Marrying the Crown Prince

After speaking, Zhou Zhou's violently heaving chest gradually calmed down.

The murderous aura around her gradually subsided, and she returned to her usual appearance, though the gloom in her eyes could not be hidden.

"Lord Wei Yi, please open the palace doors and summon the cabinet ministers for a meeting."

Wei Yi hesitated for a moment, after all... Emperor Chenze was still lying in bed.

"It's alright, go ahead."

"Yes."

Soon, Wei Yi's voice came from the doorway, "His Majesty summons all the cabinet ministers to come in. As for the rest of you, you may leave."

There were fifteen cabinet ministers, including not only the six ministers and the chief minister, but also several military officers.

When Emperor Chenze finally agreed to meet with people, although he only met with a few important ministers, these were the only ones capable of handling such important matters.

Therefore, everyone is fairly satisfied with the result.

Therefore, the other court officials who were not in the cabinet all kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, we obey your decree. Long live the Emperor!"

After saying that, they quickly got up and left hand in hand.

Looking at the remaining cabinet ministers, Wei Yi swallowed hard and gestured for them to follow him. "Please follow me, gentlemen."

Wei Yi led his men straight inside.

The further they went in, the more puzzled they became. "Eunuch, why are there so many guards in the Hall of Mental Cultivation?"

Don't say that this was all before. Do you think they're visiting the Hall of Mental Cultivation for the first time?

"Yes, there are quite a lot," Wei Yi replied vaguely.

Seeing Wei Yi's inscrutable expression, the group exchanged a few glances and ultimately decided to go inside.

Soon, they arrived at Emperor Chenze's bedchamber.

Wei Yi stopped at the door, bowed, and said, "Please wait a moment, gentlemen, while I go in and inform you."

"Thank you, father-in-law."

"Don't dare, don't dare."

Wei Yi shook his head, silently thinking: No need to be so polite, just don't curse me when you find out the truth.

As it turned out, they wouldn't curse the Crown Princess or Wei Yi, who served Emperor Chenze, but they did curse Zuo Jin and Zhang Ling to their very noses.

Zuo Jin: "..."

I was just following orders, what did I do to deserve this?

Zhang Ling: "..."

Do you think I can go out?

"Absurd, utterly absurd!" The Prime Minister was both angry and anxious.

Zhou Zhou saw that he was quite old, and because of this, his body was trembling so badly that he almost fainted.

"Sir, why don't you sit down?" she suggested.

The Grand Secretary circled around twice, looking at Emperor Chenze, then at Zhou Zhou, before clutching his chest.

Fortunately, there was a royal physician available. Zhou Zhou hurriedly called out to Chief Physician Zhang, "Lord Zhang, quickly, take the Grand Secretary's pulse."

The Grand Secretary was helped to sit down in a chair.

He clutched his chest. "No need, no need. This old minister is just old, but I'm fine. I can handle it. Let's discuss what to do next."

“Sir, there’s no need to worry. You can take our pulse while we talk,” Zhou Zhou reminded us gently, without feeling that this was a form of exploitation.

because……

The Grand Secretary listened to Zhou Zhou's words and expressed his agreement, saying, "That's good."

"Gentlemen, please have a seat," Zhou Zhou said, gesturing for them to sit.

Yes, she was sitting right in front of Emperor Chenze's bed.

This……

In a way, it was like they brought Emperor Chenze along for a meeting... right?

Soon, the group discussed the rebellion of Qixi Kingdom and the attack by Yunqin Kingdom.

"Although the Kyoto garrison has 100,000 troops, it is too far away to provide immediate relief, so it is not appropriate to send troops from Kyoto."

"That's true, but we definitely need to transport grain to the southwest. What's wrong with sending grain and troops together?"

"You idiot, of course there's not enough time."

Zhou Zhou: "..."

Do you usually communicate like this?

"Alright, both of you, stop arguing." The Prime Minister spoke up, bringing the situation under control and simultaneously stating his own thoughts—

"In my opinion, we must send supplies and troops, but before that, we can't do nothing."

Another person quickly suggested a solution: "Could we ask the Marquis of Beiping to go and provide support first?"

The Marquis of Beiping and the Marquis of Zhaoqing lived not far apart, and when they had nothing to do, they would visit each other's homes.

"No, the Marquis of Beiping needs to guard the border. His forces have been reduced. What if another tragedy like the one in Anping County happens?"

When Anping County was mentioned, everyone fell silent, and the atmosphere inside the hall became stagnant.

Zhou Zhou pursed his lips and broke the silence first, saying, "Perhaps we could call General Chang Wei, who is stationed in Anhua County, and his 30,000 troops to provide support?"

“It only takes five days to travel from Anhua County to the southwestern border.”

"Of course, just to be on the safe side, the troops from Deyang County don't need to stay put. They should follow General Chang Wei and go to provide support together."

"As for the troops here in Kyoto, they will be the third batch of troops to come to the rescue."

This is a good method, but...

“With Anhua and Deyang’s troops gone, these are two empty cities, only ordinary people remain.”

"At that time, not to mention the Yunqin people invading, what if a few hundred bandits and thousands of refugees take over the city?"

This is indeed a very troublesome problem.

Zhou Zhou frowned, pondering how to remedy the situation, when another minister stood up.

"I'm telling you, Wang Yi, you're always so timid and hesitant, always afraid of this and that. You just dampen people's spirits."

"Come on, tell me, is there a better way? Why don't you share it with everyone?"

Hearing this, Wang Yi was furious. "What nonsense are you spouting? Besides, none of the other officials or the Crown Princess have said anything, so why are you so angry?"

"You idiot, isn't it precisely because these ideas are still in their infancy that we need to discuss them, patch them up, and fix the flaws in them?"

That makes a lot of sense.

So, everyone started discussing it enthusiastically again.

Finally, after half an hour of heated debate, the provisions in Zhou Zhou's proposal, through repeated revisions and additions, reached a conclusion.

Holding the memorial, she turned to Emperor Chenze and said, "Based on the suggestions of your son and the ministers of the cabinet, we have decided..."

She read the entire article in one go, then asked Emperor Chenze with great enthusiasm, "Father, what do you think?"

“Okay, I understand.” Zhou Zhou nodded.

After saying that, Zhou Zhou stood up and announced, "Gentlemen, rest assured, Father Emperor just said that he is aware of this and agrees to our actions."

The ministers: "..."

None of us have any problems with our brains or eyes, so there's no need to treat us like fools.

"Your Majesty, how do you know the Emperor has agreed?"

Zhou Zhou answered without batting an eye, "Since Father didn't object, he must have agreed."