His majesty was in a bad mood.

In the palace, all the people in the court know that His Majesty has been in a bad mood in the past few days, because His Majesty has even suspended the regular program of accompanying the Queen Mother to watch the play every ten years, and not many people have the opportunity to see His Majesty except for the court meeting. Father-in-law Yao, father-in-law Hou, and now reused father-in-law Dai, these days are surrounded by ministers outside the palace gate every day, and everyone wants to know what happened.

His Majesty did not summon the ministers of his cronies into the palace, and it seemed that he was not bothered by anything.

But people just know that His Majesty is in a bad mood. Because at the court meeting, most of the excerpts played by the states were refuted, Dali Temple Zhengqing was severely reprimanded, and the old Qin of the Privy Council was also scolded by the emperor, the Qin family is the henchman of the emperor's henchmen, and the military ministers, under normal circumstances, in front of the civil and military officials, the emperor will always save some face for the Qin family, but now it is treated so harshly...... The faces of Qin Heng and Qin Xiao, the guards of Kyoto, remained unchanged, and when they came out of the middle school under the door, they still maintained a clear smile, and they didn't seem to care much about His Majesty's reprimand for his family.

Seeing this scene, the ministers learned that the emperor was reprimanding his henchmen to remind some other people in the capital.

This is a very chaotic technique, and everyone can't guess who the emperor wants to remind, but they know that the reminder itself is already in place. Sure enough, the third rì, Ye Chong, who was far away in Dingzhou, once again wrote to His Majesty with deep sorrow, saying that if it is peaceful today, there is no need to maintain too many troops in Dingzhou, and some people should be dismissed.

Asking for disarmament is a terrified gesture on the part of the Ye family. The Emperor lightly agreed, and did not allow the court to debate the matter with the Privy Council at all. The ministers, including the newly appointed scholars Hu and Shu, thought that this was just a follow-up to the incident of the Hanging Temple last year, and did not think of anything else.

After the Ye family asked for the dismissal, His Majesty's mood seemed to be better, and he resumed his greetings to the Empress Dowager, and at the same time allowed the eldest princess to live in the palace again, and Guangxin Palace really opened the door for the eldest princess again.

Distance produces beauty, produces danger, family, live together...... It's going to be a lot safer.

The emperor must have thought so, the old man in Chen Yuan thought so.

He sighed, knowing that things were not going exactly according to his plan, and that he still needed to do something more, but since the seed had begun to sprout, under the cultivation of the black soil in people's hearts, poisonous vines would one day sprout, and inexorably break through the hard stone layer that pressed on it.

―――――――――――――――――――――――― only the people living in the palace knew that His Majesty's mood had not really improved, and there was still a trace of sorrow and a very slight sadness on his face.

The emperor is the lord of the world, the lord of a palace, the object that everyone needs to look at, the wealth of everyone, and the future of everyone, so everyone in the palace is cautious and nervous about what else is hidden in his majesty's heart.

The few old men who were waiting in close proximity to the Taiji Hall and the Imperial Study had already become human beings, and of course they refused to make any noise in the tentative questions of the palaces. And under the authority of Old Man Hong, the grandmothers and eunuchs in various palaces did not dare to ask too obviously.

After the eldest princess moved into Guangxin Palace depressedly, she immediately returned to her usual gorgeous appearance, went to the queen mother's side every day to talk with her, and occasionally went to the East Palace to meet the queen and the prince, but she herself was a little puzzled and didn't know what the emperor was thinking.

At this time, a eunuch leader in the East Palace became a very important figure.

Because his name is Hong Zhu, he has been working by the emperor's side, and he is deeply liked by His Majesty, and he has some relationship with Gonggong Hong in rumors, and he is also familiar with the personnel of the Taiji Hall and the Imperial Study, if such a person is asked to inquire about the news, he should be the most suitable person.

