I'm the Farmgirl You Can't Mess With-Chapter 1315: Side Story: The Mighty Great Qi (5)

The ministers were horrified. How much did the Emperor not want to be the Emperor that he was so anxious to give up his position?

After Qi Xiuyuan made up his mind, he stopped concerning himself with the court matters. Instead, every day, he would just take medicine and play chess. When he was in a good mood, he would go to the imperial garden with the Empress. As for the concubines who came to see him, he refused to meet with any of them.

Qi Xiuyuan said to Li Jinghua, "When Wenchen takes the throne, we’ll move to the temporary imperial residence. When I recover, I’ll bring you back to Jingzhao Prefecture to take a look. You haven’t gone back to visit your relatives after so many years, right?"

Tears fell from Li Jinghua’s eyes. She reached out to hold his hand and said gratefully, "Your Majesty!"

Qi Xiuyuan patted her hand and smiled. "You’ve suffered."

Li Jinghua shook her head and pursed her lips into a smile. "It’s my blessing to be able to marry Your Majesty."

Li Jinghua originally worried about her son’s harem, but seeing her husband like this, she also handed everything over to the crown prince consort and wholeheartedly focused on his recuperation. She even instructed Wen Cui in a low voice, "Pack our things quietly. I’m afraid we’re going on a long trip."

The Imperial Astronomer chose the 8th of May, which was only a month away. Because they had to invite Later Xia and Great Yuan to watch the ceremony, all the ministries worked overtime.

It could be said that the officials in the capital were extremely busy over the ceremony. Even their rest days had been canceled, but no one dared to complain at this time.

The citizens of the capital were overjoyed for this was a grand event that was rarely seen in a thousand years. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel-com

As Little Treasure had to take over the official duties and practice etiquette for the ceremony, he was extremely busy, so busy that an entire month seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. It was only on the eighth day of May that Little Treasure really felt that he was going to become the Emperor!

Almost fully recovered, Qi Xiuyuan put on a dragon robe and personally crowned his son.

As he sat on the dragon throne for the last time, he looked at the civil and military officials below. Then, he looked at his son, who was standing beside him. Qi Xiuyuan said, "I’ve been on the throne for 27 years. I don’t dare to say that I’ve contributed greatly to the world and the people, but I’ve done my best. Back then, I rebelled for the sake of justice and for the sake of the world. I reformed the taxation system, lightened the people’s tax burden, and promoted high-yielding grain seeds. I lifted the maritime ban and allowed the people to make a living on the sea so that they wouldn’t lose their livelihood. I worked hard to ensure that every family had plowing oxen. I recovered lost territory and comforted the people! But all of this is not enough!"

Qi Xiuyuan said in a deep voice, "What I want is a prosperous era for Great Qi. What is a prosperous era? It’s an era where everyone can eat their fill, dress warmly, have carriages, live in houses. It’s an era where the young can receive education, the sick can receive medical care, the elderly are taken care of. Only then can it be called a prosperous era! Such a prosperous era might not be achieved even after two or three generations, but I know that as long as we keep moving towards this goal, one day, we can create a prosperous era that belongs to our Great Qi!"

"Long live the Emperor!" No matter what the officials thought previously, they really admired Emperor Taikang at this very moment and knelt willingly.

Qi Xiuyuan stood up and held Qi Wenchen’s hand. "It’s impossible for me to live forever. I won’t even live to a hundred. Now that I’m getting older, I’ve grown weary of politics. Since that’s the case, I might as well hand this heavy responsibility to the Crown Prince, who has a noble character. I hope the talented ministers of Great Qi can do your best to assist the Crown Prince and usher in a golden era for Great Qi!"

"We will do our best. Please take care, Your Majesty."

Little Treasure also knelt down and declined. Even though they all knew that the abdication was bound to take place today, they still had to go through the formalities. Previously, Little Treasure had already declined twice in front of the ministers, and this was the last time.

Qi Xiuyuan stroked his head and said with a smile, "Alright, there’s no need to decline again."

After that, Qi Xiuyuan personally crowned Little Treasure.

At night, when the officials attended the state banquet in the Hall of Union, Eunuch Wan took out a few imperial edicts and started announcing the contents.

