With a creak, the door was pushed open.
Hearing the noise, Yuan Dan turned around and saw a handsome, indifferent face.
"Xiao, Xiao Changqi?" Yuan Dan was stunned, not expecting the man to return overnight.
Xiao Changqi walked over expressionlessly and picked up the little bird from the windowsill: "Why aren't you asleep yet?"
"I can't sleep." Yuan Dan habitually rubbed her head against the man's thumb. "Why did you come back?"
Her tone was exactly like that of a wife waiting at home for her husband to come home.
New Year:"??"
Xiao Changqi said calmly, "Nothing is happening in the palace."
As he spoke, Xiao Changqi carried the little bird in both hands and walked into the pool behind him.
If Yuan Qing, who was left in the palace to handle various miscellaneous matters, heard these words, he would surely be so angry that he would run out of the palace with his sword and ask Xiao Changqi to stab him.
On New Year's Day, she squatted by the pool, next to the man soaking in the water, and quietly asked what had happened in the palace.
Xiao Changqi closed his eyes, reached out and grabbed the noisy little bird, ruffling it: "Be quiet."
On New Year's Day, she whispered one last question: "Are you hurt?"
With his excellent hearing, Xiao Changqi easily caught the bird's words, and his heart immediately felt like a cabbage soaking in water and rotting, soft and mushy.
"You're not injured." Xiao Changqi patted the little bird's pink head.
Yuandan lay in the man's palm, letting Xiao Changqi splash water to wash her feathers: "So, are you going back to the palace tonight?"
"I won't reply."
Yuan Dan had no idea how much her questions sounded like those of a concubine in the palace asking the emperor if he would stay at her place that night.
The following day.
The enthronement ceremony proceeded as scheduled.
Unexpectedly, their new emperor truly loved birds, and even brought his beloved bird with him when he ascended the throne.
Yuandan perched on the man's shoulder, watching him ascend step by step to a high position, receiving the homage of the ministers.
Inside the Golden Palace, I saw several familiar faces on New Year's Day.
Yuan Qing, Huo Youcai, and Prince Lian, Xiao Yan.
Huo Youcai held a lower official position, so he stood at the back, while Yuan Qing, as the newly appointed prime minister, naturally stood at the front, in the same row as the military officer and general Luo Ying.
"If you have something to report, speak up; if not, the court is adjourned!" the chief eunuch beside Xiao Changqi shouted.
Yuan Qing stepped forward and said, "Your subject has something to report."
Xiao Changqi stared at him expressionlessly, without saying a word.
"In recent days, snow has fallen in various places, and the people's winter food reserves have long been exhausted. Therefore, I humbly request Your Majesty to issue an edict to set up soup kitchens and open granaries so that the people can get through this winter safely."
Xiao Changqi spoke indifferently: "Granted."
"Your Majesty, I also have something to report..."
This morning court session lasted a full hour.
Xiao Changqi simplified all matters related to his ascension to the throne, and even began handling state affairs on the very first day of his reign.
The ministers who had been threatened by Xiao Changqi to support his ascension to the throne began to have a slightly different opinion of the new emperor.
Last night's palace coup can be described in one sentence: "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind."
No one could have imagined that this little bird was actually the unreliable Ninth Prince.
Xiao Yan's younger brother, Xiao Jin.
Previously, Xiao Changqi and Yuan Qing suspected that besides the Crown Prince, there was another group of people who also wanted to kill Xiao Changqi.
Or rather, what Xiao Jin wanted was the military power in Xiao Changqi's hands.
The Crown Prince had his throat slit by Xiao Changqi in front of all the ministers, while Xiao Jin... was spared by Xiao Changqi out of respect for Xiao Yan.
But while the death penalty may be avoided, punishment is inevitable.
Xiao Jin was demoted to a commoner, and his descendants were never allowed to serve as officials in the imperial court for generations.
Based on Xiao Changqi's past behavior, he would never have spared Xiao Jin's life.
But remembering what the little bird had said, Xiao Changqi ultimately decided against eliminating the threat completely.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com