When she was young, she was first the feudal princess and then the empress. She became the empress dowager when she was more than thirty years old. She listened to politics behind the curtain and took care of everything. The empress dowager was already used to going to bed early and getting up late. In other words, the emperor's methods have become a little more mellow in these years. Only occasionally would she be rude and rude, so she completely ignored the affairs of the DPRK and the Central Government, and finally moved her bedtime from close to midnight to midnight in the evening.
However, as she was in her early sixties, she had always been vigilant, so she often avoided Qingning Palace during the night watch. In summer and autumn, there were even people who specially captured the chirping insects in Qingning Palace, just to give her a good night's sleep.
But on this day, Yuquan had to wake up the Queen Mother urgently at night and convey the news that had just been sent from Qianqing Palace.
The Queen Mother who was helped up felt that her head was still a little groggy. She reached out to take a glass of warm water from Yuquan and drank a few sips to calm herself down. Then she frowned and asked: "The emperor really just put the seal on the ceremonial supervisor's palm and put it on the pen." Three of the four were eliminated. Not only was Lu Chan demoted, he was also punished with a cane, and even Chu Kuan was expelled to Ciqing Palace to serve as pen and ink?"
"yes."
The Queen Mother put down the tea cup and immediately put on a piece of clothing under Yuquan's service. Then she leaned on a large pillow that was brought over. She gently rubbed her temples while listening to Li Shanggong's detailed explanations brought in by Yuquan. What happened in the Qianqing Palace. When she learned that Chu Kuan did not defend himself at all, nor did he rely on his past friendship and merit to plead for mercy afterwards, she sighed.
And when Li Shanggong said that the imperial attendant and Lu Chan were sent to the Criminal Division together, and the emperor's original words were twenty heavy sticks and hard labor for life, she let out a light sigh and said: "He has been with Liu Feng for so many years." I ignored my feelings and killed the person alive without even seeing the body or even checking, but now I am so tolerant of that royal servant... This is not normal."
Knowing her son more than her mother, Yuquan naturally believed in the judgment of the Queen Mother. But she also knew that what the Queen Mother wanted to hear was not her own opinion, so she did not agree or object, but gently pulled up some quilts for the Queen Mother.
"Chu Kuan has only been a palm printmaker for less than a year... I thought that with his age, seniority and merit, he would be able to work until he is old." The Queen Mother sighed softly, and then frowned in confusion, "No. How could the emperor be so arbitrary when he demoted him without any evidence? It’s almost as if he confirmed that it was Chu Kuan who did it... Li Shiniang, Chu Kuan really didn’t plead for mercy, and he didn’t say he wanted to see me? "
Li Shanggong shook his head quickly: "Empress Dowager, after Eunuch Chu left Qianqing Palace, he went back to his direct room. I heard that he also told the new palm, Eunuch Qian, whom you had promoted before, that from now on he will If I serve in Ciqing Palace, I won’t need the direct room in the outer imperial city. When the time comes, I will hand it over to the Supervisor of Ceremonies and other people can use it.”
"The palm print of the new Chief of Ceremonies...is it Qian Ren?" the Queen Mother asked in disbelief. Seeing Li Shanggong nod repeatedly, she covered her forehead this time. It was indeed the Qian Ren she promoted, but that was because of She was loyal and honest, and there was no difference in the replacement of old and new treasures in a certain warehouse. She had just been crowned queen at that time, so she promoted him to the title of imperial concubine.
As a result, twenty years later, the person was still serving as the emperor. She occasionally saw this person being bullied by the younger generations, so she spoke to the emperor and promoted him to be a concubine. Later, the emperor probably remembered such a person and passed it on. He was promoted to Bingbi in a few years.
But this is already the pinnacle of this person's abilities. He is a literate guy who is still as honest as a farmer. He is appointed as a pen writer because he has lived a long life, has enough seniority, is loyal and rarely makes mistakes, and after all, he is already over seventy years old. It's okay to leave it as an auspicious sign, but it can be used as a palm print... It would be strange if he didn't get eaten alive by those cunning younger generations!
Thinking of this, the Queen Mother, who had a headache, opened the quilt and was about to get out of bed. Yuquan was startled when he saw this, and hurriedly stretched out his hand to stop the person. Li Shanggong hurriedly stepped forward and curtsied and said: "Empress Dowager, this servant came out to report the news. It is the Emperor's special purpose." That's what he ordered. The emperor also told the slave that he knew what was going on, so please don't worry."
The Queen Mother was very angry at the emperor's message. But what Li Shanggong said next made her sit back down uncontrollably.
