Checking In for Sixty Years, From Puppet Emperor to Heavenly Emperor – Chapter 8

Ch 8: The Empress’s Heart

“Greetings, Mother Empress.” Zhou An and Shangguan Rong said simultaneously, bowing.

The Empress Dowager looked at Zhou An and asked gently, “What are your thoughts on the matter proposed by the Left Prime Minister?”

She didn’t expect the Empress Dowager to bring up this issue at this time. Previously, the Empress Dowager had never mentioned such court matters in front of him.

Shangguan Rong also showed a curious expression, looking at Zhou An, wanting to understand what the real Zhou An was like.

“Your son dislikes court struggles and doesn’t understand national affairs. It’s better to have fun with my beloved imperial concubines to avoid harming the country. It’s best for Mother Empress to make all the decisions,” Zhou An said.

The Empress Dowager smiled slightly, picked up her teacup, took a small sip, and put it down. She said with a smile, “You’re quite carefree. It’s a pity that my Qianyuan Dynasty has no wise ruler. Originally, your eldest brother was excellent in both literary and military skills, but unfortunately, he died young.

The other imperial princes died or fled, which is why you ascended the throne. Forget it, since you have no interest in state affairs, then you can just go through the motions when attending court, so that the ministers won’t make an uproar over this matter again.”

“It’s late, I won’t disturb your wedding night. Rest well, no need to see me off.” The Empress Dowager got up and left under the escort of the Purple Guard.

The two immediately got up and respectfully saw her off at the door. After the Empress Dowager left, Shangguan Rong suddenly asked, “The Emperor should prioritize the well-being of the people.”

“Damn it! After the old one left, the young one came. Your Shangguan Family is too suspicious,” Zhou An muttered to himself, smiling and saying, “I know nothing about ministers or the world. Forcing me to manage the affairs of the world is not diligently loving the people, but harming the world.

People must have self-awareness. Do what you are capable of, otherwise, you will harm yourself and others. The Emperor should be even more so.

Today is our joyous day. The wedding night is worth a thousand gold pieces. Empress, let’s go inside,” Zhou An said meaningfully, walking towards the bedroom.

Shangguan Rong frowned, entered the bedroom, and ordered all the palace maids around her to leave, leaving only her personal maid guarding the door.

Seeing the way Zhou An looked at her, she felt displeased and said coldly, “As the Emperor, you don’t think about the country’s affairs, only seeking your own pleasure. Aren’t you ashamed of your ancestors?”

Zhou An was puzzled. He had been looking forward to what was about to happen, but suddenly realized that Shangguan Rong was not right and completely different from what he had imagined.

She is from the Shangguan Family, so her actions should be in line with what they want.

If it was a test, it shouldn’t be necessary at this time. Instead, it would be more reasonable for Shangguan Rong to brainwash him.

He withdrew his admiring gaze towards women, carefully sized up Shangguan Rong, walked to the table, sat down, and picked up the wine pot to pour himself a cup.

Shangguan Rong quickly walked over and pressed down on Zhou An’s right hand pouring wine. The skin contact was soft and gentle, making Zhou An’s heart flutter. He couldn’t help but sigh that this woman should only exist in the heavens. The women he had met in the past two days were truly like the difference between immortals and mortals in front of her.

“Let Your Subject pour wine for the Emperor.”

Shangguan Rong held his hand and poured wine. This was the closest she had been to him today. The faint fragrance made people intoxicated and full of reverie.

Zhou An really couldn’t understand her thoughts, feeling that this woman’s behavior was a bit confusing.

His life experience really couldn’t see through this woman’s mind. Thinking of the face reading skills in the Nine Heavens Mysterious Lady Records he had learned, he could only use a cheat to deal with it.

According to what he had learned, comparing it to Shangguan Rong’s face, because it was the first time he had read a face, he was unfamiliar with the business and took a long time to look, which made Shangguan Rong think that Zhou An was fascinated by her appearance.

She smiled slightly, put down the wine pot, and personally picked up the wine glass to feed him to drink.

Because Zhou An was too focused and his brain was calculating rapidly, he instinctively drank the wine that was brought to his mouth, but he choked all of a sudden, and the wine sprayed out of his nostrils.

It sprayed part of the phoenix robes on the Empress’s chest. He woke up suddenly. Seeing the wet spot, he didn’t think much about it and naturally reached out to wipe the wet spot.

Shangguan Rong exclaimed, instinctively retreating, but only took a small half step back and stopped, looking at Zhou An with a shy and reproachful expression.

“Sorry, sorry.” Zhou An immediately realized that his behavior was inappropriate through the touch from his hand and quickly retracted his hand.

Shangguan Rong took a deep breath, as if gathering courage, and took the initiative to sit on his lap, leaning on his shoulder and said, “Emperor, how do you think Your Subject compares to those imperial concubines?”

“Naturally, I can’t compare with you. Does the Empress want me to favor you alone in the future?” Zhou An asked rhetorically.

Shangguan Rong shook her head and said, “Your Subject dares not. The Emperor is the Son of Heaven, how can it be proper to have only Your Subject by his side? How will the people of the world view Your Subject?

Your Subject only begs the Emperor to take some time to learn the ways of a king, how to become a good emperor.”

If he had heard these words just now, Zhou An would definitely think that the Empress was testing him again, but after reading Shangguan Rong’s face, it turned out to be a face of assisting the country. This kind of face would hardly appear on a woman, let alone a woman who looked so delicate and moving.

