The visitors were none other than the King of Shu and his concubine.
Emperor Jian'an glanced around and felt quite unhappy.
Lao Qi is here to complain! He knows that he has to listen to Queen Mother Yu, and wants to use the power of Queen Mother Yu to overwhelm him!
snort!
Sheng Hong knew Emperor Jian'an's little thoughts as soon as he guessed it. He sneered in his heart and smiled affectionately on his face: "My brother has not been in the palace to pay his respects to his mother for some days. I came here early today, so I got the chance.
In front of the Emperor."
Emperor Jian'an smiled and said: "It doesn't matter who comes first. They are all sons of the queen, and they should be filial to the queen."
Queen Mother Yu glanced at Emperor Jian'an, smiled lightly and said, "Your Majesty is so filial, and the Ai family appreciates it."
Emperor Jian'an immediately responded seriously: "My son is still young, not thinking well, and there are many shortcomings in his words and deeds. Fortunately, my mother is by my side, always giving me advice."
"My son should have been filial to my mother and allowed my mother to live in peace in her old age. Now my mother is constantly worrying about my son, and I am really ashamed of myself."
Tsk tsk! You are good at flattering!
Xie Mingxi twitched the corners of her lips, smiled at Xiao Yuhan and said, "The Queen doesn't seem to be looking very good today."
Xiao Yuhan forced a smile: "Sister Fu has been a bit noisy these past two days. I was busy taking care of Sister Fu and didn't sleep well. You can see that."
Then he said angrily: "You and I, my sister-in-law, why do you need to be so outspoken? Just like in the past, just call me the emperor's sister-in-law."
Xie Mingxi changed her words calmly: "Yes, the emperor's sister-in-law."
Everyone sat down and chatted affectionately.
No matter how you look at it, it is a scene of a loving mother, a filial son, brothers, friends, respectful sisters-in-law, and harmony.
…
When Empress Dowager Yu opened her mouth, the harmonious scene became an illusion.
"The King of Shu wants to seize the vassal state, why doesn't the emperor agree?" Empress Dowager Yu asked directly without any foreshadowing or beating around the bush.
Emperor Jian'an smiled, and quickly responded with a normal expression: "My father passed away less than half a year ago, so I thought it would be better to let the brothers observe their filial piety for their father and then go and become a vassal."
When mentioning Emperor Jianwen, Empress Dowager Yu's eyes dimmed slightly, but she remained unmoved: "Brothers from the Tian family, how can they be compared with ordinary people? If the vassal king stays in the capital, it will only upset the hearts of the people in the court and damage the harmony between you."
"The king of Shu wants to establish a vassal state, so the emperor will agree!"
Emperor Jian'an: "..."
This is the tone of the order again!
When he was a prince, he was used to listening to his aunt's mother. After becoming the prince, he still had to listen to Queen Yu. Now that he was the emperor and Queen Yu was the queen mother, he had to continue to listen!
When he was the crown prince, he was thinking about sitting on the dragon throne and telling his brothers to go away and join the feudal clan.
After becoming emperor, his thoughts changed subtly.
No matter how remote and desolate the vassal land is, it is still the territory of Daqi and belongs to him as the emperor. If the vassal kings are ordered to join the vassal, the vassal land will become the territory of the vassal kings. At most, they will pay some taxes every year.
Thinking of this, he felt depressed and unhappy.
As the emperor, besides being afraid of Empress Dowager Yu, why should he hold back and give in? Why should he worry so much? If he didn't want them to leave, he wouldn't have issued an imperial edict.
However, he did not expect that Lao Qi and his wife would come to Jiaofang Hall to complain so quickly. And Queen Mother Yu would actually be willing to support them!
Emperor Jian'an suppressed the surging blood in his heart, squeezed out a smile and said: "I understand the mother's intention. However, my son just said in court yesterday that he would stay with the King of Shu for a period of time. Today he changed his words, which inevitably caused trouble to all the ministers.
It leaves the illusion of changing things day and night.”
"Let's wait until some time later to discuss it!"
No matter what, let's drag it on first.
Queen Mother Yu glanced at her and said calmly: "What the emperor said is not unreasonable. Then just wait for another two months!"
