One hundred and eight
The New Year in the palace was not very lively, but as long as Xiao Weixin was there, You Shu felt that there was nothing wrong with it.
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month passed quickly, and everything needed to be rebuilt. Xiao Weixin also officially began to deal with state affairs. The position of prime minister became vacant and was temporarily replaced by Shen Qingyu. Although he was young, his political achievements in the past few years were there. Even if some old officials in the court were dissatisfied, they did not dare to say anything.
On the first day of court, Xiao Weixin swiftly dismissed a bunch of people who were in office but did nothing and acted improperly. He set a new trend in the court and let everyone know that no matter what position he holds, if he is not diligent and conscientious, he will lose his official hat.
For a moment, the entire court fell silent, and no one dared to provoke anymore.
However, some people have made serious suggestions.
"A country cannot live without a mother for a day. The emperor has only been on the throne for a few days, but the harem is still empty. Now is the time to hold a beauty pageant to select the empress, so that the world can be stabilized."
Xiao Weixin heard them suddenly bring up the issue of establishing a queen. Logically speaking, it was reasonable. Since ancient times, new emperors always had a queen, but he didn't. Naturally, the people under him became interested. They all had daughters, so who wouldn't want to seize the opportunity and put their daughter into the harem
"My dear minister, you are right." Xiao Weixin nodded thoughtfully, "The country cannot be without a mother for a day, and the harem should indeed find someone to take charge."
He paused here and said, "However, I have just ascended the throne, and the internal and external troubles of the whole court have not been resolved. I really have no intention of selecting a concubine."
"But I have already decided on the queen."
It’s settled
The court officials below looked at each other, and saw shock and confusion in each other's eyes. They had inquired privately before coming. When the current emperor was still a prince, there was only one concubine in the mansion, and that concubine was divorced because of misconduct. There should be no one around him, so how come there was suddenly a candidate
"Your Majesty, I would like to ask a question. I wonder who the future empress is from?" Someone stood up and asked. There was obviously no news about this before, so where did this empress come from
Xiao Weixin, sitting on the dragon throne and looking down at the ministers with different expressions, replied with a half-smile: "She is not a lady."
"It's a man."
His words were as powerful as a bomb dropped in the court, causing all the ministers to change color. Some of those with weaker mental qualities even dropped their tablets on the spot. Everyone looked at each other again, fearing that they had heard wrongly.
man
If the emperor is not crazy, then they are crazy
Shen Qingyu, who had been prepared for this, sighed deeply.
He knew it would be like this, but this guy was too much of a fool. He didn't even discuss it with the others before suddenly saying it out loud. Those old stubborn people must be scared to death.
Compared to his calmness, equally calm were Yang Qixian, King Qin, King Yong, and Liu Tiezhu who had made contributions in the rebellion and was promoted to General Left. All of them had met You Shu before, and knew to some extent that the emperor had deep feelings for him, so none of them came out to express their opinions and were not surprised at all.
But other court officials did not have such a good ability to accept it. After they realized what was happening, they began to cry and kneel down to beg him to take back his decision.
It's really hard for them to be ministers. The former emperor loved beautiful women and recruited new people into the palace day and night for revelry every night. The new emperor was not lustful, but he did not want women and insisted on choosing a man to be the queen.
It just means that he doesn't take these people's feelings seriously at all.
Xiao Weixin did not have the patience to listen to their tearful kowtows. He simply glanced at them calmly and said in a cold voice, "I have made up my mind. There is no room for change."
"If you have nothing else to do, please leave the court first."
After saying that, he stood up from the dragon throne and walked out calmly, completely not caring about the lives of the people below.
After leaving the hall, the sun had just risen outside. Xiao Weixin thought about going back to have breakfast with You Shu, so he took the carriage back to the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Sure enough, You Shu was already waiting for him after doing his morning exercises. His internal strength had recovered to 70% to 80%. Xiao Weixin took good care of him and was willing to give him all kinds of expensive supplements. His bones recovered very quickly.
He didn't know about the bomb that Xiao Weixin had dropped in the previous dynasty, and he didn't know that because of him, those ministers were ready to risk their lives to make a desperate appeal, and even regarded him as a male vixen who was misleading the emperor.
Xiao Weixin walked over on the snow, looking relaxed. Judging from the smile on his face, he was in a good mood. You Shu looked back at him and also smiled: "Are you back?"
"Yeah." Xiao Weixin walked up to him, "You haven't eaten yet, right?"
You Shu put the sword back to his waist and nodded when he heard it: "Of course I'm waiting for you."
"Some news just came back. Let's talk about it while we eat."
Xiao Weixin is currently busy with government affairs, so the task of receiving intelligence fell to You Shu. The Shadow Guard Camp has not been disbanded yet, and they are all temporarily left in Prince Ling's Mansion, and are still operating step by step. After all, there are still some things that have not been completely dealt with.
"Young Master Zhao sent a message saying that the... the criminal woman is about to give birth in the next two days."
Xiao Weixin stirred the porridge in his hand nonchalantly. He didn't like to be served by too many people when he ate, so the palace servants all retreated far away. Only You Shu stayed by his side. After hearing what he said, he asked, "What did Zhao Shen say?"
You Shu stuffed a dumpling in his mouth and shook his head, "I don't know what he was thinking. The letter didn't say much, only told us that she was going to give birth."
"He has always had his own opinions. Let him be." Xiao Weixin said calmly, "Since he is unwilling to say more, he must have thought it through."
