Rebellious Minister Part 1

Just after the beginning of winter, a heavy snow fell for three days!

The north wind howled, and the snowflakes flying all over the sky changed the majestic and magnificent Dayan Palace, covering it with pure silver everywhere.

Outside the palace gate of the Qinzheng Palace in the outer court, the huge square covered with glossy black jade and gold bricks is now covered with snow. A group of civil and military officials, relatives of the emperor, kneel in a row according to their respective ranks and titles. Another row, although the wind is cold and covered with snow, but they dare not move without authorization.

Armored guards with sharp weapons guarded the palace impeccably.A red-clothed eunuch who insisted on blowing his whip stood on the steps in front of the hall, looking at the officials below, and looked up at the sky from time to time to calculate the time.

"—Crack! Crack!"

The ten-foot-long dragon's head whip whipped loudly, like lightning rolling by, and the audience was silent.

"The auspicious time has come, all ministers enter the palace to see you—!" The eunuch in red put away his whip, and his sharp and clear voice passed through layers of snow, echoing repeatedly.

The officials all moved when they heard the sound, and the snow fell from their shoulders, revealing the exquisitely embroidered brocade python robes.

"Long live the emperor, long live, long live!" But before getting up, the officials kowtowed three times in unison, shouting long live, and the ceremony of meeting the driver for the first time was considered over.

The ministers patted off the snow from their official hats, arranged their appearances, and lined up again in order, stepping into the warm and magnificent palace of political affairs without any hassle.

At this time, the new emperor Chunyu Aiqing, who was only 15 years old, was waiting in the side hall. When all the officials entered the hall and waited for the holy driver, he would appear in front of the civil and military officials under the guidance of the eunuchs. , to accept their grand worship and congratulations.

Then, he will discuss state affairs with his courtiers in a serious manner, which is what the monarchs of all dynasties have done.

Although I knew in my heart that being an emperor was like that, dealing with all kinds of difficult things, and knowing that since I was a prince, it would be a matter of time before I succeeded to the throne, but Chunyu Aiqing never thought that this day would come so soon, so suddenly!

His father, Chunyu Huangye, was an upright man in his prime. After announcing his abdication, he left the palace with his father, queen Ke Weiqing, imperial physician Beidou, and eunuch Li Deyi, who was in poor health. Since then, his whereabouts have been a mystery.

A country does not need to have two emperors, is it because of this that the father left so simply?Not even a word of news was brought back to the palace.Let him be the eldest son, he is so worried that he can't sleep at night.

However, from the crown prince to the emperor who dominates the world, several grand ceremonies need to be held, which is very cumbersome. During the three months, Chunyu Aiqing either went to the Nanshan Mountain to worship the sky or went to the ancestral temple to worship the ancestors. He had already made preparations, but when the real morning court meeting came, he realized that he had no intention of becoming emperor at all.

He is only 15 years old, and he still has a lot to learn. He also thinks about flying paper kites with his brothers and sisters after school, or making the crown prince so angry that he will blow his beard and stare, and want to resign from office and return to his hometown.

From the past to the present, he has always taken the lead in making mischief, causing big and small misfortunes, but he has never really been punished by his father.

Because the father doted on him so much, he really wanted to pick off the moon from the sky for him, so why would he make things difficult for him because he was too "lively and active"?

And Dad is always so gentle, although he is very distressed by his "freedom and disobedience to the teacher's training", but as long as the father loves him and speaks kindly for him, Dad will not be angry.

There has never been an overnight enmity between father and son, and the family has always loved each other and lived in harmony.

But now, both the father and the father have left him, and the brothers and sisters will avoid him after he ascends the throne, because he is the proud son of heaven, the emperor!I can't live my life like I used to.

As long as he sits on the dragon chair now, he will be the emperor for the rest of his life, and he will face the terrible life of "the king wants his ministers to die, and the ministers have to die".

He is not the father, who is so wise and mighty, with decisive judgments.He couldn't do many things, including executing prisoners!

Because it was about human life, he didn't dare to kill anyone, and he never went to the battlefield to kill any enemy.

