Reincarnation of the powerful minister

Because of the Kneeling Door case, Jiao Yang and Wang Qianhe were deprived of their titles of bachelors and cleared out of the cabinet, but they were not deprived of their official status and were released to serve as magistrates.

The two of them were up in the sky and down, but there was still a last ray of hope in their hearts, hoping that the queen mother would come forward to salvage them, and there might be a chance of recovery in the future.After all, if the Empress Dowager wants to cultivate another wave of power in the court, it will not be so easy.

It is a pity that the empress dowager was disturbed by the news of the emperor's illness, and the fear of "may lose her son" overwhelmed everything at this moment, including her growing desire and ambition.

When her son lay helplessly in her arms, she began to constantly recall the warmth between mother and child.When her son was still young, this warmth smacked of protection and control. At this moment, she only had motherhood left, and she was willing to devote herself wholeheartedly to her children.

But when her son woke up from the coma and looked at her with the eyes of a man of strong opinion and superiority, she felt empty and lost again as if she had just woken up from a dream.

The Empress Dowager tried her best to suppress this loss, and said to her son who seemed to have recovered, "The emperor just woke up, so there is no need to rush to govern, just let the cabinet ministers and the six ministers take care of it, the dragon's body is important."

But the emperor said: "I know what I know, and there is no need for my mother to persuade me."

The Empress Dowager would rather have him cuddling weakly in her arms as he did when he was ill; or he would come to her for support and comfort in a restless state as he did the night before he ascended the throne.

The two sons are gradually breaking free from the net she woven with maternal love. This realization made the Queen Mother leave the Hall of Mental Cultivation sadly.

The number of cabinet members dropped sharply, only Yang Ting and Xie Shiyan were left, and the papers couldn't handle it.The emperor ordered Yang Ting to be the first assistant, Xie Shiyan to be the second assistant, and select a few concubines from the Imperial Academy to serve in the cabinet. Simply put, they were temporary workers.

According to the usual practice, the number of ministers in the cabinet ranges from five to seven, but now there are only two left, and it is necessary to supplement the staff.

For this reason, the minds of the officials inevitably became vivid. I don’t know how many pairs of eyes are secretly staring at the vacancy in the cabinet, dreaming of getting into it and reaching the sky in one step.

As soon as the blood stains left by the court staff on Fengtianmen Square were washed away, the desire for power carried its never-ending carrier, and started a new round of guessing the king's heart.

——An official went to Shu, earnestly requesting the emperor to issue an edict to call the prince back to Beijing, and asked himself to be a welcome envoy.

——Some officials once again dug up the old accounts of Concubine Wei Zhaofei's father, Marquis Weiyan of Xian'an, holding the undiscovered evil deeds dug up by Su Yan, as if they had found a treasure, and took them to the imperial court to ask for credit.

It's a pity that all the flattery was photographed on the horse's legs.The emperor's attitude was indifferent, and he gave these courtiers a set of "honor and shame cups" (invented by Su Yushi in Shaanxi a year ago) in public. ".

This warning-like sarcasm reminded the courtiers of the powder-soled soap boots given to Jia Gongji and other censors, and the large cowhide given to the magistrate who offered auspiciousness, and once again deeply felt-our Jinglong Even if the emperor does not go to court for the rest of his life, no one can fool him.

So after several days of turmoil in the previous dynasty, it finally basically returned to calm.

As usual, the emperor had three dynasties, and Chen Shiyu was called to the Hall of Mental Cultivation every day to give acupuncture and prescribe medicine to the emperor.

"My lord...Think twice!" Seeing the emperor picking up the medicine bowl, Chen Shiyu couldn't help but speak out to dissuade him, "These are medicines for tigers and wolves. They stimulate the potential in a short time to make people energetic, but in fact it will only aggravate the overdrawn body and cause endless troubles. It's better to switch to the warming and tonic prescription prescribed by the imperial physicians, and take care of it slowly."

