The concubine is extremely cautious

In early August, Marquis Dongchuan and his son, along with some soldiers from the southwest, arrived in the capital.

People along the way lined the streets to welcome them.

As a representative of the imperial court, Minister of Rites Duan Langyuan led a group of officials from the Ministry of Rites to welcome the southwestern generals in front of the city gate.

"My Lord Marquis and the other generals have come from afar and have worked hard. The Empress Dowager has specially ordered me to be here to welcome you. My Lord Marquis and General Dong, please follow me into the palace for an audience." Duan Langyuan's face was full of smiles.

Marquis Dongchuan was alert in his heart, but had a warm smile on his face. He exchanged a few polite words with Duan Langyuan, then took his son into the palace to pay homage to the Emperor and the Empress Dowager.

He had already prepared himself mentally. If the empress dowager wanted to give him an official position in the capital and keep him in the capital, he would ask the Xue family for help.

Xue's party was quite powerful in the court, and with the Dong family's people writing a petition together...

He has led troops in the southwest for many years and has made military achievements this time. If the empress dowager wants to eliminate dissidents and suppress meritorious officials, the ministers in the court will not let her do as she pleases.

Marquis Dongchuan thought a lot in his heart and even made a plan in his mind on how to tactfully refuse the position in the capital which was a promotion in name only but a demotion in reality.

But it was no use.

The Empress Dowager and the Emperor simply praised them a few words, as if it was just a formality, and asked them to prepare to participate in the celebration three days later, and that was it.

Marquis Dongchuan remained vigilant and did not take it lightly.

After leaving the palace, Marquis Dongchuan took his son back to the Dong family villa in the capital.

Although the Dong family's mansion was in the southwest, they also had a separate courtyard in the capital. The steward who stayed behind cleaned it up early to welcome the two masters.

"Dad, didn't you say that the Queen Mother called us back to give you a promotion in name only and a demotion in reality by giving you a sinecure? The Queen Mother didn't say anything and even praised us lavishly." Dong Wei asked in confusion.

Along the way, from the southwest to the capital, officials from all the state governments along the way treated them and their son as guests of honor.

The Marquis of Dongchuan was extremely cautious about this trip to the capital, but it was Dong Wei's first time to truly experience this kind of glory. He felt very elated and thought that his father was worrying too much.

"We just came back today. We won't start fighting on the first day. I guess it will happen in the next two days. Never mind. There's no point in talking to you about this. You can go down." Marquis Dongchuan waved his hand.

Dong Wei thought that his father was too timid.

He had also seen the Queen Mother today. Although there was a pearl curtain between them, from the sound of her voice she was just a young woman...

The Queen Mother is only in her twenties this year, but his father is facing a powerful enemy. Is it that serious?

"Then you take your time to think about it. My son is leaving now." Dong Wei said respectfully.

He had been to the capital several times before and could never forget its prosperity.

If it weren't for taking over his father's Dong family army, he really wanted to stay in Beijing.

In the southwest, he stayed in the military camp every day and could only go out for a few days every month. I don't know who likes this kind of life, but he doesn't like it anyway.

After the Cen family surrendered to the enemy, half of the former Cen family's generals, together with the Dong family, surrendered to the imperial court, followed the Dong family's lead, and became the Dong family's generals.

Many of these young generals are in the capital.

Prepare to welcome Dong Wei early.

As the eldest son of the Dong family and the next successor of the Dong family army, he naturally has no shortage of supporters.

That afternoon, these young people of the same age as Dong Wei welcomed him at the No. 1 restaurant in the capital.

……

The best restaurant in the capital.

"Brother Dong, you are amazing. I heard that the Dong family army has won consecutive victories. The Queen Mother and the officials in the court specially asked you and the Marquis of Dongchuan to come back to participate in the celebration. What do you call this? This is how much they value you!"

"Yes, yes. I heard from my uncle that many ministers in the court are discussing privately that the Queen Mother might want to win you over! The Queen Mother and the Xue family have always been at odds, so it seems that she will have to rely on you."

"We can only eat and wait for death at home, but Brother Dong is a hero on the battlefield. In three days, Brother Dong will participate in the celebration. The people of the whole capital will cheer for you. My cousin even asked you if you have married? You are really enviable!"

Dong Wei was very pleased with the flattery from a few of his cronies.

After three rounds of drinks, the atmosphere was very lively.

At this moment, there was a commotion in the lobby downstairs, and the restaurant owner came to greet them personally.

Dong Wei was treated the same way when he came in just now. The shopkeeper greeted them respectfully and gave them several jars of fine wine.

