The good meal was interrupted by the urgent report of flood. The prince hurriedly took his leave to look for flood records. Xia Zhengqi did not even bother to eat and rushed back to the imperial study to prepare for tomorrow's morning court.
The queen looked worried. She had the food removed and carried Xia Miaoyuan to the inner room.
[Oh my, there are so many delicious foods, but I left before I even finished them. Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, it would be so nice if I could eat them.]
Xia Miaoyuan couldn't help sucking her thumb.
[Huh? Prince Guoguo is gone? Mother, tell him to go to court tomorrow morning and never agree to go to the disaster relief department!]
Xia Miaoyuan suddenly came to her senses and thought that the prince was about to fall into a trap. She kicked her feet anxiously and screamed towards the outside.
【Wow...it's a pity I can't speak.】
The queen glanced at Xia Miaoyuan with relief and said, "Miao'er, be good. Stop making trouble. Go and have some milk with Nanny and take a nap."
The wet nurse bent down to take Xia Miaoyuan and carried her to the princess' bedroom to feed her.
Even though Xia Miaoyuan was different from other babies, he was still too young and fell into a deep sleep after drinking milk.
The Queen sat by the window, thinking for a moment, then called Sang Qi and whispered, "Go to the Crown Prince's residence and tell him not to agree to go to the disaster relief service at the court tomorrow morning."
The next day, before dawn, Xia Zhengqi's sedan chair stopped in front of the Kunning Palace.
Xia Zhengqi strode into the main hall. The queen, who had suffered a sleepless night, was lying on the bed in a daze. She was completely awakened by the eunuch's report.
"Ruoyu, let the nanny dress Miao'er, and I will carry her to court." Xia Zhengqi said lightly.
The Queen ignored etiquette and opened her mouth in astonishment: "What? Bringing a child to court?"
A trace of embarrassment flashed across Xia Zhengqi's face. In fact, he also knew that this proposal was indeed ridiculous.
But he immediately put on a calm expression: "Why? I've been married for 19 years and have eight sons, and finally I have such a cute and lovely daughter. I just want to carry her to court and let all the ministers see her."
The queen's expression froze, but she still ordered the nanny to bring Xia Miaoyuan over.
The little baby who was sleeping soundly was held in Xia Zhengqi's arms and taken to court in a sedan chair.
Xia Miaoyuan: Where am I? Why am I swaying so much?
She closed her eyes, lost in thought, until a chorus of roaring voices rang out in her ears: "Long live the Emperor!"
She suddenly opened her eyes and felt that she was in a high place. Below her was a spacious hall. In the hall, there were four rows of ministers in various official uniforms standing.
[Holy crap! No way! The Emperor brought me to court!]
"Your Majesty, are you bringing Princess Anguo, who is not even a month old, to court?" The always pedantic Censor Zhang spoke first.
"Yes, it's my Princess Anguo." Xia Zhengqi pretended to be cold, but his heart was actually pounding.
[Hey, what's wrong with my emperor father? He actually brought a child to court! This soft-hearted emperor will be scolded to death by the censors.]
Xia Zhengqi was the third oldest son, the second legitimate son of the late emperor. He had a kind and gentle character and was praised as a benevolent ruler. To put it bluntly, he was soft-hearted and lacked the decisiveness of an emperor.
Everyone knows that a person with such a personality is not suitable to be an emperor.
But unfortunately, the eldest prince and the sixth prince, who were more suitable to be the emperor than him, were both defeated in the fight for the throne and both died.
In this way, Xia Zhengqi, who had been raised as an idle prince since childhood, became the only legitimate prince. The late emperor had no choice but to pass the throne to him.
After Xia Zhengqi ascended the throne, he was manipulated by the elders in the court. He adhered to the principle that as long as the overall situation remained stable, everything was fine, and tried his best to smooth things over in the court.
"Why are you carrying the princess to court? That's not right."
"Bringing a nursing baby to the imperial court is child's play!"
The ministers began to discuss in low voices.
"Your Majesty, your action is inappropriate! The court is a solemn occasion. How can the emperor bring a baby with him to court?" Censor Zhang was merciless, with a tone of obvious rebuke.
"Your Majesty, I second the motion! Your Majesty's actions undermine the rules of the court!" another censor echoed.
[Oh my, this is really the soft-hearted emperor described in the book. How dare the minister speak to the emperor like this?]
"Daddy, please confront him! You are the Emperor of Daxia, the highest authority in the land! Show your imperial dignity! If you keep being a pushover, you'll never be able to stand up again in your life."
After listening to his daughter's inner thoughts, Xia Zhengqi felt as if a warm current flowed into his chest, and he suddenly felt much more confident.
"What do you think? I have just got a princess like this after nineteen years, and I want to bring her to court! What do you think?"
"Do you still want to punish me?" Xia Zhengqi spoke each word with sonorous and powerful voice.
[Roar, roar, roar! The Emperor is mighty, long live the Emperor! That’s how we’re going to fight them, that’s how we’re going to fight them, fight them to death!] Xia Miaoyuan excitedly waved her two white, tender little hands.
After saying these two sentences, Xia Zhengqi himself was stunned for a moment, somewhat incredulous: I actually spoke out against these old stubborn people?!
Many times, he was so angry at these ministers that he trembled all over and sulked in secret.
He left them speechless, a scene he had only imagined in his mind.
Unexpectedly, today, with the encouragement of my daughter, my dream finally came true and I got rid of my anger.
Xia Zhengqi felt extremely comfortable at this moment.
As soon as the emperor finished speaking, the ministers fell silent.
"Your Majesty, I dare not. That is not what I meant." Censor Zhang and the censor who echoed him immediately knelt down.
"In my opinion, Your Majesty carrying the little princess to court is just a small matter. The more important thing is to discuss matters at the morning court." Grand Tutor Jiang stepped forward and said calmly.
"You're still this old fox! Just now, when the Emperor carried me to court, you kept silent, waiting for your lackeys to speak first. Now that the guns have been fired, you're out playing the good guy."
"Grand Master, what you said makes sense." Xia Zhengqi glanced at Grand Master Jiang and said.
"Yesterday we received an urgent message from 800 miles away. The Ganjiang River was flooded and most of Jiangxia Province was affected. Now 50,000 victims are waiting for relief food." Xia Zhengqi's voice was like a bell.
"I've calculated that at least 4,000 dan of grain and 500,000 taels of silver are needed."
"My dear ministers, please discuss this matter. Who should be sent to provide disaster relief?"
As soon as the flood was mentioned, the faces of the ministers immediately became solemn.
[Ah, Grand Tutor Jiang's people should nominate Crown Prince Guoguo. Father, please don't let Crown Prince Guoguo go!]
Xia Miaoyuan babbled in a baby voice and tilted her head to look at the ministers.
[Eh, that's strange. Didn't Prince Guoguo come to the morning court today?]
"Your Majesty, I believe that the Crown Prince is the best choice. I heard that the Crown Prince has just returned to the palace after studying abroad and can go to provide disaster relief." Minister of Revenue Chen Youdao stood up and said loudly.
"I agree. The prince is very capable and can handle important tasks." Minister of War Liu Hong echoed.
[Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, these two look honest and virtuous, they're definitely Grand Tutor Jiang's people.]
Xia Miaoyuan took a glance and complained.
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