Chapter 356: His Majesty is ill, Prince Ning takes power
Seeing Jun Li Luo's angry face, the people who raised objections immediately bowed their heads and said in fear, "We dare not."
They thought that they stopped the conferment of the title out of consideration for Your Majesty, so why would Your Majesty misunderstand them like this?
"Don't you dare? If you really care about me, you shouldn't have the idea of forcing Prince Ning to leave the court."
"Ask yourselves, are your words really free of any selfish motives?"
Jun Liluo sneered at this point, "I originally thought that you elders were reasonable people and would not look down on Prince Ning just because she is a woman. But now it seems that you are just mediocre people. Just because she is a woman, you think that she can only be trapped in the harem and should not play a greater role in the court."
"Then let me ask you again, do any of you think that you are more capable than Prince Ning? In addition to your qualifications, what else is better than her?"
After Jun Li Luo said this, everyone was speechless for a moment.
After hesitating for a moment, Scholar Chen finally spoke up: "Your Majesty, Prince Ning is indeed quite capable, but I think it is precisely because he is too capable that he should not be given any more titles. What if Prince Ning becomes too powerful in the future and Your Majesty cannot control him?"
"Prince Ning and I are of the same mind, and I trust her character." Jun Liluo said expressionlessly, "Just like I believe that you are all good officials, but your thoughts are too pedantic and rigid, and you don't know how to adapt, which often makes me restless."
Scholar Chen was choked for a moment, but he still steeled his mind and said, "Your Majesty, you can say that I am old-fashioned or ignorant. I just hope that Your Majesty can think about it more. Even if Your Majesty and Prince Ning are in love now, who knows if it will be like this for decades to come? Once Prince Ning changes his mind, I am afraid..."
Jun Liluo's face immediately darkened, "How dare you!"
"Your Majesty, calm down. This old minister is really thinking about you."
"Mr. Chen may really be thinking about your majesty." Song Yunchu turned his head to look at Mr. Chen, "But you think that I am a treacherous person, isn't that a bit too much?"
"As an old minister loyal to Your Majesty, I naturally have to consider the consequences for Your Majesty. If Your Highness Prince Ning also considers Your Majesty, he should persuade Your Majesty to give up the idea of increasing the title."
As Master Chen finished speaking, Jun Liluo stood up from the dragon throne with a gloomy look on his face, as if he was very angry.
He raised his finger and pointed at Mr. Chen, and just after saying the word "you", his expression suddenly changed. He then covered his chest, turned around and held the handle of the dragon throne, his body seemed a little unstable.
Li, the steward beside him, was shocked and quickly supported him, "Your Majesty?!"
All the officials were shocked by this sudden change, including Song Yunchu.
She moved her feet, stepped over the stairs and came to Jun Liluo's side, "Your Majesty?"
Jun Liluo took advantage of the situation and grabbed her arm, unable to utter a complete sentence.
Song Yunchu immediately shouted, "Your Majesty has a heart attack! Call the imperial physician!"
As she spoke, she took out the medicine that Jun Li Luo usually took from his sleeve and gave him a pill.
[A Luo, are you here for real or fake? ]
[Mr. Chen's words were a bit harsh, but they shouldn't have irritated you to such an extent, did they?]
[I already knew they were old-fashioned and conservative, and I didn't get angry with them, so why are you...]
Soon, Envoy Lin came running into the hall carrying a medicine box.
All the officials dared not breathe, and Scholar Chen knelt on the ground with a worried look on his face.
Did His Majesty get sick because of him?
After checking Jun Li Luo's pulse, Envoy Lin said, "Your Majesty must have had a lot of emotional ups and downs, which is why your heart disease has occurred. Before, when Prince Kang was plotting a rebellion, your Majesty was already a little upset. If something else stirs up your emotions again, it will be easy for your heart disease to recur."
Song Yunchu was originally a little nervous like the other ministers, but when he heard what Lin Yuanshi said, he immediately realized that something was wrong.
[Because King Kang is angry and can’t calm down? This sounds so fake. ]
[A Luo didn't care about his uncles at all, so how could he be so angry and sad because of their rebellion?]
Thinking of this, Song Yunchu looked at Jun Liluo, and seeing that he still had his eyes half closed and looked uncomfortable, he turned around and said loudly to all the officials: "Your Majesty is not feeling well, and you should return to the palace to rest immediately. If you colleagues have anything else to report, we can discuss it tomorrow."
After saying that, she ordered the palace servants to bring the sedan chair over, helped Jun Li Luo sit on it, and left the hall together.
On the way, Jun Li Luo said nothing.
It was not until Song Yunchu helped Jun Liluo into the bedroom that Jun Liluo straightened up, took her to the windowsill and sat down with a normal expression.
"I knew you were pretending." Song Yunchu was not surprised at all and picked up an orange from the fruit plate.
