Feng Xiang's fatal problem was that he failed to report the matter to the person who should report it most.
It is true that choosing a queen is choosing a wife for the emperor.
However, Ma Yunfang and Murong Ling are also Li Bing's current wives. Their every move, word and deed must be approved by their husbands. This is not only the rule of the Holy Religion, but also the law of the court.
Wei Zixuan and others, despite all their calculations, completely ignored Li Bing in terms of laws and regulations.
To be honest, it's not entirely their fault.
Because in the matter of selecting the queen, Li Bing played two roles at the same time: the queen's husband and the imperial concubine's husband.
From the perspective of the queen and her husband, the Ministry of Rites holds a public discussion in court to determine who should retire and who should not. The emperor himself should not interfere too much. This system is designed to enable future queens to withstand the public debate between the government and the public, and it also plays a role in selecting the best.
But from the perspective of the imperial concubines and husbands, Concubine Shu, Ma Yunfang, and Concubine Hui, Murong Ling, could participate in the post-election public discussion as long as they were recommended by important officials of the royal family. At this level, Li Bing was tacitly agreed.
Therefore, the Ministry of Rites does not need to send a special letter to the emperor, and there is no reason to send letters to the Ma family and the Murong family.
However, just such an operation made Wei Zixuan forget Li Bing's identity as the husband of the imperial concubine, so that he mistook the target of his power.
Is there any point in trying to scare Ma Hongjie and Murong Xue? Is it useless for Concubine Shu and Hui to voluntarily withdraw from the post-election public meeting?
My husband is the one who can make the decision, right?
Although Li Jiangyao has always disdained to participate in this post-election battle, as an outside observer, he has a thorough understanding of the whole matter. At this time, he looked at Feng Xiang calmly and said with a smile: "How about it? Master Feng, should you report it to the emperor first and let His Majesty make a ruling?"
Feng Xiang was like a defeated rooster. He looked at Wei Zixuan with downcast eyebrows and sighed: "What you said...is correct."
Li Jiangyao turned to look at the Minister of Rites: "What are your opinions?"
The Minister of Rites was really afraid of the Protector, and nodded quickly: "His Majesty should indeed be the judge. We are not qualified to make decisions for the empress."
Li Jiangyao clapped his hands gently and said to the ministers around him: "Since the Ministry of Rites and Zongzheng Temple have said so, it will be easy to handle the matter. Concubine Shuhui has been included in the selection and submitted to the emperor for approval. What do you think?"
"Okay!" The military generals took the lead in expressing their stance and responded one after another.
Civil servants, you look at me, I look at you, and finally they all look at Shangshu Zuopushe Wei Zixuan who is standing in front, waiting for him to speak.
Wei Zixuan rolled his eyes and said sadly: "I think this may not be appropriate."
He took two steps forward and said in a deep voice: "Since the two empresses are willing to be modest, we ministers should support and cooperate with admiration instead of pushing the problem to the emperor."
Tian Mu agreed: "What Prime Minister Wei said makes sense. It's one thing for His Majesty to finally choose the queen. It's another thing for Concubine Shu and Concubine Hui to take the initiative to give up their talents. General Li should not confuse them. The two empresses withdrew, It means that there are two more ladies for His Majesty to choose from, isn’t this good?”
His words were immediately echoed by his fellow party members, causing the entire hall to become noisy and noisy.
The military generals supported Concubine Shu and Concubine Hui and did not want them to give up the fight for the queen easily, thus giving Wei Zixuan and others an advantage. However, the civil servants generally followed the Prime Minister's lead and agreed to follow the wishes of the two empresses and withdraw from the gold foil selection.
On both sides, you say you are right, and I say I am right. Each has its own opinion and can't argue.
Li Jiangyao held his shoulders with his hands and watched them quarreling with interest, glancing at Wei Zixuan from time to time. Wei Zixuan's face was as dark as water, and he stared at Li Jiangyao fiercely, obviously feeling very unhappy.
At present, a heated argument breaks out in the court, and it is no longer possible to kill Concubine Shu and Concubine Hui easily.
The Minister of Rites, whose head was as big as a fist due to the noise from both sides, quickly raised his hands to ask the ministers to calm down first.
"Everyone, please don't make any noise. If you have any opinions, please tell me one by one."
"Nothing to say!" A military general shouted: "Write Concubine Hui into the selection!"
"There is also Concubine Shu!" another general shouted.
The voices of the civil servants were no worse than those of the soldiers: "The two imperial concubines have decided to withdraw themselves. What are you guys talking about?"
"Your Majesty's withdrawal is so strange. Who knows if there is someone behind the scenes?"
"That's right, let's report it first and then let the emperor decide whether to win or not!"
"Yes! Let the emperor decide! Let the emperor decide!"
The Minister of Rites looked helplessly at Wei Zixuan next to him: "Sir, what do you think we should do about this?"
Wei Zixuan sneered and said: "There is so much noise and shouting in the court hall, what kind of behavior is this? Where are the warriors in front of the hall?!"
To his words, the imperial troops guarding the Tai Chi Palace immediately responded in unison, and the sound immediately drowned out the din of arguments among civil and military officials.
After everyone calmed down, Wei Zixuan continued: "Since everyone has different opinions on the matter of the imperial concubine's withdrawal, let's do this. The two empresses will prepare a separate volume and submit it to the royal family along with the gold-leaf selection."
