The next day, Ye Yichen went to Shunzhen Gate early in the morning to hand over the sign. Not long after, Wang Ying, the chief eunuch beside the emperor, hurried over. When he saw Ye Yichen, he bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, the emperor has been busy with the military affairs at the front recently and has been overworked.

I am temporarily infected with the cold and cannot see you. Your Majesty asked me to bring you a message.

If there is any important military matter, write a note and submit it to the palace, and the emperor will take care of it." In fact, Wang Ying was really awkward when passing this order. The emperor is the emperor after all, and you are the greatest in the world. Whether you want to see Ye Yichen or not is not a matter of words.

Why do you need to explain things to him again? It seems like you have a guilty conscience.

In fact, the emperor was not only guilty of being a thief, he was a little afraid of seeing this younger brother. He was much older than Ye Yichen. When Taizong came to the throne, he was already an adult prince. Officially, it was said that Taizu died of a sudden illness. In fact, what happened to Taizu?

After he ascended the throne and saw many secret files, he finally understood.

After that, Taizong slaughtered all the descendants of Taizu's lineage, and he saw it clearly. After all, Taizong's lineage was not right. After Taizong took the throne, he would summon eminent monks in the Forbidden City every year to hold large-scale rituals.

On the surface, it was to pray for the country and the country, but in fact it was just to pay homage to Emperor Taizu and seek peace of mind. After Zhengtong ascended the throne, he continued this tradition.

After all, Ye Yichen was saved by the Queen Mother. The orthodox emperor watched him grow up day by day, and watched him make more and more achievements day by day. This sixteenth brother has always been outstanding in both talent and ability, and gradually moved into important positions. The orthodox emperor simply had trouble sleeping and eating.

install!

Zhengtong was afraid that Ye Yichen was trying to seize his throne, so he asked him to find a reason to kill Ye Yichen. At first, he was worried about the infamy of slaughtering his younger brother. When Ye Yichen grew older and his wings became stronger, and he held a hundred thousand tiger benches, the emperor became even more worried.

Don't dare to take action easily.

Finally, he found an excuse to take away Ye Yichen's military power. The emperor bravely met with Ye Yichen, only to find that he was growing in power. Faced with his ice-like eyes, it was orthodox that the emperor was better than Ye Yichen, a minister.

He was even more nervous. The contempt in his eyes made him angry and even more frightening. From then on, he could not see his younger brother without seeing him.

"I have an urgent military situation and I want to report it to the Emperor in person. I'd rather trouble my father-in-law to report it again!" Ye Yichen said to Wang Ying patiently.

Wang Ying immediately showed a troubled look. He served the emperor every day, how could he not understand the emperor's intentions, and this trip was in vain: "Your Majesty, it's not that I don't want to run this errand for you, but the emperor is indeed...

…I am indeed ill, I can’t see anyone, and I don’t want to see anyone!”

Yes, Ye Yichen now understands! The emperor is not sick at all, but does not want to see him at all! Although he is a prince, he cannot enter the emperor's Qianqing Palace unless he is summoned. Under the current situation, he can only sigh

.Ye Yichen Leng

He snorted coldly and had no choice but to return to the Prince's Mansion with a group of guards. Although he was holding back his anger, he immediately wrote a memorandum, stating his suspicion of the sudden alliance with the Jurchens in the memorandum, and ordered his family to hurry up.

Go to Qianqing Palace.

As for whether the emperor is willing to read it or not, and what his reaction will be after reading it, it is not something he can control.

While the whole court was busy wiping out the rebels in the northwest and resisting the sudden invasion, the Xiao family was intensively planning to seize the heir apparent.

In the secret room of the Office of the Official Secretary, there were gathered a dozen people, both civil and military. Those who could attend this meeting were all the core figures of the Xiao Party. Xiao Jiawen had the Official Secretary, Wu had the Marquis Jinghai, and the imperial concubine was among them.

There is the Fourth Prince of Zhao Ye Minyu, who is extraordinary in martial arts and deeply loved by the emperor. After so many years of management, he has gathered a large number of forces in the court. It will not be unfair to the Xiao family to accuse them of forming a clique for personal gain.

Sitting at the top is Xiao Zongchang, the Minister of Civil Affairs. He is over fifty years old, but he has a handsome face and a finely trimmed beard.

Xiao Zongchang's face was solemn and he spoke slowly: "This time, although the emperor did not send the person recommended by the prince to be the governor of the three sides, he gave the prince the important task of transporting grain and grass. This shows that the emperor still trusts the prince. This pair of

Not good news for us!"

Jinghai Hou Xiao Zongsheng said: "The only blame is on the chief minister of the cabinet, Yang Peishi. If he hadn't submitted the letter, how could the emperor have given such an important task to the prince? If this battle is won, the prince's status will be stable!

