Under the soft glow of lanterns, Li Langhuan and Qin Ye stood at the bridgehead, watching the river lanterns float one after another, both feeling a sense of tranquility.
After a long pause, Li Langhuan finally spoke with a smile: "Little Yezi, will you dislike the scars on my face? Will you think I'm ugly?"
Qin Ye was stunned for a moment, then frowned and said, "How could you have such a thought? You... are clearly the most beautiful woman in the world."
Li Langhuan smiled and squeezed Qin Ye's fingers: "That's exactly right—in my eyes, you are the most handsome and best man in the world, and I want to marry you."
Qin Ye was startled. He opened his mouth, but it took him a long time to find his voice: "...How can this be the same?"
Li Langhuan smiled and said, "How is it different? I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I'm thirty-six now, and I only want to spend the rest of my life with my beloved husband."
She paused, then lowered her voice and asked, "Have you ever heard anyone in the palace say that I am infertile?"
Qin Ye felt that he had been shocked by too many things today, and he said in a daze, "I... have never heard of it."
Li Langhuan clicked his tongue, then laughed and said, "Now you know."
Qin Ye snapped out of his daze and looked at Li Langhuan with some heartache: "Who plotted against Your Highness?"
Li Langhuan said helplessly, "Why are you calling me 'Your Majesty' again? Huanniang, Zhaozhao, call me whatever you want."
Qin Ye looked at Li Langhuan with some anxiety: "Mother...Huanniang, I'm talking to you about something important!"
Li Langhuan burst out laughing: "Why are you still calling me 'mother'? I don't have a son as big as you!"
Qin Ye was genuinely angry. He raised his voice slightly and called out, "Li Langhuan!"
Li Langhuan's smile faded, and then he raised an eyebrow and said, "I gave myself a sterilization drug."
Qin Ye was taken aback.
Li Langhuan's eyes and brows appeared somewhat gentle in the twinkling lights, but her words conveyed a different meaning: "I don't want any children to be a burden to me, and I especially don't want to give birth to Lu Zhi's child, do you understand?"
Qin Ye pursed his lips.
He understood. Lu Zhi was the Empress's enemy, and she did not want to give birth to her enemy's child, nor did she want this child to come into the world to suffer—if a wicked concubine who brought ruin to the country were to be her birth mother, the child might not have a good life.
Furthermore... if Your Majesty has a child, she will inevitably treat Lu Zhi a little better because of it, and may even kneel down to please Lu Zhi for the sake of the child. With Your Majesty's temperament, how could she be willing to do that?
Seeing that he had thought it through, Li Langhuan smiled and said, "Look, you can't have children, and I can't have children either. Aren't we a match made in heaven?"
Looking at Li Langhuan's beautiful face and feeling the slight warmth in his hands, Qin Ye suddenly felt that he was being pretentious.
If the Empress doesn't care, then what is there for him to worry about? Besides, being able to accompany the Empress is something he has always dreamed of.
Thinking of this, Qin Ye couldn't help but smile slightly: "Okay, we're a match made in heaven."
...
On August 27th, Qin Ye and Li Langhuan arrived in Shengjing. Everyone only knew that these two were the general and strategist who recovered Baiyue and pacified Yunnan. Only a few people knew that they were the former Consort Zhao and the Ninth Prince.
Although the new emperor is a woman, she is ruthless and cunning. Many former nobles have already run into trouble with her. There are also those who thought that Shang Shaoyan was a woman and could be easily bullied and manipulated, but Shang Shaoyan has made an example of them all.
There was no turning back now, and the rumors about "a hen crowing at dawn" had subsided somewhat.
Li Langhuan and Qin Ye had just settled down in Shengjing when Shang Yunlan arrived.
Shang Yunlan entered the palace immediately, greeted Shang Shaoyan with a smile and said "Long live the Emperor".
Shang Shaoyan glanced at him with a smile, then said helplessly, "Let's get down to business and stop with the formalities."
Shang Yunlan nodded, then found a seat, took out a thick stack of records from her pocket, handed them to Shang Shaoyan, and told him to read them while listening to her.
"We now have the Southern Chen under our control. The most peaceful and loyal are the seven northwestern prefectures, Shu Prefecture, Yunnan, and Hangzhou. As for the others, there's no need to worry. We just need to send our men there, use both kindness and force, and there won't be any major problems," Shang Yunlan said slowly. "The Southern Chen isn't too impoverished yet, only suffering considerable losses from the previous famine and floods. The most urgent task is to stabilize the Southern Chen internally. There are too many variables in the Northern Zhou, and we can't rush things."
Shang Shaoyan nodded: "That makes sense. The emperors of the Chen Dynasty after that were all greedy, and I also confiscated the property of many corrupt officials. Now the national treasury is full, and we can use most of it to improve people's livelihoods."
Shang Yunlan smiled and continued, "Then there's the imperial court. We can't touch those upright families right now, so we need to promote some officials. Once the situation stabilizes, we can start promoting people from humble backgrounds, opening up the imperial examination system, changing the Nine-Rank System to the Three Departments and Six Ministries, and setting up a new Luantai (Imperial Secretariat). We can talk about these things later."
He paused for a moment, then said, "It seems that Southern Chen only has these matters to deal with for now. You don't need to worry too much about the rest; I will handle it. The difficult one now is Northern Zhou."
Shang Shaoyan smiled and said, "That's right. Although I made an agreement with Qiao Yu to pass the throne to Qiao Zhuo, it's still unknown whether Qiao Zhuo can hold onto that position. I'm afraid he won't last long enough for me to take over the Northern Zhou after I've settled things in the Southern Chen... Besides, would those powerful officials and ministers in the Northern Zhou really hand over the Northern Zhou throne so easily?"
After a pause, she sighed, "The rise and fall of dynasties are all due to the suffering of the common people. If I lead my troops to attack Northern Zhou, I have a 100% chance of winning, but it will only be the common people who suffer."
Shang Yunlan was silent for a moment, then said, "This matter is indeed necessary, but we can proceed slowly—first, we can gradually annex the small towns on the border between Northern Zhou and Southern Chen, then divide Northern Zhou internally, and finally attack the Northern Zhou capital, forcing Qiao Xiuyu to abdicate and unify the North and South."
Shang Shaoyan laughed: "When did I say I wouldn't do this? To achieve great things, one cannot be too merciful. Look at the founding monarchs throughout history, which one didn't use iron-fisted methods? In chaotic times, it is not easy to maintain a stable rule. Without strong measures, how can one win over the people? Brother, rest assured, I am not that naive."
After thinking for a moment, she raised an eyebrow and said, "I think that three months after I ascend the throne, we can raise an army and march north, while you stay in Shengjing to act as regent. This is the safest method I can think of."
Shang Yunlan joked, "Aren't you afraid I'll take your world away?"
Shang Shaoyan's eyes lit up: "Is there such a good thing? When are you going to take it? The sooner the better, I want to be a princess, you have to come up with a nice title for me!"
Shang Yunlan: "..."
He wiped his face and said, "It's alright now."
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