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Objectively speaking, although Emperor Deqing was extravagant, extravagant, indifferent and ungrateful, he was actually a very diligent emperor.
Since he ascended the throne, except for a few southern tours, the morning court has been basically uninterrupted every day. He will stay in the imperial study for at least an hour to review memorials, and he will personally attend to all important government affairs of the court.
Although Zhao Junchen believed that Emperor Deqing's "diligence" was essentially just a matter of clinging to power - if he had shown any sign of slackness in delegating power, the entire temple would have become Zhou Shangjing's sole proprietor - but he still couldn't Denied that he was indeed a diligent emperor.
But this time, due to the lawsuit between Prince Zhu Heyu and the vassal princes, Emperor Deqing had not held a court meeting for nearly ten days, but it was the first time in the past ten years.
Perhaps Emperor Deqing also knew very well that under the current situation in the temple, as long as he formally convened a court meeting, it would mean that the countdown to Zhu Heyu's dethronement had officially begun, and there would be no room for recovery.
Although there were many conceptual conflicts between Emperor Deqing and Zhu Heyu, and he was even jealous of Zhu Heyu's good reputation in both the government and the public, after all, he once had high hopes for Zhu Heyu, devoted a lot of effort, and had some feelings of father and son. , this time it is inevitable that I feel a little bit unbearable.
However, no matter what Emperor Deqing thought, the court meeting would eventually be reopened.
Just after Zhao Junchen ignored Li Ruan for two days, the court meeting was finally held again.
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As the eunuch in charge of the royal study, Li Ru'an naturally understood the significance of today's court meeting - this would be an important moment that would affect the abolition of the throne.
And the seventh prince Zhu Hejian's recruitment of him a few days ago was obviously closely related to the abolition of the reserve throne!
According to Li Ru'an's conjecture, when such an important situation changes, Zhao Junchen will never be indifferent, and there will definitely be many things that require his secret cooperation!
Therefore, before the official meeting this morning, Zhao Junchen should reply to himself anyway.
Therefore, Li Ruan still left the room early on this day, looking for an excuse to stay in the Imperial Study Room for a while. He did not return to his room again until he heard that Emperor Deqing had arrived at the Hall of Supreme Harmony to hold a court meeting.
Li Ru'an thought about it, as long as Zhao Junchen paid a little attention to him or had the intention to intervene in the crown prince's abolition, this would be the last chance to contact him! If this opportunity is missed, Li Ruan will not be able to cooperate with Zhao Junchen if something happens at the court meeting today.
However, when Li Ruan couldn't wait to open the secret compartment again, he found that there was still nothing in the secret compartment.
Apparently, Zhao Junchen still didn't reply to him.
Looking at the empty secret compartment, Li Ruan's expression couldn't help but be uncertain.
He also knew that Zhao Junchen would definitely find that his secret letter contained the intention of bargaining and blackmail. He knew that Zhao Junchen would be unhappy when he noticed this. He thought that Zhao Junchen might agree to improve his status and treatment. , also thought that Zhao Junchen might categorically reject him. He was even ready to face Zhao Junchen's anger, but he never expected that Zhao Junchen would ignore him anyway!
This kind of disregard is much more terrifying than Zhao Junchen's clear expression of dissatisfaction!
Li Ruan tried his best to calm himself down, but he still couldn't help but start thinking wildly and becoming suspicious.
The infinite space for association and various possibilities make Li Ruan more frightened the more he thinks about it!
It's been two days, why hasn't Zhao Junchen contacted him?
Could it be said that Zhao Junchen didn't care about Zhu Hejian's movements at all? impossible! Otherwise, Zhao Junchen would not have deliberately reminded himself to be careful of Zhu Hejian!
Could it be said that Zhao Junchen did not intend to intervene in the abolition of the crown prince? Impossible! Otherwise, he would not pay so much attention to brothers Zhu Heyu and Zhu Hejian!
