The imperial concubine often came to visit the emperor, as comfortable as in her own bedroom, sitting cross-legged on one side of the chair, the palace maid placed her own tea, incense burner, fan, beads and other small objects on the next few cases, and withdrew one after another, during which the emperor stood like a guest.

The imperial concubine is like the queen mother, and very few people still doubt this.

Zhang Youcai and Tong Qing'e also withdrew from the room, and the imperial concubine would talk to the emperor alone every few days, and everyone was used to it.

The imperial concubine sat stunned for a while, let the tea on the table gradually cool, and said softly: "Did she notice something?" ”

"Could it be someone snitching? Ministers are not all reliable. Han Ruzi sat on a round stool a few steps away, this was the first time he had seen the imperial concubine show unconfidence.

The imperial concubine didn't seem to hear it, and only looked at the emperor after a while, "Minister? It is possible, but the person whom the Queen Mother suspects is His Majesty. ”

"Me?" Han Ruzi was surprised.

"Well, she asked me to come here to test and see if His Majesty knew something."

The imperial concubine didn't say anything, but Han Ruzi had already guessed her words, "I know, the queen mother sent someone to take my mother away." No one took the initiative to tell me, so I had to inquire on my own. ”

The Imperial Concubine nodded, "That's because I don't want Your Majesty to worry too much." In this way, His Majesty really has another channel to connect with the outside of the palace. ”

"You don't have to tell the Queen Mother about this, right?"

"Gotta tell her."

"Why?" Han Ruzi stood up, the Queen Mother was just suspicious, and there was no need to take the initiative to confess the truth.

The imperial concubine stared at the emperor, "The queen mother is already suspicious, and the best way to eliminate her suspicion is to give her a result." ”

Han Ruzi was stunned.

"If the Queen Mother thinks that she has killed a conspiracy, she may put away her suspicions and recall Taifu Cui Hong back to the capital."

"Is it necessary to wait for Mrs. Cui to come back? You can first remove Shangguan Xu's military power, and then slowly solve the Cui family, which is what the Queen Mother did. ”

The imperial concubine smiled, "I thought the same as you before, but Master Luo said no, he teaches in the Cui Mansion, understands how huge the Cui family's power is, Cui Hong is leading troops outside, once there is a change in the capital, no one can predict what the Cui family will do under the panic." Cui Hong and Shangguan Xuan must be taken down at the same time, so as to ensure stability afterwards, and His Majesty can have no worries. ”

Han Ruzi didn't know much about the situation in the imperial court, so he couldn't refute it, so he could only ask: "Hasn't the Queen Mother been installing officials recommended by the official family?" Haven't weakened the Cui family's power yet? ”

The imperial concubine smiled: "Cui Hong led the troops to fight and didn't give him a little sweetness, how could he do his best?" For every official appointed by the Shangguan family, the Cui family must also arrange at least one, compared to before, the power of the Cui family has not only not weakened, but has become stronger, if not, Cui Hong will not agree to lead the army north. The current situation is that the two relatives are strong, and they jointly encroach on the minister's territory, and only one will move, and the other will never sit idly by. ”

The imperial concubine fell into deep thought again, "The queen mother didn't even tell me before she made her decision, is it ...... No, it can't be, she won't doubt me. But her trick is really clever, first, disrupting Luo Shi's plan, second, postponing the reward for meritorious deeds to prevent the Cui family's power from continuing to expand, and third, the war with the Xiongnu can not be fought in a day or two, even if Cui Hong wins, he will temporarily leave the army at the border and return to Beijing alone. ”

Han Ruzi couldn't think of so much, but he felt that the Queen Mother was a powerful opponent, "In this way, the Queen Mother's support of Cui Hong is likely to have nothing to do with our plan, it's just a coincidence, and there is no need to tell the Queen Mother about me." ”

"Can't be careless, the Queen Mother hasn't paid special attention to Your Majesty, which is a good thing, but even if she just glances at it, she has to give her an answer, if I can't ask the truth, she will send someone else, I'm afraid that other secrets will be asked at that time."

"Do you think I can't keep your plan?"

The imperial concubine smiled and shook her head, "I believe in Your Majesty, but I believe in the Queen Mother's methods even more, and Your Majesty's mother is still in her hands." Moreover, His Majesty is not alone in making sacrifices. ”

"Who else?"

"Your Majesty wrote four holy decrees the day before yesterday."

"Hmm."

"There are two things that are the same, both of which are to remove Shangguan from his post."

"Hmm."

The imperial concubine paused for a moment, "Master Luo wants to hand over one of them." ”

Han Ruzi was taken aback, "What? ”

"And there will be a name written on it, so that the Queen Mother can have someone to arrest."

Han Ruzi was even more surprised, "Is this really necessary?" Dowager...... I don't know about our plans. ”

"Your Majesty lives deep in the palace and doesn't know much about things outside. With the momentum of eradicating the remnants of the Qi Wangyu, the Queen Mother spread her ears and eyes in the court, and searched for news everywhere, Your Majesty may not know that now the Qinzheng Palace is just a place to draft the decree, and the Queen Mother summons another group of ministers in Guanghua Pavilion every afternoon to discuss the matter of catching thieves. Those ministers were all well-known cool officials, known as the 'Guanghua Tigers', and there were no secrets that they could not hear. ”

Of course, Han Ruzi didn't know these things, and finally understood why the ministers in the Qinzheng Hall were nervous, "Who handed over the holy decree?" Whose name is to be written on it? ”

Luo Shi personally handed over the holy decree in exchange for the trust of the Queen Mother, and at the same time had to bear the infamy of the world. As for the name on it, Luo Shi did not tell me, he said that this person volunteered to be loyal to His Majesty and died without regrets. ”

Han Ruzi had nothing to refute, the minister was ready to sacrifice, he really had no reason to hide his secrets, but it was too difficult to betray the people who had helped him like this, he hesitated for a while and still couldn't make up his mind, and finally asked: "Luo Huanzhang handed over the holy decree, didn't he betray me too?" The Queen Mother knew at a glance that I had written it. ”

"That's right, but Your Majesty can afford it for the time being, the Queen Mother needs Her Majesty to stabilize the ministers, except for watching Your Majesty more closely, she will not take harsh measures for the time being."

