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

Chapter 758

It was still late at night.

The moon was still high in the sky.

The Ziwei Palace in Shenjing was quiet and somewhat lonely.

The candlelight flickered, and Empress Zhaojing put down her brush, rubbed her eyes, and slowly stood up.

She murmured, "Xiaozhuang, what time is it?"

Xiaozhuang stood beside her and whispered, "Your Majesty, it's three quarters of an hour, you should have gone to bed."

Empress Zhaojing shook her head and walked slowly out the door.

Xiaozhuang hurriedly followed and put his robe on her.

Walking into the courtyard and breathing the cool air, Empress Zhaojing said softly: "I can't sleep. I have too many worries."

Xiaozhuang smiled and said: "Zhou Yuan crushed the rebellion of the three chieftains, suppressed Sichuan and Guizhou provinces, and completely solved the chaos in the southwest. Your Majesty should be happy."

Empress Zhaojing nodded and said: "Of course I am happy. The situation in the southwest has stabilized, and there is no war in the north. At present, Dajin is almost stable. Only some island pirates in the southeast and the sea are left."

"Dajin is no longer the Dajin of more than three years ago."

"All this is the credit of my junior brother. He has also become a first-class duke from a son-in-law of Yunzhou."

At this point, she sighed: "But... to suppress the rebellion in the two southwestern provinces, no troops from other provinces were used. The soldiers from Huguang and Yunnan only served as a deterrent. The purpose is to force An Fuman not to return to Guiyang Prefecture... Such a great achievement, Xiaozhuang... What should I do? "

Xiaozhuang lowered his head and smiled: "I don't know what your majesty is talking about."

Empress Zhaojing said: "He is already a first-class duke, and now he has made such a great achievement. How should I reward him? There is no more title to be given."

Xiaozhuang said: "This is a state affair, and your majesty should make the decision."

Empress Zhaojing murmured: "Could it be... Should I really make him a king of a different surname?"

Xiaozhuang said softly: "The royal family and the nobles were dissatisfied with Zhou Yuan in the past, but after the conferment of the Wolf and Juxu, they all regarded Zhou Yuan as the Wei and Huo of the Han Dynasty, worshipped him as a god, and no longer complained. "

"Whether to confer the title of king or not is just a matter of your majesty's words, and no one will object."

Empress Zhaojing raised her head and looked at the bright moon in the sky.

She was silent for a long time before she said in a deep voice: "It's just a title of king. I can afford it and I have already promised that I am willing to give it to him."

"But he won the bet in the Imperial Temple before."

"According to the bet, I am still the emperor, but he is my emperor... I have become a puppet."

Xiao Zhuang did not dare to speak about this matter, but just stood there quietly.

Empress Zhaojing was afraid, and clenched her fists and said, "I have worked so hard for so many years, not to be someone else's puppet, even if that person is my junior brother."

"I still hope that I can make the decision and give him honor and favor."

Xiaozhuang whispered, "Is your majesty going to take action against Zhou Yuan's family?"

Empress Zhaojing shook her head and said, "Not really, I'm not that crazy, I just want to win him."

"Xiaozhuang, if a person has the people's hearts, power, and army, how can he not covet the imperial power?"

"I make my junior brother a king, what if he... wants to be the emperor in the future?"

"I believe he doesn't have this ambition at the moment, but he is only two years old. In his early teens! Men will change when they are thirty, when their ambitions are at their most inflated! "

"If he changes, I will be completely helpless."

At this point, Empress Zhaojing said, "I will fight for it."

"I want to reform the Beijing Camp, combine the Five Army Camp, Three Thousand Camp, and Shenji Camp, and then divide them into twelve regiments of the Beijing Camp."

"Each camp will no longer have left and right patrols and left and right wing deputy governors, but only one general governor and one deputy governor."

"This way, I can increase the number of official positions, divide the Beijing Camp into more factions, and achieve the purpose of weakening it. I can also arrange my people appropriately."

Xiaozhuang did not speak, but sighed softly.

She knew very well that His Majesty was particularly proficient in power tactics, and this method might have been thought of long ago. She said it now, not for discussion, but... She had made a decision and even started to implement it.

