Chapter 61: Follow her, you won’t lose...

Yunsheng was so frightened that he shuddered and quickly shut up, his expression still aggrieved.

He didn't say anything nonsense.

The two of them fell silent for a moment, with only the late spring breeze blowing gently, carrying a hint of floral fragrance.

It was already late in the evening, and the Cining Palace had been empty for many years, so the atmosphere was naturally a bit eerie.

Yunsheng couldn't help but move a little closer to his aunt.

Zhao Changning didn't notice it, but just burned the paper money seriously. Thinking of the things buried inside, he was a little dazed for a moment. If she couldn't leave an intact body in the future, what would she leave for people to bury?

Looking back on the past, she felt a little lonely. Now almost no one knew her past. When she talked about the past with others, she could only talk to herself.

How she wanted to tell her old friends that she was living a good life now, that she had the opportunities and was doing what she wanted to do, and that she was living a better life than many others.

"Yunsheng, are you afraid of death?"

Zhao Changning turned around and asked, "If you die and your body can't be left intact, what would you like to bury here?"

Yunsheng thought for a long time before saying, "I can't think of anything to leave behind. After all, I was born naked and have always been poor. If I can't even preserve my body when I die, what's the point of leaving these behind?"

Zhao Changning smiled and said, "At least it will leave something for the living to remember."

Yunsheng thought seriously, "Then let's plant a jujube tree. Auntie, when I was a child, our family had a jujube tree. It produced a lot of jujubes every year. In bad years, the tree was our family's food supply. If I died, someone would come to look for me and might be able to eat jujubes."

"That's a good idea." Zhao Changning nodded. "People can also be trees. Trees are even more..."

Yunsheng stopped his aunt from thinking about these bad things and instead talked about the Wan family's guilt this time.

"Aunt, it's clear that the Wan family isn't the only one doing bad things. And you said you've handed the account books over to the emperor, so why doesn't the emperor check?"

He was very puzzled. "If we continue to investigate, how can there be only these two million taels? I feel that there must be at least five million taels, right?"

Zhao Changning looked into his clear eyes and shook her head. Once upon a time, she was the same.

"The sword of the current dynasty will not kill officials of the previous dynasty. The emperor is unwilling to continue the investigation. This is also the reason."

She said patiently, "Yunsheng, killing someone is not a difficult thing. The difficult part is to cover the consequences, to deal with it cleanly, and to be able to bear the consequences of killing someone. If you can't do these things, it's no different from suicide. If the emperor insists on investigating this time, who knows how many people will be implicated and what kind of turmoil will be caused. The consequences are likely to be serious and unimaginable. I can't bear it, he can't bear it, and Dayong can't bear it either."

Perhaps the emperor was also angry, and this time the Wan family was just the beginning.

Yunsheng listened very carefully. He didn't know what was going on, but suddenly he realized, "So, aunt let the Minister of Personnel Zhou Hai go that time?"

Zhao Changning rolled her eyes at him. Was he too confident in her?

"Am I letting him go? I can't kill him at all. If I kill him, I will definitely have to pay with my own life. It's not worth it."

Yunsheng nodded repeatedly.

He thought of the people his aunt had killed, and she had always taken responsibility for them. Although poison and killing were not allowed in the palace, his aunt was fine. She even helped Yun Pei to get incense and worship. These were all things that his aunt could take responsibility for. She was not afraid, and she knew everything clearly.

As he thought about this, he felt very safe with his aunt by his side, and even this gloomy place didn't seem scary to him anymore.

"Aunt, I understand."

Zhao Changning nodded and picked up the basket. "Let's go. It's time to go back."

There was only a hint of deep and quiet blue left in the distant mountains, and the imperial city was slowly becoming silent.

When I returned to the residence, I saw Anyi and others were also there, and everyone's eyes were filled with tears.

Zhao Changning was helpless and had to comfort her again.

Yun Hui talked about the emperor, saying that he had been in a bad mood these days, but fortunately no one was punished. After all, the emperor was not the previous emperor, and his pressure was not that great.

Anyi really missed his aunt. "Aunt, you must be more careful tomorrow. These days, we can't predict the emperor's temper. We will be scolded if we serve tea."

Zhao Changning laughed and said, "The Emperor is not that difficult to serve. You must have done something wrong."

In fact, she understood that after the death of the late emperor, there was no direct threat of death, and these people gradually relaxed their vigilance.

Now that everyone had a backbone, they started chatting and laughing.

Yun Hui smiled and told the story of Yun Sheng begging on his knees in the Qinzheng Hall, "...Aunt, the scabs just fell off. Before, his whole forehead was covered in blood. We were scared to death."

Anyi also laughed, "Aunt, you have to comfort Yunsheng. This kid's eyes are swollen from crying."

