Chapter 1554

After Chen Guanlou received the palace exit waist token, he took Mu Yiguan Mu and left the Taiji Palace at the first opportunity, hurrying toward the palace gate. He didn't even have time to greet Eunuch Wang Hai.

Once Emperor Jian Shi died, the imperial palace became a place of right and wrong, followed by a series of purges. Dismissing the former Emperor's people and employing the new Emperor's people. The period of personnel changes was also the time when the most people died.

Not until he stepped out of the palace gate did Mu Yiguan Mu finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Looking back, it felt like half a lifetime had passed.

He muttered to Chen Guanlou, "Who would have thought that His Majesty had only been on the throne for ten years or so, and he is gone. He died too quickly."

"Shh! Don't say any more, old man. The news of the Emperor's death has not been officially announced in the palace; we cannot be the first megaphone. Just pretend nothing happened."

Mu Yiguan Mu nodded repeatedly. Having 'escaped' the imperial palace, he had lingering fears and a strong desire to confide, just wanting to chat and say a few more words.

The two returned directly to the Heavenly Prison, washed up, and only then had the opportunity to sit in the office and drink tea and chat.

"You can speak boldly now." Chen Guanlou looked boneless, slumped on the soft couch. This was his most comfortable and relaxed time: a cup of hot tea, through the window, basking in the spring sunshine, his whole body lazy, not to mention how comfortable.

Mu Yiguan Mu held the teacup, and his nervous emotions were relieved.

"Do you think Prince Duan can sit firmly on the throne?"

"With the support of the Hall of State Affairs and the support of Xie Changling, he will definitely sit firmly. Don't forget, he is also the son-in-law of the Hou Fu."

After speaking, Chen Guanlou laughed out loud first.

Chen Mengxun married Prince Duan and gave birth to the eldest imperial grandson. This was the biggest bargaining chip!

"Will Prince Ning be willing? I heard Prince Shun is very unconvinced."

"The final edict has been issued, and the status has been determined; even if he is unconvinced, what can he do? He can only hold it in. As long as Prince Ning is not stupid, he will not take the initiative to jump out and give others a handle. Looking at the three hundred years of Great Gan history, there has never been any imperial prince or prince of the blood who succeeded in rebelling when the overall situation was settled. It's good enough if he can save his life."

Mu Yiguan Mu nodded repeatedly. "Prince Duan should be more generous than His Majesty."

Actually, he wanted to say that Prince Duan was not as good as his grandfather, Emperor Emperor Taixing, nor was he as good as his father, Emperor Jian Shi. Generosity, sometimes, is a last resort, constrained by the situation!

Emperor Jian Shi was the Crown Prince for decades first, and had a group of mature bureaucrats on hand. After inheriting the throne, he was able to quickly grasp power, ruthlessly purge his brothers, and did not encounter too much resistance.

Prince Duan had nothing; he didn't have his own direct line of staff and could only use the staff left to him by Emperor Jian Shi. Moreover, there were four auxiliary ministers to check and balance the imperial power.

This meant that among the three generations of emperors, after Prince Duan ascended the throne, the imperial power in his hands would be infinitely weakened. He was the weakest one among the three generations of grandfather and grandson!

Fortunately, he was an adult; otherwise, it would be even more miserable! Let alone imperial power, he didn't even have the qualification for personnel orders, let alone the formulation and execution of national policies.

Now, at least he could participate a little, having a sense of participation.

Chen Guanlou laughed out loud. "Old Mu, your words are truly damaging!"

Mu Yiguan Mu waved his hands repeatedly. "I didn't mean that."

"Whether you meant that or not is not important. Prince Duan's throne can definitely be sat firmly. As for how much power is in his hands, it doesn't depend on the Hall of State Affairs, but on the Hou Fu! If the Hou Fu is willing to support him with a clear banner, there will definitely be a way to help him establish a direct line of staff and suppress the prime minister's power in the Hall of State Affairs. I dare not compare it to the time of Emperor Emperor Taixing, but at least it can be on par with Emperor Jian Shi. If he cannot get the support of the Hou Fu and relies solely on the support of his mother's family, he won't be able to play the imperial court and will instead be played around by Xie Changling and the others!"

