said that Emperor Chongzhen has not been in a good mood in recent days. Approaching the end of the year, the governors and governors from all over the country returned to Beijing one after another to report on their work, and what they brought back was only sad news, the autumn grain harvest in several northern provinces failed, and the local government scrambled to ask the imperial court for relief; Li Zicheng's peasant army was divided into several units, and once again escaped from the encirclement of the official army, Li Guo and Liu Fangliang went to Shanxi, Liu Zongmin went to Ganshan, and Li Zicheng then played hide and seek with the official army in the mountains of western Henan. What annoyed Chongzhen the most was the chicken that could only lay golden eggs in the imperial court - the SAR trade market reported a deficit at the end of the year! In addition, the second phase of the treasury bonds cannot be divided into dividends, and the third phase of the treasury bonds is not interested, which means that the imperial court finances will be burdened with a heavier burden next year! The military salaries of the northwest and northeast fronts could not be supplied on time, and Hong Chengchou and other front-line generals complained about the lack of food and salary supply several times, which had seriously affected the morale of the front-line soldiers.

On the day of the thirtieth day of the Chinese New Year's Eve, Chongzhen returned to the south study room after the dynasty, thinking about these unpleasant things recently, he couldn't help but think of Wang Qiang again, but suddenly found that he hadn't shown his face once since he beat Wang Qiang back to the palace, this Wang Qiang not only didn't come to serve, but he didn't show up when he returned to the harem, and couldn't help but wonder, what is this kid doing?

Chongzhen raised his eyes and asked Lin Shan, the eunuch holding the Yue who was standing next to him, "Lin Shan, do you know how Wang Qiang is doing?" ”

Lin Shan bowed down and said: "Back to the emperor, the slave maid has not seen Wang Qiang's face for half a year, and the slave maid does not know what the situation is. ”

Chongzhen muttered to himself: "This Wang Qiang is also strange, as the deputy head of the inner house, he is silent, is it possible that he nests in the room all day and does nothing?" ”

Lin Shan privately sympathized with Wang Qiang, rolled his eyelids, and said: "Then Wang Qiang is not doing nothing, the slave maid heard that Wang Qiang is doing the work of collecting dung buckets. ”

"Boom!" With a loud bang, Chongzhen struggled to get used to the inkstone on the imperial case, and the good end of the inkstone was torn apart, and the ink was scattered and splashed!

Chongzhen's face was purple, his arms trembled slightly, the dignified deputy head of the inner house, the prince Shaobao, and the capable ministers of the Qing Army who retired from the Qing Army in the Jianshan Special Economic Zone did the work of collecting dung buckets, and the face of the court was not saved! How will the people of the world look at themselves as emperors! Chongzhen thought about it, he had listened to Zhou Kui's slander before he emphasized Wang Qiang back to Da Nei, so that the SAR was defeated, and the queen and his father were one, so they naturally wanted to suppress Wang Qiang in every possible way, and Lin Zhe was old and in love with power, and he was afraid that Wang Qiang would fight for power, so he naturally took advantage of the situation to practice Wang Qiang. Thinking of this, Chongzhen was furious, Huo Ran got up and went back to the harem to find the queen's theory!

On this morning, the concubines all gathered at the Queen Mother of Shangqing Palace. The Queen Mother has been in poor health for nearly half a year, but today she is better, and it is the thirtieth year of the Chinese New Year's Eve, so the empress and the concubines of the harem have come to visit and greet her.

In the Shangqing Palace, the Queen Mother sat in the center, the Queen and Concubine Li sat on the left and right sides, and a large group of harem concubines stood around the bottom talking and laughing, looking happy.

Everyone was talking and laughing, but they saw Emperor Chongzhen's face pale, and he strode in.

