HCB Chapter 91: Concubine is always pregnant (27)
Chapter 91: Concubine is always pregnant (27)
Yan Shan certainly would not give up his military power and let others do whatever they want just because of Lu Changqing's words, even if that person was his own daughter.
There are still three forces in the court: the Strict Party, the Royalist Party, and the Melon-eating Party.
The remaining forces of the original Cao party are now forced to join the royalist party headed by the new prime minister Cheng Zhi. With their enthusiastic participation, every court meeting is very lively.
But it was useless, and they still could not defeat the Yan Party in the court.
Lu Changqing was also feeling uncomfortable. Perhaps her previous behavior of urging the other party to hand over the military power made Yan Shan a little wary of her. She discovered that the memorials submitted by the palace servants recently were specially selected.
How can this be possible? She has to eat at the table!
So Lu Changqing had someone clean up a side hall next to the imperial study and make a super long table with more than ten chairs on both sides of the table.
Lu Changqing ordered that all memorials should be submitted directly without going through the six heads of the six ministries. After each court meeting, the six heads of the six ministries would stay and work overtime with her to review these shuffled memorials.
Not all the people in the six ministries are Yan Shan's people. Yan Shan likes to withhold memorials to the emperor. With these people around, let's see how he can withhold them.
Yan Shan was very dissatisfied with Lu Changqing's behavior, so he ran to Lu Changqing to ask her what she meant and why she supported Cheng Zhi and others to go against him.
Lu Changqing played the victim and said that she had no choice. Although she was nominally the regent, in reality all the ministers in the court were wary of her, excluding her, and intentionally preventing her from participating in the decision-making of state affairs. She was doing this now just to make Cheng Zhi and others relax their vigilance so that she could take control of the government as soon as possible.
Seeing Yan Shan's expression soften, Lu Changqing said, "Father, I did this to confuse them. They must think that you and I are father and daughter. In order to let me suppress you, they will definitely actively cooperate to let me participate in politics."
Yan Shan frowned and said, "Are they really that stupid?"
Lu Changqing said confidently: "Except for me, they have no better choice now."
Lu Changqing is using Cheng Zhi and others, and they are also using Lu Changqing to suppress Yan Shan. As long as Yan Shan, this great threat, is not eliminated, no one will be able to sleep or eat.
Yan Shan really believed what Lu Changqing said at first, thinking that she was really doing it for his own good, so he fully cooperated with Lu Changqing. After some new faces appeared in the court, he realized belatedly that his daughter was actually using him to weigh the situation in the court and secretly develop her own power.
Because of this, he had a big fight with Lu Changqing, and the relationship between the two became delicate.
It happened that the enemy was invading the northern border in winter, and the staff suggested that Yan Shan should not wait any longer, as this was the best time to make a move.
Yan Shan had long wanted to rebel, so he naturally followed the advice of his staff and asked for permission to lead the Northern Ya Army and the imperial guards stationed around the capital to the front line for reinforcement.
Upon hearing this, Lu Changqing directly rejected the other party's request.
You old man, you don't even want to pretend anymore. You've run away with all your people. After winning the battle, you come back and force the emperor to rebel, right?
"The garrison on the northwest border is not enough, and we need to transfer people from the imperial guards? General Yan has no confidence in winning this battle? If so, then I will choose someone else to command the front line." Lu Changqing said as he was about to call for people.
Yan Shan was a little angry when he saw that Lu Changqing was not understanding, "What does the Concubine Dowager mean?"
"I should be asking General Yan this question!" Lu Changqing slammed his palm on the armrest of the dragon throne. "There are more than 200,000 troops stationed in the northwest. When the late emperor was alive, General Yan was in charge of all the troops. After the new emperor ascended the throne, he never asked the general to hand over the military power. Does the general think that we are orphans and widows who are easy to bully or that there is no one else in the court to use, so he made such an unreasonable request?"
Qiao Luoluo sat on the other side of the dragon throne, holding tightly the little emperor who was almost three years old, and felt the tense atmosphere in the palace. Not long ago, Lu Changqing told her to take it slow, but plans could not keep up with changes, and the two sides suddenly had a showdown.
