"King Jiangdu and King Meng really led their guards to block Huainan?" Liu Che put down the pen in his hand and looked at Dou Pengzu and Liu Jing who were kneeling in front of him with extremely ugly expressions.
"Reporting to Your Majesty... This is absolutely true..." Dou Pengzu almost cried and prostrated on the ground, not even daring to move.
Liu Jing even had cramps in his calves and he bowed with a mournful face: "Your Majesty, please make a decision quickly..."
"Ju Meng..." Liu Che turned to the Prince Consort standing behind him and ordered: "Where is the King of Huainan now?"
"Your Majesty, according to the report of Yousi, we have already passed Huayin..." Ju Meng lowered his head and replied, while his hand was already placed on the scabbard of his sword, ready to receive orders at any time.
"Then please Aiqing, please take someone with you. Be sure to stop the driver from Huainan and bring him directly to Chang'an..." Liu Che said calmly: "Over at Deyang Temple, Huainan should not go on pilgrimage..."
When Ju Meng heard this, he immediately went out to pay homage, and then led the people out of the hall.
Dou Pengzu and Liu Jing knelt on the ground and looked at each other, seeing fear and shock in each other's eyes.
Since the death of the Supreme Emperor, there has never been an example in the history of the Han Dynasty where a prince returned to the capital without going to the ancestral temple.
The emperor's current decision is almost equivalent to telling the world that the King of Huainan is unfilial and cannot go to the temple of the late emperor to avoid desecrating the ancestors' gods.
The destructive power of this kind of silent accusation is very huge.
Accusations of this level would almost immediately cut off all ties between Huainan King Liu Rong and the late emperor.
How can an unfilial son be qualified to continue to inherit his father's power? How can he have the honor to continue to enjoy the protection of his father's god?
Dou Pengzu and Liu Jing both knew clearly that once Ju Meng walked out of this hall, they would prevent King Huainan from going to Deyang Temple.
Then, in terms of morality and etiquette, it would be equivalent to expelling King Huainan from the line of descendants of the previous emperor.
But neither of them did anything.
because……
What does Liu Rong's life and death have to do with them?
In fact, deep down in their hearts, they might wish Liu Rong to die quickly.
Because the existence of the late emperor's eldest son has now become a recognized troublemaker by both the government and the public.
He is unscrupulous, breaks the law, is disobedient and unfilial, and corrupts morals...
His existence itself is a threat to the wealth and lives of Liu Jing and Dou Pengzu.
Once this master reveals something big, who else could be the first to take the blame, other than the two ministers responsible for clan management and etiquette system?
Therefore, Liu Rong should die immediately, which was the inner consensus of these two Han family's nine ministers.
It's just that they don't dare to say it out loud.
"My dear friends, please go and do your work first..." Liu Che stood up and said, "I have to go to the East Palace to report this matter to the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager..."
"No..." Dou Pengzu and Liu Jing quickly bowed their heads and bowed.
Liu Che smiled slightly, and he was so happy in his heart.
Everything went perfectly as planned.
In the past year, thanks to Liu Fei's big mouth, Liu Rong's actions have been spread all over the world.
And all kinds of jokes and stories about Liu Rong's misdeeds created and exaggerated by the Xiu Yiwei spies are well known to the public.
By now, Liu Rong has become an outcast in the world.
He is a troublemaker in the eyes of courtiers, a foolish tyrant in the eyes of public opinion, and an unfilial son in the eyes of the people.
All is ready except for the opportunity.
Now, it's time to peel off the protective umbrella from Liu Rong.
The late emperor’s eldest son?
After today, he will no longer be the eldest son of the late emperor in the eyes of the world.
He will only be an unfilial son, a foolish king and tyrant who is betrayed by his relatives, despised by his brothers, abandoned by his courtiers, and despised by all the people.
His historical position will only be Uncle Guan and Uncle Cai.
Of course, the play must be well acted, at least it cannot be seen through at a glance.
It must be 'I will fight for it but not get it', and have to 'kill Ma Su with tears'.
…………………………………………
When Liu Che arrived at the Yongshou Hall of Changle Palace, two old ladies were already waiting for him.
"Emperor, what's going on?" The Empress Dowager Dou asked first: "The Ai family heard that King Jiangdu, King Meng, King Lu, King Zhao, etc. led their guards to Yangling to block the Deyang Temple of the Huainan Dynasty?
"
Queen Mother Bo also looked worried and said: "What the Queen Mother said is absolutely true. The Ai family was very shocked when they heard the news! What happened to King Jiangdu, King Meng, King Lu, and King Zhao? The Ai family are worried.
