Work overtime

Chapter 718

The next day, Li Beichen flew into a rage at the morning court session. He threw the memorials requesting the establishment of a crown prince on the ground, angrily accusing those who submitted these memorials of having ill intentions and wanting to rebel.

He was in good health, but he caught a cold and had to rest for a while. But he was so impatient to ask for the establishment of a crown prince and seek a new master, and he took sides so early. His heart was despicable.

One of them was beaten to death directly, and the rest were beaten with the cane 30 times in court as a warning to others.

If the emperor did not take the initiative to bring it up, anyone who fanned the flames to establish a crown prince would be killed immediately.

After thirty beatings with the cane, he screamed and wailed, and was half dead.

After this operation, the initiative to establish the crown prince was directly in the hands of Li Beichen.

Then the Minister of Rites took the initiative to step forward and submitted a memorial requesting the establishment of a new queen.

He spoke a lot, citing numerous examples, from the way to harmonize yin and yang, to the way to govern the harem, to the way to govern the country and the people, trying to prove that although the emperor had deep feelings for the late queen, the country cannot be without a monarch for a day, nor can it be without a queen for a day. A harem without a master is like a country without discipline and a family without rules.

He also emphasized that the loss of royal heirs and the death of concubines in recent days was all because there was no empress in the harem to preside over the overall situation and form a yin-yang harmony with the emperor, which led to chaos in discipline and the withering of descendants.

Then Yuan Jianzheng of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory also stood up and said that after observing the celestial phenomena, he found that the yin and yang were indeed out of balance, and that he should bid farewell to the old and usher in the new, and establish a new emperor as soon as possible.

Li Beichen immediately said that he had sworn at the beginning that he would not establish a new queen, and as an emperor he could not go back on his word.

Right Prime Minister Ye Ming immediately began to give a speech with great emotion, praising the emperor for his loyalty and commitment, but also for the people of the world and the continuation of the ancestral temple. Therefore, the queen was very clear about the righteousness and sacrificed her life for the country. I believe that she would support the emperor's actions in heaven. This move can also quell the rumors among the people that the royal family is cursed.

Then some ministers suggested that for the sake of the continuation of the imperial heir, the imperial selection should be held again. Only by reopening the imperial selection could the taint be cleared and a new atmosphere be restarted.

Li Beichen immediately said that if he were to establish a queen and hold a talent show right away, he would feel uneasy.

Zhou Shipeng, the newly appointed left prime minister, immediately said that he agreed with the other adults' opinions and asked the emperor to put the overall situation first and appoint a queen as soon as possible. The national selection was a waste of money and labor. It would be better to select girls of appropriate age from the capital and surrounding provinces to enter the palace first, and then hold a regular selection on schedule two years later.

Meng Xin, who had been silent all the time, had his mind full of his daughter's appearance before her death and her shrill screams echoing in his ears. At this time, he had to listen to others enthusiastically discussing sending his daughter to the palace, and he felt very uncomfortable.

He sneered secretly. So many concubines died in a few months, which shows how dark and cruel the harem is. But these people are still scrambling to push the girls of their own families into the fire pit for power and wealth.

When the emperor asked for his opinion, he immediately knelt down and expressed that he strongly supported the establishment of a new queen.

Everyone is a smart person. The core members of the Executive Yuan have expressed their opinions, which means that it is the emperor's intention to establish a new queen.

They immediately knelt down, actively participated in the crowd performance, and cheered for the leader, shouting, "Your Majesty, please appoint a new queen!"

The atmosphere group members were very helpful. Even at this point, Li Beichen still expressed his unwillingness to break his oath to the late queen. If he really had to appoint a queen, he planned to appoint the late queen's niece, Concubine Xie, as the successor queen, and ordered the Imperial Astronomical Bureau to select an auspicious day to hold the canonization ceremony.

In order to appease the Xie family, Li Beichen had arranged for Xie Kewei's two brothers to serve as officials in the court. They were very happy when they heard the news. They felt that the emperor had not forgotten his roots.

