My wife has a secret

Chapter 168 Taking office
"Yuheng, the splendor and wealth in this world, the profusion of flowers and brocade... in the end, it's really hard to give it up."

Princess Danyang blinked her beautiful eyes that could see through people's hearts, and her signature sweet smile appeared on her flawless jade-white face again.

She yawned, used her arms as pillows like a cat, and lay down on the chair.

After a while, Princess Danyang lowered her eyes, and the sleepiness in her eyes was like golden and white fireworks floating back and forth, blurry and uncertain, appearing and disappearing from time to time.

She opened her thin lips and whispered softly, "These people, if they heard something they shouldn't have heard, they will all be killed... Considering that you have worked hard in the mansion over the years, you won't bring harm to your family, so leave your bodies intact."

The masters and servants who were counting the accounts and examining the treasures all tensed up when they heard Princess Danyang mention them.

After learning that Princess Danyang was so kind as to leave a chance for their family members to survive, the servants all knelt on the ground and kowtowed to thank the princess for her great kindness.

In an instant, blood rushed into the sky.

The pool of crimson blood soaked the treasure chest and flowed under the stool where Princess Danyang was sitting on tiptoe.

……

Capital city, Guangping Marquis’ Mansion.

"quick!"

On the long bluestone street, the chief eunuch who was over fifty years old, holding a whisk and yellow silk in his hand, led the imperial guards in full armor and passed by and arrived at the gate of the marquis' mansion.

"Knock on the door!"

As soon as the old eunuch finished his shrill words, the imperial guards who were in charge of escorting him hurried forward and knocked on the door.

After the gatekeeper Yang Liu opened the door, the eunuch did not wait too long, but stepped directly over the threshold holding the imperial edict, speaking and giving instructions.

"Where is the Marquis of Guangping? Call him out quickly... The Empress Dowager's decree has arrived."

"Yes."

Seeing the leading eunuch's urgent voice and anxious face, Yang Liu did not dare to delay for a moment.

She went to the backyard and called out Xu Qing and her own young lady. Soon, all the people from Guangping Marquis's Mansion were standing in the front yard, tidying up their appearance and waiting in a serious manner.

"Accept the order."

"Live a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand years."

After Xu Qing knelt down and finished speaking, the eunuch in charge flicked his whisk, spread out the Empress Dowager Xu's decree in front of him and read: "In compliance with the will of Heaven, the Empress Dowager decrees... Marquis Guangping has performed meritorious services in protecting the Emperor during the Heavenly Sacrifice Ceremony, and is hereby ordered to take over the Five Cities Military Command and the Imperial Army's military seals, and be in charge of the coronation ceremony in three days."

Xu Qing looked unstable on the surface, but he was deeply shaken inside.

The eunuch's arrival was completely unexpected to him.

Although it was a secret known to everyone in the court that the Empress Dowager had ascended the throne, no one knew when she ascended the throne.

Therefore, the current court affairs are still based on the name and reign title of Emperor Xuan.

Moreover, Xu Qing clearly remembered that the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry had left the capital during the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven and returned to Yinshan... Now only the city defense guards of the Five Cities Army and the imperial guards were left in the capital.

The Queen Mother handed all the tiger talismans of the two armies to him and asked him to be responsible for the security of the coronation ceremony. Wasn't she afraid that he would become independent and rebel?
"…I admire this."

After the eunuch in charge finished reading the imperial edict, he saw that Xu Qing was still standing there and was reluctant to respond, so he coughed lightly and reminded him in a low voice.

"My Lord? I have received the order."

Xu Qing finally came back to his senses from his shock and hurriedly stood up to take the bright yellow silk.

Although Qin Shuying was born in Wangyue Tower, she was also a versatile and experienced courtesan.

She was well versed in the ways of officialdom, so she winked at Yang Liu behind her.

When Yang Liu presented the purse, Xu Qing thought of the scene in the play in his previous life and said, "Please trouble the father-in-law to come all the way here. This is a small token of my appreciation. I will treat it as inviting the father-in-law to tea."

The eunuch in charge smiled bitterly and waved his hand to reject Xu Qing's kindness.

If the person who received the imperial edict was any other official or minister, no matter what his rank was, his distracted performance just now would be enough for me to criticize him when I return to the palace.

But who is the person in front of me?
The other party is the empress dowager's family. Even if he has a thick skin, he dare not take the tea money from the empress dowager's family.

The eunuch in charge put on a pleasant face and said, "Your Excellency is too kind. This is our family's duty... Did you hear the imperial decree just now?"

"I heard it clearly."

The eunuch in charge nodded and ordered the eunuch behind him to bring up the tray with the tiger talisman split in half on it.

