APSIL -Chapter 165 Openly Repairing the Plank Road While Secretly Crossing the Pass

The first question sounded almost like casual small talk between mother and son. But the second question, despite being only four words, carried an unmistakable tone of accusation and mockery. Aside from Chu Kuan, who stood with his head lowered and hands folded respectfully, all the other palace servants and attendants instantly revealed expressions of shock and fear.

The Empress Dowager, however, merely frowned slightly.

“Whether it is interesting or not is something that can only be known after doing it. When you were their age, you had already taken control of the government, ruled the empire, and sat upon the throne. But they are still only capable of fighting each other and have no understanding of actual affairs.”

The Emperor smiled faintly.

“Mother, you flatter me. When I first took over the government, the jokes I made were neither few nor small. To put it unpleasantly, if every time the ministers caused trouble and came before you, you had not silently shielded me, then with the way I acted back then—reckless, arrogant, and self-important—perhaps another emperor would have already been dragged down from the throne…”

“Your Majesty!”

The Empress Dowager’s expression suddenly changed. She sternly interrupted him.

Seeing that the Emperor finally looked a little more serious, she glanced toward the sides. Female official Yuquan immediately gestured to the attendants nearby. The palace servants hurriedly filed out, with Yuquan following behind them. Chu Kuan also bowed silently and withdrew.

Only after the curtain of the eastern warm chamber fell did the Empress Dowager slam her hand against the armrest and stand up.

“What exactly are you trying to say?”

“Being young and ignorant, making mistakes—that is human nature. But Mother, was it necessary to use an outsider’s son, a young court official, to provoke your two grandsons?” The Emperor’s expression became cold. “Moreover, I heard that when Zhang Shou and Yingying came to Qingning Palace that day, the little eunuch who framed him was almost beaten to death without even being questioned. Mother, who exactly were you trying to protect?”

The Empress Dowager’s face became even more irritated.

“Don’t forget, Wang Datou already found out that Zheng Huaien was the mastermind!”

“That fool?” The Emperor raised his eyebrows impatiently. “He has neither virtue nor ability, yet he foolishly dreamed of marrying Yingying. Even if his father were the Prince of Sihou, he should still stay as far away as possible!”

Then he calmly continued: “It was the Empress, wasn’t it?”

The Empress Dowager immediately fell silent.

The Emperor continued: “The imperial guard who went to Rongshui Village and shot arrows to frighten people was also acting under the Empress’s orders. I truly cannot understand it. She is the ruler of the Six Palaces. Does she really need to do such things?”

“Even if she dislikes Yingying, why would she extend that hatred to others? Is that really necessary?”

The Empress Dowager’s brows tightened when she heard the phrase “extend that hatred to others.”

Those words were clearly the kind of phrasing Zhu Ying often used.

“Does Yingying know?”

“Whether she knows or not, I did not ask.” The Emperor gave a cold laugh. “But if one does not wish others to know, one should not do it in the first place.”

“I suppressed the assassin matter. Mingyue even took the blame. Wang Datou also handled the investigation in the simplest way possible, and Zheng Huaien himself confessed. On the surface, the Empress has no connection to the matter at all.”

“But heaven knows. Earth knows. You know. I know.”

By this point, the Emperor was so angry that he laughed.

“She already has two sons. Could she not be a little smarter?”

“And Mother, those two boys finally calmed down a little. Why did you have to provoke them again?”

The Empress Dowager remained silent for a while.

Knowing that although the Emperor appeared calm, his anger had already reached its peak, she finally sighed.

“You have still not established a Crown Prince. I know why.”

“You do not intend to choose the younger son. You simply feel that neither of the two elder sons is truly suitable. But you also know that choosing the younger one could cause chaos throughout the empire, so you have hesitated all this time.”

The Emperor’s eyes narrowed slightly. He turned his head away, avoiding her gaze.

But the Empress Dowager stepped forward and faced him directly.

