The most confused person among them was probably Su Huailing herself. She was shocked to see Jing Xixian, who was always gloomy and could pull out the tendons and skin of others without changing his expression, showing her a very gentle smile. Su Huailing actually didn't even know why she had become like this. She just followed Jing Xixian's instructions, followed the students from other places, lured them to the vicinity of this stall, and occasionally said a few words about how much the students of the Imperial College looked down on students from other places.
Although these students from other places were very united, they were all gathered together in groups at the Lantern Festival today, and they were not very familiar with each other, so it was easy for Su Huailing to blend in. However, there was one thing that was very strange, none of these students from other places noticed that Su Huailing was not originally a member of their group, as if they were blind, and no matter how many loopholes Su Huailing's provocative words were, they seemed to be unable to hear them.
Later, there was a dispute between the Imperial College and students from other places. Su Huailing, an inconspicuous person, quietly withdrew from the crowd. No one noticed her from beginning to end. It is also a legendary thing.
Jing Xixian was quite satisfied with this. He found that Su Huailing had a magical physique, which was that she was very easy to cause trouble. Even among the well-trained Jinyiwei, Su Huailing's unintentional words could sometimes inexplicably stir up the anger among several Jinyiwei. Such a woman is simply a beauty that brings disaster. Staying in the Zhenfu Division is actually very detrimental to the unity of the Jinyiwei. However, Jing Xixian has always been unconventional and found a suitable position for Su Huailing.
Look, she completed today's task very well.
The students of the Imperial College quarreled like street shrews in front of Emperor Jingren. This incident was enough to make the Grand Secretary Lin, who had many students all over the world, lose face. You should know that all the previous Imperial College chief priests were the proud students of Grand Secretary Lin, and once the students of the Imperial College Qingliu faction entered the court, they were basically the students of Grand Secretary Lin. With this incident, Emperor Jingren could start with the Imperial College chief priest and further disintegrate the factions among the civil service groups.
It was a pleasant surprise for Master Li. He had wanted to put a little pressure on the indestructible civil service faction, but he did not expect that Master Li would deliver Prime Minister Li's handle to Emperor Jingren.
Of course, it is impossible for Emperor Jingren to kill Prime Minister Li and Grand Secretary Lin all at once because of such a small matter. He is now unraveling the mystery and dismantling their huge influence in the court bit by bit.
At the beginning, Emperor Jingren needed several important ministers to check and balance each other, but now his power has gradually become consolidated and no one in the court dares to go against his will, so he no longer needs important ministers who can influence the opinions of court officials, and must weaken their power bit by bit.
Looking at the large group of people kneeling in front of him, Emperor Jingren said calmly: "Today is a festive day, I don't want to spoil your interest, let's talk about this matter tomorrow when we go to court."
After saying that, he glanced at Li Xiang and Lin Daxueshi, stood up and left with a group of guards. Lin Daxueshi and Li Xiang, who had originally followed Emperor Jingren on his incognito visit, did not follow him, and they must have stayed to deal with these people. Tan Ge Lao followed for a while, and then left first on the grounds of his old age. He was not afraid that Emperor Jingren would be displeased because he could see that Emperor Jingren, who had achieved his goal, did not want him to follow him at all. If he asked to leave in advance, Emperor Jingren would definitely grant his permission.
All the people who were in the way left, and Emperor Jingren took another snack from the Empress and started eating it. Everything the emperor ate had to be tested for poison. Although these snacks were bought casually outside, it was unlikely that anyone would deliberately poison them, but one still had to be careful. So the Empress licked every snack that Emperor Jingren bought in the name of testing for poison, and the candy man that the little emperor licked just now was licked by her.
In response, Emperor Jingren just glared at the empress and didn't say much.
Prince Huainan followed Emperor Jingren. He always felt that since he said those words, Emperor Jingren looked at him with admiration. Although he didn't know why Emperor Jingren was in a good mood, it was always right to talk to him at this time.
"Brother," Prince Huainan came up and said, "Today is the fifteenth day of the lunar year. I bought a few lanterns. They are not rare, but they are ingeniously made. I want to present these lanterns to my mother in the palace."
Emperor Jingren was in a good mood and nodded slightly: "Of course I have to go visit my mother. You did a great job today."
The King of Huainan was flattered and said, "I am just watching the fun."
"You said that very well," said Emperor Jingren. "If the country is invaded by foreign enemies and its own people still think about fighting among themselves, then the country will only be trampled by the iron hoofs of foreign enemies. Although the students of the Imperial College are not officials, they can see the big picture from the small. If a mere Imperial College is like this, the struggle in the court will be even more intense. I hope that the world will be peaceful and the people will be prosperous, but they only want to have a prosperous career and a rich pocket. It would be great if everyone could do their best to serve the people."
As soon as he finished speaking, someone held his hand. He didn't need to look back to know it was the queen. When he was in a bad mood, the queen would always be by his side, always there.
Although the King of Huainan was a bit stupid, he was still keenly aware that Emperor Jingren was not in a good mood to talk, so he stepped back and said nothing. Emperor Jingren was not in the mood to visit the Lantern Festival anymore, so he returned to the palace.
