Episode 422. The Empress’s Greed (1) The reason
why the courtier only took the avant-garde and a few guards in the palace was because she didn’t want to intimidate the emperor and ministers like Jojo did in the past.
Of course, there were people from Eulji and Myeongil all over the palace, and the demonstrators, guards, and garrisons were also commanded by people from Hwabu, so even if someone tried to harm them, they were confident that they could stop them enough.
The painter, who met the emperor after entering the imperial palace, briefly reported on how he fought Sun Ce in Yangzhou and had him exiled.
The emperor’s eyes widened slightly.
“Jegalgeun was Sun Ce’s general commander, so would it be all right if I gave him the position of the company in Yangzhou?”
“Due to the long war, the people of Yangju were devastated as much as they would be. Jegalgeun, who is well versed in dimensioning and administration, will do an excellent job in our company.”
When the painter answered, the emperor was about to say that Zhuge Kun might collude with Sun Ce and betray him.
It seemed that the painter would not listen to him anyway, and more than anything, he thought that it would be better for him to stand up in the future.
“Hmm~ I believe that the person recommended by the godfather of fire will do well.”
The emperor immediately wrote a letter of appointment appointing Zhuge Geun as Yangzhou company and gave it to the painter.
Usually, a company governs one state, and in a way, that state is like a king, so it is called to the imperial palace and the emperor directly appoints it, and to prevent the company from tyranny, they attach aides who can be the emperor’s limbs, but now it has been simplified without such a procedure. .
To that extent, the emperor’s authority was weakened and the minister’s authority increased.
“Was there anything uncomfortable while I was away?”
The painter put the letter of appointment in his bosom and looked at the emperor.
“Thanks to Grandfather Hwa’s discipline of the soldiers and servants, there was nothing inconvenient.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Since the poets took good care of it and steadily took the decoctions prescribed by the godfather, many of the symptoms such as insomnia and dizziness have gone away.”
“I’m going to take a pulse for the first time in a while.”
“Do it.”
When the emperor held out his hand, the painter seized his pulse and used clairvoyance to examine the emperor’s interior.
‘Whoa~ No matter how good the medicine is, can’t the disease of the heart be cured?’
The painter, who was examining the emperor’s body, let out a short sigh.
I felt like I was getting better thanks to the medicine, but in reality, my lifespan was coming to an end.
In fact, the decoction that the emperor was currently taking was filled with ingredients that were so good that they could be called elixirs beyond restorative medicines. However, despite taking such medicine, the emperor’s heart was as weak as that of an old man in his 70s.
Mental illness has killed so many of the heart and surrounding organs.
‘It’s so dangerous for people to live anxiously every day!’
It was like looking at the heart of a mouse that had been locked up in a cat cage for a long time.
Mice trapped in cat cages do not live long and die, even though they are protected by a transparent glass membrane.
Strangle the heart is like this, like an invisible hand strangling the heart.
“How are you? Are you better than before?”
“I’m sorry to tell you that your spirit has weakened a lot.”
“I take decoctions as Godfather told me to, and I don’t neglect to take care of myself. Has it gotten worse?”
“Yes, it seems that the disease in the heart has deepened due to a lot of worries.”
“concern! I can’t let go of my worries even for a second. I was thinking of discussing how to hand over the imperial power when Godfather Hwa arrives.”
The fireman’s eyes widened slightly at the emperor’s words.
It was unclear when this issue should be brought up, so he planned to discuss it in earnest when the longevity and the tacticians who were calming Yangju and Giju arrived.
“Since I have a calling as a member of the Diet, I was contemplating what it would be like to hand over the imperial authority to my older brother, who is in the Xuzhou company.”
“Why don’t you and want to concede to your brother?”
“I participated in this work because I thought that the war would end quickly so that the people of this country could live in peace, not because of Bowie.”
At the fireman’s words, the emperor tilted his head.
“Whatever the reason, only you can claim to be the master of the world. If your older brother sits on the throne, many of your subjects will protest.”
Not only the servants of the imperial palace, but also the feudal lords of various provinces who bowed to the fireman could rebel.
“Governing your servants is something your older brother will have to deal with wisely from now on.”
“Why don’t you let me sit still rather than handing over the throne to you?”
The emperor secretly revealed his greed in a joking tone.
Warak.
In an instant, the emperor could see that the painter’s face was distorted.
“The reason why the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out and farmers and fishermen became bandits and bandits was because His Majesty, the ancestors above him, and the ancestors above him played in the hands of eunuchs and maternal relatives and governed the country so wrongly. So, you are no longer qualified to sit on the throne.”
“Keuheum No, why are you so serious about something you joked about?”
“There are some things you want to cover up as a joke.”
“Heh, hehe, hehe, come to think of it, the empress and other wives would like to have a dinner with the godfather, by any chance?”
“The empress and the nobles, what about me?”
“Whether I give up imperial power to Father Hua or to Lady Hua, the days I will be sitting on the throne are few and far between, so for one reason or another, it seems that I want to look good for Godfather Hua.”
“I’m not too keen on it…but I’ll have to take a seat at least once. All right. Call me when a seat is available.”
“Then I will talk to the empress and arrange a place for her tomorrow evening.”
“yes.”
After chatting with the emperor, the painter left the palace and headed home.
The fireman’s manor was within walking distance of the imperial palace.
* * *
“My Prince!”
