In the Xinuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, the eunuch Xiao Jing and the eunuch Li Rongzheng took a few small eunuchs to present a large stack of folds to the front of the palace. According to the rules, only after the emperor's imperial inspection, these general affairs secretaries and the right Shunmen received the folds will be transferred to the cabinet, and then the cabinet ministers will make a vote, and then send it to Zhu for approval. Although the process is like this, this first imperial process, even if it is like the Emperor Hongzhi, the lord of Zhongxing in front of him, most of them are just listening to the oral reports of a few big eunuchs of the celebrant eunuch, and occasionally reading two more books on a whim.

The eunuch in charge of the seal is known as the internal minister, and the first person in Bingbi is equivalent to the second assistant of the cabinet, and the matters reported orally were originally led by Li Rong himself. However, the emperor took pity on him for his old age, and Xiao Jing was humble and young, so since the early years, these abridged reports have always been made by Xiao Jing himself. At this time, he reported several commonplace impeachment cases one by one, and then changed his words: "In addition, Ma Wensheng, the young master and the prince and the prince's official department, has been in the rank of beggar for nine years. ”

"Ma Wensheng?"

"Yes, it is Ma Shangshu, the patriarch of the Five Dynasties." Xiao Jing said with a smile, "If you want the old slave to say, although Ma Shangshu is not young, he should be strong when he is old, and besides, the official department has always been the most difficult yamen, thanks to him being in charge." ”

"Well, too." Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly, and then glanced at Li Rong, who was standing respectfully on the side, "It's like Li Companion, who is also a veteran of the Five Dynasties, and now that he is over seventy years old, isn't he still carrying the burden of the celebrant and eunuch?" ”

"Long live the master's words, how dare the old slave be compared with Ma Shangshu?" Li Rong smiled and owed, and then said, "However, Ma Shangshu is old, and he is inevitably a little lacking in energy. The old slave remembered that a few days ago, Wu Rui also impeached Ma Shangshu for being faint and forgetful. It's actually very simple to say, but it was the Ministry of Officials who decided to discipline Xue Dengzhishi, but the Wenxuan Division didn't know it, and it was actually Xue Deng's lack of merit that ordered Xue Deng to be transferred to the river station. Zhishi was in the thirteenth day and the official performance was in the fourteenth day, even though Ma Shangshu was unintentional, but how can he distinguish the sages of the world? And if it is intentional, how can it be the tool of the world? Wu Hui said that he was immediately deceived by the king, and he used some exaggerated words, and he heard that the cabinet would meet today, and he didn't know that the three cabinet elders had reprimanded him. ”

"Officials should talk about things, and don't interfere too much. As for Ma Wensheng, it would be good to let Mr. Liu draft a vote to stay in office. ”

Emperor Hongzhi didn't seem to see Li Rong's slightly stiff expression, and then bowed his head and motioned for Xiao Jing to continue. When he read the excerpt of Xing'anbo's funeral, his face suddenly froze, and then he ordered to pick out the excerpt and look at it. When a little eunuch found the fold and hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down to present it, he took it casually, only to look at it twice and frown, and finally left it without saying a word. The two bigwigs on the side knew the thoughts of this supreme, but they both pretended not to know, Xiao Jing continued to report one by one, and only stopped after about a quarter of an hour, the emperor enjoyed a bowl of tea as always, and then asked as if he was careless.

"There are no children and grandchildren in this Xing'an Bo Mansion, and there is no wife, can the Ministry of Rites send someone for the funeral?"

