Chapter 362: The Court Family

"Tao Erlang, speed up the speed a little."

"Yes! Master"

A powerful coachman from Kong Wu shouted a few times and threw out several whip flowers. The whip tips exploded in the air, which made several horses frightened. He accelerated his running speed and the carriage began to sail towards the Daming Palace.

In the carriage, Li Mian kept closing his eyes and pondering. He was considering the new candidate for Zongzheng Temple. Li Qiu could no longer hold this extremely important position. He completely betrayed himself and the queen mother. He even publicly claimed in the court that Zhang Huan was the son of Prince Yu, which made the queen mother extremely angry.

This unscrupulous and shameless behavior completely broke the fragile balance in the court and tore off the last fig leaf. This behavior not only made the Empress Dowager's party members angry, but even the Prime Minister and the Zhang Party members were not ashamed of it.

Indeed, Li Mian was one of the supporters of Prince Yu back then. After Prince Yu was killed in the palace transformation, a large number of Prince Yu were purged and demoted, especially a large number of veterans who once held military power, such as Guo Ziyi, Ma Lin, Li Feiyuanli, Li Baoyu, Bai Guangyuan, etc., were all deposed from military power and rushed back to his hometown to support his old age. Li Mian was also demoted to Lingnan to become Sima of the Little County.

But today he has made a comeback and become the backbone of the Empress Dowager Party. Moreover, his grandson Li Yan also became the current emperor, which made Li Mian and Cui Xiaofu share the same spirit, prosper and lose both. Therefore, opposing the restoration of the Prince of Henan and opposing Zhang Huan ascendance has also become Li Mian's unswerving goal.

These days, he has conspired with Cui Xiaofu countless times to discuss various countermeasures and steps. It is meaningless to suppress Zhang Huan from a military power. The only way is to restrain him from a moral perspective, not recognize him as a royal family, so that he dare not usurp the throne. For this reason, Cui Xiaofu specially dug out the edict that the Li clan did not recognize Zhang Huan as the royal family. At the same time, Li Mian also acted in various royal families, persuading them not to support Zhang Huan, and pointed out that Zhang Huan succeeded by dividing land to the people. Once he took office, he would inevitably deprive the land of the royal family on a large scale. Perhaps this touched many people, causing many royal people who were ready to support Zhang Huan to follow the crowd and began to return and instead support Cui Xiaofu, but more people maintained a wait-and-see attitude.

After the activities in the royal family were slightly effective, Cui Xiaofu and Li Mian's next step was to control Zongzheng Temple to prevent Zongzheng Temple from admitting Zhang Huan. But at this moment, Zongzheng Temple Minister Li Qiu jumped out to sing a stage play with them.

The conflict between Li Qi and Cui Xiaofu is irreconcilable. Li Mian is very clear about this, so he is not going to persuade Li Qi to turn back. However, the current plan is to remove Li Qi from Zong Zhengqing, but Li Mian can do it. Pei Jun died suddenly, and the right prime minister was represented by him. Pei You, the Minister of Personnel, is not in Chang'an, which gives Li Qi a lot of convenience in exercising power. In fact, in the past half month, Li Mian has bypassed the cabinet and made many personnel changes, such as appointing Wang Ang's younger brother.

Wang Fei was the chief supervisor of the palace to control the agenda of the dynasty. For example, appointing Wei Yan's son Wei Qing as the right chief of the Shangshu, and pre-examined memorials from the three ministries of officials, households and military affairs before the Secretariat. For example, Yang Shunning, the doctor of the Ministry of Personnel Examination and Examination, was promoted to the Left Minister of Personnel, and temporarily exercised the power of the Ministry of Personnel on behalf of Pei You, etc. The above appointments were proposed by Li Mian, approved and promulgated and implemented by Cui Xiaofu. Some personnel changes that must be decided by the cabinet were also successfully passed because they had the advantage of the number of people in the cabinet.

He can also deal with the removal of Li Qi and seize the power of Zongzheng Temple. The charge is very simple. Just like last year, Li Qi has not organized a royal family to worship the Taimiao for four consecutive years. What makes people feel extremely ironic is that after the dynasty last year, he was Li Mian who persuaded Li Qi to continue to stop worshiping the royal family on the grounds of maintaining the Taimiao.

