==Chapter 164==

Begging for bones, as the name suggests, asks for the bones to be buried in their hometown, and return to their hometown to live out their old age. It is generally used for officials who are old and have not made mistakes, and go by themselves.

Of course, there are also those who have violated the emperor's taboo in some places, for fear of attracting holy wrath, and leave a trace of face for themselves. Generally, if the emperor is generous, most of them will not refuse this kind of request, after all, on the bright side, the emperor still needs a good reputation of tolerance and generosity.

But this qiē is not in line with Ruan Chengmao's current situation, in terms of age, he is in the prime of life, and it is not a problem for his career to last another one or two decades. On the sacred heart, Ruan Chengmao was picked up by Emperor Chengyuan, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a dog of Emperor Chengyuan.

No matter from which point of view, Ruan Chengmao couldn't reach the point of begging bones, but he just went to the book to beg for it.

Ruan Chengmao was naturally not willing, to put it bluntly, he was forced.

Since the defeat of Emperor Chengyuan when the dynasty fainted, he fell into a state of being attacked on his belly and back. The upper and lower calibers of the dynasty were unified, all of which said that because of his ill intentions, it would provoke the anger of Emperor Chengyuan and cause him to faint in the court. There was no mention of Emperor Chengyuan's succession and the establishment of the emperor's grandson.

He knew in his heart that there must be someone behind these courtiers, and now some people were afraid that the water in this pool would not mix, so they just used the excuse to confuse the public, and by the way, they prevented the prince from passing over. At the same time, Ruan Chengmao has been an official for many years, and he is not without political enemies in the court.

This is the first time that Nguyen Chengmao has faced such a big crisis since he was an official for many years, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the target of public criticism. The key is that he has no way to argue, and he has lost the support of Emperor Chengyuan, and he is even more difficult.

Those who are officials value official reputation, and now with the bigger and bigger things and the spread of rumors, now Ruan Chengmao doesn't talk about official reputation, and his reputation is stinky. Even a small peddler pawn in Chang'an City knew that there was a big official, relying on his daughter to be favored in front of the prince, and instigated the eldest son who wanted to succeed the Chu prince's mansion to the prince, and when the emperor and the prince were not successful in the future, he coerced the Son of Heaven to order the princes.

Don't ask those peddlers and pawns who don't know a single big word if they understand the meaning of blackmailing the Son of Heaven to order the princes, in short, everyone is discussing this matter.

Not only that, even Ruan Chengmao's former wealth and wealth abandoned his bad wife and sought another high branch, which caused his ex-wife to die depressed, was dug out.

Things have developed to this point, and Ruan Chengmao has completely become a disloyal, unfilial, unkind and unrighteous villain. Some of the courtiers who used to interact with him intensively, although they had not yet come out to be ashamed of being with him for the time being, they were all closed, so that Ruan Chengmao's campaign to clear himself was frequently blocked.

In desperation, Ruan Chengmao had to ask for help from his father-in-law, the right servant of the former Shangshu Province.

Xu Fu is now in his prime, and after retiring, he handed over all the connections in his hands to his son-in-law, and devoted himself to teasing his grandson at home. Of course, the emaciated camel is bigger than the horse, Xu Fu has been sitting in the right servant shooting position for so many years, although he has been away from the court for a long time, his connections and vision are not bad.

After Ruan Chengmao's accident, Xu did not go back to his parents' house for help, but Xu Fu refused. Because the old-eyed Xu Fu knew very well that someone deliberately wanted to take Ruan Chengmao under the knife. For what, it is naturally to dispel some people's thoughts of wanting to succeed the prince, and to say that the obscure point also has the meaning of warning Emperor Chengyuan. Even if you are the Ninety-Five, there are some things that you can do, but there are some things that you can't do. To put it bluntly, it is to beat the dog to show the owner, and Ruan Chengmao is the dog who suffered from the pond fish.

And these people can't be touched, one carelessness is the end of the family subversion, and Xu Fu can't afford to gamble.

