It's better to fall in love than seize the heir

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the recent situation in the capital has been completely disrupted.

Officials of a slightly higher rank all shrunk their necks carefully, only watching the increasingly turbulent and treacherous situation in the court in a low-key manner.In the past few days, the tit-for-tat confrontation between the eldest prince and the third prince has almost been brought to the fore, and the memorials of mutual criticism kept flying to the emperor's case like a snowflake.It's not that the officials in this department have a lack of personal morality, or that the corpses of local officials have been released somewhere and have made no achievements.

The emperor's face became darker day by day, and the number of times he reprimanded the courtiers in court gradually increased. Even Xu Taishi, who was always highly respected by the emperor, was beaten several times both openly and secretly.

Shen Jinghe sat expressionlessly in the study in the mansion, flipping through the books in his hands with his slender fingers.

The wind chimes under the eaves outside the door were ringing, and footsteps could be heard.After a while, there was a light knock on the door.

"When will you be so polite to me?"

He sighed helplessly, got up and opened the door, leaned on the porch and looked at the tall and handsome young man with a smile.

Liang Yan smiled at him, walked into the study, and sat down on the sandalwood desk naturally, "Aren't I afraid that you are busy with official duties and disturbing you?"

"Business? What's so busy." Shen Jinghe sneered meaningfully, and also sat down beside him, "The court has become such a mess these days, and the people from the two factions are fighting endlessly. The courtiers Either you are eager to show your loyalty to your master, or you just want to get out of this muddy water early, and just watch from the sidelines to protect yourself, who has the heart to worry about those official duties that can never be finished?"

Liang Yan's expression gradually became serious when he thought of the increasingly looming battle for the heir apparent.He took out a few letters from his sleeve, weighed them over and over in his hands, and handed them to Shen Jinghe with some hesitation.

"This is the few pieces of evidence that we hid in Jiangnan before... Didn't you say that Chen Zhongquan's involvement with important officials in the capital court can't be solved quickly, so I want me to put away these letters first. What? Today you asked me to bring them to you, but changed my mind halfway?"

Shen Jinghe took those letters, flipped through them casually, and put them next to the inkstone on the desk, "At that time, disaster relief was the top priority. If Chen Zhongquan's relationship with Beijing and China was to be exposed, would the emperor be willing to do so?" It's hard to say if the investigation continues. I'm afraid that if he really wants to take the opportunity to solve the years of constraints, he may not be able to completely deal with it in a moment. I was waiting to find a suitable time after returning to Beijing to take this matter. Article, who would have thought that those two could not wait to fight each other before we even made a move."

He sneered again, "They really think the emperor is stupid, can't do anything to them? Since they are rushing to give others a chance, then after their minions are cut off, they should stop crying to the sky, it will only make people laugh."

Liang Yan looked at the frost-like coldness on Shen Jinghe's face, and frowned worriedly.Since the Queen's death, although Shen Jinghe's temperament has not changed drastically, but his actions and actions have become less scruples in the past, as if he wanted to burn out his own fire regardless, in order to illuminate the youth in all directions. sky.

He caressed Shen Jinghe's cheek with one hand, and the person with his palm close seemed to be slightly stunned by his sudden approach, and there was a bit of puzzlement in the black pupils looking over.

"Little Crane..." Liang Yan looked at him intently, and said seriously, "I know you want to get your mother to understand as soon as possible, but seeing how cruel you are to yourself now, do you know How worried am I about you? The flame of hatred in my heart is too strong, not only can it burn the enemy, but it may also burn myself."

"Slow down a little bit, okay? I'll be with you till the end."

Shen Jinghe's eyes enlarged slightly in astonishment at his words, and after a while, they sparkled a little bit moved like startled spring water.He closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh.After a few breaths, he raised one hand to cover the back of Liang Yan's hand.

"I see...I'm just, too unwilling."

Liang Yan lowered his head and moved closer, and didn't speak any more, but looked at him more calmly and gently.

Shen Jinghe opened his eyes, looked sideways at the evidence on the table that he planned to hand over to the throne himself, and lowered his eyelashes, "You're right, I've been distracted by my impatience recently, and I can't even keep a low profile as usual. Forgot... But it doesn't matter, the evidence still needs to be handed over to the emperor. However, someone will be more than happy to do it for us."

……

"These things you presented are true, every word?"

In the Zichen Palace, the emperor sat on a high throne, put down the letter he had read in one hand, lowered his head and looked deeply at the people under his seat, with an unpredictable expression.

"Father, it's absolutely true! My son-in-law has long felt that there is something wrong with the government bank expenditures of the Ministry of Households over the years. After sending his subordinates to search carefully, he was surprised that Chai Feng, the Minister of the Ministry of Households, had contacted the local government so early. The officials colluded with each other and embezzled the silver allocated by the court. Even Chen Zhongquan, who was beheaded in the Jiangnan ink corruption case a few days ago, was also a frequent visitor to his correspondence!"

