Autumn turned to winter, and the winter wind was biting. Since the heart palpitations, Mu Sheng had been trying to make predictions, but to no avail. He knew in his heart what level he was at, and then he gave up. Several months passed, and it seemed that the court It's been quiet up there, nothing major happened.
Mu Sheng sent Leqi and his team out to inquire about news inside and outside the court, but he could only remain calm. Over at the Tai Chi Palace, Le Qi found out that the emperor was practicing in seclusion again and had not seen his ministers for several months. This was a common occurrence anyway. Over the years, it had become a common practice both inside and outside the court, and it was not a big deal.
In the twelfth lunar month of winter, Mu Sheng stood in the pavilion. It was already snowing heavily. He looked at the heavy snow in silence, and inexplicably remembered the heart palpitations there. He still felt that something was wrong. The government and the public were a little too calm.
The color gradually darkened, and Mu Sheng was about to turn around and go to Xixue to look for her.
At this moment, the guard outside the door came forward to report: "Master Qi, someone is coming from Tai Chi Palace."
When Mu Sheng heard this, his heart moved. It had been almost a year, and finally someone remembered him, the loser who had been swept into a corner.
Mu Sheng immediately went to the door to receive the envoy from Taiji Palace.
When he came to the courtyard, he saw that Taiji Palace only sent two eunuchs to deliver the message.
When the eunuch saw Young Master Sheng appearing, he stepped forward and said, "Master Sheng, Your Majesty would like to see you."
"Okay, I'll go right away."
The two Taiji Palace eunuchs were not wearing the official clothes of the palace. They were just wearing ordinary short clothes, no different from ordinary people. One of them held a cloak and put it on Young Master Sheng, and the three of them walked out of the gate.
Mu Sheng was stunned when he saw the carriage parked outside the door. It was an extremely ordinary carriage, inconspicuous at all.
It seemed that this was a secret summons. Suspicions suddenly arose in his mind. He recalled the hexagrams at that time. After all, he still did not dare to think in that direction.
Didn’t the emperor summon him now? It shouldn't be...
One of the eunuchs helped Young Master Sheng into the carriage together, and the other acted as the driver. Along the way, the carriage shook and swayed out of the city.
When Mu Sheng saw the silent eunuch in the car, he planned to find out the truth first and asked: "My father-in-law, it's so late and you asked me to go to the palace to see your majesty. If I come back, what's going on in the city?" The city gates are closed and there is a curfew, so it will be troublesome to enter the city again.”
The eunuch said in a respectful tone: "Master Sheng, please be patient. You will know when you arrive. The superiors only ordered the servants to come and pick you up. As for the rest, I don't know anything about it."
When Mu Sheng couldn't figure out the reason, he stopped talking and simply closed his eyes to rest.
The carriage swayed along the way, and after a few hours, he felt the carriage slowly stop.
Mu Sheng stepped forward and opened the curtains and took a look outside. This was the west gate of Tai Chi Palace. It was usually the palace gate where palace servants and servants came and went to transport supplies. In the past, he usually used the east gate to go to court. It seemed that letting him come here this time was really just a cover-up.
Mu Sheng couldn't help but guess the emperor's intentions. Did he want to secretly pass the throne to him? Then he denied this childish idea. The prince was still fine now. To pass the throne, at least he had to find a reason to abolish the prince first, and then there could be follow-up procedures.
Along the way, he thought about many reasons but all of them were rejected by himself. So what is this mysterious thing? Too strange……
It wasn't until the eunuch in the car signaled Mu Sheng to get out of the car that he interrupted his unrestrained thoughts. Along the way, the two eunuchs guided Mr. Sheng through the many palace restrictions to the Tai Chi Palace. He was a little confused when he saw the outer palace. Doesn’t the emperor want to go to the inner palace? What does it mean to leave him here?
Mu Sheng looked at the main hall of Xuanzhengyuan not far away. This outer palace is where the courtiers usually work and live. Taiji Palace is not close to Qingyang City, thirty miles away. Sometimes the ministers work too late and have no time to go home. Just live in the outer palace.
