Now everyone in the palace is staring at him, and there are probably quite a few people who want to see how he will react.
He can't act rashly.
Every day after that, stories about His Majesty and Chen Youzhi could be heard in the palace: Chen Youzhi composed a poem for His Majesty, His Majesty taught Chen Youzhi how to play the piano, and the two of them painted a peony together...
Li Xiwei's expression was gloomy when he heard the first two rumors, but he laughed out loud when he heard the third one. He said firmly, "They are all false. Your Majesty hates paintings of peonies the most."
Because she had been severely outdone by Yao Yi in the past, she never painted peonies again.
But someone said, "What if Chen likes peonies, and Your Majesty did something you wouldn't normally do to please her?"
He looked at it coldly.
Yun, who lived in the same courtyard with him, said sarcastically, "The Left Prime Minister may not fully understand His Majesty, right? Otherwise, why aren't you accompanying His Majesty in painting right now?"
Li Xi pursed his lips and did not answer.
After some time, the final election came. Jiang Cenyun still dropped everyone's name, including Li Xiwei and Chen Youzhi, but she appointed Chen Youzhi as the chief pharmacist. Although he was only a small official in the Shangshi Bureau, she kept him in the palace.
The good girls left the palace feeling disappointed. The next day, Li Xiwei changed into his official robe and asked to see Jiang Cenyun.
Jiang Cenyun refused to see him.
She wanted him to give up the idea of entering the palace, so she had to hurt his feelings temporarily. When he no longer expected love, the two of them could return to normal.
Jiang Cenyun silently said in her heart that this was right, but she still couldn't stop the feeling of heartache, especially when she saw Li Xiwei's thin face when she went to court.
She indulged him in silence for a while, but she didn't expect that he would never recover from it and even said he wanted to resign!
Jiang Cenyun felt so angry that all the blood in her body was rushing to her head. She returned to the palace and smashed a few vases. She was still not satisfied after hearing the sound of the vases breaking, and wanted to continue smashing other things.
As a result, Li Xiwei still had the nerve to come and ask to see her!
She refused again, but this time the other party broke in directly and the palace maids did not stop him. She saw him calmly ordering the palace maids to clean up the broken porcelain pieces on the ground, as if he were the queen, and she became even more furious.
She thought the two would have a big fight and even made plans for the worst. The worst that could happen was that they would never have any contact with each other again and she would demote him to be a governor of another province.
As a result, the old fox Li Xiwei finally revealed his plan.
"Ever since Taizu ascended the throne as the Right Prime Minister of the previous dynasty, the Great Zhou Dynasty no longer has a Right Prime Minister, only the Left Prime Minister. However, the Left Prime Minister wields immense power, even greater than when there were two. The late Emperor intended to abolish the Left Prime Minister position, but the previous Left Prime Minister worked diligently and diligently, failing to gain any leverage over him. Therefore, the late Emperor left a will ordering me and others to assist in the administration, so that I could take over the Left Prime Minister position."
"No one can do better than you." Jiang Cenyun muttered.
"Your Majesty appreciates my talent, and I am grateful. However, the late emperor appointed me as the Left Prime Minister precisely to weaken his power. I am a man, and all the officials are women. I do not wish to serve under him. This would increase resistance when I am implementing my policies, and many policies will require Your Majesty's intervention to be successfully implemented."
"That is my responsibility."
"Yes, I am gradually returning power to Your Majesty, and now is the final moment."
"What you mean is..." Jiang Cenyun calmed down completely and looked at Li Xiwei seriously.
"For the past two years, outsiders have viewed me as a love-struck man who couldn't get the love he wanted, rather than the high-ranking Left Prime Minister. Officials no longer see me as a rival, but have begun to look down on me. Therefore, they haven't noticed my little tricks."
"Oh?" She became interested. "What did you do?"
"Not all officials are happy to see me decline. Some upright people either denounce me as a mere idler or encourage me to revive my career. I have selected some talented people among them and delegated power to them."
"Are you dividing the power?"
"Yes, and it has been very effective." Li Xi said with a smile.
"This is truly... a risky move. But you, do you really want to give up all this power and status, and be trapped in the palace forever?"
"What are you worried about, Your Majesty?"
Jiang Cenyun looked out the window. "Do you know what Chen You said to me when I met him?"
Li Xiwei asked softly, "What?"
"He said that if I cared about the country and the people, I should have allowed you to display your talents in the government, rather than confining you to the inner palace. Xiwei, you are the most talented man in the world, a role model for them. With you as Left Prime Minister, they feel that they too can one day reach the pinnacle of officialdom, and are more willing to step out of their inner chambers and read useful books. I hope that there will be more talented people in the world, both men and women, who can display their greatest talents."
Li Xi looked at her with a slight smile.
"But once you enter the palace, you're effectively declaring to those men, no matter how hard you work? No matter how high your position, your fate will ultimately be nothing more than becoming a concubine in the emperor's harem, shattering your pride and surrendering to others. They've endured more hardships than anyone else, but is this the outcome they seek?"
"So this is what Your Majesty thinks. Your Majesty has great ambitions. I thank Your Majesty for your kindness on behalf of all men in the world." Li Xiwei bowed to her.
Jiang Cenyun frowned. "So, did you listen to me? Only if one day you can become both Prime Minister and Empress, will I be willing to let you be my bedfellow. I can't bear to see you bury yourself, and I'm also afraid that more people will give up their efforts because I buried you."
"Your Majesty is right, but have you ever considered how many men like me there are?"
"What kind of man are you talking about?"
"He who passed the imperial examination and became the top scholar, and was appointed the Left Prime Minister."
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