The palace was brightly lit. Prince Huainan took a few lamps and went to the Cining Palace, while Emperor Jingren returned to the Chengqian Palace, accompanied by only one guard.
After entering the Purple Palace and asking all the palace servants to leave, the guard immediately hugged Emperor Jingren from behind.
"Your Majesty," the Queen said softly, "Your Majesty's wish will surely come true."
Emperor Jingren rested in the Queen's arms, closed his eyes slightly, and had a look of fatigue on his face. He had just rested for fifteen days, but he still looked very tired.
After quietly hugging Emperor Jingren for a while, the empress whispered in his ear: "Let me loosen up your muscles, Your Majesty."
Emperor Jingren half-closed his eyes and frowned slightly: "No."
Every time the queen stretched her muscles, she would end up lying on the bed. After each stretch, not only did she not get any rest, but she would feel even more tired.
"I have to go to court tomorrow." Emperor Jingren said, hinting to the Queen not to act silly.
"I just saw that Your Majesty is so tired, and I wanted you to have a rest." The Queen whispered, slowly unbuttoning Emperor Jingren's clothes.
Emperor Jingren placed his hand on the Queen's hand to symbolically stop her, but in the end he was still carried to the bed by the Queen for a massage.
Fortunately, the Queen knew that he had to attend court the next day and couldn't be too tired, so she moved very gently, and Emperor Jingren was not tossed too hard, and fell asleep leaning on the Queen's arms. When he fell asleep, the fatigue on his face had disappeared, leaving only tranquility.
The queen kissed Emperor Jingren on the face, then hugged him and fell asleep.
After the fifteenth day, everything returned to normal. Emperor Jingren became busy again, and the queen should start to work on the selection of concubines. The happy time before was like stolen. They were carefree together and forgot all the troubles. Now they had to wake up from the dream and face what they had to face.
The queen endured the selection with annoyance. She got a headache whenever she saw the portraits of the beauties. When she thought that she would have to choose the one to sleep with and give birth to a child for the person she liked, she felt that it was really not easy for women in ancient times.
By March, the selection of concubines had not been put on track, and the date was delayed again and again. The court officials who were waiting to give their daughters to Emperor Jingren could not sit still and began to advise him, but Emperor Jingren still looked indifferent. No matter who asked, he said that the Queen was fully responsible for this matter. So the court officials went home and forced their wives to go to the palace to pay respects to the Queen. On New Year's Eve, the wives, who were frightened by the Queen, did not dare to mention the selection of concubines. After entering the palace, they just exchanged a few words and went home in the afternoon to evade their own masters.
Some clever people set their sights on the Queen Mother, who was also anxious about her son's heir, so she went to the Queen. But as soon as the Queen said, "I know the answer," the Queen Mother dared not say anything, and the ladies did not dare to mention the women recommended to her in front of the Queen.
The queen has a mysterious aura in the harem that makes people dare not resist her.
The Queen was not dragging her feet without any preparation. She knew that in a while, something big would happen in the original novel, and no one would be in the mood to participate in the beauty pageant.
Sure enough, in March, the situation along the 800-mile border was urgent, the Nomadic tribe invaded the border, and in order to resist the foreign invasion, the four fathers and sons of the Zhenbei Marquis family, except for the third son Xiao Jinshu who had disabled legs, all died in the battlefield!
This news shocked the court. The Marquis of Zhenbei had guarded Mobei for many years and had suppressed the already fragmented pastoral tribe. The northern border defense line was like an iron barrel. The court officials were all thinking about how to make money from the northern border military pay and never thought that Mobei would fall one day.
Calling the messenger to the imperial study alone, Emperor Jingren said with a sullen face, "Tell me, the war is so intense, why did you only report it now?"
The messenger spoke in a low voice, with a hint of tears in his voice: "Since the war began, the Marquis ordered the military supervisor to draft an edict to ask the court for help. The military supervisor said that there would be one or two such battles every year. The Marquis could solve such a small matter by himself, so why would he need reinforcements from the court. But what the Marquis wanted was not reinforcements at all, but military supplies. The Mu tribe is strong and powerful, while our soldiers are hungry and cold, and their weapons are rusty. How can we defeat them! The war was tense, and the Marquis ordered the military supervisor to draft an edict several times, but he just refused. The military pay allocated by the court every year was exploited by them layer by layer, and the military supervisor did not dare to ask for money. The Marquis had no choice but to order his subordinates to secretly leave the city and rush to the capital for help. But when the subordinates arrived near the imperial city, they received a letter from the flying eagle, saying that the Marquis and three generals were all killed in the battle, and only the third son led the soldiers to fight to the death to prevent the Mu tribe from breaking the city!"
"These corrupt officials!" Emperor Jingren was furious. "How dare they touch the military pay and disaster relief funds! Pass on my order and order the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of War to come to see me!"
It was late at night, and the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of War were dragged out of their beds to see Emperor Jingren overnight. Upon hearing the content of the 800-li urgent message, the two men knelt down, shaking and no longer daring to speak.
The three men discussed the matter all night, and Emperor Jingren did not sleep the whole night. The next day, he presented this important news to the court.