Late at night, on the roof of the Changle Palace.
Zhou Yi looked calmly at Li Mu and asked, "Has it been a long time since I taught you cultivation?"
Li Mu knew what she meant by "cultivation" and immediately said, "You told me to be straightforward. If you blame me now, I won't say anything in the future …"
Zhou Yi looked at him and finally looked away. "I am the Empress."
Li Mu said, "The Empress also has the right to pursue love."
Although she had already been married once, who said that the Empress couldn't marry again?
In another world, that woman first married the father, then the son, and had countless men. Compared to her, the Empress was like a pure Xiao Bai flower. So what if she had an Empress?
Li Mu said seriously, "Your Majesty is a disgrace to the Xiao family. How could they tolerate the throne being taken by a woman with a different surname? If the Xiao family takes power in the future, Your Majesty will certainly not leave any good words in the history books. And for the descendants of the Zhou family, Your Majesty is only their elder sister. How could you be closer to Your Majesty's own children?"
In fact, Li Mu had a little selfish motive here.
History was written by the victors. It could be foreseen that whether it was the Zhou family or the Xiao family who passed the throne, the Empress would probably not leave any good words in the history books revised by future generations.
Then, as the only favored official of the Empress's era, how would the history books evaluate Li Mu?
Bewitching the Emperor, treacherous officials in power, and favored officials causing chaos. Some unofficial history books might even smear the relationship between him and the Empress. Li Mu didn't intend to give them such a chance.
He looked at the Empress and continued, "Moreover, the Zhou family and the Xiao family, for the sake of the throne, formed cliques and pursued selfish interests, regardless of the consequences. It wasn't easy for us to make up for the mistakes of the previous Emperor. If Your Majesty passes the throne to them, won't the Great Zhou repeat the same mistakes …"
Zhou Yi was silent for a while, then stood up and said, "I'm going to sleep."
Li Mu said, "Good night, Your Majesty."
After Zhou Yi left, Li Mu sat on the roof and watched the moon for a while before returning to his room.
Wanwan and Xiao Bai were still awake. They were giggling under the covers.
Li Mu walked to the bed and asked, "Why haven't you slept yet?"
Xiao Bai said, "We're waiting for our benefactor to return."
After saying that, she and Wanwan moved outwards and inwards respectively, leaving space in the middle for Li Mu.
Li Mu waved his hand and said, "You guys sleep. I'll sleep on the floor."
Xiao Bai hugged Li Mu's arm and said, "Then let's sleep on the floor too."
Wanwan also got up from the bed and said, "Young Master will sleep on the ground and we will sleep on the bed. If Young Miss finds out, she will say that we don't know the rules …"
Li Mu didn't know how the Empress slept that night, but he slept very soundly.
Wanwan was on his left, and Xiao Bai was on his right. The bed was soft and fragrant, but when he woke up in the morning, his arms were a little numb.
The Empress had already asked the kitchen to prepare pastries. Wanwan was shocked by the variety of breakfast. She had never thought that someone could have such a rich breakfast. In the past, she would feel very happy if she could eat two buns and an egg in the morning. Before breakfast was finished, she asked Li Mu indirectly where they were going to sleep tonight …
After breakfast, Li Mu didn't let them go back.
After all, it was just the two of them at home. Changle Palace was much bigger than the Li Mansion, so they didn't feel bored here. With Shangguan Li and Mr. Mei accompanying them, Li Mu felt that they were too happy to miss home.
He went to the Secretariat. When he passed by the Zongzheng Temple, Zhang Chun came out and asked in surprise, "Where did you go last night?"
Li Mu naturally couldn't tell him that he stayed in Changle Palace last night, so he said, "At home …"
Zhang Chun said, "I went to your house last night, but you weren't there."
Li Mu said, "I went back very late last night. It was almost midnight …"
Then he asked, "Why are you looking for me?"
Zhang Chun shook his head and said, "I wanted to have a drink with you, but it's fine now."
Zhang Chun also didn't tell Li Mu that he was chased out of the house by his wife last night. He originally wanted to find Li Mu to stay the night, but he didn't see Li Mu come back even when he waited at the entrance of the Li Residence until midnight.
Obviously, he was lying.
Li Mu said, "If there's nothing else, I'm going back to the Secretariat."
Zhang Chun waved his hand and said, "Let's go."
Looking at Li Mu's back as he left, he thought about something in his heart.
Yesterday, he saw that Liu Hanyan and Li Qing left Shen Du, which was why he chose to stay in the Li Mansion. But on the night his wife left, Li Mu didn't come back. What did he do?
Could it be that he met another woman in private?
No, no, no. As far as he knew, Li Mu couldn't be such a person.
At a certain moment, a light suddenly flashed in Zhang Chun's mind.
The Zongzheng Temple was located behind the Secretariat. If Li Mu came from the palace gate, it was impossible for him to pass by here.
Unless he came from another direction …
Zhang Chun looked in the direction Li Mu came from. If he walked straight from here, he would reach Changle Palace.
And Changle Palace was His Majesty's bedroom.