The key is to find a loyal and capable successor to Zongzheng Temple. This is what he was going to discuss with Cui Xiaofu today when he entered the palace.

The carriage quickly drove into Danfeng Gate and stopped in front of Zichen Pavilion. Li Mian got off the carriage and asked the guards guarding in front of the door to report. After a moment, a eunuch called out from the steps: "The Minister of Propaganda and Rites on behalf of the Right Prime Minister Li Mian!"

"I obey the order!" Li Mian calmed down and headed towards Zichen Hall.

During this period, Cui Xiaofu has obviously aged and her chin is very loose. Although her face is covered with white powder, it is still difficult to cover up the blue veins rising on her neck. The protruding bags of her eyes show that she can't sleep for nights.

The hidden worries many years ago have finally become a reality today. Although Zhang Huan has not returned to Beijing yet, the hustle and bustle of some people who are interested have long revealed his Sima Zhao's heart. How could Cui Xiaofu, who had been planning in the position of power for eight years, be willing to give up power?

At this moment, more than a hundred memorials were piled up like hills. This was once what she had dreamed of, but now these memorials were pressing on her heart like a mountain, making her physically exhausted and making her feel irritable.

With a 'Crash!', the pile of high memorials were overturned by Cui Xiaofu and scattered all over the ground. The eunuch Lu Taiyi hurried in. Seeing this, he quickly knelt down and picked up the memorials one by one, and whispered: "Empress Dowager, Duke Li is asking for a meeting outside the hall."

"When he comes, let him come in. Do you have to remind you again and again, who can be exempted from gifts and who must wait? If that is the case, what's the use of Ai's raising you?"

Cui Xiaofu was venting her anger on Lu Taiyi. Lu Taiyi was so scared that she kowtowed repeatedly: "The Empress Dowager clearly understands that this is not the old slave who does not do things according to the Empress Dowager's wishes. In fact, Li Gaoguo must obey the etiquette of the king and his subjects, and he must order the old slave to report first before he is willing to meet him."

Cui Xiaofu held back the annoyance in her heart and said in a lengthened voice: "Then let him meet!"

Lu Taiyi shook the eunuchs beside him and ordered them to pack up the memorials on the ground. He hurried away. After a moment, Li Mian was led in. He stepped forward and knelt down and bowed, "Since Li Mian, please see the Queen Mother."

Cui Xiaofu sighed and said tiredly: "Prime Minister, don't be polite. If you have any questions, just tell me frankly!"

At this time, Lu Taiyi waved to the eunuchs in the room and signaled everyone to retreat. Everyone slipped out quietly along the wall. Lu Taiyi walked at the end and gently brought the door, but the moment he brought it to the door, his hand paused for a moment and left a gap in the door. This thin gap could clearly convey the sound in the room. Lu Taiyi sat down properly outside the door, but his ears were straight.

"Congratulations to the Empress Dowager, the brothers of Jiyin Li Fu and Beiping Li Kai all expressed their willingness to support the Empress Dowager and strongly opposed the usurpation of the throne by the Zhang family. The Prince of Xingyang Li Shen also woke up and said that he would no longer support Li Qi."

After three good news in a row, Cui Xiaofu finally showed a hint of relief on her face. After accumulating strength, the number of people supporting her has increased day by day. Now there are thirty princes, princes, and princes in the royal family who have clearly expressed their support for her, which shows that power is not the only standard, and Zhang Huan's identity as an illegitimate child is still not recognized by many royal clans.

"Has the candidate for Zong Zhengqing been concluded?" Cui Xiaofu's tone became obviously lighter.

"I think that Li Fu, the King of Jiyin, is the descendant of Prince Jinggong. He is no less than Li Qi, whether in terms of seniority or orthodox blood relatives, and he has a high prestige among the clans. If he is the Minister of Zongzheng Temple, he will definitely block Zhang Huan's journey to return to the royal family."

"How are you ready for Li Qi to dismiss Li Qi?"

In the room, Cui Xiaofu and Li Mian were discussing the details of dismissing Li Qi, but Lu Taiyi sneaked out of the deputy study next to him. He had a note in his hand. Seeing that the two were still discussing, Lu Taiyi came to the outside room to find a confidant eunuch, gave it to him and whispered a few words. The little eunuch immediately took the order and went there.