To be honest, when Zhao Changning heard these words, his heart, which had been calm for a long time, began to ripple.

She pulled Yunsheng to her side and looked at the new skin on his forehead. It was no longer very obvious, probably because of the medicine she gave him.

If it were someone else, they might leave the wound for others to see, like she would do, but Yunsheng would not do that. She couldn't help but soften her voice.

"Does it hurt?"

Yunsheng shook his head vigorously and dodged awkwardly, as if he was ashamed to be discovered by his aunt doing such a stupid thing.

"Oh, it doesn't hurt, Auntie. You're just listening to what they say. They're the same. Their eyes are red from staying up all night. They're all worried about you."

Zhao Changning knew in his heart that this was different.

She didn't say it out loud, but just asked Xiaoshun to take the silver notes, one hundred taels for each person. In short, she wanted to tell them that they would not lose out by following her.

The next morning, the clouds were low and the sky was gloomy. If the light had not been broken, I would have thought it was evening.

Facing the misty drizzle, Zhao Changning went to the Queen's Palace first.

"Changning, I'm so glad you're okay." The Queen had just finished sending away the concubines and pulled Zhao Changning to sit down. "I was really worried. I hope you haven't suffered these days. You look much thinner."

Zhao Changning knelt down and kowtowed, "Your Majesty, I will never forget your kindness."

She knew that the queen had spoken for her, which was rare.

The queen quickly helped her up and sighed, "Let's not talk about these things between us. You have helped me so much."

Zhao Changning bid farewell to the queen and rushed to the Qinzheng Palace.

By now, the court should have been dismissed. Usually, the emperor would review memorials, meet with ministers, and handle state affairs in the Qinzheng Hall.

Today I actually saw the commander-in-chief of Yunnan Commandery and several other military generals. It was quite surprising.

Zhao Changning stood with his head bowed, and only entered the hall after they left.

Unexpectedly, I saw a messy scene when I entered. Many memorials were scattered on the ground, as well as broken tea cups. It seemed that there were not many Yue Kiln celadon left.

I wonder what has made the emperor so angry? It must be a big deal, Zhao Changning thought.

There were bright candles burning in the hall, which were a little brighter than outside in the rainy weather.

The emperor was writing furiously under the lamp and didn't see anyone coming in at all. He touched the teacup beside him and found that only the bowl tray was left. He immediately became angry, picked up the bowl tray and smashed it on the ground, making a clanging sound of broken porcelain.

"Damn it, where's the tea? Everyone's dead?"

Only then did he notice Zhao Changning squatting on the ground picking up something. He was stunned for a moment and snorted coldly, "Have you been lazy enough? Come and get to work."

When Zhao Changning heard his angry voice, he stood up with a smile and served the emperor another cup of tea, which he mixed with warm water to make it more palatable.

"Your Majesty, that dark room is extremely boring. I'm not being lazy. If being lazy can bring two million taels of silver to the national treasury, then Changning would rather be lazy in there for the rest of his life, so that our country of Dayong will be rich and prosperous, and everyone will live a good life from now on."

The emperor chuckled, picked up the teacup, and first checked it himself. When he found that it was warm tea, he felt a little relieved for some reason.

These past two days, I've been drinking tea that's either too hot or too cold. Those servants are all idiots.

His tone softened slightly, "You have a heart for the world, willing to sacrifice yourself for others."

As Zhao Changning was packing up, he asked, "Your Majesty, is there anything bothering you?"

The emperor sighed and leaned back in his chair. He looked extremely tired, and his handsome brows were filled with worry.

"It's more than just a worry. It's a serious concern. It's already a turbulent time, and now this has happened. It's really, really, hateful..."

He pounded the armrest and gritted his teeth.

Zhao Changning remained calm and tidied up quietly, even taking time to wipe the water stains on the floor with a rag.

She took the time to turn around and said, "Your Majesty, everything will pass."

"Hmph, that's easy for you to say." The emperor closed his eyes unhappily.

Zhao Changning stood up and took the rag out, asking the palace maid to wash it and dry it. Then he turned back to the emperor and said, "This is not what I said, it was said by the late emperor."

Seeing the emperor open his eyes, she said seriously, "The late emperor said that being an emperor is easy. Every day when you open your eyes, you are faced with a lot of major events in the world. It's either a natural disaster here or a man-made disaster there. It's strange that you can be in a good mood. You are bound to lose your temper, but things still need to be done, so you can only bear it. After all, those who are capable have to work harder. The emperor is the sky of the mediocre, so he has to work harder and think more."

The emperor listened very carefully, but he was a little confused. "Father, would you say so much?"

Zhao Changning deliberately opened his watery almond-shaped eyes and nodded vigorously, "Your Majesty, although the late emperor was strict, he was also a human being. How could a human being not speak? The late emperor said many, many things."