Yuan Jianzheng, the Imperial Astronomical Observatory, immediately stepped forward to report that establishing a queen was a matter of great importance to the foundation of the country, and that the emperor should lead his ministers and concubines to consult the sky in front of the ancestral temple on a certain day.

Moreover, all the women who meet the conditions for the position of empress can be gathered in front of the Taimiao. After the ceremony of praying for blessings and asking the heaven, auspicious signs will be sent down from heaven, and a virtuous person will be selected as the empress.

This kind of auspicious sign from heaven means that every woman nominated by the ministers has the chance to become the new queen. Everyone can place a bet and everyone can win. It all depends on luck.

Such a good thing is certainly more beneficial than betting everything on the Xie family.

The focus suddenly shifted from whether to establish a new queen to who should be the new queen.

Some people were grumbling that the emperor was immoral for going back on his word and breaking his oath not to establish a queen, but they dared to keep it to themselves. The leaders had already set the tone, and everyone could have a share. If you dared to ask, you would probably be besieged and beaten by a bunch of people, which would be a waste of your time.

So the ministers supported the proposal of Yuan Jianzheng, the director of the Imperial Observatory. Some ministers also asked what to do if no auspicious signs from heaven fell on any woman at that time.

Yuan Jianzheng said calmly, that means the person destined for tomorrow is not among the women present, we just need to find another day next month and select a new batch of girls to hold the ceremony until auspicious signs appear. There will definitely be a result within three months, if not, he will die to apologize.

Yuan Jianzheng had made such a firm pledge, and the officials were even more excited. This meant that if they failed once, they could still bet on the next round, up to three rounds. This was much better than trying their best to establish a relationship with the Xie family.

Li Beichen ordered the Executive Yuan to work with the Imperial Observatory to come up with a plan tonight and discuss specific post-election matters at the morning court the next day.

The court officials were all very happy after the court session. When they returned, they would ask their aunts, uncles, wives, concubines, etc. about girls of the right age. It would be best if the ones were born with a noble horoscope predicted by fortune tellers.

Everyone knows that this is a game set up by the emperor, and whoever wins or loses takes all. But everyone thinks that they will be the only super winner.

After the court was dismissed, Li Beichen ordered Liang Xiaobao to keep his mouth shut about what happened in the court today, and spread the rumor in the harem that many tragic deaths of concubines and royal heirs occurred in the harem, all because the harem had no master, lack of discipline, and imbalance of yin and yang. The emperor planned to make Concubine Xie the next empress.

This news was so explosive that it spread throughout the harem in an instant. This news was well-founded and convincing, and it quickly overshadowed the rumor that Jiang Yuebai used witchcraft to cause the concubines in the harem to have miscarriages.

In everyone's mind, the emperor relied on the Xie family and had always favored Concubine Xie. Now that he was going to break his vow not to appoint another empress, it was only natural for him to appoint Concubine Xie as empress. Qixia Palace.

Chunliu and Xiahe were helping Concubine Xie wash her face after dinner. There were only three of them, the master and the servant, in the room.

Chun Liu smiled and complimented, "It is said in the palace that the Emperor wants to make you the Queen. Congratulations to you for getting your wish."

Concubine Xie smiled softly at the mirror, "You congratulate too early. The emperor is afraid of the Xie family, so I don't know whether he will make me the emperor's successor."

"If we don't establish the Empress, who else can we establish?" Xia He asked in a low voice, "It's impossible to establish the Imperial Concubine."

"I don't know that," Concubine Xie said with a sweet smile, "Being a queen may not be a good thing. Life is not easy."

As he said that, he stood up, picked up Xiaobai, who was wagging his tail beside his legs, and teased him for a while, laughing happily.

Chunliu and Xiahe both thought that their master was in a good mood, but they had no idea what his master was really thinking.

