Difficult for a son-in-law

It was late at night and no one slept.

Ming Zhan was still in the study room, staring intently at the young man in front of him, and couldn't help but sigh the magic of the creator, who has no blood relationship, yet they are so similar.It's just that this person no longer has the imposing manner of Mingzhan and grace, he seems a little timid, and the uneasiness in his heart can be seen at a glance.

"It can be fooled in a short time." Ming Zhan smiled, "Teach him well, I will be of great use."

Of course, he would not be unprepared for such a long journey to the imperial capital.

The birthday of the old Marquis Yongning came by coincidence. At this time, no one is willing to hold celebrations with great fanfare, even if the nephew of the Marquis of Yongning’s family is Ming Zhan. Spread the post.

However, Ming Zhan still had to go to celebrate his birthday.

The Wei family is actually very characteristic. In the old Yongninghou, Ming Zhan saw many similarities with his mother. In other words, Princess Wei resembled her father, not in appearance, but in part of her character.

The old Yongninghou is already 84. As the old saying goes, "73, 84, the king of hell will not pick him up." Er's blue, Lantong "block", is another layer of meaning.

In fact, old Yongninghou's body is very good, he can make tea by himself, and his hand holding the purple sand pot is very stable.

"Try it. This tea is new this year. Your mother likes Tieguanyin, and I heard that you like Biluochun." Old Yongninghou smiled and gestured.

Ming Zhan picked up a small cup, sniffed the fragrance, and said with a smile, "Actually, I'm really not particular about tea. To be honest, I even pretend to taste tea. If I say it's good, I can't taste it."

The old Yongning Hou laughed and looked up at Ming Zhan. His face was completely old and relaxed, but his eyes were still clear. After drinking a cup of tea, he said, "I can't tell the good from the bad, but I often deal with learned people. Even if I don't Understand, it’s good to pretend to understand. The one who really understands tea is your mother, you can see its color, smell its fragrance and taste its taste, and her methods are all taught by Queen Fang.”

"My mother has a very good relationship with Queen Fang."

"Your grandmother was not very young when she conceived your mother. Your grandmother passed away when your mother was three years old." Old Yongninghou said, "Queen Fang and your grandmother are sisters and have a close relationship. I pity your mother when she was young. Suhu, I took your mother to the palace and raised Princess Jingmin by her side, which is considered to be a playmate for Princess Jingmin."

Ming Zhan lowered his eyes and said, "Mother doesn't like the father. When she first married the father, she must have suffered a lot of grievances."

The old Marquis of Yongning was surprised by Ming Zhan's words, and sighed with a smile, "Your Highness must have suffered a lot of grievances when he first came to the imperial capital. Sometimes, suffering some grievances is not a bad thing, and patience can make you gold. Your mother doesn't like it." Prince, then some things are not considered grievances. At that time, no matter it was Yongninghou Mansion, Kunning Palace, or Zhennan Prince Mansion, this marriage was needed. Your mother's temperament is actually not similar to that of Queen Fang. People who live a good life everywhere."

"Did mother ever have someone she liked when she was young?"

"Yes." Old Yongning Hou said unhurriedly, "However, your mother did not ask to marry him."

"Why?" Ming Zhan shook his head, "It's not ordinary people who can make my mother get acquainted and have a certain understanding." So there is no problem of being in the wrong family.

The old Yongning Hou said, "Can you play chess? That kind of black and white chess, there will be many chess pieces on a chessboard. At that time, you can also compare the imperial capital to a big chessboard, and most people are just chess pieces on the chessboard." , including Yongning Hou Fu and your mother, we are not chess players, Ming Zhan. Many times, we are just a small fish in the waves, we can only drift with the current, even if we can stir up some waves, in fact, it cannot change the river And your mother knew a long time ago that she would marry the future Zhennan King. This is her choice, and it is also Queen Fang's arrangement."

