This year's spring moon is considered to have been mixed by the Daxing Emperor to completely lose the joy that the spring moon should have, and even the holidays that the imperial court should have enjoyed have been deprived, although they have not invented literature, and they do not need to go to the ministry to work, but there is an emperor's funeral to do, besides, the current situation is like this, that is, let you rest at home, but I am afraid that you will not be able to rest. Unless it is the Beijing official who can't wait for the stream, otherwise, who is a little influential at this time, who doesn't have their own affairs? Some people have already made up their minds to die, and they only wait for the situation to deteriorate one step further, and then they will do something out of the ordinary to defend the orthodoxy of the Son of Heaven by dying; Some people are actively active, trying to understand the thoughts of the three people at the top of the current government, so as to plan for future action, and to protect themselves and maintain the program; Naturally, there are also people who boast of being depressed, but they see the opportunity now, and are patiently waiting for the Queen Mother's further statement, and the reaction of the whole atmosphere and public opinion, so as to decide which side to bet on. Since the beginning of the dynasty, there have been more than 1,000 Beijing officials alone, and the thoughts of these more than 1,000 people are naturally complicated and redundant, and they are all different.

However, there is one thing that no one dares to offend - King Xiang has been living in the Ten Princes' Mansion for a few days, and his palace is cold, and even a person with official characters has never come to the door. Except for the few officials brought by King Xiang, the current density of officials near the Ten Princes' Mansion is infinitely close to zero.

Of course, this also made Xiangwang and his family fall into a lot of passivity, you must know that he didn't bring many people into Beijing, and he hasn't moved much with his relatives in Beijing over the years since he left Beijing. Since I knew my mother's thoughts, I closed my door to the guests, and I didn't dare to act rashly, just waiting for the final result. As a result, waiting and waiting, except for a letter from my sister-in-law, the news from Jingli could not be transmitted at all. And in the letter of the empress Bixia, the sister-in-law, she only mentioned the situation in passing, but asked King Xiang to clarify the situation as soon as possible and clarify the succession to the throne.

King Xiang didn't reply, and he didn't need to reply, whether he accepted or refused, it was impossible to hide it from his sister-in-law. The reason why he hasn't moved yet is that he is still waiting for a message from his mother, who has never been in touch with each other since the death of his eldest brother. His mother's mind seemed to be the moon hidden behind the clouds, and he couldn't even figure out whether he was completely sure whether his mother really wanted him to succeed him, or whether she was just using it as a bargaining chip and bargaining with an opponent he didn't know.

Before he became a vassal, he and his mother met quite a lot, and his mother often taught him some principles of dealing with people in her spare time, and the relationship between the two could not be said to be not close - but as soon as he became a vassal this was six or seven years, during which the two were cut off, and the news from the capital was sent to Changsha, which had long expired. Besides, a vassal king is too concerned about the situation in Beijing, and the impact is not very good. The factory guards around the emperor's eldest brother, in addition to supervising hundreds of officials, how could they let go of these vassal kings?

King Xiang is known as a virtuous name among his brothers, and this virtuous name also comes from it - his cultural accomplishment is not low, and he has long chosen his elder King Zhou to be his role model, and he has long made up his mind to study books, study medicine, and write opera, and create a reputation in miscellaneous studies, and compared with his brothers, his reputation is indeed the best. Although he was in Changsha, he did not expropriate money, exploit money, oppress local officials, or keep private slaves in Hunan...... These things, his elders or brothers have done no less, such as King Zheng, who actually did the thing of forcibly castrating those who offended him and confiscating them into the palace as cheap slaves. Although his status is noble, it is impossible to be convicted for this, but it will inevitably attract the reprimand of the eldest brother.

In fact, as long as it is not extravagant, the supply of the imperial court to the vassal king is still quite sufficient, coupled with the industry and Zhuangzi founded by the convention, King Xiang is in Changsha, and he lives a good life without knowing the number of people in the world. If it weren't for the eldest brother's illness and his edict, he really didn't want to come back to this hot and dry Beijing city, stay away from his wife and concubines, and live a cautious and cautious life.

