Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

After speaking, Wang Pu said goodbye. ∑, Guo Shao walked out of the back room with him, and said to Wang Pu: "After returning, Wang Shijun issued an order to the various divisions of the imperial army. Three days later, the weekday morning courts will be cancelled. There will be one morning court on the first and fifteenth day of each month; for other on-duty time, everyone can gather once every morning at the side hall on the east side of the Jinxiang Hall. People who attend the meeting include the chief and deputy envoys of the Privy Council, the commanders of the front divisions, the commanders of the guards, and the prime ministers of the political affairs hall."

Wang Pu agreed, and Guo Shao asked the officials on duty outside the gate to write an imperial edict and go to the political affairs hall.

Being worshiped by the officials in the early court, Guo Shao enjoyed the feeling of self-inflated at first, but now he is tired of it. Thinking about it, I am not a vain person, and I don't feel much pleasure in those scenes.

The etiquette of the ministers in the early court was complicated, and it was indeed time-consuming. And they don't say too many useful things at all. The officials are very smart and don't talk about sensitive and specific matters in the hall. They usually talk about happy events and good news, as well as some principles of governing the country. Sometimes there will be frequent quarrels. Guo Shao, as a modern man and military commander, is more tired of Wendou... If the minister has any ideas, just write a memorial.

Three days later, the key figures met for the first time in the side hall to exchange important information about each yamen. At this time, Guo Shao had not received Huang Binglian's report, and the spies were still not captured after a few days. If you can't catch it for a few days, I'm afraid the spies have gone far away, and it's hard to make any progress on this matter.

... After Guo Shao ascended the throne, the atmosphere was tense for a while, but soon calmed down, and the Tokyo court did not change much. The reason may be that people in the world have been used to changing dynasties every ten years, especially those officials who insist on harming the yamen. The difference before and after enthronement is nothing more than a different title. For example, in the current imperial palace, Guo Shao lived in without any pressure. It was full of Fu Jinzhan's people, and he didn't even need to change people.

Fu Jinzhan has temporarily faded out of the courtiers' sight, but she has retreated behind the scenes, and her influence is still very large.

...The place that has changed the least is the Wanfu Palace, which is commonly known as the Leng Palace. Totally ignored.

The person with the highest status here is the Empress Dowager Zhang, but she cannot control the Wanfu Palace alone. In fact, many people don't listen to her. The protection of power begins with violence and coercion. For example, the power of the imperial court is backed by various coercive institutions; the power of the queen is backed by the emperor, who has force and violence in his hands.

But Mrs. Zhang only has a title, and she can't even meet those who have real power in the court, so power is not guaranteed.

The palace ladies here may not know the logical relationship, but they understand these things intuitively. The topics they are usually interested in private are also those things outside Wanfu Palace, such as Mrs. Fu (Second Sister) and Li Yuan'er gave birth to a prince and so on.

But the most talked about little thing is the favor of Li Shanggong.

Mrs. Zhang and a few close ladies gathered in the hall waiting for dinner, and everyone whispered about Li Shanggong.

A court lady said: "Li Shanggong entered the palace very early. I knew her before. She is not very good looking. She was not young when Taizu was in power. After staying in the palace for so many years, she is at least thirty years old now."

"Can this kind of person be favored?" Another court lady whispered.

The palace woman who spoke just now said sourly: "The moon is the first to be close to the water. Besides, Li Shanggong has stayed in the palace for so many years, and he has not been exposed to the wind and sun, so he may have thin skin and tender flesh..." She leaned forward and said quietly, "I heard that the new emperor is the nephew of the great ancestor, but he has always been a military general. I guess the military general has been fighting outside all the year round, and he rarely sees women, so he cannot resist being seduced by an experienced woman like Li Shanggong."

These court ladies are all women with no status, not the concubines of the ancestors, so they don't need to live in the cold palace. But people are also needed to work here, and they are not good-looking and not liked by the superiors, so they are naturally sent here. Just like Li Shanggong, even the maids of the former dynasty can serve the emperor of this dynasty, and since the Tang Dynasty, they have not paid much attention to these things; so when they talk about Li Shanggong, they often have an envious and jealous tone.

Another court lady said: "Today there are two concubines who are extremely favored, and now they take turns sleeping in bed every day. One of them is said to have been married three times, worked as a servant girl, and worked as a servant in a blacksmith's shop in the market; the other was robbed in Huainan, was sent around, and later came to Jinshang's room..."

"That's not true. Men don't know who they are, and women who are less shy are more favored! Isn't that the kind of person Li Niangniang who had trouble with us over there during Taizu's time?"

"Speak clearly, as if you have met a man..."

Mrs. Zhang said calmly: "Stop talking too much, the food delivery person will come soon, and outsiders will have to listen to it. There is nothing wrong in this Wanfu Palace, but you can still fight so fiercely."

The palace lady said: "The slaves and servants are also helping Madam Zhang, so they are wary of Madam Li and the others."

At this moment, several maids came up with food. Naturally, there are no different dishes in the cold palace, let alone wine, but white rice and white noodles are still available.

Mrs. Zhang picked up the chopsticks, picked up some vegetables and put them in the bowl, and the women who were sitting with her did not move the chopsticks.

She mixed the vegetables, took a small bite, and casually picked a chopstick from the rice bowl. Suddenly, I saw something wriggling in the bowl, and when I looked closely, two live maggots crawled out of the rice grains. Zhang's delicate and pretty face suddenly turned pale.

Her stomach twitched, she retched, dropped her chopsticks, covered her mouth with her hand, and stood up. He ran to a basin in the corner and immediately vomited.

"Ms. Zhang..." The court ladies looked at her in surprise.

One of them understood something, got up and looked into Mrs. Zhang's bowl, stared and said, "Your Majesty's bowl has dirty things! It's disgusting!"

Everyone came over to take a look, and immediately cursed at one another.

Mrs. Zhang vomited for a while, rinsed her mouth with clear water, and said coldly, "You're so vile! If you put that nasty thing in my bowl today, if you find the poison, wouldn't it be poisonous to death?"

The palace ladies said: "It must be Li who did it!"

Mrs. Zhang also concluded so. The rice has to be cooked before it becomes rice, and it is still hot now. Someone didn't put it in it on purpose, so where did such big maggots come from? The person who hates her the most in Wanfu Palace is Taizu's concubine Li Shi. When Taizu was alive, she and Zhang used all means to fight for favor. Later, neither of them got the prince. Li attributed all the crimes to Zhang, and the enmity has not been resolved after entering the cold palace.

Mrs. Zhang just said poisoning in a moment of anger. After thinking about it, she couldn't help but feel cold, because she felt that it was really possible... Even if she was killed by someone, who would ask the people in this cold palace? If we can't find out for a while, and Mrs. Li obstructed it, we must burn the corpses and settle the matter. Anyway, they are a group of people waiting to die.

At this time, a court lady said: "I'll go and find the food delivery person."

Mrs. Zhang said coldly: "They won't admit it, they will push the matter to the kitchen."

"Then get the people from the kitchen."

Mrs. Zhang snorted, her chest heaved, she took a deep breath and said, "Madam Li's people may not have done this, we wronged her without evidence, instead there are many disputes."