Compared to the misery of Prince Heng, his brothers were so happy that they were almost holding a banquet to celebrate. Of course, they still had to keep a straight face and not reveal any clues. It was obvious that their father must be in a bad mood at this time. If they were caught, there was no telling what the result would be. If they were implicated for this reason, it would be too unfair.
However, after such a big thing happened, the sword that had been hanging over everyone's head was finally removed, making those who were under great pressure feel relieved. At the same time, another fight would begin, and no one would care about not mocking and ridiculing King Heng. After all, the Ming family fell, and the position of Minister of War was vacant. Of course, it was not just that, there were many people who were deeply involved with the Ming family, and these people would inevitably be affected. With a little effort, they might be moved away.
Now that Prince Duan has regained his sight, they all know that their chances of sitting on the throne are slim. However, the situation is so dangerous this time, and their father was able to escape death. Who knows how long he can live? To be honest, the longer their father lives, the more advantages the younger he is. There are still many days to come, so there is no reason to give up easily.
Moreover, Prince Duan is not Prince Heng. His brothers below him all believe that as long as they do not touch his bottom line, they will not kill him even if he sits on the throne in the future. Therefore, they would feel sorry for themselves if they do not jump around and fight for it.
During the Qi Dynasty, military generals only had the power to lead troops but not the power to mobilize them. The power to mobilize troops belonged to the Ministry of War, and Emperor Xuanren did not emphasize civil officials over military officials. It can be seen that the power of the Ministry of War was very important. After the position of the emperor became vacant, any prince who had ambitions for the throne would have no reason not to fight for it.
However, due to the importance of the position, not many people are truly qualified to sit on it. Normally, in order to avoid the concentration of power to mobilize and command troops, this position will not be held by a military general. There are also two levels of grades between the assistant minister and the minister, and the possibility of a direct promotion from an assistant minister to a minister is also very small. Therefore, there are basically two possibilities: the position can be held by other ministers, who will then select other ministers separately, or officials can be directly transferred back to the imperial city from local areas.
Usually it is the second type. Senior officials are also a process of reserve and selection. Those who have the potential, ability or background will go to the local areas at the appropriate time to improve their qualifications and political achievements. Of course, there are also people who rely on their own strong strength from the beginning and climb up step by step - just like Cheng Wenzheng in Wen Renying's previous life - but there are so many local officials. Even as the top leader, the total number is far more than the number of bigwigs in the imperial city. Even for the same position, not everyone is qualified. It is chosen from several people. Whether you can climb to this position depends on the game between all parties.
In a short time, Hengwang was thrown aside. The man who had been keeping his tail between his legs started shaking his tail again and made all kinds of active operations. Even King Heng, who seemed to have calmed down, could not remain indifferent. Even though he knew that everything Emperor Xuanren did might be a warning to him, he still did not want to give up after having come to this point.
After all, the power he cultivated was not just on the surface. In fact, among the popular candidates this time, there was one who secretly worked for him. Perhaps he had been removed from the list of heirs to the throne now, but what if in the end, his father had to give the throne to him
After this disaster, King Heng was on the brink of collapse, despair and panic. The matter had settled, but he had not completely hit rock bottom. After learning from his mistakes, his heart calmed down. He was no longer so wanton and ostentatious, and he was no longer the target of everyone. Instead, it was an excellent refinement of his character. Sometimes, the dormant, ambitious beast is more terrifying.
It is not yet known what will become of King Heng.
Emperor Xuanren now pays more attention to his health. He used to take his pulse every month, but now he does it three times a month. Moreover, Xiaocao has become the person in charge, and no one else can touch this pulse case.
After Xiaocao entered the palace, she was inevitably kept by Emperor Xuanren. Emperor Xuanren was still very interested in teaching Xiaocao how to play chess, although the teaching process was probably a process of Xiaocao being abused.
Emperor Xuanren was quite ruthless in attacking his adopted daughter, but Xiaocao didn't care much about it. In her eyes, there didn't seem to be much difference between losing once and losing countless times.
In the eyes of Emperor Xuanren, this was considered "lack of ambition" and she was inevitably "scolded". Xiaocao also listened to the scolding obediently, but she basically didn't hear it.
What could Emperor Xuanren do? He was helpless and nodded at her vaguely, "You, you..."
The grass smiled but said nothing.
However, Xiaocao did not come to the palace just to check on Emperor Xuanren's pulse. She also had something important to do. "Father, I feel that the Imperial Hospital is a bit conservative and not conducive to..."
Emperor Xuanren waved his hand and said, "Originally I wanted you to join the Imperial Hospital, but since you are a girl, it is not suitable. Your status is different now, and you have an unshakable position in medical skills. I will hand over the Imperial Hospital to you. You can do whatever you want. I give you absolute power."
Xiaocao was speechless. It turned out that this person had already planned this out. However, this was also a good thing as it would greatly benefit her plan.
"I will not let you down, father."
Xiao Cao's temperament is actually very easy to see through, and Emperor Xuanren can almost guess what she wants to do. "An Guo, don't worry too much, just do your best. I know your intentions, so the result is not that important. However, I also believe that you can do well."
"Thank you, Father."
Not long after, a palace maid came to report that the palace maid beside Concubine Lu in the harem wanted to see her for something.
Xiaocao has always felt that Emperor Xuanren was a good emperor, but there was a prerequisite, that is, not talking about his harem. Although, no matter whether the emperor had feelings for the women in the harem or not, their existence was an inevitability of the current background, but Xiaocao always felt uncomfortable with this kind of thing, so she stayed away from his harem as much as possible.
