Qiu
Che was about to speak, but the door of the hall opened at this moment.
Fuzi smiled and gestured: "Your Highness, Prince Consort, His Majesty invites you two to come in."
Overall, this meeting was quite pleasant.
In front of Qiu Che, Li Shi was as kind and caring as he could be to Li Qingwu.
And Li Qingwu had a perfect smile on his face from beginning to end, answering and responding obediently.
When sitting next to Li Shi, he was like a piece of overly perfect porcelain.
It stands to reason that after paying respects to the emperor, he would have to meet the empress and the queen mother, but Li Shi waved his hand when the two of them left: "Qiu Aiqing, you stay, I still have something to talk to you about."
Qiu Che and Li Qingwu looked at each other, and Li Qingwu gave her a subtle soothing look, and then quietly left.
Li Shi looked at their interaction thoughtfully. After Li Qingwu left, he smiled and said, "Why do I see that you two don't seem to be very affectionate on the first day of your marriage? My dear Qiu, you said you were happy and harmonious, are you kidding me?"
Qiu Che's heart skipped a beat.
She cupped her hands and said calmly, "Your Majesty has wronged me. Don't you know what kind of personality your Highness has?"
Li Shi immediately said, "Oh?"
Qiu Che smiled, "Qingwu is well-behaved and polite. He doesn't like to get too close to others, not to mention that he is even more shy in front of his father, your Majesty."
Li Shi nodded, and seemed to be satisfied with her reason.
In addition, he finally put his mind at ease when the nanny brought the handkerchief back to the palace in the morning.
Seeing that this hurdle had passed, Qiu Che sat back leisurely and asked, "I wonder why your Majesty asked me to stay just now?"
"The memorial you submitted," Li Shi mentioned this and frowned slightly, "is it too complicated?" There
are 500 laws and regulations in Daxia, and Qiu Che's memorial alone revised more than 300 of them.
Some time ago, he urged Qiu Che to submit the draft quickly, but when the draft was really submitted, he was overwhelmed.
He only asked Qiu Che to weaken the power of the prime minister and the aristocratic families, so why did he revise so many laws in a scattered manner?
Once the memorial was opened, it rolled six or seven times without stopping.
Recently, the old ministers' memorials of advice and remonstrance due to the content of the draft almost swallowed up the desk in his imperial study.
Fearing that the emperor would be angry and unable to deal with the issues of weakening the aristocratic families and the power of the prime minister, these people focused their attention on other laws revised by Qiu Che.
Although it is an indisputable fact that the law needs to be amended, Qiu Che amended it so thoroughly. If he could do it so easily, wouldn't it show that they, the old ministers, are incompetent?
So everyone formed a unified tacit agreement and decided to put as many obstacles in the way as possible.
Lest Qiu Che become too powerful by then, it would be really difficult to suppress him.
Li Shi was annoyed by the old ministers' snot and tears, and he himself felt that Qiu Che's draft was a bit too complicated, so he reluctantly came to discuss it with Qiu Che in detail.
He was puzzled and said: "Those clauses about foot binding and divorce... are all trivial things, why do they have to be included? I remember that I only asked you to weaken the rights and interests of the aristocratic families, why do you..."
Li Shi hesitated to speak, obviously thinking that Qiu Che's inclusion of these clauses was really unnecessary.
"Your Majesty, you don't know that these clauses are actually to weaken the aristocratic families."
Li Shi sighed and paused.
Qiu Che remained calm and said, "It's because the custom of foot binding started among the nobles. It's a private hobby of the aristocratic families, but it's called a custom and spread widely. The people have suffered from foot binding for a long time."
"If it goes on for a long time, won't whatever the aristocratic families say is right?"
"As the saying goes, the people can carry the boat, but they can also overturn it. Getting rid of this bad habit may seem like a small matter, but it can not only establish your majesty's clear-headed decision-making, but also win the hearts of the people and reduce the voice of the aristocratic families..."
Qiu Che said in a loud voice, "Eliminating bad habits and customs is a small matter, but winning the hearts of the people is the most important thing. Your majesty should understand this better than I do."
Li Shi was flattered by her words and coughed, "Of course. But what about supporting a woman to divorce her husband? How do you explain it?"
"I wonder if Your Majesty has heard of an old news in the Prime Minister's Mansion?"
"...You mean, Prime Minister Wu?"
Li Shi was very interested and motioned for her to speak directly.
"More than 20 years ago, Prime Minister Wu's only son, who was the then Minister of Rites, took a fancy to a brothel girl and forcibly married her back to his mansion. This woman had a strong and unyielding personality. She hid in the mansion and gave birth to a son a year later. That night, taking advantage of his unpreparedness, a dagger pierced the chest of Prime Minister Wu's only son."
