Prime Minister, he just refuses to usurp the throne

On the tenth day of February in the third year of Jingchun, five days had passed since the day Li Shangshu came to see him.

During these five days, Xie Anshuang spent significantly more time hanging around in the harem. He would not go to the imperial study several times throughout the day. Occasionally, he would summon Gong Shilang with great interest to inquire about the progress of the garden construction in the suburbs of Beijing, and implement the luxury enjoyment. in the end.

In addition, in order to prevent Xing Wenshu from continuing to investigate the masked man, and to temporarily distance himself from him, Xie Anshuang began to arrange more miscellaneous tasks for him.

When Xing Wenshu was the busiest, he didn't even have time to find Xie Anshuang all day long.

While taking advantage of his busy time, Xie Anshuang's private contacts with Ye Zihe gradually increased.

At that time, the senior son of the Guan family that Li Shangshu came to report to him was the signal for the official start of the chess game between Xie Anshuang and Ye Zihebu.

The Patriarch of the Guan family served in the Imperial Academy, and was also one of the prime minister candidates at the time. He has a lot of power, and he can be regarded as a relatively representative figure in the Queen Mother's Party.

The Patriarch himself is strict and ruthless, and he is the most eye-catching person in the Queen Mother's party.It's a pity that he was busy with his career, never disciplined his only son, let his wife dote on the child, and cultivated a domineering master.

Therefore, this son of the Guan family became the most suitable introduction in their series of layouts.The bait has been dropped, and the next step is to see if the fish will take the bait.

However, Xie Anshuang did not expect that before the fish bit the hook, he had to wait for an accident——

The masked thief who was held in the dungeon escaped and went to Ningshou Palace to assassinate Empress Dowager Yuangui.

When Xie Anshuang received the news, he was discussing the progress of the plan with Ye Zihe in the imperial study. After hearing Fuyuan's report, he looked at Ye Zihe and could see the obvious surprise in the other party's eyes.

Fu Yuan continued to report: "Fortunately, the patrolling guards in the palace found out in time that the Empress Dowager was fine, but the assassin was caught by the guards and killed himself by biting his tongue."

After hearing this, Xie Anshuang frowned and thought for a moment, then ordered: "Let's drive to Ningshou Palace, I just want to go and have a look."

At this time, Fu Yuan said again: "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager has given an order in advance, saying that it is because His Majesty is busy with affairs and the Empress Dowager is not injured, so there is no need for His Majesty to visit."

"..." Xie Anshuang paused when he stood up, and asked again: "Then, does the Queen Mother have any other orders?"

Fuyuan replied: "The Empress Dowager said... the case of the masked thief has not been closed for a long time, and the thief has a chance to escape. The officials in charge of this matter are inseparable from the prison guards. I hope that your majesty will severely punish it."

After listening, Xie Anshuang pursed his lips lightly.

The official in charge of this matter is Xing Wenshu.

He sat back on his seat, took a light breath, and said, "I know, you can go down."

"Yes." Fu Yuan left as promised, leaving Xie Anshuang and Ye Zihe alone in the room.

Ye Zihe looked at Xie Anshuang's expression and asked worriedly, "Are you okay?"

"I can hold on for a while." Xie Anshuang rubbed his brows and continued, "Yuangui knew that Xing Wenshu was in charge of the masked man, and the so-called assassination was mostly directed and acted by her, in order to give me a way to punish Xing Wenshu." reason.

"And now that the masked man bit his tongue and killed himself, the clues that had few clues were completely interrupted, and she can have no worries."

Ye Zihe then frowned, and said, "I remember that the person Yuangui originally wanted to push for the position of prime minister was Gong Shilang. Was it because of this that she called you over?"

Xie Anshuang nodded: "At that time, she had the idea of ​​letting me deal with Xing Wenshu, and this probably meant to test my attitude."

Ye Zihe asked again: "Then how do you plan to deal with it?"

If according to their original plan, this is the best time for Xing Wenshu to develop his power. If Xing Wenshu, who has just taken office as prime minister, is deposed at this time, his prestige will definitely be affected.

