Chapter 501: Preparing for the Wedding
But at this moment, they are helping those who are putting pressure on her, forcing her to compromise...
The Holy Cemeter Emperor slowly closed his eyes, trying to calm the resentment churning in his chest.
She was unwilling to compromise, not only because of the matter itself, but also because once she compromised, countless people would have the courage to force her to give in! For a king, this was undoubtedly a very bad and dangerous omen.
She hadn't felt this kind of feeling of being forced to make such concessions in public for many years, but at the moment... she had no choice.
Hearing the cries of "Your Majesty, please stop the losses", when the Emperor of the Holy Ceremonial Ceremonies opened his eyes again, his gaze scanned the people who were kneeling on the ground and shouting.
Outside the hall, as the clouds blocked the scorching sun, the bright light inside the hall was gradually retracted, and the shiny gold bricks under the feet of the officials suddenly became a little cooler.
After a moment, the emperor's majestic and selfless voice echoed in the huge hall: "Don't worry, my lords. I will handle this matter impartially and give an explanation to the people of Jiangnan West Road who died unjustly."
After hearing these words, Cui Hao was the first to bow his head and shout, "Your Majesty is wise!"
Everyone bowed down and said, "Your Majesty is wise!"
Looking at those kneeling figures, the Holy Ce Emperor's eyes were calm. He raised his hand to signal everyone to stand up, and then said to Princess Xuan'an alone: "Xuan'an, you should stand up too."
Princess Xuan'an thanked the emperor, stood up and stepped aside.
Above the sky outside the palace, layers of white clouds came and went with the wind, sometimes rolling and sometimes expanding.
After the morning court was over, all the officials knelt and bowed, then stood up and left the hall in twos and threes.
The emperor sat on the dragon throne, watching the figures retreat one after another until the hall returned to silence and emptiness, with only the eunuchs standing by with their heads bowed and silent.
The Holy Ce Emperor sat quietly for a long time. The new head of the Palace Office, who had witnessed with his own eyes the emperor being forced to give in at the morning court session today, did not dare to say a word.
The king slowly spoke up, asking about other matters, seemingly not letting his thoughts stagnate because of the morning court: "The Huainan Circuit Jiedushi used 7 million strings of cash to support the northern border defense... Has anyone in the capital been discussing this recently?"
The head of the Palace Office took a moment to react before answering respectfully, "Your Majesty, yes."
He whispered again: "Apart from this matter, the most discussed topic in private is the background of Envoy Chang..."
"Life experience." The Emperor of the Holy Ceremonial ...
Is there really a hidden story behind this life story, or is it a false story created by A Shang? Regardless of which one it is, it can be seen that A Shang is now actually creating momentum for his "life story" -
Therefore, her previous worries might be unnecessary. Ashang would not choose Prince Rong. From the current perspective, the person Ashang really wants to choose... is [Chang Suining].
The moment the answer became clear in her mind, the empress also heard the voices of several ministers suggesting that "the popularity of the Huainan Circuit governor is growing too fast. This may not be a good sign. Your Majesty should try to suppress it as soon as possible."
Ma Xiang also made a similar proposal.
The speed at which the young governor grew stronger was beyond everyone's expectations and made almost everyone feel uneasy.
The empress sighed almost imperceptibly.
At this point, she also tried to ask herself, in such a big country, if we talk about governance, the most important thing is undoubtedly talent, and when it comes to employing people, should we prioritize the capable ones or the controllable ones? All along, in order to consolidate the imperial power, she was forced to choose the latter most of the time.
This allowed her to stay in this position for more than a decade, but today, its drawbacks have become apparent.
But many times, she had no choice.
She was not a founding monarch who pacified the world with military exploits, but a woman of a different surname who was born a concubine. Those princes and generals were unwilling to obey her. If she did not kill them, they would raise their troops to kill her. All she could do was to strike first.
She knew the price of doing this, but if she had to do it again, she would still have no choice.
Throughout history, which king has not had blood on his hands? She doesn't need to look back to the past, but only needs to plan for the future.
There are not many capable people she can use and dare to use, and Ah Shang is one of them.
What would it matter if she tried to suppress Ah Shang? The power taken from Ah Shang would eventually fall into the hands of others. Rather than doing that, she would naturally prefer to support her daughter - especially when she was surrounded by wolves.
Even though Ah Shang has no intention of looking back until today, the mother and daughter should calm down and have a good sit-down talk before making further conclusions.
She wanted to let Ah Shang know that there should not be hostility between them, and that the country should not fall into the hands of incompetent, immoral and meritorious outsiders.