Ming Zhan decided to end this topic. He continued to ask, "I heard that my grandfather served as governor of Jiangsu and Zhejiang three times. He must know more about Jiangsu and Zhejiang than I can talk about on paper."

The old Marquis of Yongning Nianxu smiled, "I have ignored the affairs of the court for a long time. If you ask about the current situation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, I really can't say it. Thinking about it, you want to ask about the situation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang back then, right? I don't understand why you Do you have this question?"

"If you want to attack the emperor, you can't do it overnight. And who knows when the emperor will go south and where will he live? He has to dig tunnels in advance, bribe the government, and prepare beauties. So far, there is no news from the imperial court. I think all of this will require long-term preparations, and the investment of manpower, material resources, and financial resources is by no means a small amount." Ming Zhan said calmly, "This is not a small force. The emperor has been on the throne for many years and will not relax towards Jiangnan. However, it can still be entrenched under his nose for many years, and if you think about it, you can naturally think of what happened when your grandfather was re-elected governor."

"Although my mother is married to my father, the Marquis of Yongning is married to the Prince of Zhennan, my father is the only legitimate son, and my grandfather has made great contributions to the emperor, but none of these can erase my grandfather's support for Prince Li's family and my mother's support. The relationship with Empress Fang is similar to that of a mother and daughter, so my grandfather gave up the title very early." Ming Zhan said, "For a long time, although the emperor did not touch the Yongning Hou Mansion, the Emperor did not touch the Yongning Hou Mansion. I don't trust you. Therefore, I think that even though your grandfather had been operating in Jiangsu and Zhejiang for a long time, after the new emperor ascended the throne, you did not continue to manage the business there, because the emperor guarded you too tightly. Once the emperor found out, he would I won't look at anyone's face anymore, and show mercy to the subordinates of the Yongning Houfu."

The old Yongninghou admired, "You are right. Can you tell me how you found out?"

"The first emperor was a very special emperor. He had a very deep affection for the other queen, and it was obvious that the first emperor was weak, but Queen Fang was a strong woman, and a weak person would unconsciously rely on the strong people around her. "Ming Zhan said, "I think, at that time, Empress Fang was already involved in politics. If you want to seize the heir, you must not only fight with Prince Li, but also Empress Fang. But this woman's influence on the late emperor is really too great. Empress Fang was originally born in the Yasukuni Mansion, and raised her mother herself. With the support of the Yongning Marquis Mansion, where is Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the country depends on it for money and food. No emperor will give up the management of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. How many officials are involved in Jiangsu and Zhejiang? However, my grandfather was able to be re-elected as the governor of Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the Three Realms, and it would be impossible to do without Queen Fang's support. This kind of reciprocity should be in many ways."

"In fact, in the end, the emperor and his father did not defeat Queen Fang, they defeated Prince Li, and Queen Fang had only one son. Prince Li forced the palace to strangle the younger brother, which made Queen Fang irrevocable and lost the throne of queen. " Ming Zhan can almost restore the situation at that time, which made Yongning Hou very impressed. He nodded and motioned Ming Zhan to continue, "But no one thought that even if Empress Fang was demoted to imperial concubine, she would have a great influence on the late emperor. In fact, before she died, Empress Fang still had an unparalleled influence on the court. There is a time lag. Empress Fang, who has lost her prince, will be indifferent to a son Jiangshan who is destined not to belong to her in the future. Wouldn't she have any other ideas? What would she do? She still holds rights that are difficult for others to reach, but in fact, she no longer has to be responsible for this country. Queen Fang abolished her residence as an imperial concubine There was a two-year time gap between Kunning Palace and the death of Prince Li by her own hands. This time was enough for her to do many things. But this time, Yujia happened to have an accident in Yangzhou. Two years ago, Princess Jingmin’s daughter Xiaojun If the king's death seems to have something to do with the previous dynasty, I don't believe there is nothing to do with it."

