In the hunting ground, two teenagers were fighting with swords, and beside them, more than a dozen teenagers applauded under the leadership of Chu Haowen.

"Wei Qian, you can't do it! The master has pressed you for twenty taels of silver! ”

"Wu Nan, beat him down for the master! The master has pressed you fifty taels of silver! ”

"Wei Qian! If you dare to let me lose! I'll kill you! ”

The emperor took the lead in gambling, or this kind of gladiator-like gambling, it is enough to see how stupid this emperor is, and this is also the result that Chu Haowen wants at present, because Zhao Dezhu and several people were transferred to join Wu Nan and others, which made Chu Haowen's actions have to be suspended, and he also has to show his mediocre side in public.

It turned out that just after Chu Haowen appeared in public, Murong Xueyuan somehow, suddenly transferred several of Chu Haowen's companions who had confirmed his loyalty, and added a few more companions, as soon as this happened, Chu Haowen knew that there must be Murong Xueyu's secret agent by his side, and sure enough, on the second day, Mo Wen quietly told him that Mo Feng sent someone to kill several little eunuchs in the Golden Dragon Hall yesterday.

Although the spies around him were killed, but he lost contact with Chen Runan and others, Mo Feng would only be responsible for his own safety, as for other aspects, Mo Feng didn't want to pay attention to it, just when Chu Haowen was at a loss, Mo Wen secretly told Chu Haowen that Li Ansheng could try to win over, and Chu Haowen knew that Mo Feng was helping him.

At this moment, in a corner where no one was paying attention, Lu Feng, the commander of the dead soldiers, quietly handed Li Ansheng a note, and after reading the content of the note, Li Ansheng handed the note back to Lu Feng.

At night, the lights are still bright everywhere in the palace, the guards of the forbidden army are seriously patrolling to protect the royal safety, and the hundreds of dead soldiers outside the Golden Dragon Hall are guarding the emperor, they are the emperor's last guarantee.

At this time, Chu Haowen was walking back and forth in the house, he didn't know if his news was handed out, in case the operation failed, Lu Feng was arrested, or Li Ansheng took refuge in the Queen Mother, and the Queen Mother jumped over the wall in a hurry, can she rely on these hundreds of dead soldiers to turn the tables? If he fails, will Mo Feng save himself?

At this moment, a knock on the door brought Chu Haowen's thoughts back to reality, and then he hurriedly opened the door, and when he saw Li Ansheng wearing the armor of a dead soldier, his hanging heart was half relieved, "Come in." ”

After entering the door, Li Ansheng directly gave Chu Haowen a big salute, "The minister knocks to see Your Majesty, Your Majesty is safe." ”

"I'm there! I'm Ann! After that, Chu Haowen helped Li Ansheng up, and when the two of them sat down, Chu Haowen asked, "How is it, are you suspected?" Did anyone follow? ”

Lu Feng replied: "Your Majesty, rest assured, today and tomorrow are our monthly holidays, and we and other dead soldiers can enter and leave the palace at will, plus I deliberately went around seven or eight times before entering the palace and there is such time, there will never be a mistake!" ”

Hearing Lu Feng's answer, Chu Haowen nodded, and began his gamble: "Li Qing, you also know that I can only stay in the palace now, and my orders can't get out of the palace at all, presumably you already know the purpose of my invitation to you in this way." ”

Hearing this, Li Ansheng did not hesitate and immediately knelt down and said, "Your Majesty! Before leaving, the minister's brother asked the minister to swear in front of the ancestral spirit tablet that the minister would be loyal to His Majesty forever. Your Majesty, your order is the direction in which the minister is heading, and the minister wishes to follow His Majesty forever and forever until death! ”

"Aiqing, please hurry up, I don't mean that, I just have enough of the playthings in the palace, and I want you to help me get some things outside the palace for me to play." Seeing that Li Ansheng was loyal to him, Chu Haowen hurriedly helped him up and explained his purpose to him.

