Rebirth of the Demon Queen

Chapter 272 No merit

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, Beijing seemed to have suddenly entered autumn. It was cloudy for several days, and then it started to rain continuously.

The rain, mixed with a hint of coolness, fell in the capital, washing the blue bricks on the palace road in the Forbidden City spotlessly. At the end of the palace road was the Wenhua Hall where Prince Xie Yao was the daily director.

The Wenhua Hall has always been the place where the prince watches government affairs. Originally, the crown prince's position was vacant, so the emperor temporarily used this place as a place for lectures on scripture banquets.

But now that Dayan has established a prince, Xie Yao has become the owner of this palace.

Since the Mid-Autumn Festival, the emperor deliberately gave Xie Yao a chance to practice. Most of the memorials from the General Affairs Office were first sent to the Wenhua Hall, where they were discussed by Xie Yao and the cabinet, and then forwarded to the emperor and the Supervisor of Ceremonies for approval.

It was just after noon, and this was the time when the memorial was delivered.

Xie Yao, however, was unwilling to pay attention to the pile of memorials, and was pacing in the hall distractedly.

"Master Zhang, tell me, what exactly does Xie Xi mean? It's clear that Beidi is very sincere, but he keeps making rude remarks. My father has been keeping an eye on the peace negotiation. Could he be delaying it on purpose to see my joke?"

Zhang Ruogu, the newly promoted academician of Wenhua Palace, was sitting in an armchair on the left, meditating, with a smile on his face from time to time.

He was awarded the title of Bachelor of Wenhua Palace on August 16th, and he became Xie Yao's closest official.

Xie Yao frowned. The emperor always turned a blind eye to Xie Xi.

Thinking of this, Xie Yao became so angry that he couldn't help complaining: "This Xie Xi, since he has already been granted a vassal status, he should have been a vassal for a long time. Master Zhang, do you think you have given a memorial to your father?"

Does it depend on what the father wants?"

Xie Yao just asked casually, but immediately returned to the original topic and said: "With Xie Xi causing trouble, peace talks are far away. Master Zhang, can you think of a way to exclude Xie Xi?"

Several peace talks broke out in the end on bad terms.

Xie Yao was overjoyed when he heard that there was a hint of possibility hidden in Zhang Ruogu's words. He quickly turned around and looked at Zhang Ruogu, only to hear Zhang Ruogu continue to say: "It has always been the responsibility of the Ministry of Rites to grant vassal status to princes. Why don't Your Highness mention Qian Shangshu?

"

This Wenhua Hall has become a place that Zhang Ruogu must visit every day. On weekdays, he not only teaches Xie Yao how to read, but also assists Xie Yao in his daily affairs.

Therefore, negotiating peace is the top priority today.

"Your Highness is overly worried. According to the imperial court's usual regulations, the matter of selecting a concubine should naturally be reported to the Queen. In the past few days, Qian Shangshu has been ill, and the selection of concubines has been handled by Rong Zonghou, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites. If Your Highness wants to

I know, Wei Chen just goes and asks about it."

Zhang Ruogu knew very well about this matter.

With the emperor's connivance, there is really no good solution for Xie Xi and Xie Yao.

In Xie Yao's view, Dayan's treasury is now empty and there are internal and external troubles. Of course, the most important thing is that this big thing is on his head.

"There's no need to bother Master Zhang with this."

"Don't worry, Your Highness, Your Majesty will definitely care about the person Wei Chen mentioned."

"Master Zhang, what do you mean?"

After rejecting Zhang Ruogu's proposal so bluntly, Xie Yao felt a little regretful, and he randomly found a sentence and asked: "How is the selection of Qian Minzhong's concubine going? How come he hasn't reported to me yet?"

He also thought about instructing the imperial censor to participate in Xie Xi's memorial, but Zhang Ruogu's worries were justified. If the emperor noticed, it would be self-defeating.

Zhang Ruogu was full of confidence and showed an unpredictable smile.

Zhang Ruogu looked solemn and said: "King Dun has been entrusted with an important task by His Majesty, and he is still unable to do anything about it. If Your Highness has any prejudice against King Dun, you might as well make an issue of it from the people around him."

"You also know that Qian Minzhong is very self-interested, and I stole his peace negotiation job. Maybe he already hates me, so there is no need for me to go to him to make him feel uncomfortable."

"You also know that my fourth brother has a lot of bad friends around him, but my father never pays attention to it. If I use these people to make an issue, I'm afraid it will still be in vain."

Xie Yao thought for a moment, pointed to a pile of memorials on the desk, and asked: "Are you talking about Jiangnan?"

Xie Yao would go to the harem every day to pay respects to his mother and concubine. Of course he knew the details of selecting the concubine. He also knew that after several rounds of preliminary selection, there were currently more than 5,000 people at the beginning, and after the screening, more than 60 people were left.

.

Zhang Ruogu stood up, followed behind Xie Yao, and said: "Your Highness, please be patient. Your Majesty thinks highly of King Dun, which is not a bad thing. King Dun has always acted erratically, but it can attract a lot of controversy for Your Highness."

On weekdays, in addition to the memorials from the general affairs envoy, the cabinet still reported other political affairs to the emperor.

Xie Yao originally wanted to reach a contract with Beidi as soon as possible, but unexpectedly Xie Xi repeatedly had conflicts with Beidi's deputy envoy Turut.

However, he had always had objections to Qian Minzhong, and he felt awkward no matter how much he thought about asking him to mention Qian Minzhong.

Although Xie Yao was the prince, several people in the cabinet were not optimistic about his prospects. In addition, civilian officials had always been hostile to military attachés, so they only maintained superficial respect for Xie Yao, who relied on the support of Marquis Weiyuan.

"Master Zhang, you also know that this is the first major task assigned by my father after I became the crown prince. Everyone is watching it, and I must do it beautifully."

Zhang Ruogu just took it for granted that the person currently in charge of the overall selection of the concubine is not the queen, but Concubine Tang Zhuang in the harem.

Zhang Ruogu paused for a moment, looked at Xie Yao's expression of concern, and then said: "If His Highness wants King Dun to surrender to the vassal as soon as possible, it is not impossible, but we must not be the first to initiate this matter."

Hearing Xie Yao's complaints, Zhang Ruogu shook his head and said: "The emperor has always been far-sighted. Since he allows King Dun to participate in the peace negotiation, he always has his own considerations."

Zhang Ruogu sighed and didn't answer any more.

Xie Yao understood the meaning of Zhang Ruogu's sigh and also knew that Zhang Ruogu's suggestion was good.

"Not bad, what do you think, Your Highness?"

The selection of concubines was a matter within the harem, and the cabinet rarely asked about relevant details in order to avoid suspicion.

Xie Yao did not agree with it and said: "Xie Xi's fiefdom is in Jiannan, and it has nothing to do with the floods in Jiangnan. Even if he had been to Jiangnan a few days ago, if we wanted to make an issue out of it, my father would not

Will believe it."

"Your Highness, the flood in the south of the Yangtze River is nothing more than a trivial matter. Besides, with Cao Lang in charge, we can't do anything. What I want to say is a major matter related to Dayan's destiny!"

Hearing Zhang Ruogu's solemn words, Xie Yao immediately became interested, found a chair and sat down, and asked: "Master Zhang, please tell me in detail."

Zhang Ruogu looked solemn, pointed toward the door and said, "Has your highness ever heard that there is a small Japanese country on the East China Sea?"

(End of chapter)