It was already the fourth watch when Zhou Gu returned to the Duke Protector's Mansion. He didn't have the habit of climbing over the wall, so he walked through the main entrance.
Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, and there is a court meeting. The old Protector got up early to rush to the meeting. He happened to see him entering the house in the cold weather, and he immediately asked: "Where have you been? Why are you back?"
Zhou Gu glanced at the old Protector and said, "Went to the Guest House."
The old Protector didn't smell the smell of alcohol on him and looked suspicious.
Zhou Gu walked inside and explained casually, "I didn't drink, so I just went there to sit."
The old Protector asked keenly: "With whom?"
Zhou Gu didn't answer and went straight to the house.
The old protector understood that the drunken flower drink sold in Yingke Shop came from Jiangning County. If he didn't know who opened it before, now the old protector knew that it was Su Rong. So he went to see Su Rong? Only if he goes to see Su Rong will he not answer his question.
He wanted to catch up and ask for details. After all, he had only come back overnight, but he was afraid of missing the time of the imperial meeting, so he could only press down, get on the carriage, and rush to the imperial meeting first.
Zhou Gu returned to Shuanglinyuan and was greeted by Ziye, "Master, where have you been? Why did you leave your subordinates in the mansion?"
In the past, no matter where the young master went, he would basically take him with him. Recently, he really felt that he was no longer the young master's little attentive person. He didn't even know when the young master left.
Zhou Gu glanced at Ziye, said nothing, and entered the room.
Ziye hurriedly followed him in. Seeing that he was cold, he asked cautiously: "Sir, could you ask the kitchen to bring water for you to bathe?"
"No need."
"Would you like to make a bowl of ginger soup and bring it over? It's so cold at night. I see you're completely frozen and you've caught the wind chill." Ziye was a little worried.
"Need not."
Midnight stepped back and asked, "Can I get you a hand stove to warm your hands?"
"No." Zhou Gu raised his hand to interrupt his continuous questioning and ordered him, "Send two people to Nanchu to check on Yejia and Ye Guixue. I want to know everything about Yejia and Ye Guixue."
Midnight said "Huh?"
Zhou Gu stood still and said firmly to him: "Find two suitable people and set off today."
Ziye scratched his head and wanted to ask why, but looking at Zhou Gu's face, he nodded, "I'll do it now."
Zhou Gu said "hmm".
When he walked out at midnight, the room became quiet. Zhou Gu lay down on the bed. He didn't even take off his coat, so he slept with his clothes on.
Today's imperial meeting was different from the usual routines held on the first and fifteenth day of each month. The focus of today's imperial meeting was on the scientific examination scores. The emperor urged several examiners to speed up the progress. The assassination case of Princess Qingping was also highlighted in the imperial court. , reprimanded the minister of Dali Temple for his lax supervision of the prison, and actually let the prisoner commit suicide by taking poison in Dali Temple. It is really ridiculous. From today on, the Ministry of Punishment is ordered to intervene, and the three divisions will investigate the case again.
After the court meeting, the emperor sent someone to ask the old protector to go to the imperial study for a talk.
The old Protector was getting old. He only went to court during the year and the emperor rarely saw him in a month. Mainly at ordinary times and when there were no major events, the old Protector did not even go to court. I'll take a leave of absence.
The emperor has not seen the old Protector for two months since he went to court today.
The old Lord Protector came to the imperial study and bowed his hands in greeting. The emperor quickly gave him a hand and said, "I have not seen you for two months, Lord Protector. How is your health?"
The old Lord Protector coughed and took a breath, "Your Majesty, please be concerned about me. The old minister's body and bones are starting to suffer as soon as autumn comes. The old wounds and illnesses from his early years are causing a faint pain every night. It's an old problem. It’s not a big deal, it’s just that I’m so upset that I can’t sleep.”
The emperor immediately said: "Let the Imperial Hospital take a closer look. If you need good medicine, I have it in my private treasury."
The old Lord Protector nodded, "The imperial doctor often comes to the house to ask for Ping An's pulse, but there is nothing that can be done about the old illness. He tells me every day to take good care of him. Hey, I have been taking care of him for several years, and the more I take care of him, the more painful it becomes.", said Then, he waved his hand, "But don't worry, Your Majesty, I can still hold on with my old bones."
