"You made a mistake!"
In the Cining Palace, Queen Mother Sun picked up the Buddhist beads that had been put aside again, looked at Zhu Qizhen who was stunned on the spot, and spoke calmly.
As soon as these words came out, Zhu Qizhen's face became a little ugly, because he had realized what the purpose of the emperor's illness was.
He is not testing himself, but testing the courtiers!
As Empress Dowager Sun said just now, the emperor's illness is actually not a big deal. Let alone half a month, or even longer, it is not worth the courtiers' behavior of breaking into the palace.
What really makes these ministers so anxious is the possible consequences of the emperor's illness... Normally, the emperor's illness is not a big deal, but now, it is different.
With the Supreme Emperor Zhu Qizhen around, the relationship between the Tian family is easy to arouse suspicion, and something happened at the previous Zhengdan Banquet. Under such circumstances, the emperor was ill and isolated from inside and outside, and Zhu Qizhen was The Supreme Emperor is not restless in the South Palace, but frequently enters and exits the harem. How can it not arouse suspicion?
At this thought, Zhu Qizhen's mood suddenly deteriorated to the extreme.
He always thought that as long as he didn't really take action, he would not fall into the trap of Qianqing Palace, but in fact, he had already fallen into the trap from the moment he stepped out of Nangong.
Because, if he had no intention of coveting the throne, then the most normal reaction to learning that the emperor was ill would be to try his best to avoid suspicion and stay in Nangong to wait for the emperor to recover and everything to return to normal.
However, even though he knew that the emperor might be pretending to be ill, he still could not hold back his inner restlessness. In order to get the specific situation as soon as possible and discuss countermeasures with the Queen Mother in a timely manner, he went to the palace several times at such a sensitive time.
And this kind of behavior, in the eyes of ministers from other dynasties, will undoubtedly make them feel more and more uneasy. Because of this, they are so eager to know what happened in the palace and whether the emperor is still conscious. Now, do you still have control of the situation in the palace?
Now, their goal was achieved and they successfully met the emperor. Logically speaking, their doubts should be dispelled. But at this time, the emperor just proposed that the emperor should come to supervise the country. Anyone with any sense knows that this is impossible. So, why does the emperor still say it?
The answer is, of course, to remind these ministers again how eager the Emperor Zhu Qizhen was to take action while he was ill.
On this basis, the attitudes of these important ministers cannot be any different. They must all be unanimously opposed to Zhu Qizhen, the supreme emperor, coming to supervise the country.
However, at this time, the emperor was more generous and chose to let the prince supervise the country and listen to the government. This made Zhu Qizhen even more shameless and ignorant of propriety.
It can be said that after such a set of tricks, in the eyes of the courtiers, Zhu Qiyu, as the emperor, could be regarded as repeatedly conniving and tolerant in his attitude towards Nangong. On the contrary, Zhu Qizhen, the supreme emperor, had evil intentions and intended to restore his throne. thoughts.
The prince's supervision of the country was, on the one hand, a collective statement by the ministers, completely excluding Zhu Qizhen from the court. On the other hand, it also showed the emperor's tolerance and kindness in dealing with the relationship between the Tian family. Under this situation, Zhu Qizhen actually has only one choice, that is, to continue to stay in Nangong honestly and never take another step out. Otherwise, he will be greeted by endless public opinion in the court.
Of course, Zhu Qizhen could also choose to ignore it. After all, monarchs and ministers are different. No matter how loud the public opinion in the court is, it is impossible to really do anything to him.
But don't forget that behind this whole game of chess, there is another chess player watching him all the time. The reason why Zhu Qizhen can live a stable life in Nangong is largely due to the etiquette, law and public opinion. support.
Once the wind direction in the court changes, it is entirely possible that the emperor, under the repeated "admonitions" of his ministers, will gradually strengthen the blockade of Nangong. If it really gets to that point, Zhu Qizhen will really have no way out. Walk.
"What an insidious method!"
Zhu Qizhen slapped the table next to him heavily, causing the tea cup at hand to make a slight clanking sound, and said angrily.
"I wish I didn't see his wolfish ambitions clearly earlier. If I had known this, I should have let him go to the fief!"