Empress Zhaojing continued, "The establishment of the Firearms Bureau essentially means that the Shenjiying should become history. Such reforms are in line with the times and meet current needs."

"The mission of the Fuzhou Treasure Shipyard is about to be completed. As long as we control it, I am not afraid of my junior brother."

"He asked me to change the governor of Fujian before. I did, but the one I changed was my closer confidant."

"I have asked the Internal Court to order the new governor of Fujian to forcibly seize the Fuzhou Treasure Shipyard and control the mother and daughter of the Minister of Trade in Haojing."

"I want to tell my junior brother that I am still the Empress Zhaojing, and he is still the favorite minister. The relationship has not changed and cannot change."

At this point, she finally felt better and said slowly, "At the morning court tomorrow, he will be named a prince."

...

It was also late at night.

The moon was also high in the sky.

It was also the third quarter of the first month of the lunar calendar. The Qinshui Princess's mansion was under martial law, and screams of pain came from the embroidery building.

Countless female officials gathered here, and the midwives in the palace were busy and sweating. Five or six imperial doctors stood outside the embroidery building, also with anxious faces.

Princess Bishui looked at the door quietly, listening to the shouts inside, and her little hands couldn't help but clenched the silk scarf.

I don't know how long it took, but the high-pitched cry of Princess Qinshui came from inside, followed by the sound of crying.

"It's out, it's out!"

"It's finally born!"

The midwife shouted inside: "Congratulations, it's a boy!"

"Your Highness, it's a boy!"

In a daze, Princess Qinshui saw the baby in the cradle.

She felt relieved, and a faint smile emerged on her tired face: "Our child, you have exhausted me."

"Fortunately, you came out safely, and your heroic father may be coming home soon."

She tilted her head and looked out the window. The sky had dawned without her knowing when, and the red sun was rising, and the light was particularly dazzling.

"Xingguo, this name is really old-fashioned."

Princess Qinshui smiled lightly and murmured: "But I really hope that your birth will make the country prosperous and no longer be bullied by foreign invaders."

About an hour later, guests came to Princess Qinshui's mansion.

Zhao Jianjia, Xue Ningyue, Qu Ling and others, with a group of maids, dragged large and small bags of gifts, and rushed over.

Zhuang Xuansu escorted the inner guards and added more guards to Princess Qinshui's mansion.

The mansion was unusually lively. Princess Bishui smiled and said, "Come on, come on, sit down. You are too polite. You don't need to come all the time."

Zhao Jianjia smiled and said, "How is Sister Qinshui? Are you feeling uncomfortable? I suffered a lot when I gave birth to my child."

Princess Bishui said, "I'm fine. My sister has always been in good health. Play with the child and he will fall asleep soon."

"Xiao Xingxing is also very sleepy. The nurse took him down and took good care of him. Both mother and child are very healthy."

Zhao Jianjia said, "Then we are relieved. Sister Bishui, will you have a child when the time comes?"

Princess Bishui's face changed and she shook her head hurriedly.

The Zhou family's eldest wife in front of her clearly knew everything, but she usually pretended to be confused. She clearly spoke very kindly, but she always felt pressured. She was actually a little afraid of her for a while.

Xue Ningyue whispered, "I want to see the baby..."

Zhao Jianjia held her hand and couldn't help laughing, "Don't worry, sister Ningyue, when your husband comes back, I will lock him in your room and make sure you get pregnant."

Ningyue was a little shy, smiled slightly, and said, "It's not urgent, I just miss Brother Zhou."

Qu Ling said loudly, "If you miss him, just go south to find him! Ningyue, sister will take you away, let's go together."

"He runs around, and we can't run around! I'm a little tired of Shenjing, it's time to go out for a walk I am so happy."

Xue Ningyue quickly shook her head and said, "No, no, Brother Zhou is busy with work, so we can't delay him. Just wait for him at home."

Qu Ling sighed, "Little Ningyue is really likable, but I won't be so obedient. I will leave the day after tomorrow."

"After Guizhou, he will definitely go to Xiangzhou, and then Fuzhou."

"I will go directly to Fuzhou to wait for him. Humph, I will make him look good when the time comes!"

Qu Ling was very proud and blinked his eyes and said, "Are you sure you don't want to come with me?"

Ningyue opened her mouth and laughed.