Two days later.
City of Gods.
Northwest corner, Imperial City.
Within the imperial city, it can be roughly divided into small cities such as "Taiwei City", "Ziwei City", "Donggong", "Dongcheng", "Hanjiacang City" and "Yuanbi City".
Taiwei City is the residence of Prince Wang and Sun Gongzi, as well as the six administrative offices of officials, households, rituals, soldiers, punishments, and workers. For example, Princess Lanling's Mansion is located in Taiwei City.
Ziweicheng, the emperor's office and resting place, is divided into two parts, the north and the south. The south is commonly known as "Da Nei", where the upper dynasty handled government affairs.
On the central axis of "Da Nei" there are two palaces, Qianyuan Gate and Wanxiang Shrine. Among them, Wanxiang Shrine, also known as "Mingtang", was the place where government affairs were discussed.
In addition, "Da Nei" also includes Zhongshu Provincial Yamen, Menxia Provincial Yamen, Hongwen Hall, Wensi Hall, Wucheng Hall, History Hall, Internal Medicine Bureau, etc.
To the north of Ziwei City is the "Harem", including the "Zhenguan Hall", which is the emperor's bedroom, and the "Huiyou Hall", which is the queen's bedroom.
In addition, there are "Xianju Hall", "Lu Gongyuan", "Feixiang Hall", "Shangqing Temple", "Taoguang Garden", "Dengchun Pavilion" and other buildings for the harem and concubines, as well as Taoist temples, royal gardens and other buildings. .
…
at this time.
In Da Nei, Zhongshu Province Yamen.
Qian Zhongshu, a senior official in Zhongshu, was meeting two middle-aged men who looked slightly embarrassed and haggard in the study.
One of these two people is the "Deposed Envoy of Henan Road" and the other is the "Deposed Envoy of Hedong Road". In order to avoid the plague in Henan Road and Hedong Road, they had just fled back to the capital.
The deposed envoy of Henan Province maintained his bowing posture and cried:
"God sent punishment. A tragic plague broke out in Henan Province and spread throughout several states overnight... If Xianguan hadn't escaped quickly, he might have died in Songzhou long ago."
"..."
Hedong Road deposed the envoy and made the same statement.
But the plague in Hedong Road was not that serious.
Qian Zhongshu raised the two of them up with one hand and said solemnly:
"You two, get up first. What you did in Henan Road and Hedong Road is all seen by me. The sudden outbreak of the plague is due to destiny and has nothing to do with you."
"Thank you Qian Zhongshu."
The two of them stood up smoothly. Their hair was messy and their clothes were shabby. They looked like they were fleeing and returning in embarrassment. They breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
Qian Zhongshu was in his fifties and sixties, his body was already withered, and his face was visibly thin, but his eyes occasionally flashed a sharp light, and he was full of energy.
He stood up from his seat, walked to the window of the study with his hands behind his back, looked up at the sky outside the window, his withered body seemed to have a feeling of being upright, and said slowly:
"This flood has affected more than a dozen states, with as many as one million people affected! At this critical moment, the remnants of the previous dynasty also jumped out to cause trouble..."
"After all the hard work, we managed to get through the flood smoothly, but who knew... a tragic plague would break out again, killing and injuring over 10,000 people overnight!"
"..."
His skinny body seemed unable to withstand such a blow. He trembled slightly and supported the window sill with his hands, barely maintaining his balance.
"Qian Zhongshu, please put your health first and don't worry too much." The two deposed envoys worshiped together.
"It doesn't matter."
Qian Zhongshu waved his hand and said:
"The matter has come to this, and it is useless to think too much. God has sent down punishment because there are traitors in the court. This is a warning to Her Majesty the Queen and the people of the world!"
The two deposed envoys looked at each other, and they naturally knew that the "treacherous traitor in the court" in Qian Zhongshu's words referred to Princess Li Youqing of Lanling.
Princess Lanling's power in the court is growing and she has threatened the prince. This makes Qian Zhongshu, a staunch princeling, always uneasy.
However, he also knew that these words were just words, and the Queen would not believe him if he said them rashly.
After Qian Zhongshu's "shaking his head and sighing" expression fell into the eyes of the deposed envoy of Henan Province, his heart suddenly moved, and he stepped forward and said:
"I have something to tell you, and I might be able to use it to severely injure that 'treacherous traitor in the court'!"
"Um?"
Qian Zhongshu immediately became interested and turned around suddenly. His skinny body that was swaying just now was instantly filled with upright energy. He stared at him with his eyes and asked:
"What's the matter? Please tell me carefully."
"A few days ago, I was in charge of the disaster relief work in Songzhou. Suddenly I received a letter one day, which was written by Princess Lanling. The content was..."
"Is there such a thing?"
After Qian Zhongshu heard this, his gray eyebrows crowded together and said disdainfully: "Methods to prevent the plague... nonsense, how can the plague be prevented? It's simply stupid and idiotic!"
Henan Dao deposed the envoy and said: "The person who proposed this method is named Su Xian. He is the consultant in Princess Lanling's mansion. Princess Lanling attaches great importance to this person."
"Speaking of this person..." Qian Zhongshu fell into deep thought and said slowly:
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince once wanted to recruit this person for his own use. This person has helped the Prison Department solve three major unsolved cases. He can be considered a person with real abilities."
"But...after all, I am still too young and too naive. How can the plague be prevented?"
"From this point of view, this person is just a yellow-haired guy with crazy whims. Fortunately, Princess Lanling believed in him, and fortunately His Highness the Crown Prince did not recruit this person."
"..."
The deposed envoy of Henan Province, Yin Mianxin, said:
"This method consumes a lot of manpower and material resources. It would be great to use these manpower and material resources to provide disaster relief, but it is wasted... We can use this as an excuse to participate in the book 'Traitors in the Court'!"
Qian Zhongshu's eyes suddenly lit up and he praised: "This is indeed a good opportunity."
The deposed envoy of Henan Province complimented: "Qian Zhongshu is wise!"
But as soon as he finished speaking, Qian Zhongshu hesitated, turned to look at the deposed envoy of Henan Province seriously and asked: "Are you sure that Princess Lanling implemented the so-called measures to prevent the plague?"
"I can confirm it!" The deposed envoy of Henan Province actually had a slight hesitation in his heart, but now the arrow was on the string and had to be fired, and he could only go all the way to the dark side.
"Are you sure the plague has also broken out in Henan Province?" Qian Zhongshu asked again.
"Even Hedong Road and Duji Road have experienced plagues of different sizes. How can Hebei Road be spared?" the deposed envoy of Henan Road said loudly.
"good!"
Qian Zhongshu's expression became solemn, and after thinking for a while, he said: "However, after all, Princess Lanling has a different status and is favored by His Majesty. We cannot target her directly."
"Then what should we do?"
"Since this method was proposed by Su Xian, then... we can just target him. As long as we hit Su Xian, we will be able to disgrace Princess Lanling."
"Wonderful!"
"..."
After Qian Zhongshu laughed with the two of them for a while, he ordered people to rush to the East Palace and tell His Highness the exciting news, which also made the Prince happy.
Qian Zhongshu finally looked at the two deposed envoys and said:
"I will go to the Wanxiang Shrine to attend the Umrah meeting later. I will ask for your merits. Although the plague broke out in Henan Road and Hedong Road, your contribution to disaster relief is indelible."
