Chapter 824: The Queen Mother’s Thoughts

The empress dowager's aggressiveness was beyond everyone's expectations, and no one could understand the empress dowager's thoughts. Zhao Huan just pursed his lips, not daring to argue or agree easily, and was in a dilemma.

At this time, Yang Zhen also felt that the Empress Dowager's reward was too heavy. According to his nature, he wanted to stand up and say a few words, but just as he was about to speak, he saw Shi Ying winking at him, so he had to give up and swallow the words back into his stomach.

Of course, Quartz knew that Yang Zhen was a person, and what he said and said. But today's affairs were mysterious. Moreover, the struggle between King Pingxi and the prince was related to the honor and disgrace of the old party and Yang Zhen. The empress dowager wanted to enfeoff the title of the Prince of Auxiliary and General Tiance, which was also beneficial to the old party. At present, Quartz was most worried about the variable of the prince. If he could really be granted the title of the Prince of Auxiliary, a big stone in his heart could be left half. At least even if the prince really reached the top, he would have to be somewhat afraid.

The Jingtai Palace was silent as if it were dead, and several palace lanterns emitted faint light, and the empress dowager behind the curtains looked even more profound and unfathomable.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince..." The Empress Dowager had already shown some impatience and said lightly: "Your Highness the Crown Prince can't make any decisions?"

Zhao Huan grabbed his knees and bit his lip, and a flash of resentment flashed in his eyes, and then he said, "Sun Chen dares not make decisions."

The empress dowager smiled coldly and her tone became sharp: "Well, since the prince of the governor cannot make the decision, then let the emperor make the decision, Yang Zhen..."

When Zhao Huan heard the word "The Emperor", he knew that the Empress Dowager was going to bypass him and vent the wind to his father. He wanted to say something, but he stopped helplessly. He thought to himself: "Well, just give Shen Ao a general, a regent, and a royal titled as an auxiliary ruler. On the day when this palace ascends to the top, he only needs an imperial edict to take it away, but he is afraid of something.

If Zhao Huan was angry when he made the decision to increase the dose, he became fear afterwards, but now, Zhao Huan developed an expectation, the vigorous ambition hidden deep in his heart was constantly burning, and the uncontrollable ambition was stronger than ever.

When Yang Zhen heard the Queen Mother call him, he immediately left his seat and said, "I am here."

The Empress Dowager said slowly: "In the name of Menxia Province, I wrote the original conversation between the Ai family and the Eastern Palace in the memorial, and sent it out with a quick horse. Please ask the emperor to decide."

Yang Zhen said: "I obey my decree."

The Empress Dowager's face was not good and said lightly: "The Ai family is exhausted, you all should retreat."

Zhao Huan breathed a sigh of relief and stood up and said, "Sun Chen left."

Yang Zhen and Shi Ying also said: "The Empress Dowager will take care of Feng's body, and I will leave."

In Jingtai Palace, it became quiet again. The Empress Dowager asked someone to roll up the curtains and open the doors and windows. The whole palace was bright and open. She raised her shoes and dragged her long skirt back to the bedroom. She sat in front of the bronze mirror and asked someone to comb her hair. She looked at her aging self in the bronze mirror, gently stroked the corners and tails of her eyes that could not be smoothed, and said lightly: "What about Jingde."

"The slave is here." Jingde trotted in and smiled at the empress dowager.

The Empress Dowager's eyes suddenly became dark and said quietly: "The emperor is not helpful, and the Ai family is old. Isn't it often said that the Yangtze River pushes the previous waves. Once a person is old, he has to arrange his funerals. Just like the emperor, he cares most about his own tomb. Although the Ai family does not care about the affairs after death, there are still many living people in this world who need to worry about them. If they don't arrange them properly, the Ai family is worried about it."

Since the emperor has been leaving Quanzhou forever, the empress dowager has often expressed such feelings. Jingde has long heard the ears calluses, and as usual, he smiled: "The empress dowager is not old and is in her prime. According to the servants, living a hundred years old is nothing."

The Queen Mother smiled and looked at herself in the mirror, saying, "Who taught you these slick words?" After a pause, she suddenly said, "You have heard the conversation between the Ai family and the prince just now?"

Jingde hurriedly said, "Where is the slave who dares to listen?"

"Just listened, the paper window around the door and your silhouettes are there. Why don't you pretend to be confused? Don't worry, the Ai family won't blame it."

