The Qing Emperor had been ill from before the year to after. It was said that he had gone to Huazhen Garden to recuperate, but anyone with a clear mind could see that the Emperor was not going to last much longer.
Many people had been uneasy when Ning Wang was in charge of the country. They were afraid that Emperor Zhao Qing would suddenly die and Ning Wang would naturally become the next Emperor. Thus, when the Great Advisor announced that Ning Wang would be in charge of the country, there were many objections.
Who would have thought that Ning Wang would be exposed as having something to do with the Tenth Princess's sudden death? He was charged with murdering his own brother. After a few days of glory, he stumbled and lost the throne that had been at his fingertips.
Thus, there was a situation of a group of dragons without a head in court. The remaining princes were restless, and a fight between factions was on the verge of breaking out. At this critical juncture, it was revealed that the eldest son of the Xue family had been captured by the people of Ning Wang Fu. Xue Lingnan went to the Directorate of Astronomy to ask for Ning Wang but failed. He wanted to drag Ning Wang to see the Emperor, but was stopped by the Grand Advisor who said, "The Emperor will not see foreign officials while he is recuperating."
This time, it was like poking a hornet's nest. The country could not go a day without a ruler. Since the Emperor did not care, then they should quickly appoint a Crown Prince.
The calls for a neutral crown prince in court grew louder by the day. As the assistant ministers appointed by Emperor Zhao Qing before he left the capital, the Great Advisor, Prime Minister Yin, and Duke Jing's manors were almost trampled to the point of breaking. The Great Advisor, who had veto power over the appointment of the crown prince, was in a terrible fix by people and could not put up with it.
One afternoon, Zhu Muzhao had just persuaded a few old officials who had come with them to leave when he heard a servant report that a spy had seen Yu Shu return to the manor.
Zhu Muzhao's brows relaxed. He smiled at Ren Qiming, who was sitting below him. "Fortunately, she didn't make a mistake. Otherwise, it would be difficult for me."
Ren Qiming rose to pour more tea for him. "Since she's back, let's arrange the marriage as soon as possible. If we delay any longer, who knows what trouble it will cause."
"That's right."
Zhu Muzhao turned and sent someone to invite Yu Shu over for a chat.
***
When Yu Shu returned to the mansion on Baochang Street, she found out that the night before she disappeared, Madam Tiao sent someone to deliver a letter. Her family only thought that she went on a business trip. When she came back, Zhao Hui complained, "You are so tired as a female official. You can't have a peaceful New Year."
Yu Shu didn't explain. Zhao Hui felt sorry for her, so she didn't ask more. She prepared food and drinks for her and asked her to go back to her room to lie down.
After 15: 56, He Fangzhi's clinic reopened. Yu Xiaoxiu followed him to learn how to fill prescriptions during the day. After a while, when he heard that Yu Shu was back, he couldn't sit still. He asked for leave from He Fangzhi and ran home.
Yu Shu's room was on fire. She just came out of the bath. Wearing a thin cotton-padded jacket, she lay on the Luohan couch and thought about things with her eyes half closed. An Beikui stood quietly behind her and dried her hair.
When Yu Xiaoxiu arrived outside, a maidservant who was guarding the door reported, "Miss, the young master is here."
"Xiaoxiu, come in." Yu Shu changed her expression and smiled at Yu Xiaoxiu, who had just entered the door. She pointed to the chair next to her and asked him to sit down.
Yu Xiaoxiu had been studying medicine these days and knew a little. Seeing that Yu Shu didn't look well, he knew that she didn't have a good rest in the past few days when she was away from home. She looked a little exhausted.
"Sister, I think you are tired this time. Rest at home for a few days. Let godfather write a prescription for you. I will make medicine for you."
Yu Shu shook her head and said, "There is no need to drink medicine if I am not sick. My body is good. I will be fine after a few days of rest."
Yu Xiaoxiu pursed his lips and said, "Don't try to coax me. Godfather said that because we are young, we need to pay special attention to taking care of our bodies. Otherwise, when we get older, we will have a body full of illnesses that can't be cured. Especially you women, you can't bear to be tired. If you don't listen to me now, you will regret it in the future. "
Yu Shu stretched out her hand and poked his forehead, "You have only learned medicine for a few days and you are already lecturing me. You know that I don't have the patience to drink medicine. Later on, eat a few good meals and make up for it."
When Yu Xiaoxiu saw that she didn't listen to his advice, he dejectedly drooped his head. He thought that in the end, it was because he was young and unreliable, and because he hadn't studied medicine yet, that Yu Shu didn't take his words seriously. He decided that one day, he would become a godly doctor like his grandmaster and make his sister listen to him.
The siblings chatted for a while, and someone came outside to report that it was the Celestial Commissioner. He said that the Commissioner was looking for her.
Yu Shu's face became gloomy. She knew why the Commissioner was looking for her in such a hurry, but she couldn't disobey.
Seeing this, Yu Xiaoxiu worriedly asked, "Sister, what happened?"
Yu Shu shook her head and sat up, "I have to go out for a while. You guys eat dinner first, don't wait for me." After saying that, she asked An Beikui to go into the room and take out Kim Bao from the bamboo cage. The little thing accompanied her to escape from death, but this time, it didn't show its magic at the critical moment. At least it didn't get lost on the way to escape. She gave it to Yu Xiaoxiu and sent him away.
Then, she combed her hair and changed her clothes. She sat in front of the dressing table and asked the maid to light the lamp. She put a thin layer of powder on her face, brushed a little rouge on her cheekbones, and put some lipstick on her lips to make her look better.
