Jiuxi

Chapter 415 Chapter 413 [Old love is like paper]

In the eyes of the people of Da Qi, today's emperor is undoubtedly a wise king.

Diligence and dedication, good governance, no construction projects, and a deep understanding of the sufferings of the people. This is the impression the emperor left on the world in the past fourteen years.

Even those Jiangnan aristocratic families who were in the midst of a struggle, regardless of their conflicts with the emperor, had to praise His Majesty for his sage.

Compared with the beauties in the harem of the former emperor, Li Duan's harem can even be called deserted.

Except for the necessary queen and a few first-class concubines, Li Duan did not attract beauties from all over the world. He focused all his energy on the complicated affairs of the outer dynasty.

The story of the two emperors and empresses is quite enviable in the public. Although Empress Xu has a very well-established natal family, she has never interfered in the affairs of the court. She only helped the emperor to manage the harem wholeheartedly, and then used the Xu family's money to use the emperor's money. He has done many good deeds in the name of his name, so he has an excellent reputation in the hearts of people in the world, and has always been known as a virtuous queen.

Such a wise king and a wise queen will definitely treat each other with respect and respect each other as guests.

In fact, most of the time, the emperor and empress do belong to this harmonious state, but tonight's Cining Palace is destined to miss the peace.

All the palace maids had withdrawn, leaving only the emperor and the empress in the inner palace.

However, when the three princes gradually grew up, Li Duan discovered that Queen Xu's partiality was somewhat obvious. Putting aside the second prince, she favored the third prince far more than the eldest prince.

Once upon a time, Li Duan was very grateful to God for allowing him to meet such a beloved person.

Her appearance is extremely good, but after twenty years of being together, even if she is as beautiful as a fairy, there will be a dull day, not to mention that Li Duan has no intention of indulging in beauty.

Just looking at this face, Li Duan will think of the ups and downs in the past twenty years.

Empress Xu looked miserable and said slowly: "I dare not defend him. Your Majesty deprived him of his title of prince, and I think it is appropriate. However, a place like Qiushan Lane can drive a living person crazy, and Zong Jian He is stubborn and will destroy him completely over time. Your Majesty, all other punishment methods are available, but I would like to imprison him. I beg your Majesty to reconsider... I really don’t want to be in vain. Send someone with black hair, Your Majesty.”

Li Duan's face darkened, and he said coldly: "Does the queen know what he has done? I have spent the past two years trying to weaken the power of the southern clans, but the third child got involved with those people and even wanted to use Lu Chen's life. To please those people, has he ever thought about me, his father? He usually behaves badly, but for your sake, I didn't treat him too harshly. If I had known that he would be so presumptuous, I would not have made him a prince. Lord!"

Although the queen is nearly forty years old, she looks more like she is in her thirties because she takes excellent care of herself.

Empress Xu raised her eyes and looked at the emperor, and said sadly: "I did not discipline Zong Jian's child well, so that he did such a ridiculous thing, which made your majesty lose face. All the faults are my fault, even if your majesty wants to destroy him Afterwards, my concubine did not complain at all."

Li Duan sat on the couch, looked at Queen Xu who was kneeling on the ground, and said in a slow tone: "Why should we be like this between you and me? Let's talk about it after we get up."

However, thinking of her youngest son who had no chance to enter the palace and was taken directly to Qiushan Lane by the imperial guards, her eyes welled up with tears and she begged: "Your Majesty, I don't dare to discuss the government affairs arbitrarily. I only ask that your Majesty consider the love between husband and wife." Come on, give Zong Jian a chance.”

Tears rolled down her cheeks.

Although the Xu family has no apparent real power, it is extremely wealthy and has given the third prince a great help.

At first, Li Duan only thought that this was a manifestation of partiality for his younger son, and it should be a harmless thing. However, I don't know when, when the power of the descendants obviously leaned towards the third prince, Li Duan realized the problem, so he He began to deliberately suppress the Xu family's power.

Back then, because he was not favored by the late emperor, he spent a very difficult time in Heluo City. It was Empress Xu who gave him thoughtful comfort and best support. Later, it was also with the help of the Xu family that Li Duan was able to leave Heluo City to work outside. Therefore, he luckily escaped the impact of the Yuanjia Incident and became the only adult prince to escape to Jiangnan.

After being together for more than twenty years, Queen Xu knew the emperor's temperament well, and she knew that he had made up his mind as soon as she heard it.

In the first few years after he ascended the throne, Li Duan faced all internal and external troubles. No one except Queen Xu knew what kind of pressure he was under.

Of course, Li Duan couldn't go too far. After all, Empress Xu and the third prince did not overstep their bounds. Therefore, he only restricted the Xu family's power in the court and did not prevent them from purchasing land and operating shops by legitimate means.

This is the reason why Lu Chen had almost no contact with the power of the descendants after entering the capital.

At that time, Queen Xu was his harbor and support, allowing him to relieve his troubles and sorrows and cope with the disturbances in the court in the best possible condition.

"Give him a chance?"

Otherwise, how could the Third Prince support the dead soldiers who appeared on Qingfeng Street with his own strength alone?
Thinking of this, Li Duan, who was originally a little soft-hearted because of Queen Xu's mournful gesture, looked slightly cold and said calmly: "As for the issue of Zong Jian, both the Queen and I are responsible. How can we blame you alone? Now he has received the due treatment. Punishment, this matter ends here, Queen, don’t be too upset, I won’t blame you.”

Li Duan remained silent.

Of course he knew what would happen to the third prince if he was imprisoned in Qiu Shan Lane, and he felt a little bit sad in his heart.

But he must do it.