The emperor finished drinking the medicine without changing his face, and then said: "Mr. Yingxu, don't worry, just do as I say."

When he exited the palace, Chen Shiyu murmured to himself: "Don't dare to risk your life to open your head, but in the end you have to sacrifice your body in exchange for time. Is it really the old man's fault..."

Because he was out of his mind, he almost collided with Lan Xi who had returned to the palace.

Lan Xi didn't bother with him because he was on an errand, stepped aside, hurried into the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and said to the emperor: "Teng Xiangwei has been watching for several days, but there is no change in the queen mother's side. Calculate the itinerary and send the imperial edict The envoy should have reached Cangzhou and Dezhou, and I think there will be no obstacles along the way."

The emperor nodded slightly, and asked again: "How is that servant named 'Yongnian'?"

"Since the emperor and the queen mother agreed on a test strategy, the queen mother followed the plan after rewarding him, and ordered him to stay in the Hall of Mental Cultivation to be her eyes and ears. Yongnian immediately agreed. The queen mother also believed what the emperor said. , this servant Yongnian is indeed a spy. He suspected that the young master's painting was planted by him, so he no longer mentioned the matter of revealing the painting. It's just that the queen mother has not seen him contacting outsiders, and has not found out who is behind it , just hung on.”

The emperor said: "During this time, he also sent out a lot of important news out of the palace."

While serving tea, Lan Xi echoed in a low voice: "These 'important' news are exactly what the emperor wants him to pass on."

"That's why the people behind the door believe that the prince has lost his sacred heart, and let down his vigilance against Nanjing; that's why they believe..." The emperor stopped talking, tapped his fingertips on the table, and said after a while, "Yongnian is useless. Keep it to cause trouble. Tell Shen Qi—"

"Yes, I'm going now, servant girl." Lan Xi had served the emperor for many years, so she learned the second half of the sentence immediately, and stepped back to make arrangements.

Beizhen Fusi.

Shen Qi sat in the teacher's chair in the hall, with her legs crossed on the edge of the table, absently playing with the brass punishment awl.

"What are you thinking, my lord?" Shi Yanshuang, who was in charge of Qianhu, had always been gossip, and he still loved horse racing in his mind, so he couldn't help asking because of his close relationship with him.

Before Shen Qi could speak, Gao Shuo hurried into the hall, and after saluting with fists cupped, he wanted to lean into his ear to report.

"It's okay, the stone is not an outsider."

Shi Yanshuang glanced at Shen Qi, with a hint of gratitude in his eyes.

Gao Shuo said: "The servant Yongnian, I personally dealt with it. It was a drunken accident."

"...The emperor has started to close the net, do you know what this means?" Shen Qi asked them.

Shi Yanshuang and Gao Shuo looked at each other, and inexplicably remembered that when Shen Qi secretly investigated Liao Crazy's bandit army in Henan, Shen Qi quietly left the team for a day and night, it was their cover.Then, on the spur of the moment, they led a spy team to leave the border of Henan and go east. It was only later that they found out that Shen Qi had stayed in Nanjing for more than half a month.

What is Shen Qi going to do?They didn't dare to ask more, and they were unwilling to ask more. First, they thought that knowing too much about things that did not belong to their level would be a way to bring disaster, and second, it was out of a kind of trust and follow that was almost worship.

"The emperor already knows who the person behind the door is, and is planning to kill the grass?" Gao Shuo guessed.Back then when Shen Qi went to Dongshi to eat wontons and was followed by others, he was the one who came to report the news, so he knew a little more about "Yi Zhe" than Shi Yanshuang.

Shen Qi shook her head slowly: "It stands to reason that it shouldn't be at this time to take the initiative to cut off Yongnian's line. Wouldn't it be better to keep it to lure the snake out of the hole?"

Shi Yanshuang asked in confusion: "Then what does the emperor mean?"

