Chapter 222: Mutual Benefit and Win-Win

In the prison of the Criminal Department, a carriage slowly drove in.

Although the criminal department gave him the highest level of treatment for the prince, the cell was still a cell, and he stayed in the cell all night, although he was still dressed in fine clothes, the prince had lost the rebelliousness of the past, although his clothes were wrinkled, his black hair was scattered, and his eyes were deep, but he was still as gentle and elegant as ever.

The abolition of the crown prince was not announced to the world as when the crown prince was canonized, but this matter spread all over the city in just half a day, and Shu Ruhai came with the emperor's holy decree and was going to escort Ning Cheng to the Zongren Mansion.

One night from the future king of Dahe to a prisoner, a night of sleepless has been in the dark and damp cell to experience the high and low human nature of Ning Cheng in his heart has no despair in the middle of the night last night, Shu Ruhai read out the emperor's holy decree, he heard the Zongren Mansion, and also heard the word five years, as long as he survived for five years, there is always a chance to make a comeback, no one is a sage, and the fault is not all his, as long as he walks out of the Zongren Mansion and takes power again, there is the possibility of pushing everything to start again.

What the emperor wants is a person who has the talent to govern the world, not a person who is only good at playing with power, Ning Cheng is convinced that he has been the closest person to the prince for many years, he was before, not now, but he will definitely be in the future.

The carriage slowly drove away from the Criminal Department, and Shu Ruhai and Ning Cheng sat in the empty carriage, and the atmosphere was a little solemn.

Ning Cheng is no longer the crown prince, although he is a sinner, he is still the prince after all, and Shu Ruhai, who has served the emperor for decades, respectfully calls him the eldest prince.

Five years from now, no one could have predicted what would happen five years from now! The popularity that Ning Cheng has built over the years has been ruined in this spring, but he was once the crown prince after all.

"Father-in-law, my mother is going to trouble you to take care of it more, and when I leave the Zongren Mansion in five years, I will definitely thank you!"

What Ning Cheng is most worried about now is that he is arrogant, and the mother concubine who once stepped on the top of the queen's head but has now been knocked out of the clouds, with his mother's character, with the queen's character, it is impossible for him to live in Luoxia Palace until the day he leaves the Zongren Mansion.

"The eldest prince, please rest assured, the emperor still has husband and wife affection for Chang Cairen, and he has already instructed the inner chamberlain to take good care of it."

"Father-in-law, please help me sue my father for some words!"

I thought that Ning Cheng was asking him to intercede on his behalf, but when he was about to speak, Ning Cheng smiled bitterly and opened his mouth: "Father-in-law Shu doesn't have to be nervous, the holy decree has been decreed, how can there be a reason to turn back, I still know this, please tell my father, don't be embarrassed about my business, in the days to come, take care of your body, don't work too hard!" ”

Only by taking care of his body can he be energetic and healthy, so that he will not abdicate when he is still in the Zongren Mansion, so that he will lose the opportunity to fight back.

The book is like a sea, and the black and white eyebrows are raised, he knows Ning Cheng's filial piety and benevolence, but he doesn't know that he has reached such a point that he is still thinking about the emperor, and the book Ruhai, who values everything in the emperor more than his life, has tears in his eyes, and he is moved to the point of no return.

"The emperor knows that the eldest prince is so calm, he will be able to rest assured! The eldest prince can rest assured, the old slave will definitely bring this to him! ”

"Then thank you father-in-law."

"The eldest prince is serious!" The book is like a sea and bows respectfully.

Ning Cheng sneered and said, "Father-in-law, you have been following your father for thirty years!" ”

"Thirty-one years!" Shu Ruhai knew that this was a long journey, and tried his best to cooperate with Ning Cheng so as not to make him bored.

