His Majesty is 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 fixed program of accompanying the Queen Mother to watch the play every ten years, and not many people have the opportunity to see His Majesty all day except for the daily court meetings. Father-in-law Yao, Father-in-law Hou, and now Father-in-law Dai, who are now reused, have been 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 to 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 Xiaojun, the garrison of Kyoto, remained unchanged, and when they went 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 their 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 no one can guess who the emperor wants to remind, but they know that the reminder itself already exists. Sure enough, on the third day, Ye Chong, who was far away in Dingzhou, once again wrote to His Majesty with deep sorrow. He said that if it is peaceful today, there is no need for Dingzhou to maintain too many troops, and some people should be reduced.

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 dismissal, His Majesty's mood seemed to be better, and he resumed his daily greetings to the Queen Mother. At the same time, the eldest princess was allowed 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 weren't quite going according to his plan, and that he needed to do something more. But since the seed has begun to sprout, it is cultivated by the black soil in people's hearts. One day, poisonous vines will grow, inexorably breaking through the hard stone that crushes down on it.

Only those who live in the palace know that His Majesty's mood has not really improved, and there is still a trace of sorrow and a very slight sadness on his face.

The emperor is the lord of the world, the lord of the first house, and the object of everyone's gaze. It is everyone's wealth and life, and everyone's future is rich, so everyone in the palace is cautious and extremely nervous to guess what His Majesty still has in his heart.

The old men who were waiting close to each other in the Taiji Hall and the Imperial Study had already become human spirits, and of course they refused to make any noise in the face of the tentative questions of the palaces. And under the authority of Hong's husband. The grandmothers and eunuchs of the 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 every day to talk with her, and occasionally went to the East Palace to meet the queen and the prince. It's just that she herself is a little confused, and she doesn't know what the emperor is thinking.

At this time. A chief eunuch in the East Palace became a very important figure.

Because his name is Hong Zhu, he has been doing things 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.

Hong Zhu has been the leader of the four eunuchs in the East Palace for three months, and has been recognized by the queen by virtue of his status as a place 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 Xiu enough benefits, and this time she also wanted to see if Hong Xiu could be used and to what extent.

The queen mother smiled and looked at Hong Zhu who was kneeling in front of her, and she also liked this little eunuch in her heart, her eyebrows were clear, and she said softly: "Your Majesty is worried about state affairs, and this 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 Your Majesty knows, don't deceive, it's not a shameful thing, don't harm yourself." ”

Hong Zhu's face was moved, and he took the order and left.

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, a gloomy look appeared on her noble face, and sighed: "It turned out to be for the emptiness of the treasury, and the repair project of the river embankment 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 this palace can turn silver out 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. Bite one's tongue.

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 is incompetent in doing things, and ......" He lowered his voice and said, "I heard...... There are officials in the household department who are in deficit and secretly adjust state funds. The number is still very large, so Your Majesty ...... Be furious. ”

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

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

The queen's willow eyebrows were raised, and she was immediately weak. His lips trembled slightly, his cheeks turned pale, and he 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, and his face was soft. The eyes are clear and focused. In addition to the emperor and the queen mother, there is only His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who can wear this kind of clothing 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 on his face has faded a lot, which is of course because the queen strictly disciplines him and does not allow him to spend too much energy on the affairs of men and women. is also because of the growing age, facing the complicated situation, and the step by step with several royal brothers...... Change 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 by Fan Xian and half crippled. He was stunned to find that Fan Xian, who originally thought he was his greatest help, turned out to be the son of his father. And it's also the son of his father and that banshee star!

For the East Palace, he has already formed an insoluble grudge with the Ye family, so what the prince is most vigilant about 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, it seems that the household affairs 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 soaring is just around the corner, but now although he has been transferred to the East Palace, he has been promoted two levels and served as the chief eunuch, but his authority is far worse than that of years 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 knows about this matter, and they all know the story of the middle ground in the imperial study that day, and they all think that the reason why Hong Xiu left the imperial study was because he offended Fan Xian, the master of the Supervision Yuan.

