As the saying goes, "There are leaks at all times, there are cards when there are changes, and the reports are more encouraging."

In Yanjing City, the bells are played first before the drums in the evening, and the drums are played before the bells in the morning. There are also special rules for telling the time.

Li Congyuan came out of Wuying Palace with his hands in his hands and heard the sound of drums coming from the north. He calculated in his mind and knew that it was already the time.

A Hanlin scholar hurried over holding several memorials and whispered:

"Mr. Ge, it has been three days since Your Majesty was brought to Xiyuan by the Queen Mother..."

Things in the palace were aroused in the past few days. How could they, the foreign officials, not know about it?

Hanlin, who was probably in his thirties, sighed: "Mr. Li Ge, your Majesty said before that Shoucheng Hou was framed by the Queen Mother and sent him to prison. This is already to preserve the Queen Mother's dignity. Why does the Queen Mother insist on following him?

Is Your Majesty having an attack?"

Li Congyuan touched his beard, his eyes were illuminated by the rising sun, and he covered them with his sleeves before saying: "The Queen Mother and the late Emperor had a deep love. She regarded the late Emperor as her husband and Your Majesty as her son. This is what she meant."

Good thing."

Hearing what he said, Na Hanlin was a little unhappy: "A wise wife is a good husband and a husband is less likely to cause harm. It is the right thing for the Queen Mother to take care of the late Emperor and Your Majesty. But in the final analysis, the Queen Mother is only the Queen Mother."

Li Congyuan did not respond to these words. A steward from the Ministry of Personnel was waiting for him in the corridor with a few notebooks. He raised his feet and walked over.

The Hanlin who was talking to him stood there and thought for a while, then looked at the book in his hand.

In the past few days, His Majesty has ignored all the accusations against the Shoucheng Hou brothers. In the past, they, the civil servants, felt that His Majesty was really indulging his relatives. Now, seeing the Queen Mother, she dared to block His Majesty outside the palace gate for a long time, until the Queen took her away.

All the female officials in the palace came together to say hello before giving up. They felt that the Queen Mother was really overbearing.

"Wang Hanlin, a decree from His Majesty a few days ago..."

Zhuang Changxin, the Minister of Civil Affairs, came over in a hurry and asked about a previous memorial. After asking, the two chatted for a while.

Zhuang Changxin is a well-known among the six tribes who is good at dancing and can talk to everyone. Wang Hanlin has served in the imperial court for many years and has a good personal relationship with him:

"Shilang Zhuang, I am feeling uneasy right now. Your Majesty has finally managed to deal with Marquis Shoucheng, but you are still worried about the Queen Mother's face. If the Queen Mother just says a few more words, your Majesty will let Marquis Shoucheng go..."

Thinking of this situation, Hanlin couldn't help but feel nervous.

They, the civil servants, read the history books thoroughly and believed that there were two major disasters in the dynasties throughout the ages, one was eunuchs and the other was relatives.

It has only been a few years since His Majesty eradicated Zhang Wan. The two Cao brothers are a pile of waste. If this can make their relatives rich, they civil servants might as well line up and jump into the moat instead of becoming officials.

Zhuang Changxin looked at Wang Hanlin's face and said with a smile:

"Wang Hanlin, you don't have to worry too much about this matter. Although Marquis Shoucheng is ridiculous, since Your Majesty has imprisoned him, he will not be released easily again."

He seemed to be comforting people, but Wang Hanlin heard another meaning - "Your Majesty has just locked up Shouchenghou now, and did not say how to deal with it. When the Queen Mother shows her temper again, she may be Gao Gao."

Pick it up high and put it down gently."

This is not possible!

Wang Hanlin took a breath and decided to let his colleagues who were censors continue to impeach, not only to impeach Hou Chenghou, but also to impeach the Queen Mother who actually shut out His Majesty!

We must curb the arrogance of our relatives!

Seeing Wang Hanlin striding away, Zhuang Changxin shook his head and straightened the leather belt around his waist.

When he slowly arrived at Wenyuan Pavilion, he handed the note in his hand to Li Congyuan, and poured himself a cup of tea from the pot at Li Congyuan's hand.

"Master Shangshu, although your tea reduces fire, it is also very cold. Drinking too much will inevitably lead to diarrhea."

Li Congyuan looked up at him, took a deep breath, and said with a wry smile: "Since Your Majesty wanted to inspect Taipu Temple, I only regret that I drank less tea."

Zhuang Changxin also smiled bitterly. As the Minister of Civil Affairs and Li Congyuan's deputy, how could he not know how difficult Li Congyuan's life was these days?

Looking left and right, he smiled again: "Fortunately, our majesty will perform the surgery on the relative first. After this incident, some people will not be able to unite their efforts for a while."

If they jumped out to oppose His Majesty's inspection of Taipu Temple at this time, wouldn't they be colluding with the relatives they despised most?

"This can only last for a while." Li Congyuan shook his head.

Zhuang Changxin saw that Li Congyuan had more white hair on his temples in the past few days, and couldn't help but soften his tone: "Mr. Yunshan, since your Majesty has already made up his mind to eliminate shortcomings, we can just forge ahead, so why do you have to waste so much money?"

What about yourself?”

"I'm worried..." Li Congyuan glanced at Zhuang Changxin and sighed again.

He was worried that the people in the court would be distracted, that officials in various places would double down on the people in order to make up for the shortfall, and that His Majesty was still young and uncertain about troubles, so he would postpone the elimination of evils when faced with dilemmas.

But others can say these things, but Li Congyuan cannot.

"Mr. Yunshan, I think you might as well tell His Majesty your concerns."

