In the capital, in the Leshou Hall of the Summer Palace, four large copper stoves of nine peaches were burning sandalwood. Cixi, who was the helmsman of the Qing Empire, was lying on the back of a gold chair with gold. The little Lizi next to her was fair and careful to apply her face with egg white. You have to admire Cixi for being unprecedented in beauty and having a future generation. If this was put into later generations, she would be a beautiful master.

After waiting for a while, Li Zi wiped the egg whites with silk and asked softly: "God of Lady, do you want to take a shower?"

Cixi nodded, and Little Lizi stepped forward and helped her walk to a magnificent bathhouse. A fishy smell of human milk floated in the bathhouse, which was not water but fresh and hot human milk. Lizi untied Cixi's clothes and undressed her. Looking at Cixi's slightly smooth skin, she couldn't help but praise: "God of the Lady, your skin is really smoother than a newborn baby."

Cixi stepped into the bathtub and said with a smile: "You servant, you are just sweet-mouthed. Come and press the whole body of the Ai family. This person feels uncomfortable when he gets old."

Li Lianying has practiced a good handicraft, and it won’t take long to press Cixi to the full body and feel comfortable all over. Cixi snorted inwardly and said, “You servant, why did you use such a lot of force? The place in the Ai family has been hurt by you.”

Little Lizi hurriedly kowtowed and said, "I deserve to die! This is a new technique for me from Western learning. If the empress dowager doesn't like it, I won't use it in the future."

Cixi narrowed her eyes and said, "No need, I'll be gentle in the future." Then she asked, "By the way, I heard that Li Hongzhang has entered the capital?"

Little Li replied: "Mr. Li lived in Xianliang Temple yesterday and was waiting for your summoning from the Queen Mother."

Cixi frowned and said, "Now this Lord Li Zhongtang is incredible. From Tianjin to the capital, I don't know how many people hold his feet and praise him!"

When Li Zi saw that Cixi was displeased and spoke sarcastically, she replied: "No matter how powerful Li Hongzhang is, he is just a little slave to you, Lord Laifu. Lord Laifu wants to knead him, but he still doesn't knead him!"

Cixi squinted her eyes and thought for a long time, then suddenly a trace of cold light came out, and she said, "Now Li Hefei is like the one who once shaves his head. This dog is too strong. I don't know when it will bite you in reverse."

When Little Lizi heard this, she didn't understand what Cixi meant. She began to suspicion of Li Hongzhang. Now Li Hongzhang's prestige has not declined but increased, and his power is even more overwhelming, posing a serious threat to the rule of Manchus.

Little Lizi followed Cixi's words and asked, "What do you mean by Empress Dowager?"

Cixi smiled and said, "The Ai family promoted Li Hongzhang in the Hunan Army, and the Hunan Army has now become fragmented. Now the Ai family only needs to promote another natural Li Hongzhang in the Li Hongzhang army. Isn't this infighting in Beiyang interesting?"

Little Lizi nodded quickly and said yes. Cixi continued: "What's more, Li Hongzhang is not as innocent as Zeng Guofan before. The Ai family heard that his father and son kept both silver in the Japanese money house. Isn't he a collusion with the enemy? Besides, in order to preserve his strength, Li Hongzhang put the Beiyang Navy in the port and did not dare to attack. I don't know how many fighter planes were delayed. Didn't Weng, the old man next to the Ai family claim to be the leader of the 'Nan Qingliu'? He had a rift with Li Hongzhang and told the Hanlins of the court about Li Hongzhang to the Hanlins of the court, the censors, who claimed to be noble, aren't it enough for him to drink a pot of Li Hongzhang?"

Little Lizi praised: "The Empress Dowager is wise, but I don't know who you are going to promote?"

Cixi said, "It is Ye Zhikui, who was praised by Li Hongzhang as the blessing general of the country. This time he made great contributions and could compete with Li Hongzhang's reputation. The court must also reward him if he has made merits, otherwise wouldn't it be disappointing to the hearts of others? It's just that how to reward him, and who he deserves is the final decision."

Little Lizi was puzzled and asked, "I still don't understand. Isn't this person a confidant of Li Hongzhang?"

Cixi smiled and said, "If you, as a servant, understand, you still want me, the empress dowager to do it. Not to mention that Ye Zhikui is Li Hongzhang's confidant, Zeng Guofan was Li Hongzhang's mentor back then! So what? After Ye Zhikui entered the capital yesterday, he visited Weng Tongshu and Li Hongzao. Both of them were inconsistent with Li Hongzhang. Don't think that the Ai family didn't know that he had sent you a lot of money?"

Little Lizi remained calm and said loyally: "The Old Buddha is so dazzling. I am just trying to report this to you. I will hand over the money to you. I will be alone and it is useless to keep it."

Cixi waved her hand and said, "Forget it, just think it was given to you by the Ai family. Ye Zhikui has been paying attention to the Ai family for a long time. I heard that he has a skill in fighting, but he is very greedy, even a bit unreasonable, vulgar and vulgar. As long as the Ai family breaks his hands and gives both kindness and power, he is afraid that he can't control such a young boy. If he passes an order, the Ai family will summon him tomorrow."

