I, who disguised myself as a woman, turned out to be a queen! ?

Chapter 1258 Fetal Movement
In the Royal Study Room of the Imperial Palace.

Xia Fengxiang leaned against the side of the dragon bed, having just lectured Pei Nanzhi, who had been brought there, thus interrupting today's meeting.

But although it was called a meeting, in reality only five people were present: Wei Xuancheng, Su Wenqing, Yang Shanchang, Gao Rou, and Li Jiulang.

However, the proceedings have not yet resumed.

Even when Xie Xie and Ximen Xuexian escorted Yuan Ruxi and Su Wan'er back to the capital, they brought not only the two of them, but also three letters.

However, the Shence Prefecture went ahead to wait, and after receiving the letter, they quickly sent it to the capital.

The letter was delivered in the morning.

Along with it came a letter from Mobei, which was quite a coincidence.

However, Xia Fengxiang looked down at Lian Wei and asked, "How is Yuan Ruxi?"

Lian Wei replied, "They say that my Qi acupoints have collapsed, and all my martial arts skills have been ruined. I'm afraid I'll have to take medicine every day to recover. I'm afraid I won't be able to lift heavy objects with my left hand. As for my current coma, the old master and the others said that I can wake up within half a month by channeling Qi into my body every day."

Xia Fengxiang looked at Feng Chun beside him: "Have the Imperial Ceremonial Affairs Bureau select some tonics from the palace clinic's pharmacy."

After saying that, Xia Fengxiang added, "Have Maomao select and send them over. All the precious medicines needed thereafter should be taken from the pharmacy. There is no need to make a fuss about it. Tell the people in the palace to keep quiet and not to tell anyone. You personally deliver my decree to Mu Xu. Yuan Ruxi will continue to hold the position of Grand Master of the Palace and continue to teach at the Imperial Academy. He will remain the same as before."

Feng Chun immediately bowed, then turned and left in small steps.

Su Wenqing glanced at Feng Chun. He knew perfectly well what Yuan Ruxi had done and for whom she had ended up like this.

It's just that I haven't told anyone else yet.

Su Wenqing kept this kindness in his heart.

Seeing Lian Wei and hearing that Yuan Ruxi was not in mortal danger despite her condition, I felt much more at ease.

If he were to truly lose his life for his own daughter.

He'll never be able to face Shuiyun with his old face.

Xia Fengxiang said, "If the Grand Tutor wants to leave the palace, he can go now. After all, Wan'er has returned, and you are also eager to see Yuan Ruxi, aren't you?"

Upon hearing this, Su Wenqing immediately stood up: "Your Majesty, state affairs are of utmost importance, and I am relieved to know that Mr. Yuan is safe and sound. It is the same to go after we have finished discussing matters here. As for Wan'er, she is back, and it is the same to see her sooner or later."

Xia Fengxiang waved his hand, and Lian Wei got up and left.

Xia Fengxiang didn't mince words: "I believe you've seen it. Zhu Huang and Wen Daoji are about to take action, and it's about time to take back the Shu region."

As he spoke, Xia Fengxiang stood up: "Of the five great generals of Shu, only one has the surname Dian, Dian Junming. The remnants of Raojiang said that a general with the surname Dian contacted them."

Gao Rou stood up: "Your Majesty, if Dian Junming is like An Lushan, this old minister believes it is not important. What is important is the people of Shu."

Wei Xuancheng said, "Zhu Huang and Wen Daoji naturally know what they're doing. After breaking through Jian Ge, they will head south to Yizhou City. They won't do anything to the people along the way, but the problem lies with Dian Junming."

At this point, Wei Xuancheng frowned: "I know this man somewhat. He rose through the ranks of the military, though not as fiercely as Zhao Wuxu, but rather with the support of his father-in-law's family to join the King of Shu. However, he has a grotesque appearance, a hunched back, and when he stands, his spine is bent like a fully drawn crossbow. He always carries a three-inch iron caltrop in his sleeve. In the news sent from Shu these past few months, I haven't found him particularly interesting, but among all the news Commander Li has given me from Shu, there's one thing he says..."

"Dian Junming's arched back is actually the result of battlefield battles. The scars on his back are arranged like stars, which is a secret resemblance to the Purple Palace. I believe that if he is Lu Shan, then he must already have rebellious intentions, and he may even want to establish himself as emperor! Moreover, he is tyrannical. This time, he opened the country's gates to let people from the Western Regions in, probably because he was already prepared to plunder the people of Shu and then escape. Therefore, we must inform General Zhu Huang and Wen Daoji in advance."

Su Wenqing said, "Yan Yan is still good, but the problem is that Dian Junming has problems, but Yan Yan did nothing. I'm afraid Yan Yan was kept in the dark and was sidelined, and his troops were also swallowed up."

Gao Rou spoke up: "What about Wang Mang? The five great generals of Shu are Yan Yan, Wang Mang, Dian Junming, Shi Jingtang, and that Yao Zhi'en. Shi Jingtang is guarding Jian Ge. If Zhu Huang and the others make a move, the city will surely be breached. Yao Zhi'en is too young. The only one who can truly compete with Dian Junming is Wang Mang."

Yang Shanchang looked at Gao Rou: "Wang Mang, is there no problem?"

Gao Rou frowned.

Xia Fengxiang spoke up: "Who is Lushan, how they will act as Lushan, or what rumors they'll spread about 'yin-yang swallowing the prime minister'—none of that matters. And who among the five has problems and who doesn't—that's also irrelevant. Let them do as they please! I've entrusted Shu to Xia Tingyu, Fang Wenhe, Zhu Huang, and Wen Daoji. They promised to send the Prince of Shu to the capital before the Dragon Boat Festival; I trust them."

