168 End of the article

◎This was just an ordinary scene in her more than fifty years of imperial career.◎

The emperor had not yet returned from the imperial mausoleum. As Xue Ye led his troops to surround the residences of Prince Yong, Duke Dingguo and others, the people of the entire capital were in an uproar again. By the next day, the streets and alleys of the capital were filled with words like "Prince Yong failed to assassinate the king and was executed on the spot", "Duke Dingguo's brothers rebelled and were captured", and "The emperor sent troops to massacre 5,000 rebels in the northern camp".

No matter what the people said, Qingyang's attention had already shifted to new state affairs. The Censorate and the Dali Temple were responsible for thoroughly investigating the case of Prince Yong's rebellion.

Although Yongkang had already recounted the entire process of Qin Liang's attempt to win her over in front of the emperor and all the civil and military officials, she, her husband Fu Kui, and the three princes and their spouses Qin Hong who had visited Deng at Prince Yong's Mansion all had to go to the Censorate again. Qin Hong and others only needed to explain what had happened there. Yongkang brought an extra piece of evidence.

That evening, Nie Ao presented the testimonies of the four siblings and their spouses, as well as Yongkang's evidence, to the emperor.

Qingyang briefly reviewed a few testimonies, then finally picked up the 500,000 taels of silver that Qin Liang had used to bribe Yongkang. Thinking of his eldest sister's acceptance of bribes of tens of thousands of taels, twice rebuked by our father, the emperor, and recorded in the annals of our dynasty, he smiled heartily. He addressed the veteran minister, Nie Ao, and said, "Although my eldest sister was greedy for money, she lived up to our father's dying instructions on the fundamentals. If my father were still in heaven, he would surely be very pleased."

If the eldest sister makes a mistake, the emperor will also lose face. On the contrary, if the eldest sister makes a contribution, it can make up for the part of the emperor's reputation that has been damaged because of her.

Of course, the emperor may have no way of knowing what is going on in the world, and he would not care even if he knew, but Qingyang was very pleased that her elder sister stood firmly by her side.

Qingyang is not afraid of betrayal from relatives and friends, but her heart is also made of flesh and blood, and she has always cherished this brotherhood.

In Nie Ao's eyes, the emperor showed a brilliant smile that was often seen on the face of a little princess when she was young. If it were the newly-minted scholars who had just arrived in Beijing to take the imperial examinations, they might be bewitched by the emperor's beauty when they saw such an emperor, or they might look down on the emperor as an ordinary beauty. But Nie Ao knew in his heart that the emperor was willing to chat with him because of their friendship of more than ten years in the same court.

Nie Ao may have opposed the late emperor's appointment of the Crown Princess, but the little princess's talents were obvious to all. Nie Ao never looked down on the little princess because of her girlhood. When the little princess became Emperor Tianqing, and when Emperor Tianqing personally stabbed the sword that ended Prince Yong's life, Nie Ao was shocked at first, and then relieved. After all, the late emperor knew the emperor best. He and Yan Xizheng had both worried in vain. With such an emperor, why worry about the instability of the court?

"I believe that the eldest princess is steadfastly loyal to the emperor. Not only does she strictly adhere to the teachings of the late emperor, but she has also long been impressed by the emperor's military and literary wisdom. She knows that he is the chosen one, the second generation of the great Qi dynasty, and is therefore not deceived by Qin Liang's provocative words."

Nie Ao, renowned for his integrity, was no sycophant; he spoke the truth. How could a princess who had been guilty of greed and bribery be so blindly loyal? Every decision made by a wise man, or one who believes he is, is carefully considered. If the emperor ascended to the throne simply out of favoritism, and if the former Crown Prince, Prince An, was qualified for the throne, could the princess truly resist Qin Liang's persuasion?

Qingyang understood what Nie Luo meant, and also knew that a person who is too cautious will have no followers. The fact that her elder sister could resist the huge benefits of 500,000 taels of silver and supporting her younger brother to usurp the throne and join her was enough to please her.

On the eighth day of the second month, the Censorate, the Dali Temple and Zhang Jie, the three commanders of the Beijing Camp who were responsible for thoroughly investigating the rebellion in the Northern Camp, officially closed the case. Although Prince Yong and Qin Liang had usually won over a group of officials and had close contacts with them, Qin Liang only informed a few confidants of the rebellion, including the brothers Deng Kun and Deng Tai and several military officers in the Northern Camp. Even Princess Deng of Yong was kept in the dark. Qin Liang only said, "This is good for our whole family," and Deng was willing to suffer from a severe cold.