Another volume?
All the civil and military officials couldn't help but look at each other.
Wei Zixuan's method is indeed a compromise: Concubine Shu Hui took the initiative to withdraw from the election and did not include them in the gold foil selection, which is reasonable and reasonable; the generals insisted that the two empresses participate in the selection of the queen and arranged another one for them. It is also reasonable to submit the book to the emperor at the same time.
After thinking about it for a while, everyone felt that their opinions were satisfied, so they no longer struggled and nodded in approval.
However, Li Jiangyao saw Wei Zixuan's thoughts.
The so-called having another volume is equivalent to being eliminated from the gold foil selection volume, which means losing the opportunity to compete for the position of queen. When the time comes, Wei Zixuan can use any means or make up a reason to let Li Bing choose his first wife only from the qualified candidates in the gold foil selection.
Thinking of this, Li Jiangyao smiled slightly, raised his hands and said, "I don't agree!"
Wei Zixuan was almost angry to death. While cursing secretly in his heart, he asked in a deep voice: "Li Jiangyao, what do you want?"
"It's very simple. The public discussion of the gold foil selection in the court must be postponed!" Li Jiangyao replied calmly: "Let Zongzheng Temple report the withdrawal of the two empresses to the emperor first, and then make a decision after receiving the holy ruling. Selections list.”
Compared with Wei Zixuan's compromise approach, Li Jiangyao's proposal at this time was obviously more secure. As soon as he said this, both civil servants and military generals nodded their heads.
Originally, selecting the queen was not an extremely urgent matter, and there was no need to rush out the results today. It is only in line with the rules to let the emperor determine whether the imperial concubine can withdraw and then discuss it again.
Seeing that everyone seemed to be more inclined to Li Jiangyao's proposal, the Minister of Rites turned to Wei Zixuan and said: "Prime Minister Wei, how about we do it according to the wishes of the Protector. Anyway, the other candidates have been evaluated, so we can't wait for one more day. It’s okay.”
Hearing this, Wei Zixuan really wanted to kick him. However, in front of all the civil and military officials of the dynasty, as the minister Zuopushe, I can't just ignore the more satisfactory method and do it in a hurry, right?
He thought for a moment and sighed dejectedly: "Okay, if you want to delay it, then just delay it, and don't care about the truth!"
After that, Wei Zixuan flicked his sleeves and walked away angrily.
The Minister of Rites looked at his figure disappearing outside the gate of Taiji Hall. He also felt helpless. He turned to the minister of Zongzheng Temple and said: "Master Feng, please come to the palace today to see the saint and withdraw from the election of the empress. Report to Your Majesty. Well, speaking of it, for such a big matter, you really should tell His Majesty first. You are too hasty and have reached this point, even the public discussion in court must be postponed."
Feng Xiang was complained a lot by the other party, and saw that the important matter of the left prime minister was delayed, and he couldn't help but feel ashamed and annoyed. He first glared at Li Jiangyao fiercely, and then replied angrily: "I know, I'll be there soon!"
Li Jiangyao smiled nonchalantly and asked, "Master Shangshu, can you go home now? It's past lunch time."
-
"Brother, I thought you really didn't intend to participate in the post-election struggle," Li Xi served Li Jiangyao a dish and said with a smile, "I didn't expect that in the end, you were the one causing the most trouble."
Li Jiangyao smiled faintly: "Princess, you are well-informed. I came back from the morning and the meal was put on the table, and you have already received the news."
Li Xi stopped the servants, and while personally carrying a pot and pouring wine for Li Jiangyao, he said: "There are as many as two to three hundred officials participating in the public meeting today. At this time, what happened in the court has already been spread throughout the imperial capital. What can I do?" How can you not know?"
She put down the wine bottle and then asked: "Brother, what do you think about it?"
"To be honest, I don't think about it at all." Li Jiangyao said: "Like your husband, I don't want Murong Ling to ascend to the position of queen. What happened today was just because Wei Zixuan was unhappy, so I deliberately gave it to He's just causing trouble."
Li Xi smiled sweetly: "To tell you the truth, brother, I have always been unhappy with that guy. If there is a chance, we must try to stop him from doing this. This is not only for ourselves, but also for the safety of the dynasty."
Li Jiangyao knew that she was referring to Nun Jinghui and the maid Xiaoting, and he also knew that Wei Zixuan was probably Lao Jianhua's man, but he still advised: "Princess, Murong Xue and I have been fighting abroad for a long time, and there are people here in the imperial capital. It’s hard to take care of things at times, and you’re here alone, so don’t act recklessly and cause danger.”
"Thank you for your concern, brother. I understand." Li Xi nodded and replied: "Brother asked people from the Intelligence Department to protect me personally for the sake of my safety. Fenyang knew it well. However, since Wei from Zuo Xiangfu's Mansion Peng has connections with the southern rebels, and Wei Zixuan is definitely under suspicion. He has a high position of power, and if he is not eliminated early, sooner or later he will cause greater harm to the country."
At this point, Li Xi paused for a moment, and then a cold light flashed in his beautiful eyes: "If we can't find ironclad evidence that Wei Zixuan is a traitor, then we should consider sending someone to kill him secretly!"
