novelaction Chapter 193 Zen Position
Chapter 193 Zen Position
The Empress said to the Emperor, "Your Majesty, didn't the Crown Prince go too far in his treatment of Lord Niu and Lord Ma?"
Punishing Lord Niu by stripping him of his official position was bad enough, but they even went so far as to strip Lord Ma of his official position as well. Moreover, his entire family would be barred from taking the imperial examinations for three generations.
The Emperor said, “This is not excessive; it should be done this way. Leaving aside the fact that the Crown Prince will rely on Prince Duan and General Shangguan in the future, just considering the status of Consort Qin, it is not excessive for Ma to humiliate her like that, and for the Niu and Ma families to be punished in this way! How can the dignity and face of the imperial family be trampled upon like this?”
The Empress finally breathed a sigh of relief: "It's good that it didn't go too far. I was really worried that the Crown Prince might act impulsively in order to please Prince Duan!"
The Emperor said, “How could that be? This isn’t about currying favor with Prince Duan; it’s about upholding the dignity of the royal family and giving the world a warning! Doing this is also a way of making an example of someone, otherwise, in the future, any Tom, Dick, or Harry could bully the royal family at will, and that would not be acceptable!”
If this time the punishment isn't severe, then if Madam Ma bullies Consort Qin again, it will become a recurring problem. If this continues, things will get out of control!
Empress: "Yes, I can rest assured now!"
The Emperor said, “Empress, I don’t have much time left. If I am gone, you must protect the Crown Prince well. Prince Duan is a trustworthy person. He is not greedy for power or status, nor does he have any ambition. You must never do anything to harm him just because someone said something, lest you do something that hurts your loved ones and pleases your enemies!”
The Empress hesitated before asking, "Your Majesty, do you mean that Prince Duan never even considered coveting the throne?"
The Emperor sighed: "Empress, you are indeed overthinking things! Remember my words, Prince Duan has no interest in the dragon throne. He wouldn't even be the regent, so why would he be interested in the imperial throne? Princess Yulin is a person who is indifferent to fame and fortune. Her greatest wish is to live a leisurely and carefree rural life with her husband for life."
"Forget about the Empress's position, she wouldn't even care about the position of Princess Consort. Otherwise, she wouldn't have chosen Fang Heng before, and Prince Duan wouldn't have pursued her so diligently. Prince Duan never had any ambition to begin with, and now that he's married a Princess of Yulin, he's even less interested in the throne! You can rest assured, if you can't even trust Prince Duan, then after we're both gone, the Crown Prince will have no one he can trust in this world!"
The Empress sighed: "Your Majesty, do you really trust him that much? Have you never had any doubts?"
The Emperor couldn't help but frown: "Of course. If I can't trust Prince Duan, who can I trust? Empress, you mustn't be foolish! You must remember my words: never doubt Prince Duan and Shangguan Mufeng. These two would never betray the court, no matter what. If you do something foolish, I won't rest in peace even in the afterlife!"
The Empress said in a panic, "Your Majesty, I will definitely keep your words in mind and dare not forget them. Please rest assured, Your Majesty! I will definitely listen to Your Majesty's words and take them to heart. I will not go against Your Majesty's wishes!"
Since the Emperor has given such a guarantee, she will firmly trust Prince Duan and Shangguan Mufeng from now on, and will not doubt them because of what others say. The Emperor's judgment has always been very accurate, and she has always had a very good impression of Prince Duan and Princess Yulin, and is willing to trust them.
Your Majesty: "It's good that you think this way, otherwise I would die with regrets. You should know that Prince Duan and Shangguan Mufeng originally did not want to serve in the court; they both wanted to retire to the countryside. It was I who pleaded with them to support the Crown Prince until he turned fifteen. They finally agreed after much difficulty. Based on this alone, you don't need to worry about them."
If they harbored rebellious intentions, they would certainly form cliques, clinging to power and status. Not only that, they would amass wealth and recruit numerous retainers. But what has Prince Duan done? Just a few months ago, when the court was short of military funds, Prince Duan gave me 200,000 taels of silver, instructing me to donate it to the court in the name of the Crown Prince. He said it was raised by the Crown Prince selling his own treasures.”
