Chapter 121 The Queen's Controversy
Then he snorted coldly: "Now Concubine Ning is really brave."
His tone was still unfriendly. Before Concubine Ning could even open her mouth to plead for mercy, the Great Chu Emperor continued, "Meng Quande, behead him with a cane."
He stood up and swept Concubine Ning to the side, saying, "The maidservant beside Concubine Ning will be punished with twenty strokes of the cane."
Having said that, he left Ninghe Palace without looking back.
Concubine Ning finally breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, she discovered the Dragon Shadow Guard in the dark and found Yun Yi as a scapegoat in advance, so she finally managed to get through this hurdle.
On the second day, a dispute broke out in the court. In recent days, as the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet drew closer, the discussion on establishing a queen became more and more intense.
The Grand Historian, Lord Rong, was the one who started the drama. He ignored the gloomy face of the Great Chu Emperor and mentioned the matter again in the morning court: "Your Majesty, if the empress is not decided, the subjects of the world will be uneasy. Please make a decision as soon as possible."
The Great Chu Emperor did not want to mention this matter, and just waved his hand: "This matter is not urgent, we will discuss it later."
"Your Majesty," Doctor Yu Shi still refused to give up, "This matter has been discussed for several months. The harem is always full of those concubines. Your Majesty, just let it go."
What this means is that there are so many concubines in the harem, you can just pick one that is almost the same. It's just an empress, so you should decide on one first.
Upon hearing this, the Emperor of Great Chu's face became even gloomier, but he remained silent.
The Minister of Personnel, Lord Shen, also stood up and said, "I second the motion."
"I second the motion."
"I second the motion."
More and more court officials stood up, and the face of the Great Chu Emperor turned so dark that ink seemed to be dripping out.
The prince naturally kept his mouth shut, as this matter was closely related to him and he could not get involved.
He knew his father's dilemma. He could see that his father preferred his aunt to be the empress. However, due to his own status, he was already the crown prince and his mother was the late empress. If he made his aunt the empress, the power of the Dingguo Marquisate would be too great. So when he decided to be the crown prince, he knew that his aunt would definitely not be made empress.
Fortunately, my aunt has always been considerate of me and is not unhappy about this matter.
When I ascend the throne in the future, my aunt will also be made the Empress Dowager. The right thing for me to do is to protect her well in this palace.
But now in the harem, there is only one noble concubine, my aunt.
There were only three concubines. Concubine Wen was from Dali, so naturally it was impossible for her to be the queen. Concubine Lan had little power and a weak personality, so the possibility of her being crowned queen was also slim.
The only one left is Concubine Ning.
Concubine Ning is the daughter of the Minister of the Dali Temple, and her brother is a military general. Her family background is indeed good, but she has only been in the palace for a short time. I think this is what my father is considering.
Thinking of my aunt's suspicion of Concubine Ning over the past few days, I felt uneasy.
At this time, the Third Prince actually stood up and said, "I second this proposal."
Hearing this, the Crown Prince and the Second Prince looked at each other, then turned to look at the Third Prince who had a calm expression on his face.
Since the death of Concubine De, the Third Prince has participated in politics again. He has always agreed with the Emperor of Great Chu or the Crown Prince on everything. This is the first time he has stood out like this.
How could the Third Prince not be afraid? Ever since Prime Minister Cui was uprooted, he had no support behind him. But in order to secure a place for himself, he could only grit his teeth and persevere in this palace.
Later, he got the support of Xintian. Although he failed several times, it was still much better than being alone.
Naturally, Xintian had reminded me of the matter of seconding the motion to establish a queen.
I didn't expect him to be so predictable.
That day, Xintian sent a letter saying that if anyone in the court proposed to establish a queen in the next few days, the third prince should just second the proposal. After all, the Emperor of Great Chu would have to establish a queen eventually. If he stood out once, he could dispel the crown prince's jealousy towards the third prince, so it would be a good opportunity.
After much thought, the third prince finally spoke.
Unexpectedly, after hearing what the Third Prince said, the Emperor of Great Chu suddenly stood up and threw the memorial from Doctor Yushi to the ground.
"Why don't you be the emperor?"
"Your Majesty, please calm down." When the ministers heard the words of the Emperor of Great Chu, they knelt down in panic.
"Dismiss the court." The Emperor of Great Chu ignored him and turned around and left.
"Dismiss the court." Seeing this, Meng Quande shouted loudly and followed the emperor.
After leaving Jingzheng Palace, the Emperor of Great Chu suddenly felt confused, as he had nowhere to go.
After standing for a long time, he turned and went to the Hall of Honor.
When the Queen Mother saw the Great Chu Emperor coming in with a sad face, she guessed that the ministers must have brought up the issue of establishing a queen during the morning court session, so she immediately sent all the servants around her out, leaving only herself and the Great Chu Emperor in the palace.
"But is it because of the issue of establishing a queen?" the Queen Mother asked softly.
The Great Chu Emperor nodded and said nothing for a long time: "My son is really..."
Thinking of the appearance of that little baby Lu Xingwan, the Emperor of Great Chu felt extremely guilty. He said he would give all his love to her, but he couldn't even give the position of queen to her mother.
"You don't have to feel guilty, Qingyan will understand." The Queen Mother could see what the Emperor of Great Chu was thinking. In addition to his apology to Qingyan, he was probably also nostalgic for Qingya.
"It's just that I, your son, have been quite dissatisfied with Concubine Ning recently." The Emperor of Great Chu continued.
"What's the matter?" The Queen Mother couldn't help but frown when she heard this. In her eyes, Concubine Ning was the best, even better than Concubine Chen Gui who had been in the palace for so many years. How could she suddenly make the Emperor of Great Chu feel dissatisfied?
The Emperor of Great Chu then told him everything that had happened in the past few days.
The Queen Mother smiled and said, "The Emperor is confused. To be honest, what Concubine Ning did was just a small matter of competing for favor. She is showing affection to the Emperor!"
The Emperor of Great Chu remained silent upon hearing this, and was still hesitant in his heart.
This matter has been discussed in the court for a long time, and what happened today naturally spread to Qingyun Palace.
At this time, Jin Xin was telling Concubine Chen what happened in the court in a very vivid way: "I heard that when Doctor Yu Shi brought up this matter, His Majesty's face turned black. Your Majesty, why is His Majesty so reluctant to establish a queen?"
"You are a fool." Jinyu couldn't help but tap Jinxin's head, "You have been following the Queen for so long, and you can't even understand this?"
Jinxin still looked at Jinyu with a confused look on her face.
"Your Majesty, you don't have any favorite candidate!" Jinyu said with a smile.
Jin Xin muttered, "Who cares who she is? She's not our queen anyway."
"But it's okay," Jin Xin turned around and comforted Concubine Chen, "If the queen is chosen, Your Majesty won't have to worry about so many palace affairs, and you can relax a little more then!"
Concubine Chen Guifei also laughed along with Jin Xin: "What our Jin Xin said is right."
However, his mind was drifting away. He thought that the reason why His Majesty was still hesitant to decide on the candidate for the empress was simply because of him. If he took the initiative to raise this matter, he could resolve this crisis sooner.