As for the military officers in the North Camp who did not participate in the rebellion but had a close relationship with Prince Yong and his son, Qingyang did not directly dismiss them. Instead, he ordered the Ministry of War to re-select officials from the more than 45,000 people in the North Camp based on their abilities through civil and military examinations. As long as the old officials promoted by Prince Yong were capable, Qingyang would continue to use them, and those who were incompetent should give way to others. Of course, the chief and deputy commanders of the North Camp were appointed by Qingyang. The chief commander was Xue Ye, the former commander of the Imperial Army, and the deputy commander was Guo Cheng, the eldest son of Guo Yanqing, the general of Jizhou.

Li Xingyuan, the eldest son of Li Yu who inherited the title of Marquis of Jining, was pulled out of filial piety by Qingyang and promoted to the commander of the imperial army.

Li Xingyuan is thirty-six years old this year. He was sent to the border army by the previous emperor for training when he was in his twenties. He has always maintained a good figure. Although he is fatter than generals such as Zhang Su and Qin Bing, he has not grown into a fat man who is pointed at and laughed at by naughty children like his father who becomes more and more lazy as he gets older, or his idle third brother Li Fuyuan. Having just experienced the death of his father, the thinner Li Xingyuan is more presentable.

He thought that his father's death was so absurd that the new emperor would probably not use him again. Suddenly, he learned that he was directly promoted to the commander of the imperial army. When he received the order at the marquis's mansion, Li Xingyuan choked up in front of the whole family. When he changed into official uniform and entered the palace to express his gratitude, he knocked his forehead and got a bloody mark. He expressed his loyalty with tears streaming down his face.

Qingyang looked at Li Xingyuan, whose face bore a 60% resemblance to Li Yu, and asked, "There are many officers in the four great imperial camps who have proven their loyalty to me. Do you know why I chose you?"

Li Xingyuan didn't know that long before the little princess came of age, Li Xingyuan had been training in the border army of Jizhou. When he was young, he had no chance to be the little princess's playmate, and after he came of age, he rarely had the opportunity to show off in front of the little princess and the crown princess. For eight years, Li Xingyuan only served in the little princess's tent for two or three months when the little princess led troops to conquer the Donghu. He just waited for orders and rarely spoke to the little princess.

Qingyang smiled and said, "The first time I remembered your name was when I was five years old. Prince Jing invited several noble sons to the palace to play. Among them was a fat boy named Li Fuyuan. He complained to Prince Jing that he had an older brother who was even stricter than his father. He even had to control him if he got up late in the morning and didn't allow him to beat or scold the servants at will."

Li Xingyuan: “…”

Five years old, the emperor actually still remembers what happened when he was five years old!

Apart from these little things that amount to praising him, has my third brother ever said anything really bad about him in front of the nobles?

Looking at Li Xingyuan's red earlobes, Qingyang continued, "After remembering your name, I kept an eye on you when the Emperor tested your martial arts in the following years. I know that you fought Deng Kun to a draw twice, and that your occasional defeats were not an intention to compete with him. When you are sent out, I will remember every time you performed meritorious deeds in the frontier army."

The emperor has always attached great importance to the cultivation of new military generals, and Qingyang is also concerned about this matter. Among the children of nobles, Li Xingyuan's martial arts may not be the most outstanding, but he is one of the few candidates who can lead troops to war alone. For brothers like Deng Kun and Deng Tai, no matter how good they are at fighting, Qingyang will not let them lead a battle alone.

Li Xingyuan expressed his gratitude for the cultivation of the previous emperor and the appreciation of the new emperor, and at the same time spoke modestly.

Qingyang: "During the Northern Expedition against the Donghu, in order to lure Yelu Chong into a trap, Prince Yong and I feigned discord. When Prince Yong launched into a barrage of outrage against me, you were the first among the dozen or so commanders to draw your sword and rebuke him. Back then, I was just a princess, yet you dared to oppose Prince Yong for me. Now that I am the Son of Heaven, I believe your loyalty to me will be even stronger than before."

Li Xingyuan raised his head, his eyes red as he looked up at the emperor and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for not abandoning me. I will swear to be loyal to you until death, and I will never have two hearts in this life!"

Qingyang smiled and let him leave.

In fact, she has several other military generals who are suitable for the position of commander of the imperial army, but in terms of seniority and reputation, Li Xingyuan is the most suitable and will be the most grateful to her.

At the same time as the changes in military officers of the Northern Camp and the Imperial Army, Qingyang issued an order to execute the family of Prince Yong and the three clans of Deng Kun and Deng Tai.

