Chapter 243 She Can’t Be a Virtuous Queen
Lu Haozhi's heart was moved, and he immediately wanted to hug her tightly in his arms, but then he remembered that she was pregnant and could not bear any madness, so he quickly loosened his arms.
Rubbing the hair of the person in his arms, the young emperor murmured thoughtfully, "Yan'er, I'm telling you all this just to reassure you. You're pregnant now, and the most important thing is to give birth to this child safely. Don't worry about anything else; leave it to me."
Meng Yan raised her head and met his eyes, her rosy lips slightly curved, "Haozhi, since we are husband and wife, we should work together, right? Besides, now that I'm pregnant, isn't this a great opportunity?"
Lu Haozhi is so smart, how could he not understand the implication of her words?
The queen is pregnant, and in order to protect the fetus, it is not appropriate to hold a beauty contest. This is a perfect excuse.
Furthermore, when Meng Yan was a noble concubine, she was favored by the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Everyone in the former dynasty and the harem knew about it. Now, using this as an excuse to dismiss the six palaces can be said to have a cause and effect.
But in this way, Meng Yan would be convicted of seducing the king and being unvirtuous and jealous.
Lu Haozhi put his arm around her slender shoulders and said in a deep voice, "Yan'er, I naturally understand what you mean. However, as the Emperor of the Great Zhou, how can I hide behind the women in the harem for such an important matter? Moreover..." He bent down and gently kissed Meng Yan's smooth forehead and the fine white hairline, and said vaguely, "I am your husband, your man. How can I push the woman I love to the front and be criticized by the world? There is only this one thing that I do not agree to."
Meng Yan smiled, her delicate and beautiful face was as bright as a newly blossomed lotus, "Haozhi, this is the best way right now. People will only think that it is the jealousy of the women in the harem, and that the emperor has been bewitched by this witch, this concubine. In this way, the attention of the former dynasty will be focused on the harem." Before she finished speaking, she saw Lu Haozhi's thin lips move slightly, as if he wanted to say something, so she stretched out her spring onion-like index finger, touched his lips, and stared at him with eyes as bright as a pool of autumn water, "The group of old ministers that Haozhi wants to deal with are all shrewd and cunning. "They are so numerous, and their power is so intertwined that any one move could have a devastating impact on the entire group. Any move against any one of them would alert the enemy. If we can't catch them all, the consequences will be endless. Only by making them believe that the emperor is foolish, favoring a seductress, refusing the selection and abolishing the six concubines, can this old fox be reassured and start arguing with the emperor about the selection. The emperor can then arrest them all in court on the charge of gross disrespect, and then present the evidence he has previously gathered to punish them one by one."
Lu Haozhi pondered in silence and just held her tightly in his arms.
What Yan'er said is indeed the best solution.
Previously, he had held long and private discussions with several trusted ministers, but they still lacked a foolproof plan. If they were to disrupt this group of forces, even a single misstep could destabilize the nation. However, if they continued to delay, many new policies would be impossible to implement, and allowing these old ministers to occupy land and population would, over time, erode the nation's strength. While the Great Zhou's territory was vast, numerous border forces coveted it. If this issue wasn't addressed quickly, a natural disaster in the future would inevitably lead to internal and external troubles.
After much thought, the only method Meng Yan mentioned was lightning fast.
But he didn't want Yan'er to be criticized anymore.
In the past few years, because of his willful behavior, Yan'er had been criticized by the world, and all the charges of being narrow-minded, irritable and jealous were put on her.
It was he who refused to favor other concubines, so what did it have to do with her?
He is the emperor. If he wants to favor someone else, how can she stop him?
But, in this world, people only blame women.
"Haozhi..."
Seeing that he didn't respond for a long time, Meng Yan spoke first, her slender fingertips drawing circles on his chest, teasing his heartstrings, "You don't have to worry about me. I've been cursed by those people outside for so many years, and this is not the most serious one. Although this matter is not entirely because of me, it is also half because of me, so I haven't borne the curse in vain. Since you want to stand shoulder to shoulder with me and overlook the country, then I should have a share in this inheritance." As she spoke, she pouted and said angrily, "I won't allow you to exclude me. Let me find out, I won't agree!"
