Empress Dowager Zhang is in her early fifties this year, because she is well maintained, she doesn't look very old, and it can be seen from her face that she must have been a beauty when she was young, of course, she can be elected as the queen, and her appearance is definitely not bad.

It is said that Xu Jin is the first time to look at the Empress Dowager Zhang up close, and the Empress Dowager Zhang is naturally the first time to see Xu Jin. Looking at the handsome young man in front of him who was calm and clear-eyed, the anger in Empress Dowager Zhang's heart disappeared a little, after all, eyes are the windows of the soul, Xu Jin does not squint, his eyes are calm and clear, obviously not a traitor.

"Xu Jin, are you guilty?" Empress Dowager Zhang shouted in a deep voice with a cold face, although her first impression of Xu Jin was good, but Empress Dowager Zhang did not forget the purpose of summoning him to the palace.

Xu Jin said quietly: "The minister doesn't know what crime he has committed, please make it clear to the Queen Mother." ”

As soon as Xu Jin's voice fell, Mao Cheng, the hot-tempered secretary of the Ministry of Rites, couldn't help but shout angrily: "Bold Xu Ziqian, you dare to pretend to be confused in front of the Queen Mother, you are bold and reckless, and you are obsessed with indulging in fun, and today you are even more serious, taking two princesses out of the city to play without permission, ruining the royal reputation, it is really the likes of Jiang Bin Qian Ning and others, and his crime should be punished!" ”

Xu Jin chuckled in his heart, as expected, it was really the princess who had sneaked out of the city leaked, and he retorted calmly: "Dare to ask Lord Shi, since the emperor ascended the throne, has there ever been an early dynasty?" Did you not participate in the big and small sutra feasts? ”

Mao Cheng was questioned speechlessly, the emperor has really not lacked a premature dynasty since he ascended the throne, and he actively participates in the monthly banquets, diligent and impeccable!

Xu Jin continued to say eloquently: "In the more than a year since the emperor ascended the throne, he has not fallen in an early dynasty, and he is diligent and loves the people; There is no shortage of large and small sutra feasts, and he is diligent in learning and admonishing. As the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Lord Mao actually opened his mouth and slandered the emperor for indulging in fun, what should he do? ”

Mao Cheng's face was red and white, in fact, the last time he was at the court meeting, he had already learned Xu Jin's sharp words, but this time, in order to buckle Xu Jin's hat as a minister, he accused Xu Jin of bewitching the emperor to have fun, but Xu Jin caught this point to refute.

Seeing this, Shouling Hou Zhang Heling hurriedly sneered and said: "Jing Anbo is really sharp-toothed, but don't think about changing the topic, the matter of taking the two princesses out of the city to play privately is not wronged to you after all, right?" ”

Xu Jin said lightly: "Where did Shouling Hou start with this? ”

Zhang Yanling, Marquis of Jianchang, sneered: "Xu Ziqian, you are still pretending to be confused, right, the Queen Mother has sent someone to your mansion to check today, the two princesses have not been to Jing Anbo's mansion today, and some people saw Jing Anbo accompanying the two princesses to play near the five hundred camps today, and you can't deny it." ”

It is said that today Xu Jin and the two princesses were playing hockey in the hockey stadium and were bumped into by Yan Shifan, although this thing did not recognize Yongfu and Yongchun, but this guy was very smart, and when he saw Xu Jin being so respectful to the two "motherly" little eunuchs, he faintly guessed a few, and immediately ran back to inform Guo Shouqian and Zhang Rui and other gentlemen.

Some of these nobles have seen the two princesses, and after confirmation, Yan Shifan immediately came up with an idea for Guo Shouqian and Zhang Rui to rectify Xu Jin.

Guo and Zhang suffered a big loss under Xu Jin, and they had long wanted to take revenge, but they didn't have a chance, after listening to Yan Shifan's idea, the two immediately rushed back to the city in a hurry, and Zhang Rui came forward to instigate his grandfather Shouling Hou Zhang Heling to enter the palace to complain to the Queen Mother.