Jun Li Luo must have pretended to be sick today on a whim, and he couldn't tell her in advance, so when she saw him having a heart attack for the first time, she was really a little scared.
Later, I realized that he was pretending to be sick, and I quickly understood his intention.
"I also suddenly had the idea of pretending to be sick when everyone was arguing. Those old officials love to talk about big principles, and some of them are more stubborn than stone."
"Although I don't agree with them, I also understand that they are loyal to the country and have not made any mistakes in these years. If we punish them because of a momentary anger, it will be bad for our reputation. Since we are at a stalemate, I might as well pretend to be sick and let them reflect on themselves."
Jun Liluo said, seeing Song Yunchu handing over half an orange, he took it and said, "Mr. Chen is a senior official with a high reputation, just like Mr. Zheng, but he is not as considerate as Mr. Zheng. Now that I have become sick because of him in front of everyone, he must learn to restrain himself. If he still wants to refute my opinion, it will be really disrespectful."
…
"This is the first time I've seen His Majesty get so angry that his heart attacks in the palace. Scholar Chen, don't blame me for not reminding you. Even though you've been a senior official for many years, you shouldn't contradict His Majesty like this."
On the way out of the palace, Zheng Xueshi persuaded the people beside him, "Your Majesty always keeps his word, especially in the matter of Prince Ning, His Majesty is announcing his decision to us, not discussing it. It is really unwise for you to deny His Majesty's decision again and again."
"As a civil official, how can I not give advice just because I'm afraid of the emperor's anger? Prince Ning and I have no personal grudges. Whether she increases the title or not doesn't have much impact on me, but I can't watch Your Majesty act impulsively because of emotions and make the wrong move..."
Before Chen Xueshi finished speaking, a cold snort sounded behind him: "I can't bear to see your majesty act impulsively, so I chose to make your majesty sick with anger. Chen Xueshi's method is really very wise. Most people don't dare to learn it."
Scholar Chen paused, turned around and looked at the person who was speaking, frowning and saying, "No one could have predicted that Your Majesty would have a heart attack. I really don't want to see Your Majesty share power with Prince Ning, so I have repeatedly advised you. Why is Minister Gong being so weird?"
"Why, Scholar Chen made a mistake and you dare not let anyone say it? So what if Your Majesty delegated power to Prince Ning? It's not like there have never been co-kings in our dynasty. The founding emperors all made such decisions. Now Your Majesty is just following the example of his ancestors and finding the person who suits him best to share the government affairs. But you are all jumping up and down. To put it bluntly, you are still denying Your Majesty's vision."
Gong Mingyuan's tone was mocking, "You say you are thinking about His Majesty, but who knows if you are just trying to vent your resentment? When Prince Ning was a man, you couldn't compete with her or argue with her. Now that Prince Ning is a woman, you think it's time to suppress her. You would rather lose a pillar in the court than send her to the harem. Don't you feel ashamed?"
Scholar Chen frowned even more tightly, "Minister Gong, you..."
"Your Majesty said that you are old stubborn people, but that is just a small favor to you. In my opinion, most of you are losers without grace."
"If I were you, I would not oppose Your Majesty. Instead of that, you might as well quickly pick some talented people from the younger generation and send them to the court. You old ministers have achieved your current positions because of your seniority. You probably won't be a celebrity for the rest of your lives. You should count on the younger generation. Maybe your ancestors' graves will smoke and you can produce another Prime Minister Chen, Xu, or Wang. That would be truly glorious for your family. By then, you will be able to be proud in front of Prince Ning."
Gong Mingyuan thought that he was quite good at debating and had never lost an argument with young ministers, let alone facing old ministers who were over fifty years old.
He hardly gave Master Chen a chance to interrupt him.
Only after he finished speaking did Chen Xueshi respond with a sullen face, "Minister Gong, don't go too far! You are so sarcastic and mean, it's really unbecoming of a civil servant!"
"Then tell me what I said was wrong? Did you not lose to King Ning? Or are you very graceful? Or is it wrong for me to pray that there will be talented people among your descendants?"
Gong Mingyuan retorted, "You keep talking about the demeanor of a civil servant and the character of a scholar all day long, and you always say that others are dishonorable. You have been an official for many years but you can't even understand the emperor's mind. You think you are the most noble and intelligent in the world, but in fact you are as dumb as a donkey! As hard as a stinky stone."
"I'm kindly advising you to stop disobeying His Majesty. His Majesty's patience with old men like you is limited. Be careful!"
After Gong Mingyuan finished speaking, he snorted coldly and left in a huff.
He walked very quickly, as if he was too lazy to communicate any more with Master Chen.
Only Mr. Chen was left there, looking at his back in anger.
"This is the person promoted by Prince Ning. He is just as sharp-tongued, arrogant and domineering as her!"