A person like him who doesn't understand anything can really rule the world and deal with the struggles of various factions?

Father Huang once said, "In addition to diligence, the most important thing for a monarch to govern a country is to know how to control his ministers. Because no matter whether the officials are big or small, they execute the emperor's will. Only through them, all kinds of taxes, Only the policy of peace and stability will be spread to all corners of the people."

"Although the emperors of Dayan have always inherited their father's business, the founding monarch, King Ling, took the throne of the current emperor and established the Great Yan Kingdom. Therefore, you must not underestimate the officials. , They are powerful weapons for governing the country, and they are also the initiators of the royal family's contingencies. In normal times, you must be more careful and prevent problems before they happen."

In this regard, the father also pointed out, "For some courtiers with unruly intentions, once the evidence of rebellion is convincing, they must be severely punished and their families will be demolished!"

Father's words are still lingering in Aiqing's head, reminding him to be a prudent and wise king, but thinking about it now, his heart is extremely heavy.

These are just internal affairs, ruling a country, as well as the people and neighboring countries...

Just thinking about the countless burdens that are about to be faced, and how many people will be killed by one of his wrong wills, Ai Qing can't be stable at all.

Bits of cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and his calm face began to stiffen. He felt that there were countless pairs of eyes staring at him, and countless mouths mocking his cowardice and futility.

It was as if his chest was being pressed down by a boulder, and he couldn't breathe. When he thought in horror, "What's going on? Why can't I breathe?", his heart beat harder, as if there were several As if the hammer was hitting hard, even the fingers began to tremble uncontrollably...

"Your Majesty, it's time to go to court. All the officials are waiting for you."

Just when Ai Qing thought that she would faint uncontrollably, someone gently held his hand that was tucked under the golden sleeve.

"Ah?" Ai Qing turned her face, and saw a familiar but somewhat unfamiliar face.

Familiarity lies in the fact that he grew up with him. His handsome eyebrows, straight nose bridge, and firm and plump lips are all so clear in Aiqing's heart, and she will never forget them in her life.

What is unfamiliar may be his demeanor and attire. Jing Tingrui is wearing a fine iron armor inlaid with gold silk patterns. The armor is black, and the cloak is bright red, which is the color of the national flag of Dayan.

His battle-tested face, with a healthy red in the dark, has an irresistible masculine charm.He was like a reassurance pill, and Aiqing finally let out a long breath, with a faint smile on her face.

"Yes, I have Ruirui here." Aiqing looked at Jing Tingrui gratefully, and thought to herself, "Even if the royal brothers and sisters are no longer close to me, he will still be with me. Even if the road ahead It’s hard to walk, and he is there to help! So, what else do I have to be dissatisfied and uneasy about?”

"Your Majesty." Jing Tingrui looked at Aiqing with the same gentle expression, encouraging him with his eyes.

"Yes. I have gone to court." Aiqing walked steadily towards the square outside the hall under the escort of the guard of honor.

He came to the spotless royal road, and the twelve jade crowns on the crown swayed slightly with his steps.The bright yellow brocade dragon robe embroidered with golden dragons and colorful auspicious clouds on the front is extremely dazzling under the winter sun!

He, a veritable young emperor, walked on the wide square in front of the palace, facing the dark mass of ministers of civil and military affairs who were kneeling clearly, his demeanor was calm and sophisticated.

Without squinting, Aiqing walked straight with her head held high. Amidst the solemn drumming, she climbed up the imperial steps step by step... In the deafening "My Emperor, Long Live, Long Live, Long Live!" Luan Palace, come to the world.

On the same day, the second prince Yan, the third prince Tianyu, and the fourth prince Tianchen were conferred the three princes of Yonghe, Yongyu and Yongan respectively.

The young Ke Rou was named Princess Yongxin.

This announced the end of a glorious dynasty in Dayan, and the beginning of another brand-new dynasty ruled by the descendants of the Wuque tribe.

+ + + + +

It was early spring, and there was a fair amount of snow yesterday, and the bluestone brick roads in the palace were still covered with thin ice. The eunuchs and guards should have been walking carefully to prevent falling, but at this time, They roared past in a group.

