"Your Majesty, recently sacrificed in Chengtian, Ming Ruizong will be gratified, and Ming Ruizong has entered the Taimiao, this is Xianling Xiangrui, it is better to take this opportunity to make the ministers congratulate, I don't know what Your Majesty wants?" Yan Song knelt on the ground and said to Zhu Houxi. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

said that at this time, Zhu Houyu had arrived in Chengtian and had just finished worshipping the tomb, but he always thought that there was something missing, and at this time, Yan Song came to Zhu Houxi's side.

"Well, I know..."Zhu Houxi put his hands behind his back, his fingers kept shaking up and down, "Yan Aiqing, I remember that this is the second time you have made this suggestion to me, right?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, this is indeed the second time that the minister has played..."Yan Song's attitude was very humble.

"The last time you played, I didn't agree, do you know why?" Zhu Houxi turned around and looked at Yan Song with a calm face.

"Forgive the ministers for being stupid, the ministers don't know..."Although Yan Song knew that Zhu Houxi was afraid of the attitude of the ministers, this kind of thing naturally could not be said in the open. If you make up two sentences casually, and you seem to be really stupid, you can't even guess the emperor's intentions, Zhu Houyu is a smart person, and he likes smart people, Yan Song knows this, so he simply said that he didn't know, so Zhu Houyi couldn't be sure whether he really didn't know or fake Don't know, maybe he can also experience his "painstaking heart" to protect his face, because the emperor has scruples about the power of the minister, although this is a fact, but it is not good to say it.

"Actually, I don't understand why this trip to the sky... The mood of the ministers is not high..."The tone in Zhu Houxi's words was not simply a question, but with some complaints, "I heard... Several ministers still complain in private..."

"This... This minister has never heard of it..."There are many people in the palace, Yan Song naturally does not dare to talk nonsense. If you say a few names here, it won't be long before you will be scolded to death by a group of people behind your back, the last time Yan Song played in support of Zhu Houxi, Yan Song had already made people scold, and he didn't want to make any more waves.

"Your Majesty, scholar Xia Yan asks to see..."

"Let him in..."

Seeing Yan Song kneeling inside, Xia Yan couldn't help frowning slightly, "Your Majesty..."

"Xia Aiqing came just in time..."Zhu Houyu said with a smile, "Yan Aiqing is on the road excerpt, you see how it is..."

Xia Yan lowered his head and glanced at Yan Song quickly, and then respectfully took the fold with both hands and looked at it.

"Your Majesty, this must not be done!" Xia Yan raised his head, looked at Zhu Houxi and said firmly.

"Why not?" Zhu Houxi raised his head slightly and looked at Xia Yan expressionlessly.

"This trip to Chengtian has taken a lot of time and delayed... It's not short, if you let the ministers congratulate you again, I don't know how much time it will take, so the ministers think that Your Majesty should rush back to Beijing immediately, and there are still many political affairs waiting for you to go back to adjudicate... And..."The more Xia Yan saw that the more he spoke, the more unhappy Zhu Houxi's facial expression became, and his tone weakened.

"And what, get the word done!" Zhu Houxi stared at Xia Yan, his tone a little indignant.

"And... Moreover, Lord Li Shi Li died two days ago, and now he has ordered the ministers to congratulate him, I'm afraid it's not good..."Xia Yan lowered his head, and his tone of reply was a little weak. Originally, he wanted to say that the ministers came all the way to Xianling to worship Ming Ruizong, but it was inconsistent with the etiquette system, and it was absolutely impossible for the ministers to congratulate him, but now seeing Zhu Houxi like this, Xia Yan still swallowed these words into his stomach, and changed his rhetoric in a hurry.

"It's... Hmm..."Zhu Houxi shook his hand, "Then listen to your meaning, don't let the ministers go to the table..."

Originally, Zhu Houyu wanted to reason with Xia Yan and reprimand him a few words by the way, but Xia Yan made up this reason in a hurry, but Zhu Houxi was really speechless. Li Shi was originally an important minister of the court, and when he was about to travel, because he was not in good health, he left him to assist the prince in supervising the country, but he didn't expect Li Shi to die at this moment. To say that he is outside now, and he has not even sent out the holy decree to comfort Li Shiji's family, if he asks the ministers to report the sacrifice of He Xianling now, it will indeed have a bad impact. But Zhu Houxi, a dutiful son, tossed for so long, and finally got what he wanted, but he couldn't go smoothly with the last step of congratulating him on the table, and he really couldn't swallow this breath, but if he wanted to blame, he could only blame Li Shi for dying at an inopportune time.

"Your Majesty Shengming..."Xia Yan saw what Zhu Houxi meant, and his words were a little trembling.

"Stand down... I want to take a break..."Zhu Houxi turned around, "Yan Aiqing, you can also step down..."

Xia Yan and Yan Song heard Zhu Houxi's order, and glanced at each other, only to see Xia Yan's eyes sharp, eager to shoot Yan Song through at once, so frightened that Yan Song hurriedly lowered his head.

"The minister retreats..."The two of them shouted in unison, but Xia Yan's gaze was still on Yan Song, but Yan Song's gaze could only fall straight to the ground.