At this time, Chen Kuan, the celebrant and eunuch on the side, hurriedly responded: "Back to the emperor, Xing'an Bofu reported the funeral yesterday, and the Ministry of Rites should not have time yet." ”

"Not in time? If it's another mansion, it's just that, there is no one inside and outside this Xing'an Bo Mansion, and the Ministry of Rites doesn't send people, what can I do about this funeral! Those people in the Ministry of Rites are all old people who have experienced a lot, why are they so confused this time! ”

The emperor's words swept a bunch of people in the Ministry of Rites, and all the ceremonial eunuchs looked at each other, and Xiao Jing glanced at Wang Yue, the eunuch of the Dongchang Governor. Sure enough, Wang Yue saw that everyone else was also looking at him, so he coughed lightly and said: "Back to the emperor, although the Ministry of Rites will have time to send someone to treat the funeral in the future, someone has already come forward, it is Xu Guangzuo, the grandson of the prince of Dingguo." The next report came to the report, saying that it was fortunate that the eldest grandson came forward, otherwise I was afraid that Xing'anbo Mansion would make a big joke today. ”

"Oh?"

Emperor Hongzhi just asked, and a cheerful voice suddenly came from outside: "What kind of joke is there in Xing'an Bofu, come and tell me about it!" ”

With this clear voice, a figure rushed in, who else is it not the prince Zhu Houzhao? Seeing that a large number of people were busy saluting before the meeting, Zhu Houzhao waved his hand impatiently and shouted that he was exempt, and walked quickly in front of Emperor Hongzhi, and before his knees touched the ground, he was helped up. He called out to his father with a smile, and immediately rubbed over to Emperor Hongzhi and stood up straight, his eyes glancing at the big eunuchs.

Seeing the little prince like this, coupled with the emperor's gesture, Wang Yue cleared his throat and told the truth about the situation in Xing'an Bofu at that time. If Xu Xun was here, he would definitely be amazed that Wang Yue said as if he had seen it himself, obviously, at that time, either there were spies from Dongchang in Xing'anbo's Mansion, or some of the visitors were spies for Dongchang. At the end, Wang Yue said again: "Dingchang Sun Ping said that he didn't go out much, but this time he was holding the funeral, and he was thorough, and he didn't let the matter alarm the government because of the crying concubine in the mourning hall before. Therefore, in the evening, when several princes and uncles came to pay tribute in person, they were not chaotic. ”

"Not bad, this Xu Guangzuo is good!"

Zhu Houzhao praised Xu Guangzuo vigorously, and then quietly looked at his father out of the corner of his eye, and found that Emperor Hongzhi did not answer the question, he immediately sat down honestly, and then did not say a word. It wasn't until Xiao Jing and the others kowtowed together that he breathed a sigh of relief, and immediately jumped up and sat down with his father.

Just now in front of outsiders, Emperor Hongzhi could only keep a straight face, and at this moment, seeing his son looking up at him, he suddenly softened his heart, and after thinking for a moment, he said meaningfully: "Houzhao, you secretly went out of the palace to Xu Xun's new residence to congratulate the housewarming last time, thinking that I didn't know?" ”

Seeing Zhu Houzhao staring at himself with wide eyes, he immediately showed an innocent expression again, Emperor Hongzhi was angry and funny, and couldn't help but shout softly: "Father knows what you think, but as the Son of Heaven, you should be impartial and not make judgments based on your temporary preferences." Fortunately, this Xu Xun is not a pampered and arrogant person, otherwise at that time, he would have begged you to speak in front of me, with your surname, but there is a chance that ** will not refuse? ”

He thought that his son would be about to play a trick, but Zhu Houzhao actually nodded his head like a chicken pecking rice, he was immediately angry, and his face immediately became more serious: "That's right!" You have forgotten what you should do as a prince because of that little preference in private! Look at him, there was such a commotion in the mourning hall of Xing'an Bofu, Ding Changsun was obviously invited by him, but he didn't use this excuse to make the matter bigger, but tried his best to suppress it, and just took back the power of funeral from Xu Yi's hands, what is this called? That's right. You are the crown prince, and you need to remember these four words that are wonderful to govern the country. ”

"Justifiably ......" Zhu Houzhao blinked his eyes, and then snorted angrily, "What's so difficult about this, isn't there a reasonable excuse for everything!" ”

"Hahahaha, my son, you're right this time!"