The concubines hurriedly saluted Chongzhen, and the queen also stepped forward and said with a smile: "The emperor will not come up." Chongzhen didn't wait for her to finish, and asked, "Let me ask you, where is Wang Qiang?" ”

"Huh? Wang Qiang! This Wang Qiang? The queen was stunned by the question, turned her head to look around where Wang Qiang's figure was, she saw Chongzhen's face was not good, thought it was about to attack Wang Qiang, and hurriedly said: "This Wang Qiang has been missing all day, and I don't know where to drill the sand and be lazy." ”

Chongzhen glanced at the queen with disdain and said, "Do you really not know? Then I'm here to tell you that Wang Qiang is doing the work of collecting dung buckets! ”

The concubines and eunuchs in the hall here all knew about Wang Qiang's dung bucket, but only the queen and the queen mother did not know.

"Ahh The queen was also taken aback when she heard this, and turned her head to look at Liu Hai, the head of Kunning Palace, who quickly lowered her head with a panicked look. Seeing Liu Hai's expression, the queen knew that what the emperor said was the truth, and said embarrassedly: "Your Majesty, the concubines really didn't know before. How could it be like this? ”

"You, as the lord of the six palaces, said you didn't know, hum!" Chongzhen snorted coldly and no longer bothered the queen.

The queen mother had already understood the reason at this time, and her mind was the same as Chongzhen's, she stood up tremblingly and asked as if she didn't believe it: "Wang Qiang?" Tell the story, that little cub, went to collect the dung bucket? Is this really the case? ”

Concubine Li was also upset about Wang Qiang for this matter, and said on the side: "Back to the Queen Mother, everyone in the whole country knows about the matter of the dung bucket being in charge of the dung bucket. ”

The Queen Mother trembled angrily, pointed at everyone with her bracelet and said: "That little cub is so capable, it is Zhao Zilong who protects my grandson, you actually let him go to the dung bucket!" Poor man, you bully him to be honest and kind, and you do this! How dare you! ”

The queen was really aggrieved in her heart, and she didn't know how to answer with a bitter face. The Queen Mother turned around and said coldly: "Go, pass on the Yi decree of the mourning family, from tomorrow onwards, ask Wang Qiang to serve by my side, and ask him to come in every day to tell me stories, just tell that, that there was a general in the Great Song Dynasty, and the one who retired from the Jin soldiers but was wrongfully killed, what is it called?" ”

"It's called Yue Fei." Lan Guiren whispered beside him.

"Yes, ask him to tell me the story of Yue Fei. My Ming Dynasty is not the Great Song Dynasty, and my son is not a faint king, the mourning family wants to see who dares to bully Wang Qiang again! The Queen Mother said angrily and went back to the inner room.

Chongzhen saw that the Queen Mother had moved Yue Fei out, obviously even blaming himself for going in, and couldn't help but be even more angry, he saw Lin Zhe standing next to him with a look of sincere fear, and shouted with a calm face: "Lin Zhe." ”

"The old slave is here." Lin Zhe came over and knelt down.

"I ask you, what is Wang Qiang's position now." Chongzhen asked.

"This, back to the emperor, Wang Qiang himself said that he wanted to familiarize himself with the environment first, so he did not arrange a specific position." Lin Zhe replied. In fact, he also felt wronged in his heart.

"Do you know about Wang Qiang's dung bucket?"

"Back to the emperor, the old slave has just heard about it."

"I ask you again, how did I explain to you when I transferred Wang Qiang back to the palace?"

"The emperor said at the time that he would find a successor for the old slave and let the old slave loosen his burden, saying that Wang Qiang was smart and clever, and let the old slave be trained well." Lin Zhe replied stubbornly.

"How do you consciously do it?" Chongzhen asked, his tone becoming more and more calm.

