fleeting photos

Zhao Heng originally thought that his concession would be a temporary balance and reduce the emperor's fear of the Zhao family. He had even made up his mind to act in a low-key manner in the future, not to refute the emperor's face, let alone offend her. .

But Jiang Zhao's idea of ​​punishing him was far more determined than he thought.

On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, the king, sages, ministers and sages were still in harmony. On the next day, Jiang Zhao directly ordered Qian Chengye, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, to be imprisoned by the Ministry of Criminal Justice, and ordered Dali Temple to interrogate with the Ministry of Criminal Justice to investigate his embezzlement of public funds.

Everyone in Qian Chengye was dumbfounded, he quickly grabbed the ground with his head and yelled that he was wronged, and in the end he burst into tears.

"You don't have to cry for injustice. You can tell right from wrong if you check right and wrong, and I won't frame you for nothing." Jiang Zhao thought he was noisy, raised his hand to call the guards in front of the palace, and ordered: "Take off his black gauze hat and pull go down."

Her voice was flat, but it was like a thousand pounds of pressure. No one in the civil and military court dared to intercede for Qian Chengye.

Including his good father-in-law Zhao Hengze.

Qian Chengye married Zhao Hengze's daughter, and now he is able to occupy the position of Minister, and Zhao Xiang's support is indispensable. Everyone is like a bright mirror in their hearts, and Zhao Hengze has not pleaded for mercy, and the rest of them will not be free. looking for trouble.

At this time, Zhao Hengze, although he didn't say a word, his face was already livid, and the wat board in his hand was about to be broken. Obviously, he was not as calm as he appeared.

Jiang Zhao watched Qian Chengye being dragged out of the hall by the guards, and then his eyes fell on Zhao Hengze, with a half-smile and said: "President Zhao has no opinion on my decision, right?"

Zhao Heng gritted his teeth and said: "Report to Your Majesty, the old minister dare not."

Jiang Zhao didn't care if he dared or not, since he didn't say anything, Jiang Zhao assumed he didn't, and retreated refreshed.

As soon as the emperor left, there was a little commotion in the hall, some people were not concerned with their own business, and some people frowned for fear of getting burned, huddled together and followed Zhao Hengze to the outside of the hall, hoping to find peace of mind with him.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the emperor was determined to torment people, and Qian Chengye was not the first, nor would he be the last.

But at this time, Zhao Heng didn't have the heart to talk to them, and dismissed them with a few words, and his face was still sinking when he got home. Sure enough, it didn't take long for someone from the Qian family to come to the door.

It was Qian Junfeng, the eldest son of Qian Chengye. When he saw him, he knelt down on the ground, kowtowed and said in mourning: "I beg my grandfather to save my father! I heard that my father was thrown into prison by His Majesty, my mother should faint, and my grandson is incompetent. I can only ask my grandfather for help."

Zhao Heng stood with his hands behind his back, his face cloudy and unpredictable, and he said in a deep voice, "Get up first, this matter has to be discussed in the long run."

Although Qian Junfeng was in a hurry, he didn't dare to disobey his respected grandfather casually, so he stood up as he said, staring at his toes dejectedly, waiting for his next words.

Zhao Heng was silent for a while, then suddenly asked him: "Your Majesty said that your father was corrupt, do you think it is true or not?"

"This……"

Qian Junfeng bowed his head lower, faltering and not daring to speak.

Seeing his reaction like this, Zhao Heng was not angry, and sighed: "You must also understand that your father is not clean, or I would have confronted His Majesty face to face as early as in the court.

It is also because he is not clean that I dare not be a security guard for him at will. Otherwise, if His Majesty is determined to investigate to the end, do you think I can escape? "

Qian Junfeng panicked, and quickly asked: "Is it impossible to deal with this matter?"

Zhao Heng took a deep look at him and said, "It's not that we can't deal with it, but it's just the beginning.

Feng'er, your father and I will definitely keep it, but our Zhao family may really lose to the imperial power. "

"What did your grandfather say?"

Qian Junfeng's expression froze, as if he couldn't believe it. When he walked to Zhao Heng, he lowered his voice and said, "The Zhao family has been run for several generations, and the power is overwhelming. If your Majesty acts rashly, you will not be afraid... Are you afraid of changes in the court?"

