Chapter 168 Hundred Birds

Two Yi Halls.

The woman in the bronze mirror was gorgeous but blurry. Shangguan Wan'er stood behind with her hands down, watching Empress Wei playing with the golden hairpin in her high bun. This scene made Shangguan Wan'er slightly dazed. She couldn't tell who was reflected in the mirror, Empress Changsun, Empress Wang, or the young empress?

"Zhao Rong, what do you think of this hairpin?"

Shangguan Wan'er suddenly came to her senses and realized that the woman in front of her was neither the Queen nor the Empress. The hostess of the two ritual halls had been replaced by Wei. Shangguan Wan'er smiled in a friendly yet respectful manner and said, "Your Majesty is a beauty, and this phoenix hairpin really enhances your beauty when worn in your hair."

Queen Wei smiled, put down her golden hairpin, and said angrily, "You are good at talking, just to make me happy."

"Every word I said is true. Your Majesty's face is as bright as the full moon. You are the mother of the country. It is a blessing for you to have all the gold, silver and jewels in the world on your head." Shangguan Wan'er smiled calmly and said a lot of appropriate flattering words. As expected, she made Empress Wei smile. Empress Wei smiled brightly and said, "Shangguan Zhaorong really deserves the title of Prime Minister of Red Makeup. No wonder the sage let you be in charge of issuing orders and drafting imperial edicts."

Shangguan Wan'er kept smiling, but her heart was a little tense. After the Shenlong coup, Li Xian was reinstated. He changed his previous indifference and firmly grasped the power in his own hands. Many people lost power because of this, and many people gained power because of this.

Shangguan Wan'er had a very good personal relationship with Princess Taiping. To outsiders, she should belong to Princess Taiping's faction. However, Princess Taiping's faction was severely suppressed, but Shangguan Wan'er escaped and was instead highly valued by Li Xian.

This is naturally attributed to Shangguan Wan'er's flexibility and adaptability, and her ability to seek benefits and avoid harm. When the empress was in power, Princess Taiping was the most favored by her mother, so Shangguan Wan'er naturally had to be on good terms with Li Lingyue, but now the emperor has become Li Xian, and the people she has to please first have become the emperor and Empress Wei.

Because Shangguan Wan'er became more and more talented, Li Xian appointed her as the second-rank Zhaorong, responsible for drafting imperial edicts for the emperor and having the power of life and death. Although Zhaorong was a concubine in the harem, Shangguan Wan'er had no extra relationship with the emperor. The emperor just gave her a title so that she could enter and leave the palace freely.

Shangguan Wan'er and the Emperor had a clear conscience, but it was a thorn in the eyes of Empress Wei. Shangguan Wan'er knew what was most important, and she immediately expressed her position in front of Empress Wei: "It is the Emperor's kindness, and he considers the friendship between Emperor Gaozong and my grandfather. I dare not take credit for it. I have another thing I want to ask the Empress for a favor. Cui Shi, the Minister of Examination, is a descendant of the Cui family of Boling. He is quite talented, but unfortunately his career has not been smooth and he has not met a mentor. Now that the position of the Minister of Personnel is vacant, I wonder if the Empress can give him a chance to be tested?"

Empress Wei understood immediately and smiled. She took Shangguan Wan'er's hand and looked her over. "You are Shangguan Yi's granddaughter, from a family of scholars. He is also a descendant of the Cui family of Boling. They are a perfect match. I believe Zhaorong has good judgment in judging people. There is no need to test him. Just let him serve in the Ministry of Personnel."

Shangguan Wan'er and Cui Shi had a brief affair in private. When she recommended Cui Shi to Empress Wei, she tactfully indicated that she had another lover and that nothing would happen between her and the emperor. Empress Wei promoted her lover to the Ministry of Personnel, so Shangguan Wan'er naturally had to share Empress Wei's worries. This was an exchange of interests and also a show of loyalty.

Shangguan Wan'er was overjoyed to hear that Empress Wei agreed to her recommendation so easily, but she was also inexplicably sad. The Ministry of Personnel was responsible for the promotion and evaluation of all officials in the court. Many officials from other places worked diligently for decades, but could not get a single favor from the Ministry of Personnel. However, the deputy chief of the Ministry of Personnel made the decision in the idle chat of a woman...

Therefore, it is even more important to climb a big tree. Even if the wind is raging, as long as you can always cling to the person in power, you don't have to endure the wind and rain.

Shangguan Wan'er once again confirmed her path in her heart. At this time, giggles were heard outside the hall. A woman flew into the hall like a butterfly and said impatiently, "Mother, look at my new dress!"

