After leaving the study, Li Zhiying walked quickly to the door. She was originally worried that Xue Yujin would be impatient with the wait. When she arrived at the door, she found that Xue Yujin was chatting happily with Chen Zi'ang.
Li Zhiying was secretly surprised. She remembered that Xue Yujin had always hated people from King Pei's party. Chen Ziang could please her so quickly, which showed that he was not a simple person.
Behind Chen Ziang, Yang Tai stood far away, seemingly uninterested in the conversation between the two.
After seeing Li Zhiying, his eyes lit up and he walked over faster than Xue Yujin.
"Caomin Yang Tai has met Her Royal Highness the Princess!"
Li Zhiying just nodded and walked towards Xue Yujin.
At this time, the rain had just stopped, and the cool autumn wind made people feel very comfortable. The smile on Xue Yujin's face was very bright, and she waved her hand and said: "Zhiying, come here quickly, I will introduce someone to you."
As soon as Li Zhiying approached, Chen Ziang smiled and held his hands in his hands, saying: "Student Chen Ziang, please pay homage to Her Royal Highness the Princess."
This person has both a heroic and elegant temperament, and his smile is full of sunshine, making people fall in love with him at first sight.
"Young Master Chen, there is no need to be polite." Li Zhiying said softly.
Xue Yujin smiled and said: "Zhiying, you will never believe it. Even though Brother Chen is only a few years older than you and me, he has traveled to more than fifty states across the country and even visited Shu!"
"Miss Yujin, you're very flattered. When I was young, I yearned for a life of fighting swordsmanship all over the world, so I went to more places." Chen Zi'ang said with a smile.
Li Zhiying said: "Yu Jin, it's getting late, let's go back quickly."
At this moment, Yang Tai came over again, bowed and said: "Your Highness, I want to talk to you about some important things. I wonder if it's okay."
Xue Yujin lost her temper towards Yang Tai and said coldly: "Of course not. Your father was involved in framing Brother Wu, and you still dare to appear in front of us. The girl didn't beat you up, even if she didn't beat you up, it would be considered as giving you face."
"Miss Yujin, Brother Yang, like me, regrets what happened in the past, and what he wants to say may be able to help His Highness King Zhou, so just give him a chance." Chen Ziang helped.
Xue Yujin frowned and said no more.
Li Zhiying looked at Yang Tai and said softly: "What do you want to say?"
Yang Tai said: "I would like to offer something to His Royal Highness the King of Zhou."
…
In the Yuyang Palace, Wu Chengsi glanced at the sleeping prince lying on the table.
I don't know if it was because of his infection, but I felt a little sleepy. I stretched my body and yawned greatly.
This palace, which originally belonged to King Pei, has now become the court where King Pei was interrogated. The room where Wu Chengsi and the prince were located is just behind the lobby.
In this room, the voices of officials interrogating prisoners can be clearly heard in the lobby, and Wan Jun, the steward of Prince Pei's palace, is currently being interrogated.
Wu Chengsi generally knew the content of the interrogation, so the task of observing it was particularly boring to him.
An hour later, when the hearing finally ended, Wu Chengsi patted the prince.
The prince rubbed his eyes and said, "Is the trial over?"
Wu Chengsi said: "Yes."
At this time, several Zongzheng Temple officials in charge of the trial came to the room together, and they all raised their hands and said: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, His Royal Highness the King of Zhou, today's trial is over."
The prince waved his hand and said: "Now that the trial is over, everyone can go home."
With that said, he and Wu Chengsi walked out of the hall.
While walking in the corridor, the prince suddenly thought: "Cousin, let's go find Li Xian together. I really want to see his expression at this moment."
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty and the Queen will definitely scold you if this matter is known to you." Wu Chengsi hurriedly stopped him.
He has experienced the stupidity of the prince. If this idiot is encouraged by King Pei's few words to deal with him again, it will be troublesome.