"Take the tiger talisman to the Five Cities Military Department and the Imperial Guard Commander, and then you can combine it with the original item. The army only recognizes tiger talismans, not people. My Lord, please take good care of it and don't lose it."

Xu Qing had never had experience in leading troops before, so the eunuch in charge kept nagging him a few more times to prevent him from making any mistakes.

After all, this gentleman loved to play in the past, and although he performed well in the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven, who knows what he will be like after leading the troops?
"Thank you for your teachings, eunuch."

"My Lord, in addition to this imperial edict, there is also a secret edict from Fengqi Palace."

The eunuch in charge pulled out a roll of yellow silk from his wide sleeves and lowered his voice, admonishing: "Open the seal of the secret decree and burn it after reading... This time the secret decree is in duplicate, and the other roll was brought to the princess's residence by Lianhua Jun. My Lord, please pay attention to it."

"Thank you for your concern, father-in-law."

Xu Qing didn't expect that the eunuchs in the palace were so thoughtful in their work.

The other party told him the information that the Princess's Mansion had also received the secret decree, which was equivalent to doing him a favor invisibly.

"We all work for the man in the palace, so you don't have to be polite, sir."

The eunuch in charge left with the young eunuchs and the imperial guards, and the huge courtyard suddenly became a little empty.

Yang Liu and Cui'er, who were standing behind Qin Shuying just now, pulled Xiaohuan away very tactfully after hearing the news of the secret decree, and retreated to a corner of the yard where no sound could be heard.

Because of her advanced martial arts skills, Qin Shuying was able to hear clearly the eunuch's whispers.

She walked forward slowly and asked with a worried look on her face, "My husband, what is the content of the secret decree? How come the Princess's Mansion of Princess Danyang also has a copy?"

After reading the secret decree, Xu Qing looked dazed and remained silent for a long time.

He sighed and handed the secret decree to Qin Shuying. The first sentence the latter read after taking it was "Marry in compliance with the decree".

"The eldest daughter of the late Emperor, Lady Su, Li Jin'er, is a woman of great beauty, a master of tea-making, and a virtuous woman. I have specially ordered her to marry Xu after the coronation ceremony, and to tie the knot happily."

When Qin Shuying saw what was happening behind, her pretty face was filled with confusion.

"What does the Queen Mother think? Your investigation into Princess Danyang will definitely be reported to Fengqi Palace by Chengxuanfang... Why did the Queen Mother let you get married when your husband was about to take action?"

"do not know."

Xu Qing shook his head, indicating that he also knew nothing.

He had no chance to enter the palace to see the emperor, so naturally he could not guess what the queen mother was thinking. But the importance of the coronation ceremony was far more important than anything else. This matter concerned the legal orthodoxy of the queen mother, and there must be no chaos.

If something happens to the White Lotus members, or if the coronation ceremony is messed up, the rumor that women cannot inherit the throne will be confirmed, which may cause a lot of turmoil.

With his aunt in trouble and the new emperor ascending the throne, he, the remnant of the Xu family, would also be finished. So at this critical juncture, he could not go against his aunt's wishes and withdraw his hands to deal with Princess Danyang.

"Could it be that Princess Danyang is still of use to the Queen Mother?"

"This is the only possibility."

Qin Shuying glanced at Xu Qing and asked calmly, "My husband, what are you going to do? Three days from now is not a long time... If my husband intends to marry this princess, I must make plans early."

Xu Qing could hear some displeasure in Qin Shuying's eyes, but he had to answer anyway.

"If that day comes, we can only bring her to our house first... Actually, it's not all bad to bring Princess Danyang in. After all, she is a member of the White Lotus Sect. With you watching over her, she won't dare to contact us privately."

Qin Shuying's expression did not change, and she looked at Xu Qing without saying a word.

Xu Qing had no choice but to continue explaining: "Besides, she is not the only one with problems in the mansion. They say they are getting married, but isn't the courtyard of the second house empty there?"

"Husband, the same thing."

Qin Shuying suddenly smiled, her three thousand black hair scattered casually, a few strands hung in front of her chest, making her look charming and graceful.

"These things... my fourth room has no say, you just need to explain them to the first room."

"I, I'm afraid of her?"

Xu Qing straightened his back, but his words sounded a little unconfident.

"Don't I have the final say at home?"

"Oh, my husband's whole body...only his mouth and his third leg are hard."

After Qin Shuying said this, she no longer cared about his expression and walked towards the lamp in the hall with the secret decree.

Xu Qing looked a little embarrassed. He shouldn't be the kind of person who was afraid of women. So why was Shen Shuangxu's aura so strong when he met her?

……

The news of Empress Dowager Xu's ascension to the throne spread like wildfire that day and spread out in a short time.

