Today is a nervous and exciting day for students who are immersed in exams, but for Zhou Rukang, the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, it is just an ordinary day.

Zhou Rukang is 55 years old this year, and this is the 32nd year of his reign. Because he loves Taoism, he has no interest in the affairs of the harem, and he doesn't care about any "state and family affairs", so he doesn't have many children.

Today, the emperor is very angry, because after Shen Wei, the secretary of the Criminal Department, was demoted, he had not yet chosen a suitable replacement, but the crown prince and the king of Chu had already "searched" several candidates for him.

Crown Prince Zhou Xuan, who is 36 years old Chinese New Year's Eve, was born to the former Empress Dong and was the crown prince when the emperor succeeded to the throne. Although there have been no significant political achievements over the years, he is also diligent and has no faults, and in recent years, he has repeatedly written to invite himself to lead troops to pacify Beidi, which has impressed Zhou Rukang.

Because the former queen Dong was the sister of the former prime minister Dong Xun, Dong Xun cultivated countless protégés during his reign, so that the Wen was in the Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of Industry, and the army was in the Marquis of Huyang and the Marquis of Hanzhang, all of which were called "princelings". The candidate recommended by the prince for the secretary of the criminal department is Dong Licheng, a member of the Ministry of Officials and Dong Xun's nephew.

The fourth prince, Zhou Yan, the king of Chu, was thirty-two years old and was born in the year when the emperor succeeded to the throne. He followed his uncle Li Huan to pacify the Southern Barbarian Rebellion in his early years and made military exploits (although some generals said that he had never seen the figure of the King of Chu from beginning to end), so he had some prestige in the army, and he was very good at courtesy and virtuous corporals, and often held some poetry and wine banquets to invite princes or generals, which won the favor of some civil servants. It is precisely because of this that the prince regards him as a thorn in his side, and they are incompatible with each other, but fortunately, Empress Li died last year, and the prince's heart was slightly balanced.

The person recommended by the king of Chu was the leader of the previous imperial examination. The emperor remembered that Chen Deli, the prefect of Anyang, had just married his sister to the King of Chu as a concubine.

The funny thing is that both sides keep saying that they are never impartial and only share their worries for their father.

A small mountain was immediately piled up at the beginning of the meeting, and the attitudes of the officials were obviously divided into two factions, which can be described as distinct.

The emperor was furious, and threw all the folds on the face of the consul eunuch Yu Hai. After losing his temper, the emperor finally calmed down, and recited the names of the second prince and the third prince who died early several times, saying that these two children have been well-behaved and sensible since childhood, and if they are still there, at least it will make him feel at ease.

After grieving for a long time, the old emperor decided to go to the Taoist temple to complain to the immortals, bless his two children who went first to be reincarnated into a good family, and also bless himself to be in the immortal class early.

After reading the scriptures for a long time, the emperor was also dizzy with incense, so he simply debuted to the Taoist temple and went for a walk in the imperial garden. It had been a long time since he had come out, and he felt that he had to forget the smell of the wind in the pavilion in the imperial garden.

The sky is splashed with sunshine, gentle and quiet. The old emperor raised his eyes and looked, and suddenly saw a small figure at the water's edge, as if he was squatting at the water's edge and stunned, the red halo sprinkled on his body, and it seemed that the back was even more thin and gloomy. He couldn't guess who it was. He has few concubines, and after the death of the queen, King Yan's biological mother Concubine Duan also died, and the harem was even more deserted, and he didn't remember whose child this little doll with a white skirt with a general horn was tied in.

"Yu Hai!" Zhou Rukang put down the tea bowl and greeted.

"The minions are here!" Yu Hai hurriedly leaned over and buried his head low.

Zhou Rukang pointed to the little doll and asked, "Who is that?" ”

Yu Hai buried his head lower and replied, "Back to the emperor, that's the little princess." ”

"Who? Little princess? Zhou Rukang thought back to all his children, and finally reacted, "You say she is Ranran?" ”

"yes. The little princess has no biological mother since she was born, and has been growing up in the Yuluo Palace of Concubine Duan, who knows that Concubine Duan's mother grew up last year, and the eldest princess also got married at the beginning of the year. ”

Zhou Rukang picked up the tea bowl and drank it all, and there was no wave in his tone: "Yes, then you can bring her over." ”

Yu Hai took the order, and after a while, he led the child to Zhou Rukang. The child is very sensible, and he kowtows to say hello in a proper manner, but looking at his demeanor and actions, he is full of fear and alienation.

