Chapter 102 is truly heaven-high...
On August 14th of the seventeenth year of Jinghui, Li Pan led his army into the capital. Emperor Jinghui committed suicide, and the Dayue Dynasty, which had lasted for 194 years, officially came to an end.
The following day, Li Pan proclaimed himself emperor, establishing the state of Dayan and adopting the reign title Xiping. He bestowed the title of empress upon his first wife, Lou Xueying; rewarded his generals for their merits; displayed the corpses of Liang Chong and Liang Ji for three days; and launched a full-scale manhunt for the remnants of the old faction.
Li Pan declared himself emperor very casually.
There was no ancient custom of three requests and three refusals to show humility, nor even the formality of others recommending him as emperor. He directly issued a state letter, announcing it to the world, without any politeness.
There was no enthronement ceremony, because Li Pan felt it was too extravagant and cumbersome, a waste of time, money, and manpower. He thought it would be better to deal with the mess in the capital first.
He didn't even have a dragon robe for court sessions—because he hadn't had time to have one made yet.
Of course, the officials attending court did not wear official robes—because the new dynasty had just been established and there were no new official robes yet.
A group of civil and military officials dressed in ordinary clothes stood in the main hall of Ganyang, looking at each other in silence.
Several days have passed since the old dynasty collapsed, and this is the first morning court session of the new dynasty. I wonder what it will be like.
Li Pan strode into the Ganyang Hall with his hands behind his back, and all the officials immediately straightened their posture.
Even after Li Pan sat on the dragon throne, no one called for court to begin.
The officials were puzzled for a moment, then suddenly realized that in the past, when Emperor Jinghui went to court, it was always Eunuch Zheng who would call out to him. Now that Li Pan did not have a chief eunuch by his side, naturally no one would call out to him.
The officials couldn't help but look at Wu Zhao, the chief guard standing to the side.
Wu Zhao: ?
Why are you all looking at me? I'm the head of the guards, not a eunuch!
Li Pan sat on the dragon throne, feeling uneasy at the thought that this chair had been sat on by Emperor Jinghui before, and by the Crown Prince in his previous life. However, the chair was inlaid with gold and jade, making it an extremely valuable item, and discarding it would be too wasteful, so he could only endure it and continue using it.
When Li Pan was displeased, his face turned cold, and the ministers below immediately became apprehensive.
Li Pan slowly scanned the area below; this was the first time he had observed the morning court from this angle.
Nearly half of the people in the court were replaced, but no matter who was missing or who was added, the people standing in the hall were all old acquaintances, some of whom were his subordinates and some of his former colleagues.
Li Pan: "Why is it so quiet? Doesn't anyone have anything to say?"
The ministers: "..."
Lou Shu coughed lightly and slowly stepped forward: "Your subject has a report to make."
Lou Shu has now been promoted to Grand Secretary, and he is speaking about the tax reduction and exemption policy implemented at the beginning of the new dynasty.
After listening for a while, Li Pan unconsciously wanted to change his sitting posture, and his hand subconsciously reached out to the side, only to find that it was empty.
He glanced to the side and saw that the armrests of the dragon throne were a million miles away from him; he was sitting in the middle and couldn't reach them at all.
Li Pan: "..."
Who exactly wants to sit on this dragon throne?
He was only distracted for a brief moment when he saw Lou Shu below the steps stop talking and look at him with a quiet gaze.
Li Pan frowned, thinking to himself that this was really troublesome. When he was still the Marquis of Wu'an, he didn't have any important matters to attend to, and he could even daydream during court sessions. Now that he was the emperor, he had to do everything himself, and he had to decide on all sorts of messy matters. He couldn't just agree to things carelessly; he had to be cautious, otherwise it might affect millions of ordinary people.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but mentally curse Liang Chong and Liang Ji, father and son, to a thousand pieces.
"Taxation is a matter of great importance to people's livelihood. The specific percentage reduction or exemption needs to be carefully considered." After Li Pan finished speaking, he waved to Wu Zhao, "Go and summon the Empress. She just finished taking stock of the national treasury yesterday. Have her come and talk to the Ministry of Revenue about the situation."
Wu Zhao accepted the order and left.
Some former officials in the capital, having wisely assessed the situation and switched sides, were still able to stand in the Ganyang Palace. Upon hearing that the new emperor intended to summon the empress to the morning court, their brows twitched, and they inwardly grumbled.