When Wang Qiang entered the palace, he took the initiative to push back his duties, and the dung bucket was not forced by himself, Lin Zhe naturally felt aggrieved in his heart, but he understood Chongzhen's character, at this time Chongzhen's gentle tone was the prelude to anger, he knew that today's things could not be good, and it was useless to explain, it was better to admit that it was possible to live, Lin Zhe knelt down and kowtowed vigorously and said: "Back to the emperor, the old slave has failed the emperor's entrustment, the old slave is guilty, please punish the emperor." ”

Seeing Lin Zhe pleading guilty, looking at the head full of white hair and slamming on the ground, Chongzhen also relented for a while, he knew Lin Zhe, and felt that although Lin Zhe was in love with the stack, he would not force King Le to go to the dung bucket, this person has been loyal and reliable in serving in the palace for decades, so he said: "Just know your mistake, get up." I remember your old age and hard work, and I allowed you to retire and recuperate, so I let Wang Qiang take your place. After Chongzhen finished speaking, he suddenly felt that this was too cheap Lin Zhe, so he added: "But before you leave the palace, you have to collect three months' dung buckets, and if Wang Qiang has something to do during this period, you can also be asked to hand over and ask." ”

"Old slave Shane." Lin Zhe has been serving in the palace for a lifetime, and when he came to such an ending, he couldn't help but feel sad, and he kowtowed to thank him in tears. Everyone present was chilled when they saw it.

Chongzhen finished disposing of Lin Zhe, glanced at the queen coldly, and said: "Wang Qiang is the prince Shaobao, the minister of my humerus, if there is any more forced extortion in the future, I will not spare him!" He slammed the sentence down, and then turned around and went out. A good New Year's party ended unhappily.

Wang Qiang had a lot of reports in the palace, the emperor left the Shangqing Palace on the front foot, and he got the news on the back foot, and heard that he had brought back the dung bucket and let Lin Zhe eat the melon, so he couldn't bear it, and hurried to find Lin Zhe.

Wang Qiang arrived at Lin Zhe's house in the palace, and saw a few eunuchs waiting in the courtyard to clean up things, he was worried that Lin Zhe had something to do, so he rushed into the room, but saw Lin Zhe sitting in the hall and drinking tea leisurely, his face was full of joy, and he couldn't help but be surprised in his heart, this old man was deposed, how could he be like no one.

When Lin Zhe saw Wang Qiang, he hurriedly got up and said, "The prince is here, just so that our family can look for you again." ”

Wang Qiang stepped forward and saluted and asked with concern: "Gonggong Lin, I heard that the emperor dismissed you from the post of chief manager just now, and I couldn't rest assured, so I rushed over to ask what happened." ”

"Hahahaha, but you are worried, rest assured, it's okay. The emperor dismissed me as if he had forgiven me, and now our family can finally leave here with peace of mind. But in the future, this burden will fall on you, but you must be careful. Lin Zhe had a calm expression.

Wang Qiang was relieved and said ashamedly: "Gonggong Lin, I haven't helped you anything these days, and I've caused you a big trouble." ”

"Hmmm! That's not what to say. There are not a few people in our family, the smartest is still you kid, no matter what natural trouble, there is no trouble, but it's a pity that we realized it late, otherwise it wouldn't have come to this point. I still have to thank you kid, if it weren't for your help, I would still be stuck in this black den without knowing how long it would be a good time. Lin Zhe got up and continued with emotion: "I have been serving in the royal family since I was eight years old, and I have served three emperors and two queen mothers. ”

Wang Qiang also stood up respectfully, carefully savoring Lin Zhe's heartfelt words.

Lin Zhe stepped forward and patted Wang Qiang on the shoulder and said, "You are different, you have achieved this position in your twenties, and your talent is not thin, I don't think these four high walls may be able to stop you." I, Lin Zhe, have no other instructions, I just hope that you will treat these fathers-in-law well during your reign, they are all deviant people, and it is not easy. ”

"Yes, Wang Qiang wrote it down." Wang Qiang said respectfully.

