Long live Emperor Wu!

In the evening, in the bedroom of the Luoyang Palace, the emperor and the empress were both wearing comfortable pajamas and thin woolen blankets. Like two old monks, they sat together behind the desk and reviewed the memorials accumulated throughout the day.

In the dead of night, Wu Rou sent out all the palace maids and chamberlains who were waiting nearby. Except for the cubicle, there was no one else around the palace maid kneeling beside the huge palace lantern.

So she took over the tasks of taking care of the lamps and candles, grinding ink, and helping to organize the memorials.

Everything was quiet, and the only sound left in the room was the sound of pages rustling from time to time.

Li Shan took the ink pen and added the word "Rediscuss" on the memorial and pushed it aside. Wu Rou took it and closed the remaining pages, except for the "Rediscuss" page. Let it dry and stack it on the pile with the same Zhu batch.

Then, she took an unread book from the left side of Li Shan and started reading.

Suddenly, Li Shan chuckled, put down the memorial in his hand, placed it in the middle, and said:

"This is a memorial to you, saying that I have rewarded my relatives in the Wu family too much, allowing them to receive salary without merit, and favoring nepotism is not conducive to the dynasty's clear rules of rewards and punishments."

Wu Rou held up the bag in her hand, turned her head to look at it a few times, and said:

"You are really interested in me. It is obviously a grace given by His Majesty's decree, but every word says that I am not wise enough and favor my mother's family."

As she spoke, she raised her eyes, looked at Li Shan with sharp corners of her eyes, and asked with a rather complaining expression:

"What are you showing me? If Your Majesty wants to destroy the Wu brothers' job, I have no objection at all."

Li Shan seemed a little guilty and didn't look at her. He picked up another book and said:

"The brothers of the Wu family should have their fair share. The old rule is to give them some real power, five or six grades, to show their favor to the queen's relatives.

What's inappropriate is your sister Wu Shun's title. Calling her the Korean Lady is indeed a bit much. Only if you know the true wife of a high-ranking civil and military official can you be granted the title of Madam. "

Wu Rou heard this and was so angry that she closed the memorial in her hand and said:

"Don't you know everything about me? I just want my biological sister to inherit the incense of the Wu family, higher than the two brothers of the Wu family. I, Aye, was the Duke of the country during the great ancestor's time, and Wu Yuanqing inherited the title. Then my sister Only by conferring the title of Lady of the State will we not be inferior to them."

Li Shan heard that she was anxious, so he softened his tone and said:

"It's enough for your mother-in-law, Mrs. Yang, to be granted the title of Mrs. Dai Guo. She is the queen's mother and should deserve her due. With her taking care of your sister, and you as the queen, Wu Yuanqing and Wu Yuanshuang will not bully her anymore. "

Wu Rou was annoyed when she heard this. She turned her head and stared at the emperor's side face for a long time, but Li Shan just didn't look at her.

She reached out to press down the memorial in his hand, used her other hand to pull his chin over, forced him to look at her, and said:

"What do you mean, Your Majesty? You are not one to go back on your word. You already agreed and issued a reward. Why are you regretting it now?"

Li Shan lowered his eyes and looked at her hands, then took off her claws with some embarrassment and said:

"I understand your difficulties, that's why I agreed. But now there is indeed some trouble. If the reward is too generous, there will be rumors, but I didn't expect the rumors to be so outrageous."

Wu Rou was stunned, her eyes flashed, she looked into Li Shan's eyes and asked:

"What rumor?"

Li Shan pursed his lips, sat back upright, looked at the memorial on the desk, and said gloomily:

"They speculate that because you brought your sister into the palace to be favored, I became lustful and happy, so I rewarded your sister so heavily."

"Absurd! Who said that?! I had someone pull out his tongue!" Wu Rou suddenly became angry and her voice suddenly rose, frightening the palace maids who were kneeling outside to startle and quickly look inside.

Li Shan quickly stretched out his finger to signal her to speak quieter and said: "Be patient. Where is the beginning of the rumors? I have received a lot of admonitions and memorials in the past few days, and this is the meaning behind the words.

I guess it has something to do with the fact that we have been in the palace in Luoyang recently, and your sister's family often comes in and out of the palace, too frequently.

I've been thinking about it these past few days, and I don't blame others for thinking too much. Who knows about the past between us, and who knows about the grudges between you and the Wu brothers? It’s normal to have a lot of speculation. "

He sighed slightly as he spoke, and then said with some boredom:

"My reputation as a lustful person is getting more and more outrageous, and I feel a little embarrassed and anxious thinking about it.

So I want to discuss with you. If it doesn't work, I will lower your sister's account by one level. This is just a small thing that does not harm the overall situation. "

His voice was gentle and a little decadent. Wu Rouguang felt guilty when she heard his voice.

She knew that he was originally a reserved person who usually paid more attention to his own dignity and did not want to be rude in front of others. Now that he was wrongly accused like this, she had nothing to do with it.

So she was silent for a while and said in a low voice:

"From now on, just don't let Ah Shun and the others come into the palace often. Since you know this, you know how unwilling I am. My mother-in-law has no son, so I just want her to get better treatment as a daughter than a son. .

I don't want to see the Wu brothers. I have been looking for opportunities to relegate them to remote and desolate places to suffer in order to repay the hatred in my heart.

Since there are many complaints in the court against His Majesty's award of honors to relatives of the Wu family, these days I will find a book of ginseng for them and demote them. On the one hand, I can appease the public's anger, and on the other hand, I can vent my personal hatred. I kill two birds with one stone. "

Li Shan glanced at her sideways and saw that she had her eyes lowered and her expression was stubborn, as if there was no room for improvement, so he sighed slightly and said:

"It's up to you."

After saying that, he took back the memorial in the middle, put it in front of him, picked up the pen, wrote the word "read" on it, and pushed it back.

Wu Rou took it, sorted it out again, and put it aside.

Neither of them spoke anymore, and they were immersed in official duties again.

I don’t know how long it took, but the two of them finally finished reading the accumulated memorials. Li Shan rubbed his sore eyes and said:

"By the way, I am going to issue an order to expand the scale of official schools in various places and support poor students in studying. When the time comes, there will definitely be a lot of noise in terms of financial expenditures.

You take the initiative, call on the emperor's relatives, and order his wives to donate money together to build momentum and support for this matter. "

Wu Rou thought of Arthurs' children and the private school and asked;

"After the expansion, will the children of merchants be allowed to enter school? At that time, Arthurs will be given two places to show his favor."

Li Shan shook his head, turned to look at her and said seriously:

"Merchants are already wealthy. Even if they can't go to a government school, they still have money to hire teachers from the government school to take classes. Where do they need support? Those who need support are those who have no money and no background in family education."

Wu Rou thought about it, but after a while she said:

"Arthur is my loyal servant, so you can take special care of me. I heard that the official schools in Luoyang are all for the children of noble families, so it is difficult for them to enter. Others are not allowed to go, so letting her children go is considered a reward."