The court of Luoyang City is full of civil and military forces standing opposite each other, the prince Xiao Sheng is dressed in purple and stands at the front of the left side, and Xiao Ce is on the other side, and they are followed by the two left and right ministers of Luoyang.

Emperor Xiao has already said that he has been sick and has not been to the court for several days, and today he saw that his complexion was better, so he went to the court again to discuss matters.

"Something to start, nothing to retreat."

The Ministry of Industry Shangshu stepped forward and stood up and said loudly: "The minister has this book. ”

Emperor Xiao glanced at him condescendingly: "Say." ”

The Ministry of Industry Shangshu quietly glanced at the direction where Xiao Ce was:

"The minister has the intention of visiting His Royal Highness the King."

He mentioned the two names of King Ming, and the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty began to discuss, and the entire court was full of voices of ministers talking in low voices.

If Xiao Ce is not mistaken, this Ministry of Industry Shangshu should also be a descendant of the Xue family, and it is a person who they funded and cultivated to obtain fame.

Now that their Xue family itself doesn't want anyone to stand up, but they sent this chess piece out, it's hard for this person who is a chess piece, and he is still unconsciously loyal, thinking that he is deeply valued by the Xue family.

The people who were involved here seemed to be expressionless as if they had nothing to do with themselves, and those behind them who had nothing to do with them were talking about it one after another.

Emperor Xiao asked in a deep voice, "What is Aiqing involved in?" ”

The Ministry of Industry Shangshu said again: "The three armies led by King Xiao Ce of the Ming Dynasty were supposed to stay in southern Xinjiang and attack Yanyun Shizhou, but His Royal Highness the King of Ming is now leading the troops back without His Majesty's edict, this is one of his crimes, His Majesty ordered the King of Ming to garrison Chang'an after attacking Chang'an, but His Royal Highness the King of Ming disobeyed the order to return to Luoyang privately, resulting in no one stationed near Chang'an for this crime two, His Royal Highness the King of Ming connived at his subordinates, Li Hanning was originally the commander of the three armies, but he neglected his duties and left the military camp without permission, and the King of Ming had the power of the army but ignored it to cover it up, and his third crime was three, According to the law of our court, he should be punished with all sins. ”

Xiao Sheng, who was standing at the front, turned his head slightly when he heard this, and glanced at him, as if what Shang Shugang said in the Ministry of Industry was not at all unexpected to him.

After speaking, he knelt on the ground by himself, and the discussion behind his kneel was louder, and the eunuch on the side looked at Emperor Xiao's face, and immediately went down to take the fold from the hand of the Ministry of Industry Shangshu and put it in front of Emperor Xiao.

Emperor Xiao didn't look at it, and suddenly turned to look at Xiao Ce on the side and said:

"He's joining you, what do you think of the crime he just said?"

Since Xiao Ce was named, he had to stand up, and the somewhat noisy discussions behind him immediately quieted down.

"Back to my father, there is a reason for these things, when His Majesty granted me the right to serve the army two years ago, he once said that on the battlefield, it is inevitable that the situation is critical, and the order of the foreign monarch will not be affected, I can make a decision alone when necessary, General Li did not leave the barracks without authorization, but was ordered by me, and the commander of southern Xinjiang has been replaced by Lu Changfeng. But the reason why I returned to Luoyang is also because the imperial brother wrote to me to tell me that my father is seriously ill, and I have not returned to Luoyang for a long time in the battlefield. ”

Xiao Ce glanced at the Ministry of Works, who didn't dare to look up at all on the ground, paused, and then said in a deep voice:

"My father has been in Luoyang, probably don't know the situation in Chang'an, about two weeks ago Chang'an epidemic, people with a heart blocked the news, but the soldiers and horses led by General Xue besieged Chang'an, and sealed Chang'an, presumably everyone present today should have heard a little, Erchen was also seriously ill when he was in Chang'an, the symptoms of this epidemic are exactly the same as the epidemic in Daliang two years ago, there was no medicine for the disease at that time, this time it was just luck, General Li found a prescription elsewhere, Another friend of Erchen, Li Zhao, brought medicinal materials, after all, if it weren't for the luck of my father and Da Zhou this time, I think the Ministry of Industry may not be able to see it now, and I am standing on top of the court alive. ”

When Xiao Ce said this, he asked the last sentence even more meaningfully:

"I don't know if the Ministry of Industry thinks what I said is right?"

When Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry heard this, he seemed to have remembered something else, and instructed Xiao Ce to mention the epidemic now, that is, he planned to turn over the old accounts of the epidemic in Chang'an, and his body trembled obviously, and he didn't dare to talk.

But Xiao Ce didn't intend to let him go at all, and said in a deep voice: "Speaking of which, Erchen also has a plan to play, the Ministry of Industry Shangshu ordered to obstruct the surrounding cities from sending medicinal materials to Chang'an during the epidemic in Chang'an, if it wasn't for Erchen and General Song to find out in time, I'm afraid that the corpses of the people in Chang'an City are already piled up, and now Erchen's evidence is conclusive, this is physical evidence, and I ask my father to decide." ”

Xiao Ce took out a bloody letter from his cloud sleeve, and the eunuch beside Emperor Xiao hurriedly went down, took the letter from Xiao Ce's hand, and put it on the bookcase in front of Emperor Xiao.

