Late at night, I don’t know when the drizzle started, like the sorrow leaving my heart.
The capital city was in peaceful darkness, with only the Shen family lighting up in the main courtyard.
In the room, Mrs. Shen hugged Shen Dingzhu and cried heartbrokenly.
"My child, you must hold on. The emperor will be blessed with auspicious dragon body and turn the crisis into safety. How anxious would he be if he came back and saw you fell ill?"
Shen Dingzhu in her arms had a pale face and bloodless lips.
Just after confirming the news with her parents that Xiao Langyan was washed away by the torrent, she had already fainted. Her family members stabbed her in the philtrum, and then she woke up.
"It's all right. There are guards around him, how could he fall into the torrent..." Shen Dingzhu said, tears washing down his white porcelain face like rain.
Father Shen sat aside, facing Guangzhu, his old face full of deep sorrow.
"I heard that the embankment suddenly collapsed and the torrent rushed down. The emperor pushed your second brother onto the horse. When he turned to get on the guard's horse, he didn't catch it, so..."
Speaking of this, Shen Dingzhu's heart was as sharp as a knife, and the whole family burst into tears.
It turned out that Xiao Langyan immediately gave her second brother the chance to escape!
Did he know that she cared about her family and was afraid that she would be sad, so he even put his own safety behind?
Shen Dingzhu burst into tears.
Father Shen stood up with a heavy look in his eyes: "Daughter, now that things have happened, you have to cheer up even more. My father has concluded that the news that the emperor is missing in the torrent will soon spread back to the capital, and I am afraid there will be unrest in the court."
"As a queen, and the prince is young, you must stabilize the court before the emperor comes back to prevent ambitious people from taking this opportunity to seize power. As a father, I can point you in the right direction, but you must not back down at this time. Down."
In addition to being sad, Shen Dingzhu still has many things to do for Xiao Langyan!
Shen Dingzhu raised his pale face, and under his black eyebrows, his two watery eyes were filled with sadness.
Her whole heart was attached to Xiao Langyan, how could she care about the court?
She stumbled and stood up from her mother's arms: "No, father, what I have to do now is to call the Xuanjia Army and rush to Jizhou overnight. I want to find Xiao Langyan!"
Father Shen quickly stopped her.
His old eyes were full of urgency: "Daughter! Don't be confused. My father knows that you are extremely sad, but guarding the emperor's kingdom is what you must do!"
"Don't forget, there are no concubines in the harem, and Xingche is even younger, but there are countless elders in the court. If you leave, they will definitely have a fight in order to seize the opportunity to dominate the court. "
"The emperor has worked hard and planned for many years to create a stable court with checks and balances. At this time, apart from you, there is no other person suitable to step forward and stabilize the situation."
The night was dark, and drizzle continued outside. The thin sound in the puddles was like an airtight net, making Shen Dingzhu almost unable to breathe.
She raised her red tearful eyes and looked at the flickering candle on the table, as if her heart was about to die at any time.
Finally, Shen Dingzhu wiped away her tears and had regained most of her consciousness. Her beautiful eyes washed by tears were dark and dull: "Shen Bi."
Shen Bi walked out quickly.
"Go and send a message to the commander of the Xuanjia Army. In three days, I will bring the prince and princess back to the palace." She raised her head slightly, her face still full of tears, but she was as determined as ever.
She had already planned to take the Xuanjia Army to Jizhou after she had arranged everything in the capital.
She must see Xiao Langyan with her own eyes.
Early the next morning, when the sky was dim and bright, Shen Bi entered the room and Shen Dingzhu had already lifted the curtain and sat up.
Shen Bi was startled and whispered: "Why don't you take a rest? It's only the fifth day of the night."
Shen Dingzhu glanced out the window with misty eyes. The sky was blue, the rain had stopped, and the chirping of birds could be heard outside.
She put on her shoes and went to the ground: "I can't sleep, so you dress up for me. After breakfast, ask father to go out with me for a walk."
Shen Dingzhu couldn't wait for the news to return to the capital. If she wanted to keep the court from chaos, she had to make preparations first.
Unexpectedly, Father Shen thought of going together with her.
"Daughter, this is the list my father made last night. All the officials on it can be put to important use at this time. They are among the best in the court in terms of talent and loyalty."
Father Shen handed over a piece of paper with more than twenty names written on it.
There were both civil and military officers. Father Shen even drew a few marks and highlighted a few capable people.
After all, Father Shen was the prime minister who had been immersed in the officialdom for nearly fifty years. He had a ruthless vision. Shen Dingzhu thought well of the people he chose and was impressed by them.
She ate a spoonful of porridge and saw a name. She suddenly dipped her fingertips in tea and erased the name.
"If he can't use it, replace it with Shen Hanshan."
Father Shen took a look and saw that what Shen Dingzhu had crossed out was Yuan Chengwang, the Minister of Public Affairs.
He was a little surprised: "Yuan Chengwang has been an official for more than forty years. He is mature and diligent. Why doesn't my daughter use him?"
Shen Dingzhu drank the porridge calmly.
She recalled her previous life, when she heard a secret from Xiao Langyan before she left the palace.