Or maybe after Zhao Junchen received his secret letter, he was unable to make a decision because of the high stakes? Even more impossible, Zhao Junchen is definitely not such a hesitant character!
After a while of random thoughts, Li Ruan suddenly thought of another possibility, and his expression suddenly changed!
Could it be that Zhao Junchen had already made a plan to dethrone the crown prince, but he began to doubt his position and loyalty, so he deliberately excluded himself?
Could it be said that Zhao Junchen no longer trusts himself, so he no longer needs himself and no longer expects himself to provide help?
Could it be that Zhao Junchen has become hostile to himself?
If Zhao Junchen has begun to doubt himself, no longer needs himself, or is even hostile to himself... With Zhao Junchen's consistent style and methods... Considering that he has been exposed to many secrets of Zhao Junchen, his current position is also extremely sensitive... …
Li Ru'an gradually turned pale when he thought of Zhao Junchen's overt and covert actions over the years, especially the decisiveness and resoluteness Zhao Junchen showed during his time on the Shaanxi-Gansu border!
For a moment, Li Ruan felt a chill in his heart, as if there was a dagger pressed against his neck that was about to be inserted at any moment!
"No! Zhao Junchen must not abandon me! I can still do things for him! I have never planned to betray him from beginning to end! The most I can do is ask for some benefits and status from him! He, why should he do it just because of this? Doubt me and abandon me because of everything? Isn't he worried that I will completely surrender to the Seventh Prince? If he really wants to deal with me, the worst is possible. I see Emperor Deqing almost every day, and I also have contact with the Seventh Prince. I You can report Zhao Junchen’s ambitions to them..."
Li Ruan murmured to himself his determination to fight to the death, but his face was still bloodless.
These words are just to embolden yourself.
He said it was a big deal that he would seek refuge with the Seventh Prince, but in fact, a person like him who seriously lacked a sense of security had to be in a predictable environment to be able to take it easy. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he would never do anything. Will take risks!
Taking refuge in Zhu Hejian is certainly a choice, but it also represents unknowns and dangers. Li Ruan's character flaws make it more difficult for him to make a decision the more he reaches this point.
What's more, Li Ru'an still had some suspicions that Zhao Junchen was deliberately ignoring his actions now, which was a way to test his loyalty, so he became even more afraid to make important decisions easily.
Therefore, Zhao Junchen has already seen through Li Ruan! Everything he has was given by Zhao Junchen, and his character and ideas are also deeply influenced by Zhao Junchen. His ambition and confidence are also due to the fact that he knows that he has Zhao Junchen as his backer. Once he encounters a problem that he cannot solve The problem only needs to be left to Zhao Junchen. No matter how difficult the situation is, Zhao Junchen can help him resolve it... If he leaves Zhao Junchen, his ambition and self-confidence will become rootless duckweeds and cannot stand at all. any test.
Now, realizing that Zhao Junchen might abandon him, Li Ru'an's already gradually growing ambition suddenly sobered up a lot, and he finally recognized the reality - it was never Zhao Junchen who needed his help, but him. We cannot do without Zhao Junchen’s support!
Since entering the inner court, every step Li Ruan took was due to Zhao Junchen's guidance and paving the way. After leaving Zhao Junchen, he couldn't even tell where his future path was for a while!
Thinking of this, Li Ruan gritted his teeth and finally made a decision!
"No! We must not let Zhao Junchen abandon me just like this! I am still useful to him! I can inform him of the news about the Imperial Study Room... Oh, by the way! The Secret Box of the Imperial Study Room! The Seventh Prince wants me to steal the secret of the Imperial Study Room The secrets in the box! Zhao Junchen will definitely be interested in this matter! I deliberately hid it from him a few days ago. He may have received the news from somewhere and knew that I hid the news, so he doubted my position. I Tell him this now!"
Having said this, Li Ru'an acted quickly, found pen, ink and paper from the room and began to write a second confidential letter to Zhao Junchen.
