Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 484 Minglan’s Wisdom

"How can this be?"

The other officials of the Censorate looked at each other, wondering why the Empress Dowager issued such an imperial decree.

If they said it was their duty and they had to object, there was no way the Queen Mother would agree to it.

However, the Queen Mother issued such an imperial decree.

Qi Heng suddenly thought of something, looked at Han Zhang, and said, "My Lord, although the handwriting and seal are correct, why don't you see the Queen Mother? For such an important matter, why doesn't the Queen Mother come forward and explain it in person?"

"Does the Qi Censor think that I forged the Empress Dowager's edict?" Han Zhang said calmly.

"I dare not." Qi Heng said, "But for this kind of thing, an imperial decree alone is not enough. The Queen Mother has to say it herself!"

"presumptuous!"

Zhao Zongquan, who was sitting on the dragon throne, said angrily, "Why, do you suspect that I have put the Queen Mother under house arrest?"

"I dare not!" Qi Heng bowed and said, "I just don't understand why the Queen Mother did not come to listen to the government."

"We don't understand either!" The other people in the Censorate bowed and said.

"Humph!" Zhao Zongquan snorted coldly, "My mother has caught a cold and needs to recuperate, so she didn't come to attend the meeting. What? Do you want the Queen Mother to attend the meeting while she is ill?"

"I dare not!" Qi Heng said, "Since the Queen Mother is not feeling well, we will discuss this matter again when she gets better."

"How dare you!" A flash of murderous intent flashed across Zhao Zongquan's eyes, and he said, "The Queen Mother has issued an order, do you want to disobey it? Moreover, this is just my family background, the Queen Mother has already approved it, but you are interfering with me, what is your intention?"

Zhao Zongquan didn't care what to call his biological father.

This matter was essentially a struggle for power, and the Queen Mother's decree was a sign of surrender.

Now Qi Heng took the lead in questioning, and all the officials in the Censorate followed suit.

There was also a hint that he was placing the empress dowager under house arrest, so how could he not be angry?

"Your Majesty, what you said is wrong. There are no private affairs in the royal family. Your Majesty is the official of the people of the world. Every move you make affects the people of the world. How can there be any private affairs?" Qi Heng retorted.

Just as Zhao Zongquan was about to get angry, Eunuch Li walked up to him from behind and whispered, "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother is here."

Zhao Zongquan was not afraid when he heard this. Instead, he looked at the officials of the Remonstrance Court and said coldly, "When the Queen Mother learned that you were arguing about this, she rushed here despite her illness. Don't you feel guilty?"

After saying this, Zhao Zongquan stood up and went to greet the Queen Mother.

Han Zhang did use some tricks to issue this imperial edict, but the empress dowager claimed illness and did not attend court this morning.

Zhao Zongquan thought that the Queen Mother had accepted the reality and was ready to withdraw the curtain and return power.

Therefore, he was not worried about the Queen Mother's arrival.

According to Zhao Zongquan's original idea, he should announce the Empress Dowager's decree first.

Then he could say that he had come to his senses and no longer intended to call his biological father "Emperor Father", and eventually posthumously confer the titles of Prince and Princess on his parents.

In this way, he will have both the inside and the outside, and he can truly hold power in the future.

However, the questioning from Qi Heng and officials from the Censorate disrupted his plans.

If, under questioning by the officials of the Censorate, he said that he would stop calling his biological father "Huang Kao", it would appear that he was guilty.

It was good that the Queen Mother came. When she explained in court that she had written the imperial edict herself, those who still had doubts would have their doubts dispelled.

After a while, Zhao Zongquan supported the queen mother and came to the imperial platform.

The Queen Mother did not look well, her face was pale and her expression was listless.

"Your servants pay their respects to the Queen Mother!" All civil and military officials hurriedly saluted.

"No need to be polite." The Queen Mother waved her hand and said weakly, "I heard about the dispute in the court, so I rushed here. This imperial edict was indeed issued by me."

"May I ask, Your Majesty the Queen Mother, why did you suddenly issue such an imperial decree?" Qi Heng asked.

The Queen Mother glanced at Zhao Zongquan and said weakly, "The Emperor wants to call my biological father the Emperor, so I will fulfill his wish. Even if you want to posthumously confer the title of Emperor on my biological father and the title of Empress on my biological mother, I am willing to issue an edict to avoid daily disputes that are detrimental to the country."

Zhao Zongquan's face changed, and he realized at this moment that he had been tricked by the Queen Mother.

The Queen Mother looked sickly and spoke weakly. Anyone who saw her would feel that she had suffered a great deal of injustice.

This imperial edict seemed to be written under duress.

Li An in the crowd shook his head slightly. The Queen Mother's method was too cruel.