The third prince's move of sending someone to assassinate Lu Chen was so bad that it almost ruined the good situation that Li Duan had worked so hard to maintain.

He has been able to gradually take back power in the past two years. On the one hand, he has been patiently arranged in the past and managed to achieve a balance in the court by subduing some important ministers. On the other hand, he has relied on the prestige brought by the border troops' continuous victories and hundreds of thousands of elite border troops. military support for him.

This is why he recalled Lu Chen to the capital and put aside those doubts and re-employed Lu Chen. Regardless of Lu Chen's own ability and reputation, his most important asset is his powerful frontier army.

Why did Guo Congyi and others step back when Li Duan was reorganizing the Beijing army? Why did the various departments of the Beijing army honestly follow the imperial edict and make adjustments?

Apart from the fact that it is difficult for them to form a rope, the key point is the frontier army behind Lu Chen. The martial arts generals in Beijing are very aware of the strength of the frontier army and also know that Lu Chen clearly stands on the side of the emperor, so no one If you dare to act rashly, you can only play within the scope defined by Li Duan.

After a long time, Li Duan shook his head and said, "You don't understand."

"I really don't understand the affairs of the court, and I don't dare to speak carelessly, but I know that Zong Jianqian should never provoke Marquis Shanyang."

Empress Xu stopped sobbing, looked at the emperor's cold expression, and said sadly: "Your Majesty's planning of major events requires the loyal support of Shanyang Marquis and the soldiers of the border army. Therefore, Zong Jian did commit an unforgivable crime this time. Your Majesty." He deserved to be demoted to the rank of Lieutenant of Fengguo. Even if he had no hope of being promoted in this life, I did not dare to say another word. I just hoped that Your Majesty could give him a way to survive. After all, no matter how stubborn he was, he would eventually die. It’s the meat that fell from my concubine’s body.”

Li Duan closed his eyes slightly.

Empress Xu never interfered with anything else, nor did she make excuses for the third prince. She had accepted other punishment methods, but she couldn't bear the third prince being imprisoned in Qiu Shan Lane all year round.

After all, mother and son are connected.

Queen Xu continued: "Your Majesty, Zong Jian was deprived of his royal title. Marquis Shanyang even punched him in front of the palace guards. Isn't this enough to calm him down? After all, Zong Jian Although he was at fault, nothing happened to Shanyang Marquis after all. Just because he lost a few soldiers, His Majesty had to use the life of the prince of the Tian family to apologize to him? In this case, I am willing to apologize to Shanyang Marquis in person, just ask He can spare Zong Jian’s life.”

"enough."

Li Duan let out a long breath and said in a deep voice: "What happened in front of Prince Jian's Mansion was due to my acquiescence, otherwise Lu Chen would not have messed up. Even so, he only punched Lao San, half a point. If I don’t use my inner strength, I won’t even be able to stand up. Do you think I’m too indulgent to the point where I don’t even care about the dignity of the Tian family?”

Queen Xu did not make a sound, but it could be seen from her eyes that she did have similar thoughts in her heart.

In any case, Li Zongjian is the prince of the Tian family, and Lu Chen is just a minister no matter how great his achievements are. How can he violate the dignity of the prince?

Not to mention that the third prince has been severely punished. What qualifications does Lu Chen have to teach him a lesson?

Li Duan looked at Queen Xu's sad and angry expression, and said with a little disappointment: "I am a woman with little knowledge."

Queen Xu said: "Your Majesty, I just feel that——"

"What do you think?"

Li Duan directly interrupted her, stood up and said, "I allow Lu Chen to throw that punch, and this matter will be truly settled. There will be no worries in the future, otherwise this matter will become a knot in Lu Chen's heart sooner or later. I will I don’t want to say more, but you are so stubborn, I will tell you clearly that I will continue to reuse Lu Chen in the future, and the power in his hands will become more and more powerful. It is impossible for me and you to become the prince after a hundred years. One of them is a clan that no one cares about, and the other is a powerful warrior with a lot of troops. "

He paused slightly and said solemnly: "If the resentment in Lu Chen's heart accumulates over time, who will take the third child's situation to heart one day in the future?"

As if a thunder struck, Queen Xu's face turned pale.

However, what she was thinking about was not the safety of the third prince many years later, but the sentence "The third prince cannot become the crown prince."

In fact, she had already guessed about this matter, but she didn't want to arouse the emperor's suspicion, so she never talked about this topic. Now that she finally confirmed it from Li Chuan, her heart felt like a dull knife cutting flesh, and a tearing pain surged through her heart.

She looked up at the emperor and tried her last effort: "Your Majesty, if Zong Jian must stay in Qiu Shan Lane, please grant me the right to visit him."

Li Duan looked at this beautiful face that suddenly seemed a little unfamiliar. After a moment of silence, he said, "Not for the time being."

Queen Xu looked stunned and said softly: "I understand, I understand."

Li Duan walked forward slowly, and finally made a promise: "I will let people watch him and ensure that he is alive and well. You don't have to worry too much. It's late at night, so go to bed early."

Looking at the emperor's leaving figure, Queen Xu did not get up to see him off as she usually did.

It wasn't until a sound of "Get off" came from outside that she seemed to suddenly wake up.

The maids of Cining Palace came in cautiously and helped Queen Xu up. No one dared to make a sound.

Queen Xu waved her hand to signal everyone to leave, then walked out of the inner hall to the corridor.

The night was dark, and the imperial chariot the emperor was riding in had already left.

Queen Xu looked at the blurry night and whispered to herself: "Your Majesty..."

A sad smile appeared on her face.

(End of this chapter)