"Where's the seal on it? How to explain it? ”

"That decree was originally a spare, and I didn't take it to stamp the seal. The thing that the Queen Mother will know is this: Her Majesty wrote the holy decree and handed it to Luo Shi, and after Luo Shi hesitated, he did not hand it over to the minister, but handed it to Jing Yao, the central superintendent. ”

"Whoever writes the name on the decree is the one who forwarded the news of my mother's arrest to me, which should be very reasonable."

The imperial concubine pondered for a moment, nodded slightly, and said with a smile: "Reasonable, Your Majesty's tone is so strict, we have nothing to worry about." ”

Han Ruzi breathed a sigh of relief, at least he didn't have to betray the East China Sea King and the Flower Tiger King, since that minister was willing to be loyal, then put all the blame on him alone. After the deed is completed, if this person is still alive, Han Ruzi hopes to be rewarded heavily.

"I will contact Luo Shi as soon as possible and tell him His Majesty's plan, I think he will agree."

"How did you get in touch with Luo Huanzhang? He only entered the palace once in a few days, and only went to the Lingyun Pavilion in the imperial garden. Han Ruzi asked curiously, he tried his best to get news of his mother, but the imperial concubine seemed to be able to contact Luo Huanzhang outside the palace at any time.

"I'm also very strict." The imperial concubine smiled, got up and prepared to leave, "It won't be long before Your Majesty will have the right to take life and death, and a few words will decide the life and death of tens of millions of people, please Your Majesty get used to the sacrifice of some people as a last resort." ”

The imperial concubine left, and the palace maids went into the house to pack up their things, and they didn't look at the emperor.

Han Ruzi sat on the round stool, and didn't look at them, the more he thought about it, the more he felt panicked, an innocent minister was going to make sacrifices for him, the only purpose was just to attract the attention of the Queen Mother and dispel her suspicions, Han Ruzi didn't know what it was like to decide the life and death of tens of millions of people, but he believed that it was completely different from the current situation.

Everyone else retreated, leaving only Zhang Youcai and Tong Qing'e to serve the emperor and go to bed, Han Ruzi stared at the two and asked, "Can I trust you?" ”

The eunuch and the palace maid glanced at each other, with both surprise and calmness in their eyes, as if they had known that there would be such a moment, the two knelt down at the same time, and Tong Qing'e said: "The slave maid is willing to go to the soup for Your Majesty." Zhang Youcai said hurriedly: "The little slave has been waiting for Your Majesty's words for a long time, Your Majesty said it, the little slave dares to do anything." ”

Han Ruzi was surprised and said with a smile: "What's wrong with you?" ”

Tong Qing'e lowered her head, with tears in her eyes, Zhang Youcai raised her head and said angrily: "Zuo Ji hates us, and he sent someone to warn us in the past two days, saying that he will settle the account when he is injured." Liang An has been forced by Zuo Ji to hang himself by hanging beams, anyway, it is a death, we are willing to die for Your Majesty. ”

Strictly speaking, Liang An committed suicide, the emperor was responsible, he went to "catch the traitor", which caused Zuo Ji to be frightened and forced Liang An to die in order to erase the evidence of the crime, thinking of this layer, Han Ruzi was calm in his heart, the emperor is like a giant walking in the downtown area, every foot he falls may trample on someone, or cause the crowd to panic and trample on each other, even so, the crowd will still take the initiative to hug the giant.

Sacrifice is inevitable, and the key is to make it worthwhile.

"I'm going to make you do something."

Zhang Youcai and Tong Qing'e were prostrate on the ground, Han Ruzi thought for a while, and felt that they couldn't give the two too important and dangerous tasks, their loyalty had not yet been tested, and they had finally won over the two of them, so they couldn't be wasted casually, "It's very simple, and there's no hurry, you can inquire slowly and don't attract the attention of others." ”

"Your Majesty, rest assured, we have all entered the palace since we were young and know the rules here." Zhang Youcai's face was a little red with excitement, Tong Qing'e was much calmer, stopped her tears, and looked at the emperor seriously.

"Someone close to the Imperial Concubine, or someone that the Imperial Concubine is in regular contact with, can be contacted outside the Imperial Palace at any time, and I want to know who it is."

"Being able to contact people outside the palace at any time is a big skill." Zhang Youcai looked very confused, and immediately kowtowed: "Within three days, the little slave and Sister Qing'e will definitely find this person." ”

Tong Qing'e is older and more cautious, "I'm afraid this person is not an ordinary palace slave, it may be a guard general, we should go there to inquire more." ”

"Don't take any chances, don't limit the day, just think about it."

Zhang Youcai said with a smile: "Your Majesty doesn't need to worry, the slaves and maids in the palace have their own channels, and they will never let the imperial concubine or the queen mother find out." ”

Han Ruzi was very interested in this "channel", but he didn't ask questions, and he had to take each other's trust step by step, and he couldn't rush it.

That night, he slept soundly, and when he woke up the next morning, the first thing he thought of was the minister who had voluntarily died, and a thought suddenly popped up in his mind: Was that person really voluntary?

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