Two huge events happened in the city of Tokyo, first the seriously ill Lu Gongzhu died suddenly, before the news could be fully spread, and then Sima Guang was seriously ill, and it is said that he was already unconscious, and he could die at any time, Cao Tong and Zhilugu The two miracle doctors also rushed to treat him, but it did not have much effect.

Whether it is Lu Gongshu or Sima Guang, they are both important figures in the court, and two prime ministers of the Great Song Dynasty fell ill, one of them has died, which will have an extremely serious impact on the Great Song Dynasty, especially for the Empress Dowager Gao, Lu Gongshu and Sima Guang are both important assistants after she listened to the government, and one problem is enough to affect her, not to mention that both of them have problems.

Lu Gongzhu has passed away, and it is too late to say anything, and it is really inconvenient for Empress Dowager Gao to go out of the palace as a woman, so she asked Zhao Xu to go to Lu Mansion to pay tribute on her behalf, and give Taishi and Shen Guogong, nicknamed "Zheng Xian". And Zhao Xu had just attended the funeral of Lu Gongshu, and immediately went to Sima Guang's mansion to visit.

Even the queen mother and the emperor are so concerned about Sima Guang, and the ministers below naturally can't be lazy, whether they are sincere or fake, these ministers have run to Sima Guang's mansion to visit, of course, they can't really see Sima Guang in a coma, they just need to go to the mansion to sit down and drink a cup of tea, and then ask Sima Guang's children and grandchildren about the condition.

There was no friendship between Zhao Yan and Sima Guang, and even because the other party helped Empress Dowager Gao seize power, there were still some contradictions between the two, but later Sima Guang visited his mansion several times, which eased the contradiction between the two. So on this day, he made an appointment with Su Song and Su Shi, and the three of them rushed to Sima Guang's mansion to visit.

When Zhao Yan and the three of them came to the door of Sima Mansion, they found that there were already many people waiting outside to enter the mansion, but when Zhao Yan sent his door post, there was a steward who immediately sent them into the mansion, after all, there was no need to say that with Zhao Yan's identity. Su Song is also the prime minister, as for Su Shi, although his official position is lower, he is the leader of the literary world, it can be said that no matter who comes to the three of them, they will be invited into the mansion first, not to mention that the three of them come together.

Entering the mansion, Sima Guang's son Sima Kang personally came to greet him, speaking of which Sima Guang was also an outlier among the scholars of the Great Song Dynasty, because he resolutely refused to accept concubines, and only married one wife in his life, Mrs. Zhang. Although Mrs. Zhang gave birth to two sons for Sima Guang, they were both early arrows, so Mrs. Zhang persuaded Sima Guang to take a concubine many times, but he just didn't allow it, and finally only succeeded his brother's son Sima Kang as his own son.

Although Sima Kang is his stepson, he has been taught by Sima Guang since he was a child, and his personality is extremely rigorous, and he is also extremely talented. When Sima Guang compiled the "Zizhi Tongjian", Sima Kang was one of his important assistants. Moreover, Sima Kang was also a jinshi in Xining for three years, and now he is an official scholar of the school, and is responsible for repairing the records of the Shenzong for the deceased Zhao Ji.

Sima Kang was about the same age as Zhao Yan and them, and when they saw Zhao Yan, they were immediately invited into the main hall, and then asked people to serve tea and chat, and Zhao Yan and they asked about Sima Guang's condition. Sima Kang also answered one by one. However, just when Zhao Yan thought that he and the others could go back after drinking tea, he didn't expect that a servant suddenly came in a hurry, and then said something in Sima Kang's ear, which made Sima Kang stunned, and then said to Zhao Yan: "Your Highness, please wait a moment." My father woke up! ”

"What, Sima Xianggong has woken up?" Zhao Yan and the others also involuntarily stood up when they heard Sima Kang's words and said, Sima Guang fell into a coma before, and everyone was worried that he would not wake up again, but this time he woke up when they visited, so does it mean that Sima Guang's body is fine?

"I don't know what's going on, my father suddenly woke up now, and I'm going to retire first!" Sima Kang was a very filial person, and immediately apologized to Zhao Yan and the others again, and then turned around and followed the servant back to the inner house. Zhao Yan and the three of them were also inconvenient to follow, so they could only wait patiently in the living room.

However, Sima Kang went for a while, but saw him running back in a hurry, and when he saw Zhao Yan, he hurriedly said: "Your Highness, my father said that he wanted to see you alone!" ”

"See me?" Zhao Yan couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this, it is said that he and Sima Guang do not have too deep friendship, at least Su Shi and Sima Guang's friendship is much deeper than him, but the other party wants to see him, and also indicates that he wants to see him alone, which makes Zhao Yan really a little confused.

However, as the so-called guest is as he pleases, not to mention that Sima Guang is still seriously ill, so Zhao Yan can't refuse, so he has to say goodbye to Su Song and Su Shi, and then rush to Sima Guang's residence with Sima Kang, as for Su Song and Su Shi, they stay here and continue to drink tea.

