The Choice Queen's

TCQ 20: History of the Four Regions

“Mother Suri?” li Fengran asked unsure.

As he recalled, there was no Queen Mother in the original comic. Why did a Queen Mother suddenly come?

Li Fengran had also never seen or heard of him since he had lived here. He did not know that Nangong Zirui still had a mother and Donghao had a Queen Mother.

“Don't talk about that now. I'll call you if I need you.”

Knowing the situation, Li Fengran then walked out of Qihua Palace and returned to Changsun Palace. The first thing he did was to call Xiang Wan and ask her to tell him about the Queen Mother Nangong Zirui meant.

Xiang Wan who had just finished tidying up the palace felt astonished, but still told it enthusiastically.

“Mother Suri is the birth mother of His Majesty the King. She used to be Consort Mu, the mistress the late king liked the most. After the late king crowned His Majesty as his heir, a power struggle conflict ensued. His Majesty's half-brothers tried to steal the throne and the court was quite chaotic back then.”

“Danchuan, Mochuan, Jinchuan, and Zichuan then agreed to calm the court and stabilize the power. Although the Four Regions always fought for power, but they obeyed the King's decision. Behind that success, Consort Mu put in a lot of effort to convince the four great masters.”

That history was a dark record in the past, which became a black dot in Nangong Zirui's heart. It was not easy for him to sit in his chair at the moment.

She was talented and prominent since childhood and liked her father. At a time when the court was muddled by his appointment as heir, the four territorial lords of Nangong Zirui's mother's efforts put a momentary strain on Nangong Zirui.

“After Her Majesty ascends the throne, Consort Mu becomes Queen Mother. But the danger doesn't stop there. The four great masters seemed to forget the agreement with Seibu Suri and began to strengthen its influence again. The Queen Mother is angry, but she cannot travel like a young age.”

“Wait a minute!” Li Fengran interrupted. “What agreement did the Queen Mother actually make with the four great masters?”

“Nona, the previous Four Regions were only states that were under royal authority. It was like a province, but bigger. In order to support the throne, the Queen Mother agreed with the four great masters. Instead, Ibu Suri agreed to give special authority to the Four Regions for the management of government.”

“Who would have thought after a few years, besides Danchuan, the Mochuan, Jinchuan and Zichuan regions expanded their influence and power and almost equalized the courts. Therefore, now the situation becomes rather special.”

Li Fengran was trying to digest. Danchuan, Mochuan, Jinchuan, and Zichuan were the four states subject to the rule of the court of Donghao Kingdom.

To stabilize the situation, the rulers agreed to support Nangong Zirui, but they made more gains after Nangong Zirui ascended the throne.

“For the sake of maintaining a seat, the Queen Mother willingly took the risk of breaking up the country. Does Your Majesty know?” asked Li Fengran.

“Your Majesty knows, but it was helpless then. After slowly becoming strong, His Majesty then suppressed the power of Jinchuan, Mochuan, and Zichuan bit by bit. The marriage and election of this queen, was one of many steps that His Majesty the King arranged. Lucky Her Majesty the Queen knows and works together to help her.”

Although Xiang Wan was stupid, but his brain could still be used to scrape information and history in Donghao Kingdom. He was younger than Li Fengran, yet he had more knowledge.

It was because Li Fengran was a new person and had not inherited the memories of this body before. The fictional story of a comic, eventually becomes a reality that begins to interfere with his mind.

“But, why was the Queen Mother not seen before?” asked Li Fengran curiously.

“People here say, The Queen Mother is too tired to think about the situation of the palace and goes to the temple to pray for a few months. Probably, he will be back in the near future.”

“Can we still live if he comes back?”

“Why not? Didn't we make a mistake?”

“Once, I just know how bad I feel about this.”

The existence of this Queen Mother was beyond Li Fengran's prediction. Based on Xiang Wan's story, Li Fengran was vaguely able to understand what kind of nature this Queen Mother was.

He did everything for his son. If she had known that her son had raised a Sword Saint without discussing with her, the Queen Mother would have been furious.

Ling Sui's death must have triggered the desire of those who wanted to reap the benefits. The future queen successor, Shen Lihua of Zichuan, was an elected candidate whose background was excellent.

Zichuan gradually became the number one state territory among the four other regions. If they support it and promote it as soon as possible, they will be able to get rewarded.

The palace minister may still be able to be climbed by Nangong Zirui, but if faced with his mother, it is not necessarily. Li Fengran was able to see the doubt and worry on Nangong Zirui's face earlier. That means, this Queen Mother is not a person who is easy to deal with.

