The Empress Dowager's expression was extremely unsightly. Prince Li was Li Qitian's younger cousin, and the Marquis of Qingyang was her younger brother. The Empress Dowager felt she had lost face for her maternal family to perform so poorly in front of her husband's family.
Prince Li still had his gentle and timid appearance. His eyes were half-closed, and he softly explained: "Empress Dowager doesn't need to worry. The Marquis of Qingyang is a hero on the battlefield. His temperament has always been like a raging fire. How could he endure encountering such a scoundrel who is good at talking? It's possible to fall ill from anger. "
The Empress Dowager felt that the Marquis of Qingyang's current actions were suspicious of shirking responsibility. But in front of Prince Li, she still had to take care of her face. The Empress Dowager was very satisfied that Prince Li was so tactful. She felt that it was a wise choice for her to choose Prince Li to be the regent of the state.
Prince Li's temperament was weak, and he was a puppet that was easy to control. And she handed over the Tiger Army to her own family. This way, the state and military power were firmly in her hands. If the Emperor was unharmed, then that would be good. When he returned, she would naturally hand over power.
But if something happened to the Emperor, she wouldn't be too passive. All power would be in her hands, or at least she wouldn't be controlled by the ministers of the court.
The Empress Dowager thought of her recent decisions and couldn't help but be immensely pleased with herself. She found Prince Li even more pleasing to the eye.
"Aijia didn't misjudge you. You really are a virtuous talent who knows when to advance and when to retreat. "
Prince Li was flattered by the praise and quickly stood up to return the courtesy, "The Empress Dowager praises me too much. I don't have Your Majesty's talents. Right now, I'm only following the Empress Dowager's orders and doing what I can. I don't have any other talents, but I'm obedient. "
The Empress Dowager thought to herself, "It's good that you're obedient." But on the surface, she smiled and praised Prince Li again. She kept Prince Li for lunch and rewarded him with snacks and fruit before letting him leave.
Prince Li left Ci 'an Palace and took a small sedan chair out of the palace without any obstructions.
Arriving at the palace gates, he boarded his own carriage and returned to his residence in the capital.
As soon as he entered the main entrance, he saw a middle-aged scholar wearing a blue robe and a square headscarf on his head. The scholar greeted him with a smile.
He was Prince Li's advisor. His name was Dai Chun, and his courtesy name was Zhi Nan.
"Wang Ye." Dai Chun came forward and bowed.
"Mr. Dai."
Prince Li smiled gently. "Mr. Dai, why are you standing here?"
"I'm waiting for the Duke's return."
"Oh? Is there something you need, sir? "
"Exactly."
Prince Li smiled and said, "Why don't we move to the study to talk?"
Dai Chun smiled and nodded. "This student has the same intention."
When the two of them arrived at the study, Prince Li dismissed the servants. He then lifted the hem of his robe and casually sat down on a round-backed chair. His expression naturally carried a bit of arrogance. Compared to when he was in front of the Empress Dowager, he was like a completely different person.
Dai Chun stood below and cupped his hands in greeting, "Did you gain anything from your trip to the palace today?"
When Prince Li heard this, he actually burst out laughing.
Thinking of how the Empress Dowager had clearly been angered to the point of fainting by the Marquis of Qingyang, yet she still had to pretend to be calm and find a way out for herself, Prince Li laughed even more heartily and loudly.
Seeing this, Dai Chun could already somewhat guess the situation.
"Allow this student to guess, could it be that the Marquis of Qingyang has caused some trouble again?"
"That's right." Prince Li smiled and shook his head, praising, "Sir's plan at the time was truly good. Regardless of whether it was the Marquis of Qingyang or that old man vainly trying to seize power, they were both equally stupid! One overestimated his abilities, while the other treated everyone in his family as a treasure. At the time, listening to Sir's words and recommending the Marquis of Qingyang to the Empress Dowager as the commander-in-chief of the Tiger Army was truly killing several birds with one stone. "
Dai Chun smiled and shook his head. "The Duke is too kind. The original idea wasn't a student's, but the Duke's own foresight. Currently, the Dragon Stallion Army is urgently waiting for rescue at Heaven's Gate, but the Marquis of Qingyang is suddenly afraid. If this news spreads, not only will he lose face, but even the Empress Dowager will be angered.
"At that time, you can take advantage of the fact that everyone is looking down on the Marquis of Qingyang's desertion to personally take over this authority. That would be perfectly justified."
Prince Li put away the smile on his face, shaking his head. "This idea is very good. I also feel that it's feasible. However, I'm afraid that a long dream will bring many changes. That old woman, the Empress Dowager, is greedy in her heart. It's not like she only has one idiotic younger brother. There are still so many nephews with the surname Zhou. I'm afraid that when the time comes, this authority still won't belong to me. "
Prince Li stood up, pacing to the window with his hands behind his back. "Now is the perfect opportunity to gain a firm foothold. If Your Majesty is truly found, the authority in my hands will still not be stable. At that time, I might have to face Your Majesty's reckoning. I know Your Majesty's personality better than anyone else. "
Dai Chun also said seriously, "The Duke doesn't need to worry. Although Prince Consort Ji's men are keeping a tight watch on Mount Zhuangshan, doesn't a tiger also have times when it takes a nap? We just need to keep an eye on that place. If we discover someone who shouldn't have appeared, we can just order people to take care of them. We definitely can't let your efforts go to waste because of this. "
Commandery Prince Li nodded and said, "In my opinion, it's better to burn down the mountain."
"Duke, burning the mountain is not appropriate. There are still so many people that Prince Consort Ji brought to dig it up. If this Mount Zhuangshan is wiped out, the people outside will inevitably criticize this as someone setting the fire to murder Your Majesty. "
"How can this be considered murder? Who knows if he's still alive or not? Perhaps this isn't murder, but rather helping to cremate him. "
Dai Chun said with a smile, "Wang Ye is right. However, we still need to be cautious right now. Right now,
We can't let the Empress Dowager become suspicious. When you can stabilize your position as Prince Regent, there will be many things we can do. "
Prince Li nodded. His hands supported the armrests on both sides of the chair as he let out a long breath. He said carefreely, "Li Qitian and I are brothers of the same clan. There's no reason why I can't be the Emperor if he can. How much worse am I compared to him? This throne is surnamed Li, but the Empress Dowager wants to get it into the hands of someone surnamed Zhou? She's really overestimating herself! "
Dai Chun nodded in agreement.
Prince Li outlined his future in his mind and his smile became even more confident.
If the Empress Dowager saw this appearance of Prince Li, she probably wouldn't be at ease handing over the regent power to him. However, Prince Li hid it too deeply in front of outsiders.
Marquis Qingyang claimed to be ill and didn't attend court. The Empress Dowager was angry and sent people to visit the Marquis Fu for three consecutive days, but Marquis Qingyang was still bedridden.
The Empress Dowager was so angry that she personally left the palace to see Marquis Qingyang.
Who knew that Marquis Qingyang said something to the Empress Dowager. When the Empress Dowager returned, she called for the Minister of War, Wang Zhi.
"Right now, Marquis Qingyang's health isn't any better.
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