The Queen Mother asked Zhou Rongxiang to get married, so that mother and daughter could be separated and never see each other again for the rest of their lives. For Xue, this was tantamount to killing her.
I have to say, the Queen Mother is really cruel.
"Let's go, I'll take you somewhere!" Princess Jiahe suddenly took Meng Shu's hand, stood up and walked out.
Meng Shu came to the palace today not only to listen to the princess vent her dissatisfaction, but also to ask Princess Jiahe to send someone to keep an eye on Qian'an Hall so that if her grandfather was injured, she could rush over to treat him.
"Princess, where are we going?" Meng Shu asked hurriedly when she saw that Princess Jiahe was not sitting in a carriage, but walking, and walking very fast, leading her through the palace and taking only the less crowded paths.
"Go to Qian'an Palace!" Princess Jiahe stopped and whispered in Meng Shu's ear.
Qian'an Palace!
Meng Shu was shocked when he heard this.
Of course she wanted to go to this place, but after all, it was the place where the emperor went to court. If she and Princess Jiahe were discovered, not to mention her, even the entire Meng family would be guilty.
"Princess!" Meng Shu took Princess Jiahe's hand and stopped.
"Don't worry, let's go to the tea room and wait. With Cui Jingyu here, the little eunuchs waiting inside don't dare to say anything. Let's be careful. As long as there's not much movement, the ministers next door won't notice." Princess Jiahe whispered.
Anyway, it wasn't her first time going there.
She knew the secret of the emperor's brother and that they were brothers and sisters of the same mother. The eunuchs around the emperor's brother were very polite to her, especially Cui Jingyu, who helped her cover up more than once.
No one will find out.
"Princess, if someone really finds out, then..." Meng Shu was still a little worried.
She has been bold since she was a child, but she is also cautious. She cannot do anything that she is not sure of, lest it bring disaster to the family.
"Don't worry, even if you are discovered, I will protect you, and it will be okay!" After Princess Jiahe finished speaking, she looked at Meng Shu: "If you are worried, I will ask Zhilan to go back and get you a set of clothes for a little palace maid. You pretend to be a little palace maid and follow me. Even if we are discovered by others, people will not pay attention to you.
"Thank you, princess." Meng Shu thanked her hurriedly: "Qing Dai, who is with me, is very skilled in martial arts and can be of help at critical moments. Please send someone to give her a set of clothes. Su Ye will return to Yaohua Palace and wait for us."
"Okay!" Princess Jiahe nodded in agreement.
Although Su Ye was reluctant to leave Meng Shu, he also knew that he was not as skilled as Qingdai, so he reluctantly left.
By the time they changed their clothes and went to Qian'an Hall, the court meeting had already begun.
Princess Jiahe was familiar with the road and took Meng Shu to the tea room, but Cui Jingyu who was guarding there was shocked.
"Shh!" Princess Jiahe gently raised her hand to indicate that they did not need to salute or say anything, and went over to sit on the chair where Cui Jingyu had just sat.
Cui Jingyu was also very discerning and quickly brought up a stool for Meng Shu to sit on.
There is only a wall between here and the main hall, and it is made of wood. Although the gap is small, as long as you have good ears, you can still hear the sounds next door clearly.
As Meng Shu expected, most of the courtiers did not agree to let the princess go and get married.
When the eunuch read out the Queen Mother's decree, canonizing Princess Minhui as a princess, and a month later when she went to the Western Qiang Kingdom to make peace, some courtiers immediately came out to object.
"Please take back the imperial edict, the Queen Mother. It has been more than two hundred years since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and there has never been a marriage between a princess. When Emperor Taizu founded the country, he issued an edict to the world that the Great Zhou Dynasty is not the previous dynasty. The cavalry of the Great Zhou Dynasty can defend the country and the country. Come on, the people of Mingming will not bow to those foreigners even if they fight to the death. If they are not from our tribe, their hearts will be different. The Queen Mother must not believe the lies of those Xiqiang people and let the princess go and get married. "
"Empress Dowager, our Great Zhou Dynasty is still strong and powerful, and our Princess of Great Zhou is a proud daughter of heaven. How can those barbarians marry her? If word spreads, it will not only make other countries laugh, but also make people all over the world worry. Our country, the Zhou Dynasty, is not strong, so we can only surrender and make the people's hearts wander, which may cause trouble. I hope the Queen Mother will take back her life..."
"Mother, although the Xiqiang people can build warships, why should we, the Great Zhou Dynasty, be afraid of them? We, the Great Zhou Dynasty, have 50,000 naval troops stationed in the southeastern sea area to deter the Japanese pirates and the islands outside the sea area, so that they dare not move rashly. Shahe, can it be that I, the Great Zhou Dynasty, can't defend it? If the Empress Dowager is worried, she can ask the British Duke Meng Huaiyuan to train the navy and guard Qinghuai City. If the British Duke can defend Guiyun City, he will definitely protect Qinghuai City. The empress must not bow her head to the Western Qiang barbarians, otherwise the consequences will be endless..."
"The Queen Mother..."
More and more courtiers were giving words of admonishment, and their words were righteous and full of momentum. For a while, the Queen Mother's cronies did not dare to say anything.
Each of these people looked at me, and I looked at you, all waiting for the other person to come out first to protect the Queen Mother.
As for the Queen Mother, she was quite content when she had her decree read out.
Because in the Queen Mother's view, just marrying a clan daughter can stabilize the Xiqiang Kingdom, at least avoid the disaster of war for a few years, and save many soldiers from dying on the border, which is a good thing.
Fighting not only costs people, but also costs money.
In recent years, the northwest has been the hardest hit.
During her eight years in power, the treasury was empty, and most of the money was used for food, military pay, and war.
After all, the imperial court had three armies to support.
The five battalions of soldiers and horses guarding the capital in the suburbs of Beijing must also be raised.
Although she, the Queen Mother, lived an extremely luxurious life, it was no longer considered luxurious compared to those famous ruling Queen Mothers in history.
His decision to marry the daughter of the clan can save the court from the disaster of war and allow millions of people in the border areas to recuperate and recuperate. Many of the 100,000 northwest troops can disarm and return to their fields, return to their hometowns to visit their parents, wives and children, and stay with their elderly parents. Fulfilling filial piety is a matter of benefit to the country and the people.
She originally thought that everyone in the court would definitely support her decision and praise her as a wise queen mother.
Unexpectedly, it ended like this.
Are these people crazy?
The Queen Mother did not have the patience to wait for her own people to speak out to defend her, so she shouted loudly: "You all shut up the Ai family, but everyone was very sharp-tongued, accusing the Ai family of their faults, and even used the imperial edict issued by Emperor Taizu. Come to oppress the Aijia, ask yourselves, is the Aijia doing this out of selfish motives?"
"Ever since the Aijia came to power according to the decree of the late emperor, they have been thinking about me, the Great Zhou Dynasty. Since the founding of the country, the Great Zhou Dynasty has been at war with the Xiqiang people. How many people have died in the past two hundred years? How many times have the people of Guiyun City almost died? Absolutely, it was the dynasty that moved a large number of people to open up wasteland and cultivate fields, which ensured the food of the northwest army. But when will this continue? How many people will die before you are willing to accept it? "
"The Ai family knows that in the minds of you courtiers who are familiar with the books of sages, getting married means bowing to the Western Qiang people, which is an insult to the country and the face of the Zhou Dynasty. But we have fought the war for so many years with the strength of the whole country, and What did you get? Is it to destroy the Xiqiang, or to make the people in the border areas live a better life? "