Looking at the little eunuch's back as he left, Lu Taiyi breathed a sigh of relief. He turned around and saw that the two people's discussion had not ended yet. He couldn't help but shake his head secretly and murmured: "This is no wonder, you don't know the current affairs."

There have been a lot fewer officials outside the Zhang Mansion in the past two days. On the one hand, those who want to join the Zhang Party have expressed their wishes through various channels. On the other hand, the Zhang Mansion has implemented a registration system, and all posts they submit will be registered on-site. Therefore, almost no official has been submitting posts in front of the Zhang Mansion during the court period. This is no wonder that Zhang Shangshu has been rectifying the discipline. If he appears at this time, wouldn’t he mean that his mind is not on court affairs?

However, the officials themselves cannot come, but they cannot stop their wife's enthusiasm. Once, twice, three times, the more they come, the stronger their personal friendships they have established. Therefore, many wives with a little rank become regular guests of the Zhang family. Not only did they look for Pei Ying, but Zhang Huan's other wives and concubines were also not spared. At some point, wives are not as good as concubines. Therefore, not only Pei Ying is too troubled, but even Pingping, who is still unknown, has a few more inexplicable fellow villagers: a few husbands who have worked as officials in Taiyuan have heard of the reputation of Lin Pingping, a famous lady in Taiyuan, and knows that childhood sweethearts are a very important chess piece.

At noon that day, Pingping, with a tired face, sent away a wife Shaoqing who came to her to talk about fashion clothing, turned around and came to Cui Ning's yard. From a certain perspective, Pingping changed a lot more than before. For example, she no longer wandered around with a sword all day, nor was she acting as a chivalrous woman who saw injustice and helped her. Although she often had a kind heart that might not be rewarded, she began to restrain her wild temperament.

However, in many aspects, she did not change much when she was sixteen. For example, the wife of Shaoqing had already asked her for less than five times, but she still couldn't remember her surname. As for who her husband was, she was even more confused. When Mrs. Shaoqing talked to her about the relationship between clothing and identity level, she almost fell asleep.

For example, although she no longer goes out to wander around, it does not prove that her heart is calm. However, she has narrowed the scope of her visit, visited her all day long, or had the opportunity to go out, which is definitely her share. In short, in Pingping's private words, Zhang Shiba has already agreed to marry her, so there is no need to pretend to be a lady in front of him. Why is she so tired to live!

Pingping has always liked Cui Ning very much. This is not only because Cui Ning has had a good relationship with her for a long time, but more importantly, she can do whatever she wants in front of Cui Ning. Cui Ning also laughed at her actions that did not conform to the norms of ladies, unlike the housewife Pei Ying, who frowned like an ostrich skin when she saw her walking a little faster. Who said that her heart was not sensitive?

As soon as he entered the yard, he saw Cui Ning in a panic and was about to go out. The wet nurse was following her with her son in her arms, and her two close-fitting twin girls were also carrying large and small bags of things.

"Where are you going?" Pingping was startled.

"Someone in the old mansion just came to report that her father was ill and I wanted to go and see him." Cui Ning said, while carefully crossing the threshold. Not long ago, she felt uncomfortable, but the doctor found out that she was pregnant again, which made her ecstatic. She had always wanted to have a daughter.

Pingping hurriedly stepped forward to support her, and hesitated and said, "I'll go with you too! I can take care of you."

"Forget it, next time! You have to pack up your things, and it may not be too late to go." Cui Ning stopped and patted her hand gently and apologized.

"Do I have to clean up?" Pingping turned around lightly and smiled: "Look at me, I don't need to put on makeup, nor do I need to consider the color of the dress, nor do I need to consider the first-grade crown and second-grade hairstyle. Isn't there any maids and women dragging me down? Isn't I just leaving?"

Speaking of this, she saw that Cui Ning had a smile in her eyes, so she took her hand and begged: "You just take me there! There are messy people coming to look for each other every day, and she is so annoyed."

"You! When will it take you to be more worldly?" Cui Ning saw that she insisted on going with her, so she could only smile bitterly and shake her head, "Then you go and say to your elder sister, I'll wait for you for a while."

"She was entangled by a few first-rank ladies, so she didn't have time to care about small matters like us."