The eldest prince Shen Zhuohao stated excitedly in the hall, his eyes shone with excitement because he had finally caught the handle of the third prince's confidant.He still wanted to continue chattering, scolding the Minister of the Household Department for his evil deeds, but he was blocked by the emperor's cold, probing gaze.

"In this way, the ink corruption case in Jiangnan was first reported by the sixth prince. How did these evidences connected with Chen Zhongquan come into your hands?" The emperor looked at the eldest prince with a calm expression, and whispered.

"This..." Shen Zhuohao was stunned for a moment. He just wanted to tell the truth that these evidences were secretly sent to his mansion overnight. Do you only know how to steal other people's credit?

He coughed, bowed and bowed and replied: "I want to report to my father, the sixth brother was far away in the south of the Yangtze River when he reported the case, but he was far away from those corrupt officials in Beijing. The emperor was also inspired by him, and thought of setting aside the official money first hand." What passed was the Ministry of Household Affairs in the central court. Since the local officials are so bold as to be greedy for money for disaster relief, is it possible that the Household Department, which holds great power, also became greedy? The emperor then sent his subordinates to follow the clues to investigate. Who would have expected this After investigation, Chai Feng, a daring and corrupt official, was really found out. Just at the foot of the emperor in the capital, he dared to ignore the disaster-stricken civilians and swallow their life-saving relief money!"

The emperor seemed to accept his explanation, looking at the shockingly huge numbers on the document, his face turned cold, "Do you really think I'm in a daze, or just blind? Not enough, and dare to misappropriate the silver taels of the treasury. Deeply indebted to the United Nations, how can it be worthy of the responsibility of the Ministry of Victory? Tomorrow morning, I will ask them to give an explanation in front of the ministers!"

……

On the second day, at the Golden Luan Hall.

A stack of letters was slammed down from the dragon chair, hitting the forehead of Shangshu Hubu who was kneeling in the hall with two warring hands.However, he had no time and did not dare to avoid it at all, he just lowered his head and let the sharp edge of the page draw a few light red marks on his skin.

"Chai Feng, open your dog eyes and show me these words, but you wrote them yourself!"

Chai Feng looked at the letter that he thought had disappeared in the world a long time ago, but someone dug it out from where, and even presented it directly to the emperor, his pupils suddenly shrank in horror.

However, after all, he had been in the officialdom for many years, and he quickly put on an incredible and shocked expression and shouted, "Your Majesty, the old minister was wronged, wronged! Although these letters are similar to the handwriting of the minister, the minister has never done anything. To have done such an unrighteous thing. There must be someone with malicious schemes and intentions to frame him, and I hope His Majesty will learn from you!"

Shen Zhuohao originally watched the emperor scold him with a sneer, but seeing that Chai Feng seemed to refuse to admit it, he immediately jumped out angrily, pointed at him and yelled, "Wrong? With so much money embezzled privately, are you worthy of calling out the word wronged?"

"Brother Dahuang's words are wrong. Now the matter has not yet been settled. With a few letters forged by someone who does not know, it is so easy to convict the veteran who has been working hard for the country and the people for many years. If this matter gets out Not to mention the damage to the reputation of the father and the emperor, even all the officials who are honest and honest in the world will be chilled!"

Shen Zhuomin was also very anxious when he saw the case of Shangshu Dongchuang of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and secretly scolded them for not cleaning up all the evidence sooner.However, Chai Feng has always been one of his most capable right-hand men, and he often collects money for him to do things on weekdays.If he was convicted in this way, his vitality would be seriously injured, and he would even have to bear an extra risk for nothing.

After such an explanation that seems vague and hidden, no matter how anxious the eldest prince is, he can't continue to scold him-this is the prestige of the father and the heart of the world's officials. He couldn't afford to put a hat on his head.Shen Zhuohao could only grimaced, snorted coldly, and stood back in his seat.

Only then did Chai Feng quietly breathe a sigh of relief, feeling a little more grateful to his master in his heart.He continued to cry with tears, as if his painstaking efforts for the country over the years were really misunderstood by others, and he would follow the example of Chang Honghuabi, who looked at the emperor and cried cuckoo, "Your Majesty, the old minister led the household department He has been in the position for many years, and he has always felt like he was facing an abyss, like walking on thin ice, and he never dared to make a mistake in his actions. Who expected to work hard for half his life, but in the end he would be slandered for no reason. Doing such a greedy thing under your nose!"