At the beginning, Xu Fu had ordered his son-in-law, and sitting in their position, it had reached the point of being a very popular minister, why bother to be greedy for the wealth of his relatives, but unfortunately Ruan Chengmao was dazzled by wealth and wealth. Although he is one of the right servants of Shangshu Province, it is not for nothing that there are ministers with higher official positions than him, first of all, the left servant is pressed on his head, not to mention the Zhongshu Order of Zhongshu Province and the two servants of Menxia Province. Among these old ministers, he has the youngest qualifications and the youngest, and the reason why he sat in this position was not only the exceptional promotion of Emperor Chengyuan, but also the light of his father-in-law.

In front of people, he has infinite scenery, in fact, only he knows the sweetness and sourness inside, those courtiers in the court, on the surface, are respectful to him, but in fact, they all look down on him by nepotism, otherwise he would not have focused on his political achievements in order to prove himself over the years.

Although Ruan Chengmao has followed Emperor Chengyuan for many years, he is not without his own careful thoughts, he has been thinking about it since the dragon's work, a big pie suddenly fell from the sky, and he was really sorry for his conscientious work for many years if he didn't reach out to pick it up.

If the succession is completed, the Ruan family, an upstart with shallow roots in Chang'an City, will change the disadvantages of the early years. The name of the imperial grandson is recorded in the name of his daughter, and after the imperial grandson ascends the throne, his daughter will not be able to run away from the position of the queen mother. And the lord is weak and the minister is strong, so he will inevitably need powerful courtiers to assist the young emperor. As the father of the king of Chu, with the temperament of Emperor Chengyuan, he will inevitably guard against him, and the best way is to set up another person to contain him, and this person has no one else except him.

Therefore, Ruan Chengmao knew that this move was extremely dangerous, but he still did what Emperor Chengyuan wanted, and he naturally relied on Jian Zai's heart. It's a pity that this 'emperor' is useless, and because of this incident, the dynasty collapsed, leaving himself alone in battle, and was splashed with a basin of sewage on his body, and he couldn't wash it out.

Xu Fu looked at his son-in-law who couldn't hide his haggard face, was silent for a long time, and then gave a plan-

Show weakness to the enemy, and retreat as advance.

Ruan Chengmao is worthy of being Xu Fu's most valued son-in-law, and he reacted immediately. After leaving the Xu Mansion, he began to close the door and no longer see guests, and his mind became hidden, and he no longer reached out to touch the government affairs of the DPRK and China.

Outsiders only think that he learns from the pain, realizes his mistakes, and reflects at home. After chasing and fighting for a while, the momentum slowly faded.

At this moment, Emperor Chengyuan, who had been ill for many days, finally went to court.

On that day, Nguyen Chengmao was begging for bones in the court.

The government and the opposition were shocked, and Emperor Chengyuan did not allow him to play.

*

After leaving the court, all the courtiers were discussing this matter.

Looking at this, there were a few more strands of silver in his hair in just a few days, and the purple official robe was slightly empty on his body, and he went straight to the palace gate at once, Ruan Chengmao, who had not stopped, and everyone's eyes were complicated.

Most of these courtiers were born literati and have always adhered to the way of a gentleman, although they have taken action against Ruan Chengmao for various reasons, but in the end they still have some conscience, and it is human nature to sympathize with the weak. At this time, watching this beautiful Shangshu Province for many years fall to this point, there are those who gloat and those who have mercy.

Of course, there are many people with old and spicy eyes, and they almost understand the meaning of Ruan Chengmao's actions.

"Lord Zuo Servant, you said that this Ruan Rong is ...... him," a middle-aged official in a purple official robe and a jade belt around his waist hesitated.

There was an old man standing in front of him, this person was the old man Hong Qinghong who stood tall for two dynasties and worshiped the left servant of Shangshu Province.

Hong Fuchu is now in his sixties, with a long face, gray hair and beard, and a kind face. If you just look at the appearance, he is actually an ordinary rich man, but those who have dealt with him know that this person is scheming and very human.

Hong Qing stroked his gray beard with a smile, and glanced at the gradually shrinking back in the distance: "With Ruan Ronghe's arrogance, if there is no one to guide him, he can't do this." ”

"What do you mean?"