Chunliu and Xiahe were both maids brought from the Duke's Mansion. Grandmother prepared them for Xie Zhili. She didn't shy away from them. But she didn't like to talk too much. Too much talk leads to mistakes. If she wasn't careful, it would be spread out.

Just like today, she knew clearly in her heart that the emperor did not want to make her the queen at all. He just used her as a shield to pave the way for Concubine Ning to become the queen.

Concubine Yu is hers, and she will probably have an "accidental" miscarriage soon.

Concubine Murong had offended Concubine Ning, so she might not be able to survive, let alone her children.

The emperor and the imperial concubine might even work together to frame her.

Xie Zhili smiled and told the palace people that she would eat vegetarian food and copy scriptures to pray for the emperor's heir for the next few days. She would not see anyone except the emperor.

When Yu Cairen heard the news that the emperor wanted to promote Concubine Xie to the position of empress, she was sitting in the courtyard watching the sunset. She smiled sadly and said, "I guess I am just unlucky."

The maid Caiyun beside her was puzzled, "The young lady is pregnant, and Empress Xie might be crowned as the queen. Good fortune is yet to come."

Yu Cairen shook his head, "You don't understand."

What she didn't say was that the more widely a rumor is spread, the more false it is and it is likely to be created by someone with ulterior motives.

She recalled the words of her aunt, her biological mother, before she entered the palace, "If my son enters the palace, don't mess with the Xie family, the Chen family, and the Meng family. Don't worry about how they fight with each other. As a small family, it is your duty to serve the emperor obediently."

Her mother was a concubine whom the old lady took in personally after the mistress gave birth to two daughters in a row, so the mistress also gave her some face.

My mother is a non-competitive person. Even though she gave birth to a son and a daughter, she is very law-abiding.

But she didn't want to live like this for the rest of her life.

In the end, he did not listen to his mother, was involved in a lawsuit between senior executives, and became a member of the Xie family.

Lady Yu touched her belly and realized that it had been more than two months. She sighed and the sad accompaniment of the erhu sounded in her mind.

Her pregnancy was already failing, and she was beginning to have spotting. Judging from the miscarriages of so many concubines before her, she would definitely not be able to give birth to this one, and she might even lose her life.

Lady Yu felt that her life was coming to an end, perhaps tonight or tomorrow. She suddenly felt very scared and desperate, and she was eager to find someone to talk to.

She hesitated for a moment and went to Zizhuyuan next door, where Fan Cairen and Lan Ying lived. They said that she was bored staying in her yard alone, so she came here to walk around.

Fan Cairen originally wanted to retreat tactically, but she didn't have time. She looked at Yu Guiren in shock, a little bewildered, not understanding Yu Guiren's purpose, but it was definitely not a good thing.

She said a few polite words, then stopped talking, and her face didn't smile much. From her look, most people could tell that she was seeing someone off.

Concubine Yu turned a blind eye and continued to talk with a smile, not in a hurry to leave. She said that the scenery of Zizhu Garden was beautiful, and the maple trees with red leaves were pleasing to the eye, and she wanted to stay for a while.

He neither ate the food nor drank the water from Zizhuyuan. He neither went near the water nor walked along the irregular paths. He just sat in the pavilion and admired the maple leaves. It looked perfectly normal.

Concubine Yu's vigilance and caution made Concubine Fan feel relieved.

The three of them were all thinking about their own things, and they could barely talk. Lan agreed to make friends with Concubine Yu, so she took the initiative to suggest playing mahjong, and Concubine Yu happily agreed, and it was obvious that she was an old hand.

Fan Cairen didn't want to join in, and left on the pretext that she didn't know how to play, and also said that she had a headache and wanted to go back to rest, but Lan agreed that she had recently become obsessed with playing cards, and insisted on dragging her along, saying that it would be fun if everyone played together. If you don't know how to play, you can learn, and you'll be able to play after a few games.

Lan agreed that she couldn't face Concubine Yu alone. What if something went wrong? There would be no one to take the blame.

None of the three are stupid.