The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 1309: different heart
Chapter 1309: Disloyalty
After saying this, Li stood up, bowed to Sima Lao Taijun, and left Sima Lao Taijun’s upper room with a grim expression.
Li has already told Sima Laotaijun what needs to be said, and it is up to Sima Laotaijun to decide what to do.
In the upper room, old lady Sima looked ashen, her hands tightly grasped the hidden bag under her elbows. Sima Yan was her only son, how could she ignore her son for a illegitimate granddaughter?
But now, since Your Majesty wants to rehabilitate Sima Ruodan’s mother’s family, it means that he has already learned the whole story from Sima Ruodan. It is definitely useless to quibble, and Your Majesty has many capable people around him, so I’m afraid they have already found out the truth.
Old Lady Sima closed her eyes. Now that her son had entered the palace, he had always been filial and would definitely take full responsibility for the matter. Even if he didn’t take responsibility…if he chose to tell the truth to His Majesty, others would only think that he was unfilial and let his mother take the blame.
What should I do? What should I do…
The son of Sima Yan, the old lady Sima, was conceived after much hardship. He was raised in the palm of her hand since childhood. Fortunately, the child was also very capable and was not raised astray by the couple. Not only did he enter the Censorate with his real ability, he also became the Chief Censor.
She is already buried in the earth up to her neck and has not much longer to live, but the future of her son Sima Yan… and her grandchildren cannot be ruined. She must take responsibility for what she has done.
Thinking of this, Old Lady Sima no longer hesitated and ordered people to change her clothes and prepare a carriage.
·
Sima Yan knelt in the middle of the hall, staring at the shiny bluestone floor, waiting for Bai Qingyan to summon him.
After Bai Qingyan finished reviewing the memorials, he heard Wei Zhong say that Sima Yan had been kneeling outside for a long time. Wei Zhong was going to come in to report, but Sima Yan said he did not dare to disturb the emperor, so he did not let Wei Zhong pass the message immediately. He only asked Wei Zhong to pass the message on his behalf when Bai Qingyan was done.
Wei Zhong naturally knew why Sima Yan was kneeling outside the hall at this moment. He guessed that it was because he knew the imperial edict of enthronement and realized that Sima Ruodan’s affairs could no longer be concealed, so he came to His Majesty to apologize.
Bai Qingyan was reviewing memorials and Wei Zhong did not disturb him. It was not until Bai Qingyan put down his pen, wiped his hands with the hot towel handed to him by Chuntao, stood up to stretch his legs and go see his two children that Wei Zhong told Bai Qingyan that Sima Yan was kneeling outside.
“You came pretty quickly!” Bai Qingyan turned his wrist, straightened his sleeves, sat back down, and said to Wei Zhong, “Call him in!”
“Yes!” Wei Zhong responded and went out to tell Sima Yan.
Not long after, Sima Yan, sweating profusely, came in from outside the hall and immediately apologized to Bai Qingyan.
Bai Qingyan glanced at Sima Yan, lowered his eyes, picked up the hot tea and drank it slowly, saying: “Lord Sima is not a fool, he has a fair heart, and he is ruthless when he reports people. I… don’t believe that Lord Sima can do such a foolish thing.”
Sima Yan lowered his head in shame after hearing Bai Qingyan’s words: “I am so terrified…”
Sima Yan was waiting for Bai Qingyan to punish him when he heard Bai Qingyan suddenly change the subject: “Sima Ping and Lu Yuanpeng joined the Bai family army and were deeply loved by the King of Zhennan. Sima Ping is a loyal child. Lu Yuanpeng was in the army thanks to Sima Ping’s protection. A child like Sima Ping who is loyal, wise, restrained… and far-sighted cannot be taught by someone who is so short-sighted that he even wants to take over other people’s marriage contracts.”
“Your Majesty…” Sima Yan’s throat tightened when he heard this, and his heart felt inexplicably hot.
“Lord Sima has three sons. The eldest son of the Sima family is now in the Ministry of Works. I heard from Minister Shen that his son has completed all the tasks assigned to him very well! The second son of the Sima family has been transferred to Hancheng. I heard that he is also quite prestigious in the army!” Bai Qingyan used the cup lid to stir the tea leaves floating in the cool tea in the cup. “Lord Sima is far-sighted and prepared for danger in times of peace. He did not let all his sons enter the government. Instead, he put his eggs in three baskets, leaving only one in the capital, and the remaining two… one was put far away, and the other pretended to be a playboy in the capital…”
When Sima Yan heard Bai Qingyan’s gentle voice, a layer of cold sweat suddenly broke out on his back.
What Bai Qing said was exactly right.
Sima Yan arranged his three sons in this way in order not to put all his eggs in one basket. He already had a son in the capital city who could follow him into officialdom, but if something happened here, he still had a son far away in the border army, so the Sima family would have a glimmer of hope of being rescued.
Arrange the youngest son Sima Ping to pretend to be a playboy and mingle with these playboys. He will not be noticeable and will not be considered a threat. Perhaps he can even help the family.
Sima Yan was a man who always left several ways out when doing things. Since he entered the officialdom, he had seen too many tall buildings rise and fall. In the past, Concubine Tong had harmed so many loyal and good people that Sima Yan had to leave a way out for the Sima family.
“Your Majesty…” Sima Yan had never had any in-depth contact with Bai Qingyan. Even if others praised Bai Qingyan for her wisdom, virtue, popularity, and ambition, Sima Yan had never been convinced in his heart by this little girl who was younger than his second son.
In Sima Yan’s view, the unification of the world… was just a rhetoric used by this little girl to rally people’s hearts when she first ascended the throne.
Famous generals of Daliang, such as Zhao Sheng and Yang Wuce, were won over by the talk of unifying the world.
There are also those courtiers in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Even if they once had conflicts and contradictions, once the unification of the world is mentioned, it seems that everyone can put aside their past grudges and work together to make way for this goal, making the entire Great Zhou Dynasty look like a thriving scene.
Later, he was willing to submit, only because Bai Qingyan ascended the throne and it was the trend of the times. Moreover, Bai Qingyan did not massacre the court officials of the previous dynasty. In fact, most of the court officials were from the previous dynasty.
But Sima Yan felt that Bai Qingyan was wrong about this. The reason these court officials submitted to her was only because she truly held military and political power. In this world… military power was above everything else, let alone someone like Bai Qingyan who held both military and political power in one hand.
However, Sima Yan has not made any move, nor has he thought of using Qin Lang’s relationship to climb up, because he is not optimistic about Bai Qingyan’s new policies that are being vigorously promoted. He does not know how long Bai Qingyan’s court can last. The higher he climbs… the more miserable his death will be if there is another change of dynasty in the future.
Moreover, Bai Qingyan’s younger brothers have all returned, and Bai Qingyan boldly distributed her military power to her younger brothers. If even one of her younger brothers had other ideas, the court would be in chaos.