My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 77 I’m tired

The empress dowager, the empress dowager.

A single word difference can have a hugely different impact on the characterization of Liu Rong's crime.

The empress dowager is the theoretical head of the Han family and the old Liu family. Her status is at least as high as that of the emperor, and even slightly beyond it.

——At least in the current political environment of the Han family's "ruling the country with filial piety", the empress dowager has the power to depose and establish the emperor.

On the contrary, it is absolutely impossible for the emperor to depose or establish the queen mother.

As for the emperor's younger brother, he was much inferior.

First of all, this is an identity term that has never existed - at least, no one has ever owned it, and it has just been 'invented'.

How noble can an identity that has never existed be?
To break through the sky is to stand shoulder to shoulder with the crown prince;
If you take into account the negative effects such as "unjustified reputation" and "legacy", he will even be one step shorter than the crown prince.

Secondly, today's Liu Wu is still only Liu Wu, King of Liang, not Liu Wu, the emperor's brother.

The emperor's younger brother was not very noble to begin with, and with the word 'quasi' in front of him, he was no more noble than Liu Rong, the emperor's eldest son.

Who is not a potential prince these days?
My emperor’s eldest son, Liu Rong, is more legitimate at least!

Finally, there is the particularity of Liang Wang Liu Wu, the 'quasi-emperor's younger brother'.

——Liang Wang Liu Wu, the 'quasi-emperor brother', can almost be said to be the wishful thinking of Empress Dowager Dou.

Even though Emperor Qi mentioned this matter verbally in private, he never publicly expressed his views on the new term "Emperor's Brother" on a formal occasion.

After these layers of buffs were piled up, Liu Rong angrily said, "Let's see if the saliva of the people in the world can drown my imperial brother of the Han family to death." It was no big deal.

You're going to have to take over my place as a direct descendant, and you're just playing the tricks of brother-in-law!

My emperor's eldest son is angry for a moment, drunk and cowardly. Can't he just curse a few words?

That is to say, Liu Rong is a clan relative, and has an additional level of ancestor-grandson relationship with Empress Dowager Dou, and has an additional level of uncle-nephew relationship with Liang Wang Liu Wu.

If it were a courtier with a foreign surname who had a more violent temper, such as Prime Minister Shen Tujia, Lieutenant Zhou Yafu, etc., let alone Liang Wang Liu Wu - pointing at Empress Dowager Dou's nose and scolding "You want to be Lu's family again", it would still be light!
Calculated in this way, the original charge of "disloyalty to the grandmother and queen mother" has naturally been reduced to the level of "disrespect to the elders of the clan".

What is this concept?
No matter how serious it is, it can't be more serious than smashing someone's son to death with a chessboard and not giving someone an explanation...

"What does the emperor think?"

Being choked by Liu Rong, dozens of eyes in the palace were immediately attracted to her. Empress Dowager Dou was also a little paralyzed for a moment.

Of course Empress Dowager Dou knew that Liu Rong was making clever excuses - the person Liu Rong scolded that day must have been her grandmother.

But there was an extremely crucial difference between the empress dowager and the emperor of the Han family.

It is this difference that allows the Han Dynasty's unique dualist system of government, in which the East and the West govern the world, to operate normally, instead of evolving into a stage for the East and the West to compete for power.

——The Queen Mother needs evidence to punish a person.

Unlike the emperor who can make arbitrary decisions and punish or even execute a person by pulling off a fig leaf, the empress dowager of the Han Dynasty required a complete chain of evidence to impose punishment.

As for the reason, it is very simple - the Empress Dowager of the Han Dynasty paid homage to the Emperor, saying "I" in her mouth, "Beng" in death, "Jing" when she came in and out, and "Zhi" in writing.

Such overwhelming power and no constraints;

If he is allowed to act wantonly and kill at every turn, he may become the Lu family again...

Isn’t that what Queen Mother Lu is like?
Kill whoever you are told to kill, do whatever you are told to do, and make whoever you are told to be the king!

Madam Qi, Liu Ruyi, and the sons of Emperor Taizu Gao, which one is really 'dead'?
Among the princes and princes of Lu, as well as Princess Lu Yuan’s son Zhang Yan, who was named King of Lu, which one really deserves to be named king or marquis?

Therefore, in order to curb the infinite and unlimited power of the Empress Dowager of the Han Dynasty, a basic tacit understanding had been established between the emperor and the courtiers of the Han family as early as when the late emperor ascended the throne.

——In order to prevent another Empress Dowager Lu from being born in the Han family, the power of the Empress Dowager of Han must be restricted to a certain extent!

The specific measure is that whenever the Queen Mother of the East Palace makes or is about to make an extraordinary move, the court will jump out and accuse the East Palace: Queen Mother, do you want to imitate the Queen Mother Lu?

At that time, the late emperor was determined to kill his maternal uncle Bo Zhao. The eldest sister of Bo Zhao's mother, the Queen Mother, also interceded for her younger brother Bo Zhao.

But at that time, the late emperor asked the Empress Dowager Bo to take refuge in the East Palace with a simple rhetorical question, and she has not interfered with the affairs of the government since then.

——Queen mother, do you want to imitate Queen Mother Lu?

Empress Dowager Lu is the Sword of Damocles hanging over the head of every empress dowager of the Han Dynasty.

Any person or thing that might contaminate oneself as "emulating Empress Lu" would be enough for the Empress Dowager of the Han Dynasty to shun away, even like the current Empress Dowager Bo, who shuns the deep palace and does not care about worldly affairs...

"Looking at this bastard makes me angry!"

Emperor Qi obviously had no intention of responding to his mother's request for help. He was still immersed in his role, acting like an old father with smoke coming from his nostrils because of his bastard son.

