Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 486: The Queen Mother's Backstab

"Sir, please tell the lady the good news first." Ruichu said with a smile.

Not only did she not have any grudges against Minglan being able to receive the imperial decree, she was also very happy for Minglan.

As for the fact that she herself did not have an imperial edict, it was because the county princess did not know how to grant an imperial edict.

The title of County Princess is equivalent to a nobility, and her treatment in all aspects is actually similar to that of a lord.

It's just because she is a woman that she cannot hold an official position, but it is much better than an imperial edict or something.

In the final analysis, an imperial edict is just an honorary title.

"Well, I'll go tell Minglan the news now and tell you the details in the evening," said Li An.

After several months of getting along, Li An has thoroughly understood Ruichu's personality.

She is just an ordinary palace maid. Although she does not have great wisdom, she has her own unique wisdom.

There was nothing different about her because she was given the title of County Princess.

She is just an ordinary woman at heart, and doesn't have any bad intentions as he thought.

After entering the room, she behaved like a concubine in front of Minglan and was very respectful.

Li An never went to her room, and she never sent anyone to invite him.

But whenever Li An went over, she would greet him with a smile, serve him wholeheartedly, and never show the slightest bit of unhappiness.

Even Minglan truly recognized her and sometimes urged Li An to go to her room to rest.

"Yeah." Ruichu nodded with a slightly red face.

She naturally understood what Li An meant.

After Ruichu left, Li An came to Minglan's courtyard and told her about the incident.

"I want to be granted an imperial decree?" Minglan said in disbelief, "My grandmother didn't get one, so how can I get one?"

"A wife's dignity lies in her husband, and your husband is the most powerful one." Li An said with a smile.

Minglan smiled and said, "Yes, yes, sir, you are amazing."

Whatever Ang Lee could think of, she could think of too.

But seeing that Li An was like a child, she was happy to follow Li An and praise him, which could be regarded as a little romance between husband and wife.

Li An couldn't take his eyes away from Minglan's beautiful smile.

Minglan was not absolutely beautiful, but she was pregnant and her figure had become fuller, giving her a unique charm.

Minglan also noticed the change in Li An's eyes.

They have been husband and wife for so long, how could she not see the meaning in Li Ang's gaze.

"My lord, Sister Ruichu came to the palace today. She was very scared. You should go and talk to her." Minglan said.

"My wife." Li An leaned close to her ear and whispered, "I heard that if you are pregnant for a few months, you just need to be careful and everything will be fine."

"No, what if the child gets hurt?"

Minglan blushed and shook her head repeatedly.

She actually knew it, but when the mood struck, who could control it?

"Don't worry, I will be careful." Li An said while hugging Minglan.

"No, sir, you should go find sister Ruichu."

Minglan was determined not to agree, but she couldn't stop Li An from persuading her.

In fact, she had thought about it a little, but she was afraid of hurting the child, so she kept holding it in.

Li An kept persuading her, and she finally gave in.

Li An was delighted when Minglan agreed, and said, "Danju, you guys can leave. I will sleep with the Madam for a while."

"Master, it's almost time for dinner, why not wait until after dinner..."

Danju quickly pulled Xiaotao and said, "Yes!"

After saying that, he dragged Xiaotao out.

The two of them were speaking in a low voice just now, and Xiao Tao didn't understand, but she guessed what they were going to do from their expressions.

"Sir, it's not even dark yet, what nonsense are you talking about?" Minglan said angrily, "Look at Danju's expression, she must have known."

"If we really have to wait until dark and turn off the lights, what if we can't see the child and he gets hurt? Now is a good time." Li An said as he picked up Minglan.

It’s not that Li Ang is impatient. Given Minglan’s personality, she will probably regret it once she calms down.

…………

More than an hour later, Li An opened the door and walked out, asking Danju and the others to go in and help Minglan wash up.

He himself went to Ruichu's yard.

He found himself asking for trouble. Minglan was pregnant and he couldn't move freely.

At night with Ruichu, I didn't have so many worries.

Ruichu has always been obedient to Li An. No matter how embarrassing Li An's request is, she is willing to cooperate even though she is very shy.

…………

While Li An was enjoying himself, the Duke of Qi's mansion was brightly lit.

Qi Heng summoned the officials from the Censorate to his home and told them what happened during his meeting with the Queen Mother today.

When the Queen Mother met Qi Heng, she didn't actually say anything. She just shed tears silently, and then said that she had written the imperial edict after she was drunk.

She also persuaded Qi Heng to let it go, saying that as long as it could keep the court stable, she didn't mind suffering a little grievance.

But how could Qi Heng be willing to do so? He summoned the censors and told them the situation, and they became outraged.

Whether it is sincere or false, they have no choice.

"Sir, nothing will happen, right?" Princess Pingning asked worriedly.