"That father-in-law must know about An Guogong back then!" Ning Cheng glanced at his father-in-law, and saw that there was a light flashing in his half-lowered eyes, so he knew and said with a smile: "I heard that in the case of An Guogong, hundreds of people in the Anguo Mansion all died, and even the youngest son of An Guogong did not escape, the fire burned all night, affecting several houses, Yan Liu was a few months of unsuccessful, and it could only be set as an unsolved case. ”

Ning Cheng leisurely closed his eyes and leaned on the carriage, the official road in the capital was already trampled very smoothly, and the carriage was not bumpy at all.

When it came to An Guogong, the mood of the book's father-in-law who had just relaxed was gloomy again, he cautiously avoided the topic of An Guogong, and picked up Ning Cheng's last sentence: "The eldest prince praises it falsely, for the sake of the slave, you have to think about the master, and it is the honor of an old slave to serve the emperor!" ”

"Being able to become a celebrity on the side of my father and emperor can still keep my duty, my father-in-law deserves my praise, Jinyi Weidu commanded Zhu Ge was the old department of Anguo Gong, sacrificing small righteousness and taking care of the overall situation, so that there is today, I don't know if the father-in-law can feel the pressure?" Ning Cheng looked at the sea of books, and saw that the corners of his eyes twitched slightly, knowing that he had caught his heart.

Shu Ruhai has been the most trusted person around the emperor for more than 30 years, and now that there is one more Zhu Ge, anyone who changes it will be a little unhappy, Shu Ruhai does not show it, it does not mean that he does not have this idea.

"Jinyiwei has been secretly developing for many years, and now it has penetrated into all ministries and places, with Jinyiwei, the status of the Metropolitan Procuratorate has dropped a lot!"

Shu Ruhai smiled and said: "Commander Zhu is capable and loyal to the emperor, Jinyi Wei is directly under the emperor's jurisdiction, but he has done a lot of things for the emperor!" ”

"In the long run, he will be able to do more! Father-in-law, I advise you, there are some things you still have to plan for yourself, Zhu Ge is younger than you, don't let your father think that you are old and useless! ”

The book is like a sea, and he bowed his head weakly, although Zhu Ge is generally a eunuch with him, but he has the talent to lead the troops, has a martial arts, and can give advice to the emperor, and he is young, he has served in the army, compared to him who has always been just a slave and has been old, he has won too much, the emperor is more and more heavy brocade clothes and guards, that is, Zhu Ge, this is not a good thing for him, some secret things in recent times The emperor has ordered Zhu Ge and is no longer himself, this sign has explained everything.

Sure enough, no one will be willing to fail and fall silent! Shu Ruhai closed his eyes, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes faded a lot, the eye sockets that had experienced decades of wind and rain collapsed and sunken, and the towering eyebrow bones dragged the two black and white eyebrows high, at first glance, they looked like two insects crawling towards each other.

The insect with a slightly upturned tail expresses the owner's intentions.

On such a sensitive topic, Shu Ruhai, who has always been cautious and cautious, would not answer, and the prince said this at this time, and it can be seen that he lowered his head, put his hands in his wide sleeves, put the whisk on his legs, and as soon as the carriage shook, the snow-white wool on the whisk flew up.

After thirty years of companionship, Shu Ruhai has turned black hair to white head, but the loyal heart of the servant is still there, and his affairs with Zhu Ge have nothing to do with his loyalty.

The carriage walked smoothly on the official road, and the place where the Zongren Mansion detained the guilty people of the Sect Imperial Family was not in the city, in order to allow people like Ning Cheng to stay away from the prosperity and be taught quietly, the Zongren Mansion built this golden cage between the mountains and rivers, as long as he was not a fool who was guilty but arrogant, his life in the Zongren Mansion in the past five years would not be too sad.

But he had seen the most beautiful scenery at the peak, how could he be willing to stay away from this scenery?

No one in the capital noticed the departure of the carriage, and the magnates did not have the energy to focus on a waste who had been knocked down into the abyss, after the prince was convicted, the sentences of the scholars in the prison of the Criminal Department also came down, and everyone was banned from participating in the scientific examination for eternity, and those who consciously cooperated with the investigation and had a good attitude of admitting guilt in this case were imprisoned for one year, and those who did not admit guilt but had conclusive evidence of their guilt were imprisoned for three years.