The prince curled his lips and said: "Why are you like the ministers around me recently? You use your father and mother to pressure me, and you don't understand my thoughts at all."
Wu Chengsi said nothing, too lazy to pay attention to him.
When they came outside the palace, they saw the crown prince's concubine standing next to a carriage, looking eagerly to this side. Not far away from her, the crown prince's concubine Pei stood next to another carriage.
The prince didn't hesitate at all, and ran towards Yaruo quickly, smiling and saying: "My beloved concubine, when did you come here?"
Yaruo snorted, pointed a finger at Wu Chengsi, and said, "Why doesn't he come over and pay me a courtesy?"
The prince immediately shouted: "Chengsi, why don't you come over and pay homage to your sister-in-law!"
Wu Chengsi was silent for a while, then slowly walked to Mrs. Pei, cupped his hands and said, "My cousin, you are polite."
Mrs. Pei forced a smile and said, "Your Highness, King Zhou, there is no need to be polite."
Ya Ruo from a distance stamped her feet and said, "Look! He still doesn't take me seriously at all!"
The prince had always felt that Wu Chengsi, like other officials, had seen the fall of King Pei and Li Zhi's deteriorating health and knew that he would probably ascend the throne, so he came to please him.
His face immediately darkened and he said, "Chengsi, why don't you come over and pay your respects to your sister-in-law?"
Wu Chengsi was speechless. Didn't Li Zhi have a deep talk with the prince? Didn't he understand that he should be the one to win over him now?
Wu Chengsi took a deep breath, ignored the two of them, turned around and left.
The prince was not angry but frightened, and said to Ya Ruo: "He won't go to his mother to say bad things about me."
Yaruo pinched his arm and said angrily: "Can you stop being so worthless? You are the prince and the future emperor. Why are you always afraid of this and that?"
The prince lowered his eyes and said, "But I am not the emperor yet."
Yaruo snorted and said: "Okay, let's not talk about Wu Chengsi for now. Your crown princess helped an outsider to bully me again today, will you help me vent my anger?"
The prince hurriedly asked: "No, why is she helping outsiders bully you?"
"Why not! Today I met Mrs. Wu Chengsi on the way to attend Princess Chengyang's birthday banquet. Not only did they not give way to me, they even dared to ridicule me!"
"When I was about to teach them a lesson, your princess came over, scolded me, and let them go. Isn't this helping outsiders?"
The prince glanced at Mrs. Pei and saw that she was standing alone in the distance. He felt pitiful and said, "It's not a big deal, so let's forget it?"
Ya Ruo's face turned red with anger and said: "What do you mean it's not a big deal? Are you going to help me vent my anger?"
The prince hurriedly said: "Don't be angry, how do you want to vent your anger?"
Yaruo glanced at Mr. Pei and sneered: "It's very simple, just let her walk back like this, and I won't care."
"How can this be done? How could she have walked such a long way with such a weak look? Or... what do you think about punishing her and riding back on horseback?"
Yaruo pinched her hard again and said: "Riding is nothing but a punishment. Stop being so nagging and go talk to her quickly!"
The prince couldn't resist, so he came to Pei's side with an embarrassed look on his face, and said with a smile: "Princess, you...you..."
Mrs. Pei bowed expressionlessly and said, "I pay homage to Your Highness."
The prince's mouth opened and closed, closed and opened again, and he really couldn't open his mouth.
Mrs. Pei said calmly: "Your Highness, do you want to ride back with me in the car?"
The prince said: "No."
Mrs. Pei's face turned pale, she tilted her head to one side and said, "Then why did you come to me?"
The prince glanced at Yaruo and saw her folding her arms and looking at him sternly. He gritted his teeth and said, "You...did you help an outsider bully Yaruo just now?"
Mr. Pei's eyes widened instantly.
After a long while, she bit her lip and said: "Your Highness, you are the crown prince, and the King of Zhou is a powerful minister. We should work hard to win over the King of Zhou. How can we humiliate his family?"