Jingde smiled awkwardly and said, "Yes, it's a slave who deserves to die. The Empress Dowager will not care about it. If it were other harsh masters and nobles, I'm afraid the old slave will be beaten to death long ago."

Jingde's words mean that the empress dowager is generous. The empress dowager smiled and finally showed a little joy. She said, "Are you wondering in your heart why the Ai family did this? The Ai family is a member of the Zhao family, so naturally he should plan for the Zhao family, but is this move of the Ai family too much and will harm the Zhao family."

Jingde dared not speak too much about this kind of thing. Although he had a smile on his face, his spirit was straightforward, for fear of saying a word or a half wrong. After pondering for a long time, he said: "The Queen Mother is joking, and the slaves in the state are not even able to understand it. However, His Highness Pingxi has made contributions to the country, so rewards are naturally indispensable."

The Empress Dowager nodded, probably satisfied with Jingde's answer, and said quietly: "The Ai family is not thinking about this. What the Ai family thinks is that the current crown prince is not close to the Ai family. I, the Empress Dowager, have never given him any favors. Even if I want to give him kindness now, I am afraid it will be too late."

Jingde knew in his heart that the Empress Dowager would never say anything at this moment. He immediately became nervous and said to the palace servants who were accompanying the Empress Dowager and the eunuch who combed the empress dowager's hair, and to signal them to go out.

The Empress Dowager saw it and smiled, saying, "These are all people, you don't have to care about anything, you're here. If the Ai family doesn't vomit today, they won't be happy."

The palace ladies who were about to leave were all stopped again. Jingde didn't know what happened to the Queen Mother today, so he had so many feelings, so he had to listen patiently.

"Ai's family, when they were fourteen years old, they married the Emperor Shenzong of the Emperor and gave birth to only two sons. Others said it was a good fortune. If it were a blessing, there were actually some of the Emperor Shenzong of the Emperor. The former descendants of the Emperor Shenzong were not many, and the Ai family occupied two. Later, the Emperor Shenzong of the Emperor collapsed, and the Ai family moved out of the palace and lived with King Duan..."

The Empress Dowager did not call the Emperor but the King Duan, as if she felt that only the King Duan felt close. At this time, she seemed to be immersed in memories, her eyes slightly arched, and the Empress Dowager in the mirror had a peaceful smile on her face.

"I originally thought I would be content to be a concubine, but who would have thought that the late Emperor Zhezong collapsed again. It was really terrible at that time. The entire Bianjing was noisy and there were all things to say. In the end, the Empress Dowager and the ministers all recommended King Duan. Haha... After hearing the news, King Duan was alone and stayed silent. The second King of Jin was not a good-looking lamp. He insisted that his brother was crazy and said he wanted to hire an imperial physician."

The Empress Dowager exclaimed and her whole body became gloomy: "The Ai family is a blessed person. From the concubine to the empress dowager, the descendants of the legitimate relatives also became the emperor from the prince. After enjoying such a blessing, the Ai family did not ask for anything. The only thing that was uneasy was the King of Jin. Didn't the Ai family say that just now? The prince and the Ai family were separated, and it was also rumored that he had a rift with Shen Ao. Shen Ao was the son of the Ai family and the county horses of Qinghe. They were all the princes of the King of Jin. Think about it, now the prince is in charge of the country, and it is only a matter of time before the prince ascended the emperor.

Who will the Ai family rely on? Who will the King of Jin rely on? The King of Jin is crazy. The emperor is his legitimate brother, so he will naturally let him a little. In addition, the Ai family will match their brothers together. No matter how he makes trouble, the King of Jin will not lose his wealth. But if the prince ascends to the extreme and the King of Jin will make trouble like this, it will not be like this. The prince and King of Jin are always alienated from each other. Because of Shen Ao's rift, they will definitely punish King of Jin in the future. There are only two sons of the Ai family. Which one suffers a loss, and they are like a needle. How can you not make plans for them as soon as possible?"

The Empress Dowager's tone calmed down again and said with a faint smile: "Of course, the prince is the grandson of the Ai family. The Ai family will naturally not cause him to suffer losses. It is just that Chen Ai's concerns about military and political affairs, which makes him have concerns. Chen Ai's family knows that he does not have this ambition and will not do anything to be sorry to the emperor. Our Zhao family's clan society is still stable. As long as the prince does not take action against him, it will be easy to say."

Jingde repeatedly said, "The Empress Dowager must be able to get to Zhuge Kongming."

