Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 404: Empress Dowager Yang

"Mother, what's wrong with you?"

Seeing his strong mother in tears, Li Ming no longer cared about etiquette. He took two steps at a time and walked up to Yang, taking her hand with heartache.

Yang gently touched her son's head, looked at Li Shimin, and tears flowed like rain.

This scumbag, he looks like this after just a few days of not seeing him, how miserable...

Li Shimin looked down at his sick body, shrugged his shoulders at his wife, and smiled calmly:
"I've grown old and useless, and I've become like this."

"Don't say such things, Your Majesty!"

Yang immediately stepped forward, leaned on her lover's right side, and held his arms tightly with both hands, like a little bird leaning on its mother.

Li Shimin closed his eyes, stretched out his left hand, and gently stroked his wife's hair.

"I'm really unfair to you..."

"It's good that you're back. It's good that my beloved is back safely..." Yang burst into tears.

The sorrowful and sincere expression of emotion moved everyone present.

The most moving person was Yin "Empress Dowager".

How dare this slutty woman flirt with you in public and seduce His Majesty the Emperor...

She was so angry that her teeth were itching, but she didn't have the courage to show it, and her expression was distorted.

She subconsciously looked at her younger sister who was on the same front as her, Wei Guiwei, the "Empress Dowager".

But this sight made her heart instantly sink.

Concubine Wei looked ashen, with her head hung low, looking a little dazed, as if she had resigned herself to her fate.

Concubine Yin had seen Concubine Wei in this state before.

That was the state of traumatic stress she fell into after being captured by the Ming army and witnessing the bloodiness and cruelty of the battlefield.

As the saying goes, I was scared.

Li Ming didn't even look at her, how could she be so scared... Yin Fei was a little disappointed and clenched her fists unwillingly.

The little thoughts of the women in the harem did not cause any waves.

Yang and the scumbag Li are still there making out.

When the in-laws were being cheesy, Li Ming consciously let go and stepped aside, not acting as a light bulb.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you." Li Ling and her four other sisters greeted Li Ming respectfully.

After all, there are outsiders present, so we have to give face to the emperor's brother.

But their eyes were flickering, and it was obvious that they were trying hard to hold back their laughter.

"Oh, thank you for your kindness." Li Ming also tried hard to keep a straight face and turned his gaze behind his sisters.

The loser duo, Li Chengqian and Li Zhi, stood awkwardly in the wind and rain, each with their own thoughts.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you..."

Li Zhi knelt down to Emperor Li Ming with a strong desire to survive.

No matter what his elder brother said, he knelt first to show his respect.

Li Chengqian's expression changed, but he finally managed to put on a smile without any hint of laughter, and said:
"Royal brother, long time no see."

The pronunciation is very clear, without the word "Your Majesty".

As soon as these words came out, the whole place fell silent.

No one dared to speak out.

Even Li Shimin was stunned, his eyes fixed on his eldest son.

Li Zhi gasped for the umpteenth time.

Big brother, you are talking about the "emperor", right? It's the emperor as in the throne, not the younger brother as in the stinky younger brother, right?

However, Li Chengqian seemed to be deliberately going against everyone. Not only did he not change his words, he straightened his chest and said loudly:
"I hope you are well. I feel relieved to see you so healthy, brother Ming."

This meant the car door was completely welded shut. Li Zhi almost fainted when he heard this.

Why are these stupid teammates always pushing themselves to death?

You, the deposed emperor, have lost all desire in life and want to seek death, but I, Li Zhi, am still young and don't want to die. Big brother, please don't drag me into this!
There was a villain shouting in Li Zhi's heart, but he didn't dare and couldn't shout out. He felt uncomfortable and his face turned red and white.

It's not just little brother Li Zhi.

The other captured "royal relatives" were all frightened by Li Chengqian's nonsense and broke out in cold sweats, their hearts pounding.

They were also afraid of being affected by the "Dragon's Fury" aoe and being cut for no reason.

