At the beginning of the afternoon, the Empress Dowager walked out of Qingning Palace with a calm face, followed by a group of female officials.

Suddenly, her eyebrows moved, she suddenly stopped, pondered for a moment, left the group of female officials, and returned to Qingning Palace alone.

Passing through a corridor covered with cypresses, I heard the silence in the East Pavilion.

She slowly walked into the East Pavilion, and several palace maids who were standing and were about to fall asleep were about to salute in a little panic, but they were waved out.

In front of the bookcase, Zhu Qiyue was holding the "New Tang Dynasty Book" and was looking at it attentively, and his mind was already outside the object.

The Empress Dowager sat down gently in front of the bookcase, quietly looking at the little reader opposite. There was a wisp of plum fragrance in the air, a trace of piano sound, lingering, so all the thoughts were unloaded, and the old face revealed serenity.

Zhu Qiyue turned the page quickly, which made the Empress Dowager believe in the legend of Liu Bowen when he was a child.

His expression was very focused, and the sparkle in his eyes made one wonder if the words in the book were extremely engaging.

Finally, he closed the book and tilted his head slightly, as if in deep thought and aftertaste. It's just that this gaze is too long, so that the Queen Mother can't help but stretch out her hand and dangle it in front of his eyes, but unfortunately, he still doesn't feel it, fortunately it is still early before dark at this time, otherwise, I am afraid that when I wake up the next moment, there will be a sudden moment of tonight.

After a long time, Zhu Qiyue let out a sigh of relief, stretched his eyebrows, and then looked at the person opposite, and said with a little surprise: "The imperial grandmother is here." When he got up to salute, the Empress Dowager hurriedly motioned for him to sit down.

The Empress Dowager quipped: "You look like a bookworm when you read!" ”

Zhu Qiyue grinned, counting as a response.

After a moment of silence, the Empress Dowager said slowly: "A year ago, the two palaces gave a reward and brought the restlessness of the Forbidden City to the Yue Palace, and now you come to the Forbidden City, it seems that you want to return all the restlessness, and with the fruits, it is really providential!" Alas, it's time to wrap it up. ”

What caught the eye was the incomparably peaceful face of the imperial grandmother, but it was a very heavy topic in the ears, although the first half of the words were not difficult to understand, but the second half of the words were incomprehensible. Zhu Qiyue couldn't help but be at a loss.

Looking at her grandson's stunned appearance, the Empress Dowager sighed softly, "It's a blessing that you have a quiet study here, but I'm afraid that the emperor's side has turned the sky upside down, and it will be rare to have peace for a while." ”

Zhu Qiyue immediately thought of the "Forbidden City" mentioned by the imperial grandmother last night, and then looked at the demeanor of the imperial grandmother in her chest, and knew that she didn't have to waste her mind about it.

・・・・・・

Hongli went to Sun's Mansion to summon the news, and Sunfu said that the emperor had instructed the inner chamberlain to deal with the aftermath, so she got into the carriage boringly and hurried back.

When passing through the lamp market, she heard that Jin Yiwei was investigating the case in the Cai Lou, her heart moved, and she told the coachman to drive to the front of the Cai Lou and wanted to go inside to find out.

The building was in shambles.

Jin Yiwei commanded Tong Zhi Ma Shun to sit on the slightly inclined rattan chair, leisurely tasting tea, and did not notice the arrival of the red knotweed.

Hong Lian stared at Ma Shun quietly, only feeling that he seemed to be full of scheming when he was less than thirty years old, but that leisurely demeanor showed that his mind was not on investigating the case.

"I don't see the captain of the Jinyi Guard in front of the door, could it be that Lord Ma is actually alone in the dangerous building? Yo, this courage is really admirable! ”

After a short period of surprise, Ma Shun slowly got up and said with a smile: "The girl said that she was laughing, I drove everyone upstairs to make room for the girl." Why, the queen mother cares so much about the case that she sent a girl to investigate? ”

Hong Liwan smiled and casually browsed the furnishings in the building.

"What do you care about, what if you don't? The shocking case is destined to become a headless unsolved case, whether you care about it or not? ”

Ma Shun was stunned for a moment, and then chuckled, but the laughter was a little dry.

"What do you mean by that?"

Hongli's eyes stared at Ma Shun for a moment.

"If the unsolved case can be solved, no one will be able to shake the position of Commander Xu in the future, is Master Ma willing to live under the people for a long time? Of course, it depends on the meaning of the prince, the prince looks at Xu Gong quite unpleasantly, and most likely hopes that this case will be beneficial to Master Ma, so the unsolved case will naturally have to be suspended. ”

Ma Shun's face was shocked, and he said with embarrassment: "Please be cautious." When the emperor was still the crown prince, he was always accompanied and taught by the prince ・・・・・・ father, who was loyal, how could he be favoritistic? However, once a son of heaven and a courtier, this is a common situation in the world, and the girl cannot speculate at will. ”

Hongli couldn't help but feel deeply disappointed that such a shocking case was actually used by someone to make a big officialdom article, but no one really paid attention to the case itself.

"Once a son of heaven and a courtier? Not necessarily, now only the inner chamberlain has emerged as the two hot characters of the prince and the happy father-in-law, but the previous dynasty is full of old faces. ”

Ma Shun said in a deep voice: "The girl's mind is in the wrong place!" After the assassination of the prince, last night there were important ministers who pointed out that the law was relaxed, and this morning the criminal department was exposed several adult unjust cases, and the five auxiliary ministers are collegial to rectify the criminal department, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the three legal divisions of Dali Temple. This is a major event of interest to the Queen Mother! ”

Hongli was shocked in her heart, it seems that the assassination of the prince will be borrowed by many people, not to mention Wang Zhen is making a small calculation? She had a premonition that something big would happen in the palace, so she quit Ma Shun and hurried back to the palace.