"Your Majesty, do you want someone to conduct a detailed investigation into Envoy Chang Jie's background..." the head of the Palace Office asked tentatively.
The Holy Seal Emperor shook his head: "No need."
The fact that Ah Shang was able to come up with 7 million strings of cash to aid the northern border this time shows that it was a legacy left behind… It could be hidden for many years without being abandoned, so it must be deeply rooted in the grassroots, and such an existence must be closely related to the intelligence organization.
If she sent someone to investigate now, once it alerted A Shang's spies, it would make A Shang unhappy and she would become alert again.
She wanted to use this opportunity to let Ah Shang know that she was not afraid of anything related to "Chang Suining", and this was also her sincerity.
“Are the lychees this year on the way?”
Hearing the emperor's question, the head of the Palace Office hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, they should have already set off."
Due to the war this year, the transportation of litchi was much delayed.
The Holy Ce Emperor said: "Instruct the transport envoys to split into two groups and send half of the group directly to the Jiangdu Governor's Mansion."
The head of the Palace Office agreed and made arrangements immediately.
Only after leaving the hall did the head of the Palace Office show a trace of doubt on his face. Saints have always been in the style of preventing trouble before it happens and rather killing people by mistake. But why did they treat this Huainan Road governor so highly, not only not suppressing and fearing him, but also respecting and trusting him so much? And they ordered the transport envoy to send half of the lychees directly to Jiangdu. In this way, it would be equivalent to announcing to the world how highly you value him... Is your majesty going to use this governor to deter and suppress other forces? The head of the Palace Office weighed this intention in his heart and did not dare to delay in arranging the transportation of the lychees.
As soon as the head of the Palace Office left, a young man walked into the hall with his head lowered, bowed and saluted: "Your Majesty, your son..."
The Emperor of the Holy Ceremonies looked at the young man who had a thin figure but had grown taller silently.
Facing the emperor's inquiring gaze, the young man hurriedly said, "I heard that Your Majesty is still in the palace, so I came to remind Your Majesty that it is time for lunch..."
"The prince has become more sensible." The Emperor of the Holy Ce smiled slightly and asked, "It's rare for Grand Princess Xuan'an to return to the capital. As a junior, why didn't you go to pay your respects?"
The prince's face turned pale, and his voice was a little uneasy: "Your Highness the Grand Princess and I are not familiar with each other..."
"You are the crown prince of a country, so you must follow the rules and etiquette of a crown prince." The Holy Ce Emperor said, "This afternoon, you will leave the palace and pay your respects to the Grand Princess."
The prince did not understand the intention, and did not know whether to agree or not. He was so anxious that he almost cried in his heart - he said that he could not understand the true and false words of the saint, but the officials of the East Palace insisted that he come to the saint to show his filial piety... This was bad!
The prince was at a loss as to what to do. He knelt down and said incoherently, "Your Majesty, I am not used to leaving the palace... I am afraid that I might say something wrong in front of the Grand Princess and bring shame to Your Majesty."
The Holy Ceremonial Emperor frowned slightly: "How can I trust you with this kind of attitude and hand over this important task to you?"
To the prince, these words sounded like a countdown to his death. He knocked his head to the ground and said, "Your Majesty... I am still young and cannot handle this important responsibility!"
He has been saying "I am still young" since he was ten years old, and he has been saying this until today.
The thing he feared most was celebrating his birthday, followed by making new clothes. If possible, he would like to be locked up with the words "Your son is still young" for the rest of his life.
This time, however, the emperor seemed very dissatisfied with his response.
"Zhi'er, you are already fifteen this year." The Emperor of the Holy Ceremonial Ce said slowly, "I am already old, and many things are beyond my ability. It is time to prepare for your succession to the throne."
These were words that had never been heard before. When the prince heard them, he felt that his limited brain power was no longer enough.
He raised his face in astonishment and uneasiness: "Your Majesty, I swear to heaven that I will never do that..."
However, before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by the emperor: "Stand up, don't be so cautious all the time. You have grown up, and it's time to show the bearing of a crown prince. Otherwise, how can you convince the people?"
The prince was so frightened that he dared not say another word. He stood up tremblingly, feeling like crying but unable to cry - he really just came to invite the saint to dinner.
The Holy Ce Emperor stood up from the dragon throne and told the palace servants: "Today, the Crown Prince and I will have lunch together."
Seeing the empress walking down the imperial steps, the prince suddenly came to his senses and hurried forward to hold one of the empress's arms.