Shangguan Wan'er looked back and felt a flash before her eyes. Princess Anle was wearing an extremely gorgeous skirt. It was one color when viewed from the front and another when viewed from the side. It was one color in the sun and another in the shadow. The hem of the skirt was glittering with a pattern of hundreds of birds, each detail was vivid and lifelike, as if they were about to flap their wings and fly out. It was so dazzling that one could not even tell the original color of the fabric.

Queen Wei exclaimed in amazement and asked, "Gu'er, what kind of skirt is this? It's so special."

Princess Anle said complacently: "This is called the Hundred Birds Skirt. It is woven with the most colorful feathers from exotic birds. That's why it is so colorful and sparkling. You have to catch thousands of birds to weave such a skirt!"

Empress Wei was amazed when she heard this. Shangguan Wan'er responded with flattering words, but suddenly she thought of the thousands of birds.

They originally lived freely in the mountains and forests, but were targeted by humans just because they had beautiful feathers. Maybe the entire species would be extinct, and in the end they would just become a skirt for the princess.

At least, they were all together and didn't die alone.

Princess Anle turned around and around, showing off the patterns on her skirt, and suddenly asked mysteriously, "Mother, what do you think this is?"

Princess Anle took out another bird skirt like a magic trick and spread it out in front of Queen Wei. Queen Wei was surprised and delighted: "What are you doing?"

"The servants sent me new fabrics. I liked them very much, so I asked them to make me a skirt for you." Princess Anle rushed to Queen Wei and kept urging her, "Mother, please try it on."

Empress Wei could not persuade her daughter, so she changed into the Hundred Birds Skirt reluctantly. When Empress Wei came out, all the maids in the two palaces, including Shangguan Wan'er, praised her.

Queen Wei smiled happily and tapped Princess Anle's nose and said, "You are the only one who knows how to make me happy. Tell me, what do you want?"

Princess Anle said coquettishly, "No, I just want to be filial to my mother," while secretly glancing at Shangguan Wan'er. Shangguan Wan'er suddenly had an idea and said immediately, "I dare not delay the Empress and the Princess from discussing government affairs. I will take my leave."

After Shangguan Wan'er left, Princess Anle no longer had to pretend. She immediately sat down next to Queen Wei, hugged her arm and said, "Mother, do you really want to make that bastard the crown prince?"

Queen Wei's eyes turned sharp and she looked around. The palace maids quickly withdrew. Queen Wei was relieved and pretended to scold: "Gu'er, that's your third brother, you must not be rude."

"Does he deserve it?" Princess Anle sneered, "He is just the son of a lowly maid. His mother is a slave, and he is destined to be a servant. Why should he be made the crown prince? Does he deserve it? I am the biological child of my father and mother. I will take care of you until you die, so naturally I should inherit the throne."

"Ridiculous." Empress Wei scolded lightly. Princess Anle saw that her mother had no intention of blaming her, so she continued to incite, "Mother, Empress Wu Zetian was just a daughter of a merchant family in Jinyang, and I am a legitimate princess of the Central Palace. She was originally just a talented woman who was not even a concubine, and my husband is the prince of Wei. I have everything that Empress Wu Zetian has, and my status is much higher than hers. Why can she be the emperor, but I can't?"

After all, the Empress was Li Xian's mother. To deny the Empress was to deny himself. So after the coup, Li Xian still served the Empress respectfully. In the first few days, he even pretended to go to Shangyang Palace and asked his mother to preside over state affairs. Although the Empress closed the door and no longer interfered in state affairs, no one in the court dared to really ignore her.

Princess Anle was like this. She had never seen her grandmother since she was born. She only knew that this woman had abolished her father's throne and imprisoned her family in a barren land. Princess Anle had no good feelings for her grandmother, let alone admiration for her. However, when Princess Anle got the right to choose, she went crazy and imitated her, yearned for her, and wanted to be like her.

Yes, why could Empress Wu do it but she couldn’t?

The same thought flashed through the mind of Empress Wei. Like Empress Wu, she married a husband who was not so manly. In this respect, Li Xian was not as good as Emperor Gaozong.

Because the emperor was her bedfellow, Empress Wei knew best how indecisive, cowardly and hypocritical Li Xian was. Such a person could become emperor just because he was born with the surname Li.

If there was no Empress Wu, Empress Wei would not have thought there was anything wrong with this. Buddha said that everyone has their own destiny, and her father said that women should be humble and weak. Empress Wei once thought that everyone should stay in their own position and should not expect things beyond their scope. But after seeing Empress Wu become emperor, Empress Wei suddenly had doubts. How could a third-rate person like Li Xian become emperor? What was wrong with her?

