Chapter 20 The Prince's Situation
“It was Deng You who was beside me who told me that my mother had angered my father and was stripped of her power in the palace and was even ridiculed by the concubines.
I was just worried about my mother, so I thought of taking this opportunity to ask my father for mercy."
Li Yueyao patted the prince's head and said, "Well, it's good that you have such filial piety. But do you know why your mother was deprived of her power in the palace?"
The prince shook his head in confusion.
Li Yueyao said: "You are the crown prince, the future heir to the throne. You cannot just look at the surface of things, you must understand the reasons behind them.
You know that your father was poisoned, right?"
The prince nodded.
"Do you know that the Concubine Shu in the harem is ill?"
The prince also nodded.
"But the Concubine Shu is not ill. She has also been poisoned. And the person who poisoned the Concubine Shu is the same person who poisoned your father."
When the prince heard this, he did not hide the shock on his face at all.
"So there is someone skilled in using poison hidden in the harem. You need to know this."
The prince nodded hesitantly.
"Your mother is in charge of the harem, but there is a person who is good at using poison hiding in the harem, and this person poisoned your father.
This is why your mother was deprived of her power in the palace.
Now that you know the reason, do you still want to plead for your mother?"
The prince remained silent for a while, then whispered, "Couldn't you let the Queen Mother redeem herself for her crime and bring that man to justice?"
Li Yueyao smiled and said, "Have you asked your mother? Is she willing to redeem herself and bring the perpetrators to justice?"
The prince was confused after hearing Li Yueyao's question: "Why doesn't the Queen Mother want to?"
"First, Concubine Shu has been poisoned for so many years, and no one in the palace has discovered it. Does your mother have the ability and confidence to catch the person in a short time?
Secondly, your mother might also want to use the virtuous concubine to clean up the harem.
So, she has her own plans, and your mother may not be that concerned about losing jurisdiction over the six palaces."
The prince's brain was about to smoke at this moment.
It was hard to accept Li Yueyao's words for a moment, and I stood there in a daze, unable to digest it.
The emperor looked at the prince and felt that he was an eyesore, so he said, "Prince, kneel down and pay your respects."
The prince nodded blankly, and walked out slowly as if his soul had been taken away.
Li Yueyao saw the prince walk away, then turned around and said, "The prince just mentioned the person next to him named Deng You, let's change him."
The emperor nodded after hearing this.
Li Yueyao added, "The Crown Prince is simple and honest, which is both good and bad. Your Majesty needs to spend more time and teach him well."
The emperor shook his head and said, "I don't have the energy to teach him in my current situation.
How about this? Let the adult princes take turns handling state affairs with you over the next few days. This will also allow your aunt to see which of them are qualified."
Li Yueyao frowned and asked, "Your Majesty, are you planning to change the crown prince?"
The emperor was silent for a while and then said, "If the prince wants to ascend the throne smoothly, the Xie family cannot stay.
If the Xie family stays, then the crown prince will need to be replaced by someone else."
Li Yueyao was secretly surprised to see that the emperor was sober-minded about the Xie family matter.
After thinking for a while, he said, "Then you have to think it over carefully. After all, changing the crown prince is not a trivial matter. You should consider it carefully.
Or you can let the Queen choose whether to keep the Xie family or let the Crown Prince ascend the throne."
The emperor sneered and said with disdain:
“Aunt, you haven’t been in the court for these years and don’t know the Xie family.
Over the years, the Xie family has regarded the prince as their ladder to heaven. How could they be willing to give up the meat that is right at their fingertips?
If you force the Queen to choose between the two, and make this clear, then the day when the Xie family rebels and forces the emperor to abdicate won't be far away."
Li Yueyao heard this and said, "If that's the case, then the Xie family can't stay."
"When Xie Wanrou was the Crown Princess, our relationship was average, and after she became the Queen, our relationship became even worse.
Over the years, the Xie family has been constantly getting closer to the prince. I'm afraid the prince is now closer to the Xie family than to me, his father.
That’s why I said, let a few adult princes take charge of the government and see their qualifications.
If the prince is really determined to tie himself to the Xie family, then we are prepared."
Li Yueyao sighed and said, "In our family's four generations, there has never been a change of crown prince, and the succession has always been in order.
"Having come to this, ah...it's all your fault. If you had chosen the virtuous concubine, wouldn't there have been so many problems?"
The emperor listened to Li Yueyao's words and sighed: "Alas, this matter is indeed my fault. I made a mistake at the beginning, and then made mistakes step by step, which led to the current situation..."
"I heard that the virtuous concubine is here today?" the emperor asked after a while.
"Well, come and discuss harem matters with me." Li Yueyao briefly mentioned it.
"Aren't you here to see me?" asked the emperor.
"You don't know what kind of personality she has. Every word of her advice was right, but you just refused to listen.
Now that her advice has come true, is she waiting for you to go to her and surrender?"
After hearing this, the emperor turned his head and said, "Humph, how ridiculous! I'm going to surrender to her, but she's dreaming..."
Seeing the emperor like this, Li Yueyao took a deep breath.
"I knew it...you two should handle yourselves and don't ask me." Li Yueyao said unhappily.
The emperor said angrily, "She said that there was something wrong with the imperial concubine and that Zhaoqing was interfering in government affairs. She was right about Zhaoqing, but she was not right about the imperial concubine.
He even wants me to apologize to him..."
Li Yueyao looked outside with an expressionless face, feeling hopeless. These two were truly a perfect match.
When the emperor finished his grumbling, Li Yueyao said, "Your Majesty, I'm hungry."
The emperor was stunned for a moment, then looked at Sun Fu at the door. Sun Fu waved his hand, and the people waiting in the yard came in one by one.
The two sat down and talked while eating.
The royal rule is that one should not talk while eating or sleeping.
But this rule is of no use to Li Yueyao.
"That doctor from the Ministry of Works, Ye Yuanda, came here today. He looks like a capable official and has a deep understanding of the people's livelihood.
I asked him to go back and give a comprehensive account of the disaster and present it tomorrow."
The emperor nodded after hearing this.
Li Yueyao said, "Let Zhaoqing pay for the disaster relief money. She has taken more than one million taels of silver from the Zuozang Office over the years."
The emperor nodded again, and halfway through, he suddenly asked, "Where is Zhaoqing?"
"She's been punished by kneeling in Fengxian Hall to reflect on her thoughts. If she can't figure it out, don't come out yet."
"Zhaoqing's marriage was arranged by my father, the emperor, and my mother, the empress. She didn't want to get married, so she came to me crying.
Later, Xue Yong died in battle, and she was left alone. I pitied her and tolerated her, but I never imagined that she would gradually become a pest to the country.
Li Yueyao said angrily: "She has been vain and competitive since she was a child, and has a reckless and stupid personality.
He has done so many stupid things since he was a child, and I have to ask you to clean up the mess every day.
As I get older, I hope I can grow smarter, but now not only am I not growing smarter, I am becoming more and more stupid.
After I finish dealing with the affairs in the palace this time, I will return to Chunshan. If she hasn't tortured herself to death, I will take her away."
The emperor was stunned when he heard this and asked, "Aunt, do you still want to return to Chunshan?"
Li Yueyao replied, "What else? Once the court is stable and the harem is quiet, I will return to Chunshan.
The palace is not as comfortable as Chunshan's."
The emperor was dissatisfied and asked Li Yueyao: "Aunt, can't you stay in the capital all the time?"
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