The Return of the King: A Generation of Prodigies

"Take Doctor Zhang with you when you go." Since Shen Tianjiao had already guessed that Hongying's master might have poisoned her, she was naturally worried.

There is an imperial physician with superb medical skills accompanying him. Even if the poison cannot be completely eliminated, at least if something unexpected happens, he will not be caught off guard and will have the best opportunity to remedy the situation.

"I understand." Qiu Tong turned around and went out to do what Shen Tianjiao asked her to do.

Shen Tianjiao, who was originally very sleepy, suddenly woke up because of the matter of Zhenbei Hou. Tonight was destined to be another sleepless night.

Since she couldn't sleep, she decided not to sleep. Shen Tianjiao stood up and went outside.

She needs to take this opportunity to review the situation carefully and work out a response plan.

Shen Tianjiao wandered aimlessly in Yuxiu Palace like a wandering god, and unknowingly came to Ruan Yuhu's residence.

When she came to her senses and was about to leave, she suddenly heard Ruan Yuhu's call from behind, "Jiaojiao, since you are here, why don't you come in and have a cup of hot tea and chat for a while?"

Shen Tianjiao smiled and turned around, looking at Ruan Yuhu and said, "It's so late, I really don't dare to disturb my aunt's peace and quiet."

"What nonsense is that? I'm old now, and my sleep is light. If I sleep a little longer during the day, I can't fall asleep at night. I'm just wondering how I'm going to get through this long night."

Ruan Yuhu held Shen Tianjiao's hand and said, "You came at the right time. Chat with me, an old woman, to kill time. It's quiet and peaceful just for the two of us."

"Okay, then I'll bother you, aunt." Shen Tianjiao reached out and held Ruan Yuhu's arm. She was confused now, and it would be nice to talk to an experienced elder.

"Jiaojiao, it's so late and you're still not sleeping. Is there something on your mind?" Ruan Yuhu now looked at Shen Tianjiao as affectionately as if he were looking at his own nephew.

Shen Tianjiao smiled bitterly. She really didn't know how to tell Ruan Yuhu what she was thinking.

"What? Is it something I can't know?" Ruan Yuhu looked at Shen Tianjiao, not hiding his true thoughts.

Shen Tianjiao shook her head and said, "It's not that Auntie doesn't know, it's just that I don't know how to start the conversation."

Empress Dowager Liu is still Shen Tianjiao's nominal mother-in-law. This mother-in-law behaved inappropriately and had an affair with someone. Such things cannot be said from the mouth of her daughter-in-law.

Li Rui's nominal husband is the king of a country, but he was infected with a love poison by the person closest to him. Not only will he be unable to have children for the rest of his life, but he is also dying.

It's not that she doesn't want to talk about this, but she can't say it now. Li Rui is already at the end of his strength, and her son is still young and weak. This is not a good thing for a dynasty.

The current situation is the most dangerous. The more people know about this, the more people will want to kill them and their son with ulterior motives and take advantage of the opportunity to replace them.

It’s not that Shen Tianjiao doesn’t trust Ruan Yuhu, but just to be on the safe side, she has to keep this secret until she has real control over everything. This is for herself, for Li Muyang, and for Yunli Country.

Any change of dynasties and transfer of imperial power will trigger a great catastrophe, kill many people, and bring severe damage to the country. In the end, it is the common people who suffer.

What she wanted was for her son Li Muyang to complete the transfer of imperial power safely and without worries, to ensure that the country would not suffer any serious damage and could develop safely and steadily.

"Jiaojiao'er, if you don't want to talk about it, then it must be something difficult to say." Ruan Yuhu smiled slightly, "How about I take a guess?"

After saying this, without waiting for Shen Tianjiao to reply, he said, "Is it because of the one from Kangning Palace?"

Shen Tianjiao was stunned for a moment and then understood everything. The person in front of her was the previous palace fighting champion. Although the previous emperor did not give her any position, he gave her unlimited honor.

This honor has never been shaken by anyone from the previous emperor to the present. Even her own tyrannical mother-in-law dares not act recklessly in front of her.

