Joy of Life: I, a man, became the Queen of Northern Qi?

Chapter 93 The Imperial Concubine is not the Queen after all~
The night passed like this.

The sky brightened and the curtains around him swayed. Li An opened his eyes and saw that the little emperor had already gone to court.

He sat up and stretched, then looked to the side and saw an unknown flower placed beside his pillow, as if it was a gift from Zhan Doudou before she left.

"This little emperor's wife is quite interesting. It's worth my hard work last night."

Yesterday, perhaps because they both slept too much during the day, they didn't feel sleepy at night.

But he had to attend court early this morning, so Li An had no choice but to use physical sleep to make the little emperor fall into a deep sleep.
Pick up the flowers and sniff them gently.

The fact that such beautiful flowers can still be found blooming in this autumn shows the little emperor's attentiveness.

Needless to say, after washing up and having breakfast, Li An invited new scholars from the Hanlin Academy to come in the name of teaching, and then started playing chess.

Many things are just like procrastinating when writing an article. The more lazy you are, the more anxious and careless you will be in the end. After what happened last night, Li An still felt that he should get the daily experience points first.

Although a Bachelor of the Hanlin Academy has a bright future, it is not as promising as a Doctor of Palace Education. The reason is very simple and I will not elaborate on it here.

gazebo.

While they were playing chess, Zhao Gao slowly appeared outside the pavilion and waited quietly.

"Is the matter settled?"

Li An placed a piece and looked thoughtfully at the young scholar opposite him. He won this round very quickly and the system prompt sounded soon.

The other players seemed very "stupid" in such a simple game.

With such IQ, ordinary people would think that if the future of Northern Qi relied on these people to gain power, it would not be a good thing.

No matter whether the opponent is truly defeated or just randomly makes a move, Li An only wants victory and the opponent's submission.
In terms of copying, Li An chose similar traits such as "erudition", which achieved his goal. The experience value of the "Advanced Copy" entry also reached 85 points.

Outside the pavilion, Zhao Gao glanced sideways at the scholars but did not respond rashly.

"Tell us what you want. These people have just entered the court and are waiting to choose a faction." Li An took a sip of tea and seemed unconcerned.

"I dare not."

The five scholars bowed their heads in fear and trepidation.

Li An waved his sleeves and said calmly, "It's not that you don't dare, but that you don't want to. What if I asked you to choose a faction?"

Several people knelt down in front of Concubine De and gave the answer.

Such a scene made Zhao Gao's mouth curl up. His life was getting better and better. He looked cheerful and said, "The two beautiful maids have been sent to the Prime Minister. Lord Jin seemed very happy. He treated me as his best friend. Haha, but..."

The corners of Zhao Gao's mouth turned cold, and he already had murderous intent.

Not to mention that when he was not prominent and had not yet developed his ambition, even though he was on duty in the Imperial Household Department, no one would look at him straight in the eye. Even the Prime Minister had shown disdain. Although this intention was obscure, there were few honest eunuchs in the palace. How could they not feel it? Not to mention that the other party treated him like a fool today. How could he swallow this breath?
"It seems that our Prime Minister has been in a high position for too long and doesn't quite understand how to deal with the people in the palace~"

"Who doesn't know that Xiao Gaozi treats people most sincerely?"

"Your Majesty is right." Zhao Gao seemed to have received the highest compliment. He smiled widely, and the unhappiness in his heart had long since disappeared.

Putting the teacup on the table shows that you are seeing the guest off.

When the five young scholars left, they were still thinking about what Empress Defei said, "From now on, you are all members of the Prime Minister's faction." It seemed that they didn't need to make a choice. In addition to the previous Spring Examination Master, the Empress had already chosen a faction for them.

After the others left, Li An comforted Zhao Gao with two words:

"It's no wonder Jin Weixian acted like this. As the saying goes, you shouldn't hit someone who smiles at you. He can only act happy, but he's not treating you like a fool."

Zhao Gao took two steps forward, filled the teacup in front of him with tea, and asked softly, "My feelings are irrelevant, but this Prime Minister is very cunning, so we must be on guard against him!"

"This is already impossible to defend against, let him strike first!"

Li An applied a little force on the teacup with his hand, and the cup broke with a bang. The amber liquid inside splashed and wet the entire table top.

