Yun Guo'er exclaimed, and pounced in front of Li Wei to snatch the note from his hand, but when she took it, the wine had already been drunk by Li Wei. Li Wei wiped away the little wine that Shi Cai had spilled on his face, let out a long breath, looking relieved, and then stood blankly, his eyes aimlessly cast into the depths of the sky and clouds, and no matter how much the people next to him called, there was no response.

Yun Guoer knelt down beside him like a prostration, Jiaqingzi hurriedly stepped forward to help her, she hugged Jiaqingzi with both hands and cried loudly, Jiaqingzi comforted her, but she couldn't help crying, and the rest of the slaves and maids also knelt down when they saw it, hiding their faces and crying.

Cui Bai followed me over to support Li Wei and called him with concern, but when he didn't answer, the corners of his eyes couldn't help but moisten, and his face showed a worried look.

Mrs. Yang was ill, she was probably resting in her room, when the crying in the garden shook the sky, alarmed her, she staggered out with a cane, grabbed a maid and asked, knowing that Li Wei drank the imperial wine brought by Wang Wuzi, and immediately understood the reason, and suddenly burst into tears, first hugged Li Wei and called a few times "My son", and then became furious, and went to beat Wang Wuzi with a cane, crying: "You killed my son, the old lady fought with you!" ”

The little yellow men hurriedly grabbed her, she struggled, crying and scolding, Wang Wuzi took two steps back, and stabilized the crooked head that had just been dodged when she was hit by the cane, and then sneered.

"What are you crying about!" He looked around at the crowd and shouted, "This wine is not poisonous!" ”

The listener was stunned, and the crying stopped. Wang Wuzi continued: "What Du Wei drank was a fine wine brewed by the queen herself, called 'Yingyu', how could there have been a little poison! Then, he slowly paced in front of Li Wei and said with a smile: "Captain, does this wine taste good?" The queen's wine is easily not given to others, and even the official family may not give it to her. ”

Li Wei looked at him in a daze, took two or three deep breaths, probably didn't notice anything abnormal in his body, so he turned his head to Mrs. Yang and Yun Guo'er and said, "I'm fine." ”

Mrs. Yang pulled him to look left and right to make sure that there was nothing wrong with him, and then she put her heart at ease, put her hands together, and thanked God. Yun Guo'er also burst into tears and laughed, dragging Jiaqingzi's hand and retreating behind Li Wei. Cui Bai looked at Li Wei and smiled with relief.

Li Wei came back to his senses and immediately scolded Wang Wuzi, saying that Shicai's mother had offended him and asked him to forgive. And Wang Wuzi smiled noncommittally, ignored it, and turned to call me: "Huaiji, let's go." ”

On the way back to the palace, he severely rebuked me for my reckless behavior and asked me why I suspected that the wine was poisonous. Naturally, I will not confess to Deng Duzhi, but I only said that I overheard a sentence or two when he was discussing with the two ladies in the cabinet. He sighed, "I will not hide it from you, since you have heard." Originally, Miao Niangzi really wanted to ask the official family to give the horse and the horse wine, but the official family was difficult to decide, so she went to discuss with the queen. When the queen heard this, she said: 'Your Majesty was thinking of Empress Dowager Zhang Yi's grace back then, and felt that there was no way to repay it, so he thought of honoring his uncle's family and letting Princess Li Weishang, but now why does he have such thoughts? If Li Wei is killed, how will he face the spirit of the Empress Dowager Zhang Yi in the sky in the future? Ren Shouzhong, who was by the emperor's side at the time, also interjected and said: "The queen's words are indeed reasonable. What's more, if the horse dies of a violent illness, I am afraid that everyone in the world will be suspicious, and the officials will make more trouble. When the official family heard this, they gave up the idea of giving the princess wine, and the queen immediately ordered someone to bring the Yingyu wine, and asked me to bring it to the horse, and to comfort him, and let him wait patiently for the princess to return. I brought the wine and was talking to the pony when you came in a panic......"

After returning to the palace, Wang Wuzi and I told the emperor and Concubine Miao Xian about the incident, and I also showed them the painting that Li Wei asked me to transfer to the princess, and now I was very emotional, my face was ashamed, the queen was silent, and the resentful expression when Concubine Miao Xian mentioned Li Wei also subsided a lot, staring at Li Wei's painting, just shaking her head and sighing: "Alas, unjust, really unjust......

The princess was still in poor condition, and had very little time to be sober, and I did not dare to show her the painting at once, for fear that she would react violently, so I put it away for the time being, and gave it to her at the right time.