Xie Anshuang was silent for a moment, stood up and walked to the ancient shelf, raised a hand to take down a box, and said in a deep voice, "Since Yuangui wants to make this matter big, then let her do it."

He opened the lid of the long box, looked at a white jade flute lying inside, and lightly stroked the plum pattern pattern on the jade flute.

……

The next day, February [-]th, Xie Anshuang took the initiative to open a morning court for the first time.

He changed into a cumbersome dragon robe, and Shi Shiran stepped into the hall.

"Your Majesty sees you, long live your majesty, long live, long live—"

A group of officials knelt down respectfully and saluted in unison.

Xie Anshuang sat on the dragon chair, glanced down, and finally fixed his gaze on Xing Wenshu who was at the front.

It was also a rare time for Xing Wenshu to put on the imperial uniform, holding the imperial wat in his hand and kneeling straight, gentle and calm, as if no matter what happened, he could deal with it calmly and calmly.

Xie Anshuang quickly withdrew his gaze, and said calmly, "Everyone loves you."

"Thank you, Your Majesty—"

The officials responded in unison, got up one after another, respectfully and politely set their sights on the Chaohu in their hands.

Xie Anshuang, who was sitting at the highest place, could see the expressions of most of the officials at the moment, either indiscriminately respectful, indifferent or careless, or dissatisfied with the sudden court meeting after a long period of comfort.

However, in the past two years, the minds of the officials in the court have undergone earth-shaking changes.

Xie Anshuang narrowed his eyes slightly, and said: "My dear friends, do you know why Gu called you here today, why?"

Seeing the silence of the ministers below, he snorted lightly and said coldly, "Xing Shen."

Xing Wenshu came out as he said: "The minister is here."

Xie Anshuang looked at him with his chin propped on one hand: "Do you know why Gu Yuan summoned you?"

"Forgive me, I don't dare to speculate on Your Majesty's will."

He answered quite well, but Xie Anshuang seemed dissatisfied, and said sharply, "Kneel down."

Almost without any hesitation or surprise, Xing Wenshu raised the hem of his clothes at the same time Xie An's voice fell, and knelt down straight.

Xie Anshuang narrowed his eyes slightly, and asked, "Xing Shen, are you convicted?"

Xing Wenshu replied neither humble nor overbearing: "I don't know, please make it clear."

"Yesterday the masked man escaped from prison and went to Ningshou Palace to assassinate the Empress Dowager. As the person in charge of this case, you have been unable to come to a conclusion, which frightened the orphaned Empress Dowager and almost caused a catastrophe." Xie Anshuang finished speaking slowly. He asked eagerly, "Do you admit to this crime?"

At this moment, Xing Wenshu suddenly looked up at Xie Anshuang and glanced in the direction of Xie Anshuang. Before Xie Anshuang had time to distinguish the thoughts in his eyes, he saw him lower his head again and said in a deep voice: "I plead guilty."

Xie Anshuang snorted coldly: "Prime Minister Xing is daring. Then tell me, how should Gu punish you?"

"I am willing to obey all your majesty's will." Xing Wenshu knelt before all the officials, calm and calm, not like a person being questioned.

And Li Shangshu, who was on the side, finally couldn't listen anymore, and interjected, "I want to report to Your Majesty, I have something to say."

Xie Anshuang glanced at him and said, "Say."

Li Shangshu continued: "I think that Prime Minister Xing should not be responsible for this matter. Prime Minister Xing has a lot of miscellaneous affairs these days, he is busy with affairs, and he has no time to take care of the masked man, so he should not be punished for it."

"The Prime Minister's affairs are all the daily work entrusted to him by His Majesty. According to what Your Majesty Li said, shouldn't His Majesty be responsible for this fault?"

Ye Zihe suddenly interrupted on the other side in a strange way.

Li Shangshu frowned, "Ye Shangshu's words are a bit unreasonable. I'm just discussing the matter, and I don't intend to blame His Majesty."

