Infrastructure masters in the red building

In the East Palace, the Third Prince was really bored.

Yin Linyan of Shuntian Mansion sent a message, respectfully requesting His Highness the Third Highness to come to the hall tomorrow and confront Ruan Yunqing again.

The person who sent the post was one of Lin Yan's most eloquent aides, who swore in front of the third prince that this would definitely be the last time that the prince of Jianguo would confront him in court. Ruan Yunqing made an explanation to the world, so no matter what, please ask the Third Highness to save face and attend once.

The third prince was still noncommittal until the end.

After the people from Shuntian Mansion left, he came to the East Palace steps again, looked at the gloomy weather, and said to himself: "Second Brother, if you want to clear your grievances for you, do you have to drag me into the water?"

He suddenly felt that he was already very tired. Between the piles of documents and official duties, he still had to spare energy to take care of this matter.

"Reporting to the Third Highness, the crown prince and Tai Fu, Mr. Xia, is asking to see you."

"Please!" The Third Prince cheered up once he heard that Xia Sheng was coming to see him.

Xia Xingshen is the boss he has always respected, although he was a little unhappy during the imperial examination fraud case.But Xia Shengshen's careful assistance to the Prince Jian Guo in the past is well-known to all, and now Xia Shengshen is willing to guide him, the third prince is what he wished for.

"Teacher, please sit down quickly." Seeing Xia Shengshen, the third prince was respectful and did not dare to neglect him in the slightest.

On the other hand, Xia Shengshen seemed to have no grudges against the third prince, and had already forgotten the problems he had made during the imperial examination fraud case.

"Your Highness, are you worried about the trial of the Crown Prince in Shuntian Mansion tomorrow?" Xia Xingshen asked straight to the point.

The third prince arched his hands together: "I would like to ask the teacher for advice."

Xia Shengshen shook his head, and said: "I really don't dare to give advice, but please take the time to go there at that time, Your Highness. Please don't speak ill of Ruan Yunqing when you see him, lest you lose your identity."

The third prince raised his eyebrows when he heard this, and thought that the old man who came here today was actually a lobbyist for Yin Linyan of the Shuntian Mansion.

He immediately frowned, and said, "Lord Xia, do you feel that this king deliberately concealed this case, or... that this king is the one behind the scenes? I have learned filial piety, loyalty, propriety, integrity and shame from you for so many years, but Even secretly murdering your own brother?"

Xia Shengshen used to have a fiery temper in the early years, but after being hit by the imperial examination fraud case and narrowly escaped death on the southern border, his anger has been smoothed down. At this time, he heard the third prince say so bitterly, he just Shaking the white-haired big head, he said with a slight smile: "Your Majesty, I can trust the Third Highness."

"But it's useless for a minister to trust you. The people of the world must be able to trust you."

The third prince frowned tightly, and he also knew what the predicament he was facing was.This is not so much a political crisis as a crisis of confidence.If he can't clean himself up in the case of the prince's murder, even if he sits on that chair in the future, he will still face many cold eyes in the dark, secretly poking his index finger pointing at his spine——

Look, it is the murderer who instigated the murderer and killed his brother to seize power.

But why is Zhou Deyu afraid of all this?And why do you have to stand in front of the stage, like an actor, and endure the unreasonable accusations of another real actor?

He is the one in power, and everyone in this world should listen to him.

Unexpectedly, Xia Shengshen seemed to have seen through his thoughts, and said leisurely, "In this world, there is no unfettered power."

These words shocked the third prince.

When was Xia Xingshen able to say this?

But when you think about it, it makes sense.As far as he himself is concerned, since the first day he took over power and supervised the country, he has felt the force that is secretly restraining him.

He wants to open up the sea power, he just wants to collect road tax on some of the goods shipped by sea, he wants to fill the treasury, but he doesn't want to offend those who have supported him before... He wants this and that.But in the end, he still can't do whatever he wants.