It is the privilege of His Majesty the Emperor to be furious, but now, there is only one emperor in the hearts of people all over the world, and that is the most virtuous and wise emperor.

What is your current status, Li Chengqian? Why are you still putting on airs?
You are no longer the emperor! You are just a fake emperor who was crushed by Li Ming, a prisoner of the Ming Dynasty!

Stop dwelling on the past, the Tang Dynasty is gone!

Li Chengqian, you publicly called the emperor who defeated you "brother", this is what you are doing!
We have already lost the war, why should we be unconvinced?
Do you have the guts to fight again?
However, Li Ming turned a blind eye to Li Chengqian's rude attitude.

Of course, he also turned a blind eye to the fearful attitude of Li Zhi and others.

To be precise, he completely ignored these respectful, cautious, and neither humble nor arrogant attitudes.

He is busy.

Busy counting heads.

Li Chengqian, Li Zhi, Li Ke, Li An, Concubine Wei, Concubine Yin, Concubine Yan... Oh, no, no, why are there two people missing? Oh, that's right, Li You was chopped off by Li Tai, and Li Tai was chopped off by me...

After confirming that all the core members of the Li family were present and no one had lost contact in the chaotic times, especially after confirming that the two big crispy members Li Chengqian and Li Zhi were still intact.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, all the relatives are here. Not only does this reduce a black spot in the history books, but more importantly, the annual family gatherings during the Chinese New Year will not be too awkward.

As for how his relatives viewed him now, he knew it with his knees, so he simply did not delve into it. He just nodded and greeted the relatives who came to greet him with the dignity that an emperor should have.

"Hello, comrades. Thank you for your hard work."

"Hmph!" Li Mingda turned his face away stubbornly, deliberately not looking at him.

"..." Li Zhi felt numb.

One or two of them are both stupid teammates...

"..." Looking at his grumpy little sister, Li Ming could only smile bitterly and pretend he didn't see it. He ignored her for the time being and turned to his father and mother who were immersed in their own little world.

"Let's go inside and talk."

The superficial work is done, it's time to get down to business.

Queen Mother Yang was holding her son's hand in silence. When she heard her son calling her, she just nodded lightly, then returned to her infatuation and continued to be silent.

Li Shimin stood in awe.

Are there any experts?

…………

His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and his father, the Empress Dowager and his mother walked into the bedroom, probably to discuss something important.

The rest of the people who had come to welcome the emperor had nothing else to do, so they dispersed and went home.

"Cough cough!"

Li Zhi felt that for the sake of his own life, he needed to talk to his elder brother.

Seeing that there was no one around, he lowered his voice and said in a rather reproachful tone:
"Brother, you are too disrespectful to the Emperor Ming.

"Aren't you afraid that he will get angry if you don't give him a way out in public?"

Li Chengqian glanced at him:
"I am also the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Why are you so disrespectful to me?"

Li Zhi was choked and scratched his head helplessly:

"Times have changed, my brother. Now we are all prisoners. If we want to survive, we have to be pragmatic."

Apart from me, your brother who stands by you, which of your former servants has ever cared about you so much? You must cherish your little brother, Brother Chengqian~ Li Zhi complained in his heart.

Li Chengqian looked deeply at his ninth brother who had an overly strong desire to survive, and patted him on the shoulder:

"Don't worry, His Majesty the Great and Sage Emperor of the Ming Dynasty has no intention of killing us."

"Why do you think so?" Li Zhi didn't quite trust his elder brother.

After all, among the four "legitimate sons" fighting for hegemony, eldest brother Cheng Qian is the weakest.

Li Chengqian responded to Li Zhi's suspicious attitude with a smile:

"Didn't you notice that Li Ming didn't even look at me when I deliberately offended him?

"In his eyes, there is no such thing as us." Li Zhi was stunned.

"What does this mean? This means that to Fourteenth Brother, we are not a threat at all." Li Chengqian sighed, feeling helpless and powerless:
"In the eyes of His Majesty the Emperor, we are all useless.

