Fang Zhiyi hurriedly left on the pretext that he had to study with Prime Minister Sima in the evening.
This is indeed the case. Sima Ci has been coming to the palace every night for the past few nights, as if he were in an empty place. He came to be Fang Zhiyi's temporary teacher, but he did not teach him any imperial mentality, let alone the art of balance. He only taught him some imperial manners, the books he should read, or some festival rituals and so on.
To put it bluntly, he just wanted Fang Zhiyi to be a puppet.
Fang Zhiyi also made him very satisfied. Although he looked a little cowardly, he was still very serious in his studies. He kept calling him "teacher" which made him feel a little flattered.
If the previous one had been so obedient, I wouldn't have poisoned him.
That night, Fang Zhiyi flattered Sima Ci for a long time, but he didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave. Instead, he sat down and sipped his tea slowly.
Fang Zhiyi couldn't understand what this old fox wanted. Just as he was about to speak, Sima Ci suddenly asked, "Your Majesty, this old minister..." Before he could finish his words, a young eunuch hurried in and knelt on the ground, "Oh no! Your Majesty! The Empress, she's been poisoned!"
Fang Zhiyi stood up nervously. He could feel Sima Ci staring at him: "Hurry! Take me there!" He didn't say "I".
Sima Ci's eyes were somewhat complicated.
The group rushed to the queen's bedroom. The queen was bleeding from all seven orifices and had no breath. Not far away was the corpse of a palace maid with a hairpin stuck in her throat.
"How should I respond?" Fang Zhiyi's face was filled with fear and anger. His anger was real. Even if he had no feelings towards the original owner's wife, he couldn't let her be killed like this!
"Your Majesty." A female official stepped out and spoke in a slow voice. Fang Zhiyi recognized her. She was a female official in the Empress Dowager's palace.
"The Empress came from the common people and was unfamiliar with the palace rules. Ping'er, who was in charge of teaching her, repeatedly taught her the rules, but the Empress refused to listen, resulting in Ping'er being punished several times. She harbored a grudge and, after being punished today, she poisoned the Empress and then committed suicide in public. Your Majesty, I beg you to accept my condolences."
Her tone was neither hurried nor slow, as if she was talking about something as ordinary as drinking water or eating.
No matter how stupid Fang Zhiyi was, he knew that this was a murder plot against the queen, and the mastermind was whoever came to ask for benefits after the queen's death.
But he couldn't show any of his emotions.
Fang Zhiyi walked slowly to the Queen with trembling hands, squatted down, grabbed her shoulders and burst into tears, but no tears came out and the crying gradually faded away, leaving only a sad expression with her mouth open.
The doubts in Sima Ci's eyes gradually dissipated.
This puppet emperor is not pretending. He doesn't have that kind of scheming mind. He is a pure fool.
Less than three days after the queen's funeral, Sima Ci's son Sima Yi proposed at the court meeting that his sister Sima Ying was both virtuous and talented, and that the harem could not be left without a master for a day, so he wanted Fang Zhiyi to accept Sima Ying as the queen.
All the officials agreed, except for a few.
Fang Zhiyi's face was filled with sorrow. After a moment, he turned to look at Sima Ci, who remained silent. "Teacher, what do you think we should do?"
The court officials quieted down, and the emperor actually called the Prime Minister "Teacher" in front of everyone!
Sima Ci was also flattered by the word "teacher". He suppressed his smile and bowed slightly to Fang Zhiyi: "Your Majesty, Sima Ying is my daughter. I, an old minister, should avoid suspicion." After that, he strode away.
Fang Zhiyi just sighed and said that they would discuss it later.
When he returned to the harem, the Queen Mother came and started to persuade him to appoint another queen. Fang Zhiyi had recently found out that the Queen Mother's family was the Sima family. No wonder she was so protective of him. The court had already been ruled by the Sima family.
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