These words were so full of hatred that the palace attendants on the side were so frightened that they trembled. They quickly lowered their heads and did not dare to make a sound. The north wind roared outside the window and beat the window lattice crazily, which combined with the oppressive silence in the Nuan Pavilion. A sharp contrast.
Seeing her son being so angry, Queen Mother Sun sighed softly and said.
"It's useless to be angry. Now that the emperor has made a move, what are you going to do?"
Hearing this, Zhu Qizhen clenched his fists, but in the end, he could only shake his head and said.
"Now that the matter has come to this, we can only avoid the edge for the time being..."
Although he was angry, he was not blinded by his anger.
The emperor's move actually drew everyone's attention to Nangong. Especially when the prince was in charge of the government, any action Zhu Qizhen made would be confirmed and the emperor would be 'recovering' Then there was a legitimate reason to deal with him.
Therefore, at this time, we can only wait and see what happens!
However, having said that, Zhu Qizhen still felt as sick as if he had eaten a fly. He snorted coldly and added another sentence.
"I still don't believe it. As long as I live in Nangong and never leave home, can this emperor keep pretending to be sick? As long as he is willing to go to court, this matter will soon be forgotten by the courtiers. When the time comes, let's see what he does with it. Make a fuss!"
Seeing that Zhu Qizhen was relatively stable, Queen Mother Sun was relieved. She twirled the Buddhist beads in her hand. She waved her hand and signaled the most confidant of the palace to take a dozen steps back, and then said softly.
"The Ai family has been reluctant to ask more about your affairs, but now that the matter has come to a head, the Ai family must remind you that it is time to make preparations."
"What does this mean, Queen Mother?"
Hearing this, Zhu Qizhen was stunned for a moment, then frowned and asked.
As a result, Queen Mother Sun's expression became a little complicated, and she sighed and said.
"You said before that the emperor planned to force you to rebel, and then depose you justifiably. Perhaps, he would also depose Brother Shen by the way. He did this in order to gain a good reputation and to make the court try his best. keep it steady."
"But, you also said that this is not the only way for the emperor. Over the past few days, the emperor's patience has obviously become less and less. This incident is clearly testing the attitude of the courtiers, so the Aijia are worried , Nangong’s lack of action may have given the emperor other ideas, who knows.”
As soon as these words came out, Zhu Qizhen's face became more and more gloomy, and he nodded.
"It's true. After these days, the Qianqing Palace seems to have lost its temper..."
"However, this is not necessarily a bad thing!"
Seeing that her son understood the seriousness of the matter, Queen Mother Sun nodded, with a smile on her face and said.
"As the saying goes, urgency leads to chaos. Although you made a mistake in this matter, the emperor also exposed a fatal flaw..."
"oh?"
Hearing this, Zhu Qizhen immediately cheered up and leaned forward. Then, Empress Dowager Sun also lowered her voice and spoke something in his ear.
Then, Zhu Qizhen's expression changed for a while, and finally he nodded cautiously.
There was still a cold wind outside the window, and scattered snowflakes began to fall, covering my shoulders, and I could vaguely feel a hint of coldness.
Wrapped in silver, Zhu Qiyu wore a large cloak and walked slowly in the imperial garden. After such a long period of cultivation, his cold, which was not serious in the first place, has already recovered to some extent.
In fact, speaking of this illness, it did come suddenly. In this life, Zhu Qiyu has actually paid great attention to physical maintenance, but perhaps it is precisely because of this that the illness became more and more menacing.
As for this round, it is good to say that it is for the purpose of designing Nangong. However, on the other hand, the reason is that Zhu Qiyu is rare and lazy. He does not want to deal with government affairs while he is sick, so he simply takes this opportunity. After setting up a game, it can be regarded as allowing myself to rest for a few days.
In the cold winter, the plum blossoms in the imperial garden were in full bloom. Zhu Qiyu stopped under the largest plum tree, and then asked.
"How are you doing in the DPRK and China these days?"
Behind him, Hua En and Shu Liang were both prominent. After hearing this, Hua En stepped forward and said.
"Back to your lord, everything is fine. There are six ministries in the court and the elders of the cabinet taking care of it. Most of the government affairs are fine, but..."
At this point, Wynn hesitated slightly, but then he still spoke.
