Hello Chang’an

Chapter 501 Preparing for the wedding

 But at this moment, they are helping those who put pressure on her, forcing her to make compromises...

The Holy Emperor slowly closed his eyes and calmed down the reluctance that was boiling in his chest.

She is unwilling to compromise on this matter, not only because of the matter itself, but also because once she compromises on this matter, countless people will have the courage to force her to give in!

This is undoubtedly a very bad and dangerous omen for a king to come.

She had never tasted the feeling of being forced to make such a concession in public for many years, but now...she had no choice.

Listening to the calls of "please stop the loss, please", when the Holy Emperor opened his eyes again, his eyes scanned the people kneeling and shouting inch by inch.

Outside the main hall, as the clouds cover the scorching sun, the bright light in the hall is also being withdrawn inch by inch. The bright and discernible gold bricks under the feet of the officials appear to be a bit cool for no reason.

For a moment, the emperor's majestic and selfless voice echoed in the huge palace: "Don't worry, gentlemen, I will handle this matter impartially and give an explanation to the people of Jiangnan West Road who died in vain."

When these words came to light, Cui Hao was the first to bow his head and shout: "Your Majesty is wise!"

Everyone also bowed down and said, "Your Majesty, you are wise!"

Looking at those kneeling figures, the Emperor Shengshen's eyes showed no signs of fluctuation. He raised his hand to signal everyone to get down, and then said to the eldest princess Xuan'an alone: ​​"Xuan'an, you should get up too."

Princess Xuan'an thanked her and stood up, then stood aside.

Above the sky outside the hall, layers of white clouds come and go with the wind, rolling and relaxing at times.

After the morning court was over, all the officials knelt down and bowed, stood up and left the hall in twos and threes.

The emperor sat on the dragon chair and watched the figures retreating one after another until the hall returned to silence and empty, except for the silent **** standing by.

The Holy Emperor sat quietly for a long time. The new head of Si Gongtai, who had witnessed with his own eyes the emperor's forced concession in the morning, never dared to say anything.

Until the king spoke slowly, he was asking about other things. It seemed that his thoughts were not stagnant because of the early court incident: "The Jiedushi of Huainan Road invested 7 million in the northern border to guard the border... Recently, various places in Beijing have Are you also discussing?"

The head of Si Gongtai reacted for a moment, and then respectfully replied: "Your Majesty, yes."

Then he whispered: "Apart from this matter, the most talked about in private everywhere is the life experience of the Changjie envoy..."

"Life experience." The Holy Book Emperor repeated these two words, looking at the open door of the palace, and the meaning of his voice was unclear.

Is there really another secret behind this life experience, or is it an illusion created by Ashang?

But no matter which one it is, it can be seen that Ah Shang is now starting to build momentum for his "life experience" -

Therefore, her previous worries might have been that Ah Shang would not choose King Rong. From the current point of view, the person Ah Shang really wants to choose... is [Chang Sui Ning].

The moment this answer became clear in her mind, what echoed in the ears of the empress at the same time were the voices of several ministers suggesting that "the reputation of the Jiedushi of Huainan Road is growing too fast, which may not be a good sign, and your Majesty should try to suppress it as soon as possible."

Ma Xiang also made a similar proposal.

The young Jiedushi's wings matured so quickly that it exceeded everyone's expectations and almost made everyone feel uneasy.

The Empress sighed almost imperceptibly.

At this point, she also tried to ask herself, the world is so big, and when it comes to governance, the most important thing is undoubtedly the word talent. And when it comes to employing people, should we prioritize those who are capable or those who can be controlled? For the best?

All along, in order to stabilize the imperial power, she was forced to choose the latter most of the time.

This allowed her to remain in this position for more than ten years, but even today, its shortcomings have been revealed.

But many times, she has no choice.

She was not the founding monarch who brought peace to the world with her military exploits, but a concubine with a different surname. Those princes and generals were unwilling to obey her at all. If she did not kill them, they would raise their troops to kill them. All she could do was to first Be strong by attacking.

It's not that she doesn't know the cost of doing this, but if she had to do it again, she still would have no choice.

Throughout the ages, which king has never had blood on his hands? She does not need to look back at the time when she came, she only needs to plan for the future.

There are not many capable people she can use or dare to use, but Ah Shang is one -

What if we try to suppress Ashang? The power separated from A Shang will eventually fall into the hands of others. Instead of doing so, she is naturally more willing to support her daughter - especially in the current situation where a pack of wolves is waiting for her.

