That night, Kou Zhun did not see the emperor in the end.

The emperor refused to see him, or rather, the emperor refused to see anyone.

Kou Zhun stood outside the gate of the palace, listening to the words of the emperor's valet conveyed by the little yellow gate with a wry smile—"Duke Lai, it's not that we won't let you in. Eunuch Liu said that the official family will not see anyone tonight."

Little Huangmen gave him a helpless look: "Eight Wise Kings haven't come out yet. Duke Lai, if you have something important to report, just write a letter and let's see if we can help deliver it." ?”

Kou Zhun shook his head: "Eunuch, please tell me that Kou Zhun is here to plead guilty."

Xiao Huangmen's eyes widened in surprise: "Where...how did this start? What crime can you be guilty of?"

Kou Zhun sighed, and took out a purse from his sleeve: "Please, grandpa..."

Xiao Huangmen hurriedly waved his hands: "Don't dare, don't dare!"

He said in a low voice: "Now the top is strictly controlling, Eunuch Liu hates this the most, but he dare not hit the muzzle of the gun."

"Let me explain it for you, but you also know that now," Xiao Huangmen pointed to the direction of the imperial mausoleum in the distance with his eyes, "it's not stable. No one can guarantee whether the officials will see you or not."

Kou Zhun said, "I have Mr. Lao."

Xiao Huangmen left, and came back half an hour later, shaking his head regretfully at Kou Zhun: "Eunuch Liu said that the official family doesn't see anyone."

Kou Zhun said: "Then I will wait here, the officials will always see me."

Xiao Huangmen sighed: "Then you just wait."

He raised his eyes and looked at the brightly lit night sky illuminated by the torches: "What kind of evil is this..."

Kou Zhun waited all night outside the gate of the palace, but the emperor did not summon him.

The next morning, just after dawn, the emperor sent someone to meet him.

The chief eunuch Liu En walked up to Kou Zhun with his hands in his hands: "Duke Lai."

After one night, Kou Zhun's description was not a bit of a mess, he was still in a brocade robe and jade belt, calm and majestic.

Liu En said: "Duke Lai has worked hard."

Kou Zhun said: "It's not like my father-in-law worked hard."

Liu En laughed and said, "Our family can be considered hard work."

He sized Kou Zhun from head to toe: "Duke Lai this year," he recalled, "Shouldn't he be celebrating his sixth birthday?"

Kou Zhun nodded: "I'm sorry to bother you, Eunuch."

Liu En laughed and said, "Mr. Lai is getting old."

Kou Zhun said: "The old man is standing still, and his ambition is thousands of miles away."

Liu Endao: "When one gets old, one always thinks more about what will happen after death."

He raised his finger and pointed to the imperial mausoleum in the distance: "Duke Lai, where is the matter behind you."

Kou Zhun looked in the direction of his finger, and saw a stretch of mountains, where countless emperors were buried.

"I don't yet know what happened there," he said.

Liu En withdrew his hand: "It doesn't matter what happened. The important thing is, Duke Lai, there is your place there."

"My surname is Kou, not Zhao, how can I have a place there?"

Liu En looked at him: "Because your Majesty is benevolent, you don't care about the Duke of Lai's dictatorship and lack of a ruler, and you don't care about the Duke of Lai's protection of the sinner Xia Song, which caused the tomb of the first emperor to fall into disrepair and was stolen. Your Majesty I will only remember the meritorious deeds of the Duke of Lai who attacked foreign enemies three times in his life and was ordered to support Gu. The Duke of Lai has worked hard and made great achievements, so he is naturally worthy of the honor of being buried in the imperial tomb."

Kou Zhun thought about it for a while, then suddenly smiled: "The sinner Xia Song? Isn't he still in front of him... Is Zhizhou or Sihu joining the army?"

Liu Endao: "Who cares about that? Anyway, he won't be able to be this official soon."

Kou Zhun asked, "How are you going to deal with him?"

Liu En looked at Kou Zhun: "We will deal with Ding Wei the way Duke Lai dealt with him back then. We can't tell the world that he destroyed the tomb of the first emperor and that the tomb was stolen, right? ?”

Ding Wei...

Kou Zhun couldn't help being a little stunned.

It's such a distant name.

How did Ding Wei die in the first place?Fall overboard?Still acclimatized?

forgotten.

He said: "Your Majesty is indeed benevolent."

The emperor tried his best to label him as a sinner, and then came to tell him, I won't care about these things with you.I will still give you the honor of being buried in the imperial tomb. As for the real culprit, I will deal with it with the same method you used to eradicate dissidents.

Emperor, this is indeed his apprentice.

"Then, what do the officials need me to do?"

With a calm tone, he asked Liu En.

Liu En said: "Duke Lai is getting old."

"Lian Po is old, can he still eat?"

Kou Zhun smiled and shook his head.

Emperor.

Liu Endao: "After worshiping the ancestors this time, the Queen Mother will officially return to power."

Kou Zhun said: "After all, the Queen Mother is old too."

Liu En nodded: "Yes."

Kou Zhun suddenly asked him, "It's a coincidence that the Empress Dowager's surname is Liu, and your surname is also Liu."