Putting aside Wang Qiang's side, she said that Queen Zhou was scolded by the emperor in front of everyone today and lost face, she felt that she did not intend to suppress Wang Qiang, so she was extremely aggrieved in her heart, and returned to Kunning Palace to hide in the room and cry alone, only hating Wang Qiang to death. Queen Zhou cried until the afternoon, didn't eat lunch, and sat on the bed thinking about what to do. The queen mother must have misunderstood herself, only dedicated to maintaining Wang Qiang, the emperor turned his face with himself in public, and he was afraid that he was tired of himself, that Concubine Li saw maggots under the seams, maybe how to gloat, Wang Qiang, a little thief, not to mention, was not on good terms with himself, this time he was the chief manager and had the support of the emperor and the queen mother, I was afraid that I would not put myself in my eyes, I was in the palace and was isolated on all sides, how can I live in the future.

The queen thought about it, and suddenly a thought popped into her mind: "Yes, I still have a baby at the bottom of the box, why did I forget her." "When the queen said this, she meant Chen Yuanyuan. At the beginning, Zhou Kui, the abbot of the country, dedicated Chen Yuanyuan and other kabuki to the palace in order to invite the emperor. When the queen saw Chen Yuanyuan, she was also surprised by her beauty, and the little woman's jealousy attacked, thinking that if such a gorgeous woman was seen by the emperor, the emperor's soul would be taken away. She kept an eye on it, and arranged for Chongzhen to sing and dance several times to prevent Yuanyuan from showing up. Chongzhen heard Zhou Kui mention that Chen Yuanyuan was the most outstanding in this class of kabuki, and asked the queen several times, and the queen found excuses to prevaricate. Now that Empress Zhou sees that she has fallen out of favor, she thinks that letting Chen Yuanyuan appear may be able to save the emperor's heart. After thinking about it, the queen brought the bangs over and gave a detailed order.

In the evening, Emperor Chongzhen finished approving the folds in the south study, got up and went back to the palace, he originally wanted to stay at Concubine Yi's tonight, but when he went out of the south study, he saw Liu Haihou, the head of Kunning Palace, at the door. Liu Haihai stepped forward and saluted: "Emperor, today is the thirtieth year of the Chinese New Year's Eve, the empress prepared a banquet in Kunning Palace, and asked Chen Yuanyuan and other kabuki to dedicate the songs and dances carefully choreographed to the emperor. The queen asked the old slave to ask, can't you get over tonight? ”

"Chen Yuanyuan." Chongzhen said to himself, mentioning Chen Yuanyuan, Chongzhen's heart was aroused, and he changed his mind and said: "It's rare for the queen to be so attentive, I will go to the queen tonight." ”

"The old slave obeys." Liu Hai saw that the emperor agreed, and went back to the palace to arrange it happily.

Chongzhen arrived at Kunning Palace, where the banquet was ready, and the queen was also carefully dressed, which was more gorgeous than before. The husband and wife politely greeted each other and sat down for dinner.

I only heard the sound of silk and bamboo, a team of dancing girls began to perform, Emperor Chongzhen watched while eating, but he was anxious to wait for Chen Yuanyuan to appear, and those delicious delicacies were also tasteless. After a few songs, it was finally Chen Yuanyuan's turn to appear, this time she did not play the piano, but danced with the music, she danced lightly, her posture was graceful, and she turned around and looked forward to it, and she was born with a thousand charms, there were many beauties in Chongzhen's harem, and they were all beautiful fetuses, but she had never seen such a stunning beauty as Chen Yuanyuan, a pair of eyes stared at Chen Yuanyuan, shortness of breath, and her heart was on fire. Chen Yuanyuan stopped dancing and retreated. At this time, the red candles in the hall were shining, and it was already empty. Chongzhen came back to his senses for a long time, but saw that the queen had been committed to his arms, he wanted to ask for Chen Yuanyuan, but when this scene was embarrassed to speak, he turned over and pressed the queen under him, thinking of Chen Yuanyuan in his heart, and vented his excitement to the queen.