Out of the palace, Yan Song deliberately slowed down and hesitated at the door for a while. Xia Yan turned his head and saw that Yan Song had deliberately separated the distance, and even his gaze was a little evasive, so he couldn't help but sneer and glanced at him contemptuously.

"What's wrong with Lord Xia, why is your face a little displeased?" Peng Yue bumped into Xia Yan who was hurrying towards him, and couldn't help asking.

"It's nothing..."Xia Yan was so angry that he didn't want to talk more at this time, "What are you doing here?" ”

"Oh... Li Shi Li... An excerpt written to His Majesty before he died, Lord Li is not... I just sent it here, so I sent it right away..."

"You don't have to go..."Xia Yan waved his hand, and then sighed, "You go over and send it now, it will only... Anger the Emperor..."

"Huh? Why is that? Peng Yue looked puzzled.

Xia Yan gestured to Peng Yue with his eyes, then took a few steps forward to see that there was no one around, and then told Peng Yue about the matter.

"You also know that this time when I came to Xianling to worship, the ministers complained a lot, thinking that it was inconsistent with the etiquette system, so there was no need to go to such great lengths, and then let the ministers congratulate them, and the ministers would be even more awkward..."Xia Yan said, and sighed.

"It turns out that this is the case..."Peng Yue smiled awkwardly, "When I went to meet the emperor a few days ago, I happened to meet Yan Song who was also doing something, and Yan Song was talking about this matter at that time..."

"What? It turns out that Yan Song is not the first time to mention this matter to the emperor? Xia Yan thought of this, and his anger became heavier and heavier; Even his voice trembled a little.

"Lord Xia, I told you a long time ago that Yan Song is a traitor, but now you believe it?" There was also some helplessness in Peng Yue's tone.

Xia Yan glanced at Peng Yue, "What's the use of you saying these things at this time?" ”

"I forgave Yan Song last time, thinking he was forced to do so, but I didn't expect it... Alas... It seems that this person is hopeless..."Xia Yan mentioned Yan Song's name at this time, and he felt a burst of anger echoing in his chest.

"The last time the ministers scolded him, he kept coming to visit my house, at first I refused to meet, he always ran to my house, ran more times, I was a little unbearable, so... When he met him, he cried bitterly, saying that he was forced by the situation, if he didn't do that, he would definitely be deposed by the emperor, and his ambitions for many years would not be realized..."Xia Yan said this, his brows kept twisting, "It's all my fault, I shouldn't have been soft-hearted for a while, but I forgave him, it seems... It was me who was completely wrong..."

"But now that I'm talking about all this... It's really late..."Peng Yue sighed helplessly, and there was no way to clearly express his guilt for Xia Yan.

Xia Yan sighed, and he was embarrassed to say anything more, suddenly, he raised his head, as if he suddenly thought of something: "Zirui, a few days ago, the emperor asked Guo Xun to serve in the Ministry of War, why are you so fiercely opposed?" ”

"Naturally, I don't want Guo Xun, a villain, to take advantage of this opportunity to gain power, even if the forbidden army is in charge of him, if he uses this opportunity to extend his influence to civilian officials, then it will..."

"But you completely offended Guo Xun this time..."Xia Yan sighed faintly, "But fortunately, there are still many people who oppose it, and in the end, the emperor still did not grant him this position." ”

"Actually, I didn't think about it that much at the time, I just felt that this matter was absolutely inappropriate, and I didn't expect that there would be so many people against it in advance, it seems that Guo Xun... Haha...", in fact, the reason why Peng Yue opposed it so fiercely was because he was worried that if Guo Xun was in charge of both the forbidden army and the military department, then the power of the ordnance institute would fall into Guo Xun's hands, but there was no need to tell Xia Yan about this selfishness.

"And... Lord Xia, do you believe now... I'm not Guo Xun's person, am I? Peng Yue suddenly changed his tone, looked at Xia Yan and asked with a smile.

"Zirui, where are these words..."Xia Yan also blushed when he heard this.

Seeing Xia Yan's state, Peng Yue didn't want to dwell on this matter anymore, so he opened the topic again, "I'm just worried that Yan Song has gained power now, and now that the emperor favors him, he also has his own power in the court, and if you want to get rid of him at this time, I'm afraid it will be difficult..."

In fact, Peng Yue also knew that once Yan Song gained power, there would be some "treacherous people" who ran to Yan Song to serve Yan Song, but Peng Yue didn't expect that Yan Song was not too favored at this time, so some people ran to Yan Song to "sell their lives", which was really a good political bargaining chip. Among them was Zhao Wenhua, who derogated Ziling at the last wedding banquet, he knew that he was squeezed by Xia Yan and Peng Yue in the court, so he couldn't wait to run to Yan Song's camp, swore to serve, and recognized Yan Song as his godfather, which was also despised by people for a while.

"It's not necessarily that there is no way to do it..."Xia Yan breathed a long sigh of relief, "After all, he Yan Song hasn't entered the cabinet yet, but... It's just a book of rites..."