There is an invisible force swaying him to govern, as if only a small piece of land was left for him, forcing him to move around carefully here.

The third prince always thought it was because he hadn't taken the rightful position as the prince of the East Palace, or he hadn't boarded the chair yet.

Who would have thought that today his teacher, who single-handedly trained the second brother of the prince, now turned to his prince Tai Fu Xia Xingshen, and said something like this: There has never been...unrestrained power.

"Even the father is the same?" The third prince asked quite suspiciously.

"Of course it is," Xia Shengshen replied very calmly, "There has never been an emperor who does not accept any restrictions."

The third prince remained silent, and after a while, he said: "Teacher... I don't know if this is my illusion. A few years ago, the teacher didn't seem to be like this."

When Xiang Fengyi was still alive, Xia Shengshen was the most fierce fighter against Xiang Fengyi's "new learning". He tried to cite scriptures and find evidence from any words left by the saint to refute Xiang Fengyi's theory.

After Xiang Fengyi died, Xia Sheng was honored as the crown prince and tutor, and the future emperor's teacher. He spared no effort to bury Xiang Fengyi's new theories deeply in the pile of old papers.When the third prince heard that the new theory of "extending knowledge and investigating things" was re-emerged, he was also the first to spread the news to Xia Sheng. He knew that the boss would never sit idly by.

Since when did Xia Shengshen change his mind, thinking that even a majestic emperor needs to be restricted in his actions, instead of being a god-given king?

When he said this, Xia Xingshen was startled, as if the third prince had turned his back and pierced some of his thoughts.

"Yes... old man, when did this change?" Xia Shengshen sat opposite the third prince like a young man, frowning and began to think.

Obviously, he used to regard Fengyi's theory as a scourge, but now, some of his own thoughts are gradually leaning towards Fengyi's direction.

If all monarchs do not have absolute power, then does monarchy become a symbol, and this country should be managed by more people who are better at all kinds of affairs?

If so, Xiang Fengyi's establishment of Prince Yizhong as emperor back then was not only not wrong, but also stabilized the hearts of the people and contributed to the country? ...

Could it be that he went south in Xia Xingshen, got used to the customs of Taoyuan Village and Wuyuan County, and even his thoughts gradually turned towards Jia Fang?

So when Jia Fang invited him to go south, did he have another purpose?

No...Xia Shengshen remembered that when he went south, it was obviously arranged by the emperor on the Dragon Throne!

The third prince was not in the mood to think with the old man, he just frowned and said: "Teacher, I appreciate your kindness in coming here today. As for whether to go to Shuntian Mansion tomorrow, I will make my own decision."

Xia Shengshen woke up suddenly, bowed and bowed to the third prince with a sad face, asking the third prince to "think twice", but was still forced out of the East Palace by the third prince.

"Teacher, please go back!"

What the third prince is thinking: Even if you refuse to stick to the original rhetoric, what use are you...to this king?

Xia Shengshen, on the other hand, had an attitude of "the more the truth is debated, the clearer it becomes". He repeatedly asked the third prince to think about it, and then he left without turning his head.

The next day, the people in the entire capital were watching to see if the Third Prince would attend the confrontation in Shuntian Mansion on time.

In the end, the third prince still went, and Shuntian Mansion closed its doors to try the case in a very polite manner, and the process of the trial was not disclosed to the outside world.

But there is no impenetrable wall in this world, and it didn't take long for the third prince's "court trial record" in Shuntian Mansion to spread throughout the streets and alleys of the capital.

This was another trial process that was fruitless and made the third prince quite unhappy.

Ruan Yunqing was still paranoid, always pointing the finger firmly at the third prince.The third prince denied all Ruan Yunqing's accusations, and believed that Ruan Yunqing's accusations were groundless and slandering the current prince.He expressed that he didn't understand why the governor of Shuntian Prefecture wanted to be lenient to Ruan Yunqing, and he still refused to judge Ruan Yunqing for wanton accusation.

