Even when He Qing came over to talk, she had to stay beside him to prevent He Qing from instigating Empress Dowager Zhang to do anything.
Right now, the baby in Empress Dowager Zhang's belly was the most important thing. He Qing had no intention of involving her. Seeing that she was fine, he took the initiative to stand up and say goodbye.
After returning to the Wendao Palace, she sat in her room, constantly flipping through her memories, looking for various statements and evidence that could persuade the Empress Dowager, hoping to impress her and make her change her mind.
As He Qing expected, the meeting that afternoon did not produce any results.
This is not surprising. Any matter involving such a wide range of issues can rarely be decided quickly, and it always takes several days to discuss it in the court.
Gu Zheng acted quickly. The next morning, during the court session, Xue Zhidao publicly stated his stance. His words served as a catalyst, prompting countless officials to rally behind him, creating a force that could not be ignored. Even Wang Tong, who had initially advocated for appeasement, was weakened by the situation.
This completely uncontrollable change made the Empress Dowager very unhappy, and the morning court did not last long before it was dispersed.
Because the Empress Dowager had simply walked away in a huff, there were naturally no further arrangements. The important officials stood in the hall, staring at each other for a moment, before Xue Zhidao stepped forward and had the eunuch on duty convey a request to proceed to the Ziping Hall to make an appearance.
The Empress Dowager had just finished changing and was drinking tea when she heard the eunuch's words. She was so angry that she threw the cup in her hand and said, "Go tell Xue Zhidao that I will not see anyone today!"
The attitudes below were so uniform that the Empress Dowager had fully grasped the threatening meaning.
The pressure from the court officials gave her, despite her high position, a strong sense of crisis. While she appeared to be in charge of government, in reality, she could only rely on the court officials to handle matters. If their ideas conflicted, the court officials were fully capable of forcing her to change her mind.
This was the first time the Grand Empress Dowager had experienced such a terrible feeling. Even though she knew she was not the true Supreme, she was still filled with shock and anger.
At this time, she could not meet with the court officials calmly, so it was better not to meet them.
After the eunuch who delivered the message left, she sat down again, raised her hand and pinched her eyebrows, feeling a severe headache.
He Qing had been following this matter closely, and had almost come to ask for an audience on time. The Empress Dowager, thinking that she had considerable insights into many matters, summoned her to meet with her.
The broken porcelain on the ground had not yet been cleared, which became He Qing's best starting point. "This is the Empress's favorite set of porcelain. Could it have been accidentally dropped? That would be such a pity. This set was fired during the reign of Emperor Hui, and later generations could never produce such fine colors."
As she spoke, she squatted down, picked up a piece of broken porcelain, placed it in the palm of her hand, shook her head and sighed.
"Can't you see I'm angry? Instead of trying to comfort you, you're just looking at the porcelain." The Empress Dowager scolded her. But after being interrupted by He Qing, her mood calmed down a little.
He Qing then asked with a smile, "Who made the Empress Dowager so angry? She deserves to be punished!"
The Empress Dowager's voice sank. "The law doesn't punish everyone. He's got a good plan! I was just angry for a moment. If he really punishes me, I'm afraid I won't be tolerated in this court anymore!"
"What do you mean?" He Qing showed a little panic. "Your Majesty, are you worried about the affairs of the court?"
"It's about the Ruizhou incident," the Empress Dowager said. "It's a civil uprising. Since it has a cause, it just needs to be resolved. Wouldn't a real war be a waste of money and manpower? Yet, the ministers at court all seem to think war is necessary. They don't consider that the court is now somewhat stable, and if war breaks out, I'm afraid new trouble will arise."
"So it's about this." He Qing put down the broken porcelain pieces in his hand and said to the Grand Empress Dowager, "I don't understand what's going on outside, but if Your Majesty is not angry, I have something to say."
"What?"
"This battle really needs to be fought."
The Empress Dowager's face turned pale with anger. "Why, you're the one asking for help too?"
"I'm an outsider, and a woman at that. Who would ask me to be their lobbyist? Your Majesty, please listen to my explanation," He Qing said calmly. "Regardless of external affairs, it is precisely because the court is currently unstable that this battle must be fought."
"Oh? What do you mean?" Perhaps because He Qing was not a person with a vested interest, the Empress Dowager was more patient.
He Qing said, "During the Spring and Autumn Period, Chu was one of the Five Hegemons and a powerful nation. However, King Zhuang of Chu died young due to illness, and the ten-year-old King Gong of Chu ascended the throne, plunging Chu into crisis. To stabilize the situation, the Queen Mother, acting as the acting governor, consulted with the ministers and decided to ally with Qi to attack Lu. I've also heard that to alleviate internal divisions and conflicts, the grassland peoples often band together and launch military operations against the Central Plains. Grand Empress Dowager, please consider why this is the case."
The Empress Dowager had also read a great deal of history, so she naturally understood the meaning of the music. "Having a common enemy outside can smoothly divert conflicts, which is actually conducive to internal unity."
"That's right," He Qing nodded. "Ruizhou is certainly a minor problem, but if it can boost the prestige of the court and rally the ministers to work together, then even if we mobilize a large force, what's the harm? We need to mobilize a large force, so that everyone knows that the country remains stable."
Gu Zheng led a group of people through the entire front court. Before he even reached the door of Mr. Xue's house, the news that the Empress Dowager sent him to appease Xue had spread throughout the court.
Anyone who didn't know the situation would have thought that the Empress Dowager relied heavily on Xue Xianggong, that there was no rift between the monarch and his subjects, and that they would definitely work together to support the government. However, at the Xue residence, upon seeing Gu Zheng, Xue Zhizhi smiled and sighed, "Seeing Yu Sheng, I can finally put my worries to rest."
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