The emperor left, and Gonggong Chen glanced at Shao An and went out with him. It's sunny outside, and the sun is just right. However, as the door of the temple slowly closed, it was cut off from the bright spring light outside, as if all the light had abandoned him.

As time passed, the hall gradually became cold, and only cold and darkness remained. Shao An recovered from a serious illness, and after kneeling for a long time, he became a little dizzy. However, kneeling on the smooth ground was painful, and the pain was so severe that the sleepiness gradually disappeared.

This kneeling was a night, a long night of lonely cold, and he listened to the sand flowing slowly, as if taking away all the warmth around him.

In the huge palace, the lights are brilliant, and Gonggong Chen carefully distributes vegetables to the emperor. When the emperor was full of food and drink, Gonggong Chen cautiously reminded: "Shao Xiang has been kneeling in the Heart Cultivation Hall since yesterday, and he hasn't eaten yet. ”

"When did I punish him for kneeling?" The emperor said coldly, "If you like to kneel, kneel, don't worry about him, see how long he can be strong?" ”

Gonggong Chen sighed, the emperor just wanted Shao An to kneel and think about it, when he figured it out, and when he finished writing and left. But Shao An is also a stubborn person, if it is really so easy to compromise, the emperor will not beat him in advance to kill him.

On the third day, Shao An could no longer kneel upright, his clothes were soaked with sweat, and his whole body was sore. He held the ground with one hand, barely supporting his crumbling body and keeping himself from falling. However, the vision is getting blurred and blurred, and I am afraid it will not last long.

In the past three days, the emperor had never set foot in this place once, but Gonggong Chen secretly came over and handed him water to drink, and kindly persuaded him several times, but it was of no avail. The two monarchs and ministers have been fighting in secret for a long time, but they don't know whether they win or lose. In the end, Shao An still fainted. The emperor smiled bitterly when he heard this, he was still so stubborn, he would rather suffer than draw up an edict. However, the emperor's heart to pacify Xiou is not dead, and there is a lot of reliance in political affairs, and it is not yet time to resign the prime minister.

Ding Yi stood silently in the corner, and when he saw the emperor's sad face, he took the initiative to ask: "Holy Lord, hand over the prime minister to his subordinates to take care of." ”

"He can't leave the palace." The emperor nodded, "You take him to the West Side Hall and keep him under strict care." ”

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After Shao An fainted, Ding Yi carried him to the west side hall of the Heart Nourishing Palace, fed him some sugar water, and woke up in about half an hour. He opened his eyes, looked around suspiciously, and found Ding Yi standing aside, staring at him silently.

Shao An smiled mockingly and asked, "What is the emperor going to do with me?" ”

"It has not been disposed of, please rest assured."

"Is this, house arrest?" As soon as Shao An woke up, he found that he was still in the palace, and he knew what the emperor meant.

"There are no female dependents in the Prime Minister's Mansion, and I am afraid that people will not take good care of them. Therefore, the grace of God allowed the prime minister to recuperate here. Ding Yi recounted it in a serious manner according to the emperor's statement to the outside world.

"How can the sinner minister be virtuous, and the saint is worried." Shao An said coldly, "Besides, there are still a few things at hand that need to be dealt with urgently." ”

"The emperor said that the prime minister can handle official business here. If necessary, you can send someone to the Zhongshu Province to bring the fold. ”

"No need." Shao An stopped paying attention to Ding Yi and turned around to continue sleeping.

When Ding saw this, he didn't care, and still dutifully "cared for" Shao An.

During the days of solitary confinement, in addition to not letting out of the gate of the Palace of Nourishing Hearts, Ding Yi guarded it all day, and had everything to eat, drink, and clothes. Sometimes Ding Yi even brought some books for Shao An's pastime.

