The words were polite, but even the most impulsive King Yang Zong could see at this moment that this servant's status was extraordinary.
It's a joke. Can someone who can say "go to the imperial court" in both mouths and shuts be an ordinary eunuch?
Even if he is not the internal eunuch, he must still be someone who serves the emperor personally.
There was silence in the field. After a while, the still fat King Zhennan stepped forward, cupped his hands, and asked hesitantly.
"My father-in-law, please don't be offended. My brother-in-law is used to being carefree in the fiefdom and failed to recognize my father-in-law's identity. I want to apologize to my father-in-law on behalf of my brother-in-law. May I ask, is my father-in-law personally serving your majesty in the palace?"
Shu Liang sneered, but didn't appreciate it at all and said lightly.
"Our family does not dare to accept the gift from King Zhennan. Prince, don't worry, our family does not have the blessing to be by His Majesty's side every day."
King Guangtong on the side breathed a sigh of relief, frowned and was about to speak, when someone tugged his clothes.
Looking back, I saw that it was my cowardly third brother who didn't dare to say anything and just stayed out of the matter, King Jiangchuan.
On the other side, King Zhennan became more and more uneasy after hearing Shu Liang's answer. He hesitated and asked.
"Then I dare to ask my father-in-law, which yamen he is in the palace now, and what errands he is doing?"
Shu Liang glanced at King Guangtong, who was being pulled by King Jiangchuan, and said expressionlessly.
"To tell the prince, our nickname is Shu Liang."
"Thanks to His Majesty's trust, I am now serving as a eunuch with a pen in the Li Jian, and is also in charge of the East Factory's errands."
Silence...
It seemed that these two simple words cast a restraining spell on everyone present.
There was a "gumble" sound, which seemed to be the sound of King Guangtong or King Yangzong swallowing saliva, which suddenly seemed to inject vitality into the people present.
The King of Zhennan on the side suddenly woke up from his dream, and said with a smile on his face.
"It turns out that it was Eunuch Shu, the admiral of Dongchang, who came to see me. This is really a flood that has destroyed the Dragon King Temple. Although I have been in the fief for a long time, I have heard of my father-in-law."
As he spoke, King Zhennan’s smile became more sincere and he said.
"Yeah, our four brothers don't have the title of county king, but we can have the eldest uncle and Eunuch Shu come together to welcome us. This really scares me."
He touched his body, took off a jade pendant, stretched out his hand and handed it over, saying.
"I didn't know it just now. This jade pendant is an ancient relic of the Han Dynasty. It is quite attractive. Please accept it, Eunuch Shu, and don't care about it."
Shu Liang glanced at the jade pendant. It was indeed a good thing, but he didn't reach out to take it. Instead, he said with a smile.
"Logically speaking, our family should not refuse the prince's reward. However, as there is no reward for no merit, our family is following the emperor's order to greet Prince Min today. It has nothing to do with the princes. This reward , Your Majesty, please keep it."
King Zhennan looked a little embarrassed on his fat face. After hesitating for a moment, he turned around and shouted to King Guangtong with a calm expression.
"You bastard, you don't even know what kind of place this is, and you dare to use your strength to commit murder. Why don't you come here and apologize to Eunuch Shu!"
King Guangtong stood aside with a rather ugly expression on his face.
From the moment he heard Shu Liang's identity, he knew that he was in trouble.
He was not his own old man, his status was so high that the emperor would bow to him when he saw him, so he could ignore these eunuchs.
He knew exactly how much he had, and he was just an unpopular prince.
There are at least a hundred or so county princes in the Ming Dynasty. Who can the emperor recognize?
Theoretically, the clan has a very high immunity for committing crimes, but how this power is used depends on the emperor's will.
It's nothing to offend a eunuch, but it's different to offend such an important person in front of the emperor.
God knows if he would gossip in front of the emperor.
You know, although the two brothers had a private quarrel before, it was not as serious as being deposed.
But because he made the old man unhappy, his salary was cut by more than half. Otherwise, the two county and prince's houses would not even be able to collect the honor guards.
If this Shu Liang continues to make a fuss about these things in front of the emperor, I'm afraid the days to come will be even more miserable.
Therefore, in the face of the scolding from King Zhennan, who he had never dealt with, King Guangtong rarely responded, but bit the bullet and said.
"Forgive me, Eunuch Shu. I was in a hurry just now and injured one of Eunuch's men. Later, I will send someone to treat the injuries. Please don't take offense, Eunuch-in."
King Zhennan glanced at King Guangtong fiercely, turned around but quickly put on a smiling face, handed over the jade pendant in his hand again, and said.
"It's hard to serve Your Majesty in the palace. Since my father-in-law is here to greet my father, then this little thought can be considered as my gratitude to my father-in-law for traveling so far. Please don't refuse me."
Shu Liang waved his hand lazily, motioning for the little chamberlain beside him to take the jade pendant, cupped his hand, and said.
"In this case, our family will suffer a lot. Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reward."
After a brief pause, Shu Liang bowed his hands towards King Guangtong again, as if he was respectful.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your consideration, but there is no need to treat the injury. There are plenty of good medicines in the palace. It is a blessing for him to learn from Your Majesty. I dare not bother Your Majesty."
King Guangtong's face was green and white, but he said nothing and pulled King Yangzong onto the carriage.
Then the carriage started moving, bypassed the crowd, and entered the city gate.
Of course, when they left, the people accompanying them from these two mansions would naturally follow them.
However, they brought their own people into the city, but the entire black and white team behind them did not seem to have changed.
Shu Liang turned around and looked at the team of the two county princes. Then he realized that after looking at it, they took away only seventy or eighty people in total.
For such a large county prince's house, there are two families, and only a few followers are really shabby. No wonder these two people have so much resentment.
After they left, King Jiangchuan, who had been cowering aside and not daring to speak, also bowed his hands to King Zhennan, Hu Shuliang and others and said politely.
"Second brother, eldest uncle, Eunuch Shu, I have come all the way and am a little tired, so I won't stay with you for a while and go into the city first. I'm sorry."
Seeing this, Hu Hui and others also politely returned the greeting and said.
"Your Majesty, please."
So King Jiangchuan also got on the car and entered the city. This time there were obvious changes in the team. Half of the remaining three hundred people in the team suddenly disappeared, and they all followed.
Among the remaining team, there are less than 150 people left, all of them are servants and maids, but there are not many guards.
Three of the four county kings left, leaving only King Zhennan standing there.
On a cold day, the fat prince had gone through the farce just now. There were thin beads of sweat on his head. He took out a handkerchief from his sleeve to wipe the sweat. King Zhennan cupped his hands and said.
"Uncle Uncle Shu, Eunuch Shu, those two bastards made a lot of noise just now, and I almost forgot about the business."
"Since these guys are here to greet my father, they must have seen his old man's ceremonial guard. However, I have to explain this matter."
"Since we were crowned kings during the Xuande period, we haven't seen each other very often. This time we were ordered to come to Beijing, and my father specially asked them to come with him."
"However, after all, my father is getting older and needs more protection, so our brothers put together a plan and sent all the escort teams from various prefectures to his old man's side, leaving only thirty or fifty people behind. "
"These two hundred-plus guards were collected by the guard teams of five mansions. They have never violated any taboos."
