Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 5071 Husband and wife are not harmonious
Liu Xiangdao was very interested: "How to do the opposite?"

"When everyone else compromised, the Censorate insisted on impeaching the Minister of the Secretariat. We don't care if the imperial power is weak or if the lower class is bullying the upper class. We will stick to the etiquette, rules, and precedents and will never give in, even if we are attacked by everyone!"

Liu Xiangdao couldn't help laughing: "By then, won't we become the target of public criticism?"

Sun Chuyue also smiled and said, "One can polish jade with a stone from another mountain. Since Your Majesty can put himself in a weak position and then fight back, when we swear not to compromise, we will also be in a weak position. Winning or losing is not important. As long as people can see that the Censorate is fighting against the entire court with the strength of a single yamen, it will be like the cypress trees that were recently transplanted by the Asian stage. Their trunks are straight and they remain unmoved despite rain and frost. Who dares to question the integrity of the Censorate?"

This is your Majesty's open strategy. If you learn and use it now, it can also become the open strategy of the Censorate - either you follow the Censorate to oppose your Majesty, or you make the Censorate famous for being "the only one" and "tenacious".

Everyone attacked and accused the emperor, and the emperor was in a weak position and naturally won sympathy; but when everyone compromised, they all stood on the side of Your Majesty, and those who still refused to compromise became the weaker party. The Censorate used its own strength to fight against the emperor, the court, and the entire world. Who dared to say that the Censorate was fawning on the emperor and being a lackey?
Proud as a pine tree, tall as a cypress!
This is the temperament of the Censorate.

Liu Xiangdao put down his teacup, patted the table, and ordered: "Let's do it this way. Go back and formulate a counter-strategy based on the possible words and deeds of the Secretary-General. Don't be at a loss when the time comes. You should do this alone, and don't delegate it to others, so as to avoid leaks."

The three ministries, the Secretariat, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of State Affairs, cooperated with and restrained each other, the mobility of officials was very high, and both the Secretariat and the Ministry of Personnel worked in the Taiji Palace, so they were very familiar with each other and had a complicated relationship. The slightest negligence would lead to the leakage of information. By the time the Secretariat was prepared, the Censorate would be passive.

"I understand. Thank you, Yatai, for your cultivation!"

Sun Chuyue was in high spirits.

As long as this matter was accomplished and the positive image of the Censorate was re-established, he would be the first meritorious official of the Censorate, his prestige would increase dramatically, and he would gain a firm foothold and become a strong contender for the future Chief Censor.

*****
It was almost noon, and the sound of cicadas could be heard faintly through the open window. The room was hot and windless, and the ice in the ice jar in the corner gave off a slight cool air but did not have much effect.

Li Chengqian was kneeling on a mat near the window. Beside him, Queen Su, who was dressed in palace attire, was bending over to pour chilled grape wine into a glass. Her slender waist was bent like a willow branch, her cloud-like hair was tied into a neat bun, revealing her long, white neck.

Her pretty face was filled with a joyful smile, as if she had no grudge that Your Majesty had not been to Ganlu Palace for a long time. Her voice was soft and gentle, "This is the grape wine that has just been shipped from the Western Regions. It will be even sweeter and more refreshing when cooled with ice, and it can also cool down the heat. Your Majesty, please have a taste."

"Well, Queen, please sit down too, and taste the wine together."

Li Chengqian raised his glass, took a sip, and raised his face with a smile.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

The queen continued to smile. She reached out to gather the hem of her skirt, knelt on her ankles, raised the wine glass to her lips, and took a sip. Her movements were elegant and dignified, and her manners were graceful.

Putting down the wine glass, she glanced at His Majesty who seemed to be organizing his words, and spoke first: "The weather in Guanzhong is getting hotter and hotter, and the palace is like a steamer. I am very worried about the East Palace, fearing that the eunuchs can't take good care of the prince. It will be troublesome if he gets heatstroke. So I want to stay in the East Palace for a few days to take care of the prince personally, and then move back when the heat subsides and the weather is cool. What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Li Chengqian: "..."

But it blocked the words he had been brewing for a long time.

She was a little dissatisfied and frowned, saying, "The Eastern Palace has enough manpower, so they will not treat the Crown Prince badly. Why do you have to worry about it? Besides, you are the head of the harem, so there is no reason for you to move to the Eastern Palace. You can't take all the affairs of the harem to the Eastern Palace, right?"

Empress Su's smile faded, her expression indifferent. She took a sip of the cool wine and said slowly, "Your Majesty reigns over the whole country, your imperial power is supreme, the people of the world are obedient, and the weather is good. There are usually no troubles in the harem, and I am usually on duty, not personally involved. It doesn't really matter whether I am there or not."

Li Chengqian raised his eyebrows, looking unhappy: "Are you trying to piss me off?"

The queen quickly put down the wine glass in her hand, bowed and said: "Your Majesty is the ruler of a country, I dare not be disrespectful."

Li Chengqian was not angry. He thought deeply for a while and sighed, "You and I are husband and wife, and you should be able to do what is difficult for me. I thought you would support me, but I didn't expect you to be disturbed by the public opinions outside the court. This is really not right."