The Empress Dowager smiled slightly and said in a low tone: "No one has any future-proof thinking. In fact, it is best for the prince to be peaceful and harmonious with the Western King. Even if they cannot, they will have nowhere to do anything in the future, and no one dares to act rashly."

The sky was already dim, the breeze was blowing, and the sunset outside the window was scattered and dark, dyeing the palace in the twilight into various shapes and charming. The little bits of yellow fell into the bedroom through the paper window, contrasting with the candlelight in the hall. Suddenly, the empress dowager in the bronze mirror looked much younger. The empress dowager's long hair was tied up, and a phoenix hairpin, pearl flowers, and pearls were inserted into the candlelight, bright and grand.

The Empress Dowager stood up and laughed, "What did the Ai family tell you about this? I will inform Jingzhao Prefecture. To celebrate the victory, you can go to Donghuamen to set off some fireworks so that everyone can enjoy it."

"yes……"

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

If you ride a fast horse from Bianjing to Quanzhou, it will take only six or seven days to reach the speed of 800 miles. However, the water network in the south is dense, and the roads of Fujian are mountainous, so it will take some time to wait until the good news from the Menxia Province and the memorial drafted by the Empress Dowager were sent to Quanzhou, it was already the ninth day.

Zhao Ji's life in Quanzhou was not easy. He was criticized, and the impeachment petition was like snowflakes, which made him feel uneasy at all. On the other hand, he was worried that the Jurchens would go south and be afraid of leaving behind a bad reputation. Therefore, his mood was extremely bad. Although it was early winter in Quanzhou, the weather was not cold. It was sunny for more than a month. It was not until these two days that it drizzled a little. The weather was no longer as hot as before, and it became a little fresher. However, Zhao Ji's temper was getting worse and worse. Only after taking the pills could he calm down.

The emperor had a bad temper and the person who was most worried was Yang Jian. At the beginning, His Majesty was pretty good after feeding the pills, and even his spirits were particularly good. However, later, the pill became less and less effective. From one pill a day, it was now one pill a day, and now it was two pills a meal to have the effect of the past. However, Yang Jian gradually realized that the emperor's body was getting worse and worse with the pill, just like half a month ago, His Majesty had a minor illness, but he had a little headache and fever. If it were the past, the imperial physician prescribed a prescription and would have been better after sleeping. However, now, no medicine is helpful and he almost fainted. He had been ill for four or five days in a row before he showed signs of improvement.

Yang Jian felt something was strange in his heart, but he didn't dare to persuade him, so he secretly sent a letter to Chen Ao, wanting Chen Ao to make a decision.

Last night, His Majesty kept coughing. Yang Jian served him all night and didn't get up until noon. He rinsed his mouth and called an eunuch to ask what his majesty was doing. The eunuch said, "It's said that he's coming for 800 miles to speed up. Your Majesty is about to see."

Eight hundred miles of expedited...

Yang Jian didn't agree. Since His Majesty moved to Quanzhou, there were too many things to be expedited. The government affairs that the three provinces could not handle were expedited. The prince's memorial was expedited. Anyway, everything about Chenzhimao was delivered in an urgent manner. It seemed that if the court was not expedited, the court would be overturned.

After Yang Jian had finished his clothes, he went to Zhao Ji's bedroom to serve him. Although early this morning, when His Majesty saw that he was tired, he said that he didn't have to serve him today, but the habits he had developed over the years, Yang Jian always felt that it was more comfortable to be with him in front of the Saint. After passing through a corridor and passing the Yue Cave, the Moon Cave was a major place. The three layers inside and three layers inside and outside were all the palace vanguards, three steps at a sermon, five steps at a whistle, and the prevention and control was strict. However, no one stopped Yang Jian. The palace vanguards greeted him all the way. Yang Jian just raised his eyelids and glanced over lazyly. The name of the inner minister is definitely not a false reputation. Although he is just a eunuch leader, the honor of serving the Saint Day and Night is incomparable.

When he arrived at the attic in the deepest part of the palace, Yang Jian coughed and made preparations before he stepped in cautiously. Zhao Ji leaned against the soft couch, and two eunuchs were serving him on both sides. When the two eunuchs saw Yang Jian, they smiled at Yang Jian like a flattering smile. Yang Jian ignored them, tiptoed to the couch and whispered: "Your Majesty..."

………………………………………………………………………………………………
Chapter completed!