Even today, Ashang has no intention of looking back, but mother and daughter should always calm down and sit down and have a good talk before they can make other conclusions.

She wanted Ashang to know that they should not be hostile to each other, and that this world should not fall into the hands of outsiders who are incompetent, morally and meritorious.

"Your Majesty, do you want someone to investigate Chang Jishi's life experience..." the head of Si Gongtai tried to ask.

The Holy Emperor shook his head: "No need."

Ashang was able to spend 7 million yuan to finance the northern border this time. It can be seen that the foundation he left behind... can be hidden for many years without being weakened. Most of it is deeply rooted in the bottom, and such an existence must be closely related to the intelligence organization.

At this time, she asked people to investigate. Once she alerted Ashang's spy, it would make Ashang unhappy, and she would be wary again.

She wanted to use this to let Ah Shang understand that she was not afraid of anything about "Chang Sui Ning", and this was also her sincerity.

"Is this year's lychees on the way?"

Hearing the emperor's question, the head of the Sigongtai hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, you should have already set off."

This year, due to the war, the transportation of lychees was much delayed.

The Emperor of the Holy Book said: "Please tell me, let the transport messengers go in two directions on the way, split half of it and send it directly to the governor's office in Jiangdu."

The head of Si Gongtai agreed and made arrangements immediately.

It wasn't until he exited the hall that a trace of doubt appeared on the face of the head of the palace. The saint has always been nippy, preferring to kill by mistake, but how could he only treat this Huainan Dao Jiedu envoy without intending to suppress the fear? Say, you value trust so much?

And ordering the transportation envoy to send half of the lychees directly to Jiangdu, this is equivalent to announcing this importance to the world... Does your Majesty want to use this permanent envoy to intimidate and suppress other forces?

The head of Si Gongtai weighed this intention in his mind and did not dare to arrange the transfer of the lychees without any delay.

The head of the palace stage left, and then a young figure entered the palace with his head lowered, bowed and saluted: "I see your majesty..."

The Holy Book Emperor looked at the young man who was thin but had grown taller silently.

Facing the emperor's questioning gaze, the young man hurriedly said: "I heard that your majesty was still in the palace, so I came to remind your majesty that it was time for lunch..."

"The prince is becoming more and more sensible." The Holy Emperor smiled slightly and asked, "It's rare for the eldest princess Xuan'an to return to the capital. As a junior, why didn't you go to greet me?" The prince's face turned pale and his voice was a little uneasy: " I am not familiar with Her Royal Highness the eldest princess..."

"You are the prince of a country, and you must act with the rules and etiquette of a prince." The emperor said: "Today afternoon, you will go out of the palace to pay your respects to the eldest princess."

The prince didn't understand his intention and didn't know what to say for a moment. He was so anxious that he almost cried in his heart - he said that he couldn't understand the true and false words of the saint, but the officials in the East Palace insisted on letting him come. Show more filial piety in front of the saint... Now it's bad!

The prince was at a loss, so he knelt down and said incoherently: "Your Majesty, I am not used to leaving the palace... I am afraid that I may say the wrong thing in front of the eldest princess, which will damage your majesty's face."

The Holy Emperor frowned slightly: "With your appearance, how can I safely entrust you with this great responsibility?"

These words fell in the ears of the prince, as if he was counting down the days to his death. He knocked his head on the ground: "Your Majesty... I am still young and cannot bear the responsibility!"

He never reached the age of ten and continues to say this sentence "My son is still young" to this day.

The thing he fears most is celebrating his birthday, and the second is having new clothes cut. If he could, he would like to be locked up with the four words "son is still young" for the rest of his life.

However, this time, the emperor seemed very dissatisfied with his reaction.

"Zhi'er, you are already fifteen this year." The Holy Book Emperor said slowly, "I am already old, and many things are beyond my ability. It is time to prepare for your succession."

This was something he had never heard before. When the prince heard it, he felt that his little brain was not enough.

He raised his face in astonishment and uneasiness: "Your Majesty, I swear to God that I will never give up..."

However, before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by the emperor: "Get up, you don't have to be so cautious all the time. You have grown up and it's time to show the magnanimity that a prince should have. Otherwise, how can you convince the public."

The prince was so frightened that he didn't dare to say another word. He stood up tremblingly and felt like crying - he really just came to call the saint to eat.

The Holy Emperor stood up from the dragon chair and told the palace people: "Today the prince will have lunch with me."

Seeing the empress walking down the imperial steps, the prince suddenly came to his senses and hurried forward to hold one of the empress' arms.