Xiao Langyan had a habit. Before using someone he valued, he would have secret guards investigate all of that person's life, including all affairs within the three generations of the person's closest relatives.
Yuan Chengwang's only son, Yuan Qiuzhen, was a bad gambler and already owed tens of thousands of taels of silver. Yuan Chengwang paid off his son three times. Unexpectedly, Yuan Qiuzhen was so emboldened that he gambled more and more in the gambling house. He even began to use his father's name to force him to The people in the gambling houses lent money to him for fun.
If it weren't for Yuan Chengwang's high official position, such matters would have been rumored long ago.
In his previous life, when Xiao Langyan learned about this incident, he just ignored it and turned a blind eye.
But Shen Dingzhu knew that Xiao Langyan did this because Yuan Chengwang had not done anything outrageous yet. If one day, Yuan Chengwang steps on the emperor's thunder, Xiao Langyan will find out the matter as soon as possible and make a plan. At the beginning, Yuan Chengwang's black gauze hat was taken off.
Therefore, Yuan Chengwang's son is too unreliable, and there is no telling what he might do outside using his father's name. Shen Dingzhu cannot use him.
"Shen Hanshan is better. The emperor has praised him to me many times. His family has been loyal for generations and holds military power. His people are also civil servants in the court and are quite powerful. He is more suitable than Yuan Chengwang." Shen Dingzhu said so. Father Shen explained.
Then, she used tea to cross out a few more names.
All those left behind were officials who Shen Dingzhu ensured were loyal to the emperor and the country.
Father Shen watched from the side and nodded secretly in appreciation. He looked at his daughter. Shen Dingzhu's eyes still had a haggard light blue color.
But from the moment she decided to cheer up, she seemed to burst out with a tenacity that cannot be underestimated.
Father Shen sighed in his heart that his daughter had grown up after all. She was no longer the little girl who stood in the heavy rain when she was fourteen years old, looking at the Shen mansion that had been ransacked, and could only cry helplessly.
After the personnel made a list, Shen Dingzhu asked his father to accompany him out and meet one by one to discuss important matters.
Considering her health, Father Shen couldn't help but say, "Let your eldest brother go with me, and you can stay in the house and have a good rest."
Shen Dingzhu shook his head, wearing a blue dress, like an orchid in the empty valley, with a silver phoenix green hairpin set with sapphires in his hair, shining brightly.
"I have to go. Something happened to my husband and the government is unstable. How can I hide at home?"
*
Father Shen's guess was correct. The news that Xiao Langyan fell into the torrent and disappeared was only three or four days old before someone in the court became restless.
General Xuanwei called King Kang to come to the harem to ask for an audience with Shen Dingzhu.
At that time, Shen Dingzhu had moved back to the palace. She was wearing a phoenix robe and holding the prince Xiao Xingche in her arms. Her elegant and beautiful face was hidden behind the screen with the phoenix in the sky.
"The general will meet with the Queen and the Crown Prince. This visit is precisely because the prince and the general heard that the emperor was in danger in Jizhou and has disappeared without a trace. The prince is afraid that there will be unrest in the court, so he invites the general to meet him together. The Queen."
"I hope that the Empress and Her Majesty the Prince will hand over the power of city defense patrol to the general. At this juncture, the general will live up to the expectations of the empress and guard the security of the capital to prevent anyone from taking the opportunity to cause trouble."
At the end of the sentence, General Xuanwei's square face glanced at King Kang secretly.
King Kang kept his head lowered, his eyes a little uneasy, and he didn't speak for a long time.
This is simply a blatant request for power. General Xuanwei and Princess Kang are distant relatives, so he can instigate Prince Kang to seize power!
Shen Dingzhu, who was behind the screen, pursed her red lips and said in an elegant voice: "Prince Kang, defending the city has always been a matter of joining the army. If you really want to take over, can you take on this responsibility?"
King Kang didn't know whether it was because of a guilty conscience or something else. Through the screen, Shen Dingzhu could see that his whole body was shaking and his head was lowered.
"Emperor's sister-in-law, Xiao Wang..." He said the honorific, but he hesitated and didn't know how to answer.
General Xuanwei was anxious: "Your Majesty, tell the queen what you told the general!"
If the emperor unfortunately dies in the torrent, then the prince who ascends the throne will be the young emperor.
At this time, the competition is about whose hands have more power. If we don’t fight now, when will it be more important? !
General Xuanwei's eyes were as wide as bells, and he urged Prince Kang repeatedly: "Your Majesty, say it, say it!"
Now, Shen Dingzhu understands it.
Although King Kang wanted it, General Xuanwei probably took the opportunity to seize power by taking advantage of King Kang's noble title.
Shen Dingzhu chuckled in her heart, but she couldn't help but think about it in a daze.
What would he do if Xiao Langyan was here?
Vaguely, I seemed to see Xiao Langyan’s cold smile right in front of me. He once said——
"Do you know that there are so many princes, why am I willing to treat Prince Kang favorably? Because he has no ambitions. Even if he comes from the royal family, and even if there are people around him who instigate him to fight for it, he would not dare. If he scares him a little, he will retreat. Afraid of bringing shame upon oneself.”
