There was a tense atmosphere in the gloomy room.

A man who looked like a steward knelt down and said to the old man sitting in the hall: "Master, in the past few months, some people have lost some manpower at the bottom, and some timid people have hid in order to avoid the limelight, and their recent income has decreased by nearly 10 percent......"

Before he could finish his sentence, a teacup flew down from the front and fell beside him to pieces.

"A bunch of wine bags and rice bags!" The old man's cold gaze made people shudder for a while: "The old man has long said that people who do things should be more flexible!" Where is there no business for a while? In another place, everything is as usual, why do you have to rely on your own one-third of an acre of land, one by one, you have no other ability, and you have learned to sit on the ground and eat the mountain? ”

He stared at the steward directly, and his face became more and more cold: "You go and tell those wastes, just say that the old man used to be too lenient to them, and now they can't even do what they should do...... If you go on like this, you can't deal with it. At that time, if the old man is not happy, he can't say that he will get a few heads to sacrifice the flag, let them wash their necks and wait. ”

The steward said with a sad face: "Master, if it weren't for the people below who didn't contribute, it was really Xiao Jing...... Although the person who sued was not from the Xia family, the local government knew who the person behind it was, and the people who were dug up were all small fish and shrimp, so the local authorities had to give the Xia family a face. Or...... Do you talk to the nobles in Beijing and ask them to take action to suppress the field? ”

The old man shook his head and said, "No need, the surname Xiao still knows how to measure - no, it's better to say that what he thought about from the beginning was to knock on the mountain and shock the tiger!" How many little minions do you want, so that the nobles will not be embarrassed by the Xia family for this matter. ”

As he spoke, a contemptuous sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth: "He is still a person who understands." There are countless people in the world doing what we do, and the plate is too big for ordinary people to imagine. Don't talk about the Xia family, even Your Majesty will turn a blind eye...... What can a mere Xia family do? Besides, is the Xia family, who has a big family, so clean? ”

Seeing that his master had made a conclusion about the matter, it was not easy for the steward to say anything. However, he quickly remembered another thing, and said hatefully: "Master, it's all about that Qin Bo who is bad." Back then, we wanted to get rid of that group of people, but he ran away alone, and later hid outside under the pseudonym Liu Yang for several years. A few months ago, his subordinates had discovered his traces, but they didn't expect to be preempted by the Xia family, so they ......"

The steward waved his hand and made a chopping gesture: "I heard that he later became a witness, and the surname Xiao said what kind of 'tainted witness'...... As a result, the government exempted him from the death penalty and changed it to exile. It's a scourge for this person to keep it, and the villain thinks it's better to cook on the road to set an example, what do you think? ”

The old man picked up the teacup that his servant had just brought up, and sighed: "What he can say must have been said a long time ago, what does it make if he can't kill him now?" The old man persuaded you to accept this thought. That Xiao Jing is good at finding out the news, and he is a master of finding melons along the way, and now if he doesn't send someone over to get it right, he will be caught alive by the ambush people, and you and I may be involved at that time. ”

Later, I was so afraid that I was so afraid that I was in a cold sweat, and the steward only agreed. The old man took a sip of tea, looked at him and said playfully: "There are many nosy people in the world, but who can manage our business?" Xiao Jing, hehe...... I'd like to see how capable you are! ”

At the same time, similar conversations appeared in many places in Da Rui.

Many people face Xiao Jing with the mentality of watching jokes. However, they didn't know that Xiao Jing had already set his sights on the future.

……

Spring goes to autumn, and the time of the year passes in a hurry.

Xiao Jing, who had just returned from Xia Honghan's study, stared at the brazier in the room without saying a word, Xia Hanxue knew that he was pondering, so she didn't come forward to disturb.

What she didn't know was that the constantly beating flame was just like the restless restlessness in her husband's heart at this moment.

A few days ago, Chen Borui fainted while going to court.

Although it happened very suddenly, everyone was not surprised: His Majesty's dragon body was so bad that it could only be seen once every eight or ten days, and it happened that two ministers had a conflict because of a dispute that day, and there was no way for the originally weak sick body to be unable to support it under the stimulation of emotions.

However, Chen Borui has been doing this for several days; According to Xia Honghan's news, he woke up an hour ago.

This time, even the most optimistic imperial doctor had to admit that even if the most rare medicinal materials in the world were exhausted, Chen Borui's lifespan would not exceed half a year.

What makes everyone in the court uneasy is that the crown prince is still pending under such circumstances.

Since last year, Chen Borui's illness has gradually worsened, and there have been rumors of wanting to establish a reserve several times, but in the end, it has been gone; Regardless of whether this wind was released from the palace or someone with a heart was fanning the flames, anyway, all forces were thrown into this silent but bloody battle.

Xia Honghan asked Xiao Jing to tell him the news, and told him a story, which was the most shocking part.

Xia Honghan has a younger sister named Xia Ying. More than 20 years ago, when Xia Hanxue was still in infancy, her aunt had become Da Rui's crown princess.

At that time, almost no one in the world had any doubts about the fact that the crown prince was about to inherit the throne - he was not only simple in the emperor's heart but also deferential, and had an excellent reputation in both the court and the people, not to mention that there was such a strong reinforcement as the Xia family echoing outside, and it seemed that it was only a matter of time before he sat on that throne.

Because the Xia family has to marry the royal family every few generations, there will be no criticism about it outside, after all, the first emperor has the blood of the Xia family in his body.

However, the most unexpected situation emerged.

The first emperor only had more than ten days from serious illness to death, and a palace change occurred in this short period of time.

More than 1,000 rebels of unknown origin entered the palace. Because the first emperor was unable to govern, the crown prince, who was in charge of the country, had to lead the people to resist.

Originally, the situation had been brought under control, and the people from Jingying who came to help were about to arrive, but the prince was inexplicably seriously injured under a good situation, and it is said that he was shot by a stray arrow.

As soon as he fell, the rebels were immediately demoralized; After the crown prince was rescued, some rebels pursued all the way to the East Palace.

At that time, the crown princess Xia Ying was already pregnant. Seeing that there was no way to escape, in order to avoid being humiliated, she burned down the entire palace and died with the crown prince.

Of course, there are also those who say that the fire was lit by the rebels after looting.

After that, the matter was very clear: the inconspicuous prince Chen Borui suddenly appeared and took control of the situation, he not only led people to kill the rebels, but also restored order in the palace in a short time.

In the absence of more options, the dazed ministers had to publicly recommend this sudden prince to inherit the throne!

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