That afternoon, two pieces of news came out of the palace.
The first one is about the handling of Li Xian, Duke of Han.
The second one is that the saint is preparing for the prince’s wedding.
Both pieces of news were of top importance, but the deeper meaning revealed by the latter was obviously more worthy of contemplation. For a time, people in the capital were all worried about this.
In the meeting hall of the Cui family in Anyifang, a member of the Cui clan frowned and thought, "Could it be that the Queen has seen that the situation is getting difficult to handle... Is she really intending to return power to the Crown Prince?"
Another clan member said: "It is said that the prince left the palace an hour ago and went to the residence of Princess Xuan'an..."
As the crown prince, leaving the palace to pay a visit to the mansion was almost an open attempt to win over the crown prince! They all knew the crown prince's situation. Without the permission of the saint, how could the crown prince dare to do this? The eldest princess who allowed the crown prince to win over the powerful royal family and was preparing a wedding for the crown prince... No matter how you look at it, it seems like they are preparing for the crown prince to take power.
At the morning court today, the empress was forced to compromise, and before anyone else had time to think further, the empress suddenly made this "retreat again and again" statement... Could it be that she is really too old and weak, and wants to retire at the right time?
"No, I believe that she is retreating to advance." Cui Ju, whose hair has turned almost completely white in just two years, said with a firm look in his eyes.
Everyone looked towards the head of the family.
"More than half of the rebels in the area are using the banner of upholding the orthodoxy..." Cui Ju said, "She is pretending to give up her throne to the Crown Prince just to appease the various parties. It doesn't matter if she allows the Crown Prince to win over various forces. As long as she controls the Crown Prince, who those forces will eventually be used by is just a nominal difference."
The Crown Prince's wedding meant that the heir apparent had grown up, but the Crown Princess came from the mansion of Duke Zheng, the family of the Empress's most trusted and important minister.
"This is not a retreat, but a counterattack without hesitation." Cui Ju's tone seemed to show his understanding and affirmation of this opponent: "This person will never have the intention of retreating in the future."
She realized that today's compromise would be the beginning of losing power, so she did not hesitate to use the act of returning power to the prince as a cover to shake people's hearts - supporting the prince is always the safest shortcut for most people.
"It should be more than that..." After hearing what the head of the family said, some members of the Cui clan quickly reacted: "The prince's wedding is a legitimate opportunity to summon the kings and the governors of various regions to the capital..."
Under normal circumstances, the kings and various forces might not dare to take the risk to come to the capital, but the emperor made a gesture of abdication, and facing the wedding ceremony of the "future new emperor", everyone had to think twice... The existence of the four words "future new emperor" was both a threat and a bait.
For the empress, this was both a test and an opportunity to take action to eliminate the enemy.
Cui Wei frowned: "She is really good at making the best use of things, using the crown prince as a puppet to this extent..."
Cui Ju glanced at his eldest son with a hint of disdain - what kind of shallow, useless and inappropriate criticism was he making?
Noticing his father's gaze, Cui Wei lowered his head and changed the subject, "Father, should I remind Prince Rong to be more cautious?"
For the Crown Prince's wedding, Prince Rong will certainly be summoned to the capital, but he should think twice before coming.
"No need to do this." Cui Ju said, "Prince Rong is so shrewd that he may be able to see through the Queen's intentions. Besides—"
Cui Ju looked at his eldest son and said, "The relationship between our Cui family and Prince Rong's Mansion has never been so close."
The Rong Palace tried to win over the Cui family many times, and the Cui family did not refuse, but Cui Ju was ultimately unable to make up his mind...
The reason why Cui Ju was wavering was mostly due to the letter of persuasion from his eldest grandson who had been expelled from the clan - Ling An believed that the Rong Palace was not a good choice.
While the Cui family members were discussing this, other places in the capital were also urgently discussing the matter. However, not everyone was like Cui Ju, who would immediately conclude that this was a counterattack by the empress.
Everyone's thoughts and desires were suppressed and no further mention was made, but at this moment, a scream suddenly sounded in the mansion of Duke Zheng, startling several birds on the colorful eaves and causing them to scatter immediately.
"...Wedding?" Wei Miaoqing's eyes were filled with horror, and she pointed at herself: "Me and the prince?!"
"What else?" Duke Zheng sighed worriedly, "It can't be my father and the prince..."
Wei Miaoqing quickly looked at her mother with an inquiring look.
Duan nodded absentmindedly.
(Don’t worry, the next chapter will be about Li Xian, good night~
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