Li Shi was shocked: "There is such a thing? How come I don't know it?"
"Prime Minister Wu believed that this was a family scandal and could not be spread to outsiders, so he killed the woman and concealed the matter. He announced to the outside world that the Minister of Rites had become disillusioned with the world and would leave the officialdom and travel away from home." Qiu Che smiled faintly, "He has been traveling for 20 years and no one has any suspicion."
"The child born by that woman is the eldest grandson of the Wu family, Wu Yiqi."
"But I watched him grow up," Li Shi said in surprise, "His mother is clearly from an honest family. She was the cousin of the Fu family who was married to her in a formal ceremony. Although she has passed away for many years, she is definitely not a brothel girl."
"It's just a lie," Qiu Che said calmly, "The brothel girl was secretly brought into the mansion. It was because Miss Fu was weak and sickly and could not give birth that Minister Wu let the girl give birth to the eldest son. Later, when the matter was settled, Minister Wu recorded the child under Miss Fu's name."
Li Shi was surprised and asked, "Where did you know these things?"
Qiu Che blinked and said frankly, "To be honest, these were all told to my biological mother by my grandmother, and then my mother told me. My grandmother was a close friend of the Empress Dowager during her lifetime, and she had a deep friendship with the Fu family, so she probably had her own sources of information."
Liar.
This was actually the truth she heard from Wu Yiqi in her previous life.
The heartless young man learned for the first time that his mother was forced into the mansion by his father and was killed by his grandfather whom he always respected.
In the end, he also learned that the tombstone of his mother, which he had worshipped for more than ten years, was not his own mother.
Overnight, many young people became pale.
Later, in the confrontation between the new and old powers with Wu Xiang, she was in danger many times, and Wu Yiqi, who should have stood on the opposite side of her, raised the sword and pointed it at his grandfather for the last time.
Just as his mother killed his father with her own hands, he killed his grandfather, whom he once admired the most.
Qiu Che didn't know what he was thinking when he raised the sword.
But she knew that Wu Yiqi finally chose this ending, not just because of his mother.
It was also because their positions were different.
There had been several different opinions in the planning, and repeated disputes made Wu Yiqi understand more that the people in power in the old era could not keep up with the new dynasty.
So when he learned the truth of the past, Wu Yiqi chose to cut off this unbearable past with his own hands and move towards a brand new future that belonged to him and this generation of young people.
He may have been soft-hearted in some things at some times, but when he grew up, he was actually much smarter and more decisive than his grandfather.
Being ruthless is also a required course for a person in power.
Obviously, he passed the test later.
The outstanding grandson who was personally raised by him, finally sent him to hell by his own hands.
I donât know what kind of mood Wu Xiang was in when he died.
Li Shi was silent for a long time and leaned back.
He sat on the dragon chair and stared at Qiu Che suspiciously: "Then what do you mean by telling me this now?"
"Your Majesty, donât you understand?"
Qiu Che smiled, "If this matter is spread first, how do you think the people will talk about Wu Xiang? Will they think that it is because the status of women is too low that the superiors are unscrupulous and take human lives lightly? If they have the right to divorce their husbands, will it not end like this? If someone continues to fan the flames, I am afraid that this matter will cause panic among the people."
"But if you have revised the law before this matter is spread, it will be completely different."
Qiu Che said slowly, "How people will denounce Wu Xiang's viciousness at that time will praise your wisdom."
It can both belittle Wu Xiang's prestige and maintain the emperor's reputation.
Kill two birds with one stone.
Li Shi's eyes suddenly lit up.
He looked thoughtful, and after thinking for a while, his tone became much calmer: "What you said makes sense, but... this time the law revision has caused such a big fuss, and I can't explain it to the court officials."
"Your Majesty. I set up this clause out of selfish motives."
Qiu Che did not answer the question, but sighed, "My mother, Wang, was actually from an honest family. Because my father acted absurdly back then, he forced her into the family and has been unable to get away until now..."
"Without my mother, I would not be here today. I am willing to die for Your Majesty, and I have nothing else to ask for. I just want to take this opportunity to free my mother from suffering."
Qiu Che stood up, cupped his hands to Li Shi, bowed deeply, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty is kind-hearted. Please, Your Majesty, just consider it as fulfilling my wish."
Li Shi sighed, as if moved by her filial piety, rubbed his temples, and said: "Okay, I know you are filial... I am not an unreasonable person, so let's do it this way."
"Complete the draft as soon as possible and submit it to the Ministry of Rites for review."
"Yes. Thank you, Your Majesty, for your consideration."
After Qiu Che left, Li Shi sat for a while and continued to review memorials with his pen.