Emperor Hongzhi rubbed Zhu Houzhao's head dotingly, and then put away his smile and said lightly: "Whatever you do in this world, there are indispensable excuses and reasons, as long as you make others speechless, this thing can be done without three points of constraints." The same is true for those who are kings, they can't do whatever they want, and their every move is unpredictable. Take that Xu Xun as an example, even if you like him, you can't put it all on your face, otherwise you won't be able to let him fear you from the bottom of his heart! ”

Listening to these extremely complicated imperial mental techniques, Zhu Houzhao nodded ignorantly, but there was another completely irrelevant thought in his heart. If he let his father know that he actually asked Xu Xun to investigate whether he was born to the queen mother, would his father cut off Xu Xun's head in a fit of anger? Having said that, the three cabinet elders in the cabinet are too slow, and he has already made a wish to Xu Xun, so why is there no matter of the avant-garde of the government army until now?

Facts have proved that inviting Xu Guangzuo, the eldest grandson of Dingchang, to go to Xing'anbo Mansion to help with the funeral is a wonderful move. Even if Xu Xun didn't know how the news was judged when it reached the imperial front, he himself was so satisfied with the future Dingguo Gong that he couldn't be more satisfied.

Xu Guangzuo, who was born in a family, lost his father at an early age, and his grandfather was a careless person, he had always been in charge of the Dingguo Mansion, and he was naturally in good order to take care of things, and others couldn't find the slightest mistake. At the same time, Xu Xun hinted that the emperor should pay attention to the situation here, Xu Guangzuo became more and more impartial, fair and fair, and even the subordinates of Xing'an Bofu who were originally a little frightened were convinced.

was busy until the evening, and Xu Xun helped Xu Liang out of Xing'anbo Mansion. Seeing that Xu Yi glanced at himself fiercely before he got into the car angrily, he only smiled, and after pushing Xu Liang into the carriage, he smiled and invited Wang Shikun to get into the car together, and only after Jin Liuyi threw the whip and set off, he said: "Brother Wang, this time it's thanks to you!" ”

"What's a lot of thanks, don't look at Xu Guangzuo is a generation shorter than me according to his seniority, that's a real human spirit. If you hadn't gotten the fourth child to the Guozijian, if it hadn't been for you and I to get such a pair of jade pendants from the prince's hands, he would have come forward, it would be hell! In front of Xu Xun's father and son, Wang Shikun straightforwardly spent the money, and then gave a thumbs up and shook it, "I can be regarded as serving you, and I actually brought out the article with the same surname and asked Xu Guangzuo to help with the funeral!" But I really don't understand, you don't need such a good excuse in the mourning hall today! ”

"That would be inferior. Do you think that if this scene doesn't go to the government today, no one will spread it? Xu Xun glanced at Xu Liang, who was full of tiredness, and hurriedly took out the teapot that had been warm from the purse on the side, poured a cup of water and handed it to his father, then looked at Wang Shikun and said, "This time is also a great opportunity for Ding Changsun, let the court see his ability, he will not be an idle prince in the future." By the way, can you ask Xu Xu of the Guozijian to mention the identity of the crown prince? ”

"I didn't bother to pay attention to him, but he asked someone to bring a long letter to apologize. I thought I was afraid that he would have a grudge, so I went to see him in person, also to shock him and save him from being dishonest. But I don't have much hope for this guy, my eldest sister is already very good to him, and he still says that kind of thing. By the way, why are you asking this? ”

"It's nothing, Master Zhang asked me to bring a letter to the North Supervisor Xie Sacrificial Wine, but I haven't had time to send it over. I have filial piety, and I plan to read a book at home behind closed doors, and if your nephew really has a long surname, you can ask him to do it for you. But to hear you say that, it's better for you to go for it yourself. Although you don't study liberal arts, you can deal with that top Confucian, it's also an experience, isn't it? ”

Facing Xu Xun with a cunning face, Wang Shikun suddenly rolled his eyes angrily. This kid is younger than him, and he is actually old-fashioned and old-fashioned, what kind of experience did he say?

(To be continued)