Chapter 157: The Shang Dynasty Harem Battle Royale has always been diligent in government...
Since Concubine Su entered the palace, Emperor Xin, who had always been diligent in his work, had become addicted to wine and women and neglected state affairs. The ministers of the previous dynasty were discussing this, and all the civil and military officials offered their advice.
Emperor Xin knelt at the head of the table, looking at the various dignitaries in the hall. He had no idea which of these people who were giving him advice were truly sincere and which were taking the opportunity to ruin his reputation.
He just felt a surge of irritation and returned to the harem.
At that time, there was no rule that the harem could not interfere in politics, and the palace was not big. What happened in the previous dynasty soon spread to the harem and reached Su Daji's ears.
Su Daji felt that her chance to improve her performance had come.
So, when Emperor Xin arrived at Shouxian Palace exhausted, she first served him attentively and carefully, and performed light songs and dances to relax Emperor Xin both physically and mentally.
Then, I explained why the king was troubled. I already knew. Those ministers of the previous dynasty were truly ungrateful and had no understanding for the king. It would be better to teach them a lesson, so they know how powerful I am and won't dare to speak carelessly again.
At that time, Emperor Xin's emotional value had been maximized, and the beauty's soft words made him feel that the words were so pleasant to the ears and so reasonable.
The two men discussed it together and came up with a new punishment: they would build a hollow copper pillar, fill it with burning charcoal, and have the person hug the pillar until they were burned to death.
Daji said proudly, "I'll name it 'Paolao'. Does your Majesty think it's a good idea?"
"Good, good, it's really appropriate!" Emperor Xin clapped his hands and laughed, with a hint of madness.
Half a month later, when the court was held again, the ministers had so many bamboo slips of advice that they wished they could bury Emperor Xin in them.
Emperor Xin sneered and ordered the executioner to be brought out and to be tortured on Mei Bo, who had danced the most joyfully. The miserable cries, the smell of scorched flesh, and the horrific scene left the entire court speechless.
Although they would eat prisoners of war and use living people for sacrifice, both prisoners and sacrifices were killed first and then processed. Roasting people alive was still too advanced for them.
Huang Feihu, the King of Wucheng, who had been silent all this time, couldn't stand it anymore and started to plead for Mei Bo.
Emperor Xin did give him some face, but how cruel was the punishment of burning people alive? Mei Bo's limbs, chest, and abdomen were already charred, and it was clear that he was not going to survive.
In order to ease his pain, Huang Feihu had to draw his sword and send him on his way.
Such a tragic incident was unprecedented and caused an uproar in the government and the public.
When the news reached the harem, Daji was naturally pleased. Queen Jiang was terrified, but she also felt that her chance to deal with Concubine Su had come.
——When did Emperor Xin start to become incompetent?
What, Nuwa Palace?
That doesn’t count!
The King has always been wise and decisive. It was only after Su Hu's daughter entered the palace that he began to indulge in beauty and music. Now, he is killing loyal officials in the previous dynasty. He must have been bewitched by Concubine Su!
Upon hearing that Emperor Xin had gone to Shouxian Palace again, Queen Jiang rushed over in a rage with all her ceremonial guards.
At that time, Emperor Xin was watching Daji dancing. When he heard that the queen had arrived, he immediately asked Daji to take people out to greet her.
When Queen Jiang came in, she sat with Emperor Xin, while Daji stood by to serve. Seeing that she looked unhappy, Emperor Xin asked the palace maids to play music and ordered Daji to dance, waiting for the queen to enjoy the performance.
At this time, Emperor Xin still respected his first wife very much. He doted on Daji, but in his eyes, Daji was just a precious pet, how could she compare to the queen?
However, Queen Jiang at this time was only thinking about suppressing Daji, preferably to make her fall out of favor, and she didn't pay any attention to Emperor Xin's attitude towards the two of them.
Perhaps she hadn't failed to notice, but rather felt that Emperor Xin respected her more because she had two sons. If Concubine Su had a son someday, this respect would likely shift.
The most urgent task is to suppress Concubine Su first.
So, Queen Jiang let Daji dance like a demon, and she didn't even look at her from the chin.
After the singing and dancing ended, Emperor Xin wanted to discuss the beauty of the song and dance with her, but Queen Jiang spoke a lot of righteous advice, accusing him of being obsessed with beauty and killing loyal ministers.
After saying this, she didn't give Emperor Xin any chance to speak, and left with all the ceremonial guards.
Emperor Xin was so angry that he was shaking all over. He was drunk and said angrily, "This bitch has never been on the same page with me. Sooner or later I will beat her to death with a golden gourd to vent my hatred!"
Daji advised, "Your Majesty, please calm down. She is the queen after all. It is her duty to advise the king."
This doesn't make sense.
Because by this time, Daji also realized that the front court and the harem were originally one. If she wanted to disrupt the imperial order and successfully complete the instructions of the sage, it would not be enough to just work hard on the front court, she also had to improve the performance of the harem.
—This Queen Jiang is truly despicable. I've never offended her, yet she insists on picking on me. So, let's start with her.
The nine-tailed fox was a man of action. Once he decided to deal with Queen Jiang, he immediately came up with a plan with his personal maid Gunjuan.
Gunjuan offered her advice: "Your Majesty, you were recommended to the palace by Fei Zhong and You Hun. Because of their recommendation of you, they were both promoted from the rank of Senior Official to Senior Official. If you recover, they will naturally benefit. If you lose power, they will not benefit either. The Queen's family is powerful and difficult to deal with. Why not ask them for help?"
After hearing this, Daji thought it made sense, so she asked Gunjuan to leave the palace and find Fei Zhong.
