I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 4 Emerging
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Seeing that Liu Qingjing had become so powerful, Zhao Xu personally put pressure on Empress Dowager Xiang on her behalf, and Empress Dowager Xiang had to avoid her edge. Zhao Ya still dared to try to stop a chariot with a mantis arm. Everyone present looked at him with awe!

Empress Dowager Xiang, who had already resigned herself to her fate, opened her eyes and looked at Zhao Ya.

Empress Dowager Xiang never expected that when she was about to fall into the abyss, the person who pulled her out was not Zhao Ji, whom she had always regarded as her own son, but her adopted son Zhao Ya, with whom she did not have much communication or even took seriously.

Zhao Ya stood firmly in front of her, shielding her from the immense pressure from Zhao Xu, in stark contrast to the evasive or astonished gazes around him.

At this moment, Zhao Ya, who had always been unknown, was like a bright star, shining brightly in the darkness.

Empress Dowager Xiang looked at Zhao Ya's back and thought to herself, "Could I have been mistaken? Prince Shen is the filial son, the most responsible member of the royal family, and the pillar of our Song Dynasty?"

Zhao Ji was also shocked. He had not expected the usually calm Zhao Ya to be so reckless. "The Queen Mother has the support of the old party, and as the legitimate mother of the emperor's brother, she doesn't dare to confront Concubine Liu, who has a prince by her side. How can you, a lazy prince, be the first to step out? How can you avoid retaliation from Concubine Liu and the new party?"

Ma Xiaojiao and Yuan Qingcheng finally noticed Zhao Ya, and they exchanged glances:
"Is he the Zhao Ya that Zhang Chun mentioned, the one who is suitable to replace Zhao Ji as emperor?"

"It seems that he is very brave. He even dares to contradict the devil Liu Qingjing."

"If such a man of character became emperor, he wouldn't be as cowardly as Zhao Ji, Zhao Huan, and Zhao Gou, father and son, who led to the Jingkang Incident, right?"

Liu Qingjing was so angry that her face turned blue. Even her carefully applied makeup couldn't hide her distorted face. Her eyes narrowed slightly, emitting two cold rays, as if warning Zhao Ya not to ruin her plan, otherwise she would definitely fight with Zhao Ya to the death.

Zhao Ya met Liu Qingjing's gaze without fear, as if to say "come at me".

Zhao Xu thought that someone would stand up to prevent Liu Qingjing, who had a bad reputation, from ascending to the throne, but he never expected that this person would be Zhao Ya, who usually did not care about state affairs.

Zhao Xu had already decided to make Zhao Qingjing the queen, so he exuded his imperial authority and stared into Zhao Ya's eyes and asked, "Why does Prince Shen object?"

Faced with Zhao Xu's pressure, Zhao Ya did not retreat, but replied calmly and forcefully:
“The Queen is the mother of the country and has great responsibilities.

When one is virtuous, he treats concubines and palace maids with kindness and benevolence, without showing any partiality based on closeness to them. He resolves palace disputes invisibly and makes the harem a place of peace and tranquility.

When facing the offenses of concubines and the mistakes of palace maids, one should be tolerant and understanding with generosity, without any jealousy or resentment, and maintain the harmonious atmosphere of the palace with peace and grace.

When you are respectful and filial, you should be sincere respectful and filial to the empress dowager, concubines and other elders. You should visit them in the morning and wait on them at night, serve them, and strictly follow the etiquette of filial piety, setting an example for the subjects of the world in filial piety and respecting the elders.

Only in this way can she be a role model for women all over the world, be respected by all people, be a model for the country, maintain the dignity of the royal family, educate the women of the Song Dynasty, and stabilize the foundation of the Song Dynasty's rule.

"But Consort Liu, relying on her favor, has become arrogant and has acted erratically and recklessly, causing chaos in the palace. Everyone in the inner palace fears her bad reputation. How can she be made Empress?"

As soon as Zhao Ya said this, everyone present felt a wave of emotion in their hearts.

Some of them looked at Zhao Ya with admiration.

Many people in the inner palace even felt that a ray of light had finally shone into this dark palace.

Among them are Zheng Xiansu and Wang Yisu.

In fact, they entered the palace at the same time as Liu Qingjing.

However, Liu Qingjing was lucky and was assigned to Zhao Xu as a master attendant.

In her early years, Liu Qingjing was smart, beautiful, good at singing and dancing, and versatile. She was deeply loved by Zhao Xu. At that time, she was filial to Empress Dowager Xiang and Concubine Zhu, so she was promoted from Princess Pingchang to Beauty.

Later, Liu Qingjing gave birth to two daughters for Zhao Xu in succession, and was even more favored by Zhao Xu.

Gradually, Liu Qingjing realized that Zhao Xu did not like Prime Minister Meng, and began to disobey the etiquette of a concubine. She became arrogant because of her favor and often openly provoked Prime Minister Meng.

Zhao Xu chose to turn a blind eye to all this.

In the end, Liu Qingjing used Zhao Xu to depose Prime Minister Meng and compete with Empress Dowager Xiang.

Liu Qingjing became more and more domineering because of this, and too many people in the harem suffered from the harassment and oppression of Liu Qingjing and her subordinates.

Now, Liu Qingjing took the opportunity of giving birth to Zhao Xu's only son to point her sword at the Queen Mother.