"Self-destruction of clues, such an unwise approach is not like today's style." While thinking about it, Shen Qi said in a low voice, "I have thought about it, and there is only one possibility, maybe Sheng Gong is not what the Taiyuan Hospital said, but just Occasional headaches... Pull out the hidden nails, plow the courtyard and sweep the holes, this is paving the way for the prince!"

These words turned a corner in his mind, Shi Yanshuang and Gao Shuo changed color at the same time: "Your Excellency is saying——"

They didn't dare to say it, but their expressions had revealed the horror in their hearts.

Shen Qi said with a gloomy expression: "In this way, looking at the case of kneeling at the door a few days ago, the inside story is clearly revealed. Ziwei has changed, and Jin Yiwei, as the leader's personal guard, bears the brunt of it. How many commanders were lost when the throne changed , if we are not trusted by the new king, we will be in danger."

"so what should I do now?"

"Can adults have a countermeasure?"

Shi Yanshuang and Gao Shuo asked at the same time.

Shen Qi thought for a while, and then ordered Shi Yanshuang: "There are more than a thousand people from Fusi Youti in Beizhen, select [-] of them to be loyal and brave, and start camping in the forest outside the city tomorrow. I will leave this matter to you, remember The whereabouts must be kept secret, even the palace cannot know."

He also instructed Gao Shuo: "You take a team of secret sentries to keep an eye on the palace, especially the Hall of Mental Cultivation and the Palace of Compassion, and report to me immediately if you find any unusual movements. cover you."

The "Big Han Generals" who are in charge of standing in the guard of honor battalion also belong to Jinyiwei in terms of establishment, but they don't have any real power, so it's not surprising that they would hug Shen Qi's thigh for other things.

After the two agreed, they went to make arrangements separately.

Shen Qi was the only one left in the hall, and continued to play with the torture awl absent-mindedly. It was unknown whether it was by mistake or on purpose, but the tip of the awl pierced into her fingertips, and blood oozed out.

He dipped in blood, and scribbled two words on the official paper spread out on the table: "Qinghe."

Tilting my head to look at it, I felt that the writing was not very good, so I changed the font and continued to write——

clear river.clear river.Qinghe... After writing, he turned into wild grass, and his pen was flamboyant and crazy, like a group of beasts finally rioting in extreme hunger and endurance.

After a year of separation, a page of blood book, revealing the lovesickness of Pinpoguo, and also the bloody smell that cannot be dispelled.Shen Qi kneaded the paper into a ball, chewed it slowly and bit by bit, and swallowed it.

"what--"

The queen mother screamed, waking up from the nightmare, dripping with cold sweat.

The maid who was on guard at night rushed forward to say hello, but she casually grabbed the jade pillow and threw it on her face: "Gu Qiong! Gu Qiong!"

After Qionggu heard the news, she hurriedly put on her clothes and went into the palace, signaling all the court ladies who were kneeling and begging for mercy to go out.

The Empress Dowager was wearing a white tunic, with raven-wing-like long black hair, and grabbed Aunt Qiong's wrist by the bed. Her eyes were full of panic, and her voice was dry and hoarse: "I dreamed of her again. Now... She appeared in the palace, younger than me, wearing the empress's Zhai clothes. Zhai pattern twelve, nine dragons and four phoenix crowns, so gorgeous, I also wore it when I was canonized as a queen... But she laughed at me! She said No matter how hard I try to figure it out, I can't escape the end of betrayal!"

"Queen Mother, that was just a dream." Aunt Qiong held her hand tightly, "Ms. Mo is dead. She has been dead for 30 years, and even her bones have rotted into ashes. She deserves to die. Let the memory go away like ashes."

The queen mother took a deep breath, and murmured: "30 years? Why do you think it's just a flash... Her face, so real in front of me, is Mo's face or Zhang's face, I am a little confused ..."

Aunt Qiong poured a cup of tea and handed it over: "Ms. Zhang has also been dead for sixteen or seventeen years, and she died of confinement after dystocia, but it has nothing to do with the Queen Mother. Rest assured, the Queen Mother will completely forget about them, and she will never dream again." See you."

