Xia Zhen's face was gloomy and his eyes were like daggers. "I watched you grow up. Are you lying? Can you hide it from me? What are you afraid of? Can't I trust my uncle?"
Xia Gui had no choice but to say: "The officials asked me to monitor the public opinion of the people. Please ask my uncle to keep it secret for me. Otherwise, I will have to die to thank the officials."
After Xia Zhen listened, he sat on a chair and poured a bowl of wine as water.
After drinking, he said: "Death and immortality are not that simple. Do your job well. Whatever the officials ask you to do, do it with all your heart and do your best. Don't hide it from me. Just say whatever I ask you.
What, this is your current situation, do you understand?"
"Understood, uncle."
In Cining Hall, Jia Chong is reporting Zhao Yun's information to Queen Mother Yang.
"Mother, the officials made a big fuss in the Ministry of Justice. Later Xia You and Xia Gui left one after another. I guess the officials explained the matter to them. I'm just afraid that Xia Zhen will turn to the officials."
"He dares!"
Empress Dowager Yang's phoenix eyes were sharp, with a cold light erupting. "Xia Zhen is today thanks to the support of the Ai family. If he can't see the situation clearly, the Ai family can help him up or trample him to death."
As soon as he finished speaking, a small yellow doorman came in to report that Xia Zhen wanted to see him and Empress Dowager Yang ordered him to come in.
Seeing Empress Dowager Yang, Xia Zhen raised his hand to salute, and then said: "To inform the Empress Dowager, my nephew Xia Gui Xia You told me that the officials ordered them to find out the details of Liu Qi and monitor the public opinion of the people. This matter is serious."
I am so frightened that I came here to report to the Queen Mother and ask the Queen Mother to make the decision."
"Um."
Empress Dowager Yang gave a satisfied sigh and said: "The official young man is busy, and he was carried away by the assassination. The Ai family has given him permission to fool around for a few days. You can just accompany him. When the official's interest is gone, he will stop."
.”
"Yes, I obey your order."
"If the official is assassinated, the Funing Palace needs to be guarded by additional personnel. This matter cannot be taken lightly. The official cannot be left alone."
When it came to "there can't be no one", Queen Mother Yang's voice was obviously a little more serious, so there was no need to say more about what she meant.
Xia Zhen understood and said: "Please rest assured, Queen Mother, I will send another hundred guards to the Funing Palace to guard the Palace of Funing when I return, so that the officials will not be frightened again."
"Well, let's go down."
After Xia Zhen left, Jia Chong said: "Madam, Xia Zhen is quite loyal, there should be no problem."
Empress Dowager Yang snorted proudly, "What can he do if he is not loyal? Without the protection of the Ai family, many people will tear him apart."
As mentioned before, the two most important things Xia Zhen did were assassinating Han Tuozhou and forcing the prince Zhao Hong to kneel to Zhao Yun.
Killing Han Tuozhou earlier offended the Han family, the top wealthy family in the Song Dynasty.
You must know that Han Tuozhou is the great-grandson of Han Qi. Han Qi's disciples and former officials are all over the world, and he has intermarriage relationships with many ministers. The accumulated favors are countless. No one should give face to the Han family, otherwise, Han Tuozhou will also
It is impossible to dominate the world.
Moreover, he killed Han Tuozhou and offended everyone who benefited from Han Tuozhou.
And when the latter forced Zhao Hong, he also offended everyone who was counting on Zhao Hong's success.
Either of these two groups of people can make Xia Zhen die without a burial place. If he wants to survive, he can only follow Empress Dowager Yang and Shi Miyuan to the dark side and get their protection.
Apart from this, Xia Zhen has no other option.
When Zhao Yun returned to Funing Palace, Xiao Huangmen and the palace ladies were all afraid and trembling, fearing that Zhao Yun would get angry;
Zhao Yun was too lazy to pay attention to them and waved them out. As if they were granted amnesty, they all left one by one, leaving only the two small yellow men who were on duty outside the room standing quietly.
Zhao Yun was alone in his study, spread out a piece of white paper, picked up a brush, and wrote four big characters, "Xu Xu Tu Zhi".
Zhao Yun put his hands on the table and looked at the four words in front of him quietly. Pictures of Wen Lun, Liu Qi and others flashed in his mind, and his eyes became firm again.
Finally, Zhao Yun picked up the brush again, painted out these four words, and painted them into a black ball. Finally, he balled it up and threw it on the ground.
At this time, a small yellow doorman came in hurriedly and said that the Queen Mother invited Zhao Yun to visit the Cining Palace.
Zhao Yun had long been prepared for this. He made a scene in the Ministry of Justice. One of his purposes was to test the reactions of Empress Dowager Yang and Shi Miyuan and see where their bottom line was for him.
Without hesitation, Zhao Yun straightened his clothes and went.
As soon as I came out of the study, I saw that there were obviously more imperial guards in front of the Funing Palace than before. It can be said that there are three posts per step and one sentry per five steps.
Moreover, they are all new faces. I have never seen them before, whether in Funing Hall, Cining Hall, or Chuigong Hall.
Zhao Yun is like a little bird, and they are like a birdcage, trapping Zhao Yun. This feeling makes Zhao Yun very uncomfortable.
We went all the way to Cining Hall and went in to see Empress Dowager Yang.
As soon as Zhao Yun saluted, Empress Dowager Yang threw a memorial in front of Zhao Yun. She didn't say anything, but just looked at Zhao Yun unhappily.
Zhao Yun looked at the memorial on the ground, bent down to pick it up, and glanced at it. It turned out to be the resignation memorial of Li Zhixiao, the Minister of Punishment. No wonder Queen Mother Yang was angry.
"What's going on? You went out and forced all the ministers to leave. What are you going to do?"
Zhao Yun swallowed, pretended to be a little timid, and said: "The kid just scolded me casually, but I didn't expect him to be so thin-skinned."
After saying that, Zhao Yun changed the subject and said, "But he is really not good at doing things. Liu Qi committed suicide in prison. There is something wrong with this matter at first glance. He did not dig deeper and closed the case hastily. What does this mean? This means that he
Either a fool or an accomplice."
"presumptuous."
Empress Dowager Yang was so furious that she slapped the table on the table so hard that more than a dozen little Huangmen and palace maids all knelt on the ground. Even Jia Chong was no exception and also knelt down.
Zhao Yun was a little dazed. Empress Dowager Yang pointed at Zhao Yun and cursed again: "The senior officials in the ministry are all the pillars of the imperial court. If you talk about you casually, even the Ai family must be respectful and respectful. How can you be innocent and abuse me? What do you do to the world?"
What do you think of my heavenly home?"
"Li Zhixiao is Xianggong Shi's right-hand man. They maintain the operation of the court. They maintain the country of the Song Dynasty. Without them, can the world be stable? Can you sit on the throne with confidence?"
"You are so arrogant and lawless. Do you think you are still a three-year-old child and can talk nonsense?"
Empress Dowager Yang scolded Zhao Yun like a naughty boy. Zhao Yun was used to it, but how could Zhao Yun stand it now?
Although Zhao Yun was prepared before coming and knew that he would be scolded, but Empress Dowager Yang scolded him so harshly, Zhao Yun still couldn't hide his anger.