The ice was smashed to pieces, forming a pool of dirty snow.After a while, those people came back again, standing on these snow waters, looking at each other with anxious faces.

"Xiao Dezi! Where did the emperor go?!" The one who asked loudly was Song Zhi, the commander of the Forbidden Army in the harem. He is 30 years old this year, with a rough appearance, eight feet tall, and boundless strength. He is an out-and-out martial idiot , so no family has been married yet.

He used to eat enough for one person, the whole family was not hungry, and his life was leisurely, but since he was promoted to become the commander of the Imperial Guard, his life has been very "difficult".

The reason is that the young emperor who has been on the throne for nearly two months is often "unaccounted for"!The imperial palace is so huge, with thousands of palace gardens, finding someone is really like finding a needle in a haystack.

"Keep your voice down!" Xiao Dezi's face was red from the cold, especially his nose, which looked like a carrot, he sniffed and said, "Don't you think the matter is not big enough? If General Jing finds out, You're going to train us hard again."

"You eunuchs have already learned a lesson. As the emperor's personal servants, you don't even know the emperor's whereabouts!" Song Zhi still shouted loudly.Behind him stood a row of imperial guards, all of them looked down on eunuchs.

Behind Xiao Dezi were all red-clothed inner eunuchs with rigid faces. They also looked down on these reckless warriors. Usually, everyone had a lot of conflicts. Now that there is a big problem, they can't help complaining to each other.

"Father-in-laws have more things to do than you," Xiao Dezi raised his voice unwillingly, "I told you to keep an eye on the Imperial Study Room, and I just left for a while to serve bowls in the Imperial Dining Room to warm up Jiangtang, why did the emperor slip out from under your noses?"

"I'm protecting the emperor, not putting him under house arrest. Can I still tie the hands and feet of the emperor?" Song Zhi put one hand on the hilt of his sword, "I won't do such outrageous things!"

"This is your dereliction of duty!"

When Xiao Dezi was arguing with Song Zhi, someone reported in a panic, "General Jing is here!"

Everyone's complexion turned pale in an instant, this matter is going to make a big fuss!

"What's the matter? Why are you making such a mess?" Jing Tingrui, who was dressed in a fine iron military uniform, looked tall and heroic, striding forward, followed by two lieutenants.

"General, you are here." The crowd bowed to greet them in a panic. "The emperor is gone." Song Zhi said quickly.

"General, the emperor has been reviewing papers in the imperial study since he came down early, but he didn't know where he went in a blink of an eye." Xiao Dezi pushed Song Zhi away, stood in front of Jing Tingrui, and reported the situation.

"It's still cold, and the emperor didn't even wear a cloak. The little ones were a little worried, so they looked for him everywhere." Xiao Dezi became more and more anxious as he talked, and glared at Song Zhi with resentment, "It's all because the guards of the imperial army are not strong enough. A man as big as the emperor can't stand it!"

"Aren't you the eunuchs who lost the emperor?!" Song Zhi was so angry that he wanted to draw his sword.

"Stop arguing!" Jing Tingrui's sword eyebrows were pressed down, and his eyes shot out, which immediately made the two groups of people shut their mouths, and some even held their breath.

"You are all serving the emperor, what's the point of making such a noise?!" Jing Tingrui's low voice, like Hong Zhong's, shook everyone's heart and they fell to their knees.

"It's dereliction of duty." Song Zhi said.

"It's a small mistake." Xiao Dezi also bowed his head and admitted his mistake.

"I'll punish you when I find the emperor." Jing Tingrui still frowned, "Xiao Dezi, what were you doing before the emperor 'disappeared'?"

"Returning to the general, the Holy Majesty is reviewing the notebooks as usual. Yesterday, several memorials were brought in from the Jiangnan Mansion, all of which were about the Spring Plowing Ceremony. When the villain left, the Holy Majesty seemed to be fully engaged."

Jing Tingrui pondered for a while, and said to Xiao Dezi, "Get the emperor's robes ready, and follow me."