Hong Zhu has been the head of the four eunuchs in the East Palace for three months, and has been recognized by the queen by virtue of his identity sent by the emperor and his own petty service...... It's just that of course it can't be accepted right away. However, the queen also gave Hong Zhu enough benefits, and this time in this matter, I also want to see if Hong Zhu can be used and what kind of Cheng dù can be used.

The queen mother smiled and looked at Hong Zhu who was kneeling in front of her, and she also liked the knowledge of this little eunuch in her heart, her eyebrows were clear, and she said softly: "Your Majesty is worried about state affairs, and the palace naturally wants to share the burden for Your Majesty. ”

Hong Zhu said charmingly: "The queen mother is thoughtful. ”

"Go ahead and ask. The queen sighed and said, "If you let Your Majesty know, don't deceive, it's not an unsightly thing, don't harm yourself." ”

Hong Zhumian was moved and took the order.

After a short time, the new celebrity in the palace took a few turns in the huge palace, and after being slapped on the back, he didn't dare to continue to accept the praise triumphantly, and hurried back to the queen's palace.

He whispered something into the queen's ear.

The queen frowned slightly, and there was a hint of worry on her noble face, and she sighed: "It turned out to be for the emptiness of the treasury, and the repair project of the embankment of the great river was also known to the palace, and it has been delayed from the early winter of the previous year to the present, and it is not because of lack of money...... Alas, if the palace can conjure up silver empty-handed, it can also relieve His Majesty's worries, but it's a pity ......"

Hong Zhu said with a smile: "The queen is the mother of the world, why do you need to worry about these things? As for the treasury, isn't there Fan Shangshu to take care of the household department?"

The queen's eyes lit up when she heard the word "household", and she asked unintentionally: "Fan Shangshu has been taking care of the household department for many years, and it can be regarded as a high level of hard work, and the treasury is empty...... It's a matter of input, so what can he do?"

Hong Zhu was slightly stunned, and stopped again.

The queen looked at him, smiled contemptuously, and said, "The children have so many things on their minds. ”

Hong Zhu was startled, quickly knelt down, and said with a bitter face: "The slave doesn't dare, it's just in the imperial study...... I heard that His Majesty lost his temper yesterday, saying that the household department was incompetent, and he ......" He lowered his voice and said, "I heard...... There is a shortage of officials in the household department, and the amount of state funds is still very large, so His Majesty xià...... Be furious. ”

The queen's heart jumped, but she immediately covered her face, and said with a smile: "Don't talk about these government affairs with the palace, how is Your Majesty feeling lately?

Hong Zhu glanced around, knowing that this was a taboo in the palace, gritted his teeth, crawled to the queen's side, and said something in a low voice.

The queen's willow eyebrows straightened, and then she was weak, her lips trembled slightly, her cheeks were pale, and she said coldly: "Xiaolou...... It's a small building again. ”

............ After Hong Zhu walked out of the palace gate with anxiety and fear, a young man flashed out from behind the screen, this young man was dressed in a pale yellow robe, his facial lines were soft, and his eyes were clear and focused. In addition to the emperor and queen mother, there is only His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who can wear this kind of dress in the palace.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Qingguo is now in much better health than in the previous two years, at least the unhealthy white sè on his face has faded a lot, of course, this is because the queen strictly disciplines him and does not allow him to spend too much jīng energy on the affairs of men and women, but also because he is getting older, facing a complicated situation, and several imperial brothers and brothers are advancing step by step...... Changes made as a last resort.

For the crown prince, the biggest enemy in the past was naturally the second prince, but when the second prince was successfully beaten half crippled by Fan Xian, he was stunned to find that Fan Xian, who originally thought it was his greatest help, turned out to be the son of his father, and he was also the son of his father and the banshee star!

As far as Donggong is concerned, he has already formed an insoluble grudge with the Ye family, so the most exciting thing for the prince at present is, of course, Fan Xian, who is far away in the south of the Yangtze River.

