Su Lijin was stunned. She looked at the swaddling clothes, then at the empress dowager, and a look of understanding flashed across her eyes.
It turned out that the Queen Mother was actually thinking about this.
Once Concubine Shu's child was made the crown prince, she, the queen without any children, would become a hollow shell, and it would only be a matter of time before she was deposed.
The Queen Mother was indeed scheming to deal with him.
She couldn't help but look at the handsome figure beside her, wondering if he would agree.
If he agrees...
Su Lijin subconsciously clenched her fingers.
Xiao Shengxing refused without a second thought. A cold glint flashed in his dark eyes as he glanced at the swaddling baby. He said, "The Crown Prince is the future heir apparent. He must be the legitimate son of my Queen to be called the Crown Prince. Not just anyone can be the Crown Prince."
After being rejected repeatedly, the Queen Mother roared in anger, "Your Majesty, do you have to make me so angry? I'm doing this for your own good. What's so good about this Queen that you're so protective of her?"
Su Lijin didn't expect that Xiao Shengxing would refuse so completely.
Suddenly, an indescribable feeling lingered in her heart, causing her heart to beat irregularly.
"I have made up my mind, Queen Mother, please don't mention it again." Xiao Shengxing was not affected at all, his voice was cold and calm.
Seeing that the Queen Mother could not achieve her goal and was probably going to scold her again, Su Lijin suddenly felt bored. She bowed and found an excuse to leave.
Xiao Shengxing followed her and said beside her, "Empress, the court does need to cultivate a future crown prince. Are you willing to see the court stabilized?"
Su Lijin turned around in surprise, suspecting that she had heard it wrong.
Is Xiao Shengxing hinting that she will give birth to a prince?
Thinking of the baby in the cradle just now, her expression calmed down: "Your Majesty, there are many people in the harem who can give birth to children, so there is no need for me to worry."
After saying that, he quickened his pace and walked away.
It has been some time since the Mongolian envoys came to negotiate peace, and it is time for Dorgon to return to the grassland.
This time, Su Moyuan was responsible for sending the envoys and guarding the border at the same time.
Before leaving, Su Moyuan stroked Su Lijin's hair with some reluctance and said, "I'm afraid it will take a long time for me to come back after I leave today."
Su Lijin's nose felt sore. The time she spent reuniting with her brother was too short. She didn't expect that they would be separated again in the blink of an eye.
"Brother, you must take good care of yourself when you are out there. If you encounter danger, don't fight hard. You must save your life first."
She was really worried. Every time she thought of Su Moyuan's tragic death in his previous life, she would tremble all over.
Su Moyuan smiled and took out a jade necklace and said, "I understand. This is for my sister. I hope everything is going well for her in the palace."
Holding the necklace, Su Lijin's eyes turned red. She threw herself into his arms and sobbed, "Brother, can you please not leave?"
She was really afraid that what happened in her previous life would happen again, she was so scared.
But how could Su Moyuan stay here?
"Take care, sister."
With a sigh, Su Moyuan mounted his horse and finally left with the team.
The Spring Examination is approaching, and Xiao Shengxing has been busy with this matter recently.
Su Lijin didn't bother him much, but just heard that Zhao Heng was ordered to serve as the examiner of the martial arts test.
She quietly came outside the palace and saw Tan Tai Chun, dressed as a scholar. She asked, "What's the important matter that has called me out today?"
Tan Tai Chun bowed and said, "Since this is related to the Spring Examination, I have no choice but to invite Your Majesty here."
Su Lijin's expression tensed: "What happened?"
"There are a lot of people selling test questions."
"What did you say?"
Su Lijin was shocked. After a moment, she pursed her lips and said, "You should find a way to suppress it. We can't let this kind of thing get worse."
The fact that the Spring Examination questions were being sold meant that someone had leaked the questions and was selling them on a large scale.
The Spring Examination was an important way for the emperor to select officials, and almost all officials of the current dynasty were selected in this way.
Once the spring examination questions are sold, the officials selected will inevitably have passed the exam by taking shortcuts. Not only do they have no real talents or knowledge, but their moral character is also very poor. Such people are a disaster to the country and the people when they serve as officials.
Tan Tai Chun would specifically tell her about the test questions being sold. He must have known a lot about the situation, which is why he called her out.
This matter cannot be delayed. If it is delayed for a moment, the consequences may be unimaginable. Thinking of this, Su Lijin returned to the palace without stopping.
After changing into Shiqi's clothes, she went straight to find Xiao Shengxing.
The Spring Examination is the most important thing for Xiao Shengxing in the near future, so he must tell him about it.
"Shiqi? Why are you here?"
Xiao Shengxing looked up, still reviewing memorials, and paused slightly with the brush he was holding.
Su Lijin walked forward and saw at a glance that the memorial was full of comments about the measures for the Spring Examination, which showed how much importance Xiao Shengxing attached to the Spring Examination.
"Your Majesty, do you know what happened outside?" She raised her eyes with a serious expression.
Seeing her expression, Xiao Shengxing put down his brush and asked, "Shiqi, have you heard anything?"
Looking at Su Lijin's expression, his dark eyes narrowed slightly. It seemed that this was not a trivial matter.
"I did hear something surprising." Su Lijin nodded. "It's about the Spring Examination. I wonder if the Emperor is interested?"
As soon as the word "Spring Examination" came out, Xiao Shengxing's dark eyes suddenly darkened.
His expression became more solemn now. He raised his hand and said, "Shiqi, feel free to speak."
Su Lijin's expression was slightly stern: "There are a lot of people selling Spring Examination questions outside!"
"Is this serious?" Xiao Shengxing's heart sank and he pursed his thin lips.
"It's absolutely true." Su Lijin said seriously.
Xiao Shengxing raised his lips, a suppressed anger on his face: "Okay, I understand."
As soon as he finished speaking, he said to the eunuch: "Call all the ministers. I want to take a good look at my good ministers."
In the court, the ministers who were urgently summoned looked at each other in confusion, looking at the emperor sitting on the dragon throne.
"Everyone, I have something to announce today."
Taking in everyone's expressions, Xiao Shengxing slowly said, "I will personally set the questions for this Spring Examination."
Wow!
Suddenly, there was an uproar in the court, and everyone didn't know why the emperor suddenly made such a decision.
A hint of surprise flashed across Prime Minister Zhang Wenfeng's old eyes, and then a hint of dissatisfaction appeared on his shrewd face.
He didn't know why the emperor suddenly wanted to set the questions himself, but he absolutely could not agree to it.
If the emperor asked the question, it would clearly block his way to making money. Thinking of this, the look of opposition on his face became even stronger.
Zhang Wenfeng stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, this is not possible. The Spring Examination questions are of great importance, so we must be very careful in setting them."
"Oh? What does the Prime Minister mean?" Xiao Shengxing asked without being able to tell whether he was happy or angry.
"The Spring Examination questions have always been specially prepared by us, the ministers. The questions are all based on historical research and have been reviewed by civil officials. The content is very sophisticated."
Zhang Wenfeng acted like a seasoned official and said, "Your Majesty has never set exam questions before and is still inexperienced. If you rashly set questions, it might cause chaos in the Spring Examination. I hope Your Majesty will reconsider."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