"Yes!" Although Xiao Dezi and Song Zhi didn't understand, they hurriedly followed behind Jing Tingrui, hoping to find the emperor quickly.

+ + + + +

Dongyu Garden, on the Wudi River in Taohuayuan.

"Cuckoo Feifei advises to plow early, spring hoeing to take advantage of the early sunshine. Melaleuca... What's the matter with the millennium?"

When the harem was full of chaos, Chunyu Aiqing had a relaxed expression on her face.His eyes were slightly closed, and his slender eyelashes cast a faint shadow in the sun, setting off his snow-white skin.

And his chin was raised like a lotus tip, and there was a pleasant smile on the corner of his mouth.

With his hands behind his back, like those poets in civilian clothes who like to parade in the ancient scrolls, he feels the sunshine in early spring, the river wind in his face, and the smell of melting snow and the revival of vegetation.

It was an earthy, yet exciting taste.It highlights the arrival of spring, new life and hope.

"By the way, it's a road with thousands of layers of stone trees, and the sound of water flowing from paddy fields along the way!" Thinking of the poems she saw on the memorial just now, Ai Qing nodded proudly.In the palace, he naturally couldn't hear the sound of farmers working in the fields. Most of the rivers and lakes in the palace were frozen, because spring always came later in the imperial city than in the south of the Yangtze River.

But this Wudi River is different. It is not deep, and its waves are not rough.If you close your eyes and don't look at those carved pavilions, you will feel that you are standing in the middle of the paddy fields in the south of the Yangtze River, which is really comfortable.

"Sooner or later, I will go out of the palace to see the people." Aiqing thought in her heart, when he was 16 years old, the farthest trip he made was to worship ancestors and heaven before enthroning.

He really wanted to go out of the palace in disguise, go to the market to buy and sell things with the peddlers, and bargain.I want to go to the mountains far away and feel the natural scenery that is completely different from the high walls built in the palace.

Tianyu and Tianchen once told him vividly how they lived in the farm.Whether it is swimming in the river, or catching loach and digging snails in the field, it is very interesting, which makes Aiqing both envious and yearning.

Of course, this is just thinking about it, his current scope of activities can only be within the palace, he doesn't want to cause trouble for anyone, especially Jing Tingrui, so "someday" is probably just thinking about it.

However, this imperial palace is his territory. Ever since he ascended the throne, Aiqing felt that he had changed. He became more curious about the vast palace. He ran around every corner of the palace like a tourist. .

He is the emperor now, and there is no palace gate that cannot be entered.He can freely enter and exit every garden in the harem, unlike when he was a prince before, he could only stick to the courtyard of the East Palace.

He never knew that the place where he was born and grew up was so big.There are so many palaces and Buddhist halls, as well as mountains and waterfalls!

Although these mountains, rivers and waterfalls, there are often forbidden soldiers and eunuchs appearing, and a very frightened "Long live my emperor!" can sweep away all the fun.

Ai Qing was thinking, finally, when her son's ears were clean, she heard a cry that was not only frightened, but could be described as shrill.

"—Emperor, Your Majesty!"

"Huh? Xiao Dezi?" The childish voice was very recognizable. Aiqing opened her eyes and turned her head to look at the sound. Because he couldn't adapt to the strong light for a while, he could only vaguely see that there seemed to be a lot standing on the shore. people.

The ones in red clothes are eunuchs, and the ones reflecting the light of copper and iron should be the imperial guards.

"Your Majesty, be careful! Don't move!" Not only Xiao Dezi was screaming, but the guards were also roaring, Aiqing scratched her head, and replied from the air, "I'm fine, let's pass now, Er Wait and wait."

No wonder they were screaming and jumping. Aiqing was standing right in the middle of the Wudi River, on a huge piece of ice.

However, just when he was about to walk back, there was a "click!", and the ice surface under his feet was like lightning, cracking a very deep and long mark.

When he closed his eyes and daydreamed before, the ice surface that had been melting under the sun became thinner. Now when he lowered his head, he could see the blue fish gliding quickly under the transparent ice layer.

