Chapter 164 Confer the Empress

Pan Duolan knew that she was an unnecessary person and knew that His Majesty wanted her to disappear immediately, but she followed him like a masochist, watching him showed all kinds of tenderness and care to another woman. She had seen the incomparably brave Hunnar, the ruthless Hunnar, and even the sorry figure Hunnar who was lying in a pool of blood after being defeated.

But this Hunnar, who smiled softly and heartily, and was no different from an ordinary man, she had never seen it before. Once upon a time, she dreamed of making him show the same expression, but she couldn’t even make him look straight to her eyes. What kind of charm Guan Suyi had? What kind virtue and ability she possessed?

If in those days she was not bewitched by the Empress Dowager and avoided Hunnar like a snake and scorpion, right now she had already become the Empress of Wei, where it would be fall to someone else? Thinking like this, she couldn’t help but resented herself, and even more resented the Empress Dowager and Guan Suyi.

If it was in the past, when encountering this kind of jealousy, Guan Suyi would only feel fed-up or even flee from it, but now she remained unruffled. She followed Hunnar’s footsteps and walked forward slowly, when they were about to reach Qionglin Garden, suddenly she was dragged by the other person.

“Madam’s gold hairpin is a little crooked, I’ll help you fix it.” Having said that, Emperor Sheng Yuan did not move, but stared at Madam with burning eyes.

How could Guan Suyi not understand his hidden meaning, she pursed her lips and smiled, “Where is it crooked?”

“Everywhere is crooked,” Emperor Sheng Yuan lowered his head, put a light kiss on the corner of her forehead, and once again on the tip of her nose, and said hoarsely, “Madam, go back quickly, if you don’t leave now, I won’t to let go.”

Guan Suyi’s cheeks were flushed, and she glared at him with mist-filled eyes before she took her younger brother and left quickly. But not long after she walked out, she heard a deep voice behind her, “Madam, in a month I will personally come to the door to propose marriage. You wait for me.”

Guan Suyi’s footsteps paused for a while, and then she walked away faster. Only then did Emperor Sheng Yuan turn his head, and without looking sideways, he crossed Pan Duolan and walked towards Weiyang Palace.

Pan Duolan stood on the spot and stared at him for a long time, and said astringently, “The two of them are getting married?”

“Niangniang, after Bian Min’er’s troubles, the Jiuli clan’s momentum is weaken, and the empress position will definitely fall on a Han woman. In order to suppress you, the candidates they recommend will not be too weak. Looking at Yanjing, who can be more suitable than Miss Guan? This servant has just arrived from Qionglin Garden, and vaguely heard that the Han ministers has reached a consensus to submit a memorial to ask His Majesty to confer Miss Guan as the empress. You better prepare early.” Her maid persuaded in a low voice.

“Ask to confer the empress? Couldn’t the Jiuli clan just ask for This Palace to be conferred as the empress? If they had chosen This Palace earlier, instead of Bian Min’er, where would there be such a thing now! It’s probably because my Pan family has thrown ourselves to the emperor’s side, so in their eyes we are useless.” Pan Duolan sneered, “Well, my Pan family is not on good terms with the princes, and now this kind of disaster won’t implicate us. When the noble families who supported the princes were in troubles, it’s my Pan family’s turns to dominate, then I’ll have plenty of capital to fight with Guan Suyi.” After finished speaking, she flung her sleeves and storm off, tearing flowers all over the place.

—

On the carriage leaving the palace, Guan Suyi was holding Mu Mu in her arms, already sleepy and exhausted. Old Master Guan was very drunk and slept alone in another carriage, he was snoring loudly at the moment. Guan Father sat with his wife and daughter, his gaze was deep and his face was solemn, didn’t know what he was thinking.

“Were you involved in today’s matter?” he suddenly opened his mouth.

Guan Suyi woke up instantly and said frankly, “Yes.”

“It seems that you are determined to enter the palace.” Guan Father sighed deeply.