"He's just a useless person. Does he need to be wary of him or spend time dealing with him?"

Li Zhi's eyelids twitched when he heard this, and he inexplicably thought of Zhuangzi's "Xiaoyaoyou" which he had learned when he was in school.

A big tree was despised because it could not grow into good stuff. But who knows, it was precisely because it could not grow into good stuff that it escaped the fate of being cut down and instead grew up smoothly.

The use of uselessness will eventually become of great use.

Li Zhi never thought that he would become a tree like this, living on uselessness...

"Ninth brother, you say..." Li Chengqian suddenly said:
"Fourteenth brother has been doing all kinds of nonsense in the palace in the past. Did he also want to pretend to be a useless person in order to live longer in the palace?"

Li Zhi was suddenly startled:
"He has been naughty since he could talk. Is he just pretending? It's impossible. Even if he was born a child prodigy, he wouldn't be so naughty..."

"But you see, after he took power, how many times have you seen him really act crazy? It's only been a few years since he peed on Mr. Kong Yingda's desk?" Li Chengqian said.

Li Zhi opened his mouth wide, but didn't know what to say.

Li Chengqian leaned over and whispered in his ninth brother's ear:
"If you want to survive, how about learning from Brother Ming's approach?"

After saying this, he patted Li Zhi's shoulder heavily again, turned around, got into the car and left - with the permission of His Majesty Li Ming, royal relatives and ministers who came to the palace to report could ride in cars and horses in the palace.

Li Zhi stared blankly at his elder brother's carriage as it sped away, until it disappeared into the dense rain and fog. Only then did he belatedly realize a problem:
Before Brother Li Chengqian tried to find out Li Ming's true attitude by committing suicide, how could he know that Li Ming had never taken them seriously from the beginning and had no intention of killing them?

The answer is, I don’t know!
"Brother, you are in poor health and have no desire to live, so don't drag me into this!"

The corner of Li Zhi's mouth twitched and he felt a little scared.

…………

On the other side, Concubine Yin caught up with Concubine Wei and called out:
"elder sister."

She was unwilling to be imprisoned in this cramped cage, and to be an unloved "imperial concubine", and to spend the rest of her life at the feet of the criminal Yang.

She didn't give up, she wanted to struggle a little more and fight in the palace.

Even if it is impossible to overthrow Queen Mother Yang, at least she must let the other party experience her power.

Of course, she absolutely could not fight against Empress Dowager Yang alone.

Because she is really not that powerful, she desperately needs an accomplice.

And Wei Gui was the first person she could unite with.

Wei Gui had a good family background, strong abilities, and a prince.

With efforts from both sides, as long as the imperial concubines and the princes and princesses in the palace unite, the so-called "empress dowager" will surely be forced to act cautiously!

When she thought of this, Concubine Yin became anxious and shouted again:
"elder sister!"

But Concubine Wei seemed not to have heard it. She kept walking forward with her head down, accompanied by her attendants.

Concubine Yin was a little puzzled and raised her voice:

"elder sister!"

"Your Highness the Dowager?" Concubine Wei's attendant couldn't help but remind her in a low voice.

Only then did Wei Gui stop.

But she did not look at Yin Fei who called her. She still kept her head down, her lips opening and closing rapidly.

"Sister... Sister, what's wrong with you?" Yin Fei was a little scared and asked with a trembling voice. At the same time, she bent down to listen to what Wei Gui was muttering.

"I can't win. I can't win at all. I can't win no matter what..."

Concubine Wei repeated numbly.

She seemed to have returned to the day when she was captured. Her guards and coachman were all killed. She was surrounded by the ferocious Ming army and trapped in the carriage, at a loss.

That day made her realize her helplessness completely——

I am just a plaything dependent on the emperor.

When the emperor she depended on was not taken seriously, she herself would naturally not be taken seriously either.

For example, now.

Is now the time to be jealous?