Hong Qing only smiled and did not answer.

"Okay, this has nothing to do with us, we just need to watch the show. As for how the play is played, don't you know if you look down? ”

Hong Qing dropped this sentence, dusted off his sleeves, and walked slowly to the palace gate.

*

Since typing the bones of the beggar in the book, Ruan Chengmao has picked up his official talisman and stayed at home behind closed doors.

Today, I opened a few plots in the house to grow vegetables, and tomorrow I went fishing, and my life was extremely leisurely. When someone came to visit, he would also see one or two people depending on his previous friendships, and the whole idle rich man was dressed up, but he didn't say a word about other people's temptations and major government affairs, as if he was waiting for Emperor Chengyuan to release his armor and return to the field after the edict.

On the side of the court, Emperor Chengyuan also repeatedly mentioned Ruan Fuchu in front of people, and after unconsciously calling out Ruan Fuju's name, he found that it was wrong at this time, and he sighed Ruan Chengmao's diligence and loyalty, and looked embarrassed and remembrative.

This gentleman and a minister are playing, and others are only spectators.

Sure enough, Emperor Chengyuan didn't last long, so he sent an edict and ordered Ruan Chengmao to come back quickly.

The general meaning is that now the imperial court is inseparable from Lord Ruan, and Emperor Chengyuan is also inseparable from Lord Ruan, Aiqing, come back quickly, although you have made many mistakes before, but in life, who can be without mistakes, flaws are not hidden, I am willing to forgive you.

Emperor Chengyuan still does not change his previous style, and he will never say that it is his fault if something happens. On that day, there was so much trouble in the court because of the succession and the establishment of the emperor's grandson, and even Ruan Chengmao, the right servant, was scolded for being bloody, Emperor Chengyuan returned to the court after a long illness, and the first thing he had to face when he came back was how to solve the previous matter.

He has always paid attention to face, how could he allow this kind of 'mistake' to happen to him, since the courtiers have been empathetic to find out the culprit, he simply forgot about his previous actions, and blamed the cause of this incident entirely on Ruan Chengmao.

Ruan Chengmao carried a black pot again and didn't mention it, in the face of the servant sent by Emperor Chengyuan to pass on the message, he cried sadly and pitifully, but he still thanked Emperor Chengyuan for his love. Later, he wrote a letter to the beggar bones, asking Emperor Chengyuan for permission to retire from the old man.

Emperor Chengyuan was still not allowed.

The two of them are not annoyed, but those who watch the drama are bored. At this point, almost everyone can see what is going on.

In fact, Ruan Chengmao's idea is very obvious.

It was precisely in response to what his father-in-law Xu Fu said, showing that the enemy was weak and retreating was advancing.

First of all, they don't go out at home behind closed doors, and in that case, they can't tell the difference anymore, so it's better to let them go. People are sympathetic to the weak, and even if they beat the water dogs, everyone should pay attention to their own image, and naturally they will not go too far.

When the rumors fade and his backer returns, this paper book of beggars and bones has become a weapon to completely stir up public opinion.

There are always some people behind them, as long as public opinion is biased towards their side, those who have other scheming will naturally not dare to chase after themselves, and Emperor Chengyuan will definitely not let him go, and the so-called beggar bones have become a gesture expressed by Ruan Chengmao.

Regardless of whether you deceive yourself or others, in short, the matter will inevitably come to an end, and others will not bring it up again.

And now that he and Emperor Chengyuan continue to sing and harmonize like this, it is nothing more than raising himself to a higher level in his posture.

You see that I really have no intention of being an official, and I am not interested in the so-called coercion of the Son of Heaven to make the princes, and now I don't even want to be an official, which is enough to prove how glorious I am. I have rejected even the retention of today, and what a noble person I am, so all the sins you wanted to add to them before were all mistakes.

For Ruan Chengmao, there is a lining, there is face, even if the sewage is not cleaned, it is almost not so smelly, as long as you hold on for a while, it will be a minute to wash white. And for Emperor Chengyuan, he didn't lose a general, and he perfunctory the previous things, Aiqing carried the black pot for himself, and he helped act in a play, and it was only a few words, he was happy.

