looked down on such foreign exiled aristocrats.

After all, the Queen Mother came from a famous family. Her father was the prime minister when he was alive, and there was a marquis in the family. With a noble status, how could he look down on the descendants of foreign exiled nobles such as the Dongyuan Sima family, even if they have taken root in the country and developed well. The

Queen Mother also wanted a girl from her family to marry the Emperor Zhou as the queen, but unfortunately her family already had She felt extremely regretful that there were no girls of the right age.

"What does His Majesty the Emperor think of these women?" Moon God asked Ji Kai

"They all look good," Ji Kai responded.

"The Queen Mother means"Luna turned to ask the Queen Mother

"I think these women are very good, why not bring them all into the palace as concubines, and see who gives birth to a prince first, and then she can be named the queen." The Queen Mother expressed her opinion

"What do you think, ministers?" After hearing this, Moon God nodded slightly, then turned around and asked other noble ministers

"Please make a decision," the ministers responded.

""What the Queen Mother said is absolutely true, and I obey the decree," Yueshen replied to the Queen Mother.

The matter was decided. Originally, it was to report the financial situation and mention the matter of Emperor Zhou's appointment of a new queen, but it turned out to be the other way around.

Ji Kai said to himself The mother did not express any objection to her opinion, but when Luna wanted to report on the financial situation again, he said that he was not feeling well and left early. After the

Emperor Zhou left, the Queen Mother also left not long after.

Seeing this, Luna announced that she was leaving The next step is to send the seven girls to the palace, and this matter is temporarily over.

On the other side, Wang Ying has been leaving for more than a month, and finally left after Cui Qilian coaxed, deceived and threatened Nearly half of the journey was completed.

Wang Qi was very scratching his head after traveling for days. He asked Cui Qi to rest for a day or two before leaving. Cui Qi did not refuse and ordered to rest for a day before setting off.