Emperor's training
He said: "Since the old imperial doctor Chen sued him and left the capital, the remaining imperial doctors in the imperial hospital are indeed a bunch of rubbish. In my opinion, we still have to put up the imperial list to recruit people for the imperial hospital. We must find people with good medical skills in order to be able to use them." The imperial concubine also complained to me a few days ago, saying that today’s imperial doctors cannot be used because she caught a cold and it will take less than half a month to recover."
The old protector of the country stroked his beard and said, "Old Chen's grandson is said to be promising. Why don't your majesty send someone to ask if he is willing to join the Imperial Hospital? He can't go wrong with the true legacy of the old minister."
The emperor clapped his hands and said, "If you don't say that I returned it to his grandson and forgot about it, then I will send someone to ask later."
After the monarch and his ministers chatted for a while, the emperor got down to business and asked the old protector tentatively, "I heard that the daughter of Su Xu, the governor of Jiangzhou, many people think she looks a bit like Princess Zhenmin after meeting her?"
The old Protector nodded, "There is some resemblance."
The emperor said seriously: "Old Duke, tell me the truth. Why did you and Su Xu arrange a marriage between two families?"
The old Protector looked at the emperor and kicked the ball back, "What do you think, Your Majesty?"
The emperor wants to say how do I know? I don’t know many things about your Duke Protector’s Palace. He was dissatisfied in his heart, but did not show it on his face. He only said, "I am asking you just because I can't think of a reason. When the Duke Protector's Palace had an engagement with the Su family, Su Xu was still a young prefect of Jiangning County. There is such a difference, unless there is a special reason, there is no way we can contact each other."
The old protector nodded, "Your Majesty said that there must be a special reason."
The emperor waited for him to continue, and saw that the old Lord Protector had shut up and stopped talking. He was angry, "Old Lord Protector! What? Can't you even say it to me?"
His voice was a little heavier, "If it were just a little concubine, I wouldn't want to know, but since she looks like Princess Zhenmin, I naturally want to find out. Do you have to ask me to send someone to check her out?"
The old Duke thought to himself, you must have sent someone to investigate, but nothing has been found so far, so he is blocking me to ask today, but this is also the purpose of his attending the meeting today.
So, he deliberately ignored the emperor for a while, then sighed pretending to be helpless and glanced at Yu An, who was standing aside to wait.
Yu An was excited and looked at the emperor. The emperor nodded to him. He quickly retreated and closed the door of the imperial study room very wisely.
Only the emperor and the old protector were left in the imperial study, and the old protector spoke: "Logically speaking, I promised Princess Zhenmin not to mention this matter until the day she brought the coffin in. . But now and then, as Su Rong grew up, she really looked too much like Princess Zhenmin back then. After the old minister met her, he knew that this secret could not be kept a secret. "
The emperor immediately sat up straight, "What do you mean?"
The old protector sighed, "Surong is the daughter of Princess Zhenmin and King of Nanchu. Before the princess died, she found the old minister and begged him to protect her daughter. The old minister discussed with her and made an arrangement between Su Rong and Zhou. Gu’s engagement.”
"What did you say?" The emperor stood up. "Didn't she die in Wei back then? How could..."
Seeing the shocked look on the emperor's face, the old protector nodded affirmatively and said: "When Princess Zhenmin and her husband arrived in the Wei Dynasty, they found out that they were pregnant. It was inevitable that they would be discovered, so they had to fake death and escape incognito. The late emperor and the queen mother also Know this."
The emperor was stunned, "Why didn't I know? Why didn't anyone tell me?"
"Princess Zhenmin has a deep relationship with Your Majesty. I probably don't want Your Majesty to worry about her. It was only before Princess Zhenmin passed away that I found out that she was not dead and was living in Jiangning County." Old Protector General Zhenmin County How the Lord found him and made a marriage contract was briefly explained.
The emperor took a step back, his expression still dazed, as if his mind was buzzing with the impact of this secret, and it was difficult to think for a while, "She went... eight years ago?"
The old Protector nodded, "I left shortly after the engagement was made."
The emperor paused for a while and then asked again, "Since the engagement was made before she died, why did Su Rong break off the engagement?"
These days, Su Rong and Zhou Gu broke off their engagement, causing an uproar in the capital and spreading to the palace. He had already heard about it.
The old protector had no choice but to mention this matter sincerely.
