In order to eat, I signed a contract with the system

Chapter 457: Legend of Zhen Huan - Nian Shilan 61

After the Queen Mother passed away, Nian Shilan went into hiding again after offering incense. The Emperor no longer entered the harem because he was in mourning. Since the Emperor no longer entered the harem, the concubines had to stay in their respective palaces and not go out. This made the Queen appear.

After the Queen presided over the funeral ceremonies of the Queen Mother, she began to frequently contact the Uya and Ulanara families outside the palace. Those who knew the situation knew that this was because the Queen Mother passed away suddenly and was unable to hand over her people to the Queen. The Queen had to take over the Queen Mother's people inside and outside the palace as soon as possible while her influence was still there.

However, the emperor was not happy to see this kind of thing. Although he felt a little guilty about the death of the empress dowager, he was still the emperor after all, and he would never allow the queen's power to grow because of this guilt.

What's more, in the emperor's view, he is the empress dowager's biological son, and the power in the empress dowager's hands should be handed over to him. The queen is just a niece of a related clan. Why should the connections that the queen dowager has built up in the past few dozen days be handed over to the queen?

"Keep an eye on the queen for me."

The Emperor ordered the Blood Dropper to strictly monitor the Empress. Ever since the Musk incident, the Empress had lost the Emperor's trust, and the Emperor also discovered her ambitions. How could the Emperor allow her to sleep soundly beside his bed? He couldn't sleep well without keeping an eye on the Empress.

Although the Emperor did not enter the harem, Prince Guo went into the palace quite often. However, on the one hand, Prince Guo had the Emperor's oral order that he did not need to inform the Emperor of his entry into the palace. On the other hand, Prince Guo had some people in the palace to help cover him up, so the Emperor never noticed that Prince Guo's behavior was wrong.

Prince Guo entered the palace for no other reason than to ask to meet Nian Shilan to discuss "cooperation". He did this once and twice without hiding anything, forcing Songzhi to report to Nian Shilan. Nian Shilan had no choice but to agree and let Prince Guo into Yikun Palace to meet him.

"Your Majesty, you are not afraid of death, so why do you want to implicate me?"

Nian Shilan was really annoyed by Prince Guo's brainless look. Now, because of the Queen, anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Emperor's blood-dripping sparrow was staring at the harem. Nian Shilan had clearly done nothing, so naturally she didn't want to use manpower to confuse the judgment of the blood-dripping sparrow because of Prince Guo's suicidal behavior. Not only would it be a waste of manpower and time, but the key point was that it would not bring any benefit.

"The Imperial Concubine does not want to meet this prince. In order to understand Xiangsi, this prince can only resort to this last resort."

In response to Nian Shilan's accusation, Prince Guo admitted his mistake very straightforwardly, but his attitude was very shameless.

Seeing his greasy appearance of pretending to be infatuated, Nian Shilan rolled her eyes directly in front of him, "Prince, you are talking nonsense like this. Has he forgotten my identity or do you want to use me to do something?"

"My love for you is clear to all. I understand that you are unwilling to accept me because of your status, but how can you treat my true love as nonsense? Your behavior really breaks my heart."

......

I never expected that after Prince Guo found out that he was not into the game of being romantic and unrestrained, he actually turned into a green tea man so smoothly. Looking at his heartbroken and unbelievable eyes, if I wasn't as hard-hearted as iron, I might actually believe it.

He acted out a heartfelt scene, but found that Nian Shilan looked at him as if she was watching a play. Prince Guo's expression froze, and he suppressed his emotions and started to get to the point.

"I was free and accidentally discovered that your elder brother, Lord Changnian, had a private relationship with a minister in the court. In order to avoid any misunderstanding, I kindly informed your majesty of this matter."

"I wonder if the Queen has any reward?"

Ever since he met Nian Shilan on the outskirts of the city last time, Prince Guo had ordered most of his Dragon Guards to focus on the movements in the Nian Mansion. Finally, his hard work paid off. After a period of persistent investigation, Prince Guo finally discovered that Nian Xiyao had been in close contact with his classmates, colleagues and contemporaries behind his back.

As for Nian Xialing, Prince Guo's people unanimously believed that Nian Xialing had already resigned and would not participate in his children's plans, so they ignored it.

"My brother has private contact with the ministers in the court? Is there any problem with this?"

No matter whether it is Nian Xiyao, Nian Gengyao, or the younger generation of the Nian family, as long as they serve as officials in the court, they will inevitably have to deal with their colleagues. Even if the emperor knew about the matter raised by Prince Guo, it would not matter.

After all, Nian Xiyao is not stupid. Even if he contacts officials and bribes them, he will not say that it is to promote Nian Shilan to be the empress. He will only say that it is to help the imperial concubine in the palace to compete with the queen.

As Nian Shilan was a member of the Han army flag and the Nian family were Han Chinese, they would naturally be recognized by officials who were also Han Chinese. Moreover, what the Nian family was doing was just to buy support, not to rebel, so even if it was reported to the emperor, it would not matter.

No one expected that Nian Shilan had a golden finger. As long as she gained nominal support and had an inner inclination, she would be locked into the camp and would never leave.

Now Nian Xiyao has successfully won over most of the middle-ranking officials. Without Prince Guo's discovery, Nian Xialing has also secretly won over a small number of civil officials above the third rank. After all, everyone has needs. Without making enemies with the Nian family, accepting a gift and establishing a good relationship only requires showing a supportive attitude, and there is no need to really do anything. Who would not agree?

In this case, Prince Guo's threat was so ridiculous that it was not as good as the "buying of officials" he had discovered before. Almost all local officials below the seventh rank were replaced or bribed by Nian Shilan's people. Such a large-scale clique was much more serious than Nian Xiyao's luring officials to stand up for his sister.

Obviously, Prince Guo had not thought of all this at this time. He thought that Nian Shilan did not believe that he had evidence that Nian Xiyao had contacted officials.

"Your Highness, do you think this is a trivial matter?"

"Sir Nian is an official appointed by the imperial court, but he has formed a clique outside the palace and attempted to form a faction. If the emperor learns of this, he will certainly punish him severely."

"I wonder if I can rely on your status as the Queen to ask the Emperor to forgive the Nian family?"

When Prince Guo said this, Nian Shilan's expression did not change at all, and it was obvious that he did not care. But unexpectedly, Prince Guo immediately said, "I heard that the current Northwest General Zhou Ninghai was originally an attendant of Lord Nian Gengyao. I wonder how the emperor will view General Zhou and... Lord Nian after learning about this?"

The matter of Nian Xiyao contacting court officials is a big deal, but it is also a small matter, because he is just a civil official. Even if the emperor is displeased, he will not be too cautious. As the old saying goes: A rebellion by scholars will not succeed within three years, and this is exactly the case.

But it is not possible when it comes to military power. If the emperor knew that Zhou Ninghai was from the Nian family, then Nian Gengyao's previous return of military power would be like transferring power from one hand to the other. In the eyes of the emperor, he was fooled by Nian Gengyao, and in anger and humiliation he might directly attack the Nian family.

I underestimated Prince Guo.

Nian Shilan was too obsessed with cultivation and trusted the plot too much, so she accepted it.

"People don't speak in secret. What does the prince want to say?"