Pyeonseon dressed up in flowers and enthusiastically welcomed her husband, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time.
“How have you been, ma’am?”
“Yes, I was fine. You went on an expedition as far as Yangju, but you haven’t been hurt anywhere, right?”
As a member of the Pyeon Seon-do hospital, he started with the painter’s complexion and quickly looked at his posture and pulse, putting on a worried expression.
“What can I do to hurt myself, sitting in a tall wagon at the back of the battlefield and giving orders? From my point of view, don’t you think your wife is sick?”
The painter stroked the emaciated face of the wife.
“Ah, father, are you here?”
As I was doing that, I heard a familiar yet unfamiliar voice.
It was the daughter Hwarang. Hwarang had quickly grown up and was old enough to marry.
“uh! it’s lang When the hell did you get this big?”
The painter hugged his daughter, and the daughter, with an awkward face, held him in his arms for a while before falling.
The painter felt that his daughter was awkward with him, but he couldn’t bruise.
This was not his daughter’s fault, but his own fault for not taking care of his daughter while wandering around countless battlefields.
Hwarang lowered his head with a calm face, and Pyeonseon patted his daughter on the shoulder with a proud expression.
“These days, various families are sending hawks. I guess I’ll have to pick a suitable family and hold the wedding soon.”
“Have you got married already?”
In an instant, the fireman’s eyes widened.
“Oh my gosh, too. Rang is sixteen years old.”
As it was a time of war, the custom of early marriage became stronger, and there were many cases where marriages were held even at the age of twelve.
At least Hwarang was the daughter of a painter, so she hadn’t gotten married until she was 16. If she had been the daughter of a peasant, she would have been married long ago and become a mother raising a child.
“You are already sixteen! It seems like yesterday when I was suckling in my wife’s arms… Hehe, time flies!”
“As long as the ribs are big, we are also old.”
“I’m old, madam. I’m still correct.”
As the painter slipped his arm around Pyeonseon’s waist, her face turned slightly red.
“Oh my, Prince Nang is also a very good person. There’s even Rangi.”
As if she didn’t hate her husband’s touch, which she hadn’t felt in a long time, Pyeonseon did not remove the fireman’s arm wrapped around her waist, even as she watched her daughter.
“Father mother. I’ll just go.”
“Yes.”
Hwarang disappeared with quick steps, hiding his embarrassed expression, and the painter went into the living room with Pyeonseon and talked to his heart’s content that he hadn’t shared in a long time.
* * *
The next day, the fireman, who was invited by the emperor and empress, went to the emperor’s residence accompanied only by a few demonstrators, including the avant-garde.
In the Emperor’s residence, courtiers and courtiers were already delivering food, and musicians and dancers were playing music and dancing to add to the entertainment.
“Heh heh heh… Come on. Woe godfather!”
The emperor discovered the fireman first, and the empress, nobles, and concubines next to Ban Ki-ja scrutinized the fireman.
“Thank you for making such a precious space for your convictions.”
After greeting everyone, the painter bowed his head towards the emperor for the last time. Then, sitting across from the emperor, they ate food and watched the dancers dance.
“I heard from His Majesty, Father Hua, that this time you defeated Son Che of Yang Zhu and exiled him to the island. I congratulate you, albeit belatedly.”
“thank you. Empress Dowager, the reason I was able to defeat Sun Ce is all thanks to Her Majesty and Mama supporting me like this.”
“Do you say such humble words about what we did? May I pour you a drink for Godfather Hwa?”
It was originally impossible for an empress to pour wine for a servant, but the other party was a painter who held greater power than the emperor.
The cooker was about to decline, but when he saw the empress’ hand tremble slightly, he nodded and raised his glass.
“It’s an honor in my third life to receive the Empress’s sake.”
When the painter accepted the empress’ wine, the nobles and concubines tried to pour it, but the painter stubbornly refused.
After pouring the wine for the painter, the empress approached the vanguard standing behind her like a Jangseung.
“I’ve heard a lot about the commander’s reputation. You’ve worked hard to serve Mr. Hwa, would you like a drink?”
The vanguard looked at the fireman with a slightly puzzled expression.
If the opponent hadn’t been the empress, she would have refused outright, but it wasn’t easy to do that in the presence of the emperor.
The painter nodded slightly, and the vanguard knelt down and put his hands together to take the empress’s cup.
“I’m accepting the eoju bestowed by the commander-in-chief, the empress.”
“Hoho, how can you be so reliable! Please take good care of me when I go up to a high position in the future.”
The avant-garde did not answer the empress’ bone-bearing words, but bowed his head and drank at once.
After pouring a drink for the vanguard, the empress ordered the courtiers to pour a drink for the courtiers as well.
When the court ladies brought bottles to the protesters, the protesters looked at the avant-garde, and the avant-garde gave permission to the protesters to drink only one glass at a time after the fireman’s permission was granted.
‘Whoa! What should I do?’
He seemed intoxicated by the merry music, alcohol, and dancing of the dancers, but the fireman’s eyes were all over the emperor, the empress, and the musicians who were hiding their swords between the instruments.
In fact, the painter knew through Myeong-il, who had managed the imperial palace under cover while he was away, that the empress drank alcohol and prepared the assassins.
The painter was contemplating whether to overturn the game as it is now or to play with the empress’ rhythm a little more and watch her play.
‘I have to be tricked a little more to reveal the bottom, right?’
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