"Lord Xia, the account can't be calculated like that..."Peng Yue smiled bitterly, "The position of the secretary of the Ministry of Rites has always been a shortcut to promotion to the cabinet, Zhang Fujing did before was the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and so did Lord Li Shili, before you... It's also..."Peng Yue said this, and his tone was also weakened.

This is secondary, mainly because of the last "Zongyuan Temple", which made the emperor's good impression of Yan Song greatly increased, and this time... I don't say it, you also know that the emperor's heart must want the ministers to congratulate him, and in the end, although the emperor said that he would do it, he must be unhappy in his heart, so Yan Song is there for the emperor... Naturally, praise is indispensable..."Peng Yue observed Xia Yan's expression, knowing that he must be angry and regretful in his heart, but there was nothing he could do, "And I heard that Yan Song has been practicing writing green words these days, and he has been running to the emperor several times a day, all to pay tribute to the emperor, although ... It's not well written, but that heart... I guess the emperor will receive it too..."

"Okay, don't say it..."Xia Yan waved his hand heavily, "I know what you said, think about how to deal with it, don't always be here... Grow the morale of others, and destroy your own prestige..."

"Uh... Yes... I want to figure it out! Peng Yue's face was happy, not because of what Xia Yan said, but because of Xia Yan's attitude towards him.

In fact, before this, although the relationship between himself and Xia Yan has eased, it has not returned to the same as before, and there is still an indescribable estrangement between himself and Xia Yan. But just now, the two talked about Yan Song's rights and wrongs, and discussed the countermeasures, and suddenly they had a bit of a taste of the same hatred and hatred, and they had the feeling when the two of them dealt with Zhang Xuan together and sought promotion, especially the sentence "Grow the ambition of others and destroy their own prestige" tightly "tied" the two in the same camp.

"Actually, I also know that when I go to this position, I will definitely be coveted, but I didn't expect that this person who wants to step on my shoulders and climb up is Yan Song, which really makes me unable to swallow this breath, and I cultivate him so much on weekdays!" When Xia Yan said this, he couldn't help it, and even his breath became heavy.

"Yes, most of them are like this, and they can't say anything..."Peng Yue saw that Xia Yan's face was a little wrong, and hurriedly said, "But Yan Song is indeed ungrateful." ”

When Peng Yue thought of this, he suddenly felt a little unreasonable. In fact, Yan Song's approach at this time is really not the act of a traitor, it is just an ordinary government tilt, everyone who wants to seek a position of power has to step on the shoulders of others to rise. Just like what he and Xia Yan did to Zhang Xuan at that time, they didn't necessarily get on the stage, and they also made a lot of bad tricks behind it, in fact, at that time, the roles played by himself and Xia Yan were also somewhat similar to today's Yan Song. It's just that many of Zhang Zhang's practices were indeed hated by many ministers at that time, and Yan Song promoted Xia Yan at this time, which was indeed ungrateful.

"Lord Xia, why don't you go to the emperor now, and ask the emperor to let the ministers congratulate you, what do you think?" Peng Yue saw that Xia Yan was contemplating and contemplating, so he suggested on the side.

"It's... It's really inappropriate, I've already expressed a clear attitude on this matter, how can I change my words? Even if I can justify myself, I'm afraid that the emperor will have a problem in his heart, and he will credit this credit to him Yan Song..."Xia Yan sighed heavily, "And this kind of thing... If you can press it down, let the emperor return to Beijing as soon as possible..."

"Lord Xia, the emperor will not feel comfortable in this way, even if the emperor is allowed to return to Beijing two days early, what effect can it be?" Peng Yue couldn't help but feel a little helpless for Xia Yan's "pedantry", "Lord Xia, the top priority is to take advantage of Yan Song's current climate to suppress Yan Song's forces, besides, if you don't play, can you guarantee that Yan Song won't continue to play?" ”

"It's... What you said also makes sense..."Xia Yan's face was embarrassed, and his eyes suddenly lit up, "Zirui, why don't you play to the emperor and ask the emperor to let the ministers congratulate him, what do you think?" ”

"Me?" Peng Yue pointed his finger at himself, his face showing surprise, obviously not expecting Xia Yan to make this suggestion.

"It's not impossible...," Peng Yue thought quickly, "But Lord Xia, you... Do you really agree with me doing this? ”

"What's wrong with this..."Xia Yan smiled a little helplessly, "If you don't play, it's hard to guarantee that Yan Song won't play, no matter what, it's better than letting Yan Song snatch this..."

"Okay, then I will play to the emperor tomorrow and ask for permission to congratulate the ministers."

"It's come to this, I have no other way..."Xia Yan's somewhat heavy sigh sounded in Peng Yue's ears, "After being in the cage for a long time, I can return to nature, but the scenery outside this palace... It's not necessarily that good..."

Notes: 1. Chengtian: Located in present-day Hubei Province, Xianling is here (so Zhu Houxi's trip is indeed a bit far).

2. When Zhu Houxi was the king of the domain, his fief was in Anluzhou, Hubei (changed to Chengtianfu in the tenth year of Jiajing), so his father was buried here when he died.