freenovelworld Chapter 619: Palace Fights Are All Scheming
Chapter 619: Palace Fights Are All Scheming
Xiao Yun nodded to the Minister of Rites and said, "Master Fang, please follow the rules. When the princes arrive, I will have someone entertain them well."
Fang Youwei heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that she understood what he meant. Although Concubine Xiao was young, she was very calm and experienced in her words and deeds. Especially the way she killed everyone in the court today made him want to surrender immediately.
Don’t talk about the young ruler and the suspicious country. With such a mother protecting him, there is no way the eldest prince cannot grow up.
Besides, as this lady said, the Zhenguo Mansion is the backing of them and their daughter. Her family holds military power, and her two brothers are also rare generals. The Xiao family has successors.
The most important thing is that she has the ability to protect herself and the eldest prince during the palace coup. She is a secret guard who specializes in doing dirty work. Not to mention the concubines in the harem, even the imperial guards may not be able to escape unscathed. You can imagine how capable Concubine Xiao is.
With all these factors added together, he felt that he would be a fool if he didn't take side now.
Now is also the best time. If you wait until others wake up, you may not be able to escape.
Although he is the Minister of Rites and is in charge of the Ministry of Rites, he is not really indispensable. If there is a better choice, he may not be able to keep his position as a senior official.
Now that Xiao Yun has accepted his olive branch, he feels half relieved. As for the other half, he will have to wait until the dust settles.
After the Minister of Rites left, the Minister of Revenue came next. He came to report on the expenses of the funeral and the construction of the imperial mausoleum. In fact, his purpose was the same as Fang Youwei's, which was to show goodwill and surrender.
The three ministers of the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Works, who were a step slower and failed to find a reason, were very angry and kept scolding the two of them at home for being shameless and treacherous.
There were also several regents appointed by Xiao Yun earlier who were quite anxious. It wasn't that they were in a hurry to take sides, but they knew that they were chosen because of their neutrality. They were anxious because they were afraid that Xiao Yun would be fooled by these old foxes.
After all, she was young and inexperienced, and she was a woman in the harem, so he was somewhat pessimistic about her.
Xiao Yun didn't care what they thought of him, as long as he did his job well and stabilized the court.
……
As expected, Prince Xu arrived in the capital before the outer city gate was closed, and he brought his two sons and three grandsons into the palace. He did not come to see Xiao Yun, but went directly to the mourning hall, saying that he would keep vigil there tonight.
Xiao Yun just curled his lips and smiled, without saying anything, and asked Jiang Lin to take people to make arrangements. Now Jiang Lin is the chief steward of the palace, and the uncle and nephew of the Chen family have been locked up, together with Chu Mingli and others.
Li Hong was also promoted to deputy general manager. Xiao Yun was not planning to live in Liuyun Palace anymore. It had a bad name and was in a remote location. It would take several minutes to walk to Longxing Palace.
He simply took his son and moved into the back hall of Longxing Palace, which would make it convenient for him to attend court in the future.
As for other people's opinions? Well, she doesn't listen.
Now she has the final say in the harem. She can live wherever she wants, and she can keep her opinions to herself!
I thought King Xu would take advantage of this opportunity to make trouble, but I didn't expect that he would just stand there and keep vigil honestly.
Regardless of whether he was planning a big move or not, Xiao Yun was not prepared to strike first. He would wait until the other two princes arrived. If they had any ulterior motives, he would deal with them all at once to avoid having to deal with them one by one.
……
Qi State has the largest land area among the neighboring countries, but in fact it is only about the size of the two provinces of Hebei and Henan in China combined.
The so-called provincial capitals are similar to the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, so the distance between provinces is actually only about one or two hundred miles. Even if the transportation is not very developed, you can still get there in two or three days by horseback riding.
The fiefs of King Jin and King Lu were in different directions and were about the same distance from the capital, so they arrived almost at the same time the next day, even including the time it took to report the death and send the letter.
The two also brought their son, but not their grandson, who was said to be riding in the carriage with his family at the back.
Xiao Yun's eyes flashed when he heard that. He even brought his family with him. Wasn't he planning to go back?
Xiao Yun curled up the corner of his mouth into a meaningful smile. It seemed that these two princes were planning to make long-term plans in this capital.
She instructed Jiang Lin and others to take good care of the two princes and their families and make sure they felt the "care" of the royal family.
After Prince Jin and Prince Lu entered the palace, they came to see Xiao Yun first. On the surface, they were very respectful to her, but there were hidden temptations in their words. They also asked about the Fourth Prince Chu Mingxin.
Xiao Yun replied to them with a smile that the Fourth Prince had been sent to Fuzhou by Emperor Yongkang half a year ago to build a dam, and it would take a few days for him to return. He would probably arrive around the same time as the Third Prince Chu Mingzhi. Anyway, the funeral lasted ten days, so he would still have time to see his royal brother off.
After hearing what Xiao Yun said, the two looked at each other, somewhat puzzled by this woman. According to the information they had inquired about, she was highly skilled in martial arts and had captured Chu Mingli and his gang of rebels on her own.
I thought they would quickly help Chu Sheng take the position before they arrived. By the time they arrived, the dust would have settled, and it would be difficult to stop it even if they wanted to.
Unexpectedly, the other party held the funeral in an orderly manner. Although she asked the Ministry of Rites to prepare for the coronation ceremony, the date was still two months away. A lot of changes could happen in these two months, especially since she called back three or four princes, which made them really confused about her intentions.
……
In front of the mourning hall, the three old princes finally met. Since they each had their own fiefdom, they rarely got together. During the New Year and other festivals, they only sent people to send gifts to each other.
The last time we met was when the late emperor was assassinated. I thought we would have to wait a long time before we meet again, but we were reunited in just one year. The reason was still the same. The late emperor and his son must have had a conflict with the remnants of the previous dynasty, and they all died at their hands.
The three of them first exchanged pleasantries and asked each other a few questions. They were talking about family matters, but their eyes were moving back and forth, and it was unknown what they were "discussing".
Xiao Yun was too lazy to waste his spiritual power to keep an eye on it all the time, so he placed a few small bees in the mourning hall, and recorded everything he saw.
As a concubine, she was not allowed to be in the mourning hall. Like other women in the harem, she had to kowtow and come out and kneel outside the hall.
The same applies to the ladies of the ministers' families. This is a rule left over from the previous dynasty, and no one has ever proposed changing it.
Xiao Yun would not even mention it. It was just right that she didn't have to go in. The two dead ghosts, Chu Mingyi and Qiao Wan, had already gone from reuniting after death and crying to each other, to discussing how to come back to life or become evil spirits to take back everything they had lost.
When the two ghosts got excited, they would randomly change shape. She had to worry about her eyes not being able to help but glance at them, after all, the performance was so wonderful.