However, they only harbored their grievances in their hearts. Although they were in the capital, they knew that the proclamation against the old dynasty was written by the empress, who had been following the army and had done a lot of cleanup work. It was only natural that the new emperor relied on her.
Of course, most importantly, they had no doubt that if they showed any suspicion or offense towards the Empress, the Emperor would not hesitate to twist their heads off.
So they all wisely kept quiet.
As for the subordinates who were originally by Li Pan's side, they were already used to it and remained quite indifferent.
Lou Xueying was with Lü Gui, directing the palace servants to rearrange the palace.
When the Marquis of Wu'an's mansion was previously seized, Lü Gui, as the mansion's steward, was also imprisoned. Now that he has been released, although he has become much thinner and still bears some scars from the torture he suffered in prison, he was overjoyed to find that Li Pan had become emperor. He was now in high spirits, better than any elixir.
He was appointed by Li Pan as the Palace Attendant, in charge of all matters concerning the royal family.
Because both the Emperor and Empress were very reluctant to live in the palace where Emperor Jinghui and others had lived, they had been staying in a small, uninhabited palace for the past few days.
However, since they were the emperor and empress, and the small palace was quite remote, they couldn't stay there forever. So Lü Gui suggested that Emperor Jinghui's original palace be demolished, and all the furniture and furnishings inside be put into the national treasury or given away as gifts. Only the large wooden structure would remain, and the palace would be renovated inside and out, making it almost the same as a new palace.
By avoiding rebuilding on the same site, a lot of costs were saved. Li Pan and Lou Xueying didn't need the palace to be too magnificent either. They took out the unused planks from the old imperial treasury and reused them. They also moved the old items from the Marquis of Wu'an's mansion over intact. The reconstruction was completed in no time.
When Wu Zhao arrived, Lou Xueying and Lü Gui were standing at the palace gate, watching the palace servants hang up the plaque for the new hall.
Lou Xueying was quite surprised to hear that Li Pan wanted her to attend the morning court session. However, after thinking about it, it seemed like something he was capable of doing, and she did feel that she had to personally investigate the matter, so she nodded and went to the Ganyang Palace with Wu Zhao.
While waiting for Lou Xueying to arrive, the morning court session couldn't be idle; they had to discuss other matters.
Li Pan was bombarding Lord Wei with questions, leaving Lord Wei sweating profusely.
He was originally the Minister of War of the old dynasty. He had racked his brains to come up with various ways to deal with Li Pan. After the old dynasty was destroyed, he surrendered in fear and trembling, hoping that Li Pan would spare his life.
Good news: Li Pan did indeed spare his life.
Bad news: Li Pan stripped him of his position as Minister of War.
Good news: He has been given another position.
Bad news: He was employed at the Court of State Ceremonial, where he was responsible for receiving foreign guests.
In Li Pan's words, Minister Wei's battle plans were a mess, detrimental to the country, and unfit for the post. However, regardless, this man was very knowledgeable about the military and political affairs of the country and the border regions, and also had a good understanding of other countries and tribes in the surrounding area. In addition, he was smooth-talking and adept at navigating social situations, making him perfect for dealing with foreign guests.
Poor Lord Wei never imagined in his life that he would end up in a government office that had absolutely nothing to do with him. At his age, he still has to bury himself in learning foreign languages. It's truly hopeless.
Faced with Li Pan's barrage of questions, Lord Wei stammered and couldn't explain himself. Seeing Li Pan's face grow colder and colder, he became increasingly desperate.
Just as he was pondering whether he should retire directly, Lord Wei suddenly saw Li Pan stand up, look out of the hall, and his face softened as if spring water had thawed.
He followed Li Pan's gaze and indeed saw the Empress, who had come to his rescue from his predicament.
The arrival of the Empress means it's time to discuss matters concerning the national treasury, not the Court of State Ceremonies.
Lord Wei was overjoyed and immediately bowed, saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress!"
After he bowed, the others had no choice but to follow suit.
Lou Xueying felt very uncomfortable and was hesitating whether to reply when Li Pan pulled her over and made her sit down on the dragon throne with him.
Lou Xueying was slightly surprised, but there was really no other place to sit, so she had no choice but to sit there as well.
