In the Li Zheng Hall, Yingping faced the Queen Mother respectfully. He lowered his head, his expression was extremely peaceful, and there was even a hint of humility in his words.
The Queen Mother's eyes were slightly surprised. It was obvious that she felt a little sudden when faced with Yingping's visit today.
After greetings, Yingping sat on the chair next to the Queen Mother. Although they were sitting side by side, it was not difficult to see that he was still a little reserved, so he kept his head slightly lowered and did not dare to look directly at the woman beside him.
Seeing Yingping walking on thin ice, the Queen Mother seemed to be quite satisfied. After the palace maid stepped back, she asked -
"The Holy One paid a sudden visit today. Is there anything going on?"
Ying Ping raised his eyelids, then turned his body towards the Queen Mother, and said: "It has been a long time since I came to pay my respects to the Queen Mother. When I asked today, I found out that it was already the end of the month. After careful calculation, it was so long since I last paid my respects to my mother. It's been a month, so I came here to apologize and hope that my mother will calm down."
Listening to Ying Ping's sincere words, the Queen Mother smiled slightly and said: "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am very relieved."
Yingping turned around and took a box from the eunuch behind him, then handed it to the Queen Mother and opened it. The Queen Mother lowered her eyes and looked at the box. Without waiting for her to ask questions, she only heard Yingping's voice reaching her ears. He said: "A few days ago, I returned to Qianniu Mountain and came across a Millennium Ginseng plant in the mountain. I thought of it." My mother has been busy with state affairs recently, so I would like to give this gift to my mother."
The Queen Mother looked with interest at Yingping, who was holding the wooden box with his head lowered and both hands, and she motioned with her eyes to the palace maid behind her to accept the wooden box.
The stuff was naturally good stuff, and the Queen Mother could tell at a glance that such old ginseng was priceless in the market. But her attention was not focused on this treasure. She still looked at Yingping with a smile, but there was a trace of vigilance and suspicion hidden in her eyes with relief. Since the Suzaku Rebellion, Yingping has been incredibly well-behaved. Although everything happened naturally, she and Wang Yanqing still dare not relax the string in their hearts. Faced with Yingping's surrender, the Queen Mother always kept a careful eye on Yingping. Yingping's daily life, interests and hobbies would be recorded and reported to her, and even what books Yingping read, how many times he went to the hut a day, and which palace maids were in the evening. The bed attendants were not spared. It's just that such a long time has passed, and it seems from Yingping's performance that he is indeed afraid, convinced, and compromised. For the rest of his life, he just wants to be a mediocre ruler and a coward, eating, drinking, having fun, and enjoying glory and wealth.
The Queen Mother was thinking about this in her mind, but there was no expression on her face. She smiled slightly and said, "Your Majesty is interested."
"This is what a son should do."
It was such a picture of a loving mother and a filial son. The maids and eunuchs on both sides couldn't help crying when they saw it.
The Queen Mother looked at Ying Ping's submissive look, and her eyes became soft. She gradually let go of her guard and said: "Although the Holy Emperor is young and playful, he is the king of a country after all. The vast country of our Tang Dynasty will one day be ours." To be returned to the hands of the Holy Spirit, the affairs of the state must not go to waste.”
"Everything is decided by the mother. Besides, my uncle is very strong. With him here, my sons and ministers can sit back and relax."
When talking about political affairs, Yingping lowered his head even further, fearing that a slight mistake in his words and attitude would cause dissatisfaction with the woman in front of him.
"Recently, the flooding in the south has been serious. Your Majesty must take it seriously." The Queen Mother said melancholy.
"My son... I also heard about it."
"What do you think, Your Majesty?" The Queen Mother casually picked up the tea and took a sip.
"Didn't Master Lian say that he has been settled?" Yingping raised his head in confusion.
This was the first time Yingping raised his head. The Queen Mother slowly put down the tea. Her eyes drifted from the tea cup to the distance. She just looked at Yingping with her peripheral vision. Although she didn't look directly at him, she could feel it. Yingping's eyes were full of doubts, a doubt from the bottom of his heart.