When Yuan Zhaoxiong rebelled, his entire clan was executed. Qingyang would not show mercy just because the person who rebelled was his uncle. In this case, she only showed some mercy to the deceased founding hero Deng Chong and did not vent her anger on him. For example, she moved Deng Chong's tomb away from her father's imperial tomb.

In addition, Qingyang also issued an order for all civil and military officials and royal family members to go to the execution ground to watch the execution.

Qingyang didn't go to see it, but she knew that her eldest sister and her husband, three pairs of brothers and sisters-in-law, and the children all bowed their heads when Qin Liang, Deng Kun and others were tortured. Younger generations like Fu Xi and Ying'er would not be greatly affected as long as they avoided the bloody scene. Only Zheng Ge'er was said to have nightmares that night, and the nine-year-old child even wet the bed once.

With the main culprits beheaded, the case of treason was completely resolved. Qingyang then rewarded the royal relatives and officials who had made contributions.

Qingyang knew that his eldest sister liked money, but the 500,000 taels of silver notes that Qin Liang took out were used to fill the national treasury. Qingyang changed his father's order to punish his eldest sister and restored her salary to 5,000 taels of silver a year. At the same time, he bestowed the title of Princess on his niece Fu Xi, and would reward her with a Princess Mansion after she came of age.

Yongkang was very satisfied with this. If her sister had just rewarded her with 500,000 taels, it would have made her seem really greedy!

.

A major case of treason has come to an end, and it is time for another court meeting on February 13th.

It was still dark at the time of Yin. Qingyang, who was used to getting up early, woke up naturally in Zhang Su's arms. As soon as she moved, Zhang Su woke up too. The emperor and empress looked up and down respectively. The moment they looked at each other, they both smiled.

Zhang Su had to go outside the Qianyuan Hall and wait to enter the court with the ministers. He helped the emperor put on the dragon robe and left early. When he arrived outside the front hall, there were only a dozen officials standing there.

Zhang Su's official position was not the highest among the military officers, but he was the queen, and was ranked at the head of the military officers alongside Qin Bing. The heads of the civil officials on the left were still Qin Hong and Qin Ren, two on each side, exactly corresponding.

There was still a quarter of an hour before the hour of Mao, and all the civil and military officials had arrived one after another. Because it had only been two days since they witnessed the torture of Qin Liang and others, the area in front of the hall was exceptionally quiet today, so quiet that even the gentle sound of the wind could be clearly heard.

As soon as the hour of Mao arrived, the guards guarding outside the main entrance of the hall slowly pushed open the door.

Zhang Su and the three princes led the civil and military officials respectively, and walked up the long stone steps in an orderly manner, and entered the hall paved with shiny gold bricks.

Xie Yu had already stood beside the throne. Seeing that all the officials had stopped, as the emperor stepped out onto the imperial road, Xie Yu shouted, "Kneel!"

All the officials lifted their robes, bent their knees and bowed as if they were well trained, kneeling to welcome their emperor.

When they heard the new emperor's "No need to bow" which was obviously softer than the previous emperor's but just as steady and powerful, all the officials stood up at the same time and instinctively looked up at the dragon throne.

Emperor Tianqing, who was only twenty years old, wore a black dragon robe with gold edges and a twelve-tassel crown on his head. His face was as white as jade and so dazzling that people dared not look directly at him.

Qingyang sat high on the dragon throne, looking down at the civil and military officials in the court with a smile on his face.

It has been a year since he ascended the throne, and Qingyang has long been accustomed to this scene.

For Emperor Tianqing, this was just an ordinary scene in her imperial career of more than fifty years.

【Author’s words】

It's finished, thank you all for your support over the past three months!

I know some sisters want to read the extra chapters. I mentioned why I didn't write the extra chapter about the underworld. As for the extra chapter about the love between the emperor and the empress, well, Qingyang and Zhang Su's mutual understanding is enough in the main story. One is a workaholic and the other is a little wooden man taught by an old wooden man. I really don't know how to express their love, so I won't write it. It's difficult to write anything new in the extra chapter about the character setting of the emperor and Concubine Li, so I won't write it. I would like to write a summary of the achievements of the empress in her life, but I can't write it. I have never been good at pure praise. I can only write stories. I am far inferior to you in terms of praise, so I won't force myself to show my ugliness.

100 little red envelopes, see you in the next book [Three-color cat head], although I don’t have any inspiration yet, I don’t know when I will meet you all, [kiss]