Empress Dowager Cixi, who stayed at home, only received the news after Guizi Liu was escorted out of the palace, and hurriedly sent her henchman eunuch An Dehai to summon Zaiyuan and Su Shun and others to meet to understand the situation. Although Zaiyuan and Su Shun and others have never liked Cixi www.biquge.info, who is on the throne by selling meat and often likes to meddle in court politics, because she is the biological mother of Emperor Qixiang Zaichun, they have to give her this face, so the eight ministers of Gu Ming still obediently went to Cixi's bedroom to kowtow to her and Zaichun, and reported to Cixi that the six devils disguised themselves as shamans and secretly sneaked into the palace to meet Ci'an.

"The sixth is ridiculous! It's ridiculous! As an imperial uncle, you are the honor of the county king, and what kind of shaman is pretending to be in the palace? What is he trying to do? What are his intentions?! ”

To Zaiyuan, Su Shun and others, to their surprise, after hearing what had happened, Cixi was also very angry, and criticized the absurd behavior of Devil Six, and immediately doubted the real purpose of Devil Six, and asked Zaiyuan and others: "Lord Zai, Lord Duan, why did Lao Liu and the Empress Dowager meet like this?" What did you talk about after we met? Do you understand? ”

"Back to the Queen Mother, the person just took it, and I haven't had time to inquire about the details." Zaiyuan replied truthfully, and said: "Please rest assured that the Empress Dowager of the West, once it is found out, the ministers will immediately report to the Empress Dowager of the West and the emperor." ”

"Then it's hard work for all Aiqing." Cixi nodded, and then admonished: "The sixth master is a noble man, and he can't be tortured, but no matter what you think, you must find out the truth and get to the bottom of it." ”

When Su Shun, Zaiyuan and the others kowtowed again, Cixi lowered her voice a little and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, if you say something that should not be said, if the sixth child relies on him as the emperor's uncle, if he really has any intentions for the throne, you must not protect him, you must deal with it strictly." This child of the mourning family depends on your support. ”

Zaiyuan, Su Shun and the others looked at each other in surprise, and then they understood why Cixi was so concerned and nervous about this matter - they even suspected that Devil Six wanted to collude with Ci'an to usurp her son's throne! After secretly laughing at Cixi's suspicious timidity, Zaiyuan, Su Shun and others also kowtowed together, and said: "Please rest assured that the Empress Dowager of the West, Weichen and others bear the weight of the emperor's entrustment, and they will definitely be smeared with their livers and brains, and they will swear to assist the emperor to death, and will never allow any chaotic ministers and thieves to covet the emperor's imperial treasure." ”

Cixi thanked her repeatedly, and told Zaiyuan and the others to be cautious, and then asked Zaiyuan and the others to kneel down. After leaving Cixi's dormitory, Zaiyuan and Duanhua and other eight ministers not only had less doubts about Cixi, but in order to calm down the discussion and show the loyalty of the group of ministers to Emperor Qixiang, Zaiyuan and others even began to discuss winning over Cixi to suppress Ci'an, so as to weaken and divide the power of the Hou Party.

The interrogation of Devil Zi Liu soon reached an impasse, and Devil Zi Liu insisted that he pretended to be a shaman and entered the palace to pray for the hell ghost of Emperor Xianfeng, and also insisted that he met and talked with the Empress Dowager Ci'an, but it was just an ordinary exchange between uncles and sisters-in-law, and only talked about family affection and did not involve political affairs. Although Duanhua, who personally served as the chief judge, knew that Devil Six was talking nonsense, he couldn't use torture and naturally couldn't force Devil Six to change his mouth and confess the truth, and there was no way to take Devil Six for a while.

As a last resort, in order to find out the truth and eliminate hidden dangers, Zaiyuan and others could only temporarily put Devil Zi Six under house arrest while taking the means of side knocking and attacking, and began to investigate Devil Liu's entourage and the eunuch palace maid who was present at the time. As a result, it was natural that when Zaiyuan and others asked to detain the eunuch palace maid led by Wei Yue to interrogate the case, Ci'an categorically refused, insisting that his meeting with Devil Ziliu was just a royal family matter, without the slightest fault, and refused to agree to let Zaiyuan and others arrest and interrogate her personal attendants.

Ci'an is just a dying struggle to do this, Rehe's military power is in the hands of the eight ministers of Gu Ming, and the group of ministers of Gu Ming really wants to pinch Ci'an to death is like pinching an ant to death, but just when Zaiyuan and the others were about to tear their faces and forcibly arrest people, Cixi jumped out again and persuaded Ci'an to give in in front of the eight ministers of Gu Ming.

After being rejected again by Ci'an, Cixi simply stood directly on the side of the group of ministers who wanted to be killed, and openly threatened: "Sister, you have to think clearly, if you are still obsessed and refuse to let the prince ask them to understand, then you can summon the men outside the palace to get along alone, and they can sacrifice to the temple and the emperor's spiritual throne, and abolish your position as the queen mother!" ”

Ci'an glared at Cixi, but Cixi was not afraid, and replied with her head held high: "Sister, it is a matter of the dignity of the Qing royal family, the first emperor and the second emperor, please don't force us!" ”

"The Empress Dowager East, the Empress Dowager of the West is right, please don't force us!" Zaigaki also said gloomily.