The queen sighed and said, "Look at Your Majesty's disposition, 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 Xiu is used to monitor the child, the child thinks that he has not made a mistake for more than 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 Jiangnan in charge of the treasury, Fan Jian is in charge of the treasury in Kyoto, and you will have a hard time 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 place of surveillance? It's 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 cleverly 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 earth sighed, but there was a hint of schadenfreude between her eyebrows, the eldest princess was too dazzling among the women of Qingguo. Now that her husband looks at her sister-in-law more and more, the more unpleasant she becomes, although intellectually the queen knows that it is not a good thing, she still can't help but feel a trace of pleasure emotionally.

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 vacant land in the household inspection department this time, I will find someone to do it...... Rest assured. ”

A faint chill welled up between her eyebrows: "Although the queen mother's family has been killed by those gods." But there are still some people hiding in the court. As for Fan Jian...... He transferred so much money to the treasury to go 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? Your Majesty will like Fan Xian no matter how much he likes. But he can't allow this 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. In His Majesty's heart, as long as you don't make things out of the ordinary, 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. It's something that everyone knows. ”

The crown prince sighed: "In all dynasties, perhaps only the son, the prince, is the most cowardly in the local area. ”

The queen sneered: "I don't know how many princes in history lived worse than you before they ascended the throne! What are you afraid of? As long as you stay up until the day you ascend the throne, there is a time when you raise your eyebrows." ”

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

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

This is the most secretly discussed thing in the palace recently. The third prince was young, but he went down to the south of the Yangtze River with Lord Qincha to see things, called study, is it to learn how to govern the country? So the biological mother of the third prince, Yi Guifei, became the center of 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 didn't mean that, I didn't abolish you a long time ago!" The queen has some hatred for iron not being made of 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...... There is the greatest one Tsubaki strength, and you ...... by 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 is relying 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, Your Majesty and I are 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 more!" The queen's cold gaze was like two knives in the prince's heart, "It's only you...... Your Majesty asked that Lao Tzu to kill your mother's family, one is for the evil land banshee star, and on the other hand, isn't it clearing the obstacles for you in the future?"

"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, in fact, it is 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 looked terrible, 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 family has given more than 3,000 lives! That's your elders, your relatives! They all died. With their blood and their corpses, the road to the Imperial Rim has been paved for you! So you must endure until the day you succeed!"

There is a spring breeze floating in the palace, but this spring breeze is so cold and so chilling.

The crown prince couldn't help but shudder, because the queen mother's grandmother was strict in managing the harem. In fact, it was only in the last few years that he learned the truth about the bloody night in Kyoto from his mother's mouth. 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 tighten, and he didn't know how to react at all, if his mother's analysis was right, then as long as he behaved calmly 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. Looking at his mother, he nodded heavily.

The mother and son seem to have forgotten what was 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 most ruthless characters who are best at finding big problems from no problems.

The palace and the court are actually two in one, and through the corner of the emperor that cannot be ignored, the two power fields are perfectly and harmoniously united. If the courtiers want to befriend the emperor, they must befriend the nobles in the palace. If the nobles in the palace want to stretch their hands out of the palace, 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 about the deficit of the household department, and after it was spread outside the palace through countless channels, the entire officialdom began to move. The highest purpose of being an official is. Your Majesty doesn't like local things, and those who are officials 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 be brave enough to take the lead and not be willing to be left behind.

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

However, there is obviously a significant time lag between the news in the palace and the reaction at the court meeting, and the officials are more calm and cautious than before.

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, not to mention, and has a good relationship with King Jing, and has a little bit of love 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 and tricks, arrogantly beating the second prince who had already hidden into the general trend at both ends of the end, and he was unable to form an army and was embarrassed.

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 politically.

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. As a result, the officials who were about to make a move finally suppressed their temperament and began to go home to write a recital.

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 and China for many years in order to climb up.

In short, for many different reasons, the Kyoto court officials rarely agreed to ask the court to thoroughly investigate the rumored deficit of the household department, and to give an explanation to the people of the world and to His Majesty.