knife

Chapter 535 I saw that door

A stunningly beautiful face was reflected in the bronze mirror.

She was beautiful, but the coldness on her face conveyed an attitude of keeping people at arm's length.

Whether they were high-ranking officials in the court, regional governors, or anyone else who had the opportunity to meet Jiang Qian, they all felt nothing but awe towards her.

Many people have witnessed Jiang Qian transform from a gentle and virtuous empress into the shrewd and calculating empress dowager she is today.

Many of them believed that this was a blessing from heaven for the Great Chu. When the late emperor died suddenly, the Qin army was pressing in, the country was in chaos, and many princes were vying for the throne, Jiang Qian stood out and saved the Great Chu from the crisis. In just a few years, the Great Chu, which was once on the verge of collapse, not only survived, but now even had the momentum to contend for the world.

The Qin state, which once loomed over the Chu state, actually collapsed before Chu could even begin to rise.

The reason for the stark contrast between the two countries is simply that Qin has an emperor, Li Anmin, who has become confused by consuming elixirs, while Chu has an empress dowager who has saved the country and its people from dire straits.

Even though the Empress Dowager now holds absolute power and has no say, many people still think this is only natural. The emperor is young, and the Empress Dowager is not in charge. Are the ministers supposed to be in charge?
If these people had truly been capable of leading the country, the Great Chu would not have been on the verge of collapse and destruction at that time.

This kind of understanding and support is the foundation for Jiang Qian's steady control over the Great Chu court.

After all, only a minority of the cult members had infiltrated the imperial court and were capable of establishing themselves there, so they could only be placed in the most crucial positions.

Only by sitting in this position can one understand that governing a country is far from being achieved through forceful means. The longer Jiang Qian controlled the court, the deeper this feeling became.

The religion has been suppressed, which has greatly limited its development. There are too few truly visionary, capable, shrewd, and knowledgeable civil officials. Many of the high-ranking members of the religion, when placed in local government positions, quickly turn the areas into a mess.

Upon closer examination, you'll find that these people were not greedy or corrupt; they were all single-mindedly focused on governing the area well. However, they often misdirected their efforts, and the more effort they put in, the worse things became—a classic case of good intentions gone wrong. In the end, they became like rats in a bellows, pleasing neither side.

This forced Jiang Qian to promote more people who were capable of doing things well.

In truth, I have been kind to them and promoted them, but once they find out that I am a member of the cult, will they still support me as unreservedly as they do now?
I'm afraid that's impossible.

Furthermore, what would they do if they knew that the sickly emperor had also died at their hands?
They would definitely jump up and oppose me immediately.

Even though they had done many things that were beneficial to the State of Chu, they would still react in this way.

He needed more time to transform the State of Chu.
More achievements are needed to make them gradually forget about the Xiong family.

Therefore, he needs to unify the world.

Even the heavens were on their side. After the Battle of Xiangcheng, the internal conflicts within Qin were fully ignited, and the seemingly powerful Qin state collapsed instantly. Several major forces fought each other relentlessly, and their strength was weakened every day.

I can also do what Empress Wu Zetian of the Dayong Dynasty did.

You can even go one step further.

Jiang Qian raised her hand and removed the hairpin from her hair, instantly undone her elegant palace hairstyle, and let her jet-black hair fall loose. Behind her, He Han picked up a comb and began to re-comb Jiang Qian's hair. "Empress Dowager."

Jiang Qian looked up at the face reflected in the bronze mirror, a face that seemed to want to say something but held back, and chuckled, "Just say what you want to say. Why are you hesitating?"

"Your Majesty, is it really necessary to go on this trip? This old servant is uneasy!" He Han carefully combed Jiang Qian's long hair: "Li Dachui is a deep and cunning man, and he is really difficult to deal with. Even an old fox like Linghu Ye was tricked by him and had no way to express his suffering. The Northern Yuan has been established for more than a hundred years, but at what seemed to be its most prosperous moment, it was divided and disintegrated by him. In just three years, the Northern Yuan was completely destroyed. And in Shu, which is closest to us, Li Huimin and the Tang family have been working hard for decades, but in the end, they were all made to benefit him. This old servant thinks that if we don't encounter such a person, it's fine, but if we do, we must kill him as soon as possible."

