How could my childhood sweetheart be the current empress?

"Queen, you are just a little more beautiful than other women. If you think that your beauty can solve all problems, you are totally wrong. Compared with outer beauty, I value inner beauty more."

Xu Chengling looked at the Queen Mother in front of him and said in a deep voice.

Now Mo Xueyin was no longer surprised. She understood a little that her illusion could not completely control Xu Chengling. At most, it could make him forget what he had just said.

Otherwise, based on what he just said to me, it would be enough to sentence him to death.

"Then how do you know that I am not good inside? Have you ever seen it?"

Mo Xueyin couldn't help but ask him back, how did he know that she was not good enough?

Xu Chengling was speechless for a moment. The Queen Mother's words were like "If you are not a fish, how can you know the joy of a fish?" How could he know that the Queen Mother was not good enough?

If you want to know a person's inner self, you need to spend a long time with him or her. Obviously, he doesn't know what the Queen Mother is like inside and can't answer it.

"If you can't answer, don't blame me for punishing you."

Mo Xueyin smiled coldly, her beautiful eyes looking at Xu Chengling threateningly.

Now it was Xu Chengling's turn to panic, so he thought for a while, scratched his face and smiled:

"As the saying goes, a beautiful person has a beautiful heart. Your heart, Queen Mother, must be the most beautiful."

His words were just flattering to the empress dowager. A beautiful person has a beautiful heart. Conversely, if a person has such a beautiful heart, he must be even more beautiful.

At this time, Mo Xueyin raised her beautiful eyes and looked Xu Chengling up and down, trying to see some clues from his eyes to see if he was not fooled by her illusion.

But she looked around and didn't find any clues. It was better to say that no matter whether he was under an illusion or not, he always looked frivolous.

Mo Xueyin couldn't help but sigh softly and slightly closed her pink eyes. When she opened them again, her eyes had returned to their original purple color.

She took the initiative to remove the illusion. It would be more efficient to talk to Xu Chengling directly than to try to use illusion to control him.

Upon seeing this, Xu Chengling quickly pretended to come to his senses, and then looked at the empress dowager in front of him with some confusion, as if she had no idea what had just happened.

"Xu Xiangguo, you don't have to pretend anymore."

Mo Xueyin's cold voice sounded faintly, and she spoke to Xu Chengling.

Judging from the other party's reaction just now, she could actually be sure that Xu Chengling was not controlled by her illusion.

"My Queen, I don't quite understand what you mean."

Xu Chengling continued to play dumb.

"Do you think I don't know that you have been staring at me?"

A slight blush appeared on Mo Xueyin's pretty face, and she straightened her surging chest with both hands and spoke.

Xu Chengling smiled awkwardly. He didn't expect that he was noticed by the other party even though he just took a quick glance.

He discovered a problem. Even without looking, women can notice men looking at their chests or thighs. This may be the terrible intuition of women.

"Don't tell anyone about what happened just now, especially not to His Majesty, or I will never forgive you."

Mo Xueyin's dignified little face blushed slightly. She was referring to the incident of the monkey picking peaches just now.

If this matter were to get out, how would she, the queen mother, keep her dignity?

And most importantly, he is Ling'er's husband, and she is Ling'er's mother. If Ling'er knew about this, how would she feel?

"Maybe we need to talk."

Mo Xueyin couldn't help but take a deep breath to calm the turmoil in her chest, then looked towards Xu Chengling and said calmly:

"Prime Minister Xu, you have been actively approaching Ling'er since you were young, building a good relationship with her and instilling in her the ideas of governing a country so that you can marry Ling'er in the future. Don't you think that I don't know what you have done?"

Xu Chengling's heart skipped a beat. He didn't expect that everything he did was seen by the Queen Mother.

Then, Mo Xueyin continued:

"The reason you married Ling'er and taught her the ways of governing a country is that you actually wanted to help her take the throne and replace your sister as the current empress, right?"

At this moment, Xu Chengling couldn't help but gasp. He still underestimated the woman in front of him. He didn't expect that she knew so much about him and Ling'er.

