Jiuxi

Chapter 1023 [Glass of Wine]

To this day, Lu Chen has complicated feelings towards Empress Dowager Ning.

There is respect, understanding, and also a bit of unexpressible pity.

When Lu Chen gave a negative answer, disappointment flashed across Empress Dowager Ning's eyes, but she quickly calmed down. After all, she already knew that there would probably be no surprise in this matter.

Ruolan, who was standing not far behind her, could hardly control her emotions.

As the most trusted female official of Empress Dowager Ning, Ruolan knows better than anyone how difficult the past two years have been for the Empress Dowager. On the one hand, she has to carefully maintain her relationship with Lu Chen, on the other hand, she has to worry about the safety of the Emperor and the never-ending affairs in the palace, and she also has to devote a lot of energy to paying attention to the turmoil in the court.

During those cold, lonely and sleepless nights, she had seen Empress Dowager Ning secretly weeping more than once, sitting in front of the steps with tears falling until dawn.

She knew that there was a serious conflict between the Tian family and the Qin Palace, and she sincerely hoped that this matter would have a more satisfactory outcome.

However, it ultimately did not go as planned.

In Ruolan's opinion, Queen Dowager Ning has done her best to be impeccable, but the King of Qin does not seem to have done anything arrogant or conceited. She is not sure whether to say it is fate or destiny, as both sides are wise men with broad minds and caring about the people, but they are pushed to this point by an invisible hand.

Because they not only represent themselves, but also thousands of lives behind them, and they cannot retreat or make concessions.

Ruolan didn't even know whether she should hate the King of Qin in front of her. She just felt extremely uncomfortable in her heart, as if a blunt knife was cutting her back and forth.

Before she knew it, this usually gentle and graceful female official had red eyes and a look of sadness on her face.

Lu Chen glanced at Ruolan's face and roughly understood what she was thinking.

From his point of view, Empress Dowager Ning was a complete outlier among those in power throughout history, including all the jokes and unofficial histories he had read in his previous life.

Since she officially took power three years ago, Empress Dowager Ning has performed well in all aspects. Whether she is managing state affairs or judging the situation on the border, she seems to have a keen and accurate sense of touch and has basically never made any surprising decisions. Her trust and support for Lu Chen is one of the key reasons why the border army was able to defeat the Jing army.

After the court moved the capital, Empress Dowager Ning never used those dark and despicable means and calculations.

Lu Chen was absolutely certain that if Queen Mother Ning did not have such patience, the implementation of the new policy would not be so smooth, and the collusion and collusion of those people would not be just this momentum. No matter how many people Xue Ruogu had colluded with, as long as Xue Nanting and Qin Zheng did not take direct action, it would be difficult to deal a strong enough blow to Lu Chen.

Even at today's garden party, Empress Dowager Ning still adhered to the principles of conduct of the past few years.

She handed over all the defense inside and outside Zhuo Garden to Lu Chen, and did not allow the imperial guards to intervene at all. She even let Lu Chen send people to take care of the wine, food and tea. This was to make her attitude clear - she had no ill intentions today, and just hoped to reach some friendly exchange of interests with Lu Chen in this garden where traces of Yang Guangyuan remained.

Therefore, she first affirmed the effectiveness of the new policy and Lu Chen's contribution, and then took the initiative to propose to overturn Yang Guangyuan's case. Her purpose was to express her gratitude to Lu Chen, and at the very least, she hoped that he would come up with an effective solution to the current crisis facing the court.

Although she did not say it explicitly, Lu Chen knew very well in his heart that she hoped that on the basis of maintaining the imperial power of the Heavenly Family, Lu Chen could continue to be in power, and it would be best if a harmonious and stable pattern could be formed.

For Lu Chen, a thought did pop up in his mind at that moment.

In his previous life, he did not have much knowledge of politics and history, but he also knew the concepts of enlightened despotism and constitutional monarchy.

The problem is that the current Da Qi does not have the soil to implement these systems.

Whether it is enlightened despotism or constitutional monarchy, it is not essentially a reform of the upper structure. Rather, with the development of productivity, new forces have emerged in the social system. They need a higher political status and therefore push for changes in the entire power structure from the bottom up.

Without these emerging power classes as a foundation, even if Lu Chen played around with the official system, it would ultimately be nothing more than a mirage or castle in the air, without any practical significance.

After a brief thought, Lu Chen finally decided not to explain these details to Queen Mother Ning. Firstly, this was not something that could be explained in a few words. Secondly, Queen Mother Ning was in the psychological state of a drowning person. She might not understand the meaning of the three words "cannot do it" and would not try to forcibly implement a political system that was simply impossible.

But there is another problem here.

The reason why Queen Dowager Ning has remained calm until now is that Lu Chen is very careful about his degree. Even though he has taken over the military and political power, he has never disrespected the mother and son in the palace. This is also the reason why the important officials in the temple are willing to remain silent. However, today Queen Dowager Ning almost broke the window paper, and Lu Chen gave a clear negative answer. Can she still maintain her calm?

As the atmosphere became increasingly solemn, Queen Mother Ning suddenly said, "I heard that the banquet at Ningyun Tower is the best in the capital, so I would like to take this opportunity to taste it. I wonder if the King of Qin has arranged for the preparations?"

