The Child Emperor

Numerous eunuchs and attendants stood idle outside Lingyun Pavilion, sitting or standing, in groups of three or five, talking in a low voice. Even the ritual officials who were responsible for maintaining order relaxed their vigilance, looked away at will, and admired the scenery in the garden. The famous attendants came hurriedly from a distance, and their brows could not help wrinkling. These noble children were too unruly. They entered the palace to perform their duties, not to play. The emperor was still listening to lectures, but they actually wandered around.

The ritual officer squinted his eyes and watched carefully, to see the identity of the other party before deciding what to do with it. This was incredible. He found that one of the attendants was wearing a different dress. It was not the purple commonly used by the attendants, but the yellow of the emperor. I couldn't help but be shocked, and after looking at it for a while, the shock turned into a big fear and a big confusion.

Not only did the Rites find the anomaly, but soon everyone saw the emperor coming from a distance.

No one can understand what is going on. There is an emperor in Lingyun Pavilion, why is another one coming outside?

It wasn't until everyone saw that the eunuch Zuo Ji was following the visitor, and they finally understood that this was the real emperor. All of them knelt down, and the ceremonial official said loudly: "I see your majesty, your majesty..." Even he didn't know this kind of thing. What should I say under the circumstances, I just feel dizzy, and the world in my eyes is going to be turned upside down.

Han Ruzi didn't look sideways, he hurriedly walked through the crowd, and entered Lingyun Pavilion alone. As for how to explain it, it was left to Zuo Ji.

Different from the surprise and confusion of the people outside the pavilion, the two eunuchs in Lingyun Pavilion were about to go crazy. They searched upstairs and downstairs several times. Dare to go out for help, the old eunuch raised his hand and slapped the young eunuch while looking for it, "It's dead, this time it's dead..."

Han Ruzi walked past the two of them and said, "The garden is beautiful, you should go and have a look."

The emperor walked upstairs quickly, the two eunuchs were stunned, the young eunuch sat down suddenly, hugging the thigh of the old eunuch, "My mother..."

The King of the East Sea was sleeping soundly at his desk, and the old gentleman was still chattering about the profound meanings of Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zheng, and Yu, as if he knew nothing about the emperor's entry and exit.

Han Ruzi sat down and listened to the lecture without feeling sleepy at all, and many doubts came up one after another.

When escorting the emperor to Qinzheng Hall, Zuo Ji was obviously more obedient than usual, and he hesitated several times. Han Ruzi believed that Zuo Ji would come to him to talk privately tonight.

In the Hall of Diligence, the ministers congratulated the emperor.

King Qi was arrested. He led a small number of cronies and family members to flee to the sea, intending to go to sea by boat. Unfortunately, his vision for selecting people was not very good at the last moment. King Qi's three sons and two concubines vented to the government through different channels. Report a letter, attracting chasing troops. King Qi wanted to commit suicide, but was pressed down by the guards and handed over.

The first rebel was arrested, and the Qi rebellion was now over. Taifu Cui Hong could soon return to Beijing, and officials from all over the country continued to arrest the accomplices.

Han Ruzi was more concerned about Yang Feng's whereabouts, but no one mentioned him. How to deal with King Qi was the question that the minister was most concerned about, and it was up to the Queen Mother to decide.

The empress dowager probably waited for the emperor to arrive on purpose, so that her decree was impeccable. At this time, she sent a female official to announce her decision: the king of Qi had acted against the sky, and his sins could not be forgiven. Those who disobeyed their father and had no remorse were punished according to the law; the other sons of the king of Qi were exempted from being commoners; the officials and people of the state of Qi, those who were coerced were innocent, and those who actively followed the king of Qi were punished; clan.

For Han Ruzi, this was another lesson. The leader of the rebellion, King Qi, was not severely punished. He even saved a few sons. Ordinary officials and people were forgiven.

The ministers basically had no objection, but they all felt that King Qi's punishment was too light, and argued with the queen mother.