I thought I would be punished for making a decision to go to the Horse Park to report the matter, but the result was very different from what I thought.

The next day, both Deng Baoji and Ren Shouzhong came to me to report the good news, saying that they had just been announced that they had entered the inner chamber and told them that they had been dismissed from the post of Wang Wuzi as the princess's house, and that I would be asked to return to the princess's house with the princess, and still be a minister, and ordered them to arrange all relevant affairs.

According to the custom, I should enter the Funing Hall to thank you, but after I entered, I asked Jinshang to resign, saying that I was a criminal who had been degraded, and I should not hold this important position again, and let Mr. Wang stay. Now he shook his head and said: "Wang Wuzi acted ruthlessly, unscrupulously, and almost trapped me in injustice, let him stay in the princess's mansion, he will inevitably continue to sow discord and cause more incidents." And although you have made mistakes before, but fortunately, you have always retained a pure conscience, and in this situation, you still know that you will cherish the life of the concubine, so I am willing to believe you, and I believe that you will respect the concubine while protecting the princess in the future, and persuade both sides to make the couple reconcile......" After a pause, he asked me in an accentuated tone, "You will live up to my instructions, will you?" ”

I was silent for a long time before I bowed my head and bowed: "The order of the minister ......"

Before Shane's words could be uttered, there was a slight commotion outside the hall, as if someone was arguing about something. I and Jinshang both raised their eyes and looked outside the hall, and saw an inner servant hurrying over, and said to Jinshang: "Sima Guang of the Tongzhi Yuan is asking the official family to give him the right outside." ”

Jinshang frowned and was displeased: "Tell him that the early dynasty has ended, and the officials are not allowed to enter the right place from time to time, and there is something to discuss in the palace tomorrow." ”

The chamberlain said: "The minister has already said, but he refuses to leave, insisting that this matter cannot be delayed, and he must speak to the king today." ”

Imagami asked, "What will he discuss?" ”

The chamberlain peeked at me and said softly, "He said that it was the official family who asked Mr. Liang to go back to the Yanguo Princess's mansion and still did it." ”

Before the inner servant finished speaking, he heard Sima Guang say loudly outside the hall: "Minister Sima Guang has something important to face the king, and I beg His Majesty the Emperor to give it right!" After a while, he didn't see a reply, and he repeated it again, repeating it over and over again.

Now I stroked my forehead, and I seemed to have a headache. Sima Guang continued to ask non-stop, one voice higher than the other. Finally, he pointed to one side of the curtain and motioned for me to retreat behind me, and then said to the chamberlain, "Announce him in." ”

Sima Guangkuo walked inside, behaved like a ritual, and then mentioned my matter straight to the point: "The minister once said that Liang Huaiji, the former minister of the princess's mansion in charge of Gouyanguo, was too evil and begged to be returned, but he was not accepted by His Majesty. I don't want today's ministers to hear that His Majesty has announced that he has entered the inner and inner provinces and is known to the guard, so that Liang Huaiji will go to the princess's mansion and still do it. When the news came out, the foreign discussions were noisy, and everyone was shocked. ”

Imakami smiled bitterly: "You seem to have good ears, and you are very well-informed." ”

Sima Guang bowed and said: "It is the duty of the ministers to care about the affairs of His Majesty's family and country, and the ministers dare not slack off." ”

Holding high the court, he began to persuade the emperor by quoting scriptures: "The minister heard that when Emperor Taizong, it was Yao Tan who was the best person in the Yan Palace, but if King Yan made a mistake, Yao Tan would give advice and ask King Yan to correct it." King Yan and his attendants were therefore very jealous of him. Later, those attendants instigated the king to lie about his illness and not to see his father. Taizong was very worried, so he summoned King Yan's nurse into the palace and asked King Yan about his living conditions. The nurse said, 'The king was not sick, but Yao Tan was too strict in his control, and the king could not act freely, so he became depressed and sick. When Taizong heard this, he was furious and said, "I chose Duanshi as a subordinate of King Yan to teach him to be good." Now that he is unable to accept the rules, and he wants to drive out the righteous and righteous in order to make himself comfortable, how can I condone him! King Yan is young and can't think of such a trick, you must have taught him. So Taizong ordered someone to drag Yanwang's nurse to the back garden and beat dozens of canes, and summoned Yao Tan to comfort him. When Taizong did this, didn't he love his son? It is precisely because of the love for his son that he should treat him harshly and accept him with kindness. If you indulge in what you want and can't bear to condemn him, it is tantamount to harming him. Now that the princess of Yanguo is separated by the ministers and is not in harmony with the concubine, His Majesty should follow Taizong's example, discipline the princess, and severely punish the guilty ministers, so that the princess can repent and harmonize her family. ”