In the afternoon of that day, two pieces of news came out from the palace.

The first one is about the matter of dealing with South Korean Gong Li Xian.

The second one is about the saint preparing for the prince's wedding.

Both pieces of news were major events of the first level, and the profound meaning revealed by the latter was obviously more worthy of consideration. For a time, people in all walks of life in the capital were flustered by this.

In the meeting hall of the Cui family in Anyifang, some members of the Cui clan frowned and thought, "Could it be that the Ming Dynasty emperor saw the situation as difficult to deal with... really intends to return power to the prince?"

Another tribesman said: "It is said that an hour ago, the prince left the palace and went to the mansion of Princess Xuan'an..."

As the crown prince, leaving the palace to visit him at his residence was almost a public show of wooing him!

They all knew the prince's situation very well. How could the prince dare to do this without the permission of the saint?

The eldest princess, who allowed the prince to win over the clan and take power, is preparing for the prince's wedding... It almost seems like she is preparing for the prince to take power.

In the morning session today, the Empress was forced to make a compromise. Before anyone could think of anything further, the Empress suddenly made a statement of "retreating again and again"... Could it be that she was really old and weak, and had the intention of retreating bravely?

"No, I believe that she is retreating in order to advance." Cui Ju, whose bun has almost turned completely white in just two years, said with determination in his eyes.

Everyone looked towards the head of the family.

"Most of the rebels in the four corners of the country are under the banner of supporting orthodoxy..." Cui Zhidao said: "She is making a show of giving up to the prince at this time, but she is trying to appease everyone. It doesn't matter if she allows the prince to win over all forces, as long as the prince is still controlled by her The difference in control is only in name. ”

The prince's wedding means that the prince has grown up, but the prince's concubine comes from the palace of Zheng Guogong, the family of the empress's confidant.

"This is not a rapid retreat, but a counterattack without hesitation -" Cui Ju's tone seemed to contain understanding and affirmation of this opponent: "There is no chance that this person will have any intention of retreating from now on."

She realized that today's compromise would definitely be the beginning of losing her power, so she did not hesitate to lend back her power to the prince to act as a blind eye, shaking the hearts of the people around her - supporting the prince is always the safest for most people. a shortcut.

"It should be more than that..." After hearing the words of the family leader, some members of the Cui clan quickly reacted: "The prince's wedding is a legitimate opportunity to summon the kings and various military envoys to the capital..."

If things were normal, the kings and various forces might not dare to venture into the capital, but the emperor has made a move to abdicate, and in the face of the wedding ceremony of the "new king in the future," everyone has to think twice..." The existence of the words "the new king in the future" is both a threat and a bait.

For the empress, this was both a test of discrimination and an opportunity to eradicate it.

Cui Ai frowned: "To use the prince as a puppet to this extent, she is really good at making the best use of everything..."

Cui Ju glanced at his eldest son with disgust - what kind of superficial, useless and inappropriate criticism was he saying?

Sensing his father's gaze, Cui Ai hurriedly lowered his head and asked instead: "Father, do you want to remind King Rong to be more careful?"

When the prince gets married, Prince Rong will inevitably be summoned to the capital, but he has to think twice whether he wants to come.

"There is no need to do this." Cui Zhidao said: "The palace of King Yirong may not be able to see through the intentions of Empress Ming, besides-"

Cui Ju looked at his eldest son: "The relationship between my Cui family and Prince Rong's palace has never been so close."

Prince Rong's Mansion made many attempts to woo the Cui family, and the Cui family did not refuse, but Cui Ju could not really make up his mind in the end...

Most of the reasons for Cui Ju's sway came from the previous letter from his eldest grandson who had been exterminated. Ling An believed that Prince Rong's palace was definitely not a good choice.

While the Cui family members were discussing this matter, various parts of the capital were also discussing the matter urgently. However, not everyone was Cui Zhi and would immediately conclude that this was the empress's counterattack.

I didn't mention all my thoughts and desires, but said that in Zheng Guogong's palace, there was a sudden scream, which made several birds on the colorful eaves fly away.

"...Wedding?" Wei Miaoqing's eyes were full of horror, and she pointed at herself: "Me and the prince?!"

"Otherwise." Zheng Guogong sighed worriedly: "Then we can't be father and prince..."

Wei Miaoqing quickly looked at her mother with questioning eyes.

Duan nodded absentmindedly.

(No hurry, no rush, I will write about Li Xian in the next chapter, good night~