At this moment, a person came from a distance, it was Lu Liang, Eunuch Lu, the general manager of the inner court.
Mu Sheng hurriedly stepped forward to greet him and said, "I have met Mr. Lu."
Lu Liang looked solemn and said: "Master, please follow me into the inner palace to meet the Holy Master."
Seeing Lu Liang's face, Mu Sheng felt a flash of uneasiness in his heart. He had better see the emperor first!
The two of them passed through many palace restrictions along the way to the inner palace. They saw that there were many more guards patrolling along the way than before. Even if an old acquaintance like Lu Liang entered the inner palace, the generals of the imperial guards would carefully check his appearance. Put aside the waist card, the imperial guards will not care about Lu Liang at all when they see him. Lu Liang's coming and going of the inner palace is like entering a deserted land, just by brushing his face.
It was so abnormal now. When Mu Sheng saw this, he couldn't help but murmured in his heart, is the Tai Chi palace loose outside and tight inside? There must be something going on here, and it must be something big. What other big things could happen in this inner palace?
Earlier, the birthday of the emperor's favorite concubine, Mrs. Sun, was considered a big event. Now, the only big event in the palace, except for Mrs. Sun, was the emperor himself. At this moment, he couldn't help but worry about the emperor's health. If anything happened If something happened to the emperor, it would immediately be a major event that would turn the world upside down. He had to be prepared in advance to deal with it.
Mu Sheng followed Lu Liang all the way to the Wanshou Hall in the inner palace, which was the emperor's bedroom.
After Mu Sheng followed Lu Liang into the palace, he saw the emperor lying half on the dragon couch, his face was ashen, and his overall complexion looked very bad. There were several people surrounding the emperor in the hall, including Zhang Daoling and the patriarch Ahramidou. exist.
Mu Sheng was shocked. He felt the emperor's aura carefully and found that he was indeed very weak. He hadn't seen him for more than a year, and now he was like this? The emperor who still swears by the young master has succeeded in practicing Taoism? Is this what it looks like?
At that moment, Mu Sheng ignored the etiquette and stepped forward to Emperor Ping's side. He choked with sobs and said, "Your Majesty, I haven't seen you for a long time. What's wrong with you? My dear...my dear..."
Seeing that Mu Sheng looked heartbroken and extremely worried, the emperor sighed, reached out and patted his shoulder, and said in a low voice:
"Sheng'er, it's okay. I just took an overdose of pills and it's not serious. With Zhang Aiqing and the patriarch by my side, I will be fine."
The emperor turned his head and signaled to Lu Liang. Lu Liang immediately turned around and fetched an edict. He did not read it out on the spot, but handed it directly to Young Master Sheng.
The emperor looked at the son left behind by the woman he once loved the most. He didn't know whether he could survive this life-and-death test. Otherwise, he would never see his son again in the future. He secretly summoned him to the palace this time because he wanted to see him for the last time. To see him.
The emperor said: "Sheng'er, I have thought about it over and over again. This may be the most appropriate arrangement for you. Just go back and read the edict yourself."
Mu Sheng took the edict respectfully, kowtowed and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty."
The emperor looked deeply at Young Master Sheng and was silent for a while, then waved his hand and said, "Kneel down!"
Mu Sheng always felt that the emperor seemed to have the intention of explaining the funeral arrangements.
Mu Sheng stepped forward and said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, please let me stay by your side to serve you. I haven't seen my father for a year, and I miss you very much. My son~~ I can only see you in good health." rest assured……"
After hearing this, the emperor was moved by Young Master Sheng's filial piety and comforted him: "Sheng'er, good boy, don't worry, I will be fine..."
Seeing that the patriarch Ahrami seemed to be using medicine to treat the emperor, Mu Sheng reluctantly left the hall.