Emperor Jian'an: "..."
Emperor Jian'an continued to swallow his anger and said: "Sons and ministers listen to their mother."
…
After a while, Emperor Jian'an went to court with King Shu.
Xie Mingxi and Xiao Yuhan continued to chat with Queen Mother Yu.
After a while, Zhao Changqing, Li Xiang, and Yin Xiaoxiao all came to pay their respects, and several concubines in the palace also came to pay their respects one by one.
Empress Dowager Yu was not a gentle person and loved to laugh. After the death of Emperor Jianwen, she became colder and less talkative. Everyone was careful not to laugh with her, but they were cautious, fearing that careless words would offend Empress Dowager Yu.
Xiao Yuhan saw it in his eyes and felt increasingly bitter and unspeakable in his heart.
With the mountain of Empress Dowager Yu weighing down on her head, she, as a queen, had almost no prestige in the palace.
After chatting for a while, Zhao Changqing tentatively brought up the subject of becoming a vassal: "... my daughter-in-law heard that the King of Shu asked himself to be a vassal in the court yesterday. Unfortunately, the emperor has a deep brotherhood and cannot bear the separation of brothers, so he did not agree."
Xie Mingxi answered the question calmly: "Actually, His Highness the King of Shu is reluctant to leave the capital. However, this is the rule of His Highness the ancestors. If you are reluctant to leave, you have to go and join the feudal clan."
"To be honest with the Second Emperor's sister-in-law, today I went to the palace with His Highness, and I also wanted to plead with the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother is kind-hearted and interceded with the Emperor in person. The Emperor has also nodded in agreement. In two months, His Highness will be allowed to leave.
Beijing became a vassal state."
Xiao Yuhan: "..."
Xiao Yuhan silently glanced at Xie Mingxi, who was talking and laughing calmly.
In terms of being dark-hearted and thick-faced, she is really even harder to flatter than Xie Mingxi!
Occasionally, she would even think that she was simply not suitable to be a queen in the middle palace. If it were Xie Mingxi, she would be as comfortable as a fish in water, and she would be able to compete with Empress Dowager Yu...
Zhao Changqing and Yin Xiaoxiao looked at each other and looked at Queen Mother Yu in unison: "My daughter-in-law would like to ask my mother to intercede for His Highness King Lu (King of Fujian) so that the Emperor can grant His Highness the title of vassal."
Only Li Xiangru remained silent.
Prince Ning had already warned her.
As for the vassal affairs, Prince Ning had already made his opinion, so there was no need for her to talk too much.
Queen Mother Yu glanced at Zhao Changqing and Yin Xiaoxiao. Before she could say anything, Xie Mingxi smiled and said, "Second Queen's Wife, Fifth Queen's Wife, you are too impatient."
"The emperor is the most powerful person in the world. Once the dragon's mouth is opened, it is more important than a thousand pieces of stone. How can it be easily changed? The queen just interceded for His Highness the King of Shu today. How can there be any reason to open her mouth to the emperor again?"
Zhao Changqing Yin Xiaoxiao: "..."
It's appropriate for us to intercede for you, but it's inappropriate for us to open our mouths when it's our turn?
Zhao Changqing quickly glanced at the unpredictable Empress Dowager. For a moment, he was unsure of Empress Dowager Yu's thoughts. He laughed casually and said, "I was just joking, I don't take it seriously."
Xie Mingxi immediately breathed a sigh of relief: "How can we just joke about such a big deal? I was so frightened that I broke out in a cold sweat just when the second emperor's sister-in-law opened her mouth. Fortunately, it was just a joke! Otherwise, wouldn't it embarrass the mother?"
Zhao Changqing: "..."
No matter how good the friendship is in private, Yin Xiaoxiao can't stop Yin Xiaoxiao from complaining fiercely. She curled her lips and said: "The seventh brother and sister have a lotus tongue, no matter what you say, it makes sense."
Xie Mingxi smiled sweetly: "Thank you, Sister-in-law of the Fifth Emperor, for the compliment."
Yin Xiaoxiao: “…”
I can't be too thick-skinned, and I can't say what I say. It's really sad!