He showed a look of realization on his face and said in shock, "So fast …"
Prince Shou walked over from the direction of the palace gate and said, "Old Zhang, why are you here so early today? Come, play a few rounds with me …"
Zhang Chun followed behind Prince Shou and walked into the Zongzheng Temple. He asked casually, "Your Highness, wasn't Prince Nanyang beheaded? What happened to his mansion?"
Prince Shou said, "It was temporarily conferred by the imperial court. In the future, it may be awarded to officials who have made great contributions to the imperial court. Why are you asking this?"
Zhang Chun smiled and said, "Nothing, I'm just asking, just asking …"
…
After returning to the Secretariat, Li Mu didn't delay. He seized the time to draft the new rules of the Department of Consecration.
After finishing his own business in the morning, he still had to show the Empress the memorials in the afternoon.
Now, she didn't worry about the imperial court at all. She left the small matters to Li Mu, and they discussed the important matters together. If they agreed, they would listen to her. If they disagreed, they would listen to Li Mu. When Li Mu was dealing with the memorials, she was idling on the side. She even wanted Li Mu to write a few more books for her to read.
It had to be said that she was already acting like a self-indulgent ruler.
And Li Mu himself was about to become a favored official of a dictatorship.
After the preliminary draft of the new rules of the Department of Consecration was finished, a familiar figure stepped into Li Mu's duty room.
Mr. Mei looked a little tired. Li Mu poured a cup of tea for him and asked, "What's wrong? Didn't sleep well last night?"
Mr. Mei sat in Li Mu's seat. He leaned against the chair and rubbed the space between his eyebrows. He said, "Last night, I dealt with the internal guards until very late …"
Li Mu stood across from him and said, "If it's not too important, just leave it to your subordinates. Look at Her Majesty. She should be busier than you, but look at her. She's very idle every day. If she's not admiring flowers, she's reading books. How long has it been since she touched the memorials …"
Mr. Mei glanced at him and asked, "Her Majesty has only let you read the memorials for a few days, and you're already unwilling?"
Li Mu said, "It's not that I don't want to. Anyway, if I do more, Her Majesty will do less. As long as she's happy, it's fine. She doesn't have to worry about the memorials and give her inner demons an opportunity to take advantage of her. I suspect that her inner demons came from reading the memorials every day …"
Mr. Mei didn't continue this topic. He asked, "Did you say something again that made Her Majesty unhappy?"
Li Mu said frankly, "I just said a few words of truth."
Although the Empress's status was high, in the entire imperial court, there were only three people who could be considered her own.
Shangguan Li, Mr. Mei, and Li Mu.
The two of them listened to everything the Empress said. These truths that would make the Empress uncomfortable could only be said by Li Mu.
Mr. Mei asked, "What did you say?"
Li Mu honestly told him the conversation last night.
Mr. Mei glanced at him and asked, "Do you think that because Her Majesty favors you so much, you can say anything?"
Li Mu said, "I'm also thinking for her sake."
Mr. Mei thought for a moment and said, "You're thinking too simply. Her Majesty is the former Crown Princess, and also the former Empress. If she really did that, what would the world think? All the court officials and the four major academies would stop her …"
Li Mu originally wanted to tell Mr. Mei that as long as she had absolute power, she could do anything.
It was unlikely that she would have three palaces and six courtyards, because the mainstream view didn't approve of one woman having many husbands, and it would easily lead to criticism. However, it made sense to only have one Empress.
As long as the Empress's power could suppress all resistance, the Great Zhou would have its first male Empress.
However, after thinking about it carefully, Li Mu felt a little uncomfortable.
After all, who didn't want to be the sole Empress's favorite? If he had a Empress, the Empress might not treat him as well as she did now.
It wasn't a possibility, it was a certainty.
When Liu Hanyan and Li Qing weren't around, he could stay in Changle Palace all day. When they came back, he could only stay in Changle Palace for four hours a day. It was the same principle.
Li Mu had to admit that he was also a selfish person. He didn't want to share the Empress's favor with others, even if that person was the Empress.
Therefore, he didn't say anything more. Instead, he looked at Mr. Mei and said, "Don't worry about Her Majesty. You should worry about yourself. If you don't find one now, it will be too late. Do you want me to introduce you to …?"
Mr. Mei looked at Li Mu without any emotion.
Li Mu felt his hair stand on end under her gaze. Then he realized something and immediately said, "Don't you dare have any ideas about me. I have a family, and you're almost old enough to be my mother. We're not suitable …"
In a panic, Li Mu said what was on his mind. Fortunately, Mr. Mei was magnanimous and didn't get angry. He left after drinking a cup of tea.
Wanwan and Xiao Bai were both in Changle Palace. Li Mu's lunch was also there.
In the afternoon, he stayed in Changle Palace to help the Empress deal with the memorials. He didn't return to the Secretariat.
He walked out of the Secretariat and saw Mr. Mei standing not far ahead.
She looked at Li Mu with an extremely unfriendly gaze, holding a stick in her hand.
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