Luo'er Hou, the maidservant of Xianxi Palace, was already in the Xuanwu Gate, and when she saw the red knotweed, she stepped forward and quietly told her about the Queen Mother's humiliation of Concubine Wu.

"I don't know why this matter reached the ears of hundreds of officials so quickly, many officials wanted to forcibly break into the Qianqing Palace to admonish, but they were blocked by the guards outside the Qianqing Gate, my sister was convenient to walk around in front of the emperor, and the queen mother ordered my sister to take a look at the situation over there." Luo'er looked very anxious.

The red knotweed branch walked Luo'er, and was in a trance for a while, but he subconsciously traveled south along the palace road.

The harem battles of the past were shocking, but they were nothing compared to the current intrigues of the inner and outer ministers.

This earth-shattering case was squeezed by countless people like a bean until the last drop of oil and water oozed out, so that it could escape the hearts of greedy people.

And the people who squeeze the oil and water all preach high-sounding reasons, directly ignoring the fact that the bitter master of this case is the grandson of the empress dowager.

A fierce quarrel came, and the red knot suddenly woke up. Before she knew it, she had arrived in front of the Qianqing Palace.

I saw dozens of guards forming a human wall, blocking hundreds of courtiers from the Qianqing Gate.

The courtiers wanted to break into the palace to admonish, but Rao was a literati, but he was also very crazy, his mouth kept shouting, and his body repeatedly hit the human wall. The Praetorian guards were gradually overwhelmed.

Suddenly, the human wall was squeezed open a gap, and when the opening was closed again, Chen Youyan, the right deputy of the Imperial Palace, led more than a dozen imperial historians to break into the Qianqing Palace.

・・・・・・

In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Qizhen's immature face was full of uneasiness.

Yang Shiqi, the first assistant of the cabinet and the secretary of the military department, glanced at the imperial history and persuaded: "The affairs of the harem are the emperor's family affairs in the final analysis, and you must think twice." ”

"The Son of Heaven has no family affairs, and the family affairs of the Son of Heaven are the affairs of the world!" Chen and Yan were so speechless that Yang Shiqi was speechless.

Wang Zhen stood in front of the side of the throne and glared at everyone.

Chen Youyan was quite angry, "Your Majesty, Concubine Wu is the concubine of the first emperor, and when she is the concubine of today's son, she is regarded as a slave and maid, insulting the first emperor, damaging the filial piety of the son of heaven, and the ministers are puzzled, why does Your Majesty ignore this?" ”

Zhu Qizhen looked at Wang Zhen at a loss.

Wang Zhen shouted: "Bold! Dare to be so rude to Your Majesty, you clearly have a heart of disobedience! ”

Chen Youyan said in a deep voice: "It is really the duty of the official to make a direct admonition, and the internal official is blocking the way of speech, and the system can be complied with?" ”

Without waiting for Wang Zhen to speak, another imperial historian rushed forward and said: "The front dynasty and the back court must have an orderly order in order to show the strict law of the Ming Dynasty. ”

Wang Zhen's face turned from white to red, from red to purple, and the green tendons on his forehead were slightly raised.

"Someone! Despise the king, twenty rods! ”

Suddenly, a broken cry came in.

"Stop!"

With this shout, a group of female officials came to the palace with the empress dowager in their arms.

All the ministers knelt on the ground and said in unison: "The ministers knock to see the Queen Mother!" ”

Zhu Qizhen saw the savior, and hurriedly left his seat and stepped forward to salute.

The Empress Dowager glared at Wang Zhen and said angrily: "My imperial history of the Ming Dynasty and the matter are all officials, satirizing the mistakes of the Son of Heaven and impeaching the mistakes of hundreds of officials, and I have never been convicted for my words." Do the ministers want to add fuel to the fire by coercing the officials under the guise of the king's authority? Keeping you is a scourge, come and drag him out! ”

Two female officers with knives stepped forward in response, and Wang Zhen was so frightened that his face was pale.

Zhu Qizhen hurriedly pleaded: "The imperial grandmother spared Mr. Wang, it's all grandchildren's, please be gracious!" ”

"Sir?" The Empress Dowager saw that Zhu Qizhen's tears were about to come out, so she said slowly: "Since the emperor has a will, your head will be placed on you, if you commit it again, I will definitely not spare you!" ”

Wang Zhen was busy and thankful.

The Empress Dowager glanced at the imperial history and said quietly: "You keep talking about the law, but do you really have the law in your heart?" Why did the matter of the harem reach your ears? The foreign official has secret news with the harem, how should he be guilty according to the law? ”

The imperial history was secretly stunned, and was speechless for a while.

Chen Youyan gritted his teeth and said: "The Empress Dowager Qi, everything is one thing, the ministers and others risk death to admonish, just to return justice to the imperial concubine, whether this move exceeds the law and violates the system, there is a department to investigate in detail, and the ministers dare not take chances." ”

The Empress Dowager smiled slightly, and then looked at Yang Shiqi.

"Yang Qing is the Yuan Fu of the cabinet of the current dynasty, the auxiliary minister appointed by the first emperor, ranking the first of the nine Qings, assisting the young emperor, and working hard. Yang Qing is flat! ”

Yang Shiqi thanked him and flattened.

The Empress Dowager once again glanced at the imperial history, and turned to Yang Shiqi and said: "Yang Qing, and today's son is young, everything in the court and the central government follows the old system, and officials who are deposed must be tested for merit, and their term of office must expire." But why is the current rumor of the rectification of the three law divisions rising? ”

The eyes of the imperial historians focused on Yang Shiqi.