Lu Haozhi had no way to deal with her in this state.
The emperor who was in charge of the court and made plans was just a husband who had no temper and acted like a spoiled child to his wife in Changchun Palace.
Well, what virtuous, what crazy and jealous, are just the words of outsiders.
Yan'er is his empress and his wife. As long as he can sit on the throne, he will protect her all her life. Why should he care about these rumors!
Thinking of this, he sighed, looked at the person in his arms, and said with a helpless smile, "I'm going to eat you to death, anyway, I'll do as you say."
Meng Yan smiled charmingly, but then she thought of something and sneered, "But I'm afraid I'm destined to never be a virtuous queen in this life!"
Lu Haozhi pressed his lips against hers and murmured, "In my heart, you are the most virtuous queen of all time." As he spoke, he slowly placed the body in his arms on the kang, "Yan'er, please let me stay for one night. Don't chase me out again."
Meng Yan raised her hand and gently stroked the man's handsome face. Her delicate fingers gradually inserted into the ink-stained hair bun and pulled out the red gold coiled dragon hairpin that tied the hair. Immediately, the long hair cascaded down like a waterfall.
"good……"
Now, she is afraid of nothing.
Although it was not yet night, compared to the ridiculous things they had done in the days when they were passionately in love, this daytime debauchery was nothing.
The two of them spent the entire afternoon cuddling under the west window of the west warm room in Changchun Palace. After dinner, they moved to the bedroom.
That night, red candles burned brightly in Changchun Palace until dawn.
The news that the emperor stayed overnight in Changchun Palace spread throughout the six palaces the next day.
However, the emperor has always favored the queen, so it is not uncommon for the emperor to stay overnight in Changchun Palace even if the queen is pregnant. Except for a few newly selected concubines who grumbled about it behind her back, no one else took it to heart.
Since they opened up to each other, Meng Yan spent every day in Changchun Palace taking care of her pregnancy, asking about Doukou's homework, ignoring other things, and rarely going out.
In order to avoid upsetting the empress and damaging the fetus, the maids in Changchun Palace did not dare to tell her about what was happening outside. They only picked out some irrelevant gossip to relieve her boredom.
This peaceful time lasted for about half a month. One afternoon, Meng Yan was sitting leisurely in the courtyard of Changchun Palace.
Lu Haozhi had earlier ordered a large, carved earthenware jar to be built in the courtyard. In it, he kept a dozen phoenix-tail goldfish, with a few lotus flowers floating on the surface, for Meng Yan's enjoyment. The rare birds previously kept in the corridor had been removed, fearing they would disturb the empress's sleep in the mornings.
Meng Yan threw a few pieces of fish food into the tank and watched with interest as the fish floated to the surface with their long tails, fighting for food with each other, while listening to the palace maids gossiping.
Ruizhu held the fish dish in her hand and whispered, "I heard that the Imperial Hospital has issued a transfer order, and Imperial Physician Xiahou will be leaving the palace in the next few days."
"Um."
Meng Yan responded indifferently, without comment, and threw a few more fish food into the water.
Ruizhu saw that her master was not interested and did not want to make things boring, but after thinking about it, she still thought of a few words.
She pursed her lips and was about to speak when Yunxiang suddenly came hurriedly from outside, "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager has sent someone to tell you to come to Shoukang Palace to speak."
Hearing this, Meng Yan smiled faintly and said, "It's about time." Then she threw all the fish food in her hand into the tank, stood up and ordered the carriage to be prepared.
Soon they arrived at Shoukang Palace. When the gatekeeper saw the queen coming, he hurried in to pass on the message and invited the queen in.
Meng Yan walked all the way to the outside of the main hall of Shoukang Palace. Just as she reached the window, she heard someone inside say, "Your Majesty the Queen, I'm not trying to gossip. It's just that the Queen is pregnant and she's still diligently attending bedtimes. I'm afraid this will harm the fetus, and it's also detrimental to the expansion of the royal family."
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