Ever since Ci'an officially revealed his trump card on the edge of the North Sea, and after the late emperor's secret decree, the political atmosphere in the Forbidden City suddenly changed. Cixi's arrogance was pushed to the bottom. Just look at Andehai's arrogant expression during this period. I know, the Queen Mother of the West Palace is really scared of this group of people.
In fact, it’s not that Cixi didn’t know the shadow of the secret decree. In the intricate power struggle within the palace, many secrets could not be hidden, and anyone could find out something as long as they paid attention.
But secrets are not very scary when hidden and blowing like a dark wind. They only make people feel mysterious. But once the secret is made public, everyone will feel the irresistible pressure. Don’t look at it. Cixi was so arrogant that she didn't even dare to fart under the sword of the late emperor's secret decree.
Although Emperor Xianfeng is already lying in the coffin, the secret decree in his hand is the right name, the emperor and his minister are Zhengshuo.
You Zeng Guofan was a minister promoted by Xianfeng, as were people like Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang, Weng Tonghe, and even Prince Gong Yiyi was Xianfeng's biological brother.
In the minds of these people, Emperor Xianfeng was the first person they loyal to. This is the principle of monarch, minister, minister, father, father and son that has been instilled by Confucianism for thousands of years.
During the Xinyou coup, Cixi, Ci'an and Prince Gong all stood together to form a faction to fight against the eight ministers Gu Ming. At that time, these three people represented Zhengshuo, because they were closest to the imperial power. Anyway, Closer than the Eighth Minister Gu Ming.
It is precisely because of this that the local governors and Han ministers chose to be neutral or even directly helped Ci'an Cixi to carry out the palace coup. In fact, it was not the ministers who were loyal to Cixi at that time. To be honest, Cixi could not provide much benefit at that time. .
The ministers were actually loyal to the imperial power, especially the important Han ministers. They were good at judging the situation. They would naturally choose whoever was closest to the imperial power.
Today, five years have passed since the Xinyou coup. Cixi seems to be growing in power, but compared with Ci'an, she is still not good enough. Let alone the status gap between the East and West palaces, just because of Xianfeng's secret edict, Cixi has already There is no recovery.
With this secret edict, Ci'an could justifiably mobilize the power of the Manchu and Han ministers to strangle Cixi. To put it bluntly, if Ci'an ordered Zeng Guofan to lead troops to the Qing Dynasty in Beijing, as long as the secret edict was used, the Manchu and Han Dynasty civil and military officials would not be able to do anything. What comes out.
This is what Cixi is most afraid of. This little woman has never obtained the imperial power, unless...unless she can kill Ci'an and use her son to control the princes.
Today, in this lightning-thundering evening, Cixi once again felt the shame of being on the edge of the North Sea. On that day, Ci'an saved Ermao in front of thousands of people, and even did not hesitate to expose the secret edict as his trump card.
Terrible woman, hateful woman, don’t you just have a great reputation? In terms of beauty, talent, and wit, I am weaker than you in every aspect. Even my belly is better than yours. You are a castrate who can’t lay eggs. chicken.
Ci Xi had a smile on her face, but there was nowhere to vent the malice in her belly. Only when she saw her son's back could his eyes show a trace of tenderness.
The little emperor Tongzhi looked at the rainy scene outside the hall very childishly. The small figure behind him was Cixi's backer.
"Your Majesty, please come into the palace quickly. After a day of summer heat and a sudden heavy rain, it is the time when the yin and yang are not in harmony. Be careful after the heat..."
Emperor Tongzhi didn't bother to listen to Cixi's words. He didn't even look back or pay attention to E Niang. He even sat on the threshold. Ci'an behind him sighed and shook his head. She knew that Cixi was demonstrating with her own flesh and blood again. She has seen too many such dramas.
At this moment, suddenly there was a flash of light above his head, and a bolt of lightning struck across the sky. This was the brightest lightning in the entire rainstorm. The little emperor stood up excitedly when he saw it.
"What a bright flash of lightning. Is this the mother of electricity showing off her power, or is the hidden dragon appearing?" Before the little emperor finished speaking, a small figure suddenly walked from the emperor's side. It looked like he was no bigger than the emperor. The emperor is only half a head tall.
The figure quickly reached out to cover the emperor's ears and whispered, "Your Majesty, be careful, it's going to thunder."
"Er Mao, you are so brave..." Ci Xi recognized it at a glance. This was the Er Mao she hated the most. More than a month ago, she and Ci'an had a quarrel because she wanted to catch him. Her face was Folded on his body.
This dog slave actually dared to get close to the emperor. The people who served him didn't want to live anymore. But before Cixi could get angry and call someone, in the middle of her words, a thunder suddenly sounded in the sky.
Rumble... This thunder was so loud that all the doors and windows were shaken and buzzed, and the hall was full of echoes. Cixi and Ci'an were caught off guard and almost fell off the soft couch.
Several palace maids and eunuchs fainted when their eyesight turned dark. The Yin Qi of the Forbidden City was too strong, and everyone lacked courage.
Ci Xi's hand that stretched out to point at Er Mao froze, her face was pale and bloodless, and she forgot the second half of what she wanted to say to Er Mao.