The Empress Dowager leaned on Aunt Qiong, took a few sips of hot tea, felt much better, and smiled a little self-deprecatingly: "Really, I haven't dreamed of her for so many years, why suddenly—"

She suddenly fell silent.

The teacup fell from between his fingers, and fell to pieces on the brick floor in front of the bed, splashing the tea.

Aunt Qiong hurriedly got up and knelt down, took out a handkerchief and wiped it for her, and asked with concern: "Did the Empress Dowager burn it?"

The Queen Mother's face turned pale, she gritted her teeth and said, "I remember, she said in her dream—'My son is coming back'!"

Aunt Qiong stopped wiping and looked up at her: "The Queen Mother..."

The Queen Mother lowered her head and covered Aunt Qiong's aging cheeks with her palm, as if after 30 years, she once again touched the face of her loyal maidservant: "It's Mo Shi and Zhang Shi. She came back to marry my son , failed to get revenge on me, and asked her son to collect debts... No, I will never let her son... Let Zhu Helin return to Beijing!"

"Empress?" Aunt Qiong couldn't hide her surprise, "But the emperor has issued an edict to call the prince back to court..."

"How long has it been since it was sent out?" the queen mother asked hurriedly.

"Six days, no, seven days."

"...If you take the Caohe River, you will not reach Xuzhou; if you take the land route, it will be even slower."

"Could it be that the Empress Dowager wants to—" Aunt Qiong covered the back of her hand on her cheek and shook her head vigorously, "This is too risky, if the emperor finds out..."

Tears suddenly welled up in the Queen Mother's eyes: "My son is dying, and I still miss the son born to that woman! Everyone thinks the emperor is filial, but he has never seen the torment I have suffered in my heart these years, and never Has never really remembered his other brother!

"Zhu Jinxuan, my second son who was killed by Mrs. Mo, was as smart and cute as Zhao'er when he was a child! Looking at Zhao'er, it's like seeing him, as if he's still under my lap, kissing and loving Shouting 'A Niang' ... Why can't the emperor make Zhao'er the crown prince?!

"How wonderful it is for Li Zhao'er to be the crown prince! Kui'er, Xuan'er, Cheng'er, the four of us, mother and son, are truly reunited."

The queen mother took a deep breath, as if she had made up her mind, she lifted the quilt and got out of bed.

Qionggu is still in a daze: it turns out that the Queen Mother loves the son she lost the most, the Third Highness who looks like a child forever in her memory.Perhaps this cannot be regarded as pure maternal love, but a kind of obsession with one's own "lost after having it", and it is a compensation for the harm that one has suffered...

The queen mother coughed a few times, and Aunt Qiong woke up from her stupor, and quickly got up and picked up her coat and put it on her.

"What is the Queen Mother going to do?" Aunt Qiong asked in a low voice.

The queen mother was silent for a moment, and said: "You can't send people to chase directly, the emperor must prevent me from making a move. You can only stop and delay, and don't let Zhang's son return to Beijing smoothly. When I help Zhao'er to be the crown prince, everything will be settled , even if he returns to the capital, he will be immediately sent to the fiefdom."

Qiong Gu was very bold tonight, and asked: "Will the emperor agree to abolish the prince and replace him with the second prince?"

The queen mother was also very tolerant and patient with her tonight, but she answered irrelevant questions: "The imperial doctor came to me to tell Chen Shiyu that he prescribed medicine for tigers and wolves. I decreed to expel this private doctor from the palace.

"I know that the imperial physician is out of jealousy, and I also know that Chen Shiyu's prescription was prescribed by the emperor... For the sake of Zhang's son, the emperor can even damage the body, hair and skin of his own parents, what else can I say!"