The prince suddenly became impatient and said: "Aren't you annoyed? It's the same as what those ministers said. I don't need you to teach me a lesson. You help outsiders bully Yaruo. I can't let you off lightly. I will punish you and go back to Chengqian."
Go to the palace."
"Your Majesty, your Majesty, will you...let me walk back?" There were big tears in the corners of Pei's eyes.
The prince's heart softened and he turned away, but when he saw Ya Ruo glaring at him, he had to harden his heart again: "Yes, this is only your fault, don't blame me."
After saying that, he seemed to dare not stay by Pei's side anymore, and quickly ran back to Yaruo. The two hugged each other tightly and got into the carriage together.
The prince guessed correctly, Wu Chengsi really went to complain, but instead of going to Wu Mei, he went directly to Li Zhi.
Entering the dormitory of Qianlong Hall, I saw Li Zhi lying on the couch. Wu Mei was not here. The one who accompanied Li Zhi and took care of him was King Li Dan of Yin.
"Cousin, if you have something to do with your father, I'll go out first." King Yin said very respectfully.
Wu Chengsi returned the gesture with his hand raised. Ever since Li Zhi became seriously ill, Prince Li Dan of Yin had been silently taking care of Li Zhi, and Wu Chengsi had seen it.
But for some reason, he always felt a little uncomfortable every time he saw this King of Yin.
However, thinking about it carefully, he has never dealt with the other party, and the other party has not participated in the seizure of the reserve. This feeling is really hard to explain.
"Chengsi, what do you want from me?" Li Zhi was leaning on the dragon couch, while several palace maids were gently squeezing his arms, legs and feet to help him move his muscles.
Wu Chengsi cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, today's side trial has just ended, and I am here to report to you."
"You can just watch and deal with these matters. You don't have to report them to me one by one. By the way, the prince didn't particularly embarrass King Pei, right?"
Wu Chengsi said: "No."
"Well, although Hong'er is a bit cowardly, he is extremely filial and generous to others. He may become a benevolent king in the future."
Wu Chengsi was speechless. The prince a year ago was indeed somewhat lenient, but today, his generosity had long since disappeared under the attack of King Pei.
Wu Chengsi did not delve into this topic. He came here today just to report to the prince, especially the Turkic concubine.
If there is no further suppression, the concubine will become more and more lawless, and sooner or later, the stupid things she has done will reach Li Zhi's ears.
Li Zhi was dignified, serene, generous and kind throughout his life. He hated others being unreasonable and domineering.
As long as he knows Yaruo's behavior, he will definitely be furious, and he will probably pack Yaruo and send him back to the Turks.
In other words, Wu Chengsi came to save the Turkic concubine.
To him, the Turkic woman was like a time bomb that might explode at any time. Each explosion would have an irreversible negative impact on the prince.
In the future, when Li Zhilong passes away, this Turkic concubine will grow even more. If we want to weaken the loyalty of the ministers to the Li family, this Turkic woman will need to show her talents.
Therefore, we must protect her now and use suppression to make her understand that her lawless days have not yet come.
"Your Majesty, when I was getting along with the prince today, something made me uneasy!"
"What's the matter?"
Wu Chengsi said in a deep voice: "I noticed that there seems to be some gap between the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess."
"Do you know the reason?" Li Zhi frowned.
"I heard that the prince has been doting on a few concubines recently. Maybe this has something to do with it?"
Li Zhi was silent.
Wu Chengsi continued to speak: "Your Majesty, the Crown Princess is a dignified and prudent person, and she is from the Pei family. She should be the Crown Prince's virtuous wife, so I think this matter must be taken into consideration." With a loyal and considerate expression for the Crown Prince.
Li Zhi nodded and said: "You are right to remind me that the harem is not peaceful. Do you have any good ideas on how to handle state affairs?"