Concubine Chang was beaten into the cold palace, the prince was escorted to the Zongren Mansion, it seemed that after the Suzhou War, the prosperous Chang Shenghou suddenly fell into an embarrassing dilemma, although he did not want to fall into the well to keep the life of Chang Shenghou to appease the military soldiers The emperor did not give Chang Shenghou a fatal blow at this best time, but there was no military power in his hands, no cronies in the court, and no one in the harem to rely on.

On the contrary, it is with him who has experienced the Fuhu military mutiny and was completely cut off and went to Suzhou to station in Suzhou, because of the relationship between the queen and Chang Fei, the prince and the king of Chao, the Zhenguo Hou and the Chang Shenghou have always been incompatible in previous years, although the relationship between the cold lips and teeth after the Fuhu military mutiny has improved, but after the outbreak of the Chunqiu fraud case, the two rivals fell into the cold war again, and this time the Chang family has no place to turn over, which naturally means that the queen Chao Wang will go to the next level, and the future of the Zhenguo Hou will be even more prosperous.

The only thing that made Zhenguohou feel a headache was this imperial examination. The emperor cut off their military power after these exploits, suppressed their power in the military, abandoned the armor and followed the text, this is the best way out for the Zhang family that the Marquis of Zhenguo thinks, this time his eldest son Zhang Liuxian's son Zhang Lurate and his second son Zhang Jing, the son of the uncle, participated in the scientific expedition together, who expected his eldest grandson to be involved in this turmoil, today's sentence of the Criminal Department was issued, Zhang Lurate will face three years in prison, the Chunqiu fraud case is very widespread, the emperor even disregards the prince, the Zhang family has always been the emperor's confidant, At this juncture, the Marquis of Zhenguo could only stand by and watch the overall situation as the queen said. But after all, it was his most beloved eldest grandson, and the person involved in the fraud case wanted to go from literature to official career, it was simply a pipe dream, thinking that his training for so many years would be ruined, and the rock-solid heart of Zhenguohou was dripping blood.

Zhenguohou headache, is his second son happy thing, Zhenguohou at the age of seventeen married the original Zhenguo Marquis Madame, gave birth to the eldest son Zhang Liuxian asked the emperor to be the son, and then because the main room died early at the age of twenty-five, married the queen's biological mother Mrs. Jin for the main room, Mrs. Jin gave birth to the second son of the Zhenguo Marquis Zhang Tingyu and the queen, Mrs. Jin is also a thin person, in the Zhenguo Marquis at the age of thirty-three years old, he died, and then the Zhenguo Marquis was forty years old and then married the eldest daughter of the Yaozhou century-old Wang clan Su Qin, Su Qin gave birth to a son and a daughter, Now he has grown up.

The two marriages of the Marquis of Zhenguo have created a complicated situation in the Marquis of Zhenguo's mansion, the prince is canonized by the emperor, and he is the only candidate to succeed the Marquis of Zhenguo after the death of the Marquis of Zhenguo, but the Zhang family has a Queen Zhang, and Empress Zhang has an elder brother who is named the uncle of the country, no matter in which way, the queen values her brother more to take over the throne, Zhang Tingyu has indeed put a lot of effort in this over the years, but he has reached the age of not being confused, and his sons have been crowned with the Marquis of Zhenguo, but he is old and strong, He no longer thinks about himself, and thinks more about him in this son.

Zhang Jing and his cousin Zhang Lurate participated in the examination together, and in the end both of them got good results and ranked among the top two, but the difference is that Zhang Jing's results come from himself, while Zhang Lurate's results have cheated, although the results of the examination have been cancelled, but Zhang Jing's fame is still there, and Zhang Lurate, not only will have three years in prison, but even the fame has been eliminated.

In this battle, Uncle Guo won without leaking. It's all because he has a good sister and a good nephew.

