The Empress Dowager rubbed her forehead: "I'm tired. Your Majesty, why don't you go and see your own son?"
She just couldn't understand why their descendants were so unambitious.
Her husband was the second emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Of his several sons, only one of her twins particularly wanted to become emperor; the others were all free spirits.
Prince Kang's father, the emperor's father, and Prince Qi, whose fief was in Jiangnan, plus Grandpa Gu, made up a total of four princes, none of whom wanted to become emperor.
In fact, neither of her twin sons had any ambition. Grandpa Gu grew up in the palace until he was ten years old, while the other one lived outside the palace. Due to an illness, Grandpa Gu left the palace, and the other one returned to the palace to become the crown prince.
The other one changed drastically after returning to the palace. He became ambitious, wanting to retain his position as crown prince and ascend the throne. This led to the subsequent events where Grandpa Gu was hunted down and then encountered a natural disaster, ending up in Qingzhou.
However, the one in the palace didn't fare any better.
The father of the Prince of Kang was slightly better than the Prince of Kang. He may have been ambitious, but his abilities were not enough to support his ambitions. He was rather foolish in some matters, but he was also able to see the times and was content to be a prince.
In the Jiangnan branch, the old King Qi only had one concubine. It wasn't that he was infatuated; rather, he had a unique taste and preferred handsome young men. Therefore, after the old queen gave birth to two daughters and a son, the old King Qi stopped being with her.
Of course, the old King Qi lived a life of extravagance and indulged in pleasure, and died. The old Queen Consort, who had been depressed for many years, also passed away long ago. The current King Qi is younger than King Kang. He doesn't like handsome young men, but he does like pretty young women.
In order to live happily with his beloved girls, King Qi rarely returned to the capital, as he would always be scolded if he did.
When he was nineteen, he forcibly abducted a woman from the common people. When the Empress Dowager, who was then the Empress Dowager, found out, he was severely punished. In the past twenty years, all the girls that Prince Qi found were of their own free will.
Furthermore, the Empress Dowager set a rule for Prince Qi: he must not force the girl herself, nor do anything to compel her to agree. If you have the ability, you should rely on yourself to make her like you and become your concubine.
After much painful reflection, the King of Qi stopped forcibly taking women from the people and began to win their hearts with sincerity.
Therefore, apart from the princess and two concubines who were properly chosen by the royal family, all the other girls in the Qi Prince's mansion were girls that the Qi Prince himself had won over with his sincerity.
Nine years ago, when the Empress Dowager celebrated her 70th birthday, Prince Qi returned to the capital to offer his congratulations. He told Prince Kang and the Emperor that he felt his heart had grown bigger than before. Why? Because he realized he had fallen for several girls. He knew he had to be sincere to win their sincerity in return.
The Empress Dowager will be celebrating her 80th birthday at the end of this year. It remains to be seen which of Prince Qi's true feelings he will bring back to the capital.
Of course, the Empress Dowager only had two sons. Although the sons of other people all had to call her "Mother," she would not interfere too much. As long as they did not damage the royal family's prestige or bully the people, she would not ask too many questions.
She felt that her husband's descendants were not as ambitious as his own brother, the Prince Qu's, lineage when it came to the throne.
The Qu family has been plotting for decades, ever since she was the Crown Princess, but they haven't succeeded yet.
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