Chapter 1120: Grand Finale: Return of an Old Friend (28)

For a time, memorials were spread everywhere, and rumors were flying everywhere. They all said that Shen Miao was from Mingqi, and was clearly a spy sent by Mingqi. Now, taking advantage of the fact that no one was in the court, she wanted to usurp power with evil ambitions.

This rumor spread quickly and died down just as quickly because Shen Miao appeared in the previous court with a large belly. Eunuch Deng, Aunt Tao, and the others also confirmed that Empress Xian De brought Shen Miao into the palace precisely to protect this only royal bloodline.

With this child, things were nominally fine. Furthermore, on the day Shen Miao came out, she used swift and powerful tactics, and with subtle checks and balances, she effectively dealt a heavy blow to those troublemakers. Her combination of kindness and authority gave people the feeling that if they stirred up trouble at this time, when Xie Jingxing returned, they would likely face a bitter fate.

Half out of fear of Shen Miao, and half out of fear of Xie Jingxing. The storm soon subsided.

But Shen Miao did not have an idle life either.

She had to do what she said. Since she had shouldered this responsibility, she couldn't just talk about it casually. These days, she'd been reading memorials. After Emperor Yongle's death, many memorials had accumulated, and with Empress Xian De's passing, the pile had piled even higher. She read them one by one, sometimes staying up late into the night.

Jingzhe and the others felt sorry for her, but they couldn't persuade her no matter what they did, so they had no choice but to stay with her.

Luo Tan dozed off as he asked, "My little cousin, why do you need to read it yourself? If you can't trust those people, you can always trust the late emperor's confidants. Wouldn't it be better to hand all the memorials over to them and let them read them? Why do you need to do it yourself? You're pregnant now."

Shen Miao shook her head: "People's hearts are fickle, and power cannot be handed over carelessly. I am not from Longye, so I cannot clearly see what people's hearts are like in such a short period of time. I cannot predict whether there will be any changes in the future. You should figure these things out for yourself. If something goes wrong, it will not be easy to make up for it."

Perhaps Emperor Yongle originally had confidants, but after the death of Emperor Yongle and Empress Xiande, whether these people would have other thoughts in their hearts, no one could predict. If this was Mingqi, Shen Miao would have known about these people, so it would naturally be no problem, but this was Longye, and she had not been in Longye for long, let alone completely understand people's character in such a short time?

After all, there is no one here whom you can trust.

Eunuch Deng, who was also serving on the side, nodded approvingly upon seeing this. Shen Miao had spoken so readily in the beginning, and Eunuch Deng couldn't help but feel suspicious. If it was just talk, wouldn't it be an insult to the royal family in front of so many court officials? A girl should always be more delicate. Empress Xian De could do things because she was the Empress, but Shen Miao had never done any of these things before. Reading memorials late into the night like a man, worrying about the livelihood of the empire, was too much of a stretch for her.

Fortunately, Shen Miao did quite well. Her handling of some matters could even be called perfect. Although Eunuch Deng didn't understand court affairs, he was very proficient in reading people's expressions. Those court officials, who initially opposed and then became suspicious, had recently softened their stance. This meant that Shen Miao hadn't done too badly. Otherwise, those who had been nitpicking from the beginning wouldn't have been able to find any fault until now.

Eunuch Deng felt somewhat relieved. If Shen Miao was such a person, then she was no less capable than Empress Xian De. Perhaps the kingdom of Daliang could truly last for hundreds of generations and be everlasting, just as Empress Dowager Jingxian had hoped.

"This is really too much work," Luo Tan said. "But I heard them talking about how lucky you are after the court yesterday. They said the decisions you made were all very successful. Tsk," Luo Tan said disdainfully. "That's not luck at all. That's clearly real ability, okay? My little cousin, how come you know everything? You can even read these messy memorials in the palace. What else can't you do?"