Sima Guang is the prime minister, and his mansion is rewarded by the imperial court, so the area is not small, but Zhao Yan found that the entire mansion is very simple and does not have too much decoration, especially in the inner house, and when he came to Sima Guang's bedroom, he found that it was even more simple, which also made Zhao Yan think of the historical record that Sima Guang was extremely frugal, spent all his money on repairing books, and even had to be buried in the ground when his wife died.

Sima Guang on the hospital bed had woken up, but his expression was very depressed, Sima Kang immediately supported his father after he came in, and Zhao Yan also took a few steps forward and said: "How does Sima Xianggong feel, do you want to notify the two divine doctors to treat you?" ”

"Yes...... His Royal Highness Lao bothered, the old man just woke up and heard His Royal Highness come to visit the house, and it just so happened that the old man also had something to say to His Highness, I wonder if His Highness would like to hear it? Sima Guang said weakly at this time, the expression on his face was gloomy, and he was also very painful when he spoke, as if he would leave at any time.

"Sima Xianggong, I see that your body has not recovered yet, why don't you recuperate with peace of mind, and then talk to this king in detail when you are well?" Zhao Yan frowned at this time and said, firstly, he was worried about Sima Guang's body, and secondly, he vaguely guessed what he was going to say.

"Hehe, my body knows that the old decay is terminally ill, and it can be saved by the power of the medicine stone, but the old decay has something to say before he dies!" When Sima Guang said the end, his gray face also showed a bit of a strange look.

"Father~" Hearing Sima Guang's words, Sima Kang, who was supporting him, shouted sadly, but at this time, Sima Guang chuckled at him and said, "You wait outside the door first, I have some words with Your Highness that are inconvenient for you to hear." ”

Although Sima Kang was very worried about his father's health, he was a filial son and had never disobeyed his father's words, so he didn't dare to say anything when he heard his father's orders, so he had to leave the room in tears, leaving only Zhao Yan and Sima Guang in the room.

I saw Sima Guang motioning for Zhao Yan to sit down on the chair in front of the bed, and then he said weakly: "The old man has something I want to ask His Highness!" ”

"Sima Xianggong, please speak!" Zhao Yan said helplessly again at this time, from Sima Guang's expression, he had already guessed what the other party was going to ask.

"Please...... May I ask what His Highness thinks of the Queen Mother, and what does he think of His Majesty? Sima Guang spoke again, his voice already trembling slightly, as if he was enduring great pain.

Seeing Sima Guang's expression, Zhao Yan couldn't help but sigh secretly, although he disagreed with the other party's political views, he had to admire his spirit of dedication to the Great Song Dynasty at this time. At that moment, I saw him think for a while before he spoke: "Although the queen mother's character is stronger, but she is also very politically visionary, in recent years, the Great Song Dynasty has been governed in an orderly manner, which I also admire very much, as for His Majesty, although he is young, but extremely intelligent, I am also his teacher, if he is pro-government in the future, he will become a generation of Ming Jun." ”

"His Royal Highness's evaluation is very fair, speaking of His Royal Highness, if he can be the emperor, he will definitely be able to make my Great Song Dynasty more rich and powerful, but at the beginning, His Majesty Yingzong passed the throne to His Majesty Shenzong, which also made Shenzong a lineage of the emperor's orthodoxy, and the old minister has nothing to ask for, but to ask His Highness to look at His Majesty Yingzong's face and help me to protect the orthodoxy of the Great Song Dynasty!" At this time, Sima Guang suddenly changed his words, and said to Zhao Yan with a pleading face, he knew that if Zhao Yan wanted to seize the throne, there would be no one in the court to stop him, which was also the thing he was most worried about, and he now felt that the limit was approaching, so he directly made his words clear.

Zhao Yan smiled bitterly again when he heard Sima Guang's words, he knew that the other party would say this, and even if he explained now that he had no intention of taking the throne, I am afraid he would not believe it. At that moment, I saw him lower his head and think for a moment, and then he raised his head and said to Sima Guang: "Sima Xianggong, I'm afraid you won't believe it no matter how I explain it, but I can tell you one thing!" ”

When he said this, he saw Zhao Yan hesitate for a moment before he spoke: "Actually, before the imperial brother died, he gave me two choices, one is to take over his throne, and the other is to help him elect a crown prince among the princes, and then assist him until he is in power!" ”

The above matter is only known to Zhao Yan and Cao Ying, this is also the first time that Zhao Yan took the initiative to tell outsiders about this, and when Sima Guang heard this, he was stunned for a while, and he didn't react for a long time, he didn't expect that Zhao Yan would intentionally pass the throne to Zhao Yan, but it is normal to think about it, with the feelings between Zhao Yan and Zhao Yan's brothers, coupled with Zhao Yan's own talent, and the princes were too young at that time, so it was normal for Zhao Yan to make such a decision. Even many ministers in the court at that time hoped that Zhao Yan could ascend the throne, and if Zhao Yan chose to inherit the throne, everything would be logical. (To be continued......)