From a son-in-law to a favorite of the empress

Chapter 572

At dusk, in the Ziwei Palace of the capital.

Empress Zhaojing looked at the pile of memorials on the table, her face tired and her brows furrowed. Then she suddenly flipped all the memorials to the ground, stood up, and gritted her teeth and said, "Shameless!"

Xiaozhuang still stood quietly by the side, without saying a word.

Empress Zhaojing stood there, and after a while, she sighed softly, "The five cabinet ministers have become one, and the nobles in the court have become one family. They all wrote to impeach the Duke of Weiguo, saying that he abused his power, plundered money from Jiangnan, killed innocent people, and caused the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people..."

"Heh! They are really good at turning the tables!"

"The harshness of the salt business has been witnessed by all for many years. These dog officials did not think about inspecting the salt and punishing corruption to report to the court. Instead, they colluded with each other to jointly protect their own interests."

"Now it's not easy to have a junior brother come forward, and boldly expose Jiangnan is in darkness, and these people can't sit still. What do they think Jiangnan is? Is it their fiefdom? "

Until this time, Xiaozhuang whispered: "Your Majesty, don't be angry. Aren't these court officials always like this..."

Empress Zhaojing said: "The key is that they are putting pressure on me now. Yang Guozhong asked for his bones, Deng Bochi said he was suffering from a serious illness recently and wanted to rest for half a year. Zeng Cheng is even more hateful. He even wants to go south to inspect the salt, saying that he wants to help his junior brother. Don't you think I don't know what he wants to do!"

"The Great Jin Dynasty is in ruins and needs people everywhere. I can't even All the recent Jinshi have been reappointed. How can the affairs of the world be separated from the cabinet for a day? Now they give up, it is clear that they are showing me their displeasure! "

Xiao Zhuang laughed and said, "They think your majesty is the late emperor."

Empress Zhao Jing said coldly, "I am not the late emperor, and my surname is not Chen. What difficulties have I not experienced in all these years? What about natural disasters? What about the rebellion in Liangjiang? What about the bandits in the Central Plains? What about the Eastern Tartars? I have never admitted defeat!"

"These court officials play some low-level power games and want me to stop when I see the good? They are too stupid."

Xiao Zhuang said softly : "The more anxious they are, the smoother Zhou Yuan's progress in the south."

Empress Zhao Jing looked a little unnatural. After thinking for a while, she said lightly: "Of course he is making good progress. If it weren't for this trip to the south, I wouldn't know that he has already established an intelligence system covering almost the entire Dajin, and is enough to resist the infiltration of the Inner Court Department. He has also won over countless people from all over the world to work for him, and the Wusheng Sect has helped him do things."

"He is a capable person, but why does an official establish an intelligence system? Who is he going to fight against!"

Xiao Zhuang didn't dare to speak, but just lowered his head.

Empress Zhaojing looked very unhappy, and said coldly: "My junior brother is capable, and I am relieved, but he doesn't trust me too much."

"I have already told him not to worry about his achievements surpassing the master, and not to worry about not having a good end. I am not a tyrant, and I have the courage and pattern to accommodate him!"

"A third-class duke is worried that there is no title or reward? What about the first-class duke? Besides, as long as he has made contributions, what if I make an exception and make him a county king? The so-called ancestral system and the so-called opposite sex cannot be made king are all false. I am willing to make him a king, and no one can stop me!"

"But what about him? He always holds on to the past. On the one hand, he tells me that he is loyal, and on the other hand, he secretly develops his own power and attempts to fight against the inner court. What exactly does he want to do! Rebellion!"

Xiaozhuang was startled and said quickly: "Your Majesty! The trip to Jiangnan is a critical moment! Those court officials wish you would think so!"

Empress Zhaojing was silent for a long time before sitting down and sighing faintly.

She whispered, "Of course I know that Junior Brother needs support now, but Xiaozhuang, he is so disappointing in terms of loyalty."