The Queen Mother said with a worried look: "Your Majesty comes from the people, so he must feel the suffering of the people more deeply. I don't know how many people will suffer from this flood."
Seeing the empress dowager's compassionate look, Yingping nodded thoughtfully, and then said: "The empress mother is compassionate, which is a blessing to the people."
"Don't underestimate the great wealth of the Tang Dynasty, but when these things happen, the national treasury does not know how much money it will allocate for disaster relief. This family is in trouble!" The Queen Mother shook her head and continued.
"Everything is decided by the Queen Mother!"
The Queen Mother paused for a moment, then suddenly thought of something, and asked in a helpless tone: "Recently, the hospital has reported that barbarians outside the customs have been moving frequently, several large caravans have been looted, and some merchants transporting goods have even lost their lives. "
Ying Ping didn't pay much attention to the news outside the customs. Hearing the Queen Mother's sudden words, he was really surprised.
"Are those barbarians so bold?"
"In recent years, the Guannei army has not beaten the barbarians hard enough, and Hua Fasha is indeed somewhat capable, so the barbarians' arrogance has gradually become more and more arrogant."
Inexplicably, the shadow of a person popped up in Yingping's heart - that person was none other than Chang Xiaotian, who had an acquaintance with him some time ago. I heard that this guy had a way of beating barbarians, but because of the relationship between Emperor Tang, Chang Zhishan and Chang Xiaotian became a victim of the entanglement and grievances between the Wang brothers and sisters and was transferred out of the customs. However, this matter was also caused by him. If he hadn't had an affair with Xu Younian's daughter. , there would be no situation like today, so it would not be unfair for him to bear all this.
Just when Yingping was thinking wildly, the Queen Mother spoke again and said: "It seems that we really need to send someone who can control those barbarians. Otherwise, wouldn't Hua Fasha deceive me and there is no one in the Central Plains?"
Ying Ping nodded in agreement, but before he had time to express any opinions, he heard the Queen Mother ask in a very casual voice: "The Ai family intends to transfer Chang Xiaotian back to the pass. What is the emperor's intention?"
'Dingxin——'
A crisp sound came from Yingping's hand, and he seemed to have been shocked. The cup lid slipped from his right hand and fell heavily on the rim of the cup. The splash of tea wet his sleeves. Looking up, I saw that he looked stunned, his eyes full of confusion and fear.
After just a moment, a look of despair appeared on his face. He hurriedly put the tea cup on the table, not caring about the tea inside shaking out, and then stood in front of the Queen Mother and knelt down with a plop, and said in a voice that was almost pleading—
"This matter is very important, and it all depends on the mother's arrangement!"
After saying that, Yingping knocked his head off hard and stuck his butt out, looking extremely humble.
The Queen Mother looked at Yingping's frightened appearance and frowned slightly. She looked down at the puppet emperor who surrendered in front of her, wanting to truly see through him, but even though Yingping was like a helpless animal huddled in the corner, She still felt a little suspicious about the mouse with no way out.
Could it be that this kid really went into self-exile?
The Queen Mother's suspicion eased slightly, but at this moment, the face of the man who had been with her for decades suddenly flashed before her eyes, and the Queen Mother's originally gentle face became solemn again.
She looked coldly at Yingping who was kneeling in front of her, stood up slowly, and said, "The Ai family is just asking for advice. Why is the Holy One like this?"
The Queen Mother walked toward Yingping step by step, like a cat stalking a mouse in the corner in the dark.
Thousands of words flashed through Yingping's mind, but at this moment his intuition told him that nothing was more reliable than the truth. At this moment, he made a decision——
"A few days ago, Erchen went to have fun on a flower boat by the Wei River. By chance, he met Liu Zhiqing's granddaughter who was abducted. When Erchen saw that the little girl was pitiful, he came to the rescue, and then he met Chang Xiaotian. Erchen...er I... I really didn’t know that this little girl’s uncle was Chang Xiaotian at that time. Please don’t be suspicious, Queen Mother! Don’t be suspicious!”
