Rebirth of the High Gate Mistress

Chapter 363 The best of both worlds

Since King Jin successfully returned to the palace, everything seems to be calm in the imperial city, but in fact, there is a turbulent undercurrent, and the confrontation between the princelings and the king's party has reached a blatant level.

The Cao family was powerful, and although Emperor Ming wanted to save money, he did not dare to act rashly. However, Concubine Meng, mother and son could not wait any longer.

Facing Concubine Meng’s frequent pursuits of death and survival, Emperor Ming was in a state of disbelief, and was extremely irritated.

On this day, Concubine Meng had just finished crying in the Qinzheng Hall, and Emperor Ming, who was very upset, announced that his nephew Li Xiang had arrived.

Li Xiang was only a fourth rank in the Forbidden Army. It wasn't that Emperor Ming didn't want to promote his nephew, but that Li Xiang had no intention of pursuing an official career at all, so Emperor Ming couldn't force him.

Emperor Ming's favorite nephew was the capable Li Ling. Although Li Xiang served in the palace, Emperor Ming rarely saw him. Li Xiang was a little surprised when he suddenly heard that Emperor Ming summoned him.

He followed the chamberlain to the Qinzheng Hall, and was about to salute Emperor Ming, but Emperor Ming waved his hand to stop him. Emperor Ming slumped down on the dragon chair tiredly, and said calmly: "There is no one else around, so there is no need to be polite. I'm calling you." Come, I just want to ask you a few questions."

As he spoke, Emperor Ming pointed to the chair beside him and asked Li Xiang to sit on it.

Li Xiang sat down and asked, "Your Majesty has summoned me, but what are your orders?"

Emperor Ming was really exhausted by the dispute over the throne these days. He was just in his early fifties, and he was already showing his age.

He raised his eyes to look at his little nephew and asked: "Didn't your mother say she would be home at the beginning of this month? It's been more than ten days, why haven't you come back yet? Has she sent a letter back, and has she told you when she will return? ?”

The government has always remained neutral in the dispute over the throne. Li Xiang was originally worried that Emperor Ming would announce that he was doing it for the heir apparent. Now that Emperor Ming asked him about his mother, he couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief and replied truthfully: " At the beginning of the month, my mother received a letter from home, saying that she and her father were enjoying their travels abroad and that they had to postpone their return. As for the specific time when they would be able to return, my mother did not specify."

The eldest princess and the Duke of Zhen were wasted for more than twenty years due to misunderstanding, and now they are finally getting back together. The two cherish the time together very much. The old couple spends more than half of the year traveling abroad.

Emperor Ming has always relied on his eldest sister the most. Now that his two sons are having such a quarrel over the throne, he is unable to solve it, so he hopes that his eldest sister will help him make decisions.

Now that he heard that the eldest sister's return date has not yet been determined, Emperor Ming sighed deeply: "Humph! The eldest sister will be happy, so she will bear all the country, the country, and the country on me."

As he said that, Emperor Ming glanced at Li Xiang and said displeasedly: "When you go back, write a letter to your mother and say..."

Emperor Ming knew that the eldest sister was most impatient with his two sons. He paused mid-sentence, cleared his throat and said: "The letter said that everyone in the family misses her, especially the grandchildren who are calling for grandma every day. , and isn’t Pingyang pregnant again? Just say that Pingyang is now weak and needs her to come back and take care of her.”

Li Xiang suppressed a smile in his heart, nodded solemnly towards Emperor Ming and agreed: "I understand."

Emperor Ming glanced at his nephew meaningfully and added, "Your mother has been out for too long. I just miss her a little."

 Li Xiang replied: "My lord, I understand."

With that said, he stood up and bowed his hands towards Emperor Ming to retire. Emperor Ming hurriedly added: "Don't mention me in the letter, do you understand?"

At this time, Li Xiang couldn't help but burst out laughing. The jade bone fan in Emperor Ming's hand slapped his head, and he laughed and cursed: "You little bastard, why are you laughing?"

Li Xiang hurriedly said he didn't dare. Just as he was about to bow down and leave, Li Dequan, the chief chamberlain, came in and reported: "Your Majesty, the Queen is outside asking for an audience." As soon as Emperor Ming heard that Empress Cao came to see her again, he laughed playfully with his nephew. His thoughts immediately dissipated, and he simply said in a cold tone: "No!"

As soon as Emperor Ming finished speaking, Queen Cao had already walked in.

Emperor Ming met Empress Cao and said with a cold face: "I didn't announce your entry, how dare you break in?"

Seeing this, Li Xiang quickly bowed and slipped away, and Li Dequan also retreated knowingly.

Facing Emperor Ming's cold and ruthless questioning, Empress Cao did not compromise this time. She gave a grand ceremony to Emperor Ming.

When Emperor Ming saw this, he wondered: "What are you doing?"

Empress Cao stood up and replied: "The husband is the guide for the wife." All couples in the world regard the husband as their heaven, but for ordinary couples, the husband does not want to see his wife, and the wife forces herself to see her husband, which is not against the king's law, but I can Since I am the emperor's wife, if I enter without permission from His Majesty, I am committing the crime of great disrespect."

 Housew Cao paused and continued: "As a queen, although she is the most noble woman in the world, she is also the one who is bound by the most rules."

Emperor Ming heard that there was something in Cao Cao's words. He was silent for a long time and replied: "Which woman in the palace is not like this? You are not the only one who suffers."

Empress Cao sniffed and replied: "I am not afraid of hardship. What I am afraid of is being unfairly treated by Your Majesty and being disliked by Your Majesty."

Emperor Ming glanced at Empress Cao and snorted coldly: "Why do I dislike you? You know it in your heart. Do you think that I really don't know about the things you did? I just think about your Cao family's contribution to the country." Come on, I’m too lazy to pursue it.”

Empress Cao met Emperor Ming's gaze and asked, "Does your Majesty only care about the Cao family's meritorious deeds? Doesn't it mean that our relationship as husband and wife for more than ten years has not been cared about at all in His Majesty's heart?"

Concubine Meng complained that he did not stand up for his son and did not care about their relationship as husband and wife. The same was true for Empress Cao.

While Emperor Ming was enjoying the blessings of the Qi people, he also had to suffer the troubles of the Qi people.

Although Emperor Ming had always preferred Concubine Meng, he was a person who was easily soft-hearted. Faced with such questioning by Empress Cao, who had always been calm and self-possessed, he felt a little guilty.

He glanced at Empress Cao guiltily and said in a low voice, "I made Bi'er the prince before he was eight years old. By doing this, I did not care about our relationship as husband and wife."

After hearing this, Empress Cao shed tears sadly and said: "Your Majesty, it is indeed you who promoted Bi'er to the position of crown prince, but now you have the idea of ​​changing the title of crown prince. Have you ever thought about Bi'er's love when you did this? What kind of situation is he in? If he is deposed, how will he be able to survive in the future?"

　　After saying this, Empress Cao was extremely sad. He stepped forward and held Emperor Ming's sleeves, crying: "Your Majesty, Bi'er is your own flesh and blood. Can you really bear to see him die a good death?"

 The palms and backs of his hands were full of flesh. No matter how much Emperor Ming disliked Zhao Bi, he naturally did not want to see his legitimate son meet a miserable end, but he also did not want to see the son born to him by his beloved woman being framed.

He slumped on the dragon chair weakly, pinched his eyebrows, and said in a low voice: "Let me think about these things carefully. I will definitely come up with a way to get the best of both worlds."

 (End of this chapter)