Long live Emperor Wu!

Chapter 74 Grumpy Emperor

The brush in the emperor's hand broke with a "click", and the dots of cinnabar ink were like blood spots, splattering everywhere.

The angry breath spread silently from the emperor's body, and the entire palace was filled with a depressing atmosphere. The maids and eunuchs all held their breaths and lowered their heads, for fear that their loud breathing would attract attention.

Wu Rou was a little panicked, watching this scene from behind, not knowing whether she should move or not.

She was struggling and hesitating. The emperor looked at the destroyed memorial in front of him and couldn't help it.

He let out a "tsk", grabbed it with one hand, and tore it apart with both hands. He violently crumpled the hard and thick memorial cover into a ball, balled it up with the pen, and threw it towards Concubine Yin De.

The cardboard hit Concubine Yin De on the face. She just closed her eyes and tilted her head without lowering her chin.

The emperor said angrily:

"Do you have to poke my heart like this?! Are you the only one who feels uncomfortable?!"

When Concubine Yin De heard this, she rolled her eyes, looked at the emperor in disbelief, and asked in disappointment:
"Your Majesty will also feel uncomfortable? Your Majesty insists on killing my son. I thought your Majesty didn't care."

"He is rebelling. If I don't kill him, the whole world will not agree!...Didn't I give him a chance? He has been restless from the beginning. I wrote letters to warn him and sent people to teach him. What happened? !
He killed the long history I sent!Such a rebellious person is stupid and arrogant. What's the use of keeping him in the world! "

Concubine Yin De was shocked. When she heard the emperor talking about their son, her heart hurt as if it had been pierced by thousands of knives. Tears finally shed on her calm face and she said excitedly:
"How can he be as bad as you say?! It's all because of your excessive partiality that he got to this point! They also like hunting. The deposed prince Li Chengqian did it, which is extraordinary. My son did it, that's it. Arrogant and extravagant, he likes to kill, and he doesn't know the suffering in the world.

It's also about making friends with people. If Li Tai does it, you will provide money and land to encourage him. If my son does it, is he close to a traitor and has a disobedient heart?

It's also a rebellion. Li Chengqian can be exiled, but my son must die..."

Concubine Yin De seemed to have collapsed, crying and shouting:

"I only have such a son... just such a son! Maybe in your heart, whatever the queen sister gives birth to is a treasure no matter what, but my son shouldn't be a fool, he shouldn't be a fool!"

The emperor seemed to be frightened by her madness. He looked at her in shock, and after a long while he said viciously:
"If you really want to die, just say so and I will help you!"

At this time, the young chamberlain on duty outside the palace gate came forward and reported tremblingly:

"Your Majesty, the imperial concubine is asking to see you."

The emperor glanced at him with his deep phoenix eyes and said coldly:
"Let her in."

After a while, Concubine Wei hurried in, took a look at Concubine Yinde who was sitting on the ground crying, and said to the emperor:

"Your Majesty, Sister Yin Concubine has always behaved herself. No matter how stateless she is now, it is all because she has just experienced the pain of losing her son. I hope Your Majesty will forgive her for the sake of past friendship."

The emperor had a solemn face and did not answer her question, but asked:

"My concubine, do you also think that I am too partial, so if any of your sons rebels, it is my fault?!"

Concubine Wei's expression froze for a moment, as if she did not expect that the emperor's anger could extend to her, so she tilted her face and said gently and slowly:
"Your Majesty, what sister Yin Concubine says now is definitely not intentional. She is just too sad."

Unexpectedly, Concubine Yin De didn't appreciate it at all and took over her words;

"Who said I didn't mean it? I've endured it all my life. Why should I endure it when my son can't bear it anymore?... The imperial concubine and sister are not the same victims. In terms of talent and reputation, your son Li Shen has been smart since he was a child. He is well versed in literature and history. He is better than What's wrong with Li Tai?

He was afraid that Li Shen would become famous and be seen by the courtiers, so he sent him to the fiefdom early.And what about Li Tai?At such an old age, he still stays in Chang'an, pampering and supporting him!But things got better later. It made Li Tai want to seize the throne and forced the prince to rebel. Who should blame him if he didn't blame him? ! "

Wu Rou was so frightened that her calves were shaking. She glanced at the emperor's expression secretly, and saw the emperor's side face staring at Concubine Yin De pitifully. Under the futou hat, his cheeks were clenched and his eyes were filled with tears, as if he was almost filled with hatred. I cried, and seemed to be on the verge of tears because of my grievance.

Wu Rou was really afraid that the emperor would use the guard's knife to chop Concubine Yin De in the next moment, and then in a rage, he would pull her away with another knife.

As Concubine Wei listened to her confession like a barrage of confessions, her heart was beating so hard that she almost jumped out of her throat.

Concubine Yin's family had been killed when Li Shimin attacked Luoyang. Now she is alone, and at worst, she will lose her head.

She, Wei Gui, has relatives of the Wei family outside. If His Majesty suspects that she has treason, her son and the Wei family will suffer as well.

Concubine Wei's eyes were already red with anger, and her graceful appearance was a little crumbling. She pointed at her and said:
"There is no need for me to speak for you! If I hadn't seen you as an orphan, I shouldn't have come today! You keep saying that His Majesty is partial, but since ancient times, there has been a distinction between direct descendants and concubines, from top to bottom, from the royal family to the common people, unless the direct descendants of the queen It's useless, otherwise who would put effort into the children of concubines.