"The emperor also asked the slave to tell the Queen Mother that he and Eunuch Chu grew up together and know best who he is. Eunuch Chu will definitely not come to the Queen Mother to cry and plead for mercy. If that is the case, people will not confess their sins calmly in Qianqing Palace. .He asks for mercy and gets mercy, so the Queen Mother does not have to feel wronged by him...The Emperor even thinks that this is an advantage for him!"
Yuquan was confused when he heard this nonsense, and Li Shanggong who was delivering the message was equally confused. But after the initial confusion, the Queen Mother's heart suddenly brightened, and the joints that she had just been unable to figure out suddenly became clear.
The charity halls of the Si Li Supervisor have existed for too long. If they want to rectify them, they have to go to war against the Si Li Supervisor. And if Chu Kuan is in power, he has to protect the interests of this group no matter what. If the emperor wants to take action, he has to be tough. Go ahead, otherwise you will no longer have any prestige. After all, if the Chief of Ceremony’s palm takes action on the territory of the Chief of Ceremony, then this palm will be over!
Maybe, the guy who wanted to seek advancement from the palace, but because he had no way to advance, so he angrily attacked Juzi, there are rumors like that, and the driving force behind it is Chu Kuan himself. Even Liu Feng plotted against the fourth prince, of course His wishes were correct, but he was able to take the fourth prince to hang out in the study hall of the Li Prison. It was probably Chu Kuan's deliberate connivance.
Unexpectedly, the fourth prince did not tell the truth in front of the emperor, but in public, which caused huge trouble.
Even this incident with the Lu family may have been a play performed by Chu Kuan himself, just to make the emperor furious and take him down... However, he actually understood Shangyi so well and knew that the emperor planned to fight against foreigners first. Anne?
No, the emperor did not seem to notice the shortcomings of the Si Li Jian.
Maybe it was just that Chu Kuan saw that the emperor had made a real fuss in Xuanda, Guanglu Temple, Hubu and even the Imperial College in the past year or so, which aroused a strong response. This visit just now also happened to attract those from the court. The official turned the blame? Does this count as cleaning up the family and dividing the slander for the emperor, killing two birds with one stone?
I thought about the child with physical defects that I picked up in front of the door. I thought about letting him be raised by someone when I was soft-hearted, and then taught him the rules and stayed in the palace. I thought about staying with him because he saw that he was smart and capable, and then he learned literature and martial arts. He became an arm, but because of his shortcomings he could not serve as an official. The Queen Mother could not help but sigh deeply, and then calmly ordered: "Take off the lights and have a rest."
Just now, Yuquan and Li Shanggong were worried that the Queen Mother would be so furious after hearing such news that she rushed to the Qianqing Palace to argue with the emperor at night. But when they saw that the Queen Mother suddenly relaxed and even planned to rest again, they were both happy and happy. It was of course impossible to disobey the Queen Mother. They could only follow her instructions one by one. After quietly exiting the dormitory, the two of them looked at each other.
"Are you going back to Qianqing Palace to recover?"
Yuquan asked, and when Li Shanggong nodded, she said softly: "Just like this, you can also report the Queen Mother's reaction to the Emperor in detail, so that the Emperor can have an idea. Looking at this situation, the Queen Mother obviously understood the Emperor's intention. It’s a pity that we are too stupid to understand the profound meaning of such treatment.”
When Li Shanggong hurried back to Qianqing Palace, the emperor still hadn't gone to bed. After hearing her report on the results of her trip to Qingning Palace, he nodded slightly and withdrew Shang Gongping, who had been recommended by his mother.
Just now, he was worried that the Queen Mother would come to Qianqing Palace in person to question him because of what happened tonight. Now he finally felt relieved and was able to have a good sleep.
However, the emperor's peace of mind only lasted for a short while.
Tonight, he had no interest in going to his concubines. Just when the palace servants had made the bed, he was changing clothes, washing up, yawning, and preparing to go to bed. Chen Yongshou, the steward, came to inform him in person that it was His Highness the Crown Prince who asked for an audience. He thought it was him. The man who placed his two sons in the Zhaoren Hall next door was so unhappy that he didn't bother to change his clothes. He simply let him in and kicked off his shoes and went to bed.
So, when the third prince came in neatly dressed, what he saw was the emperor leaning on the big pillow with his eyes closed and concentrating. He knew that he had come at the wrong time, and while his face turned red, he knew even more that he could not back down. Therefore, I could only grit my teeth and close my head. After bowing, I said in a deep voice: "Father, I have been sitting here for a long time and still can't figure it out, so I can only come here to ask for advice."
Looking at the son who was lying prone under the bed, honestly explaining that he didn't understand, the emperor, who had been pretending to be asleep just now, finally couldn't sit still. He raised his finger angrily and pointed at the back of the third prince's head, and then scolded: "Don't think about things you can't understand. Don't you believe in the methods your father has used to dominate the world for more than 20 years?"