, the spirit of the late emperor was disturbed, and the ancestors were furious..."
For the two queen mothers, now, in their world, they only have themselves and their own historical positioning issues.
The two queen mothers naturally wanted to leave a reputation as a virtuous queen in history and be admired by all generations.
Facts have proved that this seems to be an easy goal to achieve.
They only need to learn from the late Empress Dowager and rest peacefully in the palace, and fame and praise will automatically come to them.
But now, something like this suddenly happened. Before the New Year's meeting, in front of the chief planners of the country, the princes, ministers, and envoys of the country, the old Liu family suddenly started a drama of brothers fighting and killing each other.
.
The two queen mothers were naturally very shocked and angry.
Liu Che looked troubled, bowed and said: "Grandmother, Queen Mother, please calm down... I have sent Prince Consort Ju Meng to go and make adjustments. There shouldn't be any big trouble..."
Well, Ju Meng will soon bring Liu Rong to Yongshou Palace in the East Palace, and then there will be a grand denouncement meeting.
All the kings, brothers, even the vassal branches, clan princes, and relatives and ministers will definitely expose everything Liu Rong did in the past in front of the two queen mothers.
By the time……
However, before that, Liu Che had to continue to perform the duties of a younger brother in front of the two queen mothers.
What kind of person is Queen Mother Dou?
Although she has given up her power in the past few years, after all, she was once a strong woman who held great power, experienced countless bloody storms, conspiracies, and escaped countless open and secret arrows.
Therefore, when she heard Liu Che's words, she knew something was wrong.
"Emperor, tell the truth to the Aijia...what happened?" Although the old lady was almost blind, her heart was very open.
For no reason, the brothers King Jiangdu, King Lu, King Zhao, and King Meng suddenly stopped recognizing the elder brother Huainan?
Especially the king of Jiangdu, Liu Yan, and the emperor were both brothers from the same origin in Huainan!
In the Han Dynasty, if there were no big changes between brothers or sisters of the same birth, at least they would appear harmonious on the surface.
Take the Dou family for example. Dou Ying has made so many mistakes over the years, but among Dou Pengzu and others, who despised him? Who discriminated against him? Who suppressed him?
No!
Family concept is the first priority in Chinese society.
There is no need for Confucianism to remind you. Thousands of years ago, the Book of Songs said: Brothers are angry within the wall, and they should be protected from outsiders.
In China, the power of the family extends from top to bottom.
Even the law recognizes this.
Otherwise, the criminal's family would not be implicated at every turn, and there would even be punishments like the three clans.
Therefore, something that can make a group of princes and kings tear their faces apart is definitely not a trivial matter, and may even be related to a higher level of morality than brotherly love.
Then, it is obvious that King Huainan has probably done some bastard things in recent years that these princes and kings cannot accept!
Liu Che looked at Queen Mother Dou and Queen Mother Bo, but just bit his lips and refused to say anything.
We can't let him talk about this matter.
What he said would raise a lot of questions.
First of all, it will be impossible to maintain the image of a good brother who 'protects his brother', and it will be easier for the world to doubt him.
What about the brother you promised to protect? He sold it right away!
Did you plan this in advance?
This is not a joke, there is a story.
Back then, the Huainan King Li incident was like this. Yuan Ang had already seen the clues at the beginning. Before it was finished, the gossip gang spread the inside story all over Chang'an. In the end, even folk songs came out...
…
The emperor refused to say?
Empress Dowager Dou and Empress Dowager Bo were certainly not stupid. They immediately knew clearly that something must have happened that caused the relationship between King Huainan and the kings to deteriorate. Now, it has even developed to the point where the kings would rather make a fool of themselves in front of the world.
, refused to recognize Huainan, and even refused to allow him to pay a pilgrimage to the late emperor.
"Li Xin!" Empress Dowager Dou loudly asked a eunuch standing in the palace. This person who used to be close to Empress Bo has now become Changle Palace Da Changqiu, and is the eunuch with the highest status in the palace today: "What do you want for the Ai family?"
Tell me, what happened?"
"Reporting to the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager..." Li Xin knelt down quickly and reported: "I heard vaguely that it seems that the year before last, the King of Huainan was unfilial and occupied the land of the late Emperor Renzong's temple. He still didn't want to repent, and often secretly
I resented the late emperor and made many unfilial remarks... When all the kings heard about it, they were furious..."
"Why didn't anyone report such a big thing to the Ai family?" Empress Dowager Dou was immediately furious.