"What is Aiqing's explanation for this?"

The Ministry of Industry Shangshu seemed to be trembling with fright at this moment, he naturally knew the origin of this letter, but this letter was also written by Xue Xiang, and now he didn't know why this letter fell into Xiao Ce's hands.

He didn't dare to speak, but looked at Xue Xiang silently, and saw that Xue Xiang frowned with his eyes closed, he was also a smart person, so he understood what this sentence meant.

He had to take all the blame on himself, after all, there were still his relatives in the mansion, and he must not let Xue Xiang implicate them.

The Ministry of Industry Shangshu sighed and resigned his fate: "It is the old minister who deserves death, but the minister's family is innocent, they don't know about it, and please let your majesty's family go for the sake of the minister's loyalty to Luoyang for many years." ”

Emperor Xiao waved his sleeves, and immediately a guard outside rushed in and dragged the Ministry of Industry Shangshu down.

After such a scene, even if the other ministers had a plan to play, they would not dare to touch their majesty's mold at this time.

The eunuchs on the side glanced at it, and the ground was silent, and then they looked at their Majesty's face, and after obtaining their Majesty's consent, they shouted loudly:

"Scattered Dynasty—"

The Manchu Dynasty civil and military walked towards the door one after another, but the eunuch called out to Xiao Ce:

"King Ming will stay for the time being, Your Majesty will ask you to come over and talk about it."

Xiao Sheng, who was walking slowly, also heard this sentence, and couldn't understand why his father wanted to see Xiao Ce alone at this time, so he turned around and asked the eunuch:

"Did my father only see the second brother alone?"

The eunuch replied: "Yes, Your Majesty only said that you want to see His Royal Highness King Ming." ”

Xiao Sheng glanced at Xiao Ce quietly, seemed to snort coldly, and then turned around and left with his sleeves brushed up.

Seeing that the eunuch was about to go to the back hall, Xiao Ce quickly followed.

It's still early now, but it's just noon, Xiao Ce is walking in the back garden with his father, which is nominally the back garden of the palace, but in fact, it used to be their home in Luoyang, but after his father became emperor, he repaired it to a bigger place.

Their father and son walked in front, and those eunuchs were not far away, nor could they only be a few steps away, unhurriedly following behind.

Emperor Xiao said to Xiao Ce beside him: "It's good for you to come back, I'm afraid you've suffered a lot outside over the years, right?" ”

Xiao Ce replied unhurriedly: "This year, Erchen is fighting outside, and he doesn't feel hard when he thinks that he is fighting for the Great Zhou, for the Xiao family, and for the dawn people of the world. ”

When Emperor Xiao heard this, he sighed heavily: "Your mother and I have indeed treated you badly over the years, and the days you have been in Luoyang have not been a few years, and it is not even as long as the time you have been in Chang'an." ”

When Xiao Ce heard this, he hurriedly said: "It's because the sons are not filial, and they can't stay by the side of their father and mother like the eldest brother to fulfill their filial piety." ”

Emperor Xiao naturally noticed that every time his son answered, he was fluent everywhere, and he generally did not leak, and he was not polite at all, but a standard monarch and minister, and even he sometimes felt that the son in front of him might as well be close to an outsider.

Emperor Xiao asked quietly, "Are you still blaming me and your queen mother?" ”

Xiao Ce stopped, he naturally didn't blame him for saying strange things, maybe when he was young, he studied in Chang'an as a proton, and every New Year's holiday, he did feel resentful when he watched other people's families reunite, but his mother also wrote him letters every year, and those letters, although they were lost when he left Chang'an, he remembered every word of the content of the letters.

Da Liang has not been peaceful over the years, in Xiao Ce's eyes, in fact, the Xiao family has given him enough things, if it weren't for the Xiao family's reputation, he would not have studied the best Shangqing Academy in Da Liang since he was a child, met so many outstanding friends, seen the world, and even the generals and soldiers he knew in the barracks, he would not recognize him as His Highness so easily.

So he has always felt that the past has passed, and he doesn't blame his father and mother at all, how can there be parents in the world who don't like their children.

Xiao Ce immediately knelt on the ground: "Erchen has never complained about his father and mother because of this, Erchen has seen many displaced people on the road along the way, and Erchen feels that he is much luckier than them." ”

What he said was from the bottom of his heart, and Emperor Xiao was his father, so he could naturally see this, and he personally helped Xiao Ce up:

"Just now above the court, we are kings and ministers outside, but here there are only father and son, you don't have to kneel to me, speaking of which I want to reward you, for so many years in the southern and northern wars have almost never been defeated, I am old but I also know in my heart that our great Zhou battles are all fought by you in the past few years of hard work outside."

Xiao Ce didn't answer for the first time, he couldn't say when it started, he always seemed a little cautious in front of this father's people.

Originally, when I was in Chang'an, I felt that I was right to be cautious everywhere, but when I returned home, I found that I had also become cautious at home.