In fact, Pingping was worried that Pei Ying would not let her go. For some reason, she was always a little scared of Pei Ying. Pei Ying’s rules were very strict, especially the requirements for Pingping were stricter. She was not allowed to laugh loudly, and she had to laugh without showing her teeth; she was not allowed to talk and laugh with the maid, and she had to keep the difference between superiority and inferiority; she was not allowed to enter Zhang Huan’s study, which was not a place where women should go, etc. In short, food, clothing, housing and use were both particular, so she couldn’t even walk.

Now she wanted to go back to her parents' home with Cui Ning. Pei Ying knew it and would definitely say, "It doesn't matter if Cui Ning goes back to her parents' home, but how can you go to the foreign house for a night? If someone finds out, they will definitely say that our Zhang family has no rules and will go back tomorrow morning."

Since she knew that it would definitely be the result, how could she go to the trap again? She just pretended to be careless and left, but Cui Ning shook her head firmly and said to her: "You must respect your elder sister, I'll wait for you."

Helplessly, Pingping had to walk towards the inner house unhappily. After a moment, she ran back happily. She smiled from afar and said, "I heard that Mr. Yuan's wife was seriously ill. She rushed to visit her specially. She happened to be not in the mansion. I have asked Aunt Sun to tell me."

Cui Ning knew that this was already extremely difficult for her, so she stopped persuading her, so she took her back to her parents' home to visit her father. The group walked to the side door, and a large carriage was already waiting there, with dozens of cavalry surrounding the carriage.

The women boarded the carriage. The coachman waved his long whip, and the huge wheels of the carriage rolled slowly, galloping towards Xuanyangfang.

Cui Ning kept her eyes closed in the carriage. This time she was pregnant with a child, especially when she felt dizzy when she was in the car. She silently endured the boredom in her chest, and didn't want to say a word. Pingping opened the curtain and watched the people coming and going on the street in a daze. She was a woman who loved freedom and never liked to bind herself, nor did she have those intrigue women who were scheming. She was more like a boat riding the wind and waves, yearning for the boundless sea. When she was tired, she would also long to return to the tranquil harbor. People, like all things in the world, also experienced the process of youth, maturity and even aging. She was no longer young this year, and the young mentality could never replace physical maturity. When she was hugging Pei Ying or Cui Ning's children, she would occasionally have a maternal expression, fantasizing about having her own children.

She thought very simply, just thinking about living with Zhang Shiba, fulfilling her dream since childhood, and having a son with him so that their father and son could eat their fried eggs every day.

Even Zhang Huan's concubine Hua Jinxiu knew that the master was already the number one person in the world. She often advised me to be submissively. The master's identity is extraordinary and he must be careful to serve him. It depends on his expression and follow his temper.

But Pingping never thought so. She stubbornly believed that those false names were all imposed by others, which made him exhausted all day long. Why did he still wear a mask in front of him? Zhang Huan's bones are always the senior brother who played mud with her since childhood and dug bird nests. Zhang Shiba, who was willing to eat her fried eggs every day when he grew up, could he get real relaxation and happiness when he was with him.

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The carriage turned around and entered Xuanyangfang. After walking for two more miles, the carriage slowly began to slow down. When Pingping saw that he had arrived at Cui Mansion, he touched Cui Ning's arm. Cui Ning woke up suddenly, rubbed his eyes and asked lazily: "Have you arrived?"

"Here, be careful, I'll help you." Pingping carefully helped Cui Ning up and slowly walked off the carriage with her. The butler of Cui's mansion had been waiting for a long time on the steps. Seeing that the lady was back, he hurried forward to greet him.

"The master told me to wait here, and he is waiting for the lady in the study?"

Cui Ning was slightly stunned, "Didn't Daddy be sick? Why is he in the study?"

The butler knew that he had missed his words and quickly explained: "The master has been getting better in the afternoon. He doesn't want to stay in bed for a long time and is reading a book in the study!"

At this time, Cui Ning saw a carriage parked on the other side of the steps, which seemed to be his second uncle's carriage, so she asked, "Are my second uncle here too?"

"Here, the second master has been here for a long time." After saying that, the butler did not dare to say anything more, so he hurriedly ordered a few maids and mothers to take Cui Ning's luggage and go to the mansion first.
Chapter completed!