"I'm afraid the source lies in the intermingling of these two tribes." Gu Zheng said on the side.
Liu Muchuan turned to look at him, his brows furrowed even tighter. "What do you mean?"
Gu Zheng, however, did not address him but the Empress Dowager, "I remember that the current acting governor of Ruizhou Prefecture is Tang Lichen."
Liu Muchuan's expression changed slightly.
The name Tang Lichen sounds like he was a dignified Confucian scholar, but in fact he was a cruel official who advocated Legalism. He was indeed good at governing the local area, especially in criminal litigation and hunting down bandits, where he achieved remarkable results.
During his three years as magistrate, he cleared all the county's long-standing cases and apprehended many fugitives. He even collaborated with his superiors on several major cases spanning multiple prefectures.
Because of this resume, during the reign of Emperor Xian, he was recommended by Liu Muchuan and sent to Ruizhou, where the people were very tough, in order to put an end to this trend.
However, Ruizhou was originally a place where the Han and Bai peoples of the Central Plains lived together, and with different customs, many twists and turns were inevitable. The court had always been committed to preferential treatment. Suddenly encountering an official like Tang Lichen, the more severe the pressure, the easier it would be to seduce.
Empress Dowager Lin was so shocked that her mind lost its composure, revealing something. She didn't hide it from her, nodding slightly and saying, "I originally had a good opinion of him. Our family is small, and he's the only one of this generation. He's only a teenager, both his parents gone, yet he's managed the regent as the Crown Prince quite competently. Now that he's inherited the title, he's even more composed and steady. I think he can shoulder the weight of this empire."
Her expression turned slightly cold as she spoke of this. "But if there really are such rumors out there, I'm afraid some people are just too conceited."
She isn't dead yet, so how come this outsider has already gotten into the palace?
He Qing hadn't actually heard such rumors; he simply wanted to take this opportunity to warn Queen Mother Lin. Seeing that it had taken effect, he remained silent. After a moment's thought, he asked Queen Mother Lin, "Are all the people selected around the same age as the King of Zhongshan?"
Empress Dowager Lin sighed slightly, "Isn't it? The country relies on the eldest prince, not to mention that there have been too many changes in the court in the past two years, and it has become a mess. If there is no elder emperor to keep the pressure, I am afraid..."
She didn't say anything else, but He Qing already understood what she meant.
I'm afraid both the court officials and the Empress Dowager herself were frightened by the late Emperor He Qi. That child was truly unruly, his mind completely distracted from the real work, and at his age, he was most prone to disobeying adults. He ignored everything the Empress Dowager said, as did the gentlemen in the government hall. It was truly a headache.
So they chose the young, mature and steady King of Zhongshan.
This choice was originally correct, but...
He Qing shook her head slightly. Before she could decide whether to speak, Empress Dowager Lin could tell she had something to say. She said, "Why, Master, are you worried? It's just you and me here. No matter what you say, once it's out of your mouth and reaches my ears, no one else will know."
"This is a matter of grave importance, and I shouldn't make casual comments." He Qing raised his head and looked directly at Empress Dowager Lin, maintaining a somewhat disrespectful attitude. "But has your Majesty ever considered... the country relies on the eldest prince, but the eldest prince doesn't need an elder who is not close to him. When the time comes... to put it bluntly, who will the Empress Dowager rely on?"
These words were so bold that Empress Dowager Lin couldn't help but gasp and stared at He Qing in a daze, unable to come back to her senses for a long time.
After a while, she finally came to her senses, looking at He Qing with a serious look for the first time. An inexplicable sadness welled up in her, but she remained silent for a long moment, finally letting out a sigh, "Now, only you can say these words."
"I'm an outsider, so I shouldn't be interfering in these matters." He Qing lowered his head and said, "But given the current situation, the Empress and I are in a relationship of shared success and failure, so I can't care less."
He Qing was not exaggerating when he said this.
In reality, King He Yuan of Zhongshan was far more ambitious and stubborn than anyone had imagined. Consequently, the course of events far exceeded anyone's expectations.
It was this King of Zhongshan who was described by Queen Mother Lin as "mature and steady". Queen Mother Lin valued their small group and thought she could control them. However, she did not know that it was precisely because he had seen the vicissitudes of life too early that the King of Zhongshan developed a gloomy, mean and cruel character.
He was recalled to the capital, and before he became emperor, he had already humiliated Empress Dowager Lin.
——After entering the city, the court officials asked him to ascend the throne as the crown prince, but he bluntly stated that he was four years older than the late emperor, and in theory they should be cousins of the same generation. He rejected this request and was only willing to ascend the throne as the "imperial brother."
He was the emperor's elder brother, so the late emperor's funeral, memorial service, and other rituals naturally couldn't be treated like those for the crown prince; they had to be negotiated separately. Most importantly, Lin, who should have been promoted to Grand Empress Dowager, had inexplicably become "Imperial Aunt," making even her position as Empress Dowager almost untenable.
This was not enough. It turned out that this was just the first step in He Yuan's plan.
Because they couldn't persuade him and time waited for no one, the court officials finally persuaded Empress Dowager Lin to allow him to succeed to the throne as the emperor's brother.
However, as soon as the late emperor's funeral was over and the coronation ceremony was completed, the first imperial edict of the new emperor's enthronement completely tore apart his already precarious relationship with Empress Dowager Lin: he wanted to respect his biological father, the previous generation's King of Zhongshan, as the late emperor!
This was He Yuan's idea. He first established his identity as the emperor's brother, and then posthumously conferred titles on his biological father, mother, and ancestors. While establishing his own position, he also squeezed Empress Dowager Lin, who was already in a difficult situation, into a very embarrassing position.
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