After more than five or six years of separation, the mother is obviously old, and when the mother and son meet, they naturally have a lot of emotion. In addition to the eldest brother's illness, there are many housework trivialities, and she can talk about it that her eldest son was born in Changsha, and she is also very worried about not being able to meet her mother. There is also the condition of the third brother, which has been going on for many years, and now it is deteriorating again...... Just like when meeting with the eldest brother, the family talks about family affairs the most. After all, although it is a wealthy family, the family can't meet from time to time because of this, and even this most ordinary family routine can't find a chance to chat. Blood relatives, each other's care is sincere, which is incomparable to how many people around them.

However, in the past few months, my mother has never mentioned court affairs, let alone my eldest brother. As a result, in addition to knowing that there is a Sanyang, King Xiang can barely remember the names of the six Shangshu, he is really a mess and knows nothing about the government. He didn't know at all what undercurrents were surging in the court now, and which factions shili were divided, whether his mother deliberately pushed him to the foreground, or he was simply unlucky, and was pulled out by an unknown faction shili to block the gun. Although the letter written by my sister-in-law has the seal of the imperial concubine, I don't know if it is a fake, or is there any hidden secret? The water in the palace is deep, and he didn't know it for the first time, when the palace was in full swing during the Taizong period, he hadn't settled yet. In this palace, there is nothing bizarre that will not surprise him, since the situation is still unclear now, and there is no half a person to contact him, the safest way is to wait for his mother's instructions.

Although he knew that with the information he had now, he couldn't make an effective judgment on the situation at all, but after all, he was involved in the game, and he was also a little worried about his situation, and he also wanted to know what the intentions of the person who arched him out - if it was his mother, what did she want to do?

It's not that I haven't considered the possibility that my mother really wants him to be the emperor, but even if this may be extremely small, King Xiang feels completely absurd. No one understands the court's vigilance against them better than the vassal king himself, after all, Emperor Taizong himself ascended the throne from the vassal king, how could he not be wary of this? Let's not talk about the two princes left by the eldest brother, let's talk about himself, although he has not been disadvantaged in education since he was a child, and he uses famous scholars as teachers for reading and literacy, but the educational content is far from the eldest brother. In terms of poetry and painting, he has the confidence to compete with his eldest brother, especially in painting, he may not be much worse than his eldest brother, but when it comes to governing the country, he can't even recite how much the Daming Prefecture Mansion has, not to mention the dizzying complicated official system, the advance and retreat of civil and military positions, and the tax system of the world's money and grain - just thinking about this, he is dizzy for a while, to be honest, even how many systems are needed for the fundamental operation of the country, King Xiang admits that he never understands. How can the study of governing the country be so simple? Without a complete royal education, even the brothers who grew up close to the prince were not allowed to enter at all. Let him take over now? It's not a joke, maybe the second brother will be a little interested, but he has always been self-aware, to be a vassal king, his political wisdom is qualified, how to protect himself, the masters have also been taught in many ways, Changshi is his good help, let him be the emperor, he doesn't have the slightest interest and confidence. Even if the country's officials wept and waited for him to stay in the Qianqing Palace, King Xiang didn't know how he should manage it.

Moreover, the imperial court would never allow such a perverse and rebellious thing to happen, the Jianshu people did a lot of perverse acts that day, and after the burning of the palace disappeared, how many subjects committed suicide or died in battle, how much turmoil did it cause? It's his fault in the first place. Now, the crown prince is innocent and childish, he has not said a word, he has not done a thing, and the throne has been plundered for him, the uncle...... What will the world think of this? The vassal kings of all the lands, I'm afraid that you don't want to make a move-you king Xiang can usurp the throne like this, and I can't wait? Not to mention, those civil servants, which of them did not grow up with the education of the Three Platforms and Five Constants, and even the few general officials they brought with him, they all wanted to speak when they saw him in the past few days, and their faces were full of worry and disagreement. King Xiang knows these gentlemen very well, if he really has the intention of being on the throne, I am afraid that even they will not help him.