Which noble family's son is this? Why is he treated the same as me?

Dong Wei leaned over and looked downstairs.

They were sitting in a box on the second floor with the window open, so they could look down and see the scene downstairs.

Several young men came in, surrounding a young man in blue.

The young man was dressed in gorgeous clothes, and all the accessories he wore were precious items. It was obvious that he was a young man from a noble family.

More than a dozen guards accompanied him in a grand and majestic manner.

"Who is this?" Dong Wei asked. He was a little depressed. The show he had just put on when he entered the room was still too small. He was outshined by the comparison.

A younger brother nearby answered, "This is Queen Mother Ning's elder brother, the eldest son of the Ning family. However, he has a younger sister who is the Queen Mother, so others flatter him. He is far inferior to Brother Dong, who has made great military achievements."

"That's right. As the son of a nobleman, he took the examination for the title of scholar. It's really hard to describe."

The official positions and titles bestowed by the Great Yan Dynasty were all honorary titles.

One can take part in the imperial examination without being formally appointed.

Ning Heng participated in the Tongshi exam a few months ago and was ranked first by the examiner. This year is the year of the imperial examination, with the autumn provincial exam in August and the spring metropolitan exam in February next year.

Nowadays, there are many scholars in the capital who are preparing to take part in the provincial examination.

There were several scholars in the lobby downstairs, and they all greeted Ning Heng.

Seeing that he was quite popular, Dong Wei frowned and asked, "Did he pass the exam?"

"Yes, he got the first place in the examination. A bunch of scholars who wanted to curry favor with the Ning family were praising him... Well, everyone knows that the examiner gave him this score because he is the Queen Mother's brother. Otherwise, how could he pass the exam?"

"He will definitely fail the provincial examination. The examiners of the provincial examination are important officials. The Ning family can at most bribe a provincial official, but the Ning family still has absolute control over the court."

The imperial examination was conducted anonymously, so the examiners would not know which test paper belonged to the candidate.

However, every policy has its own countermeasure.

In the past, some candidates would write certain words in their exam essays as secret codes.

Therefore, many people believed that the Ning family had secretly contributed to the fact that Ning Wanyin's brother was able to pass the imperial examination and be selected as the first in the child examination.

If he really had this ability, why didn't he take part in the imperial examination during the time of the previous emperor?

Now that his sister is in power, he has popped up.

Dong Wei suddenly realized, and a trace of contempt flashed in his eyes: "It's better to go to the battlefield than to do these unorthodox methods. It's shameful for a son of a noble family to be a scholar."

"He is a sickly man. I heard that he almost drowned. If he goes to the battlefield, he will probably fall off his horse. How can he fight?"

"Queen Dowager Ning can't count on her own brothers, otherwise why would she try to win over generals everywhere? She tried to win over the Tang family before, and now she's trying to show goodwill to Brother Dong and the Marquis."

"Brother Dong is a victorious general. He is not good at either literature or martial arts. How can he be as capable as Brother Dong to go to the battlefield?"

Several brothers were talking at once, praising and criticizing each other in their own private room, but they didn't expect that their words would get out and be heard by outsiders.

Dong Wei was flattered by the praise. He glanced at the incompetent eldest son of the Ning family and felt that compared with him, he actually had the potential to be a great general.

The group of people downstairs did not go up to the box on the second floor.

Just sat down in the lobby.

These are all younger generations of the Ning family who are of the same age. Because of the emergence of Empress Dowager Ning, they all hang around Ning Heng.

Ning Heng usually stays at home reading and seldom goes out.

Today he went to the city gate specially to watch the soldiers from the southwest return to the capital, and everyone had the opportunity to see him.

When Ning Heng saw his brothers, he generously invited them to have a drink at the No. 1 Restaurant, and everyone was very happy.

"It's rare to see my cousin go out on weekdays. Is he going to see the Marquis of Dongchuan and his son?" asked a cousin.

Now many people are speculating that Ning Wanyin wanted to win over the Dong family, so she deliberately gave the honor of the reward to the Marquis of Dongchuan and his son.

Especially since Ning Heng went to the city gate to watch the excitement, it seemed to further verify this point.

Ning Heng had a cold and arrogant look on his face, with a hint of disdain in his eyes, "Of course not. I went to see those soldiers who fought bloody battles for the southwest. They are the heroes of Da Yan! As for the Dong family father and son... such useless generals, what's there to see?"

He did not deliberately speak loudly, but because of his presence, the other guests present lowered their voices and whispered.

As soon as he finished speaking with such vigor, the entire hall fell silent.

The diners looked at Ning Heng, and then looked towards a private room on the second floor.