The autumn wind slowly blew the skirts of clothes, and the yellowing leaves fell silently to the ground. The setting sun in the sky reflected on the imperial city, coating the vermilion city walls with a layer of golden light.
In front of the Donghua Gate, Yu Shiyue stood in front of the open door with his sleeves rolled up and his face ashen, exuding an aura that no strangers should enter.
The officials who were coming and going around stayed away from each other. Occasionally, there were a few people gathering in twos and threes in the distance, whispering constantly, and seemed to be discussing something.
Not long after, there was movement in the palace, and a young man wearing a light blue dragon robe slowly walked out with two chamberlains, and finally stood in front of Yu Shiyue.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince..."
Seeing the young man's figure, the surrounding officials and waiters knelt down one after another. Such movement also woke up Yu Shiyue, who was resting with his eyes closed.
"Your Highness..."
A ripple appeared on Yu Shiyue's livid face, and his slightly old face trembled slightly. After a brief moment of surprise, he felt a deep sense of guilt.
Bowing slightly and cupping his hands as a courtesy, Yu Shi said happily.
"The old minister has neglected his duty, please punish me, Your Highness."
However, compared to Yu Shiyue's full apology at the moment, Zhu Jianshen seemed much more indifferent. He stretched out his hand to help Yu Shiyue up, smiled and said.
"The people in the court are treacherous, and the villain wants to get lucky. Is it Master Yu's fault?"
"On the day when my father launched an army to besiege the imperial city, I had already thought that today would happen. It was just a matter of time. As for who was the leader, there was no big difference. To this day, Master Yu is willing to be isolated here. I am grateful. Not enough."
"Your Highness, please don't take yourself so lightly..."
Looking at Zhu Jianshen who seemed open-minded, but in fact could not hide his disappointed look, Yu Shiyue frowned more and more and said.
"When it came to Nangong, Your Highness had great righteousness in mind and was loyal to the emperor. He resolutely reported the truth to Your Majesty. This was an act of sincerity, wisdom, courage, benevolence and filial piety. If not for this, His Majesty would have been in trouble if the Emperor's soldiers attacked the imperial city. When the time comes, brothers Fighting against each other, the Heavenly Family turning against each other, the ministers being in turmoil, the country being overthrown, and blood flowing like rivers, this is a great disaster for the country!"
"Therefore, your Highness's actions are the way to protect the country's security. How can there be anything wrong? Today, there are villains who are using this to stir up trouble, confuse the public, and want to frame Your Highness. They are actually sycophants of the country. Your Highness does not need to worry. Your Majesty's holy light is shining. I will not be deceived by such slanderous words. As long as I can see His Majesty, I will definitely distinguish between right and wrong and rectify His Highness's name."
As soon as these words came out, Zhu Jianshen's expression became slightly silent. After a moment, he shook his head and said.
"Master Yu, why do you do this?"
"Your Majesty is ill and has not seen his foreign ministers for several days. It is really inappropriate to disturb His Majesty's recovery with such a trivial matter. It is nothing more than a piece of impeachment. Even if the publicity is overwhelming, it is nothing more than a villain. It is not a big deal. Here The wind is strong, Master Yu should go back early."
Although he said this, how could Yu Shiyue not understand that Zhu Jianshen was just trying to comfort him.
Counting the time, it has been almost a year since the Nangong Incident. During this year, the entire court seemed peaceful, but in fact, there was a powerful undercurrent brewing.
As the Supreme Emperor was deposed as a commoner and demoted to Fengyang High Wall, the court gradually began to clamor over the ownership of the East Palace.
The most obvious change is that there are more and more impeachment memorials about the East Palace. From occasionally being distracted during the sutra reading to the improper etiquette when meeting the emperor, it seems that overnight, there are countless pairs of eyes staring at the prince in the East Palace. Your Highness.
Every move in the East Palace was magnified infinitely, and then it was exaggerated in the court. Even if there were no mistakes, they still had to find some mistakes to impeach.
On the other hand, the fourth prince in the main hall, King Zhu Jianzhi, would receive tributes from time to time from ministers, full of praise, such as dragons and phoenixes, handsome appearance, benevolence and virtue, which can serve as an example for all the princes...
Between such a compliment and a censure, the intention was Sima Zhao's heart, and everyone on the road knew it.
However, if that's all it is, that's it. The most you can do is ignore these people and just do your job well in the East Palace.
After all, although the court has been ready to make moves, the emperor's treatment of the East Palace has remained the same, and he is even more dependent on it than before the Nangong incident.
Not only did he send errands to many subordinate officials in the East Palace to allow them to enter the court and participate in politics, but he also tried his best to allow His Highness the Crown Prince to listen to politics at the court meetings held every ten days.