"I believe... But I only hope to understand my father's thoughts, so as not to study hard and chase after all, but still can't learn or catch up!" The third prince's forehead almost touched the ground in front of the bed, but his head was He said without looking down, "My son just doesn't understand. My father should also think that Eunuch Chu may not have done all those things, so why should he be punished so severely?"
"If he was to be killed as a warning to others, why did he remove the other two pens and then promote Mr. Bingqian to the position of palm seal? He is already over seventy years old, and I heard that he is not a smart and capable person! "
After saying this in one breath, the third prince finally had the courage. He gradually raised his head and looked at his father, and then said word by word: "Father could kill Liu Feng before, why should he let go of that daring man tonight?" Bite Eunuch Chu's personal attendant?"
The emperor was satisfied that the prince he chose could question himself like this, but he was not satisfied. What he was satisfied with was that the third prince finally had a questioning spirit instead of being submissive. You know, he really likes a considerate yes-man. He is old, but he definitely doesn’t like a yes-man prince! As for what he is dissatisfied with...
That is because his prince actually thinks that he, the emperor, believes that those things were not done by Chu Kuan!
So, the emperor kicked off his quilt, sat cross-legged on the bed, stared at his heir coldly, and said word by word: "Why do you think that I don't think Chu Kuan did it? Yours The teacher and sister Yingying think it was not Chu Kuan who did it, because they think Chu Kuan is a smart man and would not be so stupid."
"When the people in the Supervisor of Ceremonies begged for mercy, they insisted that it was definitely not Chu Kuan. That was because some of them were afraid of Chu Kuan's power and ability, while some wanted to roast him on the fire, and some wanted to roast him on the fire.
It is speculated that I have a very close relationship with him, so I must protect him. Of the seven people from the Supervisor of Ceremonies who begged for mercy, probably none of them really had Chu Kuan’s interests in mind."
"Even his godson Lu Chan probably didn't mean it sincerely. Eunuchs are just like court officials. They all come and go for benefit. There is no real affection. It's just a combination of interests. And they
The same goes for the things they will do. Smart people may not do stupid things, and stupid people may not do smart things.”
"Because Chu Kuan was a smart man in the past, you think it was not him who did it. I tell you, you are absolutely wrong!"
"Where do you think the turmoil in the Imperial College came from? Yingying and the gang of boys found out about Si Li Jianwai Yamen, because it was really easy for you to find out, and Chu Kuan also backed away when Yingying blocked the door.
Do you think there might be a scam? No, I can tell you clearly that it was Chu Kuan who instigated it!"
"Liu Feng instigated your fourth brother, maybe not Chu Kuan, but how did Liu Feng know certain details? Have you ever thought about it?"
"Tonight, I used hypnosis in Zhang Chen's ears to talk about those messy royal servants. Do you think that he was really just biting him when he insisted on Chu Kuan? That good servant Duanduan suddenly died of strangulation, because someone else was trying to silence him.
Frame it on him? Haha, even if it is really framed, do you believe that Chu Kuan is still strategizing behind the scenes? That servant, killing him is indeed a bit unfair!
"I have been Chu Kuan's master and servant for many years, so I know him better than anyone else! I don't need to check, because he asked Hua Qi to send me a message before, saying that he is willing to come to Qianqing Palace to sweep the floor! Haha, Qianqing Palace needs a sweeper.
A handyman? Since there is no shortage, then I will fulfill his wish and let him go to Ciqing Palace to serve you with pen and ink!"
The third prince was completely stunned. He raised his head and stared at his father in astonishment. After a long while, he cried out: "Father, what you mean is that Eunuch Chu...did he do it on purpose?"
"He did it on purpose."
The emperor raised the corners of his mouth expressionlessly, without a smile, but rather sarcastically: "If he had to carefully design it, it would be so rough, so ridiculous, so stupid, and so easily exposed, causing trouble.
How big is it? He just wants to trap himself deliberately, and he wants me to be able to see it... Tsk, tsk, maybe he was afraid that I wouldn't be able to see it, so he asked Hua Qi to send a message."
"Why?" The third prince finally couldn't help but asked stupidly, but this time, he didn't get a compassionate and detailed answer from the emperor. On the contrary, the emperor threw his question away unchanged.
Returned to him.
"I have told you so much, why do you have to think about it yourself? Starting from tomorrow, Chu Kuan will move to Ciqing Palace and serve the pen and ink while you are studying. You can use your own eyes to observe what he is.
Such a person, use your own heart to understand his behavior."
"Today I can cut the knot quickly, but that's because the Supervisor of Ceremonies is affiliated to the royal family, so I can act arbitrarily. But once it involves foreign dynasties, handling such matters will turn one point of difficulty into ten points. The internal and external differences are different.