Zhao Gao's face changed. He waved his hand and asked someone to clean up and replace the teacup with a new one. Then he let the servant go out to receive the punishment.

The hot water was too hot and the teacup was damaged, which caused it to 'explode'. It was all because of the servants' carelessness that they almost hurt the queen's skin. They must be severely punished!

All operations are carried out silently.

The scene returned to normal in a few seconds. After the maid left, Li An's voice rang out again, "I was poisoned the night before last!"

Snapped!
Zhao Gao has already fallen to his knees!
The old things were brought up again, and the two words "repaying the debt after the autumn" flashed through Zhao Gao's mind, and his face was filled with shock and anger. As the eunuch in charge of the palace, he thought that the matter of the queen's danger had been exposed and his life was no longer in danger! Unexpectedly, there was actually another hidden story?
Considering the queen's tone, Zhao Gao was incredulous and asked, "Did that old man poison her?"

But how could it be possible? Even if he bribed two eunuchs and the imperial guards, how could he succeed?

Could it be
He collected his thoughts and showed his attitude, "I will contact Eunuch Yu and Eunuch Cao after I go down! I will bring the old man's head to the queen!"

"Do you know why he dares to do this?"

"You may be a noble concubine, but in front of the head of all officials, you are just a statue that looks good. Statue can be high up, but it can also be destroyed at will! This was the case before I gave birth to a son for Your Majesty."

The power of ministers and the power of the monarch have always been like this, either one suppresses the other, or the other suppresses the one.

Although using poison is a unconventional method, it is also the most effective!
Now that the outside world is facing a powerful enemy, he, the prime minister, is needed to make efforts. This has nothing to do with His Majesty, and even the Imperial Master Ku He will not make trouble for it. It's just a pretty woman, and if she dies, he can find another one. As long as he does not lose power, he does not have to worry about what His Majesty will do to him.

It's just an aphrodisiac, and the royal family might lose some face in the end, but it's all within the rules.
But Zhao Gao thought it was poison, and the two should not be confused. I'm afraid that when he knows it's an aphrodisiac, he might get even more furious. If Concubine De was deposed for her scandal, what position would he be in?
"After all, the imperial concubine is not the queen~"

Ang Lee sighed softly.

Zhao Gao was startled and brought up the matter again. It seemed that the queen wanted to take a further step!
His mind raced as he said, "Who among the concubines in the harem and the civil and military officials in the court doesn't know about your ability? They have long regarded you as the mother of the country. No one can be on equal footing with you!"

Li An stood up, walked outside the pavilion and looked at the beautiful scene in front of him. He felt unusually calm.

How can we arouse interest in something we are used to seeing? Only a higher place can change our horizons.
Looking up at the sky, Li An thought that maybe he should go out of the palace for a walk.
"From the night before last to yesterday, the Imperial Guards surrounded the palace. The palace was also in chaos. Even now, although the Imperial Guards have retreated, the situation is still tense. What would the Prime Minister, who was the one who poisoned me, think about this? What would he do after he finds out that I am fine?"

Wandering slowly in the Hua Garden, touching each plant with his fingers, Li Ang's eyes looked very bright.

Zhao Gao followed closely, approached with his body bent, and said, "Most people might have been so frightened that they have lost their appetite. Or they might try to act like they knew nothing about this matter. Considering that the old man happily accepted the beautiful maid I sent him this morning, I think it should be the latter!"

"You mean, he'll do nothing?"

Li An seemed to be interested and actually wanted to discuss it with Zhao Gao.

"My humble opinion makes you laugh, Your Majesty."

"It is indeed shallow."

The smile on Zhao Gao's face froze before it could fully bloom.

Ignoring Zhao Gao's expression, Li An walked in front and couldn't see the latter, but he could guess what he was thinking. He said with some intention of clearing his confusion, "I want to ask you, if there was no poisoning incident, how would a normal person react after knowing the changes in the palace the night before?"

"This"

"Of course they would be curious. Those who are impatient would have been curious yesterday." At this point, Zhao Gao had completely understood what the queen meant. He laughed and suddenly realized, "What the queen means is that the calmer the man surnamed Jin appears, the more flaws he has revealed?"