In the case that the country still has an heir, if the vassal king wants to usurp the throne, the model textbook is Emperor Taizong. Even a genius like Emperor Taizong had been brewing for thirty years before the event? Without his own perfect team, after succeeding to the throne, he forcibly suppressed the civil officials of the imperial court, and without proud achievements and martial arts, to deter all the border generals and vassal kings, how can he speak of ascending the throne? Even Song Taizong, that is also the protection of the Golden Kui Alliance, in order to ascend the throne so logically, before succeeding to the throne, he was originally Kaifeng Mansion Yin, five generations later, that has always been an official position reserved for the heir!

King Xiang is good at poetry, for historiography, but swallowing dates, the details of this matter are still the past few days he studied from the classics in the palace. I believe that his mother and even Bachelor Sanyang are more profound than him in this regard. It was because he never thought that he would ascend the throne, but what kind of struggle was going on around the throne, and he thought that he couldn't think of it, so he could only wait for a result.

Today is the first seven of the eldest brother, according to the convention, today will be buried in the coffin, although it is a brother, but can not participate, can only be trapped in the house, waiting for this unpredictable struggle to come out as soon as possible, King Xiang's mood is naturally not too good, he is now looking forward to his mother to send a message soon, so that he can help, although it is very likely to cause trouble, but it is also better than being locked in the house and waiting.

I couldn't read the book, and when I was sitting and drinking tea, King Xiang suddenly saw his most trustworthy and intimate inner flattery coming, so he said, "You are here, but you have come well, let's play a game of chess, this thief is very cold, and I am impatient to go out of the house to walk around." ”

After the death of the companion, Nei Chengfeng became the first chamberlain around King Xiang, and had a very good relationship with King Xiang, this time in Beijing, King Xiang intended to leave him in Changsha to take care of the inner house, but he was worried that King Xiang would not be able to cope alone, so he volunteered to follow - he was born in the court, and his godfather was the prince's companion, so he naturally had a relationship in the palace, and it was more useful than the general officer. But in the past few days, I have been trapped in the house with him, and I can't go anywhere, even if I have all the strength, I have nowhere to go.

When he came in at this time, his color was different from the past, and when he saw that King Xiang was still nothing, he knelt down and kowtowed. "Lord Wang, the slave has something important to come back to."

King Xiang was surprised, "What's the matter?" You said. ”

Nei Chengfeng said a sentence carefully: Although the palace is closed, the night incense accumulated every day always has to open the door to pour, and it is always impossible to eat the cabbage stored in the house, and always open the door to buy vegetables. He was also clever, and he didn't get angry, but walked over and asked what was going on. Because the Ten Kings' Mansion has its own permanent servants in Beijing on weekdays, and there are also contacts with the neighbors from time to time, everyone does not avoid it, but talks to him. It is said that since yesterday, there have been rumors in Beijing that the death of the first emperor was the result of the conspiracy between the queen mother and King Xiang. Therefore, King Xiang has been stranded after entering Beijing, if it weren't for a Hu Taiyi Zhong who spoke bravely, no one would have revealed the grievances here. It was said that the Empress Dowager wanted to kill the Empress Dowager when he got malaria in the summer, or that Imperial Physician Hu saw through the Empress Dowager's treacherous plan and desperately opposed it, which barely saved the first emperor. All of this has left traces and is preserved in the archives of the Tai Hospital. The first emperor also noticed it, just for the sake of filial piety, concealed it, and when it came to the disease of winter, even if he only used Imperial Doctor Hu to support his pulse and beware of the queen mother, it was still difficult to escape the poisonous hand after all.

"What are these words?" King Xiang was angry, "It's really messy now!" ”

It was like this, when the slave heard about it, she also felt ridiculous, but she didn't dare to slack off. Then he went out of the house without permission-" Nei Chengfeng first kowtowed a few times to ask for guilt before continuing, "I went to the godbrother's mansion to investigate. ”

The godbrother of Nei Chengfeng now has a long-term status in the Twenty-four Yamen, although the position is not high, but he is the imperial horse supervisor, and he can be regarded as a person with status. Of course, according to today's trend, he bought a small house in the city, and King Xiang also heard Nei Chengfeng talk about this person, and he couldn't wait for Nei Chengfeng to say it.