Aunt Qiong was surprised: "Will the emperor take this medicine--"

The queen mother burst into tears: "The imperial doctor said that taking this medicine is like opening a canal to release water in a shallow pond. Once the body's vitality dries up, the emperor may be as healthy as usual one moment, and suddenly faint the next moment, and even... never wake up again. Come... my son! The son I raised so hard..."

After hesitating, Aunt Qiong asked: "The Queen Mother also has His Royal Highness King Yu. His Fourth Highness is filial and alert. Should you ask him to share the Queen Mother's worries with such a big matter?"

The queen mother was slightly startled: "Cheng'er...he never fights for that chair, and his mind is not in the court at all, and he is holding his breath against the emperor. But don't forget, Cheng'er has an ambiguous relationship with Su Twelve. Su Shi The second is the head of the princeling party, the emperor treats him differently, I am worried that Cheng'er will get his butt wronged in this matter because of that cunning kid, and there will be no side effects... It's better not to tell him yet."

Qionggu nodded: "The empress dowager is reasonable. Then how can I stop the empress... stop Zhang's son from returning to Beijing?"

The Queen Mother wiped her tears with a handkerchief, and said, "How is my sister?"

Aunt Qiong said truthfully: "I have heard it very badly. Ever since the incident happened in the Wei family and Concubine Zhao entered the cold palace again, the two of them have stayed in the mansion all day in gloom and mist, for fear of angering the emperor again. .”

The queen mother sighed: "My poor girl. You go to contact her and tell her that I know that the last Qingzhou army brought by the Wei family did not really disarm and return to the fields, but lived in seclusion in Tianjin. Although there are only a few hundred People are barely usable.

"You just ask her: Should I hand over this team to me, or just watch Zhang's son return to the court, leaving her daughter in the cold palace forever, and her grandson will have no chance of succession? Let's see how she chooses!"

Late at night, Hall of Mental Cultivation.

The candle was burned out, but Emperor Jinglong was still reviewing the memorial presented by the cabinet.

Lan Xi came in to change the candles, and persuaded again: "My lord, it's getting late, let's rest."

The emperor didn't raise his head, and said calmly: "Why sleep for a long time when you are alive, you will sleep forever after death."

Lan Xi couldn't help crying again, sighed silently, and stepped aside to grind ink for him.

After writing his pen to criticize the red, the emperor opened another military newspaper from the frontier, and frowned slightly: "Northern desert... Wala and Tatar are fighting again?"

"Isn't that good?" Lan Xi whispered, "I thought that the harder they beat them, the less time they would have to take care of my big name to beat the autumn wind, and the border would be more peaceful."

The emperor read the military newspaper carefully, "You can't just look at one side of everything. Although I hope that Beimo will fight internally, this internal fighting can only be expendable, and we can't let one side crush the other, otherwise we will wait until the end of the war." The end of this chaos will usher in unprecedented unity."

Lan Xi asked: "Last time when the adults were arguing in the court, the servants heard that Kunle, the Oara prince, raided the Tatar royal court, and didn't get much benefit from the Tatar grand master's hands?"

The emperor shook his head and said: "Prince Kunle of Oirat is now the 'Holy Khan' Altan. In the past year, he led the Oirat cavalry to fight the Tatars many times, and gradually gained the upper hand. This man is both wise and brave, and cannot be underestimated... Do you know that the Tuohuotai was declared a traitor by the Tatar royal family not long ago, to be punished?"

Lan Xi was surprised: "This, isn't this self-destructing the Great Wall? Although the Huohuotai is arbitrarily powerful, it is indeed the pillar of the Tatars. If it weren't for him, the young Khan King of Tatars would have been eaten by the nobles long ago!"

"It is precisely because of the role of regent in the name of Tuohuotai that the royal family is afraid. Although the Tatar Khan was young and ignorant, his mother was the daughter of a great Tatar nobleman, known as 'Kedun the Lioness. ', it can be seen that it is fierce.

"Altan seized this point and adopted an aggressive strategy to make the little Khan's mother even more dissatisfied with Taishi Tuohuotai, suspecting that he intended to kill Khan and usurp the throne, forcing Tuohuotai to turn back if he didn't, and finally The charges of traitors and thieves were confirmed.