This muffled thunder was so powerful that it was rarely seen in several years, and even Qin Tian Jian recorded it in detail.
Thanks to Emperor Tongzhi's ears being covered by Ermao in advance, the little emperor was not scared to pee, but Emperor Tongzhi's little face also turned a little white.
"Er Mao, Er Mao, you are so amazing. How did you know that there was going to be thunder soon? How did you know that the thunder was so loud? Wait... your face is as normal, why are you not afraid?"
Emperor Tongzhi asked well. Er Mao was really not so frightened that he turned pale and almost fainted like other eunuchs. Er Mao opened his hands and smiled slightly, "The slave is a rootless person. He looks like neither a human nor a ghost. Even if he dies, he will not be able to enter the ancestral grave..." ...Minion, I have nothing to be afraid of. The power of this world is not so powerful that it can break your body to pieces. In fact, it is no different from dying on a bed of old age, so I am not afraid, minion."
Emperor Tongzhi blinked his eyes thoughtfully, "Then why did you know there was going to be thunder soon?"
"Your Majesty, this is what the Europeans call physics... In fact, when there is thunder in the sky, sound and light appear at the same time. However, since sound and light travel at different speeds, after thousands of After a distance of thousands of miles, there will be a front and a back..."
"Dian Guang is a speedster, just like the magical Taibao. He is the first to come to the human world, so that our eyes can see it first... But the voice is much slower in comparison, and he always comes to the human world slowly. Get into our ears..."
"So we usually see lightning first and then hear thunder. Just like just now, such a big lightning must be followed by huge thunder. I was afraid of frightening His Majesty, so I covered His Majesty's ears in advance. of……"
Now people around finally understand why the little emperor likes Er Mao so much. He is simply a voluntary science promoter. All the modern European scientific knowledge has turned into easy-to-understand stories in Er Mao's mouth. The maids around him listened to it. shocked.
If Er Mao hadn't been young, there would have been a large number of beautiful palace maids who wanted to compete with him.
The loudest thunder had passed, and the cumulonimbus seemed to have released its explosive power. The thunder behind it became much less intense, and only the heavy rain was still pouring down.
It was only then that Cixi and Ci'an finally recovered from the shock. Cixi jumped down from the soft couch and pointed at Er Mao's nose and started scolding, "Bold dog slave, spare your life if you don't tell me to go to your kennel and wait." You dare to show up here to bewitch the emperor, get out of here with those lies from the two devils..."
Cixi was really out of her mind. Her scolding was a bit like a shrew's scolding, and there was no trace of the mother-of-the-nation spirit. Ci'an shook her head slightly when she heard this.
Er Mao stood in front of the Queen Mother and knelt down respectfully, "Your Majesty, how dare you bewitch the Holy Emperor? Everything I said was just the Western art of investigating things. As for what is true and false, right and wrong, I am really too lazy to distinguish... ...This is just like the sun rising in the east and setting in the west. Whether people believe it or not, it is repeated day after day. No one can change it. What do you want, Queen Mother..."
The first half of Er Mao's sentence was quite respectful, but the second half was so irritating that Cixi almost vomited blood because of this soft nail. If Er Mao hadn't been of some use, he would have issued the order to Ling Chi.
Ci'an couldn't stand it at this time, "Er Mao, although you are not very old, you are still a sensible person. What do you rely on to survive to this day? Don't talk nonsense about the emperor's grace. You still have it in your heart." Do you have the emperor's favor? Keeping you is just because the court doesn't want to fall out with Xiao Letian. You have to save this last bit of face for your master."
Er Mao Dang kowtowed his head to the ground and said in a neither humble nor condescending manner, "Empress Dowager Lafayette, what I'm here to talk about today is the matter of Xiao Letian. Since there are no outsiders in this hall, I can speak frankly..."
"I think the Queen Mother has obtained the latest information about Ryukyu today... Don't be angry. This Four-Nine City cannot keep secrets. How fast the Eight Banners talk. I think you, Master, understand better than me..."
"Now the French fleet has begun to bomb Ryukyu, and Xiao Letian's life or death is still uncertain. It seems that many people in the court are already thinking about it. Of course, it will be satisfying to beat up the drowned dog..."
"But I have something to say first. It is best for the court to listen to the words of this foreigner. Not only is it difficult to communicate across the sea, but more importantly, the minds of European countries are different. If you ask the enemy by mistake, you may get the wrong result. It’s quite the opposite…”
When Ci'an and Cixi heard that there was something in Ermao's words, they both sat upright. "Well, it's rainy and the Ai family has nothing to do to relieve their boredom, so let's listen to your fantasy."
Er Mao smiled and said one sentence that shocked the whole Yangxin Hall into a dead silence.
"If there is no big error in the time, I think Xiao Letian should be participating in the war in Europe by now. How could Xiao Letian not go to the life-and-death battle between Prussia and Austria? Tell the truth to Your Majesty and the Queen Mother Lafayette, this Xiao Letian Lotte is not going to Europe just for fun..."
"He only had one purpose in going to Europe, which was to kill people and kill more foreign devils."
Rumble... there was another thunder outside the hall, and the faces of everyone in the hall were pale with fear.