Even if Zhao Zongquan didn't dare to do anything to her, when Zhao Zongquan truly came to power in the future, the empress dowager would not be able to escape seclusion.

The most important thing is that the Cao family, which is behind the Queen Mother, will probably have a hard time in the future.

It seems that it is inevitable that the Queen Mother will launch a mutiny in the future.

After all, she has resorted to such a drastic measure. Unless Zhao Zongquan can change from now on, the empress dowager will inevitably consider launching a mutiny and changing the emperor when she sees that there is no effect.

When the Queen Mother said this, one could hear a pin drop throughout the hall.

However, the Queen Mother did not care how much of a storm her words caused. After she finished speaking, she turned and left.

"His Majesty…"

"Retreat!"

Qi Heng wanted to ask more questions but was interrupted by Zhao Zongquan with a grim look on his face.

"Dismiss the court!" the eunuch in charge of the palace shouted.

…………

"Master, Young Master Qi has come out."

After the morning court session ended, Li An did not rush to leave the palace. Instead, he ate some snacks in the carriage and waited.

After waiting for about half an hour, Li An got off the carriage after hearing the stone's words.

"Yuanruo!"

Li An shouted at Qi Heng who looked absent-minded.

"Ziqian." Qi Heng came over and asked, "What do you want to talk to me about?"

"Let's get in and talk." Li An said, pointing to his carriage.

Qi Heng hesitated for a moment and nodded.

The two of them got on the carriage, and after it started moving, Li An asked, "Did you just go to see the Queen Mother?"

Qi Heng frowned and asked, "Are you here to be a lobbyist?"

Li An shook his head and said, "I am indeed here to advise you, but I am not representing anyone. I just don't want to see you make the same mistake again and again."

"Mistake after mistake?" Qi Heng sneered: "What do you mean by mistake after mistake? What did I do wrong? The emperor was adopted by the late emperor and inherited the throne, but he wants to call his biological father the emperor father. Where does that put the late emperor? From the perspective of etiquette and law, the emperor's actions are tantamount to denying the legitimacy of the throne. As a censor, I should be in charge of it. Is there anything wrong with that?" "What's more, the great prime minister and the emperor cheated the imperial seal together, and forced the empress dowager to write that kind of imperial decree. It's simply against moral principles!"

"Yuan Ruo, things are not as simple as you see." Li An sighed.

"What's so simple about it? Isn't it just a struggle for power between the emperor and the empress dowager?" Qi Heng said calmly.

"You know and..." Li An looked at Qi Heng in surprise.

He originally thought that Qi Heng didn't know, but he didn't expect that Qi Heng actually knew.

"Since I know this, why should I stop it? It is an inevitable trend for the government to take power. Is this what you want to say?"

Qi Heng did not wait for Li An to answer, and said to himself: "If the emperor wants to seize power, he can use other methods. As long as it does not violate the moral principles, I will not care. But this method is not acceptable! As an official, you should do everything upright and upright, and you must not violate the moral principles. If you do everything to seize power today, you will do the same in other things in the future. We cannot not stop it just because the emperor's purpose is not wrong. Otherwise, what reason do we have to object in the future for other things?"

"You really are..."

Li An didn't know how to evaluate Qi Heng for a moment. Should he say that he became stupid because of reading too much?
It seems inappropriate, after all, what Qi Heng said does make sense.

After a moment of silence, Li An asked, "Have you ever thought about yourself?"

"It's nothing more than being ignored in the future, or being dismissed from office. But if I don't stop it now, I will be unworthy of the sage books I read and the official uniform I wear. In this case, I might as well not be this official." Qi Heng said firmly.

Li An looked at Qi Heng's determined face and shook his head slightly. He could see that Qi Heng's heart was as hard as a rock and he couldn't be persuaded at all.

"What are you going to do next?" Li An asked.

"Join forces with the censors to stop this." Qi Heng said.

"Sure enough." Li An said to himself and said nothing more.

For a moment, the carriage fell into silence.

"My Lord, we have arrived at the Duke of Qi's Mansion."

I don’t know how long it was before Shi Tou’s words broke the silence.

"Zi Qian, thank you very much!" Qi Heng said, lifted the curtain and got off the carriage.

He knew that Li An was doing this for his own good, and he also knew that Li Ang was taking a big risk by approaching him.

However, no matter how grateful he is, he will not give up his persistence.

"Let's go." Li An was silent for a while and then ordered.

…………

"Sir, why are you back so late today?"

Minglan sat aside, watching Danju helping Li An change into his official uniform, and asked in confusion, "Could it be that something big happened in the court?"

Generally, if there is nothing important, the morning court session will not last that long.

"Something big has indeed happened." Li An recounted what happened in the morning court session.

"It seems that the Queen Mother has been forced into a corner by the Emperor and has even resorted to tricks from the harem," said Minglan.