"Who knows, as soon as the godbrother saw the slave and maid, his face changed greatly. Since yesterday, this matter has spread all over the capital, and all kinds of news are chaotic, quite contradictory, and there are also some statements, which are different from what the slaves and maids heard, but one thing is almost unchanged. That is, there is indeed a Tai Doctor, who proposed in the summer that the prescription used by the Tai Hospital at that time was too fierce, even if it could be better for a while, it would consume Bixia vitality, which was not good for the future, and even shortened Yang Shou. You also know that the prescriptions of the hospital, especially the Eucharist, must be on paper. So there is a record in the archive, which is indeed true. And the reason why the people of the Tai Hospital are so obstinate is also because the old lady ordered to tie her life to Emperor Daxing......"

This news is indeed reasonable -- it is simply too reasonable. King Xiang immediately thought of the ten days before the death of the eldest brother, and indeed only two Tai Yi medicines, and the practices and practices were very different. Even as long as the imperial concubine Xu was serving, the queen could only visit from time to time, and as for the queen mother, she almost didn't go there in person, but just sent people to visit......

Don't?!

No! With a fierce wave of his hand, he expelled this ridiculous speculation from his mind: it is impossible for my mother to do such a thing!

Thinking about it carefully, the style of the Tai Hospital, Xiangwang is not unaware, its medication rhythm, if it is usual, how can people not worry when they are sick? If the mother is in a hurry, it is indeed possible to send such words. The hospital was frightened and prescribed a fierce medicine...... It is not necessarily that the mother intended to cause such a result, because she was in a hurry for a while, and it is very likely!

"This news spread all over the capital in one day?" King Xiang pondered for a moment and confirmed another sentence.

"Indeed, it was said that it began to spread yesterday afternoon, and by this morning, even the people knew about it." Nei Chengfeng also thought of going with him, he took a few steps on his knees, hugged King Xiang's knees, and said earnestly. "Lord Wang, there must be a push behind this matter - we are being remembered!"

Can King Xiang still understand this? He glanced at Nei Chengfeng thoughtfully, and before he could speak, the maid suddenly came to report again, but it was the old professor he brought with him to the capital to ask to see.

Among the officials of the royal palace, there is a position of professor, and he teaches the vassal king and his family to read and reason on weekdays, and his status is respected. King Xiang has always respected him, and hurriedly invited him in when he heard the words, but the old professor also knelt down as soon as he entered the door, "Lord, something is wrong!" ”

I actually heard the rumors and came to discuss with King Xiang, "With the alliance of Jinkui, there is still the sound of axes and candles, and there is a prince in the country, the prince, as soon as this statement comes out, it is difficult for you to understand yourself!" Now the situation is really dangerous! ”

As he spoke, he persuaded King Xiang to enter the palace to explain, and wrote to ask the prince to ascend the throne, so as to quell the rumors, which can be regarded as fulfilling the duty of a minister. Nei Chengfeng was full of worries, and he wanted to stop talking, but he was obviously worried about the personal safety of King Xiang after entering the palace.

King Xiang and Nei have been serving his master and servant for many years, and he can see his mind very clearly, but he doesn't care about this - if the new master really wants him to die, it will be the same everywhere. With my mother here, things can't get to this point.

It's just that......

"Go and make arrangements, we'll go back to Beijing today!" He finally made up his mind, Huo Ran got up, and instructed Nei Chengfeng in an unquestionable tone, "Put the guard of honor away, the bigger the trouble, the better, and hand over the note of resignation and inviting the prince to the throne after I leave." ”

"You're—" The old professor was stunned.

King Xiang glanced at him, but he didn't mean to explain, and hurriedly calmed a few words, "My thoughts, I'll explain to Mr. when I return to Changsha." Come on, send Mr. back to the room and clean up! ”

After a while, Nei Chengfeng and the old professor were sent out of the courtyard, and the room suddenly became quiet again. King Xiang went back and forth in the house a few times, looked up at the ceiling for a while, and finally exhaled deeply.

Entering the palace at this time, it is really unclear, that is, to go in and hand the notebook, ask the prince to ascend the throne, as long as the old lady does not change her mind, his intention will definitely be smeared as 'borrowing the prince to set up a secret discussion with the queen mother', unless he and the cabinet ministers enter the Qingning Palace to corroborate, otherwise, who can say clearly about the affairs of the harem? The first iron rule of the vassal king to protect himself is to avoid suspicion!