Upon hearing this, the Empress was greatly surprised: "Your Majesty, is this really true?"
The Emperor's eyes welled up with tears: "Yes, that's true. He resolutely refused to donate in his own name, saying that it would be detrimental to the stability of the court. Donating in the Crown Prince's name would enhance his prestige and authority, which would be of great benefit to both the Crown Prince and the nation!"
The Empress, upon hearing this, did not seem particularly moved: "Your Majesty, I understand. I will never doubt Prince Duan's loyalty again." Even if someone had solid evidence, she would give Prince Duan a chance to explain and would send people to investigate thoroughly. She would not easily convict Prince Duan.
The Emperor said, “Empress, you should maintain close contact with Princess Yulin. She is an invaluable talent. Most importantly, she is both wise and kind, and a trustworthy person.”
Empress: "Yes, Your Majesty, I understand. I get along quite well with Princess Yulin. It shouldn't be a problem to have her come to the palace often!"
The Emperor continued, "The Crown Prince has been acting as regent for several months now, and he has done a good job. Why not pass the throne to him sooner rather than later? That way, I won't have to worry about him not being able to ascend the throne smoothly after I'm gone!"
The Crown Prince has several older brothers, the oldest being fifteen. He also has several brothers who are twelve or thirteen. If he were to pass away suddenly without having time to write a will, or if the will were to be switched, that would be disastrous. In that case, the Crown Prince's life would certainly be in danger, and even Prince Duan would be implicated.
The Empress nodded with tears in her eyes: "Your Majesty, you need to think this through carefully. If you abdicate, you will become the Emperor Emeritus. There will be many things in the court that you will no longer be able to manage."
The Emperor said, “I am at ease giving the throne to the Crown Prince. He is a filial son and will not do anything disrespectful to me. It is settled then. Tomorrow morning at court, I will personally read the abdication edict to the ministers!”
The Empress couldn't help but shed tears: "Thank you, Your Majesty, thank you for your trust in the Crown Prince. Rest assured, Your Majesty, if the Crown Prince dares to show the slightest disrespect to Your Majesty, I will certainly not forgive him!"
"Sigh, don't cry. Our child is a kind and generous person. How could he be disrespectful to me? You're overthinking it. Stop crying!" The Emperor sighed and handed over a clean handkerchief.
Morning the next day.
The Emperor's appearance in the Hall of Diligent Governance startled everyone.
The Emperor has come to the morning court session. What does this mean? Could it be that the Crown Prince has done something to displease him?
Everyone was lost in thought, speculating amongst themselves and secretly making some kind of resolution. However, the emperor's words startled those with ulterior motives.
Your Majesty, Your Majesty actually said that you want to abdicate the throne to the Crown Prince!
My goodness! This is unprecedented since the founding of the Western Liang Kingdom. Never before has an emperor been willing to relinquish the throne to someone else while still alive!
The crown prince immediately rose from his seat and knelt on the ground: "Father, you mustn't! I am still young and cannot shoulder such a great responsibility. Father must be there to oversee things!"
The Emperor waved his hand: "I am too weak to handle matters of state, so I shall abdicate and become the Retired Emperor. Crown Prince, rest assured, even as the Retired Emperor, I can still guide you in handling state affairs! My beloved ministers, please do not say any more. My mind is made up, and the edict of abdication has been written!"
After saying that, he waved his hand, and the chief eunuch presented the abdication edict to the Left Chancellor, Xie: "Your Excellency, the Emperor wishes you to read it aloud!"
Lord Xie respectfully accepted the edict and, with utmost seriousness and deliberation, read aloud the lengthy and heartfelt abdication edict, his eyes filled with tears. Then, he knelt on the ground and shouted loudly, "The Emperor Emeritus is wise! The Emperor Emeritus is truly a rare sage ruler in thousands of years! Long live the Emperor Emeritus! Long live the Emperor!"
