【Quick Wear】My Years as a Mother-in-law

Chapter 173 The Queen Mother who picked up the bargain is very upset 19

Before the eldest prince had his first meal, he was weighed, measured for height, had his birthmark checked, and was examined to see if he was healthy. Zhang Lai carefully wrote down the exact time of birth and this information, which would later be recorded on the royal jade disc to prevent the child from being replaced.

"Mother, the child won't drink milk. Is it because the wet nurse's milk is not tasty?"

Lian Cheng didn't say anything when he saw the bottle, but he just wondered why the child didn't want to drink milk?

"The wet nurses are all the healthiest and most outstanding in all aspects." Yun Xi shook her head in denial. Looking at the fat boy with his eyes closed in her arms, she pondered for a moment, "Try reciting the Analects to him."

Lian Cheng was silent for a moment, then recited it in a low voice. Unexpectedly, the child opened his mouth and started drinking from the bottle. He couldn't stop drinking, and finished it quickly with a "gulp" sound. He smacked his lips and fell asleep quickly.

Lian Cheng exclaimed, "It's amazing!"

"He often listened to your voice in the Queen's belly. Remember, he is insecure now that he is just born. Once you recite the text, he will relax."

Yun Xi placed the child next to the queen and sat aside to handle palace affairs.

"Have all the people who brought the good news returned?"

Xiu'er pushed Nanny Yue away and hurried forward to report, "Yes, the Liu family wants to visit the palace."

"The Emperor hasn't had enough of it yet, so how could he bear to show it to others? According to the rules, wait until the Three Palaces Banquet to come and see it."

"Yes, Your Majesty, this is the Empress's postpartum diet. Do you think there is anything that needs to be changed?"

Yun Xi took the list and looked at it, saying, "There are too many medicinal dishes. Eating too much of them is not good for your body. Try chicken soup, hot milk, lotus root powder, and white fungus instead. You can also eat more eggs and meat. Choose mild apples as your fruit. Apple soup would be best..."

He talked a lot, Xiu'er wrote it down and went down to prepare.

Nanny Yue waited helplessly for Xiu'er to leave before stepping forward and saying, "Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, news has come from the East Factory that Concubine An and Concubine Shu are scheming to murder the Empress and the eldest prince."

"How dare you! Go and report to the emperor!"

?

"Have you heard? Who was arrested?"

"If you ask me, it's a good catch! He's so rampant."

"That's right, I heard a while ago that a beautiful girl was raped by them and died by jumping into a well."

"God has eyes."

……

"Have all the people from the An and Lin families been arrested?"

Yun Xi looked at her grandson and asked the emperor sideways.

"Yes, now Concubine Shu and Concubine An come to me every day to plead for mercy."

"You dare to harm the queen and now you are begging for mercy. You are so shameless. Don't be soft-hearted."

"Don't worry, mother."

The emperor wanted to hold a grand banquet for the baby's third birthday today and announce the baby's name at the same time, but Yun Xi stopped him. She said the child was too young and it would be too tiring for him to have too many people. So they would just hold a small banquet and wait until the baby was one month old, one hundred days old, and one year old before holding a big one.

Even so, many people came to the third-day bath banquet, and the child received many gifts. The emperor also announced the child's name, Lian Chen. Originally, he wanted to name him Chengtian, but Yun Xi scolded him, saying that how could a son's name have the same pronunciation as his father's? In the end, he chose "Chen" as the second best choice, which has both the noble qualities of a beautiful jade and the royal style, showing a kind of nobility and dominance.

When many clan wives heard this name, they went to congratulate the Empress's family, the Liu family.

"Isn't it said that the emperor is gay? How come he has a child?"

"Looking at the way he takes it so seriously, he won't be named the Crown Prince, will he?"

"It's normal to confer the title of Crown Prince. He's the eldest son."

"With all the turmoil outside, I think the palace is quite cheerful."

……

Who could have imagined that the Jinyiwei would produce evidence of corruption against so many officials at once?

The emperor hadn't expected the Imperial Guard to handle this so well. Commander Lu was feeling quite proud. He had sensed something was amiss since the emperor doubled the salaries of officials last year. Not only had he stopped accepting gifts, but he had also started collecting evidence of corruption among other officials. Wouldn't that come in handy? He was being praised by the emperor.

When Chen'er was one month old, the case of corruption and bribery came to a conclusion, and another group of people were confiscated and exiled. Concubine Shu and Concubine An were sent to the cold palace.

Lian Cheng became increasingly powerful as emperor.

Concubine Meng gasped, "Your Majesty... Xiao Cui, quickly pass the message over. Don't have any dealings with the Lin family. Just pretend the marriage proposal never happened. And don't engage in corruption again. It's terrible."

I knew it! Concubine Shu is so arrogant that something bad will happen sooner or later."

"He bribes the palace maids and eunuchs with money every day. I've always felt that the money comes from illegal sources."

……

Having said that, he lay down on the bed with a look of relief on his face.

"Yes, I will find a way to spread the news."

Xiao Cui left in a hurry.

Yun Xi knew about this but didn't say anything. Few officials in the imperial court were as honest and upright as Hai Rui. For example, hadn't Concubine Meng's grandfather ever been corrupt? Of course not. The current atmosphere among officials was extremely bad. Without gifts, there was no chance of promotion.

But it is impossible to confiscate the property of all officials and exile them. The replacement cannot be done so quickly, it has to be done slowly. The atmosphere cannot be changed all at once, but as long as the officials see the emperor's determination, they will naturally change slowly.

Once your army is well-trained, you can make drastic reforms. Are you worried about firing too many officials and having no one available? Not at all. It really proves the saying that if you don't do it, there are plenty of people who will. The imperial examination is held every three years, and only the top 100 or so are admitted each time. However, the court simply doesn't have that many positions to fill. This means many Jinshi (Jinshi) and other Jinshi can only wait for assignments. Even if there's a vacancy, they may not be chosen. It all depends on whether you've made the right arrangements and whether you have any connections behind the scenes...

"Emperor, I am thinking of establishing a royal academy."

"Royal Academy?"

Lian Cheng understood it after a moment's thought. This was to compete with the scholars in the south. After all, there were many scholars over there, and their voice was getting heavier and heavier. In the last corruption case, one million taels of silver and other assets were found in the Lin family alone. The An family had been quietly seized, but unexpectedly, they had twice as much assets as the Lin family, two million taels of silver and even more other assets. The same was true for several other families. He, the emperor, became the poorest one.

Despite the level of corruption, he only beheaded the ten-year-old males from several families, and spared all males under ten years old and women and children. This was much more merciful than the founding emperors who would kill thousands or even tens of thousands of people at will.

Even with this ironclad case, he was still criticized by a group of ignorant scholars, who said he was cruel and a tyrant. It is really puzzling and I don't know what their train of thought is.

"They're paranoid, but also worried. They think that after studying the words of the sages and mastering their teachings, they can rule the world together with the royal family. They believe that the royal family cannot be too cruel to them. This is also to prepare for their future entry into officialdom. After all, who wants their boss to be a decisive killer?"