Noble Consort Duan-Xian was conferred the title of Imperial Noble Consort, while the Third Prince and the Sixth Prince’s mothers were conferred the titles of Consort Shu and Consort De respectively.

Before the ministers could be surprised, Eunuch Wan continued to take out a decree to confer Second Prince Qi Wensu as Prince Qin, but he did not mention a single word about his mother.

Not only the ministers, but the women quickly understood the deeper meaning.

Since Eunuch Wan was the Emperor Emeritus’s subordinate, these imperial edicts obviously expressed the Emperor Emeritus’s intents.

Logically speaking, when the new emperor ascended the throne, the Emperor Emeritus’ concubines had to be promoted. However, the Emperor Emeritus bypassed the Emperor and directly promoted the concubines himself. Clearly, he was taking the initiative to ask for this power and was expressing his attitude.

Only two of the five mothers who had birthed princes were promoted, but the other three’s titles did not change. It could be seen how much the Emperor Emeritus disliked those three.

Among the five princes, only the Second Prince was fortunate enough to be rewarded by the Emperor Emeritus. This contrasted with the Fourth Prince and Fifth Prince, who were neither rewarded nor whose Mother Consorts were promoted.

Everyone was shocked when they thought of the two princes’ private actions in the past few years. In particular, the officials who were close to the two princes were on pins and needles.

However, the Emperor Emeritus did not seem to know that he had stirred up a pool of water. The next day, he passed down a decree saying that he intended to bring the Empress to stay in the temporary imperial residence. The other concubines could stay in the palace or follow the princes out of the palace to stay.

In particular, Concubine Zhao was ordered to stay in the palace nunnery to recite scriptures and pray for the Empress.

Qi Wensu, who was about to bring his Mother Consort out of the palace, was stunned when he heard this. He went to the new Emperor in a daze.

When Qi Wenchen saw his brother’s slightly red eyes, he said with a sigh, "It’s useless even if you beg me. Royal Father specifically told me before that he will still be in charge of his harem. Even if he and Royal Mother are no longer in the palace, the Mother Consorts are not to be mistreated. Royal Father gave specific orders about Concubine Zhao. It’s useless even if Royal Mother pleaded with him."

Qi Wensu lowered his head and said with difficulty, "I thought Royal Father is no longer mad at her."

Qi Wenchen sighed and said, "Do you think Royal Father is doing this for himself? He’s doing this for you."

Qi Wenchen hesitated for a moment, but he still couldn’t help but say, "When Royal Mother tried to persuade him, she was scolded. He said that letting her live with you would ruin your life. He also said that although the Fourth and Fifth Prince’s mother consorts were up to no good, they were wholeheartedly acting in their son’s interests. However, Concubine Zhao and you... Wensu, although Royal Father’s actions are a little heartless, he’s doing it for your own good. He hopes that you can lead a good life and have a harmonious family. Can you really lead a good life if you live with Concubine Zhao? You already have a son and a daughter now."

When Qi Wensu thought of how his mother consort liked to pick on his wife and children, he lowered his head and remained silent.

Qi Wenchen patted his shoulder and said, "Alright, don’t think too much about it. I’ve written edicts to reward my younger brothers. Help me take a look and see if I’ve overlooked anything."

It was not that Qi Xiuyuan did not dote on his other sons, but he was giving this opportunity to the new emperor.

Historically speaking, the Emperor’s brothers would at least be conferred the title of Prince, and this was also what Qi Wenchen intended.

Therefore, even though Qi Wensu only recently became a prince, he was now conferred the title of king. As for the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth princes, they were all conferred the title of Prince and were all assigned tasks.

Little Treasure didn’t mind that his younger brothers had ulterior motives. As long as the country was in his hands, it was fine. As long as they had talent, he would put them to work.

After all, even though the officials in the court weren’t necessarily all loyal to him, he still kept them around as long as they were capable.

Since that was the case, why wouldn’t he use his brothers’ talents? After all, they had received the best education since they were young. If they didn’t contribute to the country, wouldn’t they have wasted such a good education?

Therefore, he did not show any mercy when assigning tasks to his younger brothers. This actually let him leave a good impression on the ministers. Even the Fourth Prince and Fifth Prince, who were disloyal, felt uneasy and guilty every time they thought of it.

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