Wishful Things

Therefore, he said again: "If the empress thinks it's inappropriate, then just pretend that the minister has never been here... This matter is indeed the minister's abruptness."

With that said, he got up and gave a long salute.

Seeing the boy standing there with his head bowed, with some remorse in his eyes, the queen smiled after a while.

"Your Highness is a good boy, I have always known about it."

As she spoke, she instructed Mother Jiang, "Go and prepare a pen and paper."

The prince raised his head and looked at the queen with bright eyes.

"Thank you ma'am!"

"But it can't be written by His Royal Highness. I can find someone trustworthy to write it for me."

"Yes, your majesty is very considerate."

...

The secret letter was sent to the Duke of Zhen's mansion together with the Queen's post asking Xu Mingyi to enter the palace to talk tomorrow.

Xu Mingyi opened the unsigned secret letter and went to find his grandfather.

Because he was afraid that his guesses would be too subjective and not rigorous enough, the prince's letter clearly stated the conversation between Emperor Qingming and Zhan Yunzhu——

After seeing it, Lord Zhen sneered heavily.

really.

Even if it is confirmed that the edict is not in his hands, the emperor's idea of ​​taking away his military power will still not change in the slightest.

"How does grandfather plan to deal with this temptation?" Xu Mingyi asked seriously in a low voice.

Lord Zhen Guo held the letter paper in his hand, his eyes were darker than the night: "I don't care if he tries or not, the things that have already been decided cannot be changed."

And no matter what the result of this temptation is, the dog emperor can't let their Xu family go - can these two temptations with dead ends still be called temptations? It was obvious that he wanted to ask how he planned to die.

Looking at the old man's resolute face, Xu Mingyi felt settled.

That's right, what has been decided long ago, what needs to be done now is nothing more than soldiers coming to cover up the water and soil.

But now that we have come to this point, we have to seriously think about the way out in the future...

Thinking of King Yan who was about to enter the capital in two or three days, Xu Mingyi fell into deep thought.

...

After the morning court the next day, Emperor Qingming left Zhen Guogong and Xia Tingzhen alone to discuss matters in the imperial study.

"How is the Duke recently?"

On the way to the imperial study, Xia Tingzhen greeted him aloud.

"The old man is doing very well, but Xia Shoufu has not been to court for half a month."

Xia Tingzhen calmly replied, "It's been more than half a month."

I fell ill suddenly a few days ago, and it was only these few days that I got better.

"If Xia Shoufu doesn't come again, Ji Shangshu will really overwhelm the court in this court." Duke Zhen Guo said flatly.

Xia Tingzhen showed a smile that was not a smile.

As expected of Lord Zhen Guo, when using aggressive methods, they are much more direct and shallow than ordinary people.

But there are some things that you know are aggressive methods, but you still can't do them without any disturbance.

Because what the other party said is the truth——

Now that Ji Xiu has regained the importance of the emperor, everyone is watching...

And he has encountered the sinful debts of a pair of wicked sons and daughters one after another. Although his official position seems to have not been shaken, some things he really lost because of this are invisible to the public.

In comparison, Ji Xiu can be said to be proud of himself now.

First, a sorcerer and national teacher was placed in the Xuanqing Palace——

Now there is another so-called Zhongshu Sheren who risked his life to save him, who is always with the emperor.

And this Zhongshusheren is actually the son of Zhanqian who has been executed...

The son of a sinner, whose parents passed away one after another, the emperor just took advantage of his father's status as a sinner to prevent him from keeping the filial piety for his parents, and directly sent him to the Ministry of Education...

Is this Ji Xiu's skill?

Xia Tingzhen sneered in her heart.

He has been in the same dynasty for many years, and he knows exactly how capable Ji Xiu is.

The one who really has the means is this young man named Zhan Yunzhu... and the most brilliant means in him is probably to figure out the holy will.

Zhen Guogong walked forward calmly with his hands behind his back.

The person he wants to get rid of, Xia Tingzhen is probably more anxious than him to get rid of——

Successive setbacks, I'm afraid the formerly calm and steady chief assistant will lose some patience—isn't it a good start to be sick from anger?

Next, it depends on who can bite whom.

The Royal Study Room will arrive soon.

"You two lovers don't need to be too polite."

After the dragon case, Emperor Qingming put down the memorial in his hand and said, "Let's all sit down and talk."

Two chairs, one on the left and one on the right, have been prepared, and Duke Zhen Guo and Xia Tingzhen took their seats one after another.

The door of the imperial study room was closed by the inner eunuch from the outside, and there were only three inner eunuchs left in the hall to serve, including Li Ji.

Xia Tingzhen noticed something unusual, but she didn't show any emotion on her face.

"I don't know if the two lovers have heard about the Li tribe in the east disturbing our border?"

Xia Tingzhen lowered her eyes and said: "The minister has been recuperating at home recently, and the news has been blocked, but I have never heard of it—"

Emperor Qingming looked at Duke Zhen.

Zhen Guogong said calmly: "I have heard a little about this matter."

Emperor Qingming tapped twice with his right index finger placed on the dragon case, and said: "The Li people are arrogant and rampant, and they hurt the lives of our people in Daqing. I intend to send troops to conquer—"

"Send troops to conquer?"

"That's right." Emperor Qingming looked at Duke Zhen: "Does the Duke think it's wrong?"

"I believe that before the war, there is no question of whether it should be done or not, but that it needs to be adjusted according to the current situation." Zhen Guo justly said: "Border frictions happen from time to time, and in recent years, Daqing has experienced constant wars, and it is time to recuperate. In my opinion, the only thing to do now is to strengthen the border defense force. When the time is relatively suitable in the future, we can take over the territory of the Li people in one fell swoop—"

Although he is a general, he does not advocate that everything should be solved by war.

He never fought a battle unprepared, and he never fought a battle unnecessarily.

In his view, the conquest of the Li clan will do more harm than good.

"What else?" Emperor Qingming's expression showed no joy or anger.

"In addition, the Empress Dowager's birthday is approaching, since this year is a birthday celebration, it is a happy event for the whole world - I think it is not appropriate to start a war at this time, so as not to disturb the people's hearts."

He said these words, although he has his own plans, but they are also the truth.

But Emperor Qingming obviously didn't think so.

"I feel that the people from the Li clan are choosing to make trouble at this time because they intend to spoil my Queen Mother's birthday celebration." Emperor Qingming said in a slow but uncompromising voice, "If I don't give them some color to see, what is the majesty of the great country? And this is also damaging to the queen mother's dignity. I can't spoil her old man at this time—"

Duke Zhen fell silent.

These remarks sounded quite passionate, but in fact they were completely at the level of playing games, nothing more.

He was even a little confused for a moment, whether the emperor really wanted to fight for the sake of face, or just wanted to use this war to divide the troops in his hands, so as to achieve his goal of centralizing power——

If it's the latter, then this emperor is really unacceptable.

There is nothing wrong with seeking power, but if you want to use the stability of the world as a means, and you can't tell which is more important——

Thanks to Jiu'er Pickled Fish, Ping Qinghan, and He Xinging for their rewards.

Thank you for your monthly pass.