Chapter 60: Stepmother and Empress Dowager
Zhuxiang was trembling all over. When she saw that the new emperor was going to attack the Gu family, she realized how stupid her previous thoughts were. However, the Gu family had three generations of loyal ministers. Wouldn't doing this chill the hearts of these loyal ministers?
Gu Wan had a blank expression on her face. The ancient worldview was the most troublesome because it was not a society ruled by law. If they wanted you to die, you would die, and it was a crime of collective punishment. However, once people got close to that place, everyone wanted to reach out and touch it.
What she always hated most was having her life in the hands of other people.
"Mother, mother, what should we do?" Zhuxiang's voice trembled.
Gu Wan stared at the flickering candlelight. "Zhuxiang, I know you're loyal to my aunt, but now that she's gone, you can only be loyal to me, and only me. Otherwise, we'll both lose our lives."
Zhuxiang's forehead was covered in sweat, and she didn't dare to look up, thinking about how she had not served this person well enough in the past month.
"I acknowledge my guilt."
Gu Wan's voice was cold and thin. "Get up."
On the second day, Zhuxiang was helping Gu Wan comb her hair when the eunuchs and palace maids outside were already discussing it in secret.
Gu Wan looked at herself in the bronze mirror. As expected, the original owner was introverted and the rules in the palace had always been lax, not to mention that the palace was the place where people flattered the powerful and bullied the weak.
Zhuxiang also heard the chirping outside.
"Go and replace the people, and then you can contact your father through the people left by your aunt. You don't need many people, but they must be loyal." Gu Wan looked at the plump nails on her hands, "Also, remove all these colors. It's a period of national mourning."
Zhuxiang put a green jade hairpin on Gu Wan, which was simple, elegant and simple.
"I'll do it right away." After saying that, she bent down and walked out.
In the imperial study.
Shao Jingzhou is looking at the military feng shui map.
"What do you think, uncle?"
The man called the Emperor's Uncle wore a silver crown on his head, his face was like the bright moon, with sharp features, and he looked cold and aloof.
Shao then took two steps forward, picked up the brush with his slender fingers, and circled one spot.
Shao Jingzhou laughed when he saw this.
"My uncle and I have the same idea."
Zhao Jiukuang came in from outside with small steps.
Shao Jingzhou saw that he was hesitant to speak, "No problem, the emperor's uncle is not an outsider."
Zhao Jiukuang was half bent over.
"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager wants to replace all the servants in the palace. Tell me, tell me..."
He looked a little embarrassed.
Shao Jingzhou saw that he was hesitant to speak, and said, "Speak."
Zhao Jiukuang immediately knelt down and said, "You said that it is an insult to the Queen Mother's innocence. The Queen Mother and the Emperor are just a mother and son."
Shao Jingzhou actually laughed. This wasn't completely boring. He thought she had a weak character, but now her brain was still useful.
"Then let her withdraw."
Zhao Jiukuang's forehead was covered with sweat. The new emperor was different from the previous emperor. The previous emperor was kind-hearted, but the new emperor acted eccentrically and was moody.
"Yes." He stood up and slowly backed away.
Shao Sui still stood aside with an expressionless face.
Shao Jingzhou sneered, "Gu family, Gu Wan, is a wonderful person, different from those people in the Gu family."
Shao then raised his eyelids, walked to the desk, picked up the brush, and wrote just one word: "no".
Shao Jingzhou understood instantly, "Uncle Emperor said that the Gu family should not be touched, but my mother left with resentment. My brother, who was only four months old, was murdered by her. Mother is in deep sorrow."
Shao Sui watched him write another word, "An."
Shao Jingzhou knew that his uncle wanted him to consider the safety of the people of the world. The Gu family guarded the border and held military power. He could not move, nor could he move arbitrarily. But what if the Gu family had the intention of rebellion?
"I understand what the emperor's uncle means."
