one hundred and nine
When Yu Sheng came out of the house, the long sword in his hand was stained with blood. He walked down the stairs step by step, and the blood dripping from the tip of the sword spilled all the way to the stone table where he had sat before.
He stood in the yard for a while, suddenly threw away the sword in his hand, looked up at the clear blue sky, and the warm sunlight sprinkled on his body, making him feel very warm.
The news soon spread back to the capital, and You Shu naturally knew about it.
"He... actually did this." You Shu found it hard to believe. After all, killing one's own children was a horrifying thing to say to others. Zhao Shen was too cruel.
Xiao Weixin was not very surprised, and gently patted his hand to comfort him: "If you knew what he had experienced, you would understand that when a person is desperate and extremely hateful, he can do anything."
You Shu turned his head and listened to him quietly.
The Zhao family was originally a family of scholars and had been rooted in Beijing for many years. Three generations of scholars were all top-ranked scholars. When the accident happened, Zhao Shen was only seventeen years old and was planning to take the imperial examination the following year, hoping to bring honor to the family like his brother Zhao Qi.
The Zhao family has always been good at producing young talents, especially Zhao Qi, the third place winner that year, who was so stunning that the legend of "the Jade-faced Third Place Winner" was still circulating in the streets for many years afterwards. Xiao Weixin also vaguely remembered his demeanor in the three tests in front of the palace. He was such a handsome man that even he had to admit defeat.
Zhao Qi was not only extremely handsome and romantic, but also extremely talented. If it weren't for his outstanding appearance, he would have been the top scholar in the imperial examination.
At the age of twenty, he won the title of Tanhualang. It is reasonable to say that he should have been promoted step by step in the court, but there are always various kinds of suffering in the world. At that time, the palace examination was the first imperial examination after Xiao Weishen ascended the throne. Empress Dowager Xia was also behind the curtain. She was fascinated by the gentle and elegant gentleman at first sight. With her wild personality, she naturally had some ideas. After returning, she began to inquire about it, and then gave Zhao Qi a test and let him enter the palace to serve.
Zhao Qi was a gentleman from a scholarly family. How could he obediently serve the empress dowager in the harem? Therefore, he flatly refused and refused to obey. Originally, this was just the empress dowager's wishful thinking, but it happened that the Zhao family was a thorn in Xia Maoan's side at the time, because the Zhao family had always been a relatively upright and honest style in the court. Zhao Qi's father was the Minister of Works and had argued with Xia Maoan in the court many times, which always made Xia Maoan suffer. Therefore, he had long been determined to get rid of the Zhao family.
It just so happened that the Queen Mother also wanted to get Zhao Qi, so the two wolves and tigers conspired together to find a trumped-up charge against him and overthrew the entire Zhao family overnight. Zhao Qi refused to surrender even after being imprisoned, so the Queen Mother threatened his wife Liu. Liu was also a strong-willed person, so she took her three-year-old son and committed suicide. Zhao Qi lost his beloved wife and young son, and died in prison by hitting his head against the wall.
Later, the Zhao family fell completely.
By the time Xiao Weixin got the news, it was too late. He only had time to protect Zhao Shen, who had returned from studying abroad, but he was unable to protect anyone in the Zhao family. In addition to Zhao Qi and his son, Zhao Shen's childhood sweetheart, Yunniang, who had been married for less than a year, also died under the butcher knife of the Xia brothers and sisters.
"Poor Yunniang, she was less than three months pregnant when she died." Xiao Weixin sighed, "When I brought Zhao Shen out, he looked like a madman, like a wandering soul."
"After all, he was only seventeen years old. His family was destroyed and he witnessed the tragic death of his beloved. It was not easy for him to survive."
As You Shu listened to his words, he felt more and more disgusted with Xia Maoan and his sister: "The sins they committed cannot be washed away even in the eighteen levels of hell in the underworld. It's just that the Zhao family is too pitiful. Such a good family has been destroyed like this."
Who could have imagined that this was just the genocide caused by a woman's lust.
"So, Zhao Shen has made all the preparations." Xiao Weixin whispered, "He didn't kill her the whole time, just to let her give birth to the child, so that he could kill the child in front of her and let her taste the pain of losing her own flesh and blood."
You Shu couldn't help but shudder, but couldn't help but sympathize with Zhao Shen. Being forced to this point, maybe he was not a normal person at heart.
"In a few days, he will come back to Beijing to see me, and then I will let you meet him too." Xiao Weixin said, "If he is still willing to join the government, I will make good arrangements for him."
You Shu, however, felt that Mr. Zhao had probably lost all desire to be an official. To be able to do such a tragic thing, he must have been prepared to perish along with his enemies.
But I still couldn't help sighing.
Because Xiao Weixin announced in the court yesterday that he wanted to establish a male queen, the whole court was in an uproar. Some old ministers wrote memorials to the emperor overnight, but Xiao Weixin threw them aside without even looking at them, thinking they were too long-winded.
So today, just after the court session, Xiao Weixin was talking to You Shu about Zhao Shen when he heard that an old minister had come to pay a visit.
It was easy to know why. Xiao Weixin frowned and said, "No."
"Why not?" You Shu disagreed, "You can't be like that dog emperor who ignores state affairs. Since he came to see me, he must have something important to tell me. How can you have this attitude?"
