Qiao Jinhuan leaned against Chu Ji as weakly as a boneless body, lightly poking his chest with her fingertips, without saying anything else.
Chu Ji hugged her and closed his eyes slightly, enjoying the rare silence.
He couldn't help but frown when he thought about the fact that he would have to attend the wake for the Queen Mother tomorrow, the courtiers who had been sending gifts to his palace in an endless stream during this period, and the topics that the palace staff had previously discussed.
"Stop wrinkling. If you keep wrinkling, you'll turn into a little old man."
Qiao Jinhuan gently smoothed the wrinkles between his eyebrows with her fingertips, "What is worth your troubles?"
"Some trivial things. You know, I don't have much patience. I'm most bored with trivial things."
Chu Ji responded without opening his eyes.
Qiao Jinhuan knew he was lying.
She could probably guess what was bothering him. It was simply that the officials were restless again and wanted to take advantage of Chu Ji to achieve the feat of becoming a dragon.
Maybe one day when they are forced to panic, the group of ministers will imitate Song Taizu's ministers and directly dress Chu Ji in yellow robes and mutiny on the spot.
But Qiao Jinhuan didn't ask further.
She just leaned over and kissed him.
The soothing incense in the room was burning, emitting a quiet light fragrance, and the two breathing sounds inside gradually merged.
When Taohong walked in quietly, she realized that the two of them had already fallen asleep on the soft couch.
When Taohong brought a thin quilt and gently covered the two of them, Qiao Jinhuan opened her eyes.
"Empress~"
"Shh!"
Qiao Jinhuan raised her fingers to cover her lips, pulled back the thin quilt, leaned into Chu Ji's arms again and closed her eyes.
Taohong smiled silently, lowered her head and retreated quietly.
…
In the blink of an eye, the Queen Mother's coffin was delivered to the imperial mausoleum.
After her funeral, the atmosphere in the court had an indescribable strange feeling.
Chu Heng was still sitting on the dragon chair. He didn't know if it was because of his recent observance of filial piety that he had become thinner, and his face was not as rosy as before.
But on the dragon throne, he still looked around, feeling a little impatient.
Qiao Jinhuan was sitting on the left side of the dragon chair, looking down at the courtiers with different thoughts through the bead curtain.
"When there is something going on, we will start, and when there is nothing going on, we will retreat."
Above, the eunuch's high-pitched voice sounded.
It was extremely quiet down there, so quiet that it was even a little weird.
"What? My dear friends, do you have anything to report?"
Qiao Jinhuan asked with a gentle tone, but his eyes were as cold as ice.
She knew that as soon as the Queen Mother left, these people were going to start causing trouble again.
It was just as Qiao Jinhuan expected.
After waiting for a few breaths, the first censor with an iron head stood up and said, "I have something to report! In the past, when the Queen Mother was still around, she once took control of the authority and rectified the government. But looking at the historical records, there was a Queen Mother who was a regent.
As long as there is no noble concubine in power..."
There are a lot of cracklings. In short, in one sentence, Qiao Jinhuan, a noble concubine, cannot sit in the court as regent.
He also said that the most important thing for Qiao Jinhuan right now is to give birth to the son in her belly, take charge of the harem, and allow the emperor to have two more healthy dragon sons.
Hearing this, Qiao Jinhuan was not angry, but looked at the censor with a half-smile.
The atmosphere in the main hall instantly became tense.
Countless people's eyes are looking at Prime Minister Qiao and Chu Ji, watching their actions. Do they support the imperial concubine's regency, or do they?
Of course Prime Minister Qiao supports it!
He was also counting on Qiao Jinhuan to help him take away Chu Ji's authority.
So he winked at his cronies.
The confidant immediately stood up and quarreled with the previous censor in a stern tone.
Seeing this, Chu Ji also winked at his cronies. The other party stood outside and opened his mouth, "I feel that the imperial concubine should not be regent..."
Chu Ji:???
Are you fucking holding me back?
I asked you to go out and help Qiao Jinhuan. What are you barking at?
Chu Ji's face suddenly became extremely ugly. He immediately raised his eyes to look at Qiao Jinhuan who was sitting up. Seeing that she was still smiling, he felt slightly relieved, and then he frequently winked at his people to tell them to shut up.
However, this group of people really didn't have any tacit understanding with Chu Ji.
The more Chu Ji winked, the more fierce they scolded him.
In the end, Chu Ji simply rolled his eyes - forget about fucking destruction!
Just when the two sides were quarreling back and forth, with you saying "it's the same" and him saying "the other's mother", Qiao Jinhuan suddenly put his hands on his hands and smiled.
In an instant, the entire hall fell silent.
"You all really impress me with admiration."
Qiao Jinhuan's voice turned cold, "Look at you, how do you look like an official? Those who don't know better think you are buying meat at the vegetable market. With such a quarrel, do you take the Emperor and me seriously?"
"
"I don't dare."
"Don't you dare? I think you are very brave."
Qiao Jinhuan said in a strange tone, and suddenly opened the bead curtain and stood up and walked to the front, squinting at the courtiers with cold eyes, and asked coldly, "Before her death, the Queen Mother entrusted the affairs of the government to the hands of this palace. Do you have any dissatisfaction?"
There was silence in the main hall.
"If you are dissatisfied, you can speak out today. Once today is over, if anyone dares to use this excuse to cause trouble again, don't blame me for being ruthless."
She stood there in plain white clothes, not as timid as before, but rather dignified and majestic.
The invisible murderous aura overwhelmed the courtiers and made them breathless.
"The noble concubine and the ministers are all former ministers of this dynasty. They are dedicated to the success of the ancestors and owe the kindness of this dynasty. A six-foot-long orphan is not a minister without any support. How can he be handed over to the hands of a woman in the palace? Not to mention the noble concubine.
Little talent, little knowledge, short-sightedness..."
In other words, they are all good ministers who are loyal to the dynasty. There are many people who can serve as ministers, so why let a woman with little knowledge be in power?
He was almost pointed at the nose and scolded, but Qiao Jinhuan was not angry. Instead, he nodded with a smile and asked him, "What else?"
This reaction caught the courtier off guard.
Seeing that the other party remained silent, Qiao Jinhuan asked loudly, "Who else has any opinions?"
Seeing that she had such a good attitude, maybe because she wanted to leave a good name for Qingshi, or because she wanted to do something else, a few idiots really stood up and kicked her nose in the face.
She scolded Qiao Jinhuan as if she didn't deserve to be alive.
Can you see it?
The heads of the important officials and ministers standing in front of the court were lower than the others, and their breathing almost disappeared.
They have keenly smelled the smell of danger.
In an instant, Qiao Jinhuan slammed the cup on the table to the ground.
"Pa~ when..."
The porcelain cup shattered to the ground, the sound was heard outside the palace, and a group of guards armed with swords poured into the hall with sullen faces.
This turn of events shocked the courtiers.
What is Qiao Jinhuan doing?
What is the Qiao family doing?
The courtiers' suspicious and scrutinizing eyes fell directly on Prime Minister Qiao.
Prime Minister Qiao:???
What are you watching him do? He doesn’t know!
He also wanted to know what Qiao Jinhuan wanted to do?