After listening to Chu Haowen's explanation, Li Ansheng was stunned for a few seconds, he knew that Chu Haowen still had a certain degree of wariness against him, and then said: "Your Majesty, although the minister was born in a humble manner, only the elder brother in the family has served in the imperial court, although he is just a small companion, but the minister has also read the four books and read the Five Classics, and also knows loyalty, what the minister wishes is to meet the Ming Lord Zhongxing Dazhao, from now on, the minister is willing to be the sword in the palm of His Majesty, but there is no second heart with the drive!" If this is not true, heaven and man are angry! Your Majesty! After saying that, Li Ansheng respectfully saluted Chu Haowen and looked up at Chu Haowen.

Chu Haowen looked at Li Ansheng who was so respectful, and looked at Li Ansheng's firm eyes, at this time, his heart was also constantly struggling, whether to trust him or not, in case he was pretending to be now, then he would never have the opportunity to fight with the queen again. But if he is really loyal, then he can control the channels of communication with the outside world, which is of great benefit to himself.

In the end, Chu Haowen decided to take a gamble, after all, he was now alone, and there was nothing to lose, after deciding on a good idea, Chu Haowen put his hand on Li Ansheng's hand and replied: "Okay!" Then he looked at Li Ansheng with the same firm eyes, and looked at Chu Haowen to gain his most staunch supporter in this court.

Nanshan, Qingfu Palace, the empress dowager who has unloaded the burden of the court is leisurely eating grapes under the massage of the palace maid, and at this time an old palace maid walked in and nodded to the empress dowager.

Immediately, the Empress Dowager dismissed all the palace maids and eunuchs on the grounds that she wanted to rest, and a moment later, a man in black who looked like a ghost instantly came to a place ten steps away from the Empress Dowager, facing her

After the old lady bowed, she knelt down on one knee and saluted the Queen Mother.

The Empress Dowager waved her hand and asked, "How is it, what is that kid tossing?" ”

"Empress Dowager, Your Majesty has secretly summoned Li Ansheng, the brother of the late Taixue Bachelor. When Lu Feng went to find Li Ansheng, he was followed by the Queen Mother's people, and the people who followed him were beheaded by his subordinates. The man in black replied respectfully.

"This kid is always careless in doing things, okay, you go back, so that you can protect his safety." After listening to the report of the man in black, the corner of the empress dowager's mouth showed a shallow smile, and then she waved her hand to let the man in black go down.

In the Prime Minister's Mansion in the inner city, today is the twentieth birthday of the second son of Prime Minister Xiao Yunzhou, and it is also the Lantern Festival.

In the inner hall, in addition to Xiao Yunzhou's relatives and relatives, they are all Xiao Yunzhou's protégés and cronies, at this time, everyone is pushing the cup to change the lamp to greet each other, and when everyone in the outer hall is almost gone, Xiao Yunzhou asked his wife to take the family back to the inner house.

Seeing that the prime minister's family and family had left, everyone sat up one after another, looking at Xiao Yunzhou in unison.

"Ladies and gentlemen, since the Beijing army returned to the division, the Queen Mother replaced the commanders of the Leopard Battalion and the Tiger Battalion with their own people, the Ministry of Rites has been completely controlled by the Queen Mother since the old man Shan said goodbye, in the north, the newly formed dreadnought army of the King of Chu has become an army, but the King of Chu has been slow to find an excuse and is unwilling to return to the fiefdom, although the Dongjun rebellion is gradually being extinguished under the offensive of the Great Sima, but let the King of Jiaodong and others occupy a large number of acres of land and raise many domestic servants, everyone! We are in a very dangerous situation right now. Xiao Yunzhou opened his mouth and shook out what had happened in the recent days, in fact, everyone knew these things, but everyone was reluctant to say it, but now only a few months have passed, the situation is already so grim, if you let it go, then Zhao Guo's civil officials will really lose power.

"Prime Minister, although we are unwilling, but Your Majesty is now controlled by the Queen Mother, and the edicts issued by her are all stamped by the seal of the Son of Heaven, and there is a Shangshutai review, we really can't stop it."