"Alas." Duke Qi sighed and said, "Let him be. The court has never killed civil officials. Besides, he is a civil servant. Even if he violated a taboo, he will not be punished. At most, he will be dismissed from his post."

"Besides, the situation in the court is unpredictable right now. It would be good for him to be dismissed and stay at home."

The censors heard that there was no crime in reporting the matter, as long as they had no selfish motives. Even if the emperor was unhappy, he would not punish Qi Heng for it.

Princess Pingning was still worried when she heard this, but she didn't say anything.

If it were Princess Pingning's previous temperament, she would definitely forcefully stop Qi Heng from doing this.

But after that incident, her personality became less strong and she was more willing to listen to others.

…………

It was not until late at night that the officials of the Censorate left the Duke of Qi's Mansion.

Naturally, the movements of the Duke of Qi's Mansion could not be hidden from Zhao Zongquan.

Although Zhao Zongquan was angry, he could do nothing about it.

If he could control the situation in the court, he would not use the issue of posthumous titles to force civil and military officials to take sides.

He couldn't stop the censors from giving their opinions, otherwise he would be infamous for eternity.

Although Bianliang was still as prosperous as before, its officials and nobles all felt that a storm was about to come.

Anyone who knows something about the situation is telling their children and grandchildren to behave themselves and not cause trouble.

For a moment, it seemed as if all the playboys in Bianjing had suddenly disappeared.

The Li family was filled with joy at this time, because the mistress of the house was granted an imperial decree, and the master Li An ordered that each person in the mansion be rewarded with three months' salary.

Servants have simple minds. If their master's family gets better and better, they will also get better and better, and their future descendants will continue to serve their master.

If the master is not good, they, as servants, are also part of the assets, and if things go wrong, they will be sold. They are just small people, without the right to make decisions, and can only go with the flow.

The masters and queens of the Li family treated their servants kindly and did not mistreat them harshly, so they naturally hoped that the Li family would prosper.

"My wife, you have been looking at it for almost half an hour, and the imperial edict has faded due to your touch." Li An said speechlessly.

After receiving the imperial edict, Minglan happily held it and read it.

It seems like you can see flowers.

"Sir, this is an imperial decree, even my grandmother doesn't have it." Minglan said.

I don’t know if it was because of the imperial decree or because of the nourishment she received last night, but Minglan’s face was glowing and she looked very high-spirited.

"Then do you want to wait until the imperial robe is ready and then wear it back to the Sheng family?" Li An asked jokingly.

Minglan's eyes lit up when she heard this. She didn't want to show off, but mainly because if she returned in such glory, her mother and brother would have an easier time in the Sheng family.

But after thinking about it carefully, I gave up this idea.

Given Madam Wang's personality, doing this would be tantamount to trying to seduce Madam Wang.

Maybe he would get jealous and target her mother.

Minglan rolled her eyes at Li An and said, "I'm pregnant now, so I can't measure the size until after the baby is born. Besides, there's no way I'm going back to my parents' house to show off."

Imperial robes are all tailor-made, and Minglan is pregnant now, so it is definitely impossible to have one measured.

Otherwise, if the sizes are different, you won’t be able to wear it, or it will look ugly when you wear it, which is embarrassing.

Li An smiled and said, "It's just a fourth-rank imperial decree. I'll earn you a second-rank imperial decree in the future, and let you enjoy the glory of the times."

The first-rank imperial edict can basically only be conferred to a husband or the wife of a duke.

Minglan shook her head and said, "Sir, I am already very satisfied."

Minglan also knew the dangers of officialdom.

She didn't want Li An to hold too high an official position, as a high official position would mean greater danger.

She had many dissatisfactions with her father Sheng Hong, but she admired him for his way of being an official.

When Prince Yong and Prince Yan were competing for the crown prince position, many people were involved. However, it was Sheng Hong who saw the danger involved and took the initiative to use his connections to transfer from the Secretariat to the Ministry of Works.

How many people can be so decisive?

There are many people who can sense the danger and choose not to take sides, but there are very few who know how to protect themselves like Sheng Hong.

If Sheng Hong expressed this idea, many people would despise him, but it is the real way to survive in the officialdom.

As Li Ang's bedmate, Minglan understands Li Ang.

Ang Lee actually understands everything, but he has ambitions.

Li An didn’t know what Minglan was thinking, nor did he think much about it. After all, Minglan was not the kind of person who loved vanity.

Such a happy event as Minglan's imperial decree must be celebrated.

Ang Lee did not invite many guests, only relatives from Minglan's mother's side.

His family had no relatives in Bian Jing, so he couldn't invite them even if he wanted to.

Li An also invited Master Li, but Shi Lin was unwilling to come and refused on the grounds that his grandson needed care.

Shizhu's child is a boy. When he was born, Ruichu had just married into the family.