Shao Sui said no more, just bowed slightly and left on his own.
Zhao Jiukuang stood at the door of the imperial study, saw the Regent come out and hurriedly bow, and then watched him leave.
If the person in front of me is not a mute, who would own this world?
Gu Wan exempted all the concubines from paying their respects. She didn't want to deal with them, and there was no need to.
Gu Wan woke up from her nap, and Zhuxiang heard the sound and walked slowly towards her.
"My lady, are you going to get up?"
Gu Wan nodded, stood up and asked the maid to help her get dressed.
Shao Jingzhou reviewed memorials for the whole morning. In the afternoon, seeing that the weather was good, he took a walk in the palace.
Gu Wan was fanning herself slowly with a round fan embroidered with lotus flowers, and she still only had a green jade hairpin in her hair.
"Is the selection process going smoothly?"
Zhuxiang nodded, "Your Majesty, yes, the Emperor approved it immediately."
Gu Wan frowned slightly. He probably treated her as a plaything and teased her casually.
"Don't worry, he won't touch us easily."
Zhao Jiukuang walked beside Shao Jingzhou and took a step forward.
Shao Jingzhou stood with his hands behind his back looking at the huge imperial garden and felt lonely. He always remembered the painful expression on his mother's face when she lost her child. His mother and father loved each other, but there was a queen in the middle who relied on the power of the Gu family to separate them.
"Let's go see the Queen Mother."
He made up his mind.
Gu Wan took a sip of cold tea. There is no construction without destruction, and the situation can still be turned around.
Shao Jingzhou didn't need anyone to inform him because there was no one in Zhaohua Hall, so he went all the way to the main hall.
Gu Wan put down the teacup.
Shao Jingzhou bowed slightly and said, "I was thinking about my mother, so I came here after I finished dealing with the memorials." Then he sat down next to Gu Wan.
Gu Wan smiled faintly and personally poured a cup of herbal tea for Shao Jingzhou.
"It's hot today, Your Majesty, please drink some cold tea to cool down."
Shao Jingzhou picked it up and tasted it carefully. "Not bad." He glanced at Zhuxiang and said, "Choose a few more capable ones, so that you won't be the only one who fails to serve the Queen Mother well."
Zhuxiang half-knelt and answered.
"yes."
Shao Jingzhou listened to the cicadas chirping outside and said, "In half a month, we will have to go to escape the summer heat. Mother, please take good care of yourself."
Gu Wan nodded, "I will take good care of myself."
Shao Jingzhou saw her chuckle, then stood up, bowed and left.
Shao Jingzhou didn't come again for the next half month.
Zhuxiang has already selected everyone in Zhaohua Palace.
Zhao Jiukuang came over.
"Miss Zhuxiang, we're leaving for the Summer Resort soon. I'll have to trouble you with the things in the Empress Dowager's palace."
Zhuxiang opened her mouth and agreed readily.
"Yes, please let Chief Zhao know."
Zhao Jiukuang saw that the only person qualified to enter the harem was the empress dowager, and the other concubines stayed in the palace. The new emperor had no concubines.
"Okay, I'll go back and reply."
Gu Wan has not taken the initiative to look for Shao Jingzhou in the past half month, and the two of them seem to be getting along peacefully now. If Shao Jingzhou wants to bring down the Gu family, she is the breakthrough point, and he will definitely come.
In the imperial study.
Shao Jingzhou put down his brush after writing a piece of calligraphy.
"Uncle Emperor, please come with us. It's so boring in Beijing."
Shao Sui didn't react at all.
Shao Jingzhou knew his temper. "If your uncle doesn't want to go, then I will arrange a marriage for him, okay?" His tone was teasing.
Shao Sui nodded helplessly.
Shao Jingzhou laughed. He knew that his uncle would refuse as soon as the idea of marriage was brought up.
"Then the emperor's uncle will leave tomorrow, so you can go back today and make more preparations."