Suddenly, Li Fengran felt himself about to die again.

...***...

The next day, Wang Bi's subordinate eunuch came to Changsun Palace in the morning blind to deliver a message.

The king advised that the Stakeholder of the Sword should immediately go to Qihua Palace and accompany the king, as the court of the palace will be held at seven in the morning. Despite the grieving situation, the government must continue.

Li Fengran was still curled up under his blanket. All night, he couldn't sleep thinking about the Queen Mother. His heart was worried.

“Nona, let's get up! If you keep sleeping, those servants will throw you into the bathtub again!”

Xiang Wan shook her master's body several times. Hearing the word ‘bak bath’, Li Fengran reminisced in the winter of that day. He was shocked and immediately rushed over.

With his current identity, it was perfectly normal for him to enter the court hall. The Sword-bearer is the king's companion, adviser, accomplice and his personal guardian.

Her status was comparable to that of a minister and was the highest ranking female official. However, Li Fengran did not expect it to be so troublesome.

“White cloth still hangs, Ling Sui's burial ground is still wet. You guys are really role models!”

Along the way to the court hall, Li Fengran did not stop grumbling behind Nangong Zirui's back. The king in front of him had a tall and stocky body, his legs long until his steps were wide.

Li Fengran's legs were short, he was left behind and had to walk quickly to catch up with him.

Noticing the woman behind him lagging behind and grumbling, Nangong Zirui stopped stepping. “Wang Bi, isn't today too early?”

“Your Highness, it's noon,” Wang Bi is confused.

It was clearly noon, even too late to go to court. He imagined the faces of the ministers he used to meet turning irritated and talking to each other inside the hall.

Nangong Zirui clucked.

“I said that it is still too early,” repeated. Wang Bi finally understood after the corner of Nangong Zirui's eyes glanced at Li Fengran behind him.

“If Your Majesty says it is still morning, then it is still morning.”

“Then, there is no need to rush to the court.”

Nangong Zirui shortened his footsteps, reduced his tempo and walked slowly. It was only then that Li Fengran was able to catch up to him casually. Nangong Zirui glanced at him and saw Li Fengran's facial features gradually improving.

This woman had a bad temper, but Nangong Zirui found it quite funny. At least in the morning before the meeting, he got a good mood from seeing his Sword Stakeholder.

Not long after, they entered the magnificent court hall. The ministers were already waiting in the robes of state officials and a small long hand-holding board in hand. Everyone knelt in reverence and said a prayerful greeting to Nangong Zirui.

Nangong Zirui's majesty radiated as soon as he entered this magnificent room. In an instant, all the strange temperaments Li Fengran saw vanished.

After Nangong Zirui sat on his throne, he turned into a feared king figure. His aura was emitting so intensely, as if there was light coming out from his body. For a moment, Li Fengran was stunned.

The gazes of the ministers were fixed on the figure of Li Fengran who was standing not far from Wang Bi. The decree of the Sword Stakeholder's appointment had already passed two weeks ago, and this was the first time they had seen Li Fengran enter the court hall officially. In accordance with the arrangements, he had the privilege of witnessing the palace meeting.

The situation was good at first, but slowly heated up after several ministers alluded to the appointment of a new queen.

They were so eager to express their opinions and suppress Nangong Zirui. The moment Li Fengran saw him, Nangong Zirui stared coldly and reluctantly. The man occasionally massaged his temple while listening to the babbling of his ministers.

“Easy Wang, your king ministers are very talkative. Why don't they just be storytellers?” whispered Li Fengran.

“Lord of the Sword, the minister is the pillar of the country. They used to argue with His Majesty for matters of state.”

“But they are very noisy.”

“You should get used to.”

Li Fengran was still paying attention. The debate peaked and Nangong Zirui's emotions slowly ignited. A minister who did not know his name said the topic of royal descent and related it to the future, also mentioned the response of four regional lords if the ceremony of the appointment of a new queen was not immediately implemented.

“Easy Wang, look, your king is getting angry. Quickly calm him!” said Li Fengran.

“At this time, you are responsible for calming him down,” Wang Bi's sergeant.

Li Fengran did not understand, but his body was suddenly pushed forward by the young eunuch.  Instantly, the room became quiet.

All eyes were on him, including Nangong Zirui. “My Sword, do you have an opinion?” asked Nangong Zirui.

Li Fengran looked at everyone in turn. Really, he had trouble coping with this kind of awkward situation. The eyes of those people were like arrows piercing him together, making his body shiver with coldness for no reason.

Li Fengran saw the arrogance of Nangong Zirui intimidating him slowly and unconsciously.