Liu En nodded: "Well, in fact, my surname is Wang, and the queen mother was in power. I changed my surname to Liu in order to curry favor with the queen mother. Later, I was loyal to the official family, but the official family name was Zhao, and I couldn't change my surname to Zhao, so I had to do that. called."

Kou Zhun said: "Good birds choose trees to live in."

Liu En said: "Mr. Lai, have you seen the little prince?"

Kou Zhun shook his head: "I haven't seen it. But Zhuo Jing has been to the palace a few times, and every time I go to visit the queen, I can always see the little prince."

Liu Endao: "Your Majesty intends to establish a heir. Your Majesty only has one son."

This is a fact.

As for whether the emperor wants to make this son the crown prince...

That's hard to say.

But Kou Zhun is not at a disadvantage. After all, Zhao Xu is also his granddaughter.

Kou Zhun said: "It is the blessing of the country that the crown prince makes a decision."

Liu En looked up at the sky, and slapped his forehead: "Look at me, I've been chatting with Duke Lai for so long."

"Duke Lai didn't sleep last night, right? I'm so old, I don't dare to make such a fuss anymore. Go back and get a good sleep. It's okay to sleep until tomorrow, anyway, I probably won't be able to worship the mausoleum tomorrow."

The originally set schedule was to worship the mausoleum tomorrow, and return the day after tomorrow, but such an incident happened, and the schedule was completely disrupted. At least there was no way to sacrifice to the mausoleum in peace until the robbery hole next to the mausoleum of the first emperor was blocked.

Kou Zhun said, "Okay."

Before going to the palace, officials were not allowed to ride horses and sedan chairs.

His carriage was parked a thousand steps away, and he stood outdoors all night. Although the summer night was cool and pleasant, considering his age, it was still too much for him.

So Liu En said: "The official sent a chariot to take Duke Lai back to the station."

Kou Zhun said: "The officials are benevolent."

Going back to the post station in the emperor's chariot, Kou Zhun sat at the table in his room after receiving the baptism of complex eyes from many parties, and suddenly felt a little ridiculous.

The emperor paved all the steps for him. As long as he submits his resignation after returning to Beijing and asks to return to his hometown, he will get the highest honor of being a courtier-retain the title of Duke, be buried with the emperor's mausoleum, and be regarded as a lonely person An important minister is admired by later generations, and his grandson will be the next emperor.

And in view of the fact that the emperor has revealed his threat to him-the stolen imperial tomb.

If he refuses to retire obediently, then what awaits him will be accused by thousands of people, with a bad reputation for thousands of years, and no peace after death.

His daughter will die alone in the deep palace, and the emperor will marry one or more other women, and have a lot of children, each of whom may inherit the throne, except his grandson.

A heaven, a hell.

Kou Zhun took out a copy of Zuozhuan from his carry-on luggage and began to read it impatiently.

The gossip disappeared overnight, as if wiped from the world by a pair of invisible hands.

No one talked about the imperial tomb that was suddenly blocked, and no one talked about the figure of the Eight Sage Kings rushing to the palace that day.

There have been several versions of the truth about what happened in the imperial tomb, but no one dares to discuss it anymore, so curious people can only guess slowly in their own hearts.

And the few people who know the truth have long since stopped caring about the truth.

They only care about what they will gain or lose in the whole thing.

Perhaps only one person is an exception.

Perhaps the Eighth Sage King was truly grieved for his brother whose grave had been robbed and dug up, and wanted to catch the tomb robber and avenge his brother.

Zhao benefited thinking uncertainly.

In any case, he's already halfway through his plan.

Kou Zhun should have understood the options he had listed for him, either take the initiative to retire to spend his old age, or passively retire and lose-lose.

Zhao Yiyi didn't want to reveal to the world the fact that the Mausoleum of the First Emperor was stolen, just like he didn't want to reveal the truth that the civet cat was replaced by the prince.

Both of these incidents are royal scandals, and once they get out, they will definitely tarnish the image of the royal family.

As the head of the royal family, Zhao Yiyi can be said to be the most damaged one in the royal family scandal.

If the emperor loses the respect and awe of the people, what is the difference between him and a gossip star?

The emperor must never be the protagonist of the explosive gossip that the common people talk about when they chatter after dinner.

So he used almost exactly the same method to pinch Kou Zhun and Liu E.

I have a dark history of yours in my hands.If this piece of black history breaks out, you will be finished, and you will surely die horribly, but it will also make me feel ashamed.At the same time, you also know that as an emperor, I have to care about my own face no matter what.

So you should believe that, as long as there is any possibility, I will not want to reveal your black history.

But you can't push me too hard - if you push me, I will shake off your black history, even if I lose face, you will die.

Is it all worth it?

Therefore, in order to achieve a win-win situation, you and I might as well take a step back.

I won't expose your black history, but you obediently let go of the power in your hands and go home to retire.

I will leave a posthumous name for you.

And Kou Zhun and Liu E have indeed reached the age where they will seriously consider their posthumous names.

20 years earlier, Liu E would definitely rather be reviled by later generations as the rebirth of Wu Zhao, but also enjoy the addiction of wearing a dragon robe.

But it's different now.They are old.

Zhao Yiyi was still young, so he quietly waited for Kou Zhun's reply.

He believed that this answer would satisfy him.

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