This time, Li Ruan not only confessed that Zhu Hejian asked him to peek into the secret box in the royal study, but also emphasized his role and importance to Zhao Junchen again, saying that he would have many opportunities to assist Zhao Junchen in the future, but he never disappeared again. It means taking the opportunity to blackmail.
Then, Li Ruan put the secret letter into the secret compartment of the room again, and murmured to himself again: "Zhao Junchen, Zhao Junchen... I have confessed everything and made concessions... You, you must never force me again. Already..."
However, before Li Ruan finished speaking, there was a sudden knock on the door in the room.
Li Ruan's expression changed slightly, and he quickly closed the secret compartment. After taking a moment to sort out his emotions, he finally turned around and opened the door.
Outside the door, there is an unexpected figure - Zhu Hejian's eunuch Jia Lun!
After seeing Jialun's appearance, Li Ruan was a little surprised, but he quickly guessed his purpose.
After Jia Lun took a deep look at Li Ru'an, he took the initiative to enter the room without waiting for Li Ru'an to speak. He casually sat at the round table in the room and looked at the environment of the room.
On the other side, Li Ruan felt a little dissatisfied when he saw Jia Lun looking so self-absorbed, but he quickly closed the door.
Jia Lun's eyes returned to Li Ru'an again, and he suddenly asked: "Are you nervous?"
Before Li Ruan opened the door, he had deliberately sorted out his emotions and expressions, but there were still some traces left, but Jia Lun could see them at a glance.
Li Ruan turned around and stared at Jia Lun, a trace of fear flashing in his heart because of Jia Lun's keen observation.
He hates Jalen very much. Ever since he first met Jalen, he felt that everything about this person was unpleasant.
Jia Lun is different from those senior eunuchs in the inner court who are already older. He is several years younger than Li Ru'an, and he is a confidant who has been with Zhu Hejian since childhood - so, even if Li Ruan makes up his mind to join Zhu Hejian , but as long as Jalen stays with Zhu Hejian for one day, he will never get ahead and never have the chance to realize his ambition. It is better to continue to follow Zhao Junchen to have a future!
If it weren't for Jia Lun's existence, Li Ru'an would never be as scrupulous about taking refuge in Zhu Hejian as he is today!
Li Ru'an even believed that if it weren't for Jia Lun's existence, he wouldn't be panicking just because Zhao Junchen ignored him.
"It would be great if this person didn't exist! My choice would be much greater!" Li Ruan couldn't help but think about it again.
But on the surface, Li Ruan did not reveal his malice and said: "Nervous? Why should I be nervous? It's just that you suddenly appeared due to some accidents!"
Jia Lun took a deep look at Li Ru'an again, nodded and said: "As long as you are not nervous, what you are going to do next is very important and dangerous. You must not panic, otherwise others will notice the signs...
Of course, if you are discovered to have peeked into the secret box, you must bear the responsibility alone. His Highness the Seventh Prince will never admit that he is involved in this matter, and Wu Xinquan will also testify on His Highness’s side. You won’t have any evidence by then, and with the Seventh Prince’s reputation in government and the public, no one will believe you, and your death will only be worse...
So, don’t be nervous and try to be as natural as possible. As the eunuch in charge of the royal study, it is not difficult to quietly peek at the memorials in the secret box. As long as nothing happens, it will be a good thing for everyone... and even more for you. It's a good thing. It's not easy to win the trust of His Highness the Seventh Prince. This is your chance. "
After Li Ruan was silent for a moment, he said: "You don't need to remind me, I naturally understand the depth! If someone catches me doing this, I will pour dirty water on Zhao Junchen and commit suicide on the spot! Anyway, I will die by then!"
Jia Lun couldn't help but be a little surprised, because he found that what Li Ru'an said did not seem to be a lie, and his attitude was very firm.