Do you concubines have the qualifications to compete with Empress Dowager Yang?
What Empress Dowager Yang depended on was not her husband, but her son!

The fate of these imperial concubines and even the emperor himself actually depends on the thoughts of Yang mother and son!
It's not a level of competition at all.

If Empress Dowager Yang was a violent storm, then all these women together were at best just a storm in a teapot...

…………

"It rained really hard today. You got soaked."

In the Empress Dowager's bedroom, in the elegant and unique study.

Empress Dowager Yang wiped the water droplets off the bodies of her travel-tired husband and son with heartache, and made tea for them herself.

"Nothing's wrong, mother. Fortunately, it started to rain after we landed, otherwise the wind and waves would be so strong that I would be seasick again."

Li Ming smiled brightly, like a real, carefree teenager.

"This rain comes just in time! It can alleviate the drought. I was really worried because it didn't rain for a long time before."

Li Shimin shook his head disapprovingly and said:
“Not necessarily, the rain was too heavy.

"The weather this year is different from previous years. After a long drought, I'm afraid there will be floods."

So that's how it is... Li Ming listened carefully to his father's experience.

In industry, Mr. Li is not good enough. In agriculture, Mr. Li is not good enough. Whether this year's grain harvest will be good depends entirely on the operations in the next two months.

The topic naturally turned from the weather to serious topics.

"Mother, is there any flood in the country?"

Li Ming was away on a military expedition, and the monarch was offline for a long time.

As for the domestic situation, we could first ask Queen Yang who stayed behind to look after the house, and then compare it with the bureaucratic group, and we would get a comprehensive understanding.

Queen Yang smiled gently:
"My mother is short-sighted. She has spent all her energy just managing the palace. How can she be capable of looking after the country for you?

"As far as I can remember, there shouldn't be a major flood. Just ask Prime Minister Fang and Prime Minister Changsun for the details."

Full marks answer.

"It's good that there is no flood." Li Ming breathed a sigh of relief, but then he remembered something and said with a worried look on his face:

"Now our country encompasses the entire world, including the Central Plains, Guanzhong, and the vast southern regions. I don't know..."

"There was no major flood either." Empress Dowager Yang replied confidently.

"Really? That's good." Li Ming was completely relieved and smoothed his brows.

Li Shimin frowned.

No, it’s only been a short time since the Tang Dynasty surrendered, and the civil servants on both sides have not yet officially started the handover of work!

How come Yang, who is so “short-sighted”, knows the situation of the enemy’s territory so clearly?

"This time the rain was caused by a typhoon in the south, which blew all the way to Liaodong, so the rain came very quickly."

Empress Dowager Yang narrated:
"The typhoon came earlier this year. Ming'er, your grandfather is right. Although there has been no major flooding in the country, we must prepare for a rainy day and build embankments in advance."

After these words were spoken, Li Ming and Li Shimin did not respond for a while.

Before the silence reached the critical point of being "awkward", Queen Mother Yang smiled naturally and said:
"I heard what Fang Xiang said by chance. I don't understand any of this, but I thought it was important, so I passed it on to you."

"Oh...oh, it was the Prime Minister who said that. The Prime Minister really knows everything about astronomy and geography~"

Li Ming tentatively accepted the Empress Dowager's explanation.

"Uh, cough."

Li Shimin coughed and brought the topic back:

“So, you should immediately issue an order to mobilize civilians to dredge the river and build river embankments in advance.

"In addition, you should work with your subordinates to prepare plans for disaster prevention and relief, especially for the people living along the major rivers, who need to be evacuated if necessary."

Li Ming listened carefully and nodded from time to time.

At this time, Empress Dowager Yang said quietly:
"That's no longer necessary. I've already recruited civilians and prepared a plan. I'll just wait for its review tomorrow."

As soon as these words were spoken, there was complete silence.

Li Ming and Li Shimin both looked at Empress Dowager Yang, who had long hair and great knowledge.

No, didn’t you say that you have no ability to interfere in politics?

(End of this chapter)