Everyone knows each other that after Fan Xian's life story is revealed, if the crown prince ascends the throne, Fan Xian must not have a good death, and if Fan Xian is in charge, he will definitely ...... It is impossible to allow the crown prince to ascend the throne!

"The queen mother, the affairs of the household department, it seems that it can be done. The crown prince had been listening to the conversation between the queen and Hong Zhu behind the screen and said.

The queen closed her eyes and thought for a while, and said, "How much credibility does Hong Zhu, a eunuch, have?"

"Seventy percent. ”

The queen smiled and said, "I think so too. Hong Zhu was originally on an errand in the imperial study, following your father's side, and Fei Huang Tengda was able to wait, but now although he was transferred to the East Palace, he was promoted two levels and became the chief eunuch, but his authority was far worse than a year ago. ”

The prince said: "If it weren't for Fan Xian telling my father about Hong Zhu's bribery...... The father emperor would not be angry and drove Hong Zhu out. ”

Everyone in the palace knew about this matter, and they all knew the story in the imperial study, and they all thought that the reason why Hong Zhu left the imperial study was because he offended Fan Xian, the master of the Supervision Yuan.

The queen sighed and said, "Look at His Majesty's disposal, he really likes Hong Zhu, the little eunuch...... The problem is that Hongu does not know whether this is true or false. ”

The prince frowned and said: "It should be true that Hong Zhu remembers Fan Xian, the eunuchs and maids in the palace have heard him grit his teeth and say that thing, as for his father's side...... Even if Hong Zhu is used to monitor the child, the child thinks that he has not made a mistake in the past half a year. ”

The queen nodded, a trace of killing intent flashed in her phoenix eyes, and she sneered: "As long as the reason for His Majesty's anger is true...... You can check the affairs of the household department, Fan Jian, this person, can no longer stay in the household department, otherwise Fan Xian is in the Jiangnan Treasury, and Fan Jian is in the Kyoto Treasury, and you will be very sad in the future. ”

The crown prince replied: "The child has always kept in mind his father's teachings and only does what his father is willing to do. ”

The queen frowned and said, "I'll go to Guangxin Palace for a while and ask what your aunt means." ”

Suddenly hearing the name of the eldest princess, a strange glint flashed in the prince's eyes, but he immediately covered it up very well, and said hesitantly: "This time, I still ask my aunt to come forward?"

The queen shook her head and said with a sneer: "She's not a good person to get along with...... Besides, now that His Majesty has let her live in the palace, doesn't it mean to be close to the palace? People are in the deep palace, and it is not very convenient for her to contact those ministers in the court, although your father always seems to be simple, but in fact, his mind is very ruthless, you have to learn more in this regard...... Alas, your aunt has been trying to move lately, but it's really inconvenient. ”

The titular mother of the country sighed, but there was a hint of schadenfreude between her eyebrows, the eldest princess was too dazzling among the women of Qingguo, and she had been faintly covering the queen's demeanor, so how could she be happy? Now that her husband looks at her sister-in-law more and more, the more unpleasant she is, although intellectually the queen knows that it is not a good thing, but she still can't help but feel a trace of pleasure.

That shameless little fox girl!

............ "I'm just going to inform her." The queen sighed and patted the crown prince on the shoulder, "The relationship between your aunt and the second child, you have to endure it for the time being, don't remember the past." As for the shortfall of the household inspection department this time, I will find someone to do it...... Rest assured. ”

A faint chill surged between her eyebrows: "Although the queen mother's family has been killed by those heavenly killers, there are still some people hiding in the court." As for Fan Jian...... He transferred so much money from the treasury to Jiangnan, did he think that he could hide it from the people of the world? Do he think that he could hide it from His Majesty? Even if His Majesty liked Fan Xian no matter how much he liked it, he couldn't allow this kind of thing to happen right under his nose!"

