A group of life-long women rushed into the palace, pleading with Empress Dowager Cining openly or secretly. After talking, only one person's words touched her, "Your Majesty sent our son to the outside world today. What should I do if I have a prince in the future?"

Empress Dowager Cining felt aroused. For an ordinary emperor, this was not a problem. The prince should enjoy special treatment, but she knew that her son was not an ordinary emperor. She was likely to send her own son to a dangerous place in order to demonstrate fairness.

Empress Dowager Cining sent these destiny women away for a long time and was useless to plead directly with the emperor. Moreover, she could feel that her influence on her son was getting weaker and that speaking would only backfire.

After thinking about it, Empress Dowager Cining found a solution and immediately summoned the queen, Huifei Tong Qing'e and another pregnant concubine.

When the person came, Empress Dowager Cining asked about the daily life of the two pregnant women and made many suggestions and took good care of them. Finally, she ordered people to send away the two concubines and leave the queen Cui Xiaojun alone.

"Oh, these two people are pregnant. If they can give birth to a prince, the two of us will benefit the most."

"Yes, the Queen Mother-in-law." Cui Xiaojun was always worried in front of her mother-in-law and did not dare to speak much.

Empress Dowager Cining looked at her and vaguely saw the appearance of Concubine Cui. She was displeased, but her face did not show, "I understand the queen's thoughts, so let's talk a little."

"Empress Dowager..." Cui Xiaojun was shocked.

That happened a long time ago. When Jue Hou was fighting for the throne, there was a chaos in the palace and everyone was facing a death threat. The only safe place was the Queen Mother Shangguan's bedroom. Queen Cui Xiaojun went to ask for help, but was ruthlessly stopped outside the door by the beauty Wang at that time.

This was a ravine between the two, which made the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law disagreed. Cui Xiaojun thought that Empress Dowager Cining would never mention this matter, and she had no intention of saying it out loud.

"At that time, His Majesty was competing for the throne with the King of Donghai. The Cui family was the backing of the Queen. I was wary of the Queen, and it was a last resort."

Cui Xiaojun saluted and whispered: "If the Empress Dowager doesn't say it, I understand that the Empress Dowager has never complained about his Majesty."

Empress Dowager Cining nodded and smiled, "We are all pitiful people. We are all thinking about Your Majesty, but we think too little about ourselves. Alas, it is easy to change, and it is finally peaceful today. No matter what, Your Majesty forgives the King of Donghai and the Cui family, why should I make things difficult for Your Majesty? Therefore, I should say 'sorry' to the Queen. I did something wrong at that time."

Cui Xiaojun immediately knelt down, "The Empress Dowager must not say these two words. The Empress Dowager understands that I am dedicated to your Majesty. I am grateful and have no other thoughts. With the situation in and outside the palace at that time, the Empress Dowager's choice was normal, and I would do this if I did."

Empress Dowager Cining signaled to the queen to get up and smiled, "Today, I'm talking about this, the queen is so reasonable, a stone in my heart can fall to the ground."

Cui Xiaojun also smiled, "It's my fault that makes the Empress Dowager worried."

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law chatted for a few words, and the relationship got closer. Queen Mother Cining said: "I said before that were pregnant and the two of us who benefited the most were us. Does the queen understand what it means?"

"I understand." Cui Xiaojun paused, "As long as there is a prince, the empress dowager and I will have support in the future."

"Well, no matter who the prince was born, he was the queen's son. If you want to call you "mother", you will be raised by the queen."

Cui Xiaojun looked up at Empress Dowager Cining and was really surprised.

There are indeed many precedents when handing over the son of a concubine to the queen for raising her, but it is not necessary. This move usually means great trust in the queen and great expectations for the prince.

"Empress Dowager..." Cui Xiaojun was a little excited. She hadn't been pregnant for so long, and she had already given up hope. Of course she was willing to raise a prince herself.

"Oh, if the queen could have one... forget it, I won't mention this matter. I will suggest to Your Majesty to send the prince to Qiuxin Palace."

"But Huifei and..."

Empress Dowager Cining waved her hand, "It's not that she wants to drive them out of the palace. She just goes to Qiuxin Palace for a while every day, just think that it's two mothers taking care of a child."

Queen Mother Cining rarely releases kindness, and Cui Xiaojun really hopes to have a child, so of course she will not object to such an arrangement.

After chatting for a while, Empress Dowager Cining finally got to the point, "Your Majesty sent a group of noble sons to Shattered Iron City. The original intention was good, but the journey was long and it was not safe outside the border, so unexpected things would inevitably happen. If this kind of thing becomes a routine, what should I do when the prince grows up? Should I also participate in the march?"

Cui Xiaojun also knew the emperor and knew that this was a very likely thing, but she understood more that what the emperor needed was support, not objection.

"It is better to travel thousands of miles than reading books. This is the case with the nobles, and the prince... Maybe it should be like this. It is not good to be in the deep palace for a long time."

Queen Mother Cining smiled and said, "If the prince was the child you gave birth to, the queen would not have thought so."

Cui Xiaojun had to change his words, "What the Empress Dowager said is, I have not suffered from the pain of conceiving, so I thought it simple."

"It's okay. When the queen raises the prince himself, she will soon understand the mood of a mother." Empress Cining paused for a while, "Can the queen persuade His Majesty to take back his life?"

Cui Xiaojun could not refuse, so she could only say: "I will do my best."

This was a difficult task. Cui Xiaojun reluctantly took it, but didn't know how to speak to the emperor.

The next evening, the emperor returned to the palace.

