Soon after, Empress Dowager Zhang knew the purpose of his trip from Yang Tinghe's mouth, Empress Dowager Zhang's slightly plump face was full of surprise, and she frowned and said: "Yang Shoufu, if the mourning family understands correctly, what do you mean, what does this Song Nan have to try?" ”

Yang Tinghe hurriedly said: "Queen Mother Mingjian, I can't speculate so much at present, what the minister means is that this Song Nan now has heavy troops in his hands, and his tentacles are all over the place, if he has a different heart, no one can control it." And the emperor is too fond of him, basically what Song Nan admonishes, the emperor will play, this is the most terrible place. Originally, the rights of the courtiers would be constrained by each other, but the current situation is that no one can restrain Song Nan's power, except for the emperor. ”

Empress Dowager Zhang got up and walked a few steps lightly, nodded and said: "I understand what you mean, you are worried that the emperor favors Song Nan too much, and if this Song Nan uses the emperor's favor to cultivate power, he may not be restrained in the future." ”

Yang Tinghe said: "Yes, this is exactly what the minister meant, and this is not unfounded, this time the regimental camp is rectified, the establishment of the second army is the beginning, Song Nan's hands can directly mobilize 40,000 or 50,000 soldiers and horses, almost equal to other soldiers and horses in Beijing." And the British Duke Zhang Lun is a relative of him, almost equal to the soldiers and horses in the capital are in the hands of Song Nan, the Ming Dynasty has been established for more than 100 years, how can there be such a pattern? The minister has to worry, he has to be afraid, this is related to the Ming Dynasty. ”

Empress Dowager Zhang pursed her red lips and said in a low voice: "Yang Shoufu, when you say this, the mourning family is also a little panicked. The previous impression of Song Nan was actually average, and I heard that this person was a little unruly; However, he didn't do anything out of the ordinary, on the contrary, he made a lot of contributions to the court. If all the things he did before were to win the emperor's trust and achieve what kind of purpose, then this person can be said to be very scheming. ”

Yang Tinghe sighed lightly and said: "Queen Mother, people's hearts are separated from their stomachs, and no one knows what will happen." Just like we didn't expect King Anhua to rebel at all, who knows if this Song Nan will have that day? Who can guarantee that he is absolutely loyal to the Ming Dynasty and the Empress Dowager in his heart? Before Liu Jin claimed to be the first loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty every day, didn't he secretly collude with the king of Anhua to rebel? The minister didn't want the queen mother to worry, but the minister had to ask the queen mother to make a decision on this matter, so as not to hate it for thousands of years in the future. ”

Empress Dowager Zhang nodded slightly and said: "You're right, it's not always a good thing for someone to have too much power, and it's just right to prevent micro problems, and when the day the matter comes out, I'm afraid it's already too late." So what do you want to do? Otherwise, the mourning family recruited Zhang Lun into the palace to see him, he has been loyal to the British government for several generations, and he will not do foolish things, and the regimental camp will be stabilized, and the overall situation can be stabilized, after all, Zhang Lun has fifty or sixty thousand soldiers and horses in his hands, and the Shenji battalion is in hand, which is enough to check and balance. ”

Yang Tinghe hurriedly said: "No, no, no, the Queen Mother must not find Zhang Lun to meet him, so wouldn't it be clear to Song Nan that we are wary of him?" At this time, it is still necessary for the queen mother to persuade the emperor more, so that the emperor should not favor Song Nan too much, as long as the emperor restrains Song Nan a little, the shape will be greatly improved. The key is the emperor's attitude. ”

"The mourning family understands what you mean, you want to prevent Song Nan from becoming bigger from the root, but the emperor has always done his own thing, and he may not listen to the words of the mourning family; The mourning family can't tell the emperor that this Song Nan is plotting against him, right? If the emperor blames the mourning family for interfering in government affairs, and wants the mourning family to come up with evidence, what will the mourning family say? Empress Dowager Zhang hesitated.

"The queen mother doesn't have to tell the emperor directly about this, in fact, the minister still wants to tell the queen mother about one thing, but this is just this matter...... This matter is related to the royal reputation, and the minister has never been able to say it; Now that it has come to this point, the minister can no longer hide it, and the minister is not afraid that the queen mother will blame, and he will also inform the queen mother of this matter. ”

Empress Dowager Zhang raised her eyebrows and said in surprise: "What's the matter?" Actually say that it has to do with the royal reputation? ”

Yang Tinghe's expression struggled very much, and finally knelt on the ground again and said: "The minister can say, but please forgive the queen mother for the sins of the minister." ”

Empress Dowager Zhang felt more and more strange, and said anxiously: "No wonder the emperor said that you foreign court officials are like this, and you don't speak simply, if it is related to the royal reputation, you should immediately inform the mourning family." ”

Yang Tinghe said softly: "That's about Princess Kangning, so the minister has to be cautious." ”

"Corning's business? What could she do? ”

"As far as the minister knows, there is a ...... between the princess and Na Song Nan Personal relationship. Yang Tinghe gritted his teeth and finally said those two words.

Empress Dowager Zhang was stunned, as if she didn't hear clearly, and asked with a sidelined ear, "What did you say?" ”

"Don't be angry, the minister learned that the relationship between Song Nan and Princess Kangning is not ordinary, and the minister has conclusive evidence to prove this; This Song Nan has ill intentions, taking advantage of the princess's simple temperament to seduce the princess. Princess Kangning has always refused to choose a son-in-law to marry, because Song Nan got in the way......"