Jin Shang said: "King Yan is the son of Taizong, if he misbehaves, it may hinder the country's social affairs, so he should naturally be strictly disciplined. And although the princess is my beloved daughter, she is just a woman, even if she is at fault, it is just the heart of the younger daughter, it is not a big deal, I will admonish it in private. It would be inappropriate to compare the prince's affairs with each other. ”

"Both princes and princesses are the sons of the Son of Heaven, and their every move is the attention of the world, and their actions will be written into the history of the country in the future for future generations to see!" Sima Guang retorted, and soon, he remembered another example, "The eldest princess of Qi is the daughter of Emperor Taizong, the sister of Emperor Zhenzong, and the aunt of His Majesty. However, Princess Xianmu is benevolent, filial and humble, just like the Han clan, and the Li clan is also prepared with women's morals, loves her husband, and has no jealousy. Today, when people mention women and virtues, they are all headed by Princess Xianmu. Princess Xianmu will not be unaware of the nobility of her body, but she is expensive but not arrogant, so she can protect her blessings, and her virtuous name can be passed down through the ages. The ministers thought that His Majesty taught the princess that it was appropriate to take Emperor Taizong as the law; The princess is courteous, and it is advisable to dedicate Princess Mu as the law. In this way, Your Majesty's good family style will surely flow in all directions, and the reputation of Your Majesty and the princess will also be passed on to future generations. Now His Majesty bends the princess's intentions and does not restrain her by etiquette, so that she is fearless, willful, and even threatens her father with her life at every turn, and hates her husband and does not adhere to women's ways. If Your Majesty blindly indulges, how can you promote the style of benevolence, filial piety, propriety and righteousness in the country and set an example for future generations? ”

After he said these words impassionedly, Jinshang was still silent, so Sima Guang took a few steps forward, bowed down near Jinshang, and solemnly put forward his request: "The monarch is different from ordinary people, and his actions will be a model for the world, so the family is still strict, and he cannot be used for special grace." His Majesty reprimanded Liang Huaiji and asked him to return to his former degraded place. If the people around the princess want to get His Majesty to recall Liang Huaiji, it is to teach the princess that she is not good, and she should also punish all the sins and banish them all, and choose the gentle and cautious ones to make up for their shortcomings. ”

Today, he still responds with the usual procrastination cliché: "I already understand what Qing means, and I will think twice about what I say." Please go back first, and we'll discuss it tomorrow in the palace. ”

Sima Guang did not let go, Bing Wat said goodbye, and he must make a decision immediately: "Your Majesty, the minister heard that it is today's matter to reappoint Liang Huaiji as the princess's mansion as a minister." If Your Majesty is loyal to the ministers, he should take advantage of the fact that the imperial decree has not yet been issued, recall the governor of the province and the governor of the inner and inner provinces, and withdraw the appointment edict, otherwise once the decree is promulgated, it will inevitably provoke more discussion inside and outside the court, and then there will inevitably be another court dispute in the court. ”

Now he was not stunned, and his tone was a little angry: "Isn't it a big fuss to go to the palace for this little matter in my family?" ”

Sima Guang said loudly: "There is no trivial matter in the family of the Son of Heaven, and family affairs are state affairs. If Your Majesty can't rule the country, how will he rule the country and level the world? ”

Sima Guang slowed down his tone and continued to persuade: "Your Majesty should make a decision, if you go to the palace tomorrow to discuss this matter, in front of the public, it will not be good for the speaker to talk about the princess's fine behavior." ”

This is indeed a situation that will make people hesitate to do so. He thought about this for a long time, and finally reluctantly compromised with Sima Guang, and called the chamberlain to summon the governor of Hou Province and the escort class, announcing that the matter of reinstating me as a minister in the princess mansion of Yanguo still needs to be considered, and he will be taken down for the time being.

When Sima Guang heard this, he immediately bowed down, saying that "Your Majesty is wise", and then said the last admonition of the day: "I also hope that Your Majesty will prescribe the princess, the public instrument of the world, the princess has repeatedly violated the edict and disobeyed the rules, although she is the son of the Son of Heaven, Your Majesty cannot be partial." Your Majesty should strictly admonish him and make him follow the good path. In this way, the princess will always be blessed and will not lose her good name. Otherwise, people's words are terrible, the dignity of the country, and the reputation of the princess will be ruined. ”