Indeed, many of Ruan Yunqing's testimonies are subjective assumptions. He believes that the various "signs" shown by the third prince cannot directly lead to the conclusion that the third prince is the murderer.

However, in the Shuntian Mansion Hall, the governor Lin Yan said anxiously: "But you don't have any testimony to prove that you didn't do it?!"

The third prince fell silent immediately: It is the most difficult to prove otherwise.He really lacks strong evidence in his hands, which can completely clear him from this matter.

The latest evidence was also presented in the hall, which were the two firecrackers "received" by the Fourth Prince's Gewu Academy from the East Palace.

The fourth prince brought people from Gewu Academy to testify, and showed everyone the two murder weapons.

Seeing that one of the firecrackers was completely cut open, the third prince's face was very ugly. He obviously thought that the fourth prince's people might have studied this thing and wondered if it could be replicated.

If the fourth child had mastered such a powerful weapon, the third prince would feel even more restless.Even if he sits on that chair in the future, he will feel uneasy in his heart, for fear of repeating the mistakes of his second brother.

But the third prince's ugly face at that time was described in the rumors as "like a ghost" surprised, as if he really had a secret that was exposed.

In addition, Jia Fang and Shui Xian provided portraits of the people who attacked them outside the capital and in the Beijing Palace that day according to their memories.According to Jia Fang, the portrait will be about seven or eight minutes after it is painted.So Yin Linyan of Shuntian Mansion issued a sea arrest document, ordering the government officials to search and arrest according to this image.The Ministry of Punishment will also send this document to all parts of the country to search for it.

It's just that some people will still question: when the prince's assassination case happened, why no one issued the arrest documents, and no one went to follow the map to find out.

If the third prince is asked to answer, he will have countless reasons: Jia Fang and Shui Xian returned to Beijing after being missing for a long time. No one expected them to survive before, and it took a long time to let them recall what happened back then ...

But in the eyes of outsiders, there is only one direct explanation for this matter, that is, the third prince "doesn't care".As for why "not caring", it was deduced by word of mouth.

After hearing these rumors, the Third Prince felt extremely frustrated when he returned to the East Palace.

He obviously obeyed the advice and did what he should do according to the existing rules, but he faced more accusations and constraints.This made him wonder: Is it right for Xia Sheng to come to advise him?

Several staff members took government affairs back and forth, but the third prince got angry and kicked them out.

When the sky was getting dark, the third imperial concubine heard that her husband was not going well today, so she ordered someone to hold a candle, and she herself carried the sweet soup made for her husband to the outer study of the East Palace.

The third imperial concubine comforted her softly, the sweet soup was the third prince's favorite, and the warm, sweet aroma soothed the third prince's spleen and stomach, and also calmed his temper by the way.

Seeing that her husband finally calmed down, the third imperial concubine hurriedly took out a bowl from the food box and handed it to her husband.

Just as the third prince was about to pick it up, he suddenly smelled the scent of the third concubine——

Such a fresh flower and fruit aroma is completely different from the smell of ambergris, quick sink, and benzoin that people used to fume on clothes in the past.The smell was so watery that the third prince seemed to be standing in the imperial garden in the early morning, with a budding rose covered in dew in front of him.

"Does your Highness like this taste?"

The third imperial concubine saw the expression of the third prince with his eyes slightly closed to analyze the fragrance, and immediately asked happily.

Is this...perfume? !

The world is indeed changing, and now, his wife is already using such things in anticipation of pleasing herself.

Thinking of this incident, the third prince suddenly became even more angry, and with a wave of his hand, he knocked the sweet soup in his wife's hand to the ground.

"Get out!" He blushed angrily.

The third imperial concubine didn't know exactly how she had offended her husband, but she could only hurriedly call people in, cleaned up the broken porcelain bowls and the sweet soup that had been spilled all over the floor, and hurriedly left, covering her face. go out.

