The fireworks in the Great Zhou Palace on this night not only illuminated the entire palace, but also illuminated half of Pingjing.

From the rich and noble man in the wide coat and big sleeves on Chaotian Street, to the barefoot old woman in the slums, everyone raised their eyes in the direction of the palace when the fireworks went off.

The fireworks bloomed in the blue velvet-like sky, and also bloomed in the eyes of everyone who stopped to watch.

Tonight, however, there are some people who are destined to have no intention of raising their heads.

Not far from the palace, about a mile by foot, Prince Gong's palace is lit up all night.

King Gong, who had just passed the year of his establishment, paced back and forth in the hall, and the rings around his waist clanged, and he didn't even notice it.

The young Princess Gong Zhen was doing embroidery work on the side, and from time to time the candle flame flickered, and she picked the wick with a needle.

"Lord Wang, sit down for a while." Zhen said in a low voice.

King Gong glanced at Zhen, "When is this, are you still in the mood to be a female celebrity!" ”

Zhen smiled indifferently, "No matter what time it is, the concubines have to hurry to embroider this longevity robe, so that when you see the Anhu Flower Viewing Party at the end of the month, the prince can dedicate it to his father." ”

King Gong let out a long breath and finally sat down beside Zhen.

Zhen said calmly, "Not to mention that Sun Ge is already sixty or seventy years old, tomorrow morning will be early, even if it is the other two adults, they will definitely rest at this time." They received the urgent letter from the prince, even if they rushed over immediately, we would have to wait for a while. ”

"But it's been half an hour!" King Gong looked at the deep night sky, "A few masters won't come again-"

"Lord Wang," a eunuch hurriedly ran in, "Old Sun Ge, they are here." ”

A glimmer of light flashed in King Gong's eyes, "Spread quickly!" ”

Zhen smiled, then got up and gave a gentle blessing to King Gong, and turned around and went to the inner room with the needle and thread and clothes in his hand.

……

The time has come to the time of approaching, but the living room of Prince Gong's Mansion is full of friends at this moment-Sun Beiji, the second assistant of the cabinet and the secretary of the household department, Zhang Shouzhong, the secretary of the military department, and Hu Yishu, the servant of the household department......

There are only seven people in the cabinet of the Great Zhou, and tonight King Gong summoned nearly half of the cabinet members to the mansion with an urgent letter.

And it was still in the middle of the night.

The three of them did not dare to delay, and as soon as they received the letter, they immediately changed their clothes and went out.

The night breeze blew on the road, and the sleepiness of several people was mostly reduced, but their eyes were still a little red—obviously, as Princess Zhen said, they were indeed pulled up from the bed by the servants in their sleep.

"Master Sun, Master Zhang, Master Hu." King Gong didn't care about any polite and caring words, and stretched out his hand to push a letter in front of the three of them, "Let's take a look at this letter first." ”

Several people's eyes became solemn, Sun Beiji took the letter handed by King Gong with both hands, and Zhang and Hu also approached to take a closer look.

It doesn't matter if you don't read it, after reading the full text, the faces of the three of them changed slightly.

"If it weren't for the change in the war in the north, this king would never have disturbed the rest of several masters at this time." King Gong's voice was filled with suppressed eagerness, "The war is far from over, just last month, the Jin people organized five onslaughts in succession, plundering my border villages and towns without counting......"

"That's to be expected." Zhang Shouzhong, the secretary of the Ministry of War, opened his mouth with a calm face, "I mentioned to the prince, the elder Ge, and Lord Hu last month that the military spending in the north has increased unabated in the past two years, and this is by no means a sign of the end of the war. ”

Hu Yishu coughed lightly, "But if the front is tight, how can General Shen return to Beijing at such a time?" ”

The four fell silent for a moment.

Zhang Shouzhong suddenly looked at King Gong, "It's been more than half a month since General Shen returned to Beijing, has he come to visit the prince?" ”

"Nope." King Gong shook his head a little distractedly, "But this king has also inquired, and he hasn't seen anyone since he came back, and even all the invitations that came to the door have been politely declined...... Except for the few times he was called into the palace, he had never left the general's mansion at all. ”

Zhang Shouzhong frowned, "Then you didn't send someone to send a message to the prince?" ”

King Gong shook his head again, "No...... There was no news at all. ”

"That's weird." Zhang Shouzhong looked at the other two, "This is not General Shen's usual style of acting. ”

King Gong sat on the chair, holding the handle with one hand and his knee with the other, and said with a sad face, "...... One more thing. ”

All three of them looked at the prince.

"At the garden party in the palace tonight, Concubine Qu appeared." He said word by word, "My father took her for a whole night." ”

The topic suddenly turned to the harem, and the three of them were silent for a moment.

Hu Yishu shook his head at first, and said coldly, "When the saint beat people, he said that the concubine was terminally ill, and she didn't fall when she enjoyed the flowers, and she didn't know——"

Sun Beiji, who hadn't spoken much, suddenly interrupted, "A book." ”

"Elder Ge is right, I should be cautious." Hu Yishu's eyes were slightly sharp, "But the concubine is doing this, isn't it too ugly to eat?" Does Sun Ge know what happened on Chaotian Street a few days ago? ”

Sun Beiji's gaze was a little dull, "What's wrong with Chaotian Street." ”

"Xiaoge's old carriage rampaged on Chaotian Street, directly overturning the shops of several ordinary people, and afterwards Jinyiwei also picked quarrels and provoked trouble, and found trouble for a few honest people." Hu Yishu said coldly, "If it weren't for the noble concubine giving birth to the prince, he would be able to be arrogant like this within a year?" ”

"There are some things that we shouldn't say." Sun Beiji still said indifferently.

"But today, the prince called us over, obviously not just to talk about military affairs." Hu Yishu looked at King Gong, "There are some things that I know the prince is inconvenient to say, so I'll talk about it." ”

King Gong just looked at him with a slight hesitation and did not stop him.

Hu Yishu stood up and walked among several people, among whom he was the youngest, about the same age as King Gong, and King Gong often felt that Sun Ge was unfathomable, and Zhang Shouzhong whipped into it, but he was far away from himself; And although Hu Yishu is a little anxious, he is indeed the person who understands his mind best.

"The world has suffered for a long time, and the Song family has been father and son for a long time!" Hu Yishu said in a loud voice, "They have been in charge of the dynasty for 16 years, and they have put all the national funds of my Great Zhou into their mansion. These people are in cahoots, from top to bottom, they may have done things in the past, after all, the prince is the only choice of the crown prince, and they still have some scruples.

"But now that the concubine has given birth to a new heir, and the emperor has delayed the establishment of a crown prince, and he still takes care of the concubine in every way - this is obvious, do we still pretend not to know in our eyes?"

This generous statement made King Gong even hot-eyed.

When Zhang Shouzhong heard this, he couldn't sit still, but he saw that Sun Ge Lao on the side was still looking at Hu Yishu with a solemn face, and he still resisted the urge to speak.

"Sit down first." Sun Beiji still looked like a gentle swallow, "Since the words have come to this, then let's talk about the prince's worries about the crown prince." ”