Chapter 169: Imperial Decree (II)

"Eunuch Tan wanted to argue, but Ji Qing stared at him. Don't you admit it? The Queen Mother did issue an imperial decree today. Just now, the Emperor went to greet the Queen Mother and casually picked up the imperial decree that was copied and stamped with the Phoenix Seal from the desk. The Queen Mother was surprised that you were careless and took a blank silk book to read the decree. The Queen Mother was furious. Fortunately, the Emperor persuaded you to stop and give you a chance to make amends. Wait, someone will send the real imperial decree later. Eunuch Tan, please make sure it is stamped with the Phoenix Seal before reading it, otherwise... Eunuch Tan doesn't want to be punished for both crimes, right?"

Eunuch Tan was confronting Ji Qing. Ji Qing's eyes were serious and stern. He had just mentioned the emperor on purpose. Eunuch Tan knew that something had changed, so he didn't say anything more. He paused, flicked his whisk, did as Ji Qing said, lowered his head, stepped aside and watched the situation develop.

Living deep in the palace, he was used to seeing the power struggles among the royal families. When necessary, even their own flesh and blood could be abandoned and suppressed. How could Eunuch Tan not understand this? The empress dowager had been nagging about this imperial edict for a few days, and was anxious to issue it. After all, it was not in line with the emperor's wishes. Before that, the empress dowager had specifically instructed them not to let the emperor's people find out when they left the palace. As soon as the imperial edict was read out, the people of the Xu Mansion received the edict in person, and Qin was expelled from the Xu Mansion. The rice was cooked, and it would not be too late for the emperor to let him do it. Then the second imperial edict to marry the princess came down. That was related to the reputation of the emperor's sister. Even if the emperor was unhappy, he could not stop it.

Who would have thought that so early in the morning, who would have the heart to expose this secret to the Emperor? Ji Qing came so quickly, and the first imperial edict fell into his hands, but he didn't let Old Xu receive it. What about the second imperial edict? Ji Qing said that he had to wait for the real imperial edict. What did he mean? Could it be that Lord Xu didn't have to divorce his wife, but could marry the princess? The princess lived side by side with his original wife? It's impossible. There was no such rule in all dynasties!

Ji Qing and Eunuch Tan stared at each other in Xu's residence, waiting for the "real" imperial edict to be issued. Deep in the inner courtyard of the palace, in the luxurious and comfortable Paiyun Pavilion of the Cining Palace, the empress dowager and the emperor had just had an argument, and the mother and son were facing each other in silence. The imperial edict that Ji Qing mentioned was dictated by the emperor, written down by the eunuchs, presented to the empress dowager, stamped with the phoenix seal, and "handed over" to the eunuchs in charge of ceremonies to be sent out of the palace to the Xu residence to announce the edict.

The Queen Mother's eyes were slightly red. She sat upright on the couch with a cold face and said nothing. The Emperor stood beside her, holding a cup of hot tea in both hands. His attitude was respectful and his voice was gentle, but his expression was not very good.

He kept doing this for quite a while, but the Queen Mother refused to take the tea. The Emperor felt helpless and even more annoyed, but he was not someone who would change his mind easily. "You don't want to take the tea, right? I'll hold it here for you. You can take it whenever you want."

The palace maids and eunuchs were kneeling on the ground. No matter who they were, they were stopped as long as they passed in front of the emperor. The emperor shouted:

"Wait for me to serve the Queen Mother."

He took it in his hand and brought it to the Queen Mother himself. In a rage, the Queen Mother slapped the candied fruit presented by the Emperor away with one palm, and the honey juice was wrapped around the Emperor's dragon robe, frightening everyone in the room. The palace maids and eunuchs all knelt down, thinking that the Emperor had taken away their work and soiled the dragon robe. If they were to be punished, they would be held responsible. They had better beg for mercy as soon as possible, otherwise their lives would be in danger.

The old palace maid who had served her for many years whispered to the Queen Mother that no matter how unhappy she was, it was not important. It was true that the Emperor was her biological son, but he was now the ruler of a country, the Son of Heaven. He spoke with finality and who could beat him? If she continued to make trouble with him, it would be the Queen Mother who would lose face in the end.

The Queen Mother sighed and said in a hoarse voice, "Bring me some tea. I am thirsty."

The emperor finally waited for these words, stepped forward with a smile, and handed the tea to the empress dowager. He had been holding it in his hand. The ginseng tea is just the right temperature. Please enjoy it, mother."

The Queen Mother hummed, opened the lid, drank two sips, and nodded, "Okay, this is the way to drink it."

The old palace servant leaned over and smiled, saying, "The emperor is really kind and filial. He held the tea for the empress dowager, but he himself didn't drink a sip of tea all morning."