After a pause, seeing that the Queen lowered her eyebrows and eyes and did not respond, he continued: "I am sure that the Queen can empathize with my situation. If I cannot stir up some waves in this stagnant water and find a way to break the deadlock, will I be content to be a puppet? Those who supported me in the past are now only concerned with collecting power and grabbing benefits. Who cares about the thoughts of me as an emperor? You should help me, not undermine me at this time."

The queen lowered her head, her long eyelashes trembling slightly, but she remained silent.

Li Chengqian was a little annoyed. I was trying to please him so much and was so humble, but you were so stubborn and didn't even give me the slightest bit of face?
"What does the Queen want?"

The Queen Su spoke in a soft voice but in a cold and firm tone: "It's not what I want, but what Your Majesty wants."

Li Chengqian frowned: "She is just a Zhaoyi. The Queen is the master of the six palaces. How can she not have such a broad mind?"

Empress Su stared at Li Chengqian for a while, then lowered her head again and said calmly, "The king is the leader of his subjects, and the husband is the leader of his wife. Your Majesty has the final say on everything. I dare not refute you. Just go and tell the ministers about this."

Li Chengqian was furious.

He suddenly realized that he had never really understood his queen. She used to be gentle, considerate, well-educated and well-mannered, but he didn't know when she became so obstinate and stubborn?

It's bad enough that the ministers are against me, but even you, the queen, don't listen to me?
Li Chengqian stood up with anger rising up: "This is unreasonable!"

He turned around and left.

The eunuchs and palace maids standing outside the door all bowed their heads, trembling with fear.

Although the discord between the emperor and the empress is no longer news, this kind of direct conflict is unprecedented...

Inside the room, the queen sat quietly without even lifting her eyelids, her beautiful face dignified and elegant, as calm as a still pond.

The husband is the leader of the wife, but if the husband is not upright, the wife may remarry.

When it comes to choosing between a husband and a son, every woman will not hesitate too much and the answers are almost the same.

*****
Liang Guogong Mansion.

After dinner, the father and son sat in the flower hall drinking tea and chatting, mentioning the current dispute in the court over the enthronement of Zhaoyi.

Fang Xuanling saw through Li Chengqian's strategy at a glance: "Your Majesty is very smart to put the weak side in a counterattack. Although there is opposition from all sides at the moment, it should be passed when it comes to the court. After all, it is just the canonization of Zhaoyi, and it is far from involving the dispute over the throne. Many people only focus on the present and do not think about the future, so they will compromise."

Fang Jun is not optimistic: "It may not go as planned."

"Are you saying that some people are taking this opportunity to seek fame and deliberately go against the majority? Even so, it is difficult to influence the outcome given the general trend."

"I'm not worried about that. As the saying goes, before you can resist foreign aggression, you must first stabilize the country. Although the empress does not need to agree to confer the title of Zhaoyi, the empress is the master of the six palaces after all. Without the empress's consent, even if Your Majesty forcibly confers the title of Zhaoyi, there will be conflicts between the empress and Zhaoyi, and fighting between them is inevitable, and the harem will fall into chaos."

Fang Xuanling frowned: "The Queen has a gentle personality and is not strong. Even if she is dissatisfied and worried about the future instability of the Crown Prince's position, she may not react strongly, right?"

Fang Jun took a sip of tea and of course would not say that the Queen had hinted to him that he could "surrender herself to her" in order to protect the Crown Prince's position. With such a firm determination and willingness to make huge sacrifices, how could he not be tough?
"The Queen may seem gentle and virtuous, but in fact, she is soft on the outside but strong on the inside. This can be seen from her reactions to the previous rebellions. Moreover, women are weak by nature, but they are strong as mothers. Since she realizes that the crown prince's position may be unstable in the future, she must take a tough attitude to deal with Your Majesty, and at the very least force the ministers in the court to choose sides."

Fang Xuanling looked his son up and down, wondering, "When did you have such a thorough understanding of women's mentality and temperament? I warn you, you can touch some people, just think of it as youthful recklessness and male nature, but you must not touch some people, it's a matter of principle, you can't cross the line!"

"Cough cough..."

Fang Jun almost choked on his tea and said aggrievedly, "Father, why do you slander me like this? In your eyes, am I such a lustful, unprincipled scoundrel?"

"Haha," Fang Xuanling sneered, "You have already grown up and achieved success. As a father, I generally don't want to meddle in your affairs, but I warn you that it's okay to mess around outside, but the bloodline of the Fang family cannot be scattered elsewhere. The descendants of my Fang family must recognize their ancestors and return to their roots. They must never recognize others as their fathers, let alone be included in other family trees!"

Seeing his son's embarrassed look, he couldn't help wondering, "I, Fang Xuanling, have always been upright and honest, and I call myself a gentleman. I never say or see anything inappropriate. How could I have given birth to a playboy like you who is lustful and has no restraint?"

Fang Jun hesitated and said, "Well... maybe father doesn't want to, but he doesn't dare to?"

Fang Xuanling was dissatisfied: "I am the head of the family. If I really think that, who can stop me?"

"Haha," Fang Jun suppressed his laughter and said obediently, "Yes, yes, father is right. It's not that you don't dare, but that you don't want to. By the way, there are rumors that Emperor Taizong gave two palace maids to father, but he flatly refused. I wonder if it's true or not?"

Fang Xuanling was furious: "As a son, are you allowed to ask about these matters?"