"This is the confusion of the authorities." Li An nodded slightly and sighed, then turned around and said to Zhao Gao earnestly, "Zhao Gao, I gave you this name with the hope that you can live up to this name. If you are so stupid again next time, you can just disappear by yourself, okay?"

A trace of sweat ran down his cheek, Zhao Gao just felt that this autumn was very hard to endure.
"From the night before till now, everyone who should know the news should have known it."

"I'm in trouble. Why haven't Xiao Tianzi and Xiao Chunzi come to the palace to pay their respects to me yet?"

Without waiting for Zhao Gao to answer, perhaps because Li An didn't want him to say anything perfunctory and exclusive, he continued, "They are all watching every move outside! Even Shen Zhong has his eyes on all the ministers, and then he searches for the other spies in Qing State."

"You serve me, even if you have no merit, you have worked hard. I shouldn't blame you, but after cleaning up this palace, these things still happen." Li An's eyes flashed, revealing a hint of sneer, "I doubt whether you can really do a good job as the chief eunuch!"

He could tell that the queen was giving him a warning. If she wanted to kill him, he would not be able to hear these words until he died.

Zhao Gao went over in his mind what had happened when he left the palace to do some work this morning, and gradually he understood.
I should have realized this last night when the Empress asked the eunuch on duty to remind me to do something this morning: Why was he so anxious to send the person to the Prime Minister as soon as the Empress got into trouble and settled down?

The deep meaning behind this is self-evident - the source of the chaos is related to the Prime Minister!
It's ridiculous that I'm still sulking because of the other person's poor and perfunctory acting.
"I understand. From now on, I must do practical things first and eliminate all the instability and hidden dangers for Your Majesty in advance." Unexpectedly, one thing would separate me from Yu and Cao. "Now that the war between Guochao and Nanqing is imminent, after I have investigated the power in the Prime Minister's Mansion, if Your Majesty has a suitable candidate for the position of Prime Minister, I will give you Jin Weixian's head. No, no, no, don't let such a filthy person pollute your eyes."

"Write down all the ministers who mentioned the selection of concubines for Your Majesty and inquired about the news in the palace during the morning court today. I think Gao Zhongxian will pay attention to it. You can go and ask them yourself."

Li An's expression was calm, and it was hard to tell what he was thinking. His voice was as cold as the wind in December, with a long tail tone, "As for Jin Weixian, let's see how he will respond after he welcomes the beautiful maid into his house."

"Yes."

Zhao Gao bowed and was sincerely convinced.

The garden inside the palace is so huge that one person cannot walk through it all at a leisurely pace. Even if one walks through it at a fast pace, it will take half a day.

Although the scenery is beautiful, the people here are too rule-abiding, which is not pleasant.

If there is no life, it is a dead thing.

"Little Gaozi~"

Li An returned to the pavilion, pinching grapes between his fingers and asked softly, "Come and tell me, what interesting things have happened outside the palace these days?"

"Miss."

"You have asked the right person. Although I have been in the palace for a long time, I have made friends with many ministers and learned a lot of interesting things outside the palace."

Zhao Gao was just about to step forward to massage Concubine De's shoulders, pat her legs, and so on, to demonstrate what a qualified lackey is.

You know, you are the closest to the Empress, and everyone envies you!

Unexpectedly, she was rejected by Concubine De with a look of disgust. Then she said with a little disappointment: "Before, some wealthy merchants in Shangjing were cautious because of the Rong family's incident and became more obedient. Now that the war is approaching, the families engaged in horse and food production have gradually started to exercise and become more active."

"Not only them, but also some merchants engaged in shipping and transportation have frequent contacts with officials of the Chaozhong Shipping Department."

"Oh?"

Li An became interested. He paused holding the grapes, threw them into the porcelain plate, and said, "It's a little sour."

"I want to ask you, who is the richest businessman in Da Qi now?"

Zhao Gao waved his hand outside, and another palace maid removed the plate of grapes and replaced it with fresh ones. Then he responded: "This can't be called the richest. There are two people who are equally rich."

"One of them is the salt merchant Chen. I heard that they have formed a business alliance in Donghai County, imitating the old story of Nanqing and Jiangnan. They are rich enough to rival a country."

