Who wants to learn sewing skills while dating?

In a teahouse somewhere in the capital, officials on the fringe of the court gathered together to discuss the handover of the tiger talisman.

"The Queen Mother actually returned the tiger talisman to Your Majesty." The Queen Mother's move was sudden. The ministers had thought that the Queen Mother would keep the tiger talisman and interfere in state affairs, but now they were relieved.

Most officials were happy. It was not conducive to the stability of the court for the emperor and the empress dowager to hold power at the same time. Now that the empress dowager had given up power, they felt at ease. At least there would be no phenomenon of the empress dowager and the emperor competing for power.

Some officials said afterward, "Actually, I saw it a long time ago. The Empress Dowager's people haven't said anything in the court these past few months, completely obeying the Emperor's arrangements. Doesn't that mean they don't intend to interfere in the affairs of the court?"

"In my opinion, this is the way it should be. It is wrong to let a woman be in power. The Queen Mother's control of government affairs in the past few years has been a stain on the State of Chu!" The person who said this was a short and fat man who looked to be at the age of knowing the destiny.

Others at this age would have been able to reach the fourth rank, but he was just a minor official of the sixth rank.

The short and fat man vented his frustrations about his unsuccessful career on those in power, and his disparagement of the Queen Mother was clearly motivated by personal emotion.

His radical words naturally drew dissatisfaction. Some rolled their eyes and directly retorted, "When the Queen Mother was in power, would you have dared to say that? Now you've become bolder."

The short, fat man was unconvinced. Seeing that the other party was only an official of the same rank as himself, he retorted, "What? Am I wrong? Isn't the court supposed to be a man's battlefield? If she, a woman, hadn't been given the position of empress by the late emperor, how could she have had the opportunity to hold such power?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the onlookers around could no longer bear to listen. Although they did not approve of women participating in politics, they still had awe for the Queen Mother. They interrupted and said, "Don't speak as if the power was given to her by the late emperor. Many important decisions of the previous dynasty were made by the Queen Mother. Even when the late emperor was alive, he had to give way to the Queen Mother. Why do you say that the Queen Mother has accomplished nothing now?"

The short and fat man was furious when he heard this and started to speak without restraint: "But if the late emperor didn't leave, how could a woman like her have the opportunity to take sole power? It was just her good luck. There were rumors before that the late emperor encountered an accident during hunting and it was the empress dowager who intervened..."

"You are courting death! How dare you say these things! If you don't want to live, don't take us with you!" The short and fat man's words aroused public anger. If they slandered the royal family, they would not know how they would die. They all cherished their lives.

The short, fat man was yelled at and regained consciousness. He became frightened and his momentum weakened, but he still insisted, "In short, it's entirely right for the Queen Mother to give up her power. The throne should belong to us men."

Someone saw things more clearly and speculated, "I suspect the Empress Dowager wouldn't have been so active at court in recent years if it weren't for Your Majesty. When Your Majesty first ascended the throne, his brothers were incredibly turbulent. It was only thanks to the Empress Dowager's strong tactics that they were gradually dealt with, restoring peace to the court."

Everyone agreed with this: "That's right, otherwise the Queen Mother wouldn't have handed over power just yet. She's probably been waiting for Your Majesty to grow stronger these past few years. Otherwise, if she handed over power hastily, Your Majesty would likely become a puppet of powerful ministers."

"Among your Majesty's brothers, only Prince Qi still retains his title." Someone thought of the prince left behind by the Queen Mother.

Prince Qi usually keeps a low profile, which is probably one of the reasons why the Queen Mother left him here. It's just unclear whether Prince Qi can survive the Emperor's handover of power now that power has shifted.

"If you ask me, Prince Qi is also unlucky. He married the eldest daughter of the Nalan family. At that time, I thought that the Nalan family could keep him safe and sound, and he could be a leisurely prince. Who would have thought that after a few years, the Nalan family would fall, and Prince Qi was also suspected by His Majesty. Now no family dares to be friendly with Prince Qi openly." Someone couldn't help but sigh.

