The Hidden Beauty

Chapter 35 Weakening Power
Song Huaizhi came out of the Princess's Mansion, straightened his official uniform slightly, and then entered the palace to attend court.

In the court, the emperor suddenly issued an order to set up a personal guard to command the safety of the palace. Song Huaizhi was promoted to the commander of the personal guard. The personal guard was directly under the emperor and was not under the jurisdiction of the Five Military Command.

When these words were spoken, the court officials were in an uproar.

This means that the so-called male favorite of the princess became the most powerful minister overnight except for the Left General Meng Tingzhou.

Moreover, this position is more closely related to His Majesty. After all, His Majesty dares to entrust the safety of such a huge palace to him.

Everyone looked at Meng Tingzhou with a hint of meaningful inquiry in their eyes.

In the Governor's Mansion, Xu Jing was the first to jump out: "The emperor actually promoted a male favorite to be the leader of the imperial guards, and also ordered that he is not under the jurisdiction of the Governor's Mansion. It is clear that he is taking the opportunity to weaken the power of the Governor!"

Li Xiang was also indignant: "Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, there have been conflicts between the noble families within the court, and invasions from the Turks and barbarians. No one was willing to go to war at that time."

"It was the governor who led his subordinates through life and death to bring peace to the border. Now they are not tolerated for being a little obedient. This is simply too much."

Meng Tingzhou sat quietly at the head of the table, his eyes full of gloom. "The emperor has always been scheming. He promoted Song Huaizhi for two reasons. One is to use Song Huaizhi's power to fight against the aristocratic families, and the other is to contain the power of both this governor and Song Huaizhi."

Xu Jing expressed his concerns: "Commander-in-chief, the emperor has set up a personal guard today, and he may set up others tomorrow. If this continues, I'm afraid..."

Meng Tingzhou clenched his fists, his knuckles crackling. "I had a premonition long ago that if there weren't people with extremely high power involved in the Tongguan battle, who in the Ministry of War would dare not send troops?"

"After we captured the second Turkic prince last time, I volunteered to build a wall in the northern border to prevent foreign invasion. The governor's office will also be moved to the northern border to take on the responsibility of border defense."

"Captain!"

Several subordinates present looked sideways.

"After going through life and death, the governor finally ends up being stationed at the border?"

"I feel sorry for the governor."

"Please think twice, Governor..."

Meng Tingzhou looked at Xu Jing, Li Xiang, Pei Qing and others below, and his expression remained normal.

"You have followed me through life and death for decades, and you are my trusted and beloved generals. I am telling you today so that you can be prepared. Unless it is absolutely necessary, I do not want to move your family to such a bitter and cold place in the north."

He sighed, "To be with the emperor is like being with a tiger. If the emperor wants to use any of you to make trouble one day, I am afraid I will be unable to do anything about it, so I have to think of a way out in advance."

This is why Meng Tingzhou is so popular among the soldiers. He loves his subordinates very much, even to the point of sharing life and death with them.

After dismissing Xu Jing, Li Xiang and others, Pei Qing, who had been silent the whole time, spoke up: "Commander-in-chief, do you need to remind Madam to be more careful in her daily life?"

Xu Jing and Li Xiang were unaware of the grudge between Meng Tingzhou and Song Huaizhi, but Pei Qing knew it clearly.

Meng Tingzhou shook his head: "The intrigues in the court are too complicated. Her mind has been on Ah You recently. I don't want her to be distracted, so let her go."

After the full-month ceremony, Jiang Shiwan clearly developed a natural motherly love for the child. There were several times when Ayou was in a bad mood and the maids and wet nurses were helpless, so she still fed and comforted him personally.

Thinking of that scene, his blood boiled.

Pei Qing seemed to have thought of something, and then he clasped his fists and said, "Commander-in-chief, Yu Feng is still in the garrison, what should we do with him?"

"Ask him whether he wants to come back or go to the personal guard. If he comes back, tell him that I don't need fools around me."

"Yes."

After Song Huaizhi was promoted to the commander of the imperial army, the princess was overjoyed and wanted to be with him day and night. In the dead of winter, the cold current was rolling, but the indoor floor heating was as warm as spring.

After a happy moment, the princess lazily lay in Song Huaizhi's arms: "Since my brother promoted you, I haven't seen you since."

Song Huaizhi gently stroked her black hair: "Everything for the imperial guards needs to be deployed from scratch. I don't want to disappoint you."

"Hmph." The princess pouted in anger, and her fair fingers slid across the wound that was about to heal. "Huaizhi, do you blame me?"

Song Huaizhi's expression did not change at all, and he was as patient as ever: "I have said that being able to always be by the princess' side is my greatest wish."

"I won't bully you again." The eldest princess bit her lip. He was completely different from her previous male favorites and had captured her heart deeply.

"Would you please call me Jinxi from now on?"

Song Huaizhi frowned slightly: "Princess, this is absolutely not allowed."

The princess hugged him and said, "Why not? I was planning to wait until you have done something good in front of my brother, and then I will ask him to make you my consort. From now on, we can live a carefree life, okay?"

"Princess, please don't joke. There is a huge difference between me and you. How can I become your consort?"

Song Huaizhi looked puzzled. What was she going to do?
The eldest princess didn't care about that. She stroked her belly and said, "I have made two preparations. If my brother doesn't agree, I will tell him that I am pregnant. He can't let his nephew go unjustified."

Things were beyond Song Huaizhi's imagination.

This eldest princess must be crazy. She actually wants me to be her consort.

The most important thing is that this dynasty has a clear order that the prince consort is not allowed to participate in politics.

If I really become a royal consort, wouldn't all my efforts be in vain?
After finally coaxing the princess, Song Huaizhi walked out of the princess's mansion in the cold and got on the carriage.

"Cen Shuang, add one more thing to the princess's medicine starting tomorrow." He then whispered in Cen Shuang's ear.

Cen Shuang showed a complex expression: "Sir, do you really want to do this? The princess seems to trust you more and more. If she is interested... If you have a child in the future, he will be the nephew of the emperor, and at least a prince..."

Song Huaizhi smiled complicatedly: "My father was the late emperor's tutor. He saw that the court was in a mess and proposed to the late emperor to reduce the power of the aristocratic families and emphasize the imperial examination. The late emperor was forced to deal with the Song family under pressure. The eldest princess's father was the culprit who killed my Song family. How could I be with the daughter of the enemy who killed my father?"

"Besides, I took the risk to come to the capital and willingly became the princess' male favorite in order to protect her, not for fame and fortune."

Cen Shuang naturally knew that he was referring to Jiang Shiwan.

"But sir, she is now the wife of the governor..." "The emperor is not at ease with Meng Tingzhou's dominance and is gradually weakening his military strength." Song Huaizhi understood clearly, "If something happens to Meng Tingzhou in the future, I must protect her."

Cen Shuang remained silent.

My son is unparalleled in the world, with great ambitions, but he is also a rare infatuated person.

"Oh, sir, I've asked someone to check and found out that the one who instigated the princess at the Governor's Mansion last time was the Concubine's elder brother, Lin Nianshen."

Song Huaizhi's voice was cold: "Does he think the salary fine imposed by the emperor is not enough?"

"Sir, do you want to teach him a lesson?"

"The Queen wants to hold a warm-up party in the palace on a snowy day. We will deal with it then."

(End of this chapter)