Chapter 25 It's time to step down
Chi Qi's eyes darkened. "Prime Minister Li, are you saying I'm lying?"
Li Mian's expression was grim, but he managed to hold himself back. "That's not what I meant."
Chi Li chuckled softly. "Duke Cao was your relative. It's understandable that you were emotionally agitated upon hearing the news of his death."
No matter how Li Mian looked at it, he felt that the smile on Chi Qi's face was particularly glaring. This was definitely a mockery!
He was about to speak when someone suddenly shouted, "Since Duke Cao is gone and the Crown Prince is unable to manage affairs, then we can only ask Her Majesty the Queen to preside over the state funeral."
"Yeah yeah……"
He turned around and saw that those who spoke were all from humble backgrounds.
They were forced to remain silent just now, but now that they saw things were taking a turn for the better, they stood up and reversed the situation.
Li Mian was so angry that he was shaking all over. What use were these fawning bastards other than currying favor with Queen Chi?
However, even if he wanted to refute it, he couldn't come up with a legitimate reason in such a hurry.
Seeing this, Song Guangyi immediately summoned up his courage, strode forward, and said in a resounding voice, "Your Highness, I request that Her Majesty the Empress preside over a state funeral, read the late emperor's portrait, admonish all officials, and reward the troops!"
In an instant, the hall fell silent. Everyone looked at Chi Li, their faces showing unpredictable expressions and their own thoughts in their hearts.
Chi Li lowered her eyes to look at Li Mian and said in a dangerous tone, "It's not that I want to refuse, but Prime Minister Li refuses to agree."
Li Mian's face became even uglier, as if it was covered with a layer of sauce. Now, he had to agree even if he didn't want to.
Otherwise, his words about settling the matter would be like talking nonsense, and he might even be accused of causing the emperor to be unable to be buried for a long time.
He never expected that he would be the one who would be in a difficult situation in the end.
The ones who deserve to die even more are Song Guangyi and his people, who actually dared to openly oppose him. This group of sour Confucian scholars has finally met their end!
After some thought, even though Li Mian was unwilling, he could only grit his teeth and say, "I dare not."
Chi Li seemed oblivious to his distorted expression and nodded. "As long as Prime Minister Li thinks it's all right, we can proceed with our next itinerary. The Imperial Observatory can also confirm the date for the burial. Also—"
As he spoke, he changed the subject and looked at the Minister of Rites Liu Yu, his voice as sharp as a knife, "Liu Yu, do you admit your guilt?"
Everyone suddenly became nervous, and Liu Yu also trembled all over, and said in a trembling voice: "I don't know."
"Don't you know? The late emperor passed away, and you, the Minister of Rites, have been in office for so many days, but you can't even come up with a set of rules. What's the point of staying in this position? If you don't want to do it, just say so. There are plenty of people who want to do it!"
Liu Yu was startled, and his knees immediately weakened, and he knelt on the ground. "I have failed in my duty, and I beg Your Highness to forgive me."
Chi Li snorted coldly, "I think the posthumous title your Ministry of Rites proposed for His Majesty is quite perfunctory and hasty. His Majesty died in his prime, and God is jealous of his talent. Compared to these untrue words like Zhuang Wuwen, isn't the word 'Sad' more appropriate?"
Liu Yu's eyes were filled with fear. "I'm afraid the word 'sad' isn't appropriate."
Song Guangyi immediately stood up and said, "Your Highness is wise. I think the word 'Ai' is very good. 'Ai' means 'a young orphan's death'. It clearly shows the Empress's deep sorrow and remembrance for the late Emperor!"
Although it was indeed unfortunate that the late emperor was strangled to death by a eunuch, Song Guangyi's words sounded wrong. He was almost calling the late emperor a tuberculosis-stricken and short-lived ghost.
The bad thing is, it's hard to refute.
Li Mian could only stare at Song Guangyi with a dark face. The hatred in his eyes almost turned into reality. What a flattering bitch!
