Seeing the Empress Dowager rush out excitedly, and then regain her Empress Dowager aura after seeing the family of three, Sang Qian subconsciously let go of Zu An's hand.
Her woman's intuition told her that the Empress Dowager and Azu were definitely having an affair.
Although Dandan and I had speculated about it privately before, the Empress Dowager's identity was too sensitive, and no one dared to inquire about it.
But in that instant, she confirmed the relationship between the two of them without needing any evidence.
Having lived in an imperial society for so many years, the Empress Dowager still wielded considerable power.
She didn't want to be seen as a thorn in the Empress Dowager's side. It was one thing for her to be implicated, but it would be troublesome if it affected her daughter.
Zu An hadn't expected that the woman beside him had already gone through countless thoughts in that instant. After seeing Liu Ning, he also showed a knowing smile on his face: "Greetings, Empress Dowager."
He made no attempt to bow, treating it as a greeting between friends.
None of the surrounding ministers felt there was anything wrong with it.
"You're finally back." Seeing the other person's warm smile, the Empress Dowager's somewhat depressed mood finally improved a bit.
"The Empress Dowager has suffered a lot during this time." Zu'an thought of the various vassal kings rising up, and how she and Bi Linglong must be overwhelmed.
The Empress Dowager's eyes flickered: "Then it will be up to the Regent to take care of things from now on."
After three years apart, she felt a burning desire to be released inside her.
She knew that historically, empress dowagers who became widows in their prime often kept male favorites, but although she considered herself somewhat alluring, the two men she had met in her life were among the most outstanding figures in the world.
Especially after spending time with Zaun, he no longer cares about anyone else.
She felt like she was going crazy over the past three years. In retrospect, she was grateful for the rebellion of the princes, which took up a lot of her energy. Otherwise, she didn't know how she would have gotten through the long period without him.
The surrounding ministers frowned slightly, feeling that the tone of the words was strange, but they thought they were probably overthinking it. How could the Empress Dowager, a figure of great importance, speak in public?
Only Zuan knew that she really meant that, and his heart skipped a beat. She really was a vixen.
However, with so many people around in broad daylight, he could only pretend not to understand and coughed lightly: "Empress Dowager, what is the current situation?"
"Let's discuss this in detail in the Imperial Study," the Empress Dowager beckoned to the assembled ministers.
Zu An then noticed that the ministers in the room seemed to be unfamiliar and young. Soon, he heard the Empress Dowager's voice transmission: "The court has been unstable in recent years. Those old foxes have long been well-fed and drunk. They are all outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant. Linglong and I can only promote some young middle-level officials."
Zuan nodded secretly. He may not have understood in his previous life, but after coming to this world and holding a high position, he gradually understood the logic of how power works.
No matter how beneficial your orders may seem to the country and its people, there is a crucial question: who will carry them out?
If you select people who are not truly loyal, they will either outwardly comply but inwardly defy you, or excessively carry out your orders, which will always cause resentment from all levels of society, and in the end, all the resentment will be directed at those in power.
Those high-ranking officials in the court in the past were promoted by Zhao Hao and gradually rose to the top of power.
Even if the Empress Dowager and Linglong wanted to win these people over, it would be very difficult to sway them now.
There was a huge sand table in the room. Zu An glanced at it and it seemed to be a topographical map of several counties. The Empress Dowager and her ministers had obviously been discussing the suppression of the rebellion.
At this point, the ministers explained the situation to Zu'an, and he roughly understood the cause and effect.
When he first left, his influence was still strong, and the court was relatively stable. However, more than two years later, there was still no sign of his return, and all sorts of rumors began to circulate. The Empress Dowager and Linglong tried to suppress them many times, but in the end, they could not suppress them.
The rebels were led by the Prince of Yan and the Prince of Guangling. They were the first to raise an army and quickly gained the support of various regional princes, eventually forming eighteen vassal kings to jointly attack the capital.
"They also listed various crimes committed by the Empress Dowager, the Empress, and the Regent..." Several ministers hesitated, as if they wanted to say something but then stopped.
Zuan looked strange, wondering how he had ended up with a role similar to Dong Zhuo's.
They took the proclamation they had seized. The other charges were all formulaic, but one stood out: that he had committed adultery in the harem and maintained some kind of special relationship with the Empress and the Empress Dowager.
Besides this public manifesto, he also noticed several yellow pamphlets, which appeared to be some folk tales circulating in the streets.
He picked it up and his eyelids twitched when he saw the name on it:
The Amorous Regent
The Love Story of the Regent
The Regent and the Queen
The Secret History of the Empress Dowager
A Few Things About the Regent and My Mother
...
The content was so bold and absurd that even someone as worldly-wise as Zu An blushed. Did these people install cameras? How did they know so much?
The other ministers also looked rather strange. They had originally thought that these were just smears deliberately spread by the rebels, and that they would not take them seriously, but now it seemed that who knew if they were true.
Zuan coughed lightly, changing the subject, and then inquired about the course of the battle. He then learned that the rebels were powerful, and Zhao Hao's past reputation was deeply rooted in people's hearts. Only those in the capital knew the strength of the regent, and since it had only been a short time, the local areas were still more inclined to support the Zhao family's royal family.
At the beginning, the Central Army suffered a series of defeats, and the situation was about to collapse completely. Bi Linglong decided to personally lead the army.
Also accompanying them were the two dukes of the Qin family, the Murong father and daughter, Pei You and Gao Ying...
Even Xiao Jianren led his embroidered envoy to provide intelligence support.
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