Today is the day when his father-in-law and eldest brother will be buried together. Not only him, but all the officials have been waiting early.

Even Fu Wenhan, who was recuperating at home, came, of course he came in a sedan chair.

When the sacrifice began, the concubines and officials in the harem cried bitterly, and Li Xiuzhu was no exception.

Now that there is no one in the royal family, the three surviving princes-in-law, including Li Xiuzhu, must fulfill their obligations as heirs, of course, including the princesses.

Although Li Xiuzhu couldn't cry because of Li Kuo's words, he still felt jealous when he thought about how good the prince was to him.

He wiped his tearless eyes, and his red eye sockets were enough to shut up the ministers.

"Awaken the spirit!"

With a shout from Wang Defa, the coffin set off.

The funeral procession was so huge that it even stretched from the entrance of the imperial palace to the Xuanwu Gate.

However, the funeral procession was not dense. To be honest, there were only about one or two thousand people.

At this point, Li Xiuzhu no longer allowed Fu Wenhan to follow him, as his body could not support a long journey of one or two hundred miles, even by carriage.

Let alone one or two hundred miles, even sitting for one or two miles was difficult for Fu Wenhan.

The roads outside the capital are not as smooth as the stone roads inside the city.

Of course, most of the funeral carriages cannot carry passengers, only funeral objects and coffins.

But because the journey was long, and the women and the elderly could not walk, they were all allowed to ride in carriages.

These carriages waited at the gate outside the capital city, stopped at the foot of the cemetery hill, and then walked up the hill and returned.

Besides Li Xiuzhu, there were also Li Biyao and Li Liuli in the carriage.

There were some palace maids and eunuchs in a carriage in front of them. The carriage was far away, but the crying sounds were still heard.

If it were in the past, Li Xiuzhu would have frowned at such an annoying sound, but he did not do so today.

Just because these are the people who will be buried with you.

Apart from a few princesses and Ruan Wenjun whose son died, they were probably the only ones who really cried.

The practice of burying emperors alive with their dead has been a tradition since ancient times, and Li Xiuzhu was unable to change that.

At least his identity doesn't allow it.

If the system of burying people alive with the dead really wanted to be changed, the only way to start was with his son.

This rule can only be changed by the emperor.

Fortunately, the number of people buried alive was not large, only about ten people.

However, among the eunuchs who were buried alive, there was one who did not cry, but had a smile on his face.

This person is none other than Chengxin.

Li Xiuzhu will naturally do what he says if he agrees.

After arriving at the imperial mausoleum, no one went in, but just cried and bid farewell outside the mausoleum.

Naturally, there were guards who went in to attend the funeral, and they slaughtered the horses that were buried with the deceased and strangled the palace maids and eunuchs who were buried with the deceased.

Of course, the rest of the things have nothing to do with Li Xiuzhu.

After the mausoleum was closed, I left with everyone.

"Li Hu, go and give this letter to a beggar and tell him it's from their leader."

Li Hu was stunned, but did not ask any more questions.

It was already dark, so Li Xiuzhu naturally wouldn't wait for Huang Rong at this time. Instead, he made an appointment with Huang Rong to meet tomorrow.

But thinking about the early court session tomorrow, he felt a bit of a headache.

The next morning, Li Xiuzhu got up early to attend court. Although in this era you don't need to go to court at five in the morning, you still have to go to court at dawn.

Although he was used to sleeping only two hours a day, he was not used to getting up early.

So Li Xiuzhu was yawning a little when he stood in front of all the officials.

Li Xiuzhu glanced at the official who was speaking and said, "Indeed, I've been busy for so many days and I'm very tired."

"But it's not a big problem. It's no problem to hold a court meeting."

"Your Majesty, is there any instruction at this court meeting that I need to convey?"

Li Xiuzhu was stunned when he heard this, and then he realized that the other party came to seek refuge with him.

Li Xiuzhu thought about it after hearing this, and did not deny it. Instead, he said, "Then I'll trouble you..."

Li Xiuzhu suddenly realized with embarrassment that he didn't even know the old man's name.

As if he understood Li Xiuzhu's embarrassment, the old man quickly said, "Your humble servant is the Imperial Censor Fan Zhongcheng."

Li Xiuzhu nodded and said, "Then I'll trouble you, Master Fan."

"No trouble, no trouble. It is my honor to be able to help His Majesty."

There is no wrong version in the 1619 book forum!

At this moment, the palace gate opened. Li Xiuzhu, who was about to say something, stopped talking and said, "Master Fan, the palace gate is open. Let's talk again when we have time. Please."

"Your Majesty, please go first."

Li Xiuzhu did not show any modesty and walked in first. Now he was the most senior among all the civil and military officials in the court and did not need to be too modest.

When all the officials had gathered in the Council Hall, Wang Defa opened his mouth and shouted loudly, "Empress Dowager, the Queen is here."

At this time, there was a phoenix chair on each side of the Council Hall, and a screen in front of each.

Although she ruled from behind a curtain, few people used a pearl curtain in the court.

When Li Xiuzhu saw the two people being supported by others, he immediately knew what he should say as the first suggestion.

After Wang Defa and the other two sat down, he continued to speak in a loud voice: "His Majesty passed away. The late emperor's will stated that the dragon seed in the empress's belly will inherit the throne."

"Before the crown prince comes of age, the Queen Mother and the Empress will govern the country and appoint Li Xiuzhu, Duke of Anyang, as the regent to make all decisions on state affairs."

"Gentlemen, if you have something to report, please stand up and leave the court if you don't."

Upon hearing this, all the officials fell silent and looked towards Li Xiuzhu, obviously wanting to check the wind direction first.

Li Xiuzhu saw the five people start to speak, paused, took a step forward and said: "The king has something to ask."

Hearing Li Xiuzhu speak, Xiao Rongyu quickly said, "Your Majesty, please speak."

Li Xiuzhu looked at Xiao Rongyu speechlessly, thinking that this girl really had never experienced the disputes in the harem. At this time, the empress dowager should speak first.

However, he did not correct her, but directly said: "Your Highness is now pregnant with the dragon seed, and you have to take care of the government. I think it is too tiring and may hurt the prince."

At this moment, all the officials were stunned and shocked.

Here he comes, here he comes, he has just become the regent and he is already trying to seize power.

It’s no wonder they think so. Any normal person would think so. In addition to the two women sitting above, there are also Bai Zhan, Luo Shicheng and Song Lian.

The two women above trusted him unconditionally, but the other three thought it was unreasonable.

If Li Xiuzhu is greedy for power, is there any position better than the emperor?

He refused the imperial power, but he wanted to be a regent? This is unreasonable.

As expected, Li Xiuzhu continued, "So this king proposes to change the court meeting time and hold court one hour later."

"Secondly, establish an imperial study. One person each from the civil and military officials and the Imperial Censorate will review memorials three times."

"All memorials that do not involve the rise and fall of a place, the appointment and removal of officials above the seventh rank, and the rise and fall of the country, are handled by the Imperial Study."

"The Imperial Study has a heavy responsibility, so naturally it needs to shoulder a lot."

"Anything decided by the Imperial Study will be borne by the signatories of the Imperial Study if there is any problem. The approval of memorials requires at least two signatures before they can be implemented."

"In addition, except for the Imperial Censorate, the selection of civil and military officials must be of the second rank or above."

(End of this chapter)