"Master Li usually blames Gu less often." Xie Anshuang said casually, obviously trying to favor Ye Zihe.

Li Shangshu seemed to be dissatisfied, and wanted to argue again, but Xie Anshuang interrupted first: "Okay, since Prime Minister Xing is willing to plead guilty, I don't want to go further into this matter. From now on, Xing Shen will be suspended from all duties as Prime Minister and stay in the palace. Zhong thought about it carefully.”

After his words fell, sporadic voices of unknown meaning resounded in the hall.

Xie Anshuang glanced at them, taking their emotions into his eyes one by one, and when he saw someone who seemed to want to stand out, he added: "If there are those who want to intercede, I don't mind punishing them all."

The few officials who had acted at first hesitated again.

Xie Anshuang's punishment was heavy, but it was more of a humiliation to his identity.

At the beginning, Xing Wen Shuben rushed back within the seven-day limit, but now he has been suspended from his duties after serving as prime minister for nearly a month, and must stay in the palace to continue serving Xie Anshuang.

This is definitely a great shame for Xing Wenshu, who had a great reputation in the first emperor's time.

But Xing Wenshu himself didn't change his expression. After a moment of silence, he repeated what he said just now: "I am willing to obey your Majesty's orders."

No one knew what he was thinking for a moment of silence.

Xie Anshuang didn't know either.

He looked at Xing Wenshu's usual expression, lowered his eyes slightly to gather his thoughts, and then said: "Okay, get up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Xing Wenshu stood up as he said, and Shi Shiran returned to his original position, as if nothing had happened just now.

Xie Anshuang didn't look at him again, and handed over the matter of the masked man's assassination of the Empress Dowager to the Dali Temple, and after listening to a few words from the officials, he announced his withdrawal from the court.

He left one step ahead of all the officials, but he didn't rush back to the Chang'an Hall, and went to the side hall of the main hall to stay for a while.

Xie Anshuang sat in front of the table in the side hall, looking at a set of white porcelain teacups with plum patterns on the table, his thoughts flew back to the morning just now.

In the end...he made things difficult for Xing Wenshu in front of all the officials.

He lay on the table, buried his head in his shoulders, and recalled Xing Wenshu's high-spirited appearance when he was young.

Xie Anshuang once heard Xing Wenshu tell the prince and brother that he wanted to assist a wise king.

If it wasn't for the series of accidents that followed, he should have had a better future, a more open career, and guarded the Northern Dynasty together with the former prince.

Countless feelings of guilt took root and sprouted in his heart, growing wantonly, almost bound his heart tightly.

At this moment, he suddenly heard a knock on the door.

"Your Majesty, can I come in?"

...It was the voice of Xing Wenshu.

Xie Anshuang raised his head slightly, and after a long while, he got up and straightened up, and said calmly, "Come in."

Immediately afterwards, he saw Xing Wenshu push the door in, holding a cup of tea in his hand, with a gentle smile on his face: "I have seen your majesty. My father-in-law and my ministers said that your majesty came to rest in the hall, so I thought that your majesty might be tired." , ordered the palace servants to make a cup of calming tea and come over."

Xie Anshuang looked at the tranquilizing tea he put over, and instead of picking it up directly as usual, he said, "Prime Minister Xing is quite calm."

Hearing the meaning behind his words, Xing Wenshu smiled: "The minister has been entangled in trivial matters recently, and has little leisure time. Now that His Majesty has stopped the duties of the minister, the minister is relieved and can focus more on taking care of His Majesty. Why not do it?" Woolen cloth."

There was a light smile in his eyes, and it could be seen that he was not depressed at all, and he even felt quite happy from the bottom of his heart.

Xie Anshuang: "..."

Bai felt distressed, wasting his feelings.

Xie Anshuang was resentful in his heart, but the moment he didn't realize it, the guilt in his heart quietly disappeared a lot.

The author has something to say:

Thanks to [Qianzi Anying] for the mine mua!

Thank you [Dragon in the Box] x20 for the nutrient solution mua!