Immediately afterwards, all the ministers in the court knelt down and repeated Lord Xie's words.
The crown prince knelt on the ground, tears welling in his eyes, and said, "Thank you, Father. I will certainly follow your teachings and will never disappoint you!"
Prince Duan was also very surprised, but he did not object. He was happy that the Crown Prince could ascend the throne soon. Of all the people, he was probably the happiest! With the Crown Prince on the throne, there would be fewer people who doubted and targeted him in the future.
From then on, the emperor became the retired emperor, and the empress became the empress dowager.
The retired emperor's concubines all moved to Yonghe Palace and Yongle Palace in the northwest corner of the palace, while the emperor and empress moved into Yongfu Palace together.
The emperor was only twelve years old and still a minor, but a grand wedding ceremony was held on the day of his ascension to the throne. Xie Ruyi, the thirteen-year-old niece of the Left Prime Minister, was carried in through the main gate of the palace and became the empress of the young emperor Xiao Qingtian.
However, the wedding ceremony would be held first, and the consummation of the marriage would take place after the Crown Prince turned sixteen. This decision to wait until the Crown Prince was sixteen was Zisu's suggestion, made for the Emperor's health. The Emperor Emeritus and Empress Dowager found her reasoning sound and agreed, even establishing a rule: henceforth, all royal princes must be at least sixteen years old before consummating their marriage with a woman.
When the Emperor turns sixteen, that will be four years later. By then, the young Empress will be seventeen. Consummating the marriage at seventeen will also be very beneficial for the Empress.
To appease the Empress and the Xie family, the Empress Dowager and the Emperor Emeritus promised that the palace would not hold a selection process for the Emperor's consorts until a year after the Empress and the Emperor had consummated their marriage.
The Xie family is a powerful and influential clan, and will be the young emperor's right-hand man in the future, second only to Prince Duan as his biggest backer. Such a family cannot be offended; they must be carefully cultivated.
After the young emperor ascended the throne, Prince Duan became even busier.
With each new emperor comes a new court. The young emperor, upon ascending the throne, naturally had to suppress a group of disobedient veteran officials and promote a group of his own trusted confidants. Those loyal to the retired emperor might not be loyal to the new one, so they had to be suppressed. However, the young emperor didn't touch a single official of the third rank or higher.
To move high-ranking officials of the third rank or above, we should at least wait until after the Emperor Emeritus has passed away. Otherwise, the Emperor Emeritus would probably be unhappy and feel that the young emperor was deliberately embarrassing him.
Prince Duan was very busy, but no matter how busy he was, he would never stay out all night, nor would he ever use official business as an excuse to go to places of pleasure. To avoid getting drunk and getting hooked up with drugs, unless he was at the Prince's residence with Zisu in his presence, he would not even drink a drop of alcohol.
Prince Duan was very busy; for more than ten days in a row, he didn't have time to eat a single meal at home. However, Zisu's relationship with Consort Qin miraculously improved. Except for breakfast, Zisu went to Rongfu Hall three times a day to eat with Consort Qin.
Every few days, Zisu would personally cook at Rongfu Hall, preparing several delicacies that Consort Qin liked. At the dinner table, both of them adhered to the rule of "not speaking while eating," eating quietly. However, despite this, their relationship grew stronger day by day.
When Prince Duan returned home after a long day of work, he was comforted to see his wife and mother in a happy and harmonious mood. Half of his fatigue seemed to have disappeared.
On this day, Prince Duan returned under the moonlight. He first went to Rongfu Hall to see his mother, and was quite surprised to find that she looked several years younger.
Consort Qin said proudly to her son, "I've been eating nutritious meals and medicinal dishes cooked with perilla, and I feel my health improving day by day. Besides, the vegetables I grow myself are much better than what I buy outside!"
"What? It's so amazing?" Prince Duan was taken aback.
To be honest, he hadn't eaten at home in a long time and was completely unaware of these circumstances. However, the tea brewed with perilla leaves was indeed quite delicious, better than any tea he had ever drunk anywhere, anytime.