――But if it's a coalition cabinet, won't it become a leader in forcing the palace? As soon as the rumors come out, I'm afraid that my mother is already in chaos, and if I come out like this again, it will be even more chaotic. It is not advisable to enter the palace, and it is even more difficult to stay in Beijing, for the sake of today's plan, only by returning to the hometown immediately, and then leaving a statement after the person leaves, can he withdraw from the whirlpool. I hope that my actions can save myself and not be affected afterwards! Mother, no matter what she originally wanted to achieve with herself as a raft, now she has to think of another way - although he is filial, he also has a wife and children, and he also has to think about his own small family. I hope that with my mother's wrist, after losing my own chip, I can still mediate and fold to achieve her goal.

Providence is impermanent, and you can only do your best, as for what happens in the end, then leave it to fate!

King Xiang breathed for a while, slowly opened his eyes, polished the ink himself, and carefully wrote a few lines on the paper.

'Her Royal Highness the Queen Mother, Her Royal Highness the Queen Mother, Her Royal Highness the Honored Sister-in-law, Her Royal Highness the Queen Mother'......'

When he wrote this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly - when he received the queen's letter the night before, he should have expected that this would not be the only move the queen made. Although she didn't know anything about her mother's schemes, King Xiang was sure that her enemies should include this unfathomable imperial sister-in-law who could regain the throne from adversity. King Xiang himself, as a parent, of course, is on his mother's side, but now, he still has to follow the queen's wishes and was forced to leave the capital, and even has some faint regrets: if he can prove his innocence in the first letter, how can he make such a storm in the city as now, and even his mother will be implicated......

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The Ten Princes' Mansion is changing, how many people in the palace group are running back and forth to pack up the honor guard, Wenhua Hall is not calm, since the Daxing Emperor Bintian, the cabinet three spontaneously resumed the duty system, and the one who did not have a shift was not easy, he tacitly wanted to participate in the various processes of the Daxing Emperor's funeral. For example, today is the seventh day of Emperor Daxing, and the funeral ceremony is very important, so Lord Xiyang will attend. The second assistant Dongyang is in charge of the Ministry of Rites, and the rest of the Nanyang adults are working in the Dongbian Hall to prepare for the urgent affairs of the military state - the more the Yuan is changed, the more vigilant it is necessary to be vigilant, who knows if the neighbors in the north will decide to make a small New Year's move on a whim?

"Hongji, hard work." Seeing that the sun was waning, Lord Dongyang swayed, but he entered the hall, "Is there nothing to do today?" ”

"Brother Mian Ren," Lord Nanyang, who had always been taciturn, also arched his hand, "There is nothing to do today." ”

He didn't ask if there was any movement in the Ministry of Rites, Lord Dongyang deliberately went over to sit in town, because even if there were changes in the palace, for example, some people whimsically wanted to count the enthronement ceremony, after all, the Ministry of Rites still kept many items needed for the enthronement ceremony, and because of the tense situation and the fluctuation of people's hearts, the funeral of Emperor Daxing may go wrong, unfortunately, at this moment, Lord Hu of the Ministry of Rites was sick again - he had a high fever, and he really couldn't see things, so he had to go to the Dongyang Lord to supervise and command in person, so as not to make a mistake. Since Lord Dongyang has no voice for a day, then the place in the Ministry of Rites should also be safe and sound.

"Is there a letter to the inner court today?" Lord Dongyang didn't bend around, and asked very directly.

Lord Nanyang whipped and said, "There is no faith in the inner court." ”

Lord Dongyang's eyebrows were raised high, and he muttered meaningfully, "This...... It shouldn't be. ”

When he said this, he didn't expect to get any response from Nan Yang, after all, he talked a lot when he was enjoying flowers and drinking in private, but when it came to official affairs, he believed in 'ten thousand words, it is better to be silent', and now this matter is so sensitive, the two ministers are discussing gossip here behind the back of Shoufu, which is inevitably a little undignified.