Now, the grass lowered its head, looked at its nose with its eyes and its heart with its nose, pretending to know nothing.
Emperor Xuanren didn't care and just called the person in.
The person who came in was a palace maid. Xiaocao couldn't tell her rank or anything like that, but since she dared to serve the emperor, she must be at least very useful.
After greeting Emperor Xuanren and Xiaocao, she spoke with great joy, "Your Majesty, the aunt beside her diagnosed that Concubine Jieyu is pregnant for almost two months."
"Oh?" Emperor Xuanren's eyes were also filled with joy. Adding a child to the family was always a happy event. In fact, Emperor Xuanren had not had a child for several years. He already had many sons and daughters, so he didn't care about this. Suddenly, there was good news in the harem, which was also a sign of a man's ability. "There is a reward. I will go and see it tonight."
The maid should have left at this point, but she hesitated and glanced at Xiao Cao carefully, "Your Majesty, it's just that the Concubine is feeling a little unwell, and would like to ask Princess Anguo..."
"Are all the people in the Imperial Hospital dead? Or is your Concubine Lu dying? She is so rich and noble that she needs An Guo to condescend to her for such a small matter? If she is dying, I will reluctantly let An Guo go there." The joy on his face disappeared completely, his expression was indifferent, and he was intimidating without being angry.
The palace maid was so frightened that her face turned pale, and she immediately knelt down, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please forgive me, the Concubine is just feeling a little uncomfortable during pregnancy, it's not, it's not..."
"roll."
The palace maid hurriedly retreated, not daring to delay for even a moment.
Xiaocao declined to comment on this.
Emperor Xuanren spoke first, "There are not too many women in the harem, but not too few either. If you start carelessly today, you will be blamed for any headaches or troubles in the future, so you don't have to pay attention to them."
There are really only a handful of people who could be explained in this way by Emperor Xuanren.
Xiao Cao nodded, then smiled and said, "I also want to congratulate my father."
Emperor Xuanren waved his hand nonchalantly. The little joy he had felt was gone forever because of that stupid woman's inappropriate thoughts.
"An Guo, go back today and tell your father that I intend to let him take over as the Minister of Rites."
Xiao Cao was stunned, and then shocked again, "Acting as the Minister of Rites? Father, isn't this a bit inappropriate? Has the current Minister of Rites retired? Even so, my father..."
"Don't meddle in official affairs, little girl. Besides, he is only acting, not promoted. He is still the Minister of Rites."
Xiao Cao was a little confused, "Father, if that's the case, why did you tell me?" Besides, wasn't there a lot of noise recently about the position of Minister of War? How did the matter of Minister of Rites come up again? If the old man really wanted to retire, there wouldn't be no news at all. Oh, no, maybe it just hasn't been widely publicized yet, and she doesn't know yet.
"I am happy, I am pleased."
Okay, no one can refute your words. "I understand." But this time, her father was directly pushed to the forefront. She heard that he was already high-profile enough because of her. She really wanted to ask him to be quiet, but she saw that he was obviously unwilling to say anything more about this matter. It was a good thing that her father got a "promotion", but Xiaocao felt a little depressed. Others were cheating her father, and she felt that she was being "cheated" by her father.
Originally, Wenren Taibo still wanted to climb up a level, and after a few years, he would go to the local area to gain experience, and maybe he would have the possibility of becoming a Shangshu and joining the cabinet. However, after Xiaocao was adopted as the daughter of Emperor Xuanren and was named a princess, with an outrageously high salary, Wenren Taibo gave up the idea and planned to stay in the position of Shilang until he retired when he was ready. He was very open-minded and did not feel that his daughter had ruined his career. In fact, Wenren Taibo's current honor and favor had already put him on the highest level, and he did not have to work too hard, so why not do it? It was really good.
So, in the evening, Xiaocao told him what Emperor Xuanren said. Wenren Taibo directly spat out the tea in his mouth and choked, and he coughed heart-wrenchingly for a while.
Apparently he wasn't the only one who was surprised.
When Wenren Taibo finally recovered, he looked at Xiaocao in disbelief, "Xuan'er, are you kidding me?"
"You should ask if the emperor is joking with me. Do you think he is joking?"
Wenren Taibo was silent. The emperor might joke with his ministers in his spare time, but he would never joke about such things.
Wenren Taibo looked at Xiaocao with a complicated expression and was speechless for a long time.
Xiao Cao felt a little uneasy when he looked at her. "What, what's the matter?"
"Dad has given birth to a good daughter. The whole family and clan are blessed by you."
Xiao Cao laughed and said jokingly, "Just don't feel that your self-esteem is damaged when you fall."
"Damaged self-esteem?" Wenren Taibo looked at Xiaocao, speechless. "What about those who try every means to send their daughters and sisters into the palace in exchange for wealth and glory? Those who are capable are still capable, and those who are incompetent will be criticized. Your father, I think I am quite capable." Wenren Taibo touched his beautiful beard. "At my current age, how many people can come to this point? It's all because of having a good daughter." He felt happy in his heart. Although he might face many problems in the future, they were nothing. Although he had given up the idea, when this benefit really fell on him, there would be no reason to refuse it. Others want it but don't have it yet, right
Han was surprised at first, then happy. But now she rolled her eyes at Wenren Taibo and said, "I gave birth to your daughter. Besides, you are only acting as the minister. Your rank is still that of an assistant minister. Why are you so proud?"
“Without me, how could you have been born?” Wenren Taibo said lightly, “Although it’s an acting position, but…” One day, the hat of “acting” will be taken off.