The Empress Dowager Dou was deeply shocked, but not angry. They must be her beloved granddaughter and grandson-in-law. She saw Su Ren's little tricks clearly, and did not stop her at the time, just to see the results. Dou urinated with the orphans since she was a child.
Pretty much, she has seen a lot of various things after entering the palace, including sons who killed each other for profit, and brothers who secretly acted against each other for power. Even the death of her youngest son, King Liu Wu of Liang, was related to the death of her eldest daughter, Princess Liu of Guantao.
She couldn't get rid of the relationship, so she didn't get angry.
She sat in the house all night, not letting anyone in. She didn't know if there was a light in the house, and she didn't want to see the light. When daybreak, she figured it out. Maybe being blind was a good thing, so that she could not see those things.
With an ugly face, no blood and sin can be seen.
Someone pushed open the door and came in. From the footsteps, she knew it was her personal maid. The maid stopped behind Mrs. Dou and saluted: "To the Empress Dowager, I am waiting for Prime Minister Xuchang to see you!"
Mrs. Dou did not speak, and still sat quietly. The palace maid spoke again. Mrs. Dou took a deep breath: "Let him come in!"
There were no lights in the Hall of Longevity. The doors and windows were closed tightly, making it a bit dark. It took a long time for Xuchang to adapt to the situation, and he quickly knelt down and saluted.
Mr. Dou turned his face with difficulty. He had not slept all night, and he had become a bit older. The white hair on his head was more obvious and spread down, covering his face. The light coming from the window behind him made Xuchang unable to see his face clearly. He didn't get it.
In response, Mrs. Dou could only lie on the ground motionless.
"Get up! Sit down!"
"Thank you, Queen Mother!" Xuchang got up from the ground with difficulty, saluted again, and then sat down on the side.
"What brings you here?"
"To the Empress Dowager, I received a memorandum from Shu County yesterday. I don't dare to deal with it privately, so I came here to ask the Empress Dowager for instructions."
Dou sneered twice: "You are the Prime Minister, why don't you dare to deal with it yourself? There are really enough things in Shu County. Dong Zhongshu went to Shu County, and together with the Confucian scholars, he persuaded His Majesty not to let the Ai family interfere in the government affairs.
, this matter has not yet been resolved, the Shu County Prefect Wen Dang destroyed the Shu County soldiers again, you have not reported so many things to me, a blind old lady, what can you report now?"
Xu Chang listened quietly and did not express any opinion. Dou said again: "Do you have any clues about the affairs of the prince in charge of Tangyi? It has been so many days, and Zhuang Qingzhai doesn't have any clue? You, the prime minister, are the only ones who have any clues."
Didn't you ask?"
Xuchang quickly knelt down and said, "The Empress Dowager, please calm down. I am guilty of this!"
"Hahaha!" Mrs. Dou laughed a few times: "Guilty, guilty! You say you are guilty in the court every day, and you say you are guilty in front of me. How many of you really think that you are guilty? Well, since you say that you are guilty, then I
I'll convict you! As the prime minister, I didn't handle things in a clear way, and I made a veteran of three dynasties suffer injustice! Do you think I don't know about the affairs of the Wen Dang? Guan Tao is fooling around, and you are also fooling around. Do you all think that I am blind?
"
Xuchang lay on the ground silently. He felt that he should not come today, at least not after hearing Su Ren's diagnosis. It was obvious that Mr. Dou's disappointment and anger towards Liu's prostitution were all placed on his head.
.But what can Xuchang say?
There was a violent storm, and Xuchang knelt tremblingly. Mr. Dou was very talkative today and had been angry for almost half an hour. Xuchang no longer knew what words to use to answer Mr. Dou. He could only say one sentence, "The Queen Mother, calm down"
, Wei Chen came to prevaricate because he was guilty. Seeing that Xuchang could no longer kneel down, his whole body was soaked with sweat, and Dou was almost out of breath.