Before Li Hongzhang was summoned, he summoned Ye Zhikui first. This is the first step toward the separation. Why did Cixi say that Ye Zhikui was rather unreasonable? Let’s take a look at Ye Zhikui’s performance in the past two days!

On the morning of November 10, Ye Zhikui entered the capital from Andingmen. When he passed by the city gate, he met a beautiful woman. Ye Zhikui felt sad and came forward to chat with her. The woman ignored her. Ye Zhikui actually teased her in the street. The soldiers guarding the city gate and the people passing by were all seen with their own eyes.

In the afternoon, Ye Zhikui took a woman to a gold and jade shop. He took a fancy to a bracelet, but when he purchased it, he slandered the store owner for selling fake goods. Not only did he not pay, he asked the store owner for compensation.

In the evening, Ye Zhikui had a meal in a restaurant. After eating and drinking, he threw a fly into the remaining soup and asked the boss why there was a fly learning to swim in his bowl. The store owner had no choice but to compensate him.

Others such as not helping the 70-year-old lady cross the road, robbing the lollipops of three-year-old children, Ye Zhikui did countless things. Fortunately, Ye Zhikui did not leave a name for his bad things. Otherwise, if people knew that he was the famous blessing general of the country, he would not kill anyone and shout that he would be famous and better meet. However, these behaviors were seen by countless "minded people". The information was uploaded layer by layer, and finally arrived at the head of Cixi's bedside.

In the palace, late at night, footsteps came from outside the cold palace. The guardian's old eunuch woke up from his dream and ran out quickly. When he saw a figure, he couldn't help but scold him, "Who is it?" When he saw it clearly, his face changed, he quickly knelt down and said in panic: "I wish the emperor my blessing!"

The person coming was Guangxu. Guangxu hurriedly said no to the courtesy and was about to walk inside. The old eunuch stood up and stopped him and said, "Your Majesty, the old Buddha will not let anyone see Concubine Zhen!"

Guangxu's eyes changed, and now even the eunuchs in the palace didn't take him seriously, and said angrily: "You damn slave, as the Supreme Master of Nine Five, do I still have any places to enter?"

The old eunuch hesitated and didn't know what to do. He thought of the viciousness of the Old Buddha, and he bit his teeth and stopped him. Guangxu pulled out a knife he carried with him and said, "You slave is really looking for death. Is it bad for bullying me a knife? If you get out of here today, you only know me and will not pass it into your father's ears. Otherwise, I will never give up today."

The old eunuch weighed for a moment and quietly walked aside. As Guangxu grew older, a sense of imperial power arose.

Guangxu walked to a house at the west end, opened a living window, and looked inside, there was a woman sitting foolishly beside the bed.

Guangxu's nose felt sore. Thinking that he could not even keep his beloved woman, he couldn't help but feel sad and shouted softly: "My beloved concubine, I've come to see you, I've made you suffer."

When the woman inside heard the sound, she raised her head, and looked pretty and refined. No wonder Guangxu was obsessed with her. She ran to the window, held Guangxu's hands, and cried and said, "Your Majesty, I know my mistake. I shouldn't collude with my close servants to accept bribes and sell official positions. Your Majesty, please let me go out. I'm so scared to be here alone."

The woman was Zhenfei, and she was a very tragic figure in history. First, because she was naughty and cute and charming, she was favored by Guangxu, which made Guangxu neglect Cixi's very famous hunchbacked niece Empress Longyu. She happened to be found to have been bribed and sold to official positions by Cixi, so she entered the cold palace. Not long after she was released, she was too active in the reform of 1898 and her relatives and friends were all "imperial parties", which made her second after the failure of the reform of 1898 and the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China and was about to invade the Forbidden City, Cixi ordered the eunuch Cui Yugui to be pushed into the well and died.

Guangxu looked at the woman he loved and said with a cruel heart: "Don't worry, beloved concubine. When I come to the world in person, I will definitely let you out. I will see this knife. This knife is called Muramasa. According to Ye Aiqing, who presented the knife, this knife is the nemesis of the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan. It was through reform that the Meiji Emperor defeated the shogunate army to guide Japan to rise rapidly. I want to learn from the Meiji Emperor to carry out reforms and reforms, so that our Qing Dynasty will become stronger through reforms. At that time, I will be the emperor of the ages, and who else dares to go against me?"

Because Guangxu lived under the power of Cixi since childhood, he was timid and greeted Cixi three times a day. However, as he grew older, he had more and more conflicts with Cixi, and he wanted to be able to take charge of the world himself.

After the Sino-Japanese War, the conflict between the emperor and the empress became more acute. Because Guangxu had always expressed his clear position to fight against Japan, his reputation rose sharply after victory. The imperial party wanted to take this opportunity as an opportunity to promote Guangxu to rule and get rid of Cixi's control. At this time, Kang Youwei wrote a letter to Guangxu as early as 1888 and proposed reforms. He then wrote two books, laying the theoretical foundation for the reforms. Guangxu saw with his own eyes that Japan gradually became stronger through reforms, and he dared to challenge the Celestial Kingdom. The Japanese Emperor was even more glorious and miserable.
Chapter completed!