“Father, do you remember what you asked me at the time? You said that a gentleman’s actions should be justifiable, and now according to national laws and human feelings, I am justifiable. Do you still think I should not enter the palace?”

“You have grown up and your wings have hardened. Even if your grandfather and I try our best to stop it, I’m afraid we will not be able to reverse the situation. After the banquet, all the ministers have made an agreement and want to jointly push you as the empress. You win, based on national law and human feelings, you win. I just hope you don’t run back crying in the future and tell me that you regret what you did today.”

Guan Suyi clenched her fist quietly and said firmly, “Don’t worry, even if the road ahead is full of swords and spears, I will not look back.”

“If I had known today, I would have removed your rebellious bone long ago.” Guan Father sighed helplessly, “Well, pure ministers have pure ministers’ rules, and imperial-in-law have imperial-in-law’s rule, but both roles still need to ‘give loyalty and exhausted wisdom’. You can rest assured that when you enter the palace, our Emperor Teacher Mansion will never drag down your empress’ legs.”

Guan Suyi’s eyes were hot, and tears slowly down fell, “Father, mother, I will not disgrace my family and put you in a dangerous situation. I will live a good life in this life and will not let you worry.”

“Will not let us worry? I’m afraid there will still be endless worries in the future.” Zhong shi embraced her daughter and cried silently. Marrying a daughter was not easy, let alone marrying for a second time. She only hoped that this time there would be a good ending.

—

It’s really not easy to move those few princes, but after finding the starting point, the mountain peak that looked tall collapsed in an instant. When Bian Min’er caused trouble, several princes were all in the palace, and they were quickly controlled by Emperor Sheng Yuan and the news were blocked. Therefore, when the grand princess led the army to raid each mansion, no one made preparations earlier, and many deadly secret letters were turned over on the spot, which strongly supported Bian Miner’s “crazy words”.

Those several princes were highly respected. Among the top ten noble surnames, except for the Pan clan, the other nine families were all implicated with them. Overnight, fifty to sixty percent of the Jiuli clan nobles, who used to show off their power, were sent to prison, and the vacant positions were all replaced by Emperor Sheng Yuan’s confidants. The poor late emperor planned for a long time, and left many secret handles trying to supress the other person, but it was destroyed in an instant.

He soon appointed Zhao Hai as the general for the western expedition, and sent him to the northwest to defend against the Hu people. Zhao Hai was the number one general of the previous dynasty, and his prestige was even better than that of Xue Mingrui. But because he privately opened the city gate, and surrender to the Jiuli’s troops, he then fell into infamy and became depressed. Emperor Sheng Yuan wanted to use him, but afraid that he would not be able to convince the public because of his poor reputation, so the plan was put aside. But now his infamy had been washed away, so he should be used to the fullest.

Zhao Hai was very grateful for the emperor’s kindness, and made a solemn vow on the spot that he would never return in this life if he did not destroy the imperial palace of the Hu people.

The few princes’ plan to join forces with the Hu people to disrupt the border, thus coerce Emperor Sheng Yuan to set up a vassal state, was completely fail, and they were all stripped off their titles and imprisoned for life. Three hundred people from the Bian family up and down were sentenced to beheading, and the rest the Juili clan who were not involve and went against the masses’ opinion to support the emperor, were excused.

When the Empress Dowager heard the news, she vomited blood, cursed Emperor Sheng Yuan as an evil spawn, and crying for the late emperor to come back to life for her. Cry out to the heavens, but the heavens don’t respond, cry out to the earth, but the earth impervious, desperate to the extreme. Several young imperial grandsons had long been tuned and trained like quails, and at this time, they were sent back to Changle Palace. Not to mention being domineering and arrogant, they didn’t even dare to speak loudly, obviously already raised to become wastes.

Several prince consorts knew that there was no way to advance or retreat, and they could only drag out an ignoble existence. They quickly took their children to the Weiyang Palace to kneel and thank the emperor, and from then on, they picked up their tails and behave themselves.