Wu Chengsi said: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is now in great power. You cannot directly issue an edict to rebuke her. The best way is to issue an edict to commend the Crown Princess so that His Highness the Crown Prince can understand your attitude."
Li Zhi nodded and said: "Draw up the decree."
Wei Dongfu, who was standing in the corner like an invisible man, immediately took a few steps forward.
"Prince Princess Pei's purple jade phoenix crown, ten jade ornaments, ten gold, silver and jade articles, ten tributes from the Western Regions, and Princess Li of Zhou Dynasty will also be rewarded."
"I obey the order!" Wei Dongfu's sharp voice sounded.
Wu Chengsi was surprised when he heard that his wife was also involved, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty..."
Li Zhi waved his hand a little tiredly, indicating that Wu Chengsi did not need to refuse further.
Wei Dongfu quickly took the pen, ink, paper, inkstone and yellow silk. Li Zhi brushed a few strokes, wrote down a decree, and stamped it.
Wu Chengsi said: "Your Majesty, why don't you ask me to convey the order to the East Palace? It will also show that you attach great importance to the Crown Princess."
"Accurate performance."
When Wu Chengsi left the palace with the imperial edict, he felt very happy.
He took the initiative to go to the prince's palace several times before, but found that the prince regarded him as a stranger who came to seek refuge, and his words were full of contempt. Wu Chengsi could not bear it for a long time.
Originally, Wu Chengsi always thought that Li Zhi would have a deep talk with the prince and let the prince understand that he had been selected by the emperor as an important minister to assist him.
Unexpectedly, Li Zhi seemed to have no such intention at all.
All in all, Wu Chengsi could no longer stand the current relationship with the prince.
It was obvious that he had brought down King Pei's party, but the prince, a guy who had been victorious by mistake, came to take over. Wu Chengsi decided to give him a severe lesson this time.
While he was thinking, Wu Chengsi suddenly had a strange feeling. He turned his head and saw King Li Dan of Yin standing in the corridor looking at him.
After catching Wu Chengsi's gaze, Li Dan took a few steps forward, bowed his hands respectfully and said, "Cousin, have you finished talking to your father?"
Wu Chengsi nodded.
Li Dan said: "Then I will go in and serve my father."
Wu Chengsi just stood there, quietly watching Li Dan's back disappear. Wei Dongfu on the side said cautiously: "His Royal Highness, should we go to the Chengqian Palace to declare the decree?"
Only then did Wu Chengsi look away.
In the November sky, the days are getting shorter and shorter, and before the hour of the unitary hour, the sky is already dim.
Wu Chengsi came to Chengqian Hall with the imperial edict. When the guard captain saw Wu Chengsi, he did not come to greet him.
Wu Chengsi frowned and came to the door.
Before he could speak, the captain of the guard said: "His Royal Highness the King of Zhou, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is currently receiving an important official and has no time to see you for the time being. If you have something to do, you may wish to wait here."
Wu Chengsi suddenly became angry. That idiot Li Hong must have thought that he would come over to apologize, so he deliberately sent word to the guard to leave him outside the door for a while.
Wei Dongfu, who was following Wu Chengsi, opened his eyes wide. He knew Wu Chengsi's position in the emperor's heart best and could not believe that a little guard dared to be so rude to him.
"How dare you, a little guard, be so rude to His Royal Highness the King of Zhou? Have you taken the courage of a leopard?" Wei Dongfu screamed.
If this guard hadn't been from the East Palace, he would have slapped him in the face.
Only then did the captain of the guard notice Wei Dongfu and said in surprise: "Eunuch Wei, why are you here? Did His Majesty summon my Highness?"
Wei Dongfu was secretly angry. People in the East Palace used to be respectful when they saw him. How could they open their mouths and ask like this now? He sneered and said, "Are you qualified to ask? Get out of here!"
As he spoke, he took out the imperial edict, raised it high, and screamed: "The imperial edict has arrived!"