"Hey! Get up! You are already a long time ago. I still have a few days left in this world to do your own thing properly. Guantao is no longer spoiled by me. I always feel that she is mine.
My child, you are also a person with children and grandchildren. You need to understand the Aijia. Which parent does not love their children? When Guantao does something wrong, the Aijia can only blame it on you. You don’t blame the Aijia, right?
"
Xuchang's head was about to be smashed: "The Queen Mother is kind and kind, how can I blame the ministers? Everything is the fault of the ministers and has nothing to do with the Queen Mother!"
Mrs. Dou breathed a sigh of relief: "You just said that there is something going on in Shu County. What is it?"
Xuchang rolled his eyes: "In addition to governing the local area, Wen Dang has also taught people in Shu County in recent years. After Wen Dang was dismissed from office and imprisoned, the students in Shu County began to write letters. Most of them were people who promoted filial piety and integrity. Wen Chen found it difficult.
I just wanted to ask the Empress Dowager to persuade Princess Guantao, can you..."
"Are you scared?" Dou laughed and said: "The land of Bashu is the place where our great Han Dynasty flourished. Our ancestor Emperor Gao came out of Bashu and ruled the world. Shu County must not be in chaos! You are quite clear. You can see this accurately.
!”
"Wei Chen was also confused for a moment. Please beg the Empress Dowager to punish you!"
"That's all! Since you have done something wrong, you have to change it, pass on the will of the Ai family, pardon the crimes of the Wen Party, remember the veterans of the three dynasties, and stay in Chang'an when you are old!"
"The Empress Dowager is wise, I would like to thank the Empress Dowager for your forgiveness!"
: "Let Wen Dang go, then the eldest princess..."
"Hmph! What else does she want? Could it be that the Ai family also wants to see her face?"
"Don't dare! Wei Chen will let Wen Dang go now!"
Dou waved his hand, indicating that Xuchang could go out. The moment he walked out of the longevity hall, Xuchang let out a sigh of relief. Although he was the prime minister, this prime minister was based on the trust of the Empress Dowager Dou. Today he felt it
, if Mr. Dou really gets angry, or if Liu Piao doesn't stand in front of him to block him, he will definitely be doomed based on his prestige in Xuchang.
With cold sweat all over his body, the sun was shining warmly on his body. In any case, Cui Chengru accomplished what Cui Chengru asked him to do, and even saved the copper coins for atonement. Should Cui Chengru increase his chips and give him another one million?
Not much money, right?
After climbing into his carriage, the housekeeper quickly handed Xuchang a glass of light wine. Seeing the smile on his face, he asked: "Master, is it done?"
Xu Chang smiled: "I almost joined in, and the Empress Dowager was furious, oh! But luckily it happened. Tell that Cui Chengru, this little money is not enough!"
"Nuo!" The butler also had a smile on his face: "I understand, Cui Chengru's backstage is Su Ren. Su Ren is the largest businessman in Sichuan and has a lot of money! Master has helped them such a big favor this time, and they will definitely thank them.
Master’s!”
Xuchang smiled and nodded. The carriage walked eastward along the palace wall of Changle Palace. Over there was the Prime Minister's Mansion. Opposite the Prime Minister's Mansion were the residences of the Taiwei and Yushi. Apart from the emperor, the Han Dynasty had the most power.
The three people lived so close to each other. If a missile were to fall down now, the Han Dynasty would be in chaos. Zhuang Qingzhai looked at Xuchang's carriage coming back from the crack in the door, and saw that Xuchang's steps were very relaxed.
The head ordered the boy behind him.
"Go, go to the gate of Princess Guantao's Mansion and keep an eye on it. If anyone comes to the Prime Minister's Mansion, report it immediately!" The boy turned to leave, but Zhuang Qingzhai quickly stopped him: "Also, if Princess Guantao enters the palace, report it too!
"
"No!" the boy agreed, and quickly led others to do it.