But there are many things that sometimes even His Majesty the Emperor cannot change...
Looking at His Highness the Crown Prince, who was disappointed but still forcing himself to smile and comfort himself, Yu Shiyue couldn't help but sigh heavily in his heart.
After many years in the government, he didn't understand that the situation in the East Palace was over. You must know that although these days, those who came forward to embarrass the East Palace were ordinary ordinary officials who were insignificant, but behind them, there were secret instructions from important ministers in the court.
In fact, this is also the most disgusting part. If Yu Shiyue personally ends up dealing with these people, then the people behind them will immediately step in and accuse Yu Shiyue of making a fuss and fussing over petty fuss. If he asks other officials in the East Palace to come forward, then , the other party will be messy and entangled. Anyway, for them, the bigger the matter becomes, the greater the impact it will have on the reputation of the East Palace, and they are happy to see the results.
Therefore, most of the time, in the end, Yu Shiyue could only take Zhu Jianshen together and silently swallow the bitterness. If the criticism was indifferent, just pretend that he didn't know anything. If it caused a bigger disturbance and provoked the emperor to move, If you ask, just admit your mistake in a few words and blur the matter over. As for distinguishing... again, once the trouble gets bigger, regardless of whether it is justified or not, the one who suffers will be Dong Gong.
This undercurrent has formed, and it will inevitably continue to impact the status of the East Palace until it achieves the other party's goal and changes the owner of the East Palace. More importantly, Yu Shiyue also knows in his heart that he cannot prevent this result, not even the emperor can Standing on the side of the East Palace for the time being will not help.
After all, these people support the legitimate son of the Queen in the palace and the biological son of His Majesty. Among these people, there are many ministers who are trusted and trusted by the Emperor. If the two are combined, even the Emperor can only reprimand him most of the time. It is impossible. Any substantial punishment.
In other words, no matter what the opponent does, as long as he does not go out of line, he will be invincible. On the other hand, in the East Palace, except for Yu Shiyue and a group of officials in the East Palace who are still struggling to support, most of the people in the court Officials have already begun to feel uneasy.
It is conceivable that as these criticisms and impeachments increase, the situation in the East Palace will only become more and more difficult. More importantly, the emperor is also a human being after all. He has heard many things in his ears, but he may not understand them in his heart. Change your mind, and once such a situation occurs, the change of ownership of the East Palace Reserve will be an irreversible situation.
Even if the emperor's attitude remains unchanged, as he said, the identity and position of the other party determines that the emperor cannot really punish them, so they will only continue to test them. As long as they succeed once, then it will be enough to achieve their goal. .
Yu Shiyue knows this better than anyone else. Even though he doesn't say it, he has actually prepared for the worst. Although he is unwilling to admit it, as far as the current situation is concerned, Zhu Jianshen continues Staying in the East Palace Reserve is also a kind of torture for the child himself.
Being watched all the time and being accused and impeached by courtiers almost every day is a feeling that even a person with long experience in officialdom may not be able to withstand, let alone a young man. Although there is a difference between king and minister, from the beginning Since the prince came out of the cabinet, Yu Shiyue has been in charge of the affairs of the prince's palace. It is not an exaggeration to say that Zhu Jianshen said that he had watched him grow up. How could he not have the slightest emotion?
However, it was okay for him to accept the change of ownership of the East Palace, because it was almost an inevitable result, but he could not accept it. In order to seek the throne of the crown prince, those people poured dirty water on Zhu Jianshen one after another. Even if the East Palace wanted to Even with the change of ownership, the prince should not have to leave sadly amid all these unwarranted criticisms.
Therefore, this is the reason why Yu Shiyue has been insisting, and it is also the biggest reason why he felt so angry after hearing the news this time...
"The autumn wind is bleak, why must Yu Xingbu be so persistent and insist on meeting His Majesty today?"
There was a slightly deep voice coming from behind, making Yu Shiyue's already poor expression become even more ugly. Turning around, he saw an old man in crimson official robes walking out of the Donghua Gate. This person was not The other person is Zhang Min, Yu Shiyue's former partner and now the chief minister of the cabinet.
However, facing the chief minister, Yu Shiyue did not have a good look at all. The reason was very simple. During this period of time, there have been countless overt and covert fights around the East Palace. Logically speaking, in order to reconcile the internal and external affairs, Anshun DPRK The cabinet should have intervened, but the fact was exactly the opposite. Not only did the cabinet's major ministers openly and covertly take sides and add fuel to the flames, but even Zhang Min, the chief minister, let these things go without stopping at all.
Being in his position but not pursuing political affairs naturally made Yu Shiyue feel a lot of dissatisfaction with Zhang Min. In normal times, he might have been able to respond a few words, but today Mr. Yu was in a bad mood, so naturally he had no intention of being polite to him. Trust the snake.