In response to the threat, Ci'an slapped Cixi in the face, and after slapping Cixi, Ci'an cried loudly, while getting up and rushing into the apse, Cixi covered her face and gave Zaiyuan and Jingshou a look, Zaiyuan and Jingshou understood, and ordered the guards to take people, while asking the chief eunuch Han Yu to rearrange Ci'an's personal attendants. At the end, Zaiyuan also whispered to Cixi, "Thank you Empress Dowager Xi." ”

"Hurry up." Cixi replied in a low voice: "The mourning family is waiting for your news. ”

After finally taking down the eunuch and palace maid beside Ci'an, the case soon made a major breakthrough, all the eunuchs and palace maids truthfully confessed, saying that when Devil Six and Ci'an met, Ci'an only had Wei Yue by his side, and the other palace maids and eunuchs were all driven to the front yard to wait before Devil Six entered Ci'an's bedroom, and no one was present.

Then naturally, of course, Duanhua immediately ordered Wei Yue to be interrogated, but the guards who went to mention people quickly ran back with pale faces and said to Duanhua: "Lord Wang, Wei Yue is dead!" ”

"Dead?!" Duanhua was taken aback and hurriedly asked, "How did you die?" ”

"It should be suicide by taking poison." The guard replied, "There was blood in his eyes and nose, and the minions also found a piece of straw paper beside him, and there was residual arsenic in the straw paper, that Wei Yue should have been prepared." ”

As soon as Wei Yue died, what Ci'an and the six devils talked about became a secret that outsiders would never know. Then after a little discussion, they made up their minds, in order to be more justifiable, Zaiyuan and others also decided to pull Cixi into the water, so that Cixi also expressed support for the abolition of Ci'an and Devil Six, and completely eliminated the hidden danger.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you must not do this!"

This time, Cixi finally remembered the sisterhood between herself and Ci'an, and categorically refused to abolish Ci'an, and pointed out: "Ladies and gentlemen, although there are sufficient reasons to abolish the Empress Dowager Dong, no one can accuse you of anything. But have you ever thought about it, if the matter of the secret meeting between the Empress Dowager and Prince Gong in the deep palace is made public, wouldn't the former emperor be decent? In the folk rumors, what will the relationship between the first emperor, the empress dowager and Prince Gong be portrayed? Where does the face of the Qing royal family and the former emperor exist? ”

Zaiyuan and the others thought about it carefully and found that if they were to abolish them under the pretext that Ci'an and Devil Six had met secretly and got along alone, the reason would be too sufficient, but once this matter was made public, with the urine sex of those Eight Banners in the capital who liked to chew their tongues, they would definitely be able to arrange a green hat for Emperor Xianfeng!

"Ladies and gentlemen, how about this?" Cixi suggested: "I will come forward to persuade the Empress Dowager Dong, ask her to hand over the 'imperial reward' seal given to her by the emperor, and keep it jointly with the eight of you Aiqing, and also ask her to promise to deprive Prince Gong of all his real power, so that Prince Gong will go home to study and never come back, in exchange for the eight of you Aiqing will no longer pursue the matter of the Empress Dowager Dong and Prince Gong?" ”

After exchanging a few glances with each other, the eight ministers of Gu Ming were very moved by Cixi's suggestion - they got the seal of Ci'an, and Cixi's position was obviously inclined to the eight ministers of Gu Ming, and the group of ministers of Gu Ming basically controlled all the powers, and it didn't matter whether Ci'an still needed to be abolished. So after a little discussion, Zaiyuan and the others quickly replied: "If the Empress Dowager Dong is really willing to hand over the imperial reward seal and promise to deprive Prince Gong of all her real power, then we can treat her and Prince Gong's secret meeting as if it didn't happen." ”

"It's still a few Aiqing who are reasonable." Cixi smiled, smiled and said, "Then do it, I will go and persuade the Empress Dowager Dong and ask her to agree to your request." But you may have to wait a few more days, and you also know the temper of the Empress Dowager Dong, who is stubborn and tight, and it is not so easy to move. ”

Almost all the initiative was in the hands of the group of ministers who wanted to live, and of course Zaiyuan and Su Shun and others didn't mind waiting a few more days, so they immediately agreed to Cixi's request, and then they no longer cared too much about this matter, and began to be distracted to handle state affairs, as well as to preside over the funeral of Emperor Xianfeng.

There was a slight delay, and two days later, the monk Greenqin Monk Wangye, who had previously been edicted to come to Chengde to cry and sacrifice, also came to Rehe with three thousand Chahar cavalry and stationed ten miles outside the Rehe Palace. In the evening of the same day, Cixi also summoned Zaiyuan and Duanhua again, saying that Ci'an had agreed to hand over the imperial reward seal after Emperor Qixiang officially succeeded to the throne, and urged Zaiyuan and the others to draw up a date for Fuling to return to Beijing as soon as possible, so that Emperor Qixiang could return to the capital as soon as possible and officially ascend the throne.

