Chapter 145: Demoted from Beijing on New Year’s Day
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the snow stopped, the morning sun shone all over Chao Ge, and the palace was filled with red makeup and joy. Qingshi bid farewell to his master, cherished each other, and then left the palace to return home.
Zhang Hao and others saw Qingshi entering the palace alone but came back refreshed, and the whole house suddenly became joyful and lively.
Qingshi held a grand banquet and invited more than 20 friends in Beijing such as Shen Feiyun, Shen Binghong, Duan Wutian, Duan Xiaoyu, Xiang Wuji, Qi Yu, Zheng Fangyi, Ji Yujia, Teng Shouqian, Tang Zui and Yin Yuhuang to drink.
During the banquet, everyone knew that Qingshi was engaged, so they naturally did not mention Yunli. Due to the presence of Shen Binghong and Duan Xiaoyu, almost no one mentioned the engagement between Qingshi and Sheng Yinghua. Occasionally, Qingshi even whispered congratulations to the two girls behind their backs. Pretending not to hear, he ignored him.
Soon, no one mentioned the engagement again, they just enjoyed eating, drinking and having fun. A large group of people stayed in the palace for three days and three nights before they dispersed, and everyone returned home drunk.
On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Qingshi, who was hungover, slept all day.
At night, Qingshi woke up, washed up, went to the living room, called Zhang Hao, and took out a storage ring for him.
Zhang Hao smiled and said: "It must be a reward from the emperor, it will open my eyes." After saying that, he took a look at it with his spiritual sense, and was immediately stunned by the massive resources inside.
Qingshi smiled and said: "The wealth accumulated by the Jiang family is astonishing. What the emperor rewarded me is only one-tenth of it. What I give you now is only one-tenth of what the emperor gave you. You use these resources and the palace Sort out the gifts received these days and distribute them to the brothers. You can take half. Also, I have completed the procedures to transfer the Xuanqing Pharmaceutical Factory and its affiliated land and medicinal material base to you and Xiaoye."
"Ah?" Zhang Hao felt something was wrong and asked cautiously, "Brother, what do you mean?"
"Don't ask too much, just do as you're told." After Qingshi said that, he went straight back to the small courtyard in the east wing where he slept and lived, and closed the door behind him.
Zhang Hao was confused and had to worry.
...
On the tenth day of the lunar month, the imperial court's annual vacation ended.
On this day, it was the morning court, and all the civil and military officials entered the palace early and in high spirits. In the Great Hall of Light, hundreds of courtiers stood in order, waiting for the emperor to arrive.
From time to time, someone would turn his head and talk softly to the people around him, exchanging New Year greetings. Attentive people discovered that the newly promoted King Lei Wei was not in the palace.
The time has come, Emperor Ou Changzhi did not show up, but Wen Siyu, the general manager of the inner palace, came out to invite the four princes Xiang Sinian, Shen Xiaofeng, Duan Shiju and Qi Huang to go to the Chengqian Palace behind the Daguangming Palace to meet the Holy Spirit. The others waited quietly for the decree.
There are seven new princes awarded by the imperial court, one from each of the four major families, as well as Mo Sihai, Gui Huadong and Qingshi.
Now that Qingshi has not arrived, Gui Huadong has not entered the court for some reason. Mo Sihai, as the prime minister and the top prince, was not summoned. Instead, the other four kings went to meet him. Some ministers began to be keenly aware that something important was going to happen in today's court meeting. Mo Sihai, on the other hand, stood quietly and remained calm.
The courtiers waited for more than an hour, and the four kings finally returned to the Great Guangming Hall. The four kings did not return to their duties. They stood in front of the hall and faced the ministers. Xiang Sinian said loudly: "The imperial edict has arrived! All ministers kneel down and listen! "
So, except Xiang Sinian, all the ministers knelt down on one leg to listen to the imperial edict.
"Edict:" Xiang Sinian thought, "Leiwei Wang Qingshi was originally a urchin from a farm in a remote mountain village. Because of his talent, he entered Tianxuan College for further study. Later, due to fate, he was accepted as my disciple."
"This son played a great role in overthrowing the Jiang family, so he was granted the title of Marquis of Lei. He was previously engaged to the princess of Tianying Kingdom, and I thought that my status would match her and I would promote her to the title of king. Since ancient times, those who have not reached the age of thirty have been awarded the title of king. , not seen in history books.”
"If he received such a favor, he should have repaid it faithfully. Unexpectedly, this son suddenly gained a high position, but he got carried away, behaved frivolously, and spoke wildly, which further offended me. The so-called virtue is not worthy of the position, and that is what I mean."