Han Ruzi sat for a while, and was sent back to the inner palace without hearing the result. Since he was going to practice martial arts in the afternoon, he usually did not go back to Tai'an Palace, but had lunch in a room in the Imperial Majian. There were few rules here. , There are not many people serving, and eating is more casual. The King of the East Sea is one of the servants, and he actually eats at the same table with the emperor.

The King of Donghai had heard the news of King Qi's arrest, with a proud expression on his face, "It's still my uncle who is good. Hmph, when my uncle was defeated by Qi Bing, there were still people who wanted to sack the Cui family, this time. I have nothing to say, I wonder what official the Queen Mother will seal my uncle?"

Now that it is not time to discuss merits and deeds, Han Ruzi briefly explained the Queen Mother's will, and then said: "'The legal net is restored to ashes, sparse and not omitted', which is probably what it means, those deceivers are indeed the most hateful. "

Donghai King smiled and shook his head, swallowing the food in his mouth, "You are too inexperienced, do you think this is lenient?"

"Isn't it? The coerced officials and people are innocent. Only the followers and demagogues are severely punished."

The King of the East Sea shook his head again and again, "The imperial court, you have to show a lenient look to the world. When it's time to do it, who would dare to be lenient? Generous is disloyalty to the emperor."

Han Ruzi was surprised, "Could it be that the ministers would still violate the imperial edict?"

"Of course not." King Donghai took a few mouthfuls of rice and put down the bowls and chopsticks, "Who are the followers? Who are the bewitchers? King Qi said he wanted to rebel, but you didn't openly oppose it. Are you considered a follower? King Qi beat him once. Victory, you followed everyone to congratulate you, are you considered a deceiver? And the most important sentence, 'sin and three clans', you are fine, but some of your relatives who have not been with each other for many years joined the rebels, or You will be convicted. There are precedents for this kind of thing. If you don’t kill more than 10,000 people, you will be punished if the relevant ministers are ineffective.”

"More than ten thousand people!" Han Ruzi was shocked.

"Hey, it doesn't matter how many people die." Donghai Wang got up and stretched, "If you sleep well in the morning, you will be full of energy in the afternoon."

Han Ruzi had very little contact with the outside world, so he didn't care much about how many people he was involved with in the end. He was shocked by the discrepancy between the court's will and the actual implementation. The Queen Mother clearly understood these "conventions", so she drafted a qualified will, and Some of the objections of the ministers are actually trying to figure out the Queen Mother's true intentions, and when they are implemented, they will have a rough idea.

Han Ruzi couldn't help thinking that if he really took power, he would not be a qualified emperor. He needed a frank and direct teacher like Yang Feng, not a group of old men who only endorsed books, not even Luo Huanzhang, who gave excellent lectures. Great use.

Can you really defeat the queen mother and govern herself? Han Ruzi was heartbroken. After all, he had already taken the first step, but it was just a lie from the imperial concubine that made him brood.

The martial arts practice in the afternoon was vanished for no reason. The emperor was sent back to Tai'an Palace, and Zuo Ji escorted everyone out of the room. He then walked up to the emperor and said solemnly, "Who is instructing your majesty? "

Zuo Ji wanted to understand that it was impossible for the emperor to discover "adultery" by himself, and he must have been helped.

Han Ruzi knew what bluffing was, smiled and said: "Who can instruct the emperor? Zuo Gong is a little calm, and I didn't say that I would tell the queen mother about this matter. There are many things that need to be dealt with by the queen mother. I don't want to trouble the Queen Mother again."

Zuo Ji immediately surrendered, his heart was soft and his legs were soft, he threw himself on his knees, and said with a sad face: "What do you want, Your Majesty will say it clearly, the servant will no longer force His Majesty to behave as a husband and wife, unless...unless..."

"Unless the Queen Mother orders."

Zuo Ji nodded helplessly.

"Don't worry, I just want to chat with you." Han Ruzi sat on the couch and looked down at the eunuch kneeling on the ground.

