Near dawn, the fire of Xiangzhi Temple was seen by half of the people in the upper capital. In the early dynasties, there was a royal history class, and a book was made on the issue of public security in the capital. Solemnly ask the emperor that the fire in the Xiangzhi Temple must be strictly investigated.

The emperor is troubled, who is checking, he let the fire go! However, for the sake of the royal reputation, the affairs of the Xiangzhi Temple are kept secret, and it is best not to let anyone know. Of course, this is a good wish, and it is impossible to achieve it.

The imperial history of the previous book said impassionedly, and the emperor after the imperial case listened absent-mindedly, and waited for him to express his conclusions, and then he prevaricated with a perfunctory attitude, "Well, it is indeed necessary to strictly investigate." "And then there was no then. The emperor took the initiative to change the topic and threw down a mention that was enough to make the court vibrate and the hearts of hundreds of officials, "The position of the provincial servant has been vacant for a long time, and the post of servant in the middle of the door is concurrently served by two servants. ”

As soon as the emperor's mention came out, the minds of the civil and military officials were concentrated here, who cares if the Xiangzhi Temple is on fire or not. You know, this is not just a position in the middle of the door, someone is promoted, there will be vacancies, and someone will inevitably fill the vacancy. This means that there will be many positions in the DPRK and the center, and there will be many swaps. How to grab enough good positions in this career change will be something that the leading armies of the various factions in the DPRK and China must carefully plan.

Not long after the emperor dropped the depth charge, he said with a gentle smile: "There is a candidate in the hearts of the secretaries, say it, let's discuss it." ”

We didn't have the slightest preparation, so what to discuss. The officials of the court and the central government were silent, you look at me, I look at you, and no one will speak first.

This is what the emperor wants, and he said with a smile: "It seems that everyone Aiqing is quite embarrassed, so let's think about it when we go back, and we will discuss it in three days." ”

For the rest of the time, many officials were not focused on government affairs, and they couldn't wait to be in the court, and they began to fly their eyes. The early dynasty ended in a hurry, and the emperor beckoned to the crown prince, "Qilang, don't be busy, I have something to say to you." ”

The crown prince, who was about to walk out of the main hall with the ministers, stopped when he heard the words, "Yes, father." ”

The emperor invited the prince to talk about this matter, and it was commonplace for civil and military officials to take it to heart, and everyone didn't pay attention to it, so they just buried their heads and walked out, thinking about when they should get together, and everyone had a deep discussion.

The emperor and the crown prince returned to the imperial study, and the secret letters found from the Xiangzhi Temple were neatly placed on the bookcase, and Jia Le personally led people to look at them, never letting the letters leave his eyes. As for gold, silver, jewelry, all kinds of books and other things, they were all collected by the emperor into his private treasury, and he also generously shared half of the prince.

"Daddy, listen to Jiang Han, the retreat place of the abbot of Xiangzhi Temple has dug an underground silver vault, and there are still many gold bricks and silver ingots in it." Jiang Han reported to the prince in private, and the prince didn't hide it, he told the emperor.

The emperor pondered for a moment, "The rest of the gold and silver, except for the one that was distributed to the sergeants last night, the rest will be put into the treasury of the East Palace." "When the emperor wanted to buy people's hearts, he was extraordinarily generous.

"It's better for Daddy to keep it himself." The prince said, he was not polite to the emperor, he was indeed thinking about his father. After the emperor threw him three widows and ten sons of good families, when Su Yan checked the accounts, it happened that the prince came back early, and he volunteered to help. Su Yan was not polite to her husband, and took out two account books and threw them to the prince. One of the volumes is about the expenses of the Imperial Palace.

The prince only learned since then that raising a little wife is such a costly thing. Every year, the money of light fat powder will be spent more than 100,000 yuan, not counting the expenses of various clothing, ornaments in the temple, flowers and trees in the courtyard. If you really count it all, raising a widow can build dozens of miles of river embankments and help 10,000 victims. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who has been in contact with the government very attentively recently, immediately listed a conversion table in his mind.

He raised several low-status widows like this, and his father had so many palace concubines, and the cost must be astronomical. The prince felt a little sorry for his father, he didn't want this kind of gray income at all, so he would supplement his father's small treasury.