"Qingshi's crime is not a trivial one. I intend to deprive him of his royal title, demote him to the rank of third-class Xiaoyao Hou, confiscate his palace and the manor he was given, exile him from the court, and make a new start with a little training. He will not be allowed to return to the imperial court for a hundred years. .”
"Peter's moral behavior is not good, and I cannot bear to harm our neighbors, so I have decided to withdraw his engagement with Princess Yuhua of the Sky Eagle Kingdom, break off the engagement, and instruct Prime Minister Mo Sihai to handle it properly. This is your honor!"
All the courtiers looked at each other in shock, and then the situation exploded. They started talking loudly in the court, and most of them did not understand what Ou Changzhi said and did.
Qingshi's crime is too far-fetched. Everyone still knows Qingshi's character relatively well. Except for the occasional cynicism, he is by no means a frivolous person who behaves frivolously and speaks wildly.
Even if this is the case, it is just a matter of giving him a lesson as a master. Demotion and exile are too much, and breaking off the engagement is even more appalling.
Xiang Sinian said loudly: "Quiet!"
The hall slowly became quiet. When Xiang Sinian saw no one speaking, he asked, "Prime Minister Mo?"
Mo Sihai didn't expect that Ou Changzhi punished Qingshi and allowed him to break off the engagement, and also asked him to deal with it, but he didn't mention a word about the reserve. As he was thinking about it, he heard Xiang Sinian calling him, and he quickly came to his senses and said loudly: "Your Majesty Purpose, we must handle the matter of breaking off the engagement."
Xiang Sinian waited for him to agree, then took out a volume of imperial edict, opened it, and said loudly: "There is still an edict. All the ministers will kneel down and listen!"
The ministers quickly knelt down and listened.
"Edict:" Xiang Sinian thought, "Prince Qing Mo Sihai has a noble character and outstanding achievements. He has all kinds of agencies and unparalleled ingenuity. I express my condolences to my junior brother and my master's wishes. I intend to establish him as the crown prince. After he settled the issue of Qingshi’s divorce, he chose an auspicious day to pass the news to that place! I admire this!”
If it was far-fetched to say that Qingshi was punished just now for his "frivolous behavior and arrogant words", then now he is praising Mo Sihai for "all his tricks and unparalleled cleverness", it seems to be a bit of explicit praise but implicit ridicule.
As for "My heart is to comfort my junior brother, my heart is to comfort my master", I don't know what it refers to, which makes people even more confused.
But Mo Sihai knew that this was for him, which showed that Ou Changzhi had understood what he had done and ridiculed him. But in the end, not only did he establish himself as the crown prince, but he also made it clear that he would make the throne his own, which was unexpected by Mo Sihai. At that moment, I felt both happy and ashamed. I stood dumbly for a while, feeling a little at a loss.
After Xiang Sinian read out the imperial edict, when everyone stood up, they took the lead in congratulating Mo Sihai. The other ministers naturally agreed. Mo Sihai looked in a daze and just nodded.
Later, Xiang Sinian said to Sun Qing, the deputy minister of the Imperial Guard: "Commander Sun, the emperor ordered you to go and take back the original Leiwei Palace immediately. Only the mansions and farms given by the emperor will be taken back, and the properties purchased by the marquis himself will be taken back." Don’t touch the gold, jade, and property. Leave the retainers of the former royal palace to fend for themselves without any difficulty.”
"Accept the decree!" Sun Qing agreed and left.
"Slow down!" Mo Sihai stopped him, looked at Xiang Sinian and said, "Prince Gong, it seems that these two imperial edicts should be announced to Xiaoyao Hou first. I'm afraid it would be too abrupt to suddenly send internal guards to confiscate the property. I intend to meet the Holy Spirit again to intercede for Xiaoyao Hou, and please Prince Gong and Commander Sun wait a moment."
At this time, Mo Sihai was already the crown prince, and Xiang Sinian and other ministers already had the distinction between king and minister. When Xiang Sinian saw Mo Sihai speaking, he immediately respectfully replied: "Hui Qing Wang said, yesterday night, Xiaoyao Hou had already sent the emperor a message The secret edict dismissed the retainers and servants. At this time, his mansion is empty, and Xiaoyao Hou may have left Chao Ge at this time."
ah? Hearing these words, Mo Sihai couldn't help but feel mixed emotions in his heart, feeling as if he was lost.
Yes, while the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty were waiting to go to court in the Great Guangming Hall, Qingshi had already left the capital to go to war alone.
On the Qinglong River, an ordinary two-story boat sailed down the river, with a bluestone independent bow, blowing the cold spring river wind, and facing the rising sun, quietly heading east.