"What to talk about?" Zuo Ji knew what he wanted to talk about. He was already very remorseful and shouldn't have leaked the Queen Mother's secret in Xianyin Pavilion, but he was too flustered at the time to keep his mouth shut.

"The wound on the Queen Mother's hand."

"The slave has already said..."

"I want to hear the details. What was the situation at that time? Did you see it with your own eyes, or did you hear what others said?"

Zuo Ji bit his lip and didn't speak for a long time, Han Ruzi was not in a hurry, just sat there watching him quietly.

"How is your majesty preparing?" Zuo Ji finally spoke.

Han Ruzi was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Zuo Ji to ask such a sentence, and replied calmly, "Just a little bit of evidence."

This was an ambiguous answer, Zuo Ji understood it according to his own thinking, turned his heart and said: "As early as when the ministers besieged the Taimiao, the servants knew that the Queen Mother would not persist long enough, and the Shangguan family was weak, even if he was in charge of the Southern Army. , is not enough to deter the ministers. Since Your Majesty has the heart, the servants are willing to do the hard work of dogs and horses."

Han Ruzi's plan was to ask the truth little by little, which made Zuo Ji fearful, but the eunuch's reaction was completely unexpected.

Like King Qi, the queen mother also believed in the wrong person.

"I have never worried about the ministers outside." Han Ruzi still replied with a lie, and he still didn't know which ministers were on the emperor's side.

"His Majesty convinced the Prince of Qi in the Palace of Diligence, and also all the ministers. The news has already spread all over the capital. Everyone said that His Majesty is smart and brave, and he must be a generation of holy monarchs."

Zuo Ji started to flatter.

Han Ruzi listened quietly, "Tell me the truth."

"Yes." Zuo Ji kowtowed on the ground, raised his head and said, "It was around February 23 this year, when Si Di and the Queen Mother had a big fight, no outsiders were present, and the servants only heard a few words. , After Si Di left, the servant entered the house and saw blood on the Queen Mother's hand, so she helped the Queen Mother to bandage. The Queen Mother cried and said that Si Di was not filial. A few days later, Si Di became seriously ill and died at the end of the month."

"So you didn't see Si Di do it with your own eyes?"

"It must be Si Di, Si Di entered the house as soon as he left the servant, and the queen mother has already shed a lot of blood, so she shouldn't hurt herself."

"You didn't lie?"

"How dare a slave? I just ask Your Majesty to make a little contribution to the slave, so that I can leave a way for the slave to survive in the future."

"As long as you're not the most evil person, I won't hold you accountable." Han Ruzi also learned how to keep a hand in his words.

Zuo Ji didn't hear it, and hurriedly said: "The slave is not the first evil, and the slave is not even a slave. The death of Si Di has nothing to do with the slave."

"Why does the queen mother want to start with the parent and child?"

"I really don't know, but the empress dowager and Si Di have never been close, not like a mother and son at all. Rumors say that the imperial concubine is the biological mother of Si Di, and she gave it to the empress dowager in order to compete for the position of the concubine."

Han Ruzi nodded, without mentioning the concubine, and asked, "It's impossible for the queen mother to have no help. Who do you think it will be?"

"Yang Feng, it must be Yang Feng!" Zuo Ji blurted out, "During the three days when Emperor Si was seriously ill, only Yang Feng served in the palace day and night, and the imperial doctor and his personal eunuchs and palace maids would be kicked out before they could stay there for a long time. , the servant suspected Yang Feng early on, but there was no direct evidence."

Han Ruzi didn't believe Zuo Ji's accusation, but there was one thing that was hard to explain: Yang Feng was loyal to Si Di, but after Si Di died, he gained the Queen Mother's trust.

Seeing that the emperor was silent, Zuo Ji thought that he didn't say enough, and immediately said: "There is also a palace maid, she sent Si Di's soup and medicine in, even if she is not an accomplice, you can know something."

(seeking for collection and recommendation)