The most important thing for a harem woman is to find her own position. If you can find it right, where would there be so many grievances?Let me ask you, as your son is a concubine, does Your Majesty not grant him a fief, or does it mean that he lacks the authority as a prince?

Why should he compare with the Queen's children in everything?In the end, he failed the emperor's favor, refused to obey discipline, and even took the city to rebel. Would it be wrong to kill him? "

Concubine Yin looked at her with tearful eyes. She only felt that she was wronged for her son and was very angry, but she couldn't say anything to refute her.

Concubine Wei bowed directly to the emperor and said:
"Your Majesty... Sister Yin Concubine still knows the truth, but she is so sad and confused that she speaks indiscriminately. I think it is enough to demote her and give her a little punishment. Do you think that is okay?"

The emperor felt much better and thought that Concubine Wei was indeed his most trusted lobbyist, not much worse than the courtiers outside. So he nodded, glared at Concubine Yin De, and said, "Concubine Wei is responsible for drafting the edict. Degrade her to a concubine and find a remote palace to live in. I don’t want to see her anymore!”

When Concubine Wei heard this, she bowed and said "yes".After a wink, the two female officials following her hurriedly stepped forward and helped Concubine Yin De up, and the group left quickly.

The emperor put his hands on the desk and looked at the clean hall, his mood deepening.

He took a deep breath, a trace of guilt flashed in his eyes, and seemed a little sad. Then he lowered his head and prepared to continue reviewing the memorial. However, when he saw that his eyes were empty, he remembered that he had torn up the memorial and threw it away. .

Wu Rou had been secretly observing the emperor's expression. When she saw the emperor's eyes glancing at the ground, she quickly walked down the steps, walked over, and picked up the memorial.

As she walked back, she lowered her head and unfolded the memorial bit by bit. When she arrived in front of the emperor, she raised her eyes and asked for instructions in a low voice:

"Your Majesty, it can no longer be used. Can Arou make another copy for you?"

The emperor glanced at her, nodded in acquiescence, and took a blank memorial from the other side of the desk to her.

Wu Rou took it respectfully, not daring to have any other thoughts or being negligent from beginning to end, and went about her business.

……

……

Another half month later, the emperor left Prince Li Shan to have dinner at Wude Hall, accompanied by Princess Jinyang and Wu Rou as before.

The emperor has been very busy recently and has a bad temper.

Once, Chu Suiliang, the daily minister, mentioned that when Wei Zheng was alive, he compiled all the advice he had given into a book and voluntarily gave it to Chu Suiliang, so that Chu Suiliang could record it in the emperor's daily notes.

The emperor was hurt after hearing this. He felt that Wei Zheng was trying to gain fame and reputation. All his previous behavior was just to leave his name in history.

He seemed to have forgotten how many years they had worked together when Wei Zheng was alive, and they should have some trust. Instead, the more he thought about it, the more angry he became, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that he had been deceived.

He also felt that the many tears he cried stupidly because of Wei Zheng's death were all evidence that he was fooled by Wei Zheng.

The more he thought about it, the more unwilling he became, so he directly ordered the tombstone he wrote for Wei Zheng to be knocked down and smashed.Because it was full of praise for Wei Zheng, he felt it was extremely ironic.

As the prince, Li Shan once persuaded him, saying that father, you have trusted Wei Zheng all your life, but after Wei Zheng left, you doubted him, which was a slap in the face and made people laugh.

As a result, the emperor became angry and scolded the youngest son he had always loved, saying that he was weak and had no right to teach him.

Li Shan didn't think anything was wrong. His Aye was in a bad mood, so it was reasonable for him to vent his anger by scolding him, and he didn't take it to heart.

But Princess Jinyang who saw this scene was very scared and did not dare to talk nonsense in front of the emperor, let alone a few days in advance. She said that she would plead with the emperor to let her ninth brother continue to stay in Wude Hall.

So during the meal that day, the emperor was in a low mood, thinking silently about something, and no one dared to speak.

Li Shan held the chopsticks in his hand, closed his eyes unknowingly, and dozed off.

He didn't want to sleep, but he couldn't stop being tired, so he subconsciously sat up straight, holding the chopsticks in his hands, and his elbows naturally pressed on the side of the table.

Because the drooping eyelashes cover the eyes, the eyelashes are thick and dark, as if there is a slit left in the eye, which is slightly squinted and looked down.

None of the chamberlains serving him behind him noticed anything wrong.

Wu Rou didn't notice it at first, but she noticed the clues when she saw him maintaining a single movement for a long time without moving, and even nodding his head.

She glanced at the emperor nervously, and seeing that the emperor was too preoccupied to notice, she gently pushed Princess Jinyang on the case and winked at her.

Princess Jinyang followed her eyes and looked over, and saw her brother standing there with a very dignified posture. He was wearing a prince's regular uniform and looked very noble. Then he nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

She felt heartbroken for a moment, so she glanced at the emperor, thinking about how to speak...

While hesitating, the emperor raised his eyes and looked towards Prince Li Shan. Princess Jinyang quickly reminded:

"elder brother."

With this call, Li Shan, who was already in a state of chaos and tension, suddenly raised his face, and with a refreshing and magnetic voice, he said a vague "huh?". Anyone could tell that he had just passed out.

The emperor frowned slightly, his eagle eyebrows flew up, his deep phoenix eyes became a little sharper, and he said displeasedly:
"Aren't you going to sleep at night? I'm not tired enough to lie down. Why are you so young and not as good as an old man like me?"

(End of this chapter)