His words were tactful, but Zhao Heng would not fail to understand them, and because he understood them, he frowned even tighter.

No matter how powerful the Zhao family is, it is impossible to abolish the emperor and stand on their own. Not to mention that Zhao Heng has never dared to have such a rebellious thought. Just having Lu Cangyu sitting in the middle of the capital is enough to deter all disobedient ministers.

No matter how sharp a pen is, how can a general have a sword?

Lu Cangyu is the uncle of the country, the generalissimo of the town, with 30 soldiers in his hand, and his prestige in the army is unrivaled.

The last decree of the late emperor before his death was to order Lu Cangyu to stay in the capital. This was also the most wise decision he made after a lifetime of bewilderment.

Even if Jiang Zhao is just a puppet emperor who doesn't care about political affairs, as long as Lu Cangyu doesn't rebel, the world can only have the surname Jiang.

What's more, not only is she not a puppet, but she knows how to harness power. Zhao Heng has no doubts at all. As long as she is given enough time, let alone the Zhao family, even the entire court and the whole world are at her disposal. .

But even so, Zhao Heng couldn't choose to sit still.

He said to Qian Junfeng: "It is a crime to say such things, and you must not mention them again in the future, otherwise, it will not be as simple as going to jail.

You go back first, take good care of your mother, I want to go to the Marshal's Mansion in person, you go back to take charge of the overall situation, let the family keep a low profile, and don't make any more publicity. "

Qian Junfeng was puzzled, he should say yes, and then asked: "What are you going to the Marshal's Mansion for? Marshal Lu is His Majesty's own uncle. Could it be that he will turn his back on His Majesty and come to help us instead?"

"The word abandonment is inappropriate." Zhao Heng looked at him, with an inscrutable expression on his face, and said meaningfully: "Feng'er, there are too many things in this world that are not black and white, although Lu Cangyu will not ask His Majesty Regarding the handling of government affairs, he has his own things that he cares about, and what I have to do is to put those things in front of him."

Seeing that Qian Junfeng was still puzzled, Zhao Heng sent him home without any intention of explaining to him.

As for himself, he went back to the study room to get the letter sent by Concubine Zhao from the palace a few days ago, unfolded it and read it carefully, then got the carriage and went to visit Lu Cangyu in the commander's residence in person.

For the time being, Jiang Zhao didn't know about Zhao Hengze's plan.

It's just that she was dealing with government affairs in the Imperial Study Room in the afternoon, and when she returned to Xihe Palace at night, she saw Yuan Xiang come to report, saying that there were some strange faces around Xihe Palace recently, acting suspiciously, and he asked someone to investigate, it was with Concubine Zhao is somewhat related.

"Concubine Zhao..." Jiang Zhao pondered for a moment, and then ordered: "Don't startle the snake for the time being, just keep an eye on it. It's just that she also reminded me, you go and arrange it, and pass her information from the palace to the outside world." Xin'er stopped them all, but don't let her find out, I'm afraid she will play some tricks with Zhao Xiang again."

Yuan Xiang said: "Your servant understands, let's get it done."

Jiang Zhao waved his hand, watched him go out, stood there for a while, and then returned to the bedroom.

She had dinner in the imperial study room today, and it was past time when she came back, Xie Jin was making a female celebrity under the lamp, when she heard the noise, she looked up, and saw Jiang Zhao standing at the door, looking at her softly.

"Are you back?" She kept moving her hands, and after just one glance, she lowered her head again.

Jiang Zhao responded, and went up to her, and saw that she was embroidering a round little raccoon slave, with golden hair and a lazy expression, at first glance it was Jindou's lazy cat.

I didn't pay attention to when she started to embroider, and now she is already in shape, Jiang Zhao sat next to her, looked at her serious side face with her chin resting, and couldn't help but said: "This thing probably has something to do with it. It's detrimental to Tianwei."

Xie Jin chuckled, without raising his head, he said: "You don't have to be afraid of damaging Tianwei, it's not for you."

"It's not for me?" Jiang Zhao frowned, and asked a little unhappy, "Who is it for?"