"It's just that His Highness the Crown Prince is young. Now he has to attend court on behalf of the emperor early in the morning. After the morning court is over, he has to rush to the Sutra Banquet. Therefore, he often loses consciousness in the morning. Because of this matter, there have been many incidents in recent days. Shao Yanguan reported to the Emperor, asking the Emperor to issue an edict to reprimand His Highness the Crown Prince, not to be so disrespectful of court etiquette."
"Disrespecting the court ceremony?"
When Zhu Qiyu heard this, he couldn't help but shook his head.
These officials really have nothing to do. You know, Zhu Jianshen is only eight or nine years old now. It is normal to be unable to wake up in the morning. The morning service is early. In addition, the East Palace itself has heavy schoolwork. Now he has to pay extra After completing the errand of listening to politics, Zhu Jianshen was actually even more tired.
Moreover, he only listens to the government affairs. To put it bluntly, he just sits next to him and acts as a mascot. In fact, he does not need to handle all government affairs. As a result, he will naturally become even less energetic. This situation is normal.
In Zhu Qiyu's view, these officials in the court were insisting on this point, and it was really making a fuss out of a molehill. But then again, this is what the officials did, so they couldn't be said to be at fault.
Since the prince is in charge of government affairs, he should naturally have the demeanor to listen to government affairs. Even if these political affairs actually have nothing to do with him, it is always not good to doze off in public.
However, there is no need to issue an edict to rebuke him, because in this case, there will be no other benefits except adding another layer of pressure to Zhu Jianshen, who is already under great pressure.
From a real point of view, Zhu Qiyu was not too willing to involve the struggle between him and Zhu Qizhen on this child, but sometimes he had to do it as a last resort.
As for the current situation...
“Where is Nangong?”
After sighing softly, Zhu Qi Yuxuan asked again.
This time, it was Shu Liang who answered. He stepped forward slightly and answered.
"The Supreme Emperor has been very peaceful recently. Since His Highness the Crown Prince began to take charge of politics, the Supreme Emperor has never left Nangong. However, according to the news from the Duke, these days, the Supreme Emperor has summoned It’s unclear what Zhang Shi and Ningyang Marquis said once, but I think they probably ordered them to step up their infiltration into the Beijing camp and the Forbidden Army.”
"Over at the British government, according to your instructions, the servants have been watching. During this period, Zhang Fu, together with Wang Dingtong from the War Bureau, secretly took away some swords and other items that were eliminated by the Forbidden Army. The total amount is about There are more than two hundred handles. Including the previous ones, there should be five or six hundred handles now. However, the armor, firearms and other items are strictly guarded in the palace, and they do not dare to touch them without permission."
After hearing Shu Liang's report, Zhu Qiyu snorted coldly, but he was not surprised.
Although it is difficult to obtain things like swords and weapons, it is still reasonable to appear in a military commander's mansion like the British Duke's Mansion.
However, items such as armor and firearms that require a lot of manpower and material resources to make and are never used unless going to the battlefield can almost be regarded as evidence of rebellion if they appear in the minister's mansion.
If Zhang Shi dared to do this, he would really destroy the entire British government.
but……
After having a basic understanding of Nangong's situation, Zhu Qiyu couldn't help but shake his head. It seemed that Zhu Qizhen had also noticed his purpose of pretending to be sick this time, so he chose to stop quietly.
If this is the case, then there is no point in him staying in the palace like this anymore. As for Zhu Jianshen, whether he reprimanded him or not, he was treating the symptoms rather than the root cause. Only when he went to court in person could Zhu Jianshen be relieved. Come out and no longer be impeached.
However, before that, there are still some things to resolve...
After thinking about it for a while, Zhu Qiyu continued to walk forward and came to a pavilion to rest. A temporary fire was raised, and a hand stove, warm tea, and snacks were all available, keeping his body warm.
After sitting for a while, Zhu Qiyu glanced at Huai En next to him and said.
"Isn't anyone here yet?"
When Wynn heard this, he cupped his hands and said.
"Your Majesty, please don't worry, I will ask you again..."
After saying that, Wynn turned around and retreated. However, before he took two steps, two chamberlains hurriedly came towards him and said a few words to Wynn. Then Wynn turned back and said.
"Your Majesty, Yu Shaobao has been ordered to meet you outside."
Therefore, Zhu Qiyu cheered up, straightened his back, and gave instructions.
"Call in!"
(End of chapter)
