Inside the Forbidden City. After the Thirteenth Prince left, Hongzhou took charge of the daily operations of the Ministry of Revenue. Qin Mo was promoted by the Fourth Prince to the Grand Secretariat, becoming its youngest Left Grand Secretary. He controlled the daily operations of the court.
After Empress Ulanara fell ill, the ministers in the court criticized Lanqin extensively. Every day, Lanqin received reports from the ministers gossiping about her, saying that she was improper, ruined the order of things, possessed by Daji, and was a femme fatale. However, Lanqin was in the inner palace and could not question these people. Now that the emperor was not present, she could not have a direct confrontation with the ministers, so she could only remain silent.
That day, Lanqin was coaxing Sasser to eat porridge.
"Sasar, be good, have another bite, just one bite." Lanqin scooped up a spoonful of porridge, gently scraped the edge of the bowl to prevent it from overflowing and scalding Sasar, then gently blew on it before holding it to Sasar's lips, coaxing him to eat.
Sasar dodged for a moment, shook his head, and pouted. He looked quite cute. Lanqin couldn't do anything about it and could only coax him little by little.
Lanqin was still coaxing Shasa'er to eat porridge when Qiulian walked in. Seeing Lanqin feeding Shasa'er porridge, she called out "Your Majesty" and bowed to Lanqin. Only then did Lanqin stop feeding Shasa'er and turn to look at Qiulian.
"Your Majesty, those ministers who came to Jingren Palace to force the abdication last time have returned. This time, there are even more ministers here," Qiu Lian reported to Lan Qin with a solemn expression.
Lanqin exchanged a surprised glance with Cui Niang, then handed the bowl to Chunxi, instructing her to continue feeding Shasa'er porridge. She then stood up and said, "I'll go and see."
At this moment, Nianxia cleverly ran to Lanqin and helped her tidy her clothes. Lanqin let her tidy them up. After they were finished, Lanqin helped Cui Niang and led several palace maids out of the room to see what had happened.
Before Lanqin even stepped out of the room, she heard the ministers outside the Jingren Palace arguing incessantly. The scene resembled sparrows fighting over food, and the noise was quite annoying.
As soon as Lanqin emerged, she saw that a dozen or so ministers were standing in two rows at the entrance of Changchun Palace. Leading one side was an elderly minister from the Ministry of Rites, followed by ministers who wanted to uphold the Empress's legitimacy. On the other side, Qin Mo and several others were arguing with them. Upon seeing Lanqin, Qin Mo bowed to her first, and the argument ceased.
Lanqin nodded to Qin Mo, while the old ministers on the other side were arrogant and did not intend to bow.
Then, Cui Niang addressed the group of ministers who were defending the Empress, saying, "You ministers have served in the court for many years. How can you not pay your respects to Consort Xi? Do you still have any manners?"
The leading old minister coughed, glanced sideways at Lanqin, and then raised his head to say, "We will not bow to those who act recklessly, lack manners, and disrespect the Empress. Because of such improper behavior, Consort Xi is unworthy to be the Emperor's Noble Consort!"
The ministers behind her echoed her sentiments, saying that Lanqin had acted improperly first. Lanqin frowned. Hadn't she already allowed them to see the "Empress" before? Why were these people here again?
Lanqin had no idea that her good intentions had been exploited by Empress Ulanara, who had sent Granny Wang to deliver a message. After hearing the Empress's message, these people secretly gathered together and came today to put pressure on Lanqin. Lanqin never expected Empress Ulanara to pull this stunt.
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