Even if the emperor is full of worries now, he can still see sympathy in his son's small eyes that occasionally peek at him. He wondered, what was his son sympathizing with him? Is it because of Xin'an? Although the royal princess has a bad reputation for raising monks, it is not a big deal for the princesses of all dynasties to raise a face. The emperor was angry at the moment when he first found out, and he didn't get angry with himself for Xin'an, a daughter he didn't like very much.

"I'll take it for you, when will you learn to be polite to me." The emperor is still a little uncomfortable.

The prince said truthfully: "Erchen thinks that Daddy needs it more. ”

The emperor was confused, "Who doesn't need gold and silver?" ”

"You have raised so many palace concubines, I'm afraid there aren't many silver taels in the private treasury." The crown prince once again strengthened his belief, "Daddy, don't send any widows or good families to the East Palace in the future, it costs too much to raise." ”

Too much money! The Emperor's eyes widened, he heard him right! His son actually had a concept of gold, silver, and money? Not just a concept, but a careful way to do it? "The prince of the dignified country, are you still afraid of the cost of raising a few concubines?" The emperor was a little crying and laughing.

The prince Zhengse said: "Some time ago, the retainers checked the account books of the transfer department and knew that the annual expenses of the widows in the East Palace can repair dozens of miles of river embankments...... "He explained the results of his conversion carefully to the emperor, and finally sighed: "These sons and daughters were not clear before, or did they understand during the period when Daddy ordered the sons and daughters to supervise government affairs." ”

The emperor was counted by his son with a black line, and he was a little embarrassed, but more sincerely happy. The crown prince finally began to look at things with the eyes of a monarch, rather than just caring about the gains and losses of one person.

"Take what you're given, Daddy won't lack this thing." The emperor waved his hand and stopped the prince's words, "That's it." "The emperor, who used all kinds of improper means to collect money to support his little wife in private, was really a little blushing in the face of such an upright son.

I haven't had much of a sunny heart since yesterday, and now I've seen a little sunshine. Taking advantage of his good mood, the emperor casually picked up a secret letter from the bookcase and read it.

The prince saw that his father's issue had passed, and we came to talk about this one's expression, and the knowledgeable did not say more, but also took a letter from the secret letter and took a closer look.

The matter of the pregnant child Dan has been widely spread on the top, and the emperor and the crown prince know about it. At that time, I only thought it was a means for the temple to collect money, who would have thought that it would make the princess of the county. Both of these people are full of suspicion skills, and at this time, they both feel that the pregnant child Dan is afraid that it is a disguise, so that people can get the secret letter back.

In the study of King Zhou's mansion, King Zhou slammed the book case hard, and said hatefully: "That woman is really stupid." ”。 He had never seen such a stupid woman as Princess Pingjiang County, knowing that her husband was in poor health and could not have children, so he didn't pay much attention to cheating and make a child. It's okay to get a baby, and if you kill it secretly, who can know. But she was afraid of death, and she was afraid that the miscarriage would hurt her body, so she insisted on getting a pregnancy pill with Hongzhi. I was afraid that the king of Pingjiang County would be suspicious, so I dragged a few concubines in the house into the water.

It is estimated that before the princess of Pingjiang County did this, she never thought that the matter of the pregnant child pill would be so big, and the entire Shangdu City knew about it. Many noblewomen from dignitaries and dignitaries begged to come to Hongzhi and promised a lot of money, just to ask for a pregnancy pill. Hongzhi saw the hope of accumulating money from it, so he made a prescription for self-cultivation, made pills, and sold them to everyone.

King Zhou didn't know much at first, but once when Xiao Zisu was wandering around Xiangzhi Temple, he found the princess of Pingjiang County and the monk Hongzhi. Xiao Zisu had offered a strategy to King Zhou before, wanting to drug the crown princess so that she could conceive a child as soon as possible. It's just that the East Palace is heavily guarded, and you don't have to think about secretly drugged. If you pass through their hands and send them to the palace, you have to go through more checkpoints. It's not that he didn't think about mixing things with the items that the crown princess's mother, Du Shi, sent into the palace. It's a pity that the Du family is strictly prohibited, and I am even more shrewd, and the gift list sent to the East Palace or other people's houses must be checked in detail before being packed and sealed. Not to mention that he has no way to place people in the Prime Minister's Mansion at all, even if people arrange to go in, the things that are secretly put into the palace will have to be searched out by the Du family, not only can things not be done, but it is also easy to leak himself.