Xie Jin embroidered a few more stitches, then stopped, and took the embroidery frame away to look at it.

After sizing up, she looked up at Jiang Zhao, reached out and touched her wrinkled brows, and said with a smile, "Of course it's for the princess."

"The embroiderers in the palace are not enough for her, so what are you worrying about?"

Jiang Zhao pulled her hand down and put it in the palm of his hand, glanced at the embroidery placed beside him, and said sourly: "She is such a small person, even if you embroider something for her, she won't know how to cherish it."

Xie Jin glared at her, stretched out his other hand to touch the sachet hanging around her waist, and said deliberately: "Your Majesty knows how to cherish, why didn't you tear the thing I embroidered with my own hands into that shape? I don't think it hurts my hands."

That sachet, Jiang Zhao, has always been very precious. Before that, she reached out and tore it in a panic. Although Xie Jin repaired it and hung it back, it became her little braid in Xie Jin's hand.

Jiang Zhao was wronged, so he simply changed the subject and started talking to her about business.

"Today I sent Qian Chengye, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, to the prison, and Zhao Heng is probably on the verge of death. I was thinking that after Qian Chengye stepped down, the Ministry of Rites should also rectify. Move over, what do you think?"

The Ministry of Rites is in charge of the world's etiquette, sacrifices, and tributes, and even determines the successor. Today, the country is governed by Confucianism and Taoism, advocating respect. Its importance in the six ministries and even the imperial court is self-evident.

Although Jiang Zhao wanted to disintegrate the Zhao family's influence, she also knew that it would not take a day's work, and she had to solve it one by one.

The Ministry of Officials is still Zhao Zhiyao as Minister, but Jiang Zhao has already dragged Zhao Chengxu into the water with the help of Zhao Chengxu's murder case. The reason why they did not bring their father and son to justice is to paralyze Prime Minister Zhao, and because Xie Yuzhe has just returned to the court after all. Church, everything needs to be done step by step.

As for the Ministry of Rites, Jiang Zhao also watched for a long time, just taking advantage of this autumn hunting and Mid-Autumn Festival to become famous, Qian Chengye was caught off guard. As for the evidence, everyone else has gone to prison, are you afraid that they will not be found out? ?

Besides, the Ministry of Industry, Xu Wen is a person who understands the general situation, Jiang Zhao does not plan to move him for the time being, and waits for him to stand in line.

It's just that she is not familiar with Xie Hui after all, and she doesn't know his talents and knowledge. Even if she wants to promote him to the top, she still needs to be careful, so she asked Xie Jin's thoughts.

Xie Jin said: "Your Majesty shouldn't ask me this question, he is my elder brother, so I will inevitably be flattering."

"After your father was exiled from the border, Prime Minister Zhao pushed his son Zhao Zhiyao to the position, using the title of educating the virtuous and not avoiding relatives. If he can use it, you can use it too." Jiang Zhao looked at Xie Jin with a smile , whispered: "I believe in you."

Xie Jin's heart softened when she saw her, so he no longer evaded anything, and said bluntly: "Brother was known for his talent when he was young, but his temper is too straightforward, just like his father.

My father has seen too many secrets in the officialdom, and he was afraid that he would also get blood on his head. Although he would occasionally talk to him about some court affairs, he was not allowed to enter the court as an official. "

"Father-in-law is eager to love his son, but now it is not the dynasty of the first emperor." Jiang Zhao expressed his understanding.

Xie Jin paused, seemingly hesitating, "Father-in-law?"

Jiang Zhao nodded, as if it should be taken for granted, reached out and tapped the tip of her nose, "It's the name I gave to your father, if you don't like it, I can also call him father-in-law, Taishan."

"Your Majesty is messing around again." Xie Jin glared at her lightly, but it didn't have any deterrent effect.

Jiang Zhao said with a smile: "I have my own calculations, just call twice in private, it's not a hindrance."

She stood up to wash and change clothes, walked two steps, then turned to Xie Jin and said: "When you have some free time these two days, take Xiao Yuanzi out of the palace, you should ask your brother what he thinks .”

Xie Jin nodded and agreed softly.