"The methods in the harem?" Li An was stunned and looked at Minglan with some confusion.

"Yes." Minglan nodded and said, "Sir, do you remember what I told you before about Lin Xiaoniang and my fourth sister?"

"Yeah." Li An saw that the clothes had been arranged, came to sit next to Minglan, and said, "What does it have to do with them?"

"Mrs. Lin and my fourth sister used this method frequently in the past. In the fight between Mrs. Lin and the eldest lady, no matter whether she had the upper hand or was at a disadvantage, as soon as my father appeared, she would pretend to be aggrieved. The same was true when the fourth sister and the fifth sister fought each other." Minglan said.

"You mean that the emperor is like Madam Wang, the empress dowager is Madam Lin, and the civil and military officials are equivalent to your father. The empress dowager does this just to pretend to be pitiful for the civil and military officials to see?" Li An said in surprise.

Isn't this a typical case of the crying child getting the milk?

"How can you make such a comparison, sir?" Minglan said angrily, "But it is indeed true. Sir, think about the faces of the officials when the court is dismissed."

Li An frowned, thought for a moment and said, "The officials all looked solemn. In the past, they would talk in groups of three or five after the court was dismissed, but today, no one said a word."

"Because most people feel guilty and are somewhat dissatisfied with the emperor's actions. After all, the late emperor was kind and the officials are still grateful for his kindness. Although a new emperor appoints new ministers, it is hard to bear to see the emperor forcing the empress dowager like this." Minglan said.

"You're right." Li An nodded and said, "Then what do you think the Queen Mother will do next?"

"The Empress Dowager has put the Emperor and the Prime Minister together today. As the morning court ends and the news spreads, there will inevitably be a lot of discussion behind the scenes. Many people will think that it was the Emperor who forced the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager had to obey. Next, the censors will inevitably impeach the Prime Minister. And the Empress Dowager will stand up at the critical moment and say that the imperial edict was written by her herself and no one forced her, and then announce the withdrawal of the curtain and the return of power." Minglan said.

"My lady, you are so amazing!" Li An said in surprise.

He remembered that the original plot was like this, and it should be similar now.

After all, some things may not happen due to the influence of certain things, but the occurrence of some things is almost inevitable.

A power struggle between the emperor and the empress dowager would not have happened unless the person sitting on the throne was not Zhao Zongquan.

Otherwise it is inevitable and cannot be changed by the butterfly effect.

But Minglan didn't know how things would turn out, and she could make a pretty accurate estimate based on what he said.

His intelligence is almost demonic.

Minglan smiled and said, "This is not difficult to guess. After all, the officials' guilt is only temporary. After a while, the officials will still stand on the emperor's side. The queen mother is naturally at a disadvantage in competing for power with the emperor. Moreover, what the queen mother did before only makes people suspect that she was forced by the emperor. If she came out and admitted it when the censor impeached her, it would be tantamount to confirming that she was forced. The emperor would have no way to defend himself."

"You are right. At that time, the emperor had only two choices. Either he tried his best to keep the empress dowager and continue to rule the country from behind the scenes, or he acquiesced to this matter. However, the former was too troublesome. After all, if the emperor wanted to keep the empress dowager and rule the country from behind the scenes, he would have to return the imperial seal. He would not dare to force the empress dowager to withdraw the curtain and return the government in a short time. It would also be a big blow to the emperor's prestige."

"And even if that were the case, people would not think that the emperor did not force the queen mother. They would only think that the emperor had to give up because of too much pressure from public opinion."

"Although there will be consequences if we tacitly agree to this matter, we will be able to control the power. In comparison, the government will definitely choose the latter," said Li An.

"What you said is very insightful," Minglan praised.

Li An reached out and touched Minglan's belly, saying, "I suddenly hope this is a son."

"Why?" Minglan was stunned when she heard that.

Although Ang Lee said before that it doesn't matter whether it's a boy or a girl, he actually prefers it to be a girl.

Now that he suddenly said he hoped it was a son, she was a little confused.

"If our son is as smart as you, the Li family's prosperity will be guaranteed for a hundred years." Li An said with a smile.

Minglan realized that Li An was praising her in a different way after hearing this, and said a little embarrassedly: "I'm not that smart, it's just because the Queen Mother's method is commonly used in the harem, I can see it at a glance. If it was any other method, I might not be able to see it."

"Don't be so modest. I think if my wife were a man, it would not be a problem for her to become my husband." Li An said.

"My lord, Prince Huan is here." Just then, Mother Cui walked in and said.

"understood."

Li An said something to Minglan and went to the front yard.

I don’t know whether Zhao Ceying came here now because he found something wrong with the Zou family or because he met Qi Heng before.

(End of this chapter)