The Queen was somewhat agitated tonight, speaking less gently than usual, and her attitude was somewhat forceful, with her words becoming rather sharp.
The emperor was speechless after hearing her words, but the empress still showed no sign of stopping and continued, "Your Majesty, no matter what, we must never forget the kindness we have shown. It has not been easy for us to get to where we are today. We should remember and thank them for their help, instead of thinking of discarding them after we have accomplished our goal."
"Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. Do I really need to tell you this principle?"
As she spoke, the Empress's voice choked with emotion. "Greed is insatiable; this is not the behavior of a wise ruler. If things continue like this, the throne will be unstable, and the dynasty will decline."
"I understand..."
After a long while, the emperor finally spoke.
"No, Your Majesty, you don't understand! If you truly understood, you wouldn't have done such a thing!"
The Empress broke down in tears and knelt before the Emperor. He tried to help her up, but she refused, saying, "Your Majesty, I only wish that Your Majesty would consider the greater good, govern the country well, and allow the people to live a good life. I ask for nothing more. Tonight, I have overstepped my bounds. I request to be deposed as Empress. I beg Your Majesty to grant my request!"
What are you doing?!
Seeing her resolute expression, the emperor was terrified, a fear that came from the depths of his heart. He felt abandoned, as if even the person he loved most was about to leave him.
"Get up quickly. I know this is truly disheartening, and I will give the Lu family an explanation. Rest assured, I will definitely be a good emperor from now on and will never let personal desires cloud my judgment again."
He sighed. In fact, he regretted it the moment Lord Zhong opened his mouth tonight.
The court lacked talent, and some people came to seek refuge there. He saw that they did have some ability, so he gave them a minor official position.
This man was eloquent and persuasive. At first, he didn't take him seriously, but after listening to him talk about it every day, he gradually became moved and began to worry that Lu Baichuan would become too powerful and have a higher reputation than him, the emperor, in the future.
Looking back now, he was simply misled by others, and coupled with his own growing pettiness and deviation from his original intentions, he began to question Lu Baichuan.
At the very beginning, he regarded Lu Baichuan and Qin Jian as his right and left hands. How could his right and left hands betray him?
It's laughable now that I think about it. He stayed in the Imperial Study all night and didn't come here because he was thinking about this.
Now that the Empress has said that, he has realized his mistake and returned to the right path.
"Your Majesty, I have offended you. You may confine me to my quarters or depose me as Empress, as you see fit."
The empress was very firm in her attitude and did not take any chances just because the emperor treated her well.
The Emperor knew the Empress was very angry this time, and her attitude was also very serious. He said, "The Empress is not wrong. It is precisely because of what the Empress said that I am able to see clearly that I should not doubt loyal ministers. The Empress is virtuous and kind. She has done all this for my own good. I am happy for her. How could I bear to blame you?"
He spoke with sincerity, but the Empress still had some doubts, so she asked again, "Then what will His Majesty do?"
“I will expel Zhong Qi, who is sowing discord, from the capital, and then personally apologize to Mr. and Mrs. Bai Chuan. What do you think, Xin’er?”
The Empress had originally thought the same way. Seeing that the Emperor was willing to go this far, she stopped insisting. She helped the Emperor stand up slowly and said earnestly, "Your Majesty, it is easy to conquer the country but difficult to maintain it. You should not let your own selfish desires chill the hearts of the people."
On the Lu family's side, everyone was feeling somewhat depressed. Jiang Jiuniang went straight back to her room to wash up and prepare for bed. Lu Baichuan followed her in and, seeing that Jiang Jiuniang was still fuming, said, "Wife, after the peace talks with Dongting are resolved, I will resign from my post and go home. At that time, I will take you on a trip to see the sights and never concern myself with the affairs of the court again."
He had originally intended to bring it up tonight, but considering the bigger picture and the fact that the Dongting people were still watching, he didn't want them to laugh at him, so he held back.
He has served the emperor for so many years, contributing a great deal from nothing to something, so retiring now is not a loss.
This was actually an idea he had always had. Even if the emperor didn't suspect him because of this, he was self-aware. He had risen to the rank of second grade at a young age, and after winning a battle, he would definitely be promoted again. If he continued to rise like this, not only the emperor but also other imperial relatives would gradually become anxious, and then there would be even more people who wanted to target the Lu family.
Moreover, he had long felt that he never had time to spend with his wife, and once the country was at peace, he wanted to take her out for a trip. There was nothing wrong with resigning from his official post early.
I never expected such a ridiculous scene to happen at the banquet tonight. The emperor couldn't even wait for an opportunity to bring it up later, and had someone directly attack his wife at the banquet. It's truly disheartening.
Everything was fine at the border before. The correspondence showed that the emperor still trusted them and let them make their own decisions. They hadn't been in contact for a month or two since the army returned to the capital. I never expected this to happen as soon as we met.
"Well, if you want to resign, then resign. If this matter really involves the emperor, then this kind of court is meaningless."
Jiang Jiuniang had a fiery temper and really wanted to go directly to the palace to explain things to the emperor.
But after calming down and thinking about it, she felt it was pointless. Let it be. Anyway, she had made money and done a lot of good things for the people during this time. It wasn't all for the emperor, so there was nothing to be resentful about.
As she spoke, she collapsed onto the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. The long journey had left her physically exhausted, but she felt no sleepiness whatsoever; she had ultimately been hurt.
After Lu Baichuan finished washing up, he came over and lay down next to her, reaching out to hug her and comforting her, "Don't be sad, we were prepared a long time ago, weren't we?"
From the moment the emperor ascended the throne, they had made preparations in this regard. Although it would indeed be disheartening when the event actually occurred, as long as they withdrew early, it wouldn't be too painful.
“You’re right. Once you resign from your post, we’ll go out and have some fun. We’ll let our parents and sister-in-law go back to Jingzhou. Our family will live a good life in Jingzhou and never come back to the capital again.”
Thinking this, she turned over and suddenly felt sleepy, and soon fell asleep.
Lu Baichuan blew out the light, kissed her forehead in the darkness, and closed his eyes.
The next day, Jiang Jiuniang heard that the Empress had requested to be confined to her residence. After thinking it over, she decided to go to the palace to see her. However, just as she was about to leave, she received a visiting card from the Third Prince of the Eastern Court. At this time, the Third Prince and Princess Sheng'an were already waiting outside the residence. Since she couldn't leave for the time being, she gave up her idea of going to the palace and let them in first.
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