Watching Gongzi Sheng's leaving figure, the emperor thought of his most valued prince, An Guojun, Gongzi Xiu. He sighed in his heart, took out an edict from behind and handed it to Lu Liang, exhorting:
"Lü Liang, this edict is for Xiu'er. If I take the Ten Thousand God Pill, if anything happens, you should leave the palace immediately and hand the edict to him, and ask him to leave the capital immediately and join the vassal. He is not allowed to stay in the capital for even a moment. A quarter of an hour."
Lu Liang solemnly took the edict and said: "Your Majesty, I will definitely live up to your Majesty's wishes."
Lu Liang knew clearly that the emperor was afraid that after the prince succeeded to the throne, he would liquidate the two princes he valued most, so he had already arranged a way out for the two princes Xiu and Sheng in advance.
After Mu Sheng came out of Wanshou Hall, he saw three eunuchs waiting outside the hall. The leading eunuch stepped forward to greet him and said, "Yang Liu has met Young Master Sheng."
Mu Sheng saw that he was an old acquaintance and said solemnly: "Eunuch Yang? What are you waiting for here?"
Yang Liudao: "Young Master, I have been ordered by Manager Lu to welcome you to the outer palace to rest."
Mu Sheng saw that it was too late, and he also knew that the city gates were closed when he returned to the capital, so he could only stay here tonight.
Everyone passed through the many palace restrictions and came to a side hall in the outer palace. After entering the side hall, Mu Sheng felt that there seemed to be a strong barrier guarding it.
Yang Liu turned his head and warned: "Young Master Sheng, Manager Lu has told me that the Young Master will live here from now on. As for the Young Master's residence, the Chief Manager has already sent someone to notify you. Young Master does not need to worry."
When Mu Sheng heard this, he felt a little unhappy and asked, "Eunuch Yang, what does this mean?"
Yang Liudao: "The holy body is ill. It is not convenient for you to return home for the time being."
Mu Sheng understood what was going on as soon as he heard it. The emperor is not in good health. This is a state secret. If someone wants to take the opportunity to cause trouble, he can only stay here and wait for the emperor to recover. This is equivalent to a disguised form. Under house arrest.
Mu Sheng had no choice but to turn around and go to the palace to rest. He took out the edict that the emperor had just given him and read it carefully. He finally felt relieved. It turned out that he was given the title of Anlehou, which is equivalent to the highest level. The feudal lords created a county town in Linzhang County as his fiefdom, and asked him to immediately leave for the fiefdom to become a vassal after seeing the imperial edict. This imperial edict was actually to ensure his future wealth, and he would no longer have to stay. In the capital, it's easy to look at people's faces.
Mu Sheng's heart moved, Anlehou? Good! He immediately felt the emperor's love for his son. This meant that he, an ordinary prince, had broken the tradition of the Jin Kingdom since its founding. Even ordinary princes would not let their clan members go to other places to work. Fan, I'm afraid that you will use your status to cause trouble in the local area.
However, these were all false titles. Mu Sheng only enjoyed the taxes from the fiefdom, and the governance rights of the fiefdom had nothing to do with him. He still had to listen to the county magistrate or governor, and he couldn't cause trouble even if he wanted to. Moreover, he, the Marquis of Anle, cannot be hereditary, which means that this title cannot be passed down to descendants. It will be over in your generation, and your descendants will become ordinary clan members or common people again.
Mu Sheng studied the wording of the imperial edict and felt that the old emperor actually knew the nature of His Highness the Crown Prince. The prince who had fought with the Crown Prince would probably not end well, just like the brother he had sent to death to compete with him. Especially if this is the case, it is better to simply send everyone out of the capital, so as not to hinder the eyes of the future new king. The emperor's move was just for the prince to see. In order for the prince to successfully succeed to the throne, he has already sent out the eyesores in advance. There is no need. After the fall, it is estimated that Gongzi Xiu also received the same edict.
After reading the edict, Mu Sheng became more certain that the old emperor was probably on his deathbed. He was also very anxious to leave. If His Majesty was promoted, he would make arrangements to stay as soon as possible.
