Chapter 354: Power Distribution
Empress Lu Ling asked everyone else to leave, leaving only Concubine Huang Shu and her son in her arms. Or should I say, Zhao Xiaofei's son!
Zhao Xiaofei said to Concubine Huang Shufei, "My Lady Shufei, I didn't expect you to be such a heroine. You remained calm in the face of danger, had a clear mind, and made the best of a bad situation."
Concubine Huang Shu heard this and realized there was something else going on. Could it be that Prince Li knew the truth so quickly? Could it be that he had an informant in the palace? Come to think of it, how could he have preserved his wealth and splendor without some means?
What she didn't know was that she had entrusted her trust to the wrong person. Zhang Shulan was brought from modern society by Zhao Xiaofei. Do you think that just because you are Concubine Shu, you can ask a modern person to keep a secret for you?
Lu Ling also heard the problem, she turned around and asked: "Shu Fei, what's going on?"
"I, I changed the child!" Concubine Huang Shu admitted bluntly.
"What? I really gave birth to a daughter?" Lu Ling had just given birth and was exhausted. The anesthetic hadn't worn off yet. Hearing this, she almost fainted. Concubine Huang Shu hurried forward to support Lu Ling.
Concubine Huang Shu sighed and said, "When the maid brought the eldest princess's child out, I thought it was the empress's. Only when she came back did she say the child was the princess's."
Lu Ling turned her head, looked at Zhao Xiaofei, and asked, "Prince Li, what should we do now?" She knew that if it were her, she would probably do the same thing to preserve her own wealth and glory. Besides, Concubine Huang Shu had the protection of her grandfather, and Concubine He had the protection of her father, He Tengjiao. Only she was helpless.
So when I heard about this, I was surprised at first, and then I immediately chose to go with the flow.
"I don't want my son to be the emperor. I want him to be the regent prince first. Wait for the baby in Concubine He and Concubine Huang's belly to be born. If they give birth to a son, I will find a reason to depose him as the crown prince when the child grows up, and let Concubine He or Concubine Huang's child be the crown prince. What do you think?" asked Zhao Xiaofei.
The two women looked at each other and understood what was most important, which was the safety of themselves and their children as well as a life of wealth and glory.
"Okay, I'll listen to Prince Li!" the Queen nodded.
Meanwhile, the cabinet ministers, led by Ni Yuanlu, had been up all night. They were agonizing over the name and reign title for the new emperor. Ni Yuanlu said, "The Zhongxing Dynasty has achieved its goal of reclaiming the capital. The next step for the Xin Dynasty is to unify the country and bring peace to the people. Let's call it Tongning!"
When Zhao Xiaofei heard this name while attending court at the imperial gate the next day, he felt it sounded very strange.
What a crappy name! It's not even as good as Kangxi. Your naming skills are too low!
But he was just criticizing it in his heart. However, they gave their son a nice name, Zhu Yuming.
However, the prince is too young to be crowned emperor yet.
Today's Imperial Court Meeting was held without the Emperor or Empress. The Empress had just undergone a Caesarian section and therefore could not attend.
Only these ministers were present. Ni Yuanlu said, "Let the Crown Prince govern first, and let the Queen rule from behind the curtain!"
Ni Yuanlu had no choice. The prince was too young to ask the queen to come out and act as a shield to block the public gossip. But the real power must be in the hands of the cabinet.
Zhao Xiaofei said, "Lord Ni! I think the Empress is kind and simple. If she were to rule from behind the scenes..." Zhao Xiaofei's meaning was clear. Lu Ling was a young woman from the Emei Sect, uneducated. So if you let her rule from behind the scenes, everything would be a mess.
"I wonder what Prince Li thinks?" Ni Yuanlu asked.
"I don't have any brilliant ideas. I just hope there will be two more women ruling the country from behind the scenes!" Zhao Xiaofei said calmly.
"What? What does Prince Li mean by this? Does he want Concubine He and Concubine Huang to rule the country from behind the curtain? There is no such precedent in the Ming Dynasty!" said Ni Yuanlu.
"There were no kings of different surnames in the Ming Dynasty before! But there are some now!" Zhao Xiaofei said sarcastically.
"Then tell me! I'm all ears!" Although Ni Yuanlu was angry, he had no choice. He had to do something to Zhao Xiaofei, so as long as it didn't go too far, Ni Yuanlu would try to give in to him.
"Let Concubine Huang Shu and Princess Kunxing jointly control the world!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
"What? We understand if you want Concubine Huang to be the regent, but I don't understand why you want the princess to be the regent as well!" said Ni Yuanlu.
"What if Concubine Huang and Concubine He also give birth to a son in the future? Have you ever thought about the safety of the prince? Everyone is selfish. Who doesn't want their son to sit on that throne? The princess entered the palace mainly because she, the elder sister-in-law, wanted to protect the prince! To prevent any trouble from arising in the palace because of the dispute over the throne!" Zhao Xiaofei pointed to the dragon throne placed aside.
Ni Yuanlu and other cabinet ministers lowered their heads and thought about it, and realized that this was the truth.
Yang Tianhe, the Grand Secretary of the Second Assistant Cabinet, said, "A princess entering the palace to serve as regent is unprecedented in our Han dynasty. This system is unique to the Mongols and Yuan Dynasty. We must not imitate this in foreign lands!"
"Lord Yang, can we be the same as them? This situation has never happened in history! This is a new system we created!" Zhao Xiaofei argued.
"Then how should power be distributed? There will definitely be times when the three of us have different opinions. What should we do then?" said Chen Yanxi, the Minister of Works.
"If three people have different opinions and two of them agree, then listen to those two. If all three disagree, it will be handed over to the cabinet for handling! Moreover, if the imperial edict of the three seriously violates the national conditions, the cabinet can reject it at its discretion! The number of people in the cabinet must also be an odd number. If there are different opinions, they will vote by raising their hands in the end! Of course, the opinions of the majority are not necessarily correct, but most of the time the judgment of the majority is more correct. People with different opinions can attach their opinions to the imperial edict as a record." Zhao Xiaofei said.
After he finished speaking, all the cabinet ministers thought about it, and finally Ni Yuanlu said, "Okay!"
"Okay! In that case, Lord Ni will report the results of our agreement to the Queen." Zhao Xiaofei said.
"Okay, once the Empress is confirmed, the funeral of the late Emperor can be held!" said Ni Yuanlu.
Lu Ling had no choice. When she heard the cabinet was planning to bring Kunxing into the palace to rule behind the scenes and share power with her, she felt uncomfortable. But her son was hers, so who was she to object? She could only wait for Concubine He and Concubine Huang to give birth to a son, and then quickly depose their son. She didn't want the Zhu family's bloodline to lose its throne.
In the Queen's bedroom, Zhao Xiaofei sat across from her. She held the child and said, "That's it! The three of us will work together!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