The excessive advantage made Zaiyuan and Duanhua completely lose the most basic vigilance, and under Cixi's skillful persuasion and justification, Zaiyuan and Duanhua agreed to all of Cixi's requests without consulting Su Shun and others. After Su Shun learned of this, it was too late, and he didn't have time to oppose it directly, and he was afraid of the face of Zaiyuan and his brother Duanhua, so he only complained a few words, and did not insist that Ci'an hand over the seal immediately, and agreed to let Zaiyuan let Qintian monitor the date of selection, and decided to return to Beijing on February 23, and planned to arrive in the capital on February 29. (Lunar calendar, the lunar calendar of 1860 A.D. has the 29th day of the second month.) ）

After crying in front of Emperor Xianfeng's Zigong Palace, he immediately went to the temporary military aircraft office to greet Zaiyuan and other eight ministers, and resolutely supported the wise leadership of the eight ministers of Gu Ming, and also made a deep repentance for what he had done before. And the cautious Su Shun, although he hated the monk and his right-hand man Wu Chaoyue's filthy festival, he was unwilling to settle the previous account with the monk at this time, and reluctantly squeezed out a little smile to let the monk pass the test, and also agreed to the monk's request to protect the coffin and return to Beijing.

In addition to getting closer and closer to Cixi, the eight ministers of Gu Ming were either dealing with state affairs, or taking Zhang Luo, a civil and military official of Rehe, to escort the coffin of Emperor Xianfeng back to Beijing. As a result, on the evening of February 16, when Su Shun, who had been busy all day, returned to his temporary residence in Rehe, Guo Songtao, who had been waiting here for a long time, greeted him directly, and said while saluting: "Su Zhongtang, my Wu Futai sent someone to send a letter, and asked the lower officials to present it to you in person no matter what. ”

"Finally got the news from the little bunny?" A smile appeared on Su Shun's tired face, and he asked suspiciously: "Why didn't you see his condolences in the military aircraft department?" ”

"It's a post station, and you have to go to the capital to forward, and the speed may be slower." Guo Songtao explained: "This letter was sent by my family Wu Futai, so the speed should be faster. ”

"Oh." Su Shun nodded, and then took the letter that Guo Songtao had already handed in front of him, and saw that the envelope was marked with the words '100,000 urgent', Su Shun also smiled and scolded: "Little rabbit, you must have taken the opportunity to reach out to the official." You don't need to open your mouth, Lao Tzu has already got you a governor of the five provinces and a minister of the Qin Mission, so you must have received the holy decree, right? ”

When he smiled and scolded and opened the sealed letter, the smile on Su Shun's face gradually disappeared - because Wu Chaoyue's letter was not to take the opportunity to ask Su Shun for power, but to send a warning to Su Shun. In the letter, Wu Chaoyue not only reminded Su Shun that he must control the military power of Gyeonggi and the capital, but also asked Su Shun to be careful to guard against Ci'an and Cixi, who hold the edict seal, to prevent them from having a lust for power because of the edict seal, and suggested that Su Shun should get the two seals in his hands at all costs, so as to ensure that everything can be prevented.

Of course, Wu Chaoyue, who was determined to oppose the Qing Dynasty, made this difficult decision after several struggles, and the reason was nothing else, that is, because Su Shun was indeed too good to Wu Chaoyue, so good that it could be said that it was pure and undecent, and it was so good that Wu Chaoyue's residual conscience forced him to take the initiative to give up the best opportunity to raise troops - after Su Shun and others were killed, he raised troops on the side of the Qing Jun! This excuse can not only reduce a lot of pressure on Wu Chaoyue when he raised the flag against the Qing Dynasty, but can even pull some of the banner people and Mongols to his side.

reciprocated the peach, and Wu Chaoyue, who had a good conscience, could be regarded as benevolent and righteous to Su Shun, but it was a pity............

"Little bunny, I can't imagine that it is a little prescient."

Su Shun smiled very easily, although he was grateful to Wu Chaoyue's Qianli Chishu for calling the police, he didn't attach much importance to it, and said to himself: "But you definitely didn't expect that your eldest niece Yi Guifei was actually facing us, and it was not appropriate to force her to hand over the edict seal at this time, so we can only wait for it later." ”

After that, Su Shun was already very tired mentally and physically, and personally wrote a reply to Wu Chaoyue on the spot, roughly introducing the current situation in Rehe, and also said Cixi's current attitude and position, asking Wu Chaoyue not to worry about himself, but also to Wu Chaoyue to prepare for the eastward expedition as soon as possible, and after he returned to Beijing, the political situation stabilized, and immediately sent troops to the east to besiege Wei to rescue Zhao and force the Taiping army on the northern front to return to Anhui.

In addition, Su Shun did not forget to ask Wu Chaoyue to take care of his body and wait for his reprimand when they meet again. (To be continued.) )