She was furious because of these bastard things done by Huainan King Liu Rong.
A son who rebels against his father is unfilial. In an ordinary family, his brothers would beat him to death!
In the royal family, if something like this happened, it must be a big deal.
As the current matriarch of the Liu clan, she has never even heard of it!
this……
Queen Mother Dou felt deeply terrible.
Liu Che hurriedly kowtowed and said, "Grandmother, Queen Mother, please calm down. This is all your grandson's idea. My grandson thinks that no one should disturb the peace of Grandmother and Queen. My grandson also thinks that this matter
I can handle it myself..."
"Can it be handled?" Queen Mother Dou's face turned blue with anger: "Then how did it become the current situation?"
Empress Dowager Bo quickly put out the fire, supported her mother-in-law's body, and comforted her: "The emperor is young after all, and he doesn't know the importance... Mother, don't worry about these things for the emperor... The most urgent thing is to resolve this matter first, and we can't let the world do it."
What a joke!”
Ordinary people know that family scandals should not be publicized, let alone the royal family?
Empress Dowager Dou reluctantly suppressed her anger and ordered: "Immediately summon Zongzheng and Taichang to see the Ai family!"
"Send someone to invite the prime minister, the court officials and the imperial censor to come to the East Palace to wait for the edict..." As the owner of the East Palace, although Empress Dowager Dou has been away from power for many years, she once controlled all the powers of the empire, so she immediately
He gave the order very clearly.
Liu Che, who was kneeling on the ground, watched all this with cold eyes.
For him, dealing with Liu Rong this time was just one of his goals.
By the way, the second purpose is to use firepower to detect whether Dong Gong still has any ambitions or whether Dong Gong wants to use this opportunity to make a comeback.
It now seems that Empress Dowager Bo is basically unwilling to get involved in politics.
But Queen Mother Dou...
Liu Che felt that as long as she had the opportunity, she would probably be unable to resist regaining control and contact with power.
After all, she once held great power, so it's normal to have such thoughts.
However, this was unacceptable to Liu Che.
Have you ever seen a ruler who has all the power and allows others to dilute his authority?
No!
From ancient times to the present, there has never been such a person.
Power is like poison. Once you are contaminated with it, you will become addicted.
"It's time to let Dong Gong know who rules the world now..." Liu Che sneered in his heart.
The entire hall was silent. Within a few seconds after Empress Dowager Dou gave the order, not even a single person dared to move.
This is the current situation of Han Dynasty politics today.
Liu Che has all the power, and he is the only one who dominates.
Even within the East Palace, his status is transcendent.
Wherever he is, not even a eunuch dares to act rashly without his orders.
Everyone knows who is the master of this country? Who is supreme!
"What are you doing standing still?" Liu Che felt proud in his heart, but he was scolding: "Why don't you hurry up and obey Yi's decree?"
Only then did the eunuchs and attendants hurriedly followed the order and left.
Empress Dowager Dou seemed to be unaware of this. It seemed that she didn't notice it because she couldn't see it, or she pretended not to know.
But it doesn't matter anymore.
Liu Che was satisfied. Facts had proved that even if Donggong wanted to jump out and seize power, no one would listen to his orders.
Therefore, Liu Che can completely cede power to the East Palace temporarily in a generous manner.
…………………………………………
"The rain is about to come and the wind is blowing all over the building..." Prime Minister Zhou Yafu wrote this line on a scroll.
His eyes were always looking in the direction of Yangling.
Since the matter was such a big deal, Zhou Yafu naturally knew about it very early.
In fact, the whole of Chang'an is paying attention to this matter now.
Big news for the old Liu family! It may not happen once in a lifetime. No matter the common people or the nobles, they are all gossips at the moment. Everyone is paying attention to the progress of the matter with an extremely entertaining attitude.
For the general public, the secrets of the royal family are always the most eye-catching.
But for Zhou Yafu, this is a troublesome matter.
He will soon retire with honor as the most successful prime minister since the founding of the Han Dynasty.
His historical position will also be extremely glorious.
But at this time, something like this happened, which was tantamount to adding a stain to his glory!
What's even more troublesome is that, nine times out of ten, he will have to take care of this matter.
These are things you don't need to think about.
It is impossible for the emperor to come forward directly, and the East Palace is probably unwilling to take the blame.
Besides him, the Prime Minister, who else can take over this responsibility?
At this time, a servant came in and reported: "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager of the East Palace has decreed that you please enter the palace to discuss matters..."
"It's time to come..." Zhou Yafu put down his pen, shook his head and sighed.