On the shore, the guards are preparing the boat.The ice floes were extremely weak, and no one dared to step on them. Although the sun was shining brightly, the river water was bone-chillingly cold!

No matter how good the water quality is, if you fall into it and be immersed in ice water like this, you will be close to death.

And Aiqing's water quality is not good enough to swim in a river full of ice floes.He turned his head wearing the gold crown to left and right, and he used his toes to pad the ice beside him, thinking whether he could fly back to the shore with light work, when he heard a low voice, "Your Majesty, please don't move."

It's obviously not very loud, but it can be transmitted to the ear so clearly, I'm afraid it's the use of internal strength.

This sound made Ai Qing even more flustered than the non-stop cracking sound of crushing ice. It has to be said that he was quite calm at first.

"Rui, Ruirui?!" Aiqing promised Jing Tingrui yesterday that she would not wander around anymore and would bring Xiao Dezi with her, but obviously he failed to keep this promise.

Aiqing's eyes had fully adapted to the light, and he clearly saw that Jing Tingrui was there, and it was he who was instructing the guards to put the boat into the river.

However, Jing Tingrui seemed to have lost his patience, because the boat broke through the ice very slowly, and he was probably going to jump over it.

"It's really raining when the house is leaking." Ai Qing was speechless to herself, and couldn't help taking a step back.

"Crack!" The crack burst open all of a sudden, and the ice surface was completely shattered. Ai Qing didn't even have a chance to perform lightness kung fu, and her body fell backwards. In front of her eyes was an unbelievably blue sky!

"Whoa-!"

The sound of water in her ears was like the sound of a waterfall hitting a deep pool. Aiqing closed her eyes subconsciously, feeling the flying shards of ice, splashing on her ears and face, causing pain like a needle prick !

But other than that, he didn't feel the overwhelming cold and the feeling of suffocation.

Instead, the bottom of the buttocks and back are warm.

"General! Your Majesty!" The crowd was still roaring, and there was the sound of splashing water from the boat.

Aiqing was stunned, opened her eyes, and found that she was still facing the blue sky on her back, cold water droplets slid down his face, he wanted to lower his head, but heard again, "Don't move."

"Ah?" Only then did Aiqing understand what she was in. Jing Tingrui actually stood in the glacier, holding him up with both hands, making him leave the river completely.

He stood firmly, even though the ice floes and river water collided with him, he stood still like a nail under his feet, preventing Ai Qing from any harm at all.

Although Aiqing couldn't see Jing Tingrui's face, she could see puffs of white smoke coming out of her body.

"What are you doing? Let me down! You'll get frostbite!" Aiqing struggled, because he wanted to play on the glacier himself, how could he let Jing Tingrui suffer from the severe cold.

"Please forgive me for being rude." Jing Tingrui's voice trembled, but he articulated clearly.

The boat finally arrived, Song Zhi hurriedly helped the emperor, and Jing Tingrui was also pulled out of the water into the boat.

As soon as the biting wind blew, his body was soon covered with a layer of hoarfrost, but Song Zhi wrapped the only fur shawl around the unscathed Ai Qing.

"What are you doing to me?" Ai Qing wanted to get angry, but the people on the shore took the rope tied to the boat and quickly pulled the boat back to the shore.

There was someone who rushed over to meet him faster than Xiao Dezi, and that was Prince Yonghe Chunyuyan.

"Your Majesty!" Yan held Ai Qing's hand very nervously, and hugged him into his arms, "Are you hurt?"

"I didn't, Yan! Ruarui, he fell into the ice river..." Ai Qing eagerly wanted to take care of Jing Tingrui.

"He'll be fine." Yan looked up, Jing Tingrui, whose hair was covered with ice beads and even his lips were purple, said kindly to Aiqing, "I'll take you back to the palace first. It's tough like iron, you can't stand the wind and cold."

"But……"

"Your Majesty, the general is fine, please return to the palace." Jing Tingrui knelt down, and everyone knelt down.

Ai Qing looked at Jing Tingrui, who was still steaming white on her shoulders, and wanted to say something, but in the end she bit her lip, and before Yan could urge her, she threw her sleeves and left.