Wu Chengsi strode in front, and Wei Dongfu walked behind holding the imperial edict. When the maids, eunuchs, and officials in the Chengqian Palace saw it, they fell to the ground one after another.
When Wu Chengsi came outside the main hall, Prince Li Hong led a group of people to greet him in a panic. After seeing Wu Chengsi, the prince was surprised and said: "Why did you come in?"
The prince's concubine said angrily: "Who let you in?"
Wu Chengsi said coldly: "I'm here to announce the decree, but I won't kneel down when I see the decree!"
Wei Dongfu took two steps forward and respectfully handed the imperial edict to Wu Chengsi.
The prince hurriedly knelt down on the ground, and the people behind him immediately followed suit. The prince's concubine also knelt down unwillingly.
When Wu Chengsi saw the two people kneeling in front of him, he was not in a hurry to read out the decree. Instead, he looked around and said, "Why don't you see the Crown Princess?"
The prince hurriedly ordered to the person behind him: "Why don't you go and invite the princess over!"
The Crown Princess Pei came here with the help of servants, and it seemed quite difficult to walk. Wu Chengsi was slightly startled and asked: "Cousin, what's wrong with you?"
Mrs. Pei shook her head gently and knelt down beside the prince without saying a word.
Wu Chengsi knew without thinking that the prince had done something good, and he hated him even more.
He really didn't understand what was wrong with the prince's brain. He didn't want such a beautiful woman who was knowledgeable and courteous, but he had to like that unruly and willful Turkic woman.
"Chengsi, hurry up and announce the decree!" the prince urged.
"Shut up!" Wu Chengsi scolded.
Prince Zhan Shidai Zhide said proudly: "Your Highness, King Zhou, is this your attitude towards the crown prince of a country?"
Wu Chengsi was furious in his heart and said: "It's because you guys who only know how to flatter you are surrounding the prince, so he acts more and more without any sense of proportion. How can he still look like a prince?"
The people kneeling on the ground suddenly became furious. Marquis Dengzhou said coldly: "Your Highness, King Zhou, are you going too far?"
Dai Liangshao said angrily: "You are so rude in front of His Majesty the Crown Prince. I don't think you are the one who knows how to behave!"
Yaruo turned to look at the officials and said angrily: "This person is so rude. You will all go to His Majesty to impeach him later. Do you hear me?"
Many East Palace officials bowed their heads and obeyed.
Wu Chengsi said sternly: "I am here to announce the decree on the orders of the Holy One. You are just a concubine of the crown prince, but you dare to roar and act arrogantly in front of me. Someone comes and knocks her down and does not allow her to listen to the decree!"
Yaruo said angrily: "I'll see who dares!" As he said that, he stood up and crossed his waist with a stern look on his face.
When all the officials in the East Palace saw her standing up, they were all shocked. Originally, they hated the prince's favorite concubine, but they kept accommodating her because of the prince's favor.
Who would have thought that this woman would be so bold and disrespectful of the imperial edict!
Wu Chengsi smiled and said leisurely: "What a unruly concubine, very good, Eunuch Wei, since there are people in the East Palace who are unwilling to accept the order, let's go back."
All the officials were panicked and looked at the prince.
The prince was not good at fighting. He originally expected his men to suppress Wu Chengsi, so he kept silent. Unexpectedly, things turned out like this. He hurriedly pulled Yaruo to kneel down and said: "Cousin, you... just declare the decree."
Yaruo broke away from his hand and said displeasedly: "Why are you so afraid of him? You are His Majesty's biological son. Why wouldn't he go to this outsider instead of you?"
Marquis Dengzhou said coldly: "Your Highness, concubine, please stop saying a few words!"
Yaruo said angrily: "I still want you to teach me a lesson?"
Marquis Dengzhou's face turned purple. At this moment, Wu Chengsi said leisurely: "Eunuch Wei, what is the crime of disrespecting the imperial edict?"
Wei Dongfu said in a sharp voice: "Death penalty!"