At that time, we will have a lot of inconvenience if we try to help King Zhao ascend to the throne!"

At this time, a civil servant wearing a second-grade uniform said: "Yang Peishi and the prince, one is the crown prince of the country and the other is the chief minister of the cabinet. Now the prince has become Yang Peishi's grandson-in-law. Can you do something about this!" What does that mean?

Just to throw some dirty water on them and accuse them of colluding and plotting against each other!

Although Xiao Zongchang did not enter the cabinet, he was the "Heavenly Official" at the head of the Great Nine Ministers, and his authority was not under that of the cabinet ministers. Therefore, he was often called into the palace to discuss matters. In addition, Concubine Xiao was in the palace to deliver news.

He knew what was going on in the palace very well. Hearing this, he shook his head and said, "It's difficult! It's difficult! Yang Peishi is the emperor's teacher. The emperor has a deep relationship with him. They are half friends."

The relationship between Shi Banjun and Shi Banjun has been favored for many years. This old fox is cunning and sly, and it is not that easy to make the emperor suspect him. I also wanted to do something about this at first, but I didn’t know that he was in front of the emperor.

What did he say? The emperor didn’t care at all about his marrying his granddaughter to the prince! This method is not feasible!"

Some people nodded, some shook their heads, and there was a lot of discussion. Although the prince was mediocre, he was definitely not stupid. He had always kept his tail between his legs in recent years. It was definitely not that easy for everyone to catch him. No one thought for a moment.

Don't have any good ideas.

Jinghai Marquis Xiao Zongsheng looked at a middle-aged man with a weak culture, "I wonder what Li Yushi has to say?" Everyone here is a second-grade or third-grade official, but this Li Yushi only wears the uniform of a fourth-grade civil servant.

, but the strange thing is that when everyone looked at him, they didn't show the slightest contempt.

The name of Li Yushi was Li Yan. He was the imperial envoy of Zuo Qiandu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate at that time. He was a fourth-rank official. He was not well-known among the Xiao Party, but secretly he was the core figure of the Xiao Party. There was no other, because although this person was not impressive in appearance.

, but he is extremely smart, extremely scheming, and is best at calculating people's hearts. He is the think tank of the Xiao Party. Many decisions of the Xiao family come from this person's head. This is also one of the top secrets of the Xiao Party.

Xiao Zongchang held the power to promote and demote officials, and in the five years before that, Li Yan had only been promoted from the fifth rank to the fourth rank. It was not that Xiao Zongchang did not pay attention to him, but this was precisely a method used by the Xiao Party to confuse other political opponents.

Let him, an important figure, be hidden behind a lot of fog. Of course, the political opponents of the Xiao family will not care about a fourth- or fifth-grade petty official, so they will not waste resources on dealing with him. This is the best protection for Li Yan.

Li Yan looked calm under the gaze of more than a dozen first-, second-, and third-grade officials. He gently touched the short beard under his chin and pondered for a moment before he said in a deep voice: "It is difficult to bring down the prince.

, that’s easy to say!”

Xiao Zongchang's eyes lit up: "What's going on with Changling?" Li Yan's nickname was Changling.

Li Yan smiled smugly and said: "I would like to ask you all, the prince is mediocre in terms of morality and ability. Not to mention the wise and powerful King Zhao, he is the fifth prince born to Concubine Hui. Although he is young,

I'm still young, but I think he's much better than the prince, so why did the emperor choose to make such a mediocre person the prince?"

Who doesn't know about this? Everyone immediately said: "It's not because the prince has taken the position of the heir apparent, and the queen mother has given her full support."

Li Yan slapped the table: "Come on! That's right. The prince is both the direct descendant and the elder, so everyone in the court clearly knows that His Royal Highness King Zhao is stronger than the prince in every way, but most of the people still stand on the prince's side.

Because he represents Zhengshuo, the rules passed down by our ancestors for thousands of years!"

Everyone nodded, and the impatient ones couldn't help but ask: "What does this have to do with moving the prince?"

Li Yan smiled mysteriously and said, "Without Zhengshuo's identity, wouldn't it be easy to remove this prince who has no qualifications, no prestige, and no great contribution to the country?"

Xiao Zongchang's expression changed and he said, "You mean, the one who wants to move Kunning Palace first?"

Li Yan smiled and said: "Teacher, you are really smart!" Xiao Zongchang was Li Yan's tutor for the imperial examination. He flattered the teacher a little, and Li Yan said again: "The prince and the queen are one and the same.

Queen, the prince will definitely not have an easy time. But there is no need to rush this matter, Queen

He is also quite cautious. Although he does not take care of things in the palace, he does very few mistakes. Although the imperial concubine is the most favored in the harem, it is not easy for the emperor to destroy this wretched wife.

