The High Gate Mistress of Rebirth

Chapter 363 The best of both worlds

Since King Jin returned to the palace smoothly, 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 of Jin's party has reached a blatant level.

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

Faced with Concubine Meng Guifei's frequent attempts to seek life and death, Emperor Ming was in a state of disbelief and became 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 member of 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, 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 to hear that Emperor Ming suddenly 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 lightly: "There is no one else around, so there is no need to be more polite. I am calling you."

Come, I just want to ask you a few questions."

With that said, Emperor Ming pointed to the chair beside him and asked Li Xiang to sit on it.

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

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

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

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

Faced with Emperor Ming's cold and ruthless questioning, Empress Cao did not compromise this time. She Shi Shiran gave a great ceremony to Emperor Ming.

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? Did she send a letter back, and did she say when she would be able to come back?

?”

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.

Empress Cao met Emperor Ming's gaze and asked: "Does your Majesty only care about Cao's meritorious deeds? Doesn't it mean that our relationship as husband and wife for more than ten years does not concern you at all in your heart?"

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

Although Emperor Ming had always favored 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 was not without a little guilt in his heart.

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

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

Emperor Ming heard that there was something in Empress 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."

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

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

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

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?"

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

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 having a great time traveling abroad, so they had to postpone their return. As for the specific time when they would be able to return, my mother did not explain."

As soon as Emperor Ming heard that Empress Cao had come to see him again, the laughter he had having with his nephew immediately disappeared, and he simply said in a cold tone: "No see!"

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.”

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

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

Li Xiang hurriedly said he didn't dare. Just as he was about to bow down and leave, Li Dequan, the head chamberlain, bowed in and replied: "Your Majesty, the Queen is outside asking for an audience."

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?"

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

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

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 just too lazy to pursue it."

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. Since I am the emperor's wife, if I enter without permission from His Majesty, I am committing a crime of great disrespect."

When Emperor Ming enjoyed the blessings of Qi people, he also had to suffer the troubles of Qi people.

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 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 grabbed 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 did not want to see his 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, and I will definitely come up with a way to get the best of both worlds."

(End of chapter)