Following.

As expected by the second prince, Lu Shen did not come to Moyuan again, because early in the morning, the palace eunuch went to the Shanyang Marquis Mansion and summoned Lu Shen to the palace for an audience.

The holy place is not in the Wende Hall where the Son of Heaven lives every day, but in the Guanyun Platform in the southeast corner of the palace.

This platform is more than six zhang high, it is the highest building in the palace, standing on the top can see the scenery of Yongjia half of the city.

The great eunuch Lu Shizhou led Lu Shen to the side of the steps, bowed slightly and said, "Lu Hou, please." ”

Lu Shen raised his eyes to look at the bright yellow figure above, and said warmly: "There is a young eunuch." ”

Lu Shizhou hurriedly lowered his head and said, "Don't dare." ”

Lu Shen stepped up the stairs, came to the side of the Son of Heaven, and saluted: "Minister Lu Shen, see Your Majesty." ”

Li Duan turned his head to look at the young courtier, his expression was very gentle, but his words had the meaning of a sword: "Last night, the Prime Minister invited you to the banquet, and he must have told you during the banquet that he intends to be the prince and hopes to get your support." ”

Lu Shen didn't want to be too thoughtful in front of the Son of Heaven, and he was indeed a little shocked after hearing this, so he muttered: "Your Majesty, that Oiran named Xue Susu is your eyeliner?" ”

"Oiran?"

Li Duan smiled, shook his head and said, "How could I put this kind of eyeliner next to the prince?" ”

"Then how would Your Majesty know—"

"How do you know what King Xiang will say to you?"

Li Duan interrupted him, raised his hand to press the white jade railing, and said leisurely: "Because he is my son, of course I understand his thoughts. ”

Lu Shen was even more puzzled in his heart.

Before returning to Beijing this time, Xiao Wangzhi and Lu Tong had talked to him in private, and there were two whirlpools in Beijing that he tried his best to avoid, one was the dispute between the center and the border army, and the other was the dispute between the princes of the three adult princes.

The former is easy to be targeted because of Lu Shen's identity, and the latter is a military general in the army who should not interfere in the succession of imperial power.

Lu Shen actually didn't know what Tianzi was thinking, since ancient times, the position of the prince should have been determined early, this is the foundation of the country and should not be ignored.

However, Li Duan has not clearly expressed his thoughts in this regard so far, even if some courtiers ask for the crown prince, he will be kept by him every time.

As if seeing the doubts in Lu Shen's heart, Li Duan said unhurriedly: "When King Chen learned that you accepted King Xiang's invitation to the banquet, he didn't say anything, but he seriously injured a servant in the mansion with his own hands, because the servant was a little slow to serve tea. Of course, the long history of Chen Wangfu is very skillful, and he dealt with this matter last night. If it weren't for me to let Qin Zheng arrange a few good players in King Chen's mansion, I'm afraid I would have been kept in the dark. ”

Lu Shen's heart sank.

King Chen is the great prince Li Zongchao, and the government and the opposition have always had the name of gentleness and generosity.

But Li Duan didn't lie - there was no need for him to frame his own son with such a lie, and the eldest prince's temperament was obviously not as benevolent as he showed to the outside world.

Because Lu Shen accepted the invitation of the second prince, not only participated in the follow-up of the Moyuan Literary Meeting, but also was willing to go to the banquet, the eldest prince was very angry, so he made a move to anger others, which can at least be regarded as a wide external and internal taboo.

From this point of view, the Son of Heaven must not be very satisfied with the character of the eldest prince, otherwise he would not forcibly drag the position of the prince to the end.

Li Duan said: "Of course, as the Son of Heaven, I can't be punished without teaching, in fact, I have taught King Chen many times in the past few years, he is very humble in front of me, and when he returns to the palace, he often can't control his temper. ”

Although Lu Shen has not yet married a wife and had children, he can probably understand this kind of educational problem.

Mo said that Li Duan can't be called a generation of Ming monarchs at the moment, just in the history known by Lu Shen in his previous life, there are also many people who have left their names in history There are many defects and regrets in this regard.

For example, Li Shimin, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, who is known as the Heavenly Khan, the protagonist of the story Lu Shen told last night, his sons are not worry-free, whether Li Chengqian or Li Tai finally embarked on the road of father-son breakup.

Countless histories can prove that the emperor and the father are two very different identities.

Li Duan didn't know what Lu Shen was thinking at this moment, and continued: "The third king is the king...... He relied on the love of the queen to act recklessly, and even wanted to send a dead man to attack you at yesterday's meeting, so as to frame his brother of one of his mother's compatriots. ”

Lu Shen frowned slightly and said, "Your Majesty, there was no change in the Wenhui yesterday. ”

"I know."

Li Duan raised his eyes and looked at the blue sky in the early summer morning, and said slowly: "Yesterday, the queen detained the third child in the harem, and she didn't let him out of the palace until the evening. I guessed that the queen stopped the third child, after all, most of the cronies around the third child were relatives of the descendants. ”

The wrinkles at the corners of Tianzi's eyes seem to have increased a lot.

Lu Shen couldn't help but sigh lightly.

Li Duan laughed at himself, and then said: "The ancients had the fault of saying that the son did not teach the father, and the three princes had their own problems, which is to blame for not teaching them well. It's just that...... It's not that I'm complaining in front of you, I've been walking on thin ice since I ascended the throne, and most of the time I've been thinking about how to balance the court structure, how to win the support of more courtiers, so as to give more help to the border soldiers and soldiers, so that they can fight bravely to kill the enemy without worries. ”

Lu was silent for a moment, and said softly: "Your Majesty, the position of the prince must be determined after all, otherwise it will be harmful to the country." ”

"I originally wanted to hear your opinion, so I asked you to go to the Moyuan Literary Conference to see the background of King Xiang up close."