But there is a breakthrough right in front of us!"

"I have a case file here, please take a look at it, teacher and Lord Marquis!" Li Yan said and took out a thick file from his arms. Xiao Zongchang and Xiao Zongsheng were shocked when they saw that he had been prepared.

This Li Yan had extremely rich experience in political struggles, and his moves were the most vicious and cunning. His strategies were always interlocking, and he pressed on step by step. By the time his enemies reacted, they would have already lost everything.

Xiao Zongchang opened the case file and flipped through it at random, and immediately understood Li Yan's intention. He couldn't help but exclaim: "Wonderful, Changling is a good breakthrough point. I will ask my officials to write a bullet to impeach Uncle Cheng En tomorrow.

When the time comes, the queen will also have to suffer some consequences!"

Li Yan quickly stopped him and said: "No! It is imperative that we write a letter to impeach the Queen's brother Cheng Enbo Chen Xun, but it is not appropriate for our people to come forward!"

Xiao Zongchang was slightly startled and said: "Why is this?"

Li Yan explained: "Now Yang Peishi is obviously on the side of the prince. Although the prince is ignorant, Yang Peishi is cunning. There are several officials and censors under the teacher. I am afraid he knows everything. If it is up to us,

Yang Peishi only needs to go to the emperor and complain to us, saying that we have evil intentions, and I’m afraid we might even end up being self-defeating!”

Xiao Zongchang thought no! The emperor was not a fool. This impeachment was obviously aimed at the prince. If the emperor knew that the person who wrote the letter was his protégé, he would inevitably think of King Zhao and plot to seize the prince.

But with a high-voltage line, no matter how powerful you are, you will die if you touch it.

Xiao Zongchang asked: "Then who should come forward?"

Li Yan slowly uttered two words: "Gao Shi!"

After hearing this, Xiao Zongchang clapped his hands and laughed: "If this person is willing to come forward, then Uncle Cheng'en will definitely be defeated." It turns out that this Gao Shi is not a simple person. He was a Jinshi in the first year of Zhengtong, ranking third in the second class.

, and successfully passed the examination as a Shujishi. The future was bright, and it was not impossible to join the cabinet and worship the prime minister in the future.

But he has been around for seven or eight years, but he has only achieved a small job, just the seventh rank. Even so, this position is famous, even the emperor knows him. There is no other reason, because he loves to read books and curse people!

To the Sixth Department of the Cabinet, Part Two

When it comes to civil and military officials, there is no one he dares not scold. In the past few years, he has scolded countless civil and military officials and offended many powerful and high-ranking officials. It is not easy for him to still be alive and kicking now.

Want to get promoted?

To say that he was not killed by being slapped behind his back was thanks to the protection of Yang Peishi. Although Gao Shi loved to curse, he only scolded those who deserved to be scolded. He was a rare official in this officialdom who was not moved by interests.

He is a principled person and it is precisely because of this that Yang Peishi saved his life and his position as a seventh-rank minor official.

If he came forward to impeach Uncle Cheng En, he would naturally be more convincing than the ordinary censor. But how can he come forward? Li Yan did not wait for Xiao Zongchang to ask questions, but explained to himself: "I want him to come forward."

It's not difficult to come forward. In Gao Shi, this person hated evil the most, so I just have to

Give him this file and use provocation to provoke him. The next day he will write a letter to the emperor. You can leave this matter to me! But before the bullet is sent to the emperor's case, it still needs to be

Please trouble Eunuch Wang Ying and let him lead the emperor to watch a good show!"

Over here, the orthodox emperor didn't know that a conspiracy surrounding the prince and the queen was quietly unfolding. He was still busy reading memorials every day, preparing to bury the queen mother's coffin in Tailing, forty-nine days after the queen mother's death.

Emperor Taizong was buried in a joint. Although the Queen Mother's funeral was mostly in progress, there were still many subsequent rituals that needed to be presided over by the emperor himself. There was also an urgent military situation ahead. He wanted to be lazy but could not and did not dare to be lazy.

On this day, Wang Ying finally managed to survive the day of duty at the Qianqing Palace. Although the emperor had relied more and more on him in recent years, the emperor was nostalgic. Meng Chong, the eunuch in charge of etiquette, had been with the emperor for more than ten years.

He has always been very affectionate, so although the emperor was alienated from Meng Chong, he still refused to put him

The abolition pushed Wang Ying to the position of the first eunuch in the palace. This is why the emperor knew that the prince was not living up to expectations, but was still unwilling to replace him. Wang Ying thought of the personal promise of the imperial concubine and Xiao Shangshu, and made the decision today.
To be continued...