The plan is good, but will anyone let them get their wish?

Ruan Chengmao originally planned to ask for three resignations and show his glory, but soon he found that something was wrong with the situation.

Nowadays, almost no one outside criticizes him anymore, and his remarks about him have begun to lean towards a positive one, but it is inevitably too positive.

I don't know when some of the criticisms about Ruan Chengmao from the outside disappeared overnight, and they were replaced by words praising Ruan Chengmao's brilliance and noble conduct.

And there is reason and evidence, some people who have visited Ruan Chengmao have proved that Ruan Chengmao is indeed a noble character, as clear as a curling, indifferent to Mingzhi, sincere and sustained, and a high-class calf, so Ruan Chengmao is praised as not a mortal, as if he is indifferent to fame and fortune, and regards fame and fortune as nothing.

He even did not hesitate to give examples, saying that Ruan Servant had been an official for many years, and he had already become ill from hard work, and his health was not as good as before, and that Ruan Servant said that this kind of idle cloud and wild crane days were called comfortable, and also said that Ruan Servant Shot had now cultivated some land at home, and wanted to experience the life of a peasant, and said that life was short for these decades, and he served the imperial court in the first few decades, and the rest of these days should be reserved for himself, and by the way, it was also for the younger generations to abdicate and make way for the virtuous ......

These words and things are indeed true that Ruan Chengmao once said that he has done it, but people are polite, polite, and acting, okay? Who made you look like you were serious!

But can you say, you can do it, and you still don't allow others to take it seriously?

As soon as the momentum outside prevailed, Xu Fu saw that the situation was not good, so he hurriedly recruited his son-in-law, saying that there must be a master behind this to guide him, and let him quickly find a way, otherwise there will only be one end, and it will be difficult to ride a tiger.

But at this time, it was too late, and there was a lot of praise outside, and Ruan Chengmao was only praised as a good courtier who was unique in heaven and earth. And now, even if you think of a way, what good way can you come up with, do you meet people and say that I am not as good as you say, I am just a fame and reputation, I am actually acting, isn't that hitting my own mouth?

In the face of this qiē, Ruan Chengmao smiled on his face, but he was very bitter in his heart.

There were more people who came to visit Ruan's mansion, and even those who had scolded him earlier also came to apologize to him, and some admired Ruan's servants and came to pay their respects. To put it in the vernacular, Ruan Fuchu is a person of noble character, and if we come to get rid of it more, we will naturally be noble. The so-called things are divided by groups, and people are gathered by likes.

For a time, Ruan's mansion was full of people, and no one knew the bitterness in Ruan Chengmao's heart.

*

After listening to King Chu talk about some of the things he had been doing outside recently, Jiu Niang couldn't help but laugh.

She had always known that the King of Chu was very human, but it was the first time she found out that he was so narrow, so Ruan Chengmao must have been tricked by him.

The King of Chu had a serious face, and seemed to be very puzzled about what Jiu Niang was laughing at, and he didn't take credit for himself, saying that there was also the credit of King Zhao and King Cheng. The words of the King of Chu are not false, there has never been an eternal enemy in this world, at this time, the three of Zhao Wangcheng and Chu Wang have a good tacit understanding and are in agreement, and there is a suspicion of tearing the sky apart.

"Then can this Ruan Chengmao still turn over?" Jiu Niang asked.

King Chu smiled meaningfully: "At this time, even if he wants to turn over, he can't help it, not only does he not allow it, but his father will not allow it." ”

The King of Chu is indeed right, Emperor Chengyuan has never been a very patient person, acting with a courtier is enough to make him lose face, if it weren't for his previous 'mediocrity' move, even if he wanted to protect Ruan Chengmao, he would not have done it like this.

And now he is pouring face and not wanting to protect the other party, but he didn't expect that this result would be guaranteed. Emperor Chengyuan is not stupid, things have reached this point, he can no longer see that there is someone manipulating behind him, and he has been the emperor for so many years in vain.