The little eunuch who came in behind her didn't know whether to leave or stay, so he chose to put the candlestick in his hand on the third prince's desk in fear, and followed the third concubine back out.

Now the third prince could only look at the candlestick on the table, and saw the three smokeless candles burning on it, the flames were bright, stable, and burning quietly, as if they were mocking him.

Everything is changing.

Before people have time to notice, the past is still slipping away. The days when he was just an idle prince, the days when he could manage Ruyi Juzizatang leisurely and leisurely, are long gone and will never come back.

He couldn't get these changes even if he didn't want to... How to stop these damn changes?

The third prince buried his head in the crook of his arms, the hunger caused by the sweet soup just now hadn't disappeared, and now it became more and more a kind of torture, grinding his stomach.But it seemed that he was uncomfortable after all, and could not live in peace.

At this time, a little eunuch outside timidly came to report: "His Royal Highness, please see—"

The third prince raised his head and asked curiously, "Fifth?"

The Fifth Prince came here to see him?This is really the sun coming out from the west.

Speaking of which, the fifth prince is really an odd number among their brothers.Among the princes, Jia Fang, the sixth son with the most peculiar background, once gave him a nickname, "Little Transparent". This nickname was spread for some reason, but it was very appropriate.The fifth child is such a "little transparent", silent, without the slightest sense of existence.If it weren't for the need to prepare a boxing ceremony during the holidays, no one would think of him.

Who made the Fifth Prince embarrassing, not their real brother, but his cousin?

But when the third prince was full of depression and resentment, suddenly a brother came to see him, so the third prince had to put on a good face no matter what.

What's more, when the fifth prince came to the door, he was very kind, and he didn't come alone. Behind him were several restaurant chefs, carrying a table of noodles.

"My younger brother is not talented, there is nothing to honor my third brother. I just passed by Wanqinglou and ordered a few dishes..."

When the fifth prince spoke, he lowered his eyes, a little bit shy.

The third prince looked up at him, and thought: All these years, I really forgot to win over this Xiao Wu.But it's no wonder that the brothers have their own ideas, and almost everyone is doing different things. He is busy with the trivial things at hand, so he inevitably ignores Xiao Wu.

But looking at it now, the fifth prince seemed to be more mature than he remembered, but still a little thin.

The fifth prince has the good looks common to their family, with fair skin and delicate features, and looks like a good woman when she lowers her eyes and speaks.When the third prince stared at him, he couldn't help but think: Jia Fang is the best-born among their brothers, but those who are not qualified to be included in the royal family tree are all eliminated. The best-looking one is probably this one. old five.

"Old five, it's not that the third brother said you, come here as soon as you come, what are you doing with these, do you think that the third brother will miss you a chopstick here?"

The third prince stared at the fifth brother, and couldn't help but think of the five brothers. When Jia Fang was still in the future and the prince's second brother was still alive, he was taught that they were brothers, brothers and sisters, and they must be friendly.

But later the fifth prince found out his true life experience, and he was very troubled for a while. He cried every day and was reprimanded by the eldest prince as "like a woman". It was the prince and himself who carefully enlightened him.

At that time, he himself was a teenager, and he didn't know what to say when comforting the other party. He seemed to just focus on saying: "Uncle is a bad person, you are not uncle's child, you are my brother, so naturally you are the child of the emperor. "

But it turns out that the fifth younger brother is the son of Uncle Yizhong, the child of the "bad guy" he called.

At that time, he didn't know if the fifth younger brother would hate himself because of the unintentional words of that boy.

Later... the fifth prince didn't hold grudges, and accepted his fate, carrying his own life experience, and became a "little transparent".

Thinking about it now, the third prince still felt a little guilty in his heart.After all, it doesn't matter who is right and who is wrong, who is good and who is bad, between the emperor's father and the emperor's uncle Yizhong. In the end, it is just the winner and the loser, and the history is written by the winner.