Not only the harem, I'm afraid even the affairs of the previous dynasty cannot be hidden from her, right?

Shen Tianjiao nodded and said, "Yes."

Since Ruan Yuhu knows everything, Shen Tianjiao has nothing to hide.

"Hmph!" Ruan Yuhu snorted coldly, "She's losing her self-respect as she gets older. She's already so old, yet she's still so shameless."

"Jiao Jiao'er, it's inconvenient for you to take care of this matter, so leave it to me."

This was exactly what Shen Tianjiao had been hoping for. It was indeed inappropriate for her to intervene in the matter between the Queen Mother and Li Hong. She had already been thinking about who to contact.

Now that Ruan Yuhu has taken the initiative to offer to do this, it has really solved her big problem.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Auntie. Prince Qing is currently dissatisfied with the reward I gave to General Yan for his contribution in suppressing the rebellion."

"Just now, Qiong Niang was still worried that Prince Qing was narrow-minded and vindictive, and that he would take the opportunity to instigate the court officials to embarrass me. Now that my aunt has come to my aid, I don't have to worry anymore."

After resolving a worry, Shen Tianjiao felt much more relaxed. She ate her meals one bite at a time and did her things one by one.

"That old fellow may seem unassuming and indifferent, like a wealthy and idle man who doesn't care about anything, but in fact, he has the greatest ambition."

"Over the years, he has been secretly developing his power, and there are quite a few people in the court who are in league with him."

"However, Jiaojiao'er, if he could contact those court officials to oppose you, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing."

Ruan Yuhu looked at Shen Tianjiao, smiled and nodded at her.

Shen Tianjiao looked at Ruan Yuhu with a confused expression, not understanding why she said that.

Even if those court officials didn't make trouble, she would be so overwhelmed. If she really allowed them to make trouble, wouldn't they eat her alive?

Seeing Shen Tianjiao's bewildered expression, Ruan Yuhu patted her hands and said, "Jiaojiao, you probably can't guess what that old man's purpose is in winning over these court officials so keenly, right?"

"He's trying to win over those court officials not just for power, but to get himself on the throne of the emperor."

This really shocked Shen Tianjiao. She had originally thought that Li Hong and Empress Dowager Liu were colluding just for power, but she had never expected that the other party had such lofty ambitions and was even thinking about becoming emperor.

"Does the Queen Mother know about this?" Whether the Queen Mother knows about this matter or not, the nature of the two is very different.

Ruan Yuhu sneered, "How could she not know? She's just pretending to be ignorant. One is a thousand-year-old fox, and the other is a cunning and black-hearted wolf. Neither of them together is a good thing."

"The two of them are together simply to gain what they want. One wants to use the other to secure her position as empress dowager so that the Liu family can regain its former prosperity; the other is also using the empress dowager's power and the influence of the Liu family to gain more bargaining chips in the fight for the throne."

"But they all forgot that they are all calculating and greedy people. Cooperation with such people will not lead to good results."

Shen Tianjiao felt as if she had suffered a critical hit of 10,000 points. She was at a loss. She knew that the Queen Mother was a selfish person, but she didn't expect that she would be so selfish.

For his own selfish reasons, he completely ignored the consequences and disregarded the country, the people and the world.

She is now the empress dowager and enjoys countless honors. As long as she does not do anything too extreme, she will have no problem staying on the throne until her death.

He has already enjoyed a high position and endless wealth and glory, but he is still greedy and wants more. For his greed, he would rather lower his status and have sex with others. He is just trying to kill himself.

Ruan Yuhu looked at Shen Tianjiao and knew that she must be shocked at the moment. For her, who had been fighting in the deep palace all her life, this kind of thing was commonplace.

But for Shen Tianjiao, who had never participated in palace fighting before, and who spent the rest of her time hiding in Yuxiu Palace and was too lazy to even go out except helping Li Rui with government affairs, it was indeed a bit shocking and difficult to accept.

"Girl, there are thousands of people in this world, but greed alone is the only reason why so many people have fallen into this world, willing to betray their friends, family, and even themselves."