Xiao Weixin raised his hand and suddenly pinched his face, saying with a smile: "Do you really want to see it?"
"It's not what I want to see." You Shu pulled his hand off in confusion, "You have to be a good king."
Xiao Weixin raised his eyebrows and said with a half-smile, "Okay."
After a while, those old ministers were really brought in. You Shu wanted to avoid them, but Xiao Weixin stubbornly pulled him by the hand and asked him to sit down. He drank his tea slowly, looking at the old men kneeling on the ground, and didn't speak for a long time.
As soon as the old ministers came in, they knelt on the floor tiles. Although it was spring, the ground was still cold. Such old people had to kneel straight like that. You Shu was worried that they could not bear it, so he signaled the young eunuch standing nearby to get cushions to distribute to the adults.
After he listened silently for a while, he finally understood what they were talking about. You Shu widened his eyes in shock and stared at Xiao Weixin. He really couldn't believe that this guy actually wanted him to be the queen, and announced it in the court without even consulting him!
Xiao Weixin noticed his gaze, looked up and smiled at him gently, "What's wrong, Xiaoshu?"
What's wrong…
You Shu had a terrible headache. No wonder those old ministers were kneeling there in tears and glaring at him fiercely, as if they had seen a beautiful woman who was the source of trouble. He was also wondering how he had provoked these people. It turned out that the source was here.
This is too ridiculous. How can a man be made queen
You Shu blamed him but was secretly happy at the same time.
After the old ministers finished crying, Xiao Weixin calmly put down his teacup and asked, "Are you done?"
"Your Majesty, please think twice!" The oldest old man with gray hair was sobbing miserably, as if his own grandson was going to marry a man.
Xiao Weixin was annoyed by these old men. Before he even said anything, they started crying as if their entire family had died. They were so pedantic and annoying.
"I told you earlier that I have made up my mind. Don't you understand?" He slammed the table heavily. "It's unlucky to come to me so early in the morning to mourn."
Several old ministers were old stubborn people of the Qingliu faction. They saw that the new emperor was an ambitious man and thought that Daliang had finally welcomed a wise ruler. They were determined to assist him wholeheartedly until their death. But who would have thought that this wise ruler would enthrone a man as his queen as soon as he came to power? Such an absurd thing would still be shocking even if it were told to others a hundred years later.
Male Queen... Is the Emperor crazy
You Shu looked at those old ministers who kept crying and trying to persuade him, and he felt a little confused. He opened his mouth several times and wanted to leave first, but then he remembered that Xiao Weixin would have to face these guys alone after he left, so he had to endure and continue to sit there, but did not intervene or say a word.
No matter what he said at this time, these old ministers would probably point their fingers at him immediately, so there was no need for him to be stupid.
Xiao Weixin had no intention of doing anything to these old men, but hearing them cry for a long time was really annoying. "If you want to cry, then keep crying here. It would be best if you wear out all the floor tiles. Then see if I will change my mind."
After saying that, he stood up, took You Shu's hand and left.
After walking for a while, Xiao Weixin turned around and said to the group of palace servants following behind him: "Let's go."
The palace servants did not dare to disobey, and they all lowered their heads and left carefully. Only You Shu and him were left in the imperial garden.
After everyone left, You Shu coughed lightly and said awkwardly, "You... want me to be the queen?"
"Yeah." Xiao Weixin nodded as a matter of course, "You don't want to?"
You Shu was a little annoyed, "This is not a matter of willingness or not. Has there ever been a man who became a queen since ancient times?"
"Just because there has been no such thing since ancient times, does that mean there will be no such thing in the future?" Xiao Weixin said disdainfully, "Then I will set this precedent!"
You Shu was silent for a while. "No one will agree, right? Although those old ministers look old, there must be more people who oppose them behind them. You just ascended the throne, do you want to risk the disapproval of the world?"
"Just tell me whether you are willing or not." Xiao Weixin frowned, and roughly pushed You Shu under the flower corridor, holding him in his arms with both hands, and glared at him fiercely: "Don't worry about the rest."
It’s not that You Shu doesn’t want to, but… “What if this matter of the male queen gets out?”
He originally thought that he might be entangled with him like this for the rest of his life without any status, but who could have thought that this guy was so bold that he even wanted to be his queen. It sounded too mysterious, and even novels would not dare to write it this way.
Xiao Weixin snorted and suddenly said, "You should know that the reason I allowed you to stay by my side before was because I needed a good right-hand man to help me."
"But now that the throne has been decided, I need a queen by my side who can stand shoulder to shoulder with me and watch the country go by."
"A country cannot be without an heir for a day. You should understand that this position cannot remain vacant forever."
"If it's not you, it will be someone else."
Xiao Weixin stared at him closely and asked, "If you don't do it, are you going to watch another woman take that seat?"
In fact, Xiao Weixin was lying to him. Even if the position of Queen was not Xiao Shu's, no other woman would be allowed to sit on it. But he saw Xiao Shu's worries and couldn't help but force him.
"You dare." You Shu was really provoked and looked at him coldly: "You can try."
I can tear the top of your head off.
Xiao Weixin smiled with satisfaction, leaned over and kissed him on the lips, "That's right."
"You don't have to worry about anything. I have already arranged everything."
"Let them make a scene if they want to. It doesn't matter whether they live or die."
You Shu listened to him comforting himself and sighed deeply in his heart.
It looks like this guy is serious.