When Xiao Zisu had no choice, when he encountered the matter of Hongzhi and the princess of Pingjiang County, he had an idea, used other people's hands, gave Hongzhi the prescription to help the woman conceive a child, and asked the king of Zhou to send a doctor over, saying that the prescription was to nourish the body and replenish qi and blood. Xiao Zisu is gambling, the crown princess has been in the palace for a few months, but there is no good news, and the Yasukuni Mansion and the Prime Minister's Mansion, including the princess herself, will hope to get pregnant as soon as possible and give birth to a little emperor grandson, so as to consolidate her position.

When the miracle of the Pregnant Child Pill spread throughout Kyoto, the Yasukuni Mansion and the Su Xiangfu were calm as usual, without a trace of movement. Xiao Zisu comforted King Zhou, who was a little anxious, "It's a good thing that there is no movement now, it means that they are looking at the effect, once it is really confirmed that the Pregnancy Pill is indeed effective, Su Xiang can't sit still." ”

Things have been biased towards Xiao Zisu, Princess Zhao and Princess Wu have been pregnant one after another, and the emperor has given the prince three widows and ten sons of good families in a row to fill the East Palace. He said to King Zhou a little excitedly: "Lord Wang, the opportunity has come." According to Xiao Zisu's thoughts, there are newcomers entering the palace to compete for favor, and the crown princess will also think about getting pregnant and having children as soon as possible for her own status. At this time, the efficacy of the Pregnancy Pill has also been confirmed, and if someone blows the wind in the ears of the Duchess of Yasukuni and Mrs. Su Xiang, this matter can be done.

King Zhou was also very excited, and promised Xiao Zisu again, "If it is successful, it will definitely be rewarded in phase." ”

Things did not go according to the ideas of King Zhou and Xiao Zisu, the crown princess calmly accepted the newcomer, and directly stuffed the person into the Yeting Palace, and was not even allowed to go out of the palace gate, raising two boudoirs every day to teach the newcomers. As for the prince, just like not knowing that there was still his little wife in the East Palace, he was with the princess every night and never left.

Damn, the people who want to pit haven't been pitted, and the people who don't want to pit have been pitted. Six or seven out of ten people who have asked for a pregnancy pill are pregnant. If this is in the future, these people will have difficult births when they give birth, and the children they give birth to are still weak, and I am afraid that the matter of the pregnancy pill will be exposed.

This calculation is in vain, Xiao Zisu gritted his teeth and built King Zhou, hurry up and kill Hongzhi, so as not to implicate him after the incident. King Zhou was a little hesitant, he felt that it was still early, and he should be able to stand up again. Then, he stood out of the fire and burned the Xiangfang Temple.

King Zhou was suddenly wooden, what happened in the middle? Xiao Zisu had no choice but to use the eyeliner in the Pingjiang County Palace, and the news that came back from there made King Zhou almost blew up his lungs.

The princess of Pingjiang County used the pregnant child Dan and several pregnant concubines to successfully dispel the suspicion of the king of Pingjiang County. The king of Pingjiang County, who finally had his own children, was crazy with happiness, and he really responded to the needs of several pregnant wives and concubines, so he almost made a confession. The princess of Pingjiang County successfully survived the crisis, and then another kind of unwillingness poured in. She is the princess, and those concubines who are pregnant with wild seeds, why should they enjoy the same service as herself. In case, if she gives birth to a daughter and a concubine gives birth to a son, isn't the throne of this county to be handed over? How can this work!

The princess of Pingjiang County thought about it and decided to get rid of one or two obstacles. Anyway, the few pregnant concubines were all pregnant after the servants slept. Even if it was a miscarriage, he didn't dare to say anything. Hmph, they share men with the county king, and they can be regarded as sisters.

The princess of Pingjiang County also has means, and two concubines had miscarriages, which happened to happen when she went out of the house to Xiangzhi Temple. The king of Pingjiang County was distressed, and when he heard that his wife went to a temple to teach Buddhism, he was so worried that he was afraid that the child in his wife's womb would have problems again, so he immediately recruited the guards in the palace and went directly to Xiangzhi Temple. Caught the two people who were having a tryst in the retreat room.