"Third brother, you can't do this!" "Little Transparent" seemed to be frightened by the attitude of the third prince, the elder brother who supervised the country, and waved his hands again and again: "No, no, no..." It seemed to be infected with the fourth prince's speech problem, and even I can't even say a word.

"You guys, start—"

The fifth prince greeted the eunuchs who were in charge of testing dishes outside the study of the third prince.According to the rules of the Eastern Palace, all the things that the prince enters must be personally tried by these eunuchs.The third prince has not yet become a prince, but he is also fortunate to enjoy such treatment.

It is indeed the largest restaurant in central Beijing, Wan Qing Lou! ——The third prince has not tasted these delicacies yet, but just seeing the movements and expressions of the eunuchs who try the dishes, he feels hungry.

If only the bowl of sweet soup just now hadn't been knocked over by him, at least it would have given him a cushion, so it wouldn't be like it is now... quite embarrassing.The third prince secretly swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

"And..." The fifth prince took out another jar of fine nectar and jade liquid, and ordered the eunuch to taste it.The eunuch's eyes lit up, it was obviously a rare wine in the Eastern Palace.

Finally, the eunuch who tasted vegetables saluted the third prince, expressing that they were all alive and well.The third prince hurriedly greeted: "Come on, fifth child, drink two cups with brother today. There are so many troubles in life, but shouldn't life be enjoyed?" He really couldn't wait.

The fifth prince had a look of confusion: "Third brother, why don't you ask me?"

As the saying goes, if you are polite to others, you must ask for something. "Little Transparent" didn't hide it, showing a pitiful look.The third prince immediately said: "What's the matter, we are brothers, and we can't write two characters of Zhou in one stroke. If you don't come to ask the third brother, why don't you ask someone else?"

"Come on, let's not talk about anything else, tell brother, what do you want?"

"Staying in the mansion is too boring, want to ask for an errand?"

"Let me just say, you should have come out and asked for an errand long ago. Look at the sixth son, he said he was going to the south for three thousand miles, but the father sent the eldest brother to help him in a blink of an eye... It's really shocking." I'm so jealous..." The third prince suddenly felt that he was also quite jealous of Jia Fang when he said this, and he became more determined to pull Lao Wu a hand.

"Yes," the fifth prince took a sip of his wine, with a faint blush on his cheeks, "I'm a bit bored. I want to ask the third brother, the military commander of the five cities or the garrison of the Beijing camp... Is there any position vacant that I can take?" Take care."

The third prince frowned, and said: "These two places are a bit troublesome!"

The fifth prince looked bewildered, and quickly persuaded his elder brother to have a few more drinks before saying: "Don't bother, don't bother..."

"I... I don't know that these things are still troublesome for the third brother..."

The third prince immediately aroused his ambition, and said: "How can you say that? No trouble! Your third brother will leave the city tomorrow, and asked the father."

"Little Transparent"'s face turned even redder, and he shook his hands vigorously, saying: "It's my younger brother's fault to alarm the emperor...Third brother, my younger brother doesn't mean that, I just want to find something to do. I don't know, I don't know." know……"

"Third brother, please don't do this. The younger brother was just asking casually."

"It's not that I don't want to try other positions... Besides, my younger brother is also afraid that I won't be able to take the job..."

"..."

At the beginning, the third prince thought that this wine was fragrant, but only now did he feel that the wine had a great aftertaste. He was drinking wine on an empty stomach, and now he was confused and couldn't speak clearly.

"Old, fifth...you, if you put some medicine in this wine...my brother will end up in your hands today..."

He squinted drunkenly, saw the calm expression on Fifth Brother's face, and was startled suddenly——

Indeed, if Lao Wu wanted to harm him, he could be put to death today without any effort.

However, when he was drunk and woke up again, he found that such a thing hadn't happened.

The next day, when the sun shone in through the cracks in the window lattice, the third prince found that he was still alive and well, and he was still the prince of Jian Guo.