"It didn't take a single soldier to disintegrate the ruling layer of Tatar from the inside. What a strategy!" The emperor sighed, and then his tone sank again, "This Altan, who is only 21 years old this year, is only [-] years old. Lin Da is only five years old, in the future..."

He frowned deeply.

Lan Xi knew what the emperor was worried about, and quickly comforted him: "Young master is talented, and he will surely achieve great things in the future. The mere barbarians in the northern desert can only bow their heads to my celestial court, so the emperor can relax and watch."

The emperor didn't think so, but he didn't say anything to blame him, he just said silently in his heart: Fortunately, there is Su Yan.If He Lin can discuss with him more and listen to his opinions more, there will be no big deviation in policy.

But right now, he can't let Oirat sit on the throne, and he has to save the Tatars from losing ground. Maybe he can consider forming a temporary alliance with the mother of the Little Khan...

The emperor thought quickly, and schemes emerged one after another in his mind.He was holding a pen with cinnabar on it, and was waiting for a reply when the pen suddenly slipped from his fingers, leaving a glob of bright red marks on the cabinet draft.

"——the emperor!" Lan Xi exclaimed, shook the ink stick, and rushed over to help.

The emperor leaned forward, leaning motionless on his arms, like a man who has finally fallen asleep after a great fatigue.

Lan Xi shouted, "Come on! Come on!"

The Empress Dowager, who lay down to sleep again at dawn, was awakened by the footsteps of the palace people, sat up suddenly, with a sudden disordered heartbeat, and asked sharply: "What happened?!"

Aunt Qiong hurried into the hall, knelt down beside her bed, and said in a low voice: "The emperor is in a coma again. The imperial physicians are all consulting in the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Dr. Chen went down with a set of gold needles, but he still didn't wake up."

The Empress Dowager was shocked and sad, but she seemed to be expecting it, and immediately got up: "Quick, get up and drive to the Hall of Mental Cultivation!"

The emperor was in a coma for much longer than the last time, and did not wake up until ten hours later.

Opening his eyes, he saw the Empress Dowager sitting beside his bed, holding his hand, weeping unceasingly.

The emperor looked very tired after waking up, it seemed that the ten hours of sleep supplementation was just a drop in the bucket for his long sleep at night.

"Queen mother, don't cry, I'm still alive." The emperor said in a tired but calm voice, as if nothing in the world could make him lose his composure, not even life and death, "Lanxi, bring the medicine here."

Lan Xi choked up on her knees and said, "My lord, don't take that medicine..."

The Queen Mother also shook her head again and again.But the emperor said: "Take the medicine and you can stay awake, but if you don't take it, you will fall asleep, and you can drink poison to quench your thirst. Bring it."

The two saw each other again and again, and in the end no one could hold back the emperor, so he had to take the medicine.

After a short rest, the emperor's complexion improved, and he looked normal again.The Empress Dowager did not allow him to get up, and set a rule: "From today onwards, the court meeting will be suspended, and the government will be taken care of by the cabinet ministers in advance, and the dragon body is not allowed to be tired. When the emperor's condition improves, it will not be too late to manage the government."

When she walked out of the Palace of Mental Cultivation, she told Aunt Qiong: "Gather all the palace people in the Palace of Mental Cultivation, and you are in charge of admonishing them so that they know what it means to keep your mouth shut. If anything about today's situation leaks out, I will not only cut off all of them. People's tongues, even their families will be implicated!"

The emperor did not stop the queen mother, and he did not want today's events to reach the ears of his courtiers, causing turmoil in the court.

However, after the palace gate opened at dawn, the emperor ordered Lan Xi: "Call Yang Ting and Yan Xing to meet me in the imperial study."

Yang Ting is the new chief assistant of the cabinet, Yan Xing is the minister of the Ministry of Rites, the two of them had a private conversation with the emperor in the imperial study for about a stick of incense, and they left the palace with solemn faces.