"Scared?" Jiang Qian asked with a smile.

"I am indeed a little scared!" He Han said without any attempt to hide his fear. "Empress Dowager, ever since this person appeared before us, one thing after another has happened. First, there was the Yong'an County Incident, then the loss of Fancheng, and now He Zudao is launching a major attack on Yong'an, while the Shu navy has suddenly sailed downstream. I think all of this is related to this Li Dachui!"

“I know!” Jiang Qian said, “Qin is in chaos right now, while our Great Chu is rising like the morning sun. Li Dachui is afraid that I will launch a northward campaign against Chu in a short time, so he wants to keep our Great Chu from having peace either! If He Zudao wins this battle and takes Yong’an County from us, it will indeed give us a headache. That guy is arrogant once he gains power. After getting Yong’an County, he will covet the Jianghan Plain. Li Dachui wants us to fight He Zudao to the death! So we must use overwhelming force to let He Zudao know how powerful we are. If He Zudao backs down, he will have no leverage.”

“This person is too powerful. This old servant thinks it would be better to kill him,” He Han said.

“At first, I didn’t want to kill this person either. I wanted to keep him alive to fight Linghu Ye. But now I think you’re right. If we keep this person alive, he will definitely become our greatest enemy in the future. Maybe Xiao Changche will be enough to deal with Linghu Ye. But do you think this person is easy to kill?” Jiang Qian asked.

He Han paused slightly and said, "This person is also a master of the Innate Realm, and he is indeed not easy to kill. If he runs away, we really can't stop him. But if we mobilize a large army, someone with his keen sense of smell would probably run away immediately! It seems unlikely that we can hunt down a master of the Innate Realm."

“Yes, he’s not easy to kill!” Jiang Qian laughed. “That’s why I have to accompany him to Cloud Mist Mountain.”

“I’m really worried about you spending so much time alone with him!” He Han said. “Besides, I don’t understand why this person insists on going to Yunwu Mountain. I don’t think he really has such a deep mother-son relationship with He Qingqiu that he has to go and pay homage to his mother’s old residence.”

“He must have something he wants, and that’s what I want to know too!” Jiang Qian took a deep breath and said, “And I also want to figure out what kind of cultivation technique he practices, and why it has such a strong attraction to the Phoenix Flame?”

Extending a finger, a tiny blue bud appeared at the fingertip, and then slowly began to bloom petal by petal before He Han's eyes. In a moment, a spark the size of a child's fist bloomed before He Han's eyes.

"Empress Dowager, your Phoenix Fire has improved again?" He Han was both surprised and delighted.

“Just spending this short time with him has allowed me to break through a bottleneck that I haven’t been able to overcome for years. This person must hold a big secret that I need!” Jiang Qian said, “Tell me, how can I not find out about this?”

"Does the Empress Dowager wish to see the scenery beyond the celestial realm?"

“I used to think this would be a very long process, but now it seems it might not take that long.” Playing with the blue flower in her hand, Jiang Qian said, “I think these things should have an answer in Cloud Mist Mountain. If we can really take it a step further, then let Li Dachui stay in Cloud Mist Mountain!”

Hearing Jiang Qian's words, He Han's face showed shock: "Empress Dowager, are you saying that you have already touched the threshold of divine travel?"

"I see the gate!" Jiang Qian looked at herself in the bronze mirror. As He Han moved his hand, her loose hair slowly turned into two braids. Under her curly bangs, her two big eyes blinked. The high and mighty Empress Dowager Jiang Qian was gone, replaced by the charming and cute Jiang Ping.

"Everyone knows who the other is, but they all pretend not to know. This is really interesting."

(End of this chapter)