The little guy is only a few months old now. Li An went to see him a few days ago. He looked chubby and strong.

The Shi family has only one descendant, and now that he has a grandson, Shi Lin is so happy that he even temporarily closed his martial arts school.

After all, Shizhu had followed Li An to protect Zhao Zongquan in suppressing the rebellion, and was also rewarded with two imperial farms, with a considerable annual income. Now he has no worries about food and drink and no longer needs to rely on the martial arts school for support.

If Li An had not been in Bian Jing, Shi Lin would have wanted to sell the farm and return to Yangzhou.

Everyone in the Sheng family was very happy about Minglan's title, except Madam Wang, who was jealous and forced herself to smile throughout the entire banquet.

Later, I heard from Minglan that she was scolded by Old Madam Sheng on her way back.

Old Madam Sheng was not defending Minglan. After all, Madam Wang didn't say anything weird.

But on such a happy day, Mrs. Wang, as the mother-in-law, put on a forced smile. What did Ang Lee think?
It would be fine if Madam Wang could hide her emotions, but the problem is that she shows them all on her face.

…………

A few days passed in the blink of an eye, and it was time for the morning court again.

The court currently holds court once every five days. It is no secret that officials from the Censorate have been contacting court officials over the past few days and are preparing to launch an attack at today's morning court session.

In the past, officials would gather in groups of three or five to chat in the Tailou Courtyard before going to court, which was quite lively.

Today it was very quiet. Even if someone was talking, their voices were very low and the atmosphere was very depressing.

When the eunuch informed them that the time was almost up, all the civil and military officials left the Tailou Courtyard, lined up in the square outside the main hall, and entered the hall.

Only Zhao Zongquan attended the morning court today; the empress dowager did not come.

Zhao Zongquan also knew that today would not end well, so after all the officials had greeted him, he sat down with a gloomy face.

It's not that he didn't think about claiming illness and not attending court, but given the nature of the censors, they would definitely run to the palace to stop him.

If these people are not allowed to enter the palace, it is not impossible that they will block the palace gate and threaten to die.

After careful consideration, Zhao Zongquan decided to come.

As soon as the eunuch in charge of the palace announced the start of the morning court session, Qi Heng stepped out and started the attack.

"Your Majesty, I, the Grand Counselor Qi Heng, have something to report." Qi Heng bowed and said.

Zhao Zong said expressionlessly: "Speak!"

"I impeach the Grand Chancellor Han Zhang. He first tricked the Empress Dowager into giving him the imperial seal in the name of praying for rain, and then took advantage of the Empress Dowager's drunkenness to trick her into writing an imperial decree. What the Grand Chancellor did was simply outrageous and outrageous to both humans and gods! He should be removed from his post and handed over to the Dali Temple for questioning!" Qi Heng said.

"Although censors have the right to report rumors, the person you are impeaching is the prime minister of the current dynasty. If you don't have any evidence, do you know what the consequences will be?" Zhao Zongquan said coldly.

"I know, but at this moment please ask the Queen Mother to come out and ask her. If what I said is untrue, I am willing to be punished!" Qi Heng said seriously.

"The Queen Mother hasn't recovered yet, but you asked her to come for a confrontation. What are you thinking?" Zhao Zongquan shouted.

"I beg Your Majesty to ask the Queen Mother to come out for a confrontation!" Qi Heng said, kneeling down.

"I beg your Majesty to ask the Queen Mother to come out and confront us!"

Most of the officials in the Censorate stood up, repeated Qi Heng's words in unison, and knelt down.

Not only that, some other officials also came out and knelt, asking the Queen Mother to come out for confrontation.

At one moment, one third of the court officials knelt down.

"Are you trying to force the emperor to abdicate?" Zhao Zongquan asked.

"We dare not! We just want to ask the Queen Mother to come out and explain the situation." Qi Heng said.

"Okay, very good!" Zhao Zongquan looked at Qi Heng with gloomy eyes and said, "I will ask the Queen Mother to come over and confront you!"

After saying this, Zhao Zongquan stood up and left the hall.

Although Zhao Zongquan was gone, the hall was still very quiet.

Li An stood in the crowd and shook his head slightly. Zhao Zongquan dared to ask the Queen Mother for help, so he must be sure of something.

These people are probably going to be in trouble next.

The important thing is that it was organized by Qi Heng. When the time comes, these people will definitely blame Qi Heng.

After waiting for about an incense stick of time, footsteps were heard from the direction of the back door of the hall.

Everyone held their breath and when they saw Zhao Zongquan supporting the empress dowager over, they bowed and shouted in unison: "Greetings, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager!"

"Didn't I say last time that whatever the emperor wants is his business? I am old and unable to rule the country from behind the curtain. From now on, I will return the power to you." The empress dowager said with a haggard look.

(End of this chapter)