Mrs. Zhang's back was pale, her body was shaky, Yang Tinghe hurriedly stepped forward to help, and Empress Dowager Zhang waved her hand and shouted: "Go away, go away." ”

Yang Tinghe stretched out his hands and stood awkwardly, and said: "The Queen Mother, the minister doesn't want the Queen Mother to be sad and sad, but this matter has been hidden from the Queen Mother, so the minister has the courage to say it; The Queen Mother must not be angry with her body, drink some tea and smooth her breath. ”

Empress Dowager Zhang sat down slowly on the edge of the warm couch, relieved her breath for a while, and asked in a low voice: "What kind of journey did they get between them, do you know?" ”

Yang Tinghe thought for a while and said: "Some people see that Song Nan often stays in Shouning Palace for a few hours, and a few times he leaves the palace after the third watch...... Don't dare to say anything. ”

"Smack." Empress Dowager Zhang smashed a blue and white porcelain vase on the small table to the ground and smashed it, her chest rose and fell violently, and she gritted her teeth angrily: "The mourning family understands why she is unwilling to choose a son-in-law to marry, why she shirks the marriage in every possible way, and says that if she is forced to marry again, she will go to be a Taoist aunt." But it turned out that sitting down in secret such an ugly thing is a great shame, a great shame. ”

Empress Dowager Zhang's tears flowed out, and she beat her chest with a silk handkerchief in her hand, making a bang-bang sound.

Yang Tinghe hurriedly said: "The Queen Mother is angry, the Queen Mother is angry, according to what the ministers see, the princess has a simple and kind personality, and she must have fallen for Song Nan; With Song Nan's cunning, he will inevitably coax the princess into a circle with clever words, which can't be blamed on the princess. It's only to blame Song Nan for being bold and disgraced the royal family. The minister informed the Queen Mother of this matter to let the Queen Mother understand Song Nan's true face. ”

Empress Dowager Zhang gasped and said: "The mourning family is going to order someone to raid Song Nan's house and cut off his head, and the mourning family will not rest with him." ”

Yang Tinghe shouted: "No, Queen Mother." ”

Empress Dowager Zhang said angrily: "Why not? Doesn't he deserve to die? ”

Yang Tinghe said: "Song Nan deserves to die, but if she makes such a fuss, how can the princess's reputation exist?" Where does the royal reputation remain? Isn't it a joke to teach the world. Besides, Song Nan now has a heavy army in his hands, if he acts rashly, won't he force him to take risks? ”

Empress Dowager Zhang said angrily: "Can you let this guy get away with it?" The mourners were eager to eat his flesh and skin him. If you want to let the mourning family go unchecked, that's a fantasy. ”

Yang Tinghe said: "Queen Mother, even if you punish Song Nan, you should think about it in the long run; The minister told the queen mother about this matter, hoping that the queen mother could inform the emperor about this matter, so that the emperor could understand what kind of person Song Nan was, once Song Nan lost the emperor's favor, his end would be approaching. But there is one point, the queen mother must ask the emperor not to punish Song Nan impatiently, so as not to force Song Nan to jump off the wall in a hurry. ”

Empress Dowager Zhang calmed down, thought about it carefully, and said, "How many people still know about this matter?" ”

Yang Tinghe said: "Not many people know at present, the reason why the minister knows about this is that when Prince Ning left Beijing, he secretly told me, on the day of the emperor's wedding, he entered the palace to meet the princess, and noticed that there was something strange between the princess and Song Nan, and then I don't know what method was used, and I learned that Song Nan often stayed in Shouning Palace overnight. After King Ning sued the minister, the minister still didn't believe it, but the minister did many verifications to determine the matter, otherwise how could the minister dare to open his mouth? ”

Empress Dowager Zhang gritted her teeth and said: "It's okay for you and King Ning, but I'm afraid that everyone in Shouning Palace also knows about it, and I'm afraid that there is a lot of rumors in the palace, only the mourning family and the emperor are in the dark." ”

Yang Tinghe hurriedly said: "That's not either, only a few people close to the princess know about it, and the matter has not spread." ”

Empress Dowager Zhang's face was pale: "This matter must not be spread out, the mourning family will take Kang Ning to Nanjing to live for a period of time in a few days, breaking the connection between the two, in Nanjing, all the slaves and maids of Shouning Palace who know about this matter must be disposed of." I will also inform the emperor of this matter according to your wishes, so that the emperor can know the face of this dog thief. ”

Yang Tinghe arched his hand and said: "Queen Mother Shengming, it is most appropriate to deal with it like this." Both things must be carried out in a low-key manner, the queen mother must tell the emperor to calm down, and never rashly accuse Song Nan, Song Nan's ears and eyes are all over the capital, and he must not be taught to know precautions; He also has a lot of minions, and he can't force him to make trouble. It would be easy to take him alone, but it would not be possible to explain the reason, which would inevitably lead to suspicion and confusion, so it was best to slowly weaken his military power and find another reason to punish him. ”

Empress Dowager Zhang nodded slowly and said: "The mourning family understands that there is a mourning family in the palace, and you can only rely on you to maneuver from it." ”

After Yang Tinghe knelt on the ground and expressed his determination, he cautiously said goodbye and left the palace.