Just after Biyun finished speaking, the voice of Eunuch Ming came from outside: "Your Majesty, the fourth prince wants to see you!"
Upon hearing this, Emperor Yongchang winked at Concubine Jiang and Biyun. After the two retreated, he put on a weak posture and leaned on the dragon chair weakly.
"Xuan!"
Emperor Yongchang had many heirs, but few survived, and the fourth prince Chu Xihao was one of them.
The biological mother of the fourth prince is Concubine Mei, who is the sister of Wang Qingquan, the Minister of Punishment.
Because of his maternal uncle Wang Qingquan's relationship, Chu Xihao had some influence in the court, but his influence was very small.
I don't know if it's hereditary or something, but Wang Qingquan himself is upright, and his sister Mei Fei is also an upright person.
It is precisely because of this that in the harem, the relationship between Concubine Jiang and Concubine Mei is pretty good.
This time Chu Ximo could not come back, so Emperor Yongchang left the matter of meeting the extra messenger to Chu Xihao.
Chu Xihao has always said little, and his sense of presence is really weak.
Now that he has been given important responsibilities, he has become more prominent in the court, and his appearance in front of Emperor Yongchang has become more frequent.
"My son has met my father!"
As soon as Chu Xihao entered the royal study, he saw the tired man sitting on the dragon chair and bowed respectfully.
"Pingsheng!"
"Thank you, Father!"
After Chu Xihao stood up straight, he continued: "Father, my son and I learned that the envoy from the extravaganza has arrived at the outskirts of the capital. We want to go to greet the emperor brother and the others tomorrow. Is it possible?"
When Emperor Yongchang heard this, he waved his hand nonchalantly: "Since I have left this matter to you and Ruyi, you can take care of it yourself. I only have two requirements for you. First, don't neglect the extraneous matters.
Distinguished guest, 2, don’t let your distinguished guest underestimate me, Da Chu!”
When Chu Xihao heard this, he bowed his hands respectfully again: "Yes, I will bear this in mind!"
"Go down. If you have anything to do, discuss it with Ruyi. That kid is smart!"
Although Chu Xihao felt strange in his heart, he didn't say much. After exiting the Imperial Study Room, he went directly to the Shangshu Mansion of the Ministry of Justice.
After arriving at the palace, he went directly to Wang Qingquan as if he were at his own home and said straight to the point: "Uncle, I always feel that something is not quite right."
Wang Qingquan was checking various cases that came back from below. When he heard Chu Xihao's words, he raised his head and asked, "What's wrong, and why is it wrong?"
"My father seems to be in a bad mood, but if you observe carefully, you will find that he is actually much better now. Since he is almost better, why should he pretend to be like this? Moreover, most of the affairs in the court are handled by Shu Zuoxiang and others
Control? If this continues, our empire in Chu will perish sooner or later."
Seeing his serious look, Wang Qingquan thought for a moment and said, "Maybe the emperor can't help himself!"
Chu Xihao raised his eyebrows: "Uncle, where did you start talking about this?"
"As far as I have observed, every time the emperor becomes seriously ill, the day before or on the day, it must be the emperor who rejects the proposal of Shu Zuoxiang and others during the morning court."
This is the result of Wang Qingquan’s observations over the years.
If it was as he suspected, maybe the emperor was controlled by Shu Zuoxiang and others.
Only in this way can we clearly explain why we get sick every time.
As for the prince, he also felt something was wrong.
According to reports from informants, Han Mansion and Shu Mansion are inextricably linked.
What if Shu Zuoxiang used the same method to let the princess control the prince through Han Mansion?
In recent years, except for his weak body, the prince has been doing well in other aspects.
Later, after his body and bones recovered, his behavior became more and more outrageous.
For the sake of the Crown Princess, I really want beauty rather than power.
It would be fine to say that the Princess Han in purple clothes is unparalleled in beauty, but she is just beautiful in appearance and cannot bring harm to the country.
How could such a person make the prince so obsessed with her that he would listen to her in everything.
Unless she used some shady means to control the prince. This can also clearly explain the prince's behavior in the past few years.
However, all these are just his speculations and are completely baseless.
He is the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, and he usually watches too much about the trial of cases and likes to dig into these details.
Now that was the affairs of the Tian Family, and it was impossible for a courtier like him to reach into the palace to investigate these matters without the emperor's consent.
In the past, he only thought about how to keep Chu Xihao under the game between Jiang Mansion and Shu Mansion.
But from the current situation, it seems that the emperor intends to cultivate Xihao.
If that's the case, maybe it's time to let Xihao know something about what he guessed.
After all, half of the royal blood flows through him.
If there was a crisis in the Da Chu royal family, as a prince, he would not be able to escape.
After Chu Xihao heard this, he carefully recalled the past few years when he participated in the morning court.
After a while, he looked at Wang Qingquan with complicated eyes: "Uncle, if this is really the case, and according to the current confused state of the emperor brother, then if there is an eventuality that my father inherits the throne, then..."
Wang Qingquan heard this and shouted: "Xi Hao, be careful what you say!"
Chu Xihao knew he had said the wrong thing, so he shrank his head: "Uncle, I know I was wrong! There is just one thing I want to know. How can I help my father in his current situation?"
If the father suddenly dies, the crown prince will definitely inherit the throne.
But when a court is unstable, the replacement of a new emperor is a very serious matter.xdw8
At present, only by protecting the father, can Da Chu's country be stable.
"What you have to do is to act like you don't know anything. During this period, just follow Princess Ruyi to entertain the extra messengers. Maybe the arrival of those extra messengers can distract Shu Zuoxiang and others."
As long as Prime Minister Shu Zuo has such ambitions, he will definitely not cause any trouble when the extra messenger comes.
Unless, he wants those extra messengers to get a big advantage in the end.
Moreover, according to his reports and observations, Princess Ruyi had a close relationship with King Mo.
Now that Princess Ruyi is standing behind Duke Ningguo, she may be able to change the current deadlock.
Nowadays, some people are secretly saying that Princess Ruyi's real name is Yan Shiqing, she is the daughter of Luo Jiaocheng, and she is the legitimate daughter of the Zhenguo Hou Mansion.
If this is the case, then he can be absolutely sure that Princess Ruyi will definitely side with the Jiang Mansion and help deal with the Zhenguo Hou Mansion, which is also the faction of Prime Minister Shu Zuo.
And once she makes a move, Ning Guo Gongfu behind her will naturally not sit idly by. With the participation of Ning Guo Gongfu, Shu Zuoxiang and others are completely out of the question.
However, they were afraid that Shu Zuoxiang and others would turn around and use her status as the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Zhenguo to get the Duke of Ning to side with them.
The key now is Yan Shiqing's identity and her attitude!