What I care about is the reconstruction of Shu and how to quickly restore the livelihood of the people in Shu.

As they spoke, Xia Fengxiang picked up a letter and walked out of the imperial study. Seeing this, everyone stood up, not daring to remain seated. Xia Fengxiang asked, "Do you remember someone named Li Ziyu?"

Upon hearing this, everyone recalled the scholar who had stood tall and debated with Yang Shanchang at the Imperial Academy literary gathering.

Yang Shanchang said, "He is an excellent student."

But after saying that, Yang Shanchang continued, "I heard that you suffered a lot when you went to Shu to serve as an official."

Xia Fengxiang turned and glanced at Yang Shanchang, then said, "I secretly summoned him at that time."

Everyone was in awe when they heard this.

Xia Fengxiang then asked, "I asked him if he wanted to go to Shu to be an official who cared for the people. He said he was willing. I then asked if he might die. He told me that if he died, he asked me to treat the people better. I sent him there to see what Shu was really like for me, and then write a letter to tell me."

As he spoke, Xia Fengxiang picked up the letter in his hand: "This is the fourth one. Some of you have been to Shu, but I haven't. I've only heard about it from your poems and oral accounts. It's a place where wealthy merchants gather, trade routes are smooth, and the people are well-fed and clothed. I read Li Ziyu's letter. He said that there are many rich people in Shu. In big cities or in places with a lot of farmland, you can always see gardens that are no less luxurious than those in the capital. But there are even more poor people."

"In Li Ziyu's words, in the county under his jurisdiction, half were rich and half were poor. In the homes of the wealthy, there was meat paste in their slop buckets, while in the poor, the people's intestines were weighed down by dust and dirt, and they excreted bluish-white lumps of excrement before they died. In other words, the soil in the bellies of the people was three times more than the grain in the human world."

"Moreover, he said he personally witnessed a child's parents stuffing snow into the child's mouth and heard the parents say to the child, 'You're full, your new parents' house has white rice.' And the broker's ledger said, 'Child bones are three taels of silver, pregnant women get half price.'"

"There is also the so-called 'Locust-driving God,' who forcibly collects a bushel of grain from the government as an offering to the Locust God. He has personally witnessed the corpses of the starving lying on the ridges of the fields. In addition, there are the so-called ghost tenant farmers, who are wealthy people who, regardless of whether it is a year of disaster or famine, cannot pay their land rent and thus enter into a debt contract in the underworld. If you cannot pay, your son will pay, your whole family will pay, even if you die. And then there is the lamp oil tax, which is collected from the breast milk of old women in the common people to make oil for the rich to enjoy. This is to make the so-called 'hundred bright lamps,' just so that you can see the lamp flames floating in the shape of an infant's womb."

Xia Fengxiang turned to Yang Shanchang and the others: "Some people in the court often submit memorials, advising me that the Great Xia is ushering in a golden age and that the country's name should be changed to record in history books to praise my great achievements. You say I refuse, and you keep advising me. A golden age? The lands of Yan, Liaodong, and Shu are like this, a golden age?"

The crowd immediately bowed and said in unison, "We know our guilt."

"Those people in Shu were afraid that I would kill them, so they started to collude with each other to rebel against the Great Xia and against my thirteenth uncle. So I killed them all to satisfy their wishes. But my thirteenth uncle was given Shu by the late emperor, and he regarded Shu as his private property. But Shu has become like this, so his crime must be judged. But my father also made mistakes. The son should pay for the father's sins. Although I am a woman, I have taken this position, so I will apologize to the people of Shu on behalf of my father."

"The edict of self-reproach has been written, but words alone are useless. Send it, along with the edicts of self-reproach from both the Empress and myself, to Shu. Lord Wei, I trouble you to personally go there and investigate each case. Distribute all the silver, except for the silver that should have gone into the treasuries of various places in Shu, to the people. Distribute the land to the people as well. The merchant guild involved in the smuggling of armor will be dealt with according to the laws of the Great Xia. But those involved in purchasing grain and fodder and dumping those fifteen ships of grain, kill them all!"

"The Xia family will take responsibility for the suffering they caused them. You have read more books than I have, and you understand better than I do the principle that people's hearts are like water and their movements are like smoke. You took Li Ziyu with you to investigate, and you risked your lives three times to tell me what the real Shu region is like. Fortunately, Xia Tingyu went back to protect him, otherwise he would probably be dead by now."

Xia Fengxiang looked at Wei Xuancheng.

Wei Xuancheng immediately bowed and said, "Your subject obeys the decree."

Xia Fengxiang was about to speak when he suddenly froze, instinctively reaching out to cover his stomach, then looking at it with surprise.

because
I felt it move slightly.

Very light though.

Everyone noticed the emperor's unusual behavior and became puzzled.

But Xia Fengxiang turned around in surprise and touched his stomach, feeling this way for the first time.

But Xia Fengxiang immediately said, "You don't need to worry about Dian Junming. Xia Tingyu knows what to do. If she can't protect the people, Wen Daoji knows what to do too. However, Su Wenqing..."

Su Wenqing immediately bowed and said, "This old minister is here."

Xia Fengxiang said, "In the letters to Zhu Huang and Wen Daoji, add a sentence: What I want is for the Shu region and its people to be safe and sound. What about the corrupt officials, gentry, and aristocratic families there? They are dispensable."

Su Wenqing immediately bowed.

Xia Fengxiang's expression froze for a moment, then he looked down at his stomach again, because...
It moved very slightly again.

Xia Fengxiang looked at his belly, his surprise turning into delight, because he realized a possibility.

Involuntarily, a look of joy appeared on his face.

Seeing the change in His Majesty's expression, Su Wenqing and the others exchanged bewildered glances.

What's going on?
(End of this chapter)