Yu Xiaoxiu's words reminded her. Even he could see that she didn't have enough blood and Qi, let alone the Commissioner who was proficient in all kinds of disguise techniques. If he found out that she was no longer a virgin, she might not be able to live for three months.
After dressing up, Yu Shu carefully looked at herself in the mirror. After confirming that there were no flaws in her face, she changed into the regular clothes of a female imperial official and went out with only Kui Zi.
.....
Seeing the Commissioner again, Yu Shu's mood was like a pot of hot oil. It looked calm on the surface, but as long as a drop of water fell into it, it would explode with a crackling sound.
Zhu Muzhao first looked at her for a while. Because she was wearing the Seven Stars Ring, he didn't see anything wrong. He smiled and said,
"Since you know that you are back, you must have agreed to the marriage with Jing Chen, right?"
Yu Shu sarcastically raised the corner of her mouth, "What can I do if I don't agree? My family has more than a dozen lives. I'm afraid that if you don't agree, they will all be gone."
More than a decade ago, when he just became the Commissioner of the Celestial Commissioner, he dared to kill Xue Zao, who was the legitimate head of the Prime Minister's Mansion, let alone her family.
Zhu Muzhao didn't care about her bad attitude. He even comforted her, "As long as you know your place, I can guarantee that your family will enjoy endless wealth."
Hearing his promise, Yu Shu did not feel happy at all. She kept a straight face and said in a lukewarm tone, "I agree to marry Jingchen, but the three letters and six rites must be accepted for good luck. Not a single one of them can be omitted. If I want to marry, I want to marry in a grand manner."
"Don't worry, Jing Chen is the Daozi of Da An, a relative of the emperor. He won't let you suffer any grievances in the marriage." As long as Zhu Muzhao was willing to agree, everything was negotiable. Moreover, the Great Bone of Destiny was an object of creation. Yu Shu and Jing Chen had to formally become husband and wife and add a stroke on the Book of Marriage. Only then could it be conceived.
Hearing this, Yu Shu knew that he already had a plan in mind. She asked, "Has the wedding date been set?"
Zhu Muzhao said, "Your eight characters were personally chosen by me. It is a match made in heaven, a good marriage with many children and grandchildren. The wedding date will be on the sixth of the third month. What do you think?"
Yu Shu sneered in her heart. Her eight characters did not match her fate. How could he lie with his eyes open? Many children and grandchildren? In her opinion, it was more like having no descendants.
"Let's do it." She cleverly didn't immediately propose to postpone the wedding date. She was too impatient and the Great Tiao saw that her goal was to postpone the wedding and had no intention of getting married. There was still more than a month until the sixth of the third month. It was much better than what she had expected.
After discussing the wedding, Yu Shu boldly asked him a question, "You have the Book of Mystery Woman's Six Rens, but it will take at least a year for the Great Bone of Destiny to appear. If something happens to the Emperor during this time, what will you do?"
The Emperor and the Great Tiao both insisted on using the Book of Mystery Woman's Six Rens to choose a successor, so they were slow to appoint a Crown Prince. However, Emperor Zhao Qing's body was getting worse. It was a problem whether he could live to see the Great Bone of Destiny appear.
Zhu Muzhao was calm and composed. Looking at Yu Shu's youthful face, he surprisingly confessed, "There is no harm in telling you. His Majesty said that if he can't wait until then, I will support a prince to ascend the throne. When the Great Bone of Destiny is in my hands, I will ask about this matter. If I choose the right person, it will naturally save a lot of trouble. If not …"
He only said this before stopping. Yu Shu could imagine what he was going to say next. She was shocked and felt that Emperor Zhao Qing and the Great Tiao were both crazy to make such a decision.
How could the ruler of a country be changed so easily?
Crazy, simply crazy.
Yu Shu panicked and said, "You are telling me such a big thing. Aren't you afraid that I will leak it?"
"You already know too much. It is not a big deal." Zhu Muzhao looked as if he was very confident about her.
Yu Shu pursed her lips, bowed to him, and retreated. Zhu Muzhao did not stop her. He watched her leave coldly. Then, he sent someone to the princess's residence to inform Jing Chen.
.....
Yu Shu left the Celestial Commissioner with a heavy heart. On the way home, she suddenly understood one thing. Yun Hua's insistence on destroying the Book of Mystery Woman's Six Rens was not only because she obeyed her master's orders, but also because she wanted to take revenge and vent her anger.
The existence of the Book of Mystery Woman's Six Rens allowed the Celestial Commissioner to be ranked above the six ministries. The power in the Great Tiao's hands was superior to the civil and military officials. Even the imperial power was restricted by it. Even the power to appoint a Crown Prince was lost. This was a kind of abnormality.
Imagine, after the previous emperors ascended the throne and found out the truth of their succession, would they be willing to be manipulated by the Celestial Commissioner? Yu Shu felt that they must be unwilling, but no matter how unwilling they were, what could they do? This kind of abnormality had been going on for hundreds of years. Why didn't any of the emperors protest?
Presumably, they had no choice. Because removing the Great Tiao was equivalent to denying the legitimacy of their succession to the throne. Therefore, these emperors who were elected by the Book of Mystery Woman's Six Rens had no choice but to submit.
And with such amazing power, the Celestial Commissioner promoted the Yi School, supported the aristocratic families, and colluded with their interests. Gradually, she gained an unshakable position.
Therefore, the emperors became more and more unable to act independently. One day, they would become puppets.
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