Chen Guanlou was very certain.

Prince Duan was already mediocre in aptitude and hadn't shown any particularly awesome talent for so many years. In terms of aptitude, he was just an ordinary person. All his skill points were spent on being born well.

Besides knowing how to be born well, he had nothing to show for himself. With Prince Duan's brain, how could he fight against the old foxes, academic masters, and academic gods in the Hall of State Affairs? Maybe he couldn't even understand the core point of the struggle.

He couldn't help but shed a tear of sympathy for Prince Duan!

Being an emperor is not easy!

Although he had always held the view that whether it was a human or a dog on the throne, it was the same virtue, there were differences between emperors and emperors. Those who know how to toss and turn, and those who don't, the former makes officials and commoners suffer, and the latter makes the emperor himself suffer.

If he had to choose, he would still choose the latter.

Mu Yiguan Mu was very gossipy. "My lord, will the Hou Fu support the new Emperor?"

Chen Guanlou pillowed his head with both hands, looked at the sky, and thought for a while. "I don't know! I really don't know. The Marquis is old, and old people are like children; maybe he will change his mind at any time. I can guess Chen Guanfu's thoughts a little. He probably won't kick the new Emperor when he is down. But he won't fully support him either. He is not that satisfied with Prince Duan, his son-in-law."

Mu Yiguan Mu didn't quite understand. "If the Hou Fu doesn't support the new Emperor, why? His own daughter is about to be ennobled as Empress; wouldn't the Hou Fu support the Empress?"

Chen Guanlou sneered. "Old Mu, you have fallen into a misunderstanding. Standing from the perspective of the Hou Fu, the new Emperor is the new Emperor, the Empress is the Empress, and the eldest imperial son is the eldest imperial son. To outsiders, the three of them are one. But in the eyes of the Hou Fu, only the Empress and the eldest imperial son are one. The new Emperor will have many sons and many choices. But the Empress only has one son and only one choice. If it were you, what would you do?"

This...

Mu Yiguan Mu frowned. "Does the lord mean that the Hou Fu only supports the Empress and the eldest imperial son?"

Chen Guanlou chuckled. "I don't know! I'm just making an analysis based on human nature. If it were me as emperor, I would definitely not support the new Emperor either. Once the new Emperor's wings are hardened, it would be time to kill the dog after the rabbit is caught! At that time, whether the Empress is still the Empress, and whether the eldest imperial son is still the eldest imperial son, that's not certain!

In history, there are countless empresses whose entire families were slaughtered; the warning from the past is not far away, and lessons must be learned. As the saying goes, the emperor and empress are one, but that is actually all nonsense. The emperor and empress are always just a cooperation of interests; since it is a cooperation, one must be prepared for the day of parting ways. Only a fool would bet on the emperor's conscience."

Mu Yiguan Mu's eyes were opened, and he sighed in admiration.

Chen Guanlou laughed. "You are all blinded by a leaf, always liking to emphasize that the husband and wife are one, sharing honor and disgrace. Sharing disgrace is true, but sharing honor is not necessarily so.

It just so happens that those women believe these crooked theories, and even the Empress herself was brainwashed into believing this nonsense. In the end, along with her son and her entire maternal family, she ended up in a total defeat and was executed. So, people should read books, but they shouldn't believe everything in them. Those old sayings and the principles in books, just listen to them; they may not necessarily be suitable for yourself."

"I didn't expect the lord to think for women."

Chen Guanlou shook his head and denied it. "I am not thinking for women; I am thinking about problems based on human nature, not based on gender. If it were me as emperor, I would definitely have strong willpower, but I wouldn't dare to guarantee that I would treat the Empress well after ten or twenty years, or ennoble the child born to the Empress as the Crown Prince.

Because at that time, I would definitely have favored concubines and favored children. I am like this, and others have lower bottom lines than me; they will only be worse than me!"

This is a world of comparing who is worse!