She quietly asked Li Pan, "Where were we?"
Li Pan said, "We just talked about some trivial matters. The matter of the national treasury is up to you to discuss." After saying that, he told everyone to rise, then glared at Lord Wei, and then asked the Minister of Revenue to step forward and discuss the matter in detail.
Lord Wei retreated as if granted a pardon, wiping the sweat from his brow.
Li Pan used to hate court sessions where people would ramble on and drag on until the end of the session. But now that he was the emperor, he realized that some things really did need to be discussed for so long. He could only force himself to calm down and resolve them one by one.
Fortunately, now that the two of them share a chair, he no longer has to sit in the middle. He can finally rest one hand on the armrest of the dragon throne and no longer has to sit upright and formally. He is much more comfortable now.
He listened as Lou Xueying discussed taxation and the national treasury with the ministers below, occasionally interjecting with his own words. After the taxation matter was temporarily concluded, he and Lou Xueying continued to discuss other important matters with the various departments.
The long morning court session finally ended at noon. Although there were still many things to be resolved, it was lunchtime, so everyone had to go home for lunch. That was the end of the discussion for today.
Lou Xueying pulled Li Pan to see the newly renovated hall.
Although the overall structure is quite different from that of the Marquis's mansion, many of the old items from the mansion were reused inside, making it feel very familiar.
"Once Mother and the others return, all the things from the General's Mansion will arrive, and this place will truly become our home," Lou Xueying said, hooking her arm around Li Pan's, filled with emotion.
Li Pan calculated the time: "It should be about half a month before we arrive. Sigh, we need to have them clean out another palace for the Empress Dowager." He then touched his head and clicked his tongue, "Tell me, my mother can become the Empress Dowager now. When she first arrived in the capital, she didn't even dare to leave the house. I wonder what she'll be like now."
Lou Xueying glanced at him sideways: "You never think of anything good, you just keep making fun of the old man."
Now that the new hall has been built, the two of them have officially settled down there.
After lunch, Lou Xueying took her usual afternoon nap, but Li Pan was very restless and kept bothering her from behind.
Lou Xueying: "What are you doing?"
Li Pan: "How about we do something else before we go to sleep?"
Lou Xueying: "It's daytime now!"
Li Pan: "You've done it with me during the day before, haven't you?"
Lou Xueying glared at him: "Your Majesty, please have some self-respect!"
"Don't call me Your Majesty." Li Pan bit her shoulder. "The first time I heard someone call me Your Majesty, I was startled. I thought Liang Chong had appeared in spirit."
Lou Xueying: "..."
Lou Xueying looked at him: "Is this your reason for still refusing to call yourself 'I'?"
Li Pan snorted: "That bastard Liang Ji, he was an emperor for a while in his past life, and he's still the crown prince in this life. He keeps saying 'I am I am,' it's so annoying. I don't care to associate with them."
Lou Xueying laughed and said, "You're quite aloof. I'm truly ashamed of myself."
“You’re not allowed to act all submissive here either.” Li Pan pinched her mouth. “Just thinking about how you acted all submissive to Liang Chong in your past life makes me angry.”
Lou Xueying: "Speaking of this, when I was taking inventory of the inner treasury before, I saw quite a few of his collected zithers."
Li Pan immediately became alert: "What are you doing? Are you keeping it to remember me?"
"What are you talking about? I've had them all sent to the qin workshop outside the palace. They're all fine instruments, it's a shame to let them gather dust. It's better to let someone with the right destiny take them away," Lou Xueying said. "I'm thinking of having someone make a new qin for me to use."
Li Pan: "Oh? Didn't you say you never wanted to play the piano again?"
"Hmm... I didn't want to play anymore before because of Liang Chong. But I like playing the piano, not because of him. Now that it's all in the past, I think about it and I still miss the carefree feeling of focusing on my studies." Lou Xueying blinked. "Although I've been rusty for a long time and don't know how much I can get back, I still want to try again."
“Sure, go for it if you like,” Li Pan said. “But you’re not allowed to call me awesome anymore.”
Lou Xueying: "Even if I played it for you, you wouldn't understand. What else could you be but a genius?"
"Then I'm just suffering from my birth! If I had been born into a wealthy family in the capital, I might not be so clueless." Li Pan scoffed, "Just you wait, what about finding a kindred spirit in the mountains and flowing water? I can be just as good as you."
