The next day, after the morning court, Duke Zhen was summoned by Queen Xie.
As expected by the Duke of Zhen, Queen Xie told him as soon as she saw him that His Royal Highness King Jing had been entrusted with the important task of serving as Shangshu Ling by the Emperor.
Duke Zhenguo did not interrupt Queen Xie's words and listened quietly to Queen Xie's boasting.
Empress Xie became more and more excited as she talked, but she suddenly noticed that her brother had a cold expression on his face, which made the smile on her face suddenly freeze, and anger immediately surged in her heart. She shouted dissatisfied: "Brother!"
Duke Zhen Guo looked at Queen Xie and said calmly: "Are you finished?"
Queen Xie hated the calm look of Lord Zhen Guo the most, as if everything was under his control.
"Brother, what do you mean?"
Duke Zhen Guo did not answer Queen Xie's question, but asked: "What do you mean?"
Seeing that Lord Zhen Guo still looked indifferent, Queen Xie felt as if a basin of cold water had been poured on her heart, and her whole body instantly fell into the ice cellar.
She stared at Zhen Guo Gong blankly and didn't respond for a long time.
Duke Zhen Guo sighed slightly in his heart when he saw Queen Xie's stunned look of disbelief. However, his expression remained cold.
"What do you want me to do?"
After hearing what Duke Zhen Guo said, Queen Xie came back to her senses and immediately stared at Duke Zhen Guo with eyes full of anger. She asked in a sharp tone: "Brother, you clearly know what I want you to do, are you pretending to be stupid for me now?"
The Duke of Zhen Guo pretended that he didn't know what to do, so he patiently asked again: "What do you want me to do?"
Queen Xie was extremely angry, her face was red with anger, and her eyes were blazing with anger as she looked at Duke Zhen. She roared at Duke Zhen: "I want you to support Xiao Qi as the crown prince! Do you hear me clearly?"
Duke Zhenguo ignored Queen Xie's furious look and asked indifferently: "Then what?"
Queen Xie's face turned livid with anger when she saw that Lord Zhen Guo still had such a calm expression. She glared at Duke Zhen and said through gritted teeth, "Then destroy Zhao Xuan!"
"Impossible!" Duke Zhen Guo did not ask Queen Xie again this time, but spoke decisively.
Queen Xie had long expected that Duke Zhen Guo would say this, but she still had a little bit of luck in her heart, thinking that her brother would be on her side, but she didn't expect... Now that she heard Duke Zhen Guo's rejection, Queen Xie felt like Anger is both aggrieved and unwilling.
Her eyes were red with anger, but she still suppressed the fury in her heart and asked the Duke of Zhen one word at a time: "Why! What! What!"
Duke Zhenguo saw that Queen Xie's delicately made-up face became distorted because of excessive anger, but his eyes and face remained unchanged at all.
"I said that our Xie family only supports His Highness the Crown Prince and does not support anyone else, including His Highness Prince Jing!"
With a snap, Queen Xie raised her hand and destroyed the tea cup on the table beside her.
This sound seemed particularly loud in the quiet Zhaoyang Palace. Jiang Chuan and the others who were guarding the door heard the sound of the tea cup breaking, and felt a sense of fear in their hearts.
They hurriedly lowered their heads and breathed softly, fearing that they would offend Queen Xie at this moment.
"How can Xiao Qi be inferior to Zhao Xuan?" Queen Xie yelled at Duke Zhen with a sinister look on her face.
Duke Zhenguo said in a calm tone: "Xiao Qi is not the eldest son!" He added, "We have discussed this matter before."
Queen Xie's eyes were red with anger, and her usually dignified face now became very scary.
"Brother, you are Xiao Qi's biological uncle, your biological uncle!"
Duke Zhenguo said in an indifferent tone: "I am also the uncle of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"
"You..." Queen Xie pointed at Duke Zhen Guo angrily. She was so angry that she almost couldn't breathe.
"Little sister, please don't be so angry yet." Seeing Queen Xie looking like she was about to faint from anger, Duke Zhen Guo calmly spoke to comfort her, "Let's have a good talk today."
Queen Xie was trembling slightly with anger, and looked at Duke Zhen with resentment in her eyes.
"You...what else can we talk about..." After saying that, Queen Xie shed tears from her angry eyes.
"Little sister, have you never thought about why the emperor suddenly asked His Highness King Jing to be the minister?" Duke Zhenguo continued patiently and in a gentle tone, "Do you really think that the emperor wants to do this because he values His Highness King Jing? Give His Highness King Jing a chance?"
Queen Xie said angrily: "Isn't it?"
He knew that the younger sister didn't think about it carefully.
"Of course not, the emperor is trying to sow discord between you and me." Zhen Guogong sighed in his heart. Compared with the elder sister, the younger sister is really far behind. "Let's put an end to the internal strife in our family."
Queen Xie said coldly: "If you support Xiao Qi, the relationship between us will not be instigated, and the Xie family will not be in internal strife."
Hearing what Queen Xie said, Duke Zhen was not surprised at all.