After reviewing for a while, he frowned and suddenly said to Fu Zi, who had been silent and grinding ink for him, "Wait a minute." Fu
Zi was stunned: "Your Majesty, I'm here."
"Is he trying to trick me into taking the blame for the court officials?" The more Li Shi thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. "I clearly wanted him to solve the problem, but in the end, I had to satisfy his request!"
None of the problems were solved, and he had to face the difficulties of those old officials alone.
Qiu Che, on the other hand, left a few words of explanation, patted his butt and ran away.
Li Shi felt that he had been cheated, and his temper dropped again.
But a king should not joke. Since he had already agreed to Qiu Che's request, he couldn't call him back and say that I regretted it and asked me to change back all the broken rules you revised, right?
Fu Zi stood aside, not daring to speak.
After all, eunuchs and the harem cannot discuss politics.
Let your majesty guess what is going on.
Qiu Che did not meet the queen.
When she came to the queen's bedroom, Li Qingwu was sitting in the pavilion outside, sipping tea and looking at the scenery in the palace.
There was only Fuling beside her.
After Qiu Che met her, she was concerned about the crowds and did not say what she discussed with the emperor, but asked her why she was sitting here alone.
Li Qingwu put down the teacup, stood up and replied softly: "...My mother is not feeling well today. She said a few words to me and then I came out. I am waiting for you here."
So Qiu Che did not have to go to see her.
Looking at Li Qingwu's expression, Qiu Che could guess that the queen was not really unwell, but simply did not want to see her.
Who made her openly confront the queen at the queen mother's birthday banquet last time.
The higher the position, the more grudges they bear.
The queen could not meet, and on the queen mother's side, the two only met once and soon withdrew.
The reason was simple. The Queen Mother stopped practicing in Ganyu Temple some time ago, claiming that she was not in good health and wanted to return to the palace. The Emperor wanted to save face, so it was difficult for him to refuse. So she lived in the palace for some time.
But secretly, there were many people monitoring the Queen Mother.
Li Shi sent people to keep an eye on the Queen Mother, and naturally he always paid attention to those who were too cautious or too close to her.
So the two of them could neither stay too long to arouse Li Shi's suspicion, nor leave without seeing each other.
This would make it seem like something fishy was going on.
After coming out of the palace, sitting in the carriage, Qiu Che briefly told Li Qingwu about his conversation with the Emperor in the palace.
The other party listened quietly.
Finally, he asked tentatively: "Do you want me... to give any advice?"
Qiu Che was stunned: "Ah? No, I just want to tell you something."
The matter has been discussed, why do you need opinions?
Li Qingwu pursed her lips, a little embarrassed: "That's why I misunderstood. But... you don't need to tell me all this, it's quite time-consuming and useless."
Qiu Che was puzzled: "Why is it useless?"
Li Qingwu shook his head and said: "I don't understand these."
"Don't understand?" Qiu Che was puzzled, "Don't you understand the government, or am I not explaining it clearly enough?"
She said ashamedly: "I don't understand the government."
For more than ten years, she has learned embroidery, music, chess, calligraphy and painting, how to be a woman and how to raise children.
She can learn everything that the ladies of the family and the daughters of the rich have to learn, and she learns it well.
But she knows nothing about anything else.
Qiu Che didn't care: "You can learn it."
Li Qingwu laughed: "What's the point of me learning these?"
"Aren't we allies?" Qiu Che raised his hand, supported his chin and said lightly, "You don't even understand government affairs, how can you help me?"
Li Qingwu stammered: "But... I'm a woman."
Qiu Che glanced at her with a smile: "Then do you think I'm a real man?"
Li Qingwu searched through the words in his mind, explained with difficulty, and whispered: "But after all... you go to school and study like men, and you naturally learn what men have to learn, but I'm not..." Qiu Che asked cunningly
: "You're not, so you can't learn?"
Li Qingwu was speechless: "..."
"The girl of the Lin family holds the power of the Qiu family at the age of eighteen, and the girl of the Fu family is twenty years old and sits behind the curtain as a concubine... In the previous dynasty, the previous dynasty, and even hundreds and thousands of years ago, there were countless outstanding women."
"They may have been oppressed by the system, or they may not have been, but in the end, they all broke out of the corrupt system and found their own way. Even the history books have acknowledged that they created a miracle."
"This kind of thing is not unprecedented, and it will not happen again."
Qiu Che restrained his smile, stared at her closely, and said seriously:
"So why do you think that you, at the age of sixteen, can't be the creator of the next miracle?"
Li Qingwu opened his mouth.
"Besides, I didn't ask you to create a miracle."
Qiu Che said, "I just want to say that starting from scratch and learning the so-called things that only men can learn is not that difficult."