He seemed to have overlooked a problem. How could a woman who could be manipulated by the emperor and then rise to the position of empress dowager not be cunning?

"Queen, Ling'er and I truly love each other. I treat her well and she treats me well, that's all."

Xu Chengling couldn't help but correct her, saying that he did have the idea of ​​supporting Ling'er to get promoted, but it was also true that he really liked Ling'er.

Hearing what Xu Chengling said, Mo Xueyin couldn't help but smile secretly. He kept saying that he was good to Ling'er, but in the end he didn't even know who the real Ling'er was and was kept in the dark.

After all, he didn't even recognize Ling'er, so his love for Ling'er was just that.

It seems that Xu Chengling has only one purpose in approaching Ling'er, which is to help her take the position and then take real power himself. This is his real purpose.

Mo Xueyin couldn't help but snort coldly. He could only say that he was worthy of being the successor carefully selected by the old prime minister. His ambition was no less than that of the old prime minister back then.

This man is definitely not as cunning as he seems.

This is also the fundamental reason why Mo Xueyin regards Xu Chengling as a major concern for her.

The two of them only exchanged glances for a few times, but they were already scheming against each other and being wary of each other.

Moreover, Mo Xueyin had top-secret information in her hands, which forced her to be wary of the man in front of her.

Xu Chengling—he is very likely a descendant of the Qin Dynasty!

"Prime Minister Xu, I have a mission for you. Go investigate an organization."

At this time, Mo Xueyin spoke slowly.

"What organization?"

"Yama."

Hearing the three words "Yama Gate", Xu Chengling couldn't help but frown.

He was not unfamiliar with this name, the once terrifying mysterious killer organization, Yamamen.

His personal maid Tong Xin was once the gold medal killer of Yanluomen.

"Hasn't Yama Gate been destroyed by the imperial court?"

Xu Chengling couldn't help but say that he remembered that Yama Gate had long ceased to exist.

"No, the leader of Yanluomen is still alive. This organization has made a comeback, and their next target is your Majesty."

Mo Xueyin shook his head. Next, Yama Gate would most likely take action against His Majesty.

"Where did Yan Luomen get the funds to make a comeback?"

Xu Chengling had already vaguely guessed something. The fact that Yanluomen was able to make a comeback so quickly must have been due to the help provided by someone behind the scenes.

Mo Xueyin smiled slightly. It would be much easier to talk to a smart person. She opened her lips and slowly read a name that shocked Xu Chengling immensely.

"The leader of the rebels, Prince Qin."

Chapter 263 Private Call

Prince Qin, the mention of this name finally made Xu Chengling remember this person's identity.

In the original novel, Prince Qin is the leader of the rebels and an orphan of the Qin royal family. He instigated the people to revolt under the slogan of "Anti-Yan and Restoration of Qin". He is the main villain in the original novel.

Prince Qin is surrounded by a group of experts who help him accomplish his great cause, including the white-haired witch "Luo Xinlian" who is also his helper.

In fact, it was Dayan who destroyed the Qin Dynasty and established the current Dayan Dynasty.

During the reign of the Dayan Dynasty, the Former Qin people lurking in various places in Dayan secretly accumulated strength and made a comeback, intending to overthrow the Dayan royal family and restore the Dayan rule.

Therefore, the people of Former Qin established a rebel organization among the people under the slogan of "Anti-Yan and Restore Qin".

Because of the geographical environment, Dayan has a hot climate all year round and famines occur one after another. In addition, due to the empress's policy of expanding the army, the cost of this expansion was ultimately borne by every citizen of Dayan, making the already poor people even worse off and making their lives miserable.

Many ordinary people were eventually forced into a desperate situation, so they responded to the call of "Anti-Yan and Restore Qin" and joined the rebel organization.

In the rebel organization, the people of Former Qin were only a minority after all. Most of them were ordinary people of Dayan, who joined the rebel organization because they were forced into desperation by famine and heavy taxes.

Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. The common people are the creators of history. The rise and fall of many dynasties in history were created by the common people.

So when the empress proposed to expand the army, Xu Chengling tried his best to stop it, because expanding the army would not actually solve the fundamental problem.