A few days ago, Zhu Hejian reminded Jia Lun to be careful about Li Ru'an, thinking that Jia Lun might not be able to suppress this person in the future. Jia Lun also kept Li Ru'an in his heart at that time, but did not pay special attention to it, because Jia Lun also knew Zhu Hejian very well. I understand that Zhu Hejian's words are largely just to knock himself and keep himself in a sense of crisis - Zhu Hejian hopes that he and the people around him can always maintain a sense of urgency and crisis. This is their comfort zone.
But because of Li Ru'an's decisive statement at this time, Jia Lun couldn't help but look at Li Ru'an with admiration. He thought that Li Ru'an was a ruthless person who left no room for mercy, and he paid more and more attention to him in his heart.
However, Jia Lun did not know that Li Ruan had already left a secret letter to Zhao Junchen at this time, confessing that he would spy on the secret box in the imperial study for Zhu Hejian.
Therefore, Li Ruan's statement is indeed not a lie. If he is caught peeking into the secret box in the royal study, he will definitely throw dirty water on Zhao Junchen, and Zhao Junchen will also do the same in order to prove his innocence. He had no choice but to take out Li Ruan's secret letter to testify for himself!
In the end, Zhu Hejian's instigation of Li Ru'an to spy on the secret box in the imperial study will be revealed, and Zhao Junchen's secret infiltration of the inner court will also be revealed - Li Ru'an will drag these two big shots who think they are superior to be buried with him!
As he paid more and more attention to Li Ru'an in his heart, Jia Lun's attitude became a little more polite. There was a hint of recognition in his always sinister expression. He reached out and took out a key from his arms and put it on the table and said: " Today's court meeting will definitely last for a long time, and it is a great opportunity for you to take action! The Seventh Prince hopes to receive your exact information before the afternoon."
This key is obviously a replica of the key to the royal study's secret box.
Li Ruan did not expect that Zhu Hejian could actually obtain the key model that Emperor Deqing carried with him in such a short period of time.
In fact, just like Li Ru'an was hiding something from Jia Lun, Jia Lun did not tell Li Ru'an everything. He was also hiding some trump cards!
The reason why Jia Lun suggested that Li Ruan take action immediately was not only because today's court meeting would last a long time and Emperor Deqing would not visit the imperial study in a short period of time, but also because of the imperial officials who were patrolling the imperial study in shifts today. Among the guards, one has been secretly bribed by the seventh prince Zhu Hejian, and will secretly cooperate with Li Ruan's actions.
When Li Ru'an enters the imperial study to peek at the secret box, this imperial guard will try to divert the attention of other imperial guards! If Li Ru'an is caught accidentally, this imperial guard will kill Li Ru'an immediately and will never leave Li Ru'an any chance to speak!
With Zhu Hejian's caution and scheming, he certainly would not put all his money on Li Ru'an. When Li Ru'an peeked into the secret box in the royal study, he had already prepared at least three follow-up plans in his mind.
After Jalen put down the key, he quickly left the room.
Li Ruan stared at the key on the table. After his expression changed for a long time, he finally gritted his teeth, put the key in his arms, turned around and left the room towards the imperial study.
When Li Ruan arrived at the imperial study, he saw that there were only two young eunuchs cleaning the room at this time, and there was a team of imperial guards patrolling everywhere outside the imperial study.
After Li Ruan inspected for a while, his face turned cold and he reprimanded: "Zhang Xiaoxiao, Xu Dingke, how did you clean the imperial study? Your Majesty will come at any time, why is there still dust on the ground? I came to the imperial study a quarter of an hour ago to inspect When I arrived, I saw you guys cleaning. Why haven't you cleaned up in such a long time? How can you stay in the imperial study room to work if you are so lazy? "
Li Ru'an has now initially established prestige in the imperial study room. As he began to reprimand, the two young eunuchs immediately apologized with fear and fear. At the same time, they also felt deeply aggrieved. They thought that they had cleaned up everything.
