Mrs. Sun's expression changed, and she quickly returned to normal. She quickly stood up and saluted.
"See Queen Mother."
"See the Empress Dowager." Li Qing, Wang Zhen, and Zhen'er followed suit and saluted.
The Empress Dowager Zhang walked slowly to Sun's seat and sat down, and said calmly: "Everyone should be flat."
"Thank you, the Queen Mother." Everyone stood up.
Sun Shi said sarcastically: "Mother, why are you here?"
"Why, I can't come?"
"No, no, I don't mean that." Ms. Sun quickly explained, "I mean, you have worked hard for so long and finally have some leisure time. You should enjoy more happiness. I am afraid of you." Tired."
Mrs. Zhang sneered: "I have only returned to power for a year, and there are already people who want to imitate me. How can I dare to enjoy life?"
Mrs. Sun's face froze and she said dryly: "The queen mother has misunderstood. I don't mean that."
"Really?" Mrs. Zhang asked back, "Then what's the point of meeting foreign ministers privately?"
"My concubine... I want to reward the meritorious officials on behalf of the emperor." Sun said bravely.
"Are you replacing the emperor?" Zhang's face darkened, "Why do you replace the emperor?"
In this era, daughters-in-law are naturally shorter than their mothers-in-law, and Mrs. Sun is no exception. Moreover, she was brought into the palace by Mrs. Zhang, so she knows how difficult the old lady is to deal with.
Mrs. Sun decisively admitted her mistake, "I know I was wrong."
"Just admit your mistake." Zhang whispered, then looked at Li Qing and asked in surprise: "Are you Li Qing?"
"I am." Li Qing nodded.
Zhang asked: "What is your relationship with Marquis Yongqing?"
She had met Li Qing when she was still the Crown Princess. Now that she saw Li Qing again, you can imagine the shock in her heart.
"It doesn't matter." Li Qing cupped his hands and said, "It's just the same name."
Zhang's old face was as calm as water, and he looked deeply at Li Qing, thinking: "It's really strange, how can there be such a similar person in the world..."
She cleared her throat and asked, "Did you propose the abolition of the recommendation system?"
"Yes." Li Qing cupped his hands and said, "I just want to give you an opinion."
"Quite modest." Ms. Zhang smiled, then glanced at Wang Zhen, "If you're not in the Lijian, what are you doing here?"
Wang Zhen is also afraid of the old lady, even more than Sun.
If Sanyang hadn't begged for mercy, he would have been chopped into pieces by the old lady. She quickly and respectfully replied: "Replying to the Empress Dowager, I heard that the Empress Dowager summoned Li Dugui to do something about it. My servant happened to be there, so I brought him here."
"That's such a coincidence." Mrs. Zhang said calmly: "Since you are here, I won't ask anyone else. Go and invite the emperor to come over."
"Yes, yes, slave, go right away." Wang Zhenru was pardoned, gave a hurried salute, and trotted away.
Mrs. Sun's expression was a little unnatural, and she wanted to say a few words, but she couldn't help but swallow her words when she saw a strong mother-in-law.
Li Qing didn't want to get involved, so he stood up and said, "I still have some official business to attend to. If the Empress Dowager has no instructions, I will allow you to leave."
"There's no rush for this moment, just sit down." Mrs. Zhang said.
Li Qing touched his nose and sat down helplessly.
A quarter of an hour later, Zhu Qizhen hurried over and saw that Li Qing was also there, and his eyes suddenly froze.
"Grandma Huang, are you looking for me?"
Mrs. Zhang glanced at her daughter-in-law and said, "Zhen'er, are you busy enough to come over?"
Grandma Huang won’t want to go back, right? Zhu Qizhen's heart trembled: "I'm so busy."
"You have your hands full."
"Too busy."
"Are you too busy to come here?"
"You're busy!" Zhu Qizhen said seriously.
Zhang asked puzzledly: "Since you are so busy, why do you need your mother to reward your ministers for you?
Don't be pushy. If you really can't handle it, just say it. Grandma can still work for two more years. "
"My grandson is very busy." Zhu Qizhen said quickly, then glanced at Mrs. Sun and said, "My grandson did not ask my mother to reward my ministers for me."
"That's weird." Mrs. Zhang looked at Mrs. Sun with a teasing look on her face.
Sun explained calmly: "I see that Zhen'er is busy and want to help him share the burden."
"Is it useful?" Mrs. Zhang said.
"There's no need at all." Zhu Qizhen shook his head.
Zhang nodded with satisfaction and looked at Sun, "Did you hear everything?"
"Listen, I heard it." Mrs. Sun lowered her eyebrows.
"It's good to hear it." Mrs. Zhang said calmly, "Let's forget it this time. Don't let it happen again."
Zhu Qizhen then said: "The queen mother just wants to enjoy life well. It is better not to have private meetings with foreign ministers. It would be better not to happen again."
"Okay, it won't happen." Mrs. Sun still lowered her eyebrows.
