"Bastard, how can you talk to Zhou Daying? I have something important to discuss with Zhou Yingying here, when will you intervene? ”

King Xiao Huai loudly scolded his entourage.

The entourage of the fox and the fake tiger thought that he could please the master by standing up for the master, but he didn't expect to be reprimanded in exchange, so he hurriedly retreated to the side, stood with his hands down, and didn't dare to say anything again.

"Zhou Yingying, it's me who is not strict in discipline, and please forgive me." King Xiao Huai hurriedly gave a salute.

Zhou Zhou Ming didn't take it to heart at all, and said with a smile: "Your Royal Highness, this is not the time to talk about these trivial things, please hold back your thoughts, I have one thing I want to confirm privately with His Highness." ”

The guards and attendants who followed King Xiaohuai here were all worried when they heard Zhou Zhou Ming make such an unreasonable request.

You must know that Zhou Ming killed Yan Shikuan and Feng Shiying in a row last night, and his strength can be seen to be very strong, if Xiao Huaiwang is left here alone, if something goes wrong, they can't afford to be guilty at all.

The commander of the guards immediately stood up and said: "Your Royal Highness, your safety is of paramount importance, we must not leave our duties without permission, Your Highness must not listen to the nonsense of others." ”

When Zhou Zhou Ming heard this, he felt angry and funny.

These guards are a little too careful, aren't they? Do I have the courage to harm King Xiaohuai?

First, King Xiao Huai is still young and frank, and secondly, yesterday Zhou Ming killed the wicked, leaving a very good impression on King Xiao Huai, so he was unsuspecting Zhou Ming.

"You wait to protect me, I naturally know, but this king has his own opinions, you have the right to step down and stay outside the door."

King Xiao Huai did not hesitate at all, and immediately ordered his subordinates to retreat.

A group of guards and attendants stood in place and hesitated, their eyes all looking at Zhou Ming viciously.

"Didn't you hear the words of this king? If you delay the great affairs of this king, can you afford to suffer the sin? Xiao Huaiwang rebuked loudly.

A group of guards and entourage slowly withdrew from the gate of the Zhou Mansion.

When the guards all exited the door, Xiao Huaiwang looked at Zhou Ming with an embarrassed expression: "Zhou Yingying, I'm really sorry, I usually don't discipline my subordinates strictly, so I make you laugh." ”

Zhou Zhou Ming waved his hand and said with a smile: "These guards are dedicated to protecting the Lord, and their loyalty can be seen, how can I laugh?"

And His Royal Highness the prince, don't call me Zhou Yingying, I really can't afford it. ”

"And what should I call it?"

Zhou Zhou Ming thought for a while: "I am now holding a position of transcription in the inspection yamen, if the prince does not dislike it, call me Zhou to copy." ”

Xiao Huaiwang nodded, his expression became serious: "Zhou Transcript, you asked me to retire my subordinates, what is the important thing to discuss with me?" ”

Zhou Zhou Ming carefully checked the surroundings to confirm that there was no one, and then used Yuan Qi to probe, within a radius of ten miles, except for Lin Ajiao, there were no martial arts masters.

He approached King Xiaohuai, suddenly lowered his voice, and asked, "Your Royal Highness, you came to my mansion to see me this time, His Royal Highness the Prince, that is, Brother Linghuang, do you know?" ”

After Xiao Huaiwang heard this question, he was stunned.

Although King Xiaohuai was deeply favored by the emperor, among his brothers and sisters, he was the best with the crown prince.

The reason is very simple, the two are siblings of the same mother, although the age difference is sixteen or seventeen years, but the relationship has always been very good, and even from childhood to adulthood, the prince personally disciplined King Xiaohuai.

Because of his young age and the favor of the emperor, in the early years, King Xiaohuai was in the palace, almost not afraid of heaven and earth, and he would do mischief every once in a while, causing trouble.

The emperor is old, and he is bent on pursuing breakthroughs in martial arts, and he has no time to manage the affairs of the imperial court, let alone discipline King Xiaohuai.

The lawless little King Huai, if he continues to act like that, the consequences can be imagined.

As the saying goes, the eldest brother is like a father, but fortunately, the prince later disciplined him strictly, taught him to read and reason, taught him to be immoral, and beat him when he made mistakes.

This has led to a consequence, although the current Xiaohuai Wang, although he is not doing anything wrong, he is still not afraid of heaven and earth, but he is only afraid of one person in his heart, that is, the crown prince.

Before he left the palace to find Zhou Yiming, he didn't tell the prince, because he knew in his heart that His Royal Highness the prince was old and serious, and if he knew his thoughts, he would definitely stop him.

"I don't know." Xiao Huaiwang told the truth.

Zhou Ming frowned, the truth was exactly what he thought.

In all dynasties, the life of the crown prince has not been easy.

Although it is said that it is under one person and above ten thousand, this position is too embarrassing.

Nominally the successor of the emperor, but as long as the emperor stays in the seat, you will always be the one who poses the greatest threat to the supreme power.

Although the emperor is your father, he must always be wary of you, and the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, no matter what they think in their hearts, in order to reassure the old emperor, they must deliberately keep a distance from you.

