Linzhi

That day when Emperor Jiayou went south, princes, nobles, and descendants of aristocratic families followed the emperor, but not all of them followed all the way to Xiangzhou, and some went their separate ways after leaving Chang'an, or went to their family's manor in the outskirts of Chang'an to take refuge temporarily.

Later, the Turkic people entered the city, and even the outskirts of Chang'an were swept up. Some people failed to escape the bad luck, and their families were destroyed.When the Turkic people went north and were sure that they would not come back, those high-ranking officials who had escaped by chance reunited in the capital one after another.

The dragons had no leader, and there was chaos until Queen Pei returned.

Empress Pei is a capable person. Her biological mother died young, and her father was away in battle. She supported a family at a young age and took care of it inside and out. Emperor Wende also liked her ability back then, so he would Hiring her as the official wife of Emperor Jiayou proved that Empress Pei did not disappoint Emperor Wende's expectations. She has done a solid job in the position of empress, which is remarkable, and anyone should call her a good empress.

Back then, the empress' son died not long after he was born. At that time, the battle between the crown prince and King Ji became increasingly fierce. Although the cause of the little prince's death was thoroughly investigated afterwards, everyone privately speculated that there might be other reasons for the death of the little prince. Strangely enough, now that Empress Pei has returned with her newborn prince, those courtiers who were staying in Chang'an, Xun Jiu, came out to welcome her, and surrounded Empress Pei again, asking her to come forward to preside over the grand plan.

Empress Pei found a day and gathered everyone together.

The palace city was plundered by the Turks, and it was in a mess, and the maids were scattered. Naturally, they would not be able to move in for a while. Empress Pei went to her natal Qin State’s mansion before she got married, but there were still people cleaning it. It's old, and I don't bother to go in, so the government house can be preserved. Although the inside is old, it can still live temporarily after tidying up.

Right now, all the people who were invited were standing in the hall of Duke Qin's mansion. Due to the large number of people, the hall was almost packed, and it was almost impossible to sit down.

As expected of being a general, Empress Pei had just arrived in Chang'an the day before, and now she wakes up looking refreshed, without any trace of fatigue from the journey.

When many people saw her, they immediately remembered the scene when Emperor Jiayou was there.

Emperor Jiayou is naturally not a Mingjun, and the world has fallen into the current situation, and he has more responsibilities, but Emperor Jiayou is not without merits, he is lenient and gentle, even if he makes a mistake, he will easily Not being exiled and beheaded, everyone didn't think so in the past, but now thinking about it, things are different and people are different, and they feel sad.

Many people have already bowed their heads and wiped their tears.

Seeing this, Empress Pei also sighed: "It's hard for you!"

With just a few words, some elderly people burst into tears.

"God bless you, I have been looking forward to it. I have neither betrayed nor died under the butcher's knife of the Turkic people. I finally look forward to the return of the empress, but it is a pity that your majesty..."

Empress Pei naturally wanted to comfort her with gentle words: "I know your loyalty. Your Majesty's spirit in heaven is also comforting. At present, people in Chang'an are panic-stricken. I, a woman, have no choice but to take charge of the overall situation. However, I have received news that King An is leading people to Hurrying here, I think we will arrive in a few days, and then I ask you to treat King An with the loyalty you have shown to the late emperor today."

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, not knowing how to answer for a while.

Empress Pei was not in a hurry, she ran her fingers along the jade tassels tied around her waist, as if she wanted to count all the silk ribbons on it.

"Since ancient times, the inheritance of the emperor's heirs has always been based on the succession. Now that the empress has given birth to a prince, the new emperor should follow the orthodoxy!" A small character, but the former important minister of the court, who died, who fled, who turned to the thief, Chen Thou thought to himself that he had a bright future, and couldn't wait to speak before others.

While speaking, he did not forget to secretly raise his head to carefully observe the changes in Empress Pei's expression.

The other party was neither happy nor unhappy, very calm.

Although it is said that those who are in the upper ranks must not show their emotions or anger, but very few of them actually do it. What does Empress Pei's expression mean?It just shows that she actually wants her son to be enthroned in her heart, but she can't say it herself and has to wait for others to say it.

Chen Zhao was overjoyed, thinking he had hit Queen Pei's heart.

Empress Pei looked around the crowd, unable to distinguish between emotions and anger: "You think so too?"

The crowd remained silent.

At this time, another person said loudly: "I think that the turmoil in the world has not stopped, and it is not a good thing that there should be an elderly king who presides over the overall situation and appeases the public opinion, and who is less suspicious of the country!"

Everyone was shocked when they heard the words, and they followed the reputation, but saw that after the other party finished speaking, they did not shrink their heads, but straightened their backs, and looked straight ahead without avoiding it.

His name is Fan Zhao, and he is the nephew of Fan Yi, Shangshu of the Ministry of War. At first, Fan Yi voluntarily stayed and defended the city with He Xiu. Later, He Xiu planned to assassinate Fu Nian, and Fan Yi did not leave, so he chose to die with his full name. , his corpse was restrained by his nephew Fan Zhao.

Empress Pei also recognized him, so she asked, "Where is Fan Shangshu's body buried now?"

Fan Zhao said sadly: "Thank you for remembering, the capital fell to the enemy at that time, and I couldn't transport my uncle's body back to my hometown, so I had to bury it in the nearby suburbs in a hurry, and the weeds alone in the tomb will just be used."

Empress Pei said softly: "Fan Shangshu would rather die than surrender. He is proud. The court will naturally remember his achievements, but how to reward and commend him is not up to me. When King An arrives, you can ask for instructions."

Hearing what he said, it seemed that he was willing to give up the throne and support King An's ascension to the throne?