"Little sister, in your heart, which one is more important, His Royal Highness King Jing, or the Xie family?"
Queen Xie said without thinking: "Of course Xiao Qi is important." After saying that, she added, "As long as Xiao Qi becomes the crown prince, the Xie family will be even more powerful than now."
Sure enough, in my little sister’s heart, His Royal Highness Prince Jing is the most important!
"Little sister, you have always been jealous that your eldest sister married the emperor instead of you and then became the queen. Do you know that before the eldest sister married the emperor, her father and mother had already arranged a marriage for her, and the eldest sister and the other party had agreed to marry each other. Love each other."
Queen Xie didn't know about this. This was the first time she heard about it. She opened her mouth in surprise: "What did you say?"
"You were young back then and didn't understand anything." Duke Zhenguo didn't want to talk about this matter at first, but seeing that Queen Xie was stubborn, he could only tell Queen Xie some unknown things about the late queen, hoping that Queen Xie Can understand something. "The eldest sister and the other party have been married since childhood. They originally planned to wait for the eldest sister to have hairpins before they get married. Unexpectedly, in order to win over the late emperor, my father canceled the marriage that the eldest sister had planned since childhood and married the current emperor."
"The eldest sister and the other party grew up together and have a very good relationship, just like Concubine Rong and the Emperor. The eldest sister was not willing to marry the emperor at the time, but for the Xie family, she had no choice but to marry the emperor."
After hearing this, Queen Xie said sarcastically: "It is her blessing that she has cultivated in eight lifetimes to be able to marry the emperor."
"And father, in order to marry the late emperor, my father's attitude was very low..." Zhen Guogong told Queen Xie some of the sacrifices made by the Xie family for the Xie family, including himself of course.
After hearing what Duke Zhen Guo said, Queen Xie not only did not understand, but asked displeasedly: "Brother, do you mean that I have to give up my biological son for the Xie family?"
Duke Zhen Guo nodded lightly: "Little sister, you have to think about the Xie family and not let the emperor's plan succeed!"
Queen Xie stood up suddenly, and immediately laughed loudly: "Hahahahaha..." Her laughter was very sharp, full of anger and sarcasm. "Hahahahaha, it's so funny..."
Duke Zhenguo said nothing and looked at Queen Xie who was smiling a little crazily with an expressionless face.
Queen Xie laughed for a while before stopping. Her face was full of sarcasm: "Brother, don't you think what you said is so funny. If it were you, would you give up your son for the Xie family?"
Without any hesitation, Duke Zhen Guo said in a serious and firm tone: "Yes! I can give up myself for the sake of the Xie family!"
The sarcastic smile on Queen Xie's face froze. She looked at Duke Zhen blankly. She saw that Duke Zhen Guo looked very serious and did not look like he was lying to her.
"For the Xie family, any one of us can sacrifice!" Duke Zhen said solemnly, "The Xie family's current status is the result of the Xie family sacrificing themselves for the Xie family!"
Queen Xie was stunned and didn't know what to say for a moment.
"If my eldest sister hadn't sacrificed her own happiness to marry the emperor, then the queen now belongs to the Wang family." Zhenguo Zheng said, "Then the Wang family now is the head of the family, and our Xie family is second to others."
Queen Xie bit her lip and said nothing.
"Without the sacrifice of my eldest sister, would you still be the queen now?" Duke Zhen Guo asked, "Is your son still a prince?"
He continued: "Without my father's humbleness and humiliation, now the Wang family is superior to our Xie family. And you can only marry a member of the same clan, and maybe you will be forced to marry the Wang family, or the Xun family , or the Yuan family..."
Queen Xie was unable to refute the words of Duke Zhen Guo.
"Little sister, without the Xie family, you are nothing." Zhen Guogong said, his face became cold, and his tone became cold, "Believe it or not, once something happens to the Xie family, you, the queen, will be the end of it. And your precious son is afraid that he will be demoted to a commoner."
"you……"
Duke Zhenguo interrupted Queen Xie's words and said very ruthlessly: "Do you really think that you can marry the emperor and become the queen on your own? If you were not the daughter of the Xie family, do you think the emperor would still marry you as his stepmother? Later?"
"You are selfish and only think about yourself and your son, not the Xie family, that's okay." Seeing that his kind words couldn't make sense to Queen Xie, Duke Zhenguo could only threaten her. "From now on, you and His Highness Prince Jing have nothing to do with our Xie family. I don't see what great things you and His Highness Prince Jing can do without the Xie family?"
When Queen Xie heard what Duke Zhen said, she couldn't help but panic, and there was a look of panic on her face.
"What do you mean, do you want to sever ties with me?"
"I can't let you and His Highness Prince Jing destroy the Xie family." Zhen Guogong said with a serious face, "I promised my father that the Xie family cannot be destroyed in my hands. I also promised my father that I would never allow any People have ruined the Xie family, including you! If my father were alive and found out that you were selfish and only thought about His Highness King Jing and did not consider the Xie family, my father would never recognize you as his daughter again!"