Upon hearing this, Zheng Xueshi at the side sighed and said, "Scholar Chen, actually what Minister Gong said... is not without reason."
"What?" Scholar Chen turned his head. "He called us shameful and said we were as dumb as donkeys and as hard as stinky stones!"
"That's not what I meant." Zheng Xueshi's face showed a trace of helplessness. "He said that we should understand the emperor's will and obey His Majesty. This is correct. He said that we should select talents from the younger generation. This is also correct. You can't ignore his well-intentioned reminder because of your prejudice against him."
"If Minister Gong really had ill will towards you, why would he remind you to obey His Majesty? He could just watch you anger His Majesty a few more times until His Majesty punishes you. Scholar Chen, we have made it to this age, we cannot end up being demoted or even dismissed. Don't always be stubborn and think more about the younger generation."
Scholar Chen turned his head away and said, "I never saw you interacting with the Song Party before, but now you are speaking for them..."
"I never side with anyone, I only believe in Your Majesty." Zheng Xueshi said firmly, "I also never thought that Your Majesty would lose his mind because of love. If Prince Ning was not a strong talent, how could she be in Your Majesty's eyes? Maybe she is a little arrogant, but as court officials, you and I always have to put our personal dissatisfaction aside. As Prince Ning herself said, she has never been ashamed of the emperor and the country."
"It's enough for her to stick to these two points. Why bother about other things? Her frivolous personality is just a small matter. Perhaps His Majesty was impressed by her courage and decided to confer a higher title after repeated consideration. Now Prince Ning has a good reputation in the market. She has indeed done many things that we cannot do."
Listening to what Master Zheng said, Master Chen moved his lips, as if he didn't know what to say.
"You've made His Majesty sick because of you. If this gets out, how do you think others will talk about you? This may be okay the first time, but if it happens again, you may not only be demoted, but also be scolded."
Zheng Xueshi said, and sighed again, "Chen Xueshi, you and I have been colleagues for many years, and I also hope that you can live a more stable life. Your and my attitude towards the conferment of the title on King Ning will affect the choices of many civil servants, so you must think it through."
“…”
The next morning, all officials gathered for the court session.
Everyone thought that today they would continue to discuss the things that were not decided yesterday, but unexpectedly, neither the Emperor nor Prince Ning showed up.
Everyone couldn't help but wonder whether the emperor was in poor health. The relationship between Prince Ning and the emperor was almost obvious. If Prince Ning did not show up, he was most likely tending to the emperor's illness.
Everyone waited for a long time, and finally the emperor's chief steward Li arrived.
"My Lords, His Majesty had a heart attack yesterday. Although he felt much better at night, he still felt unwell this morning and was unable to come here. My Lords, please go back. When His Majesty feels better, he will read the memorials you have submitted."
After hearing this, everyone had no choice but to leave one after another.
When Manager Li turned around, he heard someone behind him calling him, "Manager Li, please stay."
Steward Li turned around and asked, "What's the matter, Scholar Chen?"
"I made a mistake in speaking in front of His Majesty yesterday, causing His Majesty to become overly emotional and suffer from a heart attack. This was a serious mistake. Now I want to visit His Majesty. I wonder if His Majesty is willing to see me?"
"His Majesty is recuperating and has ordered that no one is allowed to visit him. If you have any important political matters, I can take you to see His Royal Highness Prince Ning. His Royal Highness will definitely be free to handle them."
Mr. Chen moved his lips, not knowing what to say for a moment.
Then he sighed and said, "Please ask General Manager Li to take good care of His Majesty. I will go and apologize when His Majesty allows me to visit."
…
On the third day, the officials still could not see Jun Li Luo in the hall.
But Jun Liluo did not order the court to be cancelled, so they naturally had to come on time.
Everyone waited for a long time, but Jun Li Luo didn't show up, but Song Yunchu did.
Steward Li, who serves His Majesty personally, also followed Song Yunchu today.
Song Yunchu came in front of everyone and said loudly: "I know that my colleagues are very worried about your Majesty. Your Majesty is fine at the moment, but he is still a little weak. Envoy Lin said that your Majesty needs to rest for a few days. Since your Majesty cannot rule the country in person these days, I will be the one to take charge of the government."
When everyone heard this, they looked at each other in surprise.
"If you have anything to report, we will discuss it as usual, and I will convey it to His Majesty after we adjourn the court."
"Your Highness, you have forgotten His Majesty's instructions. If you are to take charge of government affairs, you should not be in this position." Li Zongguan reminded Song Yunchu, "The golden chair on the stairs was prepared for you by His Majesty."
Song Yunchu waved his hand and said, "If you sit up there, I'm afraid my colleagues won't be used to it. I'll just stand in this hall and discuss things with them as before."
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