Chi Li turned to look at him, "Prime Minister Li, what do you think should be done about Liu Yu's dereliction of duty?"
Li Mian was stunned for a moment, unable to understand her purpose. She kept harping on this minor mistake. Did she want to remove Liu Yu from his post?
He said with a stern face: "Minister Liu has been in the Ministry of Rites for many years and has made great contributions. He really shouldn't be punished for such a small mistake..."
Chi Li smiled. "Prime Minister Li, what are you thinking? I didn't say I was going to punish him. It's just that he's really tired of handling the affairs of the Ministry of Rites alone. It would be better to find someone to help him. It just so happens that Song Guangyi understands these rules and regulations very well and is capable of doing things. Let's ask the Ministry of Personnel to draft an edict to appoint him as the Right Minister and transfer him to the Ministry of Rites."
Before Liu Yu could react, Song Guangyi had already knelt down to express his gratitude.
The poor family was very happy to see him get promoted. It seemed that supporting Queen Chi really had a bright future. They no longer had to worry about Prime Minister Li's mood!
However, Li Mian's expression was indeed quite ugly.
Only then did he realize that Queen Chi's ultimate goal was to insert her own people into the Ministry of Rites.
The Ministry of Rites had never had the old practice of having two Shangshu. Letting Song Guangyi be the Right Shangshu, even if he was lower than the Left Shangshu, was still dividing his power.
What a good calculation!
But now that things have come to this, he has no reason to object and can only watch with a frustrated look on his face.
Chi Qi glanced at everyone in the hall and did not miss the opportunity to admire Li Mian's face, which had turned the color of liver.
Is that too much to bear? Unfortunately, this is just the beginning.
She suppressed her smile and said seriously, "Since everyone has no objection, then it is settled. As for the remaining matters, I have asked Secretary Wu to draft them one by one. Secretary Wu, please announce the decree."
Wu Wenxiu nodded, walked to the front, unfolded the imperial edict in his hand, and read aloud:
"By the Will of Heaven, the Empress Dowager Tianzun decrees..."
To be fair, Wu Shishu's edict is solemn yet elegant in wording, rigorous yet lively in format, and very literary.
However, to Li Mian's ears, it was as unpleasant as it could be, and the hand holding the tablet was shaking with anger.
Not only did they posthumously title His Majesty the Rong'ai Emperor, they also conferred upon herself the title of Tianzun Empress Dowager. They simply have no shame at all!
Chi Qi didn't think so. After Meimei heard this, she said "meeting adjourned" and stood up and left the hall.
Li Mian was in an extremely bad mood. Without waiting for the officials from the six ministries to say anything, he flicked his sleeves and walked out of the hall.
Just wait, Empress Dowager Chi and Song Guangyi, he won’t let them be so powerful for too long!
————
After the court was dismissed, the officials divided into two distinct factions and each went to the government office where they were on duty.
Song Guangyi was surrounded by people who came to congratulate him, and there were also flatterers who tried to curry favor with him and ask for his help.
"Sir Song, congratulations. No, from now on you should address me as Minister Song."
Song Guangyi was naturally very pleased. Just as he was about to say something, he heard a sneer from behind him, "A person who only knows how to flatter and curry favor will never be able to show his worth in public, no matter how much he wags his tail."
He was so angry that he cursed, "Which one--" Turning around, he saw Li Xiaoci looking at him with a forced smile, and he immediately lost his temper.
Then he remembered that the times were different now. He and Li Xiaoci were of equal rank, so there was no need to be afraid of him. He straightened his chest again and said with a smile:
"I was wondering who it was. It turned out to be Minister Li. Minister Li has been in high positions for so long that he probably doesn't realize that the most frightening thing about being an official is not knowing one's own worth. Relying on family background, one thinks they are invincible, but they don't realize that fortunes change. When someone rises to power, someone else must step down."