If this prince is a smart person, it is not difficult to be pure and have few desires at this time, write a book and say, do not ask about the affairs of the court, let alone form a gang, save his life, and spend the days of being a prince safely.

But if this prince is stupid, or in a hurry, secretly cultivating his own power, and wants to seize power as soon as possible, then in most cases, the ending will be very tragic, or even the praying mantis catches the cicada, and the yellow finch is behind, cheapening others.

And once the old emperor was in power, the court had the power to be there, and the prince's life would be even more difficult.

To be a powerful minister above 10,000 people under one person, you must first gain the favor and trust of the old emperor, and usually to do this, the first thing these traitorous ministers have to do is to bully the prince, and tell the old emperor in this way, look, I only have you in my eyes, and I don't care about the prince.

Because of this, once the powerful minister and the crown prince appear at the same time in the court, the relationship between the two is the same.

The traitorous minister offended the prince, and naturally knew that if the old emperor was gone, he would have no good fruit to eat, so he would do his best to bring down the prince when the old emperor was alive, so that the emperor could re-establish a successor.

If it succeeds, he will be favored by the old emperor and enjoy prosperity and wealth, and after the new emperor ascends the throne in the future, he will still have the merit to support and maintain his power.

However, if the crown prince can successfully ascend the throne, the fate of the ministers is also very miserable, and the new emperor will be the first to use him to sacrifice the flag, on the one hand, to remove the obstacles to power, to establish his own authority, on the other hand, to leave a vacant seat for cultivating his own power.

Now that the crown prince is in his thirties, he is in the prime of life, and he has already had his own views on governing the country, even if he ascends the throne as an emperor at this time, he may do better than his father.

In such a situation, the old emperor was jealous, and he might guard against his son like a thief.

The reason why the old emperor favored Yan Qiu and let him lean into the government and the opposition was nothing more than a kind of power restraint, as a person with vested interests, Yan Qiu, and the relationship with the prince were good or bad, it can be imagined.

Zhou Zhou Ming didn't know how strong the prince's power was in the court at this time, but he could be sure that the current prince could survive on the crown prince for so many years, and he was by no means an ordinary person.

Xiao Huaiwang is innocent and romantic, he is young, the court is deceitful, and the power is tilted, he naturally will not understand, and even he has no such consciousness in his heart.

But he doesn't think so, his identity has already determined his camp.

As the younger brother of the prince's mother, even if he doesn't do anything, he will be regarded as a person on the prince's side.

Now that he has just killed Yan Qiu's grandson, when the result of the case is not clear and his future is uncertain, Xiao Huaiwang came to stand in line with him at this time, Xiao Huaiwang's affection made Zhou Ming very moved, but Xiao Huaiwang's approach is very unwise, almost equivalent to adding fuel to the fire, making the original complicated case even more treacherous.

By doing so, he undoubtedly sent a message to the outside world that the prince recognized Zhou Ming's approach, and would even help at a critical moment.

Such an approach would not only bring huge trouble to the crown prince, but would also make Zhou Ming's situation even more dangerous.

Originally, he killed Yan Shikuan to enforce the law impartially, and the matter had already made a big fuss, and if Yan Qiu took into account his face and the pressure from the outside world, he was likely to compromise and put all the blame on his grandson, and this case would be a big matter and a small matter.

But if the crown prince is involved, the nature of this case will change, from a criminal case of impartial law enforcement to a life-and-death power struggle, and at that time, even if the old emperor enters in person, it will be difficult for Zhou Ming to get out easily.

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhou Ming was in a complicated mood and sighed softly: "Alas!"

Seeing that Zhou Ming's face had changed drastically, Xiao Huaiwang asked with a worried face: "Zhou Transcript, what happened?" What's the trouble you just ask? This king will definitely help you and will never let you suffer the slightest grievance. ”

Zhou Zhou Ming tried to calm down and said with a smile: "Your Royal Highness, do you want to ask you for something?" ”

"But it doesn't hurt to say it." To be able to contribute a little bit to Monday, Xiao Huaiwang is very happy.

"Please leave here quickly, return to the palace quickly, and tell the prince about your departure from the palace." Zhou Ming hurriedly said.

Xiao Huaiwang was stunned: "Why is this?" Zhou Transcript, you don't have to worry, the imperial brother won't be angry with me, I have a lot to say to you when I came here. ”

Zhou Ming smiled bitterly: "Little prince, if you want to save the life of the lowly officer, just do what I say, otherwise, on this day next year, His Royal Highness may have to go to my grave." ”

Xiao Huaiwang was stunned, because he could hear that Zhou Ming's tone didn't seem to be joking.

"Is it so serious? Well, the king will listen to you. ”

King Xiao Huai walked to the gate and beckoned to the guards and attendants outside the door: "Come on, bring in the gifts prepared by this king." ”

Before he could finish speaking, a group of guards and attendants carried boxes of precious gifts into the mansion and placed them in the courtyard.

Xiao Huaiwang opened the box one by one, and the box contained precious medicinal materials, jewelry, gold and silver, not to mention.

The sound of carrying things was so loud that it alarmed the people in the house, and all the people in the house came out to see the excitement.

Seeing such a priceless gift, everyone's eyes widened, and Mrs. Lin had even already selected two rare treasures in her heart, wanting to ask Zhou Ming for them after King Xiaohuai left.