One day, as soon as Ding saw Shao An being bored flipping through "Han Feizi", he took the opportunity to interject: "The prime minister likes Han Feizi? ”

Shao An closed the book and said lazily: "It's okay." ”

"I also like "Han Feizi" in Xia, and I especially like one of the sentences: 'The way of the Lord is determined by Shenzi's persuasion.'" I don't know the prime minister, what do you think? ”

This is the Legalist doctrine, which believes that the Ming monarch should govern the country arbitrarily. But Shao An disagreed, "Now Confucianism is the right way, Mencius said: 'The people are precious, the community is secondary, and the monarch is light.'" You don't have to beat around the bush, just talk about it. ”

Ding Yiyi smiled and got back to business: "Cheng is relatively hidden, how much do you know?" ”

"Not much." Shao An only heard part of it from Zhang San and his brother, but he didn't know the details.

"How many hidden guards does the prime minister know?"

“…… Zhang San Li Si. Shao An answered halfway, in fact, his brother had taken him to meet the six people under him, and Zhang San also asked him to meet Xu Qi.

"It seems that Cheng is also ignorant of the hidden guards." Ding Yi stroked his gray beard and began to explain, "There are seven hundred and forty-nine hidden guards, divided into seven groups. Among them, there are seven team leaders, namely: Ding Yi, Wang Er, Zhang San, Li Si, Chen Wu, Zhao Liu, and Xu Qi. Seven of us are in charge of the following six subordinates, and each team has a different division of labor. ”

Shao An has already seen this, for example, Zhang San is in charge of intelligence, and his brother's subordinates are all generals in the army, as for Ding Yi, he should be the commander-in-chief of the secret guard, and he is also in charge of punishment.

Shao An's expectations were not bad, and he only listened to Ding Yi continue: "Our seven groups are: one punishment, two divisions, three emotions and four generals, five protections, six killings and seven don't care. In the future, the dark guard will not be all, there will only be four teams: one, three, five, and seven. ”

Ding Yi clearly said that half of it would be left for half, Shao An was extremely contemptuous of this, and said with a smile: "It turned out to be singular and bright, and even dark." But so what, the nature hasn't changed. No need to persuade again, I won't write it. ”

"So let's talk about something else?" Ding still didn't give up, and found a topic to say, "Do you know how Li Si entered King An's Mansion in the first place?" ”

This kind of thing, which even Li Hongyi himself does not know, how can Shao An know. I only heard Ding Yi boast: "I took it home." ”

"Brought back?" Shao An finally raised some interest, and finally gave Ding Yi a straight look.

"yes, he was a baby." Ding Yi gestured with his hands to a length, "It's only so big, and you'll be an orphan." ”

He ...... What about parents? Shao An asked. He had asked his brother this question before, but Li Hongyi didn't know anything.

Unexpectedly, Ding Yi also shook his head, "I don't know." His parents left only a note, and after writing his name and birthday, they abandoned him. ”

When Shao An heard this, his heart ached. Why did my brother's father and mother abandon their own flesh and blood, was it forced to make ends meet, or was it ...... Thinking of this, he couldn't help but think of his parents and his youth......

"Most of the hidden guards are orphans, like Zhang San, who was also brought back by me when he wandered the rivers and lakes since he was a child and fought on the street." Ding Yi sighed, "They have no father and no mother, and when they entered the hidden guard, they made an oath that they would have no name or fortune in this life, no wife and no children. Such a life, lonely. I just want to change this fate, after the secret guard is enlightened, at least after death, a monument will be erected, and their names can be written, and future generations will be able to remember their exploits and leave traces of existence. ”

Shao An originally thought that Ding Yi wanted to seize power, so he wanted to secretly defend Minghua. However, although his wish was good, in the hands of the emperor, he became a sharp blade of the emperor.

After being moved by emotion, Ding began to understand and reason. He said: "What the prime minister is worried about, you can guess a little bit below." It can be guaranteed that the Department of Guards will never get involved in major politics, and major cases will also be handed over to the Three Law Divisions for trial. ”

"How can you guarantee it." As soon as Shao An opened his mouth, he mentioned the most acute question.