If Empress Dowager Xiang were to be taken away by Liu Qingjing, Zheng Xiansu and Wang Yisu, as her closest ladies-in-waiting, would likely face a disastrous fate. They might even end up like the people in Prime Minister Meng's palace. Therefore, Zheng Xiansu and Wang Yisu, while appearing calm on the surface, secretly hoped that Zhao Ya could crush Liu Qingjing's arrogance and preserve Empress Dowager Xiang's power and status.

Of course, there were also many people, such as Zhao Ji, who thought that Zhao Ya was too impulsive, even too stupid, and dared to criticize even the most popular Concubine Liu.

After hearing Zhao Ya's definition of the queen, Ma Xiaojiao and Yuan Qingcheng's favorable impression of Zhao Ya increased greatly: "He at least knows the good and bad women, unlike Zhao Xu who is so confused that he can't even tell the difference between a good woman and a green tea."

Liu Qingjing could no longer hold back. She angrily shouted, "You are slandering me! How am I not virtuous, tolerant, and filial? How can I be so arrogant and act so perversely and recklessly because of my favor?"

Zhao Ya faced Liu Qingjing, whose facial features had been deformed, and said bluntly:

"You colluded with court officials, suppressed dissidents, framed the Queen, and disrupted the palace. Everyone has witnessed this. How can you afford to quibble?"

"Now you are using your achievements to seek rewards, hoping to seize the position of empress, overthrow the empress dowager, and dominate the harem. Sima Zhao's intentions are known to everyone."

"How have I wronged you in all these matters?"

Without waiting for Liu Qingjing to explain, Zhao Ya looked at Zhao Xu and continued, "The Han Dynasty was established for five generations, and its glory was in Jianyuan. Emperor Wu repelled foreign invaders, improved laws and regulations, performed Fengshan rituals, changed the calendar, and changed the clothing. He should have been praised as a sage ruler by the world, but in his later years, the witchcraft incident broke out, destroying his reputation and causing the loss of his beloved son. Alas, how sad."

At this point, Zhao Ya met Zhao Xu's sharp gaze and said without hesitation: "If my royal brother does not stop before it is too late, he may follow in the footsteps of Emperor Wu in his later years and regret it later."

Seeing that Zhao Ya even brought up the taboo of the witchcraft case in order to prevent Liu Qingjing from ascending to the throne, everyone present was shocked.

Yes.

Liu Qingjing is the culprit in the witchcraft case.

But don't forget that the witchcraft case was commissioned by Zhao Xu.

In other words, Zhao Xu is also to blame for this witchcraft case.

Now that Zhao Xu is still in power, Zhao Ya wants to reverse the verdict on Meng Xiang and slap Zhao Xu in the face.

Isn't this really bold?
Ma Xiaojiao and Yuan Qingcheng, who already knew of Meng Xiang's great achievements in history, felt very sympathetic and admired Meng Xiang. Now, seeing Zhao Ya publicly overturning Meng Xiang's verdict, their favorability towards Zhao Ya soared. They even thought: "This is it! Such a brave man deserves to be the emperor!"

Liu Qingjing knelt down before Zhao Xu with a thud, crying, "I beg the Emperor to help me and punish Prince Shen for his false accusations!"

Zhao Xu's face had turned gloomy. He had never expected that Zhao Ya would dare to openly expose the witchcraft case in order to prevent Liu Qingjing from ascending to the throne, and even compared him to Emperor Wu of Han in his later years!
Zhao Xu looked at Zhao Ya and asked coldly, "Prince Shen thinks I did something wrong?"

Zhao Ya didn't evade the question. Instead, he met Zhao Xu's gaze and answered calmly and forcefully, "Your Majesty, as an emperor, should take in many concubines and continue his lineage. However, even the common people know that favoring concubines over wives is the way to ruin a family, let alone the imperial family. If Your Majesty insists on asking me for my opinion, I believe you are wrong."

When Zhao Ya said this, everyone present was so shocked that they dared not even breathe! They really did not expect that Zhao Ya would dare to accuse the emperor of doing something wrong in public!
This also made those who dared to be angry but not to speak out, especially those in the harem including Zheng Xiansu and Wang Yisu, secretly happy.

Of course, there were also people like Zhao Ji who thought that it was bad enough that Zhao Ya confronted Concubine Liu, but now he even dared to slap Zhao Xu in the face in public, which was extremely stupid.

The admiration in Ma Xiaojiao and Yuan Qingcheng's eyes grew brighter and brighter. If it were up to them, they might even have decided that Zhao Ya would replace Zhao Ji as the next emperor of the Zhao Song Dynasty.

Zhao Ya seemed to have put his life and death aside. He continued righteously, "Concubine Liu's domineering and unfilial behavior is too numerous to list. If she is not restrained, your majesty's reputation will be tarnished by her. Where will the dignity of the royal family be? Where will the peace of the harem be?"

Having said that, Zhao Ya simply stopped hiding his feelings and said bluntly:

"Your Majesty dislikes Empress Meng and prefers Consort Liu. This is Your Majesty's private matter, and I dare not interfere."

"However, if Consort Liu were to become the Empress, it would be detrimental to the Song Dynasty. This is a matter of state, a matter that concerns the foundation of our ancestors. I dare not withhold my words."

"Moreover, the Queen Mother is not only your Majesty's legal mother, but also mine. Although I am not talented, as long as I am still alive, I will never allow anyone to insult my mother, and the same goes for your Majesty's favorite concubine."

"I have finished speaking. I urge Your Majesty to think twice before acting. Do not be deceived by treacherous people and cause chaos in the government and discord within the palace."

Zhao Ya's voice was steady and powerful, echoing in the silent palace...

……

(End of this chapter)