In order to express gratitude and congratulations to the queen, the uncle and wife who calculated the queen's lunch break in the afternoon entered the palace, and now the prince has entered the Zongren Mansion and King Rui is full of rumors, the queen has been in the harem for twenty-four years and has never felt so relaxed and comfortable today, although there is no emperor's holy decree, but everyone knows that the emperor has no second choice, in the future, King Chao will be the emperor, she is the queen mother, still the master of the harem, still the mother of the world, a woman's life can have such a situation except for the Queen Ma of the Holy Ancestor, But she was the only one left.

"Niangniang's four joys are coming, congratulations!" After entering the bead curtain, the uncle and wife saluted.

Concubine Chang entered the cold palace, the prince was imprisoned in the Zongren Mansion, King Chao got married, King Rui was riddled with rumors, and now the most prosperous scenery is this pair of mother and son.

The queen was happy from the heart, thinking that her brother had also made a lot of efforts this time, and she would use him to make more efforts in the future, and she would be even more kind to this sister-in-law.

"Isn't my sister-in-law also a double happiness? The emperor read that the fraud case in the spring was unfair to the world's scholars, and planned to hold another meeting in the autumn of this year, Zhang Jing would definitely be able to win the Huiyuan in one fell swoop when the time came, Lu Shu was still in prison in the Criminal Department, but he didn't have the opportunity to participate, even if he came back in three years, Zhang Jing would have already entered the court by then, where could he catch up! ”

It was said that in the past few days, I could wake up with a smile even from a dream, but I was humble and respectful in front of the queen in the past, and my uncle and wife couldn't hold back the smile, and covered her lips with her sleeves and smiled.

The queen didn't mind her faux pas, and frowned at the mirror: "As long as Zhang Jing has a chance, my sister-in-law's future will not have to worry, pity the parents of the world, and think that if Concubine Chang is not too anxious, why would she end up like this." ”

Uncle and Mrs. Guo faced the glass mirror, but her eyes did not look at the face in the mirror: "Niangniang is right, you can't be in a hurry, there are three days before the wedding of His Royal Highness King Chao, the queen is a good life, Zhang Jing's child is older than His Royal Highness King Chao, but now he can't make up his mind, if he has become a family earlier, the concubine will also hold his grandson at home earlier!" ”

There are only a few days left for King Chao's wedding, and the biggest joy of being a mother is undoubtedly watching her children get married.

Zhang Jing is one year older than King Chao, and he has already reached the age of marriage, and his uncle and wife want the queen to point him out a marriage that is beneficial to the future.

The queen didn't understand the meaning of the words.

Wiped her brows with a water-soaked cotton handkerchief, and the slight strength still made the flesh under her eyebrows red, put down the eyebrow pencil, she looked at the ink on the white handkerchief, and asked casually, "What does sister-in-law think?" Gongsun Prince? Or is it a family of civil and military ministers? ”

Uncle Guo's wife's smile suddenly flourished, with a bit of ridicule: "Where are we picking people, it is others who pick us, although Zhang Jing is famous, but he always follows some indiscreet friends on weekdays, and his reputation outside is not very good, besides, the old man ............" Uncle Guo's face darkened.

The queen raised her eyebrows, slightly unhappy: "Zhang Jing is the nephew of the palace, and he has a fame, it is also expected that he will rise to the top, sister-in-law should not belittle Zhang Jing too much, since the sister-in-law can't make up her mind, there is a candidate in the palace, the soldiers and horses of the five cities are all commanded to make the second daughter of General Ding Fangbai, the last time Mrs. Ding took her into the palace, although the appearance is a little worse, but the person is not bad, General Ding's family affairs want to be sister-in-law has also heard of it, his second daughter, in fact, is the eldest daughter, sister-in-law is willing?" ”

The daughter of General Ding, the wife of the uncle was very excited, this is the most important young lady in the capital who is of the right age to be married, if it weren't for the quirks of this Miss Ding's temperament and General Ding's special pickiness about his son-in-law because of the eldest daughter, it would not have been delayed until now, but his own master only has the name of the uncle, and the position of the Marquis of Zhenguo is still far away. Besides, his son has also been among thousands of flowers, and he can look at Miss Ding, who looks mediocre?

