Author: Feng Chuxiao

In the spring of the eleventh year of Dashang Dynasty, on February 6, Lu Hebei passed away suddenly, accompanied by the queen and his sister.

He was still so young, and the largest of the two children he left behind was only just knee-high.

The empire of the great merchant and the several women in his palace were all abandoned by him, leaving it to Lu Shege to protect him.

Gongsun Wanying couldn't accept this reality and fainted at first.

Lu Sheige wiped away his tears, and with the help of Eunuch Cheng, he changed his second brother's clothes, then called for Chen Xiaohu, and sent the body out of the capital overnight.

The palace kept secrets of the funeral, so Chen Xiaohu personally drove Lu Hebei's body to Dongyang County.

The next day coincided with the imperial meeting.

Eunuch Cheng advised Lu Xiangge to take a rest. After staying up all night, his eyes were black and blue, so he might as well forget about the meeting this morning.

Lu Sheige shook her head. Her second brother was so ill and still didn't forget about state affairs. If she were to be more lax, wouldn't she be disrespecting her second brother's trust?

In the court, civil servants and generals held different opinions. One wanted to increase military expenditures and strengthen soldiers and horses. The other wanted to cut back on income and spend more money and food on disaster relief.

Lu Sheige watched with blank eyes the people below who were arguing with red faces, but his thoughts had already followed Lu Hebei's departure, heading down the river towards Dongyang County.

Her second brother should have arrived in Dongyang County.

Last night, it was Xiaohu who came in and took the second brother's body out in a carriage.

The emperor died of illness, and the queen couldn't bear the blow and fell ill all of a sudden. Chen Luming was still young, so the queen had to leave her to the care of the queen mother when she was sick. Even Chen Luxing and Lu Shege who stayed in Renshou Palace did not have anyone to take her back to Taiji Palace.

Having two children around would somewhat reassure the Queen Mother.

Moreover, her second brother had just died, and Lu Sheige always felt that his heroic soul was still there, so she did not want to put her child in the palace.

Lu Sheige thought that after the death of his second brother, she would be the strongest one, but he did not expect that it was the Queen Mother who gritted her teeth and held on.

In the morning, the maid from the Renshou Palace brought the young prince in her arms, saying that it was the Queen Mother's order for the young prince to go to court with the emperor. Eunuch Cheng was worried, so after asking a few more questions, he found out that the Queen Mother had turned gray overnight and looked old.

More than ten years old.

Hearing this, Lu Xiangge felt great sadness in his heart.

Her brother died, and she had to endure the pain and go to the morning court.

When her aunt's three sons died, she poured all her love and hope into her second brother. Unexpectedly, this time, her aunt's white-haired son gave birth to a black-haired one.

It turns out that my aunt has been carrying it hard for so many years.

The death of her second brother was as painful to her aunt as watching her own son die in her arms.

Yesterday, in order to maintain chaos in the palace, even though the Queen Mother knew that her second brother had passed away, she could only endure her grief and did not come to see him off on his last journey.

This is probably because my aunt was so sad that her hair turned gray overnight.

If possible, Lu Xiangge would like to run to Renshou Palace and hold the Queen Mother in his arms and cry loudly.

But she can't, now she is not the princess of Dashang, she is the emperor of Dashang.

Every word, every move she makes is watched by millions of people, and she cannot make a wrong step.

Even though she had just lost a close relative yesterday, today she still had to sit in the Golden Palace and listen to a group of ministers arguing and making noise.

Increase military pay.

Oh!

Lu Sheige sneered, the borders were stable, and military pay was never withheld. These people wanted to increase military pay, but they just wanted to add to their own power.

When they become more powerful, she, the emperor, may not be able to do anything against them.

The Great Shang dynasty was snatched away by Chen Quan, so there were many people below who were eager to steal it from the Chen family.

It's just a pity that this big businessman has fallen into the hands of the Lu family. Even if he tried his best, Lu Shege would not let this big businessman become a drag on Chen Luxing.

As for what the civil servants said about increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, and spending more money and food to relieve the people, the starting point is indeed a good one.

However, the person who made this suggestion had an evil intention and called it disaster relief. He was afraid that the money and food would fall into his hands and the people would still suffer.

Even if he could distribute all the money and food to the disaster-stricken people without being greedy or withholding, who would know that the money and food were allocated by someone sent by the emperor.

When the time comes, let him win the hearts and minds of the people. Maybe after a few years or more, this person will have the idea of ​​​​rebellion.

Or it was because I spent my own money to earn him prestige.

"His Majesty."

Prime Minister Gongsun took a step forward, bowed his hands and said, "I hope your Majesty will make your decision."

Everyone clasped their fists and said in unison: "I hope your Majesty will make a decision."

There was a "bang" sound.

Lu Sheige, who was sitting on the dragon chair, seemed to have just been awakened. He raised his hand and swung the small silver pot that Chen Luxing had placed aside to the ground.

This small silver pot was given to Lu Sheige by Zhou Yang. Later, in order to prevent Chen Luxing, who accompanied her to court, from starving, she asked the people in the imperial kitchen to fill the small silver pot with goat's milk and rice soup every day.

The little prince could sit on the dragon chair and listen to the fragrant goat milk and thick rice soup without anyone noticing.

This time, Chen Luxing had just finished drinking the goat milk and white fungus soup, and put the small silver pot on the chair. Unexpectedly, his father swept it to the ground.

Chen Luxing whispered: "Little silver pot."

Eunuch Cheng beside him crouched down, raised his middle finger, and said softly "Shh".

Chen Luxing also realized that he shouldn't make a sound at this moment, so he raised his hand to cover his mouth, his big eyes rolling around.

He wanted to know why his father was angry.

The small silver pot rolled down the white jade steps until it reached the front of Prime Minister Gongsun, and then stopped steadily.

The originally noisy hall suddenly became quiet. Everyone's eyes first fell on the silver pot on the ground, and then secretly looked at the emperor on the dragon throne.

Everyone speculated in their hearts, is the emperor angry?

So who is the emperor angry about? Is he unwilling to increase military pay? Or is he unwilling to help the people?

Lu Sheige sat calmly on the dragon chair. She raised her head slightly and scanned the people below.

For a long time, when everyone did not dare to take a breath, Lu Xiangge suddenly stood up and turned around without saying a word.

Eunuch Cheng hurriedly shouted: "Retreat from the court."

He bent down and picked up the little prince, and chased him out.

The ministers were left looking at each other, but they couldn't figure out why the emperor was angry.

When everyone was talking and exiting the hall one by one, Zhou Yang slowly stepped forward, picked up the silver pot on the ground, took out the handkerchief and wiped it with care.

Seeing the small table peeking out, he hurriedly handed over the silver pot in his hand: "Mr. Table, are you looking for this silver pot?"

"Exactly, thank you General Zhou."

The small table carefully took the silver pot and held it, turned around and prepared to go to the back hall.

Zhou Yang hurriedly asked in a loud voice: "But your Majesty sent your father-in-law to find this silver pot."

He paused at the foot of the small table, then turned around and said, "No, it's the little prince. Every day when he goes to court, this silver pot is filled with hot water. The little prince likes to drink it, so this silver pot can't be thrown away."

Hot water?

Zhou Yang chuckled, clearly what he smelled was goat milk and white fungus soup.

However, His Majesty did not ask Eunuch Table to come to him, which somewhat disappointed Zhou Yang.

It turns out that the princess gave this silver pot to the young prince!

I thought she liked it very much!
Chapter completed!