Even though the courtiers of the first prince's faction were unwilling, but with the third prince's light words before them, they could only swallow their anger and swallow all their anger in their stomachs.With Shen Zhuomin's signal, these officials who are close to Xu will naturally be yours to sing, and we will come on stage and take turns to count the achievements of the Minister of the Household over the years. It seems that if the emperor really touches him today, it will be to let everyone Yong Pingbai lost a great hero who was loyal and worthy of being famous in history.

Shen Jinghe stood in the corner with downcast eyes, hiding the cold smile in his eyes, and only listened to the people coming and going to persuade the emperor.

Did they really not realize that the more people stood up to dissuade the emperor, the more unsightly his face would become?

The reason why he planned to pick this opportunity to find out the third prince's confidant was because he saw that the two-phase battle in the court these days had already made the emperor tired and angry.At this time, giving the emperor an opportunity to beat Xu's family and weaken his relatives is tantamount to giving a pillow to a sleepy person in time.

Today, Chai Feng will not be able to escape the punishment no matter what, but I am afraid that he will not know until his death that the person who sent him to hell was neither the one who secretly sent someone to send the evidence, nor was he pointing his nose in the court to get angry. The first prince who scolded him, but the courtiers of the third prince's faction who almost blown him to the sky and tried their best to keep him.The emperor was already dissatisfied with the vague threat of the two sons' battle for the heir apparent, but now he saw that most of the court dared to defy his wishes, just to keep an official who had a close relationship with the Xu family. Want to fly into a rage?

Shen Zhuomin listened to the persuasion of his subordinates, and was waiting to come out to ask the emperor to reconsider.But as soon as Fang raised his head and saw the emperor's gloomy face, he suddenly froze in place.

The chattering courtiers seemed to have finally sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere in the court hall, and they all looked at each other and closed their mouths, allowing the unbearable silence to continue to spread in the air.

"Are you finished?"

The emperor spoke in a low voice, not too loud, but in Shen Zhuomin's ears, it made him feel that things were getting out of control for a long time.

"Why don't you continue, huh?" The emperor slowly glanced at the rows of ministers who were silent like cicadas, wherever his slightly cold eyes went, all the ministers lowered their heads even lower, "Chen Minister, Qian Shaoqing, didn't you talk very vigorously just now, why don't you continue now? Who will come out first and then tell me?"

The two officials who were named by the emperor trembled immediately, and immediately fell to their knees, saying "Your Majesty's atonement" repeatedly.

The emperor let out a cold snort, and shot his sharp eyes straight at Chai Feng who was still secretly glad in his heart just now, and then picked up two books from the royal case and threw them in front of the ground where he was kneeling.

"If those few letters were not written by you, don't these few account books with your official seal a few years ago also not come from you?"

When Chai Feng saw those account books that he personally ordered someone to burn a few years ago, they appeared in front of his eyes as if they had been brought back to life, and the expression on his face froze in horror for a moment.

No, how is this possible...

When the account book flew down, it happened to be turned to the middle page. It recorded the details of his embezzlement of treasury silver to subsidize his own property a few years ago, and it was marked with "filial piety" to local officials. "Number of dissatisfaction.

Chai Feng's legs gave way, and he collapsed on the ground, his eyes glazed over, and he could only mutter to himself in a low voice.

It's over, it's over, this time it's completely over...

Seeing those account books from a distance, Shen Jinghe was also extremely surprised.These account books with official seals have always been extremely secretive, even he cannot obtain them from other officials' houses.Not to mention that these account books are still from the early years. According to the temperament of these old and cunning corrupt officials, they must be disposed of in time after checking the accounts.How could the emperor—

His eyes flickered slightly, and he realized it instantly, and he couldn't help but slightly raised the corner of his lips.

It seems that the emperor's dissatisfaction with the Xu family is far greater than he imagined... and earlier.However, they can store up these evidences for many years, and only wait for the most perfect time to throw them out suddenly, leaving no room for breathing to kill people.A person who ascended to the throne after many years of forbearance is definitely not a simple person.

Because of the emperor's many years of planning on his side, he was secretly vigilant. When Shen Zhuomin saw those ledgers that shouldn't exist, he was shocked and angry in his heart.His fingertips trembled slightly due to shortness of breath, and after exchanging decisive glances with Grand Master Xu, he finally had no choice but to reluctantly break his arm.

"You really have the courage! Chai Feng, all the ministers in the court trust you so much, but you really dare to commit such a big mistake of infidelity! You, you really..." Shen Zhuomin pointed his finger in disbelief. Looking at him, it seemed that his heart ached to the extreme, and he gasped again and again, before he clasped his hands and asked the emperor firmly, "Father, my son, I implore you to severely punish such treacherous ministers who cheated and embezzled official money, so as to teach those who are ready to move." Officials also know that my Dayong laws and regulations have always been strict, and the rope is not twisted. Only when the ministers can abide by the law and discipline, and forget their own personal interests, can the junior ministers have their own fears and dare not act recklessly!"