"Miss Ding is naturally excellent, and she can ............ as General Ding"

"If my sister-in-law agrees, just nod your head, and the palace will take care of other things for you, General Ding holds the soldiers and horses of the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses, and he is also a high authority in the capital, the palace is not only to help you, but also to help the palace itself, sister-in-law will go back to explore the situation with Zhang Jingtan, and settle this matter as soon as possible!"

Ning Chaoge is now on an errand in the Governor's Mansion of the Left Army, and the biggest pillar to rely on in the future is the military, and Ding Yanxiang's Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division is also the object that the queen must woo, which is also a good thing for her.

"Then the concubine will take Zhang Jing to thank Niangniang! The concubine went back to talk to Zhang Jing about the matter, and the concubine retired. ”

In his heart, he scolded the uncle who had prevented him from asking the queen for marriage, and the uncle and wife of the uncle who had scolded countless people pressed the ecstasy in their hearts, and left the Chang'an Palace quickly.

Uncle and Mrs. Guo thought so, the queen would not let herself suffer, thinking that if this matter could be successful, she would be able to help herself a lot in the future, she smiled and asked Aunt Liu to paint her eyebrows and put on makeup, and after dressing up, she went to Luoxia Palace.

With the emperor's suppression, the gossip he heard when Ning Zhi was far away from the palace and passed by a few lively streets in the evening was really a lot less, and the emperor did not show much concern for Ziyue, which was a good thing for Ning Zhiyuan, only if the emperor could not admit this child, he could avoid Ning Chaoge's sewage, but this was a little embarrassing Mr. Du, knowing that Mr. Du had been taken into the Jinyiwei prison by Zhu Ge, Ning Zhiyuan did not go back to the house directly in the evening, but went to Jinyiwei to visit.

Mr. Du lived in the east of the city after leaving the Rui Wangfu, he resigned from the position of Jinyiwei and was already just a commoner, but as one of the veterans founded by Jinyiwei, Jinyiwei's powerful intelligence network did not exclude him, as long as he wanted to know the news, Jinyiwei could provide him with it, Mr. Du never married in his life, and he did not have the bad habit of messing with flowers and grass, that time because of drunkenness, he regarded it as the biggest failure in his life, Mr. Du, who lived in the small courtyard in the east of the city, was no longer the one who called for wind and rain for Ning Zhiyuan in the Rui Wangfu to block foreign enemies.

He felt a deep sense of guilt towards Mr. Du, because in front of the emperor, he didn't say a good word or two for him, because he couldn't say it, as long as he said it, everything would be exposed, and since he had decided to be this wicked person, he could only keep doing it.

As the patriarch of Jinyiwei, even if he is in Jinyiwei Prison, he will not be like an ordinary prisoner, if there is no iron wall on all sides, this is not a prison at all.

"Mr. Du!"

Mr. Du sat on the rocking chair, I don't know whether to close his eyes or fall asleep, there is a brocade guard next to him from time to time to help him push the rocking chair, so that the rocking chair can shake rhythmically, in front of him is the leftovers that have been eaten, there are fish and meat and meat and vegetarian matching.

The Jinyi guard who was guarding outside opened the cell door for Ning Zhiyuan, and the Jinyi guard who was shaking the rocking chair was about to salute, Ning Zhiyuan waved his hand to stop, and waved his hand to stand in his place to let him out of the house.

Gently pushed the rocking chair, the chair immediately swayed, the sound of squeaking branches was like a door pushed open and closed and pushed open and closed, Ning Zhiyuan quietly pushed back, and Mr. Du kept his eyes closed.

When he had been doing this for nearly half an hour, a snoring sounded from the rocking chair.