The situation in the courtroom had changed greatly, and the harem turned upside down. In just one month, the Wei Kingdom had different atmosphere. At today’s court meeting, General Zhao Hai sent good news for the first time, which made Emperor Sheng Yuan’s dragon heart rejoice, and he couldn’t stop laughing. The Han ministers looked at each other and felt that the timing was right, so they took out the memorial in their arms and presented it respectfully, kneeling and asking the emperor to establishing the empress soon as possible, and extending the emperor’s heir.

Emperor Sheng Yuan didn’t show it on his face, but his palms were actually sweaty. When he opened the memorial and saw the expected name, the big stone in his heart suddenly fell, feeling comfortable from head to toe. He pressed the memorial on the imperial table, and was silent for a long time before saying, “Zhen’s big wedding should be arranged according to the tradition of the Han people. Grand Astrologer, when is the nearest auspicious day?”

“Reporting to the emperor, the ninth day of September, the twenty-eighth day of September, the tenth day of October, and the twelfth day of October are all auspicious days, and suitable for wedding. Then there’s next year…”

Emperor Sheng Yuan interrupted impatiently without waiting for him to finish his words, “Is there any good day this month?”

“This month is too close, there’s not enough time to prepare.”

“You just say whether there is or isn’t.” Emperor Sheng Yuan gave him a fierce look.

“There is, there is, at the end of the month, on the twenty-ninth.”

“Then it’s settled, you go down and prepare.” Emperor Sheng Yuan stood up and said anxiously, “Adjourned the court.”

When everyone came back to their senses, the main seat of the Jinluan Palace was empty, the ministers subconsciously knelt down to send off the emperor, and finally joked, “The emperor is almost thirty, but neither has a main wife nor children, no wonder he’s anxious. Us courtiers should share his worries, so let’s hurry up and organize the wedding and the ceremony to confer the empress.”

“Congratulations Emperor Teacher, Chief of Ceremonies!”

“Congratulations, congratulations!” Everyone gathered around to congratulate Old Master Guan and Guan Father, and then clamored for the two to treat them to a drink. After the court meeting dispersed, the news that the emperor wanted to establish Guan’s daughter as the empress quickly spread throughout Yanjing, making it known to everyone.

Madam Ji had just married her niece and saved some face, but now she was sick in bed again, with illness that was hard to cured. Although the Ji family was not accused for competing with the emperor for a woman, it was an indisputable fact that they insulted the current empress. Thinking that she also gave Guan Suyi a copy of “Lesson for Women”, insinuating that she was unchaste and unclean, unworthy and unvirtuous, that she was a broken flower and withered willow, and could only accompany ancient Buddha with green lantern. Unexpectedly, the other person married the most powerful man in Wei Kingdom and became the most honorable woman in Wei Kingdom.

After she occupied the empress seat and all the titled women came to worship, how could she not humiliate the Ji family? How could she not secretly hate her?

The more she thought about it, the more frightened Madam Ji felt, and in just three days she became very thin, not resembling a human body. After finally meeting Guan Suyi and not being suppressed by the other person, she slowly recovered, but also lost half of her old life. This is the story for later time, let’s not mention it for the time being.

It was said that Old Master Guan and Guan Father invited all their colleagues to go to the restaurant for a drink, but Emperor Sheng Yuan quietly left the palace and wandered in the forest for half an hour. After hunting for what he wanted, he then changed into clean clothes and came to visit the Emperor Teacher Mansion. Before he could get to the gate, he saw a few old men with white hair, and a few children in shabby clothes, kneeling and kowtowing in front of the mansion.

The gatekeeper looked annoyed, but because his miss was about to enter the palace, it was not good for her reputation, so he waved his hand and said, “You guys wait here for now, I will make a report to madam and miss then come back.” But when he saw a man with strong physique and dark blue eyes striding up the steps, he couldn’t help but stay still. Blue, blue eyes? His Majesty?

“Oh my lord! The emperor is here!” He exclaimed, and the person immediately run and disappear without a trace, leaving Emperor Sheng Yuan standing in the same place, didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

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