"Even if the prime minister doesn't believe in the character of the subordinates, he should understand Zhang San's temperament."

"I don't believe anybody." Shao An was unmoved, "I only believe in black and white, and the law guarantees." ”

Ding Yi didn't expect Shao An to be so soft and hard, shook his head and sighed: "It seems that the prime minister will not change his mind." ”

"I have made up my mind, and I don't need to persuade again."

Although the persuasion was ineffective, Ding Yi did not immediately turn his face ruthlessly, and still got up gently to leave, "I'm sorry to disturb the prime minister." It's getting late, so let's rest early. ”

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The time has passed, and the imperial study is still brightly lit. Now that Shao An is imprisoned, Sun Yi is sick, there is no one in charge of Zhongshu Province, and all government affairs are piled up on the imperial case, and the emperor can sleep peacefully every time he watches the recital until three or four watches.

That night, the emperor finished approving the recital, and did not go to bed immediately, but walked towards the west side hall where Shao An lived. Shao An has been trapped for five or six days, and the government and the opposition have already suspected that the emperor will find it difficult to use the excuse of recuperating in the palace to imprison Shao An. And Shao An is also very good at using the "procrastination trick", doing nothing, just dragging it, he can force the emperor into a dilemma.

When the emperor came, Ding Yizheng was standing in front of the door dutifully, and when he saw the saint at first glance, he was busy kneeling down and saluting. The Emperor told him to be flat, pointed to the house and asked, "How is it?" ”

"The subordinates are incompetent and can't persuade the prime minister to change his mind."

The emperor had already expected this to be the result, and nodded slightly: "I will go in and take a look, you and Huai En are waiting here." ”

At this time, Shao An had already fallen asleep, and the emperor could only come over to see when he was asleep. He walked to the bed softly, and saw Shao An curled up slightly, his arms folded in front of his chest, and his face was haggard and slightly sickly due to the recent exhaustion. On the closed eyes, the long eyelashes trembled slightly, as if they were not at peace in their sleep.

The emperor suddenly remembered that when he was marching, Li Hongyi could not understand their formation, so he would lie on the table and fall asleep, snoring like thunder. And Shao An was discussing the military situation while secretly laughing at him.

Later, I heard that their brothers used to quarrel over snoring. It's a pity that Li Hongyi can't change it, and Shao An got used to it in the end, but he still loves to laugh at him from time to time, which makes Li Hongyi embarrassed. And Shao An boasts that he sleeps very well every time, and now that he sees it, it is true.

The emperor looked at Shao An carefully, and he knew in his heart that now that this matter had reached this point, if it dragged on, he was afraid that the situation would change. The so-called continuous interruption is subject to chaos. However, if he was really ruthless, in such a decisive way, he was a little unbearable.

The Emperor sighed and got up to leave. When I walked to the desk, I suddenly found a book upside down on the table, and when I looked closely, it turned out to be "Historical Records". The emperor picked it up and saw that the page that was upside down was actually the biography of the Marquis of Huaiyin.

Hanshin! The emperor was slightly stunned, it turned out that Shao An had seen it more thoroughly than him. He sometimes wonders what the relationship between him and Shao An is. used to be a teacher and student, as close as father and son, but now, only monarchs and ministers remain!

In fact, Shao An has always been very sober, and since he came back from exile, he has only kept the courtesy of the monarch and ministers, and has been humble and respectful. He has read too many history books and read too many stories. After Liu Bang became emperor, he punished Han Xin and destroyed Lu Xuan. Zhao Kuangyin's yellow robe was added to his body, and a glass of wine released his military power.

Countless historical facts have proved that no matter who sits in that position, only the monarch and the minister remain. It is Shao An who respects him, fears him, and fears Huaide. And the emperor also used him to defend against him, and grace and power were parallel.

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