Afterwards, the emperor summoned Shen Qi again.

This time the face-to-face was even shorter, and the emperor only said a few words:

"You are the knife in my hand, and the blade is stained with the blood of officials and nobles. If I am gone, you will surely die. You and your followers, and even all those who have been close to you, will be killed Torn to shreds by a thousand vengeful hands."

Shen Qi knelt down on one knee, lowered her head and said: "I know."

"Of course, you may not even wait for those revenges, and you will be cut off by my own hands, so as to avoid future troubles."

"I know."

"Why do I still keep you now?"

"For... His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"and also."

Shen Qi couldn't say that name.He was hit in the chest by a bullet from a firearm, and the gunpowder exploded in his body, blasting his heart torn apart.

He looked up at the emperor, gritted his teeth, and said humiliatedly and helplessly, "Because Su... pleaded with the emperor for me."

The emperor also looked at him. From the first day he was promoted, there was no so-called relationship between monarch and minister, but only cold planning and use.

Shen Qi knew that it was impossible for the emperor and his ministers to know each other in this life, and never would. The emperor disdained it, and he had no interest in it.

But at this moment, they can only entrust each other.

The emperor said: "Go to Nanjing and bring the prince back safely."

Shen Qi asked: "Then what about him?"

Yeah, what about him?Don't want to see, or dare not see?The emperor was silent for a moment, and finally sighed: "He can't let the prince go, and he will definitely come back with him."

Can't let go of the prince, or can't let go of the emperor?Shen Qi was silent for a moment, then gritted her teeth and said, "I... obey the order!"

The Tiqi who were preparing to be outside the city came in handy, Shen Qi didn't even alarm the defenders at the gate of the city, so she galloped out of Gyeonggi with this group of elite troops, and headed straight for Nanjing.

He left Gao Shuo and the spy team in the capital, passing the news through the flying pigeons in various Jinyi guards along the way.

Four days later, Shen Qi went down to Dezhou via Caohe River, and Gao Shuo sent a secret report:

The emperor did not show up for several days, and the court meeting was suspended, and the courtiers were worried and worried.However, Lan Xi passed on the imperial edict, saying that the dragon's body was ill, and he should rest for a few days, so that the courtiers could perform their duties without panicking.

Eight days later, when Shen Qi arrived in Xuzhou, Gao Shuo sent a secret report:

The emperor still did not show up, and the officials began to discuss, worrying about the illness of the Holy Majesty.The Empress Dowager passed on the decree, saying that the Holy Majesty is fine, but he is weak after illness and needs to be recuperated.

Twelve days later, when Shen Qi arrived in Yangzhou day and night, Gao Shuo sent a secret report:

According to the reliable information from the spies in the palace, the emperor's sleep time exceeds the time of waking up every day.The government is currently represented by the cabinet, and any matter that needs to be ordered to be sent to the palace, the elders of the cabinet will get the emperor's approval, but it is not written by the imperial pen, but by eunuch Lan, the supervisor of ceremonies.

Fourteen days later, Shen Qi finally arrived in Nanjing, and received the last secret report from Gao Shuo:

The emperor is critically ill!The queen mother was worried about the turmoil in the government and the wild, so she tried her best to conceal it.When the emperor was sober, he wrote a handwritten edict to pass on the throne, according to the etiquette system, one copy was sent to the cabinet, and the other was reserved for the queen mother.The queen mother intercepted the edict sent to the cabinet, together with a copy in her hand, and now the edict is unknown.

The humble job fears that the world will fall, and you are in a sensitive place. It is not easy to spread the pigeons. Please consider and take care, my lord!

Shen Qi burned the secret report to ashes, looked at the Yuejiang Tower on the Lion Mountain in the distance, and ordered Shi Yanshuang: "Don't go into Nanjing City first, go to Zhongshan Mausoleum to meet the prince."