But the time and day of the enthronement were obviously not the empress dowager's whim. After Xu Qing took over the Five Cities Military Department and the Imperial Guards, he discovered that since the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven, a large number of troops had been responsible for the defense of the city.

Not only that, foreign envoys also arrived in the capital in the past two days and were hosted at the Honglu Temple.

"My Lord, this is the route map for the day of the coronation ceremony."

"Sir, this is the record of entering and leaving the city before today."

"Sir, this is..."

The Five Cities Military Division was responsible for patrolling and fire bans in various markets, so Xu Qing entrusted all matters related to the imperial guards to Shi Chen and moved into the residence of the Five Cities Military Division.

After taking charge of the defense of Kyoto, there were frequent people coming in and out of the office every day. Almost three people would come in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, which gave Xu Qing a headache.

Fortunately, the people in the court are not just there to do nothing. There are seven or eight aides sitting in this office alone, who are responsible for sorting out and preparing the intelligence passed on and providing advice to Xu Qing.

Therefore, Xu Qing's stationing in the Wucheng Military Command was just a face-saving project.

"Sir, the coronation ceremony will go around the East and West Markets, and there will be gaps in the deployment of personnel along the way... How about contacting the Imperial Guards to help in the East Market after the Saint's motorcade leaves the palace?"

After checking the route map, a staff member handed over the defense map with both hands.

"Okay, send someone to deliver the message."

"Yes, my lord."

As soon as the man turned aside to call in the messenger, another staff member stepped forward and said, "Sir, according to the Saint's request, the coronation ceremony requires flowers to be paved and monks to accompany the way, but now it is the end of the first month of the year, and it is extremely difficult to gather such a number."

Xu Qing rubbed his forehead and asked in the room: "Is there a solution?"

An aide who was handling other matters turned around and replied, "Sir, for the usual Oiran Contest, the various flower houses under the Ministry of Rites would prepare a large amount of flowers and preserve them using secret methods."

Another person bowed and said, "Sir, you can also cut petals out of colored paper and have the perfumer apply the corresponding spices to achieve the effect the saint wants."

"good."

Xu Qing thought for a moment and said, "Send a letter to my house and tell my fourth wife the truth. Ask her to go to Wangyue Tower on my behalf... Wangyue Tower will be in charge of managing the flowers and plants presented to each flower tower."

Then he turned around and continued to say to the staff member behind him: "Your idea is not bad. Order someone to prepare some... If there is a problem with the flowers in the flower house, use these cut paper flowers instead."

"Yes."

As the two aides left their work, new city defense guards walked into the Si Mansion and saluted to Xu Qing to report.

After casually dealing with two other things, the last guard had a strange expression on his face.

"what's up?"

"Sir...sir..."

The guard saw the displeasure on Xu Qing's tired face, and hurriedly bowed his head and saluted, saying, "Sir, the city police arrested a drunk man who was causing trouble. The man insisted that he and you had a life-long friendship, so he asked you to go to the prison and redeem him in person."

"How dare you spread such nonsense into the Si Mansion?"

Next to Xu Qing stood Shan Yongpei, who had been inseparable from him for the entire day.

As the coronation ceremony approaches, Chengxuanfang begins to operate at full capacity and investigate information from all sides.

The secret information reported by Chengxuanfang would first pass through Shan Yongpei's ears, and then he would tell Xu Qing.

In addition, the best soldier in the army personally selected by the empress dowager was also responsible for Xu Qing's personal security. After all, Qin Shuying was nominally a female concubine and could not serve with Marquis Guangping and enter and exit confidential places in the court.

Shan Yongpei glared at the guard who had no sense of propriety and glared at him viciously.

"All matters are now subject to the coronation ceremony. If you report useless news again, I will give you fifty lashes!"

"Yes, yes! I know I was wrong!"

When the guard was about to stand up and leave, Xu Qing suddenly raised his hand to stop him and asked, "Your face looks familiar to me. You must have made more than ten trips today. You don't look like someone who would misreport information... Why do you have to report the prisoners you catch while on patrol?"

Seeing that Xu Qing was willing to listen to his reasons, the guard hurriedly explained what he wanted to say.

"I didn't want to report this matter to you, sir, and trouble you... But the policeman who caught the criminal took me to the prison and saw him take out your things with his own eyes, so..."

"what?"

When the guard heard Xu Qing's question, he looked around a little embarrassedly and said slowly: "Sir, it's your boots."

"What? My boots?"

Xu Qing stared at the guard with an expression that said, "Are you kidding me?" The guard didn't dare to look up at him, with an expression full of embarrassment.

The other staff members also pricked up their ears, and some of them looked at each other with laughter, treating this accident as a joke at work.

(End of this chapter)