At this time, Yang Tinghe, the first assistant of the cabinet, who had not spoken, stared at Xu Jin with a stern expression and said, "Xu Ziqian, is there such a thing?" ”

Xu Jin sighed secretly, the two princesses sneaked out of the city, and the accompanying eunuchs and guards all knew about it, as long as they took one of them for interrogation, they knew it, so they couldn't deny it at all, and nodded and said, "It's true!" ”

When Empress Dowager Zhang saw that Xu Jin had made a mistake and was still so calm, she couldn't help but be furious and said: "Okay, just admit it, come on, drag Xu Jin out and punish him for thirty strokes, and put him in the prison of the Criminal Department to be involved." ”

Xu Jin couldn't help but secretly scream my day, thinking that Zhang Rui was beaten by the emperor's staff for thirty, and the chrysanthemum was full of injuries, and finally imprisoned in the Fusi prison of Jinyi Weibei Town, and now the Empress Dowager Zhang has returned it in full, which is clearly a personal vendetta of the communiqué.

Empress Dowager Zhang gave an order, and Li Dai, a hundred households of Yulin Wei, immediately led people to pounce on him like a wolf and grabbed Xu Jin and dragged him out, while whispering proudly: "Lord Yang, look, whose name is unlucky?" ”

Rao is Xu Jin's psychological quality is excellent, and at this time, he can't help but ooze a layer of cold sweat, thirty canes don't listen much, but if it is heavy-handed, there is no problem at all to beat people to death and mutilation, even if they are not dead or disabled, these thirty canes are enough to hit on the waist and hips, I am afraid that I will not be able to get out of bed in a month or two, grandma's, why didn't Zhu Houxi's kid come yet, don't be a brother-in-law who dropped the chain.

"Stop!"

Just as Xu Jin was dragged out by a group of Yulin guards, a loud shout suddenly came from outside the hall, and the little emperor Zhu Houxi walked in with a sinking face, followed by a team of brocade guards, and the person at the head was Jin Baihu, no, it should be called Jin Qianhu now. Jin Biao followed Xu Jin to Shandong on a business trip last year, and after returning to Beijing, he was promoted to Jinyi Wei Qianhu, and Lu Bing's father, Lu Song, was also promoted to Jinyi Wei Zhenfu and Zhangbei Zhenfu Division.

When the Yu Linwei saw the emperor marching into the hall murderously, they all subconsciously let go, only Li Dai of the hundred households still grabbed Xu Jin's shoulder, it was not that he was stupid, but he was in a dilemma, after all, the queen mother made a will.

In fact, the little emperor Zhu Houxi has been there for a while, but he is a little afraid to come in, after all, the queen mother is his nominal elder, plus Yang Tinghe, the first assistant of the cabinet, is also there, it is the support of these two people that he finally ascended to the throne. However, when Zhu Houxi heard that Xu Jin was about to be beaten with a cane for thirty sticks, he still didn't take himself out as a shield, he was both moved and ashamed, so he immediately strode forward to drink Yu Linwei.

At this time, Zhu Houxi saw that Li Dai was still holding Xu Jin, and he couldn't help but be furious, and rushed forward and kicked over. Li Dai dared to hide, he was kicked in the lower abdomen, and squatted down in pain on the spot.

Zhu Houxi was still angry, and kicked Li Dai again in the face, and the latter fell to the ground screaming, and even nosebleeds came out.

"Come on, drag this bastard who dares to disobey the king's orders out of the mess and beat him to death!" Zhu Houxi shouted.

Jin Biao hesitated slightly, but still led someone to come forward to capture Li Dai, this thing now finally knows whose name is unlucky, and regardless of the pain, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "The emperor spares his life, the emperor spares his life, the mark is just acting on the orders of the queen mother!" ”

Zhu Houxi waved his hand with a cold face and shouted: "Pull out the staff fifty." ”

Jin Yiwei immediately carried Li Dai out like a dead dog, and in an instant, there was a snapping sound and a scream outside the hall.