“You believe that back then, you forced Prince Lu to his death. You killed your only younger brother. From that moment onward, you distanced yourself from me, and even now we cannot return to how we once were.”

“But have you ever thought about why I so willingly returned power to you?”

“You are the Emperor. He was only a prince. He fought with you everywhere, but you never cared to compete with him.”

“In your eyes, there was only the founding Emperor, perhaps the second Emperor, the fourth Emperor, and your own father.”

“Do you really think I valued him more than you?”

The Emperor remained silent.

The Empress Dowager continued: “With all those bloody examples throughout our dynasty, how could I possibly favor a younger son?”

“Especially one who brought death upon himself?”

The Emperor listened quietly. His face remained expressionless, as if all emotions had frozen.

“If either the eldest or second prince had been even slightly like you, I would not have needed to go through all this trouble.”

“Fighting among themselves in the palace—what ability is that?”

“Let them know that outside the palace there is a young man even younger than them, yet he has already gained your trust and respect. And he is also Yingying’s future husband.”

“They should at least understand the need to improve themselves.”

“As for the second prince visiting Zhang Kang, it was also because he wanted to understand the true state of our dynasty’s military equipment.”

The Empress Dowager paused before slowly sitting back down.

“As for the Empress…”

“She deliberately cultivated a reputation for virtue back then. Furthermore, her biological grandfather was personally chosen by Emperor Yingzong as the teacher of the princes. After your father inherited the throne, he still respected Yingzong to some degree.”

“At that time, when you were still young and the country was uncertain, that marriage was indeed appropriate.”

Hearing this explanation, the Emperor merely gave a mocking shrug.

“To be honest, I would rather Mother had a suitable niece or even a maternal niece.”

Even knowing her son was merely venting his resentment, the Empress Dowager still found it both amusing and helpless.

“I had one elder sister, one elder brother, and one younger brother.”

“But only my sister raised someone like Zhu Jing.”

“As for the other nieces, I cannot even bear looking at them for long.”

“How could you expect me to marry one of them to you and make her Empress?”

“Even Yingying…”

“She is wonderful as a younger generation, but she would never be suitable as an Empress or a princess consort.”

“With her personality, whenever something happens, she could turn the entire imperial palace or a prince’s residence upside down.”

“Look at the eldest and second princes. Yingying is stunningly beautiful. They may appreciate her appearance, but neither of them truly likes her.”

“They are not worthy of her.”

The Emperor gave a faint laugh.

Finally, he said calmly: “I have endured for many years.”

“And for the sake of those two sons, I do not wish to create the upheaval of removing the Empress.”

“So Mother, I hope you will help me warn her.”

“Also, I do not want rumors about Mingyue silencing the assassin or anything similar spreading throughout the court.”

“She actually thought that framing someone could cover everything up?”

At this point, the Emperor turned around and looked directly at the Empress Dowager.

His voice contained no room for argument.

“I know Mother does not like Consort Yu, nor does she like Yingying’s mother.”

“But Consort Yu has no son and has never dreamed of becoming Empress.”

“And Yingying’s mother is stubborn by nature. She has never relied on schemes or tricks.”

“Since Mother loves Yingying so much, why can you not let go of what happened back then?”

“In the end, the ones who were wrong back then were me and Zhu Jing.”

After saying this, the Emperor strode away.

The Empress Dowager tightly gripped the armrest with her right hand.

For a long while, she swallowed the questions that had almost escaped her lips.

At that moment, the Empress’s tearful complaints from the past seemed to appear before her again.

“Consort Yu and Madam Zhao may indeed have sacrificed themselves to let His Majesty and Duke Zhao escape first…”

“But was that not what they should have done?”

“If not for the influence of those women beside him, how could His Majesty have gone with Duke Zhao disguised among commoners and nearly lost his life?”

“Afterward, three children were born at the same time. Who knows whether it was impossible to distinguish between the two girls, or whether all three children were mixed up?”

“Mother, I can tolerate Consort Yu receiving all the Emperor’s favor.”