Zhang turned back and looked at Zhu Qizhen, "You are the emperor and you must prevent such incidents from happening. Do you understand?"
"I understand, my grandson understands." Zhu Qizhen accompanied him carefully.
The powerful grandma, the scheming mother, the ghostly grandson, and the melon-eating Li Qing are all a good show.
It's a pity that this scene didn't last long.
Mrs. Zhang stood up and said, "Li Qing's family is coming with me."
Li Qing looked at Zhu Qizhen.
Go quickly... Zhu Qizhen winked repeatedly, just like a grandson who is afraid of his grandma.
Sun was annoyed: Only the state officials were allowed to set fires, but the people were not allowed to light lamps, right?
But when she met her son's meaningful eyes, her aura suddenly dropped a bit, and she said angrily: "Zhen'er, mother, this is also a good intention."
"I understand, but I don't have to."
Mrs. Sun was angry: "Don't you think it hurts the queen too much if you do this?"
"My mother is too worried, I feel sorry for you." Zhu Qizhen said calmly, "The Sun family is favored by the country, and my mother's three brothers hold high positions in Jinyiwei. There are often gossips in the outer court, so my mother should be more responsible. Yes, don’t make it difficult for me.”
Sun's face changed, "Zhen'er, they are..."
"I am the king!" Zhu Qizhen interrupted forcefully, "They are ministers, nothing more."
After that, he looked at her deeply and walked away.
…
Kunning Palace.
This is the first time Li Qing has come since the palace was built.
After all, it was the emperor's harem, and it would take a while to get in. Li Qing was somewhat embarrassed.
He cupped his hands and said, "I wonder what the Empress Dowager's orders are?"
"No need to be formal, sit down." Ms. Zhang lost her arrogance and regained her kindness as an old lady.
Li Qing sat down.
Madam Zhang waved her hand, "Everyone, please step aside."
The waiting maid bowed Yingying and withdrew.
"Li Qing."
"I'm here."
Zhang asked: "Are you him?"
"who?"
"You know." Mrs. Zhang said, "I'm just asking, if you don't do anything, what comes out of your mouth can reach my ears."
Li Qing was silent for a moment, "No."
"That's such a pity." Ms. Zhang sighed, "Please step back."
"I excuse myself."
Li Qing cupped his hands and was about to turn around and leave when he heard Zhang say: "Recently, Renzong often entrusts me with dreams."
Li Qing paused.
Zhang said: "He is very worried about Daming. I think I will go to accompany him."
Li Qing turned around.
Mrs. Zhang then said: "Do you have anything you want me to bring to him?"
Li Qing was silent for a long time: "It will get better. I...miss him very much."
"Okay, okay." Mrs. Zhang smiled, relieved and relaxed, but also guilty and uneasy.
"Did I do a bad job?"
Li Qing shook his head: "I can't blame you for this. You have done a great job in keeping the government from collapsing. At least it has not spread to the people, and there is still a chance to remedy the situation."
"Really?" Madam Zhang felt relieved, "I'm still afraid that when we get there, he will blame me."
Li Qing breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Shall I help you take a look?"
"No need." Mrs. Zhang shook her head, "Zhen'er has grown up and I have you again. I have nothing to worry about. My mission has been completed. Life has no meaning to me. It's good to just let nature take its course."
She was very tired, “I miss him and my son too;
There is nothing good about living too long..."
…
After leaving Kunning Palace, Li Qing sighed: "Yeah, there's really nothing good about it."
As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Zhen hurried over with small steps, "Mr. Li, the emperor asked you to go to Qianqing Palace to meet him."
"knew."
Li Qing smiled bitterly: This family is really good.
Entering the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Qizhen immediately greeted him, "Mr. Li, what did Grandma Huang say to you?"
"The Empress Dowager asked me to guard against arrogance and impetuosity, and to work well." Li Qing said, "She also asked me to assist the emperor."
"Is that so?" Zhu Qizhen was a little disbelieving. Then he thought about it and realized that this was in line with the character of the Queen Mother. He asked again, "Then why did the Queen Mother see you?"
"The Empress Dowager said that my hard work has yielded great results, and she wants to reward me heavily on behalf of the Emperor." Li Qing said with a smile, "The rewards have been handed into my hands, but I didn't expect that the Empress Dowager would come."
Zhu Qizhen frowned: "Sir, do you really care about money that much?"
"Your Majesty, Mr. Li can confiscate it." Wang Zhen took the opportunity to say: "Mr. Li refused at that time, saying that the salary was enough for food and clothing, and he also said that he did not dare to ask for rewards for what he had done. Mr. Li is so noble and upright."
Wang Zhenshen is very good at assessing the situation, and what happened today made it clear to him that the Empress Dowager Sun's rank is still not good enough, and she wants to interfere in the government affairs... but she is far away.
He had to keep a backup plan, he couldn't hang himself from a tree, there was no harm in forming a good relationship with the famous person next to the little emperor.