As he spoke, his eyes became very cold and stern, "If you insist on asking me to depose His Highness the Crown Prince and replace His Highness King Jing as the Crown Prince, then don't blame me as a ruthless brother."
"You..." Queen Xie didn't expect Duke Zhen Guo to be so heartless and cried angrily, "Mom, my eldest brother bullied me and wanted to sever the relationship between brother and sister..."
His Royal Highness King Jing rushed to Zhaoyang Palace and heard Queen Xie crying and yelling. He hurriedly walked in and comforted Queen Xie.
Empress Xie leaned in King Jing's arms, pointed at Duke Zhen and cried, "Xiao Qi, your good uncle wants to sever ties with our mother and son in order to support the crown prince."
When King Jing heard this, his face turned gloomy.
"Uncle, what's going on?"
Duke Zhen Guo once again told His Highness King Jing in detail what he had just said to Queen Xie.
After His Highness King Jing heard this, his face was naturally livid with anger.
"Uncle, do you really want to be so heartless?"
"Your Highness, it's not that I'm heartless, but I can't let the emperor's conspiracy succeed and make our Xie family fall apart."
At this time, in the East Palace, the eighth prince was helping the prince handle political affairs.
In recent years, the emperor has asked His Highness the Crown Prince to review some memorials and handle some political affairs.
"Brother, what do you think about Seventh Brother's appointment as Shangshu Ling?"
The prince was reading the memorial. When he heard the eighth prince's question, he said without thinking, "Very good."
Hearing what the prince said, the eighth prince sighed deeply and helplessly in his heart, and then asked again: "Brother, what do you think of seventh brother?"
"Seventh brother?" The prince didn't understand why the eighth prince suddenly asked. He raised his eyes and stared at the eighth prince in confusion, "Eighth brother, what's wrong with seventh brother?"
"Brother, don't you realize it at all?"
The prince looked confused: "What did you find?"
The Eighth Prince: "..." He always thought that his eldest brother knew about Seventh Brother's ambition, but he didn't take Seventh Brother seriously, so he never told him about Seventh Brother. Unexpectedly, he looked up to his eldest brother, and the eldest brother was not aware of the seventh brother's ambition at all.
"Badi, what should I notice?"
"Seventh brother's ambition." The eighth prince never expected that the prince would be so slow. To use a word that my tenth brother often said, it’s simply amazing!
The prince looked puzzled and asked: "Seventh brother's ambition, what ambition does seventh brother have?"
The eighth prince was speechless for a moment, and then said: "Brother, the seventh brother is also the legitimate son. Do you think he has no interest in the throne at all?"
He asked again: "Even if Seventh Brother doesn't have it, do you think the Empress doesn't? Do you think the Empress will be willing to let her biological son just be a prince?"
"Eighth brother, you are overthinking it..."
The Eighth Prince interrupted the Crown Prince: "Brother, it's not that I think too much, but that you think too little. Don't forget that the Queen is the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo. Do you really think she will let her do it willingly?" Will my son be a prince?"
"Mother, she doesn't have this intention..." The prince said this without confidence.
Hearing what the prince said, the eighth prince knew better.
"Brother, you know it in your heart, but you just don't want to admit it, right?"
The prince suddenly fell silent.
"Brother, it's not me who is instigating the relationship between you and the Queen, but Brother Seven is the Queen's biological son, and you are just the Queen's nephew." The Eighth Prince emphasized, "The most important thing is that the Queen is She is a legitimate daughter, while the first empress is a concubine. Brother, do you really think that the empress regards the first empress as her biological sister? Do you really think that the empress has no grudge against the first empress?"
The prince looked at the eighth prince, opened his mouth, and finally sighed: "Alas..."
"Brother, my father suddenly asked the seventh brother to serve as Shangshu Ling. What do you think the seventh brother and the Queen will think?"
"As long as uncle is on my side, my mother and my seventh brother have nothing to fear." The prince knew what the eighth prince was worried about and smiled at him reassuringly, "Don't worry, my uncle will always support me and will never change his mind. Support the Queen Mother and Seventh Brother."
"Brother, Duke Zhenguo is a smart man. He will never abandon you and run to support Brother Seventh. However, the Queen and Brother Seventh will not give up."
"Uncle will take care of it." The prince smiled slightly, "I don't need to worry about the affairs of my mother and my seventh brother."
"Brother, are you really not afraid that Duke Zhen will change his mind and support Brother Seventh?"
The prince smiled meaningfully and said: "Don't be afraid, because my uncle will not put the Duke's palace in danger!"
When the Eighth Prince heard this, a look of shock appeared in his eyes.
It seems that the eldest brother does not know everything, but he underestimates him!
I just came back from overseas today and am so exhausted that I can only update one chapter. Double updates will resume tomorrow.
I found that veterans really don’t like to leave messages. Every time I update a new chapter, no one leaves a message. Alas... It is obviously a 37-8 degree summer, but my articles are as cold as late winter. I'm autistic!
Finally, I still ask for a monthly ticket! Please give me a reward! Please leave a message!
(End of chapter)
