The autumn wind blows outside the window, and pieces of yellow leaves fall in front of the steps. The palace people walk in the yard and step on the yellow leaves, making a slight sound.
In the Nuan Pavilion of Cining Palace, the atmosphere seemed a bit depressing. Queen Mother Sun was angry but suppressed her voice, and the jade beads in her hands were squeezed tightly.
Several palace people who were close to the side lowered their heads deeply, trying hard to lower their sense of presence lower and lower.
Jiao Jing had obviously anticipated Queen Mother Sun's reaction. After the words came out of his mouth, he immediately knelt on the ground and bowed his head without saying a word.
After a long silence, Queen Mother Sun's anger seemed to be relieved slightly. She sighed and said.
"Jiao Prince Consort, you are also a respected and respected veteran of the late Emperor. When the late Emperor passed away, you were not trusted as a minister because you were a relative. However, over the years, Ai Jia and the Supreme Emperor have regarded you as a minister. A confidant."
"Earlier, the Supreme Emperor entrusted you with the responsibility of the capital camp during the Northern Expedition. After the Northern Expedition, the Ai family also placed their utmost trust in you. The royal family has been so kind to you, how could you say such outrageous words?"
The Ming Dynasty had ancestral precepts to prevent relatives from interfering in politics. Emperor Taizu made many preparations to avoid this situation.
But in fact, these measures took effect more often in the late Ming Dynasty. In the early Ming Dynasty, despite Taizu's rules, the emperor was often accustomed to reusing his relatives.
Emperor Taizong was born in the army, so he preferred to choose his children's in-laws from among his old subordinates.
This led to the fact that during the period from Yongle to Zhengtong, there were many examples of relatives serving as officials or even in charge of soldiers.
This situation gradually disappeared until Chenghua.
Therefore, at least during the Zhengtong Jingtai period, Prince Consort Captain Jiao Jing had a bright future. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it was due to the royal family's kindness.
Jiao Jing kowtowed on the ground and said in a calm voice.
"With the grace of the Holy Mother, I naturally know the kindness of the Supreme Emperor and the Holy Mother, so I dare to speak frankly in front of the Holy Mother."
With that said, Jiao Jing straightened up, looked at Empress Dowager Sun and said.
"I dare to speak nonsense. In fact, the Holy Mother and I both know in our hearts that after the civil engineering works, it will be difficult for the Supreme Emperor to return to his throne. Everything the Holy Mother is doing now is, firstly, to protect the safety of the Supreme Emperor, and secondly, to protect the safety of the Crown Prince. That's all."
The beads in Queen Mother Sun's hand were squeezed tighter, and it was obvious that she was not at peace.
But it only took a moment before her hand relaxed and she said with a complex expression.
"You're right. Too many people died in the Civil War. A good government and great national strength. Alas..."
Although the Queen Mother Sun was a deep palace woman, she had been a queen after all. How could she really be as unreasonable as the paranoid women who doted on their sons among the people?
Of course she also hated it, hated that iron could not become steel. Of course she also regretted that she did not stop Zhu Qizhen from going on a personal expedition.
However, precisely because she clearly understood everything and how much of a mistake her son had made this time, she had to do these things.
After all, he was her only son!
Zhu Qizhen had made such a big mistake. She wanted to grab this bastard son by the collar and make him kneel before the late emperor's soul to repent.
However, that was her son after all, and Empress Dowager Sun could not just watch him suffer in Yibei and be humiliated by foreigners.
Now that he is about to return to Beijing, Queen Mother Sun is also the same. She cannot let his life and death depend on other people's hands. She must always try her best to do something for him.
With another long sigh, Empress Dowager Sun raised her empty hand to signal Jiao Jing to stand up, and then said.
"In today's court, there is no one the Ai family trusts the most than you. Since this is the case, the Ai family does not deny that in the Tumu battle, the Supreme Emperor certainly made a mistake, and it was a big mistake. The lives of two hundred thousand officers and soldiers were lost. It’s not something that Wang Zhen can carry.”
"However, it has been more than a year. From being an emperor to being a subordinate of a bandit, he has been in Yibei for so long. He has suffered all the sufferings he deserves and has suffered all the sins he deserves."
After a brief pause, Empress Dowager Sun's tone became more complicated and difficult, and her voice lowered, becoming only vaguely discernible: "The throne has also been given away..."
"That's enough!"
In the quiet Nuan Pavilion, the complex expression disappeared, and Queen Mother Sun became calm again, with a hint of sharpness in her eyes.
"The Ai family doesn't think about anything else. They just want the Supreme Emperor to be safe and sound, take good care of him in Nangong, and be free from illness and disaster. So that the prince can grow up in peace and inherit the legacy of the late emperor. Then the Ai family will have no regrets. .”
"The Ai family doesn't want to worry about the rest of the matter. After all, it is the country that the late emperor worked so hard for. If something goes wrong again, wouldn't the Ai family be the sinners of the country?"
At the end of her words, Queen Mother Sun's tone weakened again, her eyes fell on Jiao Jing, and she spoke softly.
"What's more, the Supreme Emperor and the Emperor are the only princes of the late Emperor, flesh and blood brothers. Once they...then Aijia will have the face to see the late Emperor a hundred years later..."
As the late emperor's brother-in-law, Jiao Jing could barely be considered a member of the royal family, but when faced with such a topic, he could only be extremely cautious.
"I naturally understand the Holy Mother's heart. That's why I stopped the Holy Mother just now."
Carefully considering his words, Jiao Jing said:
"As the Holy Mother said, both the palace servants and the Yulin guards are thinking about the safety of the Supreme Emperor."
"However, I want to remind Our Lady that if Our Lady really takes care of everything, then anything that happens will be Our Lady's fault!"
Queen Mother Sun was stunned and immediately understood what Jiao Jing meant.
Some words are difficult to say clearly, but everyone knows in their hearts that the reason why she wants to take all Nangong's men and guards into her own hands is because she is afraid that Zhu Qiyu will harm the Supreme Emperor.
But she ignored one thing.
That is, once the commander of the Beijing Guard is appointed by her, then the emperor Zhu Qiyu can completely escape.
She arranged the people to serve, and she also chose the leader of the guards. So if anything goes wrong with the Supreme Emperor, can Zhu Qiyu be blamed?
of course not!
In fact, Jiao Jing had reminded her of this just now.
Zhu Qiyu came to Cining Palace today with such a respectful and gentle attitude in order to avoid suspicion.
Since you want to avoid suspicion, you must do it thoroughly.
Therefore, as long as she opens her front foot and her back foot points in the middle, she will know that she, the Holy Mother Queen Mother, has a villain's heart to judge the gentleman's belly and guard the emperor to death. From the palace servants to the guards, she is arrogant in all matters. Don't let the emperor interfere.
Reputation and all, that's the same thing, she is a deep palace queen, no one can do anything to her.
But in this case, if anything happens, the responsibility will be borne by her!
Seeing that Queen Mother Sun finally understood, Jiao Jing said carefully.
"There are too many methods available to those who serve personally, some of which are difficult to detect, so we must guard against them no matter what, not to mention, there are only so many people who are truly personal, and the Holy Mother also has enough people who can be sent to the Emperor. "
"However, the Yulin Guard is newly established, and its personnel come from a variety of sources. There are people from the Jingying, Jingwei, and Jinyiwei. There is only one commander. Although they can be mobilized, it is impossible to screen them one by one."
"Once the Holy Mother takes over all the affairs, that person will have no worries at all..."
Jiao Jing stopped talking at the right time, but some words didn't need to be said so clearly...