"Yes, now that the Queen Mother and her party have a firm grasp of the Son of Heaven and control most of the key departments of the court, it is really difficult for us to fight against it now."

"Half a month ago, the five left servants of the Imperial History Prosecution and Criminal Department, Lang Tang and the corrupt law, were hastily closed by the Queen Mother due to insufficient evidence, and after the case was closed, the patrol battalion found the bodies of several people on the bellies of several women in Chunfeng Hall on the same day.

These people, not only want to kill but also ruin your reputation, knowing who did it, but there is no way to punish the murderer. ”

"Prime Minister, with our current strength, we can only protect ourselves, if we want to further compete with it, I'm afraid it ......"

After Xiao Yunzhou finished speaking, the imperial historian began to complain in Chaojin, followed by a sound of complaints, everyone had lost their ambitions under the powerful attack of the queen mother's party, and there was a decadent atmosphere as far as the eye could see.

Looking at the decadent crowd, Xiao Yunzhou also sighed helplessly, "Gentlemen, do you know that we are weak now, but if we are weak, let others be bullied?" If you are weak, let the traitorous ministers take charge, and the relatives will be in power, and the king will not be a monarch or a minister! Think about it! What did you study for? Think about it! Your ambitions when you were officials! Xiao Yunzhou's voice became louder and louder, gradually overshadowing everyone's voice, and everyone slowly quieted down, the afterglow swept by, and everyone lowered their heads, now they have long lost their past ambitions. Ambition? Ideal? How can there be a promotion to make a fortune, and the lives of the old and young are important.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Now we will continue to endure, and one day the current position of the kings will be occupied by others, and the kings will also be exiled to various places, and life is better than death. "Since it is not possible to ignite their passions, let them fight against them for their own interests, starting from their vital interests.

Then, Xiao Yunzhou continued: "Now that we have a chance to expand our strength, I don't know if you are willing to work together with this prime minister. After that, Xiao Yunzhou looked at the people below and waited for everyone's reply.

"I don't know what the prime minister is talking about?"

"Imperial Examination!" The words were not shocking, Xiao Yunzhou's words stirred up a thousand waves, and everyone looked at Xiao Yunzhou with an unbelievable expression, "Prime Minister, you also know that after my country held the imperial examination in the eighth year of Mingde, it has not been held for nearly eleven years now, how can you be sure that the imperial examination will be held this year?" ”

"Prime Minister, now that the court is not stable, I am afraid it is not suitable to reopen the imperial examination."

In the eighth year of Mingde, Emperor Zhaozong saw that the domestic situation was gradually improving, so he reopened the imperial examination that had been stagnant for five years at the request of the ministers, and three years later the imperial examination should have been continued, but it was terminated because of the joint rebellion of the King of Weishan and the Southern Barbarians, and then it was abandoned because of the gradually fierce court struggle, and it has been nearly 11 years now, and during this time, the talent expansion of the imperial court was recommended by officials at all levels, which made many people without talent and virtue enter the court, and also made many people rich, which is also the reason why everyone is reluctant to reopen the imperial examination.

Looking at the people below, Xiao Yunzhou understood very well what they wanted, "Everyone, there are so many scholars in the world, how many people have the talent to serve the country but cannot achieve it because they have no money to bribe the officials, and now we are waiting for the imperial examination again, so that the scholars in the world have an opportunity to display their talents."

Who do you think they will be thankful for? Thanks to the Queen Mother? No! They will thank only those of you who are not afraid of power for the sake of the world! You will go down in history! Ladies and gentlemen, who agrees and who disagrees. ”

"We will obey the order of the prime minister and open the way for the world's scholars!" The right attendant of the ministry stood up directly to express his position, and the other people also followed suit.