The Queen Mother pointed at the palace maids and eunuchs on the ground and said, "Are you all kneeling down to do this? Are your parents dead? I am alive and well. I will take care of you for ten or eight years. You can always get up. Do what you should do. Make a cup of ginseng tea for the emperor."

The emperor lowered his eyes, straightened his face, and returned to the cold and calm state he had been in before the empress dowager took the tea.

The old palace servant leaned forward to help the Queen Mother adjust the fruit plate on the low table, and at the same time gave her a look, reminding her not to provoke the Emperor again.

The Queen Mother snorted. After arguing for a long time, the Emperor was not able to give in even a little bit despite her status as the Queen Mother and the Emperor's biological mother. In the end, the outcome was still this, which was really unacceptable. She gave birth to three sons and daughters. The eldest son, Zhao Yu, was too selfish and resolute. She had worked hard for most of her life and spared no effort for him to smoothly inherit the throne. On the surface, he was respectful and filial to his mother, caring and responsive to her requests. But when it came to certain things, such as wanting to gain benefits for her mother's family, making the children of the Chen family more promising, and requiring that all male children be given official titles and ranks, he did not need to have much real power, as long as he could highlight the special status of the Chen family among many nobles. At the beginning, Zhao Yu could still listen to her and said he would do everything she said. But less than a year after he ascended the throne, he gradually changed. He never talked about state affairs in front of her, and never adopted her opinions when making decisions. Whenever she made a request, he either avoided and prevaricated, or pretended to be deaf and dumb, pretended to forget, or simply refused with a tough attitude and no room for turning back.

The Queen Mother was sad and disappointed, and sometimes she couldn't help thinking that if little Zhao Bao ascended the throne, he would definitely not treat his mother like this, and her wishes would be more satisfied. Although Zhao Bao had a strange temperament, was different from others, and even absurd to the point of being somewhat unorthodox, he was very filial to his mother and could see things clearly, unlike Zhao Yu, who said one thing in public and another behind his back, and it was like seeing flowers in the fog.

The Queen Mother said to the Emperor, "It has come to this, I am also tired, the Emperor should go and take care of government affairs. Let's put Su De's marriage aside for now. It was not easy to choose a man who suits her heart, and she readily agreed to marry him. The imperial decree has also been issued, but the Emperor still wants to pursue her... How can the emperor's own sister be so noble if she is not allowed to marry a court official? Don't mention the foreign officials that the Emperor just mentioned. Su De is a princess, in her prime, with a mother and brothers, not an orphan like Zhuang Yulan who has no one to rely on. She wants to marry a foreign official in his thirties or forties as her second wife? Aren't you afraid of being laughed at? You can think of it."

The emperor walked to the other side of the couch and sat down. He took the ginseng tea handed over by the little palace maid and drank a sip. Who dares to look down on these foreign officials? They were all the confidants carefully selected and cultivated by the emperor. As the emperor, he sits in the court every day, busy with state affairs, and has to hold on to this splendid country and keep the world peaceful. He has to rely on countless loyal foreign officials. These people have worked hard for many years and their political achievements are particularly outstanding. They came to Beijing to report on their work at the end of last year. I kept them in Beijing and promoted them to Beijing officials. They are all talented and knowledgeable. They work diligently for the court. It is not easy to stay in remote places for more than ten or twenty years and monitor the situation in one place. Shi Songmao, the governor of Jianghuai, is 46 years old. He was the top scholar selected by his father. He has been an official since he was 24 years old. He has served in various places across the country and served as a secret envoy. He has done many important things for the court... He has made great contributions and hard work. Now he is old, weak and has lost his wife. In addition to rewarding him with an idle civil official position to support his remaining years, I am thinking of giving him a happy marriage to complete the royal grace. Most princesses and princesses of the royal family are not suitable. I think Zhuang Yulan has a very good status. She has some relatives with my mother and can be regarded as a royal relative. The imperial decree to marry her will save both parties. Old Xu should have nothing to say - she should be happy. Zhuang Yulan married Shi Songmao, which is also a second-rank imperial decree. As for Sude, I have said that she can marry anyone she wants, except Xu Junying. I don’t know why my mother wants to marry her to Junying for what reasons? Is it not a joke for the court and the public to force ministers to divorce their wives and marry princesses? "My mother should have expected that once Xu Junying became the princess's consort, he would have to accompany the princess wholeheartedly and not be able to handle military affairs. It would be like suddenly cutting off his left and right arms, right?"

The Queen Mother said that Junying is your consort, so why can't he be your right-hand man? You grew up together and are very close, but you are on guard against him just because he married Sude? You are worried about the King of Qi, and now you can't even trust Sude."