Why can't she?

Because her last name is not Li? Empress Wu's last name is not Li either. Because she is a woman? Empress Wu is also a woman.

If Empress Wei wanted to imitate Empress Wu and become a powerful emperor, she must have supporters and successors. Originally, Queen Wei's hope was Li Chongrun, but after her son died, she could only settle for the next best thing and let her youngest daughter be the successor.

Li Chongjun called her mother in name, but if she didn't give birth to him, then he wasn't her mother. When Li Chongjun came to power, he would never be truly filial to her. If she wanted to take power, she had to support one of her own to be the crown prince.

Although Anle was a bit stupid, beautiful fools were easier to control. If Li Chongjun was deposed and Anle was made the Crown Princess, the mother and daughter would hold power. Wouldn't she have the final say in the Tang Dynasty?

Queen Wei was moved, but she pretended that she could not resist her daughter's obsession and reluctantly agreed, saying: "You are always so willful. Who asked me to give you as my only child? I really owe you. All right, I will persuade the saint some other day. Whether it will work depends on how much your father loves you."

When Princess Anle heard that her mother agreed to let her be the crown princess, she was overjoyed and immediately spoke well of her mother: "I knew that mother loved me the most! Don't worry, father will definitely not be willing to reject me. If he disagrees, I will quarrel with him!"

Queen Wei looked at Princess Anle and smiled, saying, "You have been spoiled by your father. By the way, I heard that a few days ago, your servants competed with Princess Yong for her dowry on the street?"

Princess Anle scolded the crown prince without restraint, calling him a servant all the time, but when it came to Prince Yong, she hesitated and evaded the question, "No... it was a misunderstanding by the subordinates, and the things have been returned."

When Queen Wei heard this, she knew what was going on: "So it's true that you and Princess Yong fought over the dowry? How stupid! Prince Yong has a good family background, is popular with the people, and has made great contributions. If your father wants to seize his power, he has to see if the people of the world agree. How dare you quarrel with Princess Yong? Some other day, no, today, you should send a gift to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion and apologize to Princess Yong in person."

Princess Anle pouted and refused. She was poor when she was young, but everyone spoiled her and indulged her. She had never suffered any grievances. How could she bow her head and apologize? Queen Wei knew her daughter best. She also knew that it was useless to count on Princess Anle. She sighed and said, "Forget it. I will prepare the gifts and let the female official go to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion. You, you are so old but you still always get into trouble. Your mother has to clean up the mess for you."

Princess Anle was not convinced and said, "Prince Yong has lost his power. Why should I apologize to a servant? Is she worthy?"

Queen Wei looked at her little daughter and sighed. She suddenly thought of Yongtai, who had been quiet and sensible since childhood. Queen Wei always felt that her eldest daughter was not as lively and lovely as her youngest daughter, so her love for her eldest daughter was far less than that for her youngest daughter who could please her. But now, a year after Yongtai's death, Queen Wei had to admit that Yongtai was right.

Anle was accustomed to them. A person who wanted to be the crown princess actually said to the daughter of a loyal minister without thinking, "She is not worthy of it." Queen Wei sighed and had to warn her, "Gu'er, if you only want to be a rich princess, you can offend whoever you want without worrying about anyone's face. But if you want to be the crown princess, you must pay attention to your morals and cherish your reputation. You can't let the historians catch you with any excuses, especially the charge of disrespecting your brother and sister-in-law. You must never do that."

Queen Wei's face was sullen, and Princess Anle was frightened, so she only nodded in agreement. Princess Anle looked embarrassed, and she found a random excuse to leave the palace.

Even if she didn't ask, Queen Wei knew that Anle must have gone to hang out with that group of lovers. Anle probably didn't hear a word of what she just said.

Queen Wei was furious with her little daughter for not knowing the seriousness of the matter, but she could do nothing about it. She could only call the female official over, and gave her many instructions. She then ordered the female official to deliver the apology gift to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion and personally hand it over to Ming Huashang.

Queen Wei watched the court lady walk down the palace path and disappear into the Taiji Palace, which was stained with time. She looked up at the high-rise beast in the Taiji Palace and thought, power is really a good thing.

But if it is held in the hands of others, it is like a thorn in the throat. Prince Yong's reputation in the court is too bad, and she wants to recruit party members and promote her confidants as soon as possible to take control of the court.

If Wu could become emperor, why couldn't she?