"Prince Qi is still a member of the royal family, so he should have some skills. As long as he doesn't cause trouble, the emperor shouldn't do anything to him."

"The Emperor is the only legitimate son of the late Emperor, and Prince Qi is his only sibling. Perhaps the Emperor won't be so cruel."

"Emperors have always been fickle. Who knows?"

------

In Prince Qi's mansion, Prince Qi's confidants were even more worried about this.

Everyone had gathered here to help Prince Qi ascend the throne, and their attention was naturally on the "Tiger Tally": "The Tiger Tally is in the hands of the Emperor, and the Emperor's power is even greater."

"The most important thing is that the emperor has ordered Mo Heng to be promoted to the empress, making it even more difficult for us to kill him." With the hidden danger of Mo Heng around, they couldn't let their worries go.

Someone looked at the person in charge and asked, "Why hasn't the assassin we sent out made any movement?"

"No news has been released yet. The palace is heavily guarded, and it is difficult for the assassins to pass on information to us. We haven't received any news because the assassins are still lurking. If they were discovered, the emperor would have taken action against us long ago." The person being interrogated was panicked in his heart, but he answered calmly on the surface.

Prince Qi also held his forehead, suppressing his inner anger: "Is it so difficult to kill Mo Heng? Isn't he just an ordinary child of aristocratic family?"

The tall, thin official in charge of assassinating Mo Heng explained, "There's only one person in the emperor's harem right now. It's very likely that the emperor has someone else by his side, so our people can't do anything."

"The emperor is now growing stronger. We have been too conservative before, which gave the emperor time to grow." Chu Qi said in annoyance. Since losing Nalan Ruo, their think tank, and the Nalan family, their powerful support, their actions in the court have been subject to too many restrictions, causing them to lose the initiative in many things.

Someone suggested, "Now that there's a change of power, isn't this the best time for us to take action?"

"If Wei Lin gives up his power, the Wei family will definitely take action. We can add fuel to the fire from behind." Others echoed.

"As long as we don't take the initiative, there will be people who can help us take the blame."

Chu Qi thought it made sense. He was in a passive position now. If he wanted to overthrow Chu Jun, he had to conserve his energy to have a chance. Keeping a low profile was the first priority.

------

Today is the Emperor's birthday, and the palace has become bustling since early morning.

The bedrooms in Yong'an Palace were bustling from midnight until dawn, when they gradually became quiet.

As soon as the morning sun shone into the house, Mo Heng dressed up and came to coax Chu Jun to get up. He looked so energetic that he didn't look like someone who hadn't slept all night.

"Your Majesty, get up." Mo Heng whispered in Chu Yun's ear. He knew that it would be difficult to call people today, so he prepared to take the person into his arms first.

Chu Jun was too tired to get up at all, and turned over in Mo Heng's arms: "No..."

"This morning..."

"It's my birthday today! I don't have to attend court if I don't want to!" Chu Jun gradually slid back into the bed, not wanting to hear anything about attending court.

Who doesn’t have a vacation all year round? Oh, it’s him.

Mo Heng was amused by Chu Jun's rogue behavior. "Yes, yes, yes. I will go and tell Eunuch Li first. Your Majesty can sleep for a while."

"Come back soon. It's all your fault that I'm like this. You have to compensate me." Chu Jun opened one eye and looked at Mo Heng threateningly.

"Your Majesty is being a rogue. I was only doing what you ordered." Mo Heng frowned as he spoke, seeming to be really innocent.

"I...I didn't want to stop?"

Chu Jun thought about how things had gotten so bad last night that she didn't even have the energy to call for a stop. Her face flushed red, and she turned away, ignoring Mo Heng.

"It's not easy to be a tyrant, but I'm probably the worst tyrant ever." Chu Jun covered his head with the quilt and thought to himself.