Zhao Jiukuang came back to reply.
"Your Majesty, the Queen Mother has made all the arrangements."
Shao Jingzhou planned to start with Gu Wan. Although the girl was brave and clever, he just thought she was interesting. Maybe destroying the Gu family would not be so boring.
When Shao Sui heard this, he frowned and shook his head at Shao Jingzhou.
Shao Jingzhou knew what he meant, but he was unwilling to accept it. If it wasn't the supreme position, it would be fine, but he was. What's the point of holding power if he can't take revenge? Moreover, he needed to train his own people.
In the evening, Shao Jingzhou drank a few glasses of wine and actually had a dream at night.
The woman in the dream was very soft and he couldn't control himself. The woman's crying was very seductive. When he woke up in the morning, he only felt a headache, but he also felt a little uncomfortable in bed.
Shao Jingzhou could sense a hint of familiarity in his dream. It was not that he was without desire, but he had been busy recently, and it was a period of national mourning. It was just that the woman in his dream looked a bit like Gu Wan.
The Empress Dowager and the Emperor traveled with a huge procession.
It takes a day and a night to walk, and at night we set up tents on the spot.
Gu Wan's tent was not close to Shao Jingzhou's, and Shao Sui's was in the middle.
Gu Wan met Shao Sui during dinner. Shao Sui was the youngest brother of the late emperor and was very outstanding. However, something happened to him when he was a child and he could no longer speak. He was only five years older than Shao Jingzhou and had a good relationship with Shao Jingzhou.
During the meal, Gu Wan raised her glass to toast him from afar.
Shao then became steady and self-controlled.
After eating, Gu Wan returned to the tent. Zhuxiang had already arranged for someone to prepare a bathtub for her to take a bath.
In the dead of night, Gu Wan listened to the sound of the wind outside and quietly left the tent.
The person Shao Jingzhou ordered came back to report.
"The Queen Mother has gone out."
Shao Jingzhou threw down the chess piece in his hand, stood up and walked out.
Gu Wan found a place to sit down. The sky was always full of stars on summer nights.
Shao Jingzhou looked at her back from afar, thinking of the dream he had that night. The back was very similar. He also remembered that the woman had a small, inconspicuous, light red birthmark on her waist.
He strode over.
Gu Wan seemed to have noticed someone behind her only after he walked in, and turned around to look.
"emperor?"
Shao Jingzhou nodded and sat beside her casually.
"The Queen Mother is here alone admiring the stars."
Gu Wan turned to look at him and said, "I am four years younger than the emperor." She said this seriously and held up four fingers.
Shao Jingzhou looked at her slender white fingers and said, "Yes."
"Then Your Majesty can call me Empress Dowager from now on. I don't deserve the title of Queen Mother." Gu Wan spoke to him frankly.
Shao Jingzhou laughed, "The Queen Mother wants to have a frank chat with me today."
Gu Wan turned around and looked at him seriously, "Your Majesty, do you still remember that in the 22nd year of Chongyou, I saved a man from the big lake in Jinzhong Temple?"
Shao Jingzhou only remembered this one incident and looked at her in surprise. "It's you?"
Gu Wan saw that his surprise was not fake, "Yes, but I didn't expect that we would be sitting here in such a position."
The smile on Shao Jingzhou's face suddenly disappeared, "What does the Queen Mother want to say?"
Gu Wan knew that he was on guard, and this method of showing weakness and reminiscing about the past obviously didn't work on him, so she stood up.
"There's nothing I want to say." He looked a little lonely and turned to leave, but he didn't stand firmly and accidentally sprained his ankle and almost fell.
Shao Jingzhou reacted quickly and helped her over, put his arm around her waist and pulled her up to his body.
Gu Wan's forehead hit his chin, and she muttered, "It hurts."
Shao Jingzhou felt pain when he heard this cry, just like the cry of the woman in his dream that day, soft and alluring.
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