Yan Shan was so angry at Lu Changqing's words that his nose flared, "Madam Concubine, please be careful with your words!"
"General Yan, as a subject you should be careful with your words!"
Yan Shan was so angry at Lu Changqing that his nose flared, "I am your father, how can you talk to me like this?"
Lu Changqing looked down at Yan Shan and said in a sonorous and powerful voice: "At present, the affairs of state are at hand. There are only the monarch and the ministers here."
Yan Shan laughed in anger, "Okay, you are fine!"
Lu Changqing looked at Yan Shan, whose face was red with anger, and said, "Of course I am fine, but General Yan doesn't look too good. Otherwise, I will have someone take General Yan downstairs to rest for a while."
It would be ugly to have a quarrel in the hall, and Yan Shan didn't want to argue too much with Lu Changqing and make a fool of himself. He didn't have to take all the imperial guards in the capital away. What he wanted were the 20,000 imperial guards stationed outside the capital.
The Dasheng Kingdom emphasizes the doctrine of the mean. The method suggested by the staff to Yan Shan was to first ask for a high price, state a condition that the other party would definitely not agree to, and then slowly negotiate and put forward a second-best request, which was their real purpose.
Lu Changqing's words hit the mark exactly what Yan Shan wanted. It was obvious that he was planning to have a talk with him. Since the other party had given him a way out, he also gave Lu Changqing face, waved his sleeves, and followed the palace servant out of the hall.
Lu Changqing didn't let Yan Shan wait too long in the imperial study. He raised his hand to let all the palace servants in the room leave and close the door. Then Lu Changqing asked Yan Shan to sit down, then turned around and took out a rectangular wooden box from a cabinet.
Yan Shan looked at the wooden box in Lu Changqing's hand curiously and asked, "What is this?"
Lu Changqing approached Yan Shan, presented the wooden box to him and said, "This is a gift that your daughter has been preparing for your father for a long time."
Yan Shan sneered, "Your father has seen all kinds of treasures. Do you want to tempt me with money? You underestimate your father too much. I must take away the Northern Ya Army and the Imperial Guards stationed near Kyoto. There is no room for negotiation."
Lu Changqing smiled softly and said, "Father, you are joking. A woman gives you things just to show her filial piety. I am grateful to you for what I have today. As for the disobedient remarks I made in the court just now, I told others to hear them. Please don't be angry anymore."
Upon hearing this, Yan Shan's expression improved a lot. "That's good enough. Everything Dad has done is for you and for our family." As he said that, he reached out to take the box from Lu Changqing's hand.
There was a "click" sound, which was the sound of the mechanism being activated. The lid of the wooden box suddenly popped open automatically, and Yan Shan was startled unexpectedly.
At the moment when Yan Shan was stunned, Lu Changqing pulled out a dagger from the bottom of the box, and the dagger drew a cold light in the air.
In an instant, blood gushed out and everything happened so fast.
Yan Shan looked at Lu Changqing in horror, his eyes full of disbelief. Blood gushed out from between his fingers as he covered his neck. He opened his mouth and tried to ask Lu Changqing why he did this.
But Lu Changqing had cut a long, deep gash in his neck, severing his vocal cords and trachea, so he could no longer make any sound.
Lu Changqing looked at Yan Shan who had slipped off the chair and fell to the ground and said, "Do you want to ask me why I did this?"
At this time, Yan Shan could no longer make any sound and could only respond to Lu Changqing by blinking.
"Being a princess is not as good as being a queen mother. When I was a princess, I had to kneel down and salute you, but as a queen mother, you all have to kneel down to me. Do you understand? My dear father!"
After saying that, Lu Changqing stabbed Yan Shan in the heart to relieve his pain. "I've said that people should know how to be content. Don't blame me for being cruel. You can only blame yourself for being too greedy."
Because of pain and anger, the expression on Yan Shan's face was distorted and ferocious. He stared at Lu Changqing with wide eyes and stretched out his hand to strangle her, but he just let go of her neck when she died.