Lying down, King Zhou, who knew what the whole thing had happened, was so angry that he slammed the table and cursed. It doesn't matter if she's stupid, she kills a group of people.

Xiao Zisu said with a smile: "The prince doesn't have to worry, the matter of the pregnancy pill is just that the Hongzhi demon monk has done evil in order to cover up his crimes, and he is unwilling to do anything with us." ”

"This king is not worried, but it is a pity." King Zhou restrained his anger and sat upright again, "Zisu, what should we do next?" ”

Xiao Zisu said: "Lord Wang, the saint wants to appoint a new subordinate servant, and there will definitely be a lot of transfer of officials in the DPRK and China, although there are not many of us, we should also take this opportunity to move our position." "Now is not the time to flirt with the prince, it's time to grab a good position for yourself.

"Not bad." King Zhou has been thinking about this for a long time. However, in general, in matters related to the DPRK and China, he rarely listened to Xiao Zisu's opinions, but preferred the subordinate officials found for him by the Wan family. "What is Zisu's opinion on this matter?" He doesn't listen or doesn't listen, and when he faces Xiao Zisu, he will still deliberately talk to him about the affairs of the DPRK and China, with an expression of hatred for seeing each other.

Xiao Zisu immediately got up, and before he opened his mouth, he took a sip of tea before he started talking. King Zhou listened with a smile, interjecting two sentences from time to time, and occasionally nodding, which encouraged Xiao Zisu.

King Zhou and Xiao Zisu both thought that the matter of Pregnant Zidan should come to an end here. After all, Hongzhi was chopped into meat paste by the guards of the Pingjiang County Palace, the princess of Pingjiang County was given death by the emperor, the Xiangzhi Temple was reduced to ashes, and all the qiē were buried under the broken wall.

Who would have thought, in the imperial study, chatting with the prince while looking through the secret letter he received, after turning over a secret letter, his face was swollen purple with anger, his eyes were bloodshot, and his throat was whirring.

The prince was startled, jumped up from his chair, and rushed towards the emperor, "Daddy, Daddy!" ”

The emperor stood up violently, kicked down the bookcase, and then with a "wow", spit out a mouthful of crimson blood, and fainted in a daze.

The crown prince happened to run over to catch the emperor's backward body, he hugged the emperor tightly, he didn't dare to move it at all, and shouted hoarsely: "Hurry up, call the imperial doctor!" ”

As soon as the emperor fell, the entire imperial study was in chaos, and the eunuchs and palace maids screamed in surprise, and they all rushed to the emperor, and the extremely angry prince kicked the two of them away, and shouted angrily: "All to Gu quiet, Jia Xi, pass Gu's order, and Pei Yuan, the general of the left guard, lead the troops to guard the Taiji Palace." The palace people in the palace are not allowed to enter and exit at will, and if they violate the order, they will be killed on the spot. ”

"Yes." Jia Xi took the order.

Jia Le left behind the palace people to manage the Taiji Palace, and Li An, the prince's personal eunuch, had already run out of the Taiji Palace, went straight to the Tai Hospital, and went to find the Tai Doctor.

The emperor fainted about this, and he couldn't hide it at all. The prince asked the general of the left guard to find the entire Taiji Palace, and blocked the prince, the palace concubines, and the important ministers from the palace gate.

The two heads of the Tai Hospital, with all the Tai Doctors, gathered in the Tai Chi Hall.

The Emperor had been laid down in bed, his eyes still closed, and he did not wake up. The prince put his hands behind his back and walked anxiously in front of the bed, but he did not make a noise to disturb Fu Zhangyuan, who was giving needles to the emperor.

Fu Zhangyuan's expression was solemn, and he slowly twisted the golden needle in his hand, and beads of sweat the size of beans dripped down his face, but he didn't bother to wipe it. As the seven-inch-long golden needle slowly sank into more than half of the skin, he finally heard the emperor's heavy gasp, and then his eyes slowly fluttered, and finally opened.

"Daddy, how are you feeling?" The prince threw himself on the side of the bed and asked anxiously. "Fu Zhangyuan, how is my father?"

"The saint was so angry that he held his breath for a while, and now he is fine." Fu Zhangyuan wiped the sweat from his face, revealing a relieved expression.