Emperor Chengyuan was aggrieved, annoyed, and distressed. In order to end this farce, he quickly cut through the chaos on Ruan Chengmao's beggar bone book, and approved a blood-red vermilion character, accurate.

After approving this word, the blood in his brain churned, his eyes went black, and he fainted again.

*

Emperor Chengyuan's fainting this time aggravated his condition.

Although he has been recuperating from illness before, he has not lost the government affairs in his hands, but this time it is not as good as last time, Emperor Chengyuan is directly sick in bed and can't get up. There are three orders in the Tai Hospital, so that Emperor Chengyuan must recuperate quietly, otherwise the dragon body will be worried.

No matter how strong Emperor Chengyuan is, he can't hold it anymore, so he can only hand over the government affairs to the three provinces and six departments, among which let the left servant of Shangshu Province, Zhongshu Province Zhongshu Ling, and the two servants of Menxia Province jointly co-ordinate, and he is recuperating in the Zichen Palace.

Emperor Chengyuan's two consecutive faints caused a great shock inside and outside the government and the opposition, and even covered up Ruan Chengmao's resignation and retirement.

East Palace, Haoran Palace.

The prince has been paying attention to this matter, and after learning that it is such a result, he can only smile bitterly.

"Father, is he better today?"

Emperor Chengyuan did not allow the prince to go to the Zichen Palace to visit the sick, so the prince could only send people around him to find out what was going on every day, and then come back to sue him.

"Your Majesty's spirit is much better than yesterday, but you still can't stay, Your Highness has sent Imperial Doctor Hu over, with Imperial Doctor Hu watching, Your Majesty Xià will definitely recover in a few days." This person who reported the good news was naturally not bad, but Emperor Chengyuan really didn't have any major problems at this time, but half of his body fell into a state of numbness, and his actions were naturally not as convenient as before. And his illness this time was menacing, and he couldn't stand any stimulation, so he could only lie on the couch to recuperate.

The prince nodded and waved him down.

After sitting for a while, the prince glanced at Fu Tai and said, "Go and see Concubine Ruan." ”

Futai's face was overjoyed, and he was busy arranging.

Ruan Ling'er now lives in the side hall, not far from the prince's bedroom, and the prince is in a wheelchair, so Fu Tai pushed all the way over. After entering, I saw Ruan Ling'er get up from the couch when he heard the movement and wanted to salute him.

"Okay, your body is not as good as before, you don't need to salute Lonely, just sit down."

Ruan Ling'er did not resist, and sat down on the edge of the couch, her hand gently covering her lower abdomen.

"Are you okay today, did he trouble you?"

The corners of Ruan Ling'er's lips curled up slightly, and she shook her head, "He didn't trouble me, the concubine is very good." After a pause, he said, "Your Highness, in fact, there is nothing uncomfortable about the concubine's body, and she can still wait by your side." ”

The prince glanced at him with disgust, "Even if you don't think about anything else, you shouldn't be so willful." ”

Ruan Ling'er lowered her head.

Suddenly, a sweet smile hung on her eyebrows and lips, which was so light and rich. The prince saw it in his eyes, but he smiled bitterly again.

He sighed and said: "This is an extraordinary time, and this matter should not be publicized, not only for the sake of Lone, but also for you and him, so Lone will say to the outside world that you are sick because of waiting for Lonely, and you need to be sick and recuperate." You should also pay more attention on weekdays, don't let Xiang'er leak the news, and come and tell Gu or Futai if you have anything. ”

Ruan Ling'er nodded obediently.

The prince remembered Ruan Chengmao's matter again, but he still didn't mention it to Ruan Ling'er.

In fact, Ruan's mansion had repeatedly sent letters to the East Palace before, wanting to see Ruan Ling'er, but the news was intercepted by the prince's order. Ruan Chengmao's affairs, he can't interfere, and he shouldn't interfere, the matter has come to this point, it's good to be able to save his life.

He couldn't help but think of many things outside, as well as Emperor Chengyuan's body, and he was even more troubled. He talked to Ruan Ling'er for a while, and then left the side hall.

There are some things that have to be done.