Every time the army is expanded, the cost will eventually fall on the people. The people cannot make a living and have to revolt. In order to quell the revolt, the army needs to be expanded further, making it even more difficult for the people to survive, so more people will revolt.

Prosperity, people suffer; death, people suffer.

No matter how much the empress expanded the army, she could not solve the fundamental problem. It would only make the problem more serious, eventually leading to a vicious cycle and the destruction of the country.

In fact, in Xu Chengling's opinion, if the common people can live and work in peace and contentment, who would be so idle as to rebel? Rebellion is a capital crime punishable by the death penalty!

The empress's expansion of the army was only the fuse that triggered the people's uprising. The real reason for the people's uprising was actually famine. There was no harvest for years and the people could not survive.

Starving to death is death, losing your head is death, it's death anyway, so how can the people not revolt?

In order to solve the problem of rebel uprising, we must first solve the food problem.

Due to the geographical environment, the climate for wild geese is hot all year round and the grain production is low. If there are crops that can adapt to high temperatures and have high yields, this problem will be solved.

After many considerations, Xu Chengling finally learned from a great man in history and chose corn.

Corn is a drought-resistant plant with the advantages of high yield and easy storage. After years of hybridization and improvement by Xu Chengling, the corn he cultivated can adapt to the dry climate of Dayan.

Once corn comes out, the food problem will gradually be solved.

As long as the food problem of the common people can be solved, it will be difficult for the remaining rebel leaders to gain any influence.

Xu Chengling believes that corn can definitely save today's wild geese.

……

After leaving Guanghan Palace where the Queen Mother was, Xu Chengling went straight out of the palace.

His brows furrowed slightly, thinking about what the Queen Mother had just said.

Judging from the current situation, the Queen Mother is on the side of the Empress, because the Queen Mother's status is linked to the Empress, and she must protect the Empress in order to maintain her own position.

But the Queen Mother was from the Western Regions, not Dayan after all, so it was hard to predict whether she would have any ulterior motives.

Before leaving, the Queen Mother's words made him very concerned.

That is, the Eighth Wise King was very likely colluding with the rebels and attempting to plan something big.

After much thought, Xu Chengling decided that the most urgent issue that needed to be resolved was the possibility that the Eighth Wise Kings might rebel at any time.

Xu Chengling was walking on the path of the palace, his mind in confusion. At this moment, a familiar voice sounded in his ears again.

"Mr. Xu, are you okay?"

There was a faint white light coming from his chest, and the voice that spoke was a female voice with a hint of worry.

Xu Chengling followed the sound and finally found the source of the sound. It was the white bead hanging on his chest, and the sound came from inside it.

"Miss Sun, is that you?"

Xu Chengling placed the bead in the palm of his hand and asked the person on the other side.

"Ah."

"I was feeling a little uneasy just now, so I calculated with my fingers and guessed that something might have happened to you, Master Xu, so I used my natal bead to talk to you."

Sun Yuyi, who was at the other end of the bead, said calmly that she could sense the state of her natal bead, and thus sense Xu Chengling's current state.

Xu Chengling looked at the bead in front of him and exclaimed in his heart that it was magical. This bead actually had the function of long-distance calling. Sun Yuyi could call him from a long distance away.

Conversely, he seemed to be able to communicate with Sun Yuyi remotely through this bead.

According to Sun Yuyi, this bead seemed to be her natal bead, so she could communicate with him remotely through the natal bead.

In other words, she could only talk to Xu Chengling, and it was a private conversation between the two of them.

"What just happened?"

Sun Yuyi asked him.

"I seem to have been under an illusion just now. Fortunately, your voice sounded in time and helped me get rid of the influence of the illusion."

Xu Chengling said in a deep voice that Sun Yuyi had just helped him, otherwise he would still be kept in the dark by the Queen Mother.

Thinking of the empress dowager's arrogant look just now, Xu Chengling wanted to grab her and spank her hard to see if she would still go crazy.

"Mr. Xu, be sure to wear this bead and contact me if you have any questions."

After leaving this sentence, Sun Yuyi's voice disappeared completely.