"Come here," Zhou Rukang squeezed out a little unbearable, beckoned to comfort Zhou Ran, "Don't be afraid, come here." ”

Zhou Ran stayed in place for a while, and finally walked over.

Zhou Rukang hugged Zhou Ran on his lap and asked, "Ran Ran, my father hasn't seen you for a long time." It's your birthday, isn't it? You should ...... this year Well...... Six years old. ”

Zhou Ran nodded, his eyes shining with tears, and pursed his lips.

"And what do you want today?"

Zhou Ran looked at his father in a daze for a long time, but still shook his head.

"It's okay, just say it, my father will definitely satisfy you."

Zhou Ran lowered her head and pulled her plain white skirt, the corners of which had been torn out of her wrinkles: "I...... I miss my fifth brother. The mother concubine died, and the father did not let the fifth brother come back for the funeral, I am afraid that the fifth brother will be very sad. ”

The surrounding minions lowered their heads a little more.

The fifth prince, Yanwang Zhou Yu, is twenty-two years old this year and is the only son of Concubine Duan. King Yan has been upright since he was a child, and he is jealous and hateful. Because the mother's family has no foundation, he has become the prince who is the least like the prince in the court, not as powerful as the prince and the king of Chu, and not as favored as the king of Qi.

He was punished three years ago for opposing the emperor's favor and Taoist priests, and was soon demoted out of Beijing, and has been on the border of northern Xinjiang for many years, rushing to the poor mountains and bad waters of the sixteen states of Yanyun, although he has fought several tough battles, but has never received any commendation from the imperial court, as if forgotten by the imperial court. If you want to come to the whole capital, the only one who can think of him is this little sister.

"This ...... It's not that my father is unwilling, but now that Beidi has repeatedly made trouble, your brother Yan Wang can't get away from guarding the northern frontier. If you're bored, why don't I let your sixth brother enter the palace to accompany you. ”

Zhou Ran lowered his head, obviously unhappy.

Zhou Rukang had no choice but to secretly scold this careless little son again. He endured his anger and coaxed his daughter: "Or you don't want to think about it alone." ”

Zhou Ran stayed for a long time, and finally replied timidly: "I...... I want to get out of the palace, I want to let ...... Let my father accompany me out of the palace. ”

"Out of the palace?" Zhou Rukang was a little at a loss. He didn't expect his daughter, who he hadn't seen for several years, to make such a request. But you didn't joke, Zhou Rukang gritted his teeth and agreed, but at the end he added: "It's late today, early tomorrow morning, I will take you out of the palace to play, just when the candidates came out of the examination room, it was lively." ”

Zhou Ran immediately became happy. She was afraid that her father would regret it like just now, so she hurriedly ran back to the palace.

After Zhou Rukang waited for Zhou Ran to leave, he sighed: "Well, I haven't left the palace for a long time, so I should relax." He summoned Yu Hai, lowered his voice and said, "Meng Xun, this old guy had a break yesterday, he guessed that the recent murder was related to that thing, and wanted to hand it back, I think what he said is reasonable." In this case, you send someone to go quietly to the Taiwei's Mansion and bring things to me. ”

"Are you bringing it to the Xuanzheng Palace?"

"Hmm...... All right. ”

Yu Hai sang "喏". On the one hand, he arranged for a few appropriate people to accompany the emperor and the princess out of the palace tomorrow to relax, and on the other hand, he instructed the little eunuch to go to the palace to deliver a letter.

That night, Zhou Rukang recited the scriptures several times and was about to go to bed, but he waited for bad news.

Yu Hai knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly, and replied to the emperor that the things were lost, and the eunuchs and guards who escorted him were all killed! Zhou Rukang sat up from the dragon couch suddenly, shocked and angry, and asked, "What's the matter?" How can something be lost? Who did this to you? What are the patrol guards for? ”

Yu Hai trembled and knelt down and replied, "Lord Meng has already led people to search for the whole city, and the patrol guards have also gone to investigate, but there is no news yet." ”

"Rice bucket! Rubbish! What do I want you to do! Tell Meng Xun that he won't find it within three days, and I want their whole family's life! ”

"The minions obey."