Lu Shen's heart moved slightly, the words of the Son of Heaven had a deep meaning.

Why did you ask him to see the background color of the second prince?

This can only show that the Son of Heaven intends to make the second prince the crown prince, perhaps after a long period of observation and comparison, the Son of Heaven really can't accept the problem of the character of the eldest prince and the third prince, and the second prince is at least the same.

Without waiting for Lu Shen to respond, Li Duan said again: "But I thought about it for a long time last night, as a general of the border army, you don't know much about the situation in Beijing, and you definitely don't want to be involved in this kind of storm." Besides, I have high hopes for you, and I don't want you to waste your energy on such things, and I don't want you to hold a grudge. ”

In all fairness, the words of the Son of Heaven can be called a heart-to-heart, and he has already regarded Lu Shen as a minister.

"Your Majesty is loved, and the ministers are inscribed."

Lu Shen bowed, and his tone was sincere.

Li Duan nodded slightly, and said warmly: "As long as I make a decision in the future, you can support my decision." ”

Lu Shen bowed his head and said: "The minister obeys the order." ”

"One more thing."

Li Duan pondered for a moment and said slowly: "That down-and-out literati named Lang Sanyuan, the Warp Weaving Department has already found out his details, and it has nothing to do with the fine work in the north, nor is it directly instructed by someone. Qin Zheng personally interrogated him for half the night, and could only confirm that this person's thoughts were subtly influenced by others. It is ridiculous to say that Lang Sanyuan thinks in his heart that the strength of the border army will threaten the safety of the imperial court, and there may even be a second pseudo-Yan. ”

Lu Shen replied calmly: "Your Majesty may ask Qin Tiju to ask him, how can the border army become a second pseudo-Yan after killing so many Jing troops in the past two years?" ”

Li Duan's head said: "That's exactly the reason. In fact, I don't need to care about this kind of rotten thinking, I just wonder who is hiding behind it, racking my brains to sow discord between the center and the border army. ”

Lu pondered for a moment and replied, "Your Majesty, according to common sense, the fine work in the north is most likely to do this kind of thing. If it weren't for them, then the black hand hiding behind it would most likely be from the Jiangnan clan gate. ”

The two looked at each other for a moment, and Li Duan asked, "Why?" ”

Lu Shen said slowly: "Lang Sanyuan is just an introduction, the mastermind behind the scenes wants to use this means to put pressure on His Majesty and the imperial court, and in the end it will fall on stopping the Northern Expedition." In the humble opinion of the ministers, only those nobles of the clan would do this. ”

Li Duan said softly: "You mean...... Left phase? ”

Lu Shen shook his head and said, "The minister thinks it won't be the left minister." Although the old man is the leader of the Jiangnan clan, his past deeds prove that he takes the overall situation into account and will not do this kind of thing that is happy for relatives and enemies. If the minister did not guess wrong, this mastermind behind the scenes has a certain influence among the Jiangnan clan, but he cannot shake the authority of the old minister, so he can only use this shady means. ”

Li Duan had several names in his mind, such as Ning Yuanfu, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, and Ding Hui, the secretary of the Ministry of War, as well as the privy envoy Guo Congyi and the general Wang Yan.

Looking at the dignified face of the Son of Heaven, Lu Shen couldn't help but feel something.

He knew that the emperor of the Jing Dynasty in the north was becoming more and more authoritative, and even figures at the level of the god of war such as Qing Yugong had to look up to him, which showed how he was arbitrary in the Jingguo court.

On the other hand, the three princes around him are enough to make him upset, and the court is even more mixed, and the forces of all parties are intertwined.

In such a complicated situation, he relied on his strong patience to sort out the situation little by little, and tried his best to create a stable and solid rear for the officers and men of the border army.

At this moment, Lu Shen couldn't help but think of the first emperor, if that foolish emperor could have half of Li Duan's sobriety, even if he didn't attack Yang Guangyuan, how could Daqi lose half of the country?

"This matter is not urgent, I think I can put it down for the time being. Since the other party has already used Lang Sanyuan to throw stones to ask for directions, there will definitely be actions in the future, and the more he does, the more information will be exposed, and then I will solve this problem. ”

Li Duan looked at Lu Shen and said earnestly: "I summoned you to the palace today, in addition to telling you in person the reason for the prince's undecidedness, there is another more important matter. ”

Lu Shen said: "Please show your majesty." ”

Li Duan said slowly: "I asked Li Jingda to be the governor of Dingzhou and recalled you back to the capital to help me solve a problem that has existed for many years with the help of your merits, fame and invincible spirit. ”

Lu Shen remembered the conversation when he first entered the palace a few days ago, and at this moment, facing the eager gaze of the Son of Heaven, a touch of enlightenment rose in his heart, and he said tentatively: "The sorrow in Your Majesty's heart refers to the Beijing army?" ”

Li Duan nodded, and said with a straight face: "Yes, it is the Jing Army." ”

Lu Shen did not give an immediate answer.

Li Duan said solemnly: "I believe in your ability and loyalty, so I hope that you can pick up this burden and hold at least half of the Beijing army for me!" ”

After he said this, there was a long silence on the cloud viewing platform.

The summer breeze blew through Lu Shen's resolute face.

(End of chapter)