"I gave him everything. No matter how the court officials impeached him, I spoke for him. No matter what merits he made, I rewarded him."

"Whatever good things there are in the inner palace, I send them to his home every month. I miss him not being in the capital, so I personally visit his wife and children."

"Since ancient times, which king can do this? I almost gave him myself. I even want to marry my own sister to him..."

"Xiao Zhuang, do you think I am good to him?"

Xiao Zhuang nodded and said, "Your Majesty is naturally very fond of Zhou Yuan."

Empress Zhao Jing said, "But he hurts my heart! He is smart, he knows that those things cannot be done and cannot be touched, but he just wants to do it."

"He seems to be deliberately provoking my bottom line, deliberately angering me, making me embarrassed and sad."

At the end, her voice was a little choked.

Xiao Zhuang sighed and said, "Your Majesty, Zhou Yuan is still young after all, and his status is so high, it is inevitable that he is a little arrogant, and it is inevitable that he does not know the limits.place."

"Wait until he returns to Beijing, and have a good talk with him. It will be fine if we can talk it out."

Empress Zhao Jing said, "I would like to do so, but I don't know if he can listen to me."

"The trip to Jiangnan is not only difficult for him, but also for me. I am upset when I think about the quarrel in the morning court tomorrow. I even want to claim illness and not attend the court."

"But I can't do it. There are so many things in Dajin. I can't stop. I can't fail at the critical moment and add burden to my junior brother. I want..."

At this point, her face suddenly turned pale, she spit out a mouthful of blood, and fell on the armrest of the chair.

"Your Majesty!"

Xiao Zhuang was startled and quickly helped her up, whispering, "Your Majesty, don't be anxious. You have been too busy recently. You need to rest more."

Empress Zhao Jing's eyes were red. She grabbed Xiao Zhuang's wrist and gritted her teeth and said, "Xiao Zhuang, why do you think my junior brother treated me like that? Why does he challenge the bottom line of imperial power again and again? Is he arrogant because of his favor, or is he preparing for something? "

"It doesn't matter if he is arrogant because of his favor. I treat him as a relative. He is also qualified to be arrogant. I can tolerate it!"

"But...but he can't forget that he is a minister. He can't challenge the majesty of imperial power!"

Xiao Zhuang whispered: "Your Majesty, take a rest first, you are tired."

Empress Zhao Jing waved her hand and lay on the chair panting.

She murmured: "In the great victory of Hetao, Wen Tieli led an army of 80,000 and chased Mongolia for a thousand miles, making the Mongolian cavalry flee in a panic, and even dared not to defend the pasture."

"In this world of Dajin, it is not only my junior brother who can fight. "

"He is investigating a case in Jiangnan and is facing many obstacles. It is a critical moment. I am determined not to hold him back. "

"But...I can't let him do whatever he wants. I can't let him go down the road of separation between the monarch and his subjects! ”

Her voice was choking with sobs, and she whispered, "He is so young, and he can't think through many things at once, and he is confused. I have to be considerate of him, and I can't watch him go the wrong way."

"Didn't Zeng Cheng want to go south? Well, I will appoint him as the deputy supervisor of the Firearms Bureau and the supervisor of the Fuzhou Prefecture Treasure Ship Factory. He will control all the silver and money obtained from the salt inspection in Jiangnan and be responsible for supervising the construction of guns and iron ships."

"Junior brother is right. This is the general trend of the world. The replacement of weapons means national strength."

"I can't let him control the national strength alone, otherwise, he will make mistakes."

"He has been brought to where he is now step by step by me, and I can't let him destroy himself."

Xiaozhuang whispered, "I'm afraid Zhou Yuan will encounter difficulties in Jiangnan."

Empress Zhaojing smiled and shook her head, saying, "Yes, there are difficulties, but he has the ability to solve them."

"I know what you want to say, but from the moment I ascended the throne, I am no longer Guan Miaoshan, I am Zhaojing. "

This extremely beautiful woman had no warmth on her face, only determination and resoluteness.