The topic change was a little abrupt, but it could be seen that Queen Mother Ning had not lost her mind, which made Lu Chen admire her even more, so he said respectfully: "Your Majesty has ordered, how dare I neglect it? Yesterday I specially invited the chef of Ning Yunlou to Zhuoyuan, and the banquet has been prepared in Mingxuan Hall. Your Majesty, please move."

"it is good."

Mingxuan Hall is not far from Pianyun Pavilion. Empress Dowager Ning insisted on not using the phoenix chariot and walked all the way there.

The place is bright and clean, spacious and elegant, and all the furnishings are simple and elegant. For example, the central hall painting left by Zhao Ding, a great calligrapher of the previous dynasty, has the upper couplet "The pearl tree is a good habitat for thousand-year-old cranes" and the lower couplet "A branch of plum blossoms first blooms on the jade steps". The characters are upright and square, and full of ancient charm.

Queen Mother Ning stopped to look for a moment and praised: "I never thought that I could see the calligraphy of Master Dequan here. It is really worth the trip."

Lu Chen didn't know much about this and simply didn't respond.

As the maids quietly set up the banquet, he bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please."

Queen Mother Ning turned around and looked at the table full of delicacies, and said with a smile, "King Qin, please." The monarch and his minister sat opposite each other, and the maids immediately came forward to serve the dishes and pour the wine.

Empress Dowager Ning did not let Ruolan taste the food first as usual in the palace. This detail showed her absolute trust in Lu Chen.

After tasting a few dishes, she couldn't help but nod slightly and said, "Ningyunlou's chef is indeed well-deserved of his reputation. No wonder those gourmets in Beijing flock to it."

"Really extraordinary."

Lu Chen was not polite either. Although his eating manner was not rude, compared with the graceful and elegant posture of Empress Dowager Ning, his eating manner had a bit more momentum of sweeping away everything in his body.

Queen Dowager Ning was slightly curious when she saw this and asked, "Is this also the first time for the King of Qin to taste it?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Lu Chen replied frankly, "Your Majesty, it is inconvenient to leave the palace. In fact, I am not suitable to wander around, especially in the capital. No matter where I go, I will inevitably mobilize troops. I am impatient to see those cautious and servile faces. Therefore, if it is not necessary, I will either stay in the Prime Minister's New Policy Office or go to the military camp outside the city to inspect the results of the soldiers. This way, I can have some peace and quiet."

Queen Dowager Ning believed that this was his sincere thought and not just a pretense in front of her.

She slowly raised the wine cup and said with a smile: "This first glass of wine is for you."

Lu Chen held the wine cup in both hands and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Your contributions need not be elaborated. If you had not saved the day several times, I and the Emperor would have had a hard time keeping our lives, not to mention continuing to enjoy the supreme throne. No matter what others think, I have never forgotten the great contributions you have made to Da Qi and the Heavenly Family."

Queen Mother Ning looked at Lu Chen steadily, and then said: "I am definitely not an ungrateful person, so this glass of wine is to toast your contribution."

Lu was silent and drank the wine in the glass.

Empress Dowager Ning also showed some heroism and immediately showed the bottom of the cup.

The maids added more wine, and Queen Mother Ning continued, "This second cup of wine is to honor you for your broad-mindedness."

Lu Chen listened quietly.

"Throughout history, most of the brilliant people had great ambitions when they were humble, but they could not keep their original intentions after they reached a high position. King Qin is different from many people. All your deeds are there, and anyone with eyes can see them. No matter how many rumors accuse you of having a disloyal heart, you can remain unmoved and unwaveringly implement the new policy. This is rare."

Empress Dowager Ning's eyes became brighter and brighter, and she said slowly: "If you just want to win people's hearts, it would be enough to implement one or two benevolent policies. There is no need to offend so many officials and dignitaries like you are doing now. It is because you care about the people in your heart. I am ashamed of myself."

Lu Chen shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, you are too kind."

Empress Dowager Ning smiled and said, "Please."

After the second glass of wine, her cheeks flushed slightly.

Although it was impossible for Lu Chen to prepare strong liquor, she probably seldom drank alcohol under normal circumstances, so she couldn't help but be a little drunk at the moment.

"This third glass of wine..."

Queen Mother Ning paused for a moment and said earnestly, "I want to respect your kindness."

This time she didn't explain too much, but Lu Chen understood what she meant.

In fact, after he recovered his homeland in Jiangbei, the fate of the royal family was in his hands. He did not take any coercive actions, nor did he let anyone get close to the young emperor. This was enough to make Empress Dowager Ning grateful.

Three cups of wine and three compliments. Just when Lu Chen thought she would get to the point, Queen Mother Ning said calmly, "All of you go down."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The maids and palace servants bowed and left.

Queen Mother Ning looked at Ruolan, who had taken the initiative to stay like before, and said in a gentle but unquestionable tone: "Ruolan, you also leave."

Ruolan was slightly startled. She looked at Empress Dowager Ning with a complicated expression, with dissuasion and sadness in her eyes.

Queen Mother Ning smiled generously and repeated, "Please leave. I want to discuss some matters with the King of Qin."

Ruolan then bowed, and when she left, she mustered up the courage to look at Lu Chen with a hint of pleading in her eyes.

Lu Chen remained silent, his eyes as deep as a cold pond.

It makes it difficult to see the ripples.

(End of this chapter)