For the country and the people? Bullshit! Go down in history? Nonsense! What makes these people most excited is that when they re-mention the imperial examination, their prestige will increase tremendously, and even if they are lucky enough to become proposition officials, then there will be countless scholars who will come to visit them in the future, which will increase their prestige, so you can't come empty-handed when you come to visit, so it is reasonable to take bribes.

Even if you can't become a proposition official, should some candidates from your hometown and sect visit their seniors when they come to the capital? Do you want to bring gifts when visiting seniors? If you don't accept it, will it chill the hearts of the scholars in your hometown?

In case my junior is admitted, and he will become an official in the same dynasty in the future, and he is promoting him, and if something happens in the future, everyone is a fellow villager (senior brother), can you not help me? After all, someone will help you in the future, and your fellow villagers will always be closer than others.

The household department of Shangshu Mansion, the left and right servants of the household department, the right attendant of the military department, and the Shaoqing of Dali Temple came to Chen Run'an's mansion after attending the banquet in Xiao Yunzhou.

"Ladies and gentlemen, yesterday the Empress Dowager sent me a secret letter, asking me to propose the reopening of the imperial examination at the court meeting in the day after tomorrow." After everyone was seated, Chen Runan conveyed the order he had received a few days ago to everyone.

Hearing that the Empress Dowager wanted to reopen the imperial examination, everyone was at a loss for a while, after all, there had been no imperial examination for so many years, and the ministers of the court had formed a chain of interests.

"Liangchen, is this proposal too risky? You must know that there has been no imperial examination for so many years, and the court ministers have already formed a series of rules for the selection of talents, and now we rashly propose to reopen the imperial examination, which will inevitably touch the interests of many people. Dali Temple Qing Zhuge Qibo first raised objections.

Seeing that someone took the lead, Wei Zhiqiu, the left attendant of the household department, also raised objections: "Yes, Lord Chen, don't look at everyone's usual harmony, but if the interests of others are moved, let alone the members of the DPRK and the Central Committee, even the people under us may not be willing." Although Wei Zhiqiu is a die-hard follower of Chen Run'an, he also wants to protect himself in the face of such a situation.

Seeing that the two heavyweight ministers objected one after another, Chen Runan looked at Zhang Lei, the right attendant of the household department who had not yet spoken, "Bo Ming, what do you think?" ”

"My lord, I think I can try it, but I need to talk to the ministers of the DPRK and China, and give them certain benefits before I can give it a try." Zhang Lei wanted to be a beautiful man quietly in the corner, but when he saw that everyone's eyes fell on him, he stubbornly expressed his opinion.

"Bo Minh's words are all delusional, not to mention how to get the ministers of the DPRK and China to agree with our ideas, just talk about the distribution of interests, how can we achieve the level that everyone is satisfied? And who can guarantee that this matter will not be known to the Queen Mother's party? As soon as Zhang Lei finished speaking, Wei Zhiqiu decisively opposed Zhang Lei's opinion.

"Okay, Decai, you don't have to be so fierce to oppose Birming." Seeing Wei Zhiqiu's fierce words, Chen Runan hurriedly stopped him, "This proposal is an order directly issued by the Empress Dowager, and it is not that we are alone, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Industry and the Weiwei Temple will propose it together with us, and the Prime Minister's people will also put forward this proposal, in addition, the Confucianism, the soldiers, farmers, and miscellaneous laws and Taoist families will also put pressure on the imperial court." In addition, this matter must not be hidden, the Empress Dowager means that everyone wants everyone to know, and the bigger the trouble, the better.

Ladies and gentlemen, the main purpose of our proposal this time is not to stop the development of the Queen Mother's one-party party, but to provide sufficient talents for Your Majesty's pro-government in the future. ”

After listening to Chen Run'an's words, everyone couldn't refute it, but after thinking about it, I, the royalists, are desperate for His Majesty's future, and His Majesty will be in power in the future, can I not remember my own good? But many people are still afraid that His Majesty will not be able to compete with the Queen Mother, and whether he can be pro-government in the future is still a question, but when he thinks that the Queen Mother has now made a move, he will not say anything.