"She is a greedy person by nature. It's no surprise that she has come to this point. Just because of her, I'm afraid there will be another bloody storm."

"Born in a royal family, fighting and bloodshed are commonplace. The road ahead will be long and difficult, so you must learn to adapt quickly."

"Yes, I know. I'm just worried that if they continue like this, more and more people will be involved. By then, I'm afraid it won't just be a destabilization of the court. I'm afraid it will shake the foundation of the country."

"Once the foundation of the country is unstable, there will be chaos throughout the country, and in the end it will be the people of Yunli who will suffer."

Shen Tianjiao didn't know whether this incident had happened before, because there was no record of it in either history books or the secret history of the palace.

She is now unsure whether this incident had happened before and was discovered and strangled by Li Rui, or whether it had never happened before, but her rebirth changed the original trajectory of events and this incident happened.

It has been said that this incident is not recorded in history books. Even the Empress Dowager Liu and the cause of her death are only mentioned in a few words.

So now she can't find the answer she wants based on her memories of her past life.

Ruan Yuhu smiled. It seemed that she had not misjudged Shen Tianjiao. Shen Tianjiao was a person who cared about the world. It was worth her effort to plan for her.

"That's why I just said, why not let that old man instigate those court officials to make a scene? That way, you can figure out which people are useful and which are not without any effort."

"Those who can be used should be kept, those who cannot be used should be dismissed, those who should be killed should be killed, and those who should have their property confiscated and exiled should have their property confiscated and exiled. This is the only way to make the court cleaner and quieter."

Ruan Yuhu had been with the late emperor for many years. Even if she had not learned all the emperor's power-balancing skills, she had learned most of them. She knew how to intimidate and control the court officials.

"Aunt just said that he has painstakingly built up his power over many years, and he must have a considerable number of officials connected to him. If we follow what Aunt just said, not only will those aristocratic families disapprove, but even if there are suddenly so many vacancies in the court and they can't be filled in time, then the court will be paralyzed, and unrest is bound to follow."

There is nothing wrong with dismissing, killing, or exiling those officials who are connected with Li Hong, but who will fill the positions they leave?

What Shen Tianjiao lacks most now is talented people. Where can she find so many people to fill all these vacancies at once?

"My dear Jiaojiao, now that I have told you this, there must be a plan to deal with it." Ruan Yuhu liked Shen Tianjiao more and more. How could she only give Shen Tianjiao advice and not leave a way out for her?

Hearing Ruan Yuhu say that there was a plan, Shen Tianjiao felt more at ease. "I wonder what my aunt's plan is?"

"Then are you confident in me?" Ruan Yuhu looked at Shen Tianjiao and asked half seriously and half jokingly.

Shen Tianjiao nodded and said, "Of course I feel at ease with my aunt. Although I know nothing about her past, I know one thing very clearly: she, like me, has a heart that is dedicated to the public good and cares about the people of Yunli."

"Auntie, whatever you do is for the good of Yunli and the people of Yunli. Naturally, I am willing to listen to your instructions."

Ruan Yuhu was deeply touched by Shen Tianjiao's words. Others, including the late emperor who loved her deeply, had always been wary of her.

But the little girl in front of her was willing to trust her unconditionally even though she didn't know her at all. This was really beyond her expectations.

Ruan Yuhu couldn't help but reach out and touch Shen Tianjiao's head. She knew that this was against etiquette, but she wanted to do it at this moment.

"Jiao Jiao'er, as long as you are willing to trust me, I am willing to give everything I have to help you realize your dream and make Yunli Kingdom an irreplaceable and prosperous world in your hands."

"Let Yunli conquer all the nations, and there will be no more wars. Let the people of Yunli no longer suffer from the pain of war and displacement, and live in peace and prosperity."

Now it was Shen Tianjiao's turn to be shocked. She stared blankly at Ruan Yuhu and asked, "Aunt, I haven't told you any of this. How did you know?"

Ruan Yuhu looked at the silly Shen Tianjiao and couldn't help laughing. This girl could actually be so silly sometimes.

"Auntie, I'm good at fortune-telling. How do I know that? Of course I figured it out."