“But I cannot tolerate her joining hands with Madam Zhao and causing such a huge incident!”

“If rumors of a lost imperial child living among the people spread in the future, what face would His Majesty have? What face would you have? What face would I, the Empress, have?”

The Empress Dowager sighed bitterly.

Back then, although the matter was supposedly investigated thoroughly, she had personally disguised herself and questioned the midwives. She had questioned Zhang Shou’s current adoptive mother, Madam Wu. She had even interrogated Consort Yu and confronted Ninth Lady.

In the end, she concluded that it was most likely two girls who had been accidentally mixed together.

Yet that suspicion remained like a thorn buried in her heart.

Therefore, she had never truly loved Princess Yongping.

Only because the Emperor favored her did she treat her better than the other princesses.

Instead, Zhu Ying—who had been cheerful, fearless, and full of ideas since childhood—reminded her of her own elder sister, who had also been clever and independent from a young age.

Without hesitation, she believed Zhu Ying must truly possess Zhu family blood.

But Zhang Shou…

The young man who had grown up among common people yet possessed such outstanding appearance and bearing…

From the first moment she saw him, she instinctively felt uneasy.

Even after learning that not only his appearance but also his talent was extraordinary, she still could not develop affection for him simply because Zhu Ying had already chosen him as her future husband.

After sitting there for nearly half an hour, a soft cough sounded.

Yuquan quietly entered, bowed before the Empress Dowager, and whispered: “His Majesty has ordered the Grand Secretariat to draft an imperial decree. Using Zhang Shou’s contribution in capturing the rebels as justification, he will appoint Zhang Shou concurrently as a sixth-rank Hanlin Academy Lecturer and Left Assistant of the Crown Prince’s Office.”

The Empress Dowager widened her eyes in disbelief and stood up abruptly.

“Those Grand Secretaries actually listened to him?”

“Even if someone among them was willing to draft the decree against their conscience, would the Censors of the Six Offices not object?”

Yuquan gave a bitter smile.

“At that time, only Grand Secretary Wu was present in the Secretariat.”

“He personally wrote the decree.”

The Empress Dowager’s eyebrows shot upward in anger.

“Last time when Zhang Shou entered the Imperial Academy, it was also him.”

“This time, making Zhang Shou a Hanlin Lecturer and Left Assistant of the Crown Prince’s Office is also him.”

“He only knows how to say ‘Amitabha’ and obediently carry out imperial orders?”

“Is this Grand Secretary only capable of that?”

“The Crown Prince has not even been decided yet. The Crown Prince Office positions are usually honorary ranks given to senior officials. How can they casually be given to a newly appointed Imperial Academy Doctor?”

“And Hanlin Lecturer as well…”

“Does he know that the scholars of the entire world will be in uproar because of this?”

Unlike the Empress Dowager’s shock and anger, the Emperor, after visiting Qingning Palace to vent his emotions, had simultaneously used the tactic of openly repairing the plank road while secretly crossing the pass—appearing to discuss one matter while quietly securing Zhang Shou’s appointment.

His mood was excellent.

The Six Offices rejecting the decree?

Heh.

If any censors truly had such ability, he would not mind sending several of them out to become county magistrates and strengthen the weak local administration.

After all, without Zhang Shou, the rebels might never have been captured completely.

And those rebels were truly imprisoned in the Shuntian Prefecture jail—absolutely genuine.

Because of this matter, he had even delayed approving their execution.

Since the Empress Dowager wanted Zhang Shou to stimulate the eldest and second princes…

Then he would simply promote Zhang Shou a few more times.

Who told Zhang Shou that this boy was both capable and unbelievably lucky?

What was wrong with the Hanlin Academy?

A newly appointed Hanlin Lecturer had previously served as an Imperial Academy Doctor, yet he could not even properly manage Half-Mountain Hall.

If someone who could not even educate students could enter the Hanlin Academy…

Then why could Zhang Shou, who had made a great contribution, not enter as well?