Everyone was in doubt, and Chen Tiao was even more anxious, and hurriedly said: "Madam, when the wind and rain are turbulent, we should make a big decision earlier. King An is on the way, and it is not known when he will arrive. Since the prince is here, everything will come naturally." It's a matter of course."

He thought that Empress Pei was still pretending to be confused, just like the emperor asked his ministers to ask for three resignations before he was willing to take the throne, Empress Pei might also be putting on airs and waiting for everyone to express their views.

Chen Cho thought this way, many people present also thought this way, and there were some voices of agreement at the moment.

Fan Zhao secretly sneered, and was about to make a sound when he heard the sound of a baby crying, approaching from a distance.

Everyone raised their heads and saw a young monk coming in with a baby in his arms, followed by a young monk. They were all baffled for a while.

The young monk didn't even look at them, he just said to Empress Pei: "Shishi Lang looked around and then started crying. He must be looking for his mother!"

He was sweating profusely and flustered, apparently inexperienced with raising children.

Empress Pei smiled and said, "Bring him here."

Strange to say, once the baby arrived in Queen Pei's arms, it gradually stopped crying, sucking its fingers, and its eyeballs were rolling around, it was indescribably cute.

Everyone looked at the baby, then at the two monks, their thoughts turned, and they guessed everything.

But there are also smart people who have a flash of inspiration and think of the fourth prince who claimed to be a monk and disappeared without a trace.

Empress Pei held the baby, and when he calmed down, she handed it over to the maid beside her, and then asked everyone: "Do you want to support this child who cries a lot and can't even speak?"

Everyone was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to answer.

"Fan Zhao is right. The chaos in the world today is uncertain, and there should be a wise monarch to reinvigorate the situation and clean up the country. Let such a child be the emperor. He doesn't understand everything, so he must entrust the government to the emperor. Others, or let me listen to the government behind the curtain, I ask myself that my knowledge is limited and I am far inferior to King An, can you recommend a pillar of government who can far surpass King An?" The corners of Queen Pei's mouth curled up, her eyes were clear, everyone There seemed to be no hiding place for her thoughts.

Someone couldn't help whispering: "I heard that Zhang Xiang fell into the enemy's hands, and he was lucky to survive. When he comes back, he can just assist the new king..."

Empress Pei heard it, and sneered: "Zhang Song is indeed not serious, and his qualifications are sufficient, but he has neither Fan Yining nor the ability to save the country and assist the emperor. If he has, why was the late emperor forced to go south in a hurry? He is still in the hands of the traitor now, and I don’t know if he has anything to do with the traitor, but why do you propose this? Could it be that you want to set eyes and ears for Li thief?!”

She spoke so seriously, others naturally did not dare to say anything, even the group of important officials who were kidnapped by Li Kuan and went south did not dare to mention it.

But Empress Pei hadn't finished speaking yet. She pointed to the baby who was being held in the arms of the maid and said: "This child can't speak, he is too immature. Even if he becomes emperor, he can only be a puppet emperor who is blinded by others. The situation in the world will only be worse than it is now, and everyone present, as well as me, and this kid, are sinners through the ages! If anyone wants to harm me like this, I might as well throw him to death here right now. Make a clean picture!"

These words were spoken harshly, and even worse, everyone in the room did not change their expressions, and hurriedly knelt down and said that they did not dare.

No one would have thought that Empress Pei would be so cruel that she even said the words of throwing him to death with her own hands in order to prevent others from supporting her son!

If other people know that their own son can be the emperor and that they can be the empress dowager, they will be overjoyed. Empress Pei is fine, she does things completely unreasonably, which makes people have nothing to say.

Now that the matter has come to this point, Empress Pei's attitude is so clear, no matter how everyone disagrees, they can only press it down.

Seeing that Empress Pei shocked these people to the point of speechlessness, He Xi couldn't help but be amazed: "Empress Mother's action can be said to be a bottom line, and the expressions on the faces of those people when they left are really ugly compared to each other!"

He called himself the poor monk for a while, and the empress for a while. The people around him had long been used to his inconsequential addressing, and the little monk Mingchen just glanced at him silently, and didn't bother to correct him.

Empress Pei smiled and said: "Don't be harsh, they think I want to welcome but refuse, and I will not be clean in the future."

She had already given birth to a legitimate son, as Chen Cho said, even if she wanted to let her son ascend the throne, it was justifiable, but throughout the ages, how many people died of being overwhelmed, Empress Pei was able to survive such a huge temptation, Still keeping a clear head and firmly supporting He Rong's position, He Xi admired it very much.

"But these people have different ideas, will they secretly obstruct and make things difficult for third brother?" He Xi was a little worried.

Although he doesn't like reading, and he never thought about going to battle to kill enemies or govern the country, but these years of traveling around the world are enough for a frizzy boy to grow up. He Xi also agrees with Empress Pei's point of view. Sorry for the second round of turmoil, and looking at the inside and outside, only He Rong can cope with such a situation.

Empress Pei shook her head. From being in charge of housework in the mansion when she was a girl, to becoming the lord of the six palaces, the empress of a country, she couldn't understand people's hearts very clearly.

"No, they just want to speculate to make a fortune from the dragon. Seeing that things can't be done, they will naturally rest their minds. When Sanlang enters the capital, I am afraid that they will be the ones who are eager to follow him."

Just as he was saying this, someone from outside reported that King An was only a few miles away and would be entering the city soon.

He Xi shrank his neck, just now in front of other people, all the indifferent demeanor of an eminent monk disappeared in smoke.

"It's over, I have to find a place to hide, otherwise the third brother will beat me up first if he sees me!"

Ming Chen curled his lips, but didn't make a sound.

Seeing this, He Xi pinched his cheek in dissatisfaction: "Quickly help me think of a way!"