"Zhuang Yu has a good son." Old Yongninghou raised the corners of his mouth in relief, so that a light look appeared on his old pine bark-like face, "I don't think I need to tell you, you can guess the general thing."

"Is Prince Li alive?" Ming Zhan asked.

"No, it's dead." The old Yongninghou said frankly, "The prince was abolished because of a case, did you know?"

"Ruan Hongfei?"

The old Marquis Yongning sighed softly, looking down at the exquisite tea set in his hand, "If there is anyone who is really sorry, it is him. Ruan Hongfei is the eldest son of Marquis Beiwei, and he won the first prize. Having a son should be like Ruan Jialang. The first emperor liked him for his unparalleled talent, so he ordered him to be a bachelor's servant. Later, he died on the bed of Prince Li."

"Although the royal family is high and high, there are very few people who really treat their courtiers like nothing." The old Yongninghou said in a cold voice, expressing his disgust for this memory, "The former emperor was kind, and he couldn't bear the prince's actions. Beiweihou The mansion has served the imperial court for many years, the old lady of the Ruan family passed away the same night when she heard about it. The Marquis of Beiwei lost his mother and son for a while..."

"Prince Li was abolished because of this, but before the edict to abolish the prince, he forced the palace like crazy and strangled the two princes in the palace."

"Is there any hidden secret in this?" Ming Zhan asked.

"As far as I know, Ruan Hongfei and Chengenhou Wei Zimin have been friends for many years. At that time, I didn't know exactly how Ruan Hongfei fell into the hands of the crown prince." Old Yongninghou said, "However, later, your mother asked me to take it. A pill. The Marquis of Yongning has passed it down for many years, so naturally there are some unknown secret medicines, this kind of medicine is called Guixi Pill, after people take it, they will fall into a state of suspended animation, and they will wake up after seven days."

Ming Zhan frowned and said, "It's not very likely. Even if you said Ruan Hongfei was suspended animation, the Ruan family would definitely confiscate the corpse at that time. My mother was very young at that time and had no power. Beiweihou's mansion was not a vegetarian either. , it’s impossible to not even know that your son’s body was stolen?”

"If there is Empress Fang, it is possible." The old Yongning Hou looked at Ming Zhan and said, "Who is the person that Empress Fang hates the most, and who will take away her son's ten thousand miles? In this situation, who do you hate the most? Of course he will hate the crown prince, but besides the crown prince, who is contributing to the flames? Who will benefit? When two people have the same goal, they can completely change from an enemy position to a friend."

"Mother likes Ruan Hongfei?" Ming Zhan felt a little unbelievable. When Princess Wei mentioned Ruan Hongfei, there was absolutely nothing special in her tone. She seemed to be talking about passerby.

Old Yongning Hou said, "Otherwise, why would Zhuang Yu save him?"

"Ruan Hongfei is just a literati, is he also proficient in rebellion?" A literati rebellion will not succeed in ten years.

"He came from a noble family. In fact, he went to the Northwest when he was 16 years old. Marquis of Beiwei had friendship with Marquis of Pingyang. Marquis of Pingyang admired him very much. Ruan Hongfei was transferred from Wu to Wen." The old Marquis Yongning regretted, "I I have met many people, and if I can really use the word 'genius' to describe it, Ruan Hongfei is the best of them."

"Although I was lucky enough to serve as governor of Jiangsu and Zhejiang three times, in fact, the affairs of Jiangnan are always in the hands of Empress Fang. When the crown prince is abolished, I will stay away from the officialdom in Jiangnan, and I will never set foot in Jiangnan again." Old Yongninghou said, "I The only thing better than others is knowing more old sayings. However, that’s all I know. Back then, I don’t know who your mother gave the medicine to. Maybe it was Ruan Hongfei, maybe not, maybe she didn’t know that medicine It's useless, it's still in her hands."

It was the first time Ming Zhan had such a headache, why wasn't his mother here?