The prince was slightly shocked, no wonder the household department was so badly deficient, it turned out that Fan Jian's courage was so big! Only then did he know that his mother and aunt had already grasped the root of the household department's illness, no wonder he was so confident.

The queen smiled and said: "After the end of the household, the world will be peaceful for a few more days, and Fan Xian will not be able to jump like this now." Think about it carefully, in His Majesty's heart, as long as you don't make trouble with those people, even if you fight with those people, he will only treat it as if he doesn't see it, in the final analysis, you are the prince after all, and it is a thing that everyone in the world knows. ”

The crown prince sighed: "In all dynasties, perhaps only the son, the prince, should be the most wretched. ”

The queen sneered: "I don't know how many princes in history lived worse than you before they ascended the throne! ”

She then said coldly: "The reason why the Queen Mother concluded that Her Majesty still wants you to succeed to the throne is naturally my reason. ”

The prince said anxiously: "But...... Although the second child collapsed, the third child went down to Jiangnan and was always taken by Fan Xian. ”

This is one of the things that has been secretly discussed in the palace recently, the third prince is young, but he went down to the south of the Yangtze River with Lord Qincha to see things, called learning, is it to learn how to govern the country? So the biological mother of the third prince, Yi Guifei, has become the center of the discussion, but this woman of the Liu family has been silent and reserved.

The queen glared at the prince, gritted her teeth and said, "Even a yellow-mouthed child is afraid of being like this, what is your point?"

The prince said sullenly: "My son really can't see it...... Father has what you mean. ”

"I don't mean that, I won't have abolished you a long time ago!" the queen hated that iron could not become steel.

The prince smiled bitterly: "Perhaps, my father is just looking for an opportunity." ”

The queen shook her head and said calmly, "You are wrong, you are more than the other brothers...... Have the greatest strengths of Tsubaki while you ...... yourself But I still can't understand it. ”

The prince was surprised and asked, "What strengths?"

The queen's face was calm with a bleak coldness, and she said slowly: "The eldest prince has a Dongyi background, the second prince's biological mother Shuguifei is also quite influential in Beijing, and the third prince's biological mother Yi Guifei was born in the Liu family, and she is a big family in Beijing, and Fan Xian thinks she relies on...... Of all the princes, you are the only one...... Only our mother and son are alone, and there is no family power to use. ”

"After all, His Majesty and I are a husband and wife who have lived together for so many years. The queen smiled contemptuously: "Your father is good at everything, but his suspicion is too serious, and the throne of Qingguo is going to be passed on, of course he is afraid that the imperial power of the Li family will be next to his relatives...... Therefore, when choosing a successor, he must not accept that the successor is standing behind the too large family power. ”

"So the second is not good, the third is ...... Not even better!" The queen's cold gaze cut at the prince's heart like two knives, "It's only you...... Your Majesty let that old cripple kill your mother's family, one is for that evil banshee star, and on the other hand, why not clear the obstacles for you?"

"Don't be afraid, my child. She gently stroked the prince's cold cheek, sighed and said: "If there is no big problem, no matter how many means His Majesty uses, it is actually to promote you to grow and become stronger, many years ago, he has already selected you, and he will never doubt his own choice." ”

The queen smiled nervously: "Even if his choice is wrong." ”

She suddenly became stunned, gritted her teeth and said, "So do you understand? You can have the position of the crown prince and ensure your position in the future...... It's all because your mother clan has paid more than 3,000 lives! That's your elders, relatives! They all died, and with their blood and their corpses, they paved this road to the royal palace for you! So you must endure until the day you succeed!"

There was a chūn wind in the palace, but this chūn wind was so cold and so chilling.

The crown prince couldn't help but shudder, because the Empress Dowager Nǎinǎi was strict in managing the harem, in fact, he only knew the truth about the bloody night in Kyoto from his mother's mouth in recent years, and knew that his grandfather and uncle all died in that political turmoil.