Even if it is the emperor, he has not enjoyed such treatment, he hates the emperor, but he is only grateful to Mr. Du, if it were not for him for so many years, he would have been a handful of loess, although Mr. Du is just obeying the emperor's orders, but he is not grateful to the emperor at all.

Listening to the snoring in his rocking chair, he let go of his hand and turned to walk.

"Ziyue's matter, I checked it for you!"

The snoring in the rocking chair stopped abruptly, but the eyes that had been closed did not open.

Ning Zhiyuan stopped and turned around, and said with a bitter smile: "What is the result?" ”

"I'm old, I haven't found out anything, I'm loyal to the emperor, and I did this wrong thing, Ziyue is a disaster, so I shouldn't live in this world!"

Du Yiyi opened her eyes, and her eyes were still bright.

"Killing people is Jinyiwei's consistent method, but it is not the best way, and now the people of the capital know that Ziyue is pregnant with my child."

In the past five years, he has had many such conversations with Mr. Du, but Mr. Du is mostly talking to him at that time.

"Jin Yiwei has nothing that can't be found, and it's suspicious if he can't find it, her child must not be yours! Zhu Ge has been here, and the emperor's expectation is to find Ziyue and let her give birth to this child. ”

"It's not mine anyway! Mr. Du's life seems to be good, in the end, he is the veteran of Jinyiwei, it is quiet and comfortable here, how long does Mr. Du plan to live? ”

Ning Zhiyuan was originally most worried about Du Yiyi's opinion, after Du Yiyi made the same choice as him last night, this concern has disappeared, as long as she doesn't misunderstand, it doesn't hurt the whole world to misunderstand.

"In a few days, the old man will go to Jingcheng!"

"Jingcheng?" If he was exiled and was in Yazhou, how could he go to Jingcheng? Ning Zhiyuan looked at the old man who was swaying leisurely.

"The old man wears a guilty body, if he doesn't do more things for the emperor, I'm afraid that he won't have this opportunity in the future! Now that King Su has returned to Lingyin Temple, the prince has been imprisoned in the Zongren Mansion, and only you and King Chao are left in the capital. How sure are you? ”

Du Yiyi shook hard, the rocking chair shook to the maximum arc, and the legs that had been resting on the pedal board stepped on the ground and stopped the rocking chair.

"King Chao is the son of the queen, and will marry the daughter of General Xiong, and then will take over the position of General Fan, the future capital, should be his world, my father is in the prime of life, don't worry!"

It is no secret that he wants to seize the heir, and now that the crown prince has been abolished, it is even more natural.

"That's good, things must be reversed, you have the cabinet and General Shen as the backing, and you won't lose him too much, Xi Zhengai's illness is difficult to cure, Xi Shuyuan's death hit him too hard, he has already submitted his resignation, and the person who takes over the post of commander of the military capital should be General Shen!"

Ning Zhiyuan smiled stupidly, obviously he was in prison, but he knew much more things than himself, and the strength of Jinyiwei was even stronger than he imagined.

"General Shen is a young talent, and he can indeed take on this important responsibility."

"If he can be as loyal to the country as an old man, it will indeed be a blessing for Dahe."

Mr. Du looked up at the iron-cast roof, as if he wanted to see a flower in the dark place.

Ning Zhiyuan's eyebrows were slightly lowered, his eyes were lowered, Mr. Du's words, he always felt that there was another meaning, although he had no evidence of Shen Ke's identity, but the later battle in Suzhou could also confirm his conjecture, how could he guess what Jin Yiwei couldn't guess, could it be ............?

"If Mr. Du is fine, then I will rest assured, on the day of Mr. Du's departure, I will give Mr. Du a ride and say goodbye!"

"Go slowly, forgive the old man for not being far away!"

Mr. Du got up and clenched his fists, Ning Zhiyuan bowed slightly, and turned to leave.

After leaving Jinyiwei, he didn't delay half a step, got into a sedan chair and rushed back to King Rui's mansion.