Zhuang Changxin poured himself another cup of "Great Cold Tea" that was used to reduce the heat, and drank it: "Mr. Yunshan, I have been thinking these past few days. We who serve as ministers always want to gain your Majesty's trust, so does your Majesty also want to win your Majesty's trust?"

Do you think so?"

After finishing speaking, Zhuang Changxin laughed himself: "In the past, I would not have dared to say this, but although His Majesty is more unpredictable now than before, but His Majesty did not kill Chen Shouzhang, I feel vaguely that His Majesty is now more unpredictable.

He has a good heart, which is rare, and it is a hundred times rarer to be a king."

Zhuang Changxin left. Li Congyuan looked at the pile of memorials in front of him and poured himself a cup of tea, but he only held it in his hand.

Their Majesty, he has been naughty since he was a child, but he is extremely talented in the art of power. How could Li Congyuan not know this?

It is always said that His Majesty's unpredictable moods make the court afraid. What do the civil and military officials of the dynasty fear from a fatuous monarch whose moods are unpredictable? No, what the ministers fear is a man who is extremely shrewd and takes power as his art, and does not care about the life or death of his ministers.

A monarch who doesn't care about the lives of his people.

If the whole Dayong is like a ship that is swaying in the wind and rain, a monarch who is good at political power will not fill the holes in the ship. He will just think that as long as he pushes people into the water one by one, he will be the one who can survive to the end.

.

Your Majesty is like this today, and so is the late emperor who was praised as wise and wise. Even Prince Xian Duan Sheng, who is still remembered today, is not a person who is unskilled in power.

Li Congyuan has been an official for decades, and the people he has seen the most are people pushed into the water. Among those people are his mentors, colleagues, close friends and mortal enemies.

"Good intentions?"

After whispering these four words softly, Li Congyuan drank the tea in one gulp.

"The Cao family transported property worth 400,000 silver to the Ministry of Household Affairs!"

Hearing these words from the messenger, Li Congyuan put down the teacup in his hand.

"Four hundred thousand taels of silver?"

"Yes, Mrs. Shouchenghou took the two sons of the Cao family and personally delivered the things to the Ministry of Household Affairs. She even wore plain clothes and went to the palace to apologize."

The same news reached Chaohua Garden in Xiyuan even later. Yiji collected the discount, turned around and walked into Chaohua Garden, summoning his most trusted little eunuch.

"Take my badge and leave the palace quickly to find His Majesty and present the news to His Majesty."

After saying that, Yiji hesitated for a moment.

"That's all, you go find the three cats to come and guard Chaohua Garden, and find some clothes to wear outside the palace. I'll go find the emperor myself."

Ever since the emperor ascended the throne, he always accompanied him when he left the palace. Even if the emperor occasionally went out to play, he would always be accompanied by two dogs or four rats. He changed into a black cotton robe with cross-collar collars and took off his hair.

The three-mountain hat was replaced by a Tang scarf. When he looked in the mirror, he was stunned for a moment.

The three cats who helped him said something: "Boss Chicken, you are almost thirty, so you look like a young scholar in his early twenties who has just passed the imperial examination."

"Don't ask for Hu Qin. Ergou is not here. You and your people have guarded the door. If something goes wrong, it is not a trivial matter."

How could San Mao not know? He was smiling, but what he said was true: "Chicken boss, just go ahead and I'll take care of how this place is when you go out, and how it will be when you come back."

Yiji raised his feet and was about to go out. Sanmao gave it to his mouth and said: "The roast lamb from Zuixianlou that the emperor asked Sirat to bring back last time was really fresh and tender, but it was a little bit short. I suspect that the thief rat is

I secretly hid a lot of it and ate it myself. Chicken boss, you should keep an eye on it when you go out. If the emperor asks you to pack something again and bring it back to reward us, be sure not to let that thief rat pack it himself."...

When I got on my horse in front of Chaohua Garden, I almost got a big footprint on the buttocks of three cats first.

This fat cat is always out of shape, no wonder the emperor always wants to kick him.

After exiting Xiyuan along the corner gate, we first walked along the river for a while, crossed the bridge, and then diagonally crossed a few alleys to reach Gulou Street. Yiji waved to the Dongchang fans who were guarding him to disperse.

He went to find someone and led the horse on the busy street.

Yiji was born handsome, with a face as white as jade. He usually lowered his eyebrows in the palace and tried his best not to attract attention, but he managed to hide it. Now when he walks on the street and looks up to find someone, he is really a very eye-catching person.

Handsome young man.

Shen Shiqing was sitting on the second floor of Xinghua Building and saw him from a distance.

"Sister, look, is that guy a chicken?"

Lin Miaozhen was looking at a fine steel knife she had just bought. She took a moment to take a look and said, "It's really a chicken. Let's not call him a chicken outside the palace."

After saying that, Lin Miaozhen leaned out and waved to the chicken: "Mr. Fang, come up and sit down?"

Shen Shiqing was so frightened that she pulled Lin Miaozhen back, who was too unrestrained in words and deeds.

Lin Miaozhen also sensed something was wrong and couldn't help laughing: "I'll wear men's clothes next time I go out. I'll be scared to death when I look at a chicken, hahahaha!"

How could I not hear being greeted by the Empress in public? After a while, I quietly reached the second floor of Xinghua Building.

It was dinner time, and the newly steamed fish was placed in front of their prince and his wife, and the aroma of scallion oil hit the shop.

Shen Shiqing looked at Yiji: "Did something happen at home that made you come here in such a hurry?"

Yiji lowered his head and handed over the fold in his hand: "Mrs. Shouchenghou and her family's young masters sent 400,000 taels of silver to the Ministry of Finance."
To be continued...