He glared coldly at the distraught Chai Feng, then quickly turned his head back angrily, as if he felt extremely disgusted even looking at him again.

Grand Master Xu didn't say a word the whole time, but the hand holding the Buddhist beads on his wrist was more forceful than usual.He wasn't afraid that Chai Feng would confess to them too - after all, the lives of the Chai family in their hands were not just joking with Chai Feng.However, he was secretly startled by the emperor's apparent determination to punish Chai Feng today.

Has their Xu family's actions displeased the emperor?

The emperor finally spoke in a deep voice and sentenced Chai Feng to behead and ransack his home.Seeing this, Chai Feng's hands and feet went limp, and his former colleagues rushed to distance themselves from him, and the black gauze cap on his head was also roughly taken off.

Grand Master Xu glanced thoughtfully at Shen Jinghe who had been standing low-key in the corner, his eyes moved, and he closed them calmly.

……

Tianxiang Building is a rare and romantic place in the capital. It is exquisite and elegant, decorated with Qiong Ju, and there are often indelible fragrances in the building.The wealthy children of Beijing or the elegant and famous people gather here, or watch a play and have a drink, or invite beauties to recite poems and drink together, and they will not hesitate to spend a lot of money.

The highest floor of Tianxiang Building is Huanxuanji Pavilion. If it is not for the top dignitaries in the capital, it is absolutely impossible to set foot in it.However, at this time, the melodious and pleasant sound of Lingling piano came from the Xuanji Pavilion. Baixue's slender hands were fluttering, and the green water was clear and empty, like fairy music fluttering around the beams.

With a "bang", the wine cup filled with fine nectar and jade wine was suddenly reset on the table, interrupting the euphemistic continuous sound of the piano.

The slender fingers of the bright wrist lightly pressed on the vibrating strings, blocking the lingering sound.A woman with a clear face got up from the piano chair, walked gracefully to the table, and frowned a pair of willow eyebrows in concern.

"San Lang doesn't seem to be in a good mood today?"

Shen Zhuomin propped his head on one hand, looked around with drunken eyes, stretched out his hand and pulled the woman to sit on his lap.With a soft cry, the woman regained her composure, and still leaned her head on his shoulder obediently and clingingly.

"Yu Niang..." Shen Zhuomin stroked her cheek, held up the wine cup with one hand and drank it in a muffled voice, with a bit of resentment on his face, "Today, Chai Feng was sentenced to be beheaded and confiscated by his father in court. I tried my best , so that he has been firmly seated in the position of Minister of the Household Department for so many years, who knows that today's imperial father's decree will destroy everything!"

"Chai Feng?" The woman raised her head in surprise, thought for a moment, and was quite impressed with this person who often came to Xuanji Pavilion to discuss political affairs with the third prince, "Isn't he San Lang's confidant?"

When Shen Zhuomin thought of the fact that the household department he had managed so hard was handed over to others, he felt even more resentful, "So what about my confidant? Is it life or death, or is it between father and emperor's words!"

The woman sighed softly, took his hand and comforted him softly, "According to Sanlang's ingenuity, without Chai Feng, there will still be other people to help... Sanlang don't worry too much, listen to Yu May I play a piece of music for you?"

Shen Zhuomin looked down at her for a long while, and his sinister eyes gradually softened.He patted her face lovingly, let go of his hand, "Go, play a song "Xiaoxiang Water Cloud" for me."

After the woman got up, he picked up the wine cup again.The wine brewed with sparkling waves, he looked at his own flickering reflection under the lights, and smiled nervously, "You are right, without Chai Feng, I can still stand at the highest peak in the world." place."

"Yu Niang, don't worry..." Shen Zhuomin leaned on the seat, looking at her beautiful side face with fascination, "When I finally achieve great things, I will promise you wealth and glory."

The woman's hand that was about to touch the strings paused, then she lowered her eyebrows and concentrated on playing.The sound of the zither sounded as smooth and melodious as flowing water again, making people feel as if they were in a cloud and water, surrounded by misty waves.

How could she tell him that she didn't love wealth and honor in her life, but only envied the mandarin ducks flying together?

Shen Zhuomin had already closed his eyes, as if he was completely intoxicated by the melody of the piano.The melodious sound of the piano overwhelmed his murmur-like opening, only the unreasonable coldness in the tone made it hard to ignore the soft voice in Huage.

"Brother Emperor? Huh..."

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Thank you Xue Chuimo for sending me mine~ Hug Jiujiu

Thank you Wanyi for the nutrient solution of annual irrigation!rub your head