After encountering a problem in front of Yu Shiyue, Zhang Min looked a little embarrassed and his face froze slightly. He couldn't help but sigh softly, turned to Zhu Jianshen and said.
"Meet His Highness the Crown Prince."
Zhu Jianshen was very peaceful and returned the greeting as usual.
"I've met Mr. Zhang..."
Seeing this situation, Zhang Min groaned, as if he wanted to say something, but before he could open his mouth, another voice came from behind him.
"Zhang Shoufu, Yu Xingbu, why are you standing here?"
Hearing this voice, Yu Shiyue's face became darker, and he didn't even bother to turn his head to look.
On the other hand, Zhang Min, who was on the side, seemed to have seen a savior. He quickly took two steps forward and cupped his hands.
"I've met Master Tianguan, and I've met Master Yu."
That's all for the former. When he heard the latter's name, Yu Shiyue's expression changed. He finally turned around and looked at the two people walking towards this direction coldly.
"Meet His Highness the Crown Prince."
The visitors were none other than Wang Wen, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and Yu Qian, the Yushi Yushi of Youdu, a popular young master in the court. They came hand in hand. When they came closer, they bowed politely.
However, facing the two ministers who now have the most say in the court, Zhu Jianshen's attitude was lukewarm. He just reluctantly returned the salute and said.
"I've met Mr. Wang, Mr. Yu..."
As a result, the atmosphere outside Donghua Gate suddenly became a little strange. The chief minister of the cabinet, the two chief ministers of the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Punishment, and the dignified young master Yu Qian, all fell silent in a tacit understanding, and no one spoke.
Needless to say, everyone knows the reason.
In today's court, there are overt and covert fights over the throne of the East Palace. As the official of the Prince's Palace, Yu Shiyue knew in his heart that the situation was over, but he still did not give up his efforts and tried his best to protect the East Palace from harm.
The person standing opposite him is none other than Wang Wen, the Minister of Civil Affairs. Of course, it is not accurate to say that. There are many ministers in the court who support the abolition of Li Li, and Wang Wen is only the most representative among them.
Of course, given his status, he is actually the core figure of the Abolitionist Party.
Because of this, the relationship between Yu Shiyue and Wang Wen is now very bad. You must know that although Wang Wen himself has never impeached the East Palace, in addition to being biased at critical moments, he also ignored Yu Shiyue's He strongly opposed and transferred back He Wenyuan, the minister of the Ministry of Personnel, who had been demoted from Beijing before.
You must know that the reason why He Wenyuan was demoted from the capital was because he was the first person to propose in a secret memorial that "the father owns the world and should pass it on to his sons" and advocated that the emperor's legitimate son should be appointed as the prince.
At that time, because of this incident, there was a big turmoil in the court. In the end, it was barely calmed down as He Wenyuan was transferred to Jiangxi to take charge of disaster relief matters.
Now, Wang Wenli mainly transferred He Wenyuan back to the capital, and also restored him to his original position as an official, and returned to serve in the core staff department. It is self-evident what his plan was.
Under this situation, how could Yu Shiyue have a good attitude toward him? Of course, Wang Wen's stance was not what chilled Yu Shiyue the most. It was Yu Qian who really disappointed him.
In today's court, the abolitionist faction headed by Wang Wen is constantly provoking provocations, testing the emperor's bottom line step by step, trying to depose the East Palace and re-install the prince. In contrast, the East Palace faction headed by Yu Shiyue is trying their best to maintain the throne of the East Palace. status, adhere to the foundation of the crown prince and the country, and cannot act rashly. Although the struggle between the two is not completely obvious, it can be regarded as in full swing.
In addition to them, there is a third force in the DPRK, that is, the neutral faction. The position of this faction is very clear, that is, silence. It is silent on the matter of the crown prince's dethronement. As for the disputes between the other two factions, either And mud, or remain silent.
The representative of this faction is Yu Qian!
Yes, it’s Yu Qian!
Originally, Yu Shiyue felt that even if something happened like the Emperor forcing the emperor to force the palace, in the end, the Prince was not at fault in this matter, so whether from the standpoint of etiquette or morality, Yu Qian should stand with him and protect him. The status of prince.
However, this is not the case. For nearly a year, although Yu Qian has never expressed any opinions on the issue of storage, his neutral attitude is actually very revealing.
Especially this time, seeing Yu Qian and Wang Wen appear together, Yu Shiyue was naturally even more unhappy, and his face turned ugly...
After a period of silence, Zhu Jianshen was the first to break the awkward scene. He looked at Wang Wen and Yu Qian and asked.
"At this hour, the two gentlemen came together. I wonder what the reason is?"