Originally...... The father wants to get rid of the relatives around him...... His heart began to twitch, and he didn't know how to react at all, if his mother's analysis was right, then as long as he was calm enough, as long as there were no major problems in the world in the future, the dragon chair would be ...... after all. Or your own!

Prince Qingguo's gaze gradually hardened, and he looked at his mother and nodded heavily.

Both mother and son seem to have forgotten what they had said in the dialogue - the premise of the crown prince's succession is that there are no major problems - and everyone in the world knows that whether it is Chen Pingping or Xiao Fan, they are the best at finding big problems from no problems.

The ―――――――――――――――――――――――― palace and the court are actually two in one, and through the emperor's corner that cannot be ignored, the two power fields are perfectly and harmoniously unified together. If the courtiers want to tie up with the emperor, they must tie up the nobles in the palace, and the nobles in the palace want to stretch out their hands outside the palace, so they need to use the courtiers outside to do things for themselves.

This is how the so-called interest groups all came about.

Therefore, when the emperor lost his temper in the imperial study over the deficit of the household department, it spread to the outside of the palace through countless channels, and the entire officialdom began to move stupidly. The highest purpose of being an official is that if you don't like something, you must hurry up to keep up, even if it is a legendary figure like Taishi who stands opposite the emperor, the officials still have to take the lead bravely and are not willing to be left behind.

Because of the emperor's mood as an indicator, this kind of thing will never go wrong.

However, there was a significant time lag between the news in the palace and the reaction at the court meeting, and the officials were more calm and cautious than the previous ones.

First, it is because if you want to check the deficit of the household department, it will inevitably involve Fan Jian, the secretary of the household department, and everyone knows that Fan Jian is extremely spicy, and he has a bad relationship with King Jing, and he has a little bit of nǎi brotherly affection with His Majesty. The officials didn't know what kind of affection the emperor still had for Fan Jian.

The second reason for the officials' caution is very simple-because Fan Jian's son's surname is Fan Ming, Xianzi Anzhi, and he is the Lord of the Supervision Yuan, and now he is the Lord of the Jiangnan Road.

Although everyone knew that Fan Xian was the illegitimate son of the emperor, he ...... Everyone also knows that Fan Xian's loyalty and filial piety are well-known throughout Qingguo, and I don't know how many stories are circulating among the people, such as not recognizing his father in the palace, and desperately entering the Fan ancestral hall at the annual meeting...... If Fan Shangshu's head is found, no one knows how Fan Xian will react. The officials only knew that the second prince had thought of taking advantage of the second young master of the Fan Mansion...... As a result, Fan Xian was angered, and Fan Xian used countless ruthless tricks, arrogantly beating the second prince who had already become a general trend to both ends of the end, and the army was overwhelmed, and the wolf was unbearable.

In the end, Fan Xian successfully beat the second prince to house arrest and returned home...... This brilliant result is enough to deter the vast majority of officials who want to speculate in politics.

This little Fan doesn't even care about the second prince, let alone these officials?

But the pressure from the palace is getting bigger and bigger, and the news from all sides has also confirmed that His Majesty does have the intention of taking the household department, and the real source of His Majesty's displeasure these days is also in the household department. So, the stupid officials finally suppressed xìngzi and began to go home to write the chapter.

Among these officials, there are Zheng Zheng Qingchen, who sincerely serve the country and hope that the imperial court will remove the matter of the household department. There are also ministers who have been instructed by the nobles in the palace to take advantage of this matter to bring down the Fan family, play tricks across the mountains and fight cattle, and make Fan Xian, who is far away in the south of the Yangtze River, discredited. But more often than not, they are political opportunists who have been trying to figure out the holy will in the DPRK for many years in order to climb up.

In short, for many different reasons, the officials of Kyoto rarely agreed on a unified opinion, demanding that the imperial court thoroughly investigate the rumored deficit of the household department, and give an explanation to the people of the world and to His Majesty.