"The second person is named Guo Heng. His deeds have some of the flavor of a storybook. He was born in a lowly family and knew some martial arts. When he was an adult, he swore to protect the master of the family to the death during a business trip and was valued. Not only did he get rid of his lowly status, but he was also adopted as the son of the original master. From then on, he had a smooth life, married the master's daughter, and took charge of the huge family business!"

"To date, he is the largest horse dealer in the entire Da Qi. In addition, he also runs grain, restaurants, cloth shops, pawnshops and other businesses that make money quickly."

"Guo Heng?"

"How big is this largest horse dealer?"

No wonder Li An asked so many questions. In fact, when two countries are at war, what they need most are weapons and horses.

Although Qi State had imperial merchants, most of the horses were purchased from the Western Hu and Northern Barbarians, and the demand was huge. Logically speaking, how could outsiders be allowed to engage in such trade? I think Guo Heng also had connections with some people in the court.

Zhao Gao was hesitant in his heart. These issues were all problems left over from the previous dynasty and there was no need to delve too deeply into them.

There had been no war in Northern Qi for many years, and merchants had not paid much attention to the few horses before. Not only was it a waste of manpower, but the money earned was not enough to cover various expenses. Now it just happened that there was a war, and this revealed the specialness of Guo Heng.

He replied: "No one has ever competed with him for the horses before. In our Great Qi, this one person alone can match the purchase volume of horses by the entire imperial merchant."

"He relied on numbers to accumulate his current wealth and compete with the Chen family."

"If the wealth of the Rong family's previous trading can be measured in valleys, then the wealth brought by Guo Heng's horse trading can be described as boats. Not only is he of great help to the current war in the court, he also supplies horses to many vassal states under the command of Dongyi City, earning a large sum of money."

Li An's eyes narrowed, and he asked, "What do your Majesty and the Queen Mother think of Guo Heng?"

From being a poor man to being a wealthy businessman today, it seems that this man has some abilities, but I don't know who he got in touch with.

Zhao Gao also said seriously: "Your Majesty mentioned this person at the last court meeting, and even the Queen Mother praised him highly."

It seems that Guo Heng is neither His Majesty's man nor the Queen Mother's man.

If he was one of us, why would he bring it up at the court meeting?
Li An thought to himself: In the feudal dynasty, officials were inseparable from businessmen, and businessmen were inseparable from officials. To be able to grow to such a level without being banned by others, there must be powerful people behind it to provide protection for it. Especially now that there are many countries standing side by side and the forces are complicated, it is conceivable how difficult it is to make a living in such a situation.

"Pack up, I have to leave the palace today."

"Ah? Your Majesty, do you want to meet Guo Heng? Why don't you send someone to invite him to the palace to meet you?"

"Meeting people is secondary. I want to go out of the palace for a walk."

"Is this the servant who is accompanying you alone?"

Thinking about Zhao Gao's situation, Li An did not make things difficult for him and said, "I know you are worried about the guards. How about this, see if the Saint is free? This way, it won't be difficult for you."

"Do I need to ask the Queen Mother for permission?" Zhao Gao looked at Consort De carefully and did not dare to persuade her any further. He could only bring up the matter in a tactful way in the hope that the Queen Mother would give up the idea of ​​leaving the palace.
Why don't we just stay in the palace?
Madam, please stop looking for excitement.
"Please ask for your permission. You can use the excuse that I need to go back to my parents' home!"

I mean, can you find a more reliable reason? You're making it very difficult for me to go back to my parents' home? Go back to see the little duck?
He had no choice but to nod and say, "Your Majesty, please wait a moment. I will handle it right away."

Nodding, Li An stood up and prepared to return to his bedroom.

As if he had thought of something, he reminded: "Change your clothes, put on a fake beard, and don't let anyone know about this trip."

Hearing this, Zhao Gao's body stiffened slightly and he felt complicated.

With such a master, he knew that he would have no shortage of wealth and glory in the rest of his life, but the duration of his life might be...
A bit shorter.
　Thanks to the reader [加了格油] for the reward of 2000 coins, [Mr. Wei] for the reward of 500 coins, [the second star on the right] for the reward of 1000 coins, [Ayaoya] for the reward of 500 coins, and all the godfathers who gave rewards!
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　　There will be two more chapters later, so don’t wait, you can read them after they are updated.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)