Chapter 370 A Lean Camel Is Bigger Than a Horse
Seeing that his attitude had softened, Bai Wutong continued to persuade him, "Your Majesty, please relax. There is still a long time to come. Maybe soon, we will welcome more lovely princes and princesses. Moreover, I have spent a lot of time thinking about it recently. Now, inside and outside the capital, from high-ranking officials to ordinary people, everyone is praising your filial piety and kindness. In my opinion, sending Yunyang to the Queen Mother for raising him temporarily is the icing on the cake."
"To take a step back, we can let Yunyang stay with the Queen Mother for a while. When he grows up and becomes sensible, we can bring him back. This way, the Emperor can live up to his reputation of filial piety and continue to teach and love Yunyang. Isn't that killing two birds with one stone? The reason why I didn't consider Yunhe and Yunxi is because they are sensible, and you have made Yunhe the crown prince. He has the responsibility of the country, so he naturally cannot leave you and live with the Queen Mother."
Bai Wutong's words seemed to be considering Zhang Chengyan in every way, but they also subtly hinted that she did not completely trust the Queen Mother, and only resorted to this desperate measure for the sake of the Emperor's reputation.
She lowered her eyes slightly, a trace of barely perceptible loneliness flashed in her eyes, "How could I be willing to be separated from my beloved ones? Day and night, I look forward to being with my children at all times. But when I think about this for Your Majesty to become a saintly monarch praised through the ages, and for the eternal foundation of the Darong Kingdom, I can only reluctantly give up. Your Majesty, please think about it again, and think carefully about what I said."
Zhang Chengyan listened quietly and said nothing more.
After a long silence, he spoke again. This time he did not reject her as decisively as before, but sighed softly, "Let me think about it again."
Bai Wutong looked at his expression and felt certain that this matter had already been largely successful.
Long beforehand, she had already contacted Xun Mingzhi outside the palace and asked the ministers to subtly mention the matter at the morning court tomorrow. It didn't have to be too direct, just a subtle hint and just enough to get the point across.
By then, Zhang Chengyan will definitely agree!
Everyone has weaknesses, and the emperor is no exception.
Zhang Chengyan’s weakness is that he pays too much attention to reputation and wants too much to become a saint king!
For this reputation, he can give up a lot of things, not to mention just temporarily moving his child to another place, which does not cost him anything and does not involve any loss.
"Your Majesty, please think about it carefully. I will go back first."
…
The next morning, the sky was just getting light.
The morning court session was held as scheduled.
Xun Mingzhi secretly instructed several ministers who were on good terms with him and good at speaking.
As soon as the morning court began, a minister stepped out with a big smile on his face, his words full of respect and admiration, "Your Majesty is wise! Now, the streets and alleys of the people are all praising your filial piety. The people all say that the emperor cares deeply for the queen mother and is very filial! Inspired by you, countless people have come to their senses, re-examined themselves, and chose to be filial to their mothers with practical actions. In this way, the customs of our Darong country have become more simple, and the society has become more harmonious and stable. It is a blessing for our dynasty and the people!"
After the minister finished speaking, everyone in the court nodded their heads, praising Zhang Chengyan one after another.
They did not directly mention the matter of sending the prince to the empress dowager, but instead spared no effort to praise Zhang Chengyan and boost his vanity.
Zhang Chengyan sat upright on the dragon throne, listening to the ministers' compliments, a smile unconsciously appeared on his face.
As an emperor, who doesn't want to be recorded in history and be remembered forever?
At this time, another minister stepped forward and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, now under your wise leadership, the spirit of filial piety is prevalent among the people. This is the supreme glory of our Darong Kingdom. Since we have such a good start, why don't you add fuel to the fire and push this spirit of filial piety to the extreme?"
"In my opinion, we should send people to investigate carefully among the people. If we find people who have been extremely filial to their mothers since childhood and are models of filial piety, we should give them some silver as a reward to commend their filial piety. In this way, more people will be inspired to pay attention to and practice filial piety. Over time, these will become the great achievements of your Majesty's rule, which will be recorded in the history books and passed down through the ages!"
After hearing this, Zhang Chengyan nodded in his heart, thinking that what the minister said made a lot of sense, and he agreed without hesitation, "Approved! The Ministry of Rites will be responsible for this matter, and it must be implemented as soon as possible, and no slackness is allowed."
The morning court was dispersed.
Zhang Chengyan returned to the Palace of Tranquil Longevity, feeling particularly happy.
As soon as I stepped into the hall, I saw Bai Wutong smiling. She had already ordered people to prepare breakfast carefully. The hot steam was rising, full of warmth.
Bai Wutong held a cup of hot tea and said, "Your Majesty, it's freezing outside. Please drink some hot tea to warm yourself up and dispel the coldness."
Zhang Chengyan took the teacup and took a sip. "I thought about what you mentioned yesterday and decided to send Yunyang to the Queen Mother. We can bring him back when he turns fifteen. It will only take a few years. Besides, even if a child of four or five years old makes a small mistake, it is easy to correct it."
"I obey your order." Bai Wutong smiled, "Then I will arrange for someone to send Yunyang over right away. As for the manpower to take care of him, I'll leave it to Your Majesty to decide."
Zhang Chengyan thought for a moment, then pointed out a few palace servants he trusted and ordered them to go to Yongshou Palace together to take good care of Yunyang.
Bai Wutong brought a large group of people to Yongshou Palace on the pretext of personally handling the matter.
After entering the palace gate, she bowed and saluted, saying respectfully, "Empress Dowager, Yunyang will be entrusted to your care from now on."
"Okay, okay, okay!" The Queen Mother's face was full of love, her eyes fell on Yunyang, she couldn't look enough.
The little guy was opening his big watery eyes and looking around curiously.
He is still young, not as eloquent and funny as Yun and Yunxi, but his little dumpling-like appearance makes people unable to help but love him.
The Queen Mother held Bai Wutong's hand and said, "Concubine Zhao, it's hard for you to be so attentive."
Bai Wutong raised his lips and raised his voice, "This is all out of the emperor's filial piety. The emperor is wholeheartedly thinking about honoring you, and has carefully selected these reliable people to serve you and the little prince. This way, you can worry less."
His words and deeds hinted to the Queen Mother that these people were Zhang Chengyan's spies, and she had to be more cautious in the future.
The Queen Mother was very smart and naturally understood the deep meaning of this. "I know, Concubine Zhao, go back and tell the Emperor that I am very happy."
After saying that, she personally went to direct everyone to decorate Yunyang's room.
Bai Wutong also followed.
Seeing that there were few people around, the Queen Mother lowered her voice and said, "Zhao Fei, you should be quiet these days and don't do anything. Someone around the Emperor said that he is going to make a big move, but I don't know what it is. When there is news, I will use Yunyang as an excuse to ask you to come over."
Bai Wutong was shocked. The empress dowager was already like this, and yet there were still spies?
And from the looks of it, he's probably someone very close to Zhang Chengyan.
It really proves the saying that a lean camel is bigger than a horse!
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