“Does the Empress know about the Empress Dowager’s ban on me?” Zhou An asked, while taking the Empress’s right hand, pretending to stroke her hand, carefully looking at her palmistry.

“I know, the Empress Dowager forbids the Emperor from practicing martial arts, reading any books related to state affairs and imperial arts, and even the Emperor is not allowed to know about matters outside the harem.

But is the Emperor willing to be a dragon in a cage like this? Doesn’t the Emperor think that although you have endless happiness and wealth in the harem, how long can this last?” Shangguan Rong’s tone was a bit uneven and seductive. She didn’t care that Zhou An was looking at her hand.

Zhou An put down her hand, looked at the beauty in his arms, and was a little hesitant. It was the first time he had read someone’s face. He had confidence in this heavenly book, but he still had question marks about his ability to read faces. After all, he came from modern Earth. He didn’t dare to mess around with this kind of thing that was related to his safety.

“If the Empress has anything to say, please speak frankly,” Zhou An said.

Shangguan Rong immediately got up and knelt down, saying, “Please, Emperor, for the sake of the Qianyuan Empire and the common people, be a good emperor. Your Subject is willing to follow you to the death and assist the Emperor.”

He wasn’t surprised that Shangguan Rong suddenly said such a thing. Instead, it confirmed that his face reading was correct. This woman clearly disagreed with what the Empress Dowager was doing as soon as she came here. He felt strange, but now he could understand.

“Can you tell me, as a direct descendant of the Shangguan Family, why do you want to go against the Empress Dowager? Do you know that if you succeed, your Shangguan Family will definitely be exterminated to the nine generations. If you fail, the Shangguan Family will definitely not spare you,” Zhou An asked sternly.

“Your Subject just doesn’t want the Shangguan Family to become a sinner for all ages, and also hopes to leave a glimmer of hope for the Shangguan Family. Although the Qianyuan Empire is now militarily strong, this is just the blessing left by our ancestors.

Now most of the national treasury’s wealth has fallen into the hands of the Shangguan Family. The chaos in the Western Regions, the Northern, Eastern, and Southern countries are eyeing us covetously. The Qianyuan Empire can be destroyed in an instant with just one wrong step.

And at this moment, the factions in the imperial court are still fighting. Although the Left Prime Minister has the heart to save the country, he can’t do anything about the Shangguan Family’s drag.

The Emperor must not know that in the Western Regions border, many villages and people in our country are suffering from the spread of Witchcraft Poison. The border has no power to treat them, so they can only slaughter the entire village and burn it.

Although there is no direct war in the north, the patrol troops have repeatedly clashed with the Northern Ice Kingdom, causing many casualties. The other party is waiting for the opportunity for the Witchcraft Poison in the Western Regions to spread.

Although the Azure Dragon Empire has not taken any action, it is known from all intelligence that the Azure Dragon is secretly funding the Northern Ice Kingdom.

Many people from the Southern Five Kingdoms have infiltrated Qian Capital, and even the Emperor’s imperial concubines may have their people. Please consider Your Subject’s words.

To be honest, once the Empress Dowager is ready and eliminates the people blocking the way, the Witchcraft Poison in the Western Regions will disrupt the country. At that time, the Emperor will definitely be executed as a fatuous ruler who harms the country, and the Empress Dowager can take the opportunity to become emperor during the national chaos.” Shangguan Rong said all these words in one breath, looked at Zhou An, and showed a resolute look.

If these words were to reach the Empress Dowager’s ears, even if she was from the Shangguan Family, she would be executed.

Zhou An stepped forward to help her up, sat next to her, poured her a glass of wine, and asked with a smile, “How does the Empress want to break this situation?”

Hearing these words, Shangguan Rong knew that Zhou An had been moved. Now what was needed was a bargaining chip, a bargaining chip that would allow Zhou An to dare to resist.

She immediately said, “The struggle between the Left Prime Minister and the Empress Dowager is an excellent opportunity. It’s just that the Left Prime Minister is currently weak. If some help is given to the Left Prime Minister, the Empress Dowager can be forced to use the cards in her hand. In addition, with the chaos of the Witchcraft Poison in the Western Regions, the Empress Dowager wants a complete Qianyuan Empire, so she must go all out. At that time, she will have no time to take care of the Emperor, and that will be the Emperor’s opportunity.

Your Subject is willing to be the Emperor’s eyes and ears, saying good things in front of the Empress Dowager, so that the Empress Dowager can relax her vigilance towards you and concentrate on dealing with the Left Prime Minister’s faction. Your Subject can let her personal maid leave the palace and contact the ministers in the court for the Emperor to win their support.”

“Okay, I’ll leave everything to the Empress.” Zhou An smiled, sighing that the people around the imperial family were indeed good at scheming, and all of them had great ambitions. If this Shangguan Rong could be suppressed, she would be a talented assistant to the country and a plaything in his palm. If he didn’t have the ability to suppress her, she would be another Empress Dowager.

Persuading Zhou An made Shangguan Rong overjoyed, and she said with a shy expression, “Emperor, it’s getting late, let Your Subject serve you.”

Looking at the Empress with a rosy face, Zhou An’s heart pounded wildly, and the two walked hand in hand towards the bed.

This chapter has a second half, which is in the book friend group. The content is definitely not okay, so you have to come to the group to see it.

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