"Don't make things difficult for yourself. I won't look down on you just because you don't understand the zither." Lou Xueying patted his shoulder understandingly. "I knew at a glance that you weren't cut out for this."
Li Pan roared, "What do you mean I'm not cut out for this? Don't look down on me!"
“Alright, alright, you are, you are,” Lou Xueying quickly said. “But the zither requires time to master. Since you have no foundation and don’t have enough time to study it from scratch, by the time you truly understand it, you might become a foolish ruler who neglects state affairs. If you really want to participate, how about I wait until I’ve selected the wood, and you help me carve out the basic body of the zither, and then we can hand over the rest to a specialized craftsman for finishing?
Li Pan: "You can do that?"
Lou Xueying: "Of course, it's hard work, it suits you."
Li Pan: "...After all this time, they still treat me like an ox, a hard-working ox plowing the fields. I was supposed to just listen and not do any work, but now I've inexplicably been given extra work."
Lou Xueying nuzzled against his chest: "So, are you going to help or not?"
"You've already said it, how could I not help?" Li Pan rolled over and pressed down on him, raising an eyebrow. "If I were to chop well, would I become your confidant?"
“You already are.” Lou Xueying hugged him and kissed his lips. “Li Pan, Li Shitou, I like you the most, and I only like you.”
Li Pan smiled with satisfaction, and with a flick of his hand, lowered the bed curtains.
Inside the dimly lit room, the wind howled and the rain poured down, swirling up thousands of piles of snow.
Outside the window, the sky was high and the clouds were light, and a long wind swept across the blue sky.
The day is not over yet.
And the new era has only just begun.
(End of text)
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Author's Note: Hooray! Thank you everyone for your comments, nutrient solutions, and "throwing" (likes/throws of comments)! Thank you all for your love and support! Susu and Shitou will be happy too! [Let me see...]
There will be more side stories later. Details about the side stories will be included in the summary; please subscribe as needed. Side stories will no longer be updated daily.
Finally, I wish everyone happiness every day! [Sprinkling flowers]
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Yu Peizhu was banished to the cold palace.
This former Empress, who rose to power through her maternal clan and possessed ruthless methods, finally met her end with the collapse of her clan.
Her former glory vanished in an instant, the cold rain poured down, and she didn't even have a charcoal brazier by her side.
She walked indifferently through the long alley of the Cold Palace, while the cries, laughter, and screams of madmen echoed from the dilapidated buildings on both sides.
In a corner of the dilapidated hall, she found a young man who was barely clothed and whose eyes were filled with malice.
She leaned down, pinched his chin, and before he could angrily bite her finger, she spoke coldly:
"Do you want to be the crown prince?"
-
The emperor had a harem of three thousand women, with countless beauties, and he even changed empresses four times.
Xue Li's mother went mad shortly after entering the palace, and he was also suspected of contracting madness. He was born in the cold palace and almost did not even have a chance to survive.
He was trampled on, oppressed, and had to endure endless torment from madmen year after year. He thought he would spend his whole life in this dark and hopeless place.
Until a woman appeared.
She came from a distinguished family and was renowned for her beauty. She was the empress who served the longest in her father's court. She never imagined that one day she would fall to such a state.
But she's already fallen so low, what right does she have to look at him with such condescension?!
He thought she should be stuck in the mire with them, the people in the cold palace, but he never expected her to ask a question he had never thought about in his life.
Do you want to be the crown prince?
Without the slightest hesitation, he replied, "Yes."
So she pulled him out of the darkness, took care of his food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, taught him etiquette and manners, and imparted to him strategies and tactics.
Sometimes he would get tired and want to take a short break, but she would just look at him coldly and say:
"Either become the crown prince, or die."
He followed her, step by step leaving the cold palace, venturing into the Eastern Palace, and finally, amidst bloodshed, beheading the person on the throne.
However, in the dead of night, deep within the palace gardens, he knelt beside her knees, squeezed past the late emperor's head in her hands, and pressed his forehead against her palm.
His eyes were bloodshot, his gaze pleading, and his demeanor crazed.
"Don't abandon me, I'm still useful." He kissed her fingers again and again. "Please."
-
A beautiful and cold-blooded deposed empress × a lewd and younger prince, with an age difference of 9 years.
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