The emperor listened with some envy, but also felt that her rare affectation was only making things more obvious.

"Father didn't say much to me."

He was not a legitimate prince, but an adult prince. When he grew up, his father would be old. Every time he entered the palace to see his father, he had to obey the imperial edict.

Zhao Changning apologized, "Your Majesty, I forgot for a moment."

The emperor waved his hand and said lazily, "Alright, I know you are trying to comfort me. Even if you exaggerate, I won't blame you."

Zhao Changning laughed and knelt in greeting, "Your Majesty is wise."

The emperor shook his head and threw an urgent letter into her hands.

"Do you remember the people who came to congratulate me when I ascended the throne? At that time, several chieftains said that something had happened to their subordinates, so they only sent gifts and no one came. Do you know what they were planning? Rebellion."

Zhao Changning was startled and quickly opened the letter to read it.

If there really was a rebellion, the rebels were even about to reach Kunming, and the rebel leader even said something loudly, "Emperor Yong'an is dead, who else can be given the title of Duke?"

From his words, it seemed that he only recognized Emperor Yong'an and not Emperor Cheng'an. No wonder the emperor was so angry. This was simply a slap in his face.

While she was thinking, she said, "Your Majesty, Yunnan has been difficult to rule since ancient times. There have been rebellions in that place during the transition from the old to the new. This is not uncommon. Even during the reign of the previous emperor, Yunnan experienced many riots. Please don't take it to heart."

The emperor sighed. Those people had said the same thing just now, but it still couldn't calm the rage and anger in his heart. Perhaps it was really what Zhao Changning said, that being an emperor was like this.

He smiled bitterly and said, "Yes, I understand."

He watched the imperial desk in front of him being straightened out bit by bit, and his whole body seemed to be straightened out as well, and he breathed a long sigh of relief.

"The thieves have rebelled without cause. I have sent an imperial decree to summon the other chieftains and unite with the Yunnan Commandery, the Longchuan Propaganda and Appeasement Office, and the Yunnan Governor. The Yunnan Commandery covers a wide area. As long as we cut off the routes of the restless chieftains of Sichuan and Guizhou, preventing them from communicating with each other, and handle the follow-up properly, plus the silver you lazily obtained, I think this matter should be over soon."

Zhao Changning smiled and said, "Your Majesty, you already have a solution, so why are you so worried? I recall that the previous emperor handled the Yunnan rebellion in roughly the same way."

The emperor was completely comforted by her words. He immediately relaxed and said with a smile, "Talking to you about this has really helped me sort out my thoughts. But I don't know when this cycle of robbing Peter to pay Paul will end."

When I thought about it, I couldn't help but sigh. I had worked so hard to get the money, but now I had to spend it in a blink of an eye. I felt unhappy just thinking about it.

Fortunately, it can be solved, and it will definitely be solved. A smile can be clearly seen on his handsome face.

Zhao Changning knew that he was hiding his nervousness and fear. He was afraid that he was not as good as the previous emperor, that the people under him would not obey him, and that more people would rebel.

Being an emperor is indeed very tiring.

In fact, it is good to have these emotions, which shows that the emperor is also trying hard to learn how to be an emperor. The previous emperor was old and became a spirit, so how could she feel these things?

"Your Majesty, as for money, we can always squeeze it out. In the past, it was all raised by those old men in the cabinet. We can raise it now as well. At worst, we can just speed up the process of raising funds."

The emperor glanced at her and said with a smile, "You open and close your mouth, it sounds very easy. If it were so easy, what would I worry about?"

Zhao Changning didn't say anything else, just smiled with his lips pursed.

Zhao Changning returned to a familiar place and sorted out memorials. She was surprised to find that more people were reporting her?

There were only a few in the past, all of them were old and conservative, and they couldn't stand women taking the lead, but few people responded. At most, there were people like Zhou Hai who used the empty treasury as an excuse. After all, she didn't really hinder anyone.

Now and then someone pops up and says that a woman interfering in politics like this will definitely cause trouble.

This is nothing, but it is really annoying.

Fortunately, the emperor ignored it and just frowned and wrote some words on the memorial.

Zhao Changning didn't dare to open it and read it in front of others for fear of embarrassment, so he could only read it secretly in private.

When it was opened, the arrogant scarlet handwriting read:

"What do you want?"

"How about I just give my throne to you?"

"I heard that you have many daughters in your family. You can manage your own family. You don't need to say much about the daughters in the court."

Zhao Changning was immediately overjoyed.

Of course, she was also grateful for the emperor's trust. Although there were calculations and precautions at the beginning, and it was more the result of the influence of various forces, it was now slowly running in and obviously had achieved results.

However, these people are really hateful.

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