In the Sheng Mansion, Sheng Jingquan, the secretary of the Criminal Department, was meeting guests, and Ning Qian, the secretary of the Ministry of Justice, was sitting opposite him, and in the face of Ning Qian's visit, Sheng Jingquan took out the best tea to entertain.

"Just tea is good, I'm afraid it's not easy to get." After tasting the tea that Sheng Jing had brewed lightly, Ning Qian complimented.

"Hahaha, Yanhe is here, how dare I not use good tea, the things offered by the younger generations in the family, if Yanhe likes to take them." Sheng Jingquan smiled and generously said that he wanted to give this tea to Ning Qian, and as he spoke, he ordered someone to bring two bags of wrapped tea and handed them to Ning Qian.

"That's not good. Then I'll thank Master Shan. Ning Qian said no, but when Sheng Jingquan handed the tea to himself, he still accepted it happily.

"Justice, this time I came here to congratulate the Lantern Festival, and the second is that the Queen Mother learned that the Queen Mother had united the three parties and wanted to put pressure on the Queen Mother to re-propose the imperial examination, and the Queen Mother wanted to ask your opinion." After receiving the tea bag, Ning Qian put forward the true purpose of the trip.

"What does the Queen Mother mean?" Sheng Jingquan put down the teacup in his hand and asked, he knew that since Ning Qian was here, he must have given a clear answer from the Queen Mother, and asking about himself was just a routine.

Ning Qian told Sheng Jingquan what Murong Xueyuan meant very sincerely, "The Queen Mother means that the current situation is not suitable for holding the imperial examination, after all, these days, we have relied on the recommendation of officials to occupy most of the court of our forces, as long as we persist for another half a year, the entire court will be our people, and when the time comes, we can open the imperial examination again." ”

After listening to Ning Qian's words, Sheng Jingquan poured a cup of tea for Ning Qian with a smile, and said with a smile: "Then you can do it according to the Queen Mother's wishes, and in the future, you will send someone to inform me of this kind of thing, and you don't have to come in person." ”

"No, you must know the whole picture at this time, and if it weren't for the fact that the servant said that you were meeting a guest during the discussion, I would have gone with you to counsel." Taking Sheng Jingquan's tea, Ning Qian hurriedly explained to Sheng Jingquan, he knew that Sheng Jingquan was already angry at this time.

"Is that so?" Sheng Jingquan pretended to be surprised and said, and then called the housekeeper and said, "Didn't I say that Lord Ning came to see me, and no matter what I did, he had to report to me?" ”

The housekeeper is also a human spirit, how can he not understand Sheng Jingquan getting off the donkey down the slope, "I'm sorry master, the domestic servant doesn't understand the rules, I will educate him well when I go back." ”

"Let's kill and feed the dog" Seeing the housekeeper say this, Sheng Jingquan waved his hand to let him go down, and then said to Ning Qian: "The domestic servant doesn't understand the rules, Yanhe must not be surprised." ”

"Nothing, nothing." Seeing that Sheng Jingquan took the initiative to go down the steps, Ning Qian didn't say anything anymore, and seeing that the time was not early, he took the initiative to say goodbye and go home.

As soon as Sheng Jingquan, who had sent Ning Qian back to the study, sat down, a man dressed as a wealthy businessman walked out of the secret passage on the side.

"What does the general think about this matter?" Seeing the rich businessman come out, Sheng Jingquan asked him what they thought about the matter.

"The general thinks that it is the best way to stop it with all his might, and it is the best way to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, and if there is a chance to kick the empress dowager out of the court in the future, it will be the best." The rich merchant stood aside and said.

"Okay." After listening to the rich businessman's answer, Sheng Jingquan rubbed his temples and said helplessly, at this time, he felt like a beast in a cage, everything about himself was arranged by others, and there was no room for his own play.

What's what? You ask them why no one cares about the domestic servant? The adults gave you a bite to eat so that your family would not starve to death, so what happened to you buying a life for him? Is it embarrassing for you?