You Shu hesitated for a while, then suddenly sighed, "But if that woman really gave birth to a child, and they had this relationship, I'm afraid Master Zhao wouldn't have the heart to punish her."
Xiao Weixin seemed to remember something and shook his head silently, "Let's eat."
He did not mention the matter of establishing a queen in the court this morning, as he was thinking of finding a suitable opportunity to talk about it, fearing that Xiao Shu would not agree.
On the 20th day of the first lunar month, the traitor Xia Maoan and his followers were dragged to Caishikou, paraded through the streets and executed on the spot. It is said that during the parade, the people, who had long been extremely angry, blocked both sides of the road and threw vegetable leaves and rotten eggs into the prison van to vent their hatred for being abused by the Xia family for many years.
On the twenty-first day of the first lunar month, on a farm far outside the city.
Queen Mother Xia spent several months peacefully taking care of her pregnancy in the farm. With her lover by her side, she had no worries at all. She even forgot to contact her brother and son. She was as happy as a carefree girl. She was about to give birth, and although she was no longer of childbearing age, she was delighted to give birth to a child for her lover.
In the early morning before dawn, her stomach began to ache and amniotic fluid flowed all over the bed, which was a sign of delivery.
The doctor who had been on standby for a long time rushed into the house with the box and the midwife, while Master Yusheng sat beside the stone table outside the house, drinking tea and listening to the heart-wrenching screams of the woman in the house. There was no emotion on his face, and he looked so cold that he didn't seem like the woman inside was going through a hell of a time to have children for him.
The sun rose from the east and lasted until noon, but the noise inside was still very loud and the woman's screams of pain refused to stop. He could even hear her calling "Sheng Lang" over and over, as if that was her salvation at the moment.
Yu Sheng continued to drink her tea leisurely, as if she didn't hear anything.
It was not until the afternoon that the sound of a baby crying was finally heard in the house.
Yu Sheng looked up and saw that the snow on the branches had melted away. Water was dripping on the ground. The doctor came out of the house covered in blood and walked to him and whispered, "Young Master... has given birth."
"Yes." Yu Sheng nodded, without even asking whether it was a boy or a girl, "Go down."
The doctor didn't dare to ask more questions and left quickly with the box.
Yu Sheng sat outside for a while before he got up and walked into the house. When he opened the curtain, he saw the woman on the bed, who had just experienced a life-and-death ordeal, sleeping soundly and exhaustedly. The corners of her mouth were cracked and her eyes were bruised. She looked exhausted.
In the cradle not far from her, a newborn Ying Er was sleeping, wrapped in a red swaddling cloth.
Yu Sheng stood in front of the cradle, took just one look, and then let the wet nurse who was serving her take the baby away.
When the Queen Mother woke up the next morning, the room was so quiet that no sound could be heard. She coughed lightly and called softly, "Sheng Lang."
Through the gauze bed curtains, she could vaguely see her lover sitting at the table with his back to her. Seeing his familiar figure, she felt relieved. For some reason, she had just had a terrible nightmare in which her brother and son died tragically. After waking up from the dream, she was still a little scared.
"Sheng Lang?"
Seeing that the man didn't move, the Queen Mother called out again, feeling somewhat confused.
Yu Sheng finally moved and slowly moved sideways.
The midday sun came in through the half-open window. Yu Sheng was sitting in the shade, and she seemed to be wiping something in her hand. With the reflection, the empress dowager could see that it seemed to be a long sword.
For some reason, although it was a warm scene, she felt inexplicably creepy in her heart, "Sheng Lang, what are you doing?"
"Where are our children?"
Yu Sheng slowly wiped the blade of the sword clean with a handkerchief, and then placed the sword on the table before replying, "Do you want to see it? I'll have someone bring it to you."
After a while, the nurse really came in with the child. The Queen Mother happily took the child in her arms, teasing him for a while before laughing and saying, "It's a boy. Sheng Lang has an heir."
At this time, she looked like an ordinary woman, happy that her husband had an offspring. She was completely different from the arrogant and vicious empress dowager.
Yu Sheng stood up and walked over slowly. She stood beside the bed and looked at the baby in the cradle quietly. She did not say a word for a long time. It was so quiet that it was scary.
The Queen Mother sensed something strange and looked up at him.
Her Shenglang stood in front of her with his back to the sunlight. His expression was unfathomable and could not be seen clearly, but she felt a chill in her heart. She always felt that he looked like a terrible executioner at the moment.
The next second, Yu Sheng finally raised her hand and gently stroked the baby's face, as if sighing: "It's a lovely child."
The Queen Mother smiled, but before she could say anything, she heard him continue.
"Unfortunately, he is an evil seed."
The Queen Mother's smile froze on her face.
The next moment, Yu Sheng took Ying Er from her arms and threw him hard onto the collapsed bricks.
The baby, who was babbling just now, suddenly became silent.
Yu Sheng's eyes were red, like a wild ghost from hell.
Taihou was too late to react and could only watch her newborn baby being thrown to death by his own father. She suddenly screamed in heart-wrenching pain, like an ordinary mother who had lost her child, and almost went crazy.
She even ignored the fact that she was weak after giving birth, climbed down from the bed, hugged the swaddling clothes and screamed, with her hair disheveled and her whole body trembling.
Yu Sheng stood aside and looked at her coldly, without any regret.
"Does it hurt?"
"That's right."
"Back then, when you killed 78 people in my Zhao family, did you ever think about today?"
Yu Sheng raised her head, the smile on her lips was as cold as snow that had not melted for a thousand years.