The officials surrounding him immediately smiled knowingly, which was naturally very glaring in Li Xiaoci's eyes.
He was about to say something in return, but Song Guangyi bowed slightly and said, "Minister Li, I have something else to do, so I'll take my leave now." He turned around and strode away.
Li Xiaoci was left alone, standing there with a sullen face. His head was smoking with anger, and he had no place to vent his rage, so he could only kick the floor tiles hard.
However, not far behind them, Chi Qi and Zhao Mingyue were leaning against the railing, watching the quarrel unfold.
"Mother, I don't understand why you want to promote Song Guangyi? He is just a fence-sitter who fawns on the powerful and has no loyalty to us at all!" Zhao Mingyue said angrily.
She really couldn't forget the vicious faces of those officials in the hall just now. Each one of them made her feel sick.
Chi Li said indifferently, "If he wasn't promoted, how would he dare to fight with Li Xiang's party? If they hadn't fought, how could we have witnessed such excitement?"
Zhao Mingyue was stunned, and she understood something in her heart, "Mother wants to use Song Guangyi to check and balance Li Mian."
Chi Li narrowed her eyes. "It's not checks and balances, it's destruction."
"Destroy?" Zhao Mingyue repeated these two words, feeling even more confused. She wanted to ask something, but when she saw Dan Ying coming over from the corner of her eye, she stopped talking.
Danying knelt and saluted, "Master, everything you want is ready."
Chi Li nodded and turned back, "Mingyue, come with me, I have prepared something for you."
Zhao Mingyue didn't understand why, but she followed anyway.
When we arrived at the back hall, there was no palace servant in the room, and it was quiet everywhere.
Zhao Mingyue glanced around and found several unusual things in the room, a wheelchair, and two sets of men's clothes, one set of mourning clothes and the other set of crown clothes.
Chi Yan pointed at the mourning clothes and said, "Please change the princess into them."
Zhao Mingyue was confused but did not ask any questions. She obediently took off her mourning clothes and opened her arms, allowing Danying to put on the overly loose mourning clothes for her.
Chi Li pointed at the wheelchair again and said, "Sit there."
Zhao Mingyue could no longer suppress her curiosity, "Mother, what do you want me to do?"
Chi Ling glanced at Dan Ying, who immediately understood and bowed to take her leave.
She did not answer immediately, but instead held Zhao Mingyue's shoulders and pressed her into the wheelchair, looking down at her with cold and emotionless eyes.
"Mingyue, have you ever thought about replacing Zhao Chun and becoming the emperor yourself?" His voice was lowered, almost coaxing.
"What?" Zhao Mingyue was startled and almost jumped up from her chair. "But I, I'm just a princess."
Chi Li smiled at her and said, "You've seen that Zhao Chun is no longer useful. If he doesn't show up at the succession ceremony, what do you think the court officials will think?"
Zhao Mingyue shuddered when she thought of Zhao Chun's horrible appearance. If the court officials knew what they had done to him, she would be dead!
She had to calm down so that she could help her mother and herself.
"What does mother want me to do?" Zhao Mingyue raised her face, her clear eyes full of trust.
Chi Qi curled her lips in satisfaction. Very good, her plan officially began from this moment on.
Anyone who has seen the peak will never be satisfied with the ordinary scenery at the foot of the mountain.
The ambition that has been fed bit by bit will eventually explode as she imagined.
Then everything will be reshuffled.
Chi Qi kept smiling and pushed the wheelchair to the dressing mirror embedded in the rosewood wall. She lifted Zhao Mingyue's chin with her fingers, and then put a soft and warm human skin against her face.
He leaned down, put his cheek against Zhao Mingyue's, looked at the two people wearing masks in the mirror, and put on a fake smile.
"From now on, you are the future new emperor, Zhao Chun."
When Zhao Mingyue saw the face in the mirror that looked exactly like Zhao Chun's, she froze in her chair, her pupils trembling slightly.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