Unexpectedly, today, Lord Nanyang was unusual, and took the initiative to reveal, "It is reported that Qingning Palace summoned Dongchang to speak. ”

Lord Dongyang suddenly hissed, "Is this not dead yet?" ”

As he was talking, Lord Xiyang also turned in, "Mian Ren, Hongji - everything is okay today, right?" ”

It was about the succession to the throne, and the ministers loved gossip as much as the women in the market, and when they saw Lord Xiyang coming in, Lord Dongyang immediately said, "The Ministry of Rites is fine, and the cabinet is fine." Brother Dongli, it's been hard today, come and warm up and have a sip of tea-and say that the hospital file has been opened? ”

Lord Xiyang shook his head, "The master didn't speak, how dare we be specialized." ”

Dongyang and Nanyang couldn't help but exchange a look: this matter was clearly picked out by him, is this still called not daring to specialize? One night can make the whole city spread this ups and downs, there are not many people in the whole capital who have such ability, looking at their actions, they should be full of confidence, there is definitely such a record in the file library. If you don't open the library yet, where do you dare not specialize? I'm afraid that there are still some illusions, and I want to leave some dignity for the Queen Mother!

"I'm afraid Brother Dongli still doesn't know." Lord Dongyang quickly made a second dealer, "Today, Qingning Palace has summoned Dongchang Factory Gong to enter the palace!" ”

Speaking of Zhaodongchang, it must be Feng En, this father-in-law is a capable person with deep qualifications, and now there is no second person in Dongchang who can be mentioned, plus the relationship with the Queen Mother, who is not looking for him? So although Nanyang did not name him, Dongyang had already confirmed the parties without authorization.

Compared to King Xiang, it is necessary to arouse his attention with extremely sensational rumors, and the two adults in the cabinet heard the version that was as close to the truth of the matter as possible, and it was known that Liu Hulin was taken under the custody of Dongchang. Now that the Queen Mother has summoned the factory princess in, it is undoubtedly to deal with Liu Hulin, no matter what the disposition is, Lord Xiyang and even the entire cabinet - at least for now, the two Yang lords have not shown any dissenting aspirations, and they can be regarded as the Wenchen Zheng unification faction - will fall into passivity, so Lord Dongyang's tone is a little dissatisfied, implying that the first assistant is not sophisticated enough to deal with things, and he has played good chess badly.

Lord Xiyang was still indifferent, and just sighed softly, "Tai Hospital Library, there are also capable people from the East Factory guarding it. ”

He didn't reveal any other information, just by his tone, it suddenly made the two adults look surprised, Lord Dongyang pondered for a moment, and couldn't help but smile, "In this way, the big thing is decided!" ”

After all, he is a scholar and is good at speculation, which does not mean that he has no bottom line, besides, people are old and less sharp, this time there is no need to hesitate, and he is directly classified as the winning side, and his mood is naturally very good.

"It's just that the crown prince is still in Qingning Palace, and it's still a variable." Lord Nanyang showed his delicate side, and said in a deep voice, "I'm afraid that the old lady will be stubborn......

Once it was confirmed that the human and physical evidence were complete, and Dongchang was also on the side of the prince, Lord Nanyang's words increased, Lord Xiyang glanced at him, and naturally knew it in his heart, but he didn't think much about himself, he sighed again, "Yes, the big thing is so far, after all, there are still some variables......"

As he was talking, someone suddenly ran in from outside the house, and the three ministers all changed color, "When were you so alarmed?" ”

The little scribe who rushed to report the news took a few breaths, and then said hurriedly, "Back to a few old men, King Xiang's honor guard just left the mansion and went to the east city gate!" Two of his subordinates came to the palace with a recital—"

While talking, people came to report one after another, but in just half an hour, this music was sent to the Wenhua Palace. The two ministers also didn't care about their demeanor, and when they saw the letter of the first assistant, they all crowded around to watch.

After reading a few lines, Lord Xiyang was already happy, and after reading it hastily, he handed it to Dongyang for careful study, and when he turned around, he ordered, "Go to the celebrant and send this letter to the palace for the old lady to see!" ”

After saying that, he couldn't help but let out a long sigh, sat down in the chair, looked around the left and right, and said with a smile, "At this point, the big thing is decided!" ”

The author has something to say: Who has thought to ask King Xiang for his opinion ||He didn't want to be an emperor...... haha||Anyway, the Queen Mother didn't think to ask her son's opinion

It's even earlier today~