After staying outside for a few days, Han Ruzi was quite excited and didn't sleep late at night, telling the queen about the past few days. "I still don't understand very well. How dare those aristocratic families use 'replacement' under my nose? Is it because I, the emperor, not strict enough?"

Cui Xiaojun sat on the bed, looked at the nagging emperor gently, and smiled: "This has nothing to do with whether the strict calendar is serious or not. They didn't expect that His Majesty would be aware of everything and pay attention to such trivial matters."

"A trivial matter? The nobles were able to inherit the title because their fathers and grandchildren made great achievements in the Great Chu. Now their descendants cannot even touch swords. So unworthy, what kind of face will they have to meet their ancestors in a hundred years?"

Han Ruzi walked to the bed and smiled and said, "I'm confused too. Why do you do this? The scenery outside the city is beautiful. After a while, let's go out of the city together."

"I am not interested in landscapes and scenery, and I prefer to listen to Your Majesty's talk about noble affairs."

The Cui family is also a nobleman, and Han Ruzi always forgets the relationship between the queen and the Cui family. "What did the general say?"

"Your Majesty is thinking too much. My father has just recovered from his injuries and is not in good health. He can only take a walk in the mansion every day and don't care about anything outside, so he won't plead for others. Moreover, my father has been in charge of the army for many years, but he still doesn't understand the importance of training?"

Cui Hong's son and grandson are not among the "Children's Army", so there is indeed no need to care.

Han Ruzi smiled, "I always feel that those nobles are not so calm. Everyone who meets them feels like they are pleading for love. I do think a little too much."

Cui Xiaojun patted her side, asked the emperor to sit down, and said seriously: "I do want to plead with you, but it has nothing to do with my father."

Han Ruzi was very surprised, "Do you think I did something wrong?"

"Your Majesty did the right thing, but the means were inappropriate."

If Han Ruzi had already taken the initiative to talk to the queen, he would not use this trick, "What's wrong? Tell me."

"Your Majesty asked the 'Child Army' to march, not just for training troops, right?"

"Of course, those two thousand people are not considered real soldiers. I just want to teach the noble families a lesson so that they can understand that when the Great Chu is in trouble, everyone must work hard, and no one can hide behind and wait for others to rescue them, especially those of them, and the responsibilities they shoulder should be more."

"Is Da Chu in trouble right now?"

In Han Ruzi's opinion, the "difficulty" of Da Chu is quite a lot, but it is not called "now". "Do you want to say Xiao Sheng?"

Cui Xiaojun nodded.

The former left censor Xiao Sheng was a typical court official who was more concerned about his promotion than the interests of the court and the welfare of the people. But he was, after being captured by the Huns, he would rather jump into the river and commit suicide than surrender to the enemy.

"Xiao Sheng is a loyal minister, but not the minister that Da Chu needs most." Han Ruzi held one of the queen's hand, "Although Da Chu is weak, it is not yet irresistible, so there is no need for so many loyal ministers who have died."

Cui Xiaojun sighed lightly. As she expected in advance, it was impossible to convince the emperor to change his mind.

Han Ruzi stared at her, "Who should the queen plead for?"

"No, I really think the marching is not very beneficial, but after hearing what Your Majesty said, I think it makes sense. Let's take a break soon and get up early to court tomorrow."

Han Ruzi didn't ask questions, went to bed, but kept thinking about this in her heart.

The court meeting the next morning was nothing major, mainly to reward the Chu army in Yunmengze for its merits. Generals such as Huang Pugong were already on the way back to the court, and the reward could not be delayed.

Each department has already formulated a plan. Han Ruzi felt it was very good and passed it on the spot. When it was almost noon to rest, Han Ruzi took the initiative to mention the "Son Army" on the way to the march. "A nephew of Lord Yuan is also in the "Son Army"?"

Yuan Jiuding hurriedly said, "There is one who has been spoiled since childhood and should have suffered a little."

"He didn't use 'replacement', at least he had the will to endure hardships."

Yuan Jiuding breathed a sigh of relief, "But he also has one at home, I have never known..."

Yuan Jiuding blamed himself in a mixed manner. After hearing this, Han Ruzi didn't say anything and announced that the court would be dispersed. In the afternoon, he would not come to Qinzheng Hall and listen to Qu Zixi's lecture in Lingyun Pavilion.

The ministers had no intention of asking for mercy, otherwise, when the emperor started, there would always be someone to follow the trend, and Han Ruzi ruled out a possibility.

After lunch, Han Ruzi summoned King Donghai in Lingyun Pavilion.

King Donghai, Cui Teng and others were waiting outside the pavilion for the order and arrived as soon as possible. King Donghai was summoned alone, which attracted a lot of jealous eyes.

There are some things that Han Ruzi can only ask Donghai King for help.

"What is Mrs. Ping'enhou busy with recently?" Han Ruzi asked.

King Donghai's heart trembled, thinking that something had been revealed, "I don't know very well, why did Your Majesty think of her?"

When Han Ruzi was still Juehou, she met Mrs. Pingen. She heard that the wife of life is also a force in the court.

"You ask for me if Mrs. Ping'en Hou has entered the palace recently? If it weren't for her or someone else, you can ask for it too."

King Donghai was a little embarrassed, but his contact with Mrs. Ping'en Hou was not leaked, which made him feel much more at ease. "This is simple, I'll ask the princess to help you, and you'll know it once you ask."

Han Ruzi guessed from the embarrassment of the queen that last night's plea was related to her mother.

He has to find a way to solve the trouble between his mother and the queen. (To be continued.)

...
Chapter completed!