Li Ru'an has always resented Zhao Junchen, Zhu Hejian and others for manipulating his own destiny at will, showing no respect at all, but in fact, his attitude was no different when facing small people whose status was lower than his own.
At this time, Li Ru'an did not soften at all because of the two young eunuchs' pleas, and said: "This is your first offense. I won't kick you out of the imperial study, but I can't let you go easily... Now, You go to the inner prison to receive your punishment first, and each of you will receive ten lashes to remember! After being whipped, continue to clean up in the imperial study! If I see you slacking off again, it won't be as simple as being whipped. !”
Just like that, in a few words, Li Ruan dismissed the two young eunuchs, and for a while Li Ruan was the only one left in the imperial study.
However, there are still imperial guards outside the imperial study. Because the door of the imperial study is still open, if Li Ruan peeks into the memorial in the secret box at this time, he will be easily discovered.
And just when Li Ru'an was seriously considering how to avoid the eyes of these imperial guards, he saw the guards outside the imperial study gradually gathering together, secretly discussing something with each other.
Perhaps because Emperor Deqing was not in the imperial study, these guards were not as afraid to go beyond the rules as usual, and their attitude was a bit loose.
Faintly, Li Ruan seemed to hear discussions such as "I heard that Fusi in Beizhen is recruiting more people." It seemed that someone had received the gossip and aroused everyone's interest.
In the Ming Dynasty, the Jinyi Guards were divided into two parts. One part was responsible for the imperial chariot and the emperor's ceremonial guard inside the palace, and took orders from the pro-military Duwei Mansion. The other part was responsible for detectives and prison matters outside the palace, taking orders from the South and North Towns. Fu Si - these palace guards are also from Jinyiwei, but they are not as oily as those Jinyiwei outside the palace. Such gossip naturally attracts everyone's attention.
Li Ru'an only regarded all this as a coincidence and a great opportunity. He quickly walked behind Emperor Deqing's imperial cabinet, used the key to open the secret box under the imperial cabinet, and then pretended to organize the imperial cabinet. In fact, he secretly read several memorials in the secret box.
Soon, Li Ru'an had found the secret letter from Prince Zhu Heyu. Due to the tight time, he did not bother to speculate on the meaning of the contents of the secret letter. He just read it quickly at a glance and summarized the general content. Keep it in mind.
After doing all this, Li Ruan couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that no one noticed his abnormality.
Just as he was about to lock the secret box again, Li Ru'an suddenly looked up and saw that the guards gathering outside the royal study room had not yet finished their discussion. He couldn't help but feel moved in his heart.
Li Ru'an knew very well that each of these memorials in the secret box in the imperial study was extremely confidential and important, and any content of the memorials spread to the outside would shock the government and the public.
In the eyes of Emperor Deqing, the contents of these memorials were either detrimental to the stability of the government and the opposition, or they could be used as a trump card to wait for the right time to be revealed, so he kept them hidden in a secret box and deliberately suppressed the news.
Therefore, seeing that there was still time, Li Ruan couldn't help but want to read a few more memorials in the secret box so that he could have more trump cards.
Therefore, Li Ru'an took out another memorial from the secret box and read it quickly.
As a result, Li Ruan just flipped through the first page of another memorial and couldn't help but trembled his hands and changed his expression slightly!
On top of this memorial, it was clearly written - "...Your Majesty, Li Chunchen, is here to invite you. After my personal investigation, I have found concrete evidence to impeach Zhao Junchen, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, for many times while supervising the construction of the palace for Your Majesty. Engaging in favoritism and cheating, they not only deliberately delayed the construction progress of the palace, but also misappropriated and corrupted the palace's special money. The wood, stone, etc. used in the palace were all shoddy..."
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While Li Ru'an was peeking at the memorial in the secret box in the imperial study, on the other side of the Forbidden City, the court meeting in the Hall of Supreme Harmony was gradually reaching its climax.
The theme of today's court meeting is two words - "Impeachment"!
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