After three days of drenching light rain, the willow trees on the edge of the imperial city became increasingly green, and the breeze brought waves of freshness and coolness to the imperial city.
There were still light raindrops falling in the palace. Liu Ce went down to court and walked out of the Huangtian Gate. He was wearing a first-grade crane-pattern patchwork suit. In July, his former chief minister Zhang Yilian died of illness, and Liu Ce was highly regarded as the chief minister. job.
Liu Ce slowly walked down the steps, his eyes as bright as a torch and his thin lips pursed tightly to show his composure. He was thinking about the lock in the court. Now there was a huge quarrel in the court over the matter of establishing a prince, but the Holy Lord did not say anything. The intention of establishing a prince is unclear.
"Sir, Chief Assistant." A short, fat man behind him quickly caught up, intentionally trailing Liu Ce by half a step.
"Sir Huang." Liu Ce looked back and saw that it was Mr. Huang Ziqing from the Ministry of Revenue.
"My Lord Chief Assistant, I would like to congratulate you, my subordinate." Huang Ziqing cupped his hands and said with a bright face and a smile that was eager to please.
"Master Huang, where does the joy come from?"
"Master Chief Assistant, Mr. Sun of the Ministry of Rites just proposed in the court to appoint the second prince as the crown prince. This is a happy event. The second prince is smart, studious, respectful of teachers, and is the best candidate for the crown prince. He is a blessing to our court." Huang Ziqing smiled and said, The emperor has been on the throne for more than six years, but he has not established a prince. The eldest prince died early. Now there is only one prince born by Liu Guifei. In the future, the prince's position will belong to the second prince.
There were calls from both the court and the public, asking the Holy One to appoint the second prince Shen Che as the crown prince.
"Please give me your support in the future, Mr. Chief Assistant." Huang Ziqing said with a smile, his desire to fawn over was evident on his face. The Liu family is the second prince's maternal family. Now Liu Ce is in the position of Chief Assistant, with a position of supreme authority and power over the government and the public. In the future, When the second prince becomes the Dabao, the Quan family of the Liu family will reach a higher level. When the time comes, look at the wealthy families in the entire capital and see who can compare with the Liu family.
Huang Ziqingming's blatant flattery did not make Liu Ce smile. There was no joy in gaining power on his face. Instead, he looked angry and scolded softly.
"Master Huang, please don't speak nonsense." Liu Ce said seriously with a serious face: "Master Huang, please don't speculate on the emperor's heart. God has sent talents to you, and he is in his prime. It is too early to talk about the position of crown prince now."
The emperor is in his prime and has countless beauties in his harem. There will be more and better princes in the future, if he can still give birth to them.
"Yes, Master Liu taught me that it was the lower official who made a mistake." Huang Ziqing knew he had made a mistake, so he lowered his head to acquiesce, but his expression was strange. The Holy Emperor had been on the throne for six years, during which only the second prince and one prince lived to be four years old. The other princesses and princes were not To die young is to die in the womb.
It is difficult for the royal family to have heirs. The emperor is the king of a country, but he only has one son and two daughters, which is too few. In the past two years, the emperor has only favored Concubine Liu Guifei, and there is no rumor that any concubine in the harem is pregnant with a dragon heir; The prince unfortunately died at birth. In the future, the throne will be passed on to the second prince born to Concubine Liu. Isn't this world the Liu family's?
"We should spare the emperor's salary to share his worries. We should work hard to share his worries for the emperor. Now there have been heavy rains for three days in a row, and floods have caused disasters in the south. As an official of the Ministry of Household Affairs, Mr. Huang should understand the situation and open a warehouse to provide relief." Liu Ce said seriously. He said, and in a blink of an eye he saw the little eunuch popping up from behind the willow tree and saluting him respectfully.
"I still have something to do, you go first."
"Yes, I'll take my leave." Huang Ziqing looked unhappy after being scolded by Liu Ce, and walked away unhappy, feeling angry in his heart. You are such a scheming old man. Who doesn't know that Sun Jinghuai from the Ministry of Rites is your disciple, and he is the second in command? The prince's request for the crown prince's position was not given by you from behind, but you pretended not to know anything in front of others.
Liu Ce was walking alone in a quiet place. No one around him looked at the little eunuch. He recognized this person as the little eunuch beside Concubine Liu Guifei. The little eunuch quickly came over and bowed respectfully in front of Liu Ce.
"Master Liu, the noble concubine invites you."
Liu Ce frowned and said calmly: "I know, lead the way."
"yes."
Liu Ce stepped into the Yong'an Palace where Concubine Liu lived. When he entered the courtyard, he saw a little maid wearing a light pink palace dress kneeling in the courtyard. The little maid was no more than fifteen years old. She lowered her head and exposed her white neck. Her bun was a little messy, there were bright red finger prints on her face, or her body was shivering because of fear. Her thin and thin body was kneeling on the wet ground like this, with mud on her trouser legs.
"You little bastard, kneel down for me." There was an older palace maid on the side, using a slender willow stick to hit her from time to time. The beating made the little palace maid tremble all over, gritting her teeth and whimpering.
"What's going on?" Liu Ce asked with a frown.
Only then did the palace maid holding the wicker notice that Master Liu was coming, and she hurriedly dropped the note in her hand and hurried over to salute.
"Mr. Liu, this little palace maid has not followed the rules and knocked over the blue and white porcelain vase that the imperial concubine likes. I am teaching her a lesson." said the palace maid. She is the flower aunt in charge of the practice in Yong'an Palace.
"Yeah." Liu Ce didn't say much and stepped into the palace.
"Greetings to the imperial concubine." Liu Ce saluted through the curtain.
"Father, please get up." A voice sounded from inside the curtain, the voice was gentle, gentle and polite.
"All of you, please go down." Concubine Liu stood up and ordered all the palace attendants to go out.
After the palace attendants left, Concubine Liu opened the curtain and walked out. Concubine Liu was a beautiful woman in her 20s, with skin as smooth as gelatin, hair as black as waterfalls, eyes like autumn water, eyebrows like distant mountains, and cherry blossoms. Lips and nose.
Bright, beautiful, elegant and dignified.
This beauty who is famous in the capital is Liu Mingzhu, the daughter of Liu Ce.
"Father, please sit down. I haven't seen you for a long time. Father is fine. Is Anli's mother in good health?" Liu Guifei asked with concern.
"Thank you for your concern, Madam. Everything is fine at home. I just miss you from time to time." Liu Ce sat down.
"My daughter is unfilial and cannot serve her parents." Concubine Liu sobbed sadly, with tears in her beautiful eyes.
"The empress's words were serious, and the ministers were frightened. It is a blessing for the Liu family that the empress can serve the emperor." Liu Ce nodded.
After going back and forth and chatting about the daily routine, Liu Guifei revealed the purpose of inviting her father here this time.
"Father, do you have any clues about what your daughter asked you to do last time?" Liu Guifei asked, she was very concerned about this matter, and she couldn't sleep or eat well if she didn't get the result.
"Don't worry, the queen, everything has been arranged for the father this time." Liu Ce said confidently. In order to ensure that this matter was foolproof, he did not hesitate to kill hundreds of people in a village.
For the sake of his daughter's future, and for the Liu family to reach a higher level in his hands, he did not hesitate to stain his hands with blood to achieve his goal.
"That child?" Concubine Liu asked hesitantly.
She spoke cryptically, but of course the smart Liu Ce could hear the underlying meaning.
"You can rest assured, that child will never get past His Highness the Second Prince." Liu Ce comforted him.