"I don't even dare to admit what I said, and I'm still here quibbling!"

"——Why did the queen take this bastard out?"

"It would be better to just starve to death in the Ancestral Temple. It would be a worthy death!!!"

At first glance, they sounded like agreement, but in reality they were words of advance before retreat. They immediately forced the already embarrassed Empress Dowager Dou into an increasingly embarrassing position. Liu Rong's words did not say the word "empress" for the last empress dowager, which meant that no matter how angry Empress Dowager Dou was, she could only suspect the crime.

Unless you want to be like Empress Dowager Bo and go to the palace early tomorrow morning to find a quiet palace to live in seclusion;

Otherwise, Queen Mother Dou would have to suppress her anger, break her teeth and swallow blood...

"After all, he is the eldest son of my Han family and the son of the emperor. He is of the bloodline of Emperor Taizu Gao and Emperor Taizong Xiaowen."

"It's just a drunken gaffe, after all;"

“Sin shall not lead to death.”

Even though she was unwilling, Empress Dowager Dou still had to say these words to finalize this incident.

——Liu Rong made a drunken gaffe and was disrespectful to his clan elders.

According to the usual practice, at most, it is just a matter of closed door and thinking about one's faults;

Considering that Liu Rong had been thinking about it for five days in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, the matter could only be revealed...

"Whoo~"

Even though he had anticipated this outcome, Liu Rong couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief when he actually received the verdict of 'not guilty'.

He led his younger brother to kowtow and thank him, and sat down at the side of the hall, where he ate and stuffed himself;
During the process, I did not forget to remind my brother to eat slowly and stop filling his stomach.

After repeatedly reminding him several times, he found that his younger brother was saying "um huh huh" vaguely, but his hand movements did not slow down at all. Liu Rong had no choice but to grab the roast meat from his brother's hand and pick up a bowl of rice porridge;
After thinking for a while, he poured some warm water into the porridge, and then while feeding his brother, he said in a warm voice: "I have been fasting for several days, so I have to eat some liquid food first to let my spleen and stomach adapt first..."

Seeing Liu Rong holding a bowl in one hand and a spoon in the other, patiently feeding his brother the gruel one bite at a time, the high-pitched hearts of everyone in the hall finally calmed down.

At the east table, all the princes, including the second son Liu De, cast envious glances at Young Master Yu, but they were unable to take the third prince's attention away from the bowl of porridge in Liu Rong's hand. .

Teacher, Prince Zhan Shi Dou Ying was greatly comforted and proudly stroking his beard;
Dou Pengzu, the prince of Nanpihou, nodded with a smile and recognition in his eyes;
Zhihou Bo Rongnu was as usual: his eyes were dull and his expression was indifferent.

——Li Ji, crying with joy.

Especially seeing the rather warm interaction between the two brothers, Li Ji just lowered her head while crying and laughing. She wiped her face again and again with the handkerchief in her hand, but she couldn't wipe away the endless tears.

During this period, I did not forget to throw a few daggers at Liu De, the second son of the emperor.

On the royal couch, Queen Mother Dou's face had not brightened all day, and finally she felt a little moved when she saw this scene.

"Back then, in Dai Wang's palace, the late emperor was tending crops all day long, while the prostitute and I were busy raising silkworms and weaving cloth."

"Awu is hungry, so the emperor feeds him like this, right?"

Hearing his mother's strange emotions, Emperor Qi, even though he was still angry, could only take a deep breath and gradually calm down his anger.

He exhaled the turbid air again, forced out a smile that was uglier than crying, and nodded gently to his mother.

"When Awu was a child, he could eat more than the third child, huh?"

After saying that, Emperor Qi turned around, raised his hand rather teasingly, and patted Liang Wang Liu Wu on the back of his neck.

Just as he was about to say something more, from the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of his mother beside him, standing up with a cane on his face with a forlorn look on his face.

After standing up tremblingly and taking a rough look around the palace, the Queen Mother Dou let out another long sigh.

"It's a rare day to have all the Liu clan members and relatives from all the families gathered together..."

"——I'm tired."

"Emperor, please sit a little longer for me."

After saying these words, Empress Dowager Dou took a step forward, and the dove stick in her hand fell to the old wooden floor. With a very regular "dong dong" sound, she walked towards the back hall.

But no one noticed that with every step she took, Queen Mother Dou's face, which had always remained calm, would darken a bit.

——Today, it was Empress Dowager Dou who took advantage of Liu Rong's complaint against the East Palace to challenge the Emperor, and suggested that "the Emperor's eldest son is still too young. Between Emperor Qi and the Emperor's eldest son, Liang Wang Liu Wu should temporarily sit on the throne for a few years." day.

But Liu Rong messed things up for a while, and even directly put the words "Emperor's Brother" on the table, which completely frustrated Empress Dowager Dou's plan.

Of course Queen Mother Dou would not, and could not, just back down.

But how to do it specifically requires re-planning and waiting for a suitable opportunity...

"I want to keep Ah Wu in Chang'an for a little longer."

Thinking of this, Queen Mother Dou's gloomy face became even more gloomy.

Of course, Liang Wang Liu Wu could wait in Chang'an for the imperial edict to establish the crown prince.

But Liu Bi, the king of Wu in Guandong, would not be so kind as to wait for Liu Wu to return to Suiyang before raising troops in Wu...

　Second update today.

　　That’s it for today. I’ll do two updates tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow. It’s going to be released soon. It’s really stressful to update and save the manuscript and put it on the shelf.

　　I wish all readers the best, and please continue to support me and keep reading~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)