The report was quite heartfelt to the emperor, "Brother Gu is unwilling to break off the engagement. But Your Majesty, you know that the King of Nanchu now has no heir, and Su Rong is the only princess. For many years, the Queen of Nanchu has been sending people The assassination of Su Rong has become more and more serious now. On her way to Beijing, what's worse, she encountered several waves of people from Nanchu. Under such circumstances, can Su Rong continue to be an ordinary person? Isn't this right? It's possible. Therefore, she had no choice but to break off the engagement. After all, if this continues, sooner or later she will go to Nanchu and become a princess. Otherwise, she will have to live a life of being assassinated all day long. ?Only by sitting in that position can you avoid being preyed upon by others, right?"
The emperor gradually calmed down after hearing this, "So, she is going to Nanchu to seize the throne? And Zhou Gu..."
The old protector held his hand and said, "Your Majesty, Zhou Gu does not honor the Lord, Princess Daliang does not honor him, and neither does the Princess of Southern Chu."
It's not that he wants to be straightforward, but the emperor once intended to let Princess Zhou Gushang be. After being pushed back by him, the emperor connived with Qingping and Duanhua to entangle Zhou Gu. It is possible that Zhou Gu was not tied to death as the consort or the commander's horse. the meaning of.
The emperor paused, nodded slowly, without saying anything, and then asked, "How did Queen Nanchu know about Su Rong's existence?"
The old Protector shook his head, "I don't know, either. According to Su Rong, someone killed her many years ago. Later, it was found out that it was the Queen of Southern Chu."
The emperor's expression changed, "I want to meet Su Rong."
The old Protector nodded and shook his head, and suggested, "Your Majesty, I think you don't have to rush to see Su Rong. Once you see her, her identity will be completely confirmed. Many disturbances will follow. You It is not appropriate to summon her before you are ready. It will not be too late to see her again when you are ready."
The emperor fell silent.
The old Protector stopped talking, believing that the emperor would understand what he had to say.
The emperor naturally understood that as an emperor, he was already proficient in political power. As long as he calmed down and thought about it, he would soon understand that once Su Rong's identity was recognized by him, there would be a lot involved. The pros and cons had to be carefully weighed. I don't know whether it is a good thing or a good thing. Bad things.
It is indeed not suitable for him to see Su Rong at the moment, even if he has learned her identity, even if countless people in the capital have seen her now, and they are all suspicious of her because of her appearance, and the suspicion has been cast on Princess Zhenmin, but as long as he If I haven't seen her for a day, her identity will only continue to be guessed by everyone, instead of being confirmed as the daughter of Princess Zhenmin.
He is the emperor, and his every move is closely watched. As for Su Rong, although she is currently a concubine, she is already involved in many mansions, and because she looks like Princess Zhenmin, every move she makes is also closely watched. Under the attention of countless people.
The emperor was silent for a while, acquiescing to the old Lord Protector's suggestion, "Nowadays, except for the people in the Lord Protector's palace, who in the capital has learned about Su Rong's true life experience?"
The old protector shook his head, "I don't know, either, but Su Rong has lived in Princess Qingping's mansion for many years. Princess Qingping also grew up with Princess Zhenmin since she was a child, so she probably can't hide it. Now Su Rong lives there again." Shen Xian’s residence, and Shen Xian and Xie Yuan have a close friendship, so it’s hard to say.”
What the emperor was most concerned about was not the people in Princess Mansion and Shen Mansion, but his princes, especially the prince. He simply asked directly: "Where is the prince?"
The old Protector thought that no matter what time, His Majesty would never forget to be wary of him, his own son, and he would be extremely defensive. He shook his head and said, "I don't know."
"Since Zhou Gu knew it, he wouldn't tell the prince?" the emperor asked.
The old protector of the country said: "I have been hiding this from Brother Gu. He didn't know about it until the past two days. Since the scientific examination, he has not been to the East Palace and has not spoken to the prince."
The old Protector simply played the ball straight and said bluntly: "If Your Majesty does not want the Crown Prince to know, I will strictly instruct him not to inform the Crown Prince when I return later."
The emperor paused, thinking that the prince was smart and even he was suspicious, so he might not be able to hide it from him. He asked this question just to test the relationship between the old protector and the prince. Since he had already tested it out , he waved his hand naturally, "That's not necessary. The prince is the crown prince, and this matter is very important. I will discuss it with him if I find an opportunity."
The old Protector nodded, "What your Majesty said is that this matter is a state matter after all.
One should indeed be cautious. "
Monthly ticket, okay, see you tomorrow!