After saying that, Yingping kowtowed.
Just when Yingping hit his head on the ground, the Queen Mother suddenly walked to him and bent down to help him up. Yingping stood up tremblingly, not forgetting to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
The Queen Mother and Yingping were only a few punches apart, and they were facing each other, eye to eye.
Yingping tried his best to suppress his slightly trembling body, but his eyes never moved away. He met the sword-like gaze of the woman in front of him with almost begging eyes. He begged and begged the woman to believe him. I believe that he has absolutely no objections at this time.
There was an eerie silence in the palace...
After an unknown amount of time, the Queen Mother looked away and said in a voice without any emotion: "Your Majesty, you are the king of a country. You don't have to be like this. Since you are the king of the country, you represent the Tang Dynasty."
As she said that, the Queen Mother actually stretched out her hand to tidy up Yingping, her movements were extremely careful, as if Yingping was a wanderer about to travel far away.
Yingping closed his eyes and quietly enjoyed all this. The Queen Mother took good care of it. When her fingertips and the back of her hands touched Yingping's cheek, Yingping felt it was extremely smooth without any wrinkles.
After some 'careful' sorting, the Queen Mother looked at Ying Ping with a smile.
Yingping slowly opened his eyes, with some residual fear still in his eyes. Seeing the Queen Mother's smile so calm and peaceful, his heartbeat gradually slowed down.
Seeing that Yingping's demeanor returned to normal, the Queen Mother spoke again: "There is one more thing that the Ai family would like to ask your Majesty."
"Mother, please speak! My son and I must know everything and tell you everything -"
"I heard that Your Majesty withdrew some silver from the treasury?" the Queen Mother asked casually, as if this matter was not a big deal to her.
When Yingping heard the Queen Mother mention this, instead of being as panicked as before, Yingping showed a slightly humble smile and said nonchalantly: "Hey, the Queen Mother also discovered this little thing? It does happen, Recently, my son has been a little short on money, and he...wanted to...want to go out for a walk to relieve his boredom, so..."
Looking at Yingping who was licking his face and trying to defend himself, the Queen Mother suddenly sighed softly and said: "You, you, you, although you are the emperor, you must always consider this country! Flood control and disaster relief are in great need of silver. How can we use the national treasury just because the Holy One is playful?"
"My mother taught her a lesson... she taught her a lesson..." Yingping accepted the teaching humbly, but still had a smile on his face.
"After all, the money in the treasury belongs to the people. If you are short of money, you can ask for it from the Ai family. The Ai family has lived in the palace for a long time and has no chance to spend money. They have saved some money over the years. I will give it to you. Don't be shy. Yu opened his mouth."
Yingping rubbed his hands, looking a little embarrassed, and said: "Then why are you so embarrassed..."
"One family does not speak two different languages——"
After saying that, the Queen Mother turned around and took out the banknotes that had been prepared from the hands of the palace maid, and handed them to Yingping: "Nuo, take them. If you don't have enough in the future, you can ask the Ai family for more."
Yingping took the banknote with both hands, looked flattered, and said excitedly: "My dear, thank you so much! Thank you so much!"
"Okay, that's it for today."
Yingping carefully put the banknote into his arms, and then straightened up. His dignity and majesty seemed to return to Yingping at this moment. Then, he bowed and said: "Please take care of your body, Queen Mother, and I will take my leave."
The Queen Mother didn't say anything, just nodded, without even looking at Yingping.
The two of them acted as if nothing had happened, and everything was calm again...
...
As soon as he left the Rizhengden Hall, Yingping straightened his waist and puffed out his chest.
Not far forward, Yingping stopped and looked back.
A gust of breeze blew by, making my back, which was covered with sticky clothes, feel refreshed.
"Nonsence--"
Yingping spat hard on the ground, then wiped the corners of his mouth with his dragon robe, and walked to the study nonchalantly.