Yang Tinghe's brows were twisted into the word "Sichuan", and the Empress Dowager Zhang was even more angry, her chest rose and fell with anger, this kid's wings were stiff, and he didn't put himself in his eyes as the queen mother, so he held back his anger and said in a deep voice: "What is the emperor doing?" ”

Zhu Houxi nodded imperceptibly to Xu Jin, turned to the Empress Dowager Zhang on the seat and saluted: "Erchen has seen the Empress Dowager!" ”

Empress Dowager Zhang couldn't help but snort coldly and said: "The emperor came to Shoukang Palace to spread his prestige, but there was me as the queen mother in his eyes!" ”

Zhu Houxi's face changed slightly, lowered his head and said: "Erchen doesn't dare, it's just that taking Yongfu Yongchun out of the palace is not about Xu Jin's business, it's completely Erchen's idea, if the Queen Mother wants to punish her, she will punish Erchen!" ”

Mao Cheng said loudly: "Your Majesty, at this time, you are still protecting Xu Jin, a minister, this kind of thief who bewitches the king and is rude to the law, everyone will be punished." ”

Xu Jin really wanted to point at the nose of this old man and scold R Your uncle is big, Lao Tzu dug your ancestral grave, or stole your daughter-in-law, so angry!

A trace of anger flashed in Zhu Houxi's eyes, and he said coldly: "I didn't protect Xu Jin, it was indeed my idea to take Yongfu Yongchun out of the palace, in addition, Xu Jin is not a minister, and I am not a faint monarch who does not distinguish between loyalty and treachery." ”

Mao Cheng's momentum suddenly weakened, the emperor's words have been made clear, if he insists on accusing Xu Jin of being a minister, it will be tantamount to saying that the emperor is a faint king.

Yang Tinghe sighed secretly, now that the emperor's prestige is getting heavier, he is no longer the prince of the vassal who had just ascended the throne, and said in a deep voice: "Even if this is not Xu Jin's idea, but as a Hanlin attendant, he knew that it was not appropriate for the princess to go out of the city without permission, not only did he not dissuade the emperor, but instead took the two princesses to play wantonly, which was suspected of dereliction of duty and rudeness." ”

Mao Cheng immediately echoed: "What Elder Yang Ge said is extremely true, Xu Jin, as a Hanlin attendant, has the responsibility of admonishing and persuading the emperor, knowing that the emperor is doing something wrong, instead of dissuading him, he is not suitable for the position of Hanlin attendant!" ”

Mao Cheng obviously also realized the emperor's determination to protect Xu Jin, so it was impossible to sink Xu Jin with a stick today, so he retreated and cut off Xu Jin's position as a waiter first.

Zhu Houxi originally had a brother-like emotion for Xu Jin, and when he saw that Xu Jin was about to be beaten just now, he didn't use himself as a shield, and he was even more inexplicably moved, and naturally refused to let Xu Jin suffer the slightest grievance at this time, and said lightly: "Xu Qing had already persuaded me at that time, but I didn't listen, not to mention that I am the emperor, don't I have the right to take my sister out of the city to play?" ”

Zhang Yanling, Marquis of Jianchang, said a little deadly: "The emperor forgot that there is a queen mother in the palace!" ”

As soon as these words came out, the silence was as if death was all around, and Zhang Heling, the marquis of Shouling, couldn't wait to kick this idiot brother away, stupid, you are causing trouble to our Zhang family, now the emperor is only fifteen years old, and the queen mother can protect the Zhang family for a while, but she can't protect the Zhang family for a lifetime.

Empress Dowager Zhang couldn't help but say a few heavy words in her anger before, she already regretted it a little, but this is a stupid brother who came to make trouble again, but now it is difficult to ride a tiger, and she has to maintain the dignity and authority of her queen mother, so she said coldly: "The emperor has not married yet, and the affairs of the harem are naturally taken care of by the mourning family. It's just that the emperor is still young, Xu Jin, as a close minister of the Son of Heaven, didn't send someone to report to the mourning family, shouldn't he be punished? ”

"Your Majesty, the minister is indeed derelict in his duty and voluntarily resigned from the post of Hanlin attendant." Xu Jin knelt on the ground and said.

The Queen Mother has said everything, if Xu Jin doesn't take the initiative to resign, his two lives will be in vain, not to mention that he doesn't want the emperor to have a reputation for unfilial piety.

However, the more Xu Jin was so "loyal", the more moved Zhu Houxi became, and the bull's temper was also aroused, if he couldn't even protect the people around him, then what kind of bullshit emperor would be, so he said loudly with a stiff face: "I'm not allowed!" ”