"Word has it that a courtier went into the palace yesterday to persuade the Empress Dowager to abandon the young heir apparent and install the 13th Lord of Prince Lian as the new emperor. The Empress Dowager humiliated him and rejected his proposal."
"Even a fool knows it's better to install a young heir with a powerful backer as emperor than a prince's son. Moreover, there's the Shi family backing Shi Muyuan!" Mo Sang wasn't at all surprised that Shi Muyuan had rejected the proposal.
"She's no fool," Mo Sang recalled the bet he'd made with her a few days ago. He'd been outsmarted by her wiles and lost half of his country's territory.
The way he'd struggled to move the stone statue had been a laughingstock. If it weren't for the decline of the Great Liang, that half of the territory would have been gone for sure.
"Prince Lian must be fuming. He failed to become emperor and was publicly humiliated. Hahaha. The Empress Dowager of the Great Liang is indeed as arrogant and rude as the rumors say. She's the younger sister that Shi An dotes on!" Mo Sang felt sorry for Prince Lian.
"We may not be able to leave. Send word back quickly and prepare gifts for the new emperor's enthronement ceremony."
"Yes, my lord."
Normally, the enthronement of a new emperor had nothing to do with other countries. But since they happened to be here at this time, leaving abruptly would seem inappropriate. They might as well stay a few more days. Mo Sang wanted to take a closer look at the internal situation of the Great Liang.
Mo Sang squinted and looked out the window in the direction of his own country.
He couldn't let the real gold and silver that the Empress Dowager had swindled and the piece of land from his Zhouyou Kingdom go unpunished!
People in the palace were busy with their own affairs in an orderly manner. Due to Shi Muyuan's hasty decision, the originally carefully planned enthronement ceremony had been compressed to within ten days.
Ji Heng, only nine years old, had already had several sets of clothes redesigned by the Bureau of Royal Attire. Officials from the Ministry of Rites came to discuss the enthronement with him every day. At such a young age, he was calm and composed, exuding the grace of the royal lineage.
The National Teacher's Mansion was also busy preparing for the new emperor's enthronement. Even though Huo Qizhou disliked Shi Muyuan, he had to consider her status as the Empress Dowager and the power of the Shi family behind her. Moreover, the new emperor still needed the Shi family's help to stabilize the court.
So when he returned to the mansion, he sent people to investigate who was trying to harm Shi Muyuan. At least this woman couldn't die yet.
Meanwhile, Shi Muyuan was also busy. She couldn't afford to be idle even if she wanted to. There were so many people watching and waiting for her answers. She simply summoned the same enthusiasm she'd had when she was a city administrator, eager to be promoted, and sat at the desk to read the memorials.
It made her eyes hurt. She couldn't help thinking that, in a way, she was like an empress.
Life was full of disappointments. Shi Muyuan, the former city administrator, often relied on such naive fantasies to boost her morale. It was a great way for her to stay happy.
Most importantly, Shi Muyuan thought it was okay for her to be incompetent or lazy, but she didn't want to let down Ji Heng, such a well - behaved child. She didn't want to hurt him because of her mistakes. This was her bottom line.
So she was working with 120% of her energy to handle these matters. When she encountered something she didn't understand, she'd call Ze Ze to ask.
At first, Ze Ze was terrified. How could he, a eunuch, know such things? Trembling, he suggested that Shi Muyuan call a senior maid named Xiao Xiao.
This senior maid had been specially arranged by the Shi family for Shi Muyuan. She was both literate and martial - skilled. Shi Muyuan had only been in this world for a few days and had temporarily forgotten about her.
With Xiao Xiao's help, Shi Muyuan learned a lot. It felt like she was a senior high school student cramming for exams. She couldn't help sighing that the Shi family was really ambitious. Even the low - ranking maid they'd planted was so capable. No wonder so many people wanted to bring her down.
She even thought her backer was a bit too powerful.
When the ministers who had submitted the memorials received the replies, they were completely confused. Looking at the memorials annotated in her clumsy handwriting, they wondered if the Empress Dowager had changed.
This news quickly spread throughout Changjing. Those with ulterior motives couldn't help but associate it with the Shi family.
It seemed that with the new emperor's enthronement, the Shi family was planning to use the excuse of the young emperor and the Empress Dowager's regency to control the court.
Mo Sang thought so too.
...
The day before the enthronement ceremony, Shi Muyuan was looking forward to finishing the work quickly so that she could retire and live a leisurely life as an old woman, raising two puppies in the palace. But while she was working hard, Xiao Xiao dragged her away to try on the palace dress for the next day.
The dark red fabric was embroidered with complex and luxurious patterns woven with gold thread. The headdress on her head was as heavy as eight pounds of iron, making her neck ache.
Before she could take off this cumbersome dress, Ze Ze rushed in and told her that her eldest brother had come.
Shi Muyuan had been an only child in her previous life. She knew that the original body had three powerful and doting brothers. Otherwise, with the original body's personality, she would have been dead and buried long ago. It was impossible for her not to be excited. She'd dreamed of having a brother in her previous life!
She quickly asked Ze Ze to lead her brother to the outer hall and changed into a more comfortable daily dress.
Shi An had been arguing with the National Teacher in the court a few days ago. He'd been tricked by Huo Qizhou into dealing with the case of military funds in the northern wastelands. When he returned today, he found that the elders of the Shi family looked disappointed. They called him over and lectured him.
His good sister had decided to install the emperor without consulting the family! It had infuriated these old - fashioned people!
Shi Muyuan's decision had completely disrupted all their previous plans.
The rumors were true. The Shi family did have ill - intentions towards the throne. After years of planning, just when they were about to reach a crucial stage, such a deviation had occurred. Several memorials they'd submitted had been casually responded to.
On the surface, everything seemed normal with the enthronement ceremony as a cover, but privately, they were extremely anxious.
They'd originally wanted Shi Muyuan's elder brothers to stop her, but he'd been away, the second brother was engrossed in academic research, and the third brother was nowhere to be found.
The matter was now a foregone conclusion and couldn't be changed. Fortunately, the new emperor was young, and there was still room for maneuver. It would be best to delay the situation for a few more years.
Now they'd called him into the palace to discuss with Shi Muyuan.
But Shi An was happy that his sister had grown up and could make her own decisions. He was angry that these old - fashioned people were criticizing his sister.
In his opinion, Ji Heng was the best candidate to ascend the throne. His sister had just anticipated his plan and acted in concert with him.
Rushing him into the palace now would only give some villains something to talk about. It was simply stupid.
But there were always people using their seniority to pressure him. It was time to reorganize the Shi family.
So this time when he entered the palace, he just wanted to see how his sister was doing and give her his greetings. As long as his sister was happy, he'd take care of everything else.