The emperor sneered. The queen mother thought so, which made her feel a little disappointed. I have to say that there is no precedent in the past dynasties - the prince consort can be in power. Su De and the King of Qi are my brothers and sisters. As long as I am in power, I can protect them for the rest of their lives. No matter how absurd they are, I will just pretend not to see it. But if they go too far and endanger the country and my throne, I will never forgive them easily."

The Queen Mother slapped the purple wood carved flower low table with her palm and angrily said, "I will never let you off easily? Are you talking like that? They are all my own flesh and blood. If you dare to hurt them, I will fight you to the death."

The emperor stood up and bowed to the queen. "Calm down, queen, don't worry. This is not the case yet. I am talking about a hypothetical situation. Please don't forget that I am also your biological child. If the King of Qi and Su De work together to take over my world and put me to death, will you fight them to the death?"

The Queen Mother heard this and was shocked to see the Emperor looking up with a worried and miserable expression, just like when the late Emperor asked about his homework when he was a child and he could not answer it at the moment, so he was reprimanded by the late Emperor and punished to be alone in the quiet room. The Queen Mother could not help but feel soft in her heart and her eyes were red again. Only she knew how difficult the life of mother and son was. There were many concubines and beauties in the harem. The late Emperor mostly favored young and beautiful newcomers. After she gave birth to the eldest prince, she could only see the emperor's face when he came to visit the prince. At that time, in order to let the eldest prince get more love from the late Emperor, she forced him to study the scriptures hard and memorize the classics of sages and philosophers. As expected, the late Emperor valued his eldest son. At the age of five, She finally climbed up to the throne of the empress step by step, but she was even more restless. There were fights in the palace everywhere. The concubines gave birth to princes one after another, each one was smarter and cuter than the other. Unfortunately, the prince became more and more naughty as he grew up, and was scolded the most by the late emperor. She was always worried, fighting with the concubines who were vying for favor, and circling around him like a mother hen protecting her chicks. She couldn't even count how many times she had cried together when she held the wronged prince in her arms...

The Queen Mother sighed and said in a hoarse voice, "I am old and can no longer care about the children you gave birth to. I love you as much as I can. Fate is hard to come by. If you can't live in harmony, I will die with regrets. When I go to heaven in the future, I will not be able to see the late emperor..."

She took up the handkerchief to wipe her tears. The emperor came closer and said that it was all because of the hard work of the mother for so many years. It was time for her to enjoy her peace of mind. But she always made her worry and sad... Mother, don't think too much. How could you not understand the preciousness of blood ties? The mother saw how you treated your brother since childhood. Now that you have grown up, you don't want to change your feelings towards her and your younger brothers and sisters."

The Queen Mother wiped away her tears, nodded, and told the Emperor that she had been feeling palpitations and shortness of breath, pain in her shoulders and back, dizziness, poor eyesight, and could not see far. She could not do anything well and could not take care of everything. She said that she would not interfere in your affairs in the future. Just live a peaceful life and eat one bite at a time.

The emperor reached out his hand and rubbed her shoulders. His mother was tired yesterday, holding the grandson for most of the day. I'll rub it for you. I'll call Zhang Jingyun to see him later, and I'll prescribe another set of medicine pills for you to eat. No missing words."

The Queen Mother smiled and said with great enjoyment, "My Yu'er is the best at massaging my shoulders. Bao'er's hands are too heavy, and Su De has no patience, so he massages me uncomfortably. These two enemies... What do you think of Zhang Jingyun? Wu Qun is the eldest son of the Duke of Jingguo. Although he made a fuss when he was a child, it is better for him to inherit the title. He is handsome and good-looking. I asked him to check Su De's pulse, but why does Su De look down on him?"

The emperor smiled bitterly: Just now he said he didn't care about Su De's marriage, but when he heard Zhang Jingyun's name, he was tempted again. The empress dowager really has nothing to do. The emperor had no objection to Zhang Jingyun marrying a princess. Zhang Jingyun's appearance and background were impeccable, and he was also a superb doctor with martial arts that he didn't show off. Of course, it would be good for him to be his brother-in-law, but it also depends on whether he is willing. Zhang Jingyun is also a good friend, and he is arrogant. Although Su De is a princess, he may not be interested in her. Otherwise, he would ignore the ban on him and insist on wearing a mask when he diagnosed Su De's pulse again and again.

"That's not the case either. Maybe it's because Zhang Jingyun is too cold and taciturn. Su De doesn't like men like that."

The emperor had no choice but to give this explanation, although it was a bit far-fetched. Wasn't Xu Junying, who had been causing him trouble recently, also cold and boring, and taciturn? Su De also liked it, so what did he say?

Fortunately, the Queen Mother was concentrating on enjoying herself, closing her eyes and not asking any more questions.

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