It was a coincidence that there was a slave in Fei Zhong's mansion. His whole family was convicted by Dong Bo Hou Jiang Huanchu, and they all died tragically, but he was the only one who escaped by disfiguring himself.
Fei Zhong found him and said that he wanted to make trouble for Dong Bohou. The other party had always wanted to avenge his family, so he agreed without saying a word.
With a silk letter in his arms that implied that Jiang Huanchu and Queen Jiang were colluding in rebellion, the man went to assassinate Emperor Xin.
The assassination attempt naturally failed, and his purpose was not to assassinate, but to be killed by Emperor Xin's soldiers so that Emperor Xin could get the silk in his arms.
Emperor Xin was furious and ordered his men to arrest Queen Jiang and hand her over to Concubine Huang for interrogation.
Ha, what’s the difference between this and sending a sheep into the tiger’s mouth?
Concubine Huang made a big move. She wanted to take this opportunity to capture Queen Jiang and the two princes Yin Jiao and Yin Hong in one fell swoop!
Looking at the entire harem, if Queen Jiang is gone, who else is more worthy of taking over the harem than her?
So, during the interrogation, she used words to induce Queen Jiang, and at the same time passed the news to Princes Yin Jiao and Yin Hong.
She took advantage of the interrogation to tell two different stories in front of Queen Jiang and Emperor Xin, cleverly angering Emperor Xin and causing him to gouge out one of the queen's eyes. Then, she passed the news on to the two princes.
The two princes were still young, and when they heard that their mother had committed a serious crime, they were already at a loss. Before they could think of a solution, they heard that their mother had one eye gouged out.
At this time, the people around them gave them advice, asking them to ask for an audience with the king, to strongly advocate the queen's virtue and ask the king to be more discerning.
At first glance, this seemed like a good idea, but Emperor Xin was furious. The two princes already felt their mother was wronged, and after hearing some gossip from those around them, they felt that Emperor Xin had forgotten his first wife because he had a new love. They spoke in a very aggressive tone, as if they were accusing him of something.
Emperor Xin had just been angered by the queen, and was then criticized by his two sons. He was so angry that his eyes were swollen and his head was dizzy. He pointed at the two of them and was speechless.
When the two princes saw their father like this, they realized that they were in trouble and were scared out of their wits. Yin Jiao pulled his brother and ran away.
The two men first ran to Concubine Huang, but were stopped by the guards at the gate. They were told that Concubine Huang had ordered them to try Queen Jiang, and it was inconvenient for her to see the two princes at this time.
They ran to Concubine Yang again, and had barely said two words when the soldiers from the palace found them and said that the two princes were rebellious and they were sent by the king to arrest them.
Concubine Yang's eyelids jumped, and she realized that something bad had happened. She was involved in the fight between Queen Jiang and Concubine Huang.
Why did Concubine Yang insist that it was a dispute between Queen Jiang and Concubine Huang, and exclude the popular Concubine Su?
She was not stupid, of course she knew that nine out of ten soldiers guarding the harem were Huang Feihu's former subordinates. Even if these people were unwilling to obey Huang Fei's orders, they would still do things for her.
The Yang family is not that powerful, and she can't afford to touch either Queen Jiang or Concubine Huang.
After driving the soldiers away, Concubine Yang said to the two princes, "Hiding in the harem is not a long-term solution. If you two princes wish to prove your innocence and rescue the queen, you must seek out loyal officials from the previous dynasty."
After coaxing the two princes out through the back door, Concubine Yang thought over and over again, and she still felt that she couldn't take any chances. To avoid implicating her family, she ended her life with a white silk thread.
At this time, in order to avoid being accused and implicating her two sons, the queen committed suicide to prove her innocence.
Just when Concubine Huang thought she had won a great victory, she didn't expect that Su Daji not only came from behind to win, but also had no intention of letting her go.
When Grand Tutor Wen Zhong returned to the capital, Queen Jiang, Concubine Yang, and Concubine Huang were all dead, and Huang Feihu had also defected.
The old Grand Tutor had a head full of questions. He really couldn't understand why his disciple, who had the potential to be a wise ruler, had become like this?
Is it true that the Shang Dynasty has run out of luck and that the wise ruler will become a foolish one?
But before he could do anything, Emperor Xin told him that Ji Chang of Zhou had rebelled, and then entrusted him with full authority to quell the rebellion.
Wen Zhong: "???"
——No, I have taught you for so many years, both literary and martial arts, but I just don’t remember teaching you how to give up.
Emperor Xin: "Grand Master, the most urgent task is to quell the rebellion in Xiqi! Grand Master knows that the Ji Zhou have been rebelling for generations, but Chaoge was weakened and unable to suppress them, so he turned a blind eye. Now that Grand Master has returned to the throne, can we still allow them to continue their rampage?"
Wen Zhong looked at him deeply and sighed heavily: "Forget it, Your Majesty, take care of yourself!" Then he turned around and left.
Daji walked out of the back hall, patted her chest with lingering fear, snuggled up to Emperor Xin, and asked delicately, "My king, will the Grand Tutor cause us any trouble?"
As soon as Wen Zhong entered the palace, Daji, who was hiding in the back hall, felt her legs go weak. That kind of power was definitely not comparable to those so-called loyal and upright ministers in the court.
Emperor Xin stared blankly at the direction where Wen Zhong left with a gloomy look in his eyes. Suddenly, he smiled and put his arm around Daji's slender waist: "Don't worry, my beauty. The Grand Master knows what is important and what is not."
Sure enough, not long after, Chonghouhu was ordered to take over Jiming Pass.
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