The emperor's hand held the crown prince weakly, and his voice was weak: "Qilang, don't be afraid, Daddy is fine." ”

The prince sniffed, and the tears that he had been holding back finally fell, "Daddy, you scared me to death." ”

The emperor moved the corners of his lips, revealing a pale and weak smile, and said comfortingly: "Don't be afraid, don't cry, your old father still wants to hug Qilang's son, why are you willing to leave like this." ”

The prince wiped his eyes, and there was panic hidden in the depths of his eyes, "Erchen is still waiting for Daddy to teach Erchen his son, you have to take care." ”

"Bastard, it's tiring enough to teach you one, and I want to push your son to me too!" The emperor scolded with a smile, closed his eyes slightly, and took a breath.

"Fu Zhangyuan, come and show Daddy again." The prince rudely pulled Fu Zhangyuan and pressed on the side of the bed.

When the emperor woke up, Fu Zhangyuan had a bottom in his heart, solemnly touched the pulse, and gave the place to others, and after all the imperial doctors had seen it one by one, they gathered together and discussed in a whisper.

The crown prince sat on the edge of the emperor's bed, covered the emperor's eyes with his hands, and said stubbornly: "Daddy, you close your eyes and rest, there are all your sons." ”

The emperor closed his eyes very relieved, feeling his son's cold and slightly trembling hands, and couldn't help but have sour eyes.

The emperor suddenly became seriously ill, and the prince surrounded the Taiji Palace, not to mention that the princes were trembling, and even the harem concubines were uneasy. The important ministers of the court, everything they should know also know, and those who wanted to take the opportunity to stab their children were all pressed down by Shen Congzhi and Su Zhoucheng.

Shen Congzhi asked Su Zhoucheng in private, "Xinzhi, do you want someone to inform the crown princess." ”

Su Zhoucheng sneered twice: "Where is we still needed, Du Guifei went in person." ”

The four concubines of Gui, Shu, De, and Xian were stopped outside the Taiji Hall by Pei Yuan, and they couldn't get in even if they broke their throats. Knowing that it was the prince who transferred the soldiers, Concubine De frowned and said, "The saint is seriously ill, so we should serve the sick." The prince is unreasonable, how can he stop us outside. She said this to Du Guifei, who made Du Guifei the prince's aunt, when she didn't have her own children, she would definitely be in the same faction as the prince.

Concubine Shu and Concubine Xian glanced at each other, and they were also at a loss. If the emperor is ill and succeeded by the crown prince, they will be concubines, and there is no comparison with now.

Du Guifei was very contradictory, that is, she hoped that the crown prince would ascend the throne, but she did not want the old emperor to die and make her lose her current status. After all, the crown prince has a wife, and when he ascends the throne as the emperor, the harem will be managed by the queen, and what else will happen to her. The old emperor is not dead, she is still the concubine with the highest status in the harem, and she can still be in charge of the harem.

"No, this palace has to go to see the crown princess and let her persuade the prince." Concubine De also had no choice, thinking of Su Yan, she immediately turned around and left.

How could Du Guifei let Concubine De harass Su Yan, she hurriedly followed behind Concubine De. Concubine Shu and Concubine Xian looked at it and followed suit. The two of them have one idea, anyway, with Concubine Du and Concubine De in front, they just act when they see the opportunity.

Su Yan didn't receive the news at first, and as soon as the emperor vomited blood and fell to the ground, the prince's mind was blank, and he only acted on instinct. When the emperor woke up, he remembered to sue his wife.

Li An's feet were slightly faster, and he rushed to the East Palace one step ahead of several imperial concubines, and saw that Su Yan didn't say a word of gossip, but said: "The saint is seriously ill, and the prince ordered the old slave to pick up the lady." ”

Su Yan didn't care about asking too much here, hurriedly entered the inner room and changed into a plain dress, and was about to leave with people, and before he could get out of the main hall door, he saw Li Ping coming over and replying, "Lady, the noble concubine in the palace, the lady concubine, the virtuous concubine, the virtuous concubine Niangniang are visiting." ”

Su Yan got into the car directly, and lightly threw down a sentence: "Go and tell the four mothers, see you in front of the Taiji Palace." ”