Zhuang Qingzhai kept watching Xuchang enter the mansion, and the door of the Prime Minister's Mansion was closed again, and then he slowly stood up. While walking back, he lowered his head and thought. Many things were beyond his expectation. When Cui Chengru went to the Prime Minister's Mansion yesterday,
Zhuang Qingzhai also lay at the door and watched like this, but did not see Cui Chengru go in. This morning, when Xuchang entered the palace, Zhuang Qingzhai still lay at the crack of the door and watched like this.
It's not that Zhuang Qingzhai liked this, he was forced to do so. The Prime Minister, the Taiwei, and the Imperial Censor were the three important ministers who ruled the world in the Han Dynasty. Although they had the same status, everyone knew that they were in charge of different things.
The prime minister is almost half an emperor. He has the rights that the emperor has, and he also has rights that the emperor does not have. But the censor is different. Supervising all the officials in the world sounds very powerful. In fact, do you want to deal with the officials they supervise?
It depends on the prime minister and the emperor.
Ji An was sitting in the side hall of Zhuang Qingzhai's house. He was not alone. Wang Hui, the general of the imperial order, was also there. Neither of them spoke, waiting for Zhuang Qingzhai. As soon as Zhuang Qingzhai came in, Ji An couldn't wait.
Asked: "How is it? Do you see anything strange?"
Zhuang Qingzhai shook his head: "No! It's precisely because it doesn't exist that it makes me feel strange!"
Wang Hui smiled bitterly and said: "What's strange? Cui Chengru gave Xuchang one million yuan, which is enough for Xuchang to sell his life!"
"I'm not saying that Xuchang loves money, but that Xuchang dares to ignore Princess Guantao's wishes!" Ji An quickly explained: "You must know that the original crime of punishing the Wen Party was ordered by Princess Guantao.
How can you have such a good character and give up?"
Wang Hui smiled: "One moment and another? Now that the Queen Mother's eyesight is bad, how can she have so much time to deal with these things? The problems she has with His Majesty are enough to keep her busy."
Zhuang Qingzhai raised his hand and stopped the discussion between the two of them: "There are indeed some problems with this matter. With Princess Guantao's personality and character, she would never be so lenient to Su Ren. Even if there was no matter about Prefect Wen, she would
Chen Xu's broken arm was enough to kill Su Ren several times. I have let Su Ren go back for three days, and Princess Guantao's mansion has not said a word. Don't you think it's strange?"
"Perhaps it is because of the Queen's slip of the tongue that there is a gap between the Queen Mother and Princess Guantao?"
Zhuang Qingzhai shook his head: "No matter how there is a gap, they are still mother and daughter. How much energy can an outsider like Su Ren have? In my opinion, Princess Guantao must have a big plan!"
Ji An nodded: "By the way, I heard yesterday that Tang Yi Hou was ill and he can't speak or move. I sent someone to inquire. It seems that the affair between Princess Guantao and Mianshou was revealed by Tang Yi Hou, and he was angry.
He was so angry that he couldn't even get sick."
"Hahahaha..." Wang Hui laughed loudly: "Now there is a good show, the royal family's face will be ruined by this woman!"
Zhuang Qingzhai glared at Wang Hui: "This is Princess Guantao's private matter, not to mention that she is married to Tangyi Marquis and has nothing to do with the royal family. This matter cannot be publicized. Just pretend that we don't know about it."
Ji An nodded, and Wang Hui also nodded unhappily: "What about what His Majesty requested? If Princess Guantao has more powerful means, how should we deal with it?"
"What else can we do? Now that we are on His Majesty's ship, do you think it is possible to disembark? Hey!" Zhuang Qingzhai sighed: "We can only go down in one breath. I hope the Queen Mother can't hold on for long!
"
The three people became silent at the same time, and no one continued to answer. Zhuang Qingzhai coughed twice awkwardly, picked up the wine glass next to him, and took a silent sip. (To be continued)