Professional Ethics of a Concubine

Chapter 211 The truth back then

"Your Majesty, according to our spies' reports, since Prince Jing was recognized, he has been highly regarded by the Emperor of Great Zhao, and has a close relationship with Prince Su, who holds military power.

Prince Jing himself was also very capable and had made many outstanding political achievements.

Among them, he advocated that donating gifts and money could accumulate virtue and gain good luck, and successfully plundered a lot of money from the wealthy and powerful, making the treasury of the Great Zhao full.

And three months ago, it was suddenly revealed that the former crown prince of Great Zhao had raised 30,000 private soldiers with the intention of forcing the emperor to abdicate and rebel. It seemed that King Jing had discovered the former crown prince's conspiracy in advance.

Just one and a half months after the former crown prince was beheaded, King Jing was canonized as the crown prince by the Emperor of Great Zhao. He announced that a grand canonization ceremony would be held and invited our country to send envoys to attend the ceremony. "

Hearing the empress's question, Lu Jiarong, the Minister of Rites who came to report the matter, briefly and clearly recounted the history of Prince Jing's rise to the throne.

The empress was silent for a moment before she spoke, "From the tone of Lord Lu, you seem to admire King Jing?"

"Your Majesty, I personally think that Prince Jing is much more capable than the former crown prince of Great Zhao. Moreover, judging from his achievements, he is flexible, decisive, ruthless, and unconventional in his actions."

Lu Jiarong did not hide his admiration for King Jing, but he changed the subject and continued,

"This King Jing is obviously an ambitious and capable man. Under his leadership, Great Zhao will definitely become even more powerful.

To be honest, I do not want to see him become the next ruler of Zhao. If possible, it would be better to get rid of him."

"Hmm?" The empress frowned slightly, and her majesty was revealed in just a rising tone.

Lu Jiarong looked up at the empress, and realizing that she seemed unhappy, he quickly lowered his head, not daring to look at her face again, as this was extremely disrespectful.

Lu Jiarong quickly knelt down and explained with his head down.

“I think King Jing has great ambition to expand his territory. In the future, there will definitely be a war between Great Zhao and Great Yan.

Perhaps he will be the greatest help to our Gulan Nation, helping us to contain the invasion of Dayan, or perhaps he will be a greater threat and will swallow us up."

On the map, part of Gulan Kingdom borders the northwestern border of Dayan. Although there is no soil connection with Dazhao, there are mountains and rivers in between, but the two are not far apart.

The empress did not comment on his threat to destroy the country, but asked again,

"Lord Lu, who do you think is suitable to lead the delegation to Da Zhao?"

"Your Majesty, the Fifth Prince is gentle and calm, and he is also of noble status. Having him lead the delegation to watch the ceremony is enough to show our country's importance to the Crown Prince of Great Zhao."

Lu Jiarong spoke up.

The fifth prince he mentioned was the empress's biological son.

Although he was not made the crown prince, his status in the current Gulan Kingdom is higher than that of the crown prince. He is very popular and the court officials are very supportive of him. They almost believe that he will be the next monarch of Gulan Kingdom.

The current crown prince is the eldest prince born to the late emperor and the late queen.

The current empress is the successor of the late emperor. She and the late emperor gave birth to two children, the fifth prince and the fourth princess.

The late emperor was in poor health, and in the last few years of his reign, the emperor and empress jointly handled government affairs, with the empress almost taking charge of the government.

Later, the previous emperor passed away. Although the prince was already twenty years old at that time, he was still controlled by the empress.

After a power struggle, the prince was imprisoned in the East Palace and the empress successfully ascended to the throne.

However, the empress never deposed the crown prince and appointed another one.

"The fifth prince is not suitable." The empress rejected it directly.

Lu Jiarong's expression froze, somewhat confused. He was a stickler for details, so he immediately looked up and asked,

"May I ask your Majesty, why is the Fifth Prince not suitable?"

"I have my own plans. Let the Third Prince go."

The empress did not explain, but said without allowing for any argument, "You may withdraw. Once the list of the rest of the envoys is finalized, please submit it."

"As you command, Your Majesty, I will take my leave."

Lu Jiarong was a stickler for truth, but facing the powerful empress, he still wanted to survive. Without getting an explanation, he retreated obediently.

The empress also stood up, walked to the window, and looked outside in a daze.

After a while, she turned around and instructed the eunuch beside her,

"Madam Xuan Chenhua has entered the palace."

Madam Chenhua, also known as the empress's sister, Madam Xue, has a first-rank imperial decree and a title.

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Madam Chen Hua was led by the eunuch to the Empress and bowed respectfully, "Greetings to Your Majesty."

"No need to be polite." The empress raised her hand slightly, asked the servants around her to leave, and spoke gently.

"Sister, please sit down. I asked you to come here today for a private matter."

Madam Chenhua sat down in a daze, looking at the empress in front of her who was graceful and majestic without even getting angry. She even forgot the last time she and her sisters sat down to discuss private matters.

Ever since her sister became the empress, the emperor's majesty has become increasingly profound, and everything she does is for court business, which has distanced them from each other.

However, she was already over fifty years old, and it was no exaggeration to say that she had one foot in the ground. She had experienced all kinds of storms and waves, and her state of mind had become much calmer. She quickly adjusted her mindset and asked in a gentle voice with a smile,

"Come to think of it, I haven't heard His Majesty call me sister for a long time, I'm not used to it.

Look at the two of us, there is only a four-year age difference, but I am old and wrinkled, with more and more white hair, while Your Majesty is still in his prime, his face seems not to have aged, and he still has the stunning charm of his youth. "

The empress smiled upon hearing this and sat down relaxedly. "Time is unforgiving. No matter if you are an emperor or not, my sister is getting old. I cannot escape this either. No matter how well I take care of myself, I will still get old."

Madam Chen Hua smiled and did not continue the conversation. She asked,

"What private matter is your Majesty talking about?"

"Sister, do you remember that before I entered the palace, I stayed in Nianci Temple for a year and a half?"

"Of course I remember. At that time, our grandmother was in poor health, our family was in turmoil, and my father was suspected and had a hard time in the officialdom.

You said you wanted to pray for your grandmother, so you wanted to live in a temple, eat vegetarian food and chant Buddhist scriptures, which would make your heart more sincere.

Madam Chen Hua recalled the past with a dazed look on her face.

"No one in your family could stop you, so they let you go. Why are you talking about this past?"

"I didn't go to the temple to pray for blessings, I went to give birth to a child."

The Empress spoke in a calm voice.

"...Ah?" Madam Chen Hua was confused. She thought she had heard it wrong and stared at her blankly.

Can't understand!

What do you mean she gave birth to a child that year? !

“I gave birth to a boy that year, and because I had no intention of getting married, I had thought of registering the child under my own name and keeping him by my side.

But later on, my family was in danger of being wiped out, and my father wanted me to enter the palace to become the empress to save the family, so I had no choice but to send the child away."

The empress frowned slightly, paused, and then continued in a calm tone,

"Later I found out that the child's father was a prince of the Great Zhao, who later ascended the throne as emperor. The child had been raised in the home of a minister, but was suddenly recognized last year and became King Jing. Now he is the crown